Components can be used to implement coarse-grained parallelism on large parallel systems. A parallel component is a piece of parallel code that can be executed in parallel on a set of processors or cores and has a predefined interface to be coupled with other components. Depending on the internal programming and memory model, a component may consist of computation and communication phases or, alternatively, of shared memory code. The interfaces are used for data exchange. More complex parallel programs are built up using parallel components and a flexible component interaction structure.

In this article, the programming with parallel components for designing efficient programs for parallel execution platforms with a distributed address space is discussed and a mechanism for the specification of parallel components with communication interfaces is presented. The execution of these components can be adapted to the architectural characteristics of multicore clusters with their specific communication structure. The approach is applied to application programs for the solution of large systems of ordinary differential equations.


Sugarcane bagasse ash (SBA) is a supplementary material widely used around the world for improving mechanical and durability properties of concrete. Main aim of this study was to examine the potential of SBA for controlling alkali‐silica reaction (ASR) in concrete incorporating reactive aggregates. SBA and reactive aggregates were acquired from local industry and quarry. Mortar bar specimens were cast to investigate various dosages of SBA (i.e., 10, 20, 30, and 40% by cement weight) for mitigating the alkali‐silica reactivity expansion as per ASTM C1260. Petrography analysis of aggregates revealed the presence of deleterious minerals, which are prone to ASR. Strength activity index and thermal analysis results confirmed the pozzolanic activity of SBA. Mortar bar results showed 20 and 40% decrease in ASR expansion for specimens incorporating 10 and 40% of SBA by cement weight, respectively. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy analysis showed no sign of cracks due to ASR for specimens incorporating SBA. The improved behavior of specimens with SBA addition was due to alkali absorption and dilution process leading to low CaO/SiO2 ratio, confirmed through energy disperse X‐ray spectroscopy. Therefore, it can be envisioned that full‐scale implementation of SBA addition in concrete mixtures could mitigate land filling of this by‐product and lead toward the development of eco‐friendly and sustainable technique for controlling the ASR associated damages in concrete structures.


Drawing is a representative human cognitive ability and may mirror cognitive characteristics including those associated with psychiatric symptoms. Therefore, analysis of drawing data collected from various populations such as healthy people and psychiatric patients may be beneficial for better understanding human cognition. However, collecting such large-scale data about the relationship between drawing and cognitive/personality traits offline—in a laboratory—is a difficult issue. To overcome this issue, we devised a novel experimental paradigm involving a goal-directed drawing task conducted online—on the eb—with participants recruited via a crowdsourcing platform. With the assistance of 1155 participants with differing levels of psychiatric symptoms, we collected a total of 194,040 trajectory data and answers to seven different self-report psychiatric symptom questionnaires comprising 181 items. We visualized the collected trajectory data and performed an exploratory factor analysis on the correlation matrix of the psychiatric symptom questionnaire items. Our results suggest that there were associations between psychiatric symptoms represented by specific psychiatric factors and atypical behavior observed while performing the goal-directed drawing task. This indicates the efficacy of a dimensional approach to large-scale online experiments with respect to clinical psychiatry.


A new device is introduced to solve the problem existing in grating displacement transducers i.e.that the traditional simulative subdivision method involves complex structures and easily disturbed.CPLD chips have been used to design a new subdivision module and Verilog HDL used to realize modules of four sub-frequency,direction judgment and counting.It has been proved that the new design method is of shorter development cycle,highly integrated,modular,and easily revise.


The path integral formulation of quantum mechanics constructs the propagator by evaluating the action S for all classical paths in coordinate space. A corresponding momentum path integral may also be defined through Fourier transforms in the endpoints. Although these momentum path integrals are especially simple for several special cases, no one has, to my knowledge, ever formally constructed them from all classical paths in momentum space. I show that this is possible because there exists another classical mechanics based on an alternate classical action R. Hamilton's Canonical equations result from a variational principle in both S and R. S uses fixed beginning and ending spatial points while R uses fixed beginning and ending momentum points. This alternative action's classical mechanics also includes a Hamilton-Jacobi equation. I also present some important points concerning the beginning and ending conditions on the action necessary to apply a Canonical transformation. These properties explain the failure of the Canonical transformation in the phase space path integral. It follows that a path integral may be constructed from classical position paths using S in the coordinate representation or from classical momentum paths using R in the momentum representation. Several example calculations are presented that illustrate the simplifications and practical advantages made possible by this broader view of the path integral. In particular, the normalized amplitude for a free particle is found without using the Schrodinger equation, the internal spin degree of freedom is simply and naturally derived, and the simple harmonic oscillator is calculated.


In this article, we propose a model of optimal insurance pricing and investment strategies, in which the insurance price, investment returns and insured losses are assumed to be correlated stochastic processes. The investment portfolio discussed in this paper contains more than one risky assets following multi-Vasicek model with time-varying correlation. To solve the optimal investment problem, we take into account the demand of insurance contracts which impacts the price of the contracts; the utility is a performance process for a specific time; we determine dynamical optimal price of an insurance contract and the optimal investment portfolio of an insurer simultaneously by maximizing the performance of the insurer. We carry out numerical analysis with an example. The results show that the Treasury Bill, generally considered as a risk-free asset, is examined to follow the similar pattern as other risky assets in terms of volatility/mean ratio; multi-Vasicek model is an appropriate model to describe the change pattern of the return of risky assets in the investment. We analyze the sensitivity of the change in important parameters of the optimal solutions. It is worth noticing that the equally weighted investment portfolio is proved to be an optimal investment strategy under some conditions; the proposed model in this paper can be used to obtain optimal solutions easily in the situation of multi-dimensional investment portfolio.


The features of linear and nonlinear propagation of light beams in one-dimensional photorefractive photonic superlattices in bulk lithium niobate and in planar waveguides on this material are experimentally studied. The superlattices are optically induced in bulk samples and in planar waveguides using two-beam holographic recording method and optical projection scheme with coherent and incoherent light sources.


The calculation concerns the following three parameters; the duration of irradiation, time elapsed between the end of the irradiation and the radioactivity measurement, and duration of the activity measurement. The calculation is carried out in two different ways thus either sensitivity or maximum precision can be obtained. The optimum values of the studied variables are plotted against the simple parameter in the cases when the ground noise is produced by a single component and the radioactivity originates from one isotope. The values of the variables corresponding to the optimum, about 10% precision and sensitivity, are also given. These values make possible to reduce significantly the time required for the analysis. (auth)


As the limitation of energy of wireless sensor network node an ant colony algorithm is introduced.We construct a chain with ant colony algorithm,select the node with most energy as the leader,transmits information between neighbor nodes.The result of simulation shows it gets remarkable improving against PEGASIS,prolonging nodes' life period,and balancing energy consumption between nodes.


In this paper, we extend the partition theory developed by Hartmanis and Stearns for synchronous sequential circuits to asynchronous sequential circuits. A method which utilizes the concept of partition pairs to obtain single transition time asynchronous state assignments with reduced dependence is presented. Parallel and serial decompositions of asynchronous sequential circuits are also considered. Single transition time and multiple transition time serial decompositions are discussed and procedures for obtaining such decompositions are presented.


Artificial Potential Fields (APFs) are widely used in many areas of robotics, mainly due to their simplicity and computational efficiency, but they suffer from several inherent limitations and have many unresolved issues. The oscillation problem greatly limits the use of APFs for high speed mobile robots. In this thesis, we introduce Modified Newton's Method (MNM) into APFs and show that the oscillation problem can be eliminated or greatly reduced by using this technique.
Another difficulty in applying APFs is the lack of a potential model that can accurately represent an arbitrary shape. Most of the existing potential models restrict the shape of objects to some particular geometries, which limits the application of the proposed method and can obstruct the goal or the path to the goal. This drawback becomes more pronounced when we apply APFs to haptic rendering for minimally invasive surgery. In this thesis, we propose a new potential model based on generalized sigmoid functions that can accurately represent a large class of shapes.
New difficulties arise when we apply APFs to multi-robot path planning. One major challenge is to bridge the high-level task planning and the low-level path planning and integrate them into one framework. In this thesis, we propose a framework for a cooperative multi-robot team. By combining an intelligent agent architecture, a potential field-based hybrid navigation scheme and a built-in reconfiguration mechanism into one framework, the proposed architecture allows a robot team to allocate tasks among team members independent of human supervision and to accomplish a wide range of navigation tasks.
Finally, we present a geometric transformation-based algorithm for avoiding moving obstacles. Our approach has low computational cost and is guaranteed to find the optimal solution if it exists. Algorithms are validated through simulation and experiments.


In this paper,the energy consumptions of 22 hospital buildings in Tianjin were firstly investigated,the average value was 348.5 kWh/(m2·a).Secondly,according to the baseline determine method of CDM,four kinds of static baseline scenarios and the dynamic baseline were proposed based on the investigation information.Thirdly,by analyzing the relationships of different baselines,the average energy consumptions and carbon emission levels of the investigated hospital buildings in 2010 were recommended as the baseline scenario.For general hospital buildings,the energy consumption baseline was 381.2 kWh/(m2·a)and the carbon emission baseline was 157.29 kgCO2/(m2·a),while for the specialist hospital buildings,the values were of 309.3 kWh/(m2·a)and 130.46 kgCO2/(m2·a),respectively.


The energy costs Of various domestic and agricultural activities were measured by indirect calorimetry in 56 women, 16-49 years old, from a small rural village. Meen energy expenditures (kcal/ kg/min) were 0.021 - 0.035 for fourteen activities ("light occupations"),0.038 - 0.064 for thirteen ('~oderately active" occUPations) and 0.072 - 0.089 for four ("very active" occupations). There were no differences pe~kg of weight between pregnant, lactating and no~-pregnant, non-laCtating women. The results were compared with other studies and welghted averages were calculated. The values reported can be used in combination with measurements of time to estimate energy exg~nditure in time-motion studies. KEY WORpS: energy expenditure; rural population; task performance; time and motion studies; women.


A family of models of thin discs and spheroidal haloes with ma sses in a linear relationship is presented. The models are obtained by considering the gra vitational potential as the superposition of two independent components, a potential genera ted by the thin galactic disc and a potential generated by the spheroidal halo. The models lead to an expression for the circular velocity that can be adjusted very accurately to the observe d rotation curves of some specific galaxies, in such a way that the models are stable against rad ial an vertical perturbations. Two particular models for galaxies NGC4389 and UGC6969 are obta ined by adjusting the circular velocity with data taken from the recent paper by Verheijen & Sancici (2001). The values of the halo mass, the disc mass and the total mass for these two ga laxies are computed in such a way that we obtain a very narrow interval of values for these quantities. Furthermore, the values of masses here obtained are in perfect agreement with the expected order of magnitude and with the relative order of magnitude between the halo mas s and the disc mass.


Report presenting an analysis of the flow conditions downstream of a cascade of turbine rotor blades at critical and supercritical pressure ratios. Five theoretical methods are compared with an experimental method using the conservation-of-momentum principle and static-pressure surveys as well as schileren photographs of the flow downstream of the blades. Results regarding static-pressure surveys and schileren photographs are provided.


The optimal inventory control of tools and components in manufacturing systems plays an important role in the success of sustainable operation from financial and ecologic point of view. This study discusses an inventory control method, which is based on the transformation of investment of inventory into annual order cost or vice versa. The study presents the mathematical model of the exchange curve model for tools and components in the case of economic order quantity inventory strategy. The described methodology makes it possible to optimise available purchasing strategies for tools and components. The approach was tested with a scenario analysis, where different parameters of the purchasing process including inventory related constraints were taken into consideration. The computational results validated the exchange curve based inventory control methodology and showed that the inventory strategy can be improved with cost transformation Practical implications of the proposed model and method regard the possibility of finding optimal inventory policies that can affect the operation costs of manufacturing systems.


This paper deals with the development of 3-phase line-start permanent magnet motor used to the submersible pumps. LSPM motor has similar characteristics such as the synchronous machine in the continuous mode. Also, LSPM motor is not required the specific drive hardware. LSPM motor can be applied instead of the induction motor and it can achieve a high-efficiency characteristic. In this paper, we discussed the design and analysis for 11kW LSPM motor. And, a formula was developed for the maximum torque calculation method in LSPM.


Plug connection (2) for transmission of electric power, with a plug (4) extending in a plugging direction (S) along a longitudinal axis (L) and a first insulating base (8), and with a bushing (6) comprises the first base surface (8) complementarily shaped second insulating base (14), wherein the transmission of electric power within the respective base (8, 14), wherein the base areas (8, 14) each at least partially inclined (to the longitudinal axis L) extend and wherein (on the plug 4) and (on the bushing 6) each have at least one magnetic element (26) mounted in such a manner is that a magnetic force acts during joining and in the inserted state, characterized in that the base surfaces (8 , 16) each having a number of recesses (9) in which electrical contacts (10, 16, 36, 38) are used for the transmission of electrical power, that at least one of the K ONTACT (10, 16) is formed for contacting in the radial direction, and in that the at least one contact (10, 16) is designed as a spring ring.


The purpose of this study is to describe the developmental benefits emerging from the theoretical approach variation theory of learning, and the implementation of learning study in preschool. An educator specialized in educating children with special needs participates in a project aiming to enhance mathematics teaching. The analysis of the professional development takes a phenomenographic approach, discerning the educator's experiences of learning study. Analysis of a deep-interview and videographic observations of three learning sessions shows expanding confidence in the educator's profession, as well as improving educational practice. The learning study's key aspects as means to enhance educational professionality are the opportunity to reflect upon the object of learning, children's competence, educational practice, and interaction taking place within the educational practice.


When fluids and molecular solutions are subjected to electric fields various optical properties undergo a change. Although the best known effect is that of electric birefringence (the Kerr effect), other electro-optical phenomena such as scattering, optical rotation, dichroism and fluorescence all exist and have been used to study macromolecules. A brief account is given of representative electro-optical effects and how they can be measured and used for molecular characterisation. In recent years interest has been growing in the use of such electro-optical phenomena as possible optoelectronics switch and device phenomena.


By the 1870's the coastal area of Sierra Leone had become a full blown settler frontier enclave and center of western learning in West Africa. Both people of African descent who had been living in the West and people autochtonous to Africa had come to Sierra Leone in five separate groups. In 1787 about four hundred of the "Black Poor" arrived with the support of English philanthropists and the British government as the first free immigrants; for Lord Mansfield's court dictum had freed them from slavery in England in 1772. The next group, about 1,131 ex-slave "Nova Scotians", who fought on the side of the British in the American War for Independence, willingly returned in 1792 to settle under the auspices of the Sierra Leone Company. Eight years later, the same Company transported to Sierra Leone five hundred Maroons of Jamaica, who had been defeated and involuntarily removed to Nova Scotia. After the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in 1808, Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, became not only a Crown Colony but also an entrepot for the settlement of slaves recaptured from ships that were trafficking in human cargo in violation of the antislave trade law.2 Within this category a revisionist study3 describes a group previously unrecognized: Recaptives indigenous to Sierra Leone proper estimated conservatively at some 6,000. The Yoruba wars of the nineteenth century produced the fifth and final group of Recaptives. About 84,000 of this latter group were repatriated between 1808-1864.


A 25-year-old male presented with visual loss in the right eye for 20 days and best-corrected visual acuity of counting fingers in the right eye and 20/20 in the left eye. The anterior chamber (AC) had old keratic precipitates, no AC reaction, dense vitritis, active multifocal retinochoroiditis, and retinal vascular sheathing in all quadrants. The left eye showed sheathed blood vessels with chorioretinal atrophy [Fig. 1].

Figure 1

(a) Color fundus montage of the right eye shows vitritis, vascular sheathing, and retinochoroidal infiltrates. (b) Enlarged view of multifocal retinochoroidal infiltrates with vitreous exudates in the right eye. (c) Color fundus montage of left eye showing ...

The regular bacteriologic and viral investigations on the aqueous and vitreous samples were negative. ELISA for HIV 1 and 2 was positive. Rapid plasma regain (RPR) was reactive at a dilution of >1:32, and Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA) was positive at more than 1:1280 dilution [Table 1].

Table 1

Investigations carried out and their results

The patient was started on tapering dose of oral steroids (1 mg/kg/day), antiretroviral therapy (tenofovir 300 mg, lamivudine 300 mg, and efavirenz 600 mg once daily). Intramuscular penicillin was administered for 3 weeks (2.4 million units every week).

After 2 months, visual acuity improved to 20/30, and vitreous inflammation cleared leaving behind retinal pigment epithelium mottling [Fig. 2].

Figure 2

Color fundus montage picture of the right eye showing resolution of vitritis and retinochoroiditis with retinal pigment epithelium mottling 2 months following initiation of treatment


Most instances of AC employ some distributed form of store, in which the virtual shared store can be characterized as the least upper bound of the local stores. This is the case with dataaow-like message passing systems 2], distributed implementations of concurrent logic languages 14, 33, 13], and distributed implementations of shared virtual memory 16]. Our treatment should be extended to handle this case in the abstract setting, which requires composing transition systems over diierent domains. We expect that some of the results in this paper can be extended to such a setup. For example, in such a model one can distinguish between committed and non-committed output, and hence apply techniques of optimistic recovery 31, 30]. Similarly, our snapshot algorithm should be extended to checkpoint each component of the store independently, making it closer in spirit to the algorithm of Chandy and Lamport 5]. An application of games to the completeness problem for formalized theories Fund. program. An example of a program that is not locally deterministic is merge, shown above. We show below a transformation V that makes the nondeterminism of any CC program visible. The transformation ensures that nondeterministic choices are recorded in the store. The following theorem claims that if we hide the choice variable then T P and T V(P) are trace-equivalent. The transformation can be improved if some procedures are deterministic. A deterministic procedure need not record its choices, just pass the choice variables to the procedures it calls. If the program's call graph has a connected component consisting of deterministic procedures, then calls to such procedures need not pass a choice variable, hence procedures in such a component need not be transformed at all. Merge is in some sense the worst case example for the transformation, since it does very little computation per choice. Nevertheless, even for merge, the overhead of the transformation is acceptable. We have compared the two programs on the Logix system 29]. The transformation increases the runtime of merge by about 50%, and doubles its storage consumption (since the choices list is just as large as the output list). Replaying the transformed merge program with the output given as input is about 25% slower than the original run. A guarded clause, or clause for short, has the form A :-ask : tell | body, where A is a simple atom, body is a conjunction of atoms and ask and tell …


The principal goals and design concepts of the Advanced Expander Test Bed (AETB) program are briefly reviewed. The AETB is planned as the focal point for the development and demonstration of high-performance oxygen/hydrogen engine technology and advanced component technology for the next space engine. The engine will operate at pressures up to 1200 psia over a wide range of conditions, easily accommodating mission-focused components. The discussion covers design requirements, design approach, conceptual design, the AETB cycle, and the AETB control system.


Our previous research examined the polyelectrolyte behaviour of pectin networks and the role of charged residues in influencing the crosslinking and swelling behaviour of the network in water. In addition to inorganic cations, organic polycations such as poly-L-lysine, chitosan, and fragments of the cell wall protein extensin can also crosslink pectin networks. Our current research is examining how these interactions can be used to assemble novel network structures. Using surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microblance with dissipation monitoring and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total reflection, we are examining the assembly of pectin networks at surfaces and their interaction with proteins and enzymes including polygalacturonase and pectin methyl esterase. We find that network hydration is sensitive to the action of pectin methyl esterase and this in turn aects its susceptibility to hydrolysis by polygalacturonase. The outcomes of the research will be discussed in the context of both our current understanding of cell wall behaviour and the potential industrial usefulness of these assembled structures.


Since around 2003, the number and extent of studies into accounting history and religion has increased significantly from their prior scarcity. This growing interest in the junction of accounting, religion and theology recognizes the social and economic importance of belief systems and religious institutions. Yet, publications are unevenly distributed, with a focus on a micro-perspective – analysing the manner in which accounting is practised within organizations. Few studies take a macro-perspective to consider how religion influenced (or potentially could influence) accounting outside of religious institutions. The purpose of this article is to review the contributions in the last three decades, to highlight the topics that remain relatively unexplored, and thus to encourage more research into accounting history and religion. Opportunities for extending knowledge include: comparative studies, studies of countries, people and faiths that have been left largely unexplored, and studies from theologians concerning key concepts (such as ethics) which impact academic understandings, as well as the practical application, of accounting.


 Table 3 summarizes the results of the 17 articles screened and reviewed. 6 articles found that IGF-1R expression was associated with better prognosis, 9 articles found that IGF1R was associated with poor prognosis, 1 found that decreased expression was associated with better prognosis, and 3 articles found no association between expression and prognosis. Table 3: Association of IGF-1R with prognosis


With the continuation of linear system of extension in animal husbandry, the importance of extension messages becomes paramount. The whole of the idea of improvement in animal husbandry largely depends on the effective delivery of such extension messages. Keeping this in view, the present study was conducted on 190 livestock owners from four districts in Haryana state and the data was collected from them by holding personal interview during the year 2013. A multistage random sampling technique was followed to select the respondents. A well structured pre-tested interview schedule was developed for this purpose. A majority of respondents perceived extension messages conveyed by the field veterinarian as 'effective' followed by 'less effective'. Only a small percentage considered these messages as 'very effective'. A higher percentage of younger farmers considered messages as 'less effective' reflecting a hunger for more appropriate and innovative messages. Education did not seem to have influenced the respondent's perception. Dependence on peers was observed on the lower side. Half of the respondents with higher annual income perceived messages as very effective with very few of them from low income category agreeing to this. Mass media exposure and perception scores were related but much less significantly. Further studies to analyse the mass media and farmers communication behaviour are advised. Need to critically evaluate the role of local staff is also emphasized.The value of coefficient of multiple determinants (R 2 ) indicated that all the seven independent variables explained 68.30 % variation towards communication effectiveness of messages.


A presumption is an evidentiary device which enables the trier of fact to assume the existence of one fact upon proof of another. 1 The use of a presumption as a method of proof in a criminal trial may in some cases violate the accused's constitutional rights. This potential is particularly dangerous where the presumption enables the jury to conclude without proof the existence of an essential element of a crime which the prosecution is required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. 2 In Sandstrom v. Montana, 3 the United States Supreme Court examined a trial court's instruction to a jury that "the law presumes that a person intends the ordinary consequences of his voluntary acts." ' 4 The 1. "Generally speaking, presumptions involve a relationship between one fact or set of facts-the basic fact(s)-and another fact or set of facts-the presumed fact(s). Basic facts imply presumed facts, the strength of the implication varying with the [nature of the] presumption. Where a presumption exists, certain advantages usually accrue to a party proving the basic fact which would not accrue absent the presumption." R. LEM-PERT & S. SALTZBURG, A MODERN APPROACH TO EVIDENCE 803 (2d ed. 1982). The nature of presumptions vary, depending on their wording. Some "presumptions" allow, but do not require, the trier of fact to infer the existence of the presumed fact upon sufficient proof of the basic fact. Such a "presumption" is really not a presumption at all, but, rather, a permissive inference. Other presumptions, referred to as rebuttable presumptions , require the trier of fact to find the existence of the presumed fact upon proof of the basic fact, unless the adverse party can prove the presumed fact false. Conclusive presumptions mandate that the trier of fact conclusively find the existence of the presumed fact upon proof of the basic fact. Id. at 803-20. Presumptions are created both by courts and by statute. Often their aim is to produce socially desirable results in certain situations where, although there is a lack of competent evidence to prove so, it is common knowledge that one fact would likely have followed from another. For example, in some jurisdictions the mailing of a properly stamped and addressed letter raises a presumption that the letter was received by the addressee; in some jurisdictions, the birth of a child to a married woman separated from her husband raises a presumption that the …


to better understand performance differences between PV technologies and locations to identify the impact of the environmental and operating conditions without complex modelling The performance ratio (PR) has been used to compare PV daily performance, but it does not provide enough information to understand the variability between modules and locations. Complex modelling tools predicting the instantaneous production of the PV module provide additional insights on energy rating if the module reference data set is available [1]. A PV test platform, commissioned on the island of Maui in February 2016, has been used to conduct a side-by-side comparison of 10 different PV modules. A new energy rating analysis is proposed to elucidate the performance differences between PV modules without complex modelling.


The traditional method of market segmentation is hardly adapting to the nowadays market state and depicting the consumer mental and behavior characteristics.So this paper first creatively combines the consumer sensitivity with brand emotion to construct the new market segmentation model,of which the consumer sensitivity includes the brand sensitivity and price sensitivity,brand emotion includes the truly emotion and due emotion.The model segments the marketing to four types of "identity project、value project、relationship project and benefit project" based on the targeted value.The paper gives the definitions and constructive marketing measures,which have a essential significance for the marketing and management of enterprise.


Force's inquiry into representation of minorities on petit juries call into question whether Nebraska juries are representative of their communities. This concern has prompted several statewide policy reforms that are designed to increase representation of minorities on juries regardless of whether there has been a problem in the State. The first reform involved regular refreshing of jury pool lists (LB 19 and LB 402). A second reform will provide insight into whether there actually is a problem: It provides the authority to conduct an analysis of the jury compilation process to determine to what extent (if any) minorities are structurally excluded from serving on juries (LB 105). These efforts are intended to address both the possibility of an actual problem and the fact that Nebraska's minorities have less faith in the justice system and are more likely to perceive that minorities are underrepresented on juries. It was the concern about the trust and confidence in the system that prompted the Minority and Justice Implementation Committee to conduct at statewide campaign to promote jury service by everyone in Nebraska, with a special focus on, the state's most diverse communities.


A novel etching technique using vaporized KOH to reveal various types of dislocations from the C-face of 4H-SiC has been proposed. Three different pit geometries have been observed, which can be attributed to three dislocation types commonly found in 4H-SiC. Pit positions on the Si-face and C-face have been compared to study the dislocation propagation behaviors across the sample thickness. Activation energy EA=49 kcal/mol has been obtained, indicating a surface-reaction-dominant process. This etching technique has provided an effective and inexpensive method of making inch-scale mapping of dislocation distribution for C-face epitaxial and bulky 4H-SiC.


The rapidly evolving nature of technology and the ease of access to all students to internet driven programs has seen a major shift in the ways schools engage students in learning. This has seen a movement towards the creation of flexible learning spaces to accommodate new pedagogies (Oblinger, 2006). Consequently, the new learning environments that students find themselves in today are also the same new environments that teachers are working in. The paper offers insight into one school's alignment of innovation in teaching and learning in the creation of a flexible learning environment for both students and teachers. It illustrates how a job embedded PD program (Kelleher, 2003) or "learning in context" (Fullan, 2002) was orchestrated to foster 'whole of school' teacher professional learning on improving teacher practice. Although only in its early stages, anecdotal data suggests the crafting of professional development within the workplace, promotes an authentic, meaningful and relevant approach to teacher learning yielding beneficial results for both student and teacher.


Network and numerical analysis of permeation through a membrane under non-stationary, stationary, and pseudo-stationary conditions is described. A compartmentalized membrane system (feed solution|membrane|stripping solution) was represented by a linear network of capacitances, diffusion, and sorption/desorption graphs. Reticulation degree of diffusion layers sufficient for quantitative modeling of the diffusion through a homogeneous membrane was estimated. It was found that for membranes of the thickness from 0.001 cm to 0.1 cm and the diffusion coefficients from 1 × 10−7 cm2 s−1 to 1 × 10−5 cm2 s−1, the membrane (or other diffusion layer) partition into ten slices leads to simulated time lags and stationary fluxes differing from the theoretical ones by less than 0.5 % and 1 %, respectively. Extended model with two unstirred interfacial layers and the feed and stripping solution of finite volumes was applied to characterize the effects caused by possible membrane heterogeneity.


This report describes the conditions under which hydrogen/deuterium lasers occur and show how this leads to a plausible explanation for their existence.


Veneer is the critical raw material for manufacturing man-made board products, therefore the quality of the veneer determines the level of the man-made board. However, defects in the veneer may significantly lower its grade. Currently, identifying veneer defects requires manual inspection and subsequent inpainting using a veneer digging machine. Unfortunately, this method only removes the defects of the veneer but ignore the consistency of its texture. To address this issue, we propose a feasible veneer defect reconstruction method that utilizes a texture-aware-multiscale-GAN architecture. Our method performs texture reconstruction of veneer defects to increase the texture information of the reconstructed image while improving the model efficiency, so that generates natural-looking textures in the reconstructed defect areas. The model is trained by end-to-end updating of four cascades of efficient generators and discriminators. We also employed a loss function based on local binary patterns (LBP) to ensure that the restored images contain sufficient texture information. Finally, region normalization is used in the model to enhance the accuracy of the model. Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Structural Similarity Index (SSIM) are used to evaluate the effectiveness of image restoration, the results show that PSNR of the method reacheds 35.32 and SSIM reaches 0.971. By minimizing the difference between the generated texture and that of the original image, our model produces high-quality results.


In the Amazon region, the cassava cultivation has great social and economic importance because its production is source of food for traditional population and income for small farmers. The cassava farmer fields are results of the tradition and the preference of consumption and represent the genetic variability of many characters related to the mode of use and the quality of cassava root. The identification of genotypes to generate improved clones has been supported by germplasm conservation, evaluation and molecular characterization. SSR (Simple Sequence Repeat) markers has proved to be a consistent method for the the characterization of cassava germplasm. In this work, twelve groups of manioc accessions with same common name from the Active Germplasm Bank (AGB) of Embrapa Western Amazon were evaluated using ten SSR loci. The genetic diversity parameters estimated for the groups defined by accessions common names were high. The results obtained in the AMOVA showed that more genetic variation was found within groups defined by common names (94%) than among them (6%). The analyzes indicated that there is high genetic diversity within the groups of cassava varieties with the sames names, suggesting that the nomenclature used by farmers to discriminate local cassava varieties is complex.


The human rights school holds that the true meaning of the rule of law is that the Government abides by the law.The school demands a constitution,provides the Government's jurisdiction and restricts the government's action,which directs its attacks against the Kuomintang's autocracy.However,the attempt of the human rights school to make the Kuomintang respect the rule of law is tantamount to killing a tiger for its hide —— it is doomed to failure.


Based on the concept of Friedrich Schiller's Bildung, this article starts from the premise thataesthetical judgements shape the subject of the judgement. Developing an aesthetical canonmeans also the construction of the subject. The canonical choices of the Marxist philosopher,Georg Lukacs, are on the one hand acts of self-fashioning, and on the other, acts of shaping theideal historical subject of the working class. The article distinguishes three ways of canon-making by Lukacs. First, the traditional canon of realism makes the proletariat an inheritor ofthe bourgeois art of the nineteenth century. Second, the revolutionary way of canon-makingstates that the working class has to be a strict critic of bourgeois art. In the first model the art ofthe proletariat has to follow, to reach and to overcome bourgeois art whereas in the other, it hasto free itself from it. There is a third way, an "ascetic" way of making a canon. Ascetic criticaljudgement can be described as a combination of elements from both revolutionary andtraditionalist practices. Its core is the rejection of bourgeois art in the awareness that the new,proletarian era has not overcome the old one yet. This last way is closely related to theintellectual path of those communist intellectuals who — like Lukacs — came from a wealthybourgeois family, and by "converting" to bolshevism and leaving behind their class renouncedthe economic and cultural advantages of it for the sake of a proletarian future.


The maximal in vitro activity of key enzymes of energy metabolism was determined in heart from three Amazonian teleosts, matrincha (Brycon cephalus), acara acu (Astronaotus ocellatus) and tambaqui (Collossoma macropomum), as well as an elasmobranch, the fresh-water stingray (Potamotrygon hystrix). All species are obligate water breathers. Hearts of Amazonian teleosts have activity levels of the glycolytic enzymes hexokinase (HK), phosphofructokinase (PFG), pyruvate kinase (PK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) similar to north temperate and Antarctic species when comparisons are made within the usual body temperature range. In contrast, activity level of enzymes required for aerobic oxidation of fatty acids, citrate synthase (CS), carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT), and 3-hydroxyacyl CoA dehydrogenase (HOAD) were all substantially lower in the Amazonian teleosts compared to other teleosts. The enzyme profile suggests that 1) activity levels of enzymes of carbohydrate metabolism are conserved over a wide range of body temperatures, and 2) Amazonian teleosts have a much greater reliance upon anaerobic metabolism from glucose than aerobic metabolism to sustain energy production. The heart of fresh-water stingray has high levels of CS, HK, PFK, and PK, implying an aerobic metabolism which is glucose based. In contrast to marine elasmobranchs, the fresh-water stingray has detectable levels of CPT and HOAD, suggestive of a capacity for low-level fatty acid catabolism. As such, the inability of muscle of marine elasmobranchs to utilize fatty acids as an energy source may not be common feature of all elasmobranchs. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.


A laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry method has been constructed based on metal oxide particles for analysis of small nutrients in milk sample. Owing to the desirable structural parameters and efficient laser desorption/ionization performance, our method offers high sensitivity ~pmol, low sample consumption down to 10 nL, and facile sample preparation for practical use. This work makes solid contributions to minimisation of biobank and easy sample treatment in clinics towards advanced nutrition study.


T H E Foster Home Bureau, New York Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, set up in the fall of 1936 a small, experimental nursery school for a selected group of children who had been placed in foster homes by the agency. This plan was a departure from the usual philosophy of the agency-that children placed in foster homes should live as members of the community and use community facilities in the same way that other children do-and grew primarily out of the limitations in facilities for the preschool child and particularly the lack of facilities for the child who presented overt emotional difficulties. Beyond supplementing the limitations in facilities, the nursery school was set up with three possible goals: First, to see how the needs of children living in foster homes and presenting difficulties in their adjustment might be met in the group situation presented by the nursery school set-up. Second, to learn what value the use of a nursery school might have to a foster parent, from the point of view both of the education of the foster parent and of the assistance to the foster family in having some of the child's needs met outside the home. Third, to afford the case workers on the staff an opportunity for developing increased awareness of the developmental problems of children of this particular age level and the way in which these. problems can be handled by a group experience.


The present invention relates to air freshening unit (1) for a vehicle, comprising a container for perfume (3) (2) for fresh air and a means (1) mounted to the ventilation slot in the interior of a vehicle holding means (4) on the means for perfume (3) of the container (2) provided with at least one opening (7, 8), said holding means (4) comprises at least one clamping element (6). Said at least one clamping element (6) made of elastic material, has an oval or circular cross-section and so constructed that it can remain attached to the vehicle ventilation slots.


Background: The ability to provide selfcare is a fundamental requisite for childbearing women to maintain and improve health during the postpartum period. Promoting women's self-care during postpartum is part of the nursing care process in the gravid-puerperal cycle. Objectives: To evaluate nurses-midwifes' knowledge about Sexual Intercourse and Contraception, Danger Signs, and Complications,self-care postpartum for primipara women with cesarean section; to determine the effectiveness of the educational program on knowledge for nurses-midwifes'; and to identify the relationship between nurses-midwifes knowledge about postnatal self-care and their demographic, variables ( age and education). Methodology: Quasi-experimental study design. Non-probability (purposive) sample consists of (60 nursemidwife) their work at surgical ward in hospital. The sample was exposed to pretest, educational training program, posttest (1and 2). A pilot-study is conducted to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed through the use of SPSS (24). Result: Nurse-midwives' knowledge was poor in pretest; while in posttest was good after implementation the educational program. The intervention highly effective on nurse-midwives' knowledge evidenced by high significance at p-value=0.001. It is clear out of descriptive the noticeable increasing of mean score on nursesmidwives' knowledge in post-test 1 and 2 that indicate the effectiveness of educational program; and there is strong positive relationship between knowledge with nurse-midwives' age and level of education at p-value= 0.001. Conclusion: The education program was effective in increasing nurse-midwives' knowledge regarding Sexual Intercourse and Contraception, Danger Signs, and Complications self-care for primiparawomen with cesarean section. Recommendations: Prenatal and postnatal childbirth education should be improved by giving priority to it, improving nurse/ midwife knowledgeregarding self-care for primipara women with cesarean section and activation of their role as educator in routine prenatal and postnatal.


From Every People and Nation, a collaboration of New Testament scholars and theologians, brings together a wide diversity of cultural interpretations of the Book of Revelation for today. The origins and purposes of the volume are explained in an extended preface by the editor, David Rhoads. The volume embodies key proceedings from the conference of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in the spring of 2001, entitled 'The Bible in a Multicultural Context: Reading the Book of Revelation from Your Place.' The number and range of contributors was expanded, however, from the original number at the conference to provide a wider engagement from different worlds, cultures and genders such that it builds up to the ten contributors currently residing and teaching in the United States and Canada. As the subtitle indicates, the present volume emerges from a particular and unifying focus in mind – that is, reading Revelation in a cross-cultural perspective. The volume is mostly tied to the model for reading the Bible with others, seeking to address a diverse cultural reality in biblical interpretation and discern its ethical and religious ramifications. According to Rhoads, reading from one's own time and space can be highly rewarding, insofar as it empowers people 'to clarify their own cultural location and thereby find their distinctive voice in reading and interpreting the Bible' (2). For the most part, the commentators seek to disclose their own contexts and the native cultures from which they read the Bible and to reveal the significance of aspects of the biblical text that readers in other worlds have often taken for granted or overlooked. By reading with others from diverse social locations, readers should be able to learn from them and in so doing to be transformed in the process. The volume compares and contrasts the differing ways people make sense of the same biblical book, undertaking both comparative and transformative explorations. It is comparative because such engagement acknowledges a multiplicity of readings which does not confront readers with an 'imperative' objectivity. The reading model not only brings to light readings from other cultures BOOK REVIEW


Motion-compensated temporal filtering (MCTF) based lifting implementations of various discrete wavelet transforms have recently gained a lot of interest due to their good performance in energy compaction and their ability to provide various scalability features. Although all the existing MCTF schemes are based on the wavelet transform, in this paper, we propose a temporal filter framework based on the discrete cosine transform (DCT) which is an extension of our motion compensated DCT temporal filter (MCDCT-TF). In the current work, in addition to the two-band and three-band temporal decomposition structures employed in the MCDCT-TF technique, a longer tap filter (5/3 DCT) is utilized to improve the compression gain further. Simulation results show that a three-dimensional hybrid 3D subband/DCT codec with longer tap DCT filters yields a significant improvement over our earlier 3/2 MCDCT-TF, Haar, and 5/3 wavelet filters.


This study aims to investigate the changing nature of trade and trade performance in Hong Kong and the long-run relations of trade/trade components with output growth. The industrial structural adjustment of the Hong Kong economy as fostered by the evolving nature of trade is also discussed. Research findings showed that the evolving trade in Hong Kong from conventional entrepot to domestic export-led dominance and to re-export or outward-processing dominance has great significance on output growth. Export trade and output growth are related in the long run by trade components. Trading businesses have been enlarged towards the domain of manufacturing management and/or diversified 'trade derivatives'. A new dimension to 'trade' traditionally perceived by economists could be added by allowing the contributions of 'unconventional re-exports' and 'trade derivatives'.


Every part of coconut commodity can be useful. Coconut wood is a part of coconut trunk that is widely used as building materials, furniture products, souvenirs or fuel. Although coconut wood is useful, but most people are still difficult to recognize kind of shape or texture model of a good quality coconut wood. The method used to test the quality of conventional coconut wood still relies on the compressive test model. This study is directed to determine the quality of coconut wood by modeling the relationship between visualization of wood surface texture and the results of compressive strength testing. Samples of coconut wood in this research are taken from a variety of ages, the location of the trunk and the outer part and the inside of coconut wood. Coconut wood samples used contain less than 20% moisture content, then taken digital images. By using the Fuzzy C-Mean method for the two-measurement data, forming 3 centers of coconut wood quality cluster, from the results of this clustering it is concluded that coconut wood with high bundle density also has a high compressive quality value, bundle density above 30.83% classified as wood superior type coconut. Meanwhile, bundle density of less than


This study focuses attention on the typical biodegradable polymer, PHB (poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) ) using Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction in combination. The study shows research into the crystalline structure and thermal behavior of PHB, culminating in confirmation of C-H...O=C interaction in the PHB crystalline structure for the fi rst time. The C-H...O=C interaction is one of the famous "Weak Hydrogen Bond" situations that have gained much attention recently. We studied the variation of intensity and temperature by considering the slight shift and intensity change between the C-H stretching vibration band and C=O stretching vibration band. For the band analysis, second order derivative and differential spectra were fully applied. Results of quantum chemistry calculation were also taken into consideration. From the stretching vibration band wavenumbers of C-H and C=O, we have investigated the intensity of C-H...O=C hydrogen bond, and researched how the hydrogen bond started breaking along with the temperature rise brought about by intensity change. The C-H...O=C hydrogen bond is said to stabilize the crystal structure by combining two polymer chains each of which has a helical structure. We confi rmed the crucial role of C-H...O=C interaction toward the unique "folded" structure of the PHB molecule chain, the crystalline structure stabilization, and the high copolymer crystallization.


Abstract A polyester urethane elastomer is blended with rigid poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) and the miscibility of the components studied over the entire range of compositions. The polyurethane elastomer was a block copolymer with a low degree of crystallinity, while PVC was practically amorphous. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermomechanical analysis (TMA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) methods showed that polyester urethanes were partially miscible with PVC since two distinct glass transitions, which changed with the change of concentration of components, were observed. Although the PVC content was varied from 0–100%, the aim of the work was to examine if PVC at low concentrations would form fibrils in the urethane matrix and act as a reinforcing agent for the polyurethane elastomer. The morphology of the blends was studied by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray scattering. The blends were then spun into fibers to force the dispersed phase to elongate and form fibrils (draw ratio was ...


Field sampling was done from a farmer's field in Paharpur Salinity Control and Reclamation Project (SCARP) area in Dera Ismail Khan district, North West Frontier Province of Pakistan at a regular grid spacing of 14 m × 14 m. Surface samples (0–0.25 m) thus collected were analysed for soil pH, electrolyte conductivity and gypsum requirement. These data were used to develop a management strategy of using variable rates of gypsum for reclamation purposes. Statistical analysis of the data showed that electrolyte conductivity and gypsum requirement had a very high coefficient of variation. Application of geostaistics to these data showed that all the three measured soil properties were spatially distributed in the field. Semivariograms for soil pH were described using linear model while spherical model was the best for fitting EC and GR data. The range of influence for the omni directional semi variograms was about 31 m for EC and about 51 m for GR. GR was found as the best criterion for dividing the field into difftrent management zones. The field was divided into three management units based on this criterion for reclamation purposes.


Cassava is a tuber crop originating in South America and grown in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world. Cassava use varies significantly by region. In Africa, cassava is primarily grown for food; no continent depends as much on root and tuber crops in feeding its population as does Africa. The cassava value chain is one of the fast growing value chains in Kumasi, Ghana. The raw cassava is produced by farmers in and around Kumasi and its being brought to the market where the marketing and buying takes place and other products made from it. The overall objective of this study is to conduct a cassava value chains analysis in Kumasi, Ghana. The outcome of this study will contribute to the development of a strategic plan to improve the productivity and competitiveness of cassava to the benefit of all the chain actors.


High purify oleuropein (81.04% OL) was hydrolyzed by hemicellulase and phenols was existed in the ethyl acetate extract of enzymatic hydrolysate (EAE). The results presented that there were hydroxytyrosol (HT), tyrosol, caffeic acid, 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3,4-dihydroxy phenylacetic acid in EAE by HPLC, and HT content was 19.36%. Antioxidant activities (DPPH radical scavenging capacity) were all added as the samples concentration increased, and dose-effect relationships also existed. HT possessed the highest DPPH radical scavenging capacity, followed by Vc, and eugenol, OL, caffeic acid, 3,4-dihydroxy phenylacetic acid and 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid.


Experiments for the determination of mono‐, di and tri‐butyltin (MBT, DBT and TBT) by hydride generation/gas chromatography/atomic absorption spectrometry in various matrices (sediment, suspended matter, mussel, algae and water) have revealed that poor butyltin recoveries are obtained in sediments displaying high sulphur and hydrocarbon contents; very poor recoveries were also observed for TBT in sediments with high chlorophyll pigment contents as well as in algal samples. It was however not clear whether the hydride generatin was inhibited by these infering compounds, as was previously assumed in the case of hydrocarbons, or whether interferences affected the atomization rate. Further studies were performed to solve this problem in order to validate this method in the case of analyses of, for example, oil‐contaminated sediment and algae. This paper presents the results obtained. It is concluded here that the poor recoveries were due to an inhibition of hydride generation rather than to interference at the atomization stage. Copyright © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The concept of coherent structures or coherent excitations has important consequences when applied to condensed matter systems. Spatially or temporally coherent structures appear in many nonlinear extended systems. Such structures usually can be characterized by marked particle-like properties. In the past few years, these notions have become fundamental for understanding many problems and their implications extend over different fields of the physics of continuous and discrete systems. Josephson-junction (JJ) arrays are a very well example of an experimental system where such type of structures appear. Examples are vortices, kinks and discrete breathers. This article is an introduction to the physics of these excitations with special attention given to the study of discrete breather (DB) solutions. In section 2, we will introduce the main aspects of the physics of single


Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems are currently receiving considerable interest. However, as experience with P2P networks shows, the selfish behaviors of peers may lead to serious problems of P2P network, such as free-riding and white-washing. In order to solve these problems, there are increasing considerations on reputation system design in the study of P2P networks. Most of the existing works is concerning probabilistic estimation or social networks to evaluate the trustworthiness for a peer to others. However, these models can not be efficient all the time. In this paper, our aim is to provide a general mechanism that can maximize P2P networks social welfare in a way of Vickrey-Clarke-Groves family, while assuming every peer in P2P networks is rational and selfish, which means they only concern about their own outcome. This mechanism has some desirable properties using an O(n) algorithm: (1) incentive compatibility, every peer truly report its connection type; (2) individually rationality; and (3) fully decentralized, we design a multiple-principal multiple-agent model, concerning about the service provider and service requester individually.


A tripodal architecture 1—based on a tetraphenylmethane core bearing three phthalocyanine arms and a fullerene arm—has been realized en route towards a novel electron donor–acceptor conjugate that reveals long range electron transfer activity.


To date, paper-based examinations are still in use worldwide on all levels of education levels (e.g. secondary, tertiary levels). However, literature regarding off-line automatic assessment systems employing off-line handwriting recognition is not numerous. This paper proposes an off-line automatic assessment system employing a hybrid feature extraction technique - a newly proposed Modified Direction and Gaussian Grid Feature (MDGGF), along with its enhanced technique. In this study other original feature extraction techniques, together with their enhanced features, were also used for feature extraction technique efficiency comparison purposes. Classifiers, namely artificial neural networks and support vector machines, were selected to be employed in the experiments. Two types of datasets were employed in the experiment for both feature extraction technique accuracy and efficiency comparisons. The best correctly recognised rate of 98.33% with 100% accuracy was obtained when employing the proposed MDGGF to the off-line automatic assessment system.


Reports on the examination and analysis of the De Lucy stone effigy (ca. 1350) in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection. Pigment, media, and paint layer analysis were carried out with Josephine Darrah at the Victoria and Albert Museum Conservation Department and at the National Gallery with Jenny Pilc. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as chemical testing, were used to identify the stone. Sound velocity tests relevant to measuring stiffness were done with Rob Marsden at the Rock Mechanics Laboratory of the Imperial College. Results and comparisons are discussed. -- AATA


Cognitive radio networks sets priority for users to provide improved QoS for primary users. In most cognitive radio networks the primary user is assigned highest priority for communication. This causes the secondary user to wait for communication. Hence, alternative methods employ for secondary user to make transmit data on channel reserved for primary users. The secondary users sense free channels by spectrum sensing mechanism. In this paper, Heuristic Greedy algorithm (GA) and Lion optimization algorithm (LOA) apply for efficient channel utilization to improve QoS. In GA algorithm, the spectrum is shared between primary and secondary users on a time basis. In LOA, the primary and secondary users share spectrum information with each other. The GA and LOA algorithm apply in hardware testbed to evaluate comparative QoS analysis in terms of power consumption, delay and bandwidth. The analysis show LOA algorithm provide better QoS compared to GA algorithm.


Synchronization on the sphere is important to certain control applications in swarm robotics. Of recent interest is the Lohe model, which generalizes the Kuramoto model from the circle to the sphere. The Lohe model is mainly studied in mathematical physics as a toy model of quantum synchronization. The model makes few assumptions, wherefore it is well-suited to represent a swarm. Previous work on this model has focused on the cases of complete and acyclic networks or the homogeneous case where all oscillator frequencies are equal. This paper concerns the case of heterogeneous oscillators connected by a non-trivial network. We show that any undesired equilibrium is exponentially unstable if the frequencies satisfy a given bound. This property can also be interpreted as a robustness result for small model perturbations of the homogeneous case with zero frequencies. As such, the Lohe model is a good choice for control applications in swarm robotics.


Optical metasurfaces have attracted growing attention in plasmonic structural color in recent years due to their supreme performance in display and imaging technologies. However, real‐life applications of optical metasurfaces so far are often hindered by their complex, expensive, and time‐consuming nanofabrication methods, as well as sophisticated optical measurement systems. Herein, a flexible metasurface filter, based on periodic gold nanorods, capable of changing the output color by simple rotation of a linear polarizer is proposed and demonstrated. This phenomenon is enabled by switching of resonance plasmons in the gold nanorods with the polarization of incident light. Subsequent rotation of the input polarizer leads to an output of two distinct colors and their combinations. Moreover, metasurfaces consisting of Au nanorods with different orientations are integrated into a single flexible substrate. Information can be therefore encoded into the orientations of Au nanorods and readily decoded with the color of the metasurface under polarized illumination of white light‐emitting diode without complex optical components.


within the Church. Thus, while the writings of Mgr Bigirumwami were received with enthusiasm by the 'partisans du statu quo social et des theses de l'aristocratie tutsi', those of Mgr Perraudin (e.g. lettre pastorale de careme, 1959) recognised the existence of 'des inegalites entre ces races traditionnelles du Rwanda' (p. 436), which he considered irreconcilable with the 'norms of a sane society' (p. 439). However, despite such differences, Kalibwami maintains that 'globalement, l'Eglise, le catholicisme, fut pour le changement de societe que reclaimait le mouvement hutu' (p. 446). In the lead-up to independence Kalibwami covers: the debates within the 'Conseil superieur' on the Hutu-Tutsi problem, which resulted in deadlock; the death of Mutara III, surrounded by serious incidents, a tumultuous burial and the spectacular appointment to the throne of Kigeri V (July 1959); the creation of Rwanda's first political parties, with their ethnic and regional orientations; the civil war which started in November 1959 after the major parties had clashed; the communal elections and the constitution of a provisional Rwandan government. The author here is at pains to get the record straight about the incidents that led to the civil war. Pointing out that, among the numerous chiefs and sub-chiefs who were attacked by and/or fled the pro-democracy crowds, there were 'culprits' as well as responsible leaders, Kalibwami argues that it would be wrong to treat them all as enemies of the people (p. 483). Such wise words are very appropriate in the light of current political developments in Rwanda. Another tradition Kalibwami aims to break with is the scholarly tendency which confounds Rwanda's history with that of the Nyiginya dynasty. This precludes a dynamic view of the past. What is needed, the author argues, is 'de tres longues recherches au Rwanda et en dehors du Rwanda, interroger longement les representants de chaque clan et disposer de sources equilibres qui ne refletent pas avant tout le point de vue d'un parti' (p. 357). Although this position is basically sound, it is somewhat surprising that he claims that none of the non-central regions of Rwanda has been studied. In contrast to his insights into how the Church developed internally, Kalibwami seems less well informed on academic matters when suggesting—as is highlighted on the back cover of the book—that recent social science work on Rwandan history is still stuck in the 'vision "ethnologiste,"' which characterised functionalist social science research. Correctly, he argues that 'Les Rwandais doivent desormais faire eux-memes leur propre histoire', but he turns a blind eye to historical research in Rwanda during the 1970s and 1980s when he discusses the method of historical materialism (with its focus on the interconnectedness of social, cultural, economic, political and religious institutions) as if he were the first analyst to apply an integrated framework to the history of Rwanda. It is rather astonishing that work by Claudine Vidal is mentioned in the bibliography but not discussed, while research by Catherine and David Newbury, who published in English and French, remains ignored. Generally, the book provides a useful synthesis on Catholicism and society in Rwanda, but contains fewer original insights than claimed. Nevertheless, and much to the author's credit, it is the first major publication by a Rwandan who treats Rwandan society in its totality and Catholicism as both institution and system of thought.


Aluminum nitrate and yttrium nitrate as raw materials for electrophoretic deposition,Yttrium stabilized zirconia(YSZ) was added during preparation of sol-gel,and the composite coating with alumina and zirconia was prepared using electrophoretic deposition and hot-press techniques on the surface of 32Cr2MoV steel.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) was used to exam the coating and interface morphology.The phase of composite coating was characterized by X-ray diffraction.The influence of composite coating on the substrate at a temperature of 900 ℃ in air was analyzed using thermal cyclic oxidation.Results show that a compact coating on 32Cr2MoV steel can be obtained by electrophoretic deposition and hot-press techniques.The composite coating is mainly composed of outer α-Al2O3 and ZrO2,middle iron oxides coating and inner iron molybdenum chromium oxides coating that protect the substrate not to be oxidized by thermal cyclic oxidation at 900 ℃ so quickly compared with steel without any coating.


Multivariate analysis is the simultaneous comparison of three or more variables in order to determine the significance of their likenesses and differences. The technique has been in use for some thirteen years, but no simple account of the method has hitherto been available. An illustrative example from invertebrate paleontology is here used, but the method is applicable to any problem in geology involving several quantitatively known variables. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to quantitative methods in both geology and paleontology. One result of this trend has been an increased interest in statistical analysis, particularly that part of the discipline which deals with tests for the significance of the likeness and differences between two samples (or collections). These tests have, however, been rather slow in gaining acceptance and for a variety of reasons. Most of these reasons are not germane to the issue, but there is one, rather poorly defined, which seems to have been effective. There seems to have been an almost subconscious realization that the usual tests of significance involve only one, or at the most two, variables, whereas geological problems usually involve several variables. A more extended discussion of this phase of the problem will be found in the paper on quantitative methods by Burma (1948). A short summary will serve here. A comparison of a single variable between two samples is readily effected by comparing their means (Simpson and Roe, 1939; pp. 192-197, 210-212). For certain simple problems, such a comparison is adequate. A better comparison of two samples may be made on the basis of two variables, provided that these variables show a notable amount of correlation as will be found to be the case in the great majority of problems. This can readily be accomplished by computing the regression line of one variable on the other for each sample, and then comparing the two regression lines (Simpson and Roe, 1939; pp. 262-280). Both the above methods ignore the fact that much geological data, and particularly paleontological data, involves several variables and that the characteristics of a given specimen depend not on characters A, and B, and C, but on characters A, B and C considered together and simultaneously. We are usually interested in comparing objects as a whole, and not characters as such. Since the methods discussed above will not make a comparison of more than two characters simultaneously, it is obvious that they will be inadequate in such cases. Such a comparison would have to involve a comparison of the mutual regressions of several characters simultaneously. The problem of handling multiple regressions was successfully solved by Hotelling in 1931 (Hotelling, 1931). The first person to use this method in the solution of a practical problem seems to have been M. M. Barnard, who applied it to a study of four series of Egyptian skulls (Barnard, 1935). It has been used by others since that time, but still is not widely known. Simpson and Roe's "Quantitative Zoology" which treats other statistical methods for biological data with some thoroughness, does not mention this method. Multivariate analysis is treated in a number of more advanced works on statistics (e.g., Fisher, 1946; pp. 285-289) but in these books the method is presented in a way which is not usable to a person without advanced mathematical background. In essence, the method may be pictured thus: If we are dealing with one variable, we may use the value of this variable as a coordinate and plot the variable onto a line,


In this study, the fauna of diurnal and nocturnal Lepidoptera which are active day and night has been investigated in the east of the Mediterranean region of Turkey, Osmaniye province. Field studies were carried out during the years 2006-2008. By using sweep net and light traps a total of 407 specimens of butterflies and moths were collected from six different localities for this study. These specimens belong to 56 diurnal and 31 nocturnal species distributed in 14 families. The distribution of species, according to families, is as follows: Zygaenidae, 2; Hesperiidae, 5; Nymphalidae, 21; Papilionidae, 1; Pieridae, 11; Lycaenidae, 13; Crambidae, 2; Pyralidae, 1; Drepanoidae, 1; Lasiocampidae, 1; Sphingidae, 1; Geometridae, 10; Erebidae, 9 and Noctuidae, 9. The evaluation of literature revealed that all of the butterflies and moths species determined in this study are newly recorded for the Lepidoptera fauna of Zorkun plateau in the Osmaniye province.


Acknowledgments Abbreviations and Tables 1.Slave Freedom: An Introduction 2.Those "Perverse" Slaves 3.Questioning Running Away 4.Instructing the Enslaved 5.Enslaved and in School 6.The Anglican Mandate 7.Colonization of the Church 8.Slave Laws and Amelioration 9.Amelioration, War, and Individual Freedom 10.Conclusion Bibliography Index


Isolated attosecond pulses with a duration of 88 as are generated in the spectral range of 29–72 eV using double optical gating technique. The gate width is set to be shorter than half the optical cycle to avoid carrier envelop phase stabilization of the 4.2 fs driving laser pulses centered at 800 nm. The attosecond pulse duration is measured with the technique of frequency resolved optical gating for complete reconstruction of attosecond bursts.


The transmission of coherent optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) traffic over optical-code-based optical packet switching (OPS) network has been proposed and successfully demonstrated in experiment. Full function of the OPS node has been successfully demonstrated in the experiment with coherent OCDMA traffic. Hybrid using planar lightwave circuit and superstructured fiber Bragg grating en/decoder for packet label and OCDMA payload encoding/decoding has been verified as well. Error free (<10-12) transmissions have been achieved for 10 Gbps and 40 Gbps payload data and up to two OCDMA channels.


In the solution system of chloroplatinic acid (H2PtCl6. 6H2O)-silica gel and -hydrochloric acid or sodium hydroxide, it is confirmed experimentally at room temperature that in a wide pH range chloroplatinate ion is reduced to the metal in a few days. Those precipitates are formed at the bottom of the silica gel container. Those precipitates identified as platinum metal by the X-ray diffraction method and the inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry are similar to some of native magnetic platinum grains in their chemical composition.


Authors : Foo Shen Hwang, Thomas Confrey, Stephen Scully, Barry Flannery Abstract : Thermal characterization plays an important role in battery pack design. Lithium-ion batteries have to be maintained between 15-35 °C to operate optimally. Heat is generated (Q) internally within the batteries during both the charging and discharging phases. This can be quantified using several standard methods. The most common method of calculating the batteries heat generation is through the addition of both the joule heating effects and the entropic changes across the battery. In addition, such values can be derived by identifying the open-circuit voltage (OCV), nominal voltage (V), operating current (I), battery temperature (T) and the rate of change of the open-circuit voltage in relation to temperature (dOCV/dT). This paper focuses on experimental characterization and comparative modelling of the heat generation rate (Q) across several current discharge rates (0.5C, 1C, and 1.5C) of a 18650 cell. The analysis is conducted utilizing several nonlinear mathematical functions methods, including polynomial, exponential, and power models. Parameter fitting is carried out over the respective function orders; polynomial (n = 3~7), exponential (n = 2) and power function. The generated parameter fitting functions are then used as heat source functions in a 3-D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver under natural convection conditions. Generated temperature profiles are analyzed for errors based on experimental discharge tests, conducted at standard room temperature (25°C). Initial experimental results display low deviation between both experimental and CFD temperature plots. As such, the heat generation function formulated could be easier utilized for larger battery applications than other methods available.

http://dl.astfe.org/download/article/450828f4297fd14e/Modelling Of Heat Generation in an 18650 Lithum-Ion Battery Cell Under Varying Discharge Rates, reviewed-32096-2_N.pdf


NASA has established a Mars Sample Return Program Independent Review Board to proactively assist with analysis of current plans and goals for one of the most difficult missions humanity has ever undertaken: the return of samples from another planet to study on Earth.


In dairy farms, herd health and reproductive herd health program are a wide range of businesses, and are influenced by the purposes and herd structure. It's full implementation is not possible in the absence of the specific infrastructure, health and production skills and some basic requirements (eg record keeping). Herd health practice are specific to the herd, and it needs intensive monitoring, data collection, analysis and reporting. Every dairy herd is unique, because there are significant differences among feeding, housing and management systems. Concrete solutions is made possible by determined to the farm objectives and detailed analysis of the problems. Application of the herd health and production management has been created to determine the minimum requirements in the operational differences at least, because of the difference of reasons for being diversify of the solutions. Management of the reproduction is cornerstone of the herd health service. In recent years, despite agressively veterinarian interventione to reproductive managemenet is fertility reduced in a consistent manner depending on several factors. Reproductive management means controlling in many areas as well as providing significant increases in fertility. In this article, herd healthy and reproductive herd healthy concept and their requirements and objectives were discussed.


Lower limit of the timing jitter in an optical clock distribution network due to shot and thermal noise using a realistic photo detector model is derived and its dependence on received energy is analyzed.


Current applications often need frequent collaboration with related users, which result in more and more confidential data sharing on application server. Accordingly, assuring the security of shared data is one of the hot issues. A prevalent technology, referred to as encryption file systems, has been proposed for solving the storage security problem, such as EFS[1], eCryptfs[2]. Encryption file systems are often integrated into the corresponding operating systems and run in the kernel mode. With encryption file systems, data are encrypted and decrypted transparently. While most existing encryption file systems support either no sharing or only file-level sharing, it is impractical for use and cannot afford operation demand.


Since the introduction of an improved blood transfusion and iron chelation therapy in patients with beta-thalassemia major (TM) and intermedia (TI), changes in bone structure and bone deformities are significantly diminished. However, older patients with thalassemia have a higher prevalence for fractures caused by osteoporosis. Additionally, most of these patients suffer from chronic bone pain. In 13 patients (10 TM und 3 TI, age 8 – 32 years), we have measured the bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy x-ray absorption (DXA). All patients, except one, regularly received blood transfusions and iron chelation treatment (deferoxamine, deferiprone, or deferasirox). In the young patient group (n = 5, age: 8 -20 y), a mean Z-score of −1.53 was found (Z-score was calculated from age related BMD). In patients > 20 years (n = 8, age: 21 – 32 years), a mean T-score of −1.66 was observed (T-score was calculated from BMD related to 30 years). Except two patients, all patients had a decreased BMD in comparison to the normal population. One female patient with normal BMD, already received osteoporosis treatment since 5 years due to initially low BMD. Moreover, all patients had a reduced vertebra height in comparison to the normal population. First results from monitoring the bone density by DXA and the trabecular bone structure by micro-CT, will be reported in all patients after 12 to 18 months under oral supplementation treatment with calcium and vitamin D.


Bacteria, like many colloids, are generally considered to be negatively charged at a neutral pH. In many cases, bacteria behave as typical hydrophilic colloids and are not precipitated nor flocculated by merely reducing the surface charges to zero (Lamanna and Mallette, 1953). When this is the situation, it is necessary to add dehydrating agents or specific antibodies to obtain flocculation. Observations on the flocculation of several bacterial species, in particular Pasteurella tularensis, by a number of hydrophilic colloids are presented in this report. Successful use of starch, gelatin, and glue in the treatment of coal washery effluents has been described by Tomalin (1938), by Needham, (1936), and by Samuel (1936). In these processes the colloidal clay particles were flocculated by electrolytes, while the somewhat larger coal particles were flocculated by the organic additives. Study of the possible use of gelatin, pectin, and methylcellulose as blood plasma substitutes, led to the observation that these materials increased the sedimentation rate of erythrocytes when injected intravenously (Hueper, 1944). Addition of these materials (0.02 per cent concentration) to blood was suggested by Levine and Hoyt (1946) as a method to reduce the settling time of red blood cells from several days to five hours in the preparation of blood plasma. The ability of many polysaccharides to improve the physical structure of soil, by promoting aggregation of finely divided colloidal clay particles has been observed by several workers. Bartholomew and Norman (1941) noted a relationship between fertility and uronic acid content of soils. The beneficial effect of methylcellulose on soil was reported by Felber (1944). The improved structure, aerating ability, and waterholding capacity of soils observed after the addition of bacterial polysaccharides (Martin, 1946), alginic acid (Quastel and Webley, 1947), cellulose acetate, methylcellulose, and carboxymethylcellulose (Quastel, 1952), led to use of synthetic polyelectrolytes as soil conditioners (Hedrick and Mowry, 1952). Quartaroli (1952) noted that mucilaginous extracts of seeds, particularly cress seed, flocculated clays. Gelatin has been widely used as a clarifying agent in fruit juices and wines containing tannin. Gelatin in low concentrations reduces the amount of acid required to precipitate Escherichia coli, (Eggerth and Bellows, 1921-1922). Gelatin, at relatively high concentration, effectively flocculated P. tularensis and Brucella suis in neutral solutions (Mor6e, M. T., 1950, unpublished data). Avi-Dor and Yaniv (1953) noted that virulent strains of P. tularensis were not agglutinated by electrolytes or basic polyelectrolytes. Since the completion of this study a series of reports on the flocculation and filtration of colloidal phosphate slimes have been published by La Mer and Smellie (1956a, b), Smellie and La Mer (1956), and La iIer et al. (1957). M\iany of the compounds that were effective for flocculation of the phosphate slimes we found effective for precipitating bacteria. However, with bacteria the flocculation is much slower and requires 5 to 10 times the concentration of flocculant.


Cryptographic protocols are designed to provide security services, such as key distribution, authentication and non-repudiation, over insecure networks. The design process of cryptographic protocols is highly complex. In particular, the translation from the informal protocol description to the formal protocol specification is an error-prone step, as the exact meaning of the requirements of the security protocol need to be conveyed. This paper presents a case study on extending the Common Authentication Protocol Specification Language (CAPSL) to enable it to be used with logic-based formal verification tools for security protocols.


The physical mechanisms that contribute to atmospheric breakdown induced by high power microwaves (HPMs) are of particular interest for the further development of high power microwave systems and related technologies. For a system in which HPM is produced in a vacuum environment for the purpose of radiating into atmosphere, it is necessary to separate the atmospheric environment from the vacuum environment with a dielectric interface. Breakdown across this interface on the atmospheric side and plasma development to densities prohibiting further microwave propagation are of special interest. In this paper, the delay time between microwave application and plasma emergence is investigated. Various external parameters, such as UV illumination or the presence of small metallic points on the surface, provide sources for electron field emission and influence the delay time which yields crucial information on the breakdown mechanisms involved. Due to the inherent statistical appearance of initial electrons and th...


Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic represents a complex stressor that is experienced differently across individuals and age strata. The present study explored perceptions and experiences of older adults within the domains of health, social interactions, finances and care of existing chronic medical conditions; and strategies used to cope with these stressors. We recruited 30 people (mean age 81.4 years) stratified by frailty status to complete semi-structured interviews about what changes to the above domains had occurred and what coping strategies were utilized. Using inductive and deductive coding techniques, thematic analysis revealed three overarching themes. The first was Pandemic Experience, which was perceived as stressful, especially in the domains of social isolation from friends and family and concern for others' well-being. The second domain was Resilience where participants reported highly adaptable and creative ways to connect with others and viewed the pandemic from a lens of lifetime experience, which acted as a stress buffer. The third theme was Silver Linings where participants reported unexpected renewal like reconnecting with family and friends in more meaningful ways and reconnecting with nature. We found no meaningful distinction in experience by frailty status and explore reasons for this. Policy implications including internet access and training and societal aging biases are discussed in the context of aging and coping theories.


Nowadays, the number of car accidents caused by drowsy driving and careless driving is increasing drastically as the number of cars has been increased. Advanced driver assistance systems such as lane departure warning system (LDWS), lane keeping assist system (LKAS), and forward collision warning system (FCWS) have been developed in order to keep drivers and passengers from accidents as vehicles have been equipped with electronic devices. Especially, LDWS represents the system that warns the driver when the vehicle is departed from lane using the front digital camera and image processing. Lane recognition from digital image processing usually uses the raw data from camera. However, the importance of image compression is growing bigger since communication standards such as Ethernet are applied. This paper shows the experimental results on the performance of lane recognition for LDWS using uncompressed and compressed video by a video compression standard. H.264/AVC intra coding is selected as video compression standard in this paper since it is recommended in Ethernet standard. The experimental results compare the lane recognition results using the raw video data developed by MOBIS with the lane recognition results using the coded and decoded video data by H.264/AVC intra coding. Also, this paper presents the lane recognition ratio when the bit-rate is changed variously.


The article points out that fractal-based terrain is simple to implement and scales well because fractals are self-similar. A self-similar design is one which, if you isolate and magnify a small part, it will look like the larger whole. The Mandelbrot Set is a famous fractal that you've probably seen before. It looks something like a large circle with smaller circular polyps growing out of the perimeter. If you zoom in on any of those polyps, you will eventually find an exact image of the larger set. In short: each small part contains the whole.


With economic conditions improved,familyies no longer meet certain standards of low-income housing.However,they still can't afford to purchase or lease housingly,or have any other houses to live.In this case,withdrawing from low-income housing is difficultly on operation in practice.The convergence problem of exiting housing inside the low-income housing system and between low-income housing and commercial housing should be investigated from an overall perspective.A feasible approach to resolve the problem to a certain extent is to change housing management policies,replace housing labels,and realize the conversion the transition inside the low-income housing system and between low-income housing and commercial housing.


It has been long recognized that individual decision-making is usually influenced by the existence or opinions of other people (i.e., reference group). Such influence from reference group is called social interaction. However, most of the existing literature about car ownership behavior has regarded the household as an independent decision-making unit from the society, to which it belongs. On the other hand, there usually exist various types of reference groups and consequently social interaction is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. This paper attempts to develop a dynamic discrete choice model with multi-dimensional social interactions under the framework of dynamic GEV model. The effectiveness of the model is examined from both model performance and applicability in the context of household vehicle type choice behavior.


We report on a 2-year-old girl who developed autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which occurred with minimal change nephrotic syndrome 3 months after umbilical cord blood transplantation for acute megakaryocytic leukemia. Because the disease is regarded as chronic graft versus host disease and developed while taking cyclosporine medication, she was treated with methylprednisolone 2 mg/kg/day. However, hemolysis and proteinuria were refractory to steroid treatment. One week after starting methylprednisolone, mycophenolate mofetil was added. Hemolysis and proteinuria showed improvement after 2 weeks of mycophenolate mofetil medication. (Korean J Blood Transfus 2014;25:291-296)


To improve the anti-interference and robustness of the adaptive cruise control system in car-following mode, this paper designs a robust controller for the automobile adaptive cruise control system which contains two layers, the upper and lower structures, based on the μ control theory. On the one hand, the upper controller calculates the theoretical safety distance between two automobiles based on the current working conditions, and it calculates the expected acceleration of the vehicle through an optimal control method based on the safety distance and two vehicle speeds. On the other hand, this paper constructs the lower μ integrated controller of an automobile longitudinal dynamics system based on the performance requirements of an adaptive cruise control system and solves it in Matlab. Then, through calculation and simulation, it demonstrates that the designed dual-layer LQR-μ controller has good performance robustness and robust stability, which can significantly improve the anti-interference ability and driving safety performance of the vehicle during the following cruise process.


We propose a new numerical method for the solution of the Bernoulli free boundary value problem for harmonic functions in a doubly connected domain D in R2 where an unknown free boundary Γ0 is determined by prescribed Cauchy data on Γ0 in addition to a Dirichlet condition on the known boundary Γ1. Our main idea is to involve the conformal mapping method as proposed and analyzed by Akduman, Haddar, and Kress for the solution of a related inverse boundary value problem. For this, we interpret the free boundary Γ0 as the unknown boundary in the inverse problem to construct Γ0 from the Dirichlet condition on Γ0 and Cauchy data on the known boundary Γ1. Our method for the Bernoulli problem iterates on the missing normal derivative on Γ1 by alternating between the application of the conformal mapping method for the inverse problem and solving a mixed Dirichlet–Neumann boundary value problem in D. We present the mathematical foundations of our algorithm and prove a convergence result. Some numerical examples will serve as proof of concept of our approach. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a virus that causes Aquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) by attacking white blood cells, namely CD4 cells (Cluster of Differentiation 4) that can damage the human immune system. Without the immune system, a person is easily attacked by various diseases. The number of HIV / AIDS sufferers according to data from the Tikala Baru Health Center VCT in 2018 totaled 62 people. The aim of this study is to identify HIV in the Gay Community in the Marina Plaza Area of Manado City.
The method used in this study is the Immunocromatography Test using One Step Anti-HIV. Sampling was carried out in the Marina Plaza Area and immediately examined at the sampling location. The population in this study is the entire Gay Community in the Marina Plaza Area of Manado City with a total population sampling method. This type of research is descriptive, research results are presented in tabular form and narrated.Based on research conducted, it can be concluded that, of the 85 respondents examined there were 1 positive respondent and 84 negative respondents. It is recommended for members of the gay community who are infected with HIV to take ARV (Anti Retroviral) drugs regularly. For gay community members who have not been infected with HIV in order to prevent transmission by using a condom during sex or leaving deviant sexual behavior.


In this study we make a comprehensive literature review on dye-sensitized nanostructured and organic solar cells, their operating principles, materials as well as their manufacturing methods.
We have fabricated dye – sensitized electrochemical solar cells using different dyes and counter electrodes. All solar cells were tested under different conditions in order to find the factors limiting their efficiency. Factors like film thickness and roughness, different dyes and counter electrodes etc were changed in order to improve efficiency. The stability of these solar cells were also evaluated for different time intervals. The efficiency was rather low and the reasons for this are examined and explained thorougηly.