In this paper we derive Abelian theorems for the operators with complex
 Gaussian kernels. Specifically, we establish some results in which known the
 behaviour of the function and its domain variable approaches to ?? or +? is
 used to infer the asymptotic behaviour of the transform as its domain
 variable approaches to +? or ??. For this purpose we use a formula
 concerning the computation of potential functions by means of these
 operators with complex Gaussian kernels. This formula allows us to analyse
 the asymptotic behaviour of these operators in both cases: when the variable
 approaches to +? or ??. Our results include systematically the noncentered
 and centered cases of these operators. Here we analyse the Gauss-Weierstrass
 semigroup on R as a particular case. We also point out Abelian theorems for
 other kinds of operators which have been studied in several papers.


On 15 January 2015, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to reduce the key rate by 2 pp., to 15% per annum, due to the shift in the balance of risks of accelerated consumer price growth and an economic cooldown. In January 2015, the Consumer Price Index increased by 3.9% (vs. 0.6% in January 2014), which represented a 1.3 p.p. rise on December 2014. As a result, the inflation rate in per annum terms climbed to 15.0%. Over the course of the fi rst 24 days of February 2015 the CPI rose by 1.9 p.p.


A number of treatment approaches are available for the management of Class II malocclusion. Functional appliances are commonly used for the management of mandibular retrognathia in growing subjects. The twin block appliance is the most popular functional appliance in use within the United Kingdom. The aim of this article is to review the clinical management of the twin block appliance and to discuss some of the hard and soft tissue changes that accompany treatment with this appliance.


-Bn-DOTA (paraammionobenzyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid:ABDOTA) complex was synthesized and purified for bio-tagging to quantify biological target materials usinglaser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS. Since the preparation of a pure and stable tagging complex is the key procedurefor quantification, magnetic particles were used to purify the synthesized metal-ABDOTA complex. Themagnetic particles immobilized with the complex attracted to a permanent magnet, resulting in fast separationfrom free un-reacted metal ions in solution. Gd ions formed the metal-complex with a higher yield of 64.3%(± 3.9% relative standard deviation (RSD)) than Y ions, 52.3% (± 2.5% RSD), in the pH range 4-7. Thecomplex bound to the magnetic particles was released by treatment with a strong base, of which the recoverywas 81.7%. As a reference, a solid phase extraction (SPE) column packed with Chelex-100 resin was employedfor separation under similar conditions and produced comparable results. The tagging technique complementedpolydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microarray chip sampling in LA-ICP-MS, allowing determination of smallsample volumes at high throughputs. For application, immunoglobulin G (IgG) was immobilized on the pillarsof PDMS microarray chips and then tagged with the prepared Gd complex. IgG could then be determinedthrough measurement of Gd by LA-ICP-MS. A detection limit of 1.61 ng/mL (± 0.75% RSD) for Gd wasobtained.Key Words : Magnetic particle, Purification of DOTA complex, Bio tagging, Microarray chip, LA-ICP-MSIntroductionLaser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS can be very effective andadvantageous for biological analysis, allowing high through-put analysis with limited sample volumes.


Objectives Synovial monocytes in oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (oJIA) are polarized, but little is known of how they contribute to disease and attain their pathogenic features. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of monocytes in the pathogenesis of oJIA. Methods The function of synovial monocytes was analysed by several assays believed to reflect key pathogenic events, such as T-cell activation-, efferocytosis- and cytokine production assays through flow cytometry in untreated oJIA patients (n=33). The effect of synovial fluid on healthy monocytes was investigated through mass spectrometry, broad-spectrum phosphorylation assays and functional assays. Additional effects on monocytes were studied through co-cultures with primary fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Results The results demonstrate that synovial monocytes display functional alterations, e.g., increased ability to induce T-cell activation, increased efferocytosis and resistance to cytokine production following activation with LPS. In vitro, synovial fluid induced regulatory features in healthy monocytes through an IL-6/JAK/STAT mechanism. The magnitude of synovial IL-6 driven activation in monocytes was reflected in circulating cytokine levels. An increased ability to induce T-cell activation and markers of antigen presentation could be induced by co-culture with fibroblast-like synoviocytes. Conclusions Synovial monocytes in oJIA are functionally affected, drive chronic inflammation, and promote adaptive immune responses. This phenotype can be replicated in vitro through a combination of synovial fluid (through IL-6/JAK/STAT) and cell-cell interactions. These data support a role of monocytes in the pathogenesis of oJIA and highlight a group of patients more likely to benefit from targeting the IL-6/JAK/STAT axis to restore synovial homeostasis.


The prevalence of STI pathogens in HIV- infected and non infected women attending HIV and STI clinic of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teachi ng Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu, Ogun state, Nigeri a was compared for possible implications in t he a cquisition and transmission of HIV. The study involved the collection of urine and vagina swabs using sterile universal bottles and Evapon swab sticks respectively from 100 females of which 34 were HIV-positive and 66 HIV- negative. The samples were screened at the Babcock University Microbiology Laboratory for the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida albicans, pus cells and bacterial vaginosis. Twelve percent of HIV-positive patients were infected with T. vaginalis, 77% with C. albicans, 68% with bacterial vaginosis and 35% with pus cells (indicates the presence of cervical infections). Only 2% of the HIV-negative pati ents were infected with T. vaginalis 20% with C. albicans, 40% with bacterial vaginosis and 5% with pu s cells . The statistical anal ysis showed a si gnificant difference in t he infection rates between HIV infected and non- infected patients (p<0.05). Since STIs are not only associated with their own morbidity, but also facilitate sexual transmission and infectivity of HIV, there is therefore the need for aggressive prevention, testing and treatment of STIs in order to reduce acquisition and transmission of HIV.


Computer operator employees at the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Manpower have high workload. This situation every computer employee have to try to increase his productivity for the sake of the implementation of effective and efficient internal supervision within the Ministry of Manpower. The situation at the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Manpower in Indonesia shows that workload, physical and mental exhaustion are factors causing fatigue those results in a decrease in labor productivity. Workload and job stress on employees can also affect fatigue. This paper set out to develop a conceptual model for testing the effect of workload and job stress on fatigue and its impact on the productivity of computer employees. Literature review, conceptual model, hypotheses development and research methodology are discussed. Practicing this paper instantly would provide information about the relationship of workload, job stress, and fatigue on employee performance at the Inspectorate General of the Ministry of Manpower in the Republic of Indonesia.


In 1945 I received a large collection of Streblidae from the late Prof. A. M. Adamson, of the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture. This collection was made by a post-graduate student, Mr T. S. Jones, and Dr E. C. Humphries, in Trinidad. Later on Mr Jones sent me another three collections, which together with the first comprised three hundred and sixty specimens, the largest number of Streblidae which has ever been collected in America. In addition, I received seven specimens from Mr P. C. J. Brunet, of Keble College, Oxford, which were also collected in Trinidad. I take this opportunity to express my thanks to all these gentlemen, and especially to Mr Jones, who also supplied me with the list of the bats of Trinidad, and some useful information regarding their roosting habits. My thanks are also due to Dr T. C. S. Morrison-Scott and Mr R. W. Hayman of the British Museum (Natural History) for their help in checking the names of several species of bats. The present record is based on the abovementioned five collections and also includes all those records which had been known from Trinidad before.


Software effort estimation is to find out the development effort required by a project. Before any project is being started firstly it is required to estimate the development effort required. This is one of the most important and challenging activities that has done before. Various techniques have been proposed to calculate effort estimation, but providing accurate cost is still an unachievable goal. This paper represents different neural network techniques that have been proposed to calculate effort estimation. It describes various techniques and approach proposed by different researchers representing how neural network gives accurate effort estimation in comparison with other techniques. This paper also focuses on how researchers have used various concepts of neural network and brought it into use to estimate effort.


In Jining City,the per capita amount of water is less than one quarter of average national level.Temporal-spatial distribution of water resources are affected significantly by precipitation,topography,geomorphology,human activities and etc.Annual rainfall prediction is badly in need of water resources planning.After analyzing tendency and periodic characteristics of the regional rainfall time series,a method of weighted Markov chain combined with the level characteristics value of fuzzy theory is adopted to predict yearly precipitation for the city.The results show that,although the temperature is increasing,the rainfall trend has not changed significantly.The predictions for year 2006 to 2009 were showed a better fit to the observations and the precipitation of 2010(660.39 mm) was also agreeing with results from wavelet periodic analysis,which tells that the method is effective and credible and can be taken as a support tool to formulate corresponding policies and measures in flood control and drought fighting for the local water conservancy department.


Szczecin is the town located in the Middle Ages in the 60 km distance from the Baltic Sea coastline. It is the unique town in Poland having in its limits over 30% of lake and river waters. The great potential of this fact has been used since ever for communication and transportation routes, for shipbuilding and port facilities. The XIX-century Szczecin was a significant industrial center, thanks to the location at Odra River and Dąbie Lake. The negative result of industrialization was the heavy water pollution. In the recent years the inner – city waters are on one hand partly subject of protection as an Odra River Natural Park, Natura 2000 restricted area, but on the other hand more and more used for leisure and water sports. European Funds contribution made possible a severe limitation of water pollution by installation of ecologically advanced sewage purification plants. It was also possible due to the elimination of the old-type industry in the town and its surroundings and increase of ecological consciousness. Better quality of the water in the Dąbie Lake and Odra River, on the edge to the city of Szczecin, attracts therefore touristic and leisure development and the growing welfare in Poland and Europe makes recreation facilities a new, attractive income source. The water-city edge project is aimed to transform the deteriorated brownfield at the Dąbie Lake Waterfront into the place for health care, leisure and sport activities on the higher level of quality and proficiency. The paper describes the project ideas and visions. This project, still in development, shows the possibilities of alternative leisure developments to sea-coastal ones at the Baltic Sea Coast. It represents the method of combining different positive features of the climate and waterfront locations with the investment opportunities, what could contribute to a success of the one common, overall idea of leisure and sport center on the city edge. It shows an example of the investments in the hotel/sport/recreation/health care branches. The conclusion of the paper aims to prove, the necessary changes in the town planning goals structure, taking more seriously into account: the preferences of active people (spending free time for leisure, recreation, nature observations, health care and water sport), economic opportunities (foreign and domestic investors) and overall climate change in the Central Europe Region.


PRID are frequently used in reproductive control programs at dairy cows. The aim of our paper was to synchronize the estrus and ovulations in cycling cows and to simulate the ovarian function in non-cycling cows. At 28 cows with cycling ovarian activity the duration of treatment was 7 days. After the device removal 2 ml Proliz (0.450 mg Cloprostenol) were administered. AI was performed at 72 hours after the end of the hormonal treatment and 20 (71,42 %) were diagnosed as pregnant. At the 34 anestrous cows the duration of the treatment was 10 days. With 24 hours before the redrawn of the PRID, 500 IU eCG were administered. AI was performed at 60 hours from the end of the hormonal treatment and 14 (41.17%) cows were diagnosed as pregnant. The PRID spirals can be used with success in synchronizing the ovulations in cycling cows and in anestrous therapy in non-cycling cows.


The days of supercomputers and mainframes dominating computing are over. With the cost benefits of the mass production of smaller machines, the majority of today's computing power exists in the form of PCs or workstations, with more powerful machines performing more specialized tasks. Even with increased computer power and availability, some tasks require more resources. Load balancing and process migration allocate processes to interconnected workstations on a network to better take advantage of available resources. This paper presents a survey of process migration mechanisms. There have been other such survey papers on process migration[13, 17], but this paper is more current and includes one new algorithm, the Freeze Free algorithm. First, motivations for load balancing and process migration are presented in Section 2. Section 3 gives a brief overview of load balancing. The main contribution of the paper is in Section 4 which describes process migration. The differences between process migration and load balancing are discussed, and several of the current process migration implementations and algorithms are examined. Section 5 presents future work, possible improvements, and extended applications of process migration. Finally, concluding remarks are given in Section 6.


Vehicular ad hoc mobile networks are promising platforms from which decentralized traffic information systems can be built. Considerable effort has been put into designing protocols and hardware for these systems. There are important intricacies in the kinds, quantities, and reliability of the data that will drive these systems, and detailed investigations of these data issue have received less attention. Even though a decentralized traffic information system in vehicular ad hoc networks has a number of benefits compared to a centralized system, such things as sampling errors for traffic information, differences between individual data and an average of all data, would exist as implicit weak points in this innovative system. In order to observe accuracy of individual travel time data, this study examined patterns of individual travel times collected from a hypothetical ad hoc system and 5-minute averages of travel time based on results from a simulation experiment. Paramics 5.2 was applied for the simulation experiment on a segment of the Baltimore-Washington Parkway in Maryland. The research concluded that most travel times during all traffic conditions were reliable to directly use as travel time information due to low variability except when travel time abruptly increases (high variability appeared in that situation). It is not sufficient or wise to remove high-valued data, however, because the underlying congestion state plays a large role in determining the reliability of the data. The study shows simple examples of data clustering that a more sophisticated filter might build on to minimize unreliable data.


The purpose of this paper is to explore the welfare properties of dynastic equilibria. There are three central findings. First, under relatively weak conditions, welfare optima cannot be implemented as dynastic equilibria with positive levels of transfers. Second, intergenerational altruism ordinarily renders the objectives of social planners dynamically inconsistent, thereby making implementation of welfare optima problematic. Third, if a planner successfully resolves dynamic inconsistency by committing himself to respect the preferences of deceased generations, and if there are a sufficient number of prior generations, then in a specific set of cases dynastic equilibria are approximately welfare optimal.


Abstract During development of the central nervous system, neural cells respond to several external cues that influence cell proliferation, differentiation, axonal growth and synaptogenesis. Thyroid hormone plays a critical role in each of these processes. Previously, we showed that Krüppel-like factor 9 (KLF9), a zinc finger transcription factor, is strongly and directly induced by liganded thyroid hormone receptors, and it mediates the actions of thyroid hormone on neuronal differentiation during late fetal development. Here we analyzed the molecular mechanisms by which KLF9 maintains neuronal structure, and inhibits regeneration in juvenile and adult neuronal cells. We also investigated the actions of the closely related transcription factor KLF13, which is paralogous to KLF9. We engineered the adult mouse hippocampus-derived cell line HT22 to control Klf9 or Klf13 expression by addition of doxycycline. We also used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to generate Klf9 or Klf13 knock out (KO), and Klf9+Klf13 double KO HT22 cell lines. To induce neurite outgrowth, we treated cells with forskolin (FK)+IBMX, which increases intracellular cAMP; elevated cAMP is a hallmark of regenerative responses of neurons to injury. Our results show that FK+IBMX increased neurite length in the parent HT22 cell line, and this action was enhanced in Klf9 and Klf13 single KO cells, and was even greater in double KO cells. By contrast, the stimulatory effect of FK+IBMX on neurite outgrowth was blocked by simultaneous forced expression of Klf9 or Klf13 in parent HT22 cells. This effect on neurite outgrowth was confirmed in primary mouse hippocampal neurons, where electroporation of expression plasmids for Klf9 or Klf13 suppressed FK+IBMX-induced neurite extension compared with empty vector-transfected cells. Analysis of RNA-seq data obtained from HT22 cells following 8 hr of induced Klf9 or Klf13 expression showed that both proteins impact the cAMP signaling pathway. Using transfection-reporter assays and chromatin immunoprecipitation, we confirmed that several genes in this pathway are direct targets of both KLFs. Our findings suggest that KLF9 and KLF13 may cooperate to maintain the differentiated state of mammalian neurons and thereby block regeneration, in part, by repressing the cAMP signaling pathway.


framework, other existing frameworks, input from patient organisations and other relevant parties. The frameworks were sent for review to all members of the scientific societies and consequently tested during two peer reviews per speciality. Improvements to the quality framework were made where appropriate and approved at the general assembly. Results: All nine scientific societies created a quality framework. The same design was used for all frameworks: four quality domains (evaluating care, team performance, patient perspective, and professional development) with multiple aspects (e.g. evaluation of patient records, multidisciplinary meetings, measuring patient satisfaction and knowledge sharing). A grading system was developed with five levels, ranging from excellent (being an example to others) to very poor (the necessity to improve the aspect within a maximum of six months). Differences in settings necessitated adaptations to the framework, e.g. for regional laboratories for medical microbiology or private clinics. In addition, the development of the quality frameworks resulted in changes in other parts of the peer review methodology, e.g. the regulations and the format for the peer review report. In addition, a manual for developing a quality framework for peer review was developed. Conclusion: Using a uniform design, relevant frameworks for peer reviews of medical specialists were developed. The combination of joint and individual meetings resulted in learning from one another and consequently applying this knowledge for the participant's own quality framework. These quality frameworks will support uniform decision making on where quality improvement is required from the groups of medical specialists.


This article reviews the (closed version of) the dynamic input–output model, and the reasons why it is unstable. It is argued that programming models, which permit inequalities in the balance relations, are more realistic than the pure Leontief model.


Ever expanding pressures on the health and productivity of our oceans and coasts from threats such as coastal development and climate change are stressing the need to consider the full spectrum of factors, scales, dataset, opinions, and trade-offs for current and future coastal management actions (Guerry 2009; McLeod and Leslie 2009; Rosenberg and Sandifer 2009). Web-based GIS tools including coastal web atlases (CWAs) and geospatial web services are rapidly being developed to assist managers, decision-makers, and scientists with the creation, implementation, and evaluation of coastal management options. Numerous web atlases are incorporating web feature service (WFS) standards into their website to provide critical datasets on-the-fly for use in spatial decision support tools to assist with management and policy decisions. However, with this increased use of WFSs in CWAs it's critical to understand how the various components used to create robust WFSs can affect its performance and ability to successfully execute complex spatial queries that are utilized to assess management options. A subset of county land parcel data from Wisconsin was utilized to assess how various software, hardware, and data characteristics can affect WFSs overall robustness, and how these components impact its ability to execute accurate, timely complex spatial queries consistently and their ability to meet the demands of managers, decision-makers, and scientists. Results suggest that WFSs, with varying levels of robustness, can successfully perform accurate, reliable spatial queries on datasets to extract relevant information pertaining to coastal management concerns, which could impact CWAs by increasing their functionality and range of potential applications provided to users.


The present invention for the purification of products from a load fluid including one or more impurities, and methods of using weak partitioning chromatography. Further this invention will be defined by the operating conditions for coupling to the medium product of at least 1mg per medium 1 mL, or defined at least in part by the coefficient 0.1, about weak partitioning chromatography method. In other embodiments, the operating conditions, is bound to the medium the product of at least 5mg per medium 1 mL.


Introduction Admissions decisions are among the most consequential assessment points in educating occupational therapists. Suboptimal measures of academic achievement and personal characteristics are often used to select candidates. The purpose of the study is to investigate reliability and validity evidence supporting the use of the multiple mini interview for selecting candidates to an occupational therapy master's level program. Method The study used a prospective cohort design. Data sources included both archival data and prospective candidate-generated data (multiple mini interview scores, applicant file review scores and academic performance), analyzed using psychometric and correlational approaches. Results Seventy-seven of 80 candidates participated in the prospective component of the study. Overall reliability of a 10-station multiple mini interview was .72. Inter-rater reliability was reasonable. Weak interrelationships were found between multiple mini interview scores and other application components. Conclusion Multiple mini interview scores may be probing different attributes than the other components of the application package. Our study findings support the use of the multiple mini interview for selecting applicants to a professional master's program in occupational therapy; however, future work should continue to investigate the predictive validity of the multiple mini interview.


Research misconduct can have serious implications, but getting it investigated is not always straightforward. Elizabeth Wager examines some of the difficulties


Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) is the second most common subtype of breast cancer following invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and characterized by the loss of E-cadherin-mediated adherens junctions. Despite displaying unique histological and clinical features, ILC still remains a chronically understudied disease with limited knowledge on the available laboratory research models. To this end, herein we report a comprehensive 2D and 3D phenotypic characterization of four Estrogen Receptor-positive human ILC cell lines - MDA-MB-134, SUM44, MDA-MB-330 and BCK4. Compared to the IDC cell lines MCF7, T47D and MDA-MB-231, ultra-low attachment culture conditions revealed a remarkable anchorage-independence ability that was unique to the ILC cells, a feature not evident in soft agar gels. 3D Collagen I and Matrigel culture indicated a generally loose morphology for the ILC cell lines, which exhibited differing preferences for adhesion to ECM proteins in 2D. Furthermore, ILC cells had limited migration and invasion ability in wound-scratch and transwell assays with the exception of haptotaxis to Collagen I. Transcriptional comparison of the cell lines confirmed the decreased cell proliferation and E-cadherin-mediated intercellular junctions in ILC, while uncovering the induction of novel pathways related to cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase activity, ion channels, drug metabolism and alternative cell adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin, some of which were also differentially regulated in ILC versus IDC tumors. Altogether, these studies will serve as an invaluable resource for the breast cancer research community and facilitate further functional discoveries towards understanding ILC, identifying novel drug targets and ultimately improving the outcome of patients with ILC. Authors' Contributions Conception and design: N. Tasdemir, NE. Davidson, S. Oesterreich Development of methodology: N. Tasdemir, L. Zhu, GC. Tseng, S. Oesterreich Acquisition of data (performed experiments, processed data, etc.): N. Tasdemir, E. Bossart, Z. Li, Z. Li Analysis and interpretation of data (e.g. biological interpretation, statistical analysis, computational analysis): N. Tasdemir, Z. Li, KM. Levine, NE. Davidson, S. Oesterreich Writing, review and/or revision of the manuscript: N. Tasdemir, Z. Li, KM. Levine, BM. Jacobson, GC. Tseng, NE. Davidson, S. Oesterreich Study supervision: NE. Davidson and S. Oesterreich


Use this guide to find peer-reviewed articles on health and medicine. Describes how to find and get full articles when have only a citation or only a citation and abstract


To investigate the effects of total panax notoginseng saponins(tPNS) on regeneration of axotomized retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in adults rats. After optic nerve (ON)transection, an autologous sciatic nerve(attached graft,AG)was removed and sutured to the proximal stump of the ON. tPNS was injected into abdominal cavity. Animals were divided into 3 groups: regenerating control group (AG+Solution); AG+tPNS group; effect and dosage group. Regenerating RGCs were labeled retrogradely by granulal blue, and the changes of regenerating RGCs in each retina were observed under fluorescent microscope. ①In control retinas, the mean number of regenerating RGCs were 698±111/retina and 568±107/retina respectively at the 3rd and 4th week after surgery. ②The mean number of regenerating RGCs in AG+tPNS group at the 3rd and 4th week were 1 656±135/retina and 1 329±144/retina, respectively,almost doubled when compared with control, P 0.05. [Conclusion]tPNS could promote the regeneration of RGCs after axotomy.


This article provides an assessment of the EU institutions' response to the coronavirus pandemic. By building on a synthesis of the new intergovernmentalism and the emergency politics approach it contends that the effectiveness and legitimacy of de novo bodies like the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) have fallen prey to its intergovernmental decision-making structure, whereas the ECB has proven to be more resilient. The European Commission as the traditional engine of European integration was able to fill the gap with its large-scale recovery instrument termed 'Next Generation EU' and via the creation of a temporary loan-based instrument to support national short-term work schemes (SURE). The historic July 2020 European Council produced policy outputs such as the 'emergency brake' and the diluted 'rule of law mechanism' that have the potential to deepen the rift between polarized member states.


OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and its associated factors in middle-aged women with 11 years or more of formal education. METHODS A cross-sectional, population-based study was carried out using an anonymous, self-response questionnaire. A total of 315 Brazilian-born women, 40–65 years of age with 11 years or more of schooling, participated in the study. The instrument used in the evaluation was based on the Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire. Sexual dysfunction was calculated from the mean score of sexual responsiveness (pleasure in sexual activities, excitation and orgasm), frequency of sexual activities and libido. Sociodemographic and clinical factors were evaluated. Poisson multiple regression analysis was carried out and the prevalence ratios with respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. RESULTS The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 35.9% among our study population. Multiple regression analysis showed that sexual dysfunction was positively associated with older age (prevalence ratios=1.04; 95%CI:1.01–1.07) and with the presence of hot flashes (prevalence ratios=1.37; 95%CI:1.04–1.80). Having a sexual partner (PR=0.47; 95%CI:0.34–0.65) and feeling well or excellent (prevalence ratios= 0.68; 95%CI: 0.52–0.88) were factors associated with lower sexual dysfunction scores. CONCLUSIONS Sexual dysfunction was present in more than one-third of women that were 40–65 years of age with 11 years or more of formal education. Within that age group, older age and hot flashes were associated with higher sexual dysfunction scores, whereas feeling well and having a sexual partner were associated with better sexuality.


Lake Xingkai is a large turbid lake composed of two parts, Small Lake Xingkai and Big Lake Xingkai, on the border between Russia and China, where it represents a vital source of water, fishing, water transport, recreation, and tourism. Chlorophyll-a (Chla) is a prominent phytoplankton pigment and a proxy for phytoplankton biomass, reflecting the trophic status of waters. Regularly monitoring Chla concentrations is vital for issuing timely warnings of this lake's eutrophication. Owing to its higher spatial and temporal coverages, remote sensing can provide a synoptic complement to traditional measurement methods by targeting the optical Chla absorption signals, especially for the lakes that lack regular in situ sampling cruises, like Lake Xingkai. This study calibrated and validated several commonly used remote sensing Chla retrieval algorithms (including the two-band ratio, three-band method, four-band method, and baseline methods) by applying them to Sentinel-3 Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) images in Lake Xingkai. Among these algorithms, the four-band model (FBA), which removes the absorption signal of detritus and colored dissolved organic matter, was the best-performing model with an R2 of 0.64 and a mean absolute percentage difference of 38.26%. With the FBA model applied to OLCI images, the monthly and spatial distributions of Chla in Lake Xingkai were studied from 2016 to 2022. The results showed that over the seven years, the Chla concentrations in Small Lake Xingkai were higher than in Big Lake Xingkai. Unlike other eutrophic lakes in China (e.g., Lake Taihu and Lake Chaohu), Lake Xingkai did not display a stable seasonal Chla variation pattern. We also found uncertainties and limitations of the Chla algorithm models when using a larger satellite zenith angle or applying it to an algal bloom area. Recent increases in anthropogenic nutrient loading, water clarity, and warming temperatures may lead to rising phytoplankton biomass in Lake Xingkai, and the results of this study can be applied for the satellite-based monitoring of its water quality.


A method and apparatus is disclosed for applying a substance (eg a fertiliser, minerals or pesticides) to an area of land. The apparatus comprises a vehicle (eg a tractor) 1 with a continuously adjustable travel speed, means to maintain a constant engine speed, at least one appliance for applying the substance 2, 3, a data processor 9, means to determine speed and position of the vehicle (eg via a global positioning satellite system (GPS)) 13 and an electronic map 11 containing information about the required substance application rates for the area of land. In use data from the electronic map 11 is read into and application rate data for each appliance 2, 3 and required engine speed is input into the data processor 9. The speed and position of the vehicle is determined and the vehicle travel speed is automatically adjusted to provide a travel speed to achieve the desired substance application rate.


The utility model discloses an intelligent LED dimming system of an underground garage. The main controller is communicated with a plurality of networking LED lights through a ZigBee wireless network and is mainly in charge of the management and the control of the entire system so as to coordinate the working of each part in the system; the parking information of the garage is gathered and then processed to be sent to a manager; the spare parking information is displayed on an LED display screen at the entrance of the garage at the same time; the optimum parking can be searched by gathering the obtained parking information so as to provide intelligent parking navigation for car owners; each networking LED light is used as an independent sub-node of the ZigBee wireless network; the detected entering signals of cars are transferred to the main controller on the ZigBee wireless network; when persons or cars occur, the LED lights adopt a full light-intensity mode; and when neither persons nor cars occur, the LED lights adopt a low power consumption mode of which intensity is only 10% of that of the full light, thereby avoiding energy source consumption.


Navigation task of water conservancy when the over-current buildings are in runtime often affect the flow regime lock approach, endangers the ship navigation safety. In engineering we often set up guide wall protection approaches between approaches and flow buildings. By means of numerical simulation, the guide wall shape optimization study, and combining with the engineering practice, this paper proposes a microbend flood guide wall of new type. The results show that this new type of guide wall can in a variety of flow circumstances change such flow structure, reduce the horizontal speed of the approaches, is a simple and effective engineering measures.


Simple Summary Mechanical properties of biological tissues are increasingly recognized as important in biology. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the main tools used to assess elastic properties of various types of biological samples. It has been noted that elasticity values frequently follow a log-normal distribution. We propose in this communication a physical model explaining this fact, and we propose that distribution-type analysis could increase the information obtained from AFM studies on biological tissues. Abstract The mechanosensitivity of cells has recently been identified as a process that could greatly influence a cell's fate. To understand the interaction between cells and their surrounding extracellular matrix, the characterization of the mechanical properties of natural polymeric gels is needed. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is one of the leading tools used to characterize mechanically biological tissues. It appears that the elasticity (elastic modulus) values obtained by AFM presents a log-normal distribution. Despite its ubiquity, the log-normal distribution concerning the elastic modulus of biological tissues does not have a clear explanation. In this paper, we propose a physical mechanism based on the weak universality of critical exponents in the percolation process leading to gelation. Following this, we discuss the relevance of this model for mechanical signatures of biological tissues.


This study presents the \emph{MiniFluo-UV}, an ocean glider-compatible fluorescence sensor that targets the detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the marine environment. Two MiniFluos can be installed on a glider, each equipped with two optical channels (one PAH is measured per channel). This setup allows the measurement of up to 4 different fluorescent PAHs: Naphthalene, Phenanthrene, Fluorene and Pyrene. Laboratory tests on oil products (Maya crude oil and Diesel fuel) as well as on marine samples near industrial areas (urban harbor and offshore installations) revealed that the concentration of the four PAHs targeted accounted for 62-97\% of the total PAH concentration found in samples ($\sum$16 PAHs determined by standard international protocols). Laboratory tests also revealed that for marine applications, the calibration on Water Accommodated Fraction (WAF) of crude oil is more appropriate than the one on pure standards (STD). This is because PAH fluorescence is constituted in large part of alkylated compounds that are not considered with STD calibration. Results from three glider deployments with increasing levels of complexity (a laboratory trial, a field mission in non-autonomous mode and a fully autonomous mission) are also presented. During field deployments, the MiniFluo-glider package was able to detect concentration gradients from offshore marine waters towards the head of a Mediterranean harbor ($\rm <80\,ng\,L^{-1}$) as well as hydrocarbon patches at the surface waters of an oil and gas exploitation field in the North Sea ($\rm <200\,ng\,L^{-1}$, mainly Naphthalene). It is suggested that using only the WAF calibration, the concentration derived with the MiniFluo agrees within one order of magnitude with the concentration determined by Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (overestimation by a factor 7 on average). These performances can be improved if the calibration is made with a WAF with PAH proportions similar to the one find in the environment. Finally, it is shown that the use of \emph{in situ} calibration on water samples collected during the glider deployment, when possible, gives the best results.


The objective of the study was to assess the performance and contribution of MSMEs to both the Indian and the global economy. Secondary data were collected for analysis. The data was qualitatively analysed and presented in the form of tables, and charts using Microsoft Excel. The Analysis of the data gathered confirmed that MSMEs serve as a catalyst to the evenly distribution of development and wealth in the country. It was also found that, even though all states and union territories have their share of the MSMEs, the states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, are the 10 states with the highest number of MSMEs. The findings again indicated that, MSMEs that engage in trade activities dominate the industry. In addition, as much as 51% of Indian MSMEs operates from the rural areas whereas 49% operates from the urban cities. The consistent growth of India's economy cannot be mentioned without acknowledging the contribution of the MSMEs. The MSMEs sector contributes as much as between 40 and 50 per cent of India's total export. Again, an average of 30% share of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India is contributed by the MSMEs sector, and an average of 32% to the Gross Value Added (GVA). The MSMEs sector is credited with about 40% of the total employments in the country during the study period. Out of these created employments, 55% are found in the urban cities whereas 45% emanates from the rural areas with 76% of them being male whiles 24% are female.


The growing numbers of Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) globally show the importance of NPOs in contributing to the society in terms of its social works. By championing the need of the people through their activities, NPOs enjoy public trust. As NPOs are generally subjected to less stringent requirements, they are more vulnerable to occurences of fraud. Hence, this study aims to examine board composition as a mechanism to deter fraud in NPOs. This relationship was examined based on content analysis of annual reports of 205 societies registered with Registrar of Society (ROS) for the financial period 2010. Characteristics of board composition examined in this study are board professionalism and board with politically connected. Fraud deterrence are proxied by efficiency ratio, stability ratio and solvency ratio. This study finds that only board with professionalism has a positive significant relationship with fraud deterrence in NPOs. However, fraud deterrence indicators are only significant for insolvency ratios. In summary, this study highlights that an optimum mix of board members matters in reducing occurence of fraud in NPOs.


Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state in India with 139 million individuals, per the 1991 census. The Sample Registration System in 1992 indicated a high population growth rate of 2.3 percent and a very high birth rate of 36.2 per 1,000. Several measures have been taken to contain the growth and bring a rapid decline in the fertility rate. The Government of India and USAID began the Innovations in Family Planning Services Project under the management of the State Innovations in Family Planning Services Agency. The goal was to reduce the fertility rate in Uttar Pradesh by expanding and improving family planning (FP) services. Since there has been differential impact of FP services over the years in the state's different districts, it was considered desirable to take up the district as a unit and develop an adequate data base for generating suitable intervention programs. Baseline surveys were conducted in 14 districts in different regions of the state. The Centre for Development Research and Training, Madras, conducted the surveys in Ghaziabad and Tehri Garhwal. This preliminary report contains the details of the survey conducted in Ghaziabad district.


This case concerned costs, primarily, but provides detailed judicial comment on what the OFT is expected to do before issuing an interim measures decision (IMD) under section 35 of the…


Various novel flavour and fragrance chemicals have been synthesized day by day. The specialized needs on new flavour and fragrance chemicals are quickly increasing in response to the rapid spread of plentiful human life styles.Therefore, the recent trend of Japanese market on natural and synthetic flavour and fragrance chemicals and their compounds are reviewed at first, and newly developed synthetic routes of important flavour and fragrance chemicals and many interesting new chemicals opened mainly on Japanese patent were summarized.


Road traffic delay is imminent in big cities around the world including Kuala Lumpur, due to the increase in vehicle ownership, weather condition, road blocks by authorities and ongoing infrastructure projects at particular point of the road. Previous literature shows that the average time spent by drivers in driving under road traffic delay is about 30-53 minutes per day. Within the delay, regular pressings of the brake and accelerator may lead to leg and body fatigue, hence may give detrimental effect on the driver in the long run. This paper aims to mimic the pedal pressing and releasing mechanism in replacing the leg activities during road traffic delay, such that the driver will no longer need to recurrently pressing both pedals, thus reduce the fatigue. In replicating the pressing mechanism, a linear electromechanical actuator is designed for this purpose due to its high force density as well as good response time. The mathematical model of the actuator is first developed and integrated with car dynamic model in Simscape model. All parameters used for simulation purposes were taken from an actual electromechanical actuator used for the similar application. Simulation performance evaluation was conducted on a virtual environment for the integrated models and the response of the models were investigated. As a result, the actuator model is capable to produce the desired output force that is similar with human leg during pressing activity, with about 200 N force. The model was coupled with tuned PID controller, and the actuator was also able to produce an acceptable time response, where the vehicle is brought to a complete stop within less than 1 second, which is closed to the actual driver's leg activities during the pedal pressing in a road traffic delay.


In recent years, the European Union has been promoting social innovation and new business models to support the long-term transition towards low-emission, sustainable urban development. To this end, a demand-driven approach is seen as key to enhancing the wealth of sustainable urban planning and mobility solutions, increasing their relevance and responsiveness to real life challenges, saving public Research & Development investment resources and most importantly, nurturing the uptake of those solutions by their end users. In addition, cities are seen as ideal places of experimentation because they accumulate a wealth of activities and stakeholders, as well as the complex networks and transactions among those. This paper presents results from the Horizon2020 Research and Innovation Project "Cities-4-People", financed under the 'Smart, green and integrated transport' part of the Horizon2020 Work Programme of 2016 - 2017, topic "New ways of supporting development and implementation of neighbourhood-level and urban-district-level transport innovations" (MG-4.5-2016). More particularly, in this paper we present the methodology, results and conclusions for the co-creation of sustainable urban planning and mobility solutions in the city of Trikala. This phase of the project took place during the period April 2018 – September 2018 and was administered by the Trikala project team of the Cities-4-People consortium (Q-Plan International and E-Trikala).


Factory planning is an important tool for manufacturing companies to raise their efficiency and to maintain their competitiveness by changing market or customer requirements. A special challenge is the acquisition of layout data and the processing of this data in suitable planning tools. Current approaches still measure manually or have to transfer acquired data from laser scanners by hand into planning tools, which leads to a high effort and error proneness.This paper presents a holistic concept for automated and systematic data acquisition and processing for factory planning processes.


The utility model discloses a general street sign indicating number, set up the support on the base and set up on the support and can the establish ties connecting rod of support including base, two at least intervals, adjacent two a set of cable clip subassembly between the support, this cable clip subassembly including set up in two pairs of chucks group on the connecting rod, and these two pairs of chucks group homoenergetics are enough independently rotates for the connecting rod, each to chuck group form including mutually supporting all that the cable of supplying power passes through the line cavity two chucks and the locking device of these two chucks can lock, these two chucks are first chuck and second chuck respectively, the utility model discloses general street sign indicating number has simple structure, easily processing, and the commonality is strong, and is easy and simple to handle, and the security is good, and the centre gripping cable is firm, and long service life is with low costs, even the easy advantage of dismantling.


If there is one thing to be learnt from watching people work
in old traditional crafts it is this:
The tools and the working procedures are never clumsy, never impractical
(Hoffmann 1988)

Summary
Loom weights are common finds in archaeological excavations in Europe and the Near East. They represent the only remains of warp-weighted looms. The function of the warp-weighted loom is well known from ethnographic studies. The function of loom weights, however, has not been investigated and cannot be deduced directly from ethnographical data, since loom weights in antiquity were very different from those used in the twentieth century AD. This paper reviews the functional elements of a loom weight. The weight and thickness of loom weights are established as the defining functional parameters for the operation of the warp-weighted loom. A series of systematic tests demonstrated that the weight of a loom weight defines what yarn to use and the thread density. The thickness of a loom weight, and thus the width of the row of loom weights hanging closely together, defines the width of a fabric and – together with the weight of the loom weight – the thread count and density of the fabric. This new knowledge provides the methodological framework for archaeologists to calculate textile production possibilities from any given loom weight, as long as the weight and thickness are preserved. Furthermore, it allows scholars to assess textile production on sites where no textiles are preserved.


Part I: Introduction and Basics. The expert's task. Part II: Practical Matters. Practical aspects of the forensic examination. Boundary issues in case preparation with attorneys. Fee agreements and finances in forensic practice: theoretical and empirical dimensions. Part III: Problem Areas in Attorney-Expert Relations. Attorneys' pressure on the expert witness: early warning signs of pressure and empirical study of endangered honesty and objectivity. The phantom expert: use of the expert's name without consent, or alleged testimony as a legal strategy. Part IV: Forensic Countertransference. Issues in forensic countertransference: early warning signs of compromised distance and objectivity. Part V: Problems With Depositions and Trial Testimony. Personal questions on cross-examination: a pilot study of expert witness attitudes. Telling tales out of court: experts' disclosures about opposing experts. Effects of the Daubert case on preparing psychiatric/psychological testimony for court. Part VI: Ethical Issues. Some ethical dilemmas. Epilogue. Suggested readings. Index.


mycorrhizal affinity. R s was measured bi-weekly to monthly for nearly one year using a custom chamber attached to a gas exchange system. R s varied over time, ranging from 0.3 to 12 µ mol m (cid:0) 2 s (cid:0) 1 . Comparable root systems of the same species were excised from the soil and specific root respiration rates ( R r ) were measured. R r ranged from 2.5 to 9.0 nmol g (cid:0) 1 s (cid:0) 1 and was negatively correlated with root tissue density and positively related to root tissue nitrogen concentration. Using R r to estimate R a, we estimate that R a accounts for < 10%, on average 2 – 3%, of R s for individual root systems (averaging 1.2 g dry biomass) housed in surrounding soil (average 1.3 kg dry mass) in situ ; thus, R a was roughly 20 times greater than R h per unit mass. The contribution of R a peaked in the fall and coincided with leaf senescence of the forest canopy. A soil-sterilizing experimental treatment designed to help isolate R a in situ reduced bacterial biomass and shifted fungal community composition, but there was no reduction in R s of the in-situ root-soil tray systems. The relative R a to R s ratio increased with root functional strategies characterized by greater specific root length and tip abundance, but also to greater root tissue density. The ratio of R a to R s also increased with warmer soil temperatures and decreased slightly with increasing soil moisture. We discuss how incorporating root functional traits as modulators of the autotrophic contribution to R s could be considered when modeling total soil CO 2 efflux from forests.


Minimizing energy dissipation and maximizing network lifetime are important issues in the design of applications and protocols for sensor networks. Energy-efficient sensor state planning consists in finding an optimal assignment of states to sensors in order to maximize network lifetime. For example, in area surveillance applications, only an optimal subset of sensors that fully covers the monitored area can be switched on while the other sensors are turned off. In this paper, we address the optimal planning of sensors' states in cluster-based sensor networks. Typically, any sensor can be turned on, turned off, or promoted cluster head, and a different power consumption level is associated with each of these states. We seek an energyoptimal enhancement to the network in such way that maximizes network lifetime while ensuring simultaneously full area coverage and sensor connectivity to cluster heads, the approach being used will be independent to the scenario.


Gemcitabine between 1-7 days (or a salt, prodrug or derivative that is described in the specification) dose range of about 50 mg / It was monitored over time by when the viral load monitoring viral rebound after pause. Therapy is not resumed unless a observed significant viral load again, between 1-7 days when observed, more preferably repeated treatment for 1-3 days. The treatment was monitored patient health may be continued indefinitely to maintain.


Using the QSPS (Quality System for the production software) for industrial projects and not only therefore, has led to accurate running of the production line from beginning of the SOP (Start of Production). This paper presents the application way of the QSPS at one of the strongest European automotive company. By using of this system several significant costs savings and quality improvement can be observed. The content of this paper will show step by step how to use QSPS for the integration of a production line in the traceability system from a big company in automotive industry. The production line involved contains 56 production equipments, which have to be passed trough by the product before being packet and deliver to the customer. The control of the line is done by this traceability system, so the impact of this system with the quality of the product is very high. The structure of this system contains 7 steps. All of these steps are followed and executed in each System (test, pilot and production environment).


Abstract This introduction to the special issue on Buddhism and law lays out an agenda for the socio-legal study of contemporary Buddhism. We identify lacunae in the current literature and call for further work on four themes: the relations between monastic legal practice and state law; the formations of Buddhist constitutionalism; Buddhist legal activism and Buddhist-interest litigation; and Buddhist moral critiques of law. We argue that this agenda is important for advancing Buddhist studies and for the comparative study of law and legal institutions.


BACKGROUND: Transcatheter repair of mitral regurgitation (MR) is less invasive than surgery, but has greater five-year mortality and re-intervention risks, as well as more limited functioning. The study objective was to quantify patient preferences for risk-benefit tradeoffs associated with transcatheter and surgical options for MR. METHODS: A discrete-choice experiment survey was administered to patients with MR recruited through a patient advocacy organization. Attributes (and levels) included: procedure type (transcatheter versus surgical); risk of 30-day mortality (2%, 5%, and 10%); risk of five-year mortality (20%, 30%, and 45%) and physical functioning for five years (corresponding to improvements from New York Heart Association [NYHA] class III to I or class III to II); number of hospitalizations (1, 4, and 8) in the next five years; and risk of additional surgery in the next five years (10%, 20%, and 30% or 40%). A mixed-logit regression model was fit to estimate preference weights. RESULTS: 201 individuals completed the survey: 63% were female; mean age was 74 years. On average, respondents preferred transcatheter repair over surgery. To undergo a less invasive procedure (i.e., transcatheter repair), respondents would accept up to a 13.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 8.7% to 18.5%) increase in re-intervention risk above a baseline of 10%, 4.6 (95% CI: 3.1 to 6.2) more hospitalizations above a baseline of one, a 9.3% (95% CI: 5.2% to 14.3%) increase in mortality risk above a baseline of 20%, or more limited physical functioning representing nearly one NYHA class (0.8, 95% CI: 0.5 to 1.3) over five years. CONCLUSIONS: Patients in general preferred a transcatheter procedure over surgery. When holding constant all other factors, a functional improvement from NYHA class III to class I maintained over five years would be needed, on average, for patients to prefer surgery over a transcatheter procedure.


As all contributors to this journal know, writing is hard work and effective scientific writing, in particular, requires knowledge, effort, discipline and experience. Most of us find putting all this together rather difficult, hence the ongoing demand for workshops and short courses at Sultan Qaboos University on writing academic and scientific papers. The fact that most scientific writing must be done in English, whereas most staff at SQU are not native English speakers, adds to the challenges.

Everyone who can identify with these statements will find this little book useful - it is clear, practical and to the point. Tim Albert has structured it as a short course consisting of several self-exercises. These exercises take the reader through a simple set of steps that develop a procedure for effective writing. The emphasis throughout is on brevity and clarity and the need to have a structured approached to writing. It is not a lesson in English. He points out that writing papers is primarily a craft that can be learnt, and not an art.

Albert starts by recognising that most of us find writing difficult and health workers, like everyone else, may often experience 'writer's block'. The various reasons for this are listed and the reader is guided to identify those impediments relevant to them. It is shown that some of these blocks to writing are just excuses and that most can easily be easily overcome!

The need to write from the perspective of the target audience is emphasised, i.e. to write to or for the intended reader. Bearing this in mind, Albert provides exercises to define or identify the five key elements that need to be clear in the mind of an author who wants to write a good paper: the central message to be conveyed, the target market, the desired length and format of the article, relevant deadlines, and the pay-off or desired end result. Identifying all these issues defines the brief of the writer.

A technique for sorting all the information that must go into a paper into a logical structure is to summarise the content in a diagram known as a Spidergram. This enables the writer to collate their thoughts and information, group them in a structured way, and visualise the complete layout of the paper. For a scientific paper that is to be published in a journal, for example, the four elements that revolve around the central message are the introduction (why), methods (how), results (what was found) and discussion (what does it mean), each with subsections. I believe most scientific writers will find this simple Spidergram a very useful tool.

When it comes to putting together the paper, emphasis is placed on the importance of paragraph structure and content. Simple rules are provided with methods to accomplish this and how this may vary for different kinds of article targeting different audiences.

The various stages of drafting are covered and the main elements of self-editing are placed in two categories: macro-editing and micro-editing. Macro-editing involves checking paragraph flows and the tone of the article to ensure that it is logical and appropriate. A useful method for checking the tone is provided by the so-called Gunning Fog test, which involves quantifying the average length of sentences and the use of excessively long words by using a simple index; high scores indicate writing that is complex and unwieldy.

Micro-editing is the tedious, but important process of reviewing all the details, attention to which is essential to make a polished manuscript. This includes checking: facts for accuracy, accidental omissions, grammar, spelling, punctuation, style and references. Layout, format and design are also important issues touched on, with examples.

Feedback and review by family, friends, colleagues, bosses and/or others before final submission is essential, but needs to be balanced in order to be constructive and helpful. The differences between appropriate and inappropriate, good and bad reviews, how to deal with them, and when to ignore them, accept them or otherwise, are touched on. Although feedback is necessary before a manuscript is submitted for formal review, not all feedback is useful. It can, if inappropriate or not handled properly, be destructive.

The book ends with a series of 16 appendices of useful, often humorous information and quotations. This book is not a course in English, but rather a set of techniques in the method of writing. Nevertheless, several useful tips on English use do emerge and the appendices cover many common English errors.

Write effectively is an easy read and can be skimmed through in an hour or so. Working through the exercises will take longer, but is recommended for anyone having difficulty in writing. If you regularly experience 'writer's block' you will find this a useful manual and a worthwhile addition to your bookshelf. I plan to incorporate several elements and exercises from Tim Albert's book into the workshops on writing scientific papers which the Deanship of Postgraduate Studies offers to SQU staff and postgraduate students. In particular, I will recommend to colleagues the Spidergram method for sorting information and the Gunning Fog test for assessing the tone of their writing.


A successful job environment is believed to be created when individual interests are put aside for the sake of obtaining mutual benefits. At this point, providing job satisfaction and organizational commitment is essential. The present research is conducted through the hypothesis that personality predicts these two factors and then seeks to reveal this effect. Big Five Personality Model and Transactional Analysis are used for evaluating the personality factor. The analysis is conducted across the data collected from 304 employees. The results suggest that there is a link between some dimensions of ego involvement and the dimensions of organizational commitment and that some dimensions are negatively associated. It is argued that some ego involvement dimensions and job satisfaction dimensions are negatively related while some other has a favorable relationship. Likewise some job satisfaction dimensions have prediction effect over organizational commitment dimensions. When the moderation is tested, respecting the interaction between variables, it is concluded that job satisfaction has a mediation effect over the relation between personality and organizational commitment


Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations solver based on a pressure-based cell-centered finite volume method was developed using OpenFOAM libraries, which was an open source and providing computational continuum mechanics libraries. For the reasonable development of the turbulent boundary layer on the bow of the ship, specified library was developed. Grid sensitivities, such as skewness and aspect ratio of a cell, were tested for the solution convergence. Pressure, turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent dissipation rate contours on the ship surface computed by the developed CFD code were compared with those computed by the commercial CFD code, Fluent.


We report on a possible cloud–cloud collision in the DR 21 region, which we found through molecular observations with the Nobeyama 45 m telescope. We mapped an area of ∼8′ × 12′ around the region with 20 molecular lines including the 12CO(J = 1–0) and 13CO(J = 1–0) emission lines, and 16 of them were significantly detected. Based on the 12CO and 13CO data, we found five distinct velocity components in the observed region, and we call the molecular gas associated with these components "−42,""−22," "−3," "9," and "17" km s−1 clouds, after their typical radial velocities. The −3 km s−1 cloud is the main filamentary cloud ($\sim 31000\, M_{\odot }$) associated with young massive stars such as DR21 and DR21(OH), and the 9 km s−1 cloud is a smaller cloud ($\sim 3400\, M_{\odot }$) which may be an extension of the W75 region in the north. The other clouds are much smaller. We found a clear anticorrelation in the distributions of the −3 and 9 km s−1 clouds, and detected faint 12CO emission which had intermediate velocities bridging the two clouds at their intersection. These facts strongly indicate that the two clouds are colliding against each other. In addition, we found that DR21 and DR21(OH) are located in the periphery of the densest part of the 9 km s−1 cloud, which is consistent with results of recent numerical simulations of cloud–cloud collisions. We therefore suggest that the −3 and 9 km s−1 clouds are colliding, and that the collision induced the massive star formation in the DR21 cloud. The interaction of the −3 and 9 km s−1 clouds was previously suggested by Dickel, Dickel, and Wilson (1978, ApJ, 223, 840), and our results strongly support their hypothesis of the interaction.


This study focused on the creativities of Playgroup teachers from PAUD Melati Ceria which had 54 students and PAUD Dewi Sartika which had 57 students. Generally those playgroup teachers came from sympathizers of PKK (Family-Welfare Program) who were not qualified teachers. According to researchers' survey, the learning used by the Playgroup teachers was still old-fashioned paradigm that made their students "dumadengar" (sitting quietly and listening) so the need for additional knowledge for the Playgroups teachers is needed. The formulation of the problems: 1) How to improve innovative learning for Playgroup students in the teaching and learning process? 2) What were the results of innovative learning for Playgroups students in the teaching and learning process? To overcome all the problems in Playgroup, the researchers took the following actions: 1) Adding knowledge about the Early Childhood Development. 2) Introducing learning models. 3) Providing knowledge about appropriate learning media. Some solutions were implemented: Providing training and assistance to principals and Playgroup teachers by holding workshops on: a) Childhood Development. b) Innovative Learning. c) Making media (props) d) Making syllabus and RKH. e) Introducing learning models f) Training in singing and music. Conclusion: Early childhood education is as a basis for instilling education. Children of such ages are quick to catch what has been given by their parents or teachers, very critical in responding to what is received. Then it needs some activities that stimulate the creativities of the Playgroup teachers and early childhood students.


Liquidity in government securities markets, despite their importance to both private and public agents, has received much attention in the literature only recently due to the fact that high-frequency data from trading in those markets were previously unavailable. This paper attempts to measure liquidity in the Electronic Secondary Market for Securities, where Greek government securities are traded, by estimating six different liquidity measures from high-frequency data. The most appropriate measures for this specific market are derived from the analysis and comparison of the obtained estimates. By any of the measures examined, the ten-year benchmark bond is the most liquid security. The bid-ask spread emerges as a good measure of liquidity for the pre euro area entry period, but looses part of its importance in the post euro area entry period of our sample. An interesting finding is that, in the Electronic Secondary Market for Securities, liquidity is only weakly related to price volatility, probably due to the specific structure of the government securities market in Greece. Therefore, trading activity is also found to be a good proxy of liquidity in this specific market.


In this paper, digital-intensive analog circuits suitable for nano-scale CMOS process are presented for highly-digitized RF receivers. Unlike conventional RF receivers that use voltage-domain analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), we review the use of time-domain ADCs that employ delay cells and flip-flops, such as voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)-based ADCs. Examples of VCO-based ADCs used in direct conversion receiver and direct RF sampling receiver will be presented, together with digital-intensive circuit techniques to implement high-order filtering. In addition, the techniques for the VCO nonlinearity is investigated.


Abstract:  It is difficult to reconstruct the hepatic venous outflow in LDLT for the case of BCS, especially when the thrombosis extends to the retro‐hepatic and supra‐hepatic vena cava. We reported on a technique of diamond‐shape venoplasty which successfully treated such a case. The venoplasty used autologous vein grafts to overcome the size discrepancy between the orifices of supra‐diaphragmatic inferior vena cava and hepatic vein of the liver graft.


Part 1 Melusine the Snake Goddess Chapter 2 Into the Garden, Melusine! The Tale in Byatt's Possession Chapter 3 The Aquatic Great Goddess Chapter 4 The Ophidian Goddess in Gylanic Times Part 5 Love and the Holy Marriage Chapter 6 The Meeting and Marriage of Melusine and Raimondin Chapter 7 Keats' Lamia in the CEvennes Chapter 8 Sexual Love in the Ancient Holy Marriage Chapter 9 The Goddess as Wife or Mother of God Part 10 Mother and Creation Chapter 11 The Creative Snake Goddess Chapter 12 From Creatrix to Monster Chapter 13 Mere Lucine, Echidna: Mother of Monsters Chapter 14 Serpent Goddess Atargatis and Queen Semiramis Part 15 The Curse and Death Chapter 16 The Prohibition of Melusine Resulting from Her Curse Chapter 17 Lilith, Medusa, and Scylla: Rapacious Females Chapter 18 Snake Under the Tree in Paradise: Asherah Suppressed


Summary.- The difficulties connected with the introduction of Superhiminal Lorentz transformations both as maps between frames of a single manifold and as maps between two manifolds are briefly discussed. It is suggested that fibre bundles with more than one canonical projection should be used. An example is given in which the bundle manifold is a Lie group.


In this paper we proposed an intonation prediction model for Mandarin TTS systems. Our model can output real pitch patterns by finding a suitable real pitch pattern from the training corpus. This method is a new experiment. The advantages of our model are as follows. (1) It can improve the naturalness of the synthesized speech. It gets higher scores in the subjective listening tests. (2) It has high accuracies. Average errors of 0.425 ms and 0.457 ms were obtained for the inside and outside tests, respectively. Pattern errors of 0.128 ms and 0.129 ms were obtained for the inside and outside tests, respectively. We found that the pattern error measurement method complies with human hearing. (3) The training corpus need not be very large. It can relieve the data sparsity problem.


Intrinsic galaxy shape and angular momentum alignments can arise in cosmological large-scale structure due to tidal interactions or galaxy formation processes. Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations have recently come of age as a tool to study these alignments and their contamination to weak gravitational lensing. We probe the redshift and luminosity evolution of intrinsic alignments in Horizon-AGN between z=0 and z=3 for galaxies with an r-band absolute magnitude of 1 Mpc. Alignments of discs are null in projection and consistent with current low redshift observations. The combination of the two populations yields an overall amplitude a factor of ~4 lower than observed alignments of luminous red galaxies with a steeper luminosity dependence. The restriction on accurate galaxy shapes implies that the galaxy population in the simulation is complete only to an r-band absolute magnitude of <-20. Higher resolution simulations will be necessary to avoid extrapolation of the intrinsic alignment predictions to the range of luminosities probed by future surveys.


The combustion behavior and thermochemical properties of two types of RDX-based composite propellants, XM39 and M43, are studied and compared in order to investigate the effect introduced by an energetic ingredient in the M43 propellant formulation. Due to the enhanced rate of heat release on the burning surface caused by the energetic material of M43 propellants, the burning rate of M43 propellants is found to be higher than that of XM39 propellants. The presence of the energetic material in the M43 propellant formulation also increases the burning surface temperature and thermal diffusivity of M43 propellants; it does not, however, introduce any observed changes in the flame structure and the heat feedback from the gas phase to the condensed phase. Based upon SEM pictures, burning-surface structures of the recovered XM39 and M43 propellant samples are found to be significantly different, indicating the strong effect of the energetic material on the surface reaction. A set of important thermochemical properties of XM39 and M43 propellants is deduced from the experimental data.


Computation of the current distribution of superconducting devices is an important topic in the understanding of the behavior of superconducting materials, in the development of their applications and in testing the quality of the materials. The most successful technique to measure the currents is based on mapping the magnetic field in the surface of the superconducting sample during or after a magnetization process. Models for solving the inverse problem have been developed based on different techniques. The inversion technique based on considering the currents as the result of a distribution of magnetic moments has been tested for many years in the description of the currents in bulks, giving a useful tool for their characterization, including junctions and porous samples. The restriction of this technique to closed loops of currents does not allow its application to the exploration of superconducting wires. Specific considerations developed for this technique have, however, allowed extension of the technique to the study of HTS tapes in a simple and fast way that can be applied to the exploration of long tapes to determine the current distribution 'on the fly'. In this work we report on the model and the procedure to perform the calculation of currents on tapes carrying current. The specific application to the detection of defects that do not affect the ability to carry current, such as longitudinally centered scratches, is experimentally tested. Details of the application of the method for long tapes are also reported.


LITH. stragus =SL. *strog ъ Summary Lith. stragus/stregus "severe, stern, cruel, strong, vigorous, angry, obstinate..." is an old Baltic word the equivalents of which in other IE languages seem to be Common Slavic *strog ъ "severe, cruel, strong...Э (Russian, Ukrainian строгий Belorussian строгi, Polish strogi, Czech, Slovak strohy etc.) and Middle High German strac (strack) "tight, taut, direct", Middle Low German strak (strack) "stiff, fixed, firm, raised; stubborn, headstrong" and Anglo-Saxon strec "stiff, numb, severe, rigorous, stern, strong". All these words probably belong to the IE root *(s)treg- "harden, become hard; hard, stiff..." the immediate continuants of which are attested in the East Baltic languages, cf. Lith. strėgti " harden, congeal, freeze", Latvian streģele, strēģele "icicle" etc. The change of meaning from "harden, become hard; hard, stiff..." to "severe, cruel, strong, rigorous, angry, obstinate..." can easily be explained (cf. Lat. rigidus "hard, stiff… rude, cruel, violent" and Lat. frīgus, -oris "frost; shudder, shiver", Gr. ρ  γος "frost; shudder, shiver"; Gr. στeρeός "hard, stiff, firm; obstinate; cruel" and Lith. star-inti "to make hard, stiff; stretch..." etc). Inspite of the fact that Latvian strieģele "icicle" has the same meaning as Latvian streģele, strēģele, it probably belongs to quite a different root and may be identified with Lat. frīgus, -oris "frost; shudder, shiver" and Gr. ρ  γος "frost; shudder, shiver" (<IE *srīgos~). Polish srogi "cruel, severe, violent...", Middle Bulgarian sragь "terrible, frightful, dreadful", Russian Church Slavonic срагъ "terrible, dreadful", Old Church Slavonic sraga "disease", Russian сорога "a gloomy, difficult man" must in all probability be distinguished from the two groups of words mentioned above and identified with Lith. sirgti "to be ill", sarginti, sargalioti "to be ailing, to be sickly" and Latvian sirgt ,,to be ill", serga "ilness, disease", srgalat "to be ailing".


The usage of literature as a communication mechanism aiming at hiding information is widely spread among modern Arab poets and authors. This is due to many reasons. The first reason is the fact that most Arabs live under the reign of dictatorships, and thus they have to hide information in order to survive. Another basic reason behind this phenomenon is that the highest communication pattern in the Arab-Islamic culture tends to use minimum amount of words and sentences, and hence it entails the process of hiding information. Communication as Hiding Information The hidden information within modern Arabic literature is the most accurate and important information about the Arab-Islamic culture. It is extremely dangerous to explicitly reveal this hidden information due to its importance and accuracy. Revealing the hidden information is equivalent to challenging the status quo, and challenging the status quo contradicts the communication paradigm adopted by the Arab-Islamic culture. Most Arabs and Muslims use communication in order to maintain the status quo and minimize change. This is so because in the Arab-Islamic culture change is bad and dangerous. And since most Arabs and Muslims use communication as a mechanism for maintaining the status quo and avoiding change, it is natural that modern Arabic literature tends to be a process of communication aiming at hiding information, especially important information which usually challenges the status quo. 1 Adjunct Professor of Arabic Language, Thunderbird School of Global Management. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com 134 International Journal of Language and Literature, Vol. 2(4), December 2014 In addition, using literature as a process of hiding information fits with the Arab-Islamic mind, which conceives "al-iajaaz" as the highest communication pattern. "Al-iajaaz" is the ability to express information through relying on minimum amount of words and sentences such that others are not able to do the same. Muslims believe that the Quran is "iajaaz". And on the basis of this belief they infer that the Quran is a divine revelation due to their belief that no human being can compose verses similar to those of the Quran. But "al-iajaaz" is a process of hiding information because of its usage of minimum amount of words and sentences. Thus, "al-iajaaz" is the ability to imply hidden information instead of explicitly expressing one's information. This shows that the usage of literature as a communication pattern aiming at hiding information fits with the Arab-Islamic mind which conceives "al-iajaaz" as the highest form of communication. A Homeland of Prisons and the Terror of Civilization The Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani successfully describes the current homeland of the Arabs through hiding information. He says in his poem "A Lesson in Drawing": "My son places his paint box in front of me / and asks me to draw a bird for him. / Into the color gray I dip the brush / and draw a square with locks and bars. / Astonishment fills his eyes: / "...But this is a prison, father, / don't you know, how to draw a bird?" / And I tell him: "son, forgive me. / I have forgotten the shapes of birds." These poetic verses transmit the information that the father has failed to draw a bird because he has forgotten the shapes of birds, rather he was successful in drawing a prison. Hence these verses imply that the father only knows how to draw prisons. But the poet did not explicitly explain why the father has forgotten the shapes of birds, and why he only knows how to draw a prison. And thus, the poet is hiding a huge amount of information. The hidden information, implied in the previous verses, is that there are no birds, i.e. no freedoms, in the Arab world, rather there are only prisons. And this is why the father was not able but to draw a prison instead of a bird. In this sense, the poet is using poetry as a communication process which aims to hide important information. In this poem, the poet is hiding the information that the Arab world became a prison instead of a homeland. Qabbani's previous poem continues to portray the failure of the father in every task his son is asking him to carry out.


Natural hazards pose particular problems to modern societies. The floods of summer 2002, recurrent earthquakes in Turkey and Japan and frequent hurricanes in the U.S. and Central America require intelligent risk management. One important element of such intelligent risk management is a functioning insurance system that devises a fair and efficient hazard management and is able to adapt to new situations. But what are sufficient conditions to insure these hazards? In most countries, coverage for natural hazards is provided exclusively by the state. Private insurance schemes play a negligible role. The market penetration as well as the attention for private solutions remains low (e.g. Kunreuther, 1978; Meier, 1988; Palm, 1995; SwissRe, 1998). In the recent debate, however, the greater suitability of private insurance schemes is emphasized (for floods see e.g. Kunreuther and Linnerooth, 2003). Private schemes are considered not only more efficient in handling hazard management than the administrative system but the increased burden of natural hazards cannot be shouldered by the state alone. Therefore discussing private schemes raises the question of how to combine the public and private approaches. Distinguishing between public and private refers to two basic concepts upon which flood management is based: compensation and protection. Compensation organizes flood management in a market-oriented approach that excludes fromprotection all personswho cannot buy coverage. This seems problematic from a political perspective. Protection, on the other hand, refers to a more inclusive state-run scheme, i.e. a scheme that does not discriminate according to available resources. Here the problem is that the public good of protection attracts free riders and triggers lax behaviour (moral hazard). Empirically we will not be able to observe the two approaches in their pure form. Rather, compensation and protection are interdependent approaches to floodmanagement. Therefore the definition of insurability depends on the institutionalized relationship between those two approaches. Their balance is negotiated among the main stakeholders: state, industry and sometimes also the insured. If private insurance schemes are more flexible and adaptive to change, their assessment of insurability might be more interesting to investigate than that produced by a state-run, politicized scheme. There are only a few countrieswhere the compensation of natural hazards


By 2050, over one fifth of the U.S. population will be age 65 or older [17], suggesting increased pressure on our societies to ensure that the needs of older adults are met. Not only are our societies aging, but technology has become pervasive in many of the processes upon which older individuals depend. An example of the impact that technology has had on older adults is the rise of governmental e-services. E-services have been defined as "interactive software-based information systems" that are accessed via the internet or through other forms of technology [7]. Examples of e-services that impact older individuals include the Help America Vote Act, which requires all states in the US to implement electronic voting by 2012 [8] and the digitalization of Medicare benefits [18]. However, research has demonstrated that older adults use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) less than younger adults suggesting that many older adults are not benefiting from these digitalized e-services [5, 11]. In the case of e-voting, are actually discouraged from voting when technology is used [14]. Several studies have examined e-services usage by the general population [6, 7], while other studies have examined the factors that influence older adult usage of ICTs [5, 11, 12]. Each of these studies implicates several different factors thought to affect usage, and it is unclear if these factors are related, or if some factors are antecedents of others. Additionally, in the e-services literature, there has been a concentration on exploring individual's intent to use e-services [6, 7], rather than their actual use. It is possible that for older adults, there are impacts that prevent those who intend to use a technology from doing so. This abstract proposes a study to understand the full array of factors affecting older adults usage of e-services, including how these factors are related. 1.1 Previous Research on Older Adults, ICTs, and E-Services Research relevant to the study of factors influencing e-service usage by older adults includes previous research on older adults and ICT usage and more general research focusing on adults of all ages that examines e-services usage. 1.1.1 Previous Research: Impacts on Older Adults'


Abstract:Chapter 98 of the king D. Duarte's moral treatise, Leal Conselheiro, recounts the good relations enjoyed by him and his siblings with their father, D. João I. When detached from the overall context, it reads as a somewhat rosy portrait of family harmony, appropriate to a panegyric of the Avis dynasty. However, when read within the coherent moral framework of the treatise, the chapter reveals a quasi-monastical striving towards obedience, humility and service on the part of D. Duarte, which may be traced in large part to the influence that John Cassian's writings had on his moral and spiritual development.


Background:  Fine needle aspiration (FNA) is an important adjuvant to the diagnosis of a palpable lesion which often permits the complete assessment of patients. The main objective of this study was to determine the clinical benefit of a dedicated FNA service at a tertiary referral Head and Neck Clinic and to assess if such a service is cost effective.


Aim: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) ‐9 and ‐2 degrade type‐IV collagen, a major constituent of lung basement membrane, and may have a role in the pathogenesis of neonatal chronic lung disease (CLD). We determined factors influencing MMP levels in neonatal bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid to establish whether an imbalance between MMP and its inhibitor could be implicated in CLD. Methods: We measured MMP‐9 and ‐2 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 (TIMP‐1) levels in 316 BAL fluid samples from 121 babies of gestational ages 23 to 42 wk over the first 14 d of life to determine effects of gestation and postnatal age. Median MMP‐9, ‐2, TIMP‐1 and MMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio in BAL were further studied in a subgroup of 85 babies >33 wk gestation to determine their ability to predict CLD and to establish effects of antenatal corticosteroid therapy (ANCS). Results: MMP‐9, ‐2 and TIMP levels did not vary with postnatal age over the first week. Median MMP‐9 levels and MMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio increased with decreasing gestation in preterm babies. The MMP‐9/TIMP‐1 ratio was higher in babies who developed CLD, implying a proteinase/antiproteinase imbalance, but this association disappeared when controlled for gestational age. ANCS had no effect on BAL fluid MMP or TIMP levels.


The conventional scaling rules for the optimal design of electric machines are best suited for naturally cooled machines with stator winding current densities less than 4A/mm2. In this paper, through a comprehensive sensitivity analysis, first, it is demonstrated that the correlations between some geometric variables and the performance metrics of interior permanent magnet (IPM) motors vary significantly with respect to the stator winding current density. For this purpose, three current densities are selected so as to approximately account for naturally cooled, fan-cooled and liquid-cooled machines. Subsequently, a parameterized IPM motor is optimized at these current densities through a large-scale design optimization algorithm by evaluating a total of 20,000 design candidates. The 100 best designs from each group are then identified and extracted to investigate the scaling rules for the optimal design of such IPM motors with different cooling systems. The outcomes of the study are in correspondence with the conventional design principles for naturally cooled machines. Nevertheless, it is illustrated that these rules vary for fan-cooled and liquid-cooled machines owing to the increased ampere loading, and also heavy saturation of the magnetic core in such machines. A configuration of a 50 hp, 48-slot, 8-pole IPM motor with a single-layer v-type magnet is used as the benchmark of this study.


Dielectric properties of Ba0.6Sr0.4TiO3 (BST) in a layered terfenol-D/BST/terfenol-D system were investigated. Dielectric properties of the BST layer can be adjusted by magnetostrictive strain of terfenol-D layers under applied magnetic fields. Our results show that the small-signal dielectric constant of BST can be tuned ranging from about 2300 to 4000 by a small magnetic field. By adjusting the relative layer thickness ratio, a more broad adjustable dielectric constant and tunability of BST layer can be designed, which may have potential applications in sensitive multifunctional devices and microwave devices.


In accordance with the pure carbon black formula,solution polymerized styrene-butadiene rubber(SSBR,grade 2557-A) and emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber(ESBR,grade 1712) were applied to crown rubbers of all-steel and semi-steel radial tires seperately,their application results were compared,and the acceptable crown rubber formula of SSBR 2557-A was achieved.The all-steel and semi-steel radial tires were trial-produced,and their performances were tested.The results showed that compared to ESBR 1712 all-steel crown vulcanizate,the tensile strength,modulus at 100% and 300%,abrasion resistance(Akron),compression heat built-up as well as the balance between wet skid resistance and rolling resistance of the equivalent SSBR 2557-A crown vulcanizate increased,but abrasion resistance(DIN) decreased.And compared to ESBR 1712 semi-stell crown vulcanizate,the equivalent SSBR 2557-A also improved semi-steel crown vulcanizate in skid resistance without changing any other performances.The trial tire based on SSBR 2557-A all-steel crown rubber formula passed endurance test,and the tire based on SSBR 2557-A semi-steel crown rubber formula met the national standard in outer dia,strength,unseating resistance,high-speed performance and durability,in addition,it had substantial high wet skid resistance and noise performance.


The high suspended(siamesed) structure of the East Time Square in Wuxi is supported with suspended steel pipe frame.Being simple,flexiable and easy to erect,the support has not only ensured the construction schedule but also been used as scaffold for the exterior wall,and reduced material tiling-up on site,being beneficial to the construction civilization.


Plant Science
Plants that are fighting microbial pathogens often divert resources that could be used for growth into the immune response. For crops, this translates into lower yield when plant immunity is activated. Wang et al. show that, in rice, reversible phosphorylation of a key transcription factor allows the plant to defend against fungal attack when needed but then, within days, reallocate resources back to growth (see the Perspective by Greene and Dong). Thus, both pathogen defense and crop yield can be sustained.

Science , this issue p. [1026][1]; see also p. [976][2]

 [1]: /lookup/volpage/361/1026?iss=6406
 [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aau9065


Wediscuss channel acquisition andtracking inthe uplink ofa multi-carrier code-division multiple-access (MC- CDMA)system. Channel acquisition isperformed jointly with noise powerestimation following twodifferent approaches. The first assumes independently faded subcarriers while thesecond exploits thefading correlation across thesignal bandwidth to improve thesystem performance. Bothschemes arebasedon maximumlikelihood (ML)reasoning andexploit sometraining blocks carrying knownsymbols. Channel tracking ispursued through least-mean square(LMS)techniques, using datade- cisions provided bya partial parallel interference cancellation (PPIC) receiver.


The paper considers three control-system-synthesis methods in which optimisation techniques are used to design controllers that make the closed-loop system behave like a specified ideal system or model. The necessary background theory is summarised, and the techniques of real and implicit model-following are discussed, especially their practical and computational aspects. A simpler algebraic form of the implicit-model-following performance criterion is presented. It is shown that, provided certain conditions are satisfied, this formulation yields a control law that is easily computed, unique, and useful in practical problems.


Machine learning techniques have had great success in fault diagnosis. However, the traditional machine learning methods rely heavily on manual priori knowledge leading to poor fault diagnosis results in rolling bearing fault diagnosis. Deep learning techniques can improve the accuracy of fault intelligent diagnosis with the help of automatic extraction of fault features. In this article, a method of smart fault diagnosis for rolling bearings based on depth-separable convolutional block (DSCB)-non-local feature awareness module (NFAM) is proposed. Firstly, a DSCB is constructed, which can reduce the number of parameters and effectively alleviate the gradient disappearance phenomenon. Then a NFAM is constructed to enhance the global sensing ability while adaptively adjusting the weight of each channel. Further, a feature extraction layer is constructed to extend the fault feature of the input information. Finally, a feature pyramid approach is used to fuse the extracted information for output. The validity of the suggested method is tested on both of the bearing datasets. By comparing with several mainstream intelligent diagnosis algorithms, the results of the experiments show that the proposed method has better advancement under complex conditions such as variable load and variable noise.


Abstract : The nature of most biomass materials is a low bulk density as compared to traditional fuel sources. ?High handling cost could be a limiting factor in utilizing biomass feedstock. ?Understanding available harvesting machinery systems and associated costs is critical to future implementation.? Four popular harvesting machinery systems were studied and costs were analyzed based on field measurements and calculations. ?These four systems included (1) round baling and round bale handling systems, (2) large square baling and square bale handling systems, (3) forage harvester and trucking systems, and (4) large square baling plus square bale compression systems. ?Results indicated that a self-loading forage wagon can reduce the cost to harvest a crop but requires more harvest time.? Large square bales were found to reduce cost of handling and transport as compared to round bales.? Further research is needed to determine storage costs and deterioration loss of the two bale types.? Compressed square bales were found to reduce storage, handling and transport costs.? Compressed bale machinery has a high initial cost, which currently makes only valuable for hay export. Keywords: harvesting machinery system, herbaceous biomass, field, cost DOI: 10.3965/j.issn.1934-6344.2011.03.058-068 ? Citation: Douglas Brownell, Jude Liu. ?Field test and cost analysis of four harvesting options for herbaceous biomass handling. ?Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2011; 4(3): 58