Assessments of Biodiversity Based on Molecular Markers and Morphological Traits among West-Bank, Palestine Fig Genotypes (Ficus carica L.)

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.scirp.org/journal/ajps/Both morphological characters and PCR-based RAPD approaches were used to determine the genetic diversity and re- latedness among nine fig genotypes grown at the northern region of the West-Bank, Palestine. Although we tested 28 primers for the RAPD technique, only 9 produced reasonable amplification products. A total of 57 DNA loci were de- tected in which 70.2% were polymorphic. DNA fragments presented a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 9 polymorphic bands using primers OPT-10 and OPA-18, respectively. Primers exhibited collective resolving power values (Rp) of 18.826. The Mwazi genotype showed the highest genetic distances among all of the other genotypes. Morphologically, considerable variations were found using 41 quantitative and qualitative traits. Adloni could be a very promising geno- type for fresh consumption due to its very late maturation period, extended harvesting period, variable fruit size, and easy skin peeling. In addition, 7 genotypes presented firm fruits, which are a very important criterion for exporting purposes. Dendrogram constructed by UPGMA based on RAPD banding patterns appear somewhat contradictory to the morphological descriptors particularly with Swadi and Biadi genotypes (closed genetically and distanced morphologi- cally), which might be attributed to the phenotypic modifications caused by environmental differences across regions. These preliminary results will make a fundamental contribution to further genetic improvement of fig crops for the region

Effect of Functionally Graded Material of Disc Spacer with Presence of Multi-Contaminating Particles on Electric Field inside Gas Insulated Bus Duct

Solid insulators play a crucial role of electrical insulation in gas insulated power equipment. In order to improve the insulation performance of the solid insulators, two technical points should be considered, the first is the improvement of the insulation performance and the second is the control of the electric field distribution in and around the solid insulating spacers. Practically the insulation performance around the spacer can be improved by various techniques, such as; controlling the spacer shape, adding shield electrodes for electric field relaxation, the introduction of an embedded electrode, etc. These techniques lead to a more complicated structure of the equipment and increase the manufacturing cost. Thus, it is necessary to propose a new concept on solid spacers with keeping their simple structure and configuration. In this paper, a functionally graded material (FGM) is proposed to minimize the electric field distribution around the spacer, specially, on triple junction point, which was one of the important factors dominating a long-term insulating property of solid delectric. Finite Element Method (FEM) has been used throughout this work, for its favorable accuracy, to calculate the electric field distribution inside the bus duct. The Electric field distribution around earthed particle contamination which adhered to uniform and FGM of disc-spacer is presented. The effect of distance between particle and spacer on the electric field values is investigated. The effect of hemi-spherical radius and length of particle on maximum electric field at triple junction point is also discussed. Electric field relaxation effect (EFGM/Euniform) by introduction of the U-shape FGM spacer is also presented. The electric field distribution along the surface of FGM of disc spacer with presence of multi-contaminating particles at various positions is presented.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v3i6.435

Edge-based Compression and Classification for Smart Healthcare Systems: Concept, Implementation and Evaluation

Smart healthcare systems require recording, transmitting and processing large volumes of multimodal medical data generated from different types of sensors and medical devices, which is challenging and may turn some of the remote health monitoring applications impractical. Moving computational intelligence to the net- work edge is a promising approach for providing efficient and convenient ways for continuous-remote monitoring. Implementing efficient edge-based classification and data reduction techniques are of paramount importance to enable smart health- care systems with efficient real-time and cost-effective remote monitoring. Thus, we present our vision of leveraging edge computing to monitor, process, and make au- tonomous decisions for smart health applications. In particular, we present and im- plement an accurate and lightweight classification mechanism that, leveraging some time-domain features extracted from the vital signs, allows for a reliable seizures detection at the network edge with precise classification accuracy and low com- putational requirement. We then propose and implement a selective data transfer scheme, which opts for the most convenient way for data transmission depending on the detected patient’s conditions. In addition to that, we propose a reliable energy-efficient emergency notification system for epileptic seizure detection, based on conceptual learning and fuzzy classification. Our experimental results assess the performance of the proposed system in terms of data reduction, classification accuracy, battery lifetime, and transmission delay. We show the effectiveness of our system and its ability to outperform conventional remote monitoring systems that ignore data processing at the edge by: (i) achieving 98.3% classification accuracy for seizures detection, (ii) extending battery lifetime by 60%, and (iii) decreasing average transmission delay by 90%

Effect of Coating of Earthed Enclosure and Multi-Contaminating Particles on Breakdown Voltage inside Gas Insulated Bus Duct

Metallic particle contamination is one of the areas of insulation design that are considered critical. This paper demonstrates the control of metallic particles in gas insulated bus duct (GIBD) by using dielectric coating on the inside surface of the outer enclosure of a coaxial electrode system. Several models of GIBD with single and multi-contaminating particles will be studied. In this paper, the Finite Elements Method (FEM) is used to evaluate the electric field distribution on and around single and multi-contaminating wire particles which in contact with dielectric coating of earthed enclosure inside GIBD. The effect of changing the length and the radius of middle particle for multi-contaminating particles on the electric field values are studied. Breakdown Voltage calculations for gas mixtures with single and multi-contaminating wire particles are studied. The effects of gas pressure on the breakdown voltage for various fractional concentrations of SF6-gas mixtures with and without particle contamination and also with and without coating of earthed enclosure are studied. The optimum gas mixture which gives higher dielectric strength with lower cost is also determined. The effect of coating thickness of earthed enclosure on the breakdown voltage for various fractional concentrations of SF6-gas mixtures is also studied. Finally, the effect of length and hemi-spherical radius of multi-contaminating particles on the breakdown voltage with various SF6-gas mixtures and varying gas pressure one time and another time with fixed pressure are studied.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v4i4.569

June 1967 in Personal Stories of Palestinians and Israelis

The clash of June 1967, called by Israelis the Six-Day War and by Palestinians the Naksa (setback), is a critical milestone within the longstanding Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Despite all the scholarly attention ever since, there remain unheard voices and untold stories. It is the personal stories of people in the region that are at the center of this book. How do they remember 1967? How were their lives affected, even changed dramatically as a result of that short war? Listening to their stories as told some 50 years later, an incomplete tapestry of memories and understandings emerge. This book is the product of a re- search collaboration among Palestinian, Israeli and European folklorists, cultural anthropologists and sociologists. The personal stories were collected in the framework of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, on the days before, during and after this dramatic confrontation. The book is comprised of eleven chapters based on a corpus of several hundred conversations, as well as eight representative interviews. Together they afford insight into differential memories and sensations, visions of euphoria and despair, newly revived hopes, pain and disappointment, disillusionment and repentance

June 1967 in Personal Stories of Palestinians and Israelis

The clash of June 1967, called by Israelis the Six-Day War and by Palestinians the Naksa (setback), is a critical milestone within the longstanding Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Despite all the scholarly attention ever since, there remain unheard voices and untold stories. It is the personal stories of people in the region that are at the center of this book. How do they remember 1967? How were their lives affected, even changed dramatically as a result of that short war? Listening to their stories as told some 50 years later, an incomplete tapestry of memories and understandings emerge. This book is the product of a re- search collaboration among Palestinian, Israeli and European folklorists, cultural anthropologists and sociologists. The personal stories were collected in the framework of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, on the days before, during and after this dramatic confrontation. The book is comprised of eleven chapters based on a corpus of several hundred conversations, as well as eight representative interviews. Together they afford insight into differential memories and sensations, visions of euphoria and despair, newly revived hopes, pain and disappointment, disillusionment and repentance

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres

Holography and Quaternionic Taub-NUT

As a concrete application of the holographic correspondence to manifolds which are only asymptotically Anti-de Sitter, we take a closer look at the quaternionic Taub-NUT space. This is a four dimensional, non-compact, inhomogeneous, riemannian manifold with the interesting property of smoothly interpolating between two symmetric spaces, AdS_4 itself and the coset SU(2,1)/U(2). Even more interesting is the fact that the scalar curvature of the induced conformal structure at the boundary (corresponding to a squashed three-sphere) changes sign as we interpolate between these two limiting cases. Using twistor methods, we construct the bulk-to-bulk and bulk-to-boundary propagators for conformally coupled scalars on quaternionic Taub-NUT. This may eventually enable us to calculate correlation functions in the dual strongly coupled CFT on a squashed S^3 using the standard AdS/CFT prescription.Comment: 1+36 pages, no figures. Some minor typos correcte