This paper examines the development of labour markets and the evolution of a structure of wages in China, using household surveys for 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. It finds evidence of both provincial and sectoral segmentation in labour markets, with eastern regions and the state-controlled sector enjoying high wage premiums in the early reform period. During the reform, China has progressed slowly towards an integrated labour market with convergence in incomes between the rural non-agriculture sector and the urban market-based sector by 1995, when industry flourished in the rural areas. The wage gap between the rural non-agriculture sector and other sectors increased and the urban state-controlled sector remained segmented with respect to all other sectors up to 2002. However, the data from 2007 show there has been increasing sectoral and spatial integration.


Cobalt hydroxide nanoflakes are uniformly loaded on flexible carbon fiber (CF) paper, and provide good electrical connectivity to the current collector for use as supercapacitors. The unique porous nanostructure offers low ion diffusion and charge transfer resistance in the electrode. The effect of loading mass on electrochemical properties is investigated. The electrode with a mass loading of 2.5 mg cm−2 shows the maximum specific capacitance of 386.5 F g−1 at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. Also the same electrode provides a good rate capability with energy and power densities of 133.5 W h kg−1 and 1769 W kg−1, respectively even at a higher current density of 10 mA cm−2. The electrode reveals a cyclic stability of 92% over 2000 cycles. This kind of flexible, lightweight electrode could be effectively utilized for flexible supercapacitor fabrication, especially for wearable electronics.


We report a label-free ultrasensitive and selective strategy for Pb(II) assay by a multifunctional DNA probe (MDP)-mediated rolling-circle amplified synthesis of the G-quadruplexes. The MDP acted as a target recognition probe, a catalytic DNAzyme and a primer of rolling-circle amplification (RCA). The presence of Pb(II) can induce the conformational switching of the MDP, resulting in the cleavage of the S-DNA in the MDP to release an E-DNA. The released E-DNA then initiated a RCA reaction with a reasonably devised padlock DNA template to produce an accumulated amount of repeated sequences. The RCA product in the present work was designed as a G-rich sequence, which could fold into thousands of G-quadruplex units. The G-quadruplex formed by RCA can specifically bind to NMM to result in an amplified fluorescence signal. Through these cascade amplifications, Pb(II) ions can be detected at as low as 94.29 pM, which is much lower than those reported in related literature. We expect that this amplification strategy might be helpful in the design of a highly sensitive analytical platform for wide application in environmental and biomedical fields.


Radiotherapy is frequently used as treatment for oral cancer either alone or in combination with surgery. Reaction of tumor tissue to radiotherapy often shows marked inter-individual variability making it difficult to assess and pre dict the treatment outcome for individual patients. Recently attention has been drawn towards the role of radiation induced nuclear changes to assess radiosensitivity. Objectives: To establish the relationship between various nuclear changes with radiation dose and to explore the possibility of utilizing them as an assay to predict tumor response to radiotherapy. Study Design: Study group consisted of 20 patients with histologically proven oral squamous cell carcinoma treated by fractionated radiotherapy, receiving a total of 60 Gy of external beam radiation in 30 fractions of 2 Gy each given daily. Serial scrape smears were collected from the lesion and contralateral normal site before the start of treatment and after 4th, 8th, and 12th fraction. Staining with acridine orange fluorescent dye and May-Grunwald Giemsa stain was done to assess nuclear abnormalities like micronucleation, nuclear budding, binucleation, and multinucleation. These were then correlated with tumor response. Results: Statistically significant dose related increase in all nuclear abnormalities was observed with micronuclea tion being the most reliable independent parameter for assessing radiation induced damage of cancer cells. Nuclear abnormalities were significantly higher in lesional tissue than normal but did not show statistically significant correlation with tumor response though there was a trend towards higher counts in patients with good tumor response. Conlusion: A direct dose-response relationship exists between the frequencies of various nuclear abnormalities and radiation exists in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients undergoing fractionated radiotherapy. Further studies are required to improve the understanding of the role of these changes in predicting tumor radiosensitivity.


Current therapeutic strategies have proven to be remarkably effective in correcting known cardiovascular risk factors but coronary events still occur in a significant number of patients. New therapeutic targets should be pursued in order to overcome traditional research methodology, which is focused on the reduction of the mean values. Novel clinical approaches should be based on the analysis of the outliers rather than focusing only on the distribution of the mean values. In this subset of patients that deviate most from the average, the identification of peculiar features is easier and may subsequently help to detect the same, but less marked, characteristics in the general patient population. An individually tailored therapy based on the underlying etiologic factors will be more effective than the present optimal treatment. The study of these outliers may lead to identify new cardiovascular risk factors and new therapeutic targets for future pharmacological research.


In this work the effects of O2 concentration on the pulsed dielectric barrier discharge in helium-oxygen mixture at atmospheric pressure have been numerically researched by using a one-dimensional fluid model in conjunction with the chosen key species and chemical reactions. The reliability of the used model has been examined by comparing the calculated discharge current with the reported experiments. The present work presents the following significant results. The dominative positive and negative particles are He2+ and O2−, respectively, the densities of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) get their maxima nearly at the central position of the gap, and the density of the ground state O is highest in the ROS. The increase of O2 concentration results in increasingly weak discharge and the time lag of the ignition. For O2 concentrations below 1.1%, the density of O is much higher than other species, the averaged dissipated power density presents an evident increase for small O2 concentration and then the increase becomes weak. In particular, the total density of the reactive oxygen species reaches its maximums at the O2 concentration of about 0.5%. This characteristic further convinces the experimental observation that the O2 concentration of 0.5% is an optimal O2/He ratio in the inactivation of bacteria and biomolecules when radiated by using the plasmas produced in a helium oxygen mixture.


Sodium wind/temperature lidar measurements taken throughout the diurnal and annual cycles at Urbana, Illinois (40 N, 88 (cid:56) W), from February 1996 through January 1998 are used to characterize the seasonal variations of the mesospheric temperature structure between 80 and 105 km. By averaging data over several weeks and over the complete diurnal cycle, the significant effects of gravity waves, tides, and planetary waves are surpressed. The observed mean annual temperature structure is largely consistent with the assumption of radiative equilibrium between direct solar UV heating and radiative cooling by IR emission. Large seasonal variations of the mean thermal structure are observed. Below 91 km, there is strong adiabatic cooling in summer caused by the mean upward velocities associated with the diabatic circulation system. The maximum amplitude of the annual variation is 9.7 K at approximately 84 km. Above 98 km, increased UV absorption by O 2 during summer drives an annual oscillation in this region with an amplitude of approximately 5 K. These two phenomena determine the seasonal variation of the mesopause altitude. The annual variation in solar UV heating in the lower thermosphere induces a modest 5-km peak to peak annual variation in the mesopause altitude. The mesopause is near 101 km in winter and (cid:59) 96 km in late summer. However, the summer cooling below 91 km is strong enough to define the minimum temperature, causing the mesopause altitude to fall to (cid:59) 87 km from about 7 May to about 15 July ( (cid:59) 70 days). The mesopause thickness, defined here as the altitude range where the temperature is within 5 K of the minimum, increases dramatically from approximately 7 km in winter to over 16 km in summer. Significant biases can occur in some parameters calculated from nighttime-only observations. The inversion layers that persist between 85 and 96 km in nighttime temperature profiles are virtually eliminated when data are averaged over the complete diurnal period. The strong annual temperature variation present around 84 km is overestimated by 40%, and the strong semiannual variation above 95 km is overestimated by as much as 150% when computed using only nighttime measurements. The low summer mesopause exists for a much longer period ( (cid:59) 126 days) in the nighttime observations. The mesopause temperature averaged over the annual cycle is 188 K compared to 190 K for the nighttime average. This bias is most pronounced during summertime, when the difference is 7 K.


Transient phenomena associated with solid-propellant combustion are examined by means of an oscillatory burner designed to create pressure oscillations through the use of a rotary nozzle. The oscillatory burner is designed to operate at pressures up to 20.7 MPa (3000 psi), with the target operating pressure achieved through prepressurization with an inert gas (helium) and manipulation of constant and variable-area nozzle diameters. A spherically focused 1-MHz ultrasound transducer is pulsed at 2.5 kHz through the bottom of the propellant to obtain the thickness-time profile of the propellant, which is then converted to a burning rate by taking the time derivative. Two piezoelectric pressure transducers simultaneously record the pressure-time history of each experiment. The burning rate and pressure are then used to calculate the pressure-coupled response of each test. The experiments presented here were motivated by three primary goals. The first was to investigate the effect of propellant composition on the response function. The second was to evaluate effect of mean pressure on the response of propellants, and the third was to investigate the response of a propellant within a plateau region. These experiments targeted mean pressures of 2.0, 5.0, and 12.5 MPa at frequencies ranging from 20-200 Hz.


Advanced composite materials are being used extensively in many commercial and military aircraft and rotorcraft due to their superior stiffness and high strength-to-weight ratio. These composite materials are subjected to unexpected environmental impact loads at high speeds, such as bird strikes and hail stone impacts. The damages developed in such cases is primarily in the form of delaminations and matrix cracking, known as barely visible impact damage (BVID), since they are not easily observable by the naked eye. These environmental impact damages can severely compromise the overall strength of the composite structure thereby reducing the maximum load it can withstand. Prediction of such environmental impact damages, which can occur in the service life of the aircraft, are of paramount importance in the aerospace industry. This paper demonstrates the use of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) modeling method to simulate the extreme deformation of the impactor (hailstone and bird) along with the composite plate. Since the physical testing of the aforementioned impact scenarios is extremely expensive and time consuming, the SPH modeling approach can be used as a cost-effective tool in the design of composite structures. This paper presents the results of simulated hailstone impact and bird impact occurring on an 8-layer unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate. This paper also proposes a non-invasive microwave non-destructive testing (NDT) technique that could be employed as a detection methodology to detect the simulated impact damages. Radar signals operating in the X-band microwave frequency range (8–12 GHz) could be used to detect the delaminations occurring in between the layers of the unidirectional CFRP plate to obtain high-resolution 2D images of the impact damages.


The goal of study 1 was to use a remote eye tracker to understand how eye movements change with 7 geometrically varied remote controls to determine design element saliency. 20 participants were used to measure the following eye metrics: number of fixations prior to first fixation of any AOI, time to first fixation of an AOI, number of fixations on an AOI, dwell time of the first fixation on an AOI, total dwell time of an AOI, and the percentage of time spent on an AOI. The results of the study showed that all participants spent between 75-85% of their time fixated on the button layout which was not defined as an AOI. No statistical differences were found in the values measured for all eye tracking metrics across similarly defined AOIs. In study 2, the objective was to determine attitudes towards appearance and usability of the 7 remote control designs using the participants from study 1. Participants were asked to rate their attitudes and preferences, using a Likert-based questionnaire, about the qualities of appearance and usability for the attributes of proportion, shape, and configuration. They were asked open-ended questions about their likes and dislikes regarding the qualities of appearance and usability. Lastly, participants were given a pairwise comparison survey where they chose their preferred remote design, based on appearance, for 10 paired sets of contrasting remote designs. The hourglass subjacent and hourglass round designs were rated highest for appearance and usability from the Likert questionnaire. The hourglass round design was ranked highest for the pairwise comparison survey. For study 3, the goal was to determine attitudes towards appearance and usability of the 7 remote designs with online participants. 300 participants were asked to rate their attitudes and preferences using the same Likert-based questionnaire from study 2. They were asked the same open-ended questions and administered the same pairwise comparison survey as in study 2. The results of the Likert questionnaire showed that the hourglass subjacent and hourglass round designs were rated highest for appearance and usability. From the pairwise comparison survey, the hourglass round design was ranked the highest.


Objectives Hereditary Transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is a genetic disorder where insoluble amyloid fibrils deposit in heart, nerves and various musculoskeletal tissues. Early recognition of TTR-FAP is important as new genetic therapies become available. Design We present one confirmed and one clinical case of ATTR deposition in ligamentum flavum causing lumbar canal stenosis. Subjects The first case is a 44-year-old female with TTR 184S heterozygous mutation who developed urinary urgency and bilateral leg pain exacerbated by walking. Neurological examination was normal. MRI lumbar spine showed a disc bulge in combination with ligamentum flavum thickening at L2/3 causing stenosis of the vertebral canal. She had a laminectomy of the L2/3 level. Histopathological analysis of the surgical tissue was positive on Congo red staining for amyloid and immunohistochemically identified as TTR type. The second case is a 68-year-old man with TTR V122I heterozygous mutation. He presented with paraesthesia from the knees to dorsum of the feet. On examination, power was normal and he had a length dependent neuropathy. A CT myelogram demonstrated spondylosis at L4/5 and L3/4 from disc bulge and marked flaval hypertrophy causing canal stenosis. He was placed on the waitlist for L4-5 decompression but unfortunately died prior to surgery. Conclusions Identifying ATTR in surgical specimens may diagnose hereditary amyloidosis in otherwise asymptomatic patients and in the future, provide early access to effective therapies.


Nowadays agile supply chain management has got much attention and become a new competitive methodology. One of its most important characteristics is the ability to reconfigure dynamically and quickly according to demand changes in the market. In this paper, concepts and characteristics of agile supply chain are discussed and then an integrated system for agile supply chain management is presented based on multi-agent theory, in which the supply chain is managed by a set of intelligent agents for one or more activities. Agent functionalities and responsibilities are defined respectively. It is necessary that it has potential for practical application


BACKGROUND
Individuals residing in long-term care (LTC) are more likely to have a fragility fracture than community-dwelling seniors. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence of neurological diseases was associated with an increased risk of fracture within 180 days of admission to LTC.

METHODS
This retrospective cohort study used data collected in the LTC setting using the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) 2.0 during the period from 2006 to 2011 (N=42,089). Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations between the presence of neurological conditions and incident fractures, with and without adjustment for clinical variables.

RESULTS
The incident fracture rate for all LTC residents was 2.6% (N=1,094). Neurological condition group size ranged from n=21,015 for Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (ADRD) to n=21 for muscular dystrophy (MD). The incidence of fracture among residents with specific neurological diseases was as follows: ADRD, 3.2% (n=672), MD, 4.8% (n=1), Parkinson's disease, 2.5% (n=57), stroke, 2.3% (n=166), epilepsy, 2.5% (n=38), Huntington's disease, 1.4% (n=1), multiple sclerosis, 0.3% (n=1) and traumatic brain injury, 3.8% (n=11); among the comparison group with no neurological conditions, the fracture rate was 2.0% (n=366). The neurological diseases that were associated with a significantly greater odds of having an incident fracture in the first 180 days of LTC admission were as follows: ADRD (1.3; 95% CI: 1.1-1.5), epilepsy (1.5; 95% CI: 1.0-2.1) and traumatic brain injury (2.7; 95% CI: 1.4-5.0).

CONCLUSION
LTC residents with ADRD, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury are at a higher risk for sustaining an incident fracture in the first 180 days of admission and should be considered for fracture prevention strategies.


BACKGROUND
Despite an increasing focus on the nutritional content of school meals and initiatives such as the School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme, children are not meeting the recommended levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. The present study aimed to examine children's fruit and vegetable consumption in 15 primary schools across the West Midlands region.

METHODS
A total of 1296 children, aged 4-11 years, were observed for five consecutive days and the consumption of all food items was measured using the weighed intake method. Differences in the mean intake of fruit, vegetables and foods high in fat and sugar between Key Stages 1 and 2 were determined.

RESULTS
Two-thirds of the children in the present study did not consume any fruit at lunchtime and only 3% of children consumed at least one portion as part of their school meal. The proportion of children consuming some quantity of vegetable at lunchtime was more than double that consuming fruit. Children in Key Stage 1 consumed significantly more vegetables on average than children in Key Stage 2 (P ≤ 0.05); however, no significant differences were found for the consumption of fruit.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite the introduction of food-based standards for school meal provision; children are not consuming adequate portions of fruit and vegetables at lunchtime. The importance of strategies used by catering staff to promote the consumption of fruit and vegetables should be harnessed to encourage children to taste fruit and vegetables provided. Further research is recommended to increase the evidence base on strategies aiming to promote fruit and vegetable consumption in children.


The objective of the study is to make a comparative analysis of the most important technical and economic parameters of technological variants for cleaning, storage and treatment of liquid manure, in order to develop and explain from a theoretical and analytical point of view economical design solution of a system for manure management in a pig farm. To achieve the objective the amount of manure and urine produced in a real farm in Bulgaria with a capacity of 3704 pigs has been determined, a detailed technical and technological project of the facility for storage of liquid manure ("lagoon" type) has been developed and the technological processes for existing farm system for manure separation have been examined and detailed. The total built-up areas and volumes for both variants of the system for managing liquid manure and the initial investment costs for constructing and equipping with equipment have been defined, as on this basis a comparative technical and economic analysis has been made and a preferred variant for the practic has been proposed. It has been found out that the variant with a liquid manure separating system is more economical than the variant with a semi-buried scrape lagoon by the volume and planning parameters: by total built-up area - by 7,4% and by total built-up volume - 2,1 times, which brings less pollution to the environment. The variant with a lagoon is more economical than the one with a liquid manure separating system by the following parameters: by total construction cost for building the manure storage facilities - 2,2 times, by total cost of the manure management equipment - 2,6 times, by total investment costs for constructing and equipping with manure management equipment for the manure storage facilities - 2,4 times.


BACKGROUND
People who take analgesic drugs frequently may be at increased risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), but the extent of this risk remains unclear.

METHODS
We studied 716 patients treated for ESRD and 361 control subjects of similar age from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The study participants were interviewed by telephone about their past use of medications containing acetaminophen, aspirin, and other nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). For each analgesic drug, the average use (in pills per year) and the cumulative intake (in pills) were examined for any association with ESRD.

RESULTS
Heavier acetaminophen use was associated with an increased risk of ESRD in a dose-dependent fashion. When persons who took an average of 0 to 104 pills per year were used for reference, the odds ratio of ESRD was 1.4 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.8 to 2.4) for those who took 105 to 365 pills per year and 2.1 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 3.7) for those who took 366 or more pills per year, after adjustment for race, sex, age, and intake of other analgesic drugs. When persons who had taken fewer than 1000 pills containing acetaminophen in their lifetime were used for reference, the odds ratio was 2.0 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.3 to 3.2) for those who had taken 1000 to 4999 pills and 2.4 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.2 to 4.8) for those who had taken 5000 or more pills. Approximately 8 to 10 percent of the overall incidence of ESRD was attributable to acetaminophen use. A cumulative dose of 5000 or more pills containing NSAIDs was also associated with an increased odds of ESRD (odds ratio, 8.8), but the use of aspirin was not.

CONCLUSIONS
People who often take acetaminophen or NSAIDs have an increased risk of ESRD, but not those who often take aspirin.


The lithium/sulfur battery has been investigated as an attractive candidate for the rechargeable energy storage system, since it can potentially deliver a much higher energy than a typical lithium ion battery of the same weight. In this work, sulfur/acetylene black composite electrodes were prepared by the ball milling method and studied cells with various electrolyte systems. A significant impact of the electrolyte viscosity on the electrochemical performance of the cells was explained in terms of the electrolyte penetration into the sulfur electrode structure, the diffusion rate of lithium salts and the dissolution rate of the solid active materials. Sulfur/acetylene black (AB) composites were also prepared using a direct precipitation method. The smaller particles of sulfur, as well as the well-distributed AB on the surface of sulfur particles resulting from the precipitation method was found to provide a more uniform and conductive S/AB composite with a larger surface area. The resulting electrodes showed less degradation on cycling than those prepared by milling method. A simple quantitative one-dimensional model of the initial self-discharge has been developed in terms of diffusion of a polysulfide shuttle species. Despite the simplicity of the model, it reproduces very well the decrease in the open circuit potential of the cells under a range of experimental conditions (varying the number of separators between the electrodes, the amount of AB in the sulfur electrode and the pre-saturation of the electrolyte with sulfur). The model provides a detailed understanding of the mechanism of self-discharge, quantifying the two main causes of sulfur loss from the positive electrode: dissolution followed by diffusion down a concentration gradient and direct reaction with polysulfides arriving from the lithium electrode. Galvanostatic Intermittent Transient Technique (GITT) measurements were conducted to study the diffusion behaviour in Li/S cells. Analysis of the transient voltage change during and after current pulses was performed at different states of discharge/charge. The relaxation time was optimised to avoid errors due to poor equilibration at short times and self-discharge during longer periods. Finally, the effect of the shuttle reaction on the electrochemical performance of Li/S cells was investigated using a lithium ion conducting glass ceramic (LICGC) separator in an effort to eliminate the self-discharge. This resulted in a higher discharge capacity and more accurate GITT results, showing that better controlled diffusion conditions can be achieved in a Li/S cell containing LICGC separator.


The Geobacillus stearothermophilus splG gene encodes a thermophilic spore photoproduct lyase (SplG) that belongs to the family of radical S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) enzymes. The aerobically purified apo-SplG forms a homodimer, which contains one [4Fe-4S] cluster per monomer unit after reconstitution to the holoform. Formation of the [4Fe-4S] cluster was proven by quantification of the amount of iron and sulfur per homodimer and by UV and EPR spectroscopy. The UV spectrum features a characteristic absorbance at 420 nm typical for [4Fe-4S] clusters, and the EPR data were found to be identical to those of other proteins containing an [4Fe-4S]+ center. Probing of the activity of the holo-SplG with oligonucleotides containing one spore photoproduct lesion at a defined site proved that the enzyme is able to turn over substrate. In addition to repair, we observed cleavage of AdoMet to generate 5′-deoxyadenosine. In the presence of aza-AdoMet the SplG is completely inhibited, which provides direct support for the repair mechanism.


Conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone is mediated by the cholesterol side-chain cleavage (SCC) enzyme, P450scc. Deficient SCC activity causes congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia (also known as 20,22 desmolase deficiency), a potentially lethal defect in the synthesis of all steroid hormones. To probe for possible genetic defects causing this disease we synthesized four oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing 63 to 72 bases corresponding to portions of the bovine complementary DNA (cDNA) sequence for P450scc. The bovine oligonucleotides were labeled and used directly to probe Southern blots of normal human genomic DNA, revealing a pattern indicating there is a single P450scc gene in the human genome. Hybridization to Northern blots of normal human and bovine adrenal messenger RNA indicates that P450scc messenger RNA is about 2.0 kilobases long in both species. Hybridizations of the oligonucleotides to genomic DNA from three unrelated patients with SCC deficiency did not detect a deletion in the human P450scc gene. The bovine sequence oligonucleotides were then used to isolate a human P450scc cDNA clone. The isolated P450scc cDNA fragment contains 818 bases encoding 239 amino acids of the protein, the translation termination signal, and 98 bases of the 3' untranslated region. The sequence of this carboxy-terminal half of the human P450scc protein is 72% homologous with the bovine sequence and contains an additional amino acid not found in bovine P450scc; the human and bovine nucleotide sequences are 81% homologous. Repetition of the genomic DNA blotting studies with the cDNA probe gave the same results obtained with the bovine-sequence oligonucleotide probes, confirming that SCC deficiency is not due to a deletion in the regions of the P450scc hybridizing with the probes. Long, chemically synthesized heterologous sequence oligonucleotides containing unknown numbers of base mismatches with human sequences may thus be used to study human genes so that access to a cDNA is not necessary for such studies.


Abstract The dynamics of grounded tidewater glaciers is investigated with a time-dependent numerical flow model, which solves the full equations for the stress and velocity fields and includes a water-pressure-dependent sliding law. The calving criterion implemented in the model shifts the calving front at each time-step to the position where the frontal ice thickness exceeds flotation height by a prescribed value. With this model, the linear relation between calving rate and water depth proposed on empirical grounds is qualitatively reproduced for the situation of a slowly retreating or advancing terminus, but not for situations of rapid changes. Length changes of tidewater glaciers, i.e. especially rapid changes, are dominantly controlled by the bed topography and are to a minor degree a direct reaction to a mass-balance change. Thus, accurate information on the near-terminus bed topography is required for reliable prediction of the terminus changes due to climate changes. The results also confirm the suggested cycles of slow advance and rapid retreat through a basal depression. Rapid changes in terminus positions preferably occur in places where the bed slopes upwards in the ice-flow direction.


It's no secret that the pandemic has had far‐ranging and potentially devastating effects on higher education. Recent research has indicated that community colleges have been hit especially hard by the pandemic, causing drops in enrollment as well as drops in college persistence.


A 1-year-old cat with a suspected abortion was brought to the clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ankara University. The cat was examined because of a reoccurrence of a bloody vaginal discharge. Failure to detect a foetus by ultrasonography and the presence of an anechoic zone in the uterus revealed that there had not an abortion. Since the anechoic zone was large, it was thought that a pharmacological approach would not be successful. Despite the vaginal discharge, the physical condition of the patient was suitable for surgery. Therefore, we decided to perform an ovariohysterectomy. Histopathological examination of the uterus revealed adenoma, hydrometra and proliferative polyps in the endometrium.


soon as they confirm the presence of an AMI, they start the first part of the thrombolytic protocol, while SAMU dispatches the medical rescue helicopter with an emergency physician and thrombolytic drugs to the scene. If the first line is outside a reasonable time line, to reach the scene by the "first line" physician, SAMU will send the helicopter team as a first response. The objective is to start thrombolytic therapy wherever the patient is. So, easy to utilize drugs (e.g. as one-shot thrombolytic and LMWH), are the best choice in such difficult areas. In the 20 months from implementation, the network has managed nearly 100 patients with an AMI, with an average time of less than 1 hour between alert and initiation of thrombolysis, and with good results.


This study investigates the pragmatic aspects that are used in media discourse especially newspaper headlines. It aims to analyze Searle's Taxonomy of speech acts (1979) that are employed to Iraqi newspaper headlines. Fifty headlines were collected from the Iraqi official newspaper (ALSABAH NEWSPAPER). They were translated and classified based on the classifications of Searle's speech acts Taxonomy. The sampled headlines focus on the events that happened in Iraq from March to December 2017 covering the Iraqi – ISIS conflict. The findings reveal that the writers of these headlines employed all the speech acts as means to perform the intended meanings and convey the message behind using these classifications. In addition, the findings reveal that the expressives and declaratives are the most prominent and common speech acts employed to the sampled headlines. Finally, the data analysis shows how all these categories of speech act were employed explicitly and implicitly. To sum up, the employment of these such speech acts to Alsabah Newspaper headlines addressed the feelings of the readers to express the achievement of victory and liberation.


Marijuana, Methamphetamine, and Oxycodone: A multilevel approach to understanding drug effects Diana R. Keith Drug use and abuse remains an important public health problem in the United States. In particular, there has been considerable recent concern regarding the illicit use of marijuana, methamphetamine, and prescription pain relievers. However, several important gaps remain in our knowledge of these drugs. The current studies aim to address three of these gaps. Further, the present studies utilized a translational, multilevel approach in order to better understand substance use as a whole. First, although there have been a number of studies examining marijuana use in college students, there is a lack of information regarding the consequences of marijuana and alcohol co-use, as well as the relationship between marijuana use and mental health and stress. Study 1 examined the relationship between frequency of marijuana use and other substance use, binge drinking, negative consequences associated with drinking, mental health problems, and stress. Results show that students who reported more frequent marijuana use were more likely to use all other substances, binge drink, and have drinking-related encounters with the police. Frequency of use was also related to diagnosis and/or treatment for major depression and substance use disorders. On the other hand, any marijuana use was associated with greater likelihood of experiencing a number of negative consequences from drinking, and diagnosis or treatment for anxiety disorders. Marijuana was not related to stress. This data contributes to the field by indicating that marijuana use is indeed related to mental health among this population. This has important implications for university administrators and health professionals. Study 2 was the first empirical investigation of the acute effects of marijuana during simulated night shift work in marijuana users. Night shift workers are particularly susceptible to performance impairments and often use drugs in order to manage their sleep-wake cycles. The results indicated that smoked marijuana attenuated performance and mood disruptions during simulated night shift work. This data furthers the database by indicating that marijuana has cognitive-enhancing effects under certain conditions. Additional research will be needed in order to determine whether these effects were caused by circadian modulation of the stimulant-related effects of marijuana, or by residual effects on improved sleep. Another important gap addressed by the present studies is the dearth of empirical information regarding the effects of methamphetamine when combined with oxycodone. Study 3 addressed this gap by beginning a systematic investigation of this drug combination utilizing a pre-clinical model with a wide range of cognitive and behavioral measures. Results indicated that the drug combination produced stronger effects than either drug alone, although this was observed in a limited number of measures. These data importantly provide the first empirical determination of the effects of the methamphetamine-oxycodone combination.


This study examines the perceptions of preparers of financial reports towards the issues surrounding
corporate quarterly financial reporting in Malaysia. Questionnaires were mailed to chief financial officers of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) listed companies, from whom 106 usable responses were gathered. The findings provide evidence that some preparers are not keen of the idea of quarterly reporting, despite the enforcement of the requirement. However, a majority of preparers are content
with the current allowable reporting lag of two months, satisfied with the current content of the quarterly
reports, and agree that management should at least discuss the quarterly results with the auditors. With respect to other matters, preparers expressed the view that the quarterly reports are reliable. However,there is also evidence that the first three quarterly reports are perceived to be less reliable than the fourth quarterly reports. The findings serve as an avenue for more research on quarterly financial
reporting in Malaysia and other jurisdictions.


In the Australian State of Victoria a long trend of decreasing accident rates turned into negative figures in the late 1980s. Three government co-operated to form a new road safety strategy, later known as the Victorian model The Victoria model itself extends well beyond a focus on enforcement and certainly well beyond speed management by traffic cameras. However, that technology supported by public awareness campaigns does constitute about 50 percent of the infringement transactions in one of the two offences identified as most critical, i.e. excessive speed. The paper presents the strategy and its main components. The best results in recent years for the Victoria model in terms of the annual rate of improvement were in the early 1990s. After that, the lower numbers of road deaths more or less held at that level. At 396 road deaths in 1992, there had been a reduction of 49 per cent in the road toll in the three years between December 1989 and December 1992. Five things that worked well were: 1) the rapid reduction in the number of deaths from road crashes and, albeit a lesser, reduction in injuries won community support for the road safety program and assured that politicians would continue allocating resources to it; 2) the development of a comprehensive road safety strategy in which the speed camera program was an important part; 3) the presence of a commercially focused government agency as an investor in road safety; 4) implementation of high volume enforcement; and 5) an efficient court system support. For the covering abstract and the URL of the conference see ITRD E205706.


Myriad biological factors have been proposed to explain premature ejaculation (PE). However, data correlating PE with seminal vesicles (SVs) are sparse. The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the size of SV and PE. The cross-sectional study included 44 outpatients with PE and 44 volunteers without PE, and the size of SV was compared. Self-estimated intravaginal ejaculatory latency time, the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT), the International Index of Erectile Function-15, and the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index were used for assessment of symptoms. Compared to the control group, the PE group had significantly higher mean anterior-posterior diameter (APD) of SV (P < 0.001). The optimal mean APD of SV cutoff level was 9.25 mm for PE. In the PE group, PEDT was also higher with a mean APD of SV ≥9.25 mm compared with mean APD of SV <9.25 mm. PEDT was significantly correlated with the mean APD of SV (r = 0.326, P = 0.031). The seminal plasma proteins were compared between six PE and six matched control cases by mass spectrometry and it was shown that 102 proteins were at least 1.5-fold up- or down-regulated. Among them, GGT1, LAMC1, and APP were significantly higher in the PE group. These results indicated that men with a larger mean APD of SV might have a higher PEDT score. Transrectal ultrasound of SV should be considered in the evaluation of patients with premature ejaculation. SV might be a potential target for the treatment of patients with PE and ultrasound change in SV.


The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of non-dietary factors on the concentration of milk urea nitrogen (MUN), as an indicator of efficiency of nutrient utilization by lactating dairy cows. A dataset containing 7,006 observations from 855 lactating Holstein cows were used. Milk yield, body weight, days in milk and number of lactation were collected on the milk sampling days. Monthly samples of milk were collected to determine contents of milk fat, protein, lactose, total solids, MUN and somatic cells count (SCC). Yield of milk components (fat, protein, lactose and total solids) as well as 4% fat-corrected milk (FCM) were also used in the study. Regression analyses of MUN, as the dependent variable, on FCM, SCC and content and yield of milk components were done to analyze the data. Mean MUN and milk yield averaged 13.3 mg/dL and 35.8 kg/day, respectively. Milk contents of fat, protein, lactose and total solids as well as SCC (natural logarithm transformed) were negatively associated with MUN while the opposite was observed for yields of milk lactose and total solids and milk production. Yields of milk fat and milk protein (kg), FCM, days in milk and number of lactation all were correlated with MUN, however there was lack of fit for the linear equation. No significant correlations between MUN and body weight and MUN and fat:protein ratio were observed. Among the non-dietary factors, milk yield and milk protein concentration correlated most with MUN.


Abstract Public debates on reality television often address the display of emotion and immoral conduct. Television scholars have recently proposed that while reality television offers its audience an opportunity to learn valuable lessons, they rarely address the issue of the morality of the genre. In this contribution, we analyze the display of emotion and immoral conduct in the Dutch reality show The Golden Cage. Reality television is viewed as constituting a 'moral laboratory'. The question guiding our research revolved around the kind of exercise this moral laboratory provides for. A dramaturgical study of the display of actions and emotions as part of participant "projects" (Beckerman, Dynamics of drama: Theory and method of analysis, Drama Book Specialists, 1979) was used to answer this question. Results indicate that moral issues and emotions were continuously at stake, and immoral conduct appeared to be coupled with pleasurable emotions. It is concluded that the laboratory of The Golden Cage is at least equally suited for exercising autonomy and identity performance under competitive pressure as it is for the simulation of moral conflicts.


One of the major contributors to secondary osteoporosis is long-term glucocorticoid usage. Clinically used antidepressant agomelatine also has anti-inflammatory properties. Our research aimed to inspect the probable defensive effect of agomelatine against steroid-promoted osteoporosis. There were four groups of rats; group I had saline as a negative control; rats of group II had dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg, s.c.), twice weekly for 12 weeks; rats of group III had agomelatine (40 mg/kg/day, orally), as a positive control, daily for 12 weeks; and rats of group IV had dexamethasone + agomelatine in the same previous doses combined for 12 weeks. Finally, biochemical as well as histopathological changes were evaluated and dexamethasone treatment caused osteoporosis, as evidenced by discontinuous thin cancellous bone trabeculae, minor fissures and fractures, irregular eroded endosteal surface with elevated alkaline phosphate, tartarate resistant acid phosphate (TRACP) and osteocalcin levels. Osteoprotegerin (OPG), calcium, and phosphorus levels decreased with disturbed receptor activator of nuclear factor κ B ligand (RANKL), forkhead box O1 (FOXO1), and silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1) protein expression. However, treatment with agomelatine restored the normal levels of biochemical parameters to a great extent, supported by SIRT activation with an improvement in histopathological changes. Here, we concluded that agomelatine ameliorates steroid-induced osteoporosis through a SIRT1/RANKL/FOXO1/OPG-dependent pathway.


COVID-19 and associated social distancing measures have had major labor market ramifications, with massive job losses and furloughs. Millions of people have filed jobless claims since mid-March—6.9 million in the week of March 28 alone. These developments will surely lead to financial hardship for millions of Americans, especially those who hold outstanding debts while facing diminishing or disappearing wages. The CARES Act, passed by Congress on April 2, 2020, provided $2.2 trillion in disaster relief to combat the economic impacts of COVID-19. Among other measures, it included mortgage and student debt relief measures to alleviate the cash flow problems of borrowers. In this post, we examine who could benefit most (and by how much) from various debt relief provisions under the CARES Act.


The intensive development of the industrial sector, intensification of the agro-industrial complex, associated with the use of various fertilizers, active use of modern household chemicals lead to the constant increase in xenobiotics in the environment in both rural and urban agglomerations. There are settlements and farms within the industrial areas, therefore, the issue of accumulation of ecotoxicants in the organs and tissues of an animal, as well as the impact on the state of its health, is of particular importance. In the regions with tough environmental situation associated with anthropogenic contamination, xenobiotics of anthropogenic origin can directly or indirectly modify the activity of various body systems. The integral characteristic that reflects adaptive modifications of biota is the morphological and functional status of organs and tissues of an animal, including the state of muscle tissue. An analysis of the regenerative plastic potential of muscle tissue allows finding innovative approaches to assessing the effects of environmental impacts on animals. Up to the present day, the morphological and functional characteristics of muscle tissue in young animals and adult cattle have not been sufficiently studied in the conditions of the tough environmental situation of the Central Federal District of the Russian Federation. The issue of ecological pathologies of organs in productive animals is quite urgent for the territory of the Central Federal District with its developed agro-industrial complex and industry. The study of animals from the agglomeration of the large chemical plant showed that cattle react differently to pollutants. The animals demonstrated changes not only in hematological and biochemical parameters, but also in the morphological and functional status of muscle tissue.


We reconsider the role of foreign investment in income inequality in light of recent critiques that question the results of quantitative cross-national research on foreign capital penetration. We analyze an unbalanced cross-national data set in which countries contribute different numbers of observations, with a maximum of 88 countries and 488 observations, dated from 1967 to 1994. Random-effects regression models that control for unmeasured country heterogeneity are used to investigate effects of foreign capital penetration on inequality (measured as the Gini coefficient) against the background of an internal-developmental model of inequality. We adapt Firebaugh's (1992, 1996) critique of the literature on the effect of foreign investment on economic growth to the study of income inequality and find that the stock of foreign direct investment has an effect on inequality that is independent of the mechanisms identified by Firebaugh. We explore Tsai's (1995) claim that the effect of foreign capital penetration is spurious and find that foreign stock has a significant positive effect on inequality net of region-specific differences. An alternative interpretation of the findings of the foreign investment/inequality literature is discussed in light of the discovery of an inverted-U shaped relationship between income inequality and foreign investment stock per capita. We conclude that thinking on the relationship between income inequality and investment dependence should be revised in light of an investment-development path relating the inflow and outflow of foreign capital to economic development.


The purpose of this study was to develop a model of vascular injury in 8-week-old C3H/HeJ mice (weight, 25 to 30 g) by using air desiccation. The carotid arteries were excised 1 to 8 weeks postinjury and evaluated by Verhoeff's stain and immunocytochemistry. In the first group of mice studied (n = 107), neointimal formation occurred and peaked at Day 14. In addition, medial cell division (measured by bromodeoxyuridine labeling) peaked at Day 3, whereas intimal cell proliferation increased gradually throughout the experimental period of 21 days. In addition, extensive thrombus formation occurred within 3 days after injury. The next experiment involved 124 mice and evaluated the effect of anticoagulants on the neointimal and thrombotic response. Mice received aspirin, heparin, or vehicle-only time-release pellets. Both anticoagulants significantly decreased the neointimal and thrombotic responses. The results of this study validate our animal model as being consistent with the Response to Injury Hypothesis of atherogenesis.


Self-replication and compartmentalization are two central properties thought to be essential for minimal life, and understanding how such processes interact in the emergence of complex reaction networks is crucial to exploring the development of complexity in chemistry and biology. Autocatalysis can emerge from multiple different mechanisms such as formation of an initiator, template self-replication and physical autocatalysis (where micelles formed from the reaction product solubilize the reactants, leading to higher local concentrations and therefore higher rates). Amphiphiles are also used in artificial life studies to create protocell models such as micelles, vesicles and oil-in-water droplets, and can increase reaction rates by encapsulation of reactants. So far, no template self-replicator exists which is capable of compartmentalization, or transferring this molecular scale phenomenon to micro or macro-scale assemblies. Here a system is demonstrated where an amphiphilic imine catalyses its own formation by joining a non-polar alkyl tail group with a polar carboxylic acid head group to form a template, which was shown to form reverse micelles by Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). The kinetics of this system were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy, showing clearly that a template self-replication mechanism operates, though there was no evidence that the reverse micelles participated in physical autocatalysis. Active oil droplets, composed from a mixture of insoluble organic compounds in an aqueous sub-phase, can undergo processes such as division, self-propulsion and chemotaxis, and are studied as models for minimal cells, or protocells. Although in most cases the Marangoni effect is responsible for the forces on the droplet, the behaviour of the droplet depends heavily on the exact composition. Though theoretical models are able to calculate the forces on a droplet, to model a mixture of oils on an aqueous surface where compounds from the oil phase are dissolving and diffusing through the aqueous phase is beyond current computational capability. The behaviour of a droplet in an aqueous phase can only be discovered through experiment, though it is determined by the droplet's composition. By using an evolutionary algorithm and a liquid handling robot to conduct droplet experiments and decide which compositions to test next, entirely autonomously, the composition of the droplet becomes a chemical genome capable of evolution. The selection is carried out according to a fitness function, which ranks the formulation based on how well it conforms to the chosen fitness criteria (e.g. movement or division). Over successive generations, significant increases in fitness are achieved, and this increase is higher with more components (i.e. greater complexity). Other chemical processes such as chemiluminescence and gelation were investigated in active oil droplets, demonstrating the possibility of controlling chemical reactions by selective droplet fusion. Potential future applications for this might include combinatorial chemistry, or additional fitness goals for the genetic algorithm. Combining the self-replication and the droplet protocells research, it was demonstrated that the presence of the amphiphilic replicator lowers the interfacial tension between droplets of a reaction mixture in organic solution and the alkaline aqueous phase, causing them to divide. Periodic sampling by a liquid handling robot revealed that the extent of droplet fission increased as the reaction progressed, producing more individual protocells with increased self-replication. This demonstrates coupling of the molecular scale phenomenon of template self-replication to a macroscale physicochemical effect.


PURPOSE
Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in tumor invasion and metastasis and are overexpressed in Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) cells. The primary aim was to define the safety and toxicity of the MMP inhibitor COL-3 in patients with AIDS-related KS. Secondary aims were to evaluate tumor response, pharmacokinetics, and changes in blood levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
COL-3 was administered orally once daily, and doses were escalated in cohorts of three to six subjects. Patients with symptomatic visceral KS or severe tumor-associated edema were excluded. Antiretroviral therapy was permitted but not required. Study end points were grade 3 or 4 toxicity or progressive KS. Serial blood specimens were obtained for pharmacokinetics and levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF, and bFGF.

RESULTS
Eighteen patients received COL-3 in dosing cohorts of 25, 50, and 70 mg/m(2)/d. Prior KS therapy was reported by 17 patients (94%). COL-3-related grade 3 or 4 adverse events were reported by six patients and included photosensitivity, rash, and headache. There was one complete response and seven partial responses, for an overall response rate of 44%, with a median response duration of 25+ weeks. The median COL-3 half-life was 39.3 hours (range, 4.1 to 251.1 hours). There was a significant difference between responders and nonresponders with respect to the change in MMP-2 serum levels from baseline to minimum value on treatment (P =.037).

CONCLUSION
COL-3 administered orally once daily to patients with AIDS-related KS is reasonably well tolerated. The most common adverse event was dose-related photosensitivity. Antitumor activity was noted. Further evaluation of COL-3 for the treatment of KS is warranted.


We explore the use of generalized polynomial chaos (GPC) expansion with stochastic collocation (SC) for modeling the uncertainty in the noise radiated by a plate subject to turbulent boundary layer (TBL) forcing. The SC form of polynomial chaos permits re-use of existing computational models, while drastically reducing the number of evaluations of the deterministic code compared to Monte Carlo (MC) sampling, for instance. Further efficiency is attained through the application of new, efficient, quadrature rules to compute the GPC expansion coefficients. We demonstrate that our approach accurately reconstructs the statistics of the radiated sound power by propagating the input uncertainty through the computational physics model. The use of optimized quadrature rules permits these results to be obtained using far fewer quadrature nodes than with traditional methods, such as tensor product quadrature and Smolyak sparse grid methods. As each quadrature node corresponds to an expensive deterministic model evaluation, the computational cost of the analysis is seen to be greatly reduced.


Robert Persons's revision of his popular First Booke of the Christian Exercise, appertayning to Resolution (1582) entailed a reconsideration of the crucial term consideration. In the first edition, consideration was presented as a motive for amendment of life, the driving force for making one's resolution to serve God in earnest. Much of the inspiration for this approach came from the Dominican writer Luis de Granada, although the argument is closely related to the first week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Seeking to provide a more comprehensive guide to Christian devotion, Persons in his revised, expanded version, A Christian Directorie (1585), drew more extensively on St Bernard of Clairvaux's twelfth-century treatise De Consideratione, which enjoyed considerable popularity in the Reformation era and was particularly valued by Pope Gregory XIII (reigned 1572–1585). The meaning of the term consideration was now extended to a settled, lifelong discipline of interrogating one's life and actions.


Many scholars have detected a decrease of political violence, but the causes of this decline remain unclear. As a contribution to this debate, we revisit the controversy over trends in conflict after the end of the Cold War. While many made ominous predictions of surging ethnic warfare, Gurr presented evidence of a pacifying trend since the mid-1990s and predicted a further decline in ethnic conflict in an article on 'the waning of ethnic war'. Leveraging more recent data on ethnic groups and their participation in ethnic civil wars, this study evaluates if Gurr was right about the decline of ethnic conflict, and if he was right for the right reasons. We assess whether an increase in governments' accommodative policies toward ethnic groups can plausibly account for a decline in ethnic civil war. Our findings lend considerable support to an account of the pacifying trend that stresses the granting of group rights, regional autonomy, and inclusion in power-sharing, as well as democratization and peacekeeping.


Cooperative vehicular systems have been identified as a promising solution to overcome the current and future needs for increasing traffic safety and efficiency, while providing infotainment and added-value services on the move. To achieve their objectives, cooperative vehicular systems will be based on wireless communications between vehicles and with other infrastructure nodes, and will have to deal with highly dynamic nodes, challenging propagation conditions, and stringent application requirements. By looking at cooperative applications and their data traffic, as well as the current and foreseen spectrum allocations for cooperative vehicular systems, there is a risk that the corresponding radio channels could easily be saturated if no control algorithms are used. The saturation of the radio channels would result in unstable vehicular communications, and thus in an inefficient operation of cooperative systems. As a prime example of upcoming ubiquitous networks contributing to the vision of "a thousand radios per person," cooperative vehicular systems need to be designed to scale to high densities of radios without centralized coordination, while at the same time guaranteeing the requirements of the implemented applications and services, for example the stringent needs of active traffic safety applications. In this paper, we survey and classify various decentralized methods to control the load on the radio channels and to ensure each vehicle's capacity to detect and communicate with the relevant neighboring vehicles, with a particular focus on approaches based on transmit power and rate control. Finally, we discuss the open research challenges that are imposed by different application requirements and potential existing contradictions.


The neutral hexacoordinate silicon(iv) complexes 8−10 (SiSO3NC skeleton) were synthesized by replacement of the chloro ligand of the pentacoordinate chlorosilicon(iv) complex 5 by monoanionic bidentate O,O ligands of the acetylacetonato type. For that purpose, compound 5 was treated with compounds of the formula type R1C(O)−CH═C(OSiMe3)R2 (R1 = R2 = Me; R1 = R2 = Ph; R1 = Me, R2 = Ph). In contrast, treatment of 5 with PhC(O)−CH═C(OSiMe3)CF3 afforded the neutral pentacoordinate silicon(iv) complex 11·CH3CN (SiO3NC skeleton). The identities of 8−10 and 11·CH3CN were established by elemental analyses and solid-state and solution NMR experiments; additionally, the solvates 8·CH3CN, 9·CH3CN, 10·CH3CN, and 11·2CH3CN were studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.


Abstract The natural soil used in filling the embankment of the road communications is characterized by the following factors: humidity, porosity, toughness. For certain factor values that describe the soil state is distinguished a certain soil behavior under the influence of the external forces applied through static or dynamic mechanical means. In this study are presented the numeric simulation results of the soil-compactor interaction based on the complex and nonlinear rheological model proposed by the author in the result of the elaborated doctorate thesis, that follows the real soil characteristics (elastic, dissipative and plastic) on those of the compaction equipment (with a single vibrating roll). The model was harmonised and granted in accordance with the results obtained from the processing of the experimental data. For the simulation model was used the specialized software package Matlab (Simulink, SimMechanics). The obtained results revealed the real behavior of the equipment and its action on the compacted soil.


Background: Cardiovascular complications were the major cause of morbidity and mortality in hemodialysis patients (HD). It was closely related with metabolic syndrome (MS) in general population. This study aimed to determine prevalence of MS in HD patients and to evaluate the relationship between the prevalence of MS and the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in HD patients through three years later.
Methods: A total of two hundreds participants were included in this study, 100 patients receiving regular hemodialysis and 100 healthy controls. Clinical data, lipid profile and atherogenic indices (cholesterol/HDL, triglycerides/HDL) were measured.
Results: Prevalence of MS in HD patients was 46%. Cardiovascular diseases present 43%. We found statistic significant difference between level of lipid profile and atherogenic index between the two groups of participants. For patients with MS and with CVD, a significant increased level was found between cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG) and atherogenic index after three years. For three year follow-up, patients with MS have an increased prevalence for CVD compared to patients without MS.
Conclusion: For three years follow-up, the lipid profile and atherogenic index in HD patients were increased with presence of MS and HD patients with MS have showed an increased CVD risk.


Open bypass surgery remains a major tool for limb salvage in chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI). Although rest pain and tissue loss both fall into the category of CLTI, goals of revascularization are markedly different for each context. Rest pain mandates long-term patency considerations. Tissue loss, however, requires consideration of infection risks and patency enough to heal the wound. Of the major conduit options, autologous saphenous vein graft continues to be the conduit of choice, given both superior patency and low risk of infection. When saphenous vein graft is not available or not available in appropriate length, arm vein, small saphenous vein, and spliced combinations of these have acceptable patency rates. Heparin-bonded polytetrafluoroethylene and Dacron grafts are prosthetic conduits with excellent patency rates when vein is not available. For infected wounds without other options, cryovein continues to provide acceptable patency for limb salvage. Creation of a bypass is only part of CLTI management. Appropriate postoperative surveillance with noninvasive studies, including ankle-brachial index and duplex ultrasound, can alert to impending graft failure, with a drop in ankle-brachial index of 0.15 and velocity ratios of 3 or more suggestive of significant stenoses. Anticoagulation has only been found in limited contexts (such as poor conduit or poor outflow) to offer some patency benefit, however, findings from the VOYAGER PAD (Vascular Outcomes Study of ASA [Acetylsalicylic Acid] Along With Rivaroxaban in Endovascular or Surgical Limb Revascularization for PAD) trial were a major breakthrough, showing a reduction in the composite outcome of major adverse limb, cardiac, and cerebrovascular events in revascularized patients taking low-dose rivaroxaban in conjunction with aspirin, without a substantial increase in bleeding risk.


The plant cell wall is a dynamic structure that changes in response to developmental and environmental cues through poorly understood signaling pathways. We identified two Leu-rich repeat receptor-like kinases in Arabidopsis thaliana that play a role in regulating cell wall function. Mutations in these FEI1 and FEI2 genes (named for the Chinese word for fat) disrupt anisotropic expansion and the synthesis of cell wall polymers and act additively with inhibitors or mutations disrupting cellulose biosynthesis. While FEI1 is an active protein kinase, a kinase-inactive version of FEI1 was able to fully complement the fei1 fei2 mutant. The expansion defect in fei1 fei2 roots was suppressed by inhibition of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase, an enzyme that converts Ado-Met to ACC in ethylene biosynthesis, but not by disruption of the ethylene response pathway. Furthermore, the FEI proteins interact directly with ACC synthase. These results suggest that the FEI proteins define a novel signaling pathway that regulates cell wall function, likely via an ACC-mediated signal.


Neural development is a highly orchestrated process, patterning of naive tissue into highly evolved structures with multiple cell types and functions is highly complex and not fully understood. Conventional understanding of pattern formation assumes extrinsic morphogen concentration to be the sole determining factor. However, this perspective has been challenged recently, raising the possibility of additional mechanisms at play.In this dissertation, I address the process of patterning and neurodevelopment by first understanding the morphogens involved in patterning the developing telencephalon and their interactions, and secondly by studying the kinetics and signaling pathway of these morphogens and how they implicate patterning and border formation.My studies demonstrated that BMP and FGF signaling pathways interact in a mutually inhibitory fashion at both the population level and single cell level. Ixviidetermined that BMP signaling exhibited fast activation and slow deactivation kinetics, whereas FGF signaling displayed slow acting kinetics. Based on these findings, I determined the advantages of such network design in tissue patterning and robust border formation. I demonstrated that patterning is a dynamic process that occurs over time. I introduced the notion of temporal integration in patterning the developing telencephalon, challenging the canonical morphogen theory, which states that gene expression and cell fate decisions are based on morphogen concentration alone. Lastly, I discovered that a slow and integrative system is robust to perturbations, where a transient disruption of signaling leads to developmental delay with eventual catch up recovery.Taken together, my findings have defined the interaction between BMPs and FGFs in the developing telencephalon, demonstrated the advantages of different signaling kinetics, and presented a novel mode of interaction between morphogens that is likely to be a general phenomenon. I have demonstrated the importance of studying patterning as a dynamic process, demonstrating the importance of temporal integration, thereby redefining the current understanding of patterning of naive tissues by morphogens.


Street Pastors have appeared on the streets of Britain with virtually no public consultation or discussion. They are in many cases being integrated into the policymaking machinery of local government and policing which is of concern. An evaluation of their activities and of the public"s attitudes to their role is, therefore of great importance. Although the stated aims of the Street Pastors centre around crime reduction, reduction of fear of crime and offering a "listening ear" to vulnerable people, there has been unsubstantiated evidence that many Street Pastors are using their position to engage in "preaching" and evangelical work. In this research we explored this further and identified how far Street Pastors are associated with a religious role rather than a crime reduction, support or safety role. This enabled us to evaluate the role of the Street Pastors by collecting data on the perceptions and attitudes to their activities. It also enabled us to hypothesise about explicit linkages between religion and trust levels, and to compare levels of trust between different groups involved in the night time economy.
This research follows from previous research on Street Pastors (see Barton, Johns & Squire, 2009) and on trust and substitutes for trust (Barton & Johns, 2009; Johns & Green, 2009). It reports on the findings of an online survey of students in a major city in the south of England about their interactions with, and attitudes to the Street Pastors in that city. A number of studies place the church near the top of a list of most trusted institutions, and religious personnel as trustworthy on an individual basis (Ipsos Mori,2008; Charity Awareness Monitor, 2008).The aims were to explore the perceived role of the Street Pastors by students; to compare the levels of trust students" have in the various groups they interact with in the night time economy; and to develop further the notion of trust substitutes in the night time economy.


Background: Footwear worn indoors is generally less supportive than outdoor footwear and may increase the risk of falls. Objective: To evaluate balance ability and gait patterns in older women while wearing different styles of indoor footwear: a backless slipper and an enclosed slipper designed to optimise balance. Methods: Older women (n = 30) aged 65-83 years (mean 74.4, SD 5.6) performed a series of laboratory tests of balance ability (postural sway, limits of stability, and tandem walking, measured with the NeuroCom® Balance Master) and gait patterns (walking speed, cadence, and step length, measured with the GAITRite® walkway) while wearing (1) socks, (2) backless slippers with a soft sole, and (3) enclosed slippers with a firm sole and Velcro® fastening. Perceptions of the footwear were also documented using a structured questionnaire. Results: Significant overall effects of footwear were observed for postural sway, the limits of stability test (directional control), the tandem walk test (step width and end sway), and temporospatial gait patterns (walking speed, cadence, and step length). No footwear effects were observed for maximum excursion when performing the limits of stability test or for speed when performing the tandem walk test. Post hoc tests indicated that performances were best while wearing the enclosed slippers, intermediate with socks, and worst with backless slippers. The enclosed slippers were perceived to be more attractive, comfortable, and well fitted, but heavier than the backless slippers. Most participants (n = 23; 77%) reported that they would consider wearing the enclosed slippers to reduce their risk of falling. Conclusion: Indoor footwear with an enclosed heel, Velcro® fastening, and a firm sole optimises balance and gait compared to backless slippers, and is therefore recommended to reduce the risk of falling.


In optical fiber transmission systems using inline amplifiers, the interaction of a signal and an amplifier noise through the Kerr effect leads to a nonlinear phase noise that can impair detection of phase-modulated signals. The authors show how to minimize the variance of the total phase noise (linear plus nonlinear) by a choice of the number of inline amplifiers N and their spacings and gains, assuming a fixed total system length L and an overall compensation of the fiber loss. In the case of a uniform amplifier spacing and a per-span loss compensation, there exists a finite N that minimizes the total phase noise. This contrasts with the well-known observation that a linear phase noise alone is minimized by a choice of an infinite N. Relaxing the constraints of the uniform spacing and/or the per-span loss compensation leads to further reduction of the total phase noise. The optimization of the spacings and the gains can be approximately formulated as a convex problem. In typical terrestrial and transoceanic systems, the total-phase-noise variance can be reduced by up to 45% and 83%


Food is something that we all have in common. We need it to survive and although we don't always notice it, it has structured our relationships, homes, communities, countryside and cities for as long as humans have been around. The invention of farming led to the first static settlements, thus, enabling the evolution of cities. In Sweden, the way people live and eat has changed drastically over the last fifty years. A society that was previously made up of clusters of small self-sufficient family-run farms has urbanised rapidly becoming one of the least self-sufficient, supermarket-dominated countries in Europe. Current housing developments such as Tavleliden (described by the municipality as a 'nature-oriented' area) on the outskirts of Umea are designed and marketed in a way that encourages its residents to do little else but drive to the shops and consume. In order to reach optimistic population and economic growth goals, politicians in Umea hope that the rapid rate of urbanisation will continue. Many decisions, such as building new roads, covering up valuable agricultural land, subsidising large out-of-town retail centres and cutting down on services in surrounding villages are being justified because of these expectations. The landscape is not only becoming defined by cars and places to shop, but it seems the only people being catered for are those with money to spend. The favouritism towards large corporations has not only made life almost impossible for independent businesses in the city to survive, (the number of independent food shops in the city centre has gone from thirty-six in 1950 to just one upmarket delicatessen in 20142), but according to Bjorn Forsberg they are also making it difficult for small food shops and farms outside Umea - and the communities that rely on them to survive. While many middle-class families with jobs in the city are choosing to move to the suburbian developments outof- town, people whose livelihoods may have depended on the land are being forced to move into the town. Some of us may find the experience of visiting a supermarket bland. Others may find the permanent and predictable choice of products from all over the world thrilling. Whatever our differing opinions, the fact is that, as there is very little else to choose from, whether we want to or not, in Umea we all rely on them. If we start trying to imagine the length of roads, train lines, airports, food-distribution centres and ferries that need to work faultlessly day in and day out delivering enough food for almost 300,000 meals a day to Umea alone, we realise how important, but also how dependent the current food network is. If this system failed in Sweden, unlike many other counties who stock reserves, there would be a food crisis in only two days. By emphasising the benifits of organic and offering connections to the production process Swedish food businesses such as Minfarm, Alvakern and phone applications like 'Bonde Pa Kopet' are working to increase the appeal of locally produced food, though still cater for a largely middle-class market. Other producers in Vasterbotten such as Hallnas or Baggbole Gard, are either relient on the neo-liberal supermarket system to sell their products or if they do sell directly to clients currently lack the resources to make themselves known. You may wonder why I think that this matters and why it has any relation to architecture. If there's food on the shelves, what's wrong with continuing with business as usual? If 'we are what we eat', I would also argue that the design of our cities, homes (and of course, the hinterland that we rely on!) are also a result of 'what we eat'. But, as the English architect Carolyn Steel points out in her book Hungry City "No government, including our own, has ever wanted to admit its dependency on others for sustenance." Arne Lindstrom, the regional manager for The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) has similar concerns. In a recent article in Vasterbotten's Kuriren he exclaims: "The reason why we have to farm seems to have been lost during an era of abundance. That food is essential is actually no longer obvious, and it is even less obvious that agriculture's primary task is precisely to produce our food." So, it seems that as a city we care very little about our food. We are happy to exchange valuable arable land for a large shop that sells cheap mass-produced furniture. We are happy to drain our hinterlands of the people and expertise that know how to produce food. We are happy to keep building more supermarkets and ordering catalogue houses that require more cars and more oil. What if instead, there was an architecture that allowed another kind of living? One that was less dependent on cars and imported food. One that encouraged residents to be producers as well as consumers. Maybe an alternative to the secluded suburbs and souless supermarkets that are being planned all around the city. An architecture that allows communities develop that are more connected to the land and the food that it eats.This thesis will explore these ideas.


1 2 9 2 J O U R N A L C O M P I L A T I O N © 2 0 0 9 B J U I N T E R N A T I O N A L | 1 0 3 , 1 2 9 2 – 1 2 9 3 | doi:10.1111/j.1464-410X.2009.08582.x show that it is the early return to continence that makes the greatest difference to the patient and this must therefore be the focus for the future [3]. Our results would suggest that a greater effort in preserving the periprostatic nerves results in better outcomes for potency and continence. This is further supported by Catarin et al. [4], who recently showed that damage to the afferent autonomic innervation of the urethra might have a role in the continence mechanism after NS RRP. We accept that the two studies differ in surgical technique (comparing open NS RRP with NS EERPE) but the message that NS surgery does not improve continence is not our experience in Leipzig.


The photochemically assisted Fenton reaction (photo-Fenton) is important because it may be particularly effective for the degradation of harmful organic compounds in the environment using solar light. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of hydroxy Fe/Al-intercalated montmorillonites (Fe/Al-Mt) as photo-Fenton catalysts. In particular, different Fe/Al molar ratios were of interest as a means to vary catalytic activity. Intercalation was achieved via an ion-exchange method and brilliant orange X-GN was the test compound for photodegradation by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) under visible-light irradiation (γ < 420 nm) in the presence of Fe/Al-Mt. The Fe/Al-Mt materials obtained were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, N2 adsorption/desorption, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic analysis, and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. The decoloration performance of Fe/Al-Mt was investigated using different experimental parameters, including the synthesis method, the Fe/Al molar ratio of the intercalating solution, the catalyst dosage, the H2O2 dosage, and the pH. The results of photo-Fenton reaction showed that the photocatalytic activity of Fe/Al-Mt was enhanced significantly by the extent of hydroxy Al/Fe intercalation. For optimal reaction conditions, 99.92% degradation efficiency of X-GN was achieved after 140 min of reaction. To obtain further information on the visible-light-assisted photo-Fenton process, a high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method was applied to indentify the intermediate products and a degradation pathway was proposed.


One of the remaining questions in the field of early childhood education is whether efforts aiming to promote the school readiness skills of young learners should be targeted specifically at children at risk for delays in these basic skills or whether efforts should be aimed at all young children (e.g. Barnett, 2011). In the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands, an experiment was conducted in which preschool education was deliberately aimed at all children, regardless of background. The present dissertation concerns an evaluation of this experiment and reports the effects of two characteristics of early childhood education on participating children's development in emergent academic skills. First, the implementation of an education program, which yielded equivocal results in earlier studies in The Netherlands. Second, the classroom composition with respect to disadvantaged children (targeted vs. mixed classrooms). In contrast to the studies of education programs that are carried out in The Netherlands so far, focusing on the mere fact of using an education program, this dissertation takes actual child experiences (obtained through classroom observations and in-depth interaction analyses) into account in examining the effects of an education program and the classroom composition on children's development. The first main finding is that we did not find an effect of an education program on disadvantaged children's development. Another important finding, and at the same time an explanation for the null effect, is that the education program was not carried out as intended. This lack of implementation fidelity is indicated by the low average level of teacher-managed activities in small groups and the overall low occurrence of teacher-managed activities. Furthermore, the use of an education program was not decisive in the time spent on teacher-managed activities; teachers working without a program succeeded as well, or even better, in spending a considerable amount of classroom time on these activities. Importantly, these teacher-managed academic activities were related to child development. In short, the use of an education program was not crucial for the time spent on teacher-managed activities, but the time spent on these activities was important for child development. This dissertation thereby lends further support for the claim that it is not about the mere fact of using an education program, rather it is about how effectively the teacher uses the program in the context of children's needs and the overall climate in the classroom (Phillips et al., 2009). The second main finding, with regard to classroom composition, is that especially children in mixed kindergarten classrooms showed accelerated development compared to children in targeted classrooms. The positive effects of mixed classrooms seem to be moderated through interaction with native Dutch peers and not through teacher behavior, two of the supposed pathways through which peer effects exert their influence. Ongoing coaching, the exchange of best practices between teachers and organizations, in short embedding teachers in learning communities, are considered as critical in ensuring high quality education and care.


In the present work we have devised the synthesis of a novel promising carbon nanotube carrier for the targeted delivery of radioactivity, through a combination of endohedral and exohedral functionalization. Steam-purified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been initially filled with radioactive analogues (i.e. metal halides) and sealed by high temperature treatment, affording closed-ended CNTs with the filling material confined in the inner cavity. The external functionalization of these filled CNTs was then achieved by nitrene cycloaddition and followed by the derivatization with a monoclonal antibody (Cetuximab) targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), overexpressed by several cancer cells. The targeting efficiency of the so-obtained conjugate was evaluated by immunostaining with a secondary antibody and by incubation of the CNTs with EGFR positive cells (U87-EGFR+), followed by flow cytometry, confocal microscopy or elemental analyses. We demonstrated that our filled and functionalized CNTs can internalize more efficiently in EGFR positive cancer cells.


Distinctive imaging findings are present when the left pulmonary artery (LPA) arises from the right pulmonary artery and forms a sling around the airway passing between airway and esophagus to reach the left lung. It is important to recognize the 2 distinct types of pulmonary sling. The less complex type I is associated with tracheobronchomalacia and is often managed successfully by LPA reimplantation. The more common and more complex type II is strongly associated with long segment tracheal stenosis. Appropriate management needs to address the airway abnormality in addition to the aberrant LPA. Both types, especially type II, are associated with cardiovascular, pulmonary, and other abnormalities that also need to be considered in therapeutic decisions. The role of imaging is to identify, define, and display the relevant anatomic relationships to facilitate appropriate management. Recent surgical advances have increased the likelihood of success of surgical correction of long segment airway stenosis.


To the Japanese antique enthusiast, flea markets are collectively known as a source of rare finds, a treasure trove of bargains, and the most freewheeling, exciting place to shop. But for the Western shopper, the prospect of uncovering what these modern-day bazaars have to offer may be somewhat daunting. Besides the language barrier, there is the need to bargain for every purchase, concern about unscrupulous vendors, and difficulty when it comes to ascertaining an unknown item's name, origin, and uses-not to mention determining a fair price. This is the first-ever book written to help non-Japanese cope with the challenges of shopping at flea markets, enabling them to go out and get the goods they are after. The book starts with a general orientation, discussing the advantages of flea markets over antique stores, and the availability, quality, and prices of antiques sold through this channel. Next comes a list of 115 flea markets taking place across Japan, the most comprehensive of its kind. The heart of the book is the Things to Buy section, which gives names and descriptions for 450 antiques and artifacts, conveniently classified into 18 categories. Last, the section on "flea-market Japanese" supplies the shopper with the linguistic tools to bring it all together, with a "survival kit" of over 250 shopping-related Japanese words and phrases. Powerful yet easy-to-master phrases enable the shopper to communicate with vendors effectively. Pocket-sized but packed with information, Flea Markets of Japan: A Pocket Guide for Antique Buyers is the flea-market shopper's indispensable reference. For gaijin in the hunt, that killer find is now within reach. FEATURES * List of 115 flea markets-plus detailed directions for getting there. * Names and descriptions of about 450 antiques and artifacts * Photographs of the most popular items for sale * "Survival kit" of over 250 shopping-related Japanese words and phrases * Complete explanation of flea-market bargaining techniques, including tips for getting the lowest price and a special section on etiquette


This paper established an optimized algorithm for temperature field distribution of rat brain tissue undergoing radio frequency ablation (RFA) treatment. Firstly, adopting the Pennes bio-heat transfer equation, obtained the temperature distribution of rat brain tissue with different RFA temperature and duration by using the finite element analysis software FEMLAB (COMSOL). Then, obtained the optimized algorithm of temperature field distribution of biological tissue undergoing RFA treatment by extracting and analyzing the temperatures at different positions using MATLAB6.5 and the fitting software 1stOpt. Finally, model validation was carried out with FEMLAB simulations. Results show that the optimized algorithm of temperature field distribution established in this paper is feasible. According to the optimized algorithm, it is convenient, fast, accurate and real-time to obtain the instantaneous temperature at any position of the rat with any RFA temperature and duration.


Today's Process-Aware Information Systems (PAIS) logs huge amount of data. The data contains a set of activities that are actual executed with in a business process. For example place a request for unemployment claim or pay compensation. This is a starting point for doing the analysis of a business process using Process Mining techniques. In Process Mining, one technique named LogOnMapReplay, which is dynamically visualizing the executed business processes by producing a process movie. This tool is a prototype that's why it comes along with various limitations and missing functionalities. This report describes the steps taken to overcome the limitations of the tool. It also describes design and implementation of various functionalities developed on LogOnMapReplay tool. This report also describes an evaluation conducted on UWV unemployment business process to find the usefulness and intuitiveness of the tool.


Bicyclic aziridines formed by the irradiation of pyridinium salts in basic solution have recently been recognized to have great synthetic potential. We have undertaken a joint computational and experimental investigation of the mechanism of this photoreaction. We have computationally determined the structures and relative energies of the relevant stationary points on the lowest potential energy surface (PES) of the pyridinium and methylpyridinium ions. Two important intermediates are shown to be bound minima on the ground-state PES: azoniabenzvalene and a 6-aza[3.1.0]bicyclic ion with an exo-oriented substituent (analogous to prefulvene). We advance a mechanism which involves initial formation of this exo-bicyclic ion, followed by nitrogen migration around the ring via the azoniabenzvalene intermediate. Thus, the barrier separating the two intermediates is the factor that determines the degree of scrambling observed in the photoproducts when the carbon atoms are labeled with deuterium or substituted with additional methyl groups. For N-methylpyridinium, the exo-methyl bicyclic ion was computed to be approximately 1 kcalmol(-1) lower in energy than N-methyl-azoniabenzvalene. The transition state was computed to lie several kcal mol(-1) above the exo-methyl bicyclic ion (+8.4kcalmol(-1), 6-31G* RHF; +3.7kcalmol(-1), 6-31G* B3LYP), but still well below the energy available from the 254 nm excitation of the N-methylpyridinium ion. The computed relative energies correspond splendidly with several experimental findings which include the preference for exo products, the results of deuterium labeling, and the impact of additional substituent methyl groups on the product distribution.


We present studies of edge states induced by the Aharonov-Casher vector potential or Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction using quantum transport in InGaAs/InAlAs herterostructures. The Aharonov-Casher effect is electromagnetically dual to the Aharonov-Bohm effect and is predicted to lead to edge states in a parabolic confinement at two-dimensional sample edges. As a narrow gap material, InGaAs has a low effective mass, high mobility, and strong spin-orbit interaction, which indicate that it can be used as a good material to detect the Aharonov-Casher effect or SOI interaction. Using InGaAs, we measured the magnetoresistance in a quantum antidot in narrow short channels in a tilted magnetic field. The fine structure (mT spacing) observed in the magnetoresistance indicate a probable energy spacing between AC edge states. We also fabricated side-gate channel structures in InGaAs/InAlAs quantum wells and investigated the values of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling constant α using the weak antilocalization analysis as a function of the side-gate voltage. We take the effect of the finite width into account and find the corrected values. With the simulation of electric fields in the wide channel and narrow channel, we found that the electric field components can be changed using side-gate voltages. While our results do not indicate which electric field component is responsible, the data indicate that the deduced α2D values in a narrow channel are tunable by the side-gate voltage.


Mode-locked laser techniques for obtaining spectroscopic information about ultrafast molecular processes occurring on a picosecond time scale are described. The results of picosecond measurements on several systems are presented as examples of the method. The advantages of employing two dimensional vidicons and recently developed dispersive techniques to obtain time resolved transient spectra with a single laser pulse rather than with multiple pulse techniques are discussed.


The Ocean Literacy movement is predominantly driven forward by scientists and educators working in subject areas associated with ocean science. While some in the scientific community have heeded the responsibility to communicate with the general public to increase scientific literacy, reaching and engaging with diverse audiences remains a challenge. Many academic institutions, research centers, and individual scientists use Social Network Sites (SNS) like Twitter to not only promote conferences, journal publications, and scientific reports, but to disseminate resources and information that have the potential to increase the scientific literacy of diverse audiences. As more people turn to social media for news and information, SNSs like Twitter have a great potential to increase ocean literacy, so long as disseminators understand the best practices and limitations of SNS communication. This study analyzed the Twitter account of MaREI – Ireland's Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy – coordinated by University College Cork Ireland, as a case study. We looked specifically at posts related to ocean literacy to determine what types of audiences are being engaged and what factors need to be considered to increase engagement with intended audiences. Two main findings are presented in this paper. First, we present overall user retweet frequency as a function of post characteristics, highlighting features significant in influencing users' retweet behaviour. Second, we separate users into two types – INREACH and OUTREACH – and identify post characteristics that are statistically relevant in increasing the probability of engaging with an OUTREACH user. The results of this study provide novel insight into the ways in which science-based Twitter users can better use the platform as a vector for science communication and outreach.


This paper presents a numerical simulation of Automobile Shredder Residue (ASR) chips motion and combustion in a cement works precalciner. The work was done using the commercial computational fluid dynamic (CFD) code FLUENT. The aim of this work is to develop an understanding of the processes within the percalciner to aid in the prediction of ASR chip aerodynamic and combustion behaviors for its use as an alternative fuel. The effects of the mutual interactions between ASR chips were simulated by discrete phase modeling approach, while ASR combustion was simulated by the finite rate devolatilization models. A useful approach to simulate the characteristics of turbulent gas-particle flow, heat transfer and ASR combustion process in a precalciner has been demonstrated.


The aim of this work was to evaluate different diets for Diatraea saccharalis larvae, obtaining information about the biological characteristics of the pest, and to evaluate the quality of Cotesia flavipes parasitoid, to improve mass rearing method. For the accomplishment of the experiment, 24 hour-old larvae were transferred to tubes (25 larvae/tube) containing artificial diets with yeast and wheat germ or just wheat germ as protein source. After approximately 15 days, the larvae were removed from tubes and placed in Petri dishes, being observed D. saccharalis larvae not parasitized and parasitized for evaluation of D. saccharalis and C. flavipes biological characteristics. Biological characteristics of D. saccharalis were also evaluated in 15 day-old larvae. Pupae mass of C. flavipes from mass rearing were classified in three different sizes separated in small (1.3 to 2.5 cm of length), moderate (2.5 to 3.5 cm of length) and large (3.5 to 4.0 cm of length) classes. After the adult emergency, the parasitism was evaluated in D. saccharalis larvae, being observed the number of males and females, size of pupae mass, sex ratio and number of unviable pupae. The artificial diet that contains wheat germ is the most suitable for D. saccharalis mass rearing and C. flavipes . Pupae mass of large size presents better quality of C. flavipes .