Lepiotaceous fungi form relatively fragile basidiocarps with white, rarely coloured, spores. Most are saprotrophic forest-floor dwellers that grow in the lower litter layers of the soil, and probably decompose lignin and cellulose. They occur worldwide, with many representatives in tropical and temperate regions, and a few species in arctic-alpine areas and in deserts. Most taxa are agaricoid, though a relatively small number of secotioid variants exist. Because of their relative rarity, the clustering together of many species in limited habitats, and the differences in species composition along latitudinal transects, lepiotaceous fungi may be vulnerable to changes in the environment, both on a local (habitat destruction) and on a global scale (climate change). Sister taxa occur in different parts of the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere, indicating that vicariance events might have played a role in speciation. A few species have a very extended distribution, and those species occur either in man-made habitats or else in cooler habitats. Many ecological features of the lepiotaceous fungi are unknown, including the survival rates and colonization success of spores, nutrient and temperature requirements, longevity and size of genets. Conservation of existing diversity calls for policies underpinned by new ecological research, more taxonomical studies, and more recording projects.


Abstract Identifying biological traits that promote evolutionary success is fundamental for understanding biodiversity dynamics and for assessing the evolutionary response of organisms to global change. We tested the hypothesis that image-forming eyes have contributed to the diversification of taxa in the geological past. Using fossil occurrences in the Paleobiology Database, we analyzed the diversity and evolutionary rates of more than 17,000 Phanerozoic genera of marine invertebrates living on or above the shallow-water seafloor according to their visual capabilities. Analysis of the complete data set shows a peak in the proportional diversity of sighted genera early in the Phanerozoic, and their continuance at a relatively low and stable level after the Ordovician. As an explanation of this pattern we suggest that selection pressure to develop eyes rose in the Cambrian, and that behavioral constraints had a balancing effect thereafter. In contrast to the pooled data, a clade-level study of those subgroups that contain both sighted and blind genera revealed that—in trilobites, all epifaunal bivalves, pectinoid bivalves, gastropods, and echinoderms—sighted genera diversified more strongly than blind genera. This difference is controlled by significantly raised extinction rates of blind genera. These more finely resolved patterns support the hypothesis that good vision is a key trait that promoted preferential diversification.


An important reason for the Internet's remarkable growth over the last quarter century is the "end-to-end" principle that networks should confine themselves to transmitting generic packets without worrying about their contents. Not only has this made deployment of internet infrastructure cheap and efficient, but it has created fertile ground for entrepreneurship. On a network that respects the end-to-end principle, prior approval from network owners is not needed to launch new applications, services, or content.In recent years, self-styled "network neutrality" activists have pushed for legislation to prevent network owners from undermining the end-to end principle. Although the concern is understandable, such legislation would be premature. Physical ownership of internet infrastructure does not translate into a practical ability to control its use. Regulations are unnecessary because even in the absence of robust broadband competition, network owners are likely to find deviations from the end-to-end principle unprofitable.New regulations inevitably come with unintended consequences. Indeed, today's network neutrality debate is strikingly similar to the debate that produced the first modern regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission. Unfortunately, rather than protecting consumers from the railroads, the ICC protected the railroads from competition by erecting new barriers to entry in the surface transportation marketplace. Other 20th-century regulatory agencies also limited competition in the industries they regulated. Like these older regulatory regimes, network neutrality regulations are likely not to achieve their intended aims. Given the need for more competition in the broadband marketplace, policymakers should be especially wary of enacting regulations that could become a barrier to entry for new broadband firms.


OBJECTIVE
To document the personal, educational and professional skills that characterise veterinarians pursuing careers as agricultural consultants and to determine the future direction for veterinary-related advisory services to agriculture in Australia.

DESIGN
Thirty-six veterinarians practising as consultants in agriculture throughout Australia were sent a postal survey in 1994.

PROCEDURE
A descriptive analysis was chosen because of the relatively small population available to sample. Comparisons were made on a percentage basis where appropriate.

RESULTS
Twenty-four useable responses to the questionnaire were received. Consultants were mostly men with an agricultural background, aged 31 to 40 years. They considered their undergraduate veterinary studies to be a stepping stone into further education and practical experience and ultimately consultancy. Consultants predicted an increased reliance for their work on corporate farms, private agribusiness, research and development and sub-contracted work, rather than on family-owned farms. Consultants disagreed on the wisdom of combining consultancy activities with alternative businesses (for instance mixed veterinary practice). Only 13 consultants derived greater than 76% of their income from consultancy and 14 combined another business with consulting. The need for continuing education was considered important. Consultants predicted various future prospects for the industry. Many predicted that there would not be enough veterinarians to fulfill the demand for this type of work. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE VETERINARY PROFESSION: Results from this survey suggest that veterinary consulting will extend into finance, agronomy and marketing in addition to current skills in animal nutrition, parasite control and animal reproduction. As clients demand specialised skills and knowledge, the formation of co-operatives or companies of specialists may be beneficial to both client and consultant in the future. The consultant's role can be characterised as one of extending relevant information to clients in a useful form. Excellent communication skills are necessary, as is an understanding of rural issues and animal industries.


The purpose of this research study was to identify and examine, from both men's and women's perspectives, the specific behaviors and strategies male allies use to successfully support the advancement of women in workplace settings. From a survey of 243 men and women, the team gathered qualitative survey data that were analyzed to identify the strategies and behaviors used by male allies. Top responses included developmental relationships, human resource (HR) processes, leadership development, recognition (both public and private), treating women as equals, and challenging sexist behavior. Some differences existed between perceptions of men and women in terms of the most critical ally behaviors. These research findings have scholarly and practical implications in future efforts to work toward greater gender parity.


Purpose/Objectives: The tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) has a crucial impact on cancer progression and patients´ survival for various cancer entities. In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) the development of recurrences in up to 60% is one main factor leading to poor prognosis. We aimed to reveal changes in the TIME of primary tumours and their corresponding recurrences, hypothesising that recurrent HNSCC have successfully escaped anti-tumor immune response.
Materials/Methods: The TIME of 70 formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue samples of HNSCC primary tumours and their corresponding local recurrences was characterised via immunohistochemical staining for the markers CD4, CD8, CD20, FOXP3, CD1A, PD1, CD68 and CD56 and semi-automated quantification with Definines software. RNA was extracted using the Maxwell® 16 LEV RNA FFPE Purification Kit for a subgroup of 18 patients, who underwent (chemo-)radiation therapy between the resection of the primary tumour and the development of a local recurrence. RNA expression levels of 770 immune related genes were identified by nanostring nCounter® PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel and assessed with the nSolver™ Analysis Software.
Results: The immunohistochemical TIME analysis demonstrated a loss of CD20+ B lymphocytes (p= 0.0006), an increase in CD1A+ dendritic cells (p= 0.017) and a decrease in the CD8/FOXP3 T-cell ratio (p= 0.106) in HNSCC recurrences compared to their corresponding primary tumours. Nanostring analysis confirmed the depletion of B lymphocytes and additionally revealed a strong decrease in the total number of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as well as an increase in dendritic cells, mast cells, neutrophils and macrophages in HNSCC recurrences. In summary, 141 genes of the nanostring panel were identified to be significantly differentially expressed with the majority being downregulated in the HNSCC recurrences. Significantly downregulated chemokines included CXCL13 and CXCR5, which are involved in B-cell chemotaxis; whereas one of seven upregulated genes, Osteopontin, plays a major role in myeloid cell chemotaxis.
Conclusion: Our results reveal significant differences in the TIME of HNSCC primary tumours and recurrences, characterised by a loss of B lymphocytes and an overall shift from antitumor immune response to an increase in pro-tumor immune factors in recurrences.


High-resolution seismic reflection profiles (Uniboom 300 J) carried out on the southern continental shelf of the Gulf of Salerno, have been interpreted using the sequence stratigraphy as tool and model. They allowed to reconstruct the environmental evolution during the Late Pleistocene-Holocene. The succession is made up of two prograding juxtaposed units (A and B) separated by a reflector which, towards the land, turns into an erosional surface. Another unit (C) with parallel, continuous reflectors follows in onlap the B ones. These units are repeated three times with the same reciprocal relationships. The entire succession rests on the marine basal unit while on top the last B unit is followed by the upper unit that is the Holocene wedge. The A units are interpreted as sedimentary progradations during phases of sea-level highstand; the B units above the erosional surfaces (sequence boundaries) represent progradations due to phases of forced regressions during fall of sea level. The differences in depth (in the order of meters), between the offlap-breaks of the prograding, juxtaposed units, indicate small sea level oscillations. The C units record phases of rapidly rising of sea level. These three depositional sequences, attributed to high frequency cycles developing in a time interval of tens of thousands years (fifth order), show a general regressive trend connected to a longer cycle which, from the Tyrrhenian to the Holocene, gives rise to a 15 km coastline progradation. The chronostratigraphic framing of the sequences was done by referring to data known in literature and by correlating the seismic units with the upper Pleistocene-Holocene deposits outcropping on land. Furthermore, the position of the upper Pleistocene deposits at sea, indicating a subsidence of the continental shelf, and the anomalous altitude at which Tyrrhenian deposits on land are found, suggest a tilting of the area with the hinge line located approximately at the present-day coastline.


The present study is devoted to the mixing time investigation in a single stirrer UV photoreactor aiming at the drinking water disinfection process. Electrical resistance tomography (ERT) was employed to measure the mixing quality due to the significant advantages. The reactor was a flat-bottomed cylindrical tank with a diameter of 38.1 cm and a height of 60.1 cm fitted with four symmetrically located vertical baffles. The performaces of a 6-blade Rushton turbine and a 4-blade 45° pitched-blade turbine were explored in this study. In the absence of the UV light, four PVC rods were used to replace four UV lamps and evaluate the impact of the locations of the UV tubes on the mixing time. The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of the ERT system to monitor the mixing process in the UV photoreactor. The ERT results also indicated that the locations of the UV tubes had a signigicant impact on the mixing performance in such a batch stirred tank reactor. Other parameters encompassing the impeller rotational speed the impeller type, and off-bottom clearance were presented with respect to the extensive effects on the mixing time and power consumption.


This paper throws down a challenge to radical geography and invites a selection of leading geographers to respond. It proposes that radical or critical geography cannot escape normative foundations in terms of some conception of the human good or flourishing, and that this is not necessarily at odds with the descriptive and explanatory aims of social science. Various attempts to define and justify critical thought without such a conception are shown to be deficient, and incapable of distinguishing oppression from well-being. Objections that such a project will be subjective, ethnocentric, essentialist and implicitly authoritarian are discussed and rejected. Normative thinking needs to go beyond liberal concern with freedom, to address what Sen and Nussbaum term "capabilities"—the range of things people need to be able to have and do to flourish. The power of this kind of normative thinking is illustrated by reference to examples from development studies. The paper concludes with some basic questions for radical geographers.


Natural selection is expected to drive adaptive evolution in genes involved in host–pathogen interactions. In this study, we use molecular population genetic analyses to understand how natural selection operates on the immune system of Anopheles coluzzii (formerly A. gambiae "M form"). We analyzed patterns of intraspecific and interspecific genetic variation in 20 immune-related genes and 17 nonimmune genes from a wild population of A. coluzzii and asked if patterns of genetic variation in the immune genes are consistent with pathogen-driven selection shaping the evolution of defense. We found evidence of a balanced polymorphism in CTLMA2, which encodes a C-type lectin involved in regulation of the melanization response. The two CTLMA2 haplotypes, which are distinguished by fixed amino acid differences near the predicted peptide cleavage site, are also segregating in the sister species A. gambiae ("S form") and A. arabiensis. Comparison of the two haplotypes between species indicates that they were not shared among the species through introgression, but rather that they arose before the species divergence and have been adaptively maintained as a balanced polymorphism in all three species. We additionally found that STAT-B, a retroduplicate of STAT-A, shows strong evidence of adaptive evolution that is consistent with neofunctionalization after duplication. In contrast to the striking patterns of adaptive evolution observed in these Anopheles-specific immune genes, we found no evidence of adaptive evolution in the Toll and Imd innate immune pathways that are orthologously conserved throughout insects. Genes encoding the Imd pathway exhibit high rates of amino acid divergence between Anopheles species but also display elevated amino acid diversity that is consistent with relaxed purifying selection. These results indicate that adaptive coevolution between A. coluzzii and its pathogens is more likely to involve novel or lineage-specific molecular mechanisms than the canonical humoral immune pathways.


New learning design models and technologies offer powerful solutions to the problem of interactivity in higher education. While increasing innovative use of interactive digital technologies has been a hallmark of recent changes to higher education practice, the thoughtful/careful/well-considered integration of traditional delivery modes and innovative digital techniques in learning and teaching design and practice remains a crucial issue for university educators. There has been a tendency for new technologies to be added to existing curriculum design and learning and teaching practice in an ad hoc, isolated manner, rather than as part of an overarching learning design which incorporates new technologies, traditional techniques and understanding of pedagogic principles and practice. The need to integrate these elements is evident at RMIT University Vietnam which has a 100% campus-based experience for all undergraduate programs yet has a strategic goal to graduate students with digital capabilities. A learning pathway was designed and implemented in eight core first year courses in a Bachelor of Commerce program and included moving away from a single textbook to digitally rich resources, establishing expectations around students engaging outside of class in online learning activities, and in class experiences aimed to draw connections between in and out of class activities. Pre and post surveys were administered to students and data collected using the Student Engagement and Learning Inventory. This part of the study focuses on the constructs of Facilitating, Experience and Connectivity which are part of the Technology Enhancing Learning Experiences. Results indicate positive effects of the implementation of the learning pathways initiative.


This study assesses the research benefits of IPM technologies and management practices aimed at reducing the virus problem in tomatoes in West Africa. Surveys are conducted with producers, extension agents, scientists, and other experts to obtain information and economic surplus analysis is used to project benefits over time. The determinants of adoption are assessed using a probit model. Results show that adoption of the host-free period reduced the amount of insecticide sprays by 71% and the production cost by $200/ha in Mali. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the use of virus-tolerant seeds generated profits ranging from $1,188 to $2,116/ha in Mali and from $1,789 to $4,806/ha in Senegal. The likely factors influencing adoption of the technologies in both countries are the frequency of extension visits, farmer's field school training, gender, education, seed cost, tomato area, and experience in tomato losses. The benefits in the closed economy market vary from $3.4 million to $14.8 million for the host-free period, $0.5 million to $3 million for the virus-tolerant seeds, and $4.8 million to $21.6 million for the overall IPM program. In the same order, the benefits under the open economy market range from $3.5 million to $15.4 million, $0.5 million to $3million, and $5 million to $24 million. The distribution pattern indicates that producers gain one-third and consumers two-thirds of the benefits. Our results support policies aiming to increase the adoption rate or the expected change in yield.


Rapid acquisition of kinetic data is demonstrated with a commercial meso-scale flow reactor, using a step-change in flow rate or 'push-out' from the flow line. For thermolysis of 1,3-dioxin-4-ones (1), we obtain excellent reproducibility in the activation energies measured from spectroscopic data collected by in-line UV or transmission FT-IR monitoring of the output during the transitional period between two flow rates (±3 kJ mol−1, 0.7 kcal mol−1). Analysis of multi-component UV and IR data is conducted using an orthogonal projection approach (multivariate curve resolution by alternating least squares) for complex spectra, or by calibration-less integration of non-overlapping peak absorbance. All analysis methods were validated using off-line 1H NMR analysis, and kinetic parameters obtained using the method of a flow rate step-change were validated against conventional steady-state measurements in which time-series data were acquired across multiple experiments. Thermal transfer and dispersion effects are addressed. The experimental methods described herein are valuable for accelerated reaction study and in process development.


Drawing on the principles of upper echelons theory and team leadership research and using 101 subsidiary top management teams (TMTs), our study revealed that subsidiary CEO transformational leadership that was focused evenly on every TMT member increased team effectiveness and firm performance, whereas leadership that differentiated among individual members decreased both outcomes. By differentiating the amount of individual consideration and intellectual stimulation across TMT members, CEOs unintentionally disrupted the team's dynamics (team potency), ultimately reducing team effectiveness and subsidiary firm performance ratings. Furthermore, CEO gender and moral inconsistency across executives served as moderators of the detrimental effects of differentiated leadership on the outcomes. The negative effect of differentiated leadership behavior was stronger among female CEOs and those who failed to consistently exhibit moral behaviors that might justify differentiation in transformational leadership.


We report the results from a representative survey of human resource managers in 885 Swedish firms. We estimate that during the severe recession of the 1990s, only 1.1 percent of workers took a cut in regular nominal pay. We trace the lack of wage moderation to a combination of exogenous (primarily labor law and collective bargaining contracts) and endogenous factors. Our analysis suggests that (i) endogenous wage rigidity plays an important role in most segments of the labor market, (ii) sources of endogenous wage rigidity differ significantly between the high- and low-end of the labor market, and between large and small firms, and (iii) mechanisms of wage rigidity tend to complement each other. Some of our questions deal with issues in the economics of personnel. We report evidence that job protection tends to reinforce the stigma from long-term unemployment, and that labor market training tends to reduce the same stigma. We show that managers in small organizations have a more negative attitude towards incentive schemes based on relative rewards, and we report evidence suggesting that gender have an impact on attitudes concerning effort and motivation.


Monsieur Goriot is one of a disparate group of lodgers at Mademe Vauquer's dingy Parisian boarding house. At first his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are mysteriously reduced he becomes shunned by those around him, and soon his only remaining visitors are his two beautifully dressed daughters. Goriot's fate is intertwined with two other fellow boarders: the young social climber Eugene Rastignac, who sees a way to gain the acceptance and wealth he craves, and the enigmatic figure of Vautrin, who is hiding darker secrets than anyone. Weaving a compelling and panoramic story of love, money, self-sacrifice, corruption, greed and ambition, "Old Man Goriot" is Balzac's acknowledged masterpiece. A key novel in his "Comedie Humaine" series, it is a vividly realized portrait of bourgeois Parisian society in the years following the French Revolution.


Introduction: Synovial sarcoma ranks as the fourth most common sarcoma, but it is uncommon in the hand. Most Synovial Sarcomas arise in para-articular soft tissue such as tendon, tendon sheath and bursa adjacent to the large joints capsules. Arround 60–70% of these tumors involve lower extremity and they frequently affect knee, thigh and foot. The reported incidence for Synovial Sarcoma in hand is only 8.5%.

Material and methods: We carried out a retrospective study of 6 hand and forearm sarcomas, of a series of 35 synovial sarcomas surgically treated in our center from 1991 to 1997, with a 6 years follow up (3y.–11y.). 3 patients were male and 3 female, with a mean age of 54 years at the moment of initial diagnosis. Histologically all of them were synovial sarcomas: 4 monophasic and 2 biphasic. The inmunochemistry showed that the neoplasic cells were positive for vimentin, epithelial membrane antigen and cytokeratin. 2 of them were localized in the palmar aspect of the hand (2 ulnar cases and 2 eminence tenar cases), an 2 cases were dorsal. 2 cases were misdiagnosed as benign lesions and treated with tumor excision at another center.

Results: Primary treatment consisted of radical local excision of synovial sarcoma of the hand. 5 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy with CYVADIC and radiotherapy. 2 cases of recurrence received a second surgical treatment with forearm amputation. The mean time to recurrence was 12 months. At the end of the follow-up 3 patients developed metastatic disease and 2 of them died.

Discussion: Synovial Sarcoma in hand is a highly malignant tumor; due to its morphology they can be misdiagnosed as benign lesions such as aggressive fibromatosis or ganglion cysts. If we diagnose a soft tissue tumor in hand we must practice complementary tests to achieve early diagnosis. It is also important the multidisciplinary treatment of Synovial Sarcoma.


We study the information capacity for an multi-span optical fiber transmission system with losses, dispersion, nonlinearity and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. A perturbation technique is developed to examine the information capacity, and a semi-analytic expression of the conditional probability distribution function is determined initially. A novel semi-analytical form of the information capacity was obtained, which can be extended to the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical fiber communication systems. Computer simulations are executed for various parameters of the transmission system. The studied results indicate that the capacity does not monotone increase with the input power and is affected by the nonlinear coefficient prominently.


The POU transcription factor Oct-6, also known as SCIP or Tst-1, has been implicated as a major transcriptional regulator in Schwann cell differentiation. Microscopic and immunochemical analysis of sciatic nerves of Oct-6−/− mice at different stages of postnatal development reveals a delay in Schwann cell differentiation, with a transient arrest at the promyelination stage. Thus, Oct-6 appears to be required for the transition of promyelin cells to myelinating cells. Once these cells progress past this point, Oct-6 is no longer required, and myelination occurs normally.


The foundation of tort law in various European legal systems differs considerably. A group of tort lawyers, the "European Group on Tort Law", proposes to address the fundamental questions underlying every tort law system. They aim at identifying these principles, thus searching for a common law of Europe, without the necessity yet to lay these principles down in formal legal texts, such as a European civil code. Discussing the most relevant factors in establishing liability as wrongfulness, causation, damage, fault and the area of strict liability the group is concentrating on the topic "causation" in this book, trying to combine theoretical abstract analysis with the discussion of concrete cases. Firstly, the authors give an overview of causation under their national legal systems, especially by working out its concept and its importance in establishing liability. Secondly, concrete cases are solved. The following comparative conclusions aim at the co-ordination of the results and the supplementation of other important factors. In summary, the book tries to make clear which is the common ground of causation that underlies all the legal systems concerned with respect to the law of tort as well as to teach the academic and practitioner the fundamental questions of causation underlying the law of tort in a particular country.


Global column ozone and tropospheric temperature observations made by ground-based (1964–2004) and satellite-borne (1978–2004) instrumentation are analyzed. Ozone and temperature fluctuations in small time-intervals are found to be positively correlated to those in larger time-intervals in a power-law fashion. For temperature, the exponent of this dependence is larger in the mid-latitudes than in the tropics at long time scales, while for ozone, the exponent is larger in tropics than in the mid-latitudes. In general, greater persistence could be a result of either stronger positive feedbacks or larger inertia. Therefore, the increased slope of the power distribution of temperature in mid-latitudes at long time scales compared to the slope in the tropics could be connected to the poleward increase in climate sensitivity predicted by the global climate models. The detrended fluctuation analysis of model and observed time series provides a helpful tool for visualizing errors in the treatment of long-range correlations, whose correct modeling would greatly enhance confidence in long-term climate and atmospheric chemistry modeling.


The United States is in the midst of a many-sided economic crisis caused by an unrealistic assessment of domestic and international situations and an unwillingness to live within its means. The central fact is that the United States has been weakened and other countries strengthened as a result of changes in the international economy. This volume is meant to shake the policy-making community that continues to shield itself with free trade rhetoric while highly nationalistic, protected economies around the globe break off larger and larger shares of the U.S. market. The authors point out that the record of the United States' economic deterioration over the past quarter century can be seen in its steadily declining share of world GNP, from 35 percent in 1960 to 22 percent in 1980 to about 18 percent in 1987. Failure to contain and lower the twin trade and budget deficits, and to put the country on a substantially higher growth path, will reduce the United States to the status of a second-class power by the end of the century-a nation unable to meet its people's needs or to defend them in a violent world full of threats. Harrigan and Hawkins say that if America fails to act in an intelligent and decisive fashion, it could become another Argentina, with a ruined currency, staggering debts, geriatric industries, outdated technology and widespread public despair.


This paper offers a productivity growth estimate for electric energy commercialization firms in Colombia, using a non-parametric Malmquist bootstrap methodology. The estimation and methodology serve two main purposes. First, in Colombia commercialization firms are subject to a price-cap regulation scheme, a non-common arrangement in the international experience for this part of the industry. Therefore the paper's result suggest an estimate of the productivity factor to be used by the regulator, not only in Colombia but in other countries where commercialization is a growing part of the industry (renewable energy, for instance). Second, because of poor data collection from regulators and firms themselves, regulation based on a single estimation of productivity seems inappropriate and error-prone. The nonparametric Malmquist bootstrap estimation allows an assessment of the result in contrast to a single one estimation. This would open an opportunity for the regulator to adopt a narrower and more accurate productivity estimation or override an implausible result and impose a productivity factor in the price-cap to foster the development of the industry.


Understanding nature of subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) is of considerable importance as underscored by the abundance of studies in different Solid Earth Sciences, including petrology, geochemistry, volcanology, seismology, and geodynamics. So far many researchers have endeavored to accurately visualize heterogeneity of SCLM and its evolution. One possible model to form lithologic heterogeneity is the lithosphere stacking model proposed by Helmstaedt and Schulze (1989). In order to evaluate the model, two contrasting mantle peridotites from cratonic (continental) and oceanic lithospheres were investigated. Deformed garnet peridotite xenoliths from the Udachnaya kimberlite pipe, as a representative material of SCLM, record multiple mantle processes beneath a craton. In-situ trace elements analyses of garnet and clinopyroxene of the garnet peridotite, confirmed at least two times of mantle–melt interaction and possible fluid infiltration at the latest process. Comparing petrological features of Siberian SCLM xenolith together with an oceanic lithospheric mantle xenolith (spinel peridotite) from the Miyagi offshore petit spot volcano, the lithosphere stacking model was revisited. No matter whether the model is realistic or not, this study confirmed that deep SCLM materials contain geochemical and mineralogical evidences of the presence of "water", likely supplied from deeply subducted oceanic lithosphere.


Over the last few years, many European and North American countries have reported a high rate of disorders (mortality, dwindling and disappearance) affecting honeybee colonies (Apis mellifera). Although beekeeping has become an increasingly professional activity in recent years, the beekeeping industry remains poorly documented in Europe. The European Union Reference Laboratory for Honeybee Health sent a detailed questionnaire to each Member State, in addition to Kosovo and Norway, to determine the demographics and state of their beekeeping industries. Based on data supplied by the National Reference Laboratory for honeybee diseases in each European country, a European database was created to describe the beekeeping industry including the number and types of beekeepers, operation size, industry production, and health (notifiable diseases, mortalities). The total number of beekeepers in Europe was estimated at 620 000. European honey production was evaluated at around 220 000 tons in 2010. The price of honey varied from 1.5 to 40 €/kg depending on the country and on the distribution network. The estimated colony winter mortality varied from 7 to 28% depending on the country and the origin of the data (institutional survey or beekeeping associations). This survey documents the high heterogeneity of the apicultural industry within the European Union. The high proportion of non-professional beekeepers and the small mean number of colonies per beekeeper were the only common characteristics at European level. The tremendous variation in European apicultural industries has implication for any comprehensive epidemiological or economic analysis of the industry. This variability needs to be taken into account for such analysis as well as for future policy development. The industry would be served if beekeeping registration was uniformly implemented across member states. Better information on the package bee and queen production would help in understanding the ability of the industry to replace lost honey bee stocks.


The contribution of multiple scattering to a spaceborne lidar return from clear molecular atmosphere obscured by transparent upper-level crystal clouds is assessed by the use of the variance-reduction Monte Carlo technique. High anisotropy of scattering in the forward direction by polydispersions of ice crystals is the basis of a significant effect of multiple scattering for small values of the lidar receiver field of view. Because of scattering by large nonspherical crystal particles, the lidar signal backscattered from the molecular atmosphere under the cloud increases significantly compared with the single-scattering return. The ratio of the multiple-to-single-scattering contributions from the clear atmosphere hidden by the clouds is greater than from the crystal clouds themselves, and it is proportional to the values of cloud optical thickness.


The gradual digitization in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry over the past fifty years led to an extremely heterogeneous software environment, which today is embodied by the multitude of different digital tools and proprietary data formats used by the many specialists contributing to the design process in a construction project. Though these projects become increasingly complex, the demands on financial efficiency and the completion within a tight schedule grow at the same time. The digital collaboration of project partners has been identified as one key issue in successfully dealing with these challenges. Yet currently, the numerous software applications and their respective individual views on the design process severely impede that collaboration.

An approach to establish a unified basis for the digital collaboration, regardless of the existing software heterogeneity, is a comprehensive digital building model contributed to by all projects partners. This type of data management known as building information modeling (BIM) has many benefits, yet its adoption is associated with many difficulties and thus, proceeds only slowly. One aspect in the field of conflicting requirements on such a digital model is the cooperation of architects and structural engineers. Traditionally, these two disciplines use different abstractions of reality for their models that in consequence lead to incompatible digital representations thereof.

The onset of isogeometric analysis (IGA) promised to ease the discrepancy in design and analysis model representations. Yet, that initial focus quickly shifted towards using these methods as a more powerful basis for numerical simulations. Furthermore, the isogeometric representation alone is not capable of solving the model abstraction problem. It is thus the intention of this work to contribute to an improved digital collaboration of architects and engineers by exploring an integrated analysis approach on the basis of an unified digital model and solid geometry expressed by splines. In the course of this work, an analysis framework is developed that utilizes such models to automatically conduct numerical simulations commonly required in construction projects. In essence, this allows to retrieve structural analysis results from BIM models in a fast and simple manner, thereby facilitating rapid design iterations and profound design feedback.

The BIM implementation Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is reviewed with regard to its capabilities of representing the unified model. The current IFC schema strongly supports the use of redundant model data, a major pitfall in digital collaboration. Additionally, it does not allow to describe the geometry by volumetric splines. As the pursued approach builds upon a unique model for both, architectural and structural design, and furthermore requires solid geometry, necessary schema modifications are suggested.

Structural entities are modeled by volumetric NURBS patches, each of which constitutes an individual subdomain that, with regard to the analysis, is incompatible with the remaining full model. The resulting consequences for numerical simulation are elaborated in this work. The individual subdomains have to be weakly coupled, for which the mortar method is used. Different approaches to discretize the interface traction fields are implemented and their respective impact on the analysis results is evaluated. All necessary coupling conditions are automatically derived from the related geometry model.

The weak coupling procedure leads to a linear system of equations in saddle point form, which, owed to the volumetric modeling, is large in size and, the associated coefficient matrix has, due to the use of higher degree basis functions, a high bandwidth. The peculiarities of the system require adapted solution methods that generally cause higher numerical costs than the standard procedures for symmetric, positive-definite systems do. Different methods to solve the specific system are investigated and an efficient parallel algorithm is finally proposed.

When the structural analysis model is derived from the unified model in the BIM data, it does in general initially not meet the requirements on the discretization that are necessary to obtain sufficiently accurate analysis results. The consequently necessary patch refinements must be controlled automatically to allowfor an entirely automatic analysis procedure. For that purpose, an empirical refinement scheme based on the geometrical and possibly mechanical properties of the specific entities is proposed. The level of refinement may be selectively manipulated by the structural engineer in charge. Furthermore, a Zienkiewicz-Zhu type error estimator is adapted for the use with isogeometric analysis results. It is shown that also this estimator can be used to steer an adaptive refinement procedure.


We propose and demonstrate an all-optical XOR gate at 20 Gb/s using four-wave mixing in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), with return-to-zero differential phase-shifted keying modulated input signals. With such constant intensity modulation format, the patterning-induced degradation in SOA is also alleviated. The proposed scheme is robust and feasible for optical logic operation at ultrahigh speeds.


ABSTRACT Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that has been controlled by Morocco since 1975, has seen virtually no violent resistance by the indigenous Sahrawi people since the conclusion of a 1975–1991 war between Morocco and the pro-independence Polisario Front. That lack of political violence is puzzling in light of several factors, including broad support for independence, socio-economic disparities between Moroccan and Sahrawi inhabitants and Morocco's repression of Sahrawi culture, resistance, and expressions of pro-independence sentiment. This article examines the absence of violence and draws lessons from Western Sahara: why some populations resort to violent resistance and others do not, and how best to frame and to study politically charged subjects such as insurgency, terrorism, and sovereignty. In addition to advancing theories of nonviolence, this article makes a methodological contribution to the study of resistance movements and improves our understanding of the conflict through fieldwork that included approximately 60 interviews with Sahrawi activists conducted in Morocco and Western Sahara. Western Sahara is difficult to study for a number of reasons, including its remoteness, relative international obscurity, and Moroccan suppression of dissenting research.


Gulzar's merit as a contemporary Indian poet rests on his use of Hindustani, which has a high degree of emotional intensity, expressiveness, naturalness and unusual vividness that strikes the head and the heart of the listener. The study pragmatically and stylistically probes a randomly selected poem of Gulzar and its English translation by three translators, underlining, in the main, the variations in the linguistic choices they make and the significant differences in their translation. The analysis discusses that which is complicated and complex in the poem; and how it is simplified by the translator, leaving out that which puzzles the poet. The pragmatic-stylistic approach effectively identifies the translation shifts and investigates the value and belief system of Gulzar encoded in the language.


The provision of cloud resources to meet user demands in 5G wireless networks is a challenging task due to the high workload predicted to be experienced by cloud service providers (CSPs). Cloud federation has emerged as a paradigm to support CSPs with resource limitations by borrowing surplus resources of other CSPs in periods of high demands. The major concern of each CSP with resource limitations is to borrow resources from other federation participants in such a way that cloud services are provided to the end-users with a desired grade of service (GoS) as well as the overall profit is maximized. This paper proposes an efficient mechanism based on the merchant mode to dynamically facilitate optimal allocation of cloud resources, maximizing the profit of CSPs as well as improving the
GoS. The robustness of the proposed optimal scheme is evaluated by comparing it with the heuristic algorithm. The simulation results demonstrate that at each trading window, the proposed optimal scheme outperforms its heuristic counterpart. Moreover, after 50 trading windows, the proposed approach results in 43.5% gain in net profit to CSPs as well as facilitating 3.35% of additional resource.


Objectives: Feeding is an essential function which affects quality of life of the intellectually disabled (ID) persons. Approximately 80% of the severe and profound mentally retarded population have some feeding difficulties. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of feeding problems in children with ID. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 144 individuals with Intellectual Disability referred to speech and language pathology clinic were included using random sampling. To gather the data, Screening Tool of feeding Problems (STEP) was used. analysis was done through SPSS. Results: The findings of the study indicated that all subjects were somehow involved with feeding problems. The results also show that mean score of problem in feeding skills (2.41) are most prevalent and aspiration risks (0.37) are of less prevalence among the subjects. Analyses revealed that gender and level of ID severity are effective factors in feeding problems. Conclusion: Our study indicates that in children with ID, eating problems are more prevalent than previously reported. The importance of these data is further underscored by the fact that the majority of these feeding problems had not been previously identified.


Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a technology capable of non-invasive, continuous measuring of regional tissue oxygen saturation (StO2). StO2 represents a state of hemodynamic stability, which is influenced by many factors. Extensive research has been done in the field of measuring StO2 of various organs. The current clinical availability of several NIRS-based devices reflects an important development in prevention, detection and correction of discrepancy in oxygen delivery to the brain and vital organs. Managing cerebral ischemia remains a significant issue in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Cerebral tissue oxygenation (cStO2) and cerebral fractional tissue extraction (cFTOE) are reported in a large number of clinical studies. This review provides a summary of the concept of function, current variability of NIRS-based devices used in neonatology, clinical applications in continuous cStO2 monitoring, limitations, disadvantages, and the potential of current technology.


Smartphones are steadily gaining popularity, creating new application areas as their capabilities increase in terms of computational power, sensors and communication. Emerging new features of mobile devices give opportunity to new threats. Android is one of the newer operating systems targeting smartphones. While being based on a Linux kernel, Android has unique properties and specific limitations due to its mobile nature. This makes it harder to detect and react upon malware attacks if using conventional techniques. In this paper, we propose an Android Application Sandbox (AASandbox) which is able to perform both static and dynamic analysis on Android programs to automatically detect suspicious applications. Static analysis scans the software for malicious patterns without installing it. Dynamic analysis executes the application in a fully isolated environment, i.e. sandbox, which intervenes and logs low-level interactions with the system for further analysis. Both the sandbox and the detection algorithms can be deployed in the cloud, providing a fast and distributed detection of suspicious software in a mobile software store akin to Google's Android Market. Additionally, AASandbox might be used to improve the efficiency of classical anti-virus applications available for the Android operating system.


Abstract We present a method for estimating Markov dynamic models with unobserved state variables which can be serially correlated over time. We focus on the case where all the model variables have discrete support. Our estimator is simple to compute because it is noniterative, and involves only elementary matrix manipulations. Our estimation method is nonparametric, in that no parametric assumptions on the distributions of the unobserved state variables or the laws of motions of the state variables are required. Monte Carlo simulations show that the estimator performs well in practice, and we illustrate its use with a dataset of doctors' prescription of pharmaceutical drugs.


This thesis is concerned with the regulation of contaminated land and the way in which local authorities in England have prepared for and are now implementing Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Part IIA provides a risk-based framework for the identification and remediation of contaminated land. The legislation requires local authorities to take a strategic approach to the identification of contaminated land. The strategic approach adopted by individual local authorities will differ according to resources, technical expertise, size, population, political control and ability to attract inward investment through regeneration.The thesis provides a review of current literature relating to contaminated land policy and risk assessment. The research critically assesses the use of a risk assessment methodology for the identification of contaminated land and evaluates the strategic decision making processes of local authorities charged with a legal duty to identify contaminated land in their area. The thesis also considers the wider implications of Part IIA for the redevelopment of other land, which falls outside the statutory definition of 'contaminated land' but is affected by the presence of contamination.Over 100 local authority officers responsible for dealing with contaminated land participated during various phases of this research. The research consisted of a focus group, questionnaire survey, and an interview phase in order to identify local authority progress before and after implementation. The research presents the findings of a collaborative study with Barnsley MBC and a comparative study of the regulation and redevelopment of contaminated land in Cleveland Ohio, USA. Two case studies are also presented evaluating the risk assessment process applied in a Part IIA context.The research findings identify a number of potential problems for local authorities in implementing Part IIA effectively. Local authorities appear to be struggling to meet self imposed targets set as part of their strategies due to budget restraints, lack of political pressure, potential liability issues, staff changes and insufficient technical guidance. Potential solutions are suggested as part of the conclusions and provide a contribution to knowledge by informing policy makers about the effectiveness of the contaminated land regime. The contaminated land regime is still relatively new and this thesis describes a number of opportunities for further research.


In a consecutive clinical series of 538 subjects with primary mood disorders the male: female differences were most skewed (1:4) in recurrent unipolars, 1:2 in single episode and bipolar I subtypes, and about even (1:1) in bipolar II. The sexes did not differ in age at onset of depression, stressors preceding index episodes, endogenous features, psychotic symptoms, suicide attempts, and rates of chronicity. Females had lower mean number of hypomanic, and higher mean number of depressive, episodes. Females also exhibited more anxiety and somatisation, and were more likely to endorse psychopathological items on self-report instruments, which were not reflected in objective measures. Finally, they were more likely to have been admitted to hospital. These gender differences could in part be explained by the higher prevalence of the depressive temperament in women, and of the hyperthymic temperament in men.


Increasing political and military tension in several parts of the world will inevitably affect international higher education. Nationalist, religious, and ideological conflicts challenge the original ideas of international cooperation and exchange in higher education as promoters of peace and mutual understanding and of global engagement. Since the end of the Cold War, we have not seen this type of tension and turmoil on such a scale. What lessons can we learn from the past in how to act and react in this new environment? In the 20th century, politics and international ideological struggles dominated the world. Academic cooperation and exchange have been critical in maintaining connections between nations and have paved the way for further contacts. Even though we should be realistic that international cooperation and exchange are not a guarantee of peace and mutual understanding, they certainly keep communication open and dialogue active. Will the increasingly widespread conflicts in the world today, based on religious fundamentalism, resurgent nationalism, and other challenges, harm the impressive strides that have been made in international higher education cooperation?


Robust synthesis is one of the remaining challenges in model predictive control (MPC). One way to robustify an MPC controller is to formulate a minimax problem, i.e., optimize a worst-case performance measure. For systems modeled with an uncertain gain, there are many results available. Typically, the minimax formulations have given intractable problems, or unorthodox performance measures have been used to obtain tractable problems. In this paper, we show how the standard quadratic performance measure can be used in a computationally tractable minimax MPC controller. The controller is developed in a linear matrix inequality framework that easily allows extensions and generalizations.


South Korea and Taiwan are often cited as successful cases of third-wave democracies where democracy has taken roots. However, electoral volatility is high and disenchantment among citizens is rising, especially regarding the performance of politicians and political parties. Since political parties play a vital role in the democratic process their institutionalization is seen as an indicator of democratic consolidation. An analysis of Taiwanese and South Korean parties in terms of age, organization and structure, as well as programs and leadership style of parties indicates that parties are weakly institutionalized. The Korean party system is a weak point in democratic deepening, as it is reminiscent of a carousel of party creations, mergers and dissolutions. Parties lack distinguishing ideological or programmatic markers and remain cadre parties, focusing on their charismatic leader and their home regions. In Taiwan, in contrast, a clear cleavage in the form of Taiwanese identity led to the appearance of two distinct political camps, each consisting of several parties. Taiwanese parties have progressed in their institutionalization in terms of longevity, organization and programmatic differences. However, membership numbers and party identification remain low and regular corruption scandals show the slow attitudinal change among Taiwanese politicians. In the light of politicians' behavior, citizens in both countries thus are feeling increasingly disenchanted with the ruling elite as well as the democratic system.


Across one longitudinal and two cross-sectional surveys in Northern Ireland, we tested a model of intergroup relations in which out-group attitudes and behavioral tendencies are predicted by cross-group friendship and positive intergroup appraisals, mediated by intergroup emotions and out-group trust. In study 1, out-group friendship at time 1 predicted out-group trust at time 2 (one year later), controlling for prior out-group trust. In study 2, positive and negative intergroup emotions mediated the effects of friendship on positive and negative behavioral tendencies and attitudes. In study 3, a confirmatory factor analysis indicated that trust and emotions are distinct constructs with unique predictive contributions. We then tested a model in which cross-group friendship predicted intergroup emotions and trust through intimate self-disclosure in out-group friendships. Our findings support an integration of an intergroup emotions framework with research highlighting the importance of cross-group friendship in fostering positive intergroup outcomes.


Recent phylogenetic studies have shown that Colpogyne, Hovanella, Linnaeopsis, Saintpaulia and Schizoboea (Gesneriaceae) are embedded in Streptocarpus . Saintpaulia had been expanded to over 20 species, but this narrow species concept was challenged by recent studies that showed that most of these taxa were poorly genetically and morphologically differentiated. The number of species in Saintpaulia has been reduced to six, with the majority of former species reduced to subspecies and varieties of S. ionantha. A key to the species in Streptocarpus subgenus Streptocarpella in tropical East Africa, and new combinations in Streptocarpus are provided here.


The great success of machine learning with massive amounts of data comes at a price of huge computation costs and storage for training and tuning. Recent studies on dataset condensation attempt to reduce the dependence on such massive data by synthesizing a compact training dataset. However, the existing approaches have fundamental limitations in optimization due to the limited representability of synthetic datasets without considering any data regularity characteristics. To this end, we propose a novel condensation framework that generates multiple synthetic data with a limited storage budget via efficient parameterization considering data regularity. We further analyze the shortcomings of the existing gradient matching-based condensation methods and develop an effective optimization technique for improving the condensation of training data information. We propose a unified algorithm that drastically improves the quality of condensed data against the current state-of-the-art on CIFAR-10, ImageNet, and Speech Commands.


The EMU axle bearings' damage can cause increasing of both the vibration and temperature of the shaft. Temperature monitoring is used for fault monitoring, but it often leads to false message. So the EMU axle bearing fault diagnosis based on vibration signals have important applications. In this paper, diagnosis investigation based on a bearing experiment rig is introduced. The tests indicate that because the fault locations are not fixed but varying with the rotating inner race and rolling element, all orders of fault characteristic frequencies are very complex due to the frequency modulation when the local damage happens on the inner race or the rolling element. It is hard to detect the local faults by the conventional FFT processing. So the SR spectra are adopted, based on the stochastic resonance method, to effectively extract the fault characteristic frequencies. Based on the above researches, a monitoring and diagnosis system was developed, which can be used for early warning and judgment for the axle bearing fault of the bullet trains.


This article argues that an essential piece in the puzzle of everyday communication is the history that exists among conversational partners. Three types of history are examined as creators of "hypertextual links" among ideas in conversation in a way that allows the flow of conversation to continue. The importance of the relational history among participants in any conversation is stressed as a major influence on the understanding necessary for conversation to be coherent. Theorists of communication are urged to attend to the history existing among participants in interpersonal communication. A method for incorporating history into studies of interpersonal communication is suggested.


The productive impacts of transfer programmes have received increased attention. However, little is known about such effects in emergency and crisis settings. Even less is known about whether transfer type – a food basket or a cash grant – influences the productive potential of such transfers. Theory suggests that, while cash transfers can relieve liquidity constraints associated with investments, subsidized food provision, by acting as a form of insurance, may prevent households from retreating to conservative income-generating strategies during volatile periods. Using a randomized field experiment in Yemen, we contrast the effects of transfer modality. The results demonstrate a modest productive impact of both modalities and suggest a role for both liquidity and price risk channels. Cash transfer recipients invested relatively more in activities with higher liquidity requirements (livestock), while food recipients incorporated higher-return crops into their agricultural portfolios.


Today when we think about climate change and Greenland, we do not think about agriculture, but of the melting ice. Perhaps the most evocative articulation of this connection was made in December 2015, when Paris was hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP21. At this event, artist Olafur Elisasson and geologist Minik Rosing exhibited their art installation Ice Watch at the Place du Pantheon: a circle of icebergs with a circumference of twenty meters, which resembled a watch ticking and/or a compass providing orientation for the world's leaders in the palm of Paris. The ice had been transported by tugboat from the harbor of Nuuk—Greenland's capital—to France. The captain of the tugboat was Kuupik Kleist, former prime minister of Greenland, who was quoted saying: "Ninety per cent of our country is covered by ice. It is a great part of our national identity. We follow the
international discussion, of course, but to every Greenlander, just by looking out the window at home, it is obvious that something dramatic is happening" (Zarin 2015).


The volatility risk premium (VRP), commonly accessed by writing equity index options, can help investors enhance portfolio returns. Some investors, however, have an aversion to options selling, especially put options, because they fear significant losses in a financial crisis. This article examines this aversion by analyzing the performance of two VRP-harvesting strategies based on writing out-of-the-money S&P 500 Index options (the dedicated VRP and the overlay VRP constructs) in market distress and comparing them with the S&P 500 Index. All series are stress-tested with five historical crisis episodes in the last three decades and three additional extreme scenarios modeled after the worst stock market crashes in the past century. The analysis reveals that the VRP strategies can achieve their objective of outperforming the market and mitigating investors' losses during financial distress. The performance of the VRP constructs in a crisis depends on two main factors: the beta of the VRP strategy and the speed of the market crash. This article concludes that investors' aversion to option selling may be unjustified and they may benefit significantly from the VRP at all times, especially in today's market, when expected returns from traditional assets are subdued.


Sediment profile imagery (SPI) is a well‐established technique for mapping benthic habitat quality in soft marine sediments, but several limitations exist in the apparatus employed, particularly the degree of penetration achieved by the sampling device into more compacted subtidal sands and capped sediments. To address this problem and others, such as the high cost of purchasing and maintaining commercially available instruments and illuminating the area to be photographed, a novel scanning sediment profile camera was designed and constructed. This prototypic system was deployed alongside the existing technology in a survey along an established gradient of organic enrichment and in an area of dredge spoil disposal in Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland. The results of the survey revealed that the novel system, termed SPIScan, achieved a greater degree of penetration than the digital SPI while losing none of the image quality. Although it addresses most of the limitations of existing SPI technology, the new system has one drawback: it is not suitable for deployments in deeper water because of an air‐filled space in the imaging module. This disadvantage is offset by the incorporation of an air reservoir attached to the prism. The volume of the reservoir is the dependent factor limiting the operating depth of the system. It is important to note, however, that the SPIScan is a prototype, and the problem of depth limitation can be solved completely with further development of the instrument.


This paper studies inflation dynamics during 25 historical episodes in advanced economies where output remained well below potential for an extended period. We find that such episodes generally brought about significant disinflation, underpinned by weak labor markets, slowing wage growth, and, in many cases, falling oil prices. Indeed, inflation declined by about the same fraction of the initial inflation rate across episodes. That said, disinflation has tended to taper off at very low positive inflation rates, arguably reflecting downward nominal rigidities and well-anchored inflation expectations. Temporary inflation increases during episodes were, in turn, systematically related to currency depreciation or higher oil prices. Overall, the historical patterns suggest little upside inflation risk in advanced economies facing the prospect of persistent large output gaps.


OBJECTIVE
An elective investigation into the early diagnosis of deafness in children under the age of 4-5 years is performed using auditory evoked potentials of auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). In case of pediatric patients, the major difficulty includes being examined during spontaneous sleep, which is complicated to obtain, especially in the age range of 12 to 72 months. Recently, melatonin has been used as a "sleep inducer" in diagnostic tests with positive results. Our aim was to evaluate the use of melatonin and of a solution containing melatonin, tryptophan, and vitamin B6 as an inducer of spontaneous sleep on repeated ABR analyses as well as to evaluate the reduction in analyses with sedative drugs in case of uncooperative patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
In total, 748 children aged between 12 and 48 months were included in the study and divided into three groups: A: placebo (n=235), B: melatonin (n=246), and C: melatonin, tryptophan, and vitamin B6 (n=267).

RESULTS
In groups B and C, in addition to physiological awakening, we observed a significant reduction in the number of repeated analyses as well as drug regimen usage.

CONCLUSION
This study confirms the strategic role of melatonin as an inducer of spontaneous sleep. However, above all, it suggests that the administration of a solution containing melatonin, tryptophan, and vitamin B6 significantly reduces the number of repeated ABR examinations as well as the percentage of repeated analysis performed using sedative drugs compared to both the control group and the melatonin-only group.


Objective-To identify the impact of advanced life support skills on outcome for prehospital cardiac arrest in a defined population and to assess the value of certain physiological variables in predicting the outcome in those successfully resuscitated in the accident and emergency (A&E) department; to identify areas for improvement in the outcome of such patients. Design-Prospective 12 month study. Setting-Leicestershire, United Kingdom. Main outcome measure-Survival to hospital discharge and status at 6 months. Results-266 patients were identified as having suffered a prehospital cardiac arrest; of these, 86 had their resuscitation attempt terminated in the community by a general practitioner and 180 were transferred to the A&E department of the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Of the latter, 159 were felt to be ofcardiac aetiology, and 19 were eventually discharged from hospital. All survivors had experienced a witnessed cardiac arrest, ventricular fibrillation (VF) being identified as the initial rhythm. After adjusting for age and sex using logistic regression, the Glasgow coma score (GCS) was found to be associated with subsequent mortality (X2 = 18-22 on 2 df, P < 0.0001). Compared to a baseline GCS of9-15, the relative odds ofdeath for a GCS of 3 were 25 3 (95% confidence interval 4-3 to 149.9), while a GCS of 4-8 gave a relative odds of death of 12-18 (950/o CI 1-8 to 80.2). No significant association was found between postarrest arterial pH and mortality. Conclusions-The immediate GCS on admission is a predictor ofoutcome and it is important to monitor its trend in the first 24 h. Multidisciplinary audit and joint guidelines with other specialties are important in optimising the care of these patients. (_Accid Emerg Med 1996;13:251-255) Key terms: prehospital cardiac arrest; prognostic


Tourism economy appears in every sphere of economy: production of goods and services, their division, exchange and consumption; it also occurs in the majority of the national economy branches that directly or indirectly deal with meeting tourist demand. The majority of economic processes in tourism sector are realized by direct tourism economy and its representatives, tourist entrepreneurs. Territorial self- government units and tourist organizations play a significant role in formation of economic processes in tourism sector on the regional and local levels. The classic economy distinguishes three basic production factors: labor, land and capital. In the modern approaches they are completed with the fourth that has different names. Beginning with technical and organizational progress which is a logic extension of coexistence and cooperation of three basic factors, ending with information and knowledge – treated as the most modern factors of production in the so-called new economy. In the totality of activities of tourism economy entities, a special role should be ascribed to the personnel, namely human potential of tourism economy entities.


We have recently identified the MAPK phosphatase (MKP)-1 as a novel mediator of the antiinflammatory properties of glucocorticoids (dexamethasone) in the human endothelium. However, nothing is as yet known about the signaling pathways responsible for the up-regulation of MKP-1 by dexamethasone in endothelial cells. Knowledge of the molecular basis of this new alternative way of glucocorticoid action could facilitate the identification of new antiinflammatory drug targets. Thus, the aim of our study was to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Using Western blot analysis, we found that dexamethasone rapidly activates ERK, c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 MAPK in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. By applying the kinase inhibitors PD98059 (MAPK kinase-1) and SP600125 (JNK), ERK and JNK were shown to be crucial for the induction of MKP-1. Using EMSA and a decoy oligonucleotide approach, the transcription factors activator protein-1 (activated by ERK and JNK) and cAMP response element-binding protein (activated by ERK) were found to be involved in the up-regulation of MKP-1 by dexamethasone. Interestingly, dexamethasone induces the generation of reactive oxygen species (measured by dihydrofluorescein assay), which participate in the signaling process by triggering JNK activation. Our work elucidates a novel alternative mechanism for transducing antiinflammatory effects of glucocorticoids in the human endothelium. Thus, our study adds valuable information to the efforts made to find new antiinflammatory principles utilized by glucocorticoids. This might help to gain new therapeutic options to limit glucocorticoid side effects and to overcome resistance.


We have previously described changes in intestinal brush-border membrane vesicle (BBMV) Na+/H+ exchange activity and characterized Na+/H+ exchanger (NHE3) expression during rat ontogeny. The current studies were designed to investigate developmental changes in NHE2 expression in rat intestine. In previous studies, pH-dependent uptake of Na+ in jejunal BBMV utilizing HOE-694 inhibition demonstrated that NHE2 functional protein levels were lowest in 2-wk-old rats, higher in 3-wk-old and adult rats, and highest in 6-wk-old rats [Collins et al. Am. J. Physiol. 273 (Cell Physiol. 42): C1937-C1946, 1997]. In the current investigation, Northern blot analyses showed that NHE2 mRNA levels in the jejunum were similar in 6-wk-old, adult, and 3-wk-old rats and three- to fivefold lower in 2-wk-old rats. In situ hybridization of 2- and 6-wk-old rat intestine with NHE2-specific probes confirmed Northern blot observations. Polyclonal antibodies were developed against an NHE2-specific peptide from amino acids 652-661. Western blots with NHE2 antiserum showed that the intensity of a specific 90-kDa band was lowest in 2-wk-old animals and four- to sixfold higher in 3- and 6-wk-old and adult animals. Immunohistochemical analysis showed specific staining of NHE2 antiserum to only the apical intestinal membrane. Furthermore, nuclear run-on analyses showed a 1.7-fold higher NHE2 transcription rate in 6-wk-old rats than in 2-wk-old rats. Overall, the current data suggest that increases in NHE2 expression upon weaning are mediated by increased gene transcription.


Exhumation in the Eromanga Basin of South Australia and Queensland has been quantified using the compaction methodology. The standard method of estimating exhumation using the sonic log has been modified and the adjusted sonic, the bulk density and neutron logs, have been used to estimate exhumation. Additionally the use of a single shale has not been adopted, and seven units, ranging in age from Cretaceous to Jurassic have been analysed. All units yield similar results; and burial at depth greater than currently observed is the most likely cause of overcompaction. The use of the adjusted sonic, bulk and neutron logs have been justified. This study has major implications for hydrocarbon exploration since predicted maturation of source rocks will be greater for any given geothermal history if exhumation is incorporated in maturation modelling.


The goal of this project is to develop a physically-based, semi-empirical model that describes the concentration of indoor concentration of PM-2.5 (particle mass that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter) and its sulfate, nitrate, organic and black carbon constituents, derived from outdoor sources. We have established the methodology and experimental plan for building the model. Experimental measurements in residential style houses, in Richmond and Fresno, California, are being conducted to provide parameters for and evaluation of this model. The model will be used to improve estimates of human exposures to PM-2.5 of outdoor origin. The objectives of this study are to perform measurement and modeling tasks that produce a tested, semi-mechanistic description of chemical species-specific and residential PM-2.5 arising from the combination of outdoor PM and gas phase sources (HNO{sub 3} and NH{sub 3}), and indoor gas phase (e.g. NH{sub 3}) sources. We specifically address how indoor PM is affected by differences between indoor and outdoor temperature and relative humidity. In addition, we are interested in losses of particles within the building and as they migrate through the building shell. The resulting model will be general enough to predict probability distributions for species-specific indoor concentrations of PM-2.5 based on outdoor PM, and gas phase species concentrations, meteorological conditions, building construction characteristics, and HVAC operating conditions. Controlled intensive experiments were conducted at a suburban research house located in Clovis, California. The experiments utilized a large suite of instruments including conventional aerosol, meteorological and house characterization devices. In addition, two new instruments were developed providing high time resolution for the important particulate species of nitrate, sulfate, and carbon as well as important gaseous species including ammonia and nitric acid. Important initial observations include the result that, with rare exceptions, there is virtually no nitrate found inside the house. This nitrate appears to dissociate into ammonia and nitric acid with the nitric acid quickly depositing out. Initial model development has included work on characterizing penetration and deposition rates, the dynamic behavior of the indoor/outdoor ratio, and predicting infiltration rates. Results from the exploration of the indoor/outdoor ratio show that the traditional assumption of steady state conditions does not hold in general. Many values of the indoor/outdoor ratio exist for any single value of the infiltration rate. Successful prediction of the infiltration rate from measured driving variables is important for extending the results from the Clovis house to the larger housing stock.


Multiple-TSP, also abbreviated in the literature as mTSP, is an extension of the Traveling Salesman Problem that lies at the core of many variants of the Vehicle Routing problem of great practical importance. The current paper develops and experiments with Self Organizing Maps, Evolutionary Algorithms and Ant Colony Systems to tackle the MinMax formulation of the Single-Depot Multiple-TSP. Hybridization between the neural network approach and the two meta-heuristics shows to bring significant improvements, outperforming results reported in the literature on a set of problem instances taken from TSPLIB.


Need for cognitive closure (NFCC) is a motivational mechanism leading people to experience a sense of urgency about reaching a closure in their decisions and judgments. It is defined as a desire an answer on a given topic compared to confusion and ambiguity. NFCC has acritical role for understanding how information is acquired and processed. A five facet scale was introduced (Webster and Kruglanski 1994), reduced and refined (Houghton ve Grewal, 2000) to assess NFCC as a stable individual disposition. This study aims to introduce the Turkish version of the reduced NFCC scale, assess its factor structure, and test its validity and reliability. Data was collected from a total sample of 1094 respondents live in Istanbul, Kocaeli and Yalova. In line with findings from previous studies, sub facets "decisiveness" and "closed mindedness" emerged as independent dimensions inconsistent with the proposed one-dimensional structure. Probable causes are discussed, a three facet scale was proposed and suggestions for an improved quality Turkish NFCC scale are provided.


Simple ecological models that predict trophic responses to bottom-up forcing are valuable tools for ecosystem managers. Traditionally, theoretical ecologists have used resource-dependent functional responses to explain the modification of food chains exposed to bottom-up perturbations. These models predict alternating positive, negative and zero responses at each trophic level. More recently, ratio-dependent functional response models that predict proportional increases at each level have challenged this paradigm. The present study tested the predictions of the 2 hypotheses empirically by comparing the relative biomasses of 4 trophic levels of an estuarine seagrass food chain in relatively undisturbed, low-nutrient catchments and 'developed' catchments subjected to a prolonged period of nutrient enrichment. We found that nutrient-enriched sites had significantly greater biomass of both epiphytic algae and grazing invertebrates; however, the bottom-up forcing of nutrients was attenuated at higher trophic levels (occupied by juvenile and piscivorous fish), with no significant effect of catchment development. This disconnect in the upward cascade of energy may be due to a number of possible reasons including high levels of diversity and omnivory, trophic subsidy within the system or the strength or nature of perturbations. Although the predictions of both hypotheses failed to hold across all trophic groups, ratio dependence was prevalent at the lower levels of the food chain, which has implications for catchment management.


The synthesis and characterization of four novel pyran derivatives (1-4) have been done by means of IR, 1H NMR, HRMS, and single crystal X-ray crystallography. The antitumor activities of the four compounds were studied in order to inhibit three human ovarian cancer cells, which are OVCAR, HRA and COC1, growth by MTT assay. It was found that compound 4 exerted much more potent activities against all of these cell lines than other compounds did.


Physical exercise has long been recognized as an effective and economic strategy to promote brain health in humans. The cellular and structural changes in the brains of exercised animals, including enhancements of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, dendritic remodeling, and synaptic plasticity, have been considered as the key biologi‐ cal alterations accounting for exercise-elicited benefits to brain health. However, what transduces body movements into the above-mentioned changes remains largely unknown. Emerging theories indicate that physical activity triggers the release of various factors into the circulation from skeletal muscle (neurotrophins, myokines, and cytokines) and/or adipose tissue (adipokines). In this chapter, we review several of these mole‐ cules that are potentially implicated in this process, including neurotrophic factors (BDNF, IGF-1, and VEGF), adipokines (adiponectin and irisin), and myokines/cytokines (IL-15). The relationship, either causal or concomitant, between levels of these molecules (particularly in the blood) and brain function after exercise may help to identify biomarkers that can serve as objective indicators to evaluate exercise therapy on diseased or ageing brain. In addition, unmasking biomarkers may be instrumental in elucidating the mechanisms mediating exercise-induced brain health, thereby contributing to novel drug discovery for treatments to maintain brain health.


"Life Support" brings together the best medical information available on the implications for human health of the global environmental crisis. Written by prominent physicians and public health experts who see environmental degradation as a serious threat to public health, it provides essential information for health professionals, policymakers, concerned citizens and environmental activists. The book, which is a sequel to the 1993 "Critical Condition", covers a broad range of topics, including air and water pollution, population and consumption, climate change, ozone depletion, ultraviolet radiation, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, war and vulnerable populations (workers and children). It also discusses such controversial topics as environmental endocrine disruption and risk assessment. The focus is on solutions. Each chapter ends with specific recommendations for actions to solve particular environmental health prohblems. Underlying the book are three major themes: that the habitat is an important determinant of human health, that prevention of human illness must involve protection of the environment, and that well-informed physicians can and should communicate with the public and policymakers about environmental hazards.


Abstract Parental and consensus maps were constructed in an F2 inter-provenance cross of Eucalyptus globulus, using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and microsatellite (or simple sequence repeats [SSR]) markers. The female map had 12 linkage groups and 118 markers, comprising 33 SSR and 85 AFLP loci. The male map had 14 linkage groups and 130 markers comprising 36 SSR and 94 AFLP loci. The integrated map featured 10 linkage groups and 165 markers, including 33 SSR and 132 AFLP loci, a small 11th group was identified in the male parent. Moderate segregation distortion was detected, concentrated in gender specific groups. The strongest distortion was detected in the female parent for which causal mechanisms are discussed. The inclusion of SSR markers previously mapped in several different eucalypt species within the subgenus Symphyomyrtus (E. globulus, E. camaldulensis, and predominantly E. grandis and E. urophylla), allowed comparison of linkage groups across species and demonstrated that linkage orders previously reported in E. globulus, E. grandis and E. urophylla were largely conserved.


With the inclusion of not only users but stakeholders of many different kinds, design processes turn into complex collaborative challenges. Thus, improving design practices requires research into how people participate and contribute in social interaction. But research methods for understanding such activities tend to be highly analytical and hence difficult for design researchers to engage with, if results are meant to be actionable. Through a series of experiments we develop tangible support for a 'designerly' interaction analysis of one important aspect of collaborative design activities: the participatory structures.


Established in 1973, Loyola College's Executive MBA (EMBA) program is one of the first ten such programs in the United States. A primary focus of our program is the development of effectively functioning executive teams. The main contribution of our paper is the integration of several creative team development methodologies that are applied over the course of the EMBA program. Specific practices are described which are transferable to a broad range of organizational contexts. The paper concludes with a set of lessons learned regarding team functioning based on our collective fortyfour years experience in executive development and education.


Planar bar-and-joint mechanisms with one degree-of-freedom are widely used in deployable structures and machines. Such mechanisms are designed to undergo a specific motion, which can be described mathematically by plotting out the compatibility conditions, resulting in a curve called compatibility path. It has been observed that compatibility paths can develop singularities similar to that of equilibrium paths of elastic structures. This dissertation studies singularities occurring in compatibility paths with the aid of knowledge in the theory of structural stability. An analogy is set up between the equilibrium path of elastic structures and the compatibility path of mechanisms with a single degree-of-freedom incorporating the different types of bifurcation, effects of imperfections and detection of singularities. It is shown that the fundamentally distinct critical points such as limit points and bifurcation points can also appear in compatibility path. Methods used to singularities for compatibility conditions of mechanisms and equilibrium of structures are unified so that they can be used for both cases. A formulation of potential energy for mechanisms is also proposed in analogy with the potential energy function used in structural analysis. Further analysis of the mechanisms is carried out to demonstrate that singularities of compatibility paths can also be dealt with by the elementary catastrophe theory similar to the stability theory. A relationship is established between the mathematical formulation of different compatibility bifurcations and the canonical forms of catastrophe types. Examples of mechanisms demonstrating the existence of cuspoids of the compatibility conditions are given. An overall classification of the compatibility paths is also proposed.


Sophisticated technologies of scientific visualization often require a departure from the standards of mimetic representation. In this paper the authors introduce a set of nine papers derived from the conference on scientific visualization in Norrköping, Sweden in September 2012, which explore problems of scale, color and technology in scientific visualization. These three kinds of problems are common to multiple visualization methods. As a result, this collection constitutes a preliminary exploration of commonalities in various methods of visualization, e.g., from nanoscale images to outer-space pictures of galaxies.


The possible role of hydroxycinnam oylputrescines in the tuberization process of potato plants was studied using in vitro tuberization systems. Minitubers in shoot cultures of Solanum tuberosum ssp. andigena and S. tuberosum ssp. tuberosum were obtained jn vitro within 3 weeks of dark incubation after increasing the sucrose concentration in the Murashige-Skoog (T. Murashige and F. Skoog. 1962. Physiol. Plant. 15: 473-^97.) medium (without hormones) from 60 to 240 mM, both in the presence and absence of benzylaminopu rine (BAP) Feruloylputrescine (FP) and caffeoylputrescine (CP) mcreased with tuberization, with a sharp maximum at day 9 in the shoot, but only when the medium contained BAP. When inhibitors of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and of polyamine biosynthesis were added to the medium containing BAP, the levels of FP and CP were reduced to values lower than those observed in the absence of BAP, but there was no significant effect on the number and dry weight of tubers formed. Addition of BAP without increasing the sucrose content also resulted in CP and FP accumulation, but failed to induce tuberization of the cultures. Experiments with in vitro stolon cultures and leaf cuttings also supported the conclusion that CP and FP accumulated as a response to the application of BAP, without having any effect on optimal tuherization. These results indicate that the increase of hydroxycinnamoylputrescines during tuber formation is unlikely to be causally involved in the tuberization process in potato plants.


New C,C-linked bipyrazole 1,1'-di(4-aminophenyl)-5,5'-diisopropyl-3,3'-bipyrazole (2) has been synthesized and characterized. Theoretical calculations have been carried out on target 2 and literature 1 C,C-linked bipyrazoles to compare with reported results. All calculations were carried out with the AM1 level of theory using the GAUSSIAN 03. The nature of substituent attached to the pyrazolic nitrogen has an effect on the thermodynamic variable values. The mono and bis N-substituted C,C-linked bipyrazoles have different thermodynamic properties.


This paper reports on the development of a proof-of-concept brain-computer music interfacing system (BCMI), which we built to be tested with a patient with Locked-in Syndrome at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, in London. The system uses the Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) method, whereby targets are presented to a user on a computer monitor representing actions available to perform with the system. Each target is encoded by a flashing visual pattern reversing at a unique frequency. In order to make a selection, the user must direct her gaze at the target corresponding to the action she would like to perform. The patient grasped the concept quickly and rapidly demonstrated her skill at controlling the system with minimal practice. She was able to vary the intensity of her gaze, thus changing the amplitude of her EEG and vary the consequent musical parameters. We have proved the concept that such a BCMI system is cost-effective to build, viable, and useful. However, ergonomic and design aspects of the system require further refinement in order to make it more practical for clinical usage. For instance, the system at present requires a therapist to place individual electrodes and calibrate a user's response to each stimulus, which can be time consuming. A new version of the system will require just positioning of a headset and, due to advanced algorithms, will require no calibration.


History tells us that global capital markets can contract as well as expand?and a long-term view of finance suggests investors should prepare for periodic segmentation as well as integration of markets in the 21st century. Anti-capitalist ideologies have historically been the vectors of attack on the cross-border flow of capital, when the fundamental cause may really be domestic hostility toward foreign ownership and control, and the roots of the conflict between domestic interests and foreign investors may be inherent in global equilibrium models. In a frictionless capital market, foreigners will always own a higher proportion of a small economy's assets. By the same token, domestic investors in small economies will always seek to export most of their capital. This equilibrium is at odds with a stable condition of national ownership and control of assets.


OBJECT
Preserving motor function is a major challenge in surgery for intraaxial brain tumors. Navigation systems are unreliable in predicting the location of the corticospinal tracts (CSTs) because of brain shift and the inability of current intraoperative systems to produce reliable diffusion tensor imaging data. The authors describe their experience with elaborate neurophysiological assessment and tractography-based navigation, corrected in real time by 3D intraoperative ultrasonography (IOUS) to identify motor pathways during subcortical tumor resection.

METHODS
A retrospective analysis was conducted in 55 patients undergoing resection of tumors located within or in proximity to the CSTs at the authors' institution between November 2007 and June 2009. Corticospinal tract tractography was coregistered to surgical navigation-derived images in 42 patients. Direct cortical-stimulated motor evoked potentials (dcMEPs) and subcortical-stimulated MEPs (scrtMEPs) were recorded intraoperatively to assess function and estimate the distance from the CSTs. Intraoperative ultrasonography updated the navigation imaging and estimated resection proximity to the CSTs. Preoperative clinical motor function was compared with postoperative outcome at several time points and correlated with incidences of intraoperative dcMEP alarm and low scrtMEP values.

RESULTS
The threshold level needed to elicit scrtMEPs was plotted against the distance to the CSTs based on diffusion tensor imaging tractography after brain shift compensation with 3D IOUS, generating a trend line that demonstrated a linear order between these variables, and a relationship of 0.97 mA for every 1 mm of brain tissue distance from the CSTs. Clinically, 39 (71%) of 55 patients had no postoperative deficits, and 9 of the remaining 16 improved to baseline function within 1 month. Seven patients had varying degrees of permanent motor deficits. Subcortical stimulation was applied in 45 of the procedures. The status of 32 patients did not deteriorate postoperatively (stable or improved motor status): 27 of them (84%) displayed minimum scrtMEP thresholds > 7 mA. Six patients who experienced postoperative deterioration quickly recovered (within 5 days) and displayed minimum scrtMEP thresholds > 6.8 mA. Five of the 7 patients who had late (> 5 days postoperatively) or no recovery had minimal scrtMEP thresholds < 3 mA. An scrtMEP threshold of 3 mA was found to be the cutoff point below which irreversible disruption of CST integrity may be anticipated (sensitivity 83%, specificity 95%).

CONCLUSIONS
Combining elaborate neurophysiological assessment, tractography-based neuronavigation, and updated IOUS images provided accurate localization of the CSTs and enabled the safe resection of tumors approximating these tracts. This is the first attempt to evaluate the distance from the CSTs using the threshold of subcortical monopolar stimulation with real-time IOUS for the correction of brain shift. The linear correlation between the distance to the CSTs and the threshold of subcortical stimulation producing a motor response provides an intraoperative technique to better preserve motor function.


Vegetable production is characterised by intensive traffic, particularly during
harvest. While tillage is used to remediate harvest-induced soil compaction and
prepare seedbeds, both traffic and tillage require significant energy input and
negatively impact soil physical and biological properties. Traffic compaction can be
permanently eliminated from the crop growth zone by controlling traffic. This
requires all implements to have a particular span, or multiple of it, and all wheel
tracks to be confined to specific traffic lanes. The production, environmental and
economic benefits of Controlled Traffic Farming (CTF) have been demonstrated
commercially in the Australian grain and sugar industries. CTF adoption in the
vegetable industry is challenged by the difficulty of achieving compatible track gauge
and working width across a diverse range of equipment. Wide-span (gantry) tractors
(WS) offer a new mechanization pathway for the industry. A WS tractor, spanning 6-12
m, allows multiple conventional implements of different widths to be mounted within
the confinement of the span. A prototype Danish WS tractor equipped with an onion
harvester shows that mounting harvest equipment on a WS platform is likely to be no
more complex than modifying conventional tractor driven or self-propelled harvest
machines to allow CTF. Wide, non-trafficked crop beds could provide yield increases
of up to 20% in some crops, purely by growing more plants per ha of land, as less area
is required for wheel tracks. Improvements in soil structure through the use of CTF
can lead to further yield improvements, reduce energy use, and improve water use
efficiency, infiltration and drainage. Using a mixed vegetable crop rotation as a
modeling case study, it is estimated that CTF based on WS tractors could substantially
improve the productivity and environmental sustainability of vegetable production.