SUMMARY: Killer strains of yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, liberate a killer factor into the medium which kills senstive yeast strains. The growth conditions necessary for the production of stable high-titre killer solutions and a biological assay for the killer factor are described. Purification was achieved by fractional precipitation with (NH4)2SO4, dialysis, gel filtration and ultrafiltration. The fractionated killer factor is an unstable macromolecular protein which is inactivated by papain. The death of sensitive cells is not coincident with absorption of the killer factor, but can be delayed or prevented by variations in the environmental conditions. Sensitive cells are most susceptible to the action of the killer factor when in log phase. Treated resting cells on entering log phase are killed immediately.


In this review, we aimed to provide insight into the microbiome and its association with endometrial and ovarian cancer and their risk factors. We reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between the microbiome and cancer, as well as the relationship between gynecologic diseases and cancers. The human body contains different kinds of microorganisms in various body parts, which is termed the microbiome. The number of microorganisms that live in and on the human body is greater than that of the human germ and somatic cells by 10‐fold. The relationship between a human and their microbiome is complex; it is also one of the most important components of homeostasis. Impairment of microbiome–host homeostasis has been associated with obesity, several cancers, preterm labor, inflammatory and allergic conditions and neurodevelopmental disorders. Direct and strong causal relationships have been established for several cancers and microorganisms, such as gastric lymphoma and Helicobacter pylori infection. Interestingly, eradication of the infectious agents has also been shown to be therapeutic. The association between cancer and the microbiome, however, is more complicated than a 1 bacteria–1 cancer model, and a shift in a healthy microbiome can result in various cancers via inflammation, change in microenvironment or DNA‐damaging toxins. The human microbiome is an integral part of homeostasis. Understanding the mechanisms that cause dysbiosis will enable us to elucidate the pathways that result in malignancy and investigate new treatment modalities.


How can employees be qualified to provide sound customer advisory services? How can they be empowered to deliver the value of public sector modernization to customers? In this paper, we offer a novel approach to qualify service personnel on-the-job using "facilitation affordances". In this approach, artifacts, providing appropriately designed facilitation affordances, are introduced into service personnel's work practices. These facilitation artifacts invite them to start experiential learning, and, hence, to improve their advice giving behavior. To develop our approach, we followed a design research approach, here we developed a set of design requirements and, ultimately, five design principles for facilitation artifacts. We tested our approach in the context of citizens' advice services in public administrations. We implemented a prototype facilitation artifact and conducted a user study with six real-world advisors and twelve clients. Our preliminary results show that the "learning with facilitation affordances"-approach promises to enhance the service personnel's skills that matter in modern public administrations. Furthermore, with the proposed qualification approach and the design principles for facilitation artifacts, we seek to deepen the knowledge on the importance of affordances for learning and, concurrently, provide practitioners with useful guidelines to implement the "learning with facilitation affordances"-approach in their organizations.


For over a half-century, the Bergen School conceptual model of cyclone structure and development has dominated the practice of synoptic meteorology, especially regarding the techniques by which surface synoptic charts are analyzed. Although the Norwegian paradigm captures some of the essential features of cyclone evolution, research and practical application over the last 60-odd years have revealed significant deficiencies, several of which are discussed in this paper. The Bergen model has also been applied in regions and under conditions quite unlike those for which the model was originally developed. Knowledge of these problems by many in the research and operational communities has had little impact on the manner in which synoptic charts are analyzed or the way the subject is described in many textbooks. Deficiencies in the underlying conceptual model of cyclone development have been compounded by a lack of consistent and well-defined procedures for defining fronts and for analyzing surface synoptic charts. Several examples of confusing and inconsistent surface analyses are presented in this paper. To resolve these problems, the meteorological community should follow a two-pronged approach. First, the research and operational insights gained over the last half-century should be combined with recent numerical modeling and observational studies to establish improved conceptual models of cyclone evolution. Second, a clear and consistent methodology for analyzing synoptic charts should be devised. Several possible approaches for implementing these suggestions are presented in this paper.


: Cyclosporin A (CSA) has been shown to prevent mouse spleen cell blast formation in response to concanavalin A (con A) and to inhibit lymphocyte proliferation. In the presence of interleukin-2 (IL-2), however, the proliferation of preformed blasts is not affected by CSA. We examined the effects of CSA on the growth in culture of several established mouse lymphoreticular tumor-cell lines proliferating independently of exogenous lymphokines. We found that CSA abolished, by direct cytolysis, growth of the T-lymphoma lines, EL4, WEHI22.1, S49.1, RL male 1, WR19L, and YAC. In contrast, growth of the non T-cell lines, S49, P388D1, RAW264.7, PU51.R, P815, P3X63Ag8, and L929, was variably retarded by a noncytocidal action of CSA. The concentration of CSA required for T-cell cytolysis was relatively high and directly related to the numbers of cells treated. Expression of Thy-1 antigen predicted for the susceptibility of a cell line to CSA-induced lysis. At the concentrations used there was no evidence of significant mitotic death following CSA treatment; cells previously exposed to CSA and then washed were able to resume a delayed but otherwise normal pattern of replication. In a preliminary experiment, CSA afforded significant protection to C57BL/6 mice transplanted with syngeneic EL4 cells. The results indicate that CSA, in vitro and in vivo, is a potent antiproliferative agent selective for T cells, and that in the absence of growth factors its inhibitory effects are not limited to early event(s) in the T-cell activation process.


The need to source for local construction materials that are appropriate for the massive developmental projects in Ebonyi State, southeastern Nigeria, has necessitated sampling and testing of the Maastrichtian Amasiri Sandstone in the Akpoha area of the state. Petrographic analysis and aggregate tests were conducted on six samples randomly selected from the rock deposit underlying the area. The petrographic analysis indicated that the sandstone consists predominantly of quartz (55 to 64%), feldspar (22 to 30%) and rock fragment (1 to 9%).The results revealed that water absorption (Wa) ranged from 1.37 to 3.83%, with mean value of 2.50%, while specific gravity (SG) was between 2.38 and 2.88 with mean value of 2.53.The aggregate analyses showed that the aggregate crushing value (ACV) ranged between 26 and 31 %, with a mean value of 27.83%, whereas flakiness index (FI) varied between 3 and 7%, with mean value of 4.8%. The predominance of quartz, relatively low Wa, moderately low to high SG and reasonable ACV and FI are indications that the sandstone would be marginally suitable as road construction aggregates. These parameters mostly fall within referenced standards. Further engineering tests are advocated to buttress the identified good prospects.

 Key words: Aggregate test, construction material, geotechnical properties, petrographic analysis, standard limits.


ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the torque and detorque values of screw intermediates of external hexagon, internal hexagon, and Morse taper implants in single restorations before and after mechanical cycling. Materials and Methods: The study sample was divided into three groups (n = 10) as follows: group EH - external hexagon implant, group IH - internal hexagon implant, and group MT - Morse taper implant. Universal abutments were screwed on the implants, and metal crowns were cemented onto the abutment. The samples were submitted to a mechanical testing of 1 million cycles, with a frequency of 8 cycles per second under a 400 N load. The application and registration of the screw torque (T0) and detorque (T1) values of the intermediate were performed before and after the test. The results were statistically evaluated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey′s test (α = 0.05). Results: There was no difference between the values of T0 and T1 in the intra-group samples. However, the inter-group difference in T0 between the EH (12.8 N cm) and MT (18.6 N cm) groups and in T1 between the EH (10.4 N cm) and IH (13.8 N cm), EH and MT (19.4 N cm), and MT and IH (P = 0.001) groups were significant. The MT group showed a lower variation of T0 and T1. Conclusion: The internal implants, particularly MT, showed better stability in these cases when used for single restorations.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by chronic synovial inflammation with aberrant epigenetic alterations, eventually leading to joint destruction. However, the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying RA pathogenesis remain largely unknown. Here, we showed that ubiquitin-like containing PHD and RING finger domains 1 (UHRF1) is a central epigenetic regulator that orchestrates multiple pathogeneses in RA in a suppressive manner. UHRF1 expression was remarkably upregulated in synovial fibroblasts (SFs) from arthritis model mice and patients with RA. Mice with SF-specific Uhrf1 conditional knockout showed more severe arthritic phenotypes than littermate controls. Uhrf1-deficient SFs also exhibited enhanced apoptosis resistance and upregulated expression of several cytokines, including Ccl20. In patients with RA, DAS28, CRP, and Th17 accumulation and apoptosis resistance were negatively correlated with UHRF1 expression in synovium. Finally, Ryuvidine administration stabilized UHRF1 ameliorated arthritis pathogeneses in a mouse model of RA. This study demonstrated that UHRF1 expressed in RA SFs can contribute to negative feedback mechanisms that suppress multiple pathogenic events in arthritis, suggesting that targeting UHRF1 could be one of the therapeutic strategies for RA.


Intrinsic mechanoelectrical conversion properties of skin tissues are investigated, and their origin is suggested to originate primarily from electrokinetic phenomena (streaming potentials) operating in the dermis. Human dermis is considered in analogy to other connective tissue as a biphasic, composite material in which the extracellular fluid permeates a negatively charged gel-like matrix of glycoproteins. A synthetic analog implementing a mechanoelectrical transduction mechanism thought to operate in dermis is realized. A biomorphic tactile sensor is devised and its dynamic transduction response is theoretically and experimentally analyzed. The streaming potential artificial skin appears to be particularly suited for applications in which ideal mechanical matching with body tissues or soft touch grasp are required.<<ETX>>


In this paper we attempt to identify eviction judgements within all case law published by Dutch courts in order to automate data collection, previously conducted manually. To do so we performed two experiments. The first focused on identifying judgements related to eviction, while the second focused on identifying the outcome of the cases in the judgements (eviction vs. dismissal of the landlord's claim). In the process of conducting the experiments for this study, we have created a manually annotated dataset with eviction-related judgements and their outcomes.


Since 2007, Burkina Faso's mining sector has been growing quickly, with gold replacing cotton as its biggest export. However, the decline in gold prices since 2012 has hit the Burkinabe economy hard. Using a static calculable general equilibrium (CGE) model, the study evaluates the macroeconomic and sectoral effects of this shock and the recent revision of its mining code. The results show that the decline in global gold prices has significantly reduced employment and income. In this context, a tax policy based solely on increasing taxes on production in the gold sector increases government revenues and a decline in total unemployment and in the income of gold mining firms. More pronounced but similar results are found when only considering application of a tax on profits of mining firms. Finally, a combination of production and profit taxes does not lead to higher employment and government revenues.


Reduction and deficiency in fresh water resources globally has raised serious alarms in last few years. Efficient management of water resources play an important role in the agriculture sector. Unfortunately, this is not given prime importance in the world countries because of adhering to traditional practices. This paper presents a smart system that uses sensors to control water supply in agriculture fields. Sensor values are sent to the centralized server through Wi-Fi communication modules. A user friendly interface is build to visualize the daily data. The users can control irrigation using their smart phone as well.


There is always questions from the citizens of a city or a regency about the implementation of the local government policy in the field of developing the infrastructure. The basic problem is that sometimes, they can only see the physical evidence of the development of it without considering the whole Project Quality Management process in its Project Cycle from the preliminary design process until the maintenance period. From the view of citizens, they consider a certain civil work as a failed one. Meanwhile, we must consider step by step process of all the stages of Project Cycle before we decide in which part it is failed. For this review, We'd like to put The Project Quality Management for a Project Cycle in State-funded Civil Works in its place. The method we use in this research is quantity method. By this research, we wish that the relationship between the government and the citizens will be brighter in bridging the idea of good quality built State-funded Civil Works. We do this research by collecting datas about the construction failures in building the Statefunded Civil Works, analizing them, looking for the same activity literatures that explain about it in other cities or regencies, comparing them with previous datas, making the preliminary scenario of the conclusion, testing the method of the Project Quality Management on the datas we gathered, and dragging out the final conclusion. At the beginning of this research we found out there are so many rules and regulations that were violated during the whole process of Project Cycle on certain civil works. At the next step, the comparing data from the same activity literatures from other cities and regions are very rare to find, even almost never. It makes this analisys stagnant. When we do the preliminary conclusion, we produce only the flow of the truth of the facts. By doing this method, the things that cause the failure of the effective Project Quality Management for a Project Cycle can be minimized so that the State-funded Civil Works can be executed in more effective ways next time. We hope that the whole process of the Project Quality Management in doing The Project Cycle for The State-funded Civil Works can be implemented more effectively in the near future.


Aim: This evaluation aims to describe the quantity and quality of dietary fat, carbohydrate and fiber intake in both German cohorts participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Methods: Estimates are based on standardized computer-guided 24-hour dietary recalls from 1,078 women and 1,013 men in Heidelberg and 898 women and 1,032 men in Potsdam. In a subsample, plasma phospholipid (PL) fatty acids were analyzed as well. Results: Adjusted mean dietary intake estimates demonstrated that the contribution of fat as well as n–6 and n–3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) to the total daily energy intake was higher in both women and men of EPIC-Potsdam compared to EPIC-Heidelberg. Surprisingly, the dietary n–6/n–3 PUFA ratio was lower in the Potsdam cohort. These results were confirmed by means of the PL fatty acid pattern. Besides the higher contribution of polysaccharides to total energy intake in EPIC-Heidelberg, women of the Heidelberg cohort revealed a significantly lower contribution of mono- and disaccharides (sucrose) to total energy intake. Although total fiber intake data were similar in both cohorts, analysis by food groups showed differences in dietary fiber intake originating from the food groups cereals, fruits and potatoes. Conclusion: The results demonstrate distinct differences in the dietary fat, carbohydrate and fiber intake between both German EPIC cohorts, which contribute to the exposure variation in the whole of EPIC.


Javed Ihsas is a prominent contemporary Pashto poet, critic, and columnist. He writes poetry with the new spirit and style of the modern critical theories of literature and philosophy. In his verses, we can observe the elements of Modernism and Post-modernism as well. In this study, we explored the post-modernist elements in his poetry, especially in his Pashto poetic collection titled Ayina. The word 'Ayina' is a Pashto word that means 'The Mirror'. The very title of the collection gives a symbolic representation in the sense that it depicts a realistic picture of society. This study is an attempt to examine the Post-modernist elements in his poetry by using a post-modernist approach. The poet touches on the elements of post-modernism in his poetry such as the element of social construction; the notion that ideas, politics, and language are socially constructed, consumerism, postponement, etc. This study explores the post-modernist elements in Javed Ihsas' poetry which are will prove a beacon light for the young poets.


Over the last decade, researchers have been applying social theories to study translation as a social phenomenon. Actor-network theory (ANT) is one of the approaches adopted to explore translation production, as carried out in practical circumstances. Studies that focus on everyday translation activities that take place throughout a single translation project, leading to the production of an English translation of a Chinese novel, are few in number. In addition, few have adapted the ideas, concepts, and methodology of ANT to this type of study, and nonhuman actors have never been examined as active participants in translation production. Understanding of the development of translation projects, and translation actor and actions, is also still limited. The aim of this thesis, therefore, is to attempt to fill in the above-mentioned blanks, by applying ANT, as the sole theory, to the study of the production of Monkey, translated from Journey to the West by Arthur Waley. A theoretical framework is built based on not only Latour's theories (1986, 1987, 1988a, 1988b, 1999, 2007), but also those of Callon (1986a, 1986b, 1999), and Law (1986a, 1986b, 1992).

The objectives of this thesis include 1) to test the applicability of ANT to translation production research, 2) to develop a system of methods that can guide and regulate the research, 3) to present an in-depth description of the translation project, which is as clear and comprehensive as possible, and 4) to go beyond the descriptive, by developing extensive discussions and analyses concerning the main translation actors, both human and nonhuman, and their actions which shaped the overall literary translation project.

The materials that uphold this thesis come from multiple sources. At the core, there are more than 200 letters exchanged between the main contributors of the translation project, which are available as the Records of George Allen & Unwin Ltd. in the University of Reading, Special Collections. Supporting materials include copies of the translation (Monkey) including the associated paratexts, articles written by the translator on translation, the autobiography of the publisher, advertisements and book reviews on the translation retrieved from Gale Primary Sources. Practical methods, such as web searches and archival research, are used to collect as much data regarding the production of the translation as possible. In addition, a system of methodological rules is adapted from the 'three principles' proposed by Callon (1986a) and the 'rules of method' put forward by Latour (1987), which is used to screen data, to judge if sufficient data was collected, and to determine how that data should be analysed.

The main body of the thesis is composed of six chapters. The aim of Chapter 1 is to provide an in-depth introduction to ANT and build a theoretical framework. In Chapter 2 a context is provided for the research by mainly explaining the reasons behind, and the process of, choosing Monkey as the translation under study, placing the proposed research within the existing literature, and reviewing the research methodology. Chapter 3 comprises a thick description of the translation project, focusing on its major contributors and its different phases. The two chapters that follow, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, consist of discussions concerning the identified translation actors, and in particular, how their roles and positions were continually (re)defined by their actions throughout the translation production process. The last chapter explores the dynamics that empowered the translation production network, through categorising the interactions of translation actors according to four moments of translationANT (Callon, 1986a), and in addition, the modes of interessement, i.e. the particular methods or devices used to persuade actors to join the project, which are analysed based on Latour's modes (1987).

The main findings of this study contain 1) a system of methods can be established based on previous studies conducted by ANT theorists and translation researchers. 2) The translation project is discovered to be long-term, with over 25 years of recorded history, large-scale, i.e. with numerous people and resources involved and at least 25 versions of the translation as the end products, and multi-faceted, i.e. with no fewer than 8 phases of production which often overlap with each other. 3) The translation actors were heterogeneous, including humans, example of which are the translator, publisher, and designer, and nonhumans, such as the war, letters, and a system of texts. Some of these actors have not been identified before. 4) Actions frequently defined actors, as well as their roles and positions in translation. The roles played by an actor in the single translation project were often multiple and their positions within the network constantly changing. 5) Claims made by Law, an ANT theorist, that control is a process instead of a result, and that successful long distance control depends on a triad of professionals, inscriptions/texts and devices (Law, 1986a, 1986b) are also true for this study. 6) More than 200 translationsANT occurred throughout the translation project, and moreover, the four moments of translationANT developed in a variety of patterns instead of taking place sequentially (cf. Callon 1986a). 7) The modes of translating actors - modes of interessement - discerned in this project, differ in various ways and degrees from the existing modes (see Latour, 1987), but nevertheless increase the variety of the existing modes. In view of the above, therefore, 8) ANT, as a social theory, is perfectly applicable to study the practical circumstances and evolution of the production of the translation of Monkey.


EDITOR,-We read with interest the article by Taha et al about their experience with four different serological tests for the detection of Helicobacter pylon (Gut 1993; 34: 461-5.) This is indeed one of the few studies to compare the clinical value and efficacy of various commercially available serological tests. We were, however, quite surprised about the general outcome of this survey. None of the investigated tests had acceptable sensitivity and specificity to be comparable with other, more invasive, techniques. The authors, therefore, concluded that these serological tests are not reliable enough to be proposed as a standard diagnostic tool for the detection ofH pylon. We evaluated the Biolab Malakit ELISA test in a large population of children (n=95) who had upper gastrointestinal endoscopy because of chronic abdominal complaints. Compared with histology or culture, or both the sensitivity and specificity of the Malakit test were both 96%. Furthermore, it has been shown that certain serological methods have a much lower sensitivity and specificity in certain ethnic populations' or in children. While the second is certainly the case for the Pyloriset test2 the same observations could not be made with the Biolab Malakit ELISA in our study. In contrast with Taha et al we therefore concluded that the suitability of this test is comparable with that of the invasive or more expensive (for example, "C-urea breath test) techniques, or both. U BLECKER Y VANDENPLAS Department ofPaediatric Gastroenterology, Academic Children's Hospital, Free University ofBrussels, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium


This guide is designed to help Emory students, faculty, & staff access library resources, find scholarly literature & tools related to nursing.


Equal pay legislation has been in existence for over 40 years in the UK and the legal rules dealing with equal pay have been consolidated and amended recently with the implementation of the Equality Act 2010. However, despite this, problems can still be identified with equal pay in the UK, most notably the continued existence of a sizeable gender pay gap. This article will outline the current legal rules on equal pay and analyse their effectiveness in addressing the issue of the gender pay gap. It is clear that a problem such as the gender pay gap is often caused in society by deeply held stereotypical, discriminatory views and in employment by employers (and some employees) with institutionalised discriminatory attitudes and behaviour. These causes of the gender pay gap militate against it being tackled solely by the law (specifically equality legislation). In this article we will undertake a comprehensive analysis of the topic and establish to what extent the current law can facilitate the necessary changes to eradicate this gap. In areas where it is not sufficiently robust to do this we will analyse what further changes are required through adjustments in the legal rules in the UK. Clearly, much is to be gained from eradicating the gender pay gap. However, there are a number of obstacles to achieving this, which are considered.


Our survey synthetically exposes G. Ivănescu's main ideas with respect to the notion of standard language in general and its modernization process in particular. This undertaking is a component of a larger research of Ivănescu's diachronic conception, which I have worked on for the last few years. As a result, the concept of standard language is approached here from a holistic perspective, that of the entire history of Romanian language, which, after all, it actually belongs to. This is the reason why some elements of the written language are related to the history of the spoken language and the principles of its research.
 Our aim is pointing out the originality of this conception, which is divergent from that of the linguists in Bucharest, against a background characterized by a decreasing interest in in diachronic linguistics as compared to that in synchronic studies. Ivănescu succeeds in developing his original linguistic theory, relying on historical and socio‑linguistic supporting arguments, which deepens, adds up to, and sometimes even contradicts the ideas of both his forerunners and his contemporaries.


Most helicopter data trends cannot be extrapolated to tiltrotors because blade geometry and aerodynamic behavior, as well as rotor and fuselage interactions, are significantly different for tiltrotors. A tiltrotor model has been developed to investigate the aeromechanics of tiltrotors, to develop a comprehensive database for validating tiltrotor analyses, and to provide a research platform for supporting future tiltrotor designs. The Full-Span Tiltrotor Aeroacoustic Model (FS TRAM) is a dual-rotor, powered aircraft model with extensive instrumentation for measurement of structural and aerodynamic loads. This paper will present the Full-Span TRAM test capabilities and the first set of data obtained during a 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel test conducted in late 2000 at NASA Ames Research Center. The Full-Span TRAM is a quarter-scale representation of the V-22 Osprey aircraft, and a heavily instrumented NASA and U.S. Army wind tunnel test stand. Rotor structural loads are monitored and recorded for safety-of-flight and for information on blade loads and dynamics. Left and right rotor balance and fuselage balance loads are monitored for safety-of-flight and for measurement of vehicle and rotor aerodynamic performance. Static pressure taps on the left wing are used to determine rotor/wing interactional effects and rotor blade dynamic pressures measure blade airloads. All of these measurement capabilities make the FS TRAM test stand a unique and valuable asset for validation of computational codes and to aid in future tiltrotor designs. The Full-Span TRAM was tested in the NASA Ames Research Center 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel from October through December 2000. Rotor and vehicle performance measurements were acquired in addition to wing pressures, rotor acoustics, and Laser Light Sheet (LLS) flow visualization data. Hover, forward flight, and airframe (rotors off) aerodynamic runs were performed. Helicopter-mode data were acquired during angle of attack and thrust sweeps for a variety of tunnel speeds. Wake geometry images were acquired using LLS photographs and suggest dual tip vortex formation at low thrust conditions. The full paper will include comparisons to isolated-rotor TRAM data acquired at the Duits-Nederlandse Windtunnel (DNW) in 1998. The FS TRAM has been established as a valuable national asset for tiltrotor research. Data reduction and analysis of the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel test results are underway. Follow-on testing of the FS TRAM is currently being planned for the NASA Ames 80- by 120-Foot Wind Tunnel in late 2001.


Abstract Objective: The appropriate activation and effective utilization of air-medical transport (AMT) services is an important skill for emergency medicine physicians in the United States.Previous studies have demonstrated variability with regards to emergency medical services (EMS) experience during residency training. This study was designed to evaluate the nature and extent of AMT training of the emergency medicine residency programs in the United States. Methods: An identity-unlinked survey of the program directors of all Accreditation Committee for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) approved emergency medicine residency programs was conducted.The survey focused on EMS and AMT resident training opportunities and was conducted in two phases (1999 and 2006) using near-identical methodologies. Results: Response rates of 82% and 84% were achieved in 1999 and 2006, respectively. Percentages of programs offering AMT experiences were similar between the two study phases (76% in 1999 and 65% in 2006). The roles of residents during AMT experiences ranged widely between observer-only, active team member, and medical director/team leader in both 1999 and 2006. Compared to those in 1999, programs in 2006 demonstrated a greater frequency of EMS rotations being provided earlier, by year of training during emergency medicine residency. Residencies located in non-metropolitan centers only were slightly more likely to offer AMT training than were those in metropolitan locations. Conclusions: A majority of emergency medicine residency programs offer AMT experience that includes both scene responses and inter-facility transports. The role of residents during AMT training varies widely, as does the timing of their experiences during residency. The geographical locations of programs do not appear to impact the availability of AMT training.


Effective management of the environmental impact of municipal solid waste (MSW) is a global issue linked to urbanization and a rapid increase in the global population. Although MSW has been evaluated as possible feedstock for biofuels/energy production, prediction of possible fuel yields is difficult due to large variances in composition between different locations. Furthermore, although hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is well known for the conversion of wet waste to fuels and energy, yields and composition of products is not only dependent on operating conditions, but also the characteristics of the feedstock. In this paper, we present a simple additivity model based on compositional analysis of the feedstock to predict HTL production yields and characteristics from MSW. Garden waste, food waste, paper sludge, waste plastics, rubber and textiles were used as model individual components to represent MSW. Xylan, α-cellulose, lignin, protein, starch and fat was used as model components to represent typical biomass. An additivity model was derived, based on the characteristics of each individual component of MSW to predict fuel and energy yields from a typical landfill site. Plastics, rubber and textiles were poorly converted, but did not significantly influence HTL conversion of garden waste, food waste and paper pulp in a synthetic MSW mixture. The model showed a good fit for predicting bio-oil and biochar yields of a municipal solid waste mixtures based on compositional analysis of individual components of the mixture. Both the bio-oil and biochar models could be validated with published data. This work holds promise for developing a detailed predictive model that could be applied to any mixture containing any combination of organic components with a known compositional analysis. Prediction of HTL-based fuel/energy potential from a known site could significantly improve business case scenarios and fast track commercialization of waste-to-energy technologies.


Changes in temperature and precipitation have a range of impacts, including change of glacier extent, extent and duration of snow cover, and distribution and thermal properties of permafrost. Similarly, it is likely that climatic changes affect frequency and magnitude of mass movements, such as shallow landslides, debris flows, rock slope failures, or ice avalanches. However, so far changes in mass-movement activity can hardly be detected in observational records. In this progress report we document the role of climate variability and change on mass-movement processes in mountains through the description and analysis of selected, recent mass movements where effects of global warming and the occurrence of heavy precipitation are thought to have contributed to, or triggered, events. In addition, we assess possible effects of future climatic changes on the incidence of mass-movement processes. The report concentrates on high-mountain systems, including processes such as glacier downwasting and the formation of new ice-marginal lakes, glacier debuttressing and the occurrence of rock slope instability, temperature increase and permafrost degradation, as well as on changing sediment reservoirs and sediment supply, with a clear focus on studies from the European Alps.


An extract from whole oocytes of Xenopus laevis was shown to transcribe somatic-type 5S RNA genes approximately 100-fold more efficiently than oocyte-type 5S RNA genes. This preference was at least 10-fold greater than the preference seen upon microinjection of 5S RNA genes into oocyte nuclei or upon in vitro transcription in an oocyte nuclear extract. The approximately 100-fold transcriptional bias in favor of the somatic-type 5S RNA genes observed in vitro in the whole oocyte extract was similar to the transcriptional bias observed in developing Xenopus embryos. We also showed that in the whole oocyte extract, a promoter-binding protein required for 5S RNA gene transcription, TFIIIA, was bound both to the actively transcribed somatic-type 5S RNA gene and to the largely inactive oocyte-type 5S RNA genes. These findings suggest that the mechanism for the differential expression of 5S RNA genes during Xenopus development does not involve differential binding of TFIIIA to 5S RNA genes.


This paper presents two electromagnetic simulators based on the Finite-Difference Time Domain (FDTD) technique and Boundary Element Method (BEM), for Ground Penetrating Radar applications. The first simulator is the new open-source version of the software gprMax, which employs Yee's algorithm to solve Maxwell's equations by using the FDTD method and includes advanced features allowing the accurate analysis of realistic scenarios. Additionally, E2GPR is a freeware package conceived to ease the use of gprMax: it assists in the creation, modification and analysis of two-dimensional models and can be used to plot results. The second simulator is TWiNS-II: this is free software for the analysis of multiple thin wires in the presence of two media, implementing the Galerkin-Bubnov Indirect BEM; calculations can be undertaken in the frequency or time domain. These tools have been developed by Members of the COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar."


This paper examines the effect of female age at marriage on female education and educational gender inequality. We provide empirical evidence that early female marriage age significantly decreases female education with panel data from 1980 to 2010. Socio-cultural customs serve as an exogenous identification for female age at marriage. We also show that effects of spousal age gaps between men and women significantly affect female education relative to male education. Each additional year between husband and wife reduces the female secondary schooling completion rate by 14 percentage points, the time women spend at university by 6 weeks, and overall affects female education significantly more negatively than male education. We also document that marriage age and conventional measures of gender discrimination do not act as substitutes.


Anthropogenic features show up as highly coherent objects even in heavily decorrelated interferograms. In order to assess whether the information from such features is still usable, the stability of their phase and coherence is analyzed through a series of interferograms. The results indicate that these features can remain interferometrically stable over several years.


This study analyzes through the Behaviour Performance Structure model, the impact of financial reforms on the profitability of the bank system in the CEMAC Zone Countries. The results show that the risk index and the shares part held by the private sector are significant in the determination of the profitability of banks. Main recommendations are on the improvement of the quality of banks portfolio and the continuing privatization of the banking sector.


Alfalfa has long been recognized as a superb forage crop, which is why it is widely grown for dairy cattle, horses, sheep, and many other types of domesticated forage-consuming animals. Reasons for its popularity include wide adaptation, excellent nutritive value, good yield potential, perennial growth habit, a long growing season, and the fact that (in association with Rhizobium bacteria) it is a nitrogen-fixing legume that does not require periodic applications of nitrogen fertilizer.


In this paper we propose and discuss a framework for analysing adults' work competences while construing mathematics-containing "themes" in two workplace settings: road haulage and nursing. The data consist of videos and transcribed interviews from the work of two lorryloaders, and a nurses' aide at an orthopaedic department. In the analysis we adopt a multimodal approach where all forms of communicative resources (e.g., body, speech, tools, symbols) are taken into account. We also incorporate the institutional norms of workplace activities into the analysis. We coordinate a multimodal social-semiotic perspective with a learning design sequence model (Selander, 2008) which makes explicit the institutional framing. Adopting this framework enables us to understand learning as communication within a domain, with an emphasis on content matters, interpersonal aspects, and roles of communicative resources and artefacts. We describe a tentative theme (Measuring: precision through function and time), and illuminate how workplace specific resources for measuring provide efficiency and function.


A quadent™ Fresh (Virbac) is a water additive for dental hygiene of dogs and cats that can be used daily. Its tolerance was evaluated during 28 days, in 22 beagle dogs and 18 cats, all adults and healthy. 10 dogs and 6 cats were given the recommended dose (1% v/v of drinking water), 8 dogs and 8 cats were given 5 times the recommended dose (5% v/v of drinking water) and 4 dogs and 4 cats had water only, with no product (control groups). Animals were observed daily. A complete clinical examination and body weight measurement was performed once a week. Food and water consumption were measured and feces examination performed daily from Day-14 (or Day-7) to Day 28. Blood samples were taken at the start and at the end of the study for analysis. Water consumption remained similar during the whole study period indicating there was no impact of Aquadent™ Fresh on spontaneous water consumption in both dogs and cats. No product-related clinical signs were observed and rectal temperature remained in the physiological range. No gastro-intestinal disorders were associated to the product administration. Aquadent™ Fresh did not affect body weight, food consumption, hematology or blood biochemistry. The palatability of Aquadent™ Fresh was also tested on 77 owner's dogs and 74 owner's cats during 7 days and compared to the palatability of the Aquadent™ formula containing Chlorhexidine, in a cross-over study, no difference was observed between the two formulas, therefore, Aquadent™ Fresh is safe and palatable for dogs and cats.


The topic of this study is; Competitive Strategies Adopted by Mobile Phone Companies in Kenya. Competition has become the most important aspect that all the stakeholders in any industry need to be alert on if they are to make it and succeed. Organizations therefore have to continually assess the competitive environment in which they operate and also assess their own strategy. This also helps them to adopt winning strategies that ensures they perform very well in the industry. Telecommunication industry in Kenya is quite lucrative but faces challenges just like any other industry. Some of the challenges that have greatly affected the growth of this sector include competition from new entrants, substitute products and services, political anxieties, technological advancement and globalization. The players in this industry have over time adopted dynamic strategies if only to survive. This study was to establish the competitive strategies adopted by mobile phone companies in Kenya. The study has determined the sources of competition in the mobile phone industry in Kenya and also established the competitive strategies adopted by these companies to succeed. This data was collected from the four mobile companies in Kenya namely Safaricom, Zain, Essar and Orange. The respondents were managers in the corporate strategy, marketing, retail, sales, risk, customer care, finance and technical departments who had been in the these companies for at least five years and were involved in the formulation and implementation of the strategies The data was collected using interview guides that were sent to the respondents via email. The data collected was qualitative and was analyzed using content analysis. From the analysis, the mobile phone companies have adopted several strategies which include cost leadership, differentiation, marketing strategies, diversification, expansion, technology strategies, customer service and corporate social responsibly and according to the respondents, all of them have been successful to their companies.


Deep dependency parsing can be cast as the search for maximum acyclic subgraphs in weighted digraphs. Because this search problem is intractable in the general case, we consider its restriction to the class of 1-endpoint-crossing (1ec) graphs, which has high coverage on standard data sets. Our main contribution is a characterization of 1ec graphs as a subclass of the graphs with pagenumber at most 3. Building on this we show how to extend an existing parsing algorithm for 1-endpoint-crossing trees to the full class. While the runtime complexity of the extended algorithm is polynomial in the length of the input sentence, it features a large constant, which poses a challenge for practical implementations.


Experimentation in wide area computer networks such as the Internet is difficult. One difficulty is the lack of experimental hosts for individual researches or research groups. The authors have developed a new approach to overcome this problem. The approach is to emulate a remote site using one local machine, and to emulate a true Internet communication environment in a local area network, by rotating the inter-site communication through actual Internet hosts. This approach provides a way to conduct experiments with large scale geographically dispersed distributed systems without any designated experimental sites except for the local ones. The authors have studied this approach and observed that it is feasible and reliable. They have realized this approach in a communication package called the WANCE tool, which can be used to experiment distributed software in this new approach. They have also evaluated this approach by comparing it with real experiments, using a distributed database application. The relative errors they measured are within 3%.


We review historical earthquake research in Northern Europe. 'Historical' is defined as being identical with seismic events occurring in the pre-instrumental and early instrumental periods between 1073 and the mid-1960s. The first seismographs in this region were installed in Uppsala, Sweden and Bergen, Norway in 1904-1905, but these mechanical pendulum instruments were broad band and amplification factors were modest at around 500. Until the 1960s few modern
short period electromagnetic seismographs were deployed. Scientific earthquake studies in this region began during the first decades of the 1800s, while the systematic use of macroseismic questionnaires commenced at the end of that
century. Basic research efforts have vigorously been pursued from the 1970s onwards because of the mandatory seismic
risk studies for commissioning nuclear power plants in Sweden, Finland, NW Russia, Kola and installations of huge oil
platforms in the North Sea. The most comprehensive earthquake database currently available for Northern Europe is the
FENCAT catalogue covering about six centuries and representing the accumulation of work conducted by many scientists
during the last 200 years. This catalogue is given in parametric form, while original macroseismic observations and intensity
maps for the largest earthquakes can be found in various national publications, often in local languages. No database
giving intensity data points exists in computerized form for the region. The FENCAT catalogue still contains some
spurious events of various kinds but more serious are some recent claims that some of the presumed largest historical earthquakes have been assigned too large magnitude values, which would have implications for earthquake hazard levels implemented in national building codes. We discuss future cooperative measures such as establishing macroseismic data archives as a means for promoting further research on historical earthquakes in Northern Europe.


There are numerous studies reporting on the effects of inhalation anaesthesia in cells of exposed individuals but not much is known about the ability of isoflurane (ISF) to induce oxidative DNA damage. However, surgery is often associated with a temporary perioperative immunological alteration, and some volatile anaesthetics seem to contribute to a transient lymphocytopenia after surgery. We conducted a study to evaluate a possible genotoxic effect, including oxidative DNA damage, and apoptosis in peripheral lymphocytes of 20 patients American Society of Anaesthesiologists physical status I undergoing minor elective surgery lasting at least 120 min, under anaesthesia with ISF. We also investigated the expression of several genes in blood cells. Blood samples were collected at three time points: before anaesthesia (T(1)), 2 h after the beginning of anaesthesia (T(2)) and on the first post-operative day (T(3)). General DNA damage and oxidised bases (Fpg and endo III-sites) in blood lymphocytes were evaluated using the comet assay. Lymphocytes were phenotyped and apoptosis was evaluated by flow cytometry. In addition, expressions of hOGG1 and XRCC1, genes involved in DNA repair, and BCL2, a gene related to apoptosis, were assessed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results showed no statistically significant difference in the level of DNA damage and oxidised bases among the three sampling times. Anaesthesia with ISF did not increase the percentage of cells in early or late apoptosis in cytotoxic or helper T lymphocytes. Lower hOGG1 and BCL2 expressions were detected at T(3) in comparison to the other two previous time points, and there was significantly lower expression of XRCC1 at T(3) in relation to T(2). In conclusion, the exposure to ISF did not result in genotoxicity and cytotoxicity in lymphocytes and in toxicogenomic effect in leukocytes, although DNA repair and apoptosis-related genes were down-regulated on the first post-operative day.


In order to evaluate the spatial and temporal variation of N2O and associated flux into the air in a granite unconfined aquifer of Ikuchi Island, water samples were collected from 9 observation wells with different depths and 6 observation wells in the groundwater discharge area from 2013 to 2015 and analyzed for N2O, NO3 -N and Cl. The results showed that the concentrations of dissolved N 2O changed with water depth, which can be attributed to the C/N ratio. When the C/N ratio ≤5, high concentrations of dissolved N2O occur. In addition, the N2O concentrations increased with the redox condition of water changes from oxidation to reductive. However, when water was in strong reductive conditions such as ORP ≤-200mV, the relative low concentrations of N2O took place, since N2O can change into N2 due to the complete denitrification. Dissolved N2O concentrations also increased in dry seasons, when most of observation wells being in a reductive state. In the groundwater discharge area, dissolved N2O and NO3 -N concentrations decreased along the groundwater flow pathway, which results from the dilution of seawater and denitrification. The flux of N2O into air was estimated to be 49ghayear, the same level as seawater emission rate. Whereas, in a high precipitation event(precipitation ≤30mm/day), 5ghaday (about 10 percent of annual N2O emission) would emission into air. AHW17-P03 Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2016


This study focuses on training and development of the human resource in institutes of consecrated life; a case of Tangaza University College (TUC) and Marist International University College (MIUC). Institutions and organizations exist to achieve certain goals and objectives. These goals and objectives can be successfully achieved through the human resource. However, the human resource must have the right skills and continuously polish their skills.  The human resource that is the centre of interest in this study is the consecrated men and women who are members of the institutes of consecrated life in TUC and MIUC and their leadership. Njino (2009) strongly argues that the Church has enormous human resource but at times this resource is underutilized and its abilities and potential are unexploited or unrecognized. This was the motivation and driving factor for this study.

The researcher carried out a survey.  The specific method employed was descriptive survey design. The target population for the study was all professed members of institutes of consecrated life both men and women with their leadership. The study was developed by integrating interactive shared experiences of men and women religious. These are presented as cases within the different chapters. As a result the researcher only used questionnaires that contained both closed ended and open ended questions in data collection. A total of 242 individual members and 20 members of the different leadership categories of institutes of consecrated life participated in the study.
The findings reveal that availability of training policies is dependent on the category of institutes of consecrated life. Majority of the respondents indicated that professional training of members was not a priority for the leadership of the institutes of consecrated life. Work allotment entirely depends on the needs of the individual institute of consecrated life. The researcher recommends that more emphasis is to be put in the training and development of the human resource in institutes of consecrated life. This is because it shall ensure sustainability of the institute.


The aim of this study was to explored the effects of Fe2O3 and Bi2O3 on the color properties of a 3Y-TZP zirconia ceramics for dental application. Pigmented dental ZrO2 powders were prepared by mixing different concentration of Fe2O3 and Bi2O3, also in their combinations with 3Y-TZP powders. The mixture was compacted by isostastic pressure, then densely sintered. Color parameters were measured by Minolta CM2600d spectrophotometer. XRD was used to exam the structure of colored 3Y-TZP. Experimental results showed that the hue of the materials shift from yellow-green to yellow-red with the increasing concentration of the Fe2O3 and Bi2O3. Combined use of Fe2O3 and Bi2O3 could further decrease the L* value, which color scope was suitable for dental color matching. The XRD spectra showed only tetragonal phase was detected.


The English National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People conforms to the emerging pattern of NSFs as hybrids of policy and evidence, drafted and edited within the Department of Health, albeit with external advisory input. Physicians welcome its much-needed focus on the needs of older people, but its dynamic differs from that underlying the evolution of comprehensive services to date, raising concerns that its declared objectives may be unrealised or perversely interpreted. This applies to the first three (of eight) 'standards' currently being applied: rooting out ageism, the single assessment process and intermediate care. With each, there are problems of concept, operational feasibility, expertise and accountability for standards. Conversely, the standards for subspecialty service models (stroke, falls, mental health) are more significantly underpinned by evidence and operational experience. Success overall will depend on more clearly defined resource flow and accountability, career recruitment, research direction and engagement with specialist physicians than are immediately apparent in the document.


This study aimed to investigate the curative effect and costs of surgical and gamma knife treatments on intractable epilepsy caused by temporal-hippocampal sclerosis. The subjects comprised patients who suffered from intractable epilepsy caused by temporal-hippocampal sclerosis and received treatment in the Department of Neurosurgery of our hospital between 2010 and 2011. After obtaining their consent, patients were evaluated and selected to receive surgical or gamma knife treatments. In the surgical group, the short-term curative rate was 92.60% and the average cost was US$ 1311.50 while in the gamma knife group, the short-term curative rate was 53.79%, and the average cost was US$ 2786.90. Both surgical and gamma knife treatments of intractable epilepsy caused by temporal-hippocampal sclerosis are safe and effective, but the short-term curative effect of surgical treatment is better than that of gamma knife, and its cost is lower.


This paper aims to provide a sharp excess risk guarantee for learning a sparse linear model without any assumptions about the strong convexity of the expected loss and the sparsity of the optimal solution in hindsight. Given a target level ε for the excess risk, an interesting question to ask is how many examples and how large the support set of the solution are enough for learning a good model with the target excess risk. To answer these questions, we present a two-stage algorithm that (i) in the first stage an epoch based stochastic optimization algorithm is exploited with an established O(1/ε) bound on the sample complexity; and (ii) in the second stage a distribution dependent randomized sparsification is presented with an O(1/ε) bound on the sparsity (referred to as support complexity) of the resulting model. Compared to previous works, our contributions lie at (i) we reduce the order of the sample complexity from O(1/ε2) to O(1/ε) without the strong convexity assumption; and (ii) we reduce the constant in O(1/ε) for the sparsity by exploring the distribution dependent sampling.


A rising human population and changing patterns of land use mean that world food production rates will need to be increased by at least 50% by 2050, a massive rise in harvestable yield per hectare of the major crops such as rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum). Combinations of breeding for improved morphology-related traits such as harvest index and increased inputs of water and fertilizer, which have sustained yield increases since the 1960s, will be neither sufficient nor sustainable. An important limiting factor will be the capacity to produce sufficient biomass during favourable growing periods. Here we analyse this problem in the context of increasing the efficiency of conversion of solar energy into biomass, that is, leaf and canopy photosynthesis. Focussing on crops carrying out C3 photosynthesis, we analyse the evidence for 'losses' in the process of conversion of solar energy into crop biomass and we explore novel mechanisms of improving biomass production rates, which have arisen from recent research into the fundamental primary processes of photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism. We show that there are several lines of evidence that these processes are not fully optimized for maximum yield. We put forward the hypothesis that the chloroplast itself should be given greater prominence as a sensor, processor and integrator of highly variable environmental signals to allow a more efficient transduction of energy supply into biomass production.


Article history: Received 12 October 2013 Received in revised form 19 November 2013 Accepted 22 November 2013 Available online 4 December2013


The aim of the article is to assess the dynamics of the development of biofuels production from agricultural raw materials and the share of biofuels in the consumption of the most important agricultural raw materials with particular regard to the situation in Poland.  Data used in the study are derived from OECD statistics as well as CSO statistics.  The analysis covered the period from 2005 to 2016.  The biofuel production on a global scale is increasingly competing with food production.  Between 2002 and 2004, about 2% of harvested cereals were allocated to biofuels, and in 2016 it was almost 8%.  For oil plants, this level reached 15%.  Following a dynamic growth in biofuel production between 2005 and 2010, the growth slowed down considerably - to the level of 7% annually for biodiesel and 4.6% annually for bioethanol production.  For the years 2017-2025, a growth rate of about 1% per year is anticipated.  The slowdown in production growth is due to the reduction of political support for the development of the production of biofuels from first generation raw materials.  Their production leads to competition for land resources with food production, but it has also been found to be characterized by relatively low environmental performance, including a low impact on the reduction of CO 2 emissions.  It is necessary to develop the production of second generation biofuels which now account for only about 7% of the production of liquid biofuels. Biofuels in Poland are produced from cereals and rapeseed oil.  The production of biofuels in Poland increased from 180 million litres in 2005 to 1.2 billion litres in 2015.  1.3% of arable land was used for bioethanol production and 3.5% for biodiesel production.  Total production of raw materials for biofuels was conducted on 5% of arable land in Poland.  2% of cereals and 60% of the rape crop were consumed for the production of biofuels.  Under Polish agriculture conditions, biofuels production does not compete with food production yet. Keywords: bioenergy, biofuels, biofuel prices, biomass, energy crops, renewable energy Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.192


My thesis is part of an overall environmental program evaluating the environmental and human health stress in areas of Nicaragua affected by anthropogenic emission of metals and man-made organic substances. I examine the fluvial transport of mercury contextually associated with the extent of the contamination and the observed human and environmental stress in a gold mining area. Field measurements (Papers I, II, IV, and V), experimental assays (Paper III), and risk assessment (Paper VI) are used in the investigation on a basin scale. Even though the same processes and mechanisms apply for the accumulation and the movement of mercury in river and ground water systems, the local hydrogeological and climatic conditions together with the dynamic of mining activity make the fluvial transport and the accumulation of mercury site specific. Therefore, I consider that efforts to elucidate the transport and fate of mercury dependence on local environmental settings and its implication for humans are compulsory in assessing the impact of the poorly-controlled use of mercury in gold mining areas. Hence, to take actions for human and environmental protection. At the basin scale, flowing water is thought to export and dissipate the pollution. Hence, rivers and streams in gold mining areas are used for mercury-enriched waste disposal. Notwithstanding, levels of mercury of environmental concern are observed in water and river sediments. Since mercury in sediments is a threat to streams organisms and exposes riverine human populations through the consumption of mercury-contaminated fish, the accumulation of mercury in the sediment phase has been of particular importance from the perspective of human health. Therefore, it is of great importance to elucidate the processes involved in the fluvial transport and phase partitioning of mercury in a river, and the interaction with the groundwater system in such sensitive areas. Even though environmental levels of mercury in gold mining watersheds are low, a risk evaluation is also needed, because mercury bio-concentrates and bioaccumulates in exposed receptors. The results of my studies may also help to promote the environmental control and to contribute to the development of water quality criteria that can be used for regulatory purposes in gold mining areas of a developing country. The insights gained from the investigations carried out in the Sucio river basin call for an environmental and human health care and apply for an environmental monitoring. Together with other findings reported by other studies, the insights can be a core of useful information to implement alternatives in the abatement of the contamination in the river basin. (Less)


This paper is an evaluation of service sector innovations. It reviews the development of innovations in the sector, including innovation across services and the promotion of new services, and patterns of management and service design. Until the 1990s, it was rare to find researchers and policymakers taking service innovation seriously. However, massive growth of service industries in the two last decades and interest in service innovation show the importance of renewed interest in research and policy. At present, researchers tend to lean toward one of two approaches: that service sector innovation can directly apply tools from manufacturing, or that there are distinctive features of services that require particular evaluation procedures and policies. In fact, there is often convergence between the manufacturing and service sectors. Many manufacturing firms are coming to resemble traditional kinds of service-oriented firms; and many service firms are coming to be like traditional manufacturing firms. This poses difficulties for evaluating service innovation by exclusively one approach. The author argues for adopting a synthetic approach to avoid drawing strict boundaries between the technological and the organizational, and the product and process innovations. It is naturally more elegant to have a single approach that would enable policymakers to argue for integrated training and comprehensive innovation policies. However, it is more important to follow developments among modern firms, which can be overlooked in partial analysis. The synthetic approach fosters well grounded decision- and policy-making and allows updating of future trends and prospects of service innovation. It helps account for variations within and across goods and service innovation and address the service activities of manufacturing firms and the goods-producing activities of service organizations. Ian Miles finds a synthetic approach reasonable in that it combines elements of concepts in use earlier with a recognition of the importance of services to all sectors of twenty-first century economies. This is important for understanding the industrial competitiveness of the advanced industrial countries as well as for confronting the grand challenges that our world faces in this century. These challenges require solving problems that are bound to involve mixtures of technological and service innovation, which are both complex service systems at heart.


In this paper, we analyze if and how different levels of government offload clients onto other welfare state programmes that are not under their financial responsibility, focusing particularly on municipally-led social assistance schemes, the safety net of last resort. We start from the hypothesis that the extent to which cost shifting takes place in a multitiered welfare state depends on the degree of fiscal centralization, and we expect cost shifting to be more prevalent in federal countries were the constituent units have strong fiscal autonomy. In order to empirically examine this claim, we compare Germany and Switzerland, two federal countries that differ considerably in matters of fiscal centralisation. Empirically, we find that in fact cost-shifting occurred irrespective of the degree of fiscal centralisation. However, there are differences in how the two countries reacted to cost-shifting practices. Fiscally centralised Germany has been more successful in limiting cost shifting practices than decentralised Switzerland. By connecting the literature on social policy and fiscal federalism, the paper contributes to a broader understanding of the functioning of multitiered welfare states.


The travelling salesman problem (TSP) is the most well-known combinatorial optimization problem. TSP is used to find a routing of a salesman who starts from a home location, visits a prescribed set of cities and returns to the original location in such a way that the total distance travelled is minimized and each city is visited exactly once . This problem is known to be NP-hard, and cannot be solved exactly in polynomial time. Many exact and heuristic algorithms have been developed in the field of operations research (OR) to solve this problem . TSP is solved very easily when there is less number of cities, but as the number of cities increases it is very hard to solve, as large amount of computation time is required. The numbers of fields where TSP can be used very effectively are military and traffic. Another approach is to use genetic algorithm to solve TSP because of its robustness and flexibility . Some typical applications of TSP include vehicle routing, computer wiring, cutting wallpaper and job sequencing In genetic algorithms, crossovers are used as a main search operator for TSP. There were a lot attempts to discover an appropriate crossover operator. This paper presents the strategy which used to find the nearly optimized solution to these type of problems. It is the order crossover operator (OX) which was proposed by Davis, which constructs an offspring by choosing a subsequence of one parent and preserving the relative order of cities of the other parent.


An asymptotic high-frequency solution is described which remains uniformly valid across smooth caustics of geometrical optics rays reflected from two- and three-dimensional boundaries that are concave or exhibit points of inflection. In particular, outside the caustic transition region this solution not only reduces uniformly to the reflected geometrical optics real ray field on the lit side of the caustic, but it also uniformly recovers the reflected geometrical optics complex ray field on the dark side of the caustic. Furthermore, it is expressed in terms of parameters that can be calculated relatively easily. This analysis is used to calculate the electromagnetic field scattered from a concave-convex shaped boundary with an edge, as well as by a smoothly indented cavity, each of which contains points of inflection thereby giving rise to caustics of reflected rays. The accuracy of the numerical results presented for the edged concave-convex boundary is established with results obtained via an independent moment method analysis. >


Traditional privacy-preserving data disclosure solutions have focused on protecting the privacy of individual's information with the assumption that all aggregate (statistical) information about individuals is safe for disclosure. Such schemes fail to support group privacy where aggregate information about a group of individuals may also be sensitive and users of the published data may have different levels of access privileges entitled to them. We propose the notion of Eg-Group Differential Privacy that protects sensitive information of groups of individuals at various defined privacy levels, enabling data users to obtain the level of access entitled to them. We present a preliminary evaluation of the proposed notion of group privacy through experiments on real association graph data that demonstrate the guarantees on group privacy on the disclosed data.


Modern Web applications that make use of external data sources, be it Linked Data (LD) or not, usually run into the same problems; if a data source performs badly or is offline, the user experience is affected negatively. In some cases this may result in long response times, whereas in more extreme cases the application becomes unusable. This paper presents LDCache [4], a caching service that ensures that Linked Data-driven Web applications remain functional with good user experience regardless of the status of the external data sources they eventually integrate. First, some requirements are defined that typically occur when data from disparate sources are integrated. Then the features of the implemented solution are summarized together with documentation on how the service can be taken advantage of. This is followed by a description of the architecture. The authors conclude with a road map for future development and a short summary of the work carried out.


The heat flux produced from the friction between a disc and pad system leads to a high temperature which causes thermal stresses in the disc and after a number of repeated braking cycles, cracks might be initiated. The finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to determine the temperatures profile in the disc and to analyze the stresses for the repeated braking, which could be used to calculate the fatigue life of a disc.Sequentially coupled approach is used for thermo-mechanical problem and the problem is divided into two parts, heat analysis and thermal stress analysis. The heat analysis is obtained by including frictional heat and adopting an Eulerian approach. The heat analysis is conducted by using Abaqus and the toolbox developed by Niclas Stromberg. The thermal stress analysis, which is the main focus of this thesis, is followed using Abaqus. The plasticity theory as background for stress analysis is discussed in detail. The rate independent elasto-plastic plasticity is used in the stress analysis. Temperature independent material properties are considered throughout the thesis work.Isotropic, kinematic and combined hardening models are analyzed for simple 2D academic models for different types of cyclic loads. A benchmark disc and pad model, which is less complicated than the real disc-pad model, is also studied. The linear kinematic hardening model with rate independent elastic-plastic plasticity is used for benchmark and real disc-pad model. The results of the benchmark model and the real model are observed to be similar in terms of plasticity theory.


Industrial pollution has been a major factor causing the degradation of the environment around us, affecting the water we use, the air we breathe, and the soil we live on. In many developing countries air quality has deteriorated because of rising industrial activity. Puffed rice is a popular food item, which is produced in cluster of small units. Air pollution is the most serious problem in the Puffed Rice units in the form of particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other harmful airborne pollutants from tyre burning.5 So far very little data is available on extent and severity of the pollution that is caused by this cluster. Hence the present study is taken in Davangere.
Objectives: To compare the lung function in terms of PEFR between the residents surrounding puffed rice industries with the residents of urban davangere and also to compare the effects with relation to duration of stay in that area
Material & Methods : 65 healthy adult subjects of urban residential areas of Davangere and 61 healthy subjects of residents surrounding puffed rice industries within a radius of 500mts were selected randomly from the population of Davangere. The duration of the stay in the area is also considered to see the dose response relationship.
Results:There was a drastic decrease in PEFR in residents surrounding puffed rice industries compared to the residents of urban davangere. It was also absorbed that the decrease was more in people who were residing in that area for a longer duration showing a dose response relationship.
Discussion:This results because, smoking causes inflammation and narrowing of airways which results in increase in resistance to airflow and a decrease in elastic recoil pressure of the lungs.
Conclusion: The actual values of PEFR are decreased in residents surrounding puffed rice industries compared to residents of urban Davangere and all the values are more decreased with increase in duration of stay in that area .The decrease in PEFR is more in the first ten year stay in this area indicating early peripheral airway narrowing and these effects worsen progressively with continued exposure.


Campomelic/camptomelic dysplasia is a very rare, severe osteochondrodysplasia characterised by severe skeletal and nonskeletal malformations and lethal outcome mainly in neonatal period. Characteristic abnormality by which the syndrome got its name is short, bowed long bones of lower extremities, most often of femur, manifested by short and bowed legs. Skin dimpling on tibial anterior side is another prominent characteristic of this syndrome. Severe cases are inherited by autosomal dominant trait, by mutation Sox9 gene on chromosome 17, with lethal outcome in the first days of life. Less severe forms of the disease are due to balanced translocation t (13;17) with life span up to the third decade of life. A majority of karyotypic males present as phenotypic females. We report a case of a female neonate, without consanguinity between parents, with characteristic signs of camptomelic dysplasia with short birth length of 46 cm, macrocephaly (head circumference 39 cm), dolichocephaly, hydrocephalus, short trunk and legs. Narrow rib cage, bowed lower extremities, short hand and foot phalanges, nail hypoplasia were noticed. Anterior fontanelle was enlarged, high forehead, face small and flat, hypertelorism, low nasal bridge, micrognathia, low set ears, cleft palate, were found. Characteristc skin dimpling on anterior side of tibia was present on both legs. Bone X-ray studies presented the following changes: anterior bowing of shortened femurs, hip dislocation, cervical vertebrae, scapulas, eleven pairs of slender ribs. Hip luxation. Karyotype was normal for a female, 46 XX. Respiratory insufficiency was present since birth, exacerbated, and led to lethal outcome in the second day of life, as described in the majority of these patients.


Holistic ethics education in the professions is never fully served by a reliance on regulatory compliance alone. Data obtained from penalties due to corporate non-compliance in specific professions rarely describe the underlying ethical failures that are the foundation for "rule-breaking" in the professions. However, "violations" data may serve as a springboard for an educational discussion and approach that helps professionals (and those studying to become professionals) to understand the basic moral reasoning that underlies the "good" that is served by adhering to professional Codes of Conduct, Codes of Practice, Codes of Ethics, and the professional regulatory environment. We here use data obtained from the US FDA, US DOJ, and from Violations Tracker and compare these data with the IFPMA (International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Association) Ethos and guiding principles. These side-by-side linkages serve as a mechanism to help students assess which ethical principles are at the core of each such violation in the pharmaceutical industry. We further recommend that this approach be incorporated into ethics education, especially beginning at the undergraduate level, as prophylaxis to ethical lapses in later professional life.


In light of an increasing technological dependence for millenials, and the fact that members of this generation are starting to become parents, this paper examines a crucial area of technology use: how smartphone use impacts a parent's relationship with their child. Rather than looking at the issue of technology and parenting in the purely psychological context of affects on a child's brain development, as is most often the case, this paper takes a sociological perspective to focus on the bond between parent and child. This issue is only very recently starting to become of interest to researchers, so this paper consolidates existing work in the field to bring attention to the ways in which a parent's dependence on, and distraction with, their smartphone, is changing how they interact with their child. For future and current parents to learn to juggle technology use and sustainable practices of caring for their child, it is important that they are cognizant of the patterns of disengagement and dissatisfaction that are produced by the common habits of smartphone use.


Recent times have seen the appropriation of the terms inter- and transdisciplinarity, grounded as they are in critique and politic debate, to deliver instrumental government policy. This article argues that in order to understand how both inter- and transdisciplinary approaches pose critiques of disciplinarity in architecture, one has to acknowledge the importance of their relational aspects. I do this here by referring to examples where humanities theorists have used terms drawn from psychoanalysis to inform debates on interdisciplinarity, for example "anxiety" in the work of Julia Kristeva and "ambivalence" in the writings of Homi Bhabha. In order to examine the potential of transversal activities for providing critiques of institutionalized relations put forward by Félix Guattari, I also briefly discuss several other relevant psychic concepts, for example, first the notion of "transitional space" put forward by D.W. Winnicott, and secondly the more elliptical phrase, "the enigmatic message," proposed by Jean Laplanche. In the article I suggest that it is only by paying attention to the psychic dimensions of inter- and transdisciplinarity that we can understand how such work may operate in sites of resistance and contestation.


Anisotropic pore structure affects fluid storage and transport behaviors in rock matrix. In this study, we quantitatively investigate the anisotropic pore structure properties of coal and shale through small-angle neutron scattering associated with contrast-matching method. Experimental 2D scattering profiles from the samples cut parallel and perpendicular to the bedding indicate isotropic 3D spherical scattering profile for Hazleton coal and anisotropic 3D ellipsoidal scattering profile for Marcellus shale. Apparent porosity and surface area of total pores are similar between the samples cut parallel and perpendicular to the bedding for Hazleton coal but are higher for the sample cut perpendicular to the bedding than the sample cut parallel to the bedding for Marcellus shale. Apparent pore accessibility follows the trend powder sample > sample cut perpendicular to the bedding > sample cut parallel to the bedding for both the measured coal and shale, indicating nanopores near the surface of granular particles have higher pore accessibility than those inside granular particles. It was captured that the measured coal has less porosity, surface area, and pore accessibility than the measured shale for each type of sample. In addition, based on the apparent pore properties of accessible pores, microscopic transport mechanism could be that fluid preferably diffuses along the bedding direction in coalbed methane and shale gas reservoirs.


INTRODUCTION
Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia on clinical practice and an important risk factor for ictus. The aim of this study was to know the prevalence of this arrythmia in a central district of Madrid.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
A retrospective study was done analysing medical records of 13,945 patients belonging to a primary care centre of Madrid. Time of study: recruitment of data from September 2000 to May 2001; analysis of data: from September 2001 to May 2002.

RESULTS
We obtained a total of 425 atrial fibrillations, 348 non-valvular and 77 valvular. Global prevalence of atrial fibrillation in patients over 40 years in our area was 2.52%. (2.47% male, 2.55% female). Risk factors for atrial fibrillation more frequently found in non-valvular were high blood pressure (HBP), diabetes, ischaemic heart disease and left ventricular dysfunction. Among valvulars we found HBP, left atrial size over 45 mm and left ventricular dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS
Atrial fibrillation shows a prevalence and distribution in the studied area similar to that found in other European countries.


In this work, an online preparation of peroxymonocarbonate was formed innovatively, which offered the reliable intermediate for further investigation. Gold colloids with nanoparticles of different sizes were found to enhance the chemiluminescence (CL) of the peroxymonocarbonate-eosin Y system, and the most intensive CL signals were obtained with 50 +/- 1 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. UV-visible adsorption spectra, fluorescence spectra, transmission electron microscopy images, electron paramagnetic resonance spin-trapping spectra, and mass spectra were obtained in order to study the CL enhancement mechanism. Peroxymonocarbonate, a reactive oxygen species, can be decomposed to singlet oxygen which transfers its energy to eosin Y. The CL can be induced by excited eosin Y. Gold nanoparticles facilitated the radical generation and singlet oxygen molecular formation on the surface of the gold nanoparticles. Thus, the CL emission enhanced greatly by adding gold nanoparticles into the system.


There are many simultaneous forces shaping the magazine market and changing the core business logic. On the one hand we experience media convergence, where the traditional media industry is integrating with the telecommunications industry and information technology. On the other hand the advertising market reacts to the changing economic climate and increasing amount of online media content. The Internet has had a tremendous effect on the media use habits of the consumers and the use of printed magazines is no exception. Due to digitalization and the declining trend in the consumption of printed products, the forest industry is also facing the need to change. In the Fumaga project, we looked at the future of magazines from the viewpoint of the so-called servicedominant logic, which means that the customer value (value in use) is the starting point of the development. The readers of the magazine have a central role as the customers of the magazine service. The magazine service is available through several platforms, both printed and digital, including also user communities in which the users may act as co-creators of content. Development in any part of the magazine service has an effect on how the reader experiences the service. Therefore, from the paper makers' perspective it is important to know the other actors in the network of printed magazines and collaborate with them, but it is also very important to have knowledge on the other networks in the magazine service and especially on the final customers, the readers. In the project, four case studies were carried out to find possibilities for new services from the paper maker to their customers: Hybrid media applications in magazines, New title launch, Brand experience and Service concepts for customers' processes. Turning the service possibilities pointed out during the project and in this publication into active services requires a close relationship between the paper producer and their customers in order to be able to co-create value. In some cases it may also be important to involve other players from the value chain or across networks to form strategic alliances for realizing a new service. Applying the service-dominant logic perspective would also mean that the role of the paper producer in the magazines' value chain would no longer be that of the raw material provider but also that of a consultant that offers knowledge and support into the customers' processes.


Two different dynamics govern the autonomy of the European Union (EU) legal order. On the one hand, autonomy seeks to define what EU law is not, i.e. it is not ordinary international law. Positively, on the other, autonomy seeks to define what EU law is, i.e. a legal order that has the capacity to operate as a self-referential system of norms that is both coherent and complete. Yet the concept of autonomy of the EU legal order in no way conveys the message that the EU and its law are euro-centric and that the Court of Justice of the European Union (the 'Court of Justice') seeks to insulate EU law from external influences by building walls that prevent the migration of legal ideas. Autonomy rather enables the Court of Justice to strike the right balance between the need to preserve the values on which the EU is founded and openness to other legal orders. The autonomy of the EU legal order is thus part of the very DNA of that legal order as it allows the EU to find its own constitutional space whilst interacting in a cooperative way with its Member States and the wider world.


The partial sequence of the human insulin-receptor (hINSR) gene is presented. Using the gene sequence as a guide, we selected pairs of oligonucleotide primers from sites in the introns that flank each exon. These primers allowed each of the 22 exons of the hINSR gene to be amplified in vitro by the polymerase chain reaction. The sequences of the gene and oligonucleotide primers will facilitate studies of genetic variation in the hINSR gene and thereby increase our understanding of the role of this gene in the development of insulin-resistant states and glucose intolerance.


Hepatitis E in industrialized countries is mainly associated with genotype 3 hepatitis E virus (HEV) and normally causes a sporadic self-limiting disease in immunocompetent individuals. Unlike genotype 3, genotypes 1 and 2 circulate in developing countries, produce severe disease and occur in the epidemic form. Hepatitis E occurring in travellers returning from endemic areas in developing countries is not a novel epidemiological occurrence, however the vast majority of cases remain to be genetically studied. The present study describes two cases of severe acute hepatitis E that required hospitalization for 6 and 9 days in two individuals of Indian nationality that had recently migrated to Portugal to work. The retrieved HEV sequences both belonged to genotype 1 and had a high degree of nucleotide sequence identity, clustering with strains isolated in India and Nepal, in 2013 and 2014. Confirmed HEV genotypes of increased pathogenicity like genotype 1 are being introduced into otherwise naïve populations of industrialized countries such as European countries with consequences difficult to predict. As far as we know the present study is the first in Portugal to describe and genetically characterize imported cases of hepatitis E infection caused by HEV genotype 1.


Abstract Ghrelin is an important endocrine peptide that links the gastrointestinal system and brain in the regulation of food intake and energy expenditure. In human, rat, and goldfish plasma levels of ghrelin and GH are elevated in fasted animals, suggesting that ghrelin is an orexigenic signal and a driving force behind the elevated plasma levels of GH during fasting. Ghrelin's orexigenic action is mediated by the ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1a and GHS-R1b) which is localized on neuropeptide Y (NPY) neurons in the brain. Studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of short-term fasting on plasma ghrelin and brain expression of GHS-R1a, GHS-R1b, and NPY in the tilapia. Fasting for 7 days had no effect on plasma ghrelin concentrations, whereas significant increases in plasma levels of GH were observed on day 3. Fasting significantly reduced plasma levels of IGF-I on days 3 and 7, and of glucose on days 3, 5, and 7. Brain expression of ghrelin and GHS-R1b were significantly elevated in fasted fish on day 3, but were significantly reduced on day 5. This reduction was likely due to a significant increase in the expression in the fed controls on day 5 compared to day 0. No change was detected in the expression of GHS-R1a or NPY in the brain. These results indicate that ghrelin is not acting as a hunger signal in short-term fasted tilapia and is not responsible for the elevated levels of plasma GH.


Social insects in nature such as ants, termites and bees construct their colonies collaboratively in a very efficient process. In these swarms, each insect contributes to the construction task individually showing redundant and parallel behavior of individual entities. But the robotics adaptations of these swarm's behaviors haven't yet made it to the real world at a large enough scale of commonly being used due to the limitations in the existing approaches to the swarm robotics construction. This paper presents an approach that combines the existing swarm construction approaches which results in a swarm robotic system, capable of constructing a given 2 dimensional shape in an optimized manner.


With the increase of wood demand, wood nondestructive testing technology becomes more and more important. Many nondestructive technologies are established on the basis of multi-subject and high technology. Wood nondestructive testing technology is a comprehensive subject. Recently it has achieved fast development. X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning technology has been applied to the detection of internal defects in the logs for the purpose of obtaining prior information, which can be used to arrive at better log sawing decision. In addition to the recognition of wood internal defects, computed tomography (CT) technology can be applied to wood nondestructive testing. Math morphologic is a new science based on strict math theory basis, taking set theory as basis, analysing and understanding the digital image, which is also a good tool of geometry morphologic analysis and description; having be a new theory and method under digital image management area, producing great influence on digital image management theory and technology. An approach of image edge detection based on morphology of omnidirectional and multi-scale structuring element is constructed by weighting method of morphological operation.


An understanding of concepts is very necessary in physics learning. It has been confirmed that often students have different understanding of scientific concepts, this term is what commonly called Misconception. Misconception is a problem that must be addressed immediately because misconception is one factor that causes students to experience difficulties in learning physics. This study aims to determine the effect of physics learning with the PDEODE model (predict-discuss-explain-observe-discuss-explain) assisted by virtual laboratory in the form of PhET simulation in remediating students' misconceptions in the fluid material. This type of research is a Pre-Experimental One Group Pretest-Posttest design. The samples of this study were eleventh-grade science students of State Senior High School in Gadingrejo District, Lampung Province, taken through simple random sampling technique. The test used was in the form of a multi-tiered multiple-choice test of the four-tier diagnostic test with certainty response index (CRI) consisting of 20 items. The result of this study indicates that students' misconceptions decrease for all sub-concepts of fluid material. Based on the previously described statements, it can be concluded that physics learning based on virtual laboratory can remedy students' misconceptions, especially in fluid material.


Utilising biometric data has become an increasingly active area in the video games user research community, and a number of academic papers have been published introducing various biometric based analysis techniques in video games research. This paper aims to quantify the value of biometric methods as an addition to traditional observation-based user research methodologies, and their respective contributions to the production of formative feedback during the development of video games. Our results show that observation-based techniques can expose the majority of issues relating to usability, however the biometrics-based approach enabled researchers to discover latent issues in related to players' feelings, immersion and gameplay experience and, in certain categories of issue, reveal up to 63% more issues than observation alone.


The authors emphasize some adrenal embryologic features, mainly the cortex and medulla relationships. After brief considerations both on the biosynthesis and physiologic actions of aldosterone, the Primary Hyperaldosteronism physiopathology is described. The clinical, biochemical and anatomic evidences are presented as a basis for both the Syndrome diagnosis and its subtypes. The theoretical and practical aspects of the diagnostic tests are also referred as a basis for the rationale of the medical and surgical therapeutic approach. Some clinical and biochemical similar aspects between the Syndrome of Hyperaldosteronism and Essential Hypertension with low renin, are put forward as a possible physiopathologic link that could eventually contribute for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of Essential Hypertension.


Service quality and culture studies have traditionally used polar opposite cultures to make their case. This paper argues that these cultural extremes conceal significant variations in culture and has implications for service design, delivery and quality. The study explores the existence of value variations within ostensibly homogenous groups. It is posited that the knowledge of these spectrum of value orientations will enhance the service marketers' ability to 'situate' services as they enter new markets or introduce service innovations. A study conducted among 712 Malay university students produced 2 significantly different value clusters. Variance analysis showed that these clusters labeled as True Traditionalist and Transitory Traditionalist have significantly different impact on service quality dimensions. The findings support the argument that service quality and culture studies must examine between as well as within culture variations.