Linking to the theme of modernization in university governance, shows the analysis of the implementation of the management and process mapping at the Directorate of Personnel Management (DAP) in a Federal University in northeastern Brazil who joined the National Public Management Program and bureaucratization (GesPublica) in 2009. It was adopted as a general objective to analyze the management and process mapping of said DAP, identifying the possible benefits in improving the quality of the services provided to users. As a method, we carried out a qualitative research, the case study type, whose unit of analysis was the DAP. Data collection consisted of desk research, questionnaires and interviews. Results show that the methods used to manage and process mapping in DAP were built and developed according to the needs of the University having GesPublica as a guide and tool for the development of the project which resulted in agility of procedures, reducing the time spent and improved interpersonal communication, so it is suggested method other public institutions.


The University of Tennessee, Volvo Truck North America, and Volvo Technology of America, in partnership with the National Transportation Research Center, Inc. are developing a concept called Trusted Truck ™ to improve the safety, security, and efficiency of the truck inspection processes. This paper describes the initial phase of the concept, which demonstrated the capability to provide real-time brake condition data to a roadside inspection station at highway speeds using wireless communications.


It is shown that the superconformal transformations describe the isometry group of curved fermionic twistor space, with suitably generalized Fubini–Study Hermitian metric. Further, such a geometry is applied to derive a two-dimensional supersymmetric quark–twistor string model, described by the fermionic nonlinear SU(2,2;1) -invariant σ-model.


This work,using WIMS-AECL,MCNP-4B and MCBurn codes,has calculated the criticality and burnup problems of a series of benchmarks and advanced CANDU lattices,including all-uranium and thorium-based fuels.WIMS-AECL uses ENDF/B-V and ENDF/B-VI nuclear data library separately.Comparison manifests that for benchmark,both B-V and B-VI can lead to good results and B-V is better;for all-uranium fuel of ACR and thorium-based fuel of ACR,WIMS-AECL with B-V is a better choice.


Purpose: This study was to setup the basis on hospital and national nursing manpower estimation accurately according to apply patient classification system of Song's study to China hospital system. Method: This study was surveyed to 964 patients at surgical and medical ward on Yanbian University Hospital in China from 17th to 31th January, 2005. Results: There was study results to test hypotheses for estimating optimal nursing manpower as follows. First, a trimodel classification scheme was developed which suggested three categories of patients as minimal care(category 1), moderate care(category 2), intensive care(category 3). Second, there was not significant difference with nursing time by sex. Third, there was not significant difference with nursing time by medical wards. Fourth, there was not significant difference with average nursing care time for each category of patients. Category 1 was estimated to spend average 19.59minutes for patients, Category 2 was about 35.68 minutes, Category 3 was 72.07minutes respectively. Total nursing hours was 62,610 minutes. Conclusion: Patient classification system of Song's study is validity for optimal nursing manpower of hospital in China.


1H and 13C NMR spectra have been recorded for 2r,6c‐diphenylpiperidin‐4‐one (1a), 3t‐alkyl‐2r,6c‐diphenylpiperidin‐4‐ones 1b‐d, 3t‐alkyl‐2r,6c‐diphenyl‐4‐oxopiperidinium nitrates 2b and 2d, 3t‐alkyl‐2r,6c‐diphenylpiperidin‐4‐one hydrochlorides 3a‐c and 3t‐methyl‐2r,6c‐diphenyl‐4‐oxopiperidinium picrate 4b in DMSO‐d6. For 1b, 2b and 3b, 1H and 13C NMR spectra have been recorded in CH3OD also. For 1b, 1d, 2b, 2d, 3b and 4b, 2D spectra have also been recorded. In DMSO‐d6 the protons of the piperidine ring and the ortho protons of the phenyl groups are markedly deshielded due to protonation. Protonation shields all the carbons of the piperidine ring and the ipso carbons of the phenyl groups markedly but deshields the other aromatic carbons slightly. The deshieldings on H‐3a, H‐5a and the ortho protons of the phenyl groups are less in the nitrate and picrate than in the corresponding hydrochloride. The effects on 13C chemical shifts are not influenced by the co‐anion. These observations suggest that the nitrates and pictrate exist as ion pairs in DMSO‐d6 and the nitrate and picrate ions shield, H‐3a, H‐5a and the ortho protons by magnetic anistropic effect. In CH3OD for 2b and 3b in addition to the ion‐pair containing free ions two ion‐pairs containing solvated ions are also present. The effects of protonation in the ion pairs containing the solvated ions are significantly different from those in the ion‐pair containing free ions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This paper presents a new approach for temperature control of an injection molding machine (IMM) that uses a model predictive control (MPC) strategy. The control system consists of a number of single-input-single-output model predictive controllers, each associated with a particular temperature zone. What distinguishes this approach from others is how the MPC strategy exploits knowledge of temperature interaction between adjacent zones and the effects of back pressure, to develop individual temperature controllers for each zone. This is achieved by decoupling the interaction between zones. The new thermal controller was simulated and implemented with good results on a 150-tonne IMM using a series of comparative experiments. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:2318–2326, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.


Taking some intelligent mansion as the example,the paper explores the components and design idea for its comprehensive distribution system,analyzes the relationship between the comprehensive distribution system and the intelligent buildings,and concludes the comprehensive distribution system is the important mark for leveling the intelligent degree of the intelligent building.


The article is published in its Spanish language version.

The Genocide of the Tamils has arrived in Latin America

The slaughter of some seventy thousand Tamils in 2009 is not well known. Through United Nations Human Rights Council, the United States and the United Kingdom have converged with Sri Lanka to cover up the scale of the atrocity. Faced with the situation of international impunity, the Tamil Diaspora presented its case to the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal. The Bremen tribunal ruled that a genocide has been perpetrated against the Tamil people, with the complicity of the US and the UK. The genocide has special characteristics with its background in the collective struggle for national popular sovereignty, the right to be recognized as the Tamil Eelam homeland. Beyond its particular important ruling, the Bremen tribunal has raised some elements of understanding of genocide within an anti-imperialist framework. The article ends with the concrete case of the appointment as Sri Lankan ambassador to six South American countries of a general responsible for torture and bombings against the Tamil population.


This research was partially supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. This research was performed while R. Bevilacqua was holding a National Research Council Research Associateship Award at the Spacecraft Robotics Laboratory of the Naval Postgraduate School.


INTRODUCTION: Successful tibial component placement during total knee arthroplasty (TKA) entails accurate rotational alignment, minimal overhang, and good bone coverage, each of which can be facilitated with a tibial component that matches the resected tibial surface. Previous studies investigated bony coverage of multiple tibial component families on digitized resections. However, these studies were based on manual placement of the component that may lead to variability in overhang and rotational alignment. An automated simulation that follows a consistent algorithm for tibial component placement is desirable in order to facilitate direct comparison between tibia component designs. A simulation has been developed and applied to quantify tibial coverage in multiple ethnicities, including Japanese, Indian, and Caucasian. Here, this approach is taken to evaluate tibial coverage of five contemporary tibial designs in Chinese subjects. METHODS: Digital models of 100 healthy Chinese tibiae (50 male, 50 female; age 68 ± 3 years; stature 1.65 ± 0.10 m) were virtually resected at 5° posterior slope referencing the anterior border of the proximal tibia, 0° varus/valgus rotation referencing the tibial mechanical axis, and 8 mm off the unaffected plateau (reflecting a 10 mm surgical cut, assuming a cartilage thickness of 2 mm). Neutral internal/external (I/E) alignment axis was derived from the medial third of the tubercle and the PCL attachment site. Five commercial tibial designs (Design A, Deluxe™, Montagne, Beijing, China; Designs B-E contemporary market-established symmetric designs from four US manufacturers) were virtually placed on the resected tibiae following an automated algorithm, which maximizes component size while ensuring proper rotational alignment (within 5° I/E) and minimizing overhang ( RESULTS: Coverage across designs varied between 75% and 96%. All five designs showed comparable means and standard deviations in tibial coverage (Fig. 2). Although statistically higher coverage was found in Designs D-E than Designs A-C (p DISCUSSION: The data suggests comparable tibial coverage, which may reflect the likelihood for component subsidence clinically, is expected between the six contemporay design investigtated when implanted into Chinese patients. Though subsidence is multifactorial, and is dependent on aspects of implant design and surgical technique beyond just tibial tray shape, these results nevertheless provide initial indicators on the expected rate of subsidence or overhang in Chinese patients for Design A relative to the more established Designs B-E.


Knowledge of the location of foramina in the maxillo‐facial region is necessary in clinical situations requiring regional nerve blocks and in open as well as endoscopic surgical procedures to avoid injury to corresponding nerves. In this study, measurements were taken on 79 adult dried human skulls to determine the position of the supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental foramina. Supraorbital foramina were found to be ∼25 mm lateral to the midline, 30 mm medial to the temporal crest of the frontal bone, and 2–3 mm superior to the supraorbital rim. Additional exits for branches of the supraorbital nerve were present in 14% of skulls. The intersection of the zygomatico‐maxillary suture with the inferior orbital rim was a readily palpable landmark for locating the infraorbital foramen. This foramen was ∼7 mm inferior to the inferior orbital rim and 28.5‐mm lateral to the midline. Mental foramina were on average, 25.8‐mm lateral to the midline and about 13‐mm superior to the inferior mandibular margin. Both the infraorbital and mental foramina were most often on a vertical line with the second premolar (Position 3). The distances of the foramina from the midline were similar on both sides demonstrating facial symmetry. In about 80% of skulls, the supraorbital, infraorbital, and mental foramina/notches were along the same vertical line. These measurements may be of value to clinicians in localizing and safeguarding these nerves and providing effective nerve blocks. Clin. Anat. 21:633–640, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Accurate estimation of self‐position is indispensable for autonomous mobile robots. Map‐matching‐based self‐positioning is a promising method; however, adequate matching area selection is an issue to be solved. In this paper, we propose an adjustable map matching method that remedies a defect of the conventional template matching technology. The proposed method was evaluated experimentally, and the results confirmed the advantages of the proposed method.


Introduction: The PP patient is an increasing health problem in modern society. This study attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the implementation of the PP-care program in the Bilbao-Basurto health area. Material and methods: Quasi-experimental study including 20 patients meeting de novo two or more Ollero criteria. We apply the program and compare what happens the year before and after inclusion. Results: There was a reduction in the number of total admissions (p, 009), an increase in the number of chronic hospital admissions (p, 012), and, without reaching statistical significance, a decrease in the number of admissions in acute hospital setting (P, 083). Conclussions: The program of PP is effective and depends to a great extent on the motivation of the professionals of the same.


The depth distribution, chemical bonding, and electrical behavior of N quenched into Si by pulsed laser-induced melting have been investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy, infrared (ir) absorption, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrical conductivity. The results demonstrate that laser-induced melting of N-implanted layers provides access to a useful range of otherwise inaccessible conditions for the study of N in Si. Nitrogen concentrations four orders of magnitude above equilibrium solid solubility are retained in implanted layers with limited diffusion during laser-induced melt and rapid solidification. The N is incorporated predominantly as N–N pairs bonded to Si, similar to the bonding configuration for equilibrium concentrations introduced during ingot growth. Formation of Si_ x N_ y clusters is suggested to explain ir absorption bands, features in TEM, and shallow donor activity observed after furnace annealing near 750 °C. These cluster effects are removed by a melt/solidification sequence which restores the N to N–N pair centers together with a small fraction of off-center substitutional N.


A method to control the tip position of single-link flexible manipulators is presented. The method is based on the dynamic model inversion technique. The feedforward controller obtained as a result of this inversion drives the arm along a commanded trajectory without any oscillation of the tip. The model inversion of a single-link flexible arm is studied from a discrete point of view. A feedforward controller is developed even in the case when the system is non-minimum phase. The method is general in the sense that it removes oscillations in the arm with any number of vibration modes. This technique results in less residual vibration, has better robustness to system parameter uncertainty, and requires less computation than the existing methods of vibration control.<<ETX>>


§ 28. On the crystalline polarity of bismuth and other bodies, and on its relation to the magnetic form of force. ¶ i. Crystalline polarity of bismuth. ¶ ii. Crystalline polarity of antimony. ¶ iii. Crystalline polarity of arsenic. 2454. Many results obtained by subjecting bismuth to the action of the magnet have at various times embarrassed me, and I have either been contented with an imperfect explanation, or have left them for a future examination: that examination I have now taken up, and it has led to the discovery of the following results. I cannot, however, better enter upon the subject than by a brief description of the anomalies which occurred, and which may be obtained at pleasure. 2455. If a small open glass tube have a bulb formed in its middle part and some clean good bismuth be placed in the bulb and melted by a spirit-lamp, it is easy afterward, by turning the metal into the tubular part of the arrangement, to cast it into long cylinders: these are very clean, and when broken are seen to be crystallized, usually giving cleavage planes, which run across the metal. I prepare them from 0.05 to 0.1 of an inch in diameter, and, if the glass be thin, usually break both it and the bismuth together, and then keep the little cylinders in their vitreous cases.


Between 2006 and 2007, four political scientists asked how an ostensibly "tired" electorate might respond to two successive parliamentary elections among a nearly identical set of alternatives. Using the same spatial perspective and multidimensional metric scaling methods employed previously, they asked whether those same tools can be used to summarize the electorate's perceptions of its electoral choices in 2006 and 2007 and whether those perceptions respond to events in ways that "make sense." Is there evidence to suggest that parties and politicians in Ukraine must now respond to the strategic imperatives described by an abstract theory of spatial analysis developed to organize study of more established democracies?


Abstract Background The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic has not been completely controlled. Although great achievements have been made in COVID-19 research and many antiviral drugs have shown good therapeutic effects against COVID-19, a simple oral antiviral drug for COVID-19 has not yet been developed. We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the improvement in mortality or hospitalization rates and adverse events among COVID-19 patients with three new oral antivirals (including molnupiravir, fluvoxamine and Paxlovid). Methods We searched scientific and medical databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane Library for relevant articles and screened the references of retrieved studies on COVID-19. Results A total of eight studies were included in this study. The drug group included 2440 COVID-19 patients, including 54 patients who died or were hospitalized. The control group included a total of 2348 COVID-19 patients, including 118 patients who died or were hospitalized. The overall odds ratio (OR) of mortality or hospitalization was 0.33 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.22–0.49) for COVID-19 patients in the drug group and placebo group, indicating that oral antiviral drugs were effective for COVID-19 patients and reduced the mortality or hospitalization by approximately 67%. Conclusions This study showed that three novel oral antivirals (molnupiravir, fluvoxamine and Paxlovid) are effective in reducing the mortality and hospitalization rates in patients with COVID-19. In addition, the three oral drugs did not increase the occurrence of adverse events, thus exhibiting good overall safety. These three oral antiviral drugs are still being studied, and the available data suggest that they will bring new hope for COVID-19 recovery and have the potential to be a breakthrough and very promising treatment for COVID-19. KEY MESSAGES Many antiviral drugs have shown good therapeutic effects, and there is no simple oral antiviral drug for COVID-19 patients. Meta-analysis was conducted for three new oral antivirals to evaluate the improvement in mortality or hospitalization rates and adverse events among COVID-19 patients. We focussed on three new oral Coronavirus agents (molnupiravir, fluvoxamine and Paxlovid) and hope to provide guidance for the roll-out of oral antivirals.


Cell-free large-scale multi-user MIMO is a promising technology for the 5G-and-beyond mobile communication networks. Scalable signal processing is the key challenge in achieving the benefits of cell-free systems. This study examines a distributed approach for cell-free deployment with user-centric configuration and finite fronthaul capacity. Moreover, the impact of scaling the pilot length, the number of access points (APs), and the number of antennas per AP on the achievable average spectral efficiency are investigated. Using the dynamic cooperative clustering (DCC) technique and large-scale fading decoding process, we derive an approximation of the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio in the criteria of two local combining schemes: Local-Partial Regularized Zero Forcing (RZF) and Local Maximum Ratio (MR). The results indicate that distributed approaches in the cell-free system have the advantage of decreasing the fronthaul signaling and the computing complexity. The results also show that the Local-Partial RZF provides the highest average spectral efficiency among all the distributed combining schemes because the computational complexity of the Local-Partial RZF is independent of the UTs. Therefore, it does not grow as the number of user terminals (UTs) increases.


Some methods of fECG extraction include many electrodes on the mother's body, while others just require one electrode to be put on the mother's belly, with a second, reference electrode (if necessary) attached to her chest. Currently, confirming the ECG of individual foetuses in cases of multiple pregnancies requires using multiple electrodes. Multiple electrodes are needed for fECG extraction, which can be painful for the mother and presents a clinical challenge. There has been some research into realising fECG extraction in hardware for use in real time. In most circumstances and according to other published methodologies, the best estimate is nothing more than an estimated foetal heart rate of >110 beats per minute. The signal is deemed too noisy and unreliable if the estimated foetal heart rate is less than 110 beats per minute throughout that time period. In addition, the suggested research demonstrated the feasibility of extracting fECG from multiple abdominal channels, with satisfactory findings obtained from each. Other potential avenues of application for real-time monitoring have been examined with the proposed research approach or it's related. The performance has been modelled and tested on high-end DSPs.


Background subtraction has been widely used in the detection of a moving object from a still scene. Due to the uncertainty in the classification of the pixels in the foreground and background, we propose a novel fuzzy approach for background subtraction using fuzzy histograms based on fuzzy c-means clustering and the fuzzy nearness degree, called FCFN. In this method, the temporal characteristics of the pixels are described by a fuzzy histogram using the fuzzy c-means algorithm. The segmentation threshold is adaptively calculated according to the distribution of the fuzzy nearness degree of the individual pixel. Fuzzy adaptive background maintenance is adopted in the background update framework. The performance of the FCFN is evaluated against several state-of-the-art methods in the complex dynamic scenes. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method doubles the improvements in performance than the classic fuzzy background modeling methods and outperforms most state-of-the-art methods.


The five known species of Proteriades (Acrosmia) are discussed, distributional ranges are corrected with new records listed, and a key to the included species is provided. Three new species are described: P. paiute, P. orthognathus, and P. emarginatus, P. rufinus (Michener) is removed from Acrosmia and placed in synonymy with P. (Hoplitina) linsdalei Michener.


We investigate credit spreads and capital structure dynamics in a model in which management has private information regarding firm value and is able to issue both equity and debt to service existing debt. Rather than choosing to default, managers of investmentgrade (IG) firms who receive bad private signals conceal this information by servicing existing debt via new debt issuance. As such, firms with IG-commensurate spreads have zero jump-to-default risk (and hence, command zero jump-to-default premium), at least until their debt capacity is fully utilized and spreads have increased to "fallen angel" status. These predictions match observation well. JEL Classification Codes : G12; G32; G33


A microwave tunable substrate integrated waveguide bandpass filter using nematic liquid crystals is researched in this paper combined with the complementary split-ring resonators. The nematic liquid crystal is used to control the corresponding working frequency, with its permittivity changing caused by deflection angle of the liquid crystal molecules. And its deflection angle changing is controlled by the bias voltage. The simulation results show that the permittivity of liquid crystal changes from 2.79 to 3.56 to make the passband frequency achieve 490 MHz frequency offset.


Enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins, here casein, as a sample preparation procedure is described and compared with data of acid hydrolysis. One proteinase is used as an immobilized enzyme bounded on a polymer carrier. The enzymatic hydrolysis is also a method of sample preparation for the analysis of maillard products which are unstable under current hydrolysis conditions


The liberalism view on education is the extension of the liberalism in the field of Education.It has not only implemented the essential spirit of liberalism,but also widely absorbed the new achievement of the development of the human science and the humanities thought,so it formed own distinctive concept of education in the fields of the relationship between students and teachers,goals and method of education,curriculum and so on.To some extent,the liberalism view on education made great theoretical achievements,and promoted the historic progress of education theory and the great development of the education practice. However,the liberalism view on education also has some shortcomings,such as poor operability,too ideal,universalism orientation and so on.The Chinese modern education had been impacted by the liberalism view on education since it appeared.Under the influence of the liberalism view on education,positive shift of the Chinese education in the following several aspects:student status has improved constantly,education way has become diverse increasingly,education content has become more rational.


Abstract: Competition in telecommunications industry makes industry players look for various ways to get awareness from consumers, one of which is by approaching them through advertising or advertising with the message appeals method that is attracti ve to consumers. The purpose of this study is to determine the message appeald in influencing the purchase intention of XL Axiata prepaid data card users in West Sumatra. The calculation of the number on samples using the Slovin formula with a total sample size of 400 and the sampling of districts / cities from the total sample using cluster random sampling. The collected data were analyzed using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) for all variables. The findings indicate that there is no significant rational appeals effect on purchase intention. Emotional has a significant effect on purchase intention. Rational has a significant effect on brand awareness. Emotional has a significant effect on brand awareness. Brand awareness has a significant effect on purchase intention


Following Davis and Haltiwanger (1992), this paper measures the heterogeneity of firm-level employment changes in Belgium during the 1977-1985 period. We focus on job creation and destruction and evaluate to what extent it is the driving force behind total worker reallocation. Our data set is a nine-year panel of all the Belgian firms (not establishments) which occupied workers covered by the general retirement scheme. Approximately 300,000 different firms are observed during the period. The annual total number of days worked in a given firm is divided by a full-year equivalent to give the number of job slots in this firm. Sectoral job creation rates are then measured by adding up employment (i.e. the number of job slots) growth at expanding and new firms in the sector and by dividing by a measure of sector size. A similar computation is developed to yield job destruction rates. Moreover the data set contains information on labour market flows at the firm level. For Belgium, previous research on the same issue was based on samples excluding small firms and ignoring firm births and deaths. With our census of firms we therefore obtain much larger gross job creation and destruction rates. In addition, previous research has often been based on the assumption of homogeneous labour. With our data, we are able to test the sensitivity of the results to such an assumption. These are the main preliminary results of this research : a) The average annual rate of gross job creation is 7.3%, while the average annual rate of job destruction is 8.7%. During the same period the net employment growth rate averaged -1.4%. Similar gross job creation and destruction rates are found in Germany. Considering manufacturing firms with at least five job slots, the average annual rate of gross job creation is 5.6% and the average annual rate of job destruction is 6.7%. These rates are much lower than the ones Davis and Haltiwanger (1992) derive for the US. b) The paper documents large rates of job creation and destruction rates within narrowly defined sectors of the manufacturing industry, e.g., three-digit industries. c) The above-mentioned rates of gross job creation and destruction are based on the assumption of an homogeneous labour factor at the firm level. Distinguishing male bluecollars, female blue-collars and white-collar workers, gross job creation rates increase by 10% and destruction rates by 8% (relative changes). d) In the Belgian manufacturing industry, 44% of total job destruction is accounted by firms that shrink by less than 20% over the span of a year. In the US the same share is 23% only. This result indicates that in Belgium a larger proportion of job destruction can be accommodated by normal rates of worker attrition. e) In the Belgian manufacturing industry, most of job creation and destruction reflects persistent firm-level employment changes. The average three-year persistence rate for newly destroyed job slots is 80%. Belgian oneand two-year persistence rates are only slightly higher than those of Davis and Haltiwanger. Therefore the bulk of job destruction cannot be accommodated by temporary layoffs and recalls. Comparing job creation performances on 1 Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique et Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales, Universite Catholique de Louvain. Je remercie Vincent Bodart et deux relecteurs anonymes, tout en restant responsable des eventuelles erreurs. Les resultats presentes resultent d'une collaboration avec Eric Cahuzac, Maritza Lopez-Novella et Bernard Masuy, que je remercie ici. Cette recherche a beneficie d'un financement du FRFC (Convention n°2.4529.90). Cette recherche fait egalement partie du programme « Poles d'Attraction Inter-universitaires PAI P4/01 » finance par le gouvernement federal belge.


The locational decision of the newly emerging, large discount stores deserves much attention. For the sales firm, the location of a new store is perhaps the single most important decision for its long-lasting profitable operation. For the local governments, the locational decision of new large discount stores has important impact on the spatial structure of economic activities and the development of local economies. Nevertheless there are relatively few literatures on the locational decision of large discount stores. Furthermore, most of the literatures are either theoretical or purely descriptive. In particular, as far as I can confirm, there seems to be no empirical study which examines the relationship between the sales volumes and locational factors of large discount stores. This paper examines the effects of locational factors in the determination of sales volumes of large discount stores, by analyzing the cross-section sales data of 145 large discount stores operating in 2001. The criteria of largeness is the sales floor area, which should be not less than 3,000㎡. As for the locational factors, we considered (ⅰ) the demographic factors such as population density, number of households, (ⅱ) the income factors, mainly proxied by municipal taxes and number of automobiles per households, (ⅲ) the transportational factors such as public trans-portation(buses and subways), the number of access roads, general environment(residential, commercial, or suburban), and urban planning, and (ⅳ) the competition factors such as coexistence of discount stores, traditional markets or department stores in the same trading area. It should be recognized that all the locational factors should be measured within a certain region, which is frequently referred as "the trading area." We tried and adopted three operational definitions of the trading area: (a) the municipal region, called "Ku," where the store is located, (b) the circular area within 2㎞ from the store, and finally (c) the circular area within 5㎞ from the store. Though the locational factors are our main concern, we also need to control other storespecific factors to acquire meaningful empirical results. As for the store-specific factors, we considered business hours(duration), floor area, the number of parking lots, the number of months since opening(since most discount stores have been built in recent years in Korea), and finally the brand name to control image and credibility effects. The main findings of this paper are as follows. Firstly, the population density has a positive effect stably on sales volumes of large discount stores. Secondly, while the proxy of income level has a positive relationship to a certain extent, the relationship is reversed to be negative in those regions with the highest income level. It suggests that the competitive power of large discount stores lies between general markets in the lower side and department stores and other high-class stores on the higher side. Thirdly and finally, the competitive relation with the same kind of stores affects sales volumes negatively in the 2㎞ trading area, but it has statistically insignificant relationship in the 5㎞ trading area. It suggests that locational competition among large discount stores takes place in relatively small range, and the appropriate definition of the trading area lies between 2㎞ and 5km in radius.


This research was designed to examine the implementation of a technology innovation in a content area from teachers' point of view. Three classroom teachers who were involved in organized implementations of a technology innovation at the school level were asked to describe their implementations. They then were asked to review those implementations through four specific lenses that research indicates are important: school change, factors affecting implementation of technology innovations, technology in their content area, and examining their use of developers' innovative improvements. Finally the classroom teachers were asked, as a summary technique, to talk about factors important to include in a written implementation plan. Teachers' responses to questions in a flowing conversation were searched for common themes, and excerpts of those conversations were placed in a table to facilitate the analysis of the concepts and ideas the teachers were trying to convey. The common themes that teachers talked about were: the limited time in a teacher's day; implementing effective change in a classroom setting is a process that can take years; administrative support is secondary but important; professional development is critical and should be ongoing; technology in teaching and learning in the content area is essential; classroom practice improves because of technology implementation; and the innovative technology features used in the classroom depend on the content taught.


Industry 4.0 is a brand new interdisciplinary field combining cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things and Services, and smart factories. It is promising to provide a new way of value creation in both physical and networked worlds. This paper attempts to witness the emergence of Industry 4.0 through bibliometric analysis of the characteristics of 89 papers published between 1945 and 2015. Scholarly papers on Industry 4.0 appeared very recently (2012) in the literature. Findings indicate that this is due, in large part, to the involvement of Germany in Industry 4.0-related research and innovation (R&I) within the last couple of years. Most papers were published by German researchers. The number of papers intensified very rapidly especially in 2014 and 2015. If the sharp increase in the numbers of papers and citations in the last two years is any indication, we should expect more Industry 4.0 R&I activities including publishing in the near future.


Yield of propylene is a very important economy target of ethylene plant, however, after reforming of Qilu ethylene plant in 1998, the loss of propylene in C 3 separating system has increased greatly. To boost the yield of propylene, cooperating with East China University of Science and Technology, the soft sensing technology using neural networks has been developed individually for deduce of propylene concentration from the top and bottom of the propylene fractionater, the previous control scheme improved and the operation conditions optimized. Since the implementation of this optimization system, the yield of propylene has been greatly increased.


Objective: The aim of this work was to evaluate the expression of FUT2 gene in saliva and histo ABH antigens of patients with oral lesions. Study Design: In total 178 subjects were examined, half of whom suffered from oral pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions, while the other half were the healthy control group We analyzed the FUT 2 polymorphism by ASO-PCR (allele specific oligonucleotid – polymerase chain reaction) with specific primers for G428 allele and the wild type allele of FUT2 gene. To reveal A, B and H antigens in tissue sections of the patients (n= 89) we used a modified specific red cell adherence technique. Results: We found a high intensity of oral disease in the non-secretor group (OR = 2.43). A total of 58% of the patients with oral pre-cancerous and cancerous lesions was non secretors (se_/_), in contrast with the healthy population (21.5%). A strongly positive reaction was defined as a sheet of indicator erythrocytes adhered to the epithelial cells. In 31 of the 54 samples analyzed the test showed slightly positive results on atypical areas, and there was a complete antigen deletion in areas affected by neoplasia. Nineteen samples showed a total absence of ABH antigens in both histologically normal and pathological areas. Blood group antigens were expressed at a high level in benign and highly differentiated malignant tumors. In poorly differentiated malignant tumors, they were mostly absent. Conclusion: Considering these results we suggest the use of this method to monitor probable preneoplastic lesions in risk population, especially in those with no secretor status (absence of FUT2 gene). Key words: FUT2 gene, ABH antigens, secretor status, oral lesions.


V. Results As shown earlier, small structural changes can cause huge effects on the deslipping kinetics of a rotaxane. The measurement of steric size has been a controversial topic in organic chemistry which prompted a large number of different studies. Van-der-Waals radii can be used to define steric size as well as structure/reactivity correlations of suitable systems such as substituted cyclohexanes (A values). According to electron diffraction studies and calculations, in time average the C-D bond is shorter than the C-H bond by ca. 0.005 A. Furthermore, the vibrational amplitude and the vibrational frequency of the C-D bond is lower in comparison with the C-H bond. This is reflected in a smaller Vander-Waals radius.


Background: In developing countries, the awareness about hearing impairment is low. This has led to un- availability of early screening program. Objective: To document the conditions associated with the auditory functions in children at schools for the deaf in a senatorial district of Osun state. Design: A cross-sectional descriptive epidemiological survey. One hundred children who were attending the six special schools were studied. Medical histories were obtained through questionnaire. Otoscopy was done on all subjects and pure tone audiometry test was carried out on the children above 4 years. Result: The mean age of detection of hearing loss was 19 months while the age at which they seek help was 24 months. There was a male preponderance and the children were admitted to the schools at 5 years. Maternal ailment occurred in 22% of the deaf children. Birth asphyxia and neonatal jaundice occurred in 19% and 15% respectively. Measles was associated with hearing loss in 39%. Impacted wax was the most common otoscopic finding. Moderately severe hearing loss occurred in 8% of the population, 28% had severe hearing loss while 64% was profoundly deaf. There was lack of access to hearing aids in over 90%. There were no adequate classrooms and teachers nor facilities for proper habilitation. 30% of the children had other handicaps. Conclusion: The conditions associated with hearing loss in this study were largely preventable through improved obstetric care and childhood immunization programme. Early auditory screening is essential and a better habilitation programme needs to be developed for the Nigerian deaf children.


Tondo: A youth runs right looking over his right shoulder. His hips are in profile, as is the head. The arms are spread. The torso is shown frontally above the hips. His cloak, the folds of which are indicated with wider glaze lines, hangs loosely over each shoulder and behind him, filling the area between the contour lines of the torso and the arms. The lips, nostrils and clavicles are added in dilute glaze. He runs on tiptoe with his feet separated from the reserved tondo circle by a glaze line. There are areas where the glaze overlaps the figure, most notably on the right leg below the knee.' The right arm is considerably larger than the left. The tondo area is reconstructed from six fragments. A running male figure with arms outspread to fill the space occurs often in both blackand red-figure tondos. The basic composition is an inscribed hexagon.2 This pleasing scheme, frequently used in tondos, is differentiated by attributes to indicate particular subjects. With weapons the same figure becomes a warrior, with horn or kantharos a reveling human or divinity, or, with a hoop and covered plate, a boy hurrying home to dinner.3 The pose of the figure on the MSU kylix 65.57, its right hand upraised in a gesture of negation, is that of a pursued youth.4 Such a description is confirmed by the occurrence of the figure fleeing from a visible pursuer on many vases (pl. 32, fig. i).6 Although the pose of the fleeing boy on the MSU kylix is a common one, two major points make the overall figure unusually interesting. First, it has a close stylistic affinity, via the Epeleios Painter, with works of one of the great transitional masters, Oltos, who worked both in blackand red-figure. The second point is the placement of the garment, draped over both shoulders. This feature, not especially common, shows in its development the increasing interest of the Attic draughtsman in complexity of line and physical reality, both in anatomy and drapery. The connection of the Epeleios Painter with Oltos is mentioned by both Bruhn and Beazley.6 No clearer example of this connection could be cited than the comparison of Oltos' tondo of a running komast holding a drinking horn, in the Ashmolean Museum (516),7 and the komast with himation and skyphos on the exterior of a kylix in the Museo Archeologico (81601) in Florence8 with the MSU kylix (pl. 32, fig. 2). The hallmarks of the style are at once visible: projecting and separated locks of hair, an eye made of two S curves, the chest defined by two arcs, broad buttocks and thighs and, lastly, attenuated feet. The himation on the Florence kylix is arranged in much the same way as on the MSU kylix. However, the painter of the MSU kylix has added thick lines of black glaze to simulate shadows in the folds, showing one direction of interest which the younger painters were following at this time. A fragment in the Museo Civico, Adria (B 27)9 shows many similarities to the MSU kylix tondo. It is attributed to the Epeleios Painter, but shows significant differences especially in the treatment of the hair and face (pl. 32, fig. 3). It shows a youth looking over his right shoulder, his himation hanging over his upper right arm. If the figure were wholly preserved we would probably have the prototype for our composition. This fragment is plainly part of a tondo, since part of its reserved circle is preserved. The number of folds (3) on the garment of each figure is the same, but the distribution of those on the MSU kylix is unequal. The motif of a running, nude youth with draped cloak seems to increase in popularity in the course of the fifth century. A kylix in the Robinson Collection dated to ca. 500 B.c. and attributed by Beazley to the Kiss Painter shows on its exterior a figure similar to Oltos' previous figure with the skyphos (pl. 32, fig. 4).10 Compare a komast by Myson on a pelike


University core courses are basic courses set by the university which are also certified by the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE). This course is also subject as a course prescribed by the university senate to ensure that a comprehensive education can be given to a student. Students must take and must pass this course at the same time will qualify students to graduate according to the time set. At Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), one of the university's core courses of Ethics and Civilization which is a compulsory course under the auspices of the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies (ACIS) and offered to students at the diploma and bachelor's degree levels at each branch campus entire Malaysia. However, it is questionable whether this course is effective in fostering racial unity among UiTM students because as far as we know, all university students consist of Bumiputera students only. In line with that, the objective of this study is to identify the level of student acceptance of the course content and will then analyze how the effectiveness of this course in shaping racial unity among UiTM students. The measurement tools used in data collection include questionnaires distributed online using google form software to 455 UiTM students in Malaysia at random. The data obtained from this random sample were then analyzed using descriptive analysis through quantitative software to see the overall continuity of the analysis of the study findings. The results obtained will then draw conclusions on the characteristics of the studied population. The results of the study found that the university's core courses are dynamic and flexible, as well as in line with current needs and requirements in an effort to fulfill the components of Malaysian nationhood as well as have their own role in fostering racial unity in particular.


The idea of having a program which writes other programs based on specifications provided by humans was born very early in the history of computing. After going through several "winters" because of the results not living up to the high expectations, the idea is again popular and some commercial applications already exist, under the generic name of robotic process automation. It so happens that at the same time several other apparently unrelated fields to program synthesis, some of them also veterans of several "winters" (e.g. AI) are also enjoy high interest both in the scientific community and in business: AI, Machine Learning, Deep [Reinforced] Learning, Process Mining, Intention Mining, Cybersecurity. Recent cyberattacks showed they can put lives in danger and create ecological disasters. That revelation came at a time when for various reasons our reliance and dependence on digital technologies is increasing fast. The threat, the dependence, the a severe global shortage in manpower in the field of cybersecurity and the commercial success of robotic process automation makes it worthwhile to look for ways to improve cybersecurity by means of automation. The paper explores several less than obvious ways in which many of the popular-bordering-hype current technologies might assist in robotic process automation in cybersecurity.


Bandwidth problems are the most frequently encountered problems in sharing information traffic or internet access on computer networks. The factor that causes slow internet access is the large number of devices connected to the internet that are not matched by the availability of sufficient bandwidth and the lack of available bandwidth. This can be accommodated with bandwidth management methods. Bandwidth management in Mikotik uses several bandwidth sharing methods such as PCQ (Per Connection Queue), Queue Tree, and HTB (Hierchichal Token Bucket). This research uses 2 (two) bandwidth management methods, namely PCQ and Queue Tree because these methods can divide bandwidth automatically according to the number of active users and are more effective in sharing bandwidth based on Mikrotik. PCQ is a method aimed at optimizing QoS for large-scale internet networks where all queues are the same for all sub-streams, while Queue Tree is a method designed to carry out more complex queuing tasks for network traffic. The purpose of this research is to optimize the limited internet bandwidth so that it can be accessed by all users in the Local Area Network and automate the queue of devices connected to the network according to user needs so as to produce a more stable computer network performance using the network development method, namely NDLC. The results of the tests were carried out 10 times using a bandwidth of 10 Mbps which resulted in an average jitter of 1.64 ms, ping 36.8 ms, 2 Mbps throughput, and 0.1% packet loss so that the QoS of internet access was categorized as satisfactory. It is hoped that from this research the company will be able to save on internet access expenses by maximizing a small bandwidth without having to increase the existing bandwidth.


The global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has highlighted the urgent need for effective antiviral drugs. The papain-like protease (PLpro) is a key viral enzyme involved in the replication and immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2, making it a promising target for antiviral drug development. In this study, we employed an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery platform, LIME, to generate novel inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro. LIME is based on generative language models that can generate diverse, valid, and synthetically accessible compounds. The LIME software was used to identify potential inhibitors with strong binding affinity and specificity to the target protein. The top 13 hit compounds were tested in vitro, and the top 5 inhibitors with strong binding affinity and specificity were selected for further analysis. A top candidate molecule, CSEMRS-1376, exhibited similar binding energies and structural similarities to the known SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitor, XR8-89. Computational analysis of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) profiles of the hit compounds and XR8-89 showed that both CSEMRS-1376 and XR8-89 demonstrated favorable ADMET profiles. Overall, the LIME software successfully identified several novel molecules, including CSEMRS-1376, with strong potential as a therapeutic agent against SARS-CoV-2. The study highlights the potential of AI-driven drug discovery platforms, such as LIME, to accelerate the drug development process and pave the way for more efficient and effective therapeutics.


Current study highlights the qualitative and quantitative analysis of different therapeutically important phytochemicals in five different herbal formulations of Bacopa monnieri. Crude extraction of phytochemicals were optimized using two different methods and solvents viz. conventional solvent extraction (CSE) method and maceration method, with one of the herbal powder formulation, HF-1. Based on higher cumulative phytochemicals yield in macerated methanolic extract, all further extractions from different herbal formulations were performed using maceration in methanol. Spectrophotometric analysis of total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC) and saponins yield showed variations among different formulations. Like TPC, TFC was also comparatively higher in macerated methanolic extract of HF-3 than other formulation while saponins were comparatively higher in HF-4. Also, thin layer chromatographic (TLC) analysis of all five formulations showed variations in the saponins among different formulation. Saponins being the major component showing nootropic properties of the plant extract, suggesting possible variations in therapeutic potential.


According to the working principle of effective stress,the constitutive relation between dynamic water pressure and rock contact pressure has been analyzed.Countermeasures have been put forward for preventing water inrush during pre-grouting of wall rock in roadway excavation.Theoretical analyses and industrial tests have been made of the width of water-prevention rock pillar, arrangement of holes,grouting parameters and grouting technique.According to the analysis of water-blocking rate,physical and chemical properties of wall rock,mechanical parameters the countermeasures for controlling water inrush in wall rock pre-grouting are considered technically feasible,economical,safe and reliable.It provides a theoretical and practical basis for the design of hole arrangement,having practical values.


Productivity of agricultural land in coastal area is limited by salinity. Planting tolerant variety combined with amelioration is an effective management to increase productivity of salt affected land. The objective of this study was to identify effective ameliorant for improving growth and yield of groundnut on saline soil. The trial was conducted on saline soil in Tuban from May to September 2015. The trial consisted of two factors that were arranged in a completely randomized block design, three replications. The first factor was two groundnut varieties (Domba and Hypoma 1). The second factor was six soil ameliorations (control, 120 kg/ha K2O, 2.5 t/ha dolomite, 2,5 t/ha of gypsum, 2.5 t/ha of manure, and 1.5 t/ha of gypsum + 2.5 t/ha of manure). Results showed that Domba and Hypoma 1 varieties could tolerate and completed their life cycle at insitu saline condition. Hypoma 1 was more prospective to be developed in saline condition associated with higher survival as well as better pod setting and seed development than Domba. Combination of gypsum and manure provided better effect than other treatments in improving saline soil, since it reduced exchangeable Na, Na saturation, and EC of soil, and also improved groundnut yield.


The advent of the big data era has led to the explosive growth of multivariate and multi-channel time series data. Multivariate time series, because of their high dimensional and Spatio-temporal correlation characteristics, make it difficult for classical statistical approaches to effectively model and efficiently handle the Spatio-temporal characteristics among data. Therefore, a multivariate time series prediction model based on a graph convolutional neural network is proposed better to explore the spatial relationships between multivariate time series and predict multivariate time series more accurately. The spatial correlation between each monitoring point in the data monitoring system is extracted using the graph convolutional neural network, and the temporal features in the sequences are processed using GRU. Finally, it is normalized. Experiments prove that the GCN-GRU model has higher prediction accuracy and better results than other commonly used prediction methods.


Modern libraries are characterized by the diversity of information services to users, including to fulfill the information needs of researchers. Fulfilling the information requirements for this research group is very important because the information provided affect the quality of research. Library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya efforts to fulfill the information needs of researchers is to provide research resources through the provision of access annual and financial report for go public company. To provide convenience to users who do research and need annual and financial report for go public, library of STIE Perbanas Surabaya provide easy access through online catalog. To fulfill the annual and financial report for go public company, library tracked data on Indonesian stock exchange and go public company. Library attempts to provide easy access to information is expected to support a process that requires researchers and annual and financial report data so as to improve the quality and quantity of scientific works in the field of economics science, especially for subject of banking, finance and business.


An analysis based on the coupled equations for the penetration model of gas-liquid mass transfer, solution chemistry and the distributed dynamic mass and population balances applied to the crystallization step is used to predict the effect of the gas-liquid mass transfer rate on the precipitation of calcium carbonate at 25°C using equilibrium and kinetic data from the literature. Generally, the nucleation rate in the region close to the gas-liquid interface is predicted to increase with decreasing gas-liquid mass transfer rate; at very low mass transfer rates, nucleation rates are, however, inhibited by the depletion of Ca 2+ ions. Under conditions of low mass transfer rates, nucleation proceeds predominantly in the interfacial region rather than in the bulk solution. Nucleation rate, particle number density and mean particle size are predicted to exhibit a maximum with position away from the gas-liquid interface


This paper proposes and analyses a statistical method for uncertainty evaluation of extreme values (minimal or maximal) for measurement results with significantly limited number of observations n = 3…10 and considerable deviation of observation probability density function (PDF) from normal distribution. The method is based on properties of order statistics. It can be used for the uncertainty evaluation of mechanical properties of testing products in a food industry (when minimal values of measurement results are observed) and for the investigation of a number of harmful elements (when maximal values of measurement results are observed).


Abstarct: Background : Chronic non healing ulcer is one the commonly faced surgical conditions by surgeons . It is one of the major cause for morbidity in diabetic patients. Inspite of various types of dressing agents available, choosing an appropriate dressing is a challenging aspect in the management of diabetic ulcer. Topical phenytoin causes rapid wound remodeling in non healing ulcers and its application in wound healing needs further study. Objective : To assess the efficacy of topical phenytoin compared to conventional wound care in improving the healing process and to prove it as a relatively low cost and easy to use option in the management of diabetic ulcers. Methodology : Our study is a randomized prospective study was conducted on 100 patients with non healing chronic diabetic ulcer. The patients are randomly divided into two groups study and control group ( Study phenytoin ; Control 5 % povidone iodine). Wound measurement and culture growth was taken on day one and end of 14 th day. Mean reduction in ulcer area and culture growth at the end of 14 days was noted. Results : There was no statistical difference in the baseline characteristics like age, sex , initial and final wound area of the ulcer between the two groups. The mean reduction in wound area was 6976.1 ± 1441.5 mm in patients treated with topical phenytoin dressings and 1960.7± 280.4 mm in patients treated with 5% povidone iodine dressings, which is statistically significant (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Phenytoin has a fibroblast proliferating and anti bacterial property which can be used in faster healing for chronic diabetic ulcers as topical agent thereby reducing its systemic side effects. Keyword: Diabetic ulcers, povidone iodine , topical phenytoin, Wound \ area


Abstract : Reduction methods are used to reduce the number of degrees of freedom in a finite-element (FE) model at the expense of high-fidelity solutions. The System Equivalent Reduction/Expansion Process (SEREP) is an attractive reduction technique since it can preserve the modal fidelity of the FE model up to a user-defined level. This capability allow for a more accurate representation of the physical structure. In this report, the feasibility of incorporating SEREP in the FE method for both discrete spring-mass-damper and distributed systems is explored. Modeling and numerical issues related to using SEREP as a superelement technique are examined and discussed.


The linear frequency modulation (LFM) signal is the main signal form of the high resolution radar. By analysis for the principle of the LFM radar signal to realize the high range resolution profile and the impact of clutter and noise over target echo signal, we proposes the method of using spectrum estimation based on the characteristic decomposition to estimate the frequency and realize the LFM signal range profile. The simulation results prove that this method to the goal 1-D range profile is effective under low signal-to-noise ratio conditions.


> 'The noblest prospect which a Scotsman ever sees is the high road which leads him to England.' (Samuel Johnson)

Since devolution, those of us north of the border have cultivated a certain degree of smugness as we have developed structured national solutions to appraisal, practice accreditation and now post-PGEA QA (Educational Providers Accreditation Scheme for Scotland). That smugness may soon disappear. The divergent way in which Modernising Medical Careers1 appears to be being implemented north and south of the border worries me, as we may soon become …


The inhibition of corrosion of low carbon steel (LCS) using some polyethylene glycols (PEGs) in different acidic mediums by weight loss technique was investigated. The corrosion inhibition was performed in hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid at different acid temperatures and acid concentrations, also at various polyethylene glycol concentrations and its average molecular weights. Results obtained reveal that PEG is an active inhibitor and shows very good corrosion inhibition efficiency (IE). The IE was found to vary with acid temperature, acid concentration, polyethylene glycol's concentration and average molecular weight. Also it was found that the corrosion inhibition behavior of PEG is greater in sulphuric acid than in hydrochloric acid. The adsorption of the inhibitor on the LCS surface is in agreement with Langmuir and Frumkin adsorption isotherms. The inhibition efficiencies are increased by increase of the inhibitor's concentration and average molecular weight, decreases with an increase in the concentration and temperature of the acid. This work has demonstrated that polyethylene glycols have inhibition effect on corrosion process, and their inhibition efficiencies are between 3 2 . 11 and 95.25% in the range of experimental conditions.


This paper deals with minicipal chronicles as the document and the source. It discusses the history od municipal chronicles in the Czech Republic, then legislative developments and today's chronicle work and methods. The last part focused on the specific example of local chronicle its use and researcher's evaluation.


Educational evaluation, as the science of education, began to be developed and applied in Chile only starting from the sixties of the last century. Indeed, several Chilean educators were to his PhD to United States of America in these areas; among them are Mario Leyton and Erika Himmel, who specialized in curriculum and evaluation, through the approaches of Tyler and Bloom. Therefore, both were actively involved in the introduction into the country of two measurement systems: (1) selection for admission to the University, creating a standardized test, the academic aptitude test –paa– which was established from 1967 and remained until 2002 and from 2003 to date was changed to the university selection test –psu–; initially the paa contained only verbal and mathematical aptitude tests; knowledge tests were subsequently added specific (in mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry and Sciences social). (2) the measurement of achievements educational system school, both in basic education and medium from the 1970s with the called initially program of evaluation of educational achievement –per– and, subsequently, with the system of measurement of the quality of the teaching –simce–, which applies from 1988 until today, at the national level and at various levels of the school system: 4.° Basic, 8.° Basic and 2.° Medium, especially with tests of language and communication and mathematics. Both initiatives were directly involved Mario Leyton and Erika Himmel; the first to key positions in the Ministry of Education and the second as academic of the University of Chile and the Catholic University of Chile. Therefore, both have been recognized by the State with the National Prize of Sciences of Education in 2009 and 2011, respectively.


In the present research the influence of two bleaching sequences, D0(EP)D (ECF-type) and Q1(OP)Q2(PO (TCF-type), on the content of various oxidizable structures and metal ions in eucalyptus kraft pulp was studied in relation to the brightness stability of these pulps. It was shown that pulps bleached to full brightness with ECFand TCF-type bleaching sequences contain differing amounts of oxidizable structures of carbohydrate origin, such as hexenuronic acid groups (HexA). These structures play a dominant role in the thermal yellowing of bleached kraft pulps and largely determine the yellowing kinetics. The most significant discoloration is observed for Q1(OP)Q2-bleached pulp having an especially high content of HexA. The discoloration does not appear to be related to the presence of metal ions in pulps. The correlation between the HexA and brightness stability of the bleached kraft pulps is due to the reactions where HexA acts as a precursor in the formation of colored compounds or intermediates which are then involved in the color formation. Furoic structures representing the main acid degradation products of HexA are suggested as the actual intermediates that cause yellowing by forming colored compounds.


sphere of journalism to any other aspects of the society of the time. The book, in fact, lacks density and Rader does not seem well acquainted with anything in the period except his chosen topic. Nonetheless, he does carry out his stated aim with persistence and scholarship, providing us with a detailed description of the methods used to regulate the press, of changing press legislation and of the main 'causes celebres', during the discussion of which he makes his only mention of literary evidence (e.g. Beranger's songs, Hugo's ,,Ilarion Delorme). There are too many misprints and mis-spellings, and one senses that the author is not at ease with the French language, particularly visible in his tendency to omit the deiinitc article when giving the title of a French ncwspaper (pp. 1.12, 154) or to


This research focuses on the planning and practice of nursing interventions among twin pregnant women experiencing low back pain . The research was based on the Roy Adaptation Model. The research compares adaptation abilities between those in an experimental group with those in a control group and analyses nursing interventions used to assist women in increasing their adaptation abilities. The complication of low back pain was considered to be a maladaptive reaction and was assessed from the four adaptive modes. Six subjects were selected for the experimental group and six subjects for the control group. The age of gestation for each subject was calculated to be within 20-36 weeks. Data collection on each subject was designated to be over a period of 3 weeks and within 4 weeks . The researcher accomplished two homevisits per subject in the experimental group . The subjects in the control group were not visited. An increase in adaptation ability was noted more frequently among those subjects in the experimental group and no cases were noted where the ability to adapt decreased in this group. In the control group , however , it was noted that some subjects experienced a decrease in adaptation ability . Therefore the outcome of the designated nursing intervention was considered to be effective. In addition , the following characteristics of the Roy Model were suggested: 1. Due to an overlap between the four adaptive modes, the effect of an intervention on one mode extended to yet another mode. 2. As residual stimuli were understood as contextual stimuli, the focus of the intervention became clear .


An easy to implement modulus-squared Dirichlet (MSD) boundary condition is formulated for numerical simulations of time-dependent complex partial differential equations in multidimensional settings. The MSD boundary condition approximates a constant modulus-square value of the solution at the boundaries. Application of the MSD boundary condition to the nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is shown, and numerical simulations are performed to demonstrate its usefulness and advantages over other simple boundary conditions.


Highly ordered and vertically aligned ZnO nanorods using an inverted self-assembled monolayer (SAM) template was fabricated via the hydrothermal process, and few-layer graphene was transferred on the surface of the ZnO nanorod arrays with 20 nm Au nanospheres coverage on the graphene surface. The band edge emission of the ZnO nanorods/graphene hybrid structures with Au nanospheres was increased by approximately three times and the defect-related emission was significantly reduced compared with the pristine ZnO nanorods arrays. The improved PL intensity can be attributed to the resonant coupling between the exciton emission of ZnO nanorods and plasmonic effects of graphene-Au structures. Our results will be promising for designing and fabricating ordered ZnO nanorod-based optical and optoelectronic devices.


Stock returns are often modeled as having infinite second or fourth moments with consequences for test statistics which have not yet been fully explored. Conclusions on the existence of moments are usually drawn from a generalized Pareto or simple Pareto tail index estimate. In a recent study McCulloch (1997) demonstrated that this estimator indicates distributions with even finite fourth moments, although the samples were drawn from infinite variance stable laws, which points out the doubtful role of the tail index estimate as evidence for the finiteness of moments. Based on an fQ-System for continuous unimodal distributions, introduced by Scheffner (1998) we derive an alternative condition for the existence of moments. An estimation algorithm for the fQ-parameters is proposed and an application to the 30 most busy German stocks shows that daily returns can be modeled as being at least approximately fQ-distributed with finite second moments.


A 2 (dress) × 2 (victim alcohol use) × 2 (perpetrator alcohol use) between subjects factorial design was used to investigate the influence of dress, alcohol use, and gender of participants on inferences made by college students (N = 430) about an alleged victim and perpetrator of a sexual assault. Whether being schematic on appearance moderated the influence of dress was also tested. Dress of the victim and alcohol use significantly influenced inferences of the alleged victim and the perpetrator. There was an interaction effect for dress, alcohol use, and gender on inferences concerning the perpetrator. Wearing body-revealing dress and alcohol use by the alleged victim were interpreted as a sign of the sexual interest of the victim. Alcohol use by the alleged perpetrator influenced inferences concerning the believability of his statements. Being schematic on appearance did not appear to moderate the influence of dress on participants' perceptions.


This chapter explores a number of issues related to analyzing second language (L2) sociopragmatic variation in a corpus of classroom-based synchronous computer-mediated discourse (SCMD) from a variationist sociolinguistic perspective. Building on our previous work in this area, we examine variation between the second-person pronouns tu and vous among US university learners of French at different instructional levels who engaged in a series of six small-group SCMD tasks.We have two main goals: (1) to explore whether, and to what extent, selected external (social) and internal (linguistic) factors influence learners' use of tu and vous ; and (2) to problematize the methodological and theoretical assumptions of the application of variationist sociolinguistics to L2 sociopragmatics and SCMD.


The present invention discloses a method of UE random access, said method in advance of the distance between the UE and the base station Node B sets the distance threshold value, and the increasing rate of the chip set high added value, comprising: the Node B measurements the distance of the UE, determining the distance value obtained when the distance is greater than a threshold value, high value added according to the set value Pd calculated propagation delay and sends the RNC; RNC receives from the Node B to the value of Pd, in accordance with the set high added value reported by the UE and determines the current distance of the interval between the Node B value Pd. The present invention also discloses a system for UE random access, comprising a Node B and the RNC. The method and system of the present invention may provide increased access to the radius, and can ensure the positioning accuracy from the Node B to a UE close.


Tomczak A., Zielińska-Dawidziak M., Piasecka-Kwiatkowska D., Lampart-Szczapa E. (2018): Blue lupine seeds protein content and amino acids composition. Plant Soil Environ., 64: 147–155. Lupine seeds are promising soy replacement in food products and feeds. Eighteen cultivars of blue lupine seeds were examined to indicate the one most favourable in protein content and quality. Two parameters were studied, i.e. total protein content (with the Kjeldahl method) and amino acids composition (with the ultra performance liquid chromatography technique). Both parameters studied were variable and depended both on the cultivar and on the place of cultivation. Protein content was in the range of 28–41% and the worst cultivar, regardless of cultivation place, was cv. Kalif (average total protein content 29.37 ± 1.14%), while the best cultivar was Boruta (average total protein content 37.43 ± 0.98%). The blue lupine seeds were rich especially in leucine (5.3 ± 0.5–9.7 ± 0.5 g/16 g N), threonine (2.4 ± 0.7–4.9 ± 0.1 g/16 g N) and lysine (2.7 ± 0.4–5.6 ± 0.1 g/16 g N). The richest among all amino acids studied were the cv. Bojar seeds from Wiatrowo and cv. Oskar from Przebędowo. It was not possible to choose one cultivar preferable from the nutritional point of view, because a strong influence of cultivation place on protein content and quality was observed, especially as to the precipitation sum.


During its recent 1999–2000 term on the UN Security Council, Canada performed as a major power and made a distinct impact both on procedural and substantive issues. Canada's activities on the Council stressed three principal themes, which had been articulated during the campaign for a Council seat: improving the Council's transparency and accountability; restoring the Council's leadership and credibility in international security operations; and promoting human security. Concerning transparency, Canada was able to get the Council to schedule more open meetings and to hold broader thematic debates, as well as expand consultations with non‐members and NGOs. Regarding leadership and credibility, under Canada's energetic leadership of the Angolan sanctions committee, sanctions against the Angolan rebels were significantly tightened, thereby helping to bring the long Angolan civil war to an end and improving UN sanctions regimes at large. With respect to human security, by scheduling frequent thematic debates,...


As the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation celebrates its 70th year, Ben Clements analyses evidence on the views of the British public towards the alliance. He finds that, over time, Britons have generally been consistent in supporting NATO. Public opinion towards NATO has been given added topicality in recent years for several reasons. First, worsening relations between NATO countries and Russia over Ukraine and more general tensions over aspects of international policy. Second, controversial pronouncements made by Donald Trump, including labelling NATO as 'obsolete' – a view which he subsequently renounced – and expressing firm views – also voiced by his predecessors using more diplomatic language – on the need for other members to increase their defence spending. Third, Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of the Labour Party has given rise to more scrutiny of his views on foreign and defence policy. But what does the British public think of NATO?


A rechargeable electronic apparatus such as a charging device analog electronic timepiece, the apparatus comprising at least an oscillation circuit, an output signal of a switching element controlled oscillation circuit depend on the switching element current having a predetermined frequency is applied to the charging thereto coil, and a pair of loop coils may be used for the electronic device disposed in the cartridge charging coil member, said charging coil is disposed on a coil yoke made of magnetic material. When using such a device, the design of the electronic device is not limited, and the functions of the device are not affected.


Every industry undergoes changes, but structural changes can abruptly and radically alter business for many fi rms in that industry. Identifying the substantial shifts in the green industry with regard to consumer spending can help the industry better understand its history. Using an econometric model of that same consumer spending data to look forward to the future can show fi rms what might lie ahead. We analyzed the personal consumption expenditures for two items measured by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis to identify structural breaks in the green industry. We then conducted an econometric forecast using that same data to predict future consumer spending projections to the year 2020. To accomplish this, we analyzed household expenditures for Tools (including gardening tools and equipment) and Plants (including seeds, fl owers, and plants) from 1959 to 2014. We identifi ed one industry structural break using the Schwarz criteria for Tools in 2006 and another one for Plants in 2007 and (separately) identifi ed four breaks using Bayesian Information criteria: one break for Tools in 2006 and three breaks in Plants in 1986, 2003, and 2008. The potential causes of these breaks are discussed (e.g. housing bubble, fi nancial market stress). Lastly, we employed an econometric model to forecast spending and show that it will grow from $65.15 and $86.52 in 2015 to $71.17 and $96.97, for Tools and Plants respectively, in 2020. cant events that change consumer spending can be better prepared for future events. This study investigated major potential changes in the green industry by analyzing household consumer spending on two items: horticultural Tools (including equipment) and Plants (including fl owers, seeds, and plants). This investi-gation sought to identify the timing of industry-changing events, called economic structural break points. Since 1959, one econometric analysis showed that one structural break point for Tools occurred in 2006 and one for Plants in 2007. A separate analysis showed the same break point for Tools in 2006 and three breaks for Plants with the fi rst one occurring in 1986, then 2003, and again in 2008. Our econometric model forecasts growth in consumer spending on Tools and Plants over the next fi ve years. While it is diffi cult to pinpoint the exact causes of structural break points, most often they result from an economic crisis. Events like credit issues or having too many fi rms that are highly leveraged can be an indication of impending structural breaks. Structural breaks occurring around recessionary periods normally cause lawn and gardening sales to fall since industry products tend to be discretionary goods by consumers (Hall, 2010). Structural changes around the most recent deep recession in 2008, showed that consumers reacted by cutting back lawn and garden-related expenditures signifi cantly. However, econometric models using that same data forecast with good reliability that household expenditures on Tools and Plants should both increase over the next fi ve years. This optimistic news should help provide confi dence to fi rms considering reasonable expansion in the coming fi ve years.


Depression is common, particularly among women of childbearing age, and can have far‐reaching negative consequences if untreated. Efficacious treatments are available, but little is known about how women make depression treatment decisions during pregnancy. The purpose of this narrative review is to interpretively synthesize literature on women's decision making (DM) regarding antidepressant use during pregnancy.


The paper briefly describes some essential theory of a numerical method based on domain embedding and boundary control to solve elliptic problems in complicated domains. A detailed account of this method along with many proofs and numerical results can be found in Badea and Daripa.


Enzymatic, covalent attachment of the Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO) protein to a substrate protein, SUMOylation, is a stress inducible post-translational modification conserved throughout eukaryotes. SUMO conjugation to proteins alters protein interactions, regulating signalling pathways in the cell, and modulating response. SUMO proteases process SUMO into its mature form as a prerequisite to conjugation, in addition to providing reversibility to the SUMOylation pathway by cleaving SUMO from substrate proteins.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a key hormone in propagating defense activation and signalling against biotrophic pathogens in plants. An investigation into the role of SUMO proteases OVERLY TOLERANT to SALT1 and -2 (OTS1 and -2) in SA regulation was performed using Arabidopsis thaliana mutants and transgenic over expressing lines. OTS1 and -2 were required for the restriction of SA biosynthesis and signalling in unchallenged plants. Further, SA treatment promoted OTS1 degradation and accumulation of SUMO conjugates, suggesting a positive relationship between SUMO conjugation and SA synthesis.

Mutants of the SUMO E3 ligase SAP and MIZ1 (SIZ1) possess reduced levels of SUMO conjugates whilst displaying elevated SA content and activated defenses. This apparent contradiction was investigated using single siz1 and triple ots1 ots2 siz1 mutants, which were found to possess comparable SA related phenotypes to the ots1 ots2 double mutant. Finally it was concluded that there is more to the regulation between SA biosynthesis and SUMOylation than the presence or absence of SUMOylated proteins, and further, that promotion of SUMO conjugates by SA may facilitate modulation of other signalling pathways.


Objective To explore the expression levels of serum insulin(INS),insulin-like growth factor-I(IGF-Ⅰ)and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3)in the patients with endometrial cancer and to discuss the clinical significance.Methods The serum levels of INS,IGF-Ⅰ and IGFBP-3 were determined by electro-chemiluminometry and immunoradiometricassay in 30 patients with endometrial cancer and 20 cases of health.Results The expression levels of INS in endometrial cancer group(158.06±47.82)were significantly higher than that of health group(57.30±33.21)(P0.01),but the IGF-Ⅰ and IGFBP-3 levels were not significantly difference in tow groups(P0.05).the serum levels of INS,IGF-Ⅰ and IGFBP-3 in the different stages of the cancer were of no significant difference(P0.05).Conclusion High serum INS levels were associated with oncogenesis of endometrial cancer and the detection of INS may be found the risk people for endometrial cancer.


After a long tradition of distance from state legality, over the last couple of decades various marginalised groups in Latin America have been turning to law and the courts in the hope that they will provide the social justice that the regular political system has systematically denied them. Encouraged by the compelling rhetoric of the human rights-based constitutionalism now prevalent in transnational legal academia — and helped logistically by a dense network of international non-governmental organisations — these segments of society have been betting on the sort of judicially triggered social transformation exemplified by the US 'Warren Court' and the European Court of Human Rights. This remarkable turn to state law by Latin Americans owes much to the reconciliation of law and justice accomplished by the international human rights movement and a 'new constitutionalism' that prescribes an activist role of the courts in the promotion of social justice. Confronted with this new scenario, questions arise concerning the real potential of this new shift to law by marginalised groups in countries of the South. In this article, I address this issue through the study of the treatment by the Chilean courts of incarcerated people's rights since the return to democracy. The analysis suggests that, even in a country with a highly consolidated democratic rule of law, the turn to the judiciary can be very frustrating. In fact, the passivity of the Chilean courts before flagrant violations of the human rights of the inmates in the country's gaols seem to confirm the notion that the turn to courts can only be a first step — one that ought to be accompanied by social and political mobilisation.


Aerial photograph of Petone, Lower Hutt, looking east over railway lines, factories, houses, and the foreshore. Photographed on the 20th of March 1952 by Whites Aviation.
Quantity: 1 b&w original negative(s).


The author reviews current thought about life originating in hyperthermophilic microorganisms. Hyperthermophiles obtain food from chemosynthesis of sulfur and have an RNA nucleotide sequence different from bacteria and eucarya. It is postulated that a hyperthermophile may be the common ancestor of all life. Current research efforts focus on the synthesis of organic compounds in hydrothermal systems.


In this chapter we shall see how concentration may come about naturally on the one hand, and as a result of organized practice on the other. The end result is identical in the two cases: the mind is concentrated and fit to be used for carrying out close introspection. One thing must be noticed, however: the intensity of concentration that comes about naturally is usually sufficient and appropriate for introspection and insight, whereas the concentration resulting from organized training is usually excessive, more than can be made use of. Furthermore, misguided satisfaction with that highly developed concentration may result. While the mind is fully concentrated, it is likely to be experiencing such a satisfying kind of bliss and well being that the meditator may become attached to it, or imagine it to be the Fruit of the Path. Naturally occurring concentration, which is sufficient and suitable for use in introspection, is harmless, having none of the disadvantages inherent in concentration developed by means of intensive training.


Durable broadband antireflection (AR) coatings remain an ongoing challenge for plastic optics used in a wide range of applications. Here, we show that glancing angle deposition of a commercial fluoropolymer can be used to fabricate extremely durable ultralow index AR coatings that reduce the solar spectrum-averaged (400<λ<1600  nm) reflectance of acrylic and polycarbonate plastic to <1% over a wide range of incidence angles up to ∼40°. The coatings feature strong adhesion and exhibit outstanding resistance to heat, humidity, dirt, ultraviolet light, outdoor exposure, solvents, acids, bases, abrasion, and repeated bend/compression cycling. They are successfully applied to f/1 curved lens surfaces as well as acrylic Fresnel lenses, where coating both sides increases the solar spectrum-averaged transmittance from 92% to 98%. These results represent a significant development for plastic optics commonly used in solar concentrators as well as more generally for broadband AR applications that demand extreme environmental, chemical, and mechanical durability.


This study examines the impact of performance pay on teacher selection. I exploit a shift toward performance pay in Wisconsin induced by the enactment of Act 10, which gave school districts autonomy to redesign their compensation schemes. Following the law, half of Wisconsin school districts eliminated salary schedules and started negotiating pay with individual teachers based on performance. Comparing the quantity of teaching degrees in Wisconsin institutions before and after Act 10, and relative to those in similar states, I find that Act 10 led to a 20 percent increase in teaching degrees. This effect was entirely driven by selective universities.


SUMMARY
Reciprocal root: shoot grafts of Vigna angularis, Vigna mungo, Vigna radiata and Vigna umbellata were used to study the effects of root and shoot genotype and Rhizobium strain on growth, nodulation and nitrogen uptake of plants grown with nitrogen-free nutrient solution in sand culture.

There were large and significant effects of root genotype, shoot genotype and Rhizobium strain on plant and nodule characters. Interaction effects were invariably small.

Effects of both shoot and root genotype on total nodule activity and nitrogen fixation appeared to be due to effects on nodule fresh wt, while those of Rhizobium strain were associated primarily with specific nodule activity. It is suggested that shoot genotype differences in nodule fresh wt arose because of differences in leaf area. Some implications for genetic manipulation of the symbiosis in the Vigna species are discussed.


The Benedictines played an important part in the development of medicine in England between 1066 and 1215. In pre-conquest England, the care of the sick had been based upon little more than the practices of Anglo-Saxon leeches which were largely founded upon superstition. Botany had become a drug list and medicine had deteriorated into little more than a collection of formulae. After the Norman conquest, chiefly through the influence of Benedictine scholars from the continent, medical learning in England began to be based upon the writings of the ancient world. These included not only the works of Galen and Hippocrates but also anonymous medical treatises in Latin such as the De Modo Medendi.


Shakespeare's work is usually presented in a literary context, while wider aspects of English Renaissance culture are ignored. Using illustrations of contemporary paintings, drawings, tomb sculptures and buildings to illuminate a discussion of Shakespeare's theatre, the reader is given an idea of how the plays would have been set, staged and costumed.


Abstract This article contrasts the instrumental-value approach, extensionist approach, and biocentric approach to environmental ethics with the Buddhist approach of Daisaku Ikeda in terms of their meaning for wildlife conservation. I argue that both anthropocentric and biocentric approaches create a false dichotomy between humans and nature and are not helpful to modern wildlife conservation, which aims to balance the needs of people with the conservation of nature. The views of Daisaku Ikeda, in particular the principle of dependent origination and the theory of the oneness of life and its environment, constitute one alternative approach that does not separate humans from the natural world but places people within the web of all living things.


Aims: The aim of this investigation was to develop a methodology that provides insights to clean up environmental pollution caused by the ever increasing amount of waste plastic materials. The procedure, however, would be practical whenever it is economically advantageous. Thermal cracking of laboratory safety glove (LSG), without catalyst, to Original Research Article British Journal of Applied Science & Technology, 4(6): 967-1019, 2014 968 useful chemicals is an important part of this research which is reported here. Study Design: To design the experimental procedure, we primarily concentrated on the thermal stability of the LSG by bearing in mind the results of thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Based on such results the appropriate set-up for the decomposition of the LSG was designed. Place and Duration of Study: The study was done in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences at South Carolina State University (SCSU), Orangeburg, SC, USA, during the summer of 2013. Methodology: The thermal cracking process without catalyst was used to convert LSGs into useful liquid and solid chemicals. The LSGs were pushed into the reactor one by one without cutting. Prior to pyrolysis, the thermal stability of materials were determined by thermo gravimetric analysis (from 50oC to 800oC) with a heating rate of 10oC/min while the samples were purged with 10 mL/min argon. The condensed liquids were analyzed by a Shimadzu GC-MS model GCMS-QP 2010s using helium as the mobile phase. Results: The thermal stability of the LSG both powdered and powder-free was very similar as was expected since it depended on the nature of constituent polymers. The highest decomposition rates were observed at temperatures around 410oC. The 15% leftover of the powder-free LSG were less than leftover of powered LSG (30%) at 500oC, in the same way the 18% leftover ashes of powdered LSG was higher than 7% ashes of powdered free LSG at 800oC. The GC-MS chromatogram of pyrolysis liquids indicated over 350 chemicals. The most abundant compound of pyrolysis was HCl, as was expected from the chemical constituents of chlorinated plastics, followed with eight member carbon isomers. Also, a variety of phthalic acid derivatives with high concentration were recognized in all samples. Conclusion: The liquids obtained from pyrolysis of LSGs were a complex mixture of hydrocarbons and cyclic compounds. Also, the liquids were saturated with inorganic and organic acids, esters and anhydrides. Therefore, the refinement of liquids resulting from pyrolysis is of necessity to obtain a quality fuel. Also, the condensed liquids contained highly reactive chemicals such as acids, alcohols and alkene, which made them unsuitable fuel for internal combustion engines prior to refinement.


Smartphones are mobile devices that travel with their owners and provide increasingly powerful services. The software implementing these services must conserve battery power since smartphones may operate for days without being recharged. It is hard, however, to design smartphone software that minimizes power consumption. For example, multiple layers of abstractions and middleware sit between an application and the hardware, which make it hard to predict the power consumption of a potential application design accurately. Application developers must therefore wait until after implementation (when changes are more expensive) to determine the power consumption characteristics of a design. This paper provides three contributions to the study of applying model-driven engineering to analyze power consumption early in the lifecycle of smartphone applications. First, it presents a model-driven methodology for accurately emulating the power consumption of smartphone application architectures. Second, it describes the System Power Optimization Tool (SPOT), which is a model-driven tool that automates power consumption emulation code generation and simplifies analysis. Third, it empirically demonstrates how SPOT can estimate power consumption to within ∼3-4% of actual power consumption for representative smartphone applications.


We present astrometric measurements of binary stars based on speckle observations of 164 independent sequences of observations (∼104 frames each) made with the PISCO speckle camera at Pic du Midi. These measurements concern 147 objects, of which 134 were found to be double with a separation in the range 0.″1-1.″0. These objects were mainly selected among grade 3 orbits to improve the accuracy of their orbits and to constrain their masses. We discovered the binarity of 59 Aql with an angular separation of 0.″09 ± 0.″01.


This paper describes how to calculate the principal thermal neutron parameters of rocks. The parameters of interest are: absorption cross section, diffusion length and diffusion coefficient. The results obtained for the test pits show the importance of having experimental information on the rock matrix absorption cross section. Without this data any calculation of the rock thermal neutron diffusion parameters is almost meaningless, since any trace elements present in the rock matrix but not identified in a routine elemental analysis may give a very significant contribution to the rock absorption cross section and hence to the rest of the thermal neutron diffusion parameters. The method of computating the accuracy, with which all these parameters can be known for a given rock, is also presented in the paper. This accuracy is, to a first approximation, defined by the accuracy with which the hydrogen content in the rock elementary volume is known and by the accuracy of the rock matrix absorption cross section measurements


This is an extract from a major paper, "Operational and Training Aspects of ARPA Technology." It is mainly concerned with the generation and use of digital map overlays appearing on the radar PPI.


Abstract The purpose of this study is to explain the financial performance of companies in Latin America through the lens of capital structure and ownership structure. We perform a quantitative analysis of companies in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru using a panel data method. To avoid endogeneity problems, instrumental variables, generalised method of moments models, and panels with random effects are employed. The data cover the period 2000 to 2015. We find a positive relationship between financial performance, growth, and size of the company. However, there are mixed results for short- and long-term financial leverage, as well as for company liquidity. With respect to the ownership structure of Chilean companies, a positive effect is observed for the first major shareholder with financial performance. In general, our results are in line with those of previous studies. However, the existence of mixed results between companies and countries makes for an interesting and novel conclusion.