In mobile applications it is crucial to provide intuitive means for 2D and 3D interaction. A large number of techniques exist to support a natural user interface (NUI) by detecting the user's hand posture in RGB+D (depth) data. Depending on a given interaction scenario, each technique has its advantages and disadvantages. To evaluate the performance of the various techniques on a mobile device, we conducted a systematic study by comparing the accuracy of five common posture recognition approaches with varying illumination and background. To be able to perform this study, we developed a powerful software framework that is capable of processing and fusing RGB and depth data directly on a handheld device. Overall results reveal best recognition rate of posture detection for combined RGB+D data at the expense of update rate. Finally, to support users in choosing the appropriate technique for their specific mobile interaction task, we derived guidelines based on our study.


The paper examines the funding of Welsh voluntary sector organisations (VSOs), in terms of income source and type, in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global economic crisis, seeking to explore marketisation trends. A detailed examination of voluntary sector income from 2010-11, at the beginning of the austerity period, to 2016-17, the financial year with the latest available figures, provides valuable insights to both academic and policy inquiry about VSOs and their financial resilience. Several works have examined the voluntary sector funding in the aftermath of the 2007-08 economic crisis (Osborne, 2012; Clifford, 2017). Osborne (2012) indicated that Scottish charities reacted positively to the effects of the recession, with Scottish Government funding increases compensating for the decline in voluntary donations. Clifford (2017) showed that English and Welsh charities' income had significantly declined from 2008 to 2014. This paper provides some insights into how VSOs might respond to the current economic conditions affecting the Welsh economy.


The ENDOR spectra of the metastable expanded layer solid VOPO4·5H2O and its congener VOPO4·2H2O [both containing very small amounts of vanadium (IV)] have been measured at 4 K. The latter gave no ENDOR, whereas the former provided a spectrum in which three different proton signals ascribable to two interlayer water molecules were detected. From a reconstruction of the interlayer, taking into account the layer expansion of 3.1 A due to the intercalated water molecules, it is suggested that VOPO4·5H2O is an example of a 'pillared' material.


Human Activity Recognition (HAR) is one of the most popular research topics thanks to its usefulness in providing targeted, meaningful assistance to older adults. Because of the aging of the population in first-world countries, it becomes increasingly important to find innovative solutions that reduce risks associated with aging-in-place policies. HAR proposes solutions that are based on Ambient Intelligence (AmI) to alleviate those risks. In this work, we exploited three UWB radars to recognize 14 activities performed by 19 participants in a prototype smart-home apartment. The main contribution of this paper is UWB radar data cleaning on a practical dataset. The UWB radar data has been filtered using an unsupervised deep convolutional autoencoder (CNN-AE) that learns background noise from the data. This filtering method is compared to the unfiltered data using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) classifier in a Leave-One-Subject-Out (LOSO) classification. Performances attest that the CNN-AE unsupervised filtering is efficient for HAR. In addition, we tested the generalization potential of this architecture when the dataset is comprised of a lower number of participants (1, 5, 10, and all 19 participants). Generalization in HAR is difficult as the results show the importance of data quantity and number of subjects. We obtained 69.9% top-1 accuracy when using our filtering architecture compared to 48.4% without it. To conclude, we show that an unsupervised CNN-AE can efficiently filter and generalize UWB radar data in a HAR setting while providing easier learning constraints and implementation on a practical dataset.


Background
Progressive counting (PC) is a recently developed trauma treatment that has shown promise in several studies with non-therapy-client samples.

Aim
The aim of this archival study was to determine whether PC's effectiveness found in other research might carry over to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases in clinical practice.

Method
The present case series included three consecutive cases in the first author's clinical practice, in which the client was diagnosed with PTSD, and in which PC was used.

Findings
Each participant showed remission of PTSD and substantial reduction or elimination of presenting problems, with results persisting at one-year follow-up. Three other cases, which were excluded because post-treatment or follow-up data were not available, showed a similar pattern of symptom reduction.

Implications
These findings suggest that PC can be beneficial with therapy clients with PTSD.


Human language is a rich and complex part of human behaviour that can be studied in many ways. The author and his colleagues are developing an application that accepts simple texts as input and presents an animated display of characters acting out the text. It mimics the human visualization of texts, the so-called Theatre of the Mind. In so doing, they need an integrated theory of language; they can test such a theory for consistency and completeness because it is implemented in computable form. In practice, they may have the basis for a useful tool for developing literacy or second-language teaching. By entering expressions, learners can see what the expressions mean and so learn, in a constructive dialogue, some of the language-specific features that they need to master.


Statistical lifetime modeling is of importance for replacement management of aged power transformers. Survival data are recognized as important as failure data in improving the accuracy level of the lifetime models since transformer failures are rare events and most of the units are still in operating condition. This paper argues that differentiating random failures and aging-related failures is also important. Different data requisites for modeling random failures and aging-related failures are analyzed and compared through Monte Carlo simulations. The transformer life-cycle failure model can be built by combining the random and aging-related failure models. A case study is presented to show that through postmortem analysis, the two failure modes can be distinguished and, hence, it helps to improve the accuracy of the combined model.


The necessity to assess risk of gas pipeline is discussed, and the risk assessment methods of qualitative assessment, quantitative assessment and comprehensive assessment are introduced. The difficulty of making risk assessment of gas pipeline in China and solving method are demonstrated.


To the Editor: Myroides sp are Gram-negative bacteria formerly known as Flavobacterium. This species is often found in environmental sources such as soil and water. It is rarely considered a pathogenic microorganism but rather an opportunistic bacterium that can cause clinical disease in immunocompromised individuals. A variety of infections that include cellulitis, bacteremia, endocarditis, and pyelonephritis has been described to date. Infection of the central nervous system (CNS) is extremely uncommon and has been reported only once before. We describe here the second case of meningitis secondary toMyroides in a patient with maxillary sinus carcinoma. A 47-year-old man presented with fever and headaches over the last 4 days. He also complained of intermittent rhinorrhea for 1 month. He had a history of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma of the left maxillary sinus stage IV. He underwent Cyber knife, radiation therapy, and left maxillectomy that left him with exposed bone in posterior maxillary wall and entire sphenoid cavity. His clinical course was complicated by skull base osteomyelitis, for which he received multiple courses of intravenous antibiotics and suppressive therapy with oral trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (for a history of Staphylococcus aureus in bone cultures). On admission, he was febrile and mildly lethargic. Neurologic examination revealed nuchal rigidity, and Kerning and Brudzinsky signs were negative. Laboratory studies showed normalwhite blood cell count (8 K/μL) and low hemoglobin (8 g/dL). Head computed tomography demonstrated chronic changes consistent with osteomyelitis of the clivus, sphenoid bone, ethmoid, and maxillary sinuses. It also revealed extensive pneumocephalus suspicious for rent in the cribriform plate. Given the high suspicion for meningitis, a lumbar puncturewas performed on the day of admission. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis showed 89 white blood cells per millimeter with lymphocytic predominance (81%), high protein (84 g/dL), and low glucose (45 mg/dL). Gram stain was negative. Blood cultures were also drawn. Analysis of the fluid leaking from nares was positive for β-2 transferrin, which is marker for CSF. These findings were indicative of cerebrospinal leakage that possibly led to meningitis. The patient was on trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole on admission,whichwasdiscontinued, and hewas started on acyclovir, cefepime, and vancomycin empirically. On hospital day 3, he was taken to the operating room and underwent placement of pericranial vascularized flap for repair of skull base defect. On hospital day 4, CSF cultures grew Gramnegative rods that were further identified as Myroides sp by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time of flight. Susceptibility testing was performed byVitek 2 (BioMerieux) and interpreted as per Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute 2014 guidelines. The isolate showed resistance to amikacin, ceftazidime, gentamicin, and tobramycin (Table 1). Blood cultures did not show any growth. Acyclovir, cefepime, and vancomycin were discontinued, and he was started on meropenem. His clinical status improved over the following days. Lumbar puncture was repeated on hospital day 10, and CSF showed normalization of parameters and negative culture. The patient was discharged in stable condition to complete 3 weeks of treatment with meropenem. Myroides sp is considered an unusual pathogen, but it is being increasingly described in different clinical settings. A recent review by Beharrysingh et al identified 48 cases, most of them


This research considers the problem of cadastral map interpretation in Malaysian context and presents a parcel boundary detection model that supports creation of spatial database for cadastral maps. This model assumes the existence of some accurate algorithm to extract parcel comers from the raster image of cadastral map, such that the set of extracted corners can be used to further process the raster image to detect parcel boundaries.


This article studies the correspondence retrieval problem: a set of k distinct but unknown points x1,x2, . . . ,xk ∈ R are to be recovered from the unordered collection of projection values 〈wi,x1〉, 〈wi,x2〉, . . . , 〈wi,xk〉 onto n known measurement vectors w1,w2, . . . ,wn. Importantly, the correspondence of the k projections {〈wi,xj〉}j=1 across different measurements is unknown. A special case of this problem is the well-studied problem of (real-valued) phase retrieval. In the case of independent standard Gaussian measurement vectors, the main algorithm proposed in this work requires n = d + 1 measurements to correctly return the k unknown points with high probability. This number of measurements is optimal, and it is smaller than the number of measurements required for a stronger "for all" guarantee even in the phase retrieval setting. The algorithm is based on reductions to the Shortest Vector Problem on certain random lattices, and employs the Lenstra, Lenstra, & Lovász (1982) basis reduction algorithm in a manner similar to the Lagarias & Odlyzko (1985) algorithm for solving random instances of Subset Sum. Another algorithm, essentially due to Yi, Caramanis, & Sanghavi (2016), based on higher-order moments and tensor decompositions is shown to work in a setting where the projection values are corrupted by additive Gaussian noise, but it requires a significantly larger number of measurements.


Goal: Heart rate is a factor that predicts cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke and coronary artery diseases. This study examined the association between admission heart rate of STEMI[1] patients undergoing PCI[2] on the LCX[3] artery and their clinical and angiographic results. Materials and procedure: This retrospective cross-sectional study was carried out on 155 patients with acute inferior or posterior STEMI who underwent angioplasty on the LCX at the Shahid Madani Hospital of Tabriz, Iran, from 2018 to 2021. To gather data, all the files of the STEMI patients undergoing PPCI[4] on the LCX artery were identified at the Medical Records Department of the hospital, and registered in the questionnaire. Patients' heart rate at admission was obtained from the ECGs recorded in the files. The patients were divided into three groups of under 70 beats (low), 70-100 beats (normal), and over 100 beats (high) per minute. Findings: The studied group consisted of 155 patients, including 31 ones (20%) with low heart rates, 107 ones (69%) with normal heart rates and 17 ones (11%) with high heart rates.


Background Cannabinoids are able to modulate fibrogenesis in scleroderma. Ajulemic acid (AjA) is a non-psychoactive synthetic analogue of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), able to bind the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ) (1). Recent evidence suggests a key role for PPAR-γ in fibrogenesis (2). Objectives We aimed to determine whether AjA can modulate fibrogenesis in murine models of scleroderma. Methods Bleomycin induced experimental fibrosis was used to assess the antifibrotic effects of AjA in-vivo. In addition, the efficacy of AjA in pre-established fibrosis was analyzed in a modified model of bleomycin-induced dermal fibrosis and in mice overexpressing a constitutively active transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) receptor I (AdTGFbRI mice). Skin fibrosis was evaluated by quantification of skin thickness and hydroxyproline content. As a marker of fibroblast activation, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) was examined. Results In acute model of experimental dermal fibrosis oral administration of AjA (1mg/kg/day) prevented development of skin fibrosis, and reduced skin thickness nearly to control levels. Consistently production of collagen, determined by quantification of dermal hydroxyproline content, was reduced substantially in mice treated with AjA. Treatment significantly reduced the number of myofibroblasts in lesional skin up to 26±5% (p<0.05). After eight weeks AdTGFbRI mice showed twofold increase in dermal thickness compared with Ad-Lac-z control mice (p<0.05). Oral administration of AjA (1mg/kg/day) for eight weeks reduced development of skin thickness up to 30±6% (mean±SD) compared to AdTGFbRI mice (p<0.05). AjA treatment (1mg/kg/day) induced a mean reduction of 30±13% (mean±SD) in hydroxyproline content (p<0.05). AjA treatment significantly reduced the number of myofibroblasts in lesional skin up to 26±3% (p<0.001). AjA effect in pre-established fibrosis, analyzed in a modified model of bleomycin-induced dermal fibrosis in the last 3 weeks, reduced collagen deposition by 10±8% (mean±SD) (p<0.05). Thus, AjA administration for the last 3 weeks of bleomycin challenge stopped further progression of fibrosis, but did not alter pre-existing ECM accumulation and dermal thickness.The number of myofibroblasts after AjA treatment was significantly reduced in lesional skin up to 25±16% (mean±SD) compared to bleomycin challenged mice (p<0.05). Conclusions We demonstrate that AjA prevents progression of fibrosis in-vivo and that inhibits fibrogenesis in-vitro by stimulating PPAR-γ signaling. Since therapeutic doses of AjA are well tolerated in humans, we suggest AjA as an interesting molecule targeting fibrosis in patients with scleroderma. References Burstein S. Ajulemic acid (IP-751): synthesis, proof of principle, toxicity studies, and clinical trials. AAPS J. 2005;7:143-8. Wei J, Ghosh AK, Sargent JL et al. PPARγ downregulation by TGFβ in fibroblast and impaired expression and function in systemic sclerosis: a novel mechanism for progressive fibrogenesis. PLoS One. 2010;5:e13778 Disclosure of Interest None Declared


Peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor (PPAR)δ is known to be expressed ubiquitously and involved in lipid and glucose metabolism. Recent studies have demonstrated that PPARδ is expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) and plays a potential role in endothelial survival and proliferation. Although PPARα and PPARγ are well recognized to play anti‐inflammatory, antiproliferative, and antiangiogenic roles in ECs, the general effect of PPARδ on angiogenesis in ECs remains unclear. Thus, we investigated the effect of the PPARδ ligand L‐165041 on vascular EC proliferation and angiogenesis in vitro as well as in vivo. Our data show that L‐165041 inhibited VEGF‐induced cell proliferation and migration in human umbilical vein ECs (HUVECs). L‐165041 also inhibited angiogenesis in the Matrigel plug assay and aortic ring assay. Flow cytometric analysis indicated that L‐165041 reduced the number of ECs in the S phase and the expression levels of cell cycle regulatory proteins such as cyclin A, cyclin E, CDK2, and CDK4; phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma protein was suppressed by pretreatment with L‐165041. We confirmed whether these antiangiogenic effects of L‐165041 were PPARδ‐dependent using GW501516 and PPARδ siRNA. GW501516 treatment did not inhibit VEGF‐induced angiogenesis, and transfection of PPARδ siRNA did not reverse this antiangiogenic effect of L‐165041, suggesting that the antiangiogenic effect of L‐165041 on ECs is PPARδ‐independent. Together, these data indicate that the PPARδ ligand L‐165041 inhibits VEGF‐stimulated angiogenesis by suppressing the cell cycle progression independently of PPARδ. This study highlights the therapeutic potential of L‐165041 in the treatment of many disorders related to pathological angiogenesis. J. Cell. Biochem. 113: 1947–1954, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


— Objective: to analyze the socio-environmental responsibility of commercial companies in the wholesale, retail, wholesale-retail and wholesale-retail sectors within the scope of the free trade area of Guajará-Mirim, Rondônia, Brazil / Bolivia border. Method: the Social and Environmental Responsibility Performance Index IDRSA was calculated according to the Factor Analysis techniques presented by Hair et al 13, Santana 14,15 and Cavalcante 16. A questionnaire (created by Cavalcante and Siqueira 17) was applied to 32 companies in the ALCGM economic sector, based on a set of social, environmental, economic and free question variables. Results:The average of the results found for each of the analyzed parameters (social, environmental and economic) reaches the performance index of socio-environmental responsibility of the companies for each of the economic sectors surveyed in the free trade area of Guajará-Mirim. The wholesale-retail sector had the best performance among all sectors with an index (IDRSA 0.561), considered "regular" performance. The sector of retail and wholesale (IDRSA 0.470) and the retail sector (IDRSA 0.420) also display rankings with regular performance indexes. The wholesale sector (IDRSA 0.374) was classified as "bad". Final considerations: Although ALCGM emerged from a policy framed in the context of endogenous development theory, motivated by local forces or by interests of strategic economic sectors, benefited by tax incentives, revealed weakness in socio-environmental aspects. What is expected is to contribute so that socio-environmental responsibility is defined and demanded as policies and practices in the companies that make up the ALCGM.


To organize for the future requires non-Aristotelian thinking...a multifaceted wide-angle lens revealing hidden information. A multifaceted lens includes at least three general systems of evaluation, all of which promote complex thinking. The three systems are general semantics, postmodern feminist philosophy, and the unifying principle of transformation. Each contributes to an understanding of dualism from unique angles. General semantics illumines to what extent dualism influences human language, thought, and actions. Postmodern feminist philosophy reveals how dualism segregates human beings into categories of superior versus inferior beginning with gender identity. The unifying principle of transformation identifies dualistic thinking as one of several phases in social development. Human social organization is radically shifting from linear, replicating patterns, to complex non-linear patterns. Sophisticated information media and worldwide transportation have created a broad base of common information and along with it, a much higher probability of newly combined information, beliefs, ideas, and cultures. Along with this new complex level of adaptability comes cooperation on a global level, a synergism between contrasting beliefs and concepts, inventiveness, social determinism and creative exploration. To thrive in a new century of multiple dimensions, multiple values, multiple directions, and multiple levels requires a deeper understanding of why people think the way they think in order to evolve beyond dualism. (Includes 30 notes; attached is a chart representing "dualism.") (NKA) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Organizing for the Future Requires the Non-Aristotelian Lens of a Dragonfly Marla Del Collins, Ph.D. New York University © May, 1998 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement A E0 TIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. O Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this docu ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. 2 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)


In manuscript on economies and philosophy in 1844,through his examination of"alienated labor", Marx found that labor and practice are the generic nature of man,and considered man a whole,free and objective being,Marx's theory on the generic nature of man not only is the core of the"manuscript",but is the basic of the theory of man's liberation that the idea of achiveing the whole,free man.The representation of this theory con- rains the germination of a new way of thinking philosophically that the philosophical anthropology's thinking way of aehiveing the liberation of man.


Economic independence enables individuals to have control over their own life for the purpose of personal and professional prosperity. The principle of equal pay and equality in work engagement is included in the EU treaties, respectively the equality is one of five values on which the European Union has been founded. In this paper we tried to answer the question whether "equal pay for work of equal value" is applied in practice? For that reason, the subject of our research is the analysis of the problem of gender inequality in order to point out the differences in employment rates and salaries in Serbia as well as in the EU countries. We analyzed the key documents, proposed some measures and pointed out the strategies that aim to support and address issues of gender inequality. In order to build an economically and socially developed society, Serbia, being on its path of European integrations, should pay particular attention to the issue of gender equality, further amending the legal framework and ensuring the inclusion of all aspects of gender equality in development policies.


Combinning the application of thin-client/server in library,this text analyzes the technique request of the library automation and the merit and shortcoming of thin-client/server.According to the merit and shortcoming,managing the terminal server,the terminal equipment and the network conjunction well can help to improve the thin-client/server's function in library.


WNT signaling pathway is an important pathway in the development and disease forming of a variety of animals, concerning such processes as hematopoiesis and oncogenesis. In this paper we use quantitative approach to study the canonical pathway of WNT signaling. We first present the basic knowledge of the WNT signaling pathway, including the necessary elements on the pathway, then in troduce the modeling method, the tissue P system, which is a computational device inspired from the behavior of living cells. After that we construct the model of the WNT signaling pathway using the tissue P system. Moreover, we implement the model using Maude, a rewriting logic based interpreter software. Provided with the model implementation, we model check some critical properties on several nodes of the WNT signaling pathway, to show the effect of the modeling and implementation. We draw the conclusion in the end.


A helical resonator plasma source was used to perform constant current N2O plasma anodization of silicon and N2 plasma nitridation of silicon oxides. The nitrogen bonding structure and distribution in the oxides were studied using angle resolved x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Nitrogen corresponding to a N–Si3 bonding structure was detected at the silicon side of the interface, the Si–SiO2 interfacial region, and the bulk oxide in a 4.5 nm N2O plasma grown oxide. The distribution profile of nitrogen in the oxide, determined from a normalized N 1s/Si 2p(ox) ratio, showed a continuous decrease from the silicon side of the interface towards the bulk oxide. Also, strong nitrogen peaks corresponding to either a N–Si3 or a N–Si2 bonding structure were detected throughout a 9.1 nm O2 plasma grown oxide after postanodization constant current N2 plasma nitridation.


Summary  Background  Skin diseases are known to have a major impact on the lives of patients and their families. Many instruments are available to measure the health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients but no measure has been developed so far to quantify the secondary impact on family members of the patients.


Green concrete is an important problem that related to the human survival and development.With the development of the concrete industry,it brings environmental pollution and resources waste.According to these problems expounds the inevitable trend of green concrete,and the developing tendency of concrete was also prospected.


Sociologists of religion have studied secularisation intensively. On the one hand, they focused on the decline of church attendance, and on the other hand on new forms of religion and spirituality and their public significance. A question that has been largely left unnoticed is what happens to those that say that they do not belief in God. The few articles that do address that question show that there is a great difference between a person that hardly thinks about whether God exists and someone who wants to ban every reference to God from the public domain. Recently we have seen the latter group becoming stronger and more outspoken. Looking deeper into this, we find that they do so because they feel threatened in their freedom of choice by religious people around them. Reacting on this, they try to raise public awareness for the negative side of religion, thereby mainly trying to convince unbelievers to cast away their tolerant attitude towards religion and to unite against religion. This process we call the deprivatisation of unbelief. The relation between the public influence of religion and the reaction of atheism offers new theoretical and empirical possibilities for the study of religion in the context of secular societies.


Eperythrozoonosis is an infectious disease which was noticed by the workers of medicine and animal husbandry and veterinary medincine in recent years. In this article, we reviewed following aspects of Eperythrozoon: taxon, variety, morphology, the character of stain, structure, the distribution and the ways of propagation in organism, the resistance to physical and chemical action, the peculiarity of pathogenicity, and the methods of culture and laboratory diagnosis.


Different drought tolerant genotypes were used to produce crosses in L x T design for assessment of combining ability of genotypes and heterosis of crosses for various traits. The mean sum of squares were significant for most of the traits except relative water content. Lines showed significant differences for most of the traits, particularly for anthesis to silking interval and 100-grain weight under water stress. Testers showed significant differences for days to 50% anthesis, days to 50% silking and 100 grain weight (g) under both the situations. The interaction between lines and testers was significant for shelling percentage and chlorophyll content at both the stages under normal condition and for cob length (cm), number of kernels per row and chlorophyll content at 90 days under stress. The combining ability status of parents revealed that All-Rounder, NK 6240 and Rajkumar showed high gca status for all the traits both under stress and nonstress situations, among lines. Whereas among testers, CI 4 and Hyd Sel 17 showed high gca status for majority of the traits. The crosses viz., NK 6240 x CI 4, All-Rounder x Hyd Sel 17, Rajkumar x CI 4 and Rajkumar x Hyd Sel 17 recorded positive heterosis for grain yield (kg ha −1). The parents of these crosses showed high gca status for many of the traits under stress and normal conditions and they could be utilized for the development of diverse populations for the isolation of inbred lines for specific environment.


A bound is derived on the number of low-weight sequences an L-step observable nonsingular-autonomous finite-state machine is capable of producing.


This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the acceptance of motor vehicle testing levies in Ponorogo Regency in 2014-2018. Data collection techniques using primary and secondary data through interviews, observation and documentation. Data testing is done by effectiveness ratio. The results showed that the effectiveness of the acceptance of motor vehicle testing levies over the past five years was fluctuating, overall quite effective because it was less than 100%, it needed a socialization given by the government to the public that safety in driving was very important. Improving the staffing of levies collection staff to improve the process of levies collection to be optimal and increasing supervision to know whether the implementation of activities in the field in accordance with the provisions, as well as improving administrative efficiency and reduce the cost of collection.Keywords: Effectiveness, PAD, Motorized Vehicle Testing Levies.


The essay expounds the advanced nature of overall income report and the feasibility of taking it as the orientation for the reform of financial report.


Synchronization of coupled oscillators is a ubiquitous phenomenon found throughout nature. Its robust realization is crucial to our understanding of various nonlinear systems, ranging from biological functions to electrical engineering. On another front, in condensed matter physics, topology is utilized to realize robust properties like topological edge modes, as demonstrated by celebrated topological insulators. Here, we integrate these two research avenues and propose a nonlinear topological phenomenon, namely topological synchronization, where only the edge oscillators synchronize while the bulk ones exhibit chaotic dynamics. We analyze a concrete prototypical model to demonstrate the presence of positive Lyapunov exponents and Lyapunov vectors localized along the edge. As a unique characteristic of topology in nonlinear systems, we find that unconventional extra topological boundary modes appear at emerging effective boundaries. Furthermore, our proposal shows promise for spatially controlling synchronization, such as on-demand pattern formation and defect detection. The topological synchronization can ubiquitously appear in topological nonlinear oscillators and thus can provide a guiding principle to realize synchronization in a robust, geometrical, and flexible way.


This chapter delineates a novel on-line diagnosis system framework for distributed control system with expert decision support. The on-line monitoring and maintenance system is a vital tool for the operator and plant engineer to know the status of the distributed control system. Distributed control system linked by data network as a single system, is used in complex process applications where large amounts of input / output and data are required, such as oil refineries or chemical plants. This novel web-based expert service support maintenance has the system of integrated hardware and software which reduces the distributed control system's service maintenance. Real-time on-line diagnosis helps plant engineer to maximize the plant operation.


The genus Avena belongs to the grass family Poaceae. It comprises of about seventy species, although mainly A. sativa, A. nuda and A. byzantine are those most commonly cultivated on a commercial scale. A. sativa is an economically important crop and ranks sixth in world cereal production after wheat, maize, rice, barley and sorghum (FAO, 2012). It is an important winter forage crop in many parts of the world and is also grown as multipurpose crop for grain, pasture and forage. It is considered to be one of the best dual purpose cereal crops that fit well into the platter of human and cattle as well. Consumption of oat bran (outer casting of oat) is believed to lower down LDL cholesterol and possibly to reduce the risk of heart diseases. In India, oat is grown as fodder crop during Rabi season in north western and central parts of the country and is now even extending to eastern region as well. In Punjab, oat is grown as fodder crop on 1.0 lac hectares with annual production of 33.6 lac ton (Anonymous, 2018). In recent years, with the advent of exaggerated dairy industry in our country, oat has fascinated the attention of breeders for its improvement due to its nutritious quality fodder for livestock and its International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 9 Number 4 (2020) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com


Background: c-Abl regulates cell signaling and participates in leukemia pathogenesis via Bcr-Abl chimeric protein. Results: N-Cap and SH3 residues acquire μs-ms motions within the regulatory unit and membrane anchoring upon protein activation. Conclusion: N-Cap-myristoyl tether triggers c-Abl to anchor membrane because of μs-ms dynamics within this regulatory region. Significance: Binding to the membrane is lost in Bcr-Abl chimeric protein, which underlies leukemia. c-Abl is a key regulator of cell signaling and is under strict control via intramolecular interactions. In this study, we address changes in the intramolecular dynamics coupling within the c-Abl regulatory unit by presenting its N-terminal segment (N-Cap) with an alternative function in the cell as c-Abl becomes activated. Using small angle x-ray scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, and confocal microscopy, we demonstrate that the N-Cap and the Src homology (SH) 3 domain acquire μs-ms motions upon N-Cap association with the SH2-L domain, revealing a stabilizing synergy between these segments. The N-Cap-myristoyl tether likely triggers the protein to anchor to the membrane because of these flip-flop dynamics, which occur in the μs-ms time range. This segment not only presents the myristate during c-Abl inhibition but may also trigger protein localization inside the cell in a functional and stability-dependent mechanism that is lost in Bcr-Abl+ cells, which underlie chronic myeloid leukemia. This loss of intramolecular dynamics and binding to the cellular membrane is a potential therapeutic target.


The initial tensile, compressive, and bending moduli of a monofilament were measured under comparable experimental conditions on an Instron Tensile Tester. Nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, Saran, and Terylene monofilaments were used, and the effects of test length, length/diameter ratio, strain, and time were considered.


Efforts to understand the political complexities of water governance must include critical hierarchical or bureaucratical perspectives. The River Chiefs System, China's national mechanism which has evolved from local attempts, values more political control than governance efficiency. Water governance, which is regarded as a political task, is allocated from river chiefs at higher levels to lower levels. The River Chiefs System stipulates that local river chiefs fully mobilize and integrate various technical and administrative forces to achieve environmental goals. However, the strengthening of local authority enables local river chiefs to combat or eliminate state power. Although public involvement in the River Chiefs System is encouraged to some extent, "government-dependent" public participation hardly ensures real public involvement and supervision.


This article presents a visual gyroscope based on the spherical representation of dual-fisheye cameras. By using the fully available view of the scene thanks to a dual-fisheye camera and projecting the photometric information on a sphere, a highly precise orientation estimation along with a great convergence domain can be achieved. This method is validated with the help of images taken from the PanoraMIS dataset to evaluate quantitatively the performances.


Venous malformations (VM) are the most frequent vascular malformations referred to vascular anomaly centers. An autosomal dominant familial form, termed cutaneomucosal venous malformation (VMCM), representing about 1% of venous lesions, is caused by gain-of-function mutations in the TIE2 gene. The aetiology of sporadic VM, which represents more than 95% of venous lesions, has however remained unknown. Here we show that sporadic VMs are caused by somatic mutations in TIE2. We identified seven missense mutations in VM tissue-derived DNA, which were however absent in blood DNA from these patients, and in tissue DNA from 90 controls. All of the mutations, predicted by bioinformatic analysis to have deleterious effects of varying severity on protein function, were found to result in a strong in vitro ligand-independent increase in phosphorylation of TIE2. In some patients, we observed two mutations acting in cis. Such combinations on the same allele induced even higher phosphorylation levels of the receptor than the constituent single mutations. Additional mutations were identified in lesion-derived cDNA, suggesting that the number of cells carrying a mutation can be in the minority, making the reduction of tissue heterogeneity an important factor in mutation detection. These data provide molecular evidence that sporadic venous malformations are caused by somatic activating TIE2 mutations, which are often linked to additional somatic genetic events. They explain the localized, predominantly unifocal nature of these lesions, and furthermore, pinpoint the TIE2 signaling pathway as a target for the development of therapeutic interventions. (email@example.com)


Species in the genus Zaireichthys in the amphiliid subfamily
Leptoglanidinae characteristically live just above and in fine sand in
flowing water. The discovery of a distinct species living in empty
Lanistes and Bellamya snail shells in Lake Malawi led to a review of
the southern African museum collections of the Zaireichthys, previously
lumped together under the name Z. rotundiceps, resulting in several new
species being recognised. In this paper, eight new species from
southern Africa are described, although recent collections have
revealed more new species that require further investigation,
particularly in northern parts of the Zambezi system and in eastern
Africa. Zaireichthys conspicuus is a robust, boldly marked species from
the edge of rapids in the Zambezi system above Victoria Falls.
Zaireichthys kafuensis, Z. kavangoensis and Z. kunenensis are species
apparently endemic to the rivers after which they are named and live in
the more typical sandy habitats. Zaireichthys lacustris is the endemic
shell-dwelling species in Lake Malawi, and Z. pallidus is a small, very
pale species in the Upper Zambezi system. In rivers flowing into Lake
Malawi, Z. maravensis occupies the sandy habitat, while Z. monomotapa
is the most widespread of the new species, occurring through the Middle
and Lower Zambezi River, east-flowing rivers to the south of the
Zambezi, and at least one river flowing into Lake Malawi.


Unintended pregnancy is a critical public health problem in America, leading to adverse health, economic, and educational consequences for society, as well as, the parents and infants involved. Estimates claim that almost half of the pregnancies in the United States are unintended. The number is even higher for low-income and indigent women. Cross-national comparisons find that increased sexual and reproductive behavior correlates with low levels of socioeconomic status more so in the United States than in other countries. Furthermore, the proportion of the population that is poor is at least two thirds larger in the United States than in Canada, France, Great Britain or Sweden. The high rate of poverty often is cited as the reason rates of unwanted pregnancies are higher in the United States than comparable countries. Unwanted pregnancies, in turn, contribute to the high rate of poverty found in the United States. Poverty and unwanted pregnancy are mutually reinforcing. Indigent women do not experience the same opportunity structure as middleclass women. These women often do not have access to quality care and frequently do not have access to specialists. Availability of care is at the core of reproductive health care for impoverished women. Without this access, the mutually reinforcing element of poverty and unwanted pregnancy causes a generational problem. Studies observe


Abstract The subject of vagueness is discussed in analytical philosophy but from a linguistic point of view it is rather overlooked. We approached the issue of the concept definition and tried to find the cross point of two fields which is found in approach to vagueness using or violating of cooperative principle. The aim of the paper is to specify the criteria for the evaluation of vagueness, determine the motivation to use vagueness, defining its potential sources and describing the language means that typically make vagueness in persuasive texts specifically in politically oriented speeches. Based on the results of qualitative analysis, the occurrences of vagueness were found at lexical units' level and semantic-pragmatic units. We have therefore focused on the linguistic manifestations of vagueness that is the appearance of evaluative adjectives, epistemic particles, metaphors, abstract word etc. Quantitative analysis of these linguistic categories has proven to be inadequate because not all of these occurrences can be labelled as vague. For this reason, we have been applied four types of vagueness based on violation of conversational maxima, which offers and partly clarifies conceptual difficulties and provide instructions for detecting vagueness in the text.


The bonds between pollution sources, contaminant concentrations and ecological damage are quite complex to access, but the proper management of river basins requires the full understanding of those interactions. In the present study, four SEM-PLS models were used to set up environmental cause–effect relationships in a heavily polluted urban catchment: the Ave River Basin. Data were collected within this watershed relative to point source discharges, diffuse emissions, diffuse indicators (e.g. land use), contaminant concentrations and a Portuguese index of macroinvertebrates diversity (IPtIN). The same dataset was used in the four SEM-PLS models, but each run was based on a different combination of latent variables. In all cases, it was possible to recognize that nitrogen discharges from livestock production, industrial and urban treatment plants are the dominant threats to water quality. The model results were robust, characterized by high, adjusted R Squared values – from 0.744 to 0.931. The models were also used to draw water quality maps. Now, the purpose was to test their prediction capability. Since more than 80% of the water courses were correctly classified for IPtIN, the predictions were considered feasible.


The governing body of the curriculum is the Medical Education Council (MEC), a standing committee of the medical college, which is chaired by the Senior Associate Dean (Education) and whose members are appointed by the Dean. (See Figure 1.) The MEC meets on a monthly basis and has six subcommittees: Core Basic Science Committee (CBSC), Advanced Biomedical Science Committee (ABS), Clinical Curriculum Committee (CCC), Curriculum and Faculty Evaluation Committee (CFEC), Admissions Committee, and the Promotion and Graduation (P&G) Committee, the chairs of which are appointed by the Dean. Each subcommittee has a specific charge to monitor and propose changes within its purview. The MEC and all of the subcommittees except for the P&G Committee have student representatives. The membership of the MEC, comprising senior faculty and students who play leadership roles in the educational programs, is not a departmentally based representation, a distinct feature that enables it to serve the interests of an interdisciplinary curriculum most fairly. The 16 voting members of the MEC are the chairs of the CBSC and the ABS, the chair and vice-chair of the CCC and the CFEC, four representatives from each of the faculty leadership councils (Executive Faculty Council and General Faculty Council), and two student representatives. The MEC has operational responsibility for the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the curriculum and serves as the steering committee for all policy decisions involving the undergraduate medical educational programs of the WCMC. All major educational policy decisions and curriculum changes must be approved by the MEC. These decisions are informed by information from the subcommittees, the course design groups, and student representatives.


Technology exists to provide easiness of a problem faced by the community. One technology that is widely used and very popular nowadays is the web. With the web, has done a lot of information dissemination such as sales information, services, and even information about health.
In this thesis,we created a concept web-based information services using the PHP programming language and MySQL database to facilitate the patient who wants to go to the doctor. Patients can easily stand in line to register online. This information service is very easy to handle front office in a queue of patients and patient registration.
With the concept of this service, physicians can perform diagnostics, refer patients to other doctors who are members of the system, and conduct discussions with all users who are members of the system. By using this web tool, doctors can deliver the results of the medical records of patients to physician referral destination more safely and more efficiently. Keywords: Web, Doctors, Patients, Health, Queue, Medical Record.


In this paper, a kitchen ventilation control system is modeled using fuzzy system-modeling technique and implemented through a microcontroller. Based on the Mamdani's model, the designed fuzzy kitchen ventilation system accepts four crisp input values from Stove Heating, Cooking Fumes, Humidity, and Temperature sensors; divides the treatise into sections, each with two fuzzy variables; fire rules and assigns singleton values to each output variable. A single defuzzifier is deployed to adjust the speed of actuator: the kitchen exhaust fan. The model is implemented and verified using a microcontroller by utilizing its pulse-width modulation (PWM) capabilities. Comparative analysis of the results confirms the high accuracy of the proposed model which yields a maximum relative error of ~ 1 % between the model designed outputs and corresponding measured duty cycles of output pulses generated by the microcontroller. The rotations per minute (RPM) of 12 V dc fan, however, show a maximum relative error up to ~ 8 % due to its intrinsic non-linear behavior with respect to the duty cycle of input pulses.


PURPOSE: A side supporting structure for a container ship is provided to simplify maintenance and manufacture by simplifying the shape of a supporting structure, and to reduce weight of a ship by reducing thickness of an iron plate accomplishing bulkheads and outer walls of the ship. CONSTITUTION: A side supporting structure for a container ship comprises bulkheads and a side structure(40). The bulkheads forms a cargo hold of a container ship and are installed in a longitudinal direction of a hull. The side structure is composed of the outer wall of the hull and is extended to the top of a hatch cover of the cargo hold.


Thank you very much for reading changing views of textile conservation. As you may know, people have look numerous times for their chosen readings like this changing views of textile conservation, but end up in infectious downloads. Rather than enjoying a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they cope with some infectious bugs inside their computer. changing views of textile conservation is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our book servers spans in multiple countries, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the changing views of textile conservation is universally compatible with any devices to read.


This study aims to examine the Effect of Investor's "baper" Behavior on Purchasing Behavior in Indonesia. This study uses a quantitative approach with respondents who have the nature of "baper" and never invested in shares of BEI. The data source used is primary data by spreading the questionnaire. Respondents in this study amounted to 200 people. This research uses Partial Least Square model through smartpls 3 software for testing inner model and outer model. The results of this study show that the investors "baper" who get a share gain positive emotion and have a significant positive impact on customer (investor) satisfaction, Preference over competition and word of mouth. While investors "baper" who suffered losses of shares experienced negative emotion mediated by regret and disappointment. Negative emotion has a significant negative effect on customer satisfaction, behavioral loyalty, attitudinal loyalty, preference over competition and word of mouth. Then, negative emotion has a significant positive effect on complaining.


The influence of the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) linoleic acid,
arachidonic acid, α-linolenic acid and γ-linolenic acid on pigmentation
was examined using different in vitro models: monolayer cultures of B16
mouse melanoma cells, monolayer cultures of normal human melanocytes
and a commercially available reconstructed pigmented epidermis
that consists of normal, human-derived epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK)
and melanocytes (NHM) which have been cul tured to form a multilayered,
highly differentiated model of the human epidermis that exhibits in
vivo - l ike morphological and ultrastructural characteristics.
We used two different sublines of B16 origin called B16-F1 and B16-F10
for our experiments. In both sublines 25 μM of the PUFA listed above
showed two distinct effects on melanogenesis of the cells: 1) the secretion
of intracellularly produced melanin into the extracellular culture
fluid was enhanced, and 2) the intracellular melanin content was decreased.
The stimulation of melanin secretion was highest after an incubation
time of 24 h, whereas the reduction of intracellular melanin was
most effective after 72 h. α-Linolenic acid and γ-linolenic acid decreased
intracellular melanin content more effectively than arachidonic acid
and linoleic acid. Futhermore intracellular melanin content of murine
melanoma cells was reduced more effectively in B16-F10 subline.
In both sublines tyrosinase activity was not affected, whereas tyrosinase
content was reduced. Tyrosinase mRNA level of B16-F1 cells was
decreased by linoleic and arachidonic acid. None of the fatty acids had
an influence on tyrosinase mRNA levels of B16-F10 cel l s .
None of the polyunsaturated fatty acids at a concentration of 100 μM
affected the melanogenesis of monolayer cul tures of NHM when measuring
the changes in mRNA level, content and activity of tyrosinase and
in the amount of intracellular pigment. In addition the polyunsaturated
fatty acids did not inhibit the pigmentation of the reconstructed pigmented
epidermis.


It is necessary to carry out work to analyze the harmful factors of accidents during the production, operation and transportation of raw materials in oil and gas fields and assess their compliance with the requirements of the standards of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The main goal of labor protection is to create safe working conditions for employees, as well as to prevent personnel from illnesses. In this regard, it is necessary to have a system of accounting, analysis and assessment of the state of labor protection, as well as management of labor protection. This article proposes ways to quickly assess the state of health and safety at work by calculating a number of occupational risk indicators based on information available in the modules for assessing occupational safety by industrial risk indicators. The efficiency of using the OSH management systems software proposed by the authors is based on a specific task from four main modules "Employees", "Events", "Equipment", "Ecology" and a number of submodules. In addition, this work uses matrix methods for assessing risks in the "Probability or Consequences of an Event" coordinate system, "Elmeri" system, "Fine Kinney" method, "Risks". Modern expert methods are compared and presented under the title "Five stages of assessment"


To bridge the gap between government and citizens, to provide effective and efficient services, to increase productivity and to extend other benefits to its citizens, the governments of various countries introduced e-Governance applications. The citizens are the power of nation and their satisfaction is ultimate. E-government has been in operation for over last decade but it has failed to contribute to improved public service delivery. The primary objective of most e-governments is to better serve citizens. The paper differentiates between citizen's intention to get government information and citizen's intention to conduct government transactions on e-government website. This paper also discusses citizens' egovernment adoption especially considering trust and risk issues. The government services to citizens should be given utmost importance, as and when it fails resulting in citizen unrest. The problem of this nature is to be minimized with the proposed basic government to citizens frame work which includes the elements of Planning, Social Audit, Professional Audit, Audits on Facilities, Performance Audit and Funding. This paper critically assesses key factors that influence e-government service adoption; reviews limitations of the research methodologies; discusses the importance of 'citizen characteristics' and 'organizational factors' in adoption of e-government services; and argues for the need to examine egovernment service adoption in the developing world. The paper concludes by drawing attention to emerging e-government challenges highlighting the need for a citizen-centric criteria-based definition of e-government. A citizen-centred criteria-based definition of e-government is proposed to assist egovernment practitioners by describing the scope and elaborating the e-government content.


This thesis pertains to the models for studying sparking in chemically inert gases. The models are derived from the basic principles and framework in continuum mechanics. The processes taking place in a spark to flame transition can be segregated into physical and chemical processes. This study is focused on physical processes. The plasma is regarded as a single-substance material. One and two-dimensional models are developed. The transfer of electrical energy into thermal energy of the gas and its re-distribution in space and time along with the evolution of a plasma kernel is studied in the time domain ranging from 10 nanoseconds to 40 microseconds. In the case of the ultra fast sparks, the propagation of the shock and its reflection from a rigid wall is presented. The influence of electrode shape and the gap size on the flow structure development is found to be a dominating factor. It is observed that the flow structure that has developed in the early stage, more or less prevails at later stages and strongly influences the shape and evolution of the hot kernel. The electrode geometry and the electrode configuration are responsible for development of the flow structure. The strength of the vortices generated in the flow field is influenced by the power input to the gap and their location of emergence is dictated by the electrode shape and configuration. The heat transfer after 2 microseconds in the case of ultra fast sparks is dominated by convection and diffusion. The strong mixing produced by hydrodynamic effects and the electrode geometry give the indication that the magnetic pinch effect might be negligible. This model can produce a realistic initial condition for the study of ignition processes in combustible mixtures, for example, in internal combustion engines. Finally, a model for a multicomponent gas mixture is presented. The chemical kinetics mechanism for dissociation and ionization is introduced. The preliminary results indicate that dissociation and ionization processes as well as formation of NO can be studied at an early stage of the discharge process. This model can further be extended for the study of flame initiation and propagation in an air-fuel mixture by introducing the proper chemical kinetics.


Analysis of experimental data obtained in the region of the East Australian Continental Slope has confirmed theoretical predictions of energetic horizontal refraction due to sound‐slope interaction. The observed modal behavior, azimuthal characteristics, and effects of bottom absorption were in accordance with both normal mode and ray theoretical solutions. The experiment, conducted with two ships (one towing a source and the other an array), started at a 400‐m depth contour with an initial separation of 33 km and proceeded to deep water on a diverging but constant line of bearing course. Beamformed data‐bearing shifts demonstrated the dominance of horizontally refracted arrivals for this geometry. A combination of source‐array positions and critical angle effects served to limit both the azimuthal extent of sound received and the total number of modes arriving at any one position.


The article reviews the problems arising while developing ecological culture in pedagogical students studying for a teaching degree in biology, and considers the peculiarities behind the cognitive, motivational, action, ecological, indicative, biological and pedagogical components of ecological culture within the Theory and Methods of Biology Teaching course. The author gives ground for the necessity to complete the course in question with a practical component, namely, through the School Higher Educational Institution system, thus providing some improvement in the professional skills of future biology teachers.


The coupling method is well fitted to be used in the study of the asymptotics of one-dimensional diffusion processes. We give an elementary proof of Orey's theorem in the recurrent case, and establish rate results for tendency towards equilibrium under moment conditions on the speed measure and the initial distributions.


Dakhadayevsky district of Dagestan is one of the most saturated with historical and cultural monuments in the republic. Among them are towers, bridges, mosques, minarets, ziyarats, cemeteries. Most of them bear inscriptions that have not been adequately studied. Meanwhile, epigraphic texts are one of the main sources of the spiritual, religious, political, social, and economic history of the region's Middle Ages.This work presents the most remarkable examples of Arabic epigraphy, starting from the 12th century, from the villages of Amuzgi, Kubachi, Urkarakh, Kalkni, Khuduts, Ashty, and Kunki. The article gives their reading, translation into Russian, notes the features of handwriting, methods of application, draws attention to the shape of the monuments, their size, and ornamentation. Of greatest interest are texts that carry specific historical information, and dated samples, which allow, by typological similarity, to attribute the monuments of the region to a certain period of time. Among such monuments are the gravestones of 774 A.H. (1372-73), 877 x. (1472), 902 x. (1496-97), 958 x. (1551); there are historical records on stones embedded in places of worship dating back to 718 A.D. (1318-19), 765 x. (1363-64), 1035 x. (1625-26). Some of the studied inscriptions have previously been read and published, but we present our own reading. It is interesting that the inscription of 1625-26, discovered by us on the walls of the minaret, is adjacent to two texts known to science. That is, it did not come to the attention of researchers. This circumstance serves as an additional justification for the fact that when conducting epigraphic expeditions, it is necessary to cover not only territories where epigraphists have not been, but also settlements that are considered studied by scientific specialists.


Drive-by downloads have become the primary attack vehicle for malware distribution in recent years. With the rise of targeted attacks, the vulnerabilities within the cloud based services and web based collaboration frameworks might end up as the principal targets for hosting drive-by download attacks. In this paper, we studied the similarity of the shellcodes among different attack kits. Shellcode is the malicious code used as the payload in drive-by download attacks. Specifically, we collected 15 different drive-by download attack kits and identified shellcodes used in each kit. As the shellcodes are transmitted to the browser as Javascript strings, we measured the similarity between regular strings and shellcodes defined in Javascript. We disassembled the shellcodes and computed the mean of Cosine Similarity, Extended Jaccard Similarity and Pearson Correlation measures based on the frequencies of the opcodes. Our analysis shows that the shellcodes, used as payloads, across different attack kits were similar with other shellcodes and dissimilar with benign Javascript strings. We observe that some of the attack kits released across different years had same shellcodes. The performance of similarity analysis was compared to an emulation based approach and observed reduction of 75% in the analysis time. Based on the results, the similarity measure of the shellcodes could be an effective static mechanism in detecting the shellcode based drive-by download attacks.


When consumers try to assess the performance of a product on a key benefit, their information search often reveals both diagnostic information and irrelevant information. Although one would expect irrelevant information to have little impact on predictions of product performance, we present evidence that the irrelevant information systematically weakens consumers' beliefs that the product will provide the benefit. We show that this dilution effect persists after subjects have acknowledged the irrelevance of the additional information but that it does depend on whether the product information is processed with the desired benefit in mind. We conclude that consumers are selectively looking for information that suggests the product will deliver the desired benefit and that they categorize any additional evidence, be it irrelevant or disconfirming, as not confirming. As a consequence, irrelevant information weakens consumers' beliefs in the product's ability to deliver the benefit.


single device contingency analysis. Against such backgrounds, Cascading failure is a chain reaction of a series of other this paper proposes a method for cascading failure simulation components outage caused by the failure of a certain with static security analysis method, which considers the load component in the system, which is an accident with a low variation during the fault. The method is divided into two steps: probability but serious consequences. Bus failure, line failure, firstly, a self-adapting step is figured out with the climbing rate of breaker failure, misoperation and rejection of the relay the daily load curve, and secondly, the power flow at the self- protection and sudden transfer of large power flows are the adapting step, which is used to judge if another fault or even the main reasons of power system's cascading failures. It can be cascading event has happened is calculated. In this way, the seen from the analysis reports of "8•14" blackout in USA & process of cascading failure can be simulated and monitored, Canada and other blackouts that cascading failures are not which is beneficial for the operators to obtain the operating state formed in a moment. Generally at the early stage of the of the power system in time and adopt appropriate measures to blackout the system is unlikely to show the characteristics of prevent the system from deteriorating into a large-scale blackout transient instability, instead it shows the redistribution of power accidents. Finally, the standard IEEE 30-bus testing system is flow formed by a series of line outage [11]. adopted to verify the correctness of the method. And the study of cascading failure mainly centralized on


vB_PaeP_CMS1 is a lytic bacteriophage that infects Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that vB_PaeP_CMS1 has a linear double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome composed of 72,673 bp, with a GC content of 54.9%, that harbors 92 predicted open reading frames, with the greatest genome homology to members of the family Podoviridae, genus Litunavirus. ABSTRACT vB_PaeP_CMS1 is a lytic bacteriophage that infects Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that vB_PaeP_CMS1 has a linear double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) genome composed of 72,673 bp, with a GC content of 54.9%, that harbors 92 predicted open reading frames, with the greatest genome homology to members of the family Podoviridae, genus Litunavirus.


Single-parent households compose an increasing share of all households with children, and these households often face financial constraints. This study exam ines the factors influencing the housing, transportation, food, and clothing ex penditures of such households. Data from the 1984–85 Consumer Expenditure Survey for 224 single-parent households were used for the analyses. A double-log model was employed. After-tax income significantly affected all four expenditures in a positive direction. One or more of the expenditures were affected by house hold size; the sex, age, race, education, and employment status of the single parent; and automobile ownership. These results provide public policy makers with information on the expenditure patterns of single-parent households, and provide family resource management professionals with information on how the characteristics of such households affect expenditures.


Gully erosion due to overland flow is the most important issue for environment protection in Southwest China. The objective of this study is to investigate the development of past gully systems and their long-term relation to land use changes. The first investigations were carried out at the slopes bordering of the Anning Warm-Dry Valley of southern Sichuan in the territory of Xichang. Two gully systems were investigated in details. The size (length, average depth and width) and the volume of the gully system were measured in the field and calculated. The size of the surface catchment of the gully system was measured in the field, too. Air photos were analyzed, senior experts and farmers were interviewed for a detailed reconstruction of land use history. After several centuries of sustainable landscape development namely the intensive agricultural land use during the second half of the 20th century caused excessive floods and gullying in wide parts of southern Sichuan. Valley bottoms were flooded, rivers changed their position, many villages ceased there and lakes were filled with sediments. Gullying rates that could be reconstructed are unexpectedly high and strongly demand sudden successful measures of soil and water conservation.


The Australian forestry industry currently spends over one million dollars per day in transporting wood from coupes to mills. Until recently, investigating and implementing strategies to reduce these costs had received limited attention from industry, despite international examples illustrating the potential for significant cost savings. To address this problem, researchers working collaboratively with industry partners developed the FastTRUCK software tool to support improved transport planning. This paper reports on a case study using this software tool and illustrates the potential to reduce transport related costs through optimised transport planning. This case study reports on the approaches used to develop the software and to stimulate increased interest from industry partners in optimised transport planning. The paper analyses the results of using FastTRUCK with one of the case study participants and highlights the capacity of the software to support optimal fleet management approaches tailored company circumstances.


Driving circuit is adapted to generate a drive signal, and comprising: a detector (304, 314) is adapted to measure a switching characteristic of an external switch; generated in response to the measured shift characteristic signal is used to an adjustable circuit element (301, 311) to the detector (304, 314) is coupled, wherein a by the detector (314 304) to adjust a waveform of the drive signal, a first plurality of drive transistors (602, 603); and a second plurality of drive transistors (604, 605), wherein the driving transistors (604, 605) of the second number in parallel with the drive transistors (602, 603) of the first plurality are connected, and wherein the driving transistors (604, 605) of the second plurality are blocked by applying the signal generated by the detector signal.


ABSTRACT This article argues that coloniality of power poses a challenge for globalisation as a component of modernity. The challenge necessitates a programme of decoloniality for globalisation. The inherent potential of globalisation to elevate one culture as dominant and to residualise the rest is sufficient to warrant its problematisation despite its positive features. A review of the literature shows that some decolonial thinkers present globalisation as one of the phenomena associated with the coloniality of power. Indeed, as a form of global cultural hegemony, globalisation elevates one culture as an absolute while marginalising others. At the same time, globalisation has an inherent capacity to bring cultures into a conversation; potentially creating a less lopsided and more accommodating world. This article will discuss how the coloniality of power constitutes a problem for this more positive role for globalisation, and how this might be remedied.


Research purposes: The visible instability and the immature market rules have featured the construction market of Indonesia.And the Chinese companies setting foot in this market have suffered a lot from these potential risks.The author tries to provide his suggestions to those Chinese companies who wish to enter into this market by an in-depth analysis about the characteristics and risks of the Indonesian construction market.Research methods:The author benefits from his personal working experience in Indonesia and a constant research about Indonesia's construction market to give a full scale and indepth analysis about the characteristics of the Indonesian market.Based on some actual cases,the authour also analyzes those risks that are quite unique in Indonesia one by one and measures to shun each of them have been introduced.Research conclusions: Based on the reasoned truth and the analyses,the author believes that the Indonesian market is quite special.It is better for a company to start from Government projects and accumulate experiences step by step.The companies should be prudent when choosing projects,and be as localized as possible.They should probe into the site surveying and ask the payment as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary risks.


As early as over forty years ago, Chairman Mao proposed that the memorization method be discarded in teaching and the expository method be implemented. But, how is expository teaching carried out among primary school students in the lower grades? In my practice, I have gradually deepened my understanding of this problem.


The purpose of the present study was to enhance the protease production of the parental type Bacillus subtilis E6-5 by UV irradiation. The parental type was subjected to UV irradiation at different distances (5-15 cm) for different time intervals ( 1-120 min). After each treatment, total 400 mutants were obtained. The mutants were screened on skim milk agar plates for the selection of best proteolytic mutant. Among mutants, the mutant MET39, which obtained at 15 cm distance and irradiation time 5 min of exposure, was selected as best mutant produced 1.5 fold more enzyme over the parent strain. The effects of nutritional factors (various carbon, nitrogen sources and metal ions) on the protease production from MET39 mutant strain were studied. The best carbon source was found as glycerol. Among the inorganic nitrogen sources, the highest enzyme production was obtained in the presence of tryptone. The metal ions did not indicate significant effect on enzyme production. In order to enhance the yield, new modified medium was obtained by combining the best carbon and nitrogen sources. In this medium, enzyme yield was enhanced 88% compared to basal medium. MET39 mutant strain might have a great potential for protease production at industrial scale.


AbstractAn equation is given, which describes the time-course of isotonic and isometric twitches of cat's tibialis anticus and soleus. The equation divides the twitch into two parts, separated by the inflection point of the descending branch. At this inflection point the second derivative of the curves changes abruptly from negative to positive values. The first part is assumed to indicate the course of development of the active process, the second that of its dissipation. The equation allows the quantitative assessment of the influence of the load or initial tension on the twitches. A comparison is made of isotonic and isometric twitches in the slow and the fast muscle.


THE various discussions of aims and outcomes of physiotherapy in SCRUTTON'S volume' make it clear that physicians and therapists involved in cerebral palsy still have very different views about what can (and should) be achieved in the condition. In their report on early intervention, PIPER and colleagues2 clearly anticipated that during the course of a year the therapy might change the neurological signs in cerebral palsy, a notion which I have criticised3. Given these disagreements among professionals, it is not surprising that parents seek alternative treatments which their professional advisers may disapprove of, and which in some instances may lead to positive harm for the child and family. The purpose of this annotation is to try to set out again what should be the aims of physiotherapy and what can be done by the therapists who 'manage' a child with cerebral palsy. SCRUTTON lists six basic features of the management of the motor disorder in cerebral palsy for any individual, with whatever type of cerebral palsy. These are the requirements (I have slightly modified them): (1) proper knowledge of the prognosis; (2) a statement of the present problems; (3) identification of those problems which can be solved; (4) a review of the present social and domestic circumstances of the child and the family; ( 5 ) clearly defined aims (including a time scale for the programme which is planned) (my emphasis); (6) full communication between the child's parents and the therapist about such a programme.


theologies will react to Dr Edwards's book in ways far removed from mine, but no one will be able to criticize her for being unfair to the evidence or unkind in her judgments. Beginning with the position of women in the Graeco-Roman world, Dr Edwards traces their place in the Old Testament and early Judaism, before turning to the New Testament, where she considers in turn Jesus's treatment of women, Paul's teaching, and women and ministry. I should have liked her analysis of women in the Old Testament to have been more nuanced, but to do this would have demanded far more space than would have been justified in a book on this subject. Out of the many things which struck me in this chapter, however, two deserve mention. First, I was surprised that she did not discuss possible reasons why women appear to have been permitted to fill any roles in ancient Israel except that of priests, but perhaps she felt the matter had been dealt with adequately by Mary Hayter. Secondly, I think it would have been helpful if a clearer distinction had been made between what is written in the Old Testament documents and the practices in ancient Israelite society. But more important than the factual details are the 'Conclusions and Implications for Methodology'. Six points are listed: some argue that where scripture is ambiguous it should be interpreted according to church tradition (but tradition is not unanimous, and fallible leaders in the past were limited by the culture of their times); it is important to pay heed to the purpose of the biblical writings (but this is often obscure, and while we need to distinguish between scriptural principles and detailed, culture-related prescriptions, people differ as to what are permanent principles); the Old Testament is to be assessed in the light of the New (yet the New Testament writers were also influenced by their environment); we might seek to discover what lies nearest to the centre of Christian doctrine


There is, at least in the West, a long-standing difficulty with knowledge in education. This may have
arisen from a deep distrust of the value of dead or useless, disconnected 'facts' such as was parodied by
Charles Dickens through his awful caricature of 'Gradgrind'. But distrust was reinforced by influential
scholarly work such as that from Michael Young in 1971 who in Knowledge and Control communicated
influential arguments about how the school curriculum, through its selection of knowledge, favoured
the elite and alienated the majority of young people. This article opens up a discussion about what kind
of school curriculum is appropriate for young people now and in the future – as a pedagogic right. We
argue that the distrust of knowledge among progressive educationists has led to what we name as
'Future2ism'. Such a skills or competence-led curriculum thinking is not, we argue, in the interests of
children, especially the disadvantaged. Michael Young, who wrote about the elitist 'knowledge of the
powerful' in the 1970s has himself revised, or extended, his thinking by pointing out (Young 2008) that
such specialist knowledge is also powerful knowledge. Thus, if policy makers, or school leaders, decide
that it is better for 'less academic' children to receive a differentiated curriculum to suit their 'needs'
then they are denied access to powerful knowledge. This is unfair on a number of levels; not least it
reinforces social and economic divisions.
In the article, I describe the rise of Future 2 curriculum thinking as a response to the long-known
inadequacies of the 'traditional' school curriculum, since at least Gradgrind. But despite its superficial
attractions, and its appeals to 'creativity' and 'twenty-first century skills', the weaknesses of Future 2
thinking are exposed. Following this we then explore what a Future 3 curriculum may look like – one
that is knowledge-led but progressive and conscious of the pupils we teach, who are seem as agentive
and diverse. The key to Future 3 is to grasp the significance of the discipline expressed as powerful
knowledge – in the case of this article, geography. This is challenging, for powerful knowledge cannot
easily be expressed on the page – through a list of 'key concepts' for example. Rather than a list, it
requires specialist understanding of the subject's goals and purposes expressed more as a system of
thought and enquiry, which itself is dynamic being subject to contestation and change. In this sense,
pupils (all pupils) are inducted into the discipline of knowledge-making, where the quality of argument
matters, where evidence needs to be identified and evaluated and where reliable conclusions drawn (but
nevertheless never beyond contestation or challenge).
The article draws upon an international project called GeoCapabilities which has explored these ideas
with particular reference to their implications for high-quality teaching and the need for teachers to see
themselves as curriculum leaders – as professionals with responsibility for enacting a Future 3
curriculum.


Background: Infants are exposed to different painful procedures during hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Due to the harmful effects of pain on infants, NICUs require methods by the aid of which the pain in infants can be controlled. Yakson touch and oral glucose are among non-pharmacological methods for pain relief in infants. In this regard, the present study was conducted to compare the effect of Yakson touch and oral glucose on the severity of phlebotomy pain in preterm infants.Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 99 preterm infants hospitalized in NICU were randomly allocated to three groups, including Yakson touch (n=33), oral glucose (n=33), and control (n=33). In the oral glucose group, 1 cc of 50% glucose was orally given to the infants 1 min before phlebotomy. In the Yakson touch group, touching was performed for 5 min, and then the phlebotomy was performed. The infants in the control group did not receive a specific treatment. Infant pain level was determined before and after the phlebotomy using video recording based on Neonatal Infant Pain Scale. The data were analyzed using the analytical statistical tests, including the analysis of variance, Chi-square, Wilcoxon, and Kruskal-Wallis, in SPSS software (version 20).Results: The mean scores of pain in the two experimental groups were significantly lower than that of the control group (P=0.001), but there was no significant difference between the two experimental groups (P>0.05).Conclusion: According to our findings, both two methods (i.e., Yakson touch and oral glucose) can reduce phlebotomy pain in preterm infants hospitalized in intensive care unit. It is recommended to use Yakson touch in case of lack of access to glucose.


The pattern of international trade flows has witnessed significant changes under the global crisis impact. In the case of Romania, paradoxically for an emerging country, in terms of product composition during 2007-2010, the share of capital goods decreased in total imports and increased in total exports, while the share of intermediate goods recorded an opposite development. In terms of competitiveness, no evidence of significant changes has been found, the most important export chapters having comparative advantages related to processing trade operations. The lack of an export strategy and of appropriate policies able to sustain Romanian exporters on foreign markets, mainly extra-EU, has become obvious.


The citizenry of South Africa is largely excluded from decision making on public policy issues beyond the borders of their state. This contributes to their disempowerment in the face of seemingly inevitable and anonymous forces of globalisation and adds to their alienation from, and apathy towards, foreign policy. By tracing the causes and consequences of these processes in contemporary South Africa, and by re-defining foreign policy (to cover all public policy 'beyond' the state) and public participation (to broaden it into 'democratic participation' in the full sense of the term) this article attempts to open public space for a democratic transformation of collective responses to public policy beyond the state.


Plastic anisotropy of the as-rolled 7050 aluminum alloy plate with T7451 temper was investigated by tensile tests, OM, SEM and TEM. The results show that the as-rolled 7050 aluminum alloy plate shows plastic anisotropy. The values of the as-rolled 7050 aluminum alloy plate deformed along ST, LT and RD are 7.178%, 10.69% and 12.877%, respectively. The as-rolled 7050 aluminum plate can be considered as a materials with two phases. Microstructure, especially grain shape and precipitate configuration, is the main source of plastic anisotropy of the as-rolled 7050 aluminum alloy plate with T7451 temper.


Objective: To evaluate vessel involvement and the role of multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) in the earlydiagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) in patients with febrile neutropenia and antibiotic-resistant feverundergoing autologous bone morrow transplantation. Material and Methods: In all, 74 pulmonary MDCT examinations in 37 consecutive hematopoietic stem celltransplantation patients with febrile neutropenia and clinically suspected IPA were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Diagnosis of IPA was based on Fungal Infections Cooperative Group, and National Institute of Allergy andInfectious Diseases Mycoses Study Consensus Group criteria. In all, 0, 14, and 11 patients were diagnosed as proven,probable, and possible IPA, respectively. Among the 25 patients accepted as probable and possible IPA, all had pulmonaryMDCT findings consistent with IPA. The remaining 12 patients were accepted as having fever of unknown origin (FUO)and had patent vessels based on MDCT findings.In the patients with probable and possible IPA, 72 focal pulmonary lesions were observed; in 41 of the 72 (57%) lesionsvascular occlusion was noted and the CT halo sign was observed in 25 of these 41 (61%) lesions. Resolution of feveroccurred following antifungal therapy in 19 (76%) of the 25 patients with probable and possible IPA. In all, 6 (25%)of the patients diagnosed as IPA died during follow-up. Transplant-related mortality 100 d post transplant in patientswith IPA and FUO was 24% and 0%, respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, MDCT has a potential role in the early diagnosis of IPA via detection of vessel occlusion.


From the comfort of American living rooms, the violence that ravaged Rwanda for four months in mid-1994 seemed almost incomprehensible. The daily newspaper reports and nightly television coverage that presented disturbing images of slaughter and destruction failed to provide the necessary background to make sense of the disaster. For most Americans, little option was left than to view the devastation as an expression of some inherent savagery in the Rwandan population. In this article, I draw upon the example of two Rwandan communities to help explain the nature of the violence that swept Rwanda after the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana. These two communities bear certain similarities: they lie in neighboring communes in Kibuye Prefecture; both are relatively remote; and each community centers around a parish of the Presbyterian Church.


Representatives of the People's Congress enjoy different benefit in their work and life from what they represent. As economic foundation decides the same fundamental interests of broad masses of people, the representatives are entitled with the benefit choice in coordinating interest difference so as to be able to ensure the realization of the people's entire interests.


The object of business continuity planning is minimising loss after a disaster. Achieving this goal requires that management and information systems are available to facilitate the recovery of core business operations as soon as possible. While safeguarding systems and/or arranging for substitutes is vital, it is equally important to ensure the availability of staff capable of operating these system under adverse disaster conditions. Adopting a human resource perspective, this paper discusses the implications of staff vulnerability, hazard and risk assessment, organisational systems, training and recovery management for disaster business continuity.


This study examines the direct and indirect impacts of earnings quality on cost of equity capital by using path analysis. The population in this study are manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange 20142016.Selected research samples were 108 manufacturing companies with purposive sampling technique. The results found that earnings quality had a significant negative effect on information asymmetry. Information asymmetry has a positive effect on the cost of equity capital. The test results also prove that information asymmetry has a role as a mediating variable. However, this study failed to find the direct effect of earnings quality on the cost of equity capital. Keywords—earnings quality; information asymmetry; cost of equitycapital; mediating


From 26 to 28 October 2005 the Seventeenth Congress of the Spanish Society for Medical Education (SEDEM) will be held at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Castilla-La Mancha, Albacete. For the occasion, the Society has chosen as its main theme the topic of European Convergence in Education in Health Sciences. The process of European Convergence, or the Bologna process, aims among other things to implement a compatible, comparable system of degrees based on two cycles and with a common system of credits, and to promote European mobility and cooperation in order to guarantee standards quality, and is bound to have an impact on the education of health professionals and doctors in particular. This Congress aims to be a forum for debate for agents involved at all levels of training stages of these professionals in order to discuss the consequences of this process and decide on the best ways to face its challenges. The Congress is divided into two parts: an undergraduate session, with the participation of the Faculties of Medicine represented by the National Conference of Deans of Medicine, education and health government bodies, the National Agency for Evaluation and Accreditation, professional associations, scientific societies, postgraduate tutors and students, where the aim of the discussion will be to define and assess the skills that our graduates should possess, the models and structures of the curricula, the management of the educational process, and the resources needed. In the second part, we will deal with the effects of postgraduate education, and the participation of the Asociación de Redes de Docencia y Asesoras (AREDA) and will discuss topics such as teaching management, teaching functions, teaching programmes, evaluation and accreditation. SEDEM also hopes the Congress will be a meeting point for colleagues from neighbouring countries, such as Portugal, France, and Italy, who share many of our problems. We are sure that much can be learnt by sharing and comparing our experiences. The XVII Meeting of the Spanish Society of Medical Education


Methodical approaches are considered In article to determination degree to monopolizing the rail-freight traffic. Findings are Made on cause of the possibility of the using existing methods of the estimation real degree monopoly authorities of the rail-freight traffic in the field of passenger transportation.


As the consumer-grade microchips for IoT get cheaper, they become an attractive platform for distributed applications. This paper presents a way to implement an indoor positioning system using Wi-Fi capable microcontrollers. It contains an overview of available positioning algorithms, an in-depth explanation of the selected implementation, and a review of the capabilities and limitations of the IoT hardware solutions. The achieved system performance is compared with other indoor positioning systems, taking into account price and implementation complexity.


Following treatment of Syrian hamster embryo cells with benzo(a)pyrene, the time required for the expression of enhanced fibninolytic activity was examined. For this study, the fibnin-agarose overlay method was developed to distin guish the activity of normal and transformed colonies of hamster cells. Colonies possessing enhanced fibninolytic activity were not observed 8 days after treatment, but they were observed following one passage (2 weeks after treat ment). Morphologically transformed colonies, which ex hibited no enhanced fibninolytic activity, were observed 8 days following treatment. In contrast to these two early changes, cells capable of growth in soft agamwere observed much later (6 to 8 weeks after treatment). Untreated Syrian hamster embryo cells generally senesced and did not ex hibit enhanced fibninolytic activity. Approximately 1 of 10 untreated cultures escaped senescence and evolved as a continuous cell line; such cultures frequently exhibited en hanced fibninolytic activity. These results suggest that the acquisition of enhanced fibninolytic activity, while perhaps not a cause of neoplastic transformation, may reflect a loss of control of the normal function of the cellular genetic apparatus during the process of transformation. Syrian hamster embryo cells were plated at low density. Follow ing attachmentof the cells, cultures weretreatedwith 1or 10 @gof B(a)Pper ml or solventcontrol for 24 hr. Subsequentto removalof the carcinogen, cultures were incubatedfor 7daysat 37°.Colonies formed after this time wereexaminedfor morphological alterations and fibrinolytic activity.%


Due to the low power consumption and reconfigurability of FPGA, the use of FPGA for accelerating calculations is becoming more and more hot, including deep learning. However, due to limited hardware resource, single FPGA-based accelerator cannot configure optimal parameters for each layer, and its performance is also limited by the data memory bandwidth. To accelerate the calculation of neural network, this work designs a calculation module, and based on this module, further optimizes the data transmission path between multi-FPGA, thus achieving nearly linear performance growth between performance and the number of FPGAs.


This paper presents the results of a detailed two-dimensional analysis of the torsional stiffness of several pairs of spur gears in mesh using finite element methods. The model on which this research is based allows the generation of pairs of spur gears in contact with several different parameters and includes an adaptive meshing algorithm for the contact zones. The FEA results from the various model settings are used to develop a common formula for the combined torsional stiffness of spur gears in mesh. The torsional mesh stiffness of gears in mesh consists of three main components which are the body, teeth and contact stiffnesses. The introduced formula uses these three parts to determine the stiffness for a wide range of gear and gear ratio combinations.


Polarimeters based on the Cotton-Mouton effect hold promise for electron density measurements. We have designed and installed a Cotton-Mouton polarimeter on the Compact Helical System. The Cotton-Mouton effect is measured as the phase difference between probe and reference beams. In this system, an interferometric measurement can be performed simultaneously with the same probe chord. The light source is a HCN laser (wavelength of 337 μm). Digital complex demodulation is adopted for small phase analysis. The line averaged density evaluated from the polarimeter along a plasma center chord is almost consistent with that from the interferometer.


The signification risks associated with construction projects need special attention from contractors to analyze and mange the risks. Risk management is the art and science of identifying, analyzing and responding to risk factors throughout the life cycle of the project and in the best interest of its objectives. In proposed model, we firstly identify risks in the construction projects and suitable criteria for evaluate risks and then structure the proposed AHP model. Finally we measure the significant risks in construction projects (SRCP) based on the project's objectives by using fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) technique. Keyword: Construction projects, Project Risk Management, Fuzzy AHP


The correlation between MWCNT aspect ratio and the quasi-static and dynamic mechanical properties of composites of MWCNTs and PMMA was studied for relatively long MWCNT lengths, in the range 0.3 mm to 5 mm (aspect ratios up to 5 × 105) and at low loading (0.15 wt%). The height of the MWCNTs prepared were modulated by controlling the amount of water vapour introduced in the reactor limiting Ostwald ripening of the catalyst, the formation of amorphous carbon and any increase in CNT diameter. The Tg of PMMA increased by up to 4 °C on addition of the longest tubes as they have the ability to form physical junctions with the polymer chains which lead to enhanced PMMA-MWCNTs interactions and increased mechanical properties, Young's modulus by 20% on addition of 5 mm long MWCNTs. Predictions of the Young's modulus of the composites of PMMA and MWCNT with the Mori-Tanaka theory show that future micromechanical models should account for MWCNT agglomeration and polymer-nanotube interactions as a function of CNT length.