There is a saying that goes, music is what feelings sound like. Not only common sense suggests a strong bond between music and emotion but also researchers refer to music as a language of emotion [1] and discuss this relationship in many di↵erent disciplines, including philosophy, musicology, psychology etc. [2]. Kim, Youngmoo E. et al. (2010) states in [3] that automatic recognition of emotions (or mood) as a music information retrieval task is in its early stages. Against this background, the central question that motivates this seminar paper is: How automatic music classification is done? The paper will introduce foundations for the classification of mood, show general ideas of competing solutions for automatic audio based mood recognition and dive then into the hybrid approach of [4].


Cranio-cervical junction abnormalities are frequently demonstrated in persons with Down's Syndrome. This paper describes two cases discovered by chance, of complex craniocervical junction malformations studied by HRCT.


Introduction With a volume of 23615 km 3 and a maximum depth of 1642 m, Lake Baikal (Southern Siberia, see Figure 1) is the largest and deepest freshwater basin on Earth. Due to its huge depth, only the upper layer of the lake (approximately 250 m) follows the typical mixing dynamics of temperate lakes. Complete overturn in this layer occurs twice a year, in late May/early June and late December/early January, when surface water temperature approaches the mesothermal temperature maximum (i.e., the temperature where the temperature profile meets the temperature of maximum density). Differently, the hypolimnion is only occasionally subjected to a partial renewal of its waters, as a consequence of periodical deep downwelling events that are responsible for the displacements of water volumes from the surface down to the abyss of the lake. Direct observations (e.g., Weiss et al., 1991) showed that the key mechanism triggering deep downwellings is represented by the onset of buoyancy-driven instabilities, which are mutually controlled by thermobaricity (i.e., the combined dependence of water density on temperature and pressure) and external forcing (mainly wind). Despite deep downwellings have been widely observed in Lake Baikal, large uncertainty still exists with respect to their precise description and quantification.


High-speed aerospace applications, such as re-entry vehicles, mostly involve thin-walled structural components with a high strength-to-weight ratio and high-temperature resistant. The present novel work comprises the structural and thermal analysis of re-entry vehicle nose structures made of four functionally graded materials (FGM). Four FGM shell structures made of aluminum/silicon carbide, aluminum/aluminum oxide, Ti-6Al-4V/silicon carbide and Ti-6Al-4V/aluminum oxide have been considered for the re-entry vehicle nose. The effect of various thermal environments, as well as the linear temperature rise from metal-rich to ceramic-rich on critical buckling temperature and natural frequency have been studied. The critical buckling temperature, as well as the natural frequency of the large, thin re-entry vehicle nose structures, decrease with an increase in a uniform thermal environment, as well as linear temperature rise. The effect of shell thickness on buckling and dynamic characteristics of an FGM shell is also studied, suiting the nose of the re-entry vehicle under various linear temperature rises. The critical buckling temperature and natural frequency are quantified for several cases, and it was observed that they are significantly influenced by the shell thickness. Thus, the research intends to determine the thickness required for such thin and large shells to withstand in the re-entry thermal conditions.


Author(s): Kim, B; Jahng, J; Khan, RM; Park, S; Potma, EO | Abstract: We examine the mechanical eigenmodes of a quartz tuning fork (QTF) for the purpose of facilitating its use as a probe for multifrequency atomic force microscopy (AFM). We perform simulations based on the three-dimensional finite element method and compare the observed motions of the beams with experimentally measured resonance frequencies of two QTF systems. The comparison enabled us to assign the first seven asymmetric eigenmodes of the QTF. We also find that a modified version of single beam theory can be used to guide the assignment of mechanical eigenmodes of QTFs. The usefulness of the QTF for multifrequency AFM measurements is demonstrated through photoinduced force microscopy measurements. By using the QTF in different configurations, we show that the vectorial components of the photoinduced force can be independently assessed and that lateral forces can be probed in true noncontact mode.


Previous studies have supported the association between high-performance work systems and firm performance; however, HR practices were measured in various ways. This study demonstrates the relationships between three aspects of high-performance work systems (ability-enhancing, motivation-enhancing, and opportunity-enhancing HR practices) and performance of a firm (financial performance and job satisfaction of employees) among South Korean firms. In addition, this study compares the relative predictive power of two measures of HR practices (the perceived presence and the perceived effectiveness). The findings reveal that the effectiveness measure accounts for more of the variance in financial performance and employee job satisfaction than the presence measure.


Emerging evidence suggests that patatin‐like phospholipase domain–containing protein‐3 (PNPLA3) rs738409 genotype (the major genetic variant associated with susceptibility to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease [NAFLD]) is associated with decreased kidney function in adults. Currently, it is uncertain whether this association also occurs in children/adolescents and whether any association is independent of liver disease severity. We enrolled a sample of 142 Caucasian children and adolescents with biopsy‐proven NAFLD, presenting to the Liver Unit of the "Bambino Gesù" Children's Hospital. The glomerular filtration rate (e‐GFR) was estimated using the Bedside Schwartz equation, whereas 24‐hour proteinuria was measured using a radioimmunoassay method. Genotyping for the PNPLA3 rs738409 genotype was undertaken using the single‐nucleotide polymorphism genotyping allelic discrimination method. Overall, 45 children had G/G, 56 had G/C, and 41 had C/C PNPLA3 rs738409 genotype, respectively. Children with G/G genotype had significantly lower e‐GFR (107.5 ± 20 versus 112.8 ± 18 versus 125.3 ± 23 mL/min/1.73 m2, P = 0.002) and higher 24‐hour proteinuria (58.5 ± 21 versus 53.9 ± 22 versus 42.9 ± 20 mg/day, P = 0.012) compared with those with either G/C or C/C genotypes. After adjustment for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, measures of adiposity, homeostasis model assessment–estimated insulin resistance and biopsy‐confirmed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and stage of liver fibrosis, the presence of rs738409 G/G genotype was independently associated with both lower e‐GFR (β coefficient: −23.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: −36.3 to −10.8; P < 0.001) and higher 24‐hour proteinuria (β coefficient: 15.3; 95% CI: 1.12 to 30.5; P = 0.046). Conclusion: Regardless of established renal risk factors and the histological severity of NAFLD, the PNPLA3 G/G genotype was strongly associated with decreasing kidney function and increasing 24‐hour proteinuria in children/adolescents with histologically confirmed NAFLD.


This paper presents 2-D numerical simulation results of single-event burnout (SEB) for hardened power U-shaped gate MOSFET (UMOSFET) with Schottky diode (SD-UMOSFET). In this device, a Schottky diode is integrated into every unit cell of power UMOSFETs. We find that the Schottky contact can leak off the generated holes caused by an ion's impact, and the SEB threshold voltage can be improved. The hardened structure means the addition of an N buffer layer based on a power UMOSFET here. So, the 70 V hardened power SD-UMOSFET discussed in this paper contains a Schottky diode and an N buffer layer, which can work normally without affecting steady-state characteristics. The reverse recovery characteristic and SEB performance of hardened SD-UMOSFET are both enhanced effectively. The reverse recovery time decreases 49%, the reverse recovery current peak decreases 56%, and the softness factor increases more than 100% when the hardened SD-UMOSFET is compared with the standard UMOSFET. In addition, the SEB threshold voltage increases to 64 V, which is 91% of the rated breakdown voltage.


A simple technique for achieving dual-domain alignment in a twisted nematic liquid crystal display (TN-LCD) is proposed. By incorporating the use of linearly polarized deep UV (DUV) for liquid crystal alignment, only one rubbing and one photolithographic process are added to conventional TN fabrication. We fabricated dual-domain twisted nematic (DDTN) cells using this technique with a practical pixel resolution. This DDTN cell has very symmetrical viewing characteristics in both the vertical and horizontal viewing directions. With the use of the proper type of retardation films along with this DDTN we have been able to achieve a contrast ratio of 10:1, to almost ±40° in the vertical and beyond ±60° in the horizontal viewing directions, without any gray-scale inversion.


Using Hodder's notion of "biography as method," this paper examines the geographical endeavours of James Mackintosh Bell, Director of the New Zealand Geological Survey from 1905 to 1911, in New Zealand and Canada. Canadian born, Harvard trained, Bell has a significant place in the history of geology in New Zealand and mining geology in Canada, yet much of his writing was explicitly geographical in orientation. This essay analyses this body of work and its significance and limitations in adding to and disseminating knowledge of the geography of NZ, particularly. Bell credentialed himself geographically as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS). The FRGS were important builders of geographical knowledge in NZ from the 1850s up to the establishment of university geography in the 1930s when formal geographical research commenced. Geologists were a numerically significant group amongst the NZ FRGS, distinctive in that they held university qualifications, and Bell was particularly wide ranging in his geographical interests.


Ethical mentoring is a relatively new term in engineering that describes the dual relationship that both an advisor and an advisee should have for each other during an intersectional time in their engineering education or profession. Ethical mentoring has several principles— beneficence, nonmaleficence, autonomy, fidelity, fairness, and privacy—principles to ensure that research relationships are effective and mutually beneficial. In a prior qualitative study, led by the author, a group of graduate student mentees and faculty mentors in science and engineering were interviewed around the six ethical mentoring principles. Out of this analysis, three key themes emerged: (a) power; (b) awareness; and (c) communication around implicit expectations within the research culture. While some recommendations around ethical mentoring were provided from that study, no comparisons were made to ethical practices of engineers (i.e., NSPE). This research-to-practice paper expands upon prior findings on ethical mentoring and compares them against NSPE. From this comparison, practices in the form of recommendations, tips, and resources were derived. While not comprehensive, the practices included aims to improve engineering mentoring relationships to support mentees towards their transition to the workforce.


This paper focuses on the design of multi-element micro strip patch antenna array applicable to WLAN/MIMO at 2.4 GHz. Obviously, the performance of multi-element antenna system depends critically on the proper design of the arrays. In this paper design and simulation of 4x1 micro strip patch array with software IE3D is discussed. The performance of array have been compared with that of a single element micro strip patch antenna .Also the effect of mutual coupling of array elements on its performance is discussed .To reduce surface wave propagation, implementation of EBG substrate is discussed. © 2015 Elixir All rights reserved. ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 27 October 2012; Received in revised form: 18 November 2015; Accepted: 23 November 2015;


RAVEN (Reactor Analysis and Virtual control Environment) is a software code under development at Idaho National Laboratory aimed at performing probabilistic risk assessment and uncertainty quantification using RELAP-7, for which it acts also as a simulation controller. In this paper we will present the equations characterizing a dynamic stochastic system and we will then discuss the behavior of each stochastic term and how it is accounted for in the RAVEN software design. Moreover we will present preliminary results of the implementation.


Various electronic travel aids for people having visual impairment have been developed based on ultrasonic object detection employing the HC-SR04 ultrasonic proximity sensor. However, most of them do not consider blind spots where harmful objects cannot be detected. This study discusses the development of a vest that can detect objects in front of the blinds more widely and provide sound alert if an object in front is detected. This detector was developed based on an Arduino Uno equipped with five HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensors, and a mini DFPlayer module. In addition, blind area analysis of sensor detection is carried out to overcome objects that are not detected by similar studies. Horizontally, this travel vest sweeps objects up to 150 cm in distance with a 25o right or left angle deviation from forward direction. Vertically, object detection reaches up to 150 cm in distance with both upward and downward deviation of 30o from the vest.


ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) is one of the least available mineral nutrients to the plants in calcareous and alkaline soils. In this study, we investigated the synthesis, characterization and use of synthetic nano-hydroxyapatite (NHA), P uptake by plants as well as its residual effects. Soluble P source (H3PO4) was also included as treatment for comparison. NHA prepared by wet chemical techniques, characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and elemental dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. NHA and H3PO4 were applied at a rate of 200 mg kg−1 to find out their effects on phosphorus nutrition and growth of lettuce on the low and high calcareous soil. In addition to this, residual effects of NHA and H3PO4 were also determined for lettuce plants grown after first lettuce plants in the both soil. Dry weights of the first and second lettuce plants grown in low and high calcareous soil were significantly increased by applied phosphorus regardless of the source. NHA seems to be more effective than that of ordinary phosphorus source (H3PO4-P) on growth and P concentration of the lettuce plants. The promising results of this study needs to be supported with long term field studies regarding the uptake, translocation and interactions of nano-P with the other elements.


Jeong, Ji-Yong got out of an impression and a general idea in 1930`s and was going to recognize things and the object sensuously. The sensible linguistic use that he showed proves enough this fact. Conspicuous sensible expressions depend mainly on a sight in initial Jeong, Ji-Yong`s Poetry. On the other hand, Jeong, Ji-Yong shows attitude to have been contrary to in order to keep a distance with things in the latter period. As for the sense of Jeong, Ji-Yong`s latter Poetry, contact senses are most. This writing looked into a difference of a sense through the use of poetic language and the subject of poem. Jeong, Ji-Yong was going to experience matter anger of strange things through a sense. Become intimate and can confirm unmanageable effort of Jeong, Ji-Yong with extinction of the subject of poem in order to overcome a language and the world. Chastity consciousness is different in the center of life with a keen confrontation to suffer from with the negation which he showed. Jeong, Ji-Yong want to be far-off from a scene of a keen confrontation and he keeps he`s lofty and shows the purity intention. His greed gave up even all senses finally in order not to be mixed with dirty thing and reached at a extinction. Jeong, Ji-Yong showed new field of modern Poetry through poetic language.


Generation systems, using renewable sources, are becoming increasingly popular due to the need for increased use of electricity. Currently, ren ewables sources have a role to cooperate with conventional generation, due to the syste m limitation in delivering the required power, the need for reduction of unwanted effects f rom sources that use fossil fuels (pollution) and the difficulty of building new transmi ss on and/or distribution lines. This cooperation takes place through distributed generati on. Therefore, this work proposes a control strategy for the interconnection of a PV (Photo vol aic) system generation distributed with a three-phase power grid through a connect ion filter the type LCL. The compensation of power quality at point of common coupling (P CC) is performed ensuring that the mains supply or consume only active power and that hi s currents have low distorcion. Unlike traditional techniques which require sche mes for harmonic detection, the technique performs the harmonic compensation without the u se of this schemes, controlling the output currents of the system in an indirect way. So t hat here is effective control of the DC (Direct Current) bus voltage is used the robust cont roller mode dual DSMPI (Dual-Sliding Mode-Proportional Integral), that behav es as a sliding mode controller SM-PI (Sliding Mode-Proportional Integral) during the tra nsition and like a conventional PI (Proportional Integral) in the steady-state. For contro l of current is used to repetitive control strategy, which are used double sequence controlle rs (DSC) tuned to the fundamental component, the fifth and seventh harmonic. The output phase current are aligned with the phase angle of the utility voltage vector obtained f rom the use of a SRF-PLL (Synchronous Reference Frame Phase-Locked-Loop). In orde r to obtain the maximum power from the PV array is used a MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tra cking) algorithm without the need for adding sensors. Experimental results a re presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control system.


A Brief Study on Shu in Song-Yuan Literary Issues,was written by Quan Zuwang,a Qing Dynasty Scholar,who went against the gist of its originator but simultaneously set the conventions according to Li Theories,taking for granted that its extensiveness with Chan.The views are improper and biased.However,analyzed from its academic value and literary status,it should be regarded as a book of Li Theories.This paper holds that the book Shu Xue Synopses is of great academic value in that it brought about the local revival of Shu Xue.


The models most-frequently applied for prediction of the Share Price include the Capital Assets Pricing Model, the socalled CAPM, Market Model, Arbitrage Pricing Model, and the Factor Model.The empirical studies carried out on the factors and variables affecting the Share Price demonstrate that there exist numerous variables capable of predicting the Share Price with greater precision. Included among such variable is Long Term Debt-to-Equity ratio. Financial statements are widely used by stakeholders to assess the economic value of firms on the assumption that accounting numbers have a certain relationship with equity market values.The present study has aimed at describing the relationship between accounting variable with the Share Price using the cross sectional correlation. Key word: Financial statements, Accounting variables, Share Price, Ratio Introduction: Accounting plays a significant role within the concept of generating and communicating wealth of companies. Financial statements still remain the most important source of externally feasible information on companies. The models most-frequently applied for prediction of the Share Price include the Capital Assets Pricing Model, the so-called CAPM, Market Model, Arbitrage Pricing Model, and the Factor Model. The empirical studies carried out on the factors and variables affecting the Share Price demonstrate that there exist numerous variables capable of predicting the Share Price with greater precision. Included among such variable is Long Term Debt-to-Equity ratio. An important variant of this type of research has become known in the literature as relating to the 'value relevance of accounting variables'. This study has aim at identifying the variable affecting the Share Price in(NSE). Review of the Literature: Sinaei. H (2010) The purpose of this research is determining and empirical testing of fundamental variables role in a collection of selected models of stock evaluation. In this research we are trying to test five regression models: economic value created (EVC), EBO simplified model, P/E model, P/S model and P/B model. In each model the effect of independent variables on dependent variable as well as the coefficient of determination (R2) and relative importance of each independent variable were tested empirically. The period of this research is three year from 2001 to 2004 and its statistical population is all companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) that their stock has been exchanged in the mentioned time period in TSE. Meyer (2007) Accounting plays a significant role within the concept of generating and communicating wealth of companies. Financial statements still remain the most important source of externally feasible information on companies. In spite of their widespread use and continuing advance, there is some concern that accounting practice has not kept pace with rapid economic and hightechnology changes which in invariably affects the value relevance of accounting information. The importance of Meyer's assertion is reinforced by massive accounting fraud in developed countriesespecially US, rapidly changing business environment and reports by some researchers that value relevance of accounting information has declined (Lev and Zarowin, 1999and Francis and Schipper, 1999). However, a number of researchers claim that accounting information has not lost its value relevance (Vieru, Perttunen and Schadewitz, 2005 and Collins, Maydew and Weiss, 1997). Saied Safania et al, Int.J.Buss.Mgt.Eco.Res., Vol 2(4),2011,278-283


The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for performing membrane electrophoresis or electric filtration. Device comprises at least one inlet space 18, the outlet space 19, and a cathode space and an anode space 17 and 20. These individual space, film 3,4 are separated from one another in particular by ultrafiltration membrane or microfiltration membrane. Inlet space 18, the outlet space 19, a cathode space and an anode space 17 and 20 is combined with the membrane 3, 4, to form a tightly coupled modules. Electrodes 7 and 8 are integrated into the module, the module is connected to the device, to provide a continuous flow through the inlet and outlet space and the electrode space.


Summary of an REF Impact Case Study by Dr Michael Mason on the development of a climate change adaptation strategy for the Palestinian Authority.
Part of the LSE Research Impact Case Studies series.


The article analyzes the ways to the evaluation of high education quality. In the context with this the sociological features of the marking of the global, macro-regional, national, local levels of the quality assessments, each of which brings the contribution in formation of the general system of quality assessment of high education, are proved.


In this paper, we deducted the missions with respect to Korea utility helicopter (KUH) and consist of the scenarios which describe proper purpose of KUH. And so developed fatigue load spectrum of KUH by applying Helix that is fatigue load spectrum for blade of articulated helicopter rotor system. The developed load spectrum is applied to fatigue analysis of blade by modeled finite element with stress-life method (S-N). And we compared the result of fatigue analysis to prior to Helix for the sake of verifying the load spectrum that we generated.


A nonlocal, first-order, Eulerian stochastic theory was developed by Deng et al. (1993) for the mean concentration of a conservative tracer. Here that result is extended to account for linear nonequilibrium sorption with random partition coefficient. The resultant theory is nonlocal in space and time. An important observation is that unlike Deng et al. (1993), nonlocality is manifest not just in the dispersive flux, but in an effective convective flux and in sources and sinks as well. The fully nonlocal theory is solved exactly in Fourier-Laplace space and converted to a real-space solution via fast Fourier transform in the spirit of Deng et al. (1993). Where possible, comparisons are made with Bellin et al. (1993) and Dagan and Cvetkovic (1993). Positive, negative, and uncorrelated models relating the fluctuating partition coefficient to the fluctuating log conductivity are used to examine the evolution of mean concentration via contours and spatial moments up to the third. The initial sorbed concentration and the deterministic reaction rate can have a significant effect on the moments, especially the second longitudinal moment. The first moment is relatively insensitive to the various correlation structures, but the second and third may exhibit a sensitivity. In the long time asymptotic limit the first two moments are consistent with Fickian theory; however, in the preasymptotic regime the process is nonlocal and non-Fickian.


The project consists of three buildings, joined together.
The main building houses woodwork and metalwork shops, photographic laboratories, ceramic workshop and various secondary installations, in the basement. The ground floor has a number of games' rooms a room for the youth leader, and the manager's flat. The top floor is occupied by the library, a hall for craftwork and services.
A second building has a large assembly hall, a cafeteria bar, dining room, and drawing room on the ground floor. On the first floor there is a general hall, for showing films, lectures, and similar, with a capacity for 180 seated people.
The third building includes the table tennis hall and a bicycle storage.
Construction is diaphanous, simple, and of high class workmanship, in up to date styles and using modem materials.


This paper presents an analog neuromimetic ASIC. It integrates Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) model types, computed in real-time and in analog continuous mode. We developed a library of sub-circuits calculating the elementary mathematical functions encountered in the HH models. Those sub-circuits are organized to form the model set of equations, in which all numerical parameters are dynamically tunable via a mixed analog-digital interface. Neural activity examples are presented to validate the library elements and illustrate the diversity of models simulated by a single ASIC


Sleep staging is helpful in assessing sleep quality and diagnosing sleep disorders. However, how to adequately capture the temporal and spatial relations of the brain during sleep remains a challenge. In particular, existing methods cannot adaptively infer spatial-temporal relations of the brain under different sleep stages. In this paper, we propose a novel Bayesian spatial-temporal relation inference neural network, named Bayesian spatial-temporal transformer (BSTT), for sleep staging. Our model is able to adaptively infer brain spatial-temporal relations during sleep for spatial-temporal feature modeling through a well-designed Bayesian relation inference component. Meanwhile, our model also includes a spatial transformer for extracting brain spatial features and a temporal transformer for capturing temporal features. Experiments show that our BSTT outperforms state-ofthe-art baselines on ISRUC and MASS datasets. In addition, the visual analysis shows that the spatial-temporal relations obtained by BSTT inference have certain interpretability for sleep staging.


The B^1\Pi <- X^1\Sigma^+ system of NaCs molecule is investigated experimentally by polarization labelling spectroscopy technique. The inverted perturbation approach method is used to construct the potential energy curve of the B^1\Pi state, providing accurate eigenenergies for vibrational levels v = 0 - 15.


We propose and demonstrate a tunable optical time-domain reflectometer (OTDR) for in-service monitoringof wavelength-division-multiplexed passive optical networks (WDM-PONs). The proposed method is proved for different continuous wavetuneable laser sources (CW TLS), and uses semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) as a switch for the probe signal. We also improve the results using different methods to mitigate the interference effects.


To facilitate wireless sensor networks deployment in dense jungle environments, the challenges of unreliable wireless communication links used for routing data between nodes and the gateway, and the limited battery energy available from the nodes must be overcome. In this paper, we introduce the Self-Organized Wireless Sensor Network (SOWSN) to overcome these challenges. To develop the traits needed for such SOWSN nodes, three types of computational intelligence mechanisms have been featured in the design. The first feature is the introduction of Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) algorithm with simple Additive Weight (SAW) function for clustering the SOWSN nodes. The second feature is the introduction of the fuzzy logic ANFIS-optimized Near Ground Propagation Model to predict the wireless transmission link quality and power transfer between transmitters. The third feature is the introduction of the (Levenberg Marquardt artificial neural network (LM-ANN) for Adaptive and Dynamic Power Control to further optimize the transmitter power levels, radio modulation, Spreading Factor configurations, and settings of the employed SOWSN LoRaWAN nodes based on predicted wireless transmission link quality parameters. The introduced features were extensively evaluated and analyzed using simulation and empirical measurements. Using clustering, near-ground propagation, and adaptive transmission power control features, a robust wireless data transmission system was built while simultaneously providing power conservation in SOWSN operation. The payload loss can be improved using SAW clustering from 1275-bytes to 5100-bytes. The result of power conservation can be seen from the reduction of transmission power in SOWSN nodes with the increase of transmission time (TOA) as its side effect. With the original power transmission at 20-dBm, original TOA time at 96.832-milliseconds for all nodes, and SNR 3 as input, transmission power was reduced to 12.76-dBm and the TOA increased to 346.78-milliseconds for all nodes.


Abstract We evaluated the efficacy of different field sampling approaches for volunteers sampling macroinvertebrates in low-gradient streams. We used a series of analytical metrics to compare results using the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) multihabitat, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency multihabitat, and EPA single-habitat sampling protocols. We also investigated the effect of 2 scenarios in which volunteers fail to follow (and potentially bias) the widely used EPA multihabitat protocol by including either more snag and vegetated banks or more run and riffle habitat than prescribed by the protocol. We collected jab samples from cobble, snags, vegetated banks, submerged macrophytes, and sand in 4 contiguous 125-m reaches in an Anoka sand-plain stream in Minnesota. We identified up to 100 macroinvertebrates in each jab sample to family. We subjected a parent population of 40 jab samples/reach to a bootstrap analysis to sample and create metric or index scores 100 times without replacement for each of the 3 volunteer sampling methods and 2 biased scenarios. The EPA multihabitat protocol and the biased scenario in which woody debris and bank vegetation were oversampled yielded the highest diversity of organisms, whereas the biased scenario in which riffle and run habitats were oversampled yielded the lowest diversity. The EPA multihabitat protocol used correctly was more likely to indicate "good" water quality (on the basis of the EPA muddy-bottom narrative assessment tool designed for volunteers) than either biased sampling scenario. This result illustrates that poor field methods could result in underestimation of water quality.


In distributed wireless networks, where nodes actively participate in helping communication for other nodes, they are typically unaware of their neighourhood and hence have to "estimate" it before sending any useful data. In this paper, we formalize the concept of node neighbourhood by introducing the notion of network channel, in which all nodes become part of a large channel. The notion of network channel is then used to study routing in decode and forward networks. To do the same, we introduce the concept of network coherence time, which denotes the time for which the network topology remains approximately constant. The new concepts are used to study the tradeoffs between encoding rate of route discovery packets, number of discovered routes and accuracy of subsequent network channel estimation. Finally, we propose a simple adaptive algorithm for route selection using outage capacity as the metric for route selection, and show that our algorithm outperforms the existing route selection based on the minimum hop count.


Semitransparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs) have shown great potential for integrating into the windows of buildings. The absorption region predominated by the photovoltaic materials is vital for ST-OSCs. However, the...


This paper investigates the interconnection between certain fiscal policies in achieving a sustainable level of public debt. The fiscal policies that are investigated relate to the consumption tax rate, the income tax rate, and to public spending. The paper focuses on the critical level of public debt-to-GDP ratio, for which if the ratio exceeds this level at time 0, then it diverges to + ‡ as time passes. The paper theoretically examines how the critical level depends on the fiscal policies, and reveals some merits of consumption taxation. As the consumption tax rate increases, so income taxation and cutting public spending become more effective in sustaining public debt.


This work reconstructs the elaboration and implementation process of the Master Plan of Franca since the years of 1960s, starting from the proposals and practices developed at the Municipal City Hall, standing out works influenced by IBAM in 1963 for an administrative reform and of a private advisory company, GPI Integrated Planning Group, starting from 1967, to the elaboration of the Master Plan of Integrated Development PDDI. We developed the work starting from two main points of analysis: the first refers to the elaboration of the PDDI by the company GPI, and the second to the elaboration and introduction process of the plan. The developed analyses take into consideration the critics shown in the literature about the planning of the years 60 and 70. In relation to the GPI, we unmasked its constitutional process as an advisory company in the field of the urban planning, associating companies in the area of public administration, physicalterritorial planning and economical analyses, and the composition of its team that gathered technicians of high qualification, most of them linked to the opposition to the military regiment. We showed that GI, when gathering militants of the left, allowed a survival strategy to the political pursued. As for the process of elaboration and implantation of the PDDI, we revealed that it was developed from 1967 to 1996. The plan used the methodology adopted by the Federal Service of Housing and Urbanization SERFHAU, which privileged a diagnosis of the urban problems and rationality in the elaboration of the Plan. Although the effects on the urban space of these plans have been criticized a lot by its scarce effectiveness, shown by a significant number of papers, starting from interviews, of researches in local newspapers, a survey of legislations and documents elaborated by the GPI, we verified the accomplishment of significant fragments of the physical interventions and works contained in the studies and in the proposals of the Master Plan, as well as indications referring to the administrative reform of the City Hall. The impact of the restructuring and of the implemented actions cannot be considered despicable, (like the creation of the Industrial District). We still verified the diagnosis, far away from being unreal; it took into account the local urban conditions. The Plan established a set of commitments of the municipal government and of its industrial elites for the expansion and the control of the urban space; the idea of the "technocratic modernization ", spread for sections of the military regiment and the methodology of the Master Plan of the period of the SERFHAU, the space organization rationality of the productive process imposed the organization of the industrial space and of the city. What was intended in the Master Plan, as a general infrastructure of the city (a conception of rational " city " for the capitalist accumulation) in relation to the road and traffic system, to the places for the installation of industry and trade, it was what the industrial shoe capital needed for its accumulation and expansion, what motivated its defense and application for the local dominant sections, guaranteeing administrative continuity and the consolidation of a planning structure in the city hall.


Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have weight-sharing and feature-learning abilities, and can efficiently and effectively be used for the health monitoring of industrial equipment. However, the pooling operation in a typical CNN can cause the loss of valuable impulse features during data down-sampling. We propose grouping sparse filtering (GSF) to overcome this problem. Instead of using a pooling operation, the GSF splits the channels of features obtained after convolution into equal-length groups. A feature selector with a feature aggregation function based on the channel importance factors and a lasso constraint is used to filter the groups to perform down-sampling. The GSF method preserves the impulse features due to the block sparsity of the vibration signal. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that the GSF has a similar computational complexity to using a pooling layer in a CNN for the same number of layers. Two experimental studies were conducted using data from a laboratory test and industrial environments. The experimental results show that the 1D-CNN with GSF provides better performance for retaining the impulse features of the rotating machinery signals and higher fault identification accuracy than a CNN with a pooling layer.


We present a distributed collision avoidance algorithm for multiple mobile robots that is model-predictive, sampling-based, and intuitive for operation around humans. Unlike purely reactive approaches, the proposed algorithm incorporates arbitrary trajectories as generated by a motion planner running on each navigating robot as well as predicted human trajectories. Our approach, inspired by human navigation in crowded pedestrian environments, draws from the sociology literature on pedestrian interaction. We propose a simple two-phase algorithm in which agents initially cooperate to avoid each other and then initiate civil inattention, thus lessening reactivity and committing to a trajectory. This process entails a pedestrian bargain in which all agents act competently to avoid each other and, once resolution is achieved, to avoid interfering with others' planned trajectories. This approach, being human-inspired, fluidly permits navigational interaction between humans and robots. We report experimental results for the algorithm running on real robots with and without human presence and in simulation.


Mots cles. Retard de croissance - Modele causal - Facteurs de risque - Alimentation - Tunisie. Abstract. In spite of a significant decrease during the last two decades, child linear growth retardation is still preva- lent in some regions of Tunisia, particularly in the South and the Center West parts of the country. Therefore, it is of particular interest to examine which local risk factors might explain either the past reduction or the present regional disparity of child stunting prevalence. It may also reveal useful for a better targeted prevention in case of periods of socio-economic difficulties. A causal model elaborated by various fields specialists was used as a guide for analy- sis and discussion. The analysis of relevant data from available sources indicated that a certain number of mater- nal and child-related factors were correlated to low child height-for-age indices. The main maternal factors were small body size, parity (above 4), low level of education, and low animal protein intake and food variety score; the child related factors were a low quality of the diet, a low level of care and a poor household socio-economic envi- ronment. On another hand, the variability among regions was correlated with the level of medical care, family plan- ning, sanitation, nutritional and sanitary education, food variety and quality of protein intake. Nutrition surveillance would not only help to improve the outcome of interventions in the regions at risk but also to avoid any unexpected impact of the market globalisation.


The dynamic behavior of highly permeable interfaces in phase-separated biopolymer solutions, liposomes, polymersomes, and colloidosomes is investigated. Using nonequilibrium thermodynamics, an expression for the correlation function of the height of a flat interface is derived for a multicomponent system, incorporating the effects of mass transfer across the interface. In addition, an expression is derived for the relaxation time of the height correlation function. This relaxation time is calculated for a phase-separated gelatin−dextran−water system. Comparing our expression with the expression for an impermeable interface shows that mass transfer has a significant impact on the fluctuations of the interface. At small values for the amplitude, the relaxation of fluctuations is completely dominated by the permeability of the interface. At high values for the amplitude, the relaxation is dominated by the viscosities and densities of the bulk phases. In this regime, the long-time limit of the height correlat...


Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the relationship between temperature and embryonic duration for fertilized galjoen eggs, and to examine the pattern of endogenous food utilization in early galjoen larvae. Embryonic duration decreased with increasing temperature, the relationship being best described by a power function with a negative slope. The lower lethal limit for developing eggs lay between 14 and 16°C. Newly hatched larvae rapidly exhaust their endogenous food reserves, the yolk sac being depleted at a slightly faster rate than the oil globule. Larvae approach first-feeding at 110 h after hatching at 18°C, and exhibit a short time period to irreversible starvation. Galjoen larvae appear to be particularly vulnerable to catastrophic starvation-induced mortality in nature.


The present invention relates to a module-assembled portable terminal, and an object thereof is to provide a portable terminal with an accessory module with a variety of add-on user can be selectively attached to the terminal body, the present invention for this purpose is according to the mobile terminal , main body; S is selectively mounted in said body a plurality of accessory modules for imparting an additional function to the terminal; And that on the module assembly type portable terminal that includes the body and the locking part is provided to each accessory module for fixing the main body and each accessory module in the technical gist. Body, accessory module, a locking portion, the home, the locking piece


A spectral and inverse spectral problem for homogeneous polynomial maps is discussed.The $m$-independence of vectors based on the symmetric tensor powers performs as a main toolto study the structure of the spectrum. Possible restrictions on this structureare described in terms of syzygies provided by the Euler-Jacobi formula.Applications to projective dynamics are discussed.


Over the years while working with stepper motor users, many of the same questions keep occurring from novice as well as experienced users of stepper motors. This application note is intended as a collection of answers to commonly asked questions about stepper motors and driver design. In addition the reference list contains a number of other application notes, books and articles that a designer may find useful in applying stepper motors.


The abolition of the National Dock Labour Scheme in July 1989 resulted in a massive restructuring of Britain's ports which in many respects has mirror-imaged that of the rest of the economy over the previous decade. In this context, the growth of small firms in the port transport industry since 1989, and in particular the emergence of workers' co-operatives, can only be explained as a process through which capital has sought to regain or strengthen control over the labour process and offset the (highly variable) costs of fluctuating labour demand. The result has been increased productivity and control for the port authorities that own Britain's ports.


Objective To evaluate the value of ultrasound in diagnosis of pelvic mass in the postmenopausal women.Methods The features of ultrasonography and clinical data of 130 cases with pelvic mass of the postmenopausal women were retrospectively analyzed.Results A total of 94 cases with benign tumor were observed (72.3%) and malignant tumors were 36 cases(27.7%).For diagnosing the postmenopausal pelvic tumor,the sensitivity of ultrasonography was 93.9%,and specificity was 94.8%.14 cases were mistakenly diagnosed with ultrasonography and the rate of misdiagnosis was 10.7%.Conclusions There are some characteristics such as fast, noninvasivea and high accuracy when pelvic masses are diagnosed by ultrasonography.The ultrasonography is the first choice to detect pelvic mass in the postmenopausal women and it is a reliable method in identifying the nature of the tumor.


We have developed three-dimensional (3D) cell culture devices. The present study investigated that the effect of 3D culture of rat incisor-derived dental epithelial cells on their differentiation into ameloblast-like cells.


Objective: Our primary objective was to determine whether there was an association between levels of antenatal maternal serum soluble RAGE (sRAGE), drawn at the time of presentation with preterm labor (PTL), and subsequent preterm birth (PTB). Secondary objectives were to determine whether levels of sRAGE – analyzed from both antenatal maternal serum (MS) and postpartum umbilical cord serum (CS) – were associated with neonatal sepsis. Methods: Nested case-control analyses were performed within a prospective cohort of patients at risk for PTB. MS was obtained at enrollment and CS at delivery. The sRAGE levels were analyzed. Non-parametric calculations and receiver-operator analyses were performed. Results: Overall, 39.8% of patients delivered < 37 weeks (n = 498) and 15% had neonatal sepsis (n = 193). In comparing cases and controls, sRAGE was significantly lower in those with than those without an adverse event (PTB: median MS-sRAGE 771.79 versus 948.485 pg/mL, p = 0.004; neonatal sepsis: 25-centile CS-sRAGE 1220.49 versus 2244.41 pg/mL, p = 0.0013). Adding MS-sRAGE to models of clinical variables significantly enhanced the ability of the model to predict both PTB (area under the curve [AUC] 0.71 versus 0.79, p = 0.004) and neonatal sepsis (AUC 0.65 versus 0.75, p = 0.04). The negative predictive value of CS-sRAGE for neonatal sepsis was very strong (NPV = 0.91). Conclusions: The sRAGE can be used to help predict adverse perinatal outcomes. Patients with higher levels of sRAGE – who therefore may have an enhanced capability to regulate their immune response – appear less likely to experience PTB and neonatal sepsis.


Given the time-variation parameters and the nonlinearities in variable rate semi-active suspension system,this paper presents self-adaptive neural network control strategy for the performance indexes of vehicle body acceleration to be determined to show the ride comfort,with the value of suspension wheel load and the value of suspension displacement to show manipulate stability.The simulation and analysis results indicate that this strategy is applicable and effective.


The paper investigates the feasibility of using IEEE 802.11 in energy harvesting low-power sensing applications. The investigation is based on a prototype carbon dioxide sensor node that is powered by artificial indoors light. The wireless communication module of the sensor node is based on the RTX4100 module. RTX4100 incorporates a wireless protocol that duty-cycles the radio while being compatible with IEEE 802.11 access points. The presented experiments demonstrate sustainable operation but indicate a trade-off between the benefits of using IEEE 802.11 in energy harvesting applications and the energy-efficiency of the system. c


The majority of associations between genetic variation and human traits and diseases are non-coding and in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) with surrounding genetic variation. In these cases, a single causal variant is often assumed to underlie the association, however no systematic assessment of the number of causal variants has been performed. In this study, we applied a massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) in lymphoblastoid cells to functionally evaluate 49,256 allelic pairs, representing 30,893 genetic variants in high, local linkage disequilibrium for 744 independent cis-expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) and assessed each for colocalization across 114 traits. We identified 3,536 allele-independent regulatory regions containing 907 allele-specific regulatory variants, and found that 17.3% of eQTL contained more than one significant allelic effect. We show that detected regulatory variants are highly and specifically enriched for activating chromatin structures and allelic transcription factor binding, for which ETS-domain family members are a large driver. Integration of MPRA profiles with eQTL/complex trait colocalizations identified causal variant sets for associations with blood cell measurements, Multiple Sclerosis, Irritable Bowel Disease, and Crohn's Disease. These results demonstrate that a sizable number of association signals are manifest through multiple, tightly-linked causal variants requiring high-throughput functional assays for fine-mapping.


The Brindled mouse mutant is a model for the Kinky Hair syndrome. Male Brindled hemizygous suckling mice demonstrate poor growth and neurologic deterioration beginning during the first week of life and ending with death by the end of the second week. Newborn Brindled carriers are asymptomatic with normal brain copper concentration; liver copper concentration is low and the renal copper is high. Newborn carrier pups suckled by Brindled dams put on low copper diets on the day of parturition, however, show deficient weight gain by the age of 6 days and by 12 days weigh approximately one-half their normal litter-mates. Neurologic symptoms developed in the copper-deficient young carriers by age 12-14 days while their normal litter-mates remained asymptomatic. Tissue copper studies demonstrate that the liver and brain copper concentration in the carrier is no different from that of the normals, although the renal copper is greater than twice as high. On copper-deficient diets, the brain and liver concentrations of normal and heterozygous young decrease to comparable levels, but heterozygotes also develop systemic and neurologic symptoms. These observations are thought to implicate an abnormality in copper utilization in Brindled carriers brought out by marginal copper intake.


The temperature distribution in the specimen of the Gleeble simulator which heated by electric resistance heating is non-uniform extremely.The length of uniform temperature zone has a important influence on the experiment operations and data analyses.The controlled heating and cooling processes of specimen at any setting rate were simulated by finite element software Marc based on the calculated heat flux of specimen during heating.The heat fluxes during heating were optimized by bisection method realized in a developed Python program.The results show that the sample length of uniform temperature zone of 6 mm×70 mm C60 steel is 4-5 mm when the two ends held in copper jaws and free span is 20 mm.The primary influence factor of uniform temperature zone is the free span between jaws.The length of uniform temperature zone is proportional to the free span.The contact heat transfer coefficient at the interface of specimen and grips has little effect on the uniform zone,while heating rate has no influence on the uniform temperature zone.


Routing in the mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is a challenging task and has received a great amount of attention from researchers. This paper introduces an exact reference routing model to find the shortest path (optimum route). This model is a conventional combinatorial that selects the shortest route from all possible routes. To demonstrate the use of this reference model for comparison a second model is selected which is a modified ant colony optimisation (ACO). The good selection of the heuristic parameters of the ACO model increases its matching degree with the reference one. Therefore, a training pre-processing phase is added to select the best parameters for ACO model. The two models are compared using four different criteria. These criteria are the execution time, energy consumption, the total cost, and the network lifetime. A simulation experiment is performed, and the results show that the modified ant colony algorithm is superior in execution time but consumed more energy than the reference combinatorial and its total cost is greater than or equal to the other one. The lifetime analysis shows that the reference model has better lifetime than the modified ACO model.


We introduce the numerical parallel computation of geometrical ray-tracing. By analyzing the model of ray-tracing and using some parallel techniques, such as strategy of "divide and conquer" to design a geometrical ray-tracing parallel program with MPI mode. The numerical simulation computation results of parallel program on PC-cluster platform and HPC (high performance computer) with DSM structure both show a great increase of computing speed and speedup ratio, the algorithm is proved efficient.


Self-regulated learners deal with a complex interplay of forethought, performance, and self-reflection processes. This might be a reason why many students struggle with regulating their learning in a technology-enhanced learning environment (TELE). Although TELEs provide various tools supporting self-regulation, research indicates that learners seldom use the tools meaningfully. This contribution investigates whether the provision of an optional metacognitive tool (i.e. a tailored learning plan) affects tool use, learning activities, and posttest performance in the TELE "Studierplatz". To this end, students were instructed to use a learning plan in order to reach a predetermined learning goal. Results show that only 20% of the students used the tool. Furthermore, no significant effects on posttest performance were found. However, learning plan tool use positively affected working on learning goal relevant sections. These results are discussed with respect to current research on tool use in self-regulated learning with TELEs. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61692-901-5.ch019


Purpose ― This research investigates the relationship between ASEAN's industrialization, renewable energy, and CO2 emissions. The primary objectives are to assess the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in ASEAN and to explore the potential mediating effect of renewable energy in the relationship between industrialization and CO2 emissions.Methods ― The study utilizes the PMG-ARDL estimation method in nine ASEAN countries from 1990 to 2019, providing short- and long-term analyses of the variables involved.Findings ― The finding reveals the presence of the EKC in ASEAN in the short term for most member states. It also finds that renewable energy mediates the relationship between industrial value-added and CO2 emissions, with renewable energy adoption altering the turning point of per capita CO2 emissions during industrialization in several ASEAN nations.Implication ― The findings suggest that transitioning to renewable energy can help mitigate the environmental impact of ASEAN's industrial development. Thus, member states committed to energy targets should prioritize deploying renewable energy in their industrial sectors to achieve environmental benefits.Originality ― This research contributes to the existing literature by specifically examining the interplay between industrialization, renewable energy, and CO2 emissions in ASEAN. The use of the PMG-ARDL estimation method and the focus on the mediating role of renewable energy add originality to the study.


Basic biological information for a twaite shad population ( Alosa fallax , Lacepede 1803) is presented based on a 2-year study involving 273 adult and 18 juveniles specimens. The fish were caught in the Curonian lagoon and coastal zone of the Baltic Sea. At the end of July, 2004 was observed intensive and record late spawning of the twaite shad. At the end of May, 2005 was observed the beginning of spawning migration of this fish . Twaite shad was one of the key fish species caught with 38-50 mm mesh size nets at the material sampling location. The CPUE in different mesh size gill nets fluctuated from 2.7 to 32 individuals. In the spawning shoal male individuals were predominant. The standard body length of twaite shad females varied from 322 to 430 mm. The standard body length of males varied from 280 to 390 mm. Twaite shad ranged from 2+ to 9+ years, but the majority were from 4+ to 7+ years. Females exhibited higher CF and GSI values than males. Young fish were caught at 7 stations out of 17, although their abundance was not high. Besides the twaite shad, there were juveniles of 18 more fish species caught in the coastal zone.


O-N Intramolecular alkoxycarbonyl (carbonate-carbamate) migration is atom economical reaction proceeding under very mild basic aqueous conditions. In particular, carbonate groups can migrate to produce carbamate derivatives or hydroxyamino acids with high efficiency and purity without byproduct formation. This migration has found applications in the design of "promoiety- free" water-soluble prodrugs. This would be an advantage in toxicology and general pharmacology, since the detergent for solubilization, which has some side effects, can be omitted and the potential side effects caused by reported auxiliaries can be avoided. Commonly used carbonate protective groups can also undergo this reaction to produce amino-protected carbamate derivatives of hydroxyamino acids with high efficiency and purity.


One problem of the acoustic emission (AE) testing is a high level of noise affecting the diagnosis results. Electric noise, electromagnetic interference, background acoustic noise, and rubbing noise are far from the full list of noise present during measurements. With the high level of noise, the operator has to increase the recording threshold of the AE impulses through reducing the testing sensitivity at the risk of missing a dangerous defect. Lack of the data filtering can result in an incorrect location and erroneous definition of the danger level of AE source. To improve the noise immunity of the AE system, the data filtering algorithms are to be used and examined in this paper.


We extend our recent works on the resonant state D0∗(2400) in the quasi-two-body B(s) meson decays to the Bc cases within the perturbative QCD approach. With the help of the two-meson distribution ...


Laboratory experimentation was carried out to analyze the performance of M25 concrete made by partially replacing aggregates with waste materials like construction debris, PVC scrap and leather waste. The resultant concrete was tested for parameters like weight, compressive strength, slump and workability and compared with conventional plain cement concrete. It has been observed that the use of waste materials results in the formation of light weight concrete. There is a considerable increase in the compressive strength of concrete when the coarse aggregates are fully or partially replaced with construction debris. However a minor reduction in workability of the concrete mix was observed. When the coarse aggregates were replaced with PVC scrap in small percentage by weight, the resultant concrete shows fair value of compressive strength and the workability. But with the partial introduction of leather waste in place of sand in concrete, the concrete passed workability test but it failed completely in compressive strength test and gave almost zero strength. Hence, except leather waste other materials like construction debris and PVC scrap performed well as full or partial replacement for concrete aggregates and can find suitable application in construction industry as alternative to conventional materials. Uses of such waste materials will not only cut down the cost of construction, but will also contribute in safe disposal of waste materials. Apart from the environmental benefits, the addition of such wastes, also improves certain properties of resultant concrete. Research concerning the use of by-products to augment the properties of concrete has been going on for many years. In the recent decades, the efforts have been made to use industry by-products such as fly ash, silica fume, ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS), glass cullet, metakaolin etc., in civil constructions. Many highway agencies, private organizations and individuals have completed or are in the process of completing a wide variety of studies and research projects concerning the feasibility, environmental suitability and performance of using waste materials in construction. The potential applications of industry by-products in concrete are as partial aggregate replacement or as partial cement replacement, depending on their chemical composition and grain size. The use of these materials in concrete comes from the environmental constraints in the safe disposal of these products. These studies try to match societal need for safe and economic disposal of waste materials with the help of environmental friendly industries, which needs better and cost-effective construction materials. In this study, construction debris, PVC scrap and leather waste were used to augment various properties of concrete.


Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) provides a novel opportunity for visualization of molecular ion distribution. Currently, there are two major ionization techniques, matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) are widely used for imaging of biomolecules in tissue samples. MALDI and SIMS‐based IMS have the following features; measurable mass ranges are wide and small, and the spatial resolutions are low and high, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first report to identify the lipids in cultured mammalian neurons by MALDI‐IMS. Further, those neurons were analyzed with SIMS‐IMS in order to compare the distribution pattern of lipids and other derived fragments. The parameters which influence the identification of lipids in cultured neurons were optimized in order to get an optimum detection of lipid molecules. The combined spatial data of MALDI and SIMS supported the idea that the signals of small molecules such as phosphatidylcholine head groups and fatty acids (detected in SIMS) are derived from the intact lipids (detected in MALDI‐IMS). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


155 Evaluating the Staff Performance at the Food and Beverage Department: A Comparative Study Between the Hotels of Egyptian Company of Tourism and Hotels (EGOTH) and Accor Hotel Chain Ahmed Hassan Mohamed Mohamed Abdelwahab Morsy Mohamed Sheded Hassan Faculty of Tourism and HotelsFayoum University Abstract As appraisals are considered one of the most problematic and challenging modules of human resource management in hotels, This study discusses the evaluation of staff performance at the food and beverage department, and compare between the hotel of Egyptian company of tourism and hotels (EGOTH) and Accor hotel chain. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire survey of managers and supervisors in the hotel of Egyptian company of tourism and hotels (EGOTH) and Accor hotel chain. Finally, the correlation test was conducted to identify the relationship between the challenges of the performance appraisal process and the employees' performance appraisal in the hotels under study. The results indicated that there is a significant and negative relationship between challenges of the performance appraisal process and employees' performance appraisal in the food and beverages department in both E.G.O.T.H. and Accor hotels. Finally, this study recommended that these hotels should Set clear criteria for employees' performance appraisal, characterized by fairness, accuracy, and objectivity, and emphasizing that the performance appraisal process aims to develop and improve their performance and address the shortcomings of performance rather than punishment.


This paper expounds the position and functions of highly-educated and non-librarianship professionals,and puts forward some strategies for realizing the role transformation of highly-educated and non-librarianship professionals.


Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder characterised by anovulation and hyperandrogenism which presents clinically with oligomenorrhoea, hirsutism and acne. The main concerns of patients with PCOS tend to be the effect on their fertility and the cosmetic effects. A high proportion of affected women are overweight or obese and women with PCOS also have a higher than expected prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes. This is thought to be linked to an increase in insulin resistance in PCOS. This has important implications for cardiovascular risk. See Box 1 for an overview on the management of PCOS and further information can be found in the InnovAiT article by Harding (2010).


Calculation and accuracy assessment was made for points location of stationary base stations (CPHC) on Novosibirsk region territory in national coordinate (CK-95) and height (Б-1977) system. The author offers the uniform key for this fragment of the geodetic network. It provides transition from the global reference system (ITRF) to the national coordinate and height system.


The present invention is equipped with: a connector section (200) having a first cylindrical body (210) in which a male screw section (211) and a flat section (212) on which the male screw section is not formed are alternatingly formed on the outer-circumferential surface thereof in the circumferential direction, and also having a second cylindrical body (220) which is insertable into the interior of an artificial blood vessel (20); a ferrule (300) having a cylindrical section (310) which attaches to and encircles the outer-circumferential surface of the second cylindrical body (220) with the artificial blood vessel (20) interposed therebetween, by directly sliding onto the surface of the artificial blood vessel (20), and also having a nail plate (320) for contacting the flat section (212) of the first cylindrical section (210); and a nut (400) to be connected to the connector section (200) by causing a female screw section to engage the male screw section (211) of the first cylindrical body (210) while covering the ferrule (300). As a result, it is possible to prevent damage from being caused to artificial blood vessels and to increase the connection reliability between an artificial blood vessel and an artificial-blood-vessel connector.


Objective To explore the effects on lipid peroxidation in male workers exposed to varied concentrations of acrylonitrile(ACN)and to look for a sensitive biomarker for early harmful effects caused by ACN.Method Ninety-three male workers exposed to ACN and 70 similar non-exposed workers were recruited and their blood specimens were collected for determining the levels of MDA,ROS and GSH,as well as activities of SOD,GSH-Px,GST and CAT.Result Serum levels of MDA and ROS were significantly higher in the exposed group,increasing with length of employment,than those in the controls(P0.01),and serum activities of SOD,GSH-Px,GST and GSH were significantly lower in the exposed group,decreasing with length of employment,than those in the controls,both in a dose-response pattern.Serum levels of MDA,ROS and serum activity of SOD changed earlier than other indicators.Conclusion Exposure to ACN at the concentrations in this research,whether lower or approximating to the national hygienic standards,could cause damage in lipid peroxidation in human bodies,and serum levels of MDA,ROS and serum activity of SOD could be used as biomarkers indicating its early harmful effects.


Objective:A RP-HPLC method was developed for the determination of venlafaxine in human plasma.Method:Required components were extracted with 1% triethylamine-ether by solid phase extraction(SPE)technology.The plasma sample was analyzed on an ODS column and with a fluorimetric detector(λ Ex 276 nm,λ Em 598 nm).The mobile phase was a mixture of acetonitrile-phosphate buffer solution-triethylamine(30∶70∶1),pH was adjusted to 2 8 by phosphoric acid.The internal standard was maprotiline.Results:The linear range of venlafaxine was 10~800 ng·mL -1 .The lowest detectable limit was 3 ng and the lowest detectable plasma concentration was 6 ng·mL -1 ( S/N 3).The extraction recovery and method recovery of venlafaxine over plasma concentration 10,50,100,500 ng·mL -1 were 98 4%~102 0% and 98 2%~105 7% respectively.The RSD of within-day and between-day were less than 6% and 9% respectively( n=5 ).The extraction recovery of maprotiline was 81 7%.Conclusion:The method is sensitive,simple,accurate and reproducible.It can be applied to the pharmacokinetic study and therapeutic drug monitoring.


iNTRODUcTiON On January 12, 2010 an earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale struck Haiti, the poorest country in America. The quake's epicenter was in Leogane with extension to almost all the country also hitting Portau-Prince, the country's capital. This disaster caused a huge destruction and devastated more than 250,000 of houses and commercial buildings and left more than a million of homeless people. In the aftermath, this catastrophe caused 230,000 deaths and more than 30,000 wounded people (1). (Figures 1 A and B) After the disaster medical institutions, government and non-governmental organizations from around the world geared up to help. Many volunteer health professionals from different areas came together to perform this task. Previous studies described the severity and epidemiology of injuries post-earthquakes (2-3). The Wenchuan 2008 earthquake in China presented, based on the Injury Severity Score (ISS), 45% of cases with less than eight injuries (minor injuries), 41% between 9 and 14 (moderate injuries) and 13.9% over 15 (severe injuries) (2). Of the injuries of the Kashemir 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, 64.9% were superficial lacerations, 22.2% were fractures and 5.9% were contusions and sprains (3). These studies pointed out the need of a coordinated action and a well equipped hospital to take care of the victims. We believe that huge disasters are the greatest threat facing mankind. On account of Haiti limited resources and the great number of patients who needed care, a multi-professional action after the earthquake became


Ensuring gender parity has become a great challenge for the modern world. Gender equality forms part of development strategy in many countries of the world including India. When both men and women have equal access to services and resources, enjoy equal rights, and get equal opportunities to develop skills and capabilities then the development of the country is fast and balanced. The volume has emerged from the research papers contributed by social scientists and academicians from different parts of India, focusing on specific gender-related issues. Both primary and secondary data have been used by the authors to analyse the problems and conclude with suggestions. The main themes which the volume covers are: agriculture and gender development, micro credit financing and women empowerment, role of Self-help Groups (SHGs) and NGOs in socio-economic development of women and health and education of women.


The new ferrocene-based P,S-chiral auxiliary 1, derived from thioglucose, has been prepared and used in the palladium-catalyzed enantioselective allylic alkylation reaction. The X-ray structure of the allyl cationic complex [Pd(η3-PhCHCHCHPh)(1)]CF3SO3 (2) reveals a markedly rotated 1,3-diphenylallyl ligand such that the terminal allyl carbon C(3), trans to the phosphorus donor, is ca. 0.85(3) A below the coordination plane. This distortion is pertinent to the Pd(0) transition state complex expected in the allylic alkylation reaction.


Asset management is one of the most significant concerns in companies for controlling their moveable assets. However, most companies still deal with this in an inefficient way, such as manual recording or on-the-spot inspection, which is prone to human errors. This study proposes an assets surveillance system which is able to identify the assets movement statuses using a Wi-Fi network. A Wemos transmitter is mounted on each asset to be monitored and connected to the receiver through Wi-Fi signal. These tools are also connected to the internet via website to do real-time monitoring in client-side. The received signal strength indicator (RSSI) of Wi-Fi signal is measured and translated to distance information. Whenever the transmitter is out of the Wi-Fi range, a notification will pop up with ringing sound on website as it indicates that the asset is moved to another place. All activities are recorded automatically in the history. The results show that the website and notification system run properly. The maximum distances for the Wemos to detect is 12 meters, and the detection is performed at the average of 8.09 seconds. This system can be applied in companies to provide a secure, effective, and accurate way, comparing to the past manual asset management.


Abstract Myotis albescens (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1806) is a vespertilionid bat commonly called the silver-tipped myotis. A small bat with unique frosting of the hair dorsally and ventrally, it is 1 of about 100 species of Myotis worldwide and 1 of 12 species of Myotis in South America. It is one of the most widely distributed species in the genus occurring from southern Mexico to Argentina in diverse habitats generally at elevations below 500 m. It is not of special conservation status, but is rare or uncommon in many areas.


Electrospinning gives rise to polymer nanofibers. The spinning process is characterized by strong deformations of the polymer material taking place during the spinning process and a very rapid structure formation process happening within milliseconds. We were interested in the influence of the peculiar spinning process on the structures of nanofibers. For this purpose, we analyzed the internal structures of nanofibers spun from polyamide-6 and polylactide with an average diameter of about 50 nm. The fibers were partially crystalline, with degrees of crystallinity not significantly smaller than those found for less rapidly quenched and much thicker melt-extruded fibers. The annealing of polyamide fibers at elevated temperatures resulted in a transformation from the disordered γ modification to the more highly ordered α modification, and this again was in close agreement with the response of melt-extruded fibers. The orientation of the crystals along the fiber axis was strongly inhomogeneous: it was, on average, very weak, yet it could be quite pronounced locally. Small elongations of approximately 10% resulted in well-developed homogeneous crystal orientations. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 545–553, 2003


The basic concepts,working principles and characteristics of network layer routing were displayed,and the static and dynamic routing integrated experiments were designed to achieve the communication between different network nodes via packet tracer simulation with the purpose of promoting students' mastery of network layer routing technology both theoretically and practically.


We implemented the QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) In-Tube test to identify latent tuberculosis infection among potential employees prior to employment. The rates of indeterminate QFT-G In-Tube test results were higher than expected and prompted an investigation that led to successful interventions (eg, manual vortexing before incubation and the use of a modified in-tube method). The tracking of indeterminate results is suggested as an important quality control measure.


Examines the Oedipus complex (OC) from its origin in ancient mythology and its representation in literature, suggesting that one can find in the Oedipus tale and its variations almost all aspects of human conflict and dilemma. It is argued that Freud was interested in the psychological significance (i.e., the developmental phase in childhood that he called the OC and the origin of the superego) of the Oedipus drama. What Freud was suggesting was a phylogenetic basis for the OC and its connection to the family triad of father, mother, and son. Within the context of the OC, issues such as parricide, incest, child abuse, infanticide, and siblicide are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved) Language: en


By extending the basic framework of Boyer and Laffont (1997) to an incomplete contracting model, where a bank with "lender liability" and a firm under an unlimited liability constraint play bargaining games in using option contracts, we show that environmental damages as externalities caused by the firm can be reduced to the socially desirable level through the provision of monitoring, insurance and credit by the bank interacting with the financial market.


The layout target and design ruler of backbone network in allusion to Shanxi transport information network could promote the automation and help leader to make policy in science.


In the late Qing,some novels begin to construct "the nation-state" taking western modernity knowledge evolution skeleton as the standard reference.To Chinese "nation-state" in the construction and the imagination,metropolis Shanghai played a vital role first displayed in shanghai because of Chinese and foreigners inhabited there and the unfair imposed on Chinese people.Secondly,Shanghai was the material base of media on which the nation-state imagination depended,making Shanghai become the junction point of China nation-state image and the west modern civilization imagination.Thirdly,Shanghai is the modern China public domain center,providing the broad construction and the imagination nation-state cornerstone for the populace.


There are many requirements for computer interconnects and local loop telecommunications for parallel fiber optic data channels. There have recently been many packaging approaches where a few channels have been cleverly packaged, using self-aligned approaches with silicon photolithographically etched rectangular or V-groove channels to achieve accurate alignment. Practical economical packaging of arrays must be developed, using conventional electronic packages for the interfacing optoelectronic arrays to fiber ribbon cables. In this way, optoelectronic arrays may be introduced which are compatible with conventional electronic packaging, and therefore readily acceptable to present system integrator and manufacturers. Depending on the application, single mode or multi-mode interconnects may be required. This paper proposes approaches to achieve both single mode and multi-mode array packaging which may be interfaced directly to existing electronic systems.


Neutron radiation embrittlement of reactor pressure vessel (RPV) steels is one of critical issues for the structural integrity assessment of the RPVs. Especially, the embrittlement at high fluences is of great interest for the long term operation of light water reactors because information on the mechanical property changes as well as embrittlement mechanisms is limited at high fluences. In this study, microstructural analyses were conducted on the RPV steels irradiated to high fluences in order to confirm the applicability of the trend curve at high fluence region. Steels investigated are five base metals and a weld metal with their copper content ranging from 0.02 to 0.25 wt. %. These steels were irradiated in the material test reactors to fluence up to 1.3 × 1020 n/cm2 , E > 1MeV, at temperature of about 290 °C. After irradiation, transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations were performed to characterize the nano-meter scale microstructural changes due to irradiation. Formation of dislocation loops was observed. Number density and diameter of dislocation loop was investigated. Effects of chemical composition of steel and fluence on dislocation loop formation are discussed.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


of Doctoral Dissertation Degree requested Doctor of Life Science Junling Ren Title of Doctoral Dissertation Characterization of the Rho-related Rop/RAC GTPase and a plasma membrane protein in cell polarity regulation in the moss Physcomitrella patens (細胞極性制御に関わるヒメツリガネゴケRop/Rac G タンパク質と膜タンパク質の解析) Polarity is an intrinsic feature for all life forms ranging from single-cell to the complex multicellular organisms. Correct control of cell polarity is essential for their development. Although all eukaryotes employ the basic set of evolutionarily conserved core mechanisms to regulate cell polarity including the small GTPases, cytoskeleton, targeted membrane delivery and so on, yet in plants, it is still largely unknown including how the polar domain of membrane was established, what kind of targeted membrane delivery occurred. The moss Physcomitrella patens has been used as a good model system owing to its advantages such as easy observation, the completion of genome sequence, and high frequency of gene targeting. Also, apical cells of the moss show polar tip growth and the brood cells which were formed under stress lose cell polarity. Thus, using the moss as a model system, I conducted the following experiments. Conserved function of Rho-related Rop/RAC GTPase signaling in regulation of cell polarity in Physcomitrella patens Flowering plants have a distinct group of Rho GTPases that regulate polarity in polarized cell growth. Rop/RAC signaling module components have also been identified in non-flowering plants, but their roles remain unclear. To understand the importance and evolution of Rop/RAC signaling in polarity regulation in land plants, we examined the functions of PpRop and PpRopGEF in protonemal apical cells of the moss Physcomitrella patens. Inducible overexpression of PpRop2 or PpRopGEF3 caused depolarized growth of tip-growing apical cells. PpRop2 overexpression also caused aberrant cross wall formation. Fluorescent protein-tagged PpRop2 localized to the plasma membrane, including the cross wall membrane, and fluorescent-tagged PpRopGEF3 showed polarized localization to the tip region in apical cells. Thus, these results suggest common functions of PpRop and PpRopGEF in the tip-growing apical cells and the importance of a conserved Rop/RAC signaling module in the control of cell polarity in land plants. An evenly distributed protein control cell polarity by affecting the number, position and growth direction of the protrusion or branch To identify novel cell polarity regulators in the moss P. patens, the full-length cDNA library of the moss P. patens was screened by taking advantage of cell polarity lost in brood cells; and the novel gene called n1p04 was obtained. n1p04 was evenly distributed at the plasma membrane and inducible overexpression of n1p04 or its paralogous gene, sp4f05, caused ectopic protrusions or branches with variable growth directions. RNA-Seq data showed that overexpression of n1p04 altered the expression level of LRR (Leucine-Rich Repeat) receptor kinase, PpRopGEF and cell wall loosening proteins. However no obviously defective phenotype was found in n1p04 and sp4f05 double knock-out (dKO) lines. There might be other functional homologs which can complement the defective of dKO phenotype. Thus, these results suggested that n1p04, an evenly localized plasma membrane and a putative glycoprotein, was a novel cell polarity player which might work together with LRR receptor kinase and RopGEF to affect the small GTPase signaling, and regulate the local accumulation of cell wall loosening protein expansins, to control the branch positioning of protonema in the moss P. patens. This study also highlighted the idea that the evenly distributed protein also can contribute to the cell polarity regulation.


Finding a vast array of applications, the list ranking problem has emerged as one of the fundamental techniques in parallel algorithm design. Surprisingly, the best previously-known algorithm to rank a list of n items on a reconngurable mesh of size n n was running in O(log n) time. It was open for more than eight years to obtain a faster algorithm for this important problem. Our main contribution is to provide the rst breakthrough: we propose a deterministic list ranking algorithm that runs in O(log n) time as well as a randomized one running in O(1) expected time, both on a reconngurable mesh of size n n. Our results open the door to an entire slew of eecient list-ranking-based algorithms on reconngurable meshes.


Abstract The influence of 11 formulated and technical insecticides at 10 μg/g soil on growth and activities of microorganisms was determined. The populations of bacteria and fungi initially decreased with some pesticide treatments but recovered rapidly to levels similar to or greater than those of controls after three weeks. Both formulated and technical chlordane, chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin stimulated fungal growth. No inhibition on nitrification after two wks and sulfur oxidation after three wks was observed in treatments with either grade of insecticide. The effect of different treatments on respiration was equal to or greater than that of control sample. Less effect was observed with technical insecticides than the formulated ones on microbial populations and activities in the soil.


I intend to analyze "O grito", Luis Miguel Nava´s poem, as literary writing, so cheapened by the market, and hot it can argue its proper place in the world. The ways how the author considers the nonsense and the unexpected  in the poetical writing will be placed in evidence, whilst the text mixes elements apparently strange as the environment of terror and the metalanguage.


AbstractSteel P91 is known for its excellent high temperature properties. The achievement of optimum weld metal properties for steel P91 within the course of its extensive applications in power plants has however often caused concern. In the present work, three thick pipes of P91 steel were welded using three different levels of heat inputs within the range of 1·15–3·5 kJ mm−1. A circumferentially multipass butt welded P91 steel pipe, typically used for high temperature applications in power plants was selected for this investigation. The achievements of optimum weld metal properties, which are closely linked to microstructure, are known to cause concern in such weldments. Two types of heat treatments were employed, subcritical post-weld heat treatment and normalising/tempering treatment. The microstructure was evaluated by optical, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction and magnetic permeability. The results have shown a great influence of heat input and heat treatment on the microstructure. Mar...


According to the characteristics of major hazard accidents and the factors influencing the ability of emergency rescue,the index system and the hierarchy structural model were established to assess the major hazard emergency rescue.The judge matrix was constructed with different ranks and sort factors by the analytic hierarchy process(AHP).The weight,the hierarchy single arrangement and the multi-arrangement were obtained by the matrix operation and consistent test,and the obtained weights were corrected by the entropy method.The results showed that after the weights were corrected by the entropy method,the four indices,called the "instrument equipped with fire monitoring,maintenance and regular testing conditions","the sensitivity and accuracy of warning device","the sensitivity and accuracy of leak alarm device",and "identification,diagnosis,evaluation of the monitoring information".Their weights increased greatly.Mean while,the weight of the index of "capacity of aid organizations",decreased greatly.The results by the entropy method showed that the assessment result was more objective.


Non-destructive testing (defects detection, material characterization), reverse engineering, fibre orientation, and more recent coordinate metrology represent the broad range of applications of X-ray computed tomography (CT) [1]. Dimensional inspections of multi-material assemblies are characterized as a promising application for CT today and in future. However, the use of CT as a coordinate measurement system opens up new challenges to the technology. Reliability of multi-material CT measurements is still open issue due to the complexity of multi-material measurements and due to the fact that it is not covered in the current guidelines and standard drafts [2]. Thus, this paper presents – as part of a multi-material acceptance test and to create trust in multi-material CT measurement – a new design and concept for multi-material length measurement error testing and discusses the test design based on the first experimental results. The paper attempts to perform a critical analysis of the new design – a multi-material hole cube – and tries to perform several verification steps of the concept.


In this study, N application to maize tended to improve vegetative growth. Excessive use of nitrogenous fertilizers and other chemical fertilizers affect these invaluable soil microflora and the result is barren land with less or no water holding capacity increases tissue succulency in crop plants and make them vulnerable to diseases and pests. The increased condition succulency of plant tissues helps in pests and pathogens entry and multiplication easier therefore increasing the susceptibility. Split nitrogen (N) fertilizer applications can play an important role in a nutrient management strategy that is productive, profitable and environmentally responsible. With the help of split application we can minimize the denitrification, volatilization and leaching lossess. By more specifically synchronizing nitrogen supply with a plant's ability to utilize nutrients, split application can be an important component of 4R Nutrient Stewardship — right source, right rate, right time and right place. Split-applying nitrogen fertilizer is one way to confront these challenges. In this review, we focus on total nitrogen requirement is supplied atplanting application, most of the N must be waste. By postponing a portion of the N treatment until the crop is better able to utilize the nutrient, plants take up the nitrogen more quickly and efficiently.


[Purandare et al (2005)][1] have clearly pointed out the various modifiable risk factors for dementia. Their well-timed article provides an excellent overview of the various studies to date that have been associated with reducing the risk of the disease.

The prevalence of dementia is expected to


At the beginning of next century, several schemes sending a planetary rover to the moon or Mars are being planned. As part of development program, autonomous navigation technology is being studied for realizing the rover to be able to move autonomously in a long range on unknown planetary surface. In the previous study, we tried the autonomous navigation experiment on the outdoor test terrain by using rover test-bed which was controlled by a conventional sense-plan-act method. In the experiment, the problem that the rover moved into untraversable areas occurred in some cases. For improvement of this situation, new control technique have been developed that it has reaction behavior to react by the outputs of the proximity sensors. We have been trying to develop the rover test-bed system and autonomous navigation experiment were executed by newly developed control technique using the new rover test-bed In this experiment, our new control technique was able to produce the control command effectively to avoid the obstacles and to guide it to the goal point safely in the outdoor test site.


The present paper is focused on a comparative analysis of tree different structures of power steering assistant motors, via electromagnetic, performance and behavior and costs points of view. All designed machines are 3-phase architectures, two of them are with permanent magnets (one interior and one V-shape) and a third one, being a synchronous reluctance machine (SyncRel). The specifications for a motor to be in the requirements of an electric power steering system (EPS) are in fact brought in the study by the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) mounted on an actual EPS unit. Benchmarking the other structures highlights the benefits and drawbacks for engaging those as assistant motors. This process is started by finite element analysis (FEA) of all the structures, comparing their electromagnetic performances. To have a complete analysis, real-time model in the loop (RTMiL) programs are created to simulate transient behavior of the machines. These models include a complete mechanical chain of an EPS unit as well. The real-time models are built based on a hybrid mixture of analytic expressions for the motor's model and its parameters fetched from the FEA studies. The RTMiL platform include FPGAs physically interconnected, minimizing the gap between reality and simulations in the analysis process.