Although preexposure prophylaxis (Pr EP), which involves use of antiretroviral drugs by non infected individuals for prevention of acquisition of HIV, has been a promising prevention strategy there are still some public health questions that need an answer. Intake of oral emtricitabine (FTC)–tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) daily or oral TDF alone is highly effective in preventing HIV acquisition in HIV people at risk which might be the result of a wide range of different types of sexual exposure. Good efficacy has been seen both in women and men along with if men had sex with men (MSM) and transgender. Different studies have been conducted in various countries and epidemics. Because there is a big problem about adherence to this treatment which varies geographically questions about its public health benefit have been raised. Oral FTC/TDF has been found to be very safe, having, minimal impact on kidney, bone or pregnancy outcomes. No evidence is found that effectiveness is decreased by risk compensation outcomes and programmatic follow up. Still it is very early to assess the impact of this treatment on the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at population level. There are many challenges on use of PrEP with limited access with disparities along with those decided by race and sex, along with different pricing and availability of the drugs in the country. Further social effects decide the use of this TDF alone or TDF/FTC. With regard to that newer drugs like cabotegavir are being explored. Aim of this mini review has been to find a way how this Pr EP can be fully utilized for HIV prevention world over.


Method, apparatus, and computer program product embodiments are disclosed to improve network performance for ad hoc network initiation. Example embodiments include a new operational sequence for wireless devices initiating the use of an ad hoc network. The example embodiments require appropriately enabled wireless devices to only respond to probe request frames from other similarly appropriately enabled wireless devices. In this manner, two devices may avoid the time consuming effort of combining two different ad hoc networks into a single ad hoc network so that the two devices can communicate.


Steamboat Envirosystems, LLC (SELC) was awarded a grant in accordance with the DOE Enhanced Geothermal Systems Project Development Solicitation DE-PS0700ID13913. Atlas-Copco Rotoflow (ACR), a radial expansion turbine manufacturer, was responsible for the manufacturing of the turbine and the creation of the new computer program. SB Geo, Inc. (SBG), the facility operator, monitored and assisted ACR's activities as well as provided installation and startup assistance. The primary scope of the project is the redesign of an axial flow turbine to a radial inflow turboexpander to provide increased efficiency and reliability at an existing facility. In addition to the increased efficiency and reliability, the redesign includes an improved reduction gear design, an improved shaft seal design, an upgraded control system and a greater flexibility of application. This paper shall discuss the activities resulting from this grant and the improvements achieved by the redesign of the axial flow turbine. INTRODUCTION Steamboat I/IA geothermal power plant, owned by SELC, experienced a catastrophic failure of an operating axial flow turbine designed by Ormat, Inc. Although the failure was unfortunate, it provided the perfect opportunity to design, install and field-test a new, fully compatible turbine. The radial inflow turboexpander redesign addresses five components: increased efficiency, improved reduction gear design, improved shaft seal design, upgraded control system and greater flexibility. Increased Efficiency The new turboexpander has been designed with an adiabatic efficiency point of 88 percent. The design operative conditions are identical to the normal operating conditions of the existing turbine. The Ormat turbine efficiency typically operates in the mid-70 percent efficiency range. With this increase in turbine efficiency, the generator will produce a higher yearly power output that will allow the facility to approach its economic potential. Reduction Gear The epicyclic reduction gear is a main component in the operation of this new turbine. The epicyclic reduction gear has a high-speed sun gear and three planetary gears, which are fixed in the planetary wheel holder. The planetary gears are tied into two hollow ring gears, which rotate and provide the low speed output to the generator. Because of its design, the high-speed shaft does not require bearings as it basically floats within the planetary gears, which significantly increases the gearbox's overall efficiency by as much as 3 percent over conventional double helical gearbox assemblies.


Introduction initial involvement and plan of action process of design - phase 0/phase 1 project execution plan/master schedule estimating contracting detailed engineering procurement construction management project control contract administration communications semidetailed estimating system. Appendices: recommended reading glossary typical co-ordination procedure estimate checklist technical evaluation criteria example in-house construction progress monitoring system example forecasting final sub-contract cost heat-tracing cost models field indirects check list.


In this paper, we present measurement results of ultra-wideband propagation in selected indoor and outdoor environments, including forest and dense scrub. The measurement setup and procedure is described. The measurements have been performed using a time-domain measurement system consisting of a pulse generator and a sampling oscilloscope. Then, post-processing of the recorded data is described. First, we apply the CLEAN algorithm in order to study and compare the multipath nature of the investigated propagation channels. Then we present the power gain profiles.


In the novel 'Sebaldus Nothanker' (1773-1776), written by Friedrich Nicolai and exceptionally successful when it was published, the main figure is a pietist who unlike the other characters in the book is not portrayed realistically but rather as a conglomeration of various pious deformations. Nicolai used this figure to give a satirical picture of his auto-biographical experiences and his perception of religious hypocrisy at that time. In his study, the author describes the origin and the literary function of this figure. In doing so, he places the early reception history of pietism in its context in the Age of Enlightenment.


This study investigates the extra benefit provided by the joint use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) polarimetric diversity and ascending/descending orbit passes to quantify postearthquake damage that occurred over the area of Amatrice, an Italian city significantly damaged by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake. First, the sensitivity of PolSAR features derived from SAR scenes collected under ascending/descending orbits to the damage is investigated. Then, the damage assessment is performed using a processing chain that consists of extracting dual-polarimetric SAR features to detect damage and, then, applying a fuzzy clustering scheme, to partition the feature outputs into damage levels. This processing chain is first separately applied to Sentinel-1 SAR scenes collected under ascending/descending orbits; then the processing outputs are merged using two different approaches. To discuss the quality of the estimated damage maps, ground information collected by surveys performed by a trained team is used. Experimental results show that the joint use of ascending/descending orbit passes improves the estimation of damage levels (up to 78$\%$) with respect to the estimation performed using the orbiting passes separately.


The research implemented with the following aims: to check, assess the user satisfaction with Malaria management information system software in 3 provinces Ha Noi, Binh Dinh and Lam Dong that are representation of 3 regions such as the North, the Central Region and the South with 3 types of using objects respectively Central – Province – District.
Malaria management information system (MMIS) is one of six components that set up the health information system in Vietnam. The successful application of Malaria management information system will be the foundation to implement and widespread the model for other health information components. Therefore, the company developing the software can raise its prestige while improving the quality of Malaria prevention of the Ministry of Health.
This study used End user computing satisfaction model (EUCS) to measure the factors; Content, Format, Accuracy, Timeliness, Easy of use, User training affects user satisfaction with the MMIS software. Based on valid 200 questionnaires of sample, the research results showed that six hypotheses were acceptable by end-user at fairly level. So I proposed a important suggest is improve the quality of software products and user training to improve user satisfaction MMIS software.


With the development of economy in the world,some western scholar thinks that the world is in the period which the crisis breaks out frequently.In fact,China is a country with billions of people which leads to all kinds of disaster and crisis.Several of disaster and crisis result in great damage.Our country endures the test and accumulates lots of experience on the government crisis management.To tell it as it is,our government crisis management system is not still perfect and the ability should be promoted.So analyzing the situation of advanced crisis management model is helpful to do research on the manage system.


There exists a large and rapidly growing body of literature related to applications of machine learning to Covid-19. Given the substantial volume of research, there is a need to organize and categorize the literature. In this paper, we provide the most up-to-date review as of the beginning of 2022. We propose an application-based taxonomy to group the existing literature and provide an analysis of the research in each category. We discuss the progress as well as the pitfalls of the existing research, and propose keys for improvement.


Geotechnical investigation is a cyclic process. The interdependency between different steps involved in whole process, i.e., from planning, performing investigation, transporting samples and analysis of data obtained from field or lab, present opportunities for improvements and further discussion. For estimating number of investigation sampling points required for a particular site and selection of investigation methods, today we mostly relay on information from previously conducted site investigations, local experience from that area or site. In geotechnical investigation getting field samples which represents actual ground conditions for the whole site is well known challenge and has been highlighted in many research papers. In this paper we are presenting concept of influence region of geotechnical investigation points and an approach for estimation of the same. We believe the influence region concept; its estimation approach will provide a mathematical model and will help in deciding number of sampling points at the geotechnical investigation sites. In author's opinion the presented concept will further improve the quality of geotechnical ground investigation process and will provide help in getting representative, quality field samples for laboratory analysis. The presented concept and estimation approach in this paper is based on author's field experience and exposure gained from working in Swedish infrastructure projects. We think the influence region concept will further improve the existing geotechnical ground investigation process and will open opportunities for its validation through focused scientific research. A brief overview of the existing ground investigation processes has been covered in the paper, along with examples from geotechnical site investigations from Trafikverket (The Swedish Transport Administration) projects in Sweden.


been dealt extensively in recent years. Related studies focus on different mechanisms channeling and expanding savings and, subsequently, by generating investments, increase the possibilities of choosing intertemporal consumption throughout the life cycle of the population such that individuals can access educational resources, health, housing, etc., as well as providing the possibility of mitigating risks. Employing microdata from the Global Financial Inclusion Survey of the World Bank, Neural Networks. The results show that, contrary to the general view, the greater the high differential between the active and passive interest rates, as well as to a biased bank orientation to grant credits for consumption rather than for real investments, and additionally to some socioeconomic factors like income levels and education. G20, C45, G38


This paper proposes an analysis method of Petri nets(PNs) using the relational algebra(RA). More specifically, we represent PNs in relations of the relational model. Based on such representation, we first develop an algorithm for generating reachability trees of PNs. We then develop algorithms for analyzing properties of PNs, such as boundedness, conservation, coverability, reachability, and liveness. The advantage of this approach is as follows: First, the algorithms represented by RA can be easily converted to a query language such as SQL of the widely used, commercial relational database management systems(DBMSs). Second, we can alleviate the problem of state space explosion because relational DBMSs can handle large amounts of data efficiently. Finally, we can use the DBMS's query language to interpret the Petri nets and make simulation.


ABSTRACT Translanguaging is an increasingly popular concept used in the description of multilingual practices and in language policy and language pedagogy research. In this paper, I argue that the main reason for the rapid increase in the use of this concept is that it has rhizomatic characteristics. My argument is supported by evidence supplied by a project conducted among members of a Romani-Hungarian bilingual Roma community in a small town in Hungary. After introducing Deleuze and Guattaris' rhizome-metaphor (1987) and its reception in sociolinguistics, I survey dimensions of translanguaging and point out that its interpretation as a rhizomatic multiplicity opens up new possibilities for the description of multilingual practices and helps to understand the versatility of the concept. Based on evidence supplied by the project referred to above, I claim that the concept of translanguaging, in virtue of its rhizomatic features offers new emphases in the interpretation of multilingual linguistic practices, and that the concept itself has the characteristics of a rhizomatic multiplicity, enabling it to connect to other multiplicities. Such an understanding of translanguaging may help determine pedagogical stance or influence and shape efforts made to maintain minority languages.


A study was conducted in three successive seasons during 2008-10 on sandy loam soil at Adaptive Research Farm, Rahim Yar Khan. The objective was to investigate the response of cotton (cv.MNH786) to different levels and times of application of potash. The treatments comprised three potassium doses (0, 62.5 and 125 kg ha -1 ) and applied at different times (full on sowing, full at 1 st irrigation and ½ at sowing + ½ at 1 st irrigation). Potassium doses applied at different times significantly affected seed cotton yield. On an average the highest seed cotton yield (3030.75 kg ha -1 ) was obtained when crop was fertilized at the rate of 125 kg ha -1 K (full sowing) followed by 62.5 kg ha -1 K full at sowing (2875.25 kg ha -1 ). So potassium fertilizer application at sowing proved more beneficial than its split application at sowing and 1 st irrigation. The lowest yield was noted in control (2258.52 kg ha -1 ) where no potassium fertilizer was applied. Hence application of K at economical doses of 62.5 kg ha -1 is


ABSTRACT Northern abalone are an important component of the intertidal and subtidal ecosystems of the Pacific Coast. This research was carried out to test the feasibility of utilizing underwater stereo-camera technology to conduct surveys to estimate the abundance and size structure of northern abalone populations. Consistent with other studies, depth and substrate both impacted the density and length of northern abalone, and provided a basis for implementing stratification strategies for density estimation. The average deployment took about 18 min and resulted in 47 useable image quadrats. The estimated time to analyze each frame was about 3 min, translating into ∼2.5 h of processing time per deployment. The precision of the resulting density estimates was high (relative error ∼0.22–0.37 depending on the method used for stratification) and could be improved by increasing the number of study sites to 35 or greater. The pooled density of northern abalone was estimated as 1.07 individuals/ m–2 (SE = 0.21) and the mean length of northern abalone across the study sites was 67.7 mm (SE = 0.08). Future stereo-camera surveys could be used as a cost-effective supplement to self-contained underwater breathing apparatus diver surveys to increase the precision of abundance and size estimates of northern abalone populations.


Interactions between the Lenape bands and Swedish colonists from ca. 1640 to 1660 reflect a new strategy for securing desired European goods. Lenape history during this period is well known from land deeds and other recorded interactions with the colonists. These records document details of their band organization and their dispersed residence pattern. However, for nearly 20 years the two Schuylkil River bands, and perhaps others, established their summer stations in the Passyunk region, where they amplified their maize gardening to produce a "crop" for sale to the colonists. By 1660, due to the combined effects of a decline in maize prices and the greater attractiveness of fur trapping as a resource base, the Lenape bands aggregated at Passyunk returned to traditional summer fishing stations and abandoned large-scale maize gardening. During the entire period from ca. 1640-1660 all of the Lenape bands maintained normal foraging patterns. Their temporary economic adjustment as a means for gaining access to trade goods lasted nearly twenty years, generating only a minimal alteration in the residence pattern of some bands, but no changes in social structure or political organization. This unusual summer aggregation pattern of some of these foraging bands in order to grow maize as a cash crop from ca. 16401660 had led several scholars to conclude that these Lenape foragers were sedentary horticulturalists, or that contact with Europeans stimulated a transition to agriculture. Neither of these inferences is supported by the evidence. We can demonstrate now that the Lenape bands retained their traditional culture long after the 1730s, the decade during which the traditionalists still foraging in the Delaware Valley had relocated their foraging range to the west. Lenape lifestyle, or variations on its foraging focus, remained intact until the middle of the 19th century, or for over 100 years after their departure from the Delaware Valley.


Part I: Overview of Poll Responses
Part II: Frequency Distributions
Part III: Individual Poll Responses, "Busines-as-Usual" Cases
Part IV: Individual Poll Resposnses, Carbon Emission Reduction Cases


PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERties of a compound are keys to understanding how it may move through the environment. These properties inform the Environmental Protection Agency as it reviews notices a...


The introduction of quarantine restrictions in the world has led to restrictions on many industries of both economic and social spheres of life. Education has not become an exception. The need to level the large number of students necessitated the search for alternative ways of organising educational and pedagogical processes. This is especially an issue for higher education institutions. Higher education institutions train specialists for many sectors of the economy and a significant break in the educational process due to quarantine restrictions could lead to a real collapse of the higher education system. This necessitates the search for ways to transform the pedagogical process in higher education institutions and the introduction of alternative mechanisms and methods of organising the educational process. The purpose of the study was to investigate the ways of transformation of the pedagogical process in higher education during the quarantine. A systematic algorithm for studying the transformation of the pedagogical process in conditions of quarantine and quarantine restrictions in higher education has been developed. The advantages and disadvantages of distance learning technologies of higher education have been identified. The main features of such remote technologies as Moodle, Google Classroom, and Zoom are analysed.


Two-tenths per cent bovine albumin in buffered saline solution has proved to be a highly satisfactory diluent for influenza and yellow fever viruses, having many advantages over serum. Chief among these are that it is easily prepared and, as far as is known, contains neither specific nor nonspecific virus-inactivating substances.


Embodiment of the present invention discloses a method of manufacturing the array substrate, and a display device provided with the array substrate, belonging to the field of display technology. Solves the prior art edge region will GOA chamfered downwardly opening, technical problems that affect the stability of the metal between the source and drain regions and the gate metal GOA electrically connected. The array substrate includes a display region and a region GOA, GOA in the region, from bottom to top is formed with a gate metal, a gate insulating layer, an active layer, a transition layer, the source-drain metal and the transition defines a through layer, the active layer and the gate insulating layer via hole, the metal source and drain electrodes is electrically connected to the gate metal through the via hole; wherein the transition layer is greater than the etch rate the etching rate of the active layer. The present invention is applied to an OLED panel, an LCD TV, LCD monitors, cell phone, a tablet computer display device.


We present the first photoelectron circular dichroism (PECD) measurements of chiral alcohols, and in particular 1-Phenylethanol, using multiphoton ionization at 400 nm. Observed PECD values were rather small at $\sim2$%, but could be reliably extracted using both hemispherical integration and Abel inversion approaches. Experimental uncertainties of $<0.3$% (2$\sigma$) were achieved with a collection time of around 2 hours. All experiments were conducted in a new compact spectrometer, featuring a continuous flow supersonic expansion and velocity-map imaging detection. The latter is crucial to extract reliable PECD values, as it allows discrimination of different features in the photoelectron spectrum, which exhibit different and opposing PECD signals. The use of a tabletop multiphoton universal ionization scheme is an important step towards a viable analytical chiral spectrometer based on PECD.


In this paper,it is to expatiate on some practices and experience to create a relaxed academic atmosphere and strengthen post-doctoral team-building and management for building an innovation-oriented post-doctoral research station with the help of advantages of the control subjects.We Aim at learning and exchange with domestic post-doctoral research stations in order to further improve the quality and management level of the post-doctoral research station.


In recent years, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been increasing worldwide, and its high mortality seriously threatens public health. Early detection and treatment are crucial to improving the survival rate. Imaging examination widely used for the diagnosis of HCC and provides a non-invasive means of tumor visualization. The rapid development of medical imaging technology is expected to improve early-stage diagnosis rates for HCC. This article summarizes the methods for the differential diagnosis of premalignant dysplastic nodule (DN) and small hepatocellular carcinoma during the carcinogenesis of cirrhosis and reviews their application. In addition, a discussion on some recently patented medical imaging development was also presented.


The detailed economic benefit and the means used in electric power demand side managing will be discussed on this paper.


It is sometimes maintained that what a pacifist believes is that it is morally wrong for anyone to use violence under any circumstances. For example, Professor Jan Narveson in his article, "Pacifism: A Philosophical Analysis," maintains that this is the only "philosophically interesting" version of pacifism and then goes on to try to show that it is internally inconsistent.1 Although I do not believe that Narveson or anyone else has proven this version of pacifism to be inconsistent, it is nonetheless a position that most people would find very difficult to hold, since it implies that no one is ever morally justified in defending himself or others with violence, even when unjustifiably attacked. What I shall try to do in this paper is to present and defend another "philosophically interesting" version of pacifism which does not have this undesirable implication. Before doing so, however, I should like to make it clear that throughout I will be using the word 'violence' without clarification, though it is, obviously enough, in need of clarification. I hope that what I have to say will not be too greatly affected if I bypass that difficulty here. Let us proceed by sketching some of the beliefs that the type of pacifist I have in mind would have. (1) First of all, he does not believe that violence is always wrong for everyone. (2) He believes that people, in general, do have a right to defend themselves and others with violence if necessary. (3) But he also believes that a life of nonviolence is a morally preferable way of life; that is, it is morally better or more worthy to live a life of nonviolence than it is to live the life of the average moral human being. And furthermore he believes that, although it is morally good to choose to live the life of the pacifist, it is not morally wrong not to do so. Of course some ethical theorists will object to 3 on the ground that it is not possible according to some ethical theories, such as some forms of utilitarianism, for something to be good to do but not wrong not to do. This


"Tilt-shift photography" is used when referring to camera movements: when this artifact is used, the photographer is able to change the tilt and redefine the picture focus. Considering this technical characteristic of photography, it aims to analyze the collection Taking Pictures by the Booker Prize Winner's Anne Enright. Born in Ireland, Enright portrays many of the tensions women face regarding motherhood taking into account the perfection attributed to the Irish mother figure in social and cultural history. The analysis aims to introduce the authoress, contextualize her works and verify the role of the mother in contemporary Irish society through her short stories. In what follows, I read the contemporary Irish writer Anne Enright as a photographer and the pictures are the short stories


Dirofilariasis is a zoonotic disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis, a nematode found mainly in the pulmonary artery and right chambers of the heart, lungs, and large vessels of dogs. This parasitism also occasionally occurs in cats, causing an amicrofilaremic and asymptomatic infection, resulting in severe illness and rapid death. In this case report, it was described acute clinical signs and histopathological alterations in a domestic cat with heartworm disease from the city of Mossoró, the Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. The nematode species, D. immitis, was confirmed by morphological and molecular analyses. This is the first documented and full report of feline heartworm disease in northeastern Brazil.


Objectives: The question whether mental illness prevalence rates are increasing is a controversially debated topic. Epidemiological articles and review publications that look into this research issue are often compromised by methodological problems. The present study aimed at using a meta-analysis technique that is usually applied for the analysis of intervention studies to achieve more transparency and statistical precision.Methods: We searched Pubmed, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Google Scholar and reference lists for repeated cross-sectional population studies on prevalence rates of adult mental illness based on ICD- or DSM-based diagnoses, symptom scales and distress scales that used the same methodological approach at least twice in the same geographical region. The study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42018090959).Results: We included 44 samples from 42 publications, representing 1,035,697 primary observations for the first time point and 783,897 primary observations for the second and last time point. Studies were conducted between 1978 and 2015. Controlling for a hierarchical data structure, we found an overall global prevalence increase odds ratio of 1.179 (95%-CI: 1.065 – 1.305). A multivariate meta-regression suggested relevant associations with methodological characteristics of included studies. Conclusions: We conclude that the prevalence increase of adult mental illness is small and we assume that this increase is mainly related to demographic changes.


In this paper, we investigate a reinforcement problem of two antagonism armies, establish an optimization theoretical model of reinforcements based on differential game and its optimality conditions,give optimal strategies of reinforcements.Research results in this paper are of theoretical guide importance for both drawing up and evaluating battle plans and battle command decisions.


SummaryWe describe a previously unreported complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, that of aortic thrombosis. We also review the literature on blood flow in the abdomen following pneumoperitoneum.


Ventricular fibrillation is the cause of sudden circulatory arrest in about 30 per cent of cases (Jude, Kouwenhoven, and Knickerbocker, 1961). Paroxysms of ventricular fibrillation frequently account for Stokes-Adams attacks in patients with complete heart block (Parkinson, Papp, and Evans, 1941; Portal et al., 1962). Though Stokes-Adams attacks occur not infrequently in patients with sinus rhythm, these are commonly regarded as due to ventricular asystole (Gilchrist, 1958). It is considered exceptional for spontaneous recovery of effective heart action to follow the onset of ventricular fibrillation from sinus rhythm: Zoll et al. (1956) found that defibrillation by electrical countershock was almost invariably required. Their experience has been confirmed by others, but Estes (1962) comments, "Spontaneous reversion may occur rarely, so continued massage is warranted even though no device is available for defibrillation". This approach became practicable after the introduction of external cardiac massage by Kouwenhoven, Jude, and Knickerbocker (1960). In this paper, 2 patients are reported in whom self-limiting attacks of paroxysmal ventricular fibrillation occurred. One patient had mild hypertension and coronary artery disease; the other had severe coronary disease and massive myocardial infarction. Both patients survived. Observations were made on the manner of production, treatment, and prevention of attacks.


Although the thermal effects of pulsed shortwave diathermy (PSWD) have been previously reported, the modality is often regarded as a non-thermal treatment. This article explores the relationship between PSWD treatment parameters and the perception of heat in non-injured subjects. It is the initial report of an experimental programme to determine the relationship between PSWD treatment parameters and their physiological effects.


The continuing training for the ethics committee(EC) members plays a major role in the capacity building of the EC.By introducing the Research Ethics Training Program in WHO/TDR Huashan Training Center,from the development of the standard training module and the course,the planning,the preparation and the evaluation of the training,to the cultivation of the faculty,this article explores the approaches of quality management in the training process to ensure the training quality.It is expected to strengthen the EC members' competency in applying ethical principles into ethical review practice through high quality training program.


As the application areas of LCD are extending, more products are used in outdoor environments. Long term strong ultyaviolet radiation could cause LCD failure due to lack of optical retation. It is very important to protect LCD from UV-rays. Based on the analysis of the failed LCD under strong UV radiation and the comparison study of UV protecting polarizer (F-1225 DU) with the ordinary polarizer (LN-1205 T) , the method of UV protection for LCD is presented to improve the reliability of outdoor LCD.


The article analyses the relationship established by the Brazilian Army with the photographic technology in the late 19th and early 20th Century. The photographic collections of two military campaigns were studied: the Canudos War (1896-1897) and the Contestado War (1914-1916). We investigated how the Brazilian Army had invested in the photographic technology for recording the military action and refute criticisms against the repression of the two major social conflicts of the Brazilian First Republic (1889-1930). We highlight the advances in this technology and the logic of the official reasoning embedded in the photographic representations. There was a change in the form of recording and immortalize the military action between Canudos and Contestado, especially regarding to the production and circulation of photographs related to death and destruction on the battlefield. This change was related to the political and social transformations experienced in Brazil during the First Republic and was also articulated to the local project of military modernization.


The effective implementation of community service is the inevitable to form a harmonious community, is one of the important factors to promote social harmony.As community building advancement to the depth and breadth,the community service all-round development has become an urgent issue to be considered.


This paper describes the development of a new design of mylar straw tubes, operating in a vacuum, with a diameter of 4.8 mm with extremely thin walls of 12 µm for the COMET experiment. The production process is performed with a special machine using ultrasonic welding technology, which allows the manufacturing of unique new straw tubes from a single mylar tape, coated on one side with 70 nm Al layer. The goal of R&D is to create sufficiently thin-wall straws for modern tracking detectors which can satisfy the main requirements of working in a vacuum and have an excellent momentum resolution. The critical point is preservation of the diameter along the tube and the cylindrical shape after pressurization. These newly developed ultrathin tubes showed excellent parameters in various tests. The stability of the seam area formed during the welding process and uniformity of the diameter determine the proper distribution of the electric field and overall performance. These straws fully satisfied and passed the tests of elasticity and gas leakage (working pressure 1 bar). For the first time unique ultrathin 12 µm thick wall tubes with 4.8 mm diameter are achieved. They have excellent working properties for the COMET experiment purposes.


The cost analysis of a program is a function from the size of its input to the number of steps the program takes to run. In this work we address two difficulties associated with constructing cost analyses. First, what is the cost of a higher-order program? If an expression takes a function as input, what is the "size" of that input? If an expression evaluates to a function, what is its "cost"? Second, how can we automate the cost analysis of arbitrary programs? In this work we develop a static cost analysis system for a functional target language with structural list recursion. The cost of evaluating a target expression is defined to be the size of its evaluation derivation in the operational semantics. The complexity of a target expression is a pair consisting of a cost and a potential, which is a measure of size. A translation function ‖ · ‖ maps target expressions to complexities. Our main result is the following soundness theorem: If t is a term in the target language, then the cost component of ‖t‖ is an upper bound on the cost of evaluating t. We formalize the mathematical development of the system in the proof assistant Coq, a dependently typed functional programming language and interactive theorem prover. We implement target language typing and evaluation in Coq, as well as an independent complexity language to reason about complexities. By formalizing the proof of the soundness theorem in Coq, we obtain a system which automatically generates certified upper bounds on the complexity of target-language terms.


Students on the autism spectrum are attending colleges and universities in vastly increasing numbers. Though these students are typically very bright and academically capable of succeeding in higher education, achieving success in college goes far beyond academics. Being a college student, especially on a residential campus, requires many other life and social skills, as well as a certain degree of independence and self-motivation; therefore, it is essential that students choose a college that has programs, services, and resources appropriate for their needs.

Keywords:

autism support programs;
college and autism;
college and autism spectrum;
disability services


The circumstances in which nest-raiding behavior was shown by male sticklebacks are described. These observations refer to natural situations rather than laboratory situations. It is hypothesized that nest raiding is normally a response to a shortage of food or material for building nests.


Heterotopic ossification after hip arthroplasty can be prevented by ibuprofen given 3 months postoperatively. To evaluate the effectiveness of 10 days of ibuprofen treatment we performed a randomized, double-blind, prospective study on 57 patients with primary arthrosis, undergoing total hip arthroplasty. 47 patients completed the study and no effect on the incidence of ossification could be detected.


Every applied mathematician knows that oscillations such as sound waves satisfy a wave equation, and that diffusive properties such as heat conduction satisfy a diffusion equation. Would you ever expect "waves" to "diffuse"? This type of behavior may happen if the medium in which the wave propagates is sufficiently complex. The complexity is modeled mathematically as a random medium, where properties like wave speed have small variations that are too complex to measure or to describe simply. We would like to develop and analyze a simple model of wave propagation in a random medium using a Galton Box (see Wikipedia, or the Boston Museum of Science). The objective is to include idealized features of upper ocean waveguides which result from ubiquitous phenomena known as internal waves (see Wikipedia, or the Boston Museum of Science), which have important influences on acoustic propagation.


According to the Government''s June 21st Agreement for Reorganizaition of Investigative Prerogatives, police can drop cases without any prior supervision of prosecutors. As in current criminal procedure act only prosecutors can indict, preventing inappropriate case drop decision of police and prosecutors plays a pivotal role in maintaining public faith in the criminal justice. The June 21st Agreement stipulates police must transfer cases to the prosecution if those involved such as victims make complaints. This seems to be an airtight control of police''s termination of investigation. However, closer look in respective of constitutional law reveals blind spots which might infringe the victim''s constitutional right to make a statement to a criminal court''s judge. These weak spots could breach the separation of powers doctrine as well. Unconstitutionality mainly comes from the vagueness of the word "victims" and from limiting the scope of complaints. As prosecutors'' non-indictment decision also drop the case, it is same with police''s non-transfer decision in nature. More than 60 years'' experience of control on the prosecutors'' non-indictment decision can shed light on the problem of the police''s non-transfer control. Standing of complaints against the non-transfer decision should include the victims who are allowed to make a constitutional complaint against prosecutors'' non-indictment decision under the present criminal procedure act. Prosecutors'' control followed by judicial review must be made to the police''s non-transfer decision. Criminal procedure act which prescribes these two elements can protect victim''s fundamental rights to state his/her damage before a judge, and realize the separation of powers.


In nuclear couting detection experiments, only small fraction of nuclei are picked up and recorded by the detector. This is depicted as a sampling process done by the detector. The more samples picks up by the detector, the better will be the accuracy of the detector's readings. Therefore, the accuracy in measuring radioactivity of a material is directly proportional to the time allocated for measurement. Laboratories are faced with huge number of materials to be analyzed in alimited span of time.

The objective in this research is to find the optimum testing time for these materials to minimize the inaccuracy. Since a smaller value for the standard deviation is used as a measure of accuracy, the problem translates into minimizing the standard deviations under time constraint. Anlytical solution was devises for validation puposes. Results found using this formulation were compared with those using the analytical solution; both produced identical results.


Transvaal's policy for the evaluation of new retail development proposals has been applied successfully for well over a decade, but is based on debatable premises. The policy is described, its premises are criticised and tentative suggestions for improvement made. Premises of the policy include a retail hierarchy with discrete levels, the use of circles of prescribed radius as proxies for trade areas, and the allocation of retail floor space per person, irrespective of economic considerations. Suggested improvements include increasing the prescribed radii of circles, while reducing the allotted retail floor space per person, incorporating travel time as alternative to distance, and incorporating economic criteria.


Cutting trade is becoming stronger at the turning of the century in China. In inferior advantageous economy, the structure of ownership is one of the unreasonable factors. Therefore, optimizing the structure of ownership is necessary . This paper dwells on the principals and methods about optimizing the structure of ownership.


The invention relates to a liquid fertilizer containing many kinds of phytols and medium-trace elements and is applied to the fields of agriculture and forestry. The liquid fertilizer is prepared from the following main raw materials in parts by weight: 80-450 parts of soluble phytols, 0.3-1.0 part of calcium nitrate, 0.3-3.5 parts of zinc sulfate, 0.3-3.5 parts of manganese sulfate, 0.3-3.5 parts of magnesium sulfate, 0.3-2.5 parts of ferrous sulfate, 0.3-4.0 parts of cobalt chloride, 0.1-3.5 parts of ammonium molybdate and 0.5-4.0 parts of boric acid, an appropriate amount of water is added, and the acidity-basicity of the fertilizer is regulated to be neutral or slightly acidic. The fertilizer contains many kinds of phytols, so that the physiological activity of crops is activated, and the medium-trace element absorption and anti-oxidation capacities of the crops are improved; and due to the medium-trace elements, the healthy growth of the crops can be promoted, and the element deficiency symptoms of the crops can be corrected. The liquid fertilizer disclosed by the invention has the characteristics of simple machining process, low production cost, high fertilizer efficiency and the like, is applicable to the top application of the roots and foliage of fruit trees, vegetables and field crops, particularly the medium-trace element nutrition supplementation of leaves or fruits at the late growth stages of the fruit trees, and is a multi-element liquid fertilizer with a wide range of application.


This paper investigates Strategy of the socio-economic development of the North-Caucasian Federal Okrug through 2025, which was approved more than a year ago, and its implementation has already kickstarted. However already at the onset there arose risks which experts had long forewarned of: specifically, the Strategy implementation mechanisms may exacerbate typical of the North-Caucasian regions problems and fuel new ones.


This study examines the effect of welding conditions on the applicability of X-ray stress measurement at weld metal with coarsened grains. Testing material was low carbon austenitic stainless steel and 15 welded specimens were prepared through tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding under various welding conditions, in which five kinds of welding currents and three kinds of welding speeds were assigned in all combinations. In the X-ray stress measurement, 2 θ -sin 2 ψ method was applied and then the effectiveness of enlarging a diameter of collimator and applying additional planer oscillation for weld metal with coarsened grains was evaluated. Meanwhile, the effect of welding conditions on crystal grain coarsening at weld metal was examined based on welding thermal conduction theory with a moving point heat source. The results showed that the mean crystal grain size at weld metal correlated linearly with the parameter derived from the welding thermal conduction theory. Based on relation between X-ray irradiation area and the mean crystal grain size, the effect of the welding conditions on the applicability of X-ray stress measurement with or without enlarging a diameter of collimator and applying additional planer oscillation was systematically evaluated.


Learning prerequisite chains is an important task for one to pick up knowledge efficiently in both known and unknown domains. For example, one may be an expert in the natural language processing (NLP) domain, but want to determine the best order in which to learn new concepts in an unfamiliar Computer Vision domain (CV). Both domains share some common concepts, such as machine learning basics and deep learning models. In this paper, we solve the task of unsupervised cross-domain concept prerequisite chain learning, using an optimized variational graph autoencoder. Our model learns to transfer concept prerequisite relations from an information-rich domain (source domain) to an information-poor domain (target domain), substantially surpassing other baseline models. In addition, we expand an existing dataset by introducing two new domains—-CV and Bioinformatics (BIO). The annotated data and resources as well as the code will be made publicly available.


These are the proceedings of the fourth British-Dutch seminar on population geography held in Soesterberg Netherlands in April 1991. Papers included focus on the implications of various demographic trends for the restructuring of Western societies and the related policy issues. The papers are organized under the following themes: "general dimensions of demographic change and methodological issues; regional patterns of demographic change; the implications of demographic change for the housing market and the labour market; and small-area forecasting." Several of the studies deal with migration issues. The geographical focus is on Europe particularly the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. (EXCERPT)


To the Editor: W e read with interest the article by Usmanov et al regarding ''Predicted Trends in the Incidence of Retinoblastoma in the Asia-Pacific Region.'' The study aimed to predict the countrywise incidence of retinoblastoma in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Western Asia, in the years 2013 and 2023, to allow better allocation of resources, improve diagnosis and treatment, and therefore reduce mortality and morbidity arising from this intraocular malignancy. The authors should be commended on basing the calculation on population data from the United Nations and using what they believed to be the best predictor of global incidence of retinoblastoma, the incidence rate found in a Northern European study where national cancer registries were known to be comprehensive. However, there are some reservations as to the accuracy of the predicted rates on the basis of the following: (1) Comparing with current incidence rates found in the literature in the year 2013, the predicted incidence rate account for 5% to 100% of what was reported. As there is no way to ascertain the true incidence rate of each country, the predicted rates may not act as reliable surrogates in areas where national statistics or cancer registry is incomplete. (2) The article did not state the reason for the expected decline in incidence rates in the next decade. As countries become more developed, birth rates typically decrease. The projection in incidence rate in 2023 should take this effect into account. (3) The previous trend in retinoblastoma incidence rates in China was very much related to the 1-child policy and its reforms since 1979. There is no way of predicting future changes in this policy and how this will be reflected in the actual retinoblastoma incidence rates.


Software aging is a common phenomenon which is often manifested through system performance degradation. Rejuvenation is one of the most commonly used approaches to handle issues caused by software aging. To combat resource performance degradation and at the same time maintain maximized average resource performance, we present a two-level rejuvenation strategy, i.e., interleaving a set of n warm rejuvenations with one cold rejuvenation. Our target is to find the optimal n that maximizes system average performance. We first define a resource model that takes into consideration of performance degradation and two-level rejuvenations. Based on the resource model, we formally analyze the resource supply and present the MAX-PERFORMANCE algorithm to determine the optimal rejuvenation pattern that maximizes the average resource performance. The simulation results show that with a two-level rejuvenation strategy, we can achieve 25.22% higher average resource performance compared with a single level rejuvenation strategy.


Introduces to lose the applied function that deal turn software R2V, analyzing the R2V in highway flat surface line design of the application realizes and concrete operation, for perfect increase the highway flat surface line design has to consults certainly value.


We evaluated the meibomian gland function of 11 patients before and during treatment with isotretinoin (Accutane) by assessing tear osmolarity, meibomian gland morphology, tear production, rose bengal staining, and meibomian gland excreta. We found, during Accutane use, that meibomian glands appeared significantly less dense and atrophic by meibography. Excreta thickness increased from 1.7 ± 0.9 to 3.1 ± 1.2 (p < 0.005), and expressible excreta volume decreased from 1.52 ± 0.68 to 1.10 ± 0.3 (p < 0.05) (scale 1-4). We also found a significant increase in tear osmolarity from 304.9 ± 11 to 316.3 ± 10 mosmol/L (p < 0.005). There was no significant change in the Schirmer test during treatment. We suggest that the clinical symptoms of blepharitis during Accutane therapy are related to decreased meibomian gland function and consequent increased tear evaporation and tear osmolarity.


Environmental quality index is needed to describe the initial indication of the environmental conditions of an area in a certain period. Bekasi district, the largest industrial area in Indonesia and Southeast Asia, faces environmental damage that can threaten the quality of human life. Local governments need the determination of the environmental quality index of Bekasi Regency to get quick conclusions from environmental conditions in Bekasi Regency. Many factors can affect the environmental quality index in Bekasi Regency, both direct driving factors and supporting factors. Twenty-four assessment instruments must be assessed by nine expert panelists from several regional agencies. The Delphi method was used to obtain consensus from two rounds of interviews with expert panelists. Changes in land cover, type of land cover, household solid waste pollution, household liquid waste pollution, industrial air pollution, and industrial liquid waste pollution are the direct driving factors that most influence the environmental quality index in Bekasi Regency. Meanwhile, population growth and population migration are the supporting factors that most influence the environmental quality index in Bekasi Regency.


The sustainability practitioner's guide to input-output analysis, edited by Joy Murray and Richard Wood. Champaign, Il, Common Ground Publishing LLC, 2010. 257pp. ISBN: 978-1-86335-747-0


The problem of burst contention in the future commercial optical burst switching(OBS) networks with limited wavelength conversion capability(LWCC) was investigated.According to the position of wavelength converters,the network architecture was decomposed into multiple wavelength-continuous segments,named as a "leg".Based on the decomposed network model,various conventional wavelength assignment algorithms were analyzed and compared.Furthermore,a novel distributed dynamic wavelength assignment policy called PWA-leg was presented,combining the conventional priority calculation and the new leg structures.The simulation experiments indicate that,in the OBS-LWCC networks,the proposed algorithm which can intelligently assign the optimal wavelengths to diverse burst traffics at the wavelength convertible switches is proved to always obtain the lowest blocking probability,and consequently,is more compatible to the dynamic burst traffics and the topology changes,compared with the previous algorithms.


7138 Background: A two-drug platinum-based regimen in which cisplatin or carboplatin is combined with a third-generation agent (i.e. paclitaxel, vinorelbine, docetaxel, or G) is the standard first-line treatment for NSCLC patients with good performance status. Encouraging results have recently been reported for nonplatinum regimens composed of two third-generation drugs.

METHODS
To assess the impact of G on the activity of first-line chemotherapy in NSCLC, we carried out a meta-analysis on data from 4,362 NSCLC patients who were enrolled in 11 randomized trials comparing a G-containing vs. G-free new generation regimens. We constructed 2x2 tables using response to treatment data. For trials with more than one eligible G-free comparator arm, individual comparisons between the G-based treatment arms and each of the comparator arms were analyzed. A general variance-based method was used to estimate the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). We assessed for heterogeneity among the trials based on standard methods.

RESULTS
Sixteen comparisons contributed to this analysis. G-containing regimens included: G+cisplatin (894), G+docetaxel (565), G+paclitaxel (200 patients), G+vinorelbine (157), G+carboplatin (49). G-free regimens included: vinorelbine+cisplatin (866), carboplatin+paclitaxel (539), docetaxel+cisplatin (494), cisplatin+paclitaxel (439), vinorelbine+carboplatin (159). Comparing G-containing vs. G-free regimens, the OR for progression was 0.867 (CI 95% 0.770-0.977; p = 0.019), with heterogeneity chi-square 11.639 (p = 0.71). No significant difference was observed for complete (OR 0.909, CI 95% 0.556-1.487; P = 0.707) and overall (complete + partial) response (OR 0.987, CI 95% 0.881-1.106; P = 0.819).

CONCLUSIONS
These data demonstrate that the progression of disease is more likely in patients treated with G-free doublets. Further analyses are required to address whether disease control (objective response + stable disease) is associated with a survival benefit and may therefore be used as a surrogate end point for survival in chemotherapy trials of NSCLC. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


The invention provides a method to online customize an object containing individual mark. In a server, it sets a mark image database to store many mark components of an individual mark, and by at least a network mechanism, transmits at least a mark component to a remote computer in order to set an individual mark, and in the server, sets an object image database to store many object components of the object image, transmits at least an object component to the remote computer in order to set an entitative object containing individual mark, successively the server receives the individual mark image and entitative object image set by the remote computer, to form an image customizing object and containing individual mark, then trusts a remote processing unit to make the entitative object containing individual mark, to increase the product brand value of enterprise or website.


Ping, Han Xian and Paul D. Shepard. Blockade of SK-type Ca-activated K channels uncovers a Ca -dependent slow afterdepolarization in nigral dopamine neurons. J. Neurophysiol.81: 977–984, 1999. Sharp electrode current-clamp recording techniques were used to characterize the response of nigral dopamine (DA)containing neurons in rat brain slices to injected current pulses applied in the presence of TTX (2mM) and under conditions in which apamin-sensitive Ca -activated K channels were blocked. Addition of apamin (100–300 nM) to perfusion solutions containing TTX blocked the pacemaker oscillation in membrane voltage evoked by depolarizing current pulses and revealed an afterdepolarization (ADP) that appeared as a shoulder on the falling phase of the voltage response. ADP were preceded by a ramp-shaped slow depolarization and followed by an apamin-insensitive hyperpolarizing afterpotential (HAP). Although ADPs were observed in all apamin-treated cells, the duration of the response varied considerably between individual neurons and was strongly potentiated by the addition of TEA (2–3 mM). In the presence of TTX, TEA, and apamin, optimal stimulus parameters (0.1 nA, 200-ms duration at 255 to 268 mV) evoked ADP ranging from 80 to 1,020 ms in duration (355.3 6 56.5 ms,n 5 16). Both the ramp-shaped slow depolarization and the ensuing ADP were markedly voltage dependent but appeared to be mediated by separate conductance mechanisms. Thus, although bath application of nifedipine (10–30mM) or low Ca, high Mg Ringer blocked the ADP without affecting the ramp potential, equimolar substitution of Co 21


A new type of electrostrictive material characteristic testing device was improved.Electrostrictive strain can be translated to displacement of capacitor's plate in this device so it can be measured through capacitance method.For driving force characteristic research,a pair of drivers coil was added to this device.The experiments show that the testing device can effectively measure micro strain of electrostrictive material and supply electrostrictive material characteristic research an effective device.


To advance the level of public-involvement (PI) practices throughout the agency, meet the public's demand for an expanded role in decision making, and develop better relationships with customers, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) is implementing one of the first agencywide PI Programs in the nation. Qualitative surveys were conducted with employees, the public, and 22 DOTs, and input from more than 200 agency personnel was used to develop the KDOT PI Plan. The three "landmarks" of KDOT's innovative PI Program include (a) an agencywide PI Program instead of a project-specific program, (b) training programs and additional resources that help enable every KDOT employee to better serve as an ambassador for the agency, and (c) recommendations to change business practices that seek public input and use input in decision-making processes. One major area of focus is decentralizing communication and increasing district involvement to develop closer local ties. Revisions to business practices include (a) screening projects early in the development phase so that the scope, budget, and schedule can be revised, if necessary, in response to public concerns; (b) convening a Project Delivery Group made up of representatives from various bureaus and the district to improve internal and external communication on complex projects; (c) using a 10-part step-by-step process to create project-specific PI Plans; (d) hiring PI professionals at headquarters and in each district; and (e) encouraging employees to address questions and issues at the local level.


ABSTRACT WITH the aid of computer modeling, five alternative systems were studied to heat a 13,000 m2 greenhouse with the use of electrical power plant waste heat. All systems provided a considerable savings of energy when compared to conventional heating. Economic evaluation predicted three of the systems could provide a favorable pay-off of the increased capital investment.


The study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of Community Child Care Workers in child protection case management. The study interest cropped up after realizing some diversion of the CCWs from meeting the set goals; increased frequency in unreported cases of child abuse in form of sexual, physical, psychological/neglect and emotional; unreported cases of child marriages, child labor, out of school and school dropouts as well as increased child headed
households and increased prevalence in teenage HIV/AIDS cases and lastly, increased number of children out of school and children on the neglected loitering in Zhombe communal area. The study was conducted qualitatively and designed in a case study of which Zhombe ward 9 and 10 made the case in which data was generated and findings were generalized. The study had a total population sample of twenty six (24) participants, comprised of ten (10) Community Child Care Workers (CCWs), four (4) In-School Child Protection Committee members (CPCs), two (2) Ward CPCs and eight (8) representatives of various stakeholders. Data was mainly generated through fourteen(14) questionnaires selfadministered to the randomly sampled CCWs and CPCs drawn from ward 9 and 10
respectively and through face to face interviews with eight purposively chosen participants drawn from different stakeholders interested and operating in child protection issues in the two wards. Data was analyzed through SPSS v 16.0. The study found out that the major role/functions and mandate of the CCWs included: identifying cases and assessing needs of vulnerable children; Formulating Action Plan; Implementing the action plan; Recording the action implemented; Case Reviewing and track recording; Referring cases and case followups; Identifying new problems or challenges arising in the communities; Closing cases;
Establish family clubs and support groups for communities. The study further found six major challenges faced by the CCWs in performing their role and mandate namely, lack of training; infrequent trainings; lack of financial motivation/incentives, cultural factors, lack of legal protection, poverty and lack of community support. The study recommends the following strategies to improve the effectiveness of the CCWs in child protection case management. The need to incentivize the CCWs either in monetary terms or non-monetary benefits; community sensitization and concretization on the importance, role of CCWs and on the scope of CCWs; authorizing CCWs to close cases and allocating more resource i.e. uniforms and identity cards and more trainings for the CCWs.


This special issue is based on contributions to a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) funded workshop entitled Ethnographies of Neoliberal Governmentalities held at the University of Victoria, Canada in November 2012. This workshop drew together academics from a diverse range of disciplines who were using ethnographic or quasi ethnographic methodologies to analyse neoliberalism from a governmentality perspective in order to foster dialogue and debate around studies of neoliberal governmentalities. The aim of this special issue is to bring the work of some of these scholars together in order to demonstrate the theoretical, conceptual, methodological, and empirical contributions they are making to studies of neoliberal governmentality...


Mapping linear disturbances from oil and gas extraction and mining in Western Canada traditionally relies on manual digitizing from very high resolution remote sensing data, which usually limits results to small operational area. In this paper, we present an approach of mapping linear disturbances based on time series data analysis of regularly acquired, and low cost satellite data of moderate resolution. This approach involves three steps: line detection based on a multi-scale directional template, line updating based on reappearance frequency and line connection using Hough Transform. This automatic method has been tested over three sites in Alberta, Canada by detecting linear disturbances occurring over the period of 1984-2013 using Landsat imagery. The results show that the method can extract very narrow linear features, including seismic lines, roads and pipelines with a good performance.


An illustration of the present uncertainty surrounding the new law is afforded by the public statements which the two members of Congress whose names this measure bears made concerning the agreement concluded recently between John L. Lewis's United Mine Workers and the bituminous coal operators of the country. Congressman Hartley denounced this agreement as "a clear violation of the labor law" and warned the operators that they faced criminal prosecution and heavy penalties if they observed the provisions of the agreement. Senator Taft thereafter gave it as his view that the coal agreement was not "in any way a violation of the law"; and going beyond this, he cited the agreement as illustrating that under the new law "employers and employees should be able to make any contract they want to."


The demand for lean protein is the main reason for raising domesticated birds in poultry farms for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. In these poultry farms, artificial lighting system is an essential factor for the success of the commercial production of egg layers and broilers. Lighting loads connected to the existing AC system requires DC power. Nearly 25% of the total power consumed in India is by lighting loads. Therefore, low-voltage DC distribution system is the new requirement of electrical network to improve energy conservation. In this paper, an energy efficient single-stage LED driver topology is proposed as a better alternative to fluorescent lights used in poultry farms. The proposed topology is a phase-shifted buck converter with reduced size of passive components. The converter is mathematically modelled and designed for a power of 24 W LED lights. An experimental prototype is developed for the proposed converter and the results are validated in terms of cost, energy savings, and energy efficiency with various other LED driver topologies like conventional buck converter and interleaved buck converter. Further to justify the outcome of the proposed LED driver, a case study is also done for poultry farms.


Illegal ivory trade crime is an environmental issue that threatens the elephant's population in the world, one of them is Sumatran elephant. In Riau Province, the Centre of Sumatran Elephant Conservation, illegal ivory trade still took place and often conducted by riding the human – elephant conflict that was one of the main threats of Sumatran Elephant's population. Relatively easy access to Southeast Asian's country from Riau Province has led the crime to be classified as transnational crime because of its impact to other countries. Responding the issue, WWF Indonesia established a cooperation with BBKSDA Riau in an effort of Sumatran elephant conservation in 2010 and extended in 2015. The goal of this research is to know how effective is WWF Indonesia and BBKSDA Riau's cooperation on combating illegal Sumatran elephant ivory trade in Riau Province in 2010-2015. In order to answer that question, this research uses concepts that are: International Organization, International Cooperation, Environmental Crime and Effectiveness. The method that being used in this research is mixed methods with descriptive type by using data collecting technique which are interview, literature reviews and questionnaire. The result from this research is that the effectiveness of WWF Indonesia – BBKSDA Riau cooperation on combating illegal Sumatran elephant ivory trade in Riau Province in 2010-2015 is less effective due to its lack of significance towards addressing the issue.


Provided is a catalyst containing a carrier, and a metal obtained by reducing metal ions carried by the carrier 1) in a supercritical state or 2) in a polar organic solvent, the carrier being an inorganic porous body having a hierarchical porous structure. Employing the above catalyst makes it possible to achieve catalytic activity that is superior to that of conventional catalysts, and to prevent generation of heat and spontaneous combustion due to no organic porous body being used.


Background and Objective: Female heads of households stand as a vulnerable group who are exposed to various psychological and social harms. The purpose of this study was to determine the mental health and coping skills of female heads of households in Birjand in 2017. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study incorporated 200 women (age range: 20-50 years) that were covered by the Relief Committee. They were selected by cluster sampling method where participants were selected via proportional allocation from each region in Birjand. The data were collected by Lazarus' Ways of Coping Questionnaire and the standard General Health Questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS 19 using Chi-square, independent ttest, one-way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results: The mean age of women was 38.5 ± 36.7 years old. They acted as heads mainly because of divorce (48.5% of them). Only 11.6% had a satisfactory mental health and 77.5% had problem-oriented coping skills. There was no significant relationship between mental health and coping skills. Among demographic variables, only employment status and education correlated with mental health, so that social dysfunction was significantly greater in employed women. Women with higher education levels had higher depression. Employment status was also significantly associated with coping styles where unemployed women were more emotion-oriented than the employed ones. Conclusion: The female heads of households in this study fail to have proper mental health. Thus, there is the need for planning effective interventions and consequently improving living conditions and mental health of these women.


Investment and Community Development in Mecuburi: Comparative Assessment of Key Engines and Actors : A field study on the impact of private sector investment and government development policies on the local communities in the Mecuburi district of Nampula province, Mozambique


This paper investigates the effects of managerial outsourcing on the incentives and performance of mutual funds. We document that mutual fund families outsource the management of a significant fraction of their funds to unaffiliated advisory firms. Funds managed externally significantly under-perform those ran internally. To establish the causality of this relationship, we instrument for whether a fund is outsourced and find similar estimates. We hypothesize that contractual externalities due to firm boundaries make it more difficult to extract performance from an outsourced relationship. We verify two auxiliary predictions of this hypothesis: compared to counterparts ran internally, an outsourced fund faces higher-powered incentives in that they are more likely to be closed due to poor performance or excessive risk-taking


Real-time and reality is the key of a visual simulation system. Combining the experience of developing space launch site with MultiGen, discusses the effective approaches for real-time improvement in a visual system according to the class of structure optimizing and modeling optimizing, and analyzes the characteristics, merits and demerits and methods.


The novel active substance combinations are produced from a carboxamide of general formula (I) (group 1), wherein A, R1 and R2 are defined as in the description, and active substance groups (2) and (3) listed in the description and have excellent fungicidal properties.


Recently, spatial data infrastructures have become an important solution to ease the finding of geographical data offered by different organizations. Nevertheless, the catalog services provided by these infrastructures still have some important drawbacks that limit the geographic information retrieval based on temporal constraints. Examples of these drawbacks include the lack of both a more detailed description of temporal information, and ranking. Aiming to overcome these limitations, this paper describes a new temporal search engine for solving feature type retrieval offered by catalog services. To reach this goal, our search engine is based on a model that stores temporal information about each service and its respective feature types described in the SDI catalog service. Moreover, the paper proposes a temporal ranking metric to evaluate the relevance of each feature type retrieved for the user's query.


Identification of zygosity of transgenic plants is an important step for crop transformation. It is a time-consuming and laborious lab work to identify the zygosity of transgenic plants by conventional genetic analysis based on the segregation ratio of transgene among T2 population derived from each independent T1 transgenic plant. This common procedure is often accompanied by the waste of the T1 generation. In this paper, a new method to identify homozygous transgenic plants was described, which employed duplex quantitative real-time PCR. The zygosity of transgenic plants was determined by Ct values of duplex quantitative real-time PCR using T1 plant DNA as templates. Plants with a Ct score of 2 are homozygous for the transgene whereas those scored 1 are heterozygous transgenic plants. The zygosity of several dozen of T1 seedlings was rapidly identified with 100% fidelity using this simple assay.


We discovered and grew a new NLO crystal K/sub 2/Al/sub 2/B/sub 2/O/sub 7/ (KAB). KAB crystals were grown from high temperature solution in a five-zone vertical electric furnace by means of TSSG. Determined by 4-axis XRD, the KAB structure was similar to that of Sr/sub 2/Be/sub 2/B/sub 2/O/sub 7/ (SBBO). We measured the optical properties. It has moderate SHG coefficient and birefringence and wide transparency in the UV region.


An antenna consisting of three concentric cylindrical dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) is placed on circular patch surrounded by two annular rings. This antenna is excited with feed probe. Cylindrical propylene pipe (PPR) tubes have been filled with a mixture of silicon oil and barium strontium titanate. The electric fields and magnetic fields produced fluid velocity field due to magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) phenomenon. The fluid velocity v, becomes a function of poynting vector. By applying external variable DC electric bias (5 V to 30 V) using bias TEE in association with fixed magnetic bias (2,500 Tesla) in fluid resonators, antenna gain varied from 1.5 dB to 11.07 dB. Two permanent magnets are used to produce magnetic bias. The controlled frequency shift of 8.82 GHz, 10.5 GHz, 12.4 GHz and 12.7 GHz are observed with combinations of applied bias, which made this antenna frequency agile.


Author(s): David, Robert J | Abstract: Located in Northern California near the former Tule Lake, 4-Mod-22 is a complex Klamath Basin petroglyph site that exhibits three distinctive classes of rock art: iconic motifs, residual markings, and geometric figures. As a Klamath-Modoc descendent, I was contracted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to provide an interpretive report for this particular site. Information provided by a combination of Klamath-Modoc ethnography and myth suggests that the distinctive rock art categories denote two patterns of ritual use that include shamans' consultations with their spirit familiars, and shamanic power quests. Through the use of these sources it was also possible to identify a pattern of ritual use on the wider landscape that included the nearby lava fields and possibly a small cave identified as the lodge of the mythical beings, Kumush and Aisis. Through the application of myth, it was also possible to answer calls by previous researchers to bring the voice of the Klamath-Modoc people into the study of this unique aspect of their cultural heritage, where it has for so long been absent.


Introduction Over the past three decades, adolescents' share of caloric consumption from foods that are energy-dense but low in micronutrients has increased dramatically. Additionally, the rise in overweight and obesity in this age group is one of the most significant public health challenges of recent times. Objective We intended to investigate the relationship between consuming a variety of energy-dense foods and body mass index in adolescents. Research Methods and Procedures In this analytical cross-sectional study, 373 adolescents between the age of 13-15 years old were randomly recruited from three private schools in Mumbai, India. Data on their weekly consumption of energy-dense foods, anthropometric measurements, along with other critical information was obtained using a survey and food frequency questionnaire. Categories of energy-dense foods considered included chat (Indian savory snack) and street foods, appetizers, main course, continental foods, aerated drinks, baked foods, Indian sweets, farsan (fried Indian snack), and packaged foods. Results Amongst the participants (n=373, mean age 13.4 years), 39.7% were underweight, 46.1% had a normal BMI, 9.6% were overweight, and 4.5% were obese. They reported consuming an average of 4 varieties and 10.6 servings of energy-dense foods a day. Though the consumption of a variety of energy-dense foods was not found to be associated with body mass index, it was found to be significantly, positively, and strongly associated with the number of servings consumed, indicating that variety does increase total food consumption. Conclusion In this cohort of adolescents, overall consumption of a variety of energy-dense foods does not seem to influence body mass index. Longitudinal studies are warranted to assess the impact of variety on total body composition.


Flux pinning brought about by quasiparticle scattering off small-spatial-extent defects is studied using the quasiclassical method. The theory as applied to the pinning problem is presented in detail and an efficient method is given for solving the transportlike equation of the theory numerically. The pinning potential of a model impurity with hard-sphere\char22{}scattering phase shifts is computed over the entire temperature range in a pure superconductor with the Ginzburg-Landau parameter $\ensuremath{\kappa}=0.9$. The pinning energies arising from quasiparticle scattering turn out to be up to 2 orders of magnitude larger than those predicted by the traditional theory for small-spatial-extent pinning centers.


The wake turbulence structure of a cambered airfoil is studied experimentally, including the
effects of surface roughness, at different freestream turbulence levels in a transonic flow. As the
level of surface roughness increases, all wake profile quantities broaden significantly and nondimensional
vortex shedding frequencies decrease. Freestream turbulence has little effect on the
wake velocity profiles, turbulence structure, and vortex shedding frequency, especially
downstream of airfoils with rough surfaces. Compared with data from a symmetric airfoil, wake
profiles produced by the cambered airfoils also have significant dependence on surface
roughness, but are less sensitive to variations of freestream turbulence intensity. The cambered airfoil
also produces larger streamwise velocity deficits, and broader wakes compared to the
symmetric airfoil.


To review the presentation and management of cervical thymic cysts and ectopic thymic tissue at Texas Children's Hospital over the last 25 years.


Water is a natural resource that has been suffering continuous degradation throughout the years. The increase in population density, industrialization and agriculture are some of the factors that contributed for the long term lose of quality in water masses, such as rivers. With the elaboration of a Water Framework Directive (WFD) by the European Commission, the Member States compromised to restore the good ecological state, seeing the river not as a resource to be explored, but as an integrated ecosystem to be preserved. According to this directive, the evaluation of the water quality, should be simultaneously analyzed both physicochemical, biological and microbiological parameters, in order to achieve a more reliable portrait of the water quality. Taking into account all of these necessary parameters for the study of water quality, the water of the river Ave was studied and analyzed from near its spring up to the county of Vila Nova de Famalição, in Lousado, in a total of 6 sampling points. This river has a history of riverbanks and water quality degradation that was initiated with the start of industrialization in Vale do Ave, having the river being used as resource for textile factories obtaining energy and as discharge location for surplus production residues. This practice is no longer common but it is still verified in some areas of the river. By studying physicochemical, biological and microbiological parameters, it was aimed to characterize the river in terms of water quality in different spots of its course. The biological parameters used were the study of communities of macroinvertebrates and the microbiological parameters were the study of total microorganisms and indicators of fecal contamination, essentially Enterococus spp. and Escherichia coli. For the study of macroinvertebrates several diversity and abundance and distribution rates of functional groups were used. The microbiological parameters studied throughout all 6 spots were the following: the dynamics of the biofilm microbial communities of the river through PCR-DGGE; the quantification of the fecal contamination in different spots, by both the culture traditional method and the molecular technique of FISH; the assessment of the antimicrobial susceptibility of most isolates recovered. The isolates found to be multidrug-resistant (MDR) were genetically characterized, E. coli for filogroups determination and Enterococcus spp. for species identification. It was possible to characterize the river water as reasonable, according to physicochemical and biological parameters, but it showed increasing fecal contamination especially from spot C to spot F. Spot F was characterized as the spot FCUP Estudo da qualidade da água do Rio Ave: relevância da relação entre indicadores microbiológicos, macroinvertebrados e parâmetros físico-químicos VI with highest contamination level and incidence of MDR isolates, such as ESBLproducing E. coli and resistant Enterococcus spp., namely vancomycin resistant E. faecalis and E. faecium. Yet, spot D was considered the most worrisome in terms of isolates showing resistance to last-line class of antibiotics of human exclusive use, such as imipnem (IMP); in this spot IMP-resistant E. coli were detected. Based on the functional groups in macroinvertebrate communities and on the fecal contamination level, it was studied the possibility of a direct relation between fecal contamination and functional feeding groups distribution. It was verified that in fact, with the contamination increase throughout time in the same spot, the filtering collectors functional groups had the tendency to increase or decrease according to the dynamics of contamination, however the organic scrapers had the tendency to decrease with the contamination along the course of the river. In the case of the filtering collectors through the river course, it was verified that the progression had no direct connection with the increase in contamination, but instead had a relation to the characteristics of each spot habitat, such as current regimes and sediment types. After a general characterization, it was verified that the river quality diminishes as it runs further from the spring and with the increase in population density and industrial, livestock and agricultural explorations. More specific studies in critical spots still have to be performed to better understand the microbial communities and the river water dynamics, as well as studies of the relation between fecal contamination and functional feeding groups over controlled environment. Key-words: Ave River; Macroinvertebrates; Enterococccus spp.; E. coli; Functional Feeding Groups; physicochemical parameters; biological parameters; microbiological parameters; contamination; water quality. FCUP Estudo da qualidade da água do Rio Ave: relevância da relação entre indicadores microbiológicos, macroinvertebrados e parâmetros físico-químicos VII Índice Agradecimentos ........................................................................................................................... I Resumo ....................................................................................................................................... III Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ V Capítulo I/Introdução ............................................................................................................... 1 1 Parâmetros físicos e químicos ........................................................................................ 2....................................................................................................................................... V Capítulo I/Introdução ............................................................................................................... 1 1 Parâmetros físicos e químicos ........................................................................................ 2 2 Parâmetros biológicos ..................................................................................................... 5 3 Parâmetros microbiológicos ............................................................................................ 8 4 Rio Ave ............................................................................................................................. 10 5 Objetivos .......................................................................................................................... 12 Capítulo II/Material e Métodos ................................................................................................. 13 1Local de estudo ................................................................................................................ 14 2Locais de recolha ............................................................................................................. 15 3Recolhas de campo ......................................................................................................... 22 3.1Recolha de água e biofilme .................................................................................... 22 3.2Recolha de macroinvertebrados ............................................................................ 23 3.3Habitat ........................................................................................................................ 24 4Análise de parâmetros físico-químicos em laboratório .............................................. 24 5Triagem e identificação de macroinvertebrados ......................................................... 25 6Tratamento das amostras para análises microbiológicas ......................................... 26 6.1Tratamento das amostras para contagens através do método de cultura ...... 26 6.2FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) .............................................................. 29 7 PCR-DGGE do biofilme do rio ...................................................................................... 31 8 Teste de suscetibilidade antimicrobiana ..................................................................... 33 9 Estudo genético .............................................................................................................. 33 9.1 Extração de E. coli .................................................................................................. 34 9.2 Extração de Enterococcus spp. ............................................................................ 34 Capitulo III/Resultados ............................................................................................................... 40 1 Parâmetros físico-químico ............................................................................................. 41 1.1 pH ............................................................................................................................... 41 1.2 Temperatura ............................................................................................................. 42 1.3 Oxigénio .................................................................................................................... 43 1.4 Condutividade .......................................................................................................... 44 1.5 Carência Bioquímica de Oxigénio (CBO5) ........................................................... 45 FCUP Estudo da qualidade da água do Rio Ave: relevância da relação entre indicadores microbiológicos, macroinvertebrados e parâmetros físico-químicos VIII 1.6 Nutrientes ................................................................................................................. 46 2Macroinvertebrados ......................................................................................................... 50 2.1Percentagem de Ephemeropteras Trircopteras e Plecopteras ......................... 53 2.2Proporção de EPT e C


In this work we present a co-rotational/updated Lagrangian, strain-rate based explicit finite element code which uses hexahedral solid-shell tri-linear elements, intended for simulation of the incremental sheet forming (ISF) process. This element is based heavily on the elements described in [1, 2, 3]: it is under-integrated with a single stack of stress integration points in the thickness direction passing through the elements center; it uses Assumed Natural Strain (ANS) interpolates for the thickness and transverse shear strains; it uses a single parameter Enhanced Assumed Strain (EAS) for the thickness strain; and it selectively scales the mass in the through thickness direction to increase the stable time-step. We combine these methods with a hypo-elastic constitutive model to simulate the ISF process. Initial results obtained with a GPU implementation of the element are presented.


Abstract This paper presents calculation methods, developed at Tallinn University of Technology (Idnurm 2004; Kulbach 2007), for the single-pylon suspension bridges stiffened by a girder. Classical suspension bridge consists of a geometrically non-linear cable, connected by hangers with an elastic linear stiffening girder, pylons in both ends of the bridge and anchor cables. Alternate form of a suspension bridge is a bridge, with only one pylon on the middle of the span and suspension cable is connected to the abutments or the ends of the stiffening girder. In the calculation of suspension bridges, the geometrically non-linear behaviour of the parabolic cable is the main problem. The linear methods of analysis suit only for small spans. A geometrically non-linear continual model is especially useful for classical loading cases – a uniformly distributed load on the whole or half span. But the modern traffic models consist of concentrated and uniformly distributed loads. The discrete model of a suspension b...


Yanggao dialect belongs to the Yunzhong part of JinYu,it is abundant in vocabulary and has many patented empty word elements,this article introduces some of them,and expects the opinions of the great masters.


Objective : To assess the effectiveness of the workshop on "Basic Research Skill Development", conducted for newly admitted post graduate medical students of a private university from Mangalore, South Karnataka, India. Method : With a participatory approach, 2 days workshop (in July 2011) was organized for basic research skills development among 57 freshly admitted medical postgraduates. Based on the sessions, predesigned, structured tool (with 39 questions -MCQ or True / false type) was prepared. Initially, participants were exposed to Pretest to record prior knowledge. At the end of workshop Post-test was done with same tool. Data was analysed using McNemar chi square & paired-t tests by SPSS version17.  P<0.05 was considered to be significant. Result : Forty four postgraduates willing to participate in this study were involved. Paired t test showed increased research knowledge & skills significantly (p < 0.0005, Mean diff SD= 6.227). Post-test showed higher number of correct responses for all questions except one. Significantly higher level of correct answers (p < 0.0005) were observed in questions -- Boolean operators in Literature search, Hierarchy of study designs, Nested Case control study, Examples of epidemiological studies, Cross-sectional  study, Full form of SPSS. Conclusion : A positive findings of summative evaluation of "Basic Research Skill Development" workshop held at the beginning of postgraduate medical courses, justifies the need for such workshop for every medical school.


The main reason of dielectric loss and the destruction of high-voltage insulation is partial discharges (PD) resulting in electrical treeing. The tree structure grows into the volume of dielectric due to the material damage on account of energy released during partial discharges. Therefore registration and analysis of PD spatial-temporal characteristics seems to be important both for theoretical studies of electrical treeing and practical evaluation of long-term electric strength of insulation constructions. In the present paper, the self-consistent model of electrical treeing proposed by the authors in 1998 is applied to study PD characteristics and charge dynamics within electrical tree structures.


Malaria remains one of the most important parasitic disease that causes more deaths in the
world, representing a serious public health problem.
However, the mechanisms involved in
the pathogenesis and /or production of an effective immune res
ponse remain unclear.
The
innate immune system is the first line of defense against infection and NK cells are an
important subpopulation of lymphocytes in the acute phase of active immune response in
malaria.
The control of the action of NK cells is via m
embrane receptors, among which are
the KIR receptors that recognize HLA class I molecules expressed by the majority of cells of
the human body.
These receptors, highly polymorphic, play a significant role in controlling
innate and adaptive immune response
of each individual.
Within this context, our work
characterized the genetic frequency of KIR receptors and their ligands HLA
-
I in subjects (n =
377) naturally exposed to malaria (Porto Velho
-
RO) and the association between the
presence of these genes and
infection.
After DNA extraction, genotyping of the population
was performed by PCR
-
SSO and Luminex equipment for reading.
We observed a higher
frequency of the genes KIR2DL1, 3DL1, 2DS4 and 2DL3 (> 89% in all), HLA
-
C1,
-
Bw4 and
-
C2 (> 66% in all) and pairs
KIR2DL2_3/C1, KIR3DL1/Bw4 and KIR2DL1 /
C2 (> 66% in
all) in the population of Porto Velho, which is similar to other Brazilian regions.
No influence
in the profile of the gene distribution and its KIR ligands (HLA
-
A,
-
B and
-
C) and
susceptibility to malar
ia.
We identified 48 KIR profile, all with a cosmopolitan
distribution.
The most frequent profile were 42/BAF
-
1 (30.8%) and 33/BAF
-
2 (15.2%).
Individuals in the group of natives of Porto Velho presented a greater genotypic variability
(43/48), a higher fr
equency of genotype 33/BAF
-
2 compared to migrants (P <0.01), and a
large number of profile exclusive to that group (27/43). Individuals native presenting a
exclusive profile reported less malarias in the past and longer time since the last infection,
sugg
esting that these profile may confer protection against malaria. In individuals with
malaria and those carrying high gradient of gene inhibitors had higher plasma levels of INF
-
γ
(r = 0.3328, P <0.013), suggesting that the presence of these profile are not
associated with
the production of this cytokine. In addition, these individuals had a higher parasitemia (r =
0.3262, P = 0.001), suggesting that the presence of inhibitors of these genes may be
associated with a lower control / elimination of parasites.
We observed that the presence of
the pair KIR2DS2_C1 was associated with higher levels of parasitemia (P = 0.01), indicating
that the presence of this pair could also be associated with lack of control / elimination of
parasites. The data obtained in this
work may contribute to future studies on the functional
impact of these genes in regulating the immune response in relation to the incidence and
clinical course of the disease not only in malaria as well as in other infectious diseases.