This thesis examines the programme of mapping produced on silk, and other fabric, by MI9 to facilitate the escape and evasion of British military personnel during World War II. It considers the creation of MI9 in December 1939, the rationale for the new military intelligence branch and the context of the history of military mapping on silk. The map production programme is described, together with its progress and the challenges faced. The various groups of maps are identified and described, together with the source maps on which they were based. This description is developed in nine appendices produced as an integral part of the research to provide a comprehensive carto-bibliography of the 234 individual maps which have been identified. Location details of extant copies in British map collections are also provided. The ingenious methods of smuggling the maps into the camps, with other escape aids, in apparently innocuous leisure items are described. The maps were then copied and reproduced to support the escapes. Coded correspondence with the camps is discussed, and a successful deciphering of some of that correspondence is provided. The implications for the escape and evasion programme were considerable, but so too were the implications of the passage of intelligence from the camps to aid the war effort, a factor apparently largely overlooked in previous studies of the wartime role of the intelligence branches. Three case studies are provided to demonstrate the role and importance of the contribution made by the maps to the escape and evasion programme. The conclusion assesses the significance of this little known episode in British historical cartography of the twentieth century which essentially provides the latest chapter in the story of military mapping on silk, and other fabric, through the ages.


Purpose
This paper aims to trace how emotion shapes the sense that is made of politics and how politicization can remake and re-mark emotion, giving it new meaning in context. This paper brings together theories of politicization and emotional configurations in learning to interrogate the role emotion plays in the learning of social justice activists.

Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on sociocultural learning perspectives, the paper traces politicization processes across the youth climate movement (using video-based interaction analysis) and the animal rights movement (using ethnographic interviews and participant observation).

Findings
Emotional configurations significantly impacted activists' politicization in terms of what was learned conceptually, the kinds of practices – including emotional practices – that were taken up collectively, the epistemologies that framed social justice work, and the identities that were made salient in collective action. In turn, politicization reshaped how social justice activists made sense of emotion in the course of activist practice.

Social implications
This study is valuable for theorizing social justice learning, so social movement facilitators and educators might design spaces where learning about gender, racialization, colonialism and/or human/more-than-human relations can thrive. By attending to emotional configurations, this study can help facilitate a design that supports and sustains learning for justice.

Originality/value
Emotion remains under-theorized and under-analyzed in the learning sciences, despite indications that emotion enables and constrains particular learning opportunities. This paper proposes new ways of understanding emotion and politicization as co-constitutive processes for learning scientists interested in politics and social justice.


AIM
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) are quite rare tumors, but yet they are the most common mesenchymal lesions of gastrointestinal tract. Their outmost frequent origin site is stomach and presently surgical resection is the mainstay in the treatment of gastric non metastatic GIST. Their peculiar characteristic of growth and poor metastatic tendency make this tumors particularly prone to be managed by minimally invasive technique. Presenting our experience we want show the feasibility and safeness of laparoscopic approach for gastric GIST and its benefits versus traditional open surgery and pointing out short term and long terms outcomes.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
In our series we included 60 patients who underwent surgery for gastric GIST from 2004 to 2014 at Clinica Chirurgica of Università Politecnica delle Marche. Patients were divided in two group according with surgical approach (open or laparoscopic). Criteria of exclusion were metastatic disease and palliative purpose of surgical resection. All patients underwent endoscopic ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration, TC/MRI or PET before surgery. However most of the definitive diagnosis were postoperative. CD117 and CD34 immunohistochemical positivity were considered suggestive for GIST. Tumors were classified in four different prognostic groups according with pathological findings (size and mitotic count) as reported in Fletcher classification. None of the patients received Imatinib before surgery. All patients underwent follow-up with Computerized Tomography (TC) and/or Magnetic Resonance (MRI) repeated every year (mean 51.98 ± 35.68 months).

RESULTS
We performed open surgery on 22 patients (36.7%) and laparoscopic wedge resection on 38 patients (63.33%); one of these underwent robotic wedge resection by da the da Vinci® surgical system. The median age at diagnosis was 64 years (range= 45-71). Patients with gastric GIST presented with various symptoms, including fatigue secondary to anemia, intraluminal gastrointestinal bleeding, abdominal pain, abdominal mass, vomiting and syncope. In 26 patients (43.3%) gastric GISTs were detected incidentally during abdominal exploration, endoscopy, or radiologic imaging. Tumor dimensional difference between the two groups was not significant (mean 4.75 cm, range= 2-13). Operation time was significantly lower in laparoscopic approach (82.4 versus 117.8 min). We did not experience of intraoperative or post-operative complications in laparoscopic group. Conversely 4 patients of open group were transfused for anemia. In our series we didn't observe recurrence or metastasis at mean follow up period of (range= 49-120 months).

CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive approach to the treatment of GISTs and offers many advantages such as short hospital stay and low morbidity. In the meantime oncological outcomes of laparoscopy for gastric GIST, assessed as tumor free resection margins and recurrence rate, are comparable to traditional open strategy.

KEY WORDS
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors, Laparoscopy, Minimally invasive surgery, Stomach.


Freud and Jung are the pillars of the modern scientific study of the mind. Their ideas are based upon diverse sources, ranging from mythic literature to the case studies of their individual patients. The work of those who came later, even when it veered away from that of these two pioneers, still took into account the theories they forged. Today, modern laboratory techniques and equipment have taken psychological research into new realms, even challenging our assumptions about the relationship between the psychological and the physiological realm. It is fitting at this time of new discoveries to reconsider the basic tenets that have been attributed to one idea in particular to which both Freud and Jung gave only a passing regard--the prognostic nature of dreams. The Theory of Relativity has undermined our assumptions regarding the nature of time, demolishing its primacy in the consideration of universal concepts, even forcing us to question the relationship between cause and effect. The dream, properly observed, is like the universe as seen by Einstein; it challenges our perception of the sequentiality of apparently determinative events. The ancients assumed that dreams foretold the future, but this prognostic aspect of the dream has been all but ignored in modern times. "Dreams: The Missing Link in Evolution" maintains that, along with the need for a deeper consideration of the hegemony of consciousness itself, the dream deserves scientific study and serious conjecture. The predictive nature of dreams is the keystone that crowns and supports the twin columns of conscious and unconscious thought. This study attempts not only to clarify this contention but, perhaps even more importantly, to show that such an idea ought not to surprise us.


Chinese tonic herbs are generally classified into Yin and Yang categories based on their health-promoting action. Emerging evidence has suggested that in addition to up-regulating mitochondrial functional status, Yang tonic herbs also enhance cellular/mitochondrial antioxidant capacity, and may thus prevent age-related diseases and prolong the healthy part of lifespan (i.e. healthspan). The proposed biochemical mechanism underlying the antioxidant action of Yang tonic herbs involves a sustained and low level of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production, which is secondary to the increased activity of the electron transport chain, with the possible involvement of mitochondrial uncoupling. "Yang invigoration" improves antioxidant defense in the body in the long term and thereby offers a promising prospect for preventing or possibly delaying age-related diseases and the detrimental effects of aging.


This dissertation examines the role of rituals in the first two centuries of Franciscan presence in Jerusalem. In this period, Jerusalem was an Islamic city, part of the Mamluk Empire. The friars' ceremonial life in Jerusalem and its replication in Franciscan European outposts shows that rituals constituted a means of engaging with the landscape of the city and its communities, and of transferring devotional practices from Jerusalem to Europe and vice versa. The in-depth analysis of Franciscan Jerusalemite rituals complements the previous scholarship dedicated to the friars' Holy Land endeavors. This dissertation focuses on topics passed over by previous research, such as the understanding of Franciscan hagiopolite rituals as markers of identity and yardsticks of orthodoxy. Moreover, the research presented hereby contributes to the better understanding of relations between communities living in late medieval Jerusalem, especially of inter-Christian communication. In this dissertation, the dynamic of their coexistence was investigated from the perspective of their daily encounters through rituals. The focus on ritual offers a minute perspective on the daily negotiation of their presence, animating both the irenic and the polemic dialogue between these communities. In conclusion, this dissertation shows how a religious minority, in this case the Franciscan friars of Jerusalem, can circumvent the boundaries of restrictive legislation and affirm its identity in an alien religious context. It also demonstrates how rituals functioned as vehicles of cultural transmission between the Christian traditions of Rome and the Eastern Churches.


This paper presents a personal, qualitative case study of a first course using How to Design Programs and its functional teaching languages. The paper reconceptualizes the book's six-step design process as an eight-step design process ending in a new "review and refactor" step. It recommends specific approaches to students' difficulties with function descriptions, function templates, data examples, and other parts of the design process. It connects the process to interactive "world programs." It recounts significant, informative missteps in course design and delivery. Finally, it identifies some unsolved teaching problems and some potential solutions.


Military operations may result in noise impacts on surrounding communities and wildlife. A recent transition to more powerful military aircraft and a national consolidation of training operations to Whidbey Island, WA, USA, provided a unique opportunity to measure and assess both in-air and underwater noise associated with military aircraft. In-air noise levels (110 ± 4 dB re 20 µPa rms and 107 ± 5 dBA) exceeded known thresholds of behavioral and physiological impacts for humans, as well as terrestrial birds and mammals. Importantly, we demonstrate that the number and cumulative duration of daily overflights exceed those in a majority of studies that have evaluated impacts of noise from military aircraft worldwide. Using a hydrophone deployed near one runway, we also detected sound signatures of aircraft at a depth of 30 m below the sea surface, with noise levels (134 ± 3 dB re 1 µPa rms) exceeding thresholds known to trigger behavioral changes in fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, including Endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Our study highlights challenges and problems in evaluating the implications of increased noise pollution from military operations, and knowledge gaps that should be prioritized with respect to understanding impacts on people and sensitive wildlife.


Dispersing colloidal particles into liquid crystals provides a promising avenue to build a novel class of materials, with potential applications, among others, as photonic crystals, biosensors, metamaterials and new generation liquid crystal devices. Understanding the physics and dynamical properties of such composite materials is then of high-technological relevance; it also provides a remarkable challenge from a fundamental science point of view due to the intricacies of the hydrodynamic equations governing their dynamical evolution. Here, we provide an overview of our current theoretical understanding of the dynamical and hydrodynamic properties of colloid–liquid crystal composites, focussing on the results obtained from computer simulations; no or very limited previous knowledge of the field of liquid crystals is assumed. While our main emphasis is on the dynamics, we also review a selection of equilibrium results and simulations to provide the necessary background. We start by describing what we know about the simplest possible problem: that of a single particle in a nematic, or cholesteric, liquid crystal. We then consider two particles, and review the conditions which lead to the formation of a dimer; we then again focus on dynamical problems. Finally, we turn to the more complicated case of a dispersion, reviewing here simulations motivated by optical tweezer and rheological experiments. We close by making a list of some of the many open problems in this rapidly developing research field.


Disappearing islands and climate refugees have become signifiers of the scale and urgency of uneven impacts of climate change. This paper offers a critical account of how sea level rise debates reverberate around Western mythologies of island laboratories. I argue that representa- tions of low-lying Oceania islands as experimental spaces burden these sites with providing proof of a global climate change crisis. The emergence of Tuvalu as a climate change 'canary' has inscribed its islands as a location where developed world anxieties about global climate change are articulated. As Tuvalu islands and Tuvaluan bodies become sites to concretize climate science's statistical abstractions, they can enforce an eco-colonial gaze on Tuvalu and its inhabitants. Expressions of 'wishful sinking' create a problematic moral geography in some prominent environmentalist narra- tives: only after they disappear are the islands useful as an absolute truth of the urgency of climate change, and thus a prompt to save the rest of the planet.


ABSTRACT Background: Motivation for physical education (PE) is considered an important factor for the development of children's physical skills during PE. According to self-determination theory, satisfaction of the psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence is related to higher levels of autonomous motivation, and lower levels of controlled motivation. To get a better insight into these relations, the present study examines whether satisfaction of the psychological needs is predictive of fundamental motor skills (FMS) and PE-related skills, both directly, and indirectly (via motivation, i.e. 'the motivational sequence'). As PE-related skills are more representative to the skills that are generally practiced during PE, the strongest relations are expected for these types of skills. Method: In this study, 2224 children (51.6% boys, mean age 11.8 ± 0.55) of 89 primary schools filled out questionnaires assessing the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and their motivation for PE. Using a block design, FMS were assessed using standardized tests, and a diverse set of PE-related skills that are explicitly practiced during PE-lessons were tested using valid and reliable tests. Structural equation models were built in Mplus to examine the hypothesized relations. Results: Competence, peer-relatedness, and teacher-relatedness were predictive of autonomous motivation, whereas only peer-relatedness was predictive of controlled motivation. Different relations with psychological needs and motivation were found for FMS and PE-related skills. Autonomous and controlled motivation predicted PE-related skills, whereas only controlled motivation predicted FMS, in both cases via direct and indirect paths. In addition, direct relations were found between competence and both FMS and PE-related skills, and of peer-relatedness and teacher-relatedness with FMS specifically. Conclusions: Satisfaction of the psychological needs seems important for children's PE-motivation and for their skill development, both directly and indirectly. These results underline the important role that PE-teachers play in constructing a need-satisfying environment. The motivational sequence seems to be more applicable to PE-related skills than to FMS, showing that is important to choose adequate outcome measures when examining PE-motivation.


BACKGROUND
Breast biphasic metaplastic sarcomatoid carcinoma (MSC) is rare and aggressive. We analyzed 100 patients treated at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) with 213 MSC and 98 carcinosarcoma patients identified through the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End-Results (SEER) database to describe clinical and pathologic characteristics.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
We searched the MDACC (1985-2001) and SEER databases (1988-2001) for breast MSC and carcinosarcoma patients.

RESULTS
We identified 100 MDACC MSC patients: 66% had node-negative disease and 6% distant metastases at presentation. Median recurrence-free survival (RFS) of 94 patients with stages I-III disease was 74 months (range 3-74), with 52% 5-year RFS [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42-0.63]. Median overall survival in these patients was not reached, with 64% 5-year survival (95% CI 0.54-0.75). The initial stage of the tumor, but not use of adjuvant chemo- or radiotherapy, had a strong association with outcome. The pathologic complete response rate to neoadjuvant chemotherapy was 10%. Median survival from the time of recurrent disease was 14 months (range 1-55). Tumors were usually hormone receptor- and HER2/neu-negative. SEER data were consistent with MDACC findings.

CONCLUSIONS
Breast MSC and carcinosarcoma are aggressive, treatment-refractory tumors with shared clinical features and outcome similar to poorly differentiated receptor-negative adenocarcinomas. New therapeutic agents are needed.


Abstract: This article focuses on the evaluation of a form of intervention with families where there is a risk that a child may be placed in a substitute environment. The program, implemented by the Centre jeunesse de Montréal, was reviewed by evaluators for close to five years. Intervention is characterized by: 1) rapid mobilization of various participants, 2) intensity, and 3) a limited time-frame. Caseworkers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, generally intervene in the family environment, and provide varied therapeutic and technical support. The evaluation focuses on: 1) the characteristics of the families and services, 2) the impact of the program on placement rates and reporting following intervention, and 3) the impact of the program on family functioning and the children's well-being. The discussion suggests ways of alleviating problems in the evaluation of intervention programs in child services.


Throughout history there has been a call for change in engineering education. Since the early 20 th century, there has been a national concern for the state of engineering education as can be seen by reports by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, National Science Board, National Academy of Engineering, and National Research Council 1 . Much of the focus of these reports has been on graduate outcomes, with less focus on the attributes of the student entering engineering school. Previous research suggests that today's incoming students have a different set of abilities when they arrive at the university than those from previous generations. For example, they do not have experience working on lawn mowers and cars, but do have experiences playing advanced computer games. These different experiences result in different competencies. This change in student's competencies across generations led the authors to investigate the following research question: How responsive has the engineering curriculum and accreditation requirements been to cultural and societal changes? Authors investigate the conditions of three time periods namely: 1800's to pre-world war II (apprentice, vocational focused), World War II to 2000 (engineering Sciences focused), and 2000 to present (outcome focused). The guiding questions that helped answer the main research question are the following: • What experiences did a typical student have prior to entering an engineering program in each time period? • What were the accreditation requirements during each of the time periods? • What was a typical curriculum within each of the time periods? Findings from this effort will provide recommendations to improve engineering curricula based on the experience and skills of the incoming student population and to eventually provide accreditation recommendations based on the findings.


Bulk heterojunction (BHJ) polymer solar cells (PSCs), as a promising alternative to conventional silicon-based solar cells, have achieved rapid development in recent years. In the BHJ concept, the active layer of the PSC normally consists of a blended film of a conjugated polymer donor and an electron acceptor. To be a conjugated polymer with OPV function, the polymer should have sufficient solubility, a broad absorption spectrum, a high absorption coefficient, and well-matched energy levels with the electron acceptor. With this aim, numerous conjugated polymers have been developed to date. Among them, quinoxaline-based polymers have been shown to have a promising future, reaching a very outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of more than 11%, which shows that they have significant potential in reaching the efficiency limit of commercial applications of polymer solar cells. In this review, we summarize the quinoxaline-based conjugated polymers for efficient polymer solar cells by classifying them in terms of different donors, alkyl and/or aromatic chains, and functional groups, and we also give an overview of their photovoltaic device performances to provide a better understanding of and guidelines for the structure–performance relationship in such quinoxaline-based polymers. We believe that further developments of quinoxaline-based conjugated polymers achieved through the synergy of molecular engineering strategies will increase the photovoltaic performance to levels closer to those required for commercial applications in the near future.


In this paper, we review the major findings of almost thirty years of research conducted on the large colony of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata fuscata) housed at the Rome zoo. The colony originated from a group of 27 monkeys that was taken as a whole in 1977 from Takasakyiama, Oita prefecture, Japan. Since then, the group has been studied almost continuously. The macaque colony thus represents one of the best studied captive groups of primates in the world. In the first part of the paper, we review the research conducted on the colony, that may be grouped in three related topics: 1) mother-infant relationship; 2) allo-grooming distribution, aggression and competition; 3) demography and life histories. Research conducted in Rome contributed to clarify the causes and consequences of variation in primate mother-infant relationships, the social strategies adopted by primates in cooperative and competitive settings and their cognitive basis, and the demographic consequences of captivity. We compare the results of our research with studies conducted on other groups of Japanese macaques and/or on other primate species. This comparison highlights the consistency of results of studies conducted in captivity, in the wild or on provisioned free-ranging populations. In the second part of this paper, we discuss the benefits and fallacies of zoo research in comparison to field work and the importance of long-term data for animal behaviour studies. We also analyse the link between ethological research and the management of zoo animals. Finally, we consider the interdisciplinary implications of primate behaviour research. We emphasize how the comparative study of nonhuman primates may allow the abstraction of principles that can be profitably applied to the study of human social behaviour and evolution. We exemplify this by examining hypotheses about the relation between social behaviour, brain size and language during human evolution.


There have been impressive steps in the understanding of N=4 maximally sypersymmetric YM theory possessing 4-D super-conformal symmetry. This theory is related by AdS/CFT duality to certain string theory in AdS5× S5 background. Second stringy representation was discovered by Witten and is based on 6-D Calabi-Yau manifold defined by twistors. The unifying proposal is that so called Yangian symmetry is behind the mathematical miracles involved.

In the following I will discuss briefly the notion of Yangian symmetry and suggest its generalization in TGD framework by replacing conformal algebra with appropriate super-conformal algebras. Also a possible realization of twistor approach and the construction of scattering amplitudes in terms of Yangian invariants defined by Grassmannian integrals is considered in TGD framework and based on the idea that in zero energy ontology one can represent massive states as bound states of massless particles. There is also a proposal for a physical interpretation of the Cartan algebra of Yangian algebra allowing to understand at the fundamental level how the mass spectrum of n-particle bound states could be understood in terms of the n-local charges of the Yangian algebra.

Twistors were originally introduced by Penrose to characterize the solutions of Maxwell's equations. Kahler action is Maxwell action for the induced Kahler form of CP2. The preferred extremals allow a very concrete interpretation in terms of modes of massless non-linear field. Both conformally compactified Minkowski space identifiable as so called causal diamond and CP2 allow a description in terms of twistors. These observations inspire the proposal that a generalization of Witten's twistor string theory relying on the identification of twistor string world sheets with certain holomorphic surfaces assigned with Feynman diagrams could allow a formulation of quantum TGD in terms of 3-dimensional holomorphic surfaces of CP3× CP3 mapped to 6-surfaces dual CP3× CP3, which are sphere bundles so that they are projected in a natural manner to 4-D space-time surfaces. Very general physical and mathematical arguments lead to a highly unique proposal for the holomorphic differential equations defining the complex 3-surfaces conjectured to correspond to the preferred extremals of Kahler action.


ABSTRACT Cinnamomum cassia (Cinnamon) is a well-known traditional medicine with therapeutic benefits for centuries. We evaluated the effects of cinnamon essential oil (CEO) and its main component cinnamaldehyde (CA) on human corpus cavernosum (HCC) and rat CC. The essential oil of cinnamon was analyzed for the confirmation of the oil profile. HCC specimens from patients undergoing penile prosthesis surgery (age 48-69 years) were utilized for functional studies. In addition, erectile responses in anesthetized control and diabetic rats were evaluated in vivo after intracavernosal injection of CEO and CA, and rat CC strips were placed in organ baths. After precontraction with phenylephrine (10µM), relaxant responses to CEO and CA were investigated. CA (96.9%) was found as the major component. The maximum relaxation responses to CEO and CA were 96.4±3.5% and 96.0±5.0% in HCC and 97.5±5.5% and 96.8±4.8% in rat CC, respectively. There was no difference between control and diabetic rats in relaxation responses to CEO and CA. The relaxant responses obtained with essential oil and CA were not attenuated in the presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor, and soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor (sGS) in CC. In vivo, erectile responses in diabetic rats were lower than in control rats, which was restored after intracavernosal injection of CEO and CA. CEO and CA improved erectile function and relaxation of isolated strips of rat CC and HCC by a NO/cGMP-independent mechanism. Further investigations are warranted to fully elucidate the restorative effects of CEO and CA on diabetic erectile dysfunction.


This paper introduces a powerful technique that utilizes a hybrid Particle-Swarm Optimization (PSO) method for the desi gn optimization of aperiodic linear phased arrays of ti ghtly packed miniature meander-line dipole elements. Miniaturization is achieved by first introducing a fixed grid of reduced length, and then employin g a hybrid PSO to determine the optimum meander-wire shape on the grid and the optimal element spacin g. The purpose was to achieve comparable performance in terms of voltage standing-wave ratio (VSWR) and sidelobe levels durin g scannin g to conventional full-size periodic phased arrays of linear half-wave dipoles. This design technique is applicable in cases where the desire for aperture miniaturization takes precedence over the reduction in gain that comes as a consequence. As one of the design criteria, the same number of antenna elements was maintained and tightly packed into a smaller aperture area. This allowed the antenna elements to be driven by lower-power transmitting modules for a given effective radiated power (ERP), compared to a thinned array with the same aperture size. This method also provides flexibility in controllin g the self impedance of individual elements and the mutual coupling among array elements. It is hence capable of evolving compact array configurations with meander-line dipole elements that have well-behaved driving-point impedances and low sidelobe levels over a prescribed scan range. In order to overcome the optimization difficulty of arrays with a lar ge number of antenna elements, ortho gonal desi gn with quantization (OO/Q) was employed for this mixed-valued optimization problem to generate relatively fit particles at the initialization stage. Several desi gn examples were considered with parallel or planar grids, and with identical or different element confi gurations. Included among these examples was a design with 32 identical elements that achieved a 42% array-len gth reduction and a 16% element-size reduction, while providin g a relative sidelobe level less than -10 dB and a VSWR less than 2:1 for each element over the scan range of ±30° from broadside.


ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to investigate the touch area that can be comfortably reached by the thumb during one-handed smartphone interaction. To achieve the research objective, we introduced the concept of natural thumb position when designing a tapping task and conducted an user experiment. The independent variables were the target distance and direction from the natural thumb position, and the three dependent variables were the task performance, information throughput, and touch accuracy. The results showed that participants performed the task comfortably in the diagonal direction between the upper right and the lower left side of the screen. The task performance deteriorated as the target distance increased, especially at 45 mm or more. The touch accuracy was measured using X- and Y-coordinates data. Participants touched the left side of the target center, except near the proximal area of the hand. They also touched the points above the center of the target in the upper screen area and points below the center of the target in the lower screen area. The findings of this study provided insights for designing a smartphone touch interface considering the comfortable touch areas of one-handed interaction.


We studied the effects of pH on CO2 output as a factor of growth rate. Acme Brewing and Baking Company is conducting several experiments to determine the ideal conditions for fermentation and bread production. As part of their research team we chose to study pH effecting growth. We predicted that the yeast would reproduce faster in acidic environments, but the data we found did not support this prediction.


Background Obesity is associated with cardiovascular diseases and is a risk factor for all-cause mortality. Until now, the associations between abdominal obesity and mortality or cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence have not been conclusive. We aimed to evaluate the associations between waist circumference (WC) and mortality or CVD incidence in a general Korean population. Methods We analyzed a total of 204,068 adults older than 40 years of age who had undergone a national health examination at least once from 2009 to 2018 in the Korean National Health Insurance Service Cohort. WC was divided into five categories (< 80, 80–84.9, 85–89.9, 90–94.9, ≥ 95 cm). Hazard ratios for death and CVD incidence were calculated using Cox proportional hazards models. Results In men, WC and overall mortality showed a reverse J-shaped association. In women, the association between WC and overall mortality was not significant. For both men and women, WC was not associated with the risk of cardiovascular mortality. Contrary to the mortality trend, CVD incidence was positively associated with WC in both men and women, and the risk of the CVD incidence was the lowest in subjects with a WC < 80 cm. Conclusions WC exhibited a significant J-shaped association with overall mortality in men, where subjects who had central obesity showed a lower rate of mortality than those in the lowest or highest WC group. The risk of incident CVD showed a positive association with central obesity, where the lowest risk was observed for subjects in the lowest WC group in a general Korean population.


Exploration in the Raton basin has delineated complex mountain-front structure in the asymmetric basin, and defined possible basin-centered gas. Exploration has included subsurface and surface geology, remote sensing, and seismic reflection. The Raton basin is a north-south-trending structural basin straddling the Colorado-New Mexico boundary. It is bounded on the west by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, on the north and northeast by the Wet Mountains and Apishapa arch, and the Sierra Grande uplift on the south and southeast. The basin is asymmetric with transcurrent faulting and thrusting associated with the steeper western flank of the basin. Rocks range from Devonian-Mississippian overlying Precambrian basement to Miocene volcanics associated with the Spanish Peaks. Principal targets include the Entrada, Dakota, Codell, and Trinidad Sandstones and the Purgatoire and Raton Formations. Seismic data include explosive and Vibroseis data. Data quality is good in the basin center and is fair in the thrusted areas. Correlations are difficult from line to line. However, a strike line in the disturbed area would probably be more disrupted by out-of-the-plane reflections than the dip lines would be. Significant stratigraphic changes are seen in both the Trinidad and Dakota intervals. Integrated seismic and geological studies are keys to exploration in the basin. Subsequent work will rely heavily on improved seismic information. End_of_Article - Last_Page 842------------


Introduction : Non-circular Rotor Q-Rings have been shown to increase tangential force during the pedalling downstroke compared to conventional circular chainrings 1 , and due to this advantage, have been proposed as a potential aid in improving short-term cycling performance such as in BMX and sprint cycling races 2 . Some evidence exists that suggests this effect on pedal force may manifest in a change in metabolic cost over repeated revolutions during submaximal, steady-state cycling bouts using Rotor Q-Rings 3 . One mechanism by which a change in total metabolic cost may occur is via a change in the power required to move the limbs segments against gravitational and inertial forces through the pedal stroke (internal mechanical power, or IP) when compared to using circular chainrings (at the same external mechanical power, EP). Strutzenberger et al. 1 reported an increase in joint muscle power of the hip when Q-Rings were used compared to circular chainrings at 70 and 90 rev · min -1 , which could cause an increased IP and result in a greater total metabolic cost. The aim of this study was to further investigate the mechanical and metabolic energetics of using Q-Rings during cycling. Their effect on IP, compared to a conventional circular chainring, was assessed using a recently-proposed, multidisciplinary model for calculating IP in cycling 4 , which accounts for the strengths and limitations of previous biomechanical and physiological approaches. Total metabolic cost was also compared between the two chainrings for cycling over a range of workloads. Method : Ten elite male road cyclists completed 5-min cycling bouts at 80 rev · min -1 at 100, 200 and 300 W using a standard circular chainring and 52-tooth Q-Ring set in two positions: '#1' and '#5'. Oxygen consumption was converted to metabolic power. Tangential and radial crank forces and crank position were measured using Axis Cranks (SPE, Carole Park, Australia). The x-intercept of the EP-metabolic power relationship, multiplied by the slope (delta efficiency), was equal to the physiological estimate of IP. The biomechanical estimate of IP was taken as the summed muscle joint power, determined from digitised video footage and inverse dynamics analysis, in excess of that required to apply power to the pedals (Giorgi et al. 2014). Results : Preliminary analysis of data is presented in Table 1. Data are presented as mean ± SD. No significant differences were found between the chainrings for total metabolic power or the physiological estimate of IP. Discussion : Further analysis will allow the description of changes in potential and rotational kinetic energies and muscle and joint powers throughout the pedal revolution. This information will permit the calculation of the biomechanical estimate of IP and comparisons to be made between chainrings and Q-Ring positions.


Introduction: Pain control is an important aspect of the behavior management of pediatric dental patients. Local anesthesia is still a widely used technique for pain control in pediatric dental treatment in which inferior alveolar nerve block is fundamental for achieving local anesthesia for mandibular restorative and surgical procedures. The assessment of the mandibular foramen (MF) and mental foramen (MeF) is of considerable importance for mandibular nerve anesthesia. There may be failure of mandibular nerve block due to improper assessment of the location of the MF and MeF resulting in painful treatment procedures especially in children. A considerable variation in the location of the MF and MeF was reported among different population, in different ages, and even within the same individual on two sides. Aim and objective: To determine the location of the MF and MeF in teenagers using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and methods: A total of 100 MF and MeF (right and left) were obtained from 100 CBCT images of children (13–18 years). Distance from MF to the anterior border (AB) of ramus (A), posterior border of ramus (P) and inferior border of the mandible (MI), most superior point of the curvature of mandibular notch (MN), occlusal plane of the mandibular permanent molars (O), and the distance from MeF to lower border of mandible (BM) and to the alveolar crest (AC) were measured. Results: There was a significant increase in A-MF, MI-MF, MN-MF, and O-MF values with age. A-MF and MI-MF values of females were statistically higher than those of males and MF was located at the occlusal plane at 13 years and then moves upward. There was a significant difference in BM-MeF value with age ( p = 0.05). Conclusion: The location of the MF is just posterior to the middle of the ramus and MF and MeF are shifting posterosuperiorly with increasing age.


Are you vulnerable, regardless of length of service at your organization and your unique skill sets? There are ways to test vulnerability and assemble some hard evidence that your management role makes a difference. You need to conduct a self-test for obsolescence. Ask yourself the following questions: Are your skills state-of-the-art? As a manager, how do you compare with others doing the same, or similar, job at competing organizations? Is your role essential? Where does your job fall into the big picture? Can you be replaced easily? If a thorough examination of your skills and your role convinces you that your contribution returns more to the organization than your salary, can you prove it? Consider these strategies: (1) Put together a portfolio, (2) ensure your boss' support, (3) advertise your successes, and (4) cultivate recruiters. The best reason to analyze your value to the organization is that if you are laid off, getting another comparable job--or a better one--will be far less of a hassle.


Many pumping stations in drainage & irrigation applications are currently equipped with conventional (not fish friendly designed) pumps. Field tests have been performed [1] for several pump types of a certain size at certain pumping conditions to assess survival rates of fish passing through pumps. In order to compare different pump types of different sizes at different pumping conditions, a general criterion is required.

Testing of fish friendliness of pumps is expensive and involves animal tests with living fish for which permits are required. Therefore, pump manufacturers prefer to perform fish friendliness tests for a single pump size. In order to convert such results to other pump sizes, a scaling law is desired. Van Esch [2, 3] made a first attempt to address scaling principles for fish friendliness of pumps.

In the current study a general criterion is described to predict fish friendliness of pumps by means of models of mortality rates of fish passing through pumps. The criterion is validated with literature data [1–3] and experimental full-scale test data from the newly developed fish-friendly axial flow concrete volute pump by Flowserve with an impeller diameter of 850 mm. The full-scale tests involved a total of 1800 roach, perch and eel deployed over 7 pumping conditions, including 3 different heads and 5 different rotational speeds.

The fish-friendliness criterion includes different aspects that together predict the survival rate of fish passing through pumps. The first and most important contributor is the impeller, which can have an axial, mixed or radial flow design. The criterion involves the leading edge shape of the blades. Secondly, the diffuser or volute is considered, which provides a strike probability with diffuser vanes or volute tongue(s). In case the gap between the trailing edge of the impeller vanes and the leading edge of the diffuser vanes or volute tongue(s) is small relative to the fish size, there is the possibility of a "scissor" effect. Research in the USA for fish friendliness of hydropower turbines [4–7] showed that shear velocity and pressure drops can be of importance. Also cavitation (involves pressure drop & vapor bubble implosions), recirculation and turbulence can influence survival rates. At this stage these flow effects are roughly captured using the pump performance curve. This way, extensive CFD calculations to evaluate detailed flow effects can be avoided. For open impellers, the gap between the impeller vanes and wear ring is included in the criterion. In addition, fish species-dependent effects are taken into account, since fish vary widely in their internal and external building plan. For instance salmonid, percid and cyprinid fish respond differently to the same pump design than for example eel. Sharp edges and rough surfaces (for example caused by cavitation, erosion or corrosion) can also be harmful to fish but are not included at this stage.


A CMOS solid-state 3-D range imager that uses short (~110 ps) laser pulses and a novel flexible time gating scheme for a single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) array is presented. The array is divided into 40 subarrays for which a narrow (<0.8 ns) time gating position can be set and scanned independently. The imager can be set to measure multiple regions of interest by means of the flexible time gating of the subarrays. The time gating for each of the subarrays is selected separately with an on-chip delay-locked loop (DLL) block that has 240 outputs and a delay grid of ~100 ps. The prototype has <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$80\times25 $ </tex-math></inline-formula> pixels overall with <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$10 \times 5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> pixel subarrays. The fill factor of the sensor area is 32%. A 3-D range image is demonstrated at ~10 frames/s with centimeter-level precision in the case of passive targets within a range of ~4 m and a field of view of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$18^{\circ }\times 28^{\circ}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, requiring an average active illumination power of only 0.1 mW.


Social work's focus on the interaction of individuals and environments is central to its values, skills, and knowledge base. This perspective has led to an in-depth understanding of the ways in which families, schools, and communities can support or hinder children throughout their development. Surprisingly, little social work attention has been given to television, an environmental influence that can surround, dominate, and engulf children for many hours of their day. Unlike other developed countries (Palmer, 1988), the United States has neglected to protect children from the aggrandizing practices of a multibillion-dollar industry. Social work's historic commitment to child and family welfare obligates the profession to consider television's influence and the need for social policy. Television has become a significant socializing agent whose influence begins well before children enter public school. Most children grow up in homes where the television is on for an average of seven hours a day, creating a virtually closed-circuit environment. The average preschool child (ages two to five) watches about 28 hours a week, and the average school-age child (ages to six to 11) watches about 24 hours per week (Nielsen Media Research, 1990). The average U.S. high school graduate will have spent more time watching television than in any activity other than sleeping (American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Communications, 1990). Although television can be viewed by everyone, poor and minority children rely more heavily on television as a prime source of information and education (Greenberg, 1986; Huston, Watkins, & Kunkel, 1989). Research on the effects of television on children has been conducted for more than 30 years. Data indicate that children are affected by direct instruction, by the disinhibition of aggressive impulses, and through value shaping (Bandura, 1973; Friedrich-Cofer & Huston, 1986; Huesmann, 1986; Singer & Singer, 1983). Children exposed to heavy doses of television violence can develop antisocial values, which can lead to aggressive acts and tolerance of aggressive behavior (Drabman & Hanratty, 1976; Huesmann & Malamuth, 1986; Pearl, Bouthilet, & Lazar, 1982). Television violence is not the only cause of aggression in children, but it has consistently been found to be one cause (Andison, 1977; Eron & Huesmann, 1987; Huesmann & Malamuth, 1986; Levinger, 1986; Pearl et al., 1982; Singer & Singer, 1988; Williams, 1986). Heavy television viewing can cause increased restlessness as well as aggression, which can lead to academic and social problems (Eron, 1982; Eron & Huesmann, 1987; Huesmann, 1986; Singer & Singer, 1986). There is also evidence that heavy television viewing by children can create a sense of danger and vulnerability in a "mean world" (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, & Signorelli, 1979). Some children exposed to heavy doses of television viewing may learn aggressive behavior, and other children may learn "to be a victim and identify with victims" (Pearl et al., 1982, p. 90). Interest in the socializing influence of television has not been limited to its correlation with violence and aggression. Numerous studies have found the potential for both negative and positive influences in regard to the acquisition of sex-role and racial attitudes (Greenberg, 1986; Liebert & Sprafkin, 1988; Pearl et al., 1982; Roberts & Maccoby, 1985; Withey & Abeles, 1980). Child development issues have been a source of additional research interest. Singer and Singer (1990) and Carlsson-Paige and Levin (1987, 1990) have identified a relationship between television viewing and displacement of children's imaginative play with imitative play. In a Canadian study, the introduction of television in a previously television-free town adversely affected children's reading and creative thinking (Williams, 1986). Exploitation of Children and Childhood How violent is children's television? …


: Immunohistochemical methods were used to map EGF (epidermal growth factor) and IGF-I (insulin-like growth factor I; somatomedin C) immunoreactivities in salivary glands of adult rodents. Epidermal growth factor is, as is NGF (nerve growth factor), limited in distribution to the granules in granular duct cells in the submandibular gland. Insulin-like growth factor I is, in contrast, cytoplasmic and has a much more widespread distribution. It is seen in intercalated, striated and granulated duct cells as well as in apical parts of excretory duct cells. The parotid and the palatine salivary glands, lacking EGF immunoreactivity, have their IGF-I immunoreactivity similarly distributed as the submandibular gland. Isoproterenol treatment of adult male rats results in rapid and extensive growth of the submandibular and the parotid glands, which double their weights in just a few days. Isoproterenol causes release of granules from the submandibular granular duct cells and decrease in frequency of EGF immunoreactive cells. However, there is no or only minor concomitant changes in the distribution and intensity of the IGF-I immunoreactivity in these duct cells. Our results indicate that the trophic peptides EGF (and NGF) and IGF-I are localized in different compartments in salivary gland duct cells and that divergent pathways control their release.


This article studies a two-stage imperfect production system with machine unavailability. The production rates are finite; preventive maintenance of unreliable machines follows some stochastic processes with known probability distributions. Due to different preventive maintenance times for two stages, two cases for shortage cost are investigated, and two cost-minimization models are formulated. The total cost includes production cost, shortage cost, rework cost, maintenance cost and inventory carrying cost. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the proposed models.


The reliability of data stored in high-density Flash memory devices tends to decrease rapidly because of the reduced cell size and multilevel cell technology. Soft-decision error correction algorithms that use multiple-precision sensing for reading memory can solve this problem; however, they require very complex hardware for high-throughput decoding. In this paper, we present a rate-0.96 (68254, 65536) shortened Euclidean geometry low-density parity-check code and its VLSI implementation for high-throughput NAND Flash memory systems. The design employs the normalized a posteriori probability (APP)-based algorithm, serial schedule, and conditional update, which lead to simple functional units, halved decoding iterations, and low-power consumption, respectively. A pipelined-parallel architecture is adopted for high-throughput decoding, and memory-reduction techniques are employed to minimize the chip size. The proposed decoder is implemented in 0.13-μm CMOS technology, and the chip size and energy consumption of the decoder are compared with those of a BCH (Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem) decoding circuit showing comparable error-correcting performance and throughput.


Despite the salient role that ways of seeing and categorizing difference have acquired for the ordinary integration framework of contemporary Britain, research on how sparse immigrant populations and un/marked migrants and ethnic minorities negotiate these issues remains underdeveloped. This thesis contributes to illuminating the intersections between socio-cultural and embodied in/visibility and migrants' and their young descendants' experiences of incorporation by focusing on the case of Latin Americans in the north of England. The research comprised interviews with stake holders and other informants and a multiple case study with ten Latin American and Latino-British families in the Yorkshire and Greater Manchester regions. The fieldwork with the families included all the household members over 8 years of age (totalling 30 participants) and combined a range of person-centred qualitative methods (text and visually based), involving multiple individual and group research encounters. The thesis argues that the socio-cultural invisibility of this population in the north of the country is eo-produced and sustained by a lack of official attention and soft Latin American/Latino panethnic identifications. Also significant here is the fraught relationship between these migrants and the system of ethno-cultural recognition which operates in their host society. Invisibility and visibility emerge as signifiers of sameness and difference through the everyday embodied experiences of the adult and young participants. These are negotiated with 'passing' and 'coming out' strategies aimed at acquiring mainstream membership, avoiding enforced racialization (othering) or re-defining notions of commonality based on principles of cultural diversity. Nonetheless, conditions of socio-cultural invisibility constrain the extent to which both adults and young people can reproduce forms of Latin Americanism locally, displacing tasks of intergenerational cultural transmission to the transnational sphere of the extended family. Thus, young participants display narratives of potential delayed belonging to their inherited homelands in order to legitimate their claims to their locally uncommon cultural background.


A new methodology for sleep spindles characterization based on the amplitude/frequency modulation (AM/FM) model is introduced after an empirical mode decomposition (EMD) signal procedure. A set of intrinsic mode functions (IMF) is obtained which are basically AM/FM signals that we can demodulate to obtain sets of parameters characterizing the amplitudes and phases. The demodulation leads to the instantaneous envelope (IE) and the instantaneous frequency (IF) estimation and subsequent modelling as AM/FM signals. Three AM/FM models are compared for the analysis of the signals under scrutiny. For the calculation of the model parameters two different methods were also used, namely, the least squares method and genetic algorithms. Finally, the parameters of the AM/FM model are used to compare healthy and Alzheimer or dementia patients. It was concluded that, based only on analysis of the IMF in the range of 11-15 Hz, five parameters of the model can quantify significantly changes on the structure of sleep spindles in patients with dementia. In (Ktonas, 2007) it was carried out a similar study, but based on "complete" sleep spindles and, for the same AM/FM model, only two of the parameters showed significant variations. This led us to believe that the IMFs, not only can quantify the variations in the structure of sleep spindles of demented patients, as they do it in a more expressive form.


Over the past three decades, cognitive science has been making a turn towards pragmatism. Here we outline steps towards completing this turn. As a handful of cognitive scientists and philosophers have been arguing more recently, the insights of William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead are not only being re-discovered, they are also proving rather prescient in light of growing research. The new field of neuropragmatism aims to take these insights seriously and further into new directions for both pragmatism and cognitive science. In this manifesto, a brief history of the relationship between classical pragmatism and the sciences of life and mind is offered as a background for twelve proposed theses of neuropragmatism. These theses serve as general guidelines for further philosophical and scientific research. To illustrate the possibilities and consequences of this neuropragmatic framework, neuropragmatist views on traditional questions of philosophy of mind, such as the mind-body relationship, are situated among other leading philosophical perspectives, like enactive, embodied, and embedded theories of cognition and mentation. Such views, however, when taken from a neuropragmatist perspecitve, have significant consequences for the philosophical project of reconciliation between what Wilfrid Sellars called the scientific and manifest images of humanity. The difference in conceptions of experience and subesequently science are crucial for understanding the difference between Sellarsian neurophilosophy and neuropragmatism, as well as how to reach rapprochement between the sciences and the humanities.


Contemporary natural resource management requires consideration of the social acceptability of management practices and conditions. Agencies wishing to measure, respond to, and influence social acceptability must understand the nuances of public perception regarding controversial issues. This study explores social acceptability judgments about one such issue: reduction of wildland fuel hazards on federal lands in the western United States. Citizens were surveyed in four locations where fire has been a significant ecological disturbance agent and public land agencies propose to reduce wildland fuel levels and wildfire hazards via prescribed burning, thinning, brush removal, and/or livestock grazing. Respondents in different locations differed in their knowledge about fire and fuel issues as well in their acceptability judgments. Differences are associated with location-specific social and environmental factors as well as individual beliefs. Results argue against using "one-size-fits-all" policies or information strategies about fuels management.


Background The purpose of the study was to develop knowledge about violence among teenagers, espcially young girls and their strategies and capacities to deal with this. The population of the Northern Region of Norway statistically is exposed to a greater extent of violence compared with the rest of the country. In the Norwegian context the national criminal statistics show that 24% of the % of the boys og 12% girls are exposed to violence. Methods This paper investigates if and how girls aged 13–22 years in the Finnmark county of Norway experience actions of violence in their relationships of peers as well as their capacities to deal with such incidents. The eleven interviews were semistructured quality interviews, based on an interview guide, They were documented anonymously, recorded, transcribed and finally analysed by categorization into themes (Kvale 2009). They were one in depth interview eleven The theoretically approaches were based on the social constructive views. This project was two year study, financed by Sanks, the Sami National Competence Centre of Youth Pscychiatry. by my colleague, Monica Bjerklund, and myself being assistant professors of social work at the Finmark University College, Alta, Norway The project was a follow-up of our former Media Analysis of Youth Violence in the regional papers The eleven female informants were recruited through a Sami boarding school, and the informants came from different places in the county. Norwegian legislation has strict rules about confidentiality and age, but these were avoided since our eleven informants were 18 years of age, the Norwegian age of majority. at the time of the interview The Norwegian National Board of Research Ethics were asked of permission, and did not give any research restrictions of interviewing those young girls. Results The findings show that all the girl informants Finmark Norway had experienced violence among their peers The analyses of the interviews illustrated the variations of violence from the the young girls had been exposed to, some as witnesses, or different kinds of physical and psyic violence and threaths from rape to physically bullying. Some girls had beaten and kicked other girls as a revenge for «stealing» their boyfriends. Two girls had assaulted a boy on the homeway from their school. Some of the informants with experiences as victims of bullying at school, felt they did not get help but were met by passively and partly belittteling attitudes.from the schools and authorities. One aspect is that most of of the girl victims had kept quiet and told nothing to their families and friends about those incidents Another aspect is that to stop the violence some of them had moved to another place to get away from the perpetrator, often by presentig other reasons for moving, Conclusions Young girls are more exposed as the victims of the youth violence than parents and the authorities know about. Some of the young girls feel to ashamed to tell their parents. It is important to identify the need for help to the young victims, and make good programs for preventions as well as advocating for increased political will and greater attention and resources for raising awareness about the problem of youth violence.


Projectification of the organisational world has resulted in apparent agreement that projects and project management are an efficient means of implementing organisational strategy. By way of a significant critique of the literature, this paper seeks to explore the content, limitations and inherent problems of strategic alignment, particularly within the construction sector. The paper is presented in three main sections. The first section attempts to bring clarity to how projects and project management are defined. This is complimented with an exploration of the connections between projects, project management and organisational strategy. The second section explores and deconstructs the assumptions underpinning the concept of strategic alignment. The final section of the paper presents a discussion and a number of research propositions regarding strategic alignment in the context of the construction sector. The paper concludes with a model of strategic collision that contradicts and challenges the current assumptions and orthodox view presented in the literature.


Although vertebral deformities are known to predict future vertebral deformities, little is known about their ability to predict other osteoporotic fractures. We examined the association between prevalent vertebral deformities and incident osteoporotic fractures in the Study of Osteoporotic Fractures, a prospective study of 9704 women aged 65 years and older. Prevalent vertebral deformities were determined morphometrically from spinal radiographs at baseline and incident deformities from repeat spinal radiographs after a mean of 3.7 years. Appendicular fractures were collected by postcard every 4 months for a mean of 8.3 years. During follow‐up, 389 women with new vertebral deformities, 464 with hip fractures, and 574 with wrist fractures were identified. Prevalent vertebral deformities were associated with a 5‐fold increased risk (relative risk 5.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 4.4, 6.6) of sustaining a further vertebral deformity; the risk increased dramatically with both the number and severity of the prevalent deformities. Similarly, the risks of hip and any nonvertebral fractures were increased with baseline prevalent deformity, with relative risks of 2.8 (95% CI 2.3, 3.4) and 1.9 (95% CI 1.7, 2.1), respectively. Risk increased with number and severity of deformities. These associations remained significant after adjustment for age and calcaneal bone mineral density (BMD). Although there was a small increased risk of wrist fracture, this was not significant after adjusting for age and BMD. In conclusion, the presence of prevalent morphometrically defined vertebral deformities predicts future vertebral and nonvertebral fractures, including hip but not wrist fractures. Spinal radiographs identifying prevalent vertebral deformities may be a useful additional measurement to classify further a woman's risk of future fracture.


The need for adopting virtual and remote labs in engineering education is high in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. This paper proposes the evaluation plan of a network of remote labs in the Maghrebian countries. This plan is based on the significant research that has been done until now concerning the evaluation of remote labs. More specifically the proposed evaluation strategy of the project will focus on five different but interrelated directions (a) usability of remote labs; (b) learners' attitude towards remote labs; (c) technical evaluation of remote labs operation; (d) evaluation of the e-learning content namely the teaching units previously described; and (e) learning outcome. Furthermore, this paper presents preliminary evaluation results based on this evaluation plan and resulted from a pilot case study.


Obtaining an accurate equation of state (EOS) of polystyrene (CH) is crucial to reliably design inertial confinement fusion (ICF) capsules using CH/CH-based ablators. With first-principles calculations, we have investigated the extended EOS of CH over a wide range of plasma conditions (ρ=0.1to100g/cm(3) and T=1000 to 4,000,000 K). When compared with the widely used SESAME-EOS table, the first-principles equation of state (FPEOS) of CH has shown significant differences in the low-temperature regime, in which strong coupling and electron degeneracy play an essential role in determining plasma properties. Hydrodynamic simulations of cryogenic target implosions on OMEGA using the FPEOS table of CH have predicted ∼30% decrease in neutron yield in comparison with the usual SESAME simulations. This is attributed to the ∼5% reduction in implosion velocity that is caused by the ∼10% lower mass ablation rate of CH predicted by FPEOS. Simulations using CH-FPEOS show better agreement with measurements of Hugoniot temperature and scattered light from ICF implosions.


The effect of Li addition to Mg on synthesis of Mg-Ti BCC alloys by means of ball milling was studied. Mg–x at%Li (x ¼ 4; 20; 46) alloys prepared by the induction melting method consisted of the HCP phase (Mg-type), the HCP phase + the BCC phase (Li-type) and the BCC phase, respectively. Lattice parameters of the HCP phase decreased with the increase in x, whereas those of the BCC phase at x ¼ 20 and 46 were smaller than that of Li. Mg–x at%Li (x ¼ 4; 20; 46) alloys and Ti were milled for 50–200 h in an argon atmosphere. Formation of Mg96Li4Ti100 BCC alloy was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements after 50 h milling. By Li addition to Mg, the synthesis time of the BCC phase was shortened. Li made Mg deformation facile by the activation of the non-basal slips in Mg, and raw materials were efficiently milled. The crystallite size of Ti was readily reduced and formation of the BCC phase was accelerated. The crystallite size and lattice parameter of Mg96Li4Ti100 BCC alloy were similar to those of Mg100Ti100 BCC alloy. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.48.121]


Objective: draw a profile of the multidisciplinary team provider of health assistence in prisions.
Method: an exploratory and descriptive study developed at the Instituto Libertador Penitentiary Silvio Porto, a medium security establishment, located in the municipality of Joao Pessoa-PB.
Results: the health care of prisoners has not been developed in order to comply with the legislation established in the National Health Plan of the Penitentiary System (PNSSP), since it does not meet its numerical prerequisite.
Conclusion: it is urgent to propose and implement differentiated forms of work organization that have an impact on the process and on the quality of care provided to individuals with deprivation of liberty.
Keywords: Health; Prisons; Patient Care Team


Purpose

Most research on branding highlights the role of associations for a single brand. Many firms, however, have multiple brands and/or different versions of one brand. The latter is largely the case for many corporate brands. This paper aims to broaden the understanding of corporate brand associations and their transfer within the firm's brand and product portfolio. In particular, this paper also examines the concept of corporate brand innovativeness and the influence of brand architecture as supportive and restrictive boundary conditions for its transfer.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper explains the nature, benefits and challenges of corporate brand innovativeness within the context of a firm's brand architecture. On the basis of a literature review, the authors provide an overview of the domain and derive avenues for future research.

Findings

Research and practice have not fully realised the importance of corporate brand images for supporting a firms' product portfolio. In particular, (corporate) marketing managers need to consider the potential value of favourable perceptions of corporate brand innovativeness across products and the moderating role of brand architecture.

Research limitations/implications

More empirical research is needed to understand the reciprocal relationship and transfer between corporate and product brand associations and equity.

Practical implications

A corporate marketing perspective allows firms to use corporate brand associations to support products and services for that brand. This paper discusses perceived corporate brand innovativeness as one particularly important corporate brand association.

Originality/value

The authors discuss the use of corporate brand associations under the consideration of brand architectures and boundaries and draw on several research streams in the brand management literature. Much of the branding and innovation literature centres on the product level; research on corporate brand innovativeness has been relatively neglected.


The use of composite structures has importantly increased because of their reduced weight, assembly simplification and excellent specific strength and stiffness. The multiple possibilities of their manufacturing allow today to integrate within a single structure multiple functions: design, mechanical strength, multi-material…These structures, by their geometric and structural complexity (anisotropy, attenuation and scattering noise), do not always allow the application of conventional ultrasound real-time methods. In this communication, the problem related to anisotropy is treated in a first part with an analysis of the influence of materials properties on the conventional array imaging methods. In the second part, anisotropy is taken into account in the Total Focusing Method (TFM) to improve the image quality in carbon fiber composite plates.The use of composite structures has importantly increased because of their reduced weight, assembly simplification and excellent specific strength and stiffness. The multiple possibilities of their manufacturing allow today to integrate within a single structure multiple functions: design, mechanical strength, multi-material…These structures, by their geometric and structural complexity (anisotropy, attenuation and scattering noise), do not always allow the application of conventional ultrasound real-time methods. In this communication, the problem related to anisotropy is treated in a first part with an analysis of the influence of materials properties on the conventional array imaging methods. In the second part, anisotropy is taken into account in the Total Focusing Method (TFM) to improve the image quality in carbon fiber composite plates.


ABSTRACT Cell wall integrity is crucial for fungal growth, survival, and pathogenesis. Responses to environmental stresses are mediated by the highly conserved Pkc1 protein and its downstream components. In this study, we demonstrate that both oxidative and nitrosative stresses activate the PKC1 cell integrity pathway in wild-type cells, as measured by phosphorylation of Mpk1, the terminal protein in the PKC1 phosphorylation cascade. Furthermore, deletion of PKC1 shows that this gene is essential for defense against both oxidative and nitrosative stresses; however, other genes involved directly in the PKC1 pathway are dispensable for protection against these stresses. This suggests that Pkc1 may have multiple and alternative functions other than activating the mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade from a "top-down" approach. Deletion of PKC1 also causes osmotic instability, temperature sensitivity, severe sensitivity to cell wall-inhibiting agents, and alterations in capsule and melanin. Furthermore, the vital cell wall components chitin and its deacetylated form chitosan appear to be mislocalized in a pkc1Δ strain, although this mutant contains wild-type levels of both of these polymers. These data indicate that loss of Pkc1 has pleiotropic effects because it is central to many functions either dependent on or independent of PKC1 pathway activation. Notably, this is the first time that Pkc1 has been implicated in protection against nitrosative stress in any organism.


OBJECTIVES To describe the strategies adopted to maintain high level participation throughout a community based clinical trial, and the reasons given by participants for why they participated in the study. DESIGN Observational study. SETTING Community based clinical trial in Melbourne, Australia that ran for 68 weeks and involved 2811 community based individuals from 600 families. A high level of commitment was required of the families; each participant completed a Health Diary each week of the 68 week study, as well as answering numerous other questionnaires, and providing faecal and blood samples. MAIN RESULTS Only 41 of the 600 families withdrew from the study; the majority of these families withdrew because they sold their home and moved from the study area. The completion rate of Health Diaries averaged 90.7% over the 68 weeks of data collection. Of the 559 families who completed the study, 524 (93.7%) completed the Participation Questionnaire. The statement that received the highest rating for why families enrolled in the study was they thought the study was researching an important community issue. The statements that received the highest ratings for why families continued to participate in the study was the family being kept well informed about the study's progress and that the study was well run. CONCLUSIONS The low numbers of withdrawals and the high level of participation throughout the study suggests the strategies of (a) having a non-aggressive recruitment method, (b) maintaining regular contact with the participants and (c) ensuring participants were kept well informed of the study's progress and constantly encouraged to continue participation were successful. The results also suggest people involve themselves in research because they perceive it to be of value to the community, not simply for personal gain. They indicated that they maintained their participation because it was a well run study and they were kept well informed throughout the study.


Half-metals with high Curie temperature are ideal candidates for applications in spin-based electronics—an emerging technology utilizing a spin degree of freedom in electronic devices. Many half-metallic materials have been predicted theoretically, and some have been confirmed experimentally. At the same time, in thin-film geometry the electronic structure of these materials may change due to the potential presence of surface/interface states. This could limit practical applications of these materials in nano-size devices, since typically these states result in reduced spin-polarization. Here, from first principles we study a full Heusler compound, Co2CrAl in thin film geometry. This material has been studied extensively, and it has been reported that it exhibits half-metallic properties in the bulk. We show contrary to the earlier reports that this material retains 100% spin polarization in CrAl-terminated thin film geometry (Co-termination results in destroyed half-metallicity). Moreover, we confirm that under biaxial strain Co2CrAl retains half-metallicity for a practically feasible range of considered pressure, i.e. in principle it may stay half-metallic if used in thin-film heterostructures, where lattice mismatch is a common scenario. The magnetic alignment of Co2CrAl is confirmed to be ferromagnetic, with the non-integer total magnetic moment of Co-terminated cell, and the integer total magnetic moment of CrAl-terminated cell, consistent with their corresponding non-half-metallic and half-metallic electronic structures. If confirmed experimentally, these results may have an important impact in spin-based electronics.


Background In clinical microbiology laboratories, serological diagnostic assays are usually implemented after evaluation using a selected sample collection. We have previously evaluated the performance of the Bioelisa Syphilis 3.0 compared with the Treponema pallidum Particle Agglutination (TPPA) in a selected collection of serum samples (syphilis positivity rate 44%) and found a sensitivity and specificity of both 100%. In the current study we have compared the specificity of Bioelisa Syphilis 3.0 after clinical implementation as a syphilis screening test with the specificity found in the previous evaluation to assess whether the high specificity would stand up in clinical practise. Methods We included 14,622 sera (positivity rate 0.9%) sent to the laboratory for syphilis serology in the period between October 2007 and February 2010. Results We confirm the initially reported specificity and further narrow down its confidence interval (specificity 99.5%, 95% CI 99.4–99.6%), and show that this high specificity is valid across diverse patient categories. Here we demonstrate that differences in positive predictive values between patient categories reflect the prevalence of syphilis in these categories, and are not due to differences in specificity. In addition, in a sensitivity analysis we show that these conclusions are robust for several assumptions. Conclusion Our analysis shows that the high specificity found in the initial study, stands up after implementation in a population with a low syphilis prevalence (0.9%). Using a selected serum sample collection is therefore a valid manner in the evaluation of syphilis serological diagnostic assays. Confirmatory syphilis testing remains mandatory in low prevalence populations, even when the screening test has a very high specificity.


Deleuze and Guattari have often received attention for their criticisms of bourgeois families in Anti-Oedipus , but their speculations about non-heteronormative kinship practices have rarely been addressed in Deleuze studies and are yet to be taken up in the study of kinship and the family more generally. This paper is then the first to offer their work on the family to a general academic audience as a useful tool in polarised debates about contemporary family practices. It begins with a close reading of the relationship between desire, capitalism and the private nuclear family in Anti-Oedipus before extending the political use-value of this with the concept of the 'majoritarian' taken from A Thousand Plateaus. The second half of the paper brings Deleuze and Guattari into engagement with the larger critical field of kinship studies as an entry point into topical debates about the 'normative' family and its alternatives.


Fat intake at a breast feed was estimated by either sampling milk intermittently during the feed using a thin latex nipple shield ('shield method') or by expressing samples before and after the feed ('expression method'). These sampling techniques were compared within 30 mother/infant pairs using a randomized cross-over design. Mean fat intake estimated by the expression method was significantly greater than that estimated by the shield method (first breast P less than 0.0001, second breast P less than 0.002). This finding was partly explained by a significantly lower mean milk intake when the nipple shield was used, but the higher fat content of expressed milk samples compared to samples obtained during suckling also played a part. Use of the nipple shield confirmed that breast-milk fat content does not change in a predictable way during a feed. Nevertheless, for practical purposes, the advantages of studying changes in milk composition during the feed have to be set against the potential restrictive effect of the nipple shield system when it is used to sample intermittently during the feed.


This Thesis is devoted to the study of the optical companions of Millisecond
Pulsars in Galactic Globular Clusters (GCs) as a part of a large project started at
the Department of Astronomy of the Bologna University, in collaboration with other
institutions (Astronomical Observatory of Cagliari and Bologna, University of Virginia),
specifically dedicated to the study of the environmental effects on passive stellar evolution
in galactic GCs.
Globular Clusters are very efficient "Kilns" for generating exotic object, such as
Millisecond Pulsars (MSP), low mass X-ray binaries(LMXB) or Blue Straggler Stars
(BSS). In particular MSPs are formed in binary systems containing a Neutron Star which
is spun up through mass accretion from the evolving companion (e.g. Bhattacharia & van
den Heuvel 1991). The final stage of this recycling process is either the core of a peeled
star (generally an Helium white dwarf) or a very light almos exhausted star, orbiting a very
fast rotating Neutron Star (a MSP). Despite the large difference in total mass between the
disk of the Galaxy and the Galactic GC system (up a factor 103), the percentage of fast
rotating pulsar in binary systems found in the latter is very higher. MSPs in GCs show spin
periods in the range 1.3 ÷ 30ms, slowdown rates ˙P 1019 s/s and a lower magnetic field,
respect to "normal" radio pulsars, B 108 gauss . The high probability of disruption of a
binary systems after a supernova explosion, explain why we expect only a low percentage
of recycled millisecond pulsars respect to the whole pulsar population. In fact only the
10% of the known 1800 radio pulsars are radio MSPs.
Is not surprising, that MSP are overabundant in GCs respect to Galactic field, since
in the Galactic Disk, MSPs can only form through the evolution of primordial binaries,
and only if the binary survives to the supernova explosion which lead to the neutron star
formation. On the other hand, the extremely high stellar density in the core of GCs,
relative to most of the rest of the Galaxy, favors the formation of several different binary
systems, suitable for the recycling of NSs (Davies at al. 1998).
In this thesis we will present the properties two millisecond pulsars companions
discovered in two globular clusters, the Helium white dwarf orbiting the MSP PSR 1911-5958A in NGC 6752 and the second case of a tidally deformed star orbiting an eclipsing
millisecond pulsar, PSR J1701-3006B in NGC6266


It is known that providing basic life support (BLS) may be limited by the physical capabilities of rescuers. The other factor that may affect BLS quality is its energy expenditure. Therefore, we decided to compare the energy expenditure of standard BLS with a compression-ventilation ratio of 30:2 (S-BLS) and compression-only BLS (CO-BLS) and assess the sensation of fatigue and perceived exertion associated with these activities. Methods. We conducted a simulation study on 10 healthy volunteers using a resuscitation manikin. Participants were randomly assigned to start with CO-BLS or with SBLS, in accordance with recent guidelines. Later, every individual provided the other type of BLS. BLS was terminated in the event of exhaustion, impossibility to retain high-quality BLS or after 30 minutes of BLS. Energy expenditure was expressed as relative oxygen consumption (VO2/ kg) and area under the curve of all VO2/ kg measurements during each BLS procedure indexed to one minute (AUCVO2/kg min). All participants completed a survey to assess perceived intensity of exertion by Borg, and sensation of general fatigue by visual analogue scale. Results. Maximal VO2/kg (23.16±3.94 vs. 20.17±2.14 ml/kg/min, p=0.049) and AUCVO2/kg min (18.90±3.13 vs. 15.91±2.07 ml/min3; p=0.021) during SBLS were significantly higher compared to CO-BLS. Conversely, a more intense rate of perceived exertion (16.6±2.0 vs. 13.8±1.2, p=0.001) and sensation of general fatigue (86.5±10.8 vs. 75.0±14.3, p=0.058) were associated with CO-BLS. Neither sensation of general fatigue, nor perceived exertion correlated with energy expenditure. Conclusions. Energy expenditure of S-BLS was higher than of CO-BLS in our study, while sensation of fatigue and perceived exertion reflected the opposite association.


This paper proposes a novel single layer winding layout for a permanent magnet machine with improved torque density for electric vehicle applications. In this paper, two permanent-magnet (PM) machines with outer rotors and single layer fractional slot concentrated windings are compared based on two different slot/pole combinations, namely 20 slots/18 poles and 20 slots/22 poles. The two machines are inherently five-phase machines; however, a winding layout is employed to create three-phase stator terminals. Hence, the proposed machines exploit the advantages of multiphase machines while providing three phase terminals allowing for standard three-phase converters. Two machines are designed with same rotor and stator dimensions and same stator winding layout but with different number of rotor poles. The comparison is carried out using finite element analysis.


The extent to which bicarbonate reabsorption in the rat proximal convoluted tubule depends on carbonic anhydrase has been examined by in vivo microperfusion and the measurement of total CO2 concentration by microcalorimetry. Tubules were perfused with an ultrafiltrate-like solution at 13 nl/min, and volume reabsorptive rate (JV) was measured using [14C]inulin. Addition of either 800 or 100 microM acetazolamide to the perfusion solution completely inhibited the reabsorption of total CO2. The control total CO2 reabsorptive rate (JtCO2) was 147 +/- 23 pmol/mm.min, and acetazolamide reduced JtCO2 to -3 +/- 5 pmol/mm.min. Acetazolamide reduced JV by 65% from a control of 2.3 +/- 0.4 to 0.8 +/- 0.1 nl/mm.min. The dose-response curve for acetazolamide showed that the I50 for inhibition of JtCO2 was 4 microM. The inactive congener of acetazolamide, t-butyl acetazolamide, did not reduce JV or inhibit bicarbonate reabsorption, indicating that the effect of acetazolamide on JtCO2 was specific for carbonic anhydrase inhibition. Since bicarbonate reabsorption was completely blocked by carbonic anhydrase inhibition, there is no need to postulate either carbonic acid recycling or carbonic anhydrase-independent bicarbonate reabsorption.


Abstract Objective: Certain populations suffer disproportionately from asthma and asthma morbidity. The objective was to provide a national descriptive profile of asthma control and treatment patterns among school-aged children (SAC: aged 6–17) in the U.S. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis using the nationally representative 2007–2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Among SAC with asthma, indicators of poor control included: exacerbation/asthma attack; >3 canisters short-acting beta agonist (SABA)/3 months; and asthma-specific Emergency Department or inpatient visits (ED/IP). Results: Non-Hispanic black, non-Hispanic multiple races, Puerto Rican, obese, Medicaid, poor, ≥2 non-asthma chronic comorbidities (CC), and family average CC ≥ 2 were associated with higher odds of having asthma. The following had significantly higher odds ratios (OR) of excessive SABA use compared to non-Hispanic whites [OR; CI; p < 0.05]: Puerto Rican (3.8; 2.1–6.9), Mexican (3.6; 2.0–6.4), Central/South American (3.0; 1.2–7.7), Hispanic-other (3.1; 1.1–9.0), non-Hispanic black (2.5; 1.6–3.9), and non-Hispanic Asian (4.0; 1.7–9.2). SABA OR were also significant for Spanish spoken at home (2.5; 1.6–3.8), obese (2.1; 1.3–3.3), Medicaid (2.9; 2.0–4.1), no medical insurance (2.1; 1.1–4.1), no prescription insurance (2.5; 1.8–3.5), poor (2.8; 1.7–4.7), CC ≥ 2 (2.1; 1.6–2.8), parent-without high-school degree (2.5; 1.8–3.6), parent-SF-12 Physical Component Scale <50 (1.6; 1.2–2.1) and Mental Component Scale <50 (1.5; 1.1–2.0). Significant differences also existed across subgroups for ED/IP visits. Conclusions: There are disparities in asthma control and prevalence among certain populations in the U.S. These results provide national data on disparities in several indicators of poor asthma control beyond the standard race/ethnicity groupings.


Universities, as part of the neoliberal regime imposed on them, are being co-opted into a 'war for talent', in which national economic success is heavily invested. We examine part of this 'war' that affects universities directly – the recruitment of 'the brightest and the best' internationally mobile students and their subsequent retention by the host country as high-skill workers. After an account of this war for talent and its implications for higher education, we review the literature on study-migration transitions by international students and identify gaps in both data and theorization. We propose a three-part model that uses the notion of 'flows' to organize a research agenda in this field and the possible roles of universities in implementing it. We conclude that only by resisting full recruitment into this global talent war can academic researchers continue to maintain the integrity and value of their professional and disciplinary calling.


Multilayered composites are widespread in load-bearing structures of the aeronautical and wind energy industries. Increasingly, advanced composites are spreading into the mass-market automotive sector, where the lightweight advantages of composites improve structural efficiencies and thereby enable a new generation of electric cars. Composite laminates are mostly employed in thin-walled semi-monocoque structures as the manufacturing processes, such as pre-preg curing and resin infusion, are amenable to this type of construction. However, their imminent diversification to new applications will benefit from extending the range of possible laminate configurations in terms of layer material properties, stacking sequences and laminate thicknesses, as well as the nature of service loading. Such a diversification can add significant complexity when, for example, the layer material properties differ by multiple orders of magnitude or when the composite comprises of relatively thick cross-sections. In case of the former, the structural response is non-intuitive and cannot be modelled adequately using classical lamination theory. The latter adds non-classical effects due to transverse shearing and transverse normal stresses, which are particularly pernicious due to the lack of reinforcing material in the stacking direction and can lead to the delamination of layers. Reliable design of these multilayered structures requires tools for accurate stress analysis that account for these non-classical higher-order effects. Despite offering high fidelity, threedimensional (3D) finite element models are prohibitive for iterative design studies due to their high computational expense. Consequently, a large number of approximate higher-order twodimensional (2D) theories have been formulated over the last decades, with the aim of predicting accurate 3D stress fields while maintaining superior computational efficiency. The majority of these formulations have focused on purely displacement-based approaches that typically require post-processing steps to recover accurate transverse stresses. The work presented here uses the Hellinger-Reissner mixed-variational principle to derive a higher-order 2D equivalent single-layer formulation that predicts variationally consistent 3D stress fields in laminated beams and plates with 3D heterogeneity, i.e. laminates comprised of layers with material properties that differ by multiple orders of magnitude and that also vary continuously in-plane. The formulation is shown to be accurate to within a few percent of 3D elasticity and 3D finite element solutions. A novelty of the present approach is that the computational expense is reduced by basing all stress fields on the same set of unknowns. Furthermore, by enforcing Cauchy's equilibrium equations in the variational statement via Lagrange multipliers, and then solving the ensuing governing equations in the strong form using spectral methods, boundary layers in the 3D stress fields are captured robustly. The present formulation is then used to ascertain the relative effects of transverse shear, transverse normal and zig-zag deformations. By studying non-traditional materials and stacking sequences with pronounced transverse anisotropy, the results presented herein provide physical insight into the governing factors that drive non-classical effects, with the aim of aiding the intuition of structural engineers in preliminary design stages. Finally, to showcase a possible application, the model is applied in an optimisation study that tailors the through-thickness stress fields in a beam in order to reduce the likelihood of delaminations. In the author's opinion, the general formulation presented herein is well-suited for accurate and computationally efficient stress analysis in industrial applications.


Recently the Centre for Disease Control suggested that 'precision public health' presents significant opportunities to improve the health of the population,1 but what does this concept add and does it live up to the hype? The promise is that by harnessing the power of Big Data, particularly genomic data, we may indeed see early gains in public health as a result of 'more-accurate methods for measuring disease, pathogens, exposures, behaviors, and susceptibility' to guide targeted prevention strategies.2 However, the term 'precision public health' is susceptible to misinterpretation. Long before Big Data in the form of personalized genetic and epigenetic profiling arrived, much public health screening and prevention strategy was premised on varying degrees of targeting and stratification, so this is nothing new. Nevertheless, others in the UK have used analogous terms such as 'personalized prevention' or 'personalized public health', representing them as part of an urgent agenda in which we must 'reap the benefits of the genomic revolution'.3 The purpose of this article is therefore to highlight some of the evidentiary and philosophical challenges for the concept of 'precision public health' which have not been exposed to sufficient scrutiny. It is also to argue for a more considered focus beyond the genome, lest we career headlong towards a diversion of resources, away from what really matters, to the detriment of population health. To do this, we structure our critique by aligning it with the so-called population perspective on precision medicine (i.e. the 'P4 approach'), namely that precision public health should aim to be Predictive, Preventive, Personalized and Participatory.4 The advantage of taking this approach is that whereas it focuses on the key dimensions and parameters of the decisions that could help improve care both for individuals and populations, it has gained traction among precision medicine proponents themselves. Thereafter we return to the more philosophical and ethical arguments that should remind us of a bigger picture and the trade-offs that we might be making by investing in 'precision public health'.


A better comprehension of the aerodynamic behavior of rotating airfoils in Darrieus Vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) is crucial both for the further development of these machines and for improvement of conventional design tools based on zero or one-dimensional models (e.g. BEM models).When smaller rotors are designed with high chord-to-radius (c/R) ratios so as not to limit the blade Reynolds number, the performance of turbine blades has been suggested to be heavily impacted by a virtual camber effect imparted on the blades by the curvilinear flow they experience.To assess the impact of this virtual camber effect on blade and turbine performance, a standard NACA0018 airfoil and a NACA0018 conformally transformed such that the airfoil's chord line follows the arc of a circle, where the ratio of the airfoil's chord to the circle's radius is 0.25 were considered. For both airfoils, wind tunnel tests were carried out to assess their aerodynamic lift and drag coefficients for Reynolds numbers of interest for Darrieus VAWTs.Unsteady CFD calculations have been then carried out to obtain curvilinear flow performance data for the same airfoils mounted on a Darrieus rotor with a c/R of 0.25. The blade incidence and lift and drag forces were extracted from the CFD output using a novel incidence angle deduction technique.According to virtual camber theory, the transformed airfoil in this curvilinear flow should be equivalent to the NACA0018 in rectilinear flow, while the NACA0018 should be equivalent to the inverted transformed airfoil in rectilinear flow.Comparisons were made between these airfoil pairings using the CFD output and the rectilinear performance data obtained from the wind tunnel tests and XFoil output in the form of pressure distributions and lift and drag polars.Blade torque coefficients and turbine power coefficient are also presented for the CFD VAWT using both blade profiles.Copyright © 2015 by ASME