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Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunist that causes systemic infections and dental infections in the human being body. This organism increases its resistance to many categories of antibiotics all day and turn out to be more resistant, and this led to a growing feeling of concern in this era. Given this fact, the aims of this study were to determine the frequency of S. aureus in oral infections and to determine the prevalence of MRSA strains and the sensitivity of isolated S. aureus to antibiotics, in patients who attended dental clinics in major public hospitals and private clinics in the city of Sana'a-Yemen. Subjects and methods: The study was conducted for a year, early in December 2018 and ending in November 2019. The study included 296 patients, 153 male and 143 female, ages 5 to 65, with an average age of 36.2 years. Demographic and clinical data were collected in questionnaire, then pus or oral swabs were collected from patients, cultivated, isolated and identified by standard laboratory techniques. MRSA was ascertained by means of the method of disc diffusion to 1µg of oxicillin disc and 5 µg of methacillin disc; an antimicrobial sensitivity test was carried out by disc diffusion method of selected antibiotics.The oral infections include dental abscesses, periodontal abscesses, gingivitis, periodentitis, dental caries, pulpitis and oral thrush. Results: Of a total of 296 cultured pus and swabs, only 217 produced a positive culture (73.3%). Gram-positive bacteria formed 67.4% of the total isolates where S. aureus was the predominant pathogen (43.1%). The prevalence of MRSA was 23.5%. There was a higher rate of antibiotic resistance tested in MRSA isolates compared to a lower rate of resistance in MSSA as well as 22.2% of MRSA isolates were vancomycin resistant, while only 11.4% of MSSA were vancomycin resistant. Conclusion: It can be concluded, S. aureus was the most widespread isolate in dental infections, high rate of MRSA, the appearance of S. aureus isolates resistant to vancomycin and other broad choice of antibiotics have raised MRSA in oral infections into a multi-drug-resistant, making it more and more hazardous in oral infections. Consistent assessment of oral associated infections and observing the pattern of antibiotic sensitivity and strict drug policy for antibiotics are recommended. Peer Review History: Received 16 March 2020; Revised 2 May; Accepted 12 May, Available online 15 May 2020 Academic Editor:Ahmad Najib, Universitas Muslim Indonesia, Makassar, Indonesia, ahmad.najib@umi.ac.id UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest 'Advanced OPEN peer review' system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is 'to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript'. Our reviewers check the 'strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly'. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file: Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 5.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 8.0/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Dr. Mohamed Awad Mousnad,Faculty of Pharmacy, International University of Africa (IUA), Khartoum, Sudan, m_abdalaziz@yahoo.com Dr. George Zhu,Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, sansan4240732@163.com Similar Articles: PREVALENCE OF METHICILLIN RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA) AND ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERNS AT A PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN SANA'A, YEMEN PREVALENCE, ANTIMICROBIAL SUSCEPTIBILITY PATTERN AND RISK FACTORS OF MRSA ISOLATED FROM CLINICAL SPECIMENS AMONG MILITARY PATIENTS AT 48 MEDICAL COMPOUND IN SANA'A CITY-YEMEN

Выполнен анализ основных технических характеристик и новых возможностей составных частей уникального высоковольтного электротехнического комплекса НИПКИ «Молния» НТУ «ХПИ», предназначенного для проведения испытаний объектов промышленной энергетики на электробезопасность, их стойкость к воздействию стандартных апериодических грозовых и коммутационных импульсов напряжения (тока), а также объектов вооружения и военной техники, авиационной и ракетно-космической техники на электромагнитную совместимость и молниестойкость при прямом действии на них нормированных импульсов тока искусственной молнии. Показано, что данные испытания могут проводиться в соответствии с требованиями нормативных документов США SAE ARP 5412: 2013, SAE ARP 5414: 2013, SAE ARP 5416: 2013, RTCA DO-160G: 2011, военных стандартов США MIL-STD-464C: 2010, MIL-STD-461G: 2015, стандартов НАТО AECTP-500: 2016, AECTP-250: 2014, международных стандартов IEC 62305-1: 2010, IEC 61024-1: 1990 и межгосударственного стандарта ГОСТ 1516.2-97 на оригинальных отечественных высоковольтных установках УИТОМ-1, ГТМ-10/350, ГКИН-2, TI-CS115 (NCS08), TI-CS116 (NCS09), G-NCS10, МВ 1000 и ИК-1У с нормированными характеристиками. Приведены примеры и результаты испытаний ряда технических объектов на указанных высоковольтных слабо- и сильноточных электроустановках. ; Purpose. Implementation of analysis of basic technical descriptions and new possibilities of separate electric options of unique high-voltage electrical engineering complex Scientific-&-Research Planning-&-Design Institute «Molniya» of NTU «KhPI», intended for testing objects of industrial energy (IE) on electric safety, action on them of standard storm and interconnect pulses of voltage (current), and also objects of armament and military technique (OAMT), aviation (AT) and space-rocket (SRT) technique on electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and resistibility at direct action on them of the rationed pulses of current of artificial lightning and row of no-spread temporal functions of pulses of current (high-voltage). Methodology. Basis of the applied electrical engineering, electroenergy and electromechanics, electrophysics bases of technique of high-voltage and large pulse currents, bases of the applied instrument-making, high-voltage measuring technique and standardization. Results. Description of basic technical descriptions and new possibilities of component parts of unique high-voltage electrical engineering complex Scientific-&-Research Planning-&-Design Institute «Molniya» of NTU «KhPI», intended for testing different objects of IE on electric safety, their resistibility to direct (indirect) action of standard aperiodic storm and interconnect pulses of voltage (current), and also OAMT, AT and SRT on EMC and resistibility to lightning at a direct action on them of the rationed pulses of current of artificial lightning. It is shown that these tests can be conducted in accordance with the requirements of normative documents of the USA of SAE ARP| 5412: 2013, SAE ARP 5414: 2013, SAE ARP 5416: 2013, RTCA DO-160G: 2011, military Standards of the USA of MIL-STD-464C: 2010, MIL-STD-461G: 2015, Standards of NATO AECTP-500: 2016, AECTP-250: 2014, International Standards of IEC 62305-1: 2010, IEC 61024-1: 1990 and intergovernmental Standard GOST 1516.2-97 on the domestic high-voltage options of type of UITOM-1, GTM-10/350, GKIN-2, TI-CS115 (NCS08), TI-CS116 (NCS09), G-NCS10, MV 1000 and IK-1U with the rationed descriptions. Examples and results of tests of row of technical objects are resulted on indicated high-voltage little- and heavy-current electric options. Originality. First in a complex kind basic technical descriptions and proof-of-concept possibilities of unique high-voltage electrical equipment of Scientific-&-Research Planning-&-Design Institute «Molniya» of NTU «KhPI» are presented, being in Ukraine head organization in area of development, creation and practical application of the indicated high-voltage technique in behalf of domestic industries of IE, airplane and rocket production, and also defense industries of industry. Practical value. Application of the described domestic high-voltage proof-of-concept electrical equipment at tests on electric safety, EMC and resistibility to lightning of different objects of IE, OAMT, AT and SRT will be instrumental in the increase of reliability of their functioning in the conditions of striking (destabilizing) action on them of powerful electromagnetic hindrances of natural and artificial origin.

Óglaigh na hÉireann is experiencing a crisis in the recruitment and retention of personnel, with the crisis having greater effect on the enlisted personnel. There has been a deluge of claims and counterclaims of failures by the state to provide suitable levels of remuneration and conditions of service in order to ensure the Irish Defence Forces can meet all the tasks assigned to them by Government. These claims have played out across the national media over the past number of years. With these claims growing ever more serious, to a point where there are now claims that the national security of the Irish state could be compromised if solutions are not swiftly found to the current crisis. This thesis seeks to examine these claims by primarily looking at the industrial relations mechanisms and arrangement available to the Irish Defence Forces, through their representative bodies, and to explore if these arrangements are adequate to provide the means through which appropriate levels of remuneration and conditions of service can be achieved. Are these structures adequate in the context of recent case law, and the recent Defence Forces Conciliation and Arbitration scheme review? Can they function correctly while the representative bodies remain within the bounds of current Defence Forces Regulation and Government policy on military representation and military trade unionism? By examining key concepts of the relationships between governments, their armed forces, and the state they serve, the human rights of the European citizen and those of the armed forces member, a view of the importance of the relationship of trust between a state and its armed service personnel is presented here. Then the Irish military representative bodies and arrangement will be compared with the systems in place and afforded to their European counterparts, and some International counterparts, and the ideals and aspirations of the European Social Charter are used to measure the current situation, and what the future vision may hold. There is no easy answer or single solution to this complex crisis. Indeed, the current DF crisis is not unique to the just to the DF in Ireland, many other public sector workers face many similar issues. Across Europe, many militaries are suffering from the struggle to recruit enough personnel for their armed forces, as under-funding of militaries in general and the ever-increasing cost of military personnel (as a percentile of overall armed forces funding) place huge pressure on strained resources. The current symptoms of dysfunctionality within the DF representative system, may be more reflective of the larger economic challenges within in Ireland and across the EU, than a true reflection of a systemic failure. It will take great effort, determination, and co-operation to navigate the DF through the current crisis. It can and it must be done, and strong effective DF representation associations are a core part of those solutions. The representative bodies are on a par with any in the EU, with due regards to certain limitations and restrictions, and they will grow stronger and more effective as the reforms proposed are being implemented over the coming months and years. The relationships with the official side must be reset and rejuvenated, it is of vital importance to all sides that the members of the DF have confidence in the system which is meant to provide for their welfare and rights. The storm clouds of BREXIT and a possible global recession are gathering, and the DF must consolidate and be ready for whatever comes. The security of the state requires a full functioning, appropriately staffed, highly skilled, highly trained, and highly motivated DF to continue to serve the nation, as they have for decades. In order for the DF be as best prepared for any eventuality, this current crisis must be halted and brought to a swift a conclusion as possible. The volunteers of Óglaigh na hÉireann are citizens in uniform and they are proud to be the first to serve.

Mención Internacional en el título de doctor ; The Electromagnetic (EM) spectrum is well regulated by frequency assignment authorities, national regulatory agencies and the International Communication Union (ITU). Nowadays more and more devices such as mobile phones and Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensors make use of wireless communication. Additionally we need a more efficient use and a better understanding of the EM space to allocate and manage efficiently all communications. Governments and telecommunication operators perform spectrum measurements using expensive and bulky equipments scheduling very specific and limited spectrum campaigns. However, this approach does not scale as it can not allow to widely scan and analyze the spectrum 24/7 in real time due to the high cost of the large deployment. A pervasive deployment of spectrum sensors is required to solve this problem, allowing to monitor and analyze the EM radio waves in real time, across all possible frequencies, and physical locations. This thesis presents ElectroSense, a crowdsourcing and collaborative system that enables large scale deployments using Internet-of-Things (IoT) spectrum sensors to collect EM spectrum data which is analyzed in a big data infrastructure. The ElectroSense platform seeks a more efficient, safe and reliable real-time monitoring of the EM space by improving the accessibility and the democratization of spectrum data for the scientific community, stakeholders and the general public. In this work, we first present the ElectroSense architecture, and the design challenges that must be faced to attract a large community of users and all potential stakeholders. It is envisioned that a large number of sensors deployed in ElectroSense will be at affordable cost, supported by more powerful spectrum sensors when possible. Although low-cost Radio Frequency (RF) sensors have an acceptable performance for measuring the EM spectrum, they present several drawbacks (e.g. frequency range, Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC), maximum sampling rate, etc.) that can negatively affect the quality of collected spectrum data as well as the applications of interest for the community. In order to counteract the above-mentioned limitations, we propose to exploit the fact that a dense network of spectrum sensors will be in range of the same transmitter(s). We envision to exploit this idea to enable smart collaborative algorithms among IoT RF sensors. In this thesis we identify the main research challenges to enable smart collaborative algorithms among low-cost RF sensors. We explore different crowdsourcing and collaborative scenarios where low-cost spectrum sensors work together in a distributed manner. First, we propose a fast and precise frequency offset estimation method for lowcost spectrum receivers that makes use of Long Term Evolution (LTE) signals broadcasted by the base stations. Second, we propose a novel, fast and precise Time-of-Arrival (ToA) estimation method for aircraft signals using low-cost IoT spectrum sensors that can achieve sub-nanosecond precision. Third, we propose a collaborative time division approach among sensors for sensing the spectrum in order to reduce the network uplink bandwidth for each spectrum sensor. By last, we present a methodology to enable the signal reconstruction in the backend. By multiplexing in frequency a certain number of non-coherent low-cost spectrum sensors, we are able to cover a signal bandwidth that would not otherwise be possible using a single receiver. At the time of writing we are the first looking at the problem of collaborative signal reconstruction and decoding using In-phase & Quadrature (I/Q) data received from low-cost RF sensors. Our results reported in this thesis and obtained from the experiments made in real scenarios, suggest that it is feasible to enable collaborative spectrum monitoring strategies and signal decoding using commodity hardware as RF sensing sensors. ; Programa de Doctorado en Ingeniería Telemática por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ; Presidente: Bozidar Radunovic.- Secretario: Paolo Casari.- Vocal: Fco. Javier Escribano Aparicio

This study is aimed to shows and identification of Amil Zakah Institution responses about management of zakah rules by governance in strategic responses to institutional processes views. The researcher also want to see the LAZ perspectives about the changes of the regulations which is being problem for the past a year in Indonesia. Research approch is qualitative approach explanatory. Data collection interviews with the informants in case study object. Object of this research is LAZ YDSF Surabaya because they are the oldest inEast Java Province and is founded in Surabaya. Technique analysis is using descriptive narrative and pairing pattern. This research shows that LAZ YDSF is not include in acquiesce response, because there are some regulations that needed to be compromised with the government. Purpose of this research is want to see a new perspective from Amil Zakah Institutions in Indonesia in order to make the best coordination and sinergisity with government to build a better country REFERENCESBeik, Irfan Syauqi dan Laily Dwi. 2016. Ekonomi Pembangunan Syariah. Edisi Revisi.Depok: PT Rajagrafindo Persada.Creswell, John. W. 2015. Research Design Second Edition. Terjemahan oleh Lintan Lazuardi. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Dawson, Yelena. 2015. The Institutionalisation of Private Sector Performance Masurement in an Australian Oot-forprofit Organisation. epublications@scu. Fakultas Bisnis Administrasi. Southern Cross University.Fauzia, Amelia. 2008. Faith and a State: a History of Islamic Philanthropy in Indonesia. Disertasi tidak diterbitkan. Melbourne Faculty of Arts University of Melbourne.Hilmi, Hasbullah. 2012. Dinamika Pengelolaan Wakaf Uang: Studi Sosio-Legal Perilaku Pengelolaan Wakaf Uang Pasca Pemberlakuan UU No. 41 Tahun 2004 Tentang Wakaf. Ijtihad, Jurnal Wacana Hukum Islam dan Kemanusiaan, Vol. 12, No. 2 (12).Huda, Nurul, dkk. 2012. Kebijakan Publik Islami. Jakarta: Kencana Prenada Media Group.Kamil, Syukron. 2016. Ekonomi Islam, Kelembagaan, dan Konteks Keindonesiaan. Depok: PT Rajagrafindo Persada.Karim, Adiwarman Azwar. 2010. Sejarah Pemikiran Ekonomi Islam. Edisi Ketiga. Jakarta: Rajawali Press.Khairinisa, Dini. 2012. Proses Konstruksi Perkembangan Organisasi Zakat (Studi pada Dompet Dhuafa Republika). Jakarta: UI Library.LAZ YDSF,. Profil LAZ, (Online), (www.ydsf.org 20 November 2016. (20.17) Muhammad, dan Abu Bakar. 2011. Manajemen Organisasi Zakat. Malang: Madani Wisma Kalimetro.Modell, S. (2001). Performance Measurement and Institutional Processes: A Study of Managerial Responses to Public Sector Reform. Management Accounting Research, 12: 439, 441.Nafik, Muhammad dan Hazami Bashlul. 2016. Peran dan Implementasi Wakaf dalam Peningkatan Kesejahteraan Masyarakat. Inferensi Junral Penelitian Sosial dan Keagamaan. Vol 10 No.1:Oates, Grainne. 2013. Exploring the Links between Stakeholder Type, and Strategic Response to Stakeholder and Institutional Demands in the Public Sector Context. International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 8, No. 21: 51-52.Oliver, C. (1991). Strategic Responses to Institutional Processes. Academy of Management Review Journal, 16, 146-163.Qardhawi, Yusuf. 1996. Hukum Zakat. Bogor: Pustaka Lintera Antar Nusa.Qardhawi, Yusuf. 2005. Spektrum Zakat dalam Membangun Ekonomi Kerakyatan. Jakarta: Zaikrul Hakim.Republik Indonesia. Undang-Undang No 38 Tahun 1999 tentang Pengelolaan Zakat. 1999: Kementerian Agama. --- . Undang-Undang No 23 Tahun 2011 tentang Pengelolaan Zakat. 2011: Diperbanyak oleh BAZNAS. --- . PP No 14 Tahun 2014 tentang Penjelasan UU No 23 Tahun 2011 Pengelolaan Zakat. 2014: Diperbanyak oleh BAZNAS.Romanelli, Elaine. The New Instituitonalism in Organizational Analysis by Powell and Dimaggio Review. The Academy of Management Review Journal, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Jul., 1992), 612-614.Rosyidah, Trie A dan Asfi Manzilati. 2014. Implementasi Undang-Undang Nomor 23 Tahun 2011 terhadap Legalitas Pengelolaan Zakat oleh Lembaga Amil Zakat (Studi pada Beberapa LAZ di Kota Malang). Malang: Universitas Brawijaya). UB.Sudarwati, Yuni dan Nidya Waras Sayekti. 2011. Jurnal Ekonomi & Kebijakan Publik, Vol. 2, No. 1, (Juli): 578-581Wahyuni, Ersa Tri. 2013. The Role of Entrepreneur in IFRS Diffusion: The Case Study of Convergence IFRS in Indonesia. Yin, Robert K. 2014. Case Study Research: Design and Method. Terjemahan oleh M. Djauzi Mudzakir. Jakarta: PT Rajagrafindo Persada.Yustika, Ahmad Erani. 2013. Ekonomi Kelembagaan. Paradigma, Teori, dan Kebijakan. Jakarta: Penerbit Airlangga.

The trade of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), also known as biotrade, has existed for hundreds of years - as has the traditional knowledge associated with such products. More recently, this form of trade has advanced to include genetic resource components found within natural resources (bioprospecting). International agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Nagoya Protocol came into force in 1993 and 2010 respectively, to ensure that biological diversity is conserved, sustainably utilised, and that the benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge are shared in an equitable manner. In practice, however, there is a lack of evidence to suggest whether the provisions of the CBD and Nagoya Protocol are being adequately implemented and achieved. This research focuses on the commercialisation of the resurrection bush (Myrothamnus flabellifolius) in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa and critically evaluates how the requirements of the CBD and Nagoya Protocol are applied. The resurrection bush spans a number of countries and has been used traditionally by a variety of ethnic communities residing in Africa. Traditional medicinal uses for the resurrection bush include using the plant to treat colds and flu, scurvy, coughs, abdominal pain, epilepsy, and asthma. This study aims to uncover and understand the way in which benefit sharing and environmental sustainability are interpreted and implemented in various resurrection bush commercialisation approaches. Six objectives are articulated to achieve this aim: (1) to review the historical use and traditional knowledge associated with the resurrection bush; (2) to describe the different ways the resurrection bush is commercialised and the different processes each commercialisation strategy follows; (3) to describe the actors involved in the different resurrection bush commercialisation strategies and their roles in the commercialisation process; (4) to explore, within each commercialisation strategy, how commercial actors gain access to resources; (5) to describe and analyse the range of benefits derived from each commercialisation approach; and (6) to assess the policy implications and practical applications of current resurrection bush commercialisation approaches. This research adopted a qualitative case study methodological approach, in which 26 key informant interviews and 137 semi-structured harvester interviews were conducted in Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. The key informants consisted of private companies, NGOs, and government officials across all three countries. Interviews with these informants were carried out to determine the diversity of commercialisation approaches associated with the resurrection bush, the actors involved, the ways in which commercial entities gain access to resources, how benefits are shared, and what measures are put in place for environmental sustainability. Further interviews were conducted with resurrection bush collectors in Namibia and Zimbabwe to review the historical and traditional uses associated with the resurrection bush. Understanding these uses provides insight into the types of agreements developed for its commercialisation and associated environmental, social and economic benefits. It was found that there are three commercialisation approaches associated with the resurrection bush across Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. They are: (1) Informal trade, where harvesters sell raw material directly to consumers based on informal, verbal agreements; (2) Biotrade, where the value chain is longer and consists of more formal agreements; and (3) Bioprospecting, where research and development of the resurrection bush is a strong component, involving negotiations with harvesters and formal written agreements. Several key findings emerged to inform current and future commercialisation approaches. The inadequate implementation of regulatory frameworks within each commercialisation approach has negatively impacted harvesters and overall economic growth. Harvesters are not receiving maximum benefits from commercialisation due to elite capture of benefits from resurrection bush cultivation sites and significant profit margins on end products. Traditional knowledge holders are not adequately compensated and acknowledged for their innovations and practices due to the absence of sufficient historical records of traditional knowledge, and cooperation between countries and communities who share resources which are commonly used. Long-term conservation efforts associated with the resurrection bush are lacking in all commercialisation approaches due the belief that because there is an abundance of the resource in the wild, additional conservation measures are not needed.

a) Overview The question to be answered in this dissertation is whether the National Credit Act 34 of 2005 (the NCA), promotes or impedes the sustainable growth of the South African economy. This question will be answered through exploring the importance of the contribution made by small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) to the economy. This research question is premised on the findings in structural change theory of development economics.1 This theory advances the view that for a developing country to obtain sustainable growth of its economy there needs to be a decline in the number of microenterprises over a period of years and an increase in the number small and medium enterprises (SMEs). 2 This dissertation interrogates whether the NCA supports this kind of sustainable growth of the South African economy. The hypothesis proposes that the NCA impedes the sustainable economic development of South Africa. In support of this, I have examined the NCA and the protection that it affords to SMEs in South Africa. Specifically, I have examined the extent to which the NCA permits lending to SMEs by financiers, in contrast to the permission given to financiers to lend to microenterprises. In addition, I have examined the extent to which the NCA protects SME borrowers in cases where the SME qualifies for a loan, so bringing it within the provisions of NCA. This is then contrasted with the protection extended by the provisions of the NCA to microenterprises. In this investigation, I have undertaken a review of case law in South Africa to substantiate my view that the NCA inhibits sustainable growth of the South African economy. The decisions raise some important considerations, including problems caused by the concept of separate legal personality of juristic persons run by an individual in the context of borrowing, the extent to which credit guarantees offered by these individual owners should be legally enforceable and the ambiguity of developmental loans envisaged by the NCA. To address these problems, I have looked to foreign jurisprudence, especially the legal protection offered to SMEs in Australia when taking out a loan. A comparison between South African law and Australian law suggests how access to credit by SMEs and microenterprises can be improved to ensure sustainable economic growth of the economy. b) Research Methodology A doctrinal, desktop-based research method is used. The main documentary data analysed to answer the research question is primary legislation, specifically the NCA and the Usury Act 73 of 1968. Secondary sources, such as commentaries and publications by various researchers will be explored. Further documentary data will include empirical data collected in secondary sources. Other persuasive legal texts will be utilised, such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (the ASIC), The Australian National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (the ACCPA) as well as the Australian Code of Banking Practice (the COBP) c) Limitations to the Study The main limitation to this dissertation has been determining the exact number of SMMEs that exist in South Africa. Studies so far undertaken have used different methodologies and research strategies and their objectives may have differed to the objectives of this paper.3 Despite the growing amount of literature and research that is being conducted regarding SMMEs, there is still very little known about them. This is largely a result of the high number of unregistered SMMEs that exist. A further limitation on the research is that each survey contains different definitions of small, micro and medium business. For example, the South African General Entrepreneurial Monitor (GEM) measures different types of entrepreneurship and not the number of businesses to enable international comparisons. In contrast the department of trade and industry's (DTI) definition of small business is used to determine the number of small businesses in South Africa; and this is the definition used in the National Small Business Act 102 of 1996 (the Small Business Act).

O trabalho teve por fim identificar a relação do índice de liquidez estrutural (ILE) com variáveis macroeconômicas, características dos bancos e vigência do Acordo de Basileia III. Embora a discussão acadêmica sobre liquidez bancária aborde essencialmente questões de curto prazo, o monitoramento da liquidez de longo prazo permite avaliar a dependência excessiva de recursos instáveis pelos bancos e, assim, contribuir para mitigar os riscos de crises sistêmicas de liquidez, como a de 2008. Ao fornecer evidências das relações do ILE com variáveis explicativas selecionadas, o estudo insere-se no contexto das deliberações do Acordo de Basileia III, que preveem cumprimento, a partir de 2018, da exigência regulamentar do índice de liquidez (IL) de longo prazo. O modelo foi formulado com base em 14 hipóteses de pesquisa testadas por meio de regressões com dados em painel agrupadas, estimadas por mínimos quadrados, mínimos quadrados com efeitos fixos e mínimos quadrados em dois estágios com efeitos fixos. A variável dependente foi construída a partir de dados contábeis de 184 conglomerados e instituições financeiras individuais existentes no país entre junho de 2002 e dezembro de 2014. O ILE apresentou relação positiva com as variações da taxa de câmbio, reservas internacionais e depósitos compulsórios, além da rentabilidade, tamanho e especialidade principal das instituições. Foi encontrada relação negativa do ILE com as variáveis taxa básica de juros, risco-país, saldo da balança comercial, período de vigência do Acordo de Basileia III, tipo de controle do capital (público ou privado) e terem ou não capital aberto, com ações listadas na Bolsa de Valores, Mercadorias e Futuros de São Paulo (BM&FBOVESPA). A validação da relação dessas variáveis explanatórias com o ILE fornece uma compreensão mais ampla dos riscos aos quais instituições financeiras estão expostas, contribuindo para a análise preventiva do risco de liquidez bancária – indicador antecedente de crises financeiras, de perda de confiança e de instabilidade econômica. ; This study aimed to identify the relationship between the Structural Liquidity Index (SLI) and macroeconomic variables, bank characteristics, and the validity period of the Basel III Agreement. Although the academic discussion on bank liquidity essentially addresses short-term issues, monitoring long-term liquidity helps assess any excessive dependency of banks on unstable resources, thus contributing to mitigating the risks of systemic liquidity crises such as that of 2008. As it provides evidence of the relationship between the SLI and the selected explanatory variables, the study can be included in the context of the discussions involving the Basel III Agreement, which establishes the implementation of the long-term liquidity index regulatory requirement as of 2018. The model was formulated based on fourteen research hypotheses, tested using panel data regressions estimated via pooled ordinary least squares, least squares with fixed effects, and two-stage least squares with fixed effects. The dependent variable was constructed based on the accounting data of 184 conglomerates and individual financial institutions operating in the country between June 2002 and December 2014. The SLI presented a positive relationship with changes in the exchange rate, international reserves, and reserve requirements, as well as with the profitability, size, and main specialization of the institution. On the other hand, we found a negative relationship between the SLI and the basic interest rate, country risk, balance of trade, validity period of the Basel III Agreement, type of equity control (private vs. government), and the bank being publicly listed on the São Paulo Stock, Commodities, and Futures Exchange (BM&FBovespa) or privately held. The validation of the relationships between these explanatory variables and the SLI provides a broader understanding of the risks to which financial institutions are exposed, contributing to the preventive analysis of bank liquidity risk – an antecedent indicator of financial crises, diminished confidence, and economic instability

Gender quotas in politics are affirmative measures for achieving a more equal context between men and women in power spaces, which has the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women as its international law basis. Public policy aimed at development and gender equality is related to legal challenges in the country that do not only fall within the scope of public law, such as electoral law – they necessarily involve challenges linked to the autonomy of political parties, legal entities governed by private law, and the institute of fraud in law itself. Therefore, the implementation of this inclusive policy requires a dialogue between the branches of public law and private law. In the face of frauds and the so-called 'orange candidatures,' a mockery of the exercise of women's human right to political participation, we began to address political party autonomy, as well as the concept of abuse of power and fraud as private law institutes, in order to analyze issues of public law from a civilian approach. It was found that the parties break the law by fraudulently filling in the candidacy quotas, committing abuse of political party power; by unbalancing the electoral process, they increase and perpetuate the exclusion of women from formal politics, and this can characterize institutional violence. ; Las cuotas de género en la política son medidas afirmativas para lograr un contexto más igualitario entre hombres y mujeres en espacios de poder, que tiene como base la Convención sobre la Eliminación de Todas las Formas de Discriminación contra la Mujer, de 1979. Las políticas públicas de desarrollo e igualdad de género están relacionadas con los retos legales en el país que no solo se encuentran dentro del ámbito del derecho público, como el derecho electoral, sino que también implican retos relacionados con la autonomía de los partidos políticos, entidades legales de derecho privado, y el propio instituto del fraude en derecho. Por lo tanto, la implementación de esta política inclusiva requiere un diálogo entre las ramas del derecho público y del derecho privado. Ante los fraudes y las llamadas "candidaturas naranja", una burla del ejercicio del derecho humano de participación política de la mujer, se comenzó a abordar la autonomía partidaria, así como el concepto de abuso de poder y de fraude como institutos de derecho privado, con el fin de analizar cuestiones de derecho público desde un abordaje civilista. Se constató que los partidos infringen la ley al rellenar fraudulentamente las cuotas de candidatura, cometiendo abuso de poder político-partidario; al desequilibrar el proceso electoral, aumentan y perpetúan la exclusión de las mujeres de la política formal, lo que puede caracterizar violencia institucional. ; As cotas de gênero na política são medidas afirmativas para alcançar um quadro mais paritário entre homens e mulheres nos espaços de poder, que encontra respaldo normativo internacional na Convenção sobre a Eliminação de Todas as Formas de Discriminação contra a Mulher, de 1979. As políticas públicas de desenvolvimento e igualdade de gênero perpassam desafios jurídicos no país que não se encerram apenas no âmbito do direito público, como o direito eleitoral – envolvem, necessariamente, desafios referentes à autonomia dos partidos políticos, pessoas jurídicas de direito privado, e o próprio instituto da fraude no direito. Portanto, a efetivação dessa política de inclusão exige um diálogo entre os ramos do direito público e do direito privado. Diante das fraudes e das chamadas "candidaturas laranja", uma burla ao exercício do direito humano de participação política da mulher, passou-se a abordar a autonomia partidária, assim como o conceito de abuso de poder e de fraude enquanto institutos de direito privado, a fim de analisar questões de direito público a partir de uma abordagem civilista. Constatou-se que os partidos burlam a lei ao preencher fraudulentamente as cotas de candidatura, cometendo abuso de poder político-partidário; ao desequilibrar o pleito eleitoral, aumentam e perpetuam a exclusão das mulheres da política formal, o que pode caracterizar violência institucional.

Air Free/Air Free 2 – Audio Installation Exhibited in: THE NEW NEW, 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair's Pavilion 2 - Thessaloniki, Greece. 8-16 September 2018 FREIRAUM in Berlin, On the State of Freedom in Europe: Exhibition, discussion, concert, performance in Berlin. ZK/U Center for Art and UrbanisticsSiemensstraße 27, 10551 Berlin. 12-17 March 2019. Freiraum Exhibition: From Berlin to Thessaloniki. LABattoir -Thessaloniki, Greece. 17-24 May 2019. Created for a collaboration with the Goethe Institut, ArtBOX&Artecitya in the Freiraum project. Co-Funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. As an academic researcher and audio practitioner, one of my main interests is understanding the intimate qualities of mediated sound. The radio voice, this fragment of an otherwise unknown person, contains some of their most intimate qualities. In this project a space is created that simulates the unseen intimacies of the airwaves. Voices meet and converse privately yet freely, through the intimacy of the voice as pure sound. The voices in this artwork were collected in Thessaloniki-Greece and Carlisle- UK. The anonymous Greek-speaking voices were collected for me in Thessaloniki by Maria Kyrou, Stella Massia & Eleni Papoulidou from the community group Media Lab by LABattoir, after workshops where I taught audio documentary, theory and practice. The aim was for local people to bring me the voices of their community, rather than me selecting these as an outsider who might carry preconceptions. The English-speaking voices belong to poets from the Speak Easy poetry group in Carlisle: Jane Moss-Luffrum, Phil Hewitson, Susan Cartwright Smith, James Scott Riddick, John Chambers, Ruby Evans, Kim Braschko(& her 2 children Maya and Henry). The poets were sent audio clips of the voices from Greece along with three short poems I wrote in English, deriving from the content of the stories collected in Thessaloniki. The poets were asked to write poems as responses to these voices and my poem. Despite only listening to voices they could not understand and my poems being a very abstract representation of those voices, the poets in Carlisle absolutely captured the essence of those stories and provided very emotive responses. I edited these voices together in a conversation that reveals how the intricacies, fears, aspirations of distant communities might be much closer than they seem. The voices in this artwork are an intimate aural tapestry of all those things that we have in common. The work was listened to via headphones, within an intimate, private audio booth. Poems written by Evi K based on the interviews and stories collected in Greece: 1. I am a grandmother Eighty-one years old when I was eleven, There was guerrilla fighting then. My mother sent me back to the village To get a police permit Night fell, I was taken In by a friend. The fighters took my friend. They did not take me cause I was thin, a fake. I made it back to Neapoli. I went to school, they gave us cocoa and raisin bread. Then they took us to the islands, in Mytilene For eight months My dad, they were sad They filled in the paperwork and they took us back I finished primary school. My story is this one story. I have many but I cannot tell any more. 2. I am twenty years old. I come from Albania. People there do not warm up to me. I cannot quite speak like them. I came to Thessaloniki when I was ten months old. Life here is better than it is there. For me. Here I can open up to people. Cause this is the language I speak. 3. I am fifty-three years old. I am a musician. Today With millions of people around Here, now, I am sitting in my bedroom. Twenty meters away lives my best friend Five meters away, my cousin. I do not want to get in touch. It is so sweet to be alone. I am replete. I want good friends. I want a wife. I have a child. I am not really lonely. This is why I want to be alone

The Community Land Model (CLM) is the land component of the Community Earth System Model (CESM) and is used in several global and regional modeling systems. In this paper, we introduce model developments included in CLM version 5 (CLM5), which is the default land component for CESM2. We assess an ensemble of simulations, including prescribed and prognostic vegetation state, multiple forcing data sets, and CLM4, CLM4.5, and CLM5, against a range of metrics including from the International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMBv2) package. CLM5 includes new and updated processes and parameterizations: (1) dynamic land units, (2) updated parameterizations and structure for hydrology and snow (spatially explicit soil depth, dry surface layer, revised groundwater scheme, revised canopy interception and canopy snow processes, updated fresh snow density, simple firn model, and Model for Scale Adaptive River Transport), (3) plant hydraulics and hydraulic redistribution, (4) revised nitrogen cycling (flexible leaf stoichiometry, leaf N optimization for photosynthesis, and carbon costs for plant nitrogen uptake), (5) global crop model with six crop types and time-evolving irrigated areas and fertilization rates, (6) updated urban building energy, (7) carbon isotopes, and (8) updated stomatal physiology. New optional features include demographically structured dynamic vegetation model (Functionally Assembled Terrestrial Ecosystem Simulator), ozone damage to plants, and fire trace gas emissions coupling to the atmosphere. Conclusive establishment of improvement or degradation of individual variables or metrics is challenged by forcing uncertainty, parametric uncertainty, and model structural complexity, but the multivariate metrics presented here suggest a general broad improvement from CLM4 to CLM5. ; National Science Foundation (NSF)National Science Foundation (NSF); National Center for Atmospheric Research - NSF [1852977]; RUBISCO Scientific Focus Area (SFA) - Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM) Program in the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science; Columbia University Presidential Fellowship; U.S. Department of Agriculture NIFA Award [2015-67003-23485]; NASA Interdisciplinary Science Program Award [NNX17AK19G]; U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science programUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-SC0008317, DESC0016188]; National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation (NSF) [DEB-1153401]; NASA's CARBON program; NASA's TE program; National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNational Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) ; We would like to thank the reviewers for their insightful comments and helpful suggestions that improved the clarity and presentation of the manuscript. The CESM project is supported primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This material is based upon work supported by the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is a major facility sponsored by the NSF under Cooperative Agreement 1852977. Computing and data storage resources, including the Cheyenne supercomputer (doi:10.5065/D6RX99HX), were provided by the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at NCAR. D. M. L. was supported in part by the RUBISCO Scientific Focus Area (SFA), which is sponsored by the Regional and Global Climate Modeling (RGCM) Program in the Climate and Environmental Sciences Division (CESD) of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. D. K. and P. G. were supported by Columbia University Presidential Fellowship. G. B., D. L. L., W. R. W., and R. Q. T. were supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture NIFA Award 2015-67003-23485. W. R. W. and G. K. A. were supported by the NASA Interdisciplinary Science Program Award NNX17AK19G. J. B. F. and M. S. carried out the research in part at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged. All rights reserved. J. B. F. and M. S. were supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Terrestrial Ecosystem Science program under Awards DE-SC0008317 and DESC0016188; the National Science Foundation Ecosystem Science program (DEB-1153401); and NASA's CARBON and TE programs. All model data are archived and publicly available at the UCAR/NCAR Climate Data Gateway (https://doi.org/10.5065/d6154fwh).

In the modern world, almost simultaneously in the texts on national security strategies of the United States and the European Union the weak states are mentioned as the main threat to security for the whole world. The relevance of the study lies in the fact that weak states have long been the subject of research by Western scholars. It covers the search for solutions to problems in several areas, including the post-Soviet transfer, the issues of the African continent development and formation, the study of security issues in the Middle East, and so on. The article attempts to identify discrepancies in definitions and categorizations, as well as to analyze the preconditions and ways to overcome the position of "weak state", in particular in the foreign economic and security sector. The main theoretical approaches to the definition of weak states in the foreign literature have been analyzed, but in domestic research this question is very rarely raised by scientists. The threats to international security of countries with a "weak state" status have been summarized. The study concludes the definition and assessment of the weak states status, namely, weak states in different regions of the world and in particular in Ukraine. Within the framework of this research, it has first been proposed to clarify the definitions of "weak" and "failed" states, as well as to determine the principles of the weak state existence along with the neighboring large country, and clearly defined preconditions and ways of overcoming its political and economic weakness, on the example of Ukraine. ; У сучасному світі майже одночасно в тексті стратегій національної безпеки США та Європейського Союзу називають саме weak states головною загрозою безпеки для усього світу. Варто зазначити щодо актуальності дослідження, що weak states вже досить давно є предметом досліджень західних науковців. Це стосувалося пошуку шляхів вирішення проблем у декількох сферах, зокрема пострадянський трансфер, проблеми розвитку та становлення держав Африканського континенту, дослідження питань безпеки на Близькому Сході тощо. У статті зроблено спробу виявити розбіжності у визначеннях і категоризаціях, а також проаналізувати передумови та шляхи, спрямовані на подолання слабкості держави (weak state), зокрема у зовнішньоекономічному та безпековому секторі. Проаналізовані основні теоретичні підходи до визначення weak states в зарубіжній літературі, оскільки у вітчизняних дослідженнях це питання науковцями піднімається вкрай рідко. Узагальнено загрози для міжнародної безпеки країн зі статусом weak state. У підсумку дослідження надано визначення та оцінка статусу weak states - слабких держав у різних регіонах світу та в Україні зокрема. У рамках цього дослідження було вперше запропоновано уточнення дефініцій «weak» та «failed» state, а також визначені принципи існування слабкої держави поруч з сусідньою великою державою, та чітко окреслені передумови та шляхи подолання державою, на прикладі України, своєї політико-економічної слабкості. ; В современном мире почти одновременно в тексте стратегии национальной безопасности США и Европейского Союза главной угрозой безопасности для всего мира называют именно Weak States. Следует отметить актуальность исследования – Weak States уже достаточно давно является предметом исследований западных ученых. Это касается поиска путей решения проблем в нескольких сферах, в частности постсоветский трансфер, проблемы развития и становления государств Африканского континента, исследования вопросов безопасности на Ближнем Востоке и тому подобное. В статье сделана попытка выявить различия в определениях и категоризации, а также проанализировать предпосылки и пути, направленные на преодоление слабости государства (weak state), в том числе во внешнеэкономическом секторе и секторе безопасности. Проанализированы основные теоретические подходы к определению Weak States в зарубежной литературе, поскольку в отечественных исследованиях этот вопрос учеными поднимается крайне редко. Обзор угрозы международной безопасности стран со статусом Weak States. В итоге исследования сформулировано определение и сделана оценка статуса Weak States – слабых государств в различных регионах мира и в Украине в частности. В рамках этого исследования было впервые предложено уточнение дефиниций «weak» и «failed» state, а также определены принципы существования слабого государства рядом с соседней великой державой, четко очерчены предпосылки и пути преодоления государством, на примере Украины, своей политико-экономической слабости.

W grudniu 2017 r. administracja prezydenta Donalda Trumpa zapowiedziała zasadniczą zmianę w amerykańskiej polityce energetycznej. Korzystając z rewolucji w wydobyciu gazu i ropy, tzw. shale revolution, USA podejmie próbę dominacji światowego rynku węglowodorów. Plan wymaga zmian w prawie, stworzenia nowej infrastruktury oraz porozumień handlowych, które pozwolą amerykanom na eksport ropy oraz gazu za granicę na znacznie większą niż dotychczas skalę. Artykuł analizuje możliwy wpływ tej decyzji na geopolitykę krajów eksportujących ropę naftową, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem Rosji oraz Arabii Saudyjskiej. Obydwa kraje posiadają gospodarki mocno zależne od eksportu gazu i ropy – bez niego ich budżety mogą mieć trudności w fi nansowaniu działalności swoich państw, a gospodarki w utrzymaniu się na powierzchni. Jednocześnie kraje te prezentują typ polityki zagranicznej, który jest wysoce zależny fi nansowo od sprzedaży węglowodorów, dlatego brak zysków może utrudnić utrzymanie im obecnego kursu. W przypadku Rosji może to spowodować problemy w kontynuowaniu agresywnej postawy wobec USA. Z kolei Arabia Saudyjska może nie zagwarantowanie równowagi sił w regionie w odpowiedzi na działania wrogiego Iranu, rosnącej w siłę Turcji, asertywnego Izraela oraz różnego typu aktywnych rebeliantów-dżihadystów operujących w przygranicznych krajach. Artykuł stwierdza, że połączenie amerykańskiego planu dominacji energetycznej z radykalnymi zmianami w przemyśle motoryzacyjnym – który przechodzi z ropy na energię elektryczną – znacząco zmniejszy zdolność Rosji, Arabii Saudyjskiej oraz innych państw stosujących podobną politykę do fi nansowania swoich działań ze sprzedaży ropy i gazu, przemieniając te zyski w wpływy międzynarodowe. Stany Zjednoczone znajdą się na wyjątkowej pozycji, która pozwoli na zastosowanie narzędzi selektywnego nacisku na gospodarki Rosji i Arabii Saudyjskiej, tak aby wpłynąć na zachowanie tych państw. Zarówno Moskwa, jak i Rijad pozbawione zysków ze sprzedaży węglowodorów, stracą zdolność do: utrzymania poparcia dla reżimów, pacyfi kowania niezadowolenia, jak również projekcji sił na zewnątrz. W rezultacie pozycja Waszyngtonu wzrośnie, pomimo rosnącej roli Chin w świecie, który staje się coraz bardziej asertywny wobec amerykańskiej polityki. ; In December of 2017 the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump announced a fundamental change in the U.S. energy policy. Capitalizing on the rapid changes in oil and gas extraction technologies called the shale revolution, the U.S. will attempt to dominate the world market of hydrocarbons. The plan calls for regulatory changes, building new infrastructure and creating trade agreements that will allow the U.S. to export oil and gas abroad on a much bigger scale than previously. This article examines the possible impact of this decision on the geopolitics of oil-exporting countries, with a particular focus on Russia and Saudi Arabia. Both of those countries have economies heavily dependent on oil and gas exports. Without them, their budgets may have diffi culty in fi nancing state operations and economies – staying afl oat. At the same time, they both present the type of foreign policy that is fi nanced from the sale of hydrocarbons. Without those profi ts, it may be challenging for them to continue this approach. In the case of Russia, it may result in problems with maintaining its aggressive stance towards the U.S. In the case of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh may not be able to guarantee the balance of powers in the region vis-a-vis hostile Iran, growing Turkey, assertive Israel and active jihadist rebels of various kind in neighbouring countries. Paper concludes that a combination of the U.S. energy dominance plan together with radical shifts in the automobile industry – which is transitioning from gasoline engines to electrical ones – will signifi cantly decrease the ability of Russia, Saudi Arabia and others using similar policy combinations to transform their oil and gas revenues into international infl uence. The United States will be in a unique position to use tools of selective pressure on their economies to alter their behaviour. Both Moscow and Riyadh without the hydrocarbon profi ts will lose their ability to: maintain support for the regime, pacify dissent as well as projecting power outside. As a result, Washington's position in the world will increase, despite the growing role of China and despite the world that is becoming more assertive towards the U.S. power.

In recent years, Located Based Service (LBS) has become one of the hotspots on the application of geographic information to the government and the public. Providing a good performance map to the users is an important part of the location service system. Compared with the traditional web spatial information service system, service system of map information also put forward higher requirements of real time and veracity. The problem of updating electronic map in real-time cannot be effectively solved, hindering the updating of multi-scale electronic map and restricting the development of location service market. As a very important branch for the updating data field of geographic information science, incremental update has become a hot issue in the current international GIS research field. The extraction of incremental information includes two key technologies, namely road network matching and road network selection. After incremental updating roads were inserted into the database, coordinating topological conflicts caused by these inserted roads was the mainly task. However, the accuracy and algorithm efficiency of each technology need further improvement to provide the users with the latest and the most accurate basic geographic data. As the "skeleton" element of a map, the road network rapidly changes, carrying out more urgent requires for the incremental road update. Aiming at key technology problems of the updated road network, the paper focused on the following three parts: (1) To address the problems that the traditional probabilistic relaxation method only adopted geometric constraints as one of road matching criterions and could not respond to M: N matching pattern, an improved probabilistic relaxation method was proposed from the combined views of local optimization and global one, integrating geometric indicators with topology ones to achieve an effect with local optimization, as well as identifying M: N matching pattern by inserting virtual nodes to achieve a globally optimal effect. Then the matching strategies and corresponding implement algorisms were designed for different matching patterns. The case test showed that the overall matching accuracy of each evaluation indictor reached over 90%, increasing by 6%–12%; the evaluation indicators on both spatial and attribute properties increased by 4%–6%; the proper buffer threshold could be defined as twice the average value of the closest distances from all nodes in the candidate matching dataset. (2) Aiming at the low accuracy and irrational structural selection caused by only using linear pattern or areal pattern, an improved method was proposed combining linear method as well as areal ones. The proposed method improves the Stroke generation algorithm of linear pattern using OLS model taking the overall information from the roads to be connected. Meanwhile, it partitioned road network by weighted Voronoi diagrams. The roads were selected under the process of calculating the importance of Stroke and its road density threshold. The test demonstrated that the improved method added the accuracy of Stroke generation results, and the results of road selection could maintain the overall characteristics of the road network as well as its spatial distribution information. Compared with method only using one pattern, the combined method had a better accuracy of road selection. (3) According to the characteristics of detection topology for an updated road network, this paper proposed a topology conflict detection algorithm considering the incremental update of multi-scale network. The algorithm designed K-level topological neighbourhood to identify incremental neighbourhood road segments, built a topological refinement model based on geometric metrics, proposed checking rules based on comprehensive operation operator, and detected the conflict topology by using improved topological distance. The experimental results showed that 1) the accuracy and recall of the proposed method were more than 90%; 2) considering conflict topology caused by the generalization, the accuracy increased by 29.2%; 3) the average path length of a road network could be used as the reference of the best K-value in the K order incremental neighbourhood method.

The combination of galaxy-galaxy lensing (GGL) and redshift space distortion of galaxy clustering (RSD) is a privileged technique to test general relativity predictions and break degeneracies between the growth rate of structure parameter f and the amplitude of the linear power spectrum σ. We performed a joint GGL and RSD analysis on 250 sq. deg using shape catalogues from CFHTLenS and CFHT-Stripe 82 and spectroscopic redshifts from the BOSS CMASS sample. We adjusted a model that includes non-linear biasing, RSD, and Alcock-Paczynski effects. We used an N-body simulation supplemented by an abundance matching prescription for CMASS galaxies to build a set of overlapping lensing and clustering mocks. Together with additional spectroscopic data, this helps us to quantify and correct several systematic errors, such as photometric redshifts. We find f(z = 0.57) = 0.95 ± 0.23, σ(z = 0.57) = 0.55 ± 0.07 and ω = 0.31 ± 0.08, in agreement with Planck cosmological results 2018. We also estimate the probe of gravity E = 0.43 ± 0.10, in agreement with ΛCDM-GR predictions of E = 0.40. This analysis reveals that RSD efficiently decreases the GGL uncertainty on ω by a factor of 4 and by 30% on σ. We make our mock catalogues available on the Skies and Universe database.© E. Jullo et al. 2019. ; Based on observations obtained with MegaPrime/MegaCam, a joint project of CFHT and CEA/DAPNIA, at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), which is operated by the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, the Institut National des Science de I'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) of France, and the University of Hawaii. The Brazilian partnership on CFHT is managed by the Laboratorio Nacional de Astrofisica (LNA). We appreciate the support of the Laboratorio Interinstitucional de e-Astronomia (LIneA). We thank the CFHTLenS team. Funding for SDSS-III has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Energy Office of Science. The SDSS-III web site is http://www.sdss3.org/. SDSS-III is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions of the SDSS-III Collaboration including the University of Arizona, the Brazilian Participation Group, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida, the French Participation Group, the German Participation Group, Harvard University, the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, the Michigan State/Notre Dame/JINA Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, New Mexico State University, New York University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the Spanish Participation Group, University of Tokyo, University of Utah, Vanderbilt University, University of Virginia, University of Washington, and Yale University. The BigMDPL simulation has been performed on the SuperMUC supercomputer at the Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ) in Munich, using the computing resources awarded to the PRACE project number 2012060963. We thank the Red Espanola de Supercomputacion for granting us computing time in the Marenostrum Supercomputer at the BSC-CNS where part of the analyses presented in this paper have been performed. We appreciate the support of the OCEVU Labex (Grant No ANR-11LABX-0060) and the A* MIDEX project (Grant No ANR-11-IDEX-0001-02) funded by the Investissements d'Avenir French government programme managed by the ANR. We also acknowledge support from the ANR eBOSS project (ANR-16-CE31-0021) of the French National Research Agency. CG acknowledges support from Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Directorate General for Country Promotion (Project >Crack the lens?>), from the agreement ASI n.I/023/12/0 >Attivita relative alla fase B2/C per la missione Euclid>, and from the Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR) through the SIR individual grant SIMCODE (project number RBSI14P4IH). JPK acknowledges support from the >Cosmology with 3D-Maps of the Universe> SNF grant #175751. GY acknowledges financial support from MINECO/FEDER under project grant AYA2015-63810-P ; Peer Reviewed