Socio-economic impact Environmental benefits from reduced nutrient release into soils and waterbodies from reduced chemical fertilizer use, reduced GHG emissions via reduced production of chemical fertilizers and landfill emissions, reduced human exposure to untreated waste, improved waste management services, cost savings to municipalities from reduced land acreage for landfills and disposal costs


Essential dimension, introduced by Joe Buhler and Zinovy Reichstein and in its most general form by Alexander Merkurjev is a measure of complexity of algebraic objects such as quadratic forms, hermitian forms, central simple algebras and etale algebras. Informally, the essential dimension of an algebraic object is the number of parameters needed to define it.
Often isomorphism classes of objects of some type are in one to one bijection with isomorphism classes of G-torsors. The maximal essential dimension of a G-torsor (called essential dimension of G) gives an invariant of algebraic groups, which will be of primary interest in this thesis. The text is subdivided into four chapters as follows:

Chapter I+II: Multihomogenization of covariants and its application to covariant and essential dimension
The essential dimension of a linear algebraic group G can be expressed via G-equivariant rational maps phi: A(V) --> A(W), so called covariants, between generically free G-modules V and W. In these two chapters we explore a new technique for dealing with covariants, called multihomogenization. This technique was jointly introduced with Hanspeter Kraft and Gerald Schwarz in an already published paper, which forms the second chapter.
Applications of the multihomogenization technique to the essential dimension of algebraic groups are given by results on the essential dimension of central extensions, direct products, subgroups and the precise relation of essential dimension and covariant dimension (which is a variant of the former with polynomial covariants). Moreover the multihomogenization technique allows one to extend a twisting construction introduced by Matthieu Florence from the case of irreducible representations to completely reducible representations. This relates Florence's work on the essential dimension of cyclic p-groups to recent stack theoretic approaches by Patrick Brosnan, Angelo Vistoli and Zinovy Reichstein and by Nikita Karpenko and Alexander Mekurjev.

Chapter III: Faithful and p-faithful representations of minimal dimension
The study of essential dimension of finite and algebraic groups is closely related to the study of its faithful resp. generically free representations. In general the essential dimension of an algebraic group is bounded above by the least dimension of a generically free representation minus the dimension of the algebraic group. In some prominent cases this upper bound or a variant of it is strict.
In this chapter we are guided by the following general questions: What do faithful representations of the least possible dimension look like? How can they be constructed? How are they related to faithful representations of minimal dimension of subgroups? Along the way we compute the minimal number of irreducible representations needed to construct a faithful representation.

Chapter IV: Essential p-dimension of algebraic tori
This chapter is joint work with Mark MacDonald, Aurel Meyer and Zinovy Reichstein. We study a variant of essential dimension which is relative to a prime number p. This variant, called essential p-dimension, disregards effects resulting from other primes than p. In a recent paper Nikita Karpenko and Alexander Merkurjev have computed the essential dimension of p-groups. We extend their result and find the essential p-dimension for a class of algebraic groups, which includes all algebraic tori and twisted finite p-groups.


IT occasionally happens that for some reason i t is impossible to catheterize the ureters by the ordinary method. The bladder may be so extensively ulcerated, or so irritable. that enough fluid cannot be retained ; or the medium may be so clouded by blood, pus, mucus, disbris, etc., that the ureteral orifices cannot be seen. The ureter, or its orifice, may be stenosed, displaced, or distorted by some local condition, as, for example, a tumour inside or outside the bladder. A fold, or some unusual conformation of the intramural portion of the ureter, or spasm, may prevent the passage of the catheter. A large endovesical prostate, or other projecting tumour, may also give rise to insuperable difficidties by placing the ureteraI orifices out of view or out of reach. The operation about to be described was designed with the object of surmounting any of these difficulties.


The Portuguese syllabic system contains a consonantal onset withtwo elements C2. The first one corresponds to an obstruent, plosiveor fricative, and the second to a tap or a lateral. This paper presentsan interesting configuration of the linguistic variational processrelated to the fishermen located in Florianopolis, S.C., Brazil. Themultilinear phonology exposes the phenomenon under theuniversal principles and the local parameters, recovering an unifiedand satisfactory description. A scientific explanation of thephonological system, theme of this article, asks for an evaluationof the research and a revision in the educational area, includingthe Applied Linguistics.


Objective  To investigate changes in the morphology and sodium transport ability of intestinal epithelium diverted to the urinary tract, using an in vitro sodium‐binding benzofuran isophthalate (SBFI) technique, as the effects of long‐term urine exposure on the transport of electrolytes through intestine are incompletely understood.


Sports supplements include nutritional supplements and ergogenic aids and are widely used in the gym culture. Previous research has examined predictors for supplement use, but lacks an insight into ...


The grid-based target localization for internet of vehicle has the property of sparsity, which can be transformed to a sparse recovery problem due to compressive sensing. The accurate target localization relies on the sufficient measurements, but we cannot determine the number of measurements without knowing the number of targets. In this poster, we propose a novel target localization algorithm based on sequential compressed sensing to select the optimal number of measurements and estimate target locations via lp-norm (0<p<1) minimization. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm has better localization performance than localization via l0 -norm or l1 -norm minimization.


This paper analyzes the application of PRINCE2® in a multivendor outsourcing context. Given the ongoing trend in large and middle-sized organizations to outsource part of their IT operations it is relevant and important to understand the effect of this trend on the way projects can be managed. Based on an
analytical and qualitative approach, using an expert panel, the study provides identified three specific considerations for the management of projects in a multi vendor outsourcing context


A systematic study has been carried out on the quenching of positronium (Ps) atoms by nitrobenzene in various solvents. In order to see the effect of the energy level of Ps, in the localized bubble state, on the quenching capability of nitrobenzene, overall second-order rate constants were plotted against solvent surface tensions. It was found that the rate constant increased with increasing surface tension up to a critical value of ca. 26 dyn cm–1, corresponding to a Ps bubble energy of 1.24 eV. In liquids where the Ps energy is higher than this, the rate constant decreased with increase in solvent viscosity, as is expected for a diffusion-controlled reaction.


During 2004-05 and 2005-06 irrigation seasons, a pesticide and heavy metals monitoring study was conducted at 15 potential risk sites located within the six Goulburn-Murray Water irrigation areas in northern Victoria using an economical, innovative passive sampling technique. Three of these sites were irrigation channel offtakes from the Murray and Goulburn Rivers and five sites were channel outfalls to natural watercourses or lakes. The monitoring found three agricultural chemicals on a regular basis across the six irrigation areas. The most common were: endosulfan (an organochlorine insecticide) (in passive samples), atrazine (herbicide) and copper (fungicide) (in spot samples). The three other chemicals that were found on a less regular basis were chlorpyrifos, parathion methyl (in passive samples) and azinphos methyl (organophosphorus insecticides) in spot samples only). The sites where the above chemicals were frequently detected were Shepparton, Mooroopna, Ardmona, Kyabram and Nagambie, which comprise intensive orchards and tomato farming. Nagambie was the only offtake site, and Mooroopna the only outfall site. On comparison of average predicted water concentrations with national water quality guidelines (ANZECC and ARMCANZ 2000), endosulfan levels were within the guidelines for protecting slightly to moderately disturbed aquatic ecosystems (99 percent for endosulfan) but chlorpyrifos levels often exceeded recommended guidelines (95 percent for chlorpyrifos), as did the spot detections of azinphos methyl (99 percent level). However, chlorpyrifos was detected in only two sampling periods at outfall sites. The State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria or SEPP WoV; EPA 2003) exempted artificial channels and drains from protection of beneficial use (including protection of aquatic ecosystems), but because of the requirement for reuse, the risk from the pesticide concentrations are likely to be low at off take and outfall sites, although short periods of elevated chlorpyrifos, endosulfan and azinphos methyl may have occurred. Water endosulfan and chlorpyrifos concentrations at four sites estimated from passive sampler concentrations would have exceeded the recommended water quality guidelines for the purpose of aquaculture or fish farming.


Abstract : We have completed all analyses. The results indicate the great importance of including sham controls in all JP8 studies. The most significant effect was the increase of hippocampal DOPAC during the exposure period, indicative of increased dopamine release and turnover. We conclude that with this significant exception, JP8 exposure at this level caused no global alterations in neurotransmitter levels.


The basic formula of S-curve acceleration/deceleration was described,the jerk,acceleration,velocity,displacement were discussed.A novel S-curve acceleration/deceleration algorithm based on rounding error compensation tactic was proposed which can reduce the quantization error by compensating the error at the transition of each segment.The algorithm under multiple-curve blending mode was discussed.The mathematical model of the proposed algorithm was established and the simulation results were presented. The proposed algorithm was validated by machining experiments.


—Industrial safety at the enterprises of the mineral resources complex is ensured by the methods of the theory of reliability of the "man-machine"system. This forms a risk-based approach to industrial safety. The risk-based approach is based on preventive measures aimed at ensuring the reliability of the system, its human and technical components. At the same time, the key components of the production activity of the enterprise such as human and technical ones are studied. The article substantiates the position that the reliability of production and commercial activities of the enterprise is determined by the reliability of the functioning of all production factors in in the economic process, i.e. material factors and human capital. The authors identified both external and internal factors that need to be considered in industrial safety management. Particular emphasis is placed on the systematization of risks and the need to minimize them using the tools of probability theory based on conceptual theory of reliability. In this case, control actions in the form of preventive measures in the functioning of the economic system of the enterprise play an important role.


Movement disorders were recorded in ancient traditional Chinese medical documents. On the basis of literature research,this paper discusses and analyzes the definition,name,pathogen,clinical characteristics,diagnosis and treatment of movement disorders from the view of traditional Chinese medicine,and gives a comparision with modern medicine.


Significance Bioisoteric replacements for aromatic rings to improve medicinal properties are in high demand. This work presents a comprehensive analysis of heretofore-inaccessible 1,2-difunctionalized bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes from both chemical and biological vantage points. This analysis will aid those in drug discovery regarding when the application of such systems makes sense and how to access them in such circumstances. The development of a versatile platform for the synthesis of 1,2-difunctionalized bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes to potentially mimic ortho/meta-substituted arenes is described. The syntheses of useful building blocks bearing alcohol, amine, and carboxylic acid functional handles have been achieved from a simple common intermediate. Several ortho- and meta-substituted benzene analogs, as well as simple molecular matched pairs, have also been prepared using this platform. The results of in-depth ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) investigations of these systems are presented, as well as computational studies which validate the ortho- or meta-character of these bioisosteres.


The tridentate PNP ligand-supported rare-earth metal complexes, i.e., bis[o-diphenylphosphinophenyl]amido-Re-bis[o-dimethylaminobenzyl], [(Ph2P-o-C6H4)2N]Re[(CH2-o-Me2N(C6H4))2]: (Re = Y, 1; Nd, 2; Gd, 3) were applied to isoprene polymerization. When activated with borate activator ([PhMe2NH][B(C6F5)4] (NH-BARF), catalysts 1 and 3 exhibited excellent catalytic efficiency in aromatic media, produced very-high to ultrahigh molecular weight (Mw over 130 × 104 g/moL) polyisoprene rubber (PIR), and the obtained PIR contained over 98% cis-1,4 head-to-tail repeating unites. In most cases, the borate-activated polymerization reaction proceeded in a quasi-living pattern (PDI = 1.2–1.5) under controlled monomer conversion; whereas, activated with the commercially available modified methylaluminoxane (MMAO3A) in aliphatic hydrocarbon media, complexes 1, 2 and 3 all showed high catalytic efficiency, produced high molecular weight PIR with narrow molecular weight distribution (PDI ≤ 2.0) and high cis-1,4 head-to tail repeating unites in the range of 91–95%. Thus, the catalyst systems that consisted of 1, 2 and 3/MMAO3A, are closely relevant to the current industrial polybutadiene rubber (PBR) and PIR production processes.


This study was conducted in the urban area of Khamis Mushait City, Aseer Region, and Saudi Arabia. A total of 50 samples of drinking water were collected from private selling sites of unbolted water in the urban area of Khamis Mushait city. Physicochemical parameters such as pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), and electrical conductivity (EC) of water samples were measured using standard methods to assess the quality of drinking water. The pH values of water samples ranged from 6.56±0.1 to 8.5±0.49, TSD changed from 104.7±0.28 to 202.4±1.7 mg/liter and EC from 163.6±0.45 to 316.3±2.61 μS/cm. The previous results indicated that all physicochemical parameters are within the permissible limits of WHO (2011) for drinking water quality. The bacteriological examination of water samples included the most probable number (MPN/100 ml) of coliforms, E.coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results showed that E. coli bacterium was not detected in all samples, while total coliform group was found in 7 samples out of 50 samples analyzed (14%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was found in 24 samples out of a total of 50 samples (48%). Furthermore, this study has revealed that about 54% of the water samples collected from private selling sites is incompatible to the World Health Organization (WHO) standards for drinking water quality.


ABSTRACT Reflecting on contributions to this special issue along with my own research, I suggest ways in which sociocultural understandings of peer interactions in multilingual contexts are and should be evolving to encompass the increasingly complex settings that research has come to document. I argue that in order to realize the potential of research in this area of study, it is important that we clearly define how "peers" are conceptualized in our research and carefully explore the implications of multilingual peers' similarities and differences for learning and development. Further, the dynamic nature of multilingual expertise and peer roles/positioning, and their relation to both micro- and macro-level phenomena, are necessary starting points for any exploration of peer interaction. Finally, we must seek to understand the diverse ways in which peers scaffold each other's learning through a range of instructional and naturally occurring activities that include but are not limited to those found in traditional classroom settings.


ABSTRACT The acid sites concentration of silica sulfuric acid was optimized against pore dimensions depending on the intensity of silanol groups as a key for binding modifier molecules. The texturally modified rice husk silica, of determined intensity of silanol groups, was functionalized with different loadings of SO3H groups to produce solid acid catalysts with different concentrations of acid sites and different sizes of the pore systems. The catalysts were employed in trans-esterification of waste-cocking oil. The obtained optimum catalytic activity was attributed to the proper compensation between acid sites intensity and pore dimensions. The estimated TOF for methyl ester production was found to decrease with the increase of SO3H loading on the catalyst surface. The role of compatibility of the reactants phase with the catalyst nature could be validated by the observed much higher activity of sulfonated lignin in the studied esterification reaction than the modified RHS-acid catalysts under study.


Abstract An investigation was carried out to examine the influence of two step austempering on microstructural parameters and the wear behaviour of austempered ductile iron. Ductile iron was austenitised at 900°C for 30 min, and then austempered successively at two different temperatures. It was first austempered at 300°C for different durations from 2 min to 30 min and subsequently austempered at 400°C for 2 h, after which it was quenched to room temperature. Resulting microstructures were characterised through optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Mechanical properties were studied through hardness measurement and tensile testing. Wear studies were carried out using a pin-on-disc machine. Wear rate was found to decrease with increasing time at the first step temperature of 300°C. At short austempering times at 300°C, the amount of austenite was instrumental in improving the wear resistance through formation of deformation induced martensite. Wear rate was found to depend on yield strength, austenite content and its carbon content.


The ArXiv preprint archive for research articles in physics, mathematics, computer science and related disciplines was initiated by Paul Ginsparg in 1991. ArXiv enables the rapid dissemination of research articles prior to peer review, ...


Abstract The recent wave of upheavals and revolts in Northern Africa and the Middle East goes back to an old question often raised by theories of collective action: does repression act as a negative or positive incentive for further mobilization? Through a review of the vast literature devoted to this question, this article aims to go beyond theoretical and methodological dead-ends. The article moves on to non-Western settings in order to better understand, via a macro-sociological and dynamic approach, the causal effects between mobilizations and repression. It pleads for a meso- and micro-level approach to this issue: an approach that puts analytical emphasis both on protest organizations and on individual activists' careers.


The Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has a long history of research and technology transfer in lumber dry ing. Many of the dry kiln schedules used in industry today were developed by the staff of the Laboratory, and for many years the Laboratory conducted a kiln drying short course for training dry kiln operators. The pur pose of this report is to describe the Laboratory's current research activities in lumber drying as well as the more recent issue of heat sterilization.


The link between the objectives of corporate intelligence of¢cers and those of intelligence of¢cers and analysts employed by the intelligence and security services should be highlighted and placed within a ``holistic'' setting. Authors such as Stafford T. Thomas have already made reference to the agenda of the United States intelligence services, in particular the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).1 But corporate intelligence of¢cers can cooperate with government intelligence and security of¢cers, thus ensuring that corporate intelligence is placed within a speci¢c company^country context.


This installment of the Academic Medicine Management Series focuses on institutional strategic partnerships and alliances—that is, affiliations and collaborations among an academic medical center and one or more partners to develop strategic value and resources not possessed by any single organization. The notion that academic medical centers would enter into mission-critical alliances—in many cases with institutions once viewed as competitors, not collaborators— has emerged as a strategy only recently. An academic medical center's traditional course of action was marked by its independence, a ship of self-sufficiency and expertise. That idea, like so much in the modern enterprise, traces its roots to Flexner, who promoted the development of the self-contained academic medical center— consisting of a single medical school and teaching hospital, jointly owned or at least intimately connected—as requisite for sound medical education and patient care. In his 1910 report, Flexner endorsed the idea that a teaching hospital should "enter into [an] exclusive and practically complete relationship with a single medical school."1,p.107


We present a meshless particle method for Poisson and diffusion problems on domains with discontinuous coefficients and possibly inhomogeneous boundary conditions. The method is based on a domain-decomposition approach with suitable interface and boundary conditions between regions of different diffusivities, and on using discretization-corrected particle strength exchange operators [B. Schrader, S. Reboux, and I. F. Sbalzarini, J. Comput. Phys., 229 (2010), pp. 4159--4182]. We propose and compare two methods: The first one is based on an immersed interface approach, where interfaces are determined implicitly using a simplified phase-field equation. The second method uses a regularization technique to transform inhomogeneous interface or boundary conditions to homogeneous ones with an additional continuous volume contribution. After presenting the methods, we demonstrate their capabilities and limitations on several one-dimensional and three-dimensional test cases with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary condi...


It was indicated in a previous paper (Geol. Mag., LXXII, 1935, p. 208) that the Scottish Lower Carboniferous crinoid fauna contains a number of species which have never been adequately described. In the present communication, ten of these are discussed, the remainder, another ten or eleven species, will be dealt with later. All the specimens except four were collected by myself many years ago, but it was only recently that the requisite leisure was found to develop and clean them thoroughly.


This paper describes a novel tweezing system using cavitational microstreaming flows generated by acoustically oscillating twin bubbles for non-contact micromanipulation. A tweezing system with a single acoustically oscillating bubble attached on the tip of a rod integrated with a three-dimensional traverse system is firstly tested to manipulate a fish egg (1 mm diameter) in an aqueous medium. Although the flow generated from the single oscillating bubble is strong enough to push and move the fish egg, the moving direction of the fish egg is not controllable. To improve the control of the manipulation, identical twin bubbles, which have the same size and resonant frequency, are applied. To obtain the identical bubbles, an electrolysis chip consisting of sharp tip-shaped electrodes is microfabricated, and each bubble is generated from the chip by controlling the applied voltage and time and then transported to the tips of a U-shaped rod. Manipulation of a fish egg (1 mm diameter) and glass beads (100 µm diameter) is experimentally demonstrated using acoustically oscillating twin bubbles. Using a high speed camera, the force generated by the acoustically oscillating bubbles and its direction are analyzed in various acoustic excitation conditions. The results show that the generated force is proportional to the bubble oscillation amplitude, and the direction of the force depends on the distance between a bubble and object. A steel ball (500 µm diameter) is used for the investigation of the force direction. When a bubble (600 µm diameter) is acoustically excited, the steel ball is pulled into the oscillating bubble in the short distance (<3 mm); however, the steel ball is pushed from the oscillating bubble in the long distance.


Ti‒50.13Ni and Ti‒49.62Ni (at.%) shape memory alloy ribbons were fabricated by melt-spinning method at different circumferential wheel velocities. The effects of wheel velocity, chemical composition and heat treatments on microstructure and Transformation temperature were investigated. Differences in wheel velocity led to differences in cooling rate and sample dimension, as well as in phase transformation temperatures. Two heat treatment conditions were studied, 350°C for 1h and 350°C for 5h. In the samples produced at high wheel velocity and heat-treated at 350°C for 5h, nanosized Ti-rich precipitates were observed in both chemical compositions. Cross-sectional microstructure was studied by optical microscopy; SEM was used to study the nanometric grains and nano precipitation. The transformation temperatures were analyzed by DSC.


The signal generator with Direct Digital Synthesizer Phase Locked Loop (DDS-PLL) Hybrid structure generates the signal with the qualities of the wide bandwidth and high frequency resolution. The long acquisition time in the PLL limits its applications. A novel generator structure is proposed by adding the sweeping voltage circuitry to the classical DDS-PLL Hybrid in order to accelerate the acquisition speed. A test circuitry is designed to testify the novel structure. The measured results indicate that the acquisition time is reduced to be 2.175μs and 1.032μs corresponding to 1MHz and 2MHz loop bandwidth respectively; the pulse compression result is very good where the main lobe width remains as ideal, Peak Side Lobe Ratio (PSLR) is better than -38dB, and the Integrated Side Lobe Ratio (ISLR) is better than -9.5dB.


Radar maritime target recognition, not affected by weather and illumination, plays a vital role in sea state detection. But the development of radar ship target recognition has been obstructed due to complicated sea conditions and difficult data acquisition. Traditional recognition methods are difficult to extract robust and highly discriminative features. CNNs is widely used in radar target recognition because of its self-learning. But CNNs has low learning efficiency and poor classification performance under small sample conditions. In this paper, prototype-based metric learning method(PML) is proposed. Specifically, we sample two subsets from original training data as a support set and a query set. The mean of a class's support vectors is calculated to get its centroid in the embedding space, which is called prototype. We find the nearest category prototype for embedded query points to make a classification. It is because our model is more convenient for extracting highly discriminative features and easy to train that it has higher learning efficiency. The experiments is based on Open-SARShip classification dataset in TOPSAR data of the Sentinel-1 satellites for algorithm verification. Experimental results show that recognition accuracy of our model is significantly higher than those achieved by CNNs and traditional radar target recognition models, especially in the limited-data regime.


Frontal lobe myelination and connectivity, confirmed by neuropathologic, neuroradiologic, and functional studies, have been shown to play a key role in human brain development and degeneration.1 In normal aging, a characteristic pattern of phenotypic motor and cognitive changes can be commonly observed, mainly resulting from reduced processing speed and decreased executive functioning.2 More specifically, decreases of gait speed, psychomotor speed, reaction times, working memory, abstract reasoning, problem solving, and memory retrieval during the aging process provide evidence that frontal brain functions show the greatest vulnerability to decline in normal aging. This regional cerebral aging pattern, characterized by an anterior-to-posterior gradient of greater-to-lesser degeneration, could be confirmed by studies of structural connectivity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) (e.g., 3). DTI capitalizes on the fact that in healthy axons the movement of water molecules is restricted and follows the axonal walls much like water in a pipe. However, once axons get compromised due to degenerative processes or (any) other lesions …


ABSTRACT The 2017 Indonesian Health Profile shows the number of posyandu in Indonesia has 164,867 (56.57%) active posyandu. However, the quantity of posyandu is not in line with the quality of utilization of the posyandu. In 2017 there were only 89,070 (82.6%) toddlers weighed in posyandu from 107,846 toddlers who were there. This amount is far from the target of visiting toddlers in Central Java Province, which is equal to 90%. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence the activity of mothers of children under five to posyandu, including factors of education, employment, age and knowledge of children under five at the posyandu.             This research was carried out at the Posyandu in the Pandean Lamper Sub-District of Semarang City in March 2019. This type of research was analytic observational with a cross sectional design. The study population was mothers of children under five (1-5 years). Sampling using proportionate stratified random sampling.             The relationship of education and activity of mothers of children under five has a moderate correlation with a value of 0.580 and the relationship between knowledge and activity of mothers of children under five has a strong correlation with a value of 0.675. In the future, it is expected that mothers of toddlers always maintain the activity of posyandu and cadres always provide motivation to mothers to attend the posyandu activities.             Conclusion: the longer the mother under five takes the level of education and the higher the knowledge of the mother under five, the higher the activity of the mother of the toddler to the posyandu.


The existing agriculture applications incorporating IoT are helping to increase the productivity of the crops; however, these applications are also introduced some disadvantages, therefore the current researchers are working to defeat these challenges in the futuristic applications by deploying new technologies with no or minimum negative impact on the environment and human health; Green IoT (G-IoT) and green nanotechnology are appear. These technologies are not easy to be used by farmers. So, this research work aims to build a realtime, cost-effective Precision Agriculture Monitoring System with less power consumption, less Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, and a user-friendly interface to help the farmers monitor the parameter variations of their farm (weather, water, soil, pest detection, intrusion detection, fire detection) periodically from anywhere and at any time using their smart-phones. The proposed system will act as a decision support system helps farmers to take the appropriate actions based on the farm parameter's variation; by sending an alert email to the farmer when it is required.


Differential hysteresis loop of TGS single crystal has been measured. The TGS sample has been stored over 18 years and can be seemed as completely aged. Aging property of the sample is recessive, while it's loop is similar to that of an un-aged sample. After heat treatment, peak position and height of differential loop change significantly, and differ form that of an un-aged sample, recessive aging change to be dominant. Aging can be described to the adsorption of H_ 2 O molecules on the surface of the sample, which leads some areas of the crystal to be hydrolyzed and form some defects, and in addition, diffusion of these defects into the sample.


Tantalum (Ta) thin films of 35 nm thickness were investigated as diffusion barriers as well as adhesion- promoting layers between Cu and SiO2 using x-ray diffractometry (CRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). After annealing at 600 degrees C for 1h in vacuum, no evidence of interdiffusion was observed. However, XPS depth profiling indicates that elemental Si appears at the Ta/SiO2 interface after annealing. In- situ XPS studies show that the Ta/SiO2 interface was stable until 500 degrees C, but about 32 percent of the interfacial SiO2 was reduced to elemental Si at 600 degrees C. Upon cooling to room temperature, some elemental Si recombined to form SiO2 again, leaving only 6.5 percent elemental Si. Comparative studies on the interface chemical states of Cu/SiO2 and Ta/SiO2 indicates that the stability of the Cu/Ta/SiO2/Si system may be ascribed to the strong bonding of Ta and SiO2 due to the reduction of SiO2 through Ta oxide formation.


The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-&bgr;) superfamily encompasses a number of important growth factors including several TGF-&bgr; isoforms, the bone morphogenetic proteins, activins, inhibins, and growth and differentiation factors. TGF-&bgr;1, -&bgr;2, and -&bgr;3 are three closely related isoforms that are widely expressed during skeletal morphogenesis and bone repair. Numerous studies suggest that each isoform has unique in vivo functions; however, the effects of these TGF-&bgr; isoforms on osteoblast gene expression and maturation have never been directly compared. In the current study, we treated undifferentiated neonatal rat calvaria osteoblast-enriched cell cultures with 2.5 ng/ml of each TGF-&bgr; isoform and analyzed gene expression at 0, 3, 6, and 24 hours. We demonstrated unique isoform-specific regulation of endogenous TGF-&bgr;1 and type I collagen mRNA transcription. To assess the effects of extended TGF-&bgr; treatment on osteoblast maturation, we differentiated osteoblast cultures in the presence of 2.5 ng/ml of each TGF-&bgr; isoform. Analysis of collagen I, alkaline phosphatase, and osteocalcin demonstrated that each TGF-&bgr; isoform uniquely suppressed the transcription of these osteoblast differentiation markers. Interestingly, TGF-&bgr; isoform treatment increased osteopontin expression in primary osteoblasts after 4 and 10 days of differentiation. To our knowledge, these data provide the first direct comparison of the effects of the TGF-&bgr; isoforms on osteoblast gene expression in vitro. Furthermore, these data suggest that TGF-&bgr; isoforms may exert their unique in vivo effects by differentially regulating osteoblast cytokine secretion, extracellular matrix production, and the rate of cellular maturation.


Compared with traditional nondestructive testing technologies, the method of metal magnetic memory (MMM) is a more effective way in the earlier injury diagnosis of ferromagnetic materials, but the investigation of the MMM testing mechanism is limited. In order to study the mechanism of MMM method, in this article, the relationship between stress concentration state and spontaneous magnetic flux leakage (SMFL) signal is analyzed by quantum theory. The results demonstrate that the fundamental reason for SMFL is lattice distortion leaded by stress concentration, and the rising of stress causes the SMFL signal changing linearly. The theoretical calculation results in this article are in very good agreement with experimental results.


Some corpus linguists prefer to research using plain text, while others first prepare the texts by adding various analytic annotations. The former group express reservations about the reliability of intuitive "data", whereas the latter group, if obliged to choose, will reject corpus evidence in favour of their intuitive responses. This paper attempts to move from the broad differences expressed above to a small number of specific points of contrast between the two approaches.


This paper presents two innovations to solve the problems of the classical suboptimal Sage adaptive Kalman filter.The first innovation is to effectively improve the numerical stability by means of synthetically restraining the filter's disconvergency.The second is to use a parallel filter structure of adding a concomitant filter to eliminate system biases that the standard Sage adaptive filter always suffers,and the accuracy is also improved.


.............................................................................................................................. III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................ VI LIST OF PUBLICATIONS ................................................................................................... VII TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................... IX LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. XIII LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. XV LIST OF NOTATIONS ........................................................................................................ XXV


Abstract Dementia is one of the most rapidly growing diseases in the United States. In 2018, the direct costs to American society of caring for older people with dementia was approximately $277 billion. Primary informal caregivers are mainly responsible for the care of older people with dementia including Alzheimer's disease. Caregivers perform a myriad of duties ranging from shopping for their loved ones' groceries, helping with medications, and managing finances. The caregiving role becomes more demanding as the disease progresses over time, and studies have shown that the quality-of-life (QoL) experienced by caregivers of older adults who have dementia is lower than the QoL of caregivers for older people who do not have dementia. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no research conducted to investigate whether lower caregiver QoL affects the level or quality of care that caregivers provide to persons with dementia. In the current study, we interviewed family caregivers living in Rochester, New York to inquire about their quality of life and the care provided to older people living with dementia. Further, caregivers completed the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) as well as a draft questionnaire for measuring the quality of care provided to older people living with dementia. Both quantitative and qualitative findings from this study reveals important relationships between family caregiver QoL and the care provided, including the impact of social support and financial well-being. The study findings could have significant impact, particularly for the provision of much needed support for family caregivers.


In this work, we introduce a novel nonalloyed contact structure for n-GaAs and n-In0.53Ga0.47As by using single metals in combination with a thin dielectric to tune the effective metal/III-V work function toward the conduction band edge. We reduced the effective Schottky barrier height (ΦB,eff) of Al/GaAs from 0.75 to 0.17 eV through the use of a thin atomic layer deposition Al2O3. Barrier height reduction was verified for a variety of metals (Y, Er, Al, Ti, and W) through direct measurements and deduced from increased diode current and reduced contact resistance. Similar results were observed on n-In0.53Ga0.47As. Two possible underlying mechanisms are discussed: one based on the formation of a dielectric dipole and the other based on the blocking of metal induced gap states. This structure has applications as a nonalloyed low resistance ohmic contact for III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) or high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), and as a near zero barrier height contact for III-V Schottky barrier field-effect transistors or diodes.In this work, we introduce a novel nonalloyed contact structure for n-GaAs and n-In0.53Ga0.47As by using single metals in combination with a thin dielectric to tune the effective metal/III-V work function toward the conduction band edge. We reduced the effective Schottky barrier height (ΦB,eff) of Al/GaAs from 0.75 to 0.17 eV through the use of a thin atomic layer deposition Al2O3. Barrier height reduction was verified for a variety of metals (Y, Er, Al, Ti, and W) through direct measurements and deduced from increased diode current and reduced contact resistance. Similar results were observed on n-In0.53Ga0.47As. Two possible underlying mechanisms are discussed: one based on the formation of a dielectric dipole and the other based on the blocking of metal induced gap states. This structure has applications as a nonalloyed low resistance ohmic contact for III-V metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) or high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), and as a near zero barrier height cont...


Dual connectivity is very important for gradual transition from LTE to 5G. Release 12 of the 3GPP specification introduced DC scheme, but what advantage we can get from DC is not evaluated yet. In this paper, we simulate the DC schemes (LTE – LTE DC, LTE-mmWave DC, mmWave – mmWave DC) using newly modified network simulator (NS3) for 5G and evaluate the DC gains in terms of throughput and delay. We demonstrate the DC would increase the throughput under the fast switching scheme and decrease the end-to-end delay a lot.


Conventional analytical and numerical methods to study the response of a bolted joint is relied on many assumptions and approximations and thus hardly yield satisfied results. 3D finite element model of bolted joints with real helical thread geometry is established and meshed with refined hexahedral elements. This finite element model is used to analyse specific characteristics of stress distribution, stress concentrations, contact pressure distributions, load sharing of the bolted joint components. Sector model of bolted flange joint has been analysed for pretension alone and combination of pretension and axial load. Using the finite element (FE) model with accurate thread geometry with pretension, the thread root stresses, contact pressure along the bolt thread helix, between flanges, on bolt head and at the nut loaded surface have been studied. The peak stress occurs at the first engaged bolt thread root from nut loaded surface and gradually decreases towards the free face of the nut. Results from analysis with pretension and axial load indicate that the contact separation starts at the inner radius of flange and grows towards outer diameter of flange as the axial load is increased in the bolted flange joint. It is observed from the analyses that most of the load is shared by flanges when the external applied axial load is up to 30% of preload, and beyond this, bolt starts sharing more external load. The maximum stress occurs at the first engaged bolt thread root. Most of the bolt failures are at the first engaged thread.The study suggests that it is necessary to consider threads in FE model to obtain accurate stiffness, bolt load and thread stress predictions. These critical observations provide insight for optimization of bolted flange joint to meet the structural requirements and weight optimisation.


In this paper, we address these challenges in real-world unconstrained environments where the background is complex and dynamic. In the algorithm proposed, we extract the features in a color space, accumulate the feature information over a short time, and fuse high-level knowledge and low-level feature information. A fuzzy technique is also developed to detach silhouettes of moving objects from a human body silhouette. Experimental results show that our algorithm works efficiently and robustly.


The process of Ci's refinement is complicated concerning the feeling expressed in Ci. Huajian Ci, which were written in the period of the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, were full of love. Later in the South Tang Dynasty the poets tried to express themselves in gentle mood. After developing in the Song Dynasty, people got to a common view that Ci should be written as poems to show the real disposition at the bottom of heart. There exists a logical relation among the feelings expressed in Ci such as love, leisure and disposition which shows the process of Ci's refinement.


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Packet classification is an indispensable yet challenging functionality of modern SDN network devices. OpenFlow organization has presented Multiple Match Tables (MMT) model, which allows multiple smaller match tables to be matched in a pipeline of stages, and is easy to implement using a set of narrower tables in each stage. But MMT still contains some complex flow tables in some case, such as packet classification. TCAM-based schemes are not only capacity-limited but also very power-hungry for such complex flow, so researchers are devote to replace TCAM by decomposed scheme. RFC (Recurisive Flow Classification), a generalization of cross-producting, has a good performance in classification speed, but the excessive memory consumption increased indispensably with the expansion of rule set. To conquer memory explosion, we propose a feasibility and scalability memory compression for RFC scheme for complex flow table of MMT. Our experiment make a comparison with the RFC scheme, the experimental results indicates that the average space compression ratio is about 8 times.


Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a family of proteins capable of protecting organisms from damage in freezing or sub_freezing conditions by controlling the growth of ice and inhibiting the recrystallization between ice granules, which were termed thermal hysteresis (TH) activity and recrystallization inhibition (RI) activity respectively. There is a distinct diversity between AFPs in amino acid sequence, species and higher_order structure, however, both AFPs exhibit suitable antifreeze activity by binding to a specific face of ice with adsorption. Two kinds of models of "hydrogen_bonding match" and "surface complementarity" were presented to explain the molecular mechanism of AFPs, and the latter has been gradually developed to the general mechanism for its stronger advantages. At present AFPs with solved or modeled three_dimensional structure can dock to specific faces of ice by surface complementarity, though diversified forces leading to the formation of this surface complementarity should be further investigated.


In the work of seismic safety estimation of an engineering site, the national standard"technology standard of seismic safety estimation in engineering site"(GB17741-1999) advises that the selected working region should be more than 150 km distance. Since the effect of selection of work region on result of seismic safety estimation has been seldom discussed, there are no materials to be referenced in practice. In this paper, regarding one field of Xian city as a site point and analyzing contribution of site point of far, mid and near potential sources with high-magnitude in different period earthquake ground motion about 400 km range, the authors studied some problems about working region selection in different situation of engineering ,site condition and standard of seismic resistance.


A new direction of arrival(DOA) estimation algorithm for single channel array is proposed to overcome the shortcomings of multiple channel system,such as too complex and high cost hardware,performance change for the worse due to the inconsistency among multiple channels.Firstly,it establishes a new narrowband signal processing model of single channel array via controlling receive channel by radio frequency shift,this model only requires the array outputs to be sampled one at a time by a single receive channel.Next it gives the posterior parameter function of the DOA.Then combined with Markov Chain Monte Carlo(MCMC) methods,the DOA estimation is realized.Computer simulation verifies that the proposed algorithm is applicable to correlated and incorrelated signals,and has high performance and resolution.


INTRODUCTION Recurrent hyperglycemia (HG, plasma glucose [Glc]plasma > 150 mg/dL) is a common metabolic problem in preterm infants with gestational age below 26 weeks. Acute neurological complications, such as intracranial hemorrhage are associated with hyperglycemia in this population. The long-term effects of recurrent hyperglycemia on the developing brain are not well known. The aim of this pilot study is to investigate long-term effects of recurrent hyperglycemia of graded severity on the neurochemical profile of hippocampus in developing rats using in vivo H NMR spectroscopy at 9.4T. METHODS All NMR measurements were performed using a Varian INOVA spectrometer interfaced to a 9.4 T magnet, equipped with powerful gradient/shim coils insert (Resonance Research Inc). First and second order shims were adjusted by FASTMAP [1]. Ultra-short echo-time STEAM (TE = 2 ms) combined with outer volume suppression and VAPOR water suppression was used for H NMR spectroscopy [2]. Metabolite concentrations were quantified using LCModel with macromolecule spectra included in the database and the unsuppressed water signal was used as an internal reference [3]. Recurrent HG was induced for 2 hours each, twice a day in rat pups from postnatal day (P)3 to P12 by the subcutaneous injection of 30% (moderate HG, [Glc]plasma = 226 ± 12 mg/dL) or 50% dextrose (severe HG, [Glc]plasma = 380 ± 27 mg/dL). In vivo H NMR spectra were collected on postnatal day 30 from 7 rat pups. RESULTS Spectral quality and the location of VOI are shown in Fig. 1. In addition to seven spectra acquired from hippocampus, three spectra were measured from cerebral cortex. Off all fourteen metabolites and two combined pairs of metabolites consistently quantified from all hippocampal spectra, only ascorbate (Asc), glutamate (Glu), phosphorylethanolamine (PE) and taurine (Tau) indicated a trend for progressive alteration with the severity of HG (Fig 2). A similar trend was also observed in the cerebral cortex for Asc, Glu and Tau. DISCUSSION These preliminary data indicate that the recurrent HG may cause longterm alternations in the neurochemical profile of the developing hippocampus. Decreased glutamate has been associated with impaired cognitive function in adult humans. Observed changes in Tau may indicate effects of the recurrent HG on osmoregulation and changes in PE may imply altered myelination. Finally, decrease in Asc may be linked to the oxidative stress. In conclusion, the spectroscopic data suggest that recurrent HG may have a primary role in the cognitive deficits common in preterm infants.


This deliverable details the testbed based assessment and proof-of-concept studies performed in the MAMMOET project. The real-time testbed architecture and implementation is described, together with system parameters. Both indoor and outdoor tests are described, where the behaviour of MaMi communication is studied. Tests are performed both in stationary (indoor/outdoor) and mobile (outdoor) environments.


Elucidation of the crystal structure of an ADAM10 substrate recognition and proteinase-positioning module comprising the protein cysteine-rich and disintegrin domains, and detailed functional analysis revealed that an acidic pocket within the cysteine-rich domain forms a Substrate-recogni tion site. The binding of this pocket to receptor/ligand com plexes facilitates effective ligand cleavage, which is pre vented when critical residues within the pocket are changed. This provides use of the surface pocket within the extracel lular domain of ADAM10, and the corresponding structure in related proteases such as ADAM17, as a target for structure based computational and high-throughput Screens for Small molecule Substrate-specific inhibitors or monoclonal anti bodies that inhibit ADAM protease cleavage of ephrins and other ADAM10 or ADAM17 Substrates. These inhibitors will be useful in therapeutic intervention of tumour development, invasion and metastasis and other diseases which involve the activity of the ADAM10 and ADAM17 proteases, such as inflammation, cardio-vascular disease, arthritis and other auto-immune diseases.


Article 8 ECHR: Right to respect for family life; Article 14 Prohibition of discrimination. 21 February 1995, C. vs Belgium. The applicant was born in 1955 and lived in Brussels with his parents, brother and sisters from 1966 until he was deported. In 1985 he married a Moroccan national in Morocco. His wife was permitted to settle in Belgium under the statutory provisions on family reunion. A son was born of this marriage on 10 August 1986. A divorce was granted in Morocco on a date which has not been specified and the applicant's wife returned to live in Morocco. Following a Moroccan judgment of 10 July 1991 she waived her right to custody of the child and surrendered him to the applicant's care. The son now lives with his paternal grandmother. In 1988, the applicant was twice convicted of criminal offences, first on 6 April, when he was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, suspended for three years, and a fine of BEF 400 for criminal damage, and secondly on 14 December, when he was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for unlawful possession of drugs and membership of a criminal organisation. The Brussels Court of Appeal later reduced this sentence to five years. In October 1990, the Advisory Committee on aliens expressed the opinion that the applicant's expulsion from Belgium was warranted. A royal deportation order based on the two convictions was served on the applicant in March 1991. His application to the Conseil d'Etat asking it to quash this order was dismissed on 7 October 1992. Mr. C. had been released on parole on 23 May 1991. In July his son, who had been living in Morocco with his mother during the applicant's imprisonment, rejoined the applicant in Belgium. The period of thirty days' grace the applicant was allowed after his release in order to leave Belgium was extended until 25 September 1991. On a date which has not been specified the applicant left Belgium for Morocco. The applicant alleged a violation of Article 8, taken separately and in conjunction with Article 14 ECHR, on account of his expulsion. In its report the Commission expressed the opinion that there had been no violation of Article 8 taken separately or in conjunction with Article 14.


An efficient route detailing the construction of the central core of pierisformaside C, the first grayanane-type diterpene to possess three central double bonds, is reported.


Abstract Let φ be a continuous nonzero homomorphism of the convolution algebra L1loc(R+) and also the unique extension of this homomorphism to Mloc(R+). We show that the map φis continuous in the weak* and strong opertor topologies on Mloc, considered as the dual space of Cc(R+) and as the multiplier algebra of L1loc. Analogous results are proved for homomorphism from L1 [0, a) to L1 [0, b). For each convolution algebra L1 (ω1), φ restricts to a continuous homomorphism from some L1 (ω1) to some L1 (ω2), and, for each sufficiently large L1 (ω2), φ restricts to a continuous homomorphism from some L1 (ω1) to L1 (ω2). We also determine which continuous homomorphisms between weighted convolution algebras extend to homomorphisms of L1loc. We also prove results on convergent nets, continuous semigroups, and bounded sets in Mloc that we need in our study of homomorphisms.


Benzylidenetriphenylphosphorane (4) reacts with carbon disulphide to give 2,4-dibenzylidene-1,3-dithietan (10), 2-phenyl-2-triphenylphosphoniodithioacetate (5), 2-benzylidene-4-phenyl-1,3-dithiole (11), and 2-phenyl-1-(phenyldithioacetyl)-2-triphenylphosphonioethenethiolate (16). The isolation and yield of each compound depend strictly on the experimental conditions and, in particular, on the work-up procedure.


Objective: To determine the clinical and epidemiological characteristics, including the therapeutic response, of leishmaniasis patients managed at Hospital Escuela in the period 2000-2008. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional and longitudinal descriptive study. It included retrospective evaluation of hospitalized patients (2000–2006) and longitudinal evaluation of ambulatory patients examined at the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic (2007–2008). Results: A total of 57 hospitalized patients and 69 ambulatory patients were characterized. Of these, 57 (45.2%) were patients with non ulcerative cutaneous cases (LCNU, acronym based on name in Spanish), 16 (12.7%) were patients with ulcerative cutaneous cases (LCU), 10 (7.9%) were mucocutaneous cases (LMC) and 43 (34.1%) were visceral cases (LV). In 105 cases (83.3%), the diagnosis was suspected clinically and it was confirmed by laboratory. In general terms, the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of patients were similar to what has been already described in Honduras. The therapeutic response evaluation in ambulatory cases demonstrated clinical healing of 83.3% LCU cases and 94.4% LCNU cases. In hospitalized cases, suboptimal administration of antileishmaniasic treatment in 30.0% LMC cases and 65.2% LV cases was seen. Conclusions: It is necessary to standardize and strengthen leishmaniasis diagnostics and therapeutic approach at Hospital Escuela. We recommend completing parasitological diagnosis, including culture, of the cases in order to characterize the circulating species in Honduras. Rev Med Hondur 2009;77(1):7-15


When characteristic difference methods basis on normal Lagrange interpolation are used to solve convection-dominated diffusion problems, numerical difficulties occur such as numerical oscillations or numerical diffusion. The higher-order monotone interpolation method would be more effective but it is too complicated. In this paper, a new characteristic difference scheme based on the characteristic difference technique is presented for the convection diffusion eqution. The Samarskii's perturbation method is used to deal with the diffusion term. This method is precise, non-oscillatory and unconditionally stable. Numerical simulations also show that the method can accurately solve convection- dominated diffusion problems.


Scientific name: Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Average weight: 2.7 kg–4 kg (male)
4.5 kg–6.8 kg (female)
Average height: 76 cm–86 cm (male)
89 cm–94 cm (female)
Average wingspan: 200-225 cm
Average lifespan: 25–40 years

As Canada's largest bird of prey, the bald eagle is built to hunt and scavenge. It has a giant yellow beak and oversized talons, and its feet are equipped with small spikes called spicules, which are ideal for attacking and grasping its prey, especially slippery fish.


The research has been analyzed the level of nuclear contamination and radiation exposure rate at installation of nuclear medicine with efforts a radiation protection is the prevention or decrease the number of entry of radioactive material into the human body. The method used to conduct measurement a count of contamination of surface work area resulting from the use of radioactive substances and carried out at a distance of 0.5 cm between the detector window with contaminated areas, while measuring the radiation exposure rate in each of center room at height of 1 meter from the surface of the floor in various rooms installation of nuclear medicine. The results of measurement obtained levels of contamination nuclear dose in various rooms installation of nuclear medicine is from 0,16 to 243 Bq/cm 2 were classified as low to high levels of contamination. While the results of measurements of the radiation exposure rate is from 0,026 to 1,693μSv/h, which is classified as below the allowable dose value level, so it is still safe for radiation workers and other patients. Keywords: Radiation Protection, Radioactive, Contamination, Radiation Exposure Rate, Nuclear Medicine


A spatio-temporal searcher structure is proposed to enhance the detection capability of the multipath searcher for the desired signal. This searcher employs the spatio-temporal signal structure to search for newly emerging signals. The proposed multipath searcher provides better detection capability and thus reduces the mean acquisition time. The detection and the false alarm probabilities of new and conventional searchers are calculated and numerical examples of a mean acquisition time are given thereafter.


ABSTRACT This paper examines the effectiveness of Web banner advertisements in terms of several widely employed copy-testing measures. Two groups of subjects were exposed to the same banner advertisement with the exception that the promotional message in one of the ads appeared as part of a pull-down menu. The research indicates that consumers who are exposed to banner advertisements using pull-down menus score higher on measures of attention, novelty, liking, persuasion, and click-through, suggesting that these types of banner ads are more effective than traditional, static banners. It is proposed that key factors contributing to this result are the unique format and greater informational appeal of pull-down ads. Managerial implications are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.


Some international standards have been developed that are very likely to make a major impact on CVE (Collaborative Virtual Environment) technology: the Distributed Interactive Simulation (DIS) (IEEE Standard 1278.1) and the High Level Architecture (HLA) (IEEE Standard 1516). Deriving from military-purpose simulations, DIS and HLA, however, have limitations on building large-scale general-purpose CVE applications. For instance, HLA object-attribute based ownership management only allows joint manipulation in a constraint-based solution. The purpose of this research effort is to realize joint manipulation management in CVE. This paper begins with a discussion of interaction requests and interaction model and proceeds to describe three generic approaches for joint manipulation management: Constraint-based, Synchronized and Non Synchronized.


A structure comprising a metal pad, a passivation layer having a portion of the edge regions of the metal pad covered, and an auxiliary metal plate over the passivation layer. The auxiliary metal plate has a plurality of openings. The auxiliary metal plate has a zigzag edge. A dielectric layer has a first portion located on the auxiliary metal plate, second portions that fill the plurality of first vias and a third portion which contacts the first zigzag edge.


The Rome is founded in 753 BC by its first king, Romulus. Rome developed very quickly becoming the main center of agricultural production and the development of the trade across Latium. This city will be transformed in the course of time in the center of the political, military, social and economic in Italy, Mediterranean and beyond for more than 1000 years. The splendor of its civilization is reflected even today in all areas of life, like a genetic inheritance for all humanity. Political life, military, social, economic, religious, Roman law, art, culture and main achievements on infrastructure such as roads, bridges, ports, lighthouse towers, fortifications, obelisks, columns, temples, altars, gates, arches, villas, public buildings, basilica, forums, amphitheaters, sprint circus, terms, viaducts, aqueducts, waterfalls have served and still serve as models from antiquity to the present day, for many civilizations. Neoclassical architecture is designed to mimic accurately the greatness of Ancient Rome, ideals and culture of which was the inspiration for the founders of United State of America, for drafting, as well as creating a culture of the New Republic ....


In the process of oil storage and oil heating, a series of chemical reactions resulting from oil hydrolysis, oxidizing, resolution and polymerization will lead to the poor quality of oil and the inferior changes of its nature. This article deals with the analysis and statement concerning the ways to causes and changes of the inferior changes of oil storage and oil heating .


In order to satisfy the requirements of experimental teaching,a corresponding test system for rotor test rig-DRZZS-A with remote control function was developed,using the LabVIEW software development platform,on which speed measurement,vibration measurement,orbit measurement,dynamic balancing,and measurement of rotor monitoring the status of test-bed experiments could be completed.After analyzing and comparing with the test results of traditional detection equipment,the result shows that this system is credible and stable and the parameters tested are correct.In addition,this system has the characteristics of friendly interfaces,simple operation,complete functions,low cost and better expansibility.It not only fully satisfies the experimental requirement,but also reduces costs while the quality of experiment teaching is improved,providing reference for the construction of university lab.


In this study, vegetation cover type classification was investigated using CHRIS data over agricultural scenes acquired across the 2004 growing season. Spectral indices sensitive to crop chlorophyll content and leaf area index were first calculated from CHRIS nadir data in May, June and July. The seasonality of these indices was analyzed and employed to identify crop types in the study area. To further improve the classification accuracy, the angular signatures of the vegetation canopies were derived from the nadir and off- nadir data in the red and near-infrared band using the kernel-driven Ross_Thick and Li-Sparse model. The coefficients of the kernel-based model were then used for crop type classification, together with the spectral indices derived from nadir data. Preliminary results show that the additional angular information can slightly improve the classification accuracy.


ABSTRACT Finding new biofuel resources and consolidating the preliminary findings on biodiesel extraction are important to optimize mass production. In this paper biodiesel is extracted from non-edible, abundantly available, potential, and viable neem oil. Design of Experiment is employed to optimize the process parameters of the two-stage esterification process. Methanol has the greatest influence in both stages, followed by choice of catalyst and duration. Standard test procedures were followed to ensure the adequacy of the fuel properties, and the results are encouraging in regard to using neem oil as a potentially renewable and sustainable biodiesel source.


The kinetics of the CO hydrogenation reaction over a Fe–Mn fused catalyst was investigated in a fixed-bed micro-reactor under the following conditions: temperatures of 573–603 K, pressures of 1–15 bar, H2/CO feed ratios of 0.7–3.4 and a space velocity of 4500 h−1. A reaction rate equation for the supported Fe–Mn catalyst was derived on the basis of the Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson and Eley–Rideal models. An activation energy of 105 ± 3.7 kJ mol−1 was obtained for the best fitted model. In addition, the power-law equation model was also evaluated for the experimental data. According to the power-law model, the activation energy was obtained as 95.5 ± 2.5 kJ mol−1. Furthermore, the effect of temperature on the reaction partial order was investigated with respect to the reactants, using four simple power law equations. Characterization of the catalyst was carried out using BET and XRD techniques.


Objective To construct a stable infectious clone of live attenuated Japanese encephali- tis virus (JEV) vaccine strain SA14-14-2. Methods Full-length cDNA of JEV was cloned into the low- copy plasmid pACNR with gene recombination technology and the resulting plasmids were identified with re- striction enzyme digestion and sequence analysis. RNA was transcribed from the plasmid template in vitro and electrotransfected into BHK21 cells, the culture supernatant was collected and recovery viruses were de- tected with plaque assay and the protein of recovery viruses was detected with immunofluorescence technolo- gy. The recovery viruses passaged in BHK21 cells and the sequence of recovery viruses was analyzed. The form and size of the plaque and neurovirulence of recovery viruses were compared with that of the parental strain SA14-14-2. Results Restriction enzyme digestion and sequence analysis showed that the plasmid pACNR-JEV containing the full-length cDNA of JEV SA14-14-2 was constructed successfully and the cDNA sequence is exactly loyal to the parental virus sequence. The recovery viruses induced cytopathogenic effect (CPE) in BHK21 cells and the envelope protein and non-structural protein 1 of recovery viruses was detec- ted in the infected LLC-MK2 cells with immunofluorescence assay. Recovery viruses and parent viruses were identical with respect to the plaque form, size in BHK21 cells, the neoruvirulence phenotype in Kun-ming mouse and nucleotide sequence except an artificial engineered mutation at nucleotide 473 (A---,C) in core gene. Conclusion The plasmid containing the full length cDNA of JEV was constructed, and the stable re- covery viruses were rescued successfully. The reverse genetics technology platform for JEV study was built, it will be significant for the studies of the pathogenesis of JEV, the genetics mechanism of virulence attenua- tion of vaccine strain SA14-14-2 and the developement of new chimeric vaccine of flavivirus.

Key words:
Japanese encephalitis virus;  Vaccine;  Reverse genetics;  Recovery virus


Fruitlet abscission (cherelle wilt) is a major factor contributing to lower productivity of cacao plantation in Indonesia. An attempt was made to reduce such cherelle wilt by spraying plant growth retardants (PGRs) on cacao trees at about 10 weeks before flowering session. The treatment was repeated every three weeks. Both the flowering initiation time and the number of flowers on the treated trees were improved significantly. With the most effective composition, flowers were initiated at 24 days after spraying (DAS), where as the flowering initiation was 11-day later in the controls. At the 35 DAS, the chlorocholine chloride (CCC) 2,000 treatment induced about 20-80 folds more flowers than the controls. Extended observation was made to assess the treatment effect on the fruiting capacity. The treatments were found to improve fruiting ability by increasing the number of fruits set on the trees and shortening the time for fruit setting. At 20 weeks after the first spraying (WAS) there were on average 12.57 fruits per CCC 2,000-treated tree, as opposed to only 4.14 fruits per untreated tree. Analyses of the metabolites content in the flower cushions of the trees indicated that the reproductive growth is significantly correlated with the increased metabolites particularly the reduced sugar. Exogenous addition of sucrose to the PGR treatment gave greater improvement mainly in the fruiting. In conclusion, foliar spray of CCC induces flowering of cacao tress in the field that leads to improve the fruitlets productivity.


Introduction: Hypopharyngeal cancer is an uncommon malignancy, representing only 4.3% of head and neck cancers. It is usually found late in the course, accounting for its high five year mortality. SIADH has been seen in other squamous cell cancers mainly of the lungs. Case Report: We report a case of profound hyponatremia secondary to SIADH occurring in an elderly Vietnamese man in the setting of a large, welldifferentiated squamous cell cancer of the hypopharynx. Conclusion: SIADH is a common occurrence in squamous cell cancer of the lung. It occurs in only 3% of head and neck tumors. The putative etiologies include direct carotid involvement by the tumor, carotid manipulation during operative dissection, and as a side effect of chemotherapy or radiation. In this case, SIADH preceded operative intervention and there was no carotid involvement of the tumor. SIADH is an uncommon occurrence in head and neck tumors despite majority of them being squamous cell cancers. Usual etiologies for SIADH in this setting include medication side effects and involvement or manipulation of the carotid artery. None of these factors were present in this case leading to the conclusion that SIADH was caused by the tumor itself.


Objectives: This study examined the associations between lifestyle factors and obesity among university students.Methods: In this cross-sectional correlational study, 671 students completed measures of lifestyle factors (dietary habit, exercise, smoking, and alcohol drinking), health concern, academic stress, and anthropometric indices. Obesity was classified by body mass index (BMI) and abdominal circumference (AC). The data were analyzed with χ2 test, Mann-Whitney U test and logistic regression.Results: The frequencies of obesity and abdominal obesity were higher in male students than in female students (17.6% vs. 3.4% by BMI, 18.9% vs. 5.9% by AC). Abdominal obesity in students with diabetic parent was higher (16.8%) than in students without diabetic family history (9.2%). Obesity of BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 associated with breakfast absence of 5-7 times/week (odds ratio, OR: 1.98, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.05-3.71). Abdominal obesity associated with instant foods intake of 5-7 times/week (OR: 2.65, 95% CI: 1.14-6.17), fast foods intake of 3-4 times/week (OR: 2.87, 95% CI: 1.48-5.56), snacks of 3-4 times/wk (OR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.15-4.00), and consumed alcohol of ≥ 1 glass a day (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.19-3.73).Conclusions: Breakfast absence is associated with obesity. Instant foods, fast foods, snacks, and alcohol consumption are the associated factors with abdominal obesity among university students.


The Yimas-Alamblak trade pidgin, known as Tanim Tok in the Sepik River region variety of Tok Pisin, once functioned to accomplish regular exchange between the adult male members of the paympan clan of Yimas and their patrilineally-inherited Alamblak trading partners in the Sepik River region of insular New Guinea. The trade language is a pidginized form of the Papuan language Yimas, having significant input from the closely related Karawari language as well as exhibiting influence from Alamblak and other Papuan languages of the area. The language is now moribund and the data presented here is the only systematic linguistic documentation that will likely ever appear on this pidgin. Knowledge about language contact in this region of the world will enhance theories concerning the social and cultural factors which direct and motivate linguistic pidginization.


Abstract A Spanish version of the Tones and Break Indices framework for the phonological analysis of intonation, Sp_ToBI, has existed, in one level of development or another, for over a decade. The early, preliminary system was incomplete, but since, the system has been revised and expanded to the point of being a fully developed analytical tool. With recent work, Sp_ToBI has come into its own and now has a significant place in research on Spanish intonational phonology, especially given the considerable amount of research that has applied it to a wide range of Spanish varieties. As a system that is explicitly designed to be pan-Spanish, such research is crucial. After outlining the development of Sp_ToBI, this paper considers both the benefits and the challenges of the pan-Spanish nature of Sp_ToBI. Additionally, the contributions that Sp_ToBI has made to the phonological analysis of Spanish intonation are considered, as are the general challenges it faces. The paper concludes with a look at the future of Sp_ToBI as a tool for intonational phonologists.


In this work, we presented a high performance AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double heterostructure HEMT with a 10 nm channel layer and an Al0.1Ga0.9N back barrier layer. The fabricated devices exhibited an extremely low off-state drain leakage current of <10−10 A/mm. An ON/OFF current ratio (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{ {\scriptscriptstyle {\text{ON}}}}/{I}_{ {\scriptscriptstyle {\text{OFF}}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of up to 1010 and a subthreshold swing (SS) of 63 mV/dec were attained due to the reduced leakage current and enhanced electron confinement. The presented devices with a gate-drain spacing (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${L}_{\text {GD}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$22~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> exhibited a soft breakdown voltage (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {BR}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 1860 V with the criteria of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$0.1~\mu \text{A}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>/mm and a hard <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {BR}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> of 2009 V combined with a specific on-resistance (<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${R}_{ {\scriptscriptstyle {\text{ON}}}, \text {sp}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>) of 10.6 <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{m}\Omega \!\cdot \! \text {cm}^{{2}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. Moreover, excellent high-temperature values for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${I}_{ {\scriptscriptstyle {\text{ON}}}}/{I}_{ {\scriptscriptstyle {\text{OFF}}}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, SS, and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${V}_{\text {BR}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> were also attained. These results demonstrate a promising potential of the proposed devices for high power applications.


Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) present a high rate of cardiovascular mortality mainly associated with endothelial dysfunction, which causes more cardiovascular events in presence of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is characterized by a significant increase of low density lipoproteins (LDL), reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inflammation. ROS can oxidize LDL generating oxidized-LDL (oxLDL) that promotes the development of cardiovascular pathologies. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether oxLDL induce endothelial dysfunction analysing the involvement of vascular fibrosis.

 The model used for in vivo studies was the Knockout apolipoprotein E (KO-apoE) mice, which resemble human atherosclerosis and shown high levels of cholesterol (LDL) that can be oxidized to oxLDL. In mice, blood pressure was registered before sacrificed them. After that, we measured different parameters as serum cholesterol levels, vascular function by vascular reactivity in mesenteric arteries and vascular fibrosis in aorta by Sirius Red staining and by the protein expression of fibronectin and collagen-I by immunohistochemistry. In order to investigate the mechanism of action of oxLDL, in vitro studios were performed on human smooth muscle cells (SMC) incubated with oxLDL at different times. Fibrosis was evaluated by the expression of TGF- β and extracellular matrix proteins such as fibronectin and collagen-I by Western blot and by immunofluorescence. ROS production was also measured by fluorescence confocal microscopy, using the CellROX Deep Red probe.

 KO-apoE mice shown higher levels of serum cholesterol and blood pressure than WT animals. Moreover, KO-apoE mice showed endothelial dysfunction since their arteries were less relaxed and more contracted. In addition, these mice presented thickening of vascular wall (SMC layer), more fibrosis showing intense Sirius Red staining and less expression of elastin, all compatible with their vascular dysfunction compared to WT mice. Furthermore, aortas from KO-apoE mice showed a slight increase in fibronectin and collagen-I expression assessed by immunohistochemistry. In vivo studies were confirmed in vitro after treating SMC with oxLDL. oxLDL induced fibrosis in SMC by increasing TGF-β, fibronectin and collagen-I protein expressions evaluated by Western blot and immunofluorescence assays. Treatment with oxLDL also increased ROS production, which seem to be responsible of oxLDL-induced fibrosis in human SMC, as it was blocked in the presence of the antioxidant N-Acetyl-cysteine.

 In summary, these results point to endothelial dysfunction associated to atherosclerosis (oxLDL) could be mediated by an increase in the development of vascular fibrosis where ROS could play an important role. Therefore, the endothelial dysfunction typical of CKD patients could impair with more vascular fibrosis when atherosclerosis is also present.


Abstract The tribal and subtribal structure of the braconid subfamily Opiinae is dismantled, and several changes in the generic classification are made. Thoracoplites Fischer and Aspilodemon Fischer are removed from the Opiinae. Utetes Foerster and Pseudorhinoplus Fischer are elevated to generic rank and Bracanastrepha Brèthes is treated as a subgenus of Utetes. Five generic names currently in use are treated as synonyms of Opius Wesmael, Rhinoplus Foerster is synonymized with Biosteres Foerster, and Kephalosema Fischer is synonymized with Hydrangeocola Brèthes. Relationships of species groups formerly included in the subtribe Biosterina are discussed in phylogenetic terms. Résumé La structure des tribus et sous-tribus de la sous-famille de braconides Opiinae est démantelée, et plusieurs changements dans la classification des genres sont faits. Thoracoplites Fischer et Aspilodemon Fischer sont retirés des Opiinés. Utetes Foerster et Pseudorhinoplus Fischer sont élevés au rang de genre et Bracanastrepha Brèthes est traité comme un sous-genre de Utetes. Cinq noms de genre d'usage courant sont traités comme synonymes de Opius Wesmael, Rhinoplus Foerster est mis en synonymie avec Biosteres Foerster, et Kephalosema Fischer est mis en synonymie Hydrangeocola Brèthes. Les relations entre les groupes d'espèces précédemment placées dans la sous-tribu des Biosterina sont discutées d'un point de vue phylogénétique.


The surface temperature response to changes in our planet’s external forcing is larger at higher latitudes, a phenomenon known as polar amplification. The Arctic amplification has been particularly intense during the last century, with arctic-wide paleoclimatic reconstructions and state-of-the-art model simulations revealing a twofold arctic warming in comparison with the average global temperature increase. As a consequence, Arctic ground temperatures respond with rapid warming, but this response varies with snow cover and permafrost processes. Thus, changes in arctic ground temperatures are difficult to reconstruct from data, and to simulate in climate models.

Here, we reconstruct the ground surface temperature histories of 120 borehole temperature profiles above 60ºN for the last 400 years. Past surface temperature evolution from each profile was estimated using a Perturbed Parameter Inversion approach based on a singular value decomposition method. Long-term surface temperature climatologies (circa 1300 and 1700 CE) and quasi-steady state heat flow are also estimated from linear regression through the depth range 200 to 300 m of each borehole temperature profile. The retrieved temperatures are assessed against simulated ground surface temperatures from five Past Millennium and five Historical experiments from the Paleoclimate Modelling Intercomparison Project Phase III (PMIP3), and the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) archives, respectively.

Preliminary results from borehole estimates and PMIP3/CMIP5 simulations reveal that changes in recent Arctic ground temperatures vary spatially and are related to each site’s earlier thermal state of the surface. The magnitudes of ground warming from data and simulations differ with large discrepancies among models. As a consequence, a better understanding of freezing processes at and below the air-ground interface is necessary to interpret subsurface temperature records and global climate model simulations in the Arctic.


This study was performed to characterize inverse emulsion type cationic polyacrylamide (PAM) and to compare with powder and salt dispersion type PAMs as a retention and drainage aid. Salt dispersion type PAM has defects of high amount of salt which increases conductivity of white water, low active polymer contents and relatively worse retention and drainage properties than others because of its low molecular weight. Powder type PAM has benefit of high active polymer contents and good retention and drainage properties, but defects of low dissolution speed and insoluble particle generation were observed. However, inverse emulsion type showed the best retention and drainage aids among them by controlling molecular weight and morphology easily and it had relatively higher active polymer contents and better solubility.


This paper is an attempt to study n jobs over two machines where processing times are associated with respective probabilities and transportation time in addition with arbitrary lags i.e. start lag or stop lag. The objective of the study is to develop an efficient algorithm to compute the production rate in an effective manner or to minimize the total elapsed time in two stage flow-shop scheduling with different system parameters like transportation, arbitrary lags also job block criteria. A numerical illustration as well as GUI is design to clarify the proposed concept..


Countries that share rivers have a higher risk of military disputes between them. Controlling for the length of the land boundary has shown that the shared river variable is not just a proxy for being neighbors and thus having a higher degree of interaction opportunity. A weakness of the earlier work is that the existing shared rivers data do not allow us to distinguish properly between dyads where the rivers run mainly across the boundary and dyads where the shared river runs along the boundary. Dyads with rivers running across the boundary should be expected to give rise to resource scarcityrelated conflict scenarios, while dyads where the river forms the boundary may fight because river boundaries are fluid and fuzzy. Using a new dataset on shared water resources that is based on basin rather than river variables and two new measures of water scarcity, we test for the presence of these two scenarios. We find support for the neomalthusian theory of water conflict but not for the fuzzy boundary scenario. Shifting to the basin as the unit of analysis puts this research in line with the mainstream of research on water conflict and cooperation.


Acting on the assumption that susceptibility to alcohol dependence is genetically controlled, we have developed a hypothesis that a generally increased homozygosity level, as well as a changed variability in the group of alcoholics, could be a population genetic parameter for predicting this dependence. A morphophysiological test was used to identify the proportion of homozygously recessive characteristics (HRC test), so that the comparison of presence and distribution of the 25 selected homorecessive traits was carried out between the group of 100 cured alcoholics (the A group), and a control group consisting of 100 non-alcoholics (the C group). This population genetic study revealed not only a statistically significant difference in the mean values of genetic homozygosity (A: 9.3 ± 0.2, C: 8.2 ± 0.2), but also the differences in the distribution type, as well as in the variances of presence of certain specific combinations of such traits. In 18 of the 25 observed characteristics, recessive homozygosity was expressed to a greater degree among the group of alcoholics, while for 10 of the traits this level of difference was statistically significant. The fact that the genes controlling such qualitative recessive traits are distributed in different human chromosomes as their visible markers, could indicate that the genetic homozygosity degrees are visibly higher in the sample of alcohol dependents when compared to the group of individuals free from such dependence. Further application of the HRC testing as an easy procedure may have its practical use in identifying the presence of such indicators in young individuals in order to detect a possible future inclination to alcoholism.


The business air traveler must consider a comprehensive air travel program that assesses the best utilization of capital, performance, cost and return on investment. The fastest growing segment in business aircraft utilization is Fractional Aircraft Ownership (FAO). A prospective aircraft owner can buy increments or fractional ownership in one or more airframes then pay a monthly management fee and an hourly usage fee. Presently, one of the problems with FAO programs is the high initial start up costs and the high monthly management fee. In a recent article by Velocci (2002), it was noted that none of the major fractional ownership providers could claim to have made a profit in 2001. Although the fractional aircraft industry is growing, the overall understanding of the real costs of ownership are complicated. This report presents the results of an analysis on the potential business viability of a Regional Air Transportation System, centered in Washington, D.C., based upon fractional ownership program. All aspects of operation will be evaluated utilizing linear program (LP) optimization techniques, an ARENA event simulation model and cost analysis. The STAR Team will introduce new technology that could provide plausible attractive solutions for the fractional aircraft ownership programs and ultimately attract a broader base of prospective customers by identifying efficient cost and optimization parameters. A business model with less than 2 years Return on Investment (ROI) is identified.


Some studies have tackled the issues of describing Sorani Kurdish and its lexical and syntactic features. Little, however, has been done with regard to comparing syntactic development in this dialect of Kurdish language with other languages. Taking the "focused naturalistic" (O` Grady, 2005) approach and through exploring the acquisition of the interrogative and negation in Sorani Kurdish, this case study investigates the agreement of the its syntactic development with other languages including English. Literature review and what came up through observing and video recording of the linguistic productions of a baby son from 6 to 37 months of age indicate that, irrespective of their first languages, children undergo the same developmental processes in learning these syntactic features. The study highlights the An Investigation of the Acquisition of Negation..... role of the innate capability of language acquisition and goes for the generative side of the extreme has been proposed for investigating the first language syntactic development. The study recommends taking these developmental stages into account in teaching and learning processes.


ditional "proved" paradigms and force endorsement of paradigms that seem unreasonable to common human logic, at least at first glance. Fundamental reform is urgent, involving appropriate approach, mechanisms, legislation, tools, and leadership measures to managing LSSDs. This presentation will attempt to fuse reality into myth; calibrating paradigms for risk management by knowledge from past LSSDs.


This paper discusses six television programme formats which were self-selected by Australian university students to facilitate their group-based presentations of accounting subject matter to fellow students in seminar and tutorial classes. This paper is a reflection upon the experiences of these formats (news and current affairs, game shows, tabloid television, soap operas, children's programmes and situation comedies) using an evaluative framework comprising the student-as-consumer metaphor, notions of 'acculturation' and a model of 'critical engagement'. The television programme format appears to be beneficial in serving accounting students' psychological and emotional needs and in providing them with a shared cultural structure by which to address accounting issues. This shared structure facilitates students' critical and creative engagement with accounting.


Modern telecommunications enterprises have many Application system In order to integrate several heterogeneous system effectively and guarantee the data consistency, enterprise Application Integration is always structured by RMI, CORBA, Web Services, to provide the messaging service. If the ODS is acted as the share data source of telecom enterprise application integration system, and the message is transmitted in the heterogeneous information system by constructing the EAI news system, it will realize the synchronization and coupling of the heterogeneous information system. The practice has shown that EAI news system based on the ODS not only can realize the data synchronism of heterogeneous information system by message mechanism, but achieve business synergy effectively among various heterogeneous system.


The thermal and moisture performance of the wall systems in two unvented residential crawlspace foundations built in Pennsylvania is characterized in this paper. Both wall systems include drainable exterior insulation and concrete block walls with interior insulation in some areas. The results indicate that nonconductive heat loss resulting from air leakage or internal air circulation can affect thermal performance and may greatly increase heat loss. Normalized seasonal heat loss estimated at measurement locations ranged from 1,634 to 5,736 Btu/ft2 (18.56 to 65.16 MJ/m2). Absolute humidity was generally higher in the crawlspaces than in outdoor air, and in one of the two homes, the block wall acted as a humidifier throughout the year. Temperature and humidity conditions that could support mold growth were present on crawlspace wall surfaces in both homes for significant time periods, although no mold was observed in either home.


The study aimed to isolate, identify, and apply in vitro tests on bacteria with autochthonous probiotic potential isolated from fifteen healthy specimens of Megaleporinus macrocephalus . The strains were selected from the intestinal tract of fish and inoculated in the Petri plate containing Sharp Man Rogosa Agar (MRS) for (48 hours at 35ºC). They were isolated based on a test of catalase, Gram stain, tolerance to different gradients NaCl (1, 2 and 3%), pH (4, 5, 6, 8 and 9) values and bile salts (2.5 and 5%), in addition to the inhibition zone against pathogens. Of the 42 strains isolated, ST1 and ST9 had higher values (p<0.05) for total viable cells (31.80±0.07 and 32.51±0.05 CFU/mL × 10 8 ) respectively. In the resistance tests, strains ST1 and ST9 presented the best results, with emphasis on ST9 in the gradients of pH, high values of bile salts and larger inhibition zones against Aeromonas hydrophila and Aeromonas jandaei . The strains with the best results in the tests, ST1 and ST9, were identified by the MALDI-TOF-MS method as Enterococcus faecium . Thus, the isolated E. faecium bacteria, may be recommended as for probiotic use in farming the M. macrocephalus.


A new approach towards complex estimation of bank's social and economic effectiveness has been considered and suggested. The essence of this method lies in is development of normative-index model (the model of dynamic normative), which allows to join some indexes and as a result to get the only figure (rating, index, integral estimate).


Abstract A new family of representations for one-dimensional functions or signals, obtained by performing a variable substitution cascaded with a Fourier transform mainly oriented to spectrum compression, is proposed. Some optical ways of performing such a transform are suggested. The case of the substitution x = cos u, connected with the Chebyshev transform (CT) is commented on in more detail. The minimax economization behaviour of such a transform is illustrated with some numerical examples for a certain class of input functions.


A two-temperature Ising-Schelling model is introduced and studied for describing human segregation. The self-organized Ising model with Glauber kinetics simulated by Muller et al. exhibits a phase transition between segregated and mixed phases mimicking the change of tolerance (local temperature) of individuals. The effect of external noise is considered here as a second temperature added to the decision of individuals who consider a change of accommodation. A numerical evidence is presented for a discontinuous phase transition of the magnetization.