To aid the commercialisation of triploid technology for Sydney rock oysters
(Saccostrea glomerata) in NSW, triploids and diploids were evaluated for
growth, mortality and meat condition on commercial oyster farms throughout the
state. After 21/2 years, triploids were on average 30.7% heavier and 8.6% larger in
shell height than same parent diploids. Mortality of triploids was significantly
lower (p 0.05) from that of diploids at
12 of the 13 sites. Average cumulative mortality after 21/2 years across the 13
sites was 28% for diploids compared to only 16% for triploids. Performance of
triploids over diploids varied considerably between sites. Wild-caught diploids
had lower growth rates and higher mortality than both diploid and triploid
hatchery stock. At seven sites where oysters were exposed to the parasite Mikrocytos roughleyi
(cause of "winter mortality"), triploid Sydney rock oysters survived the disease
better than diploids. Cumulative mortality of diploids during the second
winter/spring at these sites was 35% compared to only 12.2% for triploids. Meat condition of diploids and triploids varied between the five sites
throughout NSW. Over the final year on leases, ploidy, month and the
ploidy*month interaction had a significant effect on meat condition at all sites
except for ploidy at the southern, Lake Pambula site. From March to December
(autumn to the first month of summer) condition indices of triploids were
greater, or not significantly different from those of diploids at all sites. Triploid
Sydney rock oysters were susceptible to brown discolouration of the gonad surface.
Discolouration occurred in localised areas of the gonad and was not correlated to condition index except for triploids at Lake Pambula. As discolouration was less
noticeable during cooler months of the year, it coincided with the generally
superior condition of triploids relative to diploids during winter and spring, so that
triploids remain a viable winter crop for farmers throughout NSW.
After two years, an experiment in Port Stephens showed triploid oysters from
two initial size grades were heavier and larger than equivalent size grades of same
parent diploids (p <0.05). Initial size grade had a significant effect on final mean
whole weight and shell height for both ploidy types (r) < 0.05). There was no
significant difference in the final percentage triploidy between small and large
grade triploids. A large proportion of diploid/triploid mosaicism was detected in
adult triploid oysters.
To determine if improvements in growth of a selected oyster line (L2) were
additive to the faster growth of triploids, the performance of diploid and triploid
selected and control oysters (four oyster lines) was compared. After a grow-out
period of 21 months both mean whole weights and shell heights were in the
order: L2 triploids > control triploids > L2 diploids > control diploids. A
significant (p < 0.05) site* line interaction effect on whole weights and shell
heights was detected. Growth improvements from selective breeding and
triploidy were found to be additive with L2 triploids being 63% heavier than
control diploids after 21 months grow-out. In this experiment, the type of oyster
had no effect on final condition index, percent cavity volume, percent shell
weight or cumulative mortality. Both diploid and triploid selected oysters had significantly (p < 0.05) higher whole weight to shell height ratios than diploid
and triploid control oysters. Triploid Sydney rock oysters were shown to outperform diploids throughout
NSW in terms of growth, survival and meat condition. The demand for both
diploid and triploid Sydney rock oyster spat is now increasing and the
demonstrated ability to combine the growth advantages of triploidy with
selective breeding will no doubt increase the demand for hatchery spat further.
However, commercial uptake of triploid technology will rely on overcoming the
problems of early larval and spat mortality of hatchery reared Sydney rock
oysters to ensure continuity of supply to farmers.


Submicron Cu particle ink was developed to successfully achieve highly reliable and highly conductive Cu patterns on low-cost, transparent, and flexible substrates by an optimized two-step sintering process involving low temperature heat-welding and subsequent flash light sinter-reinforcement. The Cu ink contains a special additive of the Cu–amino complex made from copper(II) formate and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol solvent. Low temperature heat-welding promotes the decomposition of the Cu–amino complex into fresh metallic Cu particles, which as nano-welders can in situ weld those big submicron Cu particles. The subsequent flash light sintering further reinforces the connection between big Cu particles with the assistance of these active nano-welders and strengthens the adhesion between sintered Cu patterns and polymer substrates due to the local soft-effect. The achieved resistivities of sintered Cu patterns on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) and polyimide (PI) substrates are 26.5 μΩ cm, 15.9 μΩ cm and 7.2 μΩ cm at a low welding temperature of 140 °C for 10 min and subsequent flash light energies of 1080 mJ cm−2, 1273 mJ cm−2 and 2073 mJ cm−2, respectively, at which the same electrical properties cannot be obtained from either pure nano-Cu or submicron Cu particle ink as reported in previous research studies. Moreover, bending fatigue and oxidation-resistance tests indicate that the sintered Cu patterns have superior mechanical and environmental stability. Finally, flexible and foldable LED circuits and flexible dipole antennas were successfully fabricated to demonstrate the applicability of the sintered Cu patterns for printed electronic devices. It should be noted that this method opens a new way for making highly reliable and highly conductive Cu patterns on low-cost, transparent, and flexible substrates with big Cu particles instead of nanoparticles under a suitable sintering process, which may largely decrease the cost and enhance the application of Cu inks for flexible electronic devices.


In the synthesis of complex oxides, solid-state metathesis provides low-temperature reactions where product selectivity can be achieved through simple changes in precursor composition. The influence of precursor structure, however, is less understood in solid-state synthesis. Here we present the ternary metathesis reaction (LiMnO2 + YOCl → YMnO3 + LiCl) to target two yttrium manganese oxide products, hexagonal and orthorhombic YMnO3, when starting from three different LiMnO2 precursors. Using temperature-dependent synchrotron X-ray and neutron diffraction, we identify the relevant intermediates and temperature regimes of reactions along the pathway to YMnO3. Manganese-containing intermediates undergo a charge disproportionation into a reduced Mn(II,III) tetragonal spinel and oxidized Mn(III,IV) cubic spinel, which lead to hexagonal and orthorhombic YMnO3, respectively. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the presence of Mn(IV) caused by a small concentration of cation vacancies (∼2.2%) in YMnO3 stabilizes the orthorhombic polymorph over the hexagonal. Reactions over the course of 2 weeks yield o-YMnO3 as the majority product at temperatures below 600 °C, which supports an equilibration of cation defects over time. Controlling the composition and structure of these defect-accommodating intermediates provides new strategies for selective synthesis of complex oxides at low temperatures.


Over the past few years it has become clear that the Internet will play an ever greater role in the distribution of digital contents. Our main aim is to provide businesses in the digital contents sector with a tool which will enable them to take informed business strategy decisions and become more competitive by adapting their traditional business models to the new, demanding reality. To achieve this objective, we have applied multi-agent based simulation (MABS) technology to implement prototypes of music and news market models. In our simulations, agents represent market stakeholders that act autonomously according to their interests and interact with other agents inside the market environment. This allows end users to investigate the implications of a variety of decisions and strategies by running simulations starting from different initial conditions. Simulation results can be then analysed, either intuitively or through a statistical analysis, and this (together with flexibility) provides one of the main advantages of this MABS approach.


Peripheral nerve repair is often compromised by a failure to restore the biomechanical integrity of a damaged nerve. An understanding of the mechanical architecture that underpins the tensile properties of peripheral nerves, in particular their ability to bend and stretch during movement, is an important consideration in the design of tissue engineered repair conduits and other repair approaches. Mechanical features are distributed heterogeneously within rat nerve tissue, with compliance increased at articulations. This study sought to explore which ultrastructural features of the rat peripheral nerve are likely to be associated with this biomechanical heterogeneity, to examine whether these features are present in the human peripheral nerve and to conduct pilot investigations into the feasibility of assessing the mechanical behaviour of joint and non joint regions of nerve in human volunteers. The anatomical features of fascicle number, nerve cross sectional area and perineurium thickness were assessed in joint and non joint regions of rat median and sciatic nerve. Regional comparisons of collagen, elastin and beta spectrin were also made at these joint and non joint locations. Collagen fibril diameter in rat and human nerves was analysed using transmission electron microscopy and the number density of fibrils examined. Ultrasound was used to image the dynamic human nerve in a pilot study. There was no difference in the amount of collagen or elastin in joint and non joint regions of rat peripheral nerve and beta spectrin was present at both locations. Cross sectional area, degree of fasciculation and perineurium thickness were similar in joint and non joint areas. A population of collagen fibrils with significantly reduced diameter was found at the joint region of the rat median nerve that corresponds to the location of increased compliance in this tissue, though this pattern was not observed in the rat sciatic nerve. The number density of collagen fibrils was significantly increased at joint regions of the median nerve, indicating a greater number of thinner fibrils at this location. Examination of cadaveric human median nerves revealed a similar trend towards regional variation of collagen fibril diameter, with thinner fibrils at the joint regions compared to the non joint, particularly at the elbow, though the ulnar and radial nerves did not show a similar pattern. When the human median nerve was imaged using high resolution sonography, measurement of the displacement of the nerve at joint and non joint locations was achieved with the use of a novel speckle tracking algorithm, suggesting that with future development of this method it may be possible to measure strain. - See more at: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=6&uin=uk.bl.ethos.551623#sthash.HxhVGbri.dpuf


Dose projection is a tool for decision making in the case of a nuclear emergency situation. In this work the dose projection software developed for the Krsko NPP located in Slovenia is described. This software can be used for a quick emergency evaluation in the case of a hypothetical pressurised water reactor accident, and for emergency exercises. The software was developed to estimate reactor core damage, the status of fission product barriers, potential releases, atmospheric dispersion and finally the dose calculation. The intention was to use all the available automatic on-line measurements of the radiological monitors in the NPP, meteorological monitors in the surroundings and a modern atmospheric dispersion model capable of accurate calculations in the complex orography which is characteristic of the plant location. It is also important that the software is written in a user-friendly way, automated as highly as possible and executed on a widely used Windows platform for PCs. Details are given in the paragraphs Measurements and software modules and Air pollution dispersion calculation module. The program should provide a dose projection at an early stage of the accident (first hours) for distances of a few kilometres from the NPP. The results are available for a 25 km by 25 km area that includes the Krsko basin and some nearby hills and valleys. The results should support the decision of the emergency team in the NPP about evacuation or sheltering in the environment in the early phase of the accident. In the past the software used only a simple Gaussian air pollution dispersion model. Recently it was replaced with a numerical Lagrangean model called "Spray". Since the software was intended to be used for severe accident scenarios, it was also expected that the on-line meteorological and radiological parameters would not be completely available at all possible stages. For the case of missing radiological data, alternative possibilities were included, that require fewer or no measurements. The selection of this alternative is based on the operator's judgement according to the latest available data. Reduction of information certainly decreases the accuracy of the result. The final paragraphs explain the procedures for core status estimation, source term determination and dose projection.


This work-in-progress paper explores the intersection of technologies and software with the practices, of qualitative research and qualitative data analysis. Computer aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) packages such as ATLAS.ti, NVivo and HyperRESEARCH are the focus of competing claims and critiques. We explore the positioning, continuities and disjunctures between manufacturers promoting their software, positioning in teaching and training materials and a range of views in the literature from critical to laudatory, as well as their prevalence in research on networked learning. The pre-eminence and influence of expository writing and paucity of empirical research underscore the relevance and potential contribution of this project, We argue that part of that contribution comes from drawing on insights from science and technology studies (STS) which offer a well-developed vocabulary and set of approaches for exploring the agencies and mediation of technologies in the practices of research. The initial stages of the research project are outlined including online participant recruitment via facebook, methods of screen-share remote interviewing to generate rich data exploring software use, and incorporating accounts of researchers' practices. Their transformation and mediation to become "data" through different software packages are briefly explored. Drawing on Latour's model of the two-faced Janus of science with which contrasts "science in the making" with "ready made science" we turn to consider ways in which this project can invert the usual trope of University education as research led, asking instead how a research project could become teaching-led. We briefly explore some of the initial approaches and opportunities this has created for opening up the black-box of research practices and shifting software training methods to engage learners in a process of discovery as "learning in the making" rather than being tasked with stepping through fixed frames of "ready made teaching".


This Article critiques the startling arguments made by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") in O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner, a case in which the issue was whether a person diagnosed with gender identity disorder ("GID") could take a federal tax deduction for the costs of male-to-female medical transition, including hormone treatment, genital surgery, and breast augmentation. Internal Revenue Code § 213 allows a deduction for the costs of "medical care," which (1) includes costs incurred for "the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body," but (2) generally excludes "cosmetic surgery" and "similar procedures." Courts and the IRS interpreted the statutory definition of "medical care" consistently for decades until the IRS made a series of radical arguments in O'Donnabhain v. Commissioner. IRS opposition to O'Donnabhain's medical expense deduction tracked the views of Dr. Paul McHugh, an outspoken opponent of medical transition for transgender persons and a member of President George W. Bush's Council on Bioethics. In his writings, Dr. McHugh, a psychiatrist, asserts that (1) persons who "claim" to be transgender are delusional, (2) GID is deviant "behavior," not a disease, and (3) gender confirmation surgery ("GCS") should be prohibited as "collaborating with madness" and a moral "abomination." Views expressed by Dr. McHugh in an article, Surgical Sex, appeared in a 2004 letter that the Traditional Values Coalition sent IRS Commissioner Everson, to demand that the IRS not allow O'Donnabhain a deduction, and in Chief Counsel Advice issued by the IRS Office of Chief Counsel. Dr. McHugh's views also featured prominently in IRS arguments throughout the subsequent tax litigation. Incorporating excerpts from the extensive O'Donnabhain trial record (over 1,000 pages), this Article critiques the arguments made by the IRS in the case, and considers the implications of the case and the IRS's arguments going forward—not just in the context of GCS, but also in the context of other types of medical care, including reproductive medical care. Part I analyzes the statutory definition of "medical care" and the "general well-being" and "cosmetic surgery or other similar procedures" limitations on the definition of "medical care." Part II provides background on the facts of the case and the administrative tax controversy between O'Donnabhain and the IRS, reveals the significant influence of Dr. McHugh on the tax case, summarizes the arguments made by O'Donnabhain and the IRS in the United States Tax Court case, and discusses the Tax Court's 2010 reviewed decision. Part III analyzes and critiques specific IRS arguments, some of which were radical departures from long-standing case law and IRS practices, and highlights similarities between (1) GCS and (2) breast reconstruction following mastectomy or lumpectomy, which the IRS acknowledges is medical care, not cosmetic surgery. Part III also considers the IRS's arguments as a whole and concludes that the arguments the IRS made in the case are quite puzzling as a matter of tax law—but less puzzling when viewed as a covert attempt by the IRS to discourage GCS on moral grounds. In addition, Part III objects to the IRS's negative stereotyping of O'Donnabhain, medical professionals who specialize in GID, and transgender persons in general. Part IV distills a series of rules for interpreting the § 213(d) definition of "medical care" and explores the implications of the O'Donnabhain case beyond its specific facts. Part IV also voices a concern that the IRS might deploy similar tax arguments in the future to deny deductions for other controversial medical care on covert moral grounds, particularly in the context of reproductive medical care.


Self-control is assessed using a remarkable array of measures. In a series of five data-sets (overall N = 2,641) and a mini meta-analysis, we explored the association between canonical operationalisations of self-control: The Self-Control Scale and two measures of inhibition-related executive functioning (the Stroop and Flanker paradigms). Overall, Bayesian correlational analyses suggested little-to-no relationship between self-reported self-control and performance on the Stroop and Flanker tasks. The Bayesian meta-analytical summary of all five data-sets further favoured a null relationship between both types of measurement. These results suggest that the field's most widely used measure of self-reported self-control is uncorrelated with two of the most widely adopted executive functioning measures of self-control. Consequently, theoretical and practical conclusions drawn using one measure (e.g., the Self-Control Scale) cannot be generalised to findings using the other (e.g., the Stroop task). The lack of empirical correlation between measures of self-control do not invalidate either measure, but instead suggest that treatments of the construct of self-control need to pay greater attention to convergent validity among the many measures used to operationalize self-control.


Approximately 1000 people were killed in the collapse of buildings in Istanbul, Turkey, during the 17 August 1999 Izmit earthquake, whose epicenter was roughly 90 km east of the city. Most of the fatalities and damage occurred in the suburb of Avcilar that is 20 km further west of the epicenter than the city proper. To investigate this pattern of damage, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Kandilli Observatory & Earthquake Research Institute (KOERI), deployed portable digital seismographs at seven free-field sites in western Istanbul, to record aftershocks during the period from 24 August to 2 September. The primary objective of this deployment was to study the site effects by comparing the aftershock ground motions recorded at sites inside and outside the damaged area, and to correlate site effects with the distribution of the damaged buildings. In addition to using weak-motion data, mainshock and aftershock acceleration records from the KOERI permanent strong-motion array were also used in estimating the site effects. Site effects were estimated using S waves from both types of records. For the weak-motion data set, 22 events were selected according to the criteria of signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ratio) and the number of stations recording the same event. The magnitudes of these events ranged from 3.0 to 5.2. The acceleration data set consisted of 12 events with magnitudes ranging from 4.3 to 5.8 and included two mainshock events. Results show that the amplifying frequency band is, in general, less than 4 Hz, and the physical properties of the geologic materials are capable of amplifying the motions by a factor of 5-10. In this frequency band, there is a good agreement among the spectral ratios obtained from the two mainshocks and their aftershocks. The damage pattern for the 17 August Izmit earthquake is determined by several factors. However, our study suggests that the site effects in Avcilar played an important role in contributing to the damage.

Manuscript received 30 August 2000.


During the last decade there have been marked changes in the composition of the non-native workforce in the German labour market. In particular there has been a notable increase in the diversity of nationalities of which the foreign workforce is composed. In this paper we investigate the effects of this diversity for native employees. Our analysis is conducted at the local level and uses a panel of 326 Western German regions over the time period 1995-2006. When considering high-skilled foreign workers, we find that both the size of this group and the diversification into different nationalities raise local wages and employment for native employees. For low-skilled foreign workers we find negative size effects. However, these negative effects can be partly offset if the group of low-skilled foreigners is culturally diversified. Our results imply that diversity raises productivity at the local level, but that it is important to distinguish the skill composition of the foreign workforce. These findings remain robust in a variety of robustness checks that take into account omitted variable bias, selfselection of foreigners into particular regions, and spatial autocorrelation.


Is traffic congestion a problem or a solution? Think about it the next time you're stuck in traffic, or waiting for a long red light to turn green. All those people, all those cars and SUVs, and they're in your way! Is the sea of vehicles that impedes your progress clear evidence of a great social ill, or is it just the way people solve the problem of where to work and live?


The Complete Business Process Handbook is the most comprehensive body of knowledge on business processes with revealing new research. Written as a practical guide for Executives, Practitioners, Managers and Students by the authorities that have shaped the way we think and work with process today. It stands out as a masterpiece, being part of the BPM bachelor and master degree curriculum at universities around the world, with revealing academic research and insight from the leaders in the market. This book provides everything you need to know about the processes and frameworks, methods, and approaches to implement BPM. Through real-world examples, best practices, LEADing practices and advice from experts, readers will understand how BPM works and how to best use it to their advantage. Cases from industry leaders and innovators show how early adopters of LEADing Practices improved their businesses by using BPM technology and methodology. As the first of three volumes, this book represents the most comprehensive body of knowledge published on business process. Following closely behind, the second volume uniquely bridges theory with how BPM is applied today with the most extensive information on extended BPM. The third volume will explore award winning real-life examples of leading business process practices and how it can be replaced to your advantage. * Learn what Business Process is and how to get started* Comprehensive historical process evolution* In-depth look at the Process Anatomy, Semantics and Ontology* Find out how to link Strategy to Operation with value driven BPM* Uncover how to establish a way of Thinking, Working, Modelling and Implementation * Explore comprehensive Frameworks, Methods and Approaches * How to build BPM competencies and establish a Center of Excellence * Discover how to apply Social BPM, Sustainable and Evidence based BPM* Learn how Value & Performance Measurement and Management * Learn how to roll-out and deploy process * Explore how to enable Process Owners, Roles and Knowledge Workers * Discover how to Process and Application Modelling * Uncover Process Lifecycle, Maturity, Alignment and Continuous Improvement* Practical continuous improvement with the way of Governance * Future BPM trends that will affect business* Explore the BPM Body of Knowledge


In this paper we propose a framework to support a preliminary planning of services in the eGovernment domain, where we consider the case of Government to Business (G2B) interaction. The present work is founded in the context of the Service Science, an emerging effort to build a scientific discipline based on the concept of service. Services apply in a broad range of different domains, such as, among others, business, government, health care, finance. Due to the different facets of the concept of service, the diversities between these domains imply a growing complexity in providing a common theoretical framework. Moreover, in service planning where value configurations are strictly dependent on value propositions (and, in the eGovernment domain, on the political vision), the alignment of strategic and operational level is related to value based business modeling. The core of the proposed framework is a methodology, built on the basis of a conceptual model of the service domain. The general idea of the methodology is that the planning should be driven by a clear understanding of (i) the elements composing the service as a value configuration framework, (ii) the related qualities, and (iii) the strategic/political objectives. An application of the framework is discussed.


The increasing size and flexibility of large wind turbine blades introduces significant aeroelastic effects, which are caused by fluid-structure interaction. These effects might result in aeroelastic instability problems, such as edgewise instability and flutter, which can be devastating to the blades and the wind turbine. Therefore, developing a reliable and efficient aeroelastic model to investigate the aeroelasticity characterisation of large wind turbine blades is crucial in the development of large wind turbines.

There are several aeroelastic models available today for wind turbine blades. Almost all of them are linear models based on assumption of small blade deflections, and do not take account of large deflection effects on modelling responses and loads. However, with the increasing size and flexibility of large wind turbine blades, this assumption is not valid anymore because the blades often experience large deflections, which introduce significant geometric nonlinearities. Additionally, existing cross-sectional analysis models, which are used to extract cross-sectional properties of wind turbine composite blades for aeroelastic modelling, are either time-consuming or inaccurate.

This thesis aims to provide a reliable and efficient aeroelastic modelling of large wind turbine blades through developing 1) a cross-sectional model, which can extract cross-sectional properties of wind turbine composite blades in a reliable and efficient way; and 2) a nonlinear aeroelastic model, which is capable of handling large blade deflections.

In this thesis, a cross-sectional analysis model for calculating the cross-sectional properties of composite blades has been developed by incorporating classical lamination theory (CLT) with extended Bredt-Batho shear flow theory (EBSFT). The model considers the shear web effects and warping effects of composite blades and thus greatly improves the accuracy of torsional stiffness calculation. It also avoids complicated post-processing of force-displacement data from computationally expensive 3D finite-element analysis (FEA) and thus considerably improves the computational efficiency. A MATLAB program was developed to verify the accuracy and efficiency of the cross-sectional analysis model, and a series of benchmark calculation tests were undertaken. The results show that good agreement is achieved comparing with the data from experiment and FEA, and improved accuracy of torsional stiffness calculation due to consideration of the shear web effects is observed comparing with an existing cross-sectional analysis code PreComp.

Additionally, a nonlinear aeroelastic model for large wind turbine blades has been developed by combining 1) a blade structural model, which is based on a mixed-form formulation of geometrically exact beam theory (GEBT), taking account of geometric nonlinearities; and 2) a blade load model, which takes account of gravity loads, centrifugal loads and aerodynamic loads. The aerodynamic loads are calculated based on combining the blade element momentum (BEM) model and the Beddoes-Leishman (BL) dynamic stall model. The nonlinear aeroelastic model takes account of large blade deflections and thus greatly improves the accuracy of aeroelastic analysis of wind turbine blades. The nonlinear aeroelastic model was implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics, and a series of benchmark calculation tests were undertaken. The results show that good agreement is achieved when compared with experimental data, and its capability of handling large deflections is demonstrated. After the validation, the nonlinear aeroelastic model was applied to the aeroelastic simulation of the parked WindPACT 1.5MW wind turbine blade and to the stability analysis of the blade. Reduced flapwise deflection from the nonlinear aeroelastic model is observed compared to the linear aeroelastic code FAST. The calculated damping ratio of the edgewise mode is much lower than the calculated damping ratio of the flapwise mode, indicating that edgewise instability is more likely to occur than flapwise instability. It is also demonstrated that improper rotor rotational speeds can result in edgewise instability.


Direct sequencing of segments of the envelope gene of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 proviruses in peripheral blood mononuclear cells has revealed that a cohort of hemophiliacs who were infected after exposure to a single common batch of factor VIII share closely related virus strains. Seventy-four sequences extending from hypervariable regions V4 through V5 from nine patients yielded a mean intrapatient nucleotide distance of 5.5%, while a mean of 4.2 % was observed in 39 sequences of the V3 loop (six patients). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that sequences of six Edinburgh patients were particularly closely related and those from a patient infected in the United States were very distinct. The mean nucleotide distance among these six was 8.3%, while the mean distance from the U.S.-derived sequences was 25.5% in the V4-V5 region. The rate of sequence change across this patient group has been estimated to be 0.4% per year in the V4-V5 region and 0.5% per year in the V3 region, with at least a twofold range across patients. Only two inactivating nucleotide substitutions have been observed in a total of 42 kb of sequence obtained from the env and gag genes during this study.


The essay examines the recent discussion about a "crisis of testimony" in historiography. Central to this discussion is the question of how it is possible for human testimony to convey information about the limit experiences of 20th century history. Given that the credibility of testimony is assessed by appealing to our previous understanding of what is credible, testimony to limit experiences risks being dismissed as unbelievable or implausible. This issue has recently been addressed in the work of Paul Ricoeur, Hayden White and Gert-Jan van der Heiden among others. In the first part of this essay, I show that the current idea of a crisis of testimony is a consequence of focusing too exclusively on the content of extraordinary testimony. I argue that such a focus has affinities with David Hume's reductionist understanding of testimonial knowledge; even though the authors discussed cannot properly be labelled reductionists themselves. In the second part of the essay, I open up the issue of extraordinary testimony from a perspective that places the relationship between the speaker and the addressee at the heart of testimonial knowledge. My aim is to show that if we attend to the way in which testimonial knowledge involves dependence on the authority of another person, then the current idea of a crisis of testimony will dissolve itself. In conclusion, I argue that there is an important ethical dimension to the question of understanding extraordinary testimony.


Strawberries, rich in anthocyanins, attenuate meal-induced postprandial increases in inflammation and oxidative stress as well as improved post-meal insulin responses. While previous studies have focused on the health effects of strawberry consumption ingested with a meal, this study aimed to determine if consuming strawberries at alternative times near a meal would influence meal-induced oxidative-immuno-metabolic outcomes. Fourteen overweight healthy adults participated in a 3-arm, single-blinded, crossover clinical trial delivering a strawberry drink at 1 of 3 different time points: 2 hours before a standard meal, with the meal, or 2 hours after the meal. Control drinks were provided at the alternative time points so that 3 drinks were consumed at each study visit. Blood samples were collected over 10 h. Comparisons of plasma analytes were between strawberry "timing" groups and secondarily with a demographically matched reference group that ingested only control drinks (no strawberry). The study results showed significant reduction in postprandial glucose when strawberry was consumed before the meal compared to having the strawberry drink with the meal, p < 0.05. Compared to the reference group, consuming strawberries before and after the meal attenuated postprandial glucose without additional insulin, suggesting improved insulin sensitivity. Interleukin-6 was significantly lower after consuming the strawberry drink before the meal (p = 0.048) compared to the reference group. This study provides data suggesting that strawberries have a role in glycemic control and attenuating the pro-inflammatory effect of a modern diet. There may be particular advantages when strawberries are consumed before a meal.


This book is with an introduction and notes by Henry Claridge, Senior Lecturer, School of English, University of Kent at Canterbury. "Tender is the Night" is a story set in the hedonistic high society of Europe during the "Roaring Twenties". A wealthy schizophrenic, Nicole Warren, falls in love with Dick Diver - her psychiatrist. The resulting saga of the Diver's troubled marriage and their circle of friends, includes a cast of aristocratic and beautiful people, unhappy love affairs, a duel, incest, and the problems inherent in the possession of great wealth. Despite cataloging a maelstrom of interpersonal conflict, "Tender is the Night" has a poignancy and warmth which springs from the quality of F Scott Fitzgerald's writing and the tragic personal experiences on which the book is based.


Male mate choice might be based on both absolute and relative strategies. Cues of female attractiveness are thus likely to reflect both fitness and reproductive potential, as well as compatibility with particular male phenotypes. In humans, absolute clues of fertility and indices of favorable developmental stability are generally associated with increased women's attractiveness. However, why men exhibit variable preferences remains less studied. Male mate choice might be influenced by uncertainty of paternity, a selective factor in species where the survival of the offspring depends on postnatal paternal care. For instance, in humans, a man might prefer a woman with recessive traits, thereby increasing the probability that his paternal traits will be visible in the child and ensuring paternity. Alternatively, attractiveness is hypothesized to be driven by self-resembling features (homogamy), which would reduce outbreeding depression. These hypotheses have been simultaneously evaluated for various facial traits using both real and artificial facial stimuli. The predicted preferences were then compared to realized mate choices using facial pictures from couples with at least 1 child. No evidence was found to support the paternity uncertainty hypothesis, as recessive features were not preferred by male raters. Conversely, preferences for self-resembling mates were found for several facial traits (hair and eye color, chin dimple, and thickness of lips and eyebrows). Moreover, realized homogamy for facial traits was also found in a sample of long-term mates. The advantages of homogamy in evolutionary terms are discussed.


The share of UK imports from developing countries has increased sharply in recent years. Using measures of bilateral trade prices, this article suggests that increased sourcing from low-cost economies has put significant downward pressure on the relative price of UK goods imports. However, this effect may have dissipated over time as the prices of UK imports from low-cost economies have risen more rapidly than in the past and developing economies' increasing demand for raw materials has contributed to higher oil and commodities prices.


This white paper, entitled "Better use of Global Navigation Satellite Systems for safer and greener transport", explains the role of positioning systems in transportation and the necessity to correctly assess their performance. This document introduces the fundamentals of positioning systems with a particular focus on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). It describes the positioning terminal architecture and the parameters used for the characterization of performance such as availability, accuracy and integrity. The goal of this white paper is to inform the key actors of the terrestrial transport sector on the issues and the impacts of positioning quality in applications, more specifically in intelligent transport systems.


In this paper, we present new detailed data on the trace metal content of more than 200 shallow polar snow samples collected at various depths in numerous locations mainly in Antarctica and Greenland.
The samples were collected in ultraclean plexiglass or teflon tubes from the walls of hand dug pits, using stringent contamination free techniques controlled by severe blank tests. They were then analysed for Na, Mg, K, Ca, Fe, Al, Mn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn and Ag in clean room conditions by flameless atomic absorption, after a preconcentration step (by non boiling evaporation in teflon bulbs) which includes dissolving any solid particles by concentrated nitric and hydrofluoric acids. The overall precision on the measured concentrations is of the order of 10 % for all the metals except Pb (20%) and Cd (35%), using 95% confidence limits,
The data obtained are compared with those published previously in the literature. Part of these previous data are shown to be erroneously too high, probably because of contamination problems both during field collection and analysis.


The design and optimization of a nonlinear dynamic vibration absorber based on a snap-through truss geometry is investigated. The effect of absorber's parameters on primary system (PS) vibration amplitude reduction and frequency range of operation is analyzed. Within parametric analyses of the absorber, a methodology was proposed to tune the absorber's stiffness. Results show that the nonlinear vibration absorber may be substantially more effective than its linear counterpart both in terms of vibration amplitude reduction and absorption frequency range. Possible difficulties and/or limitations caused by the nonlinearity induced by the absorber are analyzed and, for the studied case, do not diminish the advantages of the nonlinear absorber (NLAbs). The effect of absorber's damping on the vibration reduction performance was also analyzed indicating that the NLAbs outperforms its linear counterpart even for higher damping levels.


As recognized in the European Water Framework Directive, groundwater-dependent wetlands and their diverse ecosystems have important functions which need to be protected. The vegetation in such habitats is often dependent on quality, quantity and patterns of river discharge and groundwater-surface water interaction on a local or reach scale. Since groundwater-surface water exchange studies on natural rivers and wetlands with organic soils are scarce, more functional analysis is needed. To this end we combined different field methods including piezometer nests, temperature as tracer and seepage meter measurements. Some of these measurements were used as inputs and/or as validation for the numerical 1-D heat transport model STRIVE. In transient mode the model was used to calculate spatially distributed vertical exchange fluxes from temperature profiles measured at the upper Biebrza River in Poland over a period of nine months. Time series of estimated fluxes and hydraulic head gradients in the hyporheic zone were used to estimate the temporal variability of groundwater-surface water exchange. This paper presents a hierarchical approach for quantifying and interpreting groundwater-surface water interaction in space and time. The results for the upper Biebrza show predominantly upward water fluxes, sections of recharge, however, exist along the reach. The fluxes depend more on hydraulic gradients than on riverbed conductivity. This indicates that the fluvio-plain scale is required for interpreting the exchange fluxes, which are estimated on a local scale. The paper shows that a conceptual framework is necessary for understanding the groundwater-surface water interaction processes, where the exchange fluxes are influenced by local factors like the composition of the riverbed and the position of the measurement on a local scale, and by regional factors like the hydrogeology and topography on a fluvio-plain scale. The hierarchical methodology increases the confidence in the estimated exchange fluxes and improves the process understanding. The accuracy of the measurements and related uncertainties, however, remain challenges for wetland environments. Gaining quantitative information on groundwater-surface water interaction can improve modeling confidence and as a consequence helps to develop effective procedures for management and conservation of valuable groundwater dependent wetlands.


A significant component of any intelligent environment is the human - machine interface. It is highly likely that in the future such an interface will, for the majority of applications, closely model human to human communication. In fact we may expect that the human - machine interface will increasingly mimic the behavior and appearance of humans. Two years ago BT set up the Maya project. The aim of this project_was to research into the spoken language and kinesic1 aspects of such an interface and to provide an effective computational research framework. Due to scale of the problem, Maya collaborates closely with a number of other groups within BT, these include speech synthesis (Page and Breen 1996) or (Edgington, Lowry, Jackson, Breen and Minnis 1996) recognition (Pawlewski 1996), understanding (Wyard 1996) and virtual humans (Breen 1996) or (Breen, Bowers and Welsh 1996). This paper provides an insight into the underlying principles governing developments within the Maya project. The paper begins with an introduction to a number of the issues affecting natural human - machine discourse. It then briefly describes the computational framework being developed within the Maya project and uses the example of speech synthesis to argue that advanced research into spoken language and Kinesics is best achieved within such an integrated framework.


This study investigated the impact of Bliss based computer augmented communication (CAC) on
the daily communication and daily activities of severely disabled speech impaired children from
a Finnish school for disabled children from the point of view of the children, their discussion
partners and therapists; it also investigated the value and meaning of the CAC devices for them.
The school staff had considerable experience in the use of computers with disabled children, but
only a few had any experience of CAC.
In order to gain a rich understanding of the subject matter, a qualitative multiple case study
approach was adopted. The longitudinal study investigated CAC in the real life environments of
six severely disabled speech impaired children, aged 7 to 15 years, their parents, helpers,
teachers, speech therapists and occupational therapists. All of the speech impaired children had
cerebral palsy and their main mode of communication was Blissymbolics, used with the aid of a
communication folder. The multiple methods of data collection used in the study included
interviews, videotaped observations, the Assessment of Communication Skills Questionnaire,
essays and data logs. The data gathering started before the participants received their CAC
devices and continued 3,6 and 12 months after they received the devices: it involved studying
participants in three different communicative environments. The data analysis was conducted by
a narrative analysis of each individual case, which was followed up with a cross-case analysis.
The process of CAC was highly individual and context dependent. During the study all the
speech impaired participants learned to operate their CAC devices. Their initial enthusiasm
begant o decreaseth ree to six months after the participants received their devices.A t the end of
the study year, one of the participants used his CAC device nearly daily in two of his
communicative environments, two of them used their devices regularly a couple of times a week,
two of them hardly at all, and one not at all. The CAC devices were hardly used for face-to-face
communication, they were mainly used for educational purposes, written communication, play
and leisure. The children and their discussion partners perceived that the main reasons for not
using CAC devices were the poor usability of devices, such as slow speed of CAC and
insufficient vocabularies, and insufficient related services. During the CAC process the
motivation to communicate of four participants increased, the communication folder use of three
participants increased and vocalisations of two participants increased.
V
Despite of the perceived limitations of CAC, the speech impaired children considered the CAC
devices important for them and helpful primarily in school work and play. Participants'
discussion partners assessed that CAC enriched the children's communication and increased
dialogue between themselves and the children. Discussion partners also considered as
particularly important the participants' independence in being able to operate the CAC devices
themselves and their possibility to use voice output. New opportunities provided by CAC
devices were especially meaningful to the participants' parents.
The study showed that CAC requires substantial highly specialised services and a number of
recommendations were made on the basis of the study. CAC interventions should focus on not
only the operative and communication skills of the users. Professionals conducting CAC
interventions should evaluate more carefully what users need and subsequently evaluate whether
the CAC devices meet these needs. They should also understand and support the motivational
processes and psychosocial aspects of developing the use of CAC. The findings suggest that
CAC devices should be introduced to severely disabled speech impaired children as an additional
mode of communication for face-to-face and indirect communicative purposes and within the
context of meaningful activities. This study has shown that CAC is an extremely complex
phenomenon with a mixture of interrelated elements that affect the daily communication and
daily activities of severely disabled speech impaired children.


Over the last decades, obesity has been increased in alarming rates not only in our country but also worldwide, tending to become one of the major health problems in the western world. Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between dietary patterns and body mass index, as well as central obesity in young adult men. Method and Material: Study sample consisted of 1,000 army recruits and data was collected during their first referral for medical examination post recruitment. Collection of data was performed by means of a specifically designed questionnaire, which recruits were asked to complete themselves. Basic anthropometric measures were calculated and recorded by the examining physicians. Analysis of data was performed using the SPSS 15 statistical package and one-way ANOVA and t-tests were applied for the statistical process. Results: Regarding age, 13.8% of participants were 19-21 years old; 50.8% were 22-24 years old, and 30.7% were 25-27 years old, while 4.7% of participants were 28-30 years old. Regarding educational background, a 4.7% had received only basic education; 31.6% had received high-school education; and 63.7% had attended some college or university. 54.8% of participants considered their weight being "normal"; 5.1% considered weight being slightly or excessively above normal rates; and 40.3% reported that their weight was below normal rates. However, measurement results showed that only 58.7% of recruits were actually of normal body weight; 37.2% were overweight; and 4.1% were obese. Regarding central obesity, 50.3% of responders were classified as belonging to "low risk" group, with a 48.6% belonging to "moderate risk" group, and another 1.1% to "high risk" group. Statistic analysis of data revealed that the specific pattern of nourishment is associated to body mass index and to central obesity. More in advance, it was found that persons possessing optimal body weight were consuming significantly more frequently poultry, fish, or roast beef, p=0,022, as well as less bread, p=0,036 compared to the overweight participants. In addition, persons possessing optimal body weight were found to consume more frequently refreshers, sports drinks or soft drinks, p=<0,001, as well as snacks and desserts, p=<0,001 compared to both overweight and obese persons. Interestingly, persons with normal body weight reported consuming significantly more frequently fast-food meals, eggs, and sandwiches in their lunch-time, p=0,007 and p=0,040, respectively. Relatively to central obesity, recruits in "moderate risk" consumed significantly more frequently fast-food meals, p=0,005, more bread, p=0,035 and less fruit, p=0,030 than those in "low risk" for central obesity. Conclusions: Results of the present study suggest that the pattern of nourishment is not directly correlated to body mass index, but rather to central obesity.


In the 1970s the large multinational entertainment conglomerates that gained control of both publishing and Hollywood traded the rights to creative works across different media, hoping for a single moneymaking hit. This new emphasis on blockbuster productions led to a "winner-take-all" labor market with a few superstar earners and many struggling unknowns. Both Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick used their respective versions of The Shining to describe the conditions of the 1970s media industries. Each told the story of a would-be middle-class writer grappling with the Overlook Hotel, the larger, phantasmal structure of capital that surrounds him. In King's version the hotel represents publishing and other aspects of the literary field, whereas Kubrick identifies it more closely with Warner Brothers, which distributed and financed the film. Understanding The Shining as a narrative of artistic production will ultimately help us understand not only the interlocking structure of the publishing and film industries in the late 1970s but also the ways in which the inequality in the media industries during that time prefigured and helped to justify the growing social inequality across society under neoliberalism.


We present a renormalizable theory of scalars in which the low-energy effective theory contains a pseudo-Goldstone boson with a compact field space of 2 pi F and an approximate discrete shift symmetry Z(Q) with Q >> 1, yet the number of fields in the theory goes as log Q. Such a model can serve as a UV completion to models of relaxions and is a new source of exponential scale separation in field theory. While the model is local in "theory space," it appears not to have a continuum generalization (i.e., it cannot be a deconstructed extra dimension). Our framework shows that super-Planckian field excursions can be mimicked while sticking to renormalizable four-dimensional quantum field theory. We show that a supersymmetric extension is straightforwardly obtained, and we illustrate possible UV completions based on a compact extra dimension, where all global symmetries arise accidentally as a consequence of gauge invariance and five-dimensional locality.


Psychotic disorders are often preceded by impaired cognitive functioning. Self-reported psychotic symptoms during adolescence have been associated with the development of a psychotic disorder in adulthood (Poulton et al., 2000; Welham et al., 2009a; 2009b). Adolescents who report psychotic-like experiences (PLEs; the non-clinical psychosis phenotype) have been shown to share many of the same schizophrenia-related risk factors as patients with schizophrenia (the clinical psychosis phenotype; Kelleher & Cannon, 2011).
The following thesis employs both behavioural and electrophysiological methods in an attempt to uncover possible correlates of PLEs in a community-based sample of young adolescent participants compared to a control group. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recording took place following a detailed clinical interview and neuropsychological testing. Neuropsychological functioning and resting state EEG data were examined. Three tasks which investigate capacities which have been proposed as trait markers for schizophrenia were chosen for use with EEG. These tasks were an Active Auditory Oddball Task, an Implicit Spatial Memory Task and a Spatial Working Memory Task. The present thesis is the first study to examine resting state data and the electrophysiological correlates of auditory and spatial processing in adolescents reporting PLEs.
In Chapter 3 the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) was employed to test group differences on a number of tests of neuropsychological functioning. Chapter 3 also examines quantitative EEG spectral power in the delta (1.5-3.5Hz), theta (3.5-7.5Hz) and alpha (7.5-12.5Hz) frequency bands during resting state recordings in which participants had their eyes open for two minutes and eyes closed for an additional two minutes. Adolescents reporting PLEs scored more poorly on two
measures of speed of processing. No between-group differences were observed in the resting state data at anterior, posterior or fronto-temporal scalp locations.
In Chapter 4 an Active Auditory Oddball Task was employed to test group differences in the P300 event-related potential (ERP) and the N100 auditory evoked potential (AEP). Reduced amplitude of the P300 ERP to target tones has been reported in patients with schizophrenia, first-episode psychosis (FEP), groups at genetic high risk for psychosis and, most recently, in clinical at-risk groups. Reduced amplitude of the N100 AEP to non-target tones has also been reported in schizophrenia patients and first-degree relatives of patients. An increase in the amplitude of the N100 AEP component to non-target tones was observed in the PLEs group in the present thesis. No between-group-differences in mean amplitude of the P300 component to target tones were observed; however, mean amplitude to target tones at FCz was found to be significantly greater than mean amplitude to non-target tones in the control group but not in the PLEs group at fronto-central locations.
Chapters 5 and 6 investigated spatial processing and spatial working memory, respectively. No between-group differences were observed in the behavioural or electrophysiological data obtained from the Implicit Spatial Memory Task. Data from the Spatial Working Memory Task revealed no between-group differences for accuracy or reaction time. Greater reaction time variability was observed in the PLEs group relative to control group however. Reduced mean amplitude of the P300 component was observed in the PLEs group relative to the control group at parietal electrode sites.
The present thesis adds to the knowledge of PLEs in early adolescence by reporting reduced P300 during spatial working memory retrieval in this group while spatial processing and memory (as assessed by the Implicit Spatial Memory Task) remain unimpaired. This reduction in P300 amplitude may reflect disrupted neural
processes underlying stimulus evaluation and template matching during retrieval in the PLEs group. The finding of reduced P300 in the PLEs group on the Spatial Working Memory Task adds to previous findings of impaired spatial working memory in this group reported by Kelleher et al. (2012c), and expands existing findings of reduced P300 amplitude in adolescent onset schizophrenia (Haenschel et al., 2007) by revealing reduced P300 amplitude in the treatment-naive extended psychosis phenotype.


Machine learning has been successfully applied to a wide range of prediction problems, yet its application to data streams can be complicated by concept drift. Existing approaches to handling concept drift are overwhelmingly reliant on the assumption that it is possible to obtain the true label of an instance shortly after classification at a negligible cost. The aim of this thesis is to examine, and attempt to address, some of the problems related to handling concept drift when the cost of obtaining labels is high. This thesis presents Decision Value Sampling (DVS), a novel concept drift handling approach which periodically chooses a small number of the most useful instances to label. The newly labelled instances are then used to re-train the classifier, an SVM with a linear kernel, to handle any change in concept that might occur. In this way, only the instances that are required to keep the classifier up-to-date are labelled. The evaluation of the system indicates that a classifier can be kept up-to-date with changes in concept while only requiring 15% of the data stream to be labelled. In a data stream with a high throughput this represents a significant reduction in the number of labels required. The second novel concept drift handling approach proposed in this thesis is Confidence Distribution Batch Detection (CDBD). CDBD uses a heuristic based on the distribution of an SVM's confidence in its predictions to decide when to rebuild the classifier. The evaluation shows that CDBD can be used to reliably detect when a change in concept has taken place and that concept drift can be handled if the classifier is rebuilt when CDBD signals a change in concept. The evaluation also shows that CDBD obtains a considerable labels saving as it only requires labelled data when a change in concept has been detected. The two concept drift handling approaches deal with concept drift in a different manner, DVS continuously adapts the classifier, whereas CDBD only adapts the classifier when a sizeable change in concept is suspected. They reflect a divide also found in the literature, between continuous rebuild approaches (like DVS) and triggered rebuild approaches (like CDBD). The final major contribution in this thesis is a comparison between continuous and triggered rebuild approaches, as this is an underexplored area. An empirical comparison between representative techniques from both types of approaches shows that triggered rebuild works slightly better on large datasets where the changes in concepts occur infrequently, but in general a continuous rebuild approach works the best.


ABSTRACT With worldwide concern over the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture and their contribution to the spread of antibiotic resistance, alternatives to conventional antibiotics are needed. Previous research in our laboratories has shown that colicin E1 is effective against some Escherichia coli strains responsible for postweaning diarrhea (PWD) in vitro. In this study we examined the efficacy of the dietary inclusion of colicin E1 in preventing experimentally induced PWD caused by F18-positive enterotoxigenic E. coli in young pigs. Twenty-four weaned pigs (23 days of age), identified by genotyping to be susceptible to F18-positive E. coli infections, were individually housed and fed diets containing 0, 11, or 16.5 mg colicin E1/kg diet. Two days after the start of the trial, all animals were orally inoculated with 1 × 109 CFU of each of two F18-positive E. coli strains isolated from pigs with PWD. The dietary inclusion of colicin E1 decreased the incidence and severity of PWD caused by F18-positive enterotoxigenic E. coli and improved the growth performance of the piglets. Additionally, the reduced incidence of PWD due to dietary colicin E1, lowered the levels of expression of the genes for interleukin 1β and tumor necrosis factor beta in ileal tissues from these animals. The dietary inclusion of colicin E1 may be an effective alternative to conventional antibiotics in the diets of weaning pigs for the prevention of PWD caused by F18-positive enterotoxigenic E. coli.


Abstract Background Melioidosis is difficult to diagnose clinically and culture of Burkholderia pseudomallei is the current, imperfect gold standard. However, a reliable point-of-care test (POCT) could enable earlier treatment and improve outcomes. Methods We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Active Melioidosis Detect™ (AMD) rapid test as a POCT and determined how much it reduced the time to diagnosis compared with culture. Results We tested 106 whole blood, plasma and buffy coat samples, 96 urine, 28 sputum and 20 pus samples from 112 patients, of whom 26 (23.2%) were culture-positive for B. pseudomallei. AMD sensitivity and specificity were 65.4 and 87.2%, respectively, the latter related to 10 weak positive reactions on urine samples, considered likely false positives. The positive predictive value was 60.7%, negative predictive value was 89.3% and concordance rate between operators reading the test was 95.7%; time to diagnosis decreased by a median of 23 h. Conclusions Our findings confirm that a strongly positive AMD result can reduce the time to diagnosis of melioidosis. However, the AMD currently has a disappointing overall sensitivity, especially with blood fractions, and specificity problems when testing urine samples.


The apical complex is the definitive cell structure of phylum Apicomplexa, and is the focus of the events of host cell penetration and the establishment of intracellular parasitism. Despite the importance of this structure, its molecular composition is relatively poorly known and few studies have experimentally tested its functions. We have characterized a novel Toxoplasma gondii protein, RNG2, that is located at the apical polar ring—the common structural element of apical complexes. During cell division, RNG2 is first recruited to centrosomes immediately after their duplication, confirming that assembly of the new apical complex commences as one of the earliest events of cell replication. RNG2 subsequently forms a ring, with the carboxy- and amino-termini anchored to the apical polar ring and mobile conoid, respectively, linking these two structures. Super-resolution microscopy resolves these two termini, and reveals that RNG2 orientation flips during invasion when the conoid is extruded. Inducible knockdown of RNG2 strongly inhibits host cell invasion. Consistent with this, secretion of micronemes is prevented in the absence of RNG2. This block, however, can be fully or partially overcome by exogenous stimulation of calcium or cGMP signaling pathways, respectively, implicating the apical complex directly in these signaling events. RNG2 demonstrates for the first time a role for the apical complex in controlling secretion of invasion factors in this important group of parasites.


This thesis investigates in what way trade flows in Europe have been altered and differ for countries belonging to a preferential trade agreement as well as a common currency area. More specifically, how exports among the European countries are affected by memberships with the European Union and the EMU. A total of 72 countries have been chosen which represents the main trading partners between the EU and the rest of the world. Out of these 72 countries, 25 represent EU members which include 12 EMU member countries. The econometric analysis employ a gravity model with 18 variables in order to determine their impact on trade flows. This is done through a regression with a log-log equation where the dependent variable is export. The other variables included are chosen to explain export flows among the EU members as well as their trade with EMU countries and the rest of the world. Furthermore, variables representing trade affinities are included to determine whether or not they have a significant effect on trade. The regression is divided into four time periods in order to more easily determine how the trade pattern in Europe have altered from the establishment of the EU and the EMU. The first time period represent an early state of EU membership, the second a mature state of EU membership, the third when EU was reformed and the fourth an early state of EMU membership. The regression results illustrate that the majority of the selected variables are significant but most importantly that the trade affinity variables are proven to have an impact on trade flows. The results also show that trade has increased and that in the case of EU membership it is more profitable to join than to remain outside. Moreover, the result show in par-ticular that countries that belong to the EMU have a stronger orientation of their exports to the rest of the world then other EU countries. For the latter, the European market is of prime importance.


In a context in which research evidence indicates high rates of alleged sexual victimization among adults with psychosocial disabilities, this article draws upon rape allegation data collected by the Metropolitan Police Service in April and May 2012, to explore some of the challenges that are posed to the criminal justice system by these types of complainants. Although the insights that can be generated from these data in relation to complainants with psychosocial disabilities are limited, in the context of this article it provides a valuable snapshot into contemporary patterns of rape victimization and attrition in England and Wales. It also serves as a useful stepping off point from which to highlight the need for more sustained critical research and reflection on the treatment of complainants, and the adequacy of police and prosecutor training and practice in this area.


Fifty-five (55) samples from five municipalities in the Reconcavo from Bahia region were analyzed between May and July 2015 to evaluate the sanitary quality and the presence of pathogens of crude and processed bovine milk samples. Psichrotrophic, mesophilic and thermophile rates and the count of Escherichia coli, E. coli O157: H7 Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria monocytogenes were done by microbiological methods rapid detection. There was a greater contamination and presence of pathogens in the raw milk when compared to processed milk. However, total coliforms were detected in 14.28%, E. coli in 7.14% and E. coli O157: H7 in 2.04% of processed milk. The enforcement by authorities against the illegal sale of raw milk and the monitoring of steps in milk production up to marketing should be mandatory.

 Key words: Sanitary conditions, dairy industry, food safety.


Previous research in patent search has shown that reducing queries by extracting a few key terms is ineffective primarily because of the vocabulary mismatch between patent applications used as queries and existing patent documents. This finding has led to the use of full patent applications as queries in patent prior art search. In addition, standard information retrieval (IR) techniques such as query expansion (QE) do not work effectively with patent queries, principally because of the presence of noise terms in the massive queries. In this study, we take a new approach to QE for patent search. Text segmentation is used to decompose a patent query into self coherent sub-topic blocks. Each of these much shorted sub-topic blocks which is representative of a specific aspect or facet of the invention, is then used as a query to retrieve documents. Documents retrieved using the different resulting sub-queries or query streams are interleaved to construct a final ranked list. This technique can exploit the potential benefit of QE since the segmented queries are generally more focused and less ambiguous than the full patent query. Experiments on the CLEF-2010 IP prior-art search task show that the proposed method outperforms the retrieval effectiveness achieved when using a single full patent application text as the query, and also demonstrates the potential benefits of QE to alleviate the vocabulary mismatch problem in patent search.


. Dissipative Particle Dynamics (DPD) is a simulation method at mesoscopic scales that bridges the gap between molecular dynamics and continuum hydrodynamics. It can simulate efficiently complex liquids and dense suspensions using only a few thousands of virtual particles and at speed-up factors of more than one hundred thousands compared to Molecular Dynamics. Lowe's approach provides a powerful alternative to the usual DPD integrating schemes. Here, we demonstrate the details and potential of Lowe's scheme. We compute viscosity, diffusivity and Schmidt number values and we present comparison of wormlike chain models under shear with experimental and Brownian Dynamics results for λ -phage DNA.


Effects associated with the penetration of an electric field E into a superconductor with deviations from thermodynamic equilibrium are considered. The penetration of a static field E incident to the passage of a current across the boundary between the superconductor and the normal metal (S-N boundary) is analyzed. At temperatures close to the critical temperature the penetration depth lE of a field E into the S region may be much greater than the correlation length or the London depth and may reach macroscopic dimensions in sufficiently pure specimens. In isotropic superconductors the magnitude of lE is determined by the branch imbalance relaxation processes. The change in the gap width at the S-N boundary leads to an additional branch imbalance relaxation mechanism which, in pure specimens, is due to Andreev reflection of quasiparticles. The resistance of a superconductor in the intermediate state is calculated. Weakly damped collective oscillations with an acoustic spectrum, which exist in superconductors near the critical temperature, are considered. This collective mode is characterized by oscillations of both the field E and the branch imbalance. The propagation velocity of the oscillations is somewhat lower than the Fermi velocity. Effects associated with the penetration of the field E to great depths in Josephson bridges are analyzed. The theory of the phenomena considered is presented, using the kinetic equation and the equations for the Green's functions. Experiments are described for measuring effects associated with the penetration of a static field E into a superconductor and for detecting the collective oscillations.


Over the past two decades, piracy activities in Southeast Asia have been recognized as a serious threat to regional security. While states have played a leading role in fighting maritime piracy, anti-piracy nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—ranging from industry and seafarer associations to think tanks and Track II scholarly networks—have also been influential in addressing this problem. These NGOs, especially the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), were able to successfully portray piracy as a threat to navigational safety, maritime trade, energy security, and a potential source of terrorism. The pressure exerted by NGOs on littoral governments in Southeast Asia resulted in greater state-to-state and regional military cooperation, as exemplified by the 2004 landmark maritime initiative between Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia— MALSINDO—to patrol the Strait of Malacca. Operation MALSINDO has been successful in curbing the number of pirate attacks and industry watchers assume that the current approach is working.


This stimulating new book, which combines dictionary research and linguistic knowledge, analyses the representation of meaning in business dictionaries from a pedagogical perspective. By examining in detail the macrostructure, mediostructure, access structure and microstructure of eight business dictionaries, this book presents interesting findings on how the dictionaries studied represent the 'noun-term', and on how they cope with the principles of new lexicography that aims at solving the needs of a specific type of user with specific types of problems related to a specific type of user situation. This exhaustive study, which makes simultaneous contributions to the theory of terminology, lexicography, and LSP teaching, defends a methodological confluence between LSP lexicography and terminology, and proposes some guiding principles towards the construction of pedagogically-oriented specialised dictionaries that must target students enrolled in LSP courses: Business English, Business Spanish, Business Translation, etc.


Based on her experiences as a stripper in a city she calls Laurelton—a southeastern city renowned for its strip clubs—anthropologist Katherine Frank provides a fascinating insider's account of the personal and cultural fantasies motivating male heterosexual strip club "regulars." Given that all of the clubs where she worked prohibited physical contact between the exotic dancers and their customers, in G-Strings and Sympathy Frank asks what—if not sex or even touching—the repeat customers were purchasing from the clubs and from the dancers. She finds that the clubs provide an intermediate space—not work, not home—where men can enjoyably experience their bodies and selves through conversation, fantasy, and ritualized voyeurism. At the same time, she shows how the dynamics of male pleasure and privilege in strip clubs are intertwined with ideas about what it means to be a man in contemporary America.

Frank's ethnography draws on her work as an exotic dancer in five clubs, as well as on her interviews with over thirty regular customers—middle-class men in their late-twenties to mid-fifties. Reflecting on the customers' dual desires for intimacy and visibility, she explores their paradoxical longings for "authentic" interactions with the dancers, the ways these aspirations are expressed within the highly controlled and regulated strip clubs, and how they relate to beliefs and fantasies about social class and gender. She considers how regular visits to strip clubs are not necessarily antithetical to marriage or long-term heterosexual relationships, but are based on particular beliefs about marriage and monogamy that make these clubs desirable venues. Looking at the relative "classiness" of the clubs where she worked—ranging from the city's most prestigious clubs to some of its dive bars—she reveals how the clubs are differentiated by reputations, dress codes, cover charges, locations, and clientele, and describes how these distinctions become meaningful and erotic for the customers. Interspersed throughout the book are three fictional interludes that provide an intimate look at Frank's experiences as a stripper—from the outfits to the gestures, conversations, management, coworkers, and, of course, the customers.

Focusing on the experiences of the male clients, rather than those of the female sex workers, G-Strings and Sympathy provides a nuanced, lively, and tantalizing account of the stigmatized world of strip clubs.


Abstract. The empirical relationship found between column-integrated Arctic ozone loss and the potential volume of polar stratospheric clouds inferred from meteorological analyses is recalculated in a self-consistent manner using the ERA Interim reanalyses. The relationship is found to hold at different altitudes as well as in the column. The use of a PSC formation threshold based on temperature dependent cold aerosol formation makes little difference to the original, empirical relationship. Analysis of the photochemistry leading to the ozone loss shows that activation is limited by the photolysis of nitric acid. This step produces nitrogen dioxide which is converted to chlorine nitrate which in turn reacts with hydrogen chloride on any polar stratospheric clouds to form active chlorine. The rate-limiting step is the photolysis of nitric acid: this occurs at the same rate every year and so the interannual variation in the ozone loss is caused by the extent and persistence of the polar stratospheric clouds. In early spring the ozone loss rate increases as the solar insolation increases the photolysis of the chlorine monoxide dimer in the near ultraviolet. However the length of the ozone loss period is determined by the photolysis of nitric acid which also occurs in the near ultraviolet. As a result of these compensating effects, the amount of the ozone loss is principally limited by the extent of original activation rather than its timing. In addition a number of factors, including the vertical changes in pressure and total inorganic chlorine as well as denitrification and renitrification, offset each other. As a result the extent of original activation is the most important factor influencing ozone loss. These results indicate that relatively simple parameterisations of Arctic ozone loss could be developed for use in coupled chemistry climate models.


There has been a growing popularity in a technique similar to a massage that is easily accessible known as self-myofascial release, or more commonly as "foam rolling". While research has been conducted to examine the effects on a smooth foam roller, little research has been conducted regarding a more aggressive form of deep tissue self-myofascial release on muscular strength and fatigability. PURPOSE: To examine the acute effect of deep tissue self-myofascial release on hip range of motion and fatigue rate of the quadriceps in uninjured individuals. METHODS: Nineteen males, ages 20-35, with no prior knee surgery/injury on their preferred leg regardless of current functional status were recruited. Subjects were allowed familiarity trials for goniometry of hip flexion/extension, self-myofascial release, and the isokinetic strength/fatigability test prior to exercise testing. All subjects underwent three experimental trials [self-myofascial release (SMR), static stretching (STS), no additional warm-up control (CON)] in a balanced crossover design. During the treatment trials, subjects were required to perform a 10 minute warm-up on a stationary rate independent cycle ergometer (50 W) followed by one of the treatments applied to the hamstrings and quadriceps of the preferred leg; SMR (1 set; 2 min), STS (4 sets; 30 secs). Subjects were required to perform the Thorstensson test, using a single-chair isokinetic dynamometer, which consisted of 50 voluntary maximal isokinetic leg extensions on their preferred leg where the rate of force production was controlled as 180°.sec-1. Measurement of hip flexion (HF) and extension (HE), absolute peak quadriceps force production (AF), relative peak quadriceps force production (RF), quadriceps fatigue rate (FR), and perceived local leg fatigue (PF) were recorded. One-way ANOVA with repeated measures was used to analyze for differences between trials (STS, SMR, CON), except for FR where a Friedman ANOVA was used, α=0.05. RESULTS: HF did differ significantly between the treatments (p CON (106.2±5.0°). The treatments also differed significantly (p CON (13.2±3.6°). AF did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between the treatments (SMR=175.2±32.1 Nm, STS=180.9±35.6 Nm, CON=177.2±38.3 Nm), nor did RF (SMR=1.9±0.4 Nm/kg, STS=1.9±0.4 Nm/kg, CON=1.9±0.4). FR also did not differ (p>0.05) between treatments (SMR=59.7±9.4%, STS=61.3±11.0%, CON=61.5±8.8%). PF was seen to be more frequently greater with most subjects in CON, but there were no significant difference (p>0.05) between trials. CONCLUSION: While SMR had no effect on muscular strength and fatigability, SMR did have similar significant effect as static stretching on hip range of motion.


The identification of all protein targets of a small molecule drug, i.e. target deconvolution, provides the basis for understanding its beneficial or deleterious actions. Target deconvolution remains a major and often problematic task within the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries; there is therefore a generally acknowledged need for robust alternative methods to complement existing techniques. This thesis presents the development and application of a novel yeast-based platform for small molecule target deconvolution. The platform couples a sensitive yeast three-hybrid screening system for the identification of potential target proteins to an independent validation step based on affinity chromatography. The development of a novel yeast three-hybrid system was primarily based on the use of SNAP-tag to covalently anchor small molecules of interest onto a bait protein. The sensitivity of the system was improved by using an engineered reporter yeast strain to increase SNAP-tag labelling efficiency in living yeast cells. The reporter strain was engineered by knocking out genes encoding broad-specificity transporters from the yeast genome in order to reduce small molecule efflux from yeast cells. Such engineering was also necessary for the development of a negative selection strategy to reduce false positive levels in cDNA libraries. Finally, the system was judiciously optimised using defined small molecule-protein interactions of known affinity. In the second part of this work, the newly developed yeast three-hybrid system was applied to the screening of cDNA libraries for small molecule target deconvolution. Thirty-five small molecules, including well-characterised approved pharmaceutical drugs, were screened against eight different human cDNA libraries, resulting in the identification of forty-one small molecule-protein interactions. These screening results comprised both previously known and unknown interactions. The identification of numerous known targets of approved drugs validates the performance of the yeast-based approach for target deconvolution. Additionally, several of the previously unknown interactions were further validated using affinity chromatography and activity assays. Amongst these validated interactions, this work has uncovered the first non-kinase target of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor erlotinib, i.e. oxysterol-binding protein-related protein 7 (ORP7); it has also led to the identification of off-targets of the popular HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor atorvastatin. The most significant finding of this thesis is that the widely used anti-inflammatory drug sulfasalazine is a potent inhibitor of sepiapterin reductase, an enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of the cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin. Despite its long use and clinical importance in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases and rheumatoid arthritis, its mechanism of action is not well understood. Here, it is proposed that sulfasalazine and/or its metabolite(s) inhibit sepiapterin reductase in vivo, this leading to a decrease in tetrahydrobiopterin biosynthesis and to an associated anti-inflammatory effect. This hypothesis provides an attractive explanation for some of the drug's properties and opens possibilities for new and improved therapies. In summary, this work establishes a powerful approach for small molecule target deconvolution and provides new insights into the mechanism of action of clinically used drugs.


Neural Module Networks (NMNs) aim at Visual Question Answering (VQA) via composition of modules that tackle a sub-task. NMNs are a promising strategy to achieve systematic generalization, i.e., overcoming biasing factors in the training distribution. However, the aspects of NMNs that facilitate systematic generalization are not fully understood. In this paper, we demonstrate that the degree of modularity of the NMN have large influence on systematic generalization. In a series of experiments on three VQA datasets (VQA-MNIST, SQOOP, and CLEVR-CoGenT), our results reveal that tuning the degree of modularity, especially at the image encoder stage, reaches substantially higher systematic generalization. These findings lead to new NMN architectures that outperform previous ones in terms of systematic generalization.


The role of the pediatrician in today's health care environment is one of constant evolution, as specialty care becomes more difficult to access for a growing number of young patients and their families. The primary care doctor will now have to offer more reassurance and follow-up that was once thought to be solely the role of the subspecialist. This article helps to define commonly seen entities in pediatric gynecology and offers the necessary background enabling the practitioner to provide a simple course of treatment, reassurance, or appropriate referral for specialty care.


rHYtHMs | slow art Art & Design Galleries 95 This animation was a happy accident. I was interested in seeing what kinds of shapes could be generated by simple L-systems, so I coded a Python/PyQt application to iterate the replacement rule and draw the resulting string using the typical turtle geometry interpretation. I quickly saw that changing the angle parameter about a degree could produce very different shapes, and that haphazard exploration of the angle parameter might miss interesting shapes. So I added an animation feature to vary the angle systematically and save out the resulting frames. By trial and error, I settled on .01 degree as an increment that produced a small but noticeable change in the picture. I rendered the 18,000 frames into a movie for review and was surprised to find that at 30 frames per second the animation was interesting and fun to watch for 10 minutes, and that the eye could easily pick out single-frame shapes that differed substantially from the neighboring frames. FFDavid Gladstein


In consultation with Sigmund Freud, the Viennese psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel (1868–1940) treated the first Jewish cleric known to undergo analysis, in 1903. According to the case history, published in 1908, a forty-two-year-old rabbi suffered from a Berufsneurose, an occupational neurosis associated with the pressures of his career. Stekel's case history forms an indelible portrait of a religious patient who submitted himself to the highly experimental treatment of psychoanalysis in the early years of the discipline. However, scholars never integrated the rabbi's case into the social history of psychoanalysis, more as a consequence of Freud's professional disparagement of Stekel than of the case history's original reception. Psychoanalytic historiography has largely dismissed Stekel's legacy, resulting in a lack of serious scholarly consideration of his prodigious publications compared to the attention paid to the work of some of Freud's other disciples. Stekel's most recent biographers, however, credit him as the "unsung populariser of psychoanalysis," and claim that he is due for reconsideration. But in his published case history of the rabbi, Stekel also warrants introduction to the field of Jewish studies, not only because of the literary treatment of the rabbinical profession by a secular Jewish psychoanalyst, but also because the rabbi incorporated aspects of that experience into his own intellectual framework after treatment.


Everyone knows how addictive a BlackBerry can be--they don't call them "crackberries" for nothing! Well, you haven't seen anything until you try the brand new BlackBerry Pearl. This brand new phone has it all, and it's small, smart, and stylish too. Not only does it have all the features you expect from a BlackBerry (Phone, Email and Text Messaging, Instant Messaging, Organizer, Browser) but it has some great new "Wow" features including a camera, media player, and BlackBerry Maps. In The BlackBerry Pearl Pocket Guide, trusted gadget teacher and best-selling author Bart G. Farkas reveals the secrets to using this amazing new phone: learn how to take cool pictures and share them with your colleagues, view Web pages, import songs, manage your appointments, communicate with email, text and instant messaging, retrieve maps and detailed driving directions, and even import video. This handy pocket-sized guide also walks readers through the fun lifestyle functions, from playing a new Sudoku game every day to charting your diet and exercise patterns. In this low-priced guide, you'll find compact-yet-detailed coverage of everything the BlackBerry Pearl can do, as well as all the necessary information on "why" you should use it to be more productive.


Enforcing security policies to IT systems, especially for a mobile distributed system , is challenging. As society becomes more IT-savvy, our expectations about security and privacy evolve. This is usually followed by changes in regulation in the form of standards and legislation. In many cases, small modification of the security requirement might lead to substantial changes in a number of modules within a large mobile distributed system. Indeed, security is a crosscutting concern which can spread to many business modules within a system, and is difficult to be integrated in a modular way. This dissertation explores the principles of adding challenging security policies to existing systems with great flexibility and modularity. The policies concerned cover both classical access control and explicit information flow policies. We built our solution by combining aspect-oriented programming techniques with static program analysis techniques. The former technique can separate security concerns out of the main logic, and thus improves system modularity. The latter can analyze the system behavior, and thus helps detect software bugs or potential malicious code. We present AspectKE, an aspect-oriented extension of the process calculus KLAIM that excels at modeling mobile, distributed systems. A novel feature of our approach is that advices are able to analyze the future use of data, which is achieved by using program analysis techniques. We also present AspectK to propose other possible aspect-oriented extensions based on KLAIM, followed by a discussion of open joinpoints that commonly exist in coordination languages such as KLAIM. Based on the idea of AspectKE, we design and implement a proof-of-concept programming language AspectKE*, which enables program-ii mers to easily specify analysis-based security policies with the help of high-level program analysis predicates and functions. The prototype is efficiently realized by a two-stage implementation strategy and a static-dynamic dual value evaluation mechanism. We have performed two case studies to evaluate our programming model and language design. One application is based on a electronic health care workflow system. The other is a distributed chat system. We considered a number of security policies for both primary and secondary use of data, classical access control and predictive access control-control access based on the future behavior of a program. Some of the above mentioned policies can only be enforced by analysis of process continuations. Most of the work behind this dissertation has been carried out independently and I take full responsibility for its contents. During the three year study, …


We investigate the combinatorics of the symmetry relation H μ(x; q, t) = H μ∗ (x; t, q) on the transformed Macdonald polynomials, from the point of view of the combinatorial formula of Haglund, Haiman, and Loehr in terms of the inv and maj statistics on Young diagram fillings. By generalizing the Carlitz bijection on permutations, we provide a purely combinatorial proof of the relation in the case of Hall-Littlewood polynomials (q = 0) for the coefficients of the square-free monomials in the variables x. Our work in this case relates the Macdonald inv and maj statistics to the monomial basis of the modules Rμ studied by Garsia and Procesi. We also provide a new proof for the full Macdonald relation in the case when μ is a hook shape.


In this paper, optimum detection threshold for minimum bit error rate (BER) due to four-wave mixing is calculated taking the probability distribution of power depletion as binomial and considering nonuniform channel spacing. Nondegenerate four-wave mixing has been assumed for the worst-case analysis. The effects of the number of interfering channels, receiver noise, and input power on the BER in the presence of four-wave mixing are studied. The optimum detection threshold for minimum BER is studied as a function of the number of channels. This optimum threshold significantly deviates from the conventional threshold in the Gaussian distribution approximation as the channel number increases beyond three.


The research reported in this paper elucidates the development, empirical validation and preliminary analysis of a model of technology acceptance by Australian occupational therapists. The study described involved the collection of quantitative and qualitative data through a national survey and a longitudinal multi-method case study within a communitybased healthcare organisation. The theoretical significance of this work is that it uses a thoroughly constructed research model, with potentially the largest sample size ever tested (2000+), to extend technology acceptance research into the health sector. Results provide support for the proposed model. This work reveals the complexity of the constructs and relationships that influence technology acceptance and highlights a need for reconceptualising current models. Results also demonstrate the importance of qualitative methodologies in information systems research. The significance and implications of the findings are discussed.


This report describes a process to convert coal and natural gas to a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons, which is intended to be sold as a feedstock for a refinery. Given that the region has a large amount of coal production and sits atop the Marcellus shale with its expanding natural gas production, as well as the proximity to refineries in Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania is a natural location for such a venture. 2600 tons per day of coal and 66 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas are converted to syngas in separate, parallel process trains. The hydrogen rich natural gas syngas is mixed with the hydrogen lean coal syngas to give the desired syngas composition. Fischer-Tropsch chemistry is used to convert syngas with a 2 to 1 H2:CO molar ratio to a distribution of alkanes. The alkanes are separated to give 15,500 barrels per day of liquid product. The total capital investment of the project was estimated to be $1,308 million. Using the EIA baseline projection for the price of oil and a 15% discount rate, the project is expected to have a net present value of $258 million, with an internal rate of return of 11%. The profitability of the project is especially dependent on the price of oil and the total capital investment. This working paper is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cbe_sdr/43 Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Pennsylvania Senior Design Report, 2012 Coal and Natural Gas to Liquid Alkanes by Hybrid Processing