Search

Terminal invariance sufficient conditions for nonlinear dynamical stochastic controllable systems of diffusion-jump type are proposed. These conditions have no analogues in the world literature. Both perturbation invariance conditions (for a fixed initial point) and absolute invariance conditions (ensuring that the terminal criterion takes a constant value for any initial data) are formulated.

Nonlinear equations arise frequently while modeling chemistry, physics, economy and engineering problems. In this paper, a new iterative approach for finding a solution of a nonlinear equations system (NLES) is presented by applying a linearization technique. The proposed approach is based on computational method that converts NLES into a linear equations system by using Taylor series expansion at the chosen arbitrary nonnegative initial point. Using the obtained solution of the linear equations system, a linear programming (LP) problem is constructed by considering the equations as constraints and minimizing the objective function constructed as the summation of balancing variables. At the end of the presented algorithm, the exact solution of the NLES is obtained. The performance of the proposed approach has been demonstrated by considering different numerical examples from literature.

In this paper, we first propose a linearized method for solving the tensor complementarity problem. The subproblems of the method can be solved by solving linear complementarity problems with a constant matrix. We show that if the initial point is appropriately chosen, then the generated sequence of iterates converges to a solution of the problem monotonically. We then propose a lower-dimensional equation method and establish its monotone convergence. The subproblems of the method are lower-dimensional systems of linear equations. At last, we do numerical experiments to test the proposed methods. The results show the efficiency of the proposed methods.

The first prose piece by Alexander Bestuzhev Journey to Revel is traditionally considered in the context of literary travelogues and compared with Nikolai Karamzin’s Letters of the Russian Traveler and Dupaty’s Lettres sur l’Italie en 1785. This article offers a reinterpretation of Journey to Revel. The outset of the story is connected with Bestuzhev’s article published in the magazine "Syn Otechestva" (1818). The style of Journey to Revel is considered to be the result of various infl uences, the key one being the orientation on the oral speech and the influence of its individual style on Bestuzhev’s works. In the novel, he designed a specific style, that became his distinctive mark and was given a special name.

The legal effects of the use of artificial intelligence algorithms need to be assessed not only at the level of national law, but also at the level of private international law. The initial point of assessment is to determine the law applicable to legal events related to artificial intelligence. The conflict of laws analysis of artificial intelligence also allows to expand the knowledge about traditional private international law institutions, such as ordre public clause. The paper does not pretend to fully explain the issue of conflict of laws of artificial intelligence. Its aim is to make a preliminary verification of the conflict-of-laws methods based of existing instruments. The study aims to start an academic discussion on artificial intelligence in the context of the conflicts of law. It is important as legal events related to artificial intelligence algorithms are characterized by considerable complexity.

The aim of this article is to present the correct version of the main theorem 3.2 given in Guo and Duff (2011), concerning the semi-local convergence analysis of the Newton-HSS (NHSS) method for solving systems of nonlinear equations. Our analysis also includes the corrected upper bound on the initial point.

Digital self-harm encompasses a variety of activities, including the use of social media to facilitate or amplify mental illness-related behaviors. To understand the extent of these behaviors and their impacts, we conducted an in-depth case study with three patients who are in recovery from an eating disorder. We collected survey data, conducted interviews reflecting back to their technology use during their active disease state, and reviewed up to 18 months of their social media data leading up to the start of their initial point of recovery. Through the triangulation of this data, we explore the role of social media and social technologies in relation to their eating disorder. By utilizing this methodology, we were able to provide a contextually rich and nuanced lens for exploring the impacts of digital self-harm on this group of patients. We found that patients acknowledged that the eating disordered content on social media had a negative impact on their health, often contributing to a worsening of the physical manifestations of their disorder. Conversely, while they actively consumed this content, our participants did not produce online content related to eating disordered activities or behaviors. Finally, we discuss the patterns within their social media data and how platform designers and operators could use these findings in the future through design considerations for future platform-based interventions.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to borrow from a limited resource view of job embeddedness to argue that ethical leadership can hurt salespeople’s growth of sales performance by a latent growth model. Design/methodology/approach This work surveyed 825 salespeople in Greater China at three points over six months to test the latent growth model. Findings The findings reveal that as salespeople perceive more ethical leadership at the initial point, they may show more increases in job embeddedness behavior development that lead to decreases in social capital and human capital behavior development, which consequently decreases sales performance over time. Originality/value These findings unearth a novel idea that ethical leadership may erode growth of sales performance over time.

Sepsis is one of the most deadly and costly diseases. The Emergency Department (ED) is the initial point of care for most patients who become hospitalized due to sepsis. Quantifying the accuracy of ED clinician forecasting regarding patients’ clinical trajectories and outcomes can provide insight into clinical decision making and inform sepsis management.

Hyers–Ulam stability of the sequence { z n } n ∈ N satisfying the difference equation z n + 1 = g ( z n ) where g ( z ) = a z + b c z + d with complex numbers a, b, c and d is defined. Let g be loxodromic Mobius map, that is, g satisfies that a d − b c = 1 and a + d ∈ C ∖ [ − 2 , 2 ] . Hyers–Ulam stability holds if the initial point of { z n } n ∈ N is in the exterior of avoided region, which is the union of the certain disks of g − n ( ∞ ) for all n ∈ N .

This paper shows that the generalized eigenvalues of a symmetric positive matrix pair can be computed efficiently under more general hypothesises by the proposed recurrent neural network (RNN) in Liu et al. (2008). More precisely, it is proved that based on more general hypothesises, the state solution of the proposed RNN converges to the generalized eigenvector of symmetric positive pair, and its related generalized eigenvalue depends on the initial point of the state solution. Furthermore, the related largest and smallest generalized eigenvalues can also be obtained by the proposed RNN. Some related numerical experiments are also presented to illustrate our results.

This work is belonging to K-means clustering algorithms classifier is used with this algorithm to classified data and Min Max normalization technique also used is to enhance the results of this work over simply K- Means algorithm. K-means algorithm is a clustering algorithm and basically used for discovering the cluster within a dataset. Here cancer dataset is used for this research work and dataset is classified in two categories – Cancer and Non-Cancer, after execution of the implemented algorithm with SVM and Normalization technique. The initial point selection effects on the results of the algorithm, both in the number of clusters found and their centroids. In this work enhance the k-means clustering algorithm methods are discussed. This technique helps to improve efficiency, accuracy, performance and computational time. Some enhanced variations improve the efficiency and accuracy of algorithm. The main of all methods is to decrees the number of iterations which will less computational time. K-means algorithm in clustering is most popular technique which is widely used technique in data mining. Various enhancements done on K-mean are collected, so by using these enhancements one can build a new proposed algorithm which will be more efficient, accurate and less time consuming than the previous work. More focus of this studies is to decrease the number of iterations which is less time consuming and second one is to gain more accuracy using normalization technique overall belonging to improve time and accuracy than previous studies.

Flow liquefaction will cause the sudden failure of loose sand specimens when they are subjected to stress-controlled cyclic loading in undrained triaxial tests, and thus few data points can be obtained during this process. To overcome this problem and conduct a detailed investigation of the flow liquefaction behaviours, a two-staged loading method was proposed, in which stress-controlled cyclic loading was switched to strain-controlled monotonic loading after reaching the initial point of the last cycle (IPLC) in undrained cyclic triaxial tests on flow liquefaction. The characteristics of the IPLC were first investigated through a series of undrained triaxial tests, and then a linear relationship between the excess pore water pressure (EPWP) ratio at the IPLC and the cyclic stress ratio (CSR) was obtained for predicting the location of the IPLC. The verification testing results proved that the relationship can predict the IPLC accurately, which makes it possible to switch the loading mode at the right point and make a detailed investigation of the flow liquefaction behaviours of loose sand.

A solution to the power flow problem is imperative for many power system applications and several iterative approaches are employed to achieve this objective. However, the chance of finding a solution is dependent on the choice of the initial point because of the non- convex feasibility region of this problem. In this paper, a non-iterative approach that leverages a convexified relaxed power flow problem is employed to verify the existence of a feasible solution. To ensure the scalability of the proposed convex relaxation, the problem is formulated as a sparse semi-definite programming problem. The variables associated with each maximal clique within the network form several positive semidefinite matrices. Perturbation and network reconfiguration schemes are employed to improve the tightness of the proposed convex relaxation in order to validate the existence of a feasible solution for the original non-convex problem. Multiple case studies including an ill-conditioned power flow problem are examined to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach to find a feasible solution.

Purpose of ReviewSuperficial siderosis (SS) of the nervous system is often due to a dural pathology. This review focuses on recent developments related to the management of this subgroup of patients with SS.Recent FindingsThe presence of an epidural ventral spinal fluid collection in patients with SS is a clue to the presence of a diskogenic dural defect. The location of the defect is ascertained by a dynamic CT myelogram, which involves placing the patient in a prone position with hips elevated. This permits gravity-assisted preferential ventral localization of the contrast and active scanning during contrast injection facilitates a precise delineation of the initial point of contrast extravasation which localizes the defect.SummaryDiskogenic dural defects are commonly the underlying etiology for SS in patients with a ventral spinal fluid collection. A dynamic CT myelogram facilitates detection and subsequent repair of these defects, which arrests the continued low-grade subarachnoid bleeding.

Background: Clostridioides difficile, as the main cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalised patients, is a considerable challenge for medical personnel (hospital environment) who have direct contact with the patient, as well as being of interest to public health specialists. Financial issues related to the occurrence of the above-mentioned micro-organism are being increasingly raised. Due to the scale of the phenomenon, we are beginning to pay attention to the significant system costs caused by the diagnosis and treatment of CDI infection and its complications. Studies indicate that the nosocomial infection of C. difficile complicates hospitalisation, by increasing the cost by more than half and extending patient’s stay by an average of 3.6 days. Material and methods: The aim of this study was to attempt to calculate the estimated costs associated with the prolonged hospitalisation of patients with nosocomial CDI infection, using the example of a hospital in Lodz. A total of 53 completed hospitalisations of patients treated in the period of January–August 2018 were analysed, during which hospital Clostridioides difficile infection was identified. For the purposes of this study, statistical data collected in the hospital’s IT system were also analysed, covering 44,868 hospitalisations in the Jan–Aug 2018 period, during which no hospital infection occurred. They was a control group, in which the analysed cases were compared. The obtained data in the study determined how long each patient with Clostridioides difficile infection stayed in the hospital (from the moment infection was diagnosed until the day of hospital discharge), and which diagnosis related groups (DRG) (according to National Health Fund guidelines) were assigned. The average length of patient stay without infection within a given DRG group in each hospital ward was also determined. The collected materials became the initial point for the final analysis of hospital costs and the length of hospital stay caused by Clostridioides difficile infection. Results: Clostridioides difficile infection extended the hospital stay by an average of almost 12 days. The average cost of prolonged hospitalisation due to CDI infection (according to the average cost per person-day) was about PLN 7148 (1664 EUR), which gave a total value of about PLN 378,860.6 (88,240.5 EUR) in the examined period. At the same time, the average expenditure from the National Health Fund for hospitalisation due to CDI infections increased by about PLN 6627 (1542.8 EUR), which in the analysed period translated into over PLN 351,232.0 (81,505.5 EUR) (according to settlements with the National Health Fund). The outcome indicates that there is a clear relation between CDI and the anticipated length of hospitalisation of patients without an infection.

The current state of human health and ecological risk assessment at contaminated sites impacted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances is constantly evolving as our understanding of exposure and toxicity of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances continues to develop. Site-specific risk assessments primarily aim to understand the potential for human health and ecological risks that may occur at the point of releases, as well as potential human health and ecological risks that may occur off-site as a result of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances transport away from the initial point of release. This chapter provides an overview of human health and wildlife exposure pathways at per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances contaminated sites, and for each pathway discusses the state of knowledge of drivers for risk-based management of contaminated sites, the screening levels available for site media, as well as site investigation and risk assessment tools for the exposure pathways. The chapter concludes with a discussion of data gaps resulting in uncertainty in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances risk assessment to provide insight into possible prioritization of data analyses needed to support to risk assessment for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

Background: Funeral professionals offer a unique opportunity to support, educate, and advocate for grieving families after the death of a child. From the initial point of contact to the burial, funeral professionals shape the final moments and memories of a family and a community. And yet, little is known about the needs of funeral professionals to provide high quality services when a child dies. Objectives: To conduct a needs assessment among funeral professionals in conducting funeral services for children. Methods: Active National Funeral Directors Association members were surveyed on their experience and needs in providing pediatric funeral services. The survey contained 41 questions about experience, skills, and knowledge in providing pediatric funerals. The survey included multiple choice, yes/no, and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics were generated from the survey items and comments/open-ended questions were coded and assessed for themes. Results: More than 200 responses were received. The respondents conducted 43 pediatric funeral services in a 5-year period (approx. 8 services/year). The top 5 self-identified training needs included grieving parents, grieving siblings, memorials, comforting the community, and outreach. Themes from the open-ended questions were (a) maintaining professionalism, (b) managing emotions and experiences, (c) assessing family dynamics, (d) managing professional skills, and (e) building collaborative networks. Conclusions: Specific training needs were identified that will inform the development of targeted training for funeral professionals to improve their skills and knowledge of pediatric funeral services.

The work seeks to analyze the right to water, while human right, from the process of reivindication for that natural resource in the context of privatizations of the 2000’s in Bolivia, also known as Guerra Del Agua, the repercussions of this conflict in the bolivian constituent process, as well as the recognition of the water while Human Right in the internacional plan. From the dialectical historical materialist method, we sought to perceive how the historical construction of the right to water while human right happened, having as initial point not the normative synthesis produced on that right, but the social conflict that generated this debate, perceiving which are the new theoretical and legal paradigms around the water in the bolivian constituent process. It’s possible to conclude that the right to water borns of the concrete struggle of subaltern classes or fractions of these, and that their materialization, on the other side, it’s also conditioned to the potencial for claiming such masses.

Variation potential (VP) is an important long-distance electrical signal in higher plants that is induced by local damages, influences numerous physiological processes, and participates in plant adaptation to stressors. The transmission of increased hydraulic pressure through xylem vessels is the probable mechanism of VP propagation in plants, however, the rates of the pressure transmission and VP propagation can strongly vary. We analyzed this problem on the basis of a simple mathematical model of the pressure distribution along a xylem vessel, which was approximated by a tube with a pressure gradient. It is assumed that the VP is initiated if the integral over pressure is more than a threshold one, taking into account that the pressure is transiently increased in the initial point of the tube and is kept constant in the terminal point. It was shown that this simple model can well describe the parameters of VP propagation in higher plants, including the increase in time before VP initiation and the decrease in the rate of VP propagation with an increase in the distance from the zone of damage. Considering three types of the pressure dynamics, our model predicts that the velocity of VP propagation can be stimulated by an increase in the length of a plant shoot and also depends on pressure dynamics in the damaged zone. Our results theoretically support the hypothesis about the impact of pressure variations in xylem vessels on VP propagation.

Generally, spectral clustering (SC) includes two steps. First, the similarity matrix is obtained from the original data, then perform k-means clustering based on the similarity matrix. For k-means algorithm, the choice of initial clustering center limits its clustering performance. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an improved spectral clustering algorithm based on tissue-like P system, called ISCTP. It replaces k-means algorithm in spectral clustering with k-means++ to improve the arbitrariness of initial point selection. k-means algorithm needs to artificially determine the initial clustering center, different clustering centers may lead to completely different results. While k-means++ can effectively refine this disadvantage, the basic idea of k-means++ is that the distance of different clustering centers should be as far as possible. In addition, we combine k-means++ with the tissue-like P system that has unique extremely parallel nature and can greatly improves the efficiency of the algorithm. The experimental results of UCI and artificial datasets prove the effectiveness of our proposed method.

The remarkable progress in nanotechnology has significantly augmented the utilization of nanoscaled (≤100 nm) nanomaterials (NMs) in wide range of products. Titanium dioxide NPs (TiO2-NPs) are the most commonly used NMs among all that are unabatedly used in a variety of industrial and consumer products. This demand-based excessive production and application of TiO2-NPs ultimately lead way to their release in the environment which causes potential risks to environmental components and their functioning. Plants, being the primary component of any ecosystem, are the initial point for the NPs’ interaction that is requisite feature for risk assessment. Researchers over the globe have observed that these NPs pose both detrimental and beneficial effects on plants; however, these impacts are determined by their mode of interaction depending on experimental conditions. Besides, due to their photocatalytic and growth-promoting activities, researchers are paying attention on developing some TiO2-NP-based formulations so that they can be used in agriculture to improve crop yield and quality and also to protect plants from various pests and pathogens. It is reported that TiO2-NPs also improve the plant performance under various abiotic stresses. Under the light of current knowledge, this chapter provides an overview of TiO2-NPs, their interactions, i.e., uptake, translocation and accumulation with plants, feedback of plants at different levels (viz. morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular) with an overview on intrinsic mechanism of TiO2-NPs detoxification within plants. Eventually, it gives a brief knowledge on application of TiO2-NPs in agriculture as growth boosters and protecting agents against various biotic and abiotic stresses.

L.A. Syuzyumova, syuzyumovala@gmail.com South Ural State University, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation. Сюзюмова Людмила Анатольевна, аспирант кафедры безопасности жизнедеятельности, Южно-Уральский государственный университет, г. Челябинск, syuzyumovala@gmail.com. In a modernized economy, there is an increased need for quality training of company's chief executives with a high level of professional flexibility. The aim of this study is to identify sociohistorical and theoretical-pedagogical preconditions for the formation and development of this quality in chief executives. This study analyses baseline data for further structuring and improving educational practices for professional flexibility formation. The understanding of the pedagogical assistance issue of professional flexibility formation of company's chief executives is based on a retrospective analysis. The historical retrospective is established on the following research subjects: “supplementary adult education”; “professional flexibility”; “pedagogical facilitation”; “targeting company's chief executives”. Representing the historiography of the problem the author reveals three historical periods: the 1st one is from the beginning of the 60s to the end of the 80s of the XX century; the 2nd period is from the end of the 80s of the XX century to the beginning of the 2000s; the 3rd period is from the beginning of the 2000 up to the present. The period before the 1960s is regarded as a preparatory one. It created social, scientific, and practical conditions for pedagogical assistance to the development of professional flexibility among company's chief executives. В условиях современной экономической ситуации растет потребность в качественном обучении руководителей с высоким уровнем профессиональной гибкости. Цель данного исследования выявить социально-исторические и теоретико-педагогические предпосылки становления и развития данной проблемы. В исследовании анализируются исходные данные для дальнейшего структурирования и совершенствования образовательной практики с целью развития профессиональной гибкости у руководителей. Проблема педагогического содействия развитию профессиональной гибкости у руководителей высшего звена анализируется с помощью ретроспективного анализа. Были идентифицированы четыре содержательных компонента исследования: «дополнительное образование взрослых»; «формирование профессиональной гибкости»; «педагогическое содействие»; «актуальность роли руководителя», которые рассматриваются в аспекте исторического развития. Представляя историографию проблемы, автор выделяет ряд периодов. Выявлены исторические периоды развития проблемы развитию профессиональной гибкости у руководителей: 1-й – с начала 60-х годов до конца 80-х годов ХХ века; 2-й – с конца 80-х годов ХХ века до начала 2000-х годов; 3-й – с начала 2000-х годов до настоящего времени. Период до 1960-х годов считается подготовительным. Он создал социальные, научные и практические условия для педагогического содействия развитию профессиональной гибкости руководителей.

The purpose of this chapter is to prove the convergence of the algorithm. It is shown that the evolution of the maximum distance among the trial points and the local trial points tend to zero. For continuous and lower bounded functions, the two-level random search algorithm is convergent to a point for which the function value is smaller or equal to the value of the minimizing function in the initial point.

With the emergence, in the early mid-nineteenth century, of the first passenger steam train came the demand for distinguished railway stations. By the mid-twentieth century, rail technology incited the first move towards “Station Renaissance”. In today’s world, the rapid evolution of high-speed rail transport has completely transformed stations from “functional” transport facilities to specialised, multifunctional transportation mega-hubs. This paper aims to study the development of railway stations relative to their commercialisation and privatisation following the conception of the high-speed rail. Three case studies were selected: the Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Germany), the Osaka-Umeda Station (Japan) and the Habibganj Railway Station (India). These are analysed sequentially from an initial point in early twentieth-century developments to the late twentieth-century “Station Renaissance”—and, eventually, to present-day mega-developments.

Let \(X\subset \mathbb {A}^2\) be a divisor of degree d, which we will call from now on an affine plane curve of degree d. We will use coordinates (x, y) in \(\mathbb {A}^2\) hence X has equation of the form \(f(x,y)=0\). Let \(P=(a,b)\) be a point of X, consider the expansion of f in Taylor series with initial point P, which is $$ f=f_1+\cdots +f_d $$ with \(f_i\) homogeneous of degree i in \(x-a,x-b\), for \(i=1,\ldots , d\).

The use of telemedicine for provider-to-provider consultations can expedite high-quality care and streamline the process of obtaining orthopedic expertise by transferring expertise rather than transferring people. Obtaining real-time orthopedic expertise at the initial point of contact is rarely possible. PCPs (primary care physicians) can send the request asynchronously to a specialist, who can then review the pertinent clinical information and document their opinion. This chapter will focus on provider-to-provider telehealth consultations in the United States. The legal framework is improving as the federal government, states, providers, and patients push for more access to high-quality care.

espanolLa investigacion en emprendimiento esta evolucionando mas que nunca (Carlsson et al., 2013). Como una linea de investigacion que esta ganando cada vez mas atencion, es imperativo entenderla mas profundamente, dada la relevancia del emprendimiento, el emprendedor y las empresas en la economia global actual y bajo una lente multidimensional. A traves de una extensa revision de la literatura, se realizo una vision exploratoria de su perspectiva evolutiva, tomando como punto de partida aquella darwiniana, donde se encontro la falta de un marco formal y, por tanto, se propone un modelo teorico tridimensional (Emprendimiento, Emprendedor y Empresa, EEE) para su estudio, donde el contexto multidimensional y la participacion que generalmente tiene la familia influyen en las relaciones ida y vuelta e iterativas que aparecen entre las dimensiones y que estan influenciadas por la perspectiva evolutiva. Los resultados sugieren que existe un gran interes en la academia en esta vision evolutiva, una necesidad de explorar mas este enfoque, teorica y empiricamente bajo las relaciones que el modelo propone entre las diversas lineas de investigacion en emprendimiento, empresa familiar, economia y teoria de la empresa, ecologia de la poblacion y la eleccion estrategica, asi como en el propio emprendedor y en su cognicion y aprendizaje emprendedor, para desarrollar estrategias y politicas publicas que apoyen a las empresas y al ecosistema emprendedor. EnglishEntrepreneurship research is evolving more than ever (Carlsson et al., 2013). As a research stream that is gaining more and more attention, it is imperative to understand it more deeply, given the relevance of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship, and businesses in today’s global economy, and under a multidimensional lens. Through an extensive literature review, an exploratory view of its evolutionary perspective was made, from a Darwinian initial point, where the lack of a formal framework was found and therefore a 3-dimensional theoretical model (Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneur and Firm, EEF) is proposed for its study, where the multidimensional context and the involvement that the family generally has, influence the back and forth and iterative relationships that appear between the dimensions, and that is influenced by the evolutionary perspective. The results suggest that there is great interest in the academic field in this evolutionary view, a need to further explore this approach, theoretically and empirically under the relationships the model proposed among the various lines of research in entrepreneurship, family business, economics, and firm theory, population ecology, and strategic choice, as well as in the entrepreneur himself and its entrepreneurial cognition and learning, to develop strategies and public policies that support the organizations and the various stakeholders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

INTRODUCTION: Identification of dental implant types can be a complex process for inexperienced health care professionals. Dental implants can have subtle differences in their morphology, which make it difficult to distinguish them from one another The unique appearance of dental anatomy and the placement of custom restorations ensure accurate identification of bodies or human remains when radiographic techniques are correctly applied. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To develop a radiographic dental implant guide for ten common dental implant types currently used in the Western Cape, South Africa; using their morphological characteristics observed on pantomographs. DESIGN: The methodology considered for this research study was a positivist approach through a quantitative, exploratory, non-experimental research design. METHODS: Ten commonly used dental implants were radiographed at straight tube (ST), off-centre (OC) and severe off-centre (SOC) angles to create a reference instrument Two reviewers used the morphologies of the different dental implant types, namely the apex, thread and neck, observed on ante-mortem pantomographs, and compared it to the appearance of the dental implants in the reference instrument to make a positive identification match. The straight tube image of all ten dental implant types in the reference instrument was used as the initial point of reference to positively identify the morphological characteristics of each dental implant type on the pantomographs. RESULTS: A total of 380 dental implants could be identified on 105 pantomographs reviewed. Of the 380 dental implants, 350 dental implants (91%) were identified as dental implant types listed in the reference instrument while 30 dental implants were identified as another type of dental implant type not listed in the reference instrument A total of 208 dental implants (54.2%) could be positively identified on the ante-mortem pantomographs using the straight tube images in the reference instrument. The morphological characteristics of the dental implant types were described using x-ray imaging of dental implants. The ten commonly used dental implants types could be positively identified by two independent reviewers and based on this a radiographic dental implant guide was developed. CONCLUSION: Each dental implant type had unique morphological characteristics as well as similarities which enabled distinction between the different dental implant types. The dental implant guide developed could be used by dentistry and radiography students. The dental implant guide may be useful in the field of forensic dentistry and forensic radiology.

N=3 super-Schwarzian and N=(3,0) super-Liouville theories are formulated by the coadjoint orbit method. We study the coadjoint orbit dependence of the respective theories, represented by a superfield b. We show that it is renormalized into the N=3 super-Schwarzian derivative when the b field takes an appropriate configuration at the initial point of the orbit. Then the renormalized actions of the respective theories are invariant under OSp(2$|$3) transformations. If the configuration gets further specified, the initial point of the orbit turns out to be stable under one other kind of OSp(2$|$3) transformations as well., 25 pages,v2: published version, streamlined argument on the Kirillov-Kostant two-form by reorganizing Secs 3, 6 and Appendix B, added evaluation of the N=3 super-Schwarzian theory at the stable point in Sec. 5 and comment on the Duistermaat-Heckman formula in Sec. 7, improved Appendix C

The paper addresses the problem of accelerated design optimization of antennas. The proposed approach involves a design database and kriging interpolation models yielding a good initial point and an initial Jacobian matrix for further optimization. The latter involves Broyden-based trust-region gradient search. The operation of the method is demonstrated using a dual-band uniplanar dipole antenna optimized for wide ranges of operating frequencies (2 GHz to 3 GHz for the lower band and 4 GHz to 5.5 GHz for the upper band). The re-design cost is just a few full-wave simulations of the structure for all considered verification cases.

Grime music emerged at the turn of the millennium in the United Kingdom. While grounded and street-level at its outset, the form has since become global in reach. This article focuses on performance practice in the East Australian grime scene and its development over time. Principally, it attends to how MCs and DJs articulate a sense of belonging to both the UK and their local communities in Melbourne and Sydney, through lyrical and musical signification. These articulations are shown to be an example of ‘glocal’ performance practice, which is locally situated yet globally rendering. The article also demonstrates how these artists’ conceptions of legitimate practice are heavily mediated by YouTube videos of canonical UK practice, owing to their geographical dislocation from the genre’s initial point of origin. As a result, radio performances – known as ‘sets’ – and live shows are often prioritized over recorded releases. These findings are supported by interviews with Australian artists, and musical analysis of two key performances: a radio set on Australian broadcaster Triple J from November 2018 and a global grime showcase on London’s Rinse FM from January 2019.

The following case report documents the presentation of a 28 year old male who presented to the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) trauma unit following a single gunshot wound to the spine. He presented walking, with no neurological dysfunction. On further investigation he was found to have a retained bullet at the L3 level of the spinal canal, which migrated within the canal from its initial point of entry. He was subsequently taken for a laminectomy and bullet removal under fluoroscopic guidance. Post operatively he was noted to have reduced proprioception bilaterally., Highlights • Intrathecal bullet migration is a rare but documented complication of gunshot injuries to the spine • Retained bullets may result in progressive neurology which may be precipitated by radiological investigations or surgery. • Fluoroscopy guides the site of incision, as bullets may migrate cranially when patients are prone.

Trading communities provide non-commercial members with an online platform on which to exchange goods. Its success depends on member participation; however, little is known about its drivers. Based on literature we identify five drivers. To capture their impact over time, we test a latent growth curve model with longitudinal data, comparing the effects at an initial point of time with their impact on the growth of member participation over three subsequent periods. The results show that providers’ responsiveness and community identification have a positive effect on the initial level, but not on growth. Members’ enjoyment has no level effect, but a growth effect. Only role clarity has an impact on level and growth. Interestingly, co-members’ cooperation weakens member participation, which leads us to conclude that too much cooperation - which appears as professionalism in a trading community - ‘kills’ member participation. We conclude with theoretical and managerial implications.

Given A and B two nonempty subsets of a metric space, a mapping T : A ∪ B → A ∪ B is noncyclic provided that T ( A ) ⊆ A and T ( B ) ⊆ B . A point ( p , q ) ∈ A × B is called a best proximity pair for the noncyclic mapping T if p = T p , q = T q and d ( p , q ) = dist ( A , B ) . In this article, we survey the convergence of Picard’s iteration to a best proximity pair for noncyclic contractions using a projection algorithm in uniformly convex Banach spaces, where the initial point is in the proximal set of A . We also provide some sufficient conditions to ensure the existence of a common best proximity pairs for a pair of noncyclic mappings.

In this paper, we proposed a spectral gradient-Newton two phase method for constrained semismooth equations. In the first stage, we use the spectral projected gradient to obtain the global convergence of the algorithm, and then use the final point in the first stage as a new initial point to turn to a projected semismooth asymptotically newton method for fast convergence.

During an epidemic outbreak it is useful for planners and responsible authorities to be able to plan ahead to estimate when an outbreak of an epidemic is likely to ease and when the last case can be predicted in their area of responsibility. Theoretically this could be done for a point source epidemic using epidemic curve forecasting. The extensive data now coming out of China makes it possible to test if this can be done using MS Excel a standard spreadsheet program available to most offices. The available data is divided up for whole China and the different provinces. This and the high number of cases makes the analysis possible. Data for new confirmed infections for Hubei, Hubei outside Wuhan, China excluding Hubei as well as Zhejiang and Fujian provinces all follow a log-normal distribution that can be used to make a rough estimate for the date of the last new confirmed cases in respective areas. In the version 2 continuation work, 9 additional days were added for the Chinese data to evaluate the previous predictions. The extra data then available from China follows the previous predicted trend supporting the usefulness of this simple technique. In the version 2 we also tested the feasibility for a non-specialist to make similar predictions using additional data from S Korea now available. In this third continuation the predictions for Version 2 are evaluated for S Korea and fits well the beginning of the decline but it seems to be difficult to bring down numbers of cases per day under about 100 new cases per day, potential reasons for this is discussed. To further evaluate when in a prediction becomes reliable the Chinese data was used to evaluate to make predictions for each day around the peak in number of cases and after2-3 consecutive days of decreasing new cases per day the prediction becomes reliable. In version 3 data for Italy just reaching this point was used to make further predictions for that country. A second new analysis was also added to use the fitted equation to detect when the acceleration of new cases per day stopped increasing exponentially. In the Chinese case this measured point coincides with the date of the complete Hubei lockdown and in the new Italian analysis it coincides with the mandatory Italian lockdown. Predicted dates for the end of the Italian outbreak is also added. In version 4 we expand the analysis to selected European countries, USA and the World as a whole and try to predict the end of the outbreak. We further discuss the apparent success of the used techniques that might work to introduce a “new normal” not very different to the previous to stop secondary outbreaks of COVID19 and future COVIDs that are sure to come.

International crop exchange always brings the risk of introducing pests to countries where they are not yet present. The invasive pest Tuta absoluta (Meyrick 1917), after taking just a decade (2008&ndash, 2017) to invade the entire Africa continent, is now continuing its expansion in Asia. From its first detection in Turkey (2009), the pest has extended its range of invasion at a very high speed of progression to the southeast part of Asia. This study adopted the cellular automata modelling method used to successfully predict the spatiotemporal invasion of T. absoluta in Africa to find out if the invasive pest is propagating with a similar pattern of spread in Asia. Using land cover vegetation, temperature, relative humidity and the natural flight ability of Tuta absoluta, we simulated the spread pattern considering Turkey as the initial point in Asia. The model revealed that it would take about 20 years for the pest to reach the southeast part of Asia, unlike real life where it took just about 10 years (2009&ndash, 2018). This can be explained by international crop trade, especially in tomatoes, and movement of people, suggesting that recommendations and advice from the previous invasion in Europe and Africa were not implemented or not seriously taken into account. Moreover, some countries like Taiwan and the Philippines with suitable environmental condition for the establishment of T. absoluta are not at risk of natural invasion by flight, but quarantine measure must be put in place to avoid invasion by crop transportation or people movement. The results can assist policy makers to better understand the different mechanisms of invasion of T. absoluta in Asia, and therefore adjust or adapt control measures that fit well with the dynamic of the invasive pest observed.

During an epidemic outbreak it is useful for planners and responsible authorities to be able to plan ahead to estimate when an outbreak of an epidemic is likely to ease and when the last case can be predicted in their area of responsibility. Theoretically this could be done for a point source epidemic using epidemic curve forecasting. The extensive data now coming out of China makes it possible to test if this can be done using MS Excel a standard spreadsheet program available to most offices. The available data is divided up for whole China and the different provinces. This and the high number of cases makes the analysis possible. Data for new confirmed infections for Hubei, Hubei outside Wuhan, China excluding Hubei as well as Zhejiang and Fujian provinces all follow a log-normal distribution that can be used to make a rough estimate for the date of the last new confirmed cases in respective areas. In the version 2 continuation work, 9 additional days were added for the Chinese data to evaluate the previous predictions. The extra data then available from China follows the previous predicted trend supporting the usefulness of this simple technique. In the version 2 we also tested the feasibility for a non-specialist to make similar predictions using additional data from S Korea now available. In this third continuation the predictions for Version 2 are evaluated for S Korea and fits well the beginning of the decline but it seems to be difficult to bring down numbers of cases per day under about 100 new cases per day, potential reasons for this is discussed. To further evaluate when in a prediction becomes reliable the Chinese data was used to evaluate to make predictions for each day around the peak in number of cases and after2-3 consecutive days of decreasing new cases per day the prediction becomes reliable. In version 3 data for Italy just reaching this point was used to make further predictions for that country. A second new analysis was also added to use the fitted equation to detect when the acceleration of new cases per day stopped increasing exponentially. In the Chinese case this measured point coincides with the date of the complete Hubei lockdown and in the new Italian analysis it coincides with the mandatory Italian lockdown. Predicted dates for the end of the Italian outbreak is also added.

During an epidemic outbreak it is useful for planners and responsible authorities to be able to plan ahead to estimate when an outbreak of an epidemic is likely to ease and when the last case can be predicted in their area of responsibility. Theoretically this could be done for a point source epidemic using epidemic curve forecasting. The extensive data now coming out of China makes it possible to test if this can be done using MS Excel a standard spreadsheet program available to most offices. The available data is divided up for whole China and the different provinces. This and the high number of cases makes the analysis possible. Data for new confirmed infections for Hubei, Hubei outside Wuhan, China excluding Hubei as well as Zhejiang and Fujian provinces all follow a log-normal distribution that can be used to make a rough estimate for the date of the last new confirmed cases in respective areas. In this continuation work 9 additional days were added for the Chinese data to evaluate the previous predictions. We also tested the feasibility for a non-specialist to make similar predictions using additional data from S Korea now available. The extra data now available from China follows the previous predicted trend supporting the usefulness of this simple technique.

Special rules apply to those with terminal illness for fast-tracking Attendance Allowance claims to support home care. For patients whose prognosis is considered to be six months or less, the GP has to complete a standard form and send it to the local Benefits Agency office. Many informal carers also feel isolated, particularly after the patient’s death, when suddenly must sources of support are withdrawn. The Griffiths Report highlighted the importance of general practice in providing support for carers, and the National Strategy for Carers formally recognised that for many carers the most important initial point of contact is with their GP or other member of the primary healthcare team (PHCT). Support is generated through the PHCT meetings, individual support and through the significant event analysis reflecting on a team’s performance. Witnessing the deterioration of family members may be distressing and children may need particular support and counselling.

During an epidemic outbreak it is useful for planners and responsible authorities to be able to plan ahead to estimate when an outbreak of an epidemic is likely to ease and when the last case can be predicted in their area of responsibility. Theoretically this could be done for a point source epidemic using epidemic curve forecasting. The extensive data now coming out of China makes it possible to test if this can be done using MS Excel a standard spreadsheet program available to most offices. The available data is divided up for whole China and the different provinces. This and the high number of cases makes the analysis possible. Data for new confirmed infections for Hubei, Hubei outside Wuhan, China excluding Hubei as well as Zhejiang and Fujian provinces all follow a log-normal distribution that can be used to make a rough estimate for the date of the last new confirmed cases in respective areas.