During the past decade open nasal surgery has been overtaken by endoscopic resection in the management of benign sinonasal tumours in the advanced countries. However, due to limited availability of endoscopic surgical facilities and training in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, open surgery still seems popular. This report determines the indications and outcome of open nasal surgery for benign tumours in a resource – poor tertiary centre in sub-Saharan Africa and compares with endoscopic resection. This is retrospective study of 38 open surgeries done by the authors for cases of benign sinonasal tumours. Seventeen (45%) caldwel-luc procedures, 12 (31%) external (lynch-howarth) fronto-ethmoidectomy and 9(24%) lateral rhinotomy were carried out. The indications were simple nasal polyps 17(45%), mucocoele 10(26%), inverted paplloma 8(21%), invasive fungal sinusitis 2(5%) and ossifying fibroma 1(2%). Postoperatively, recurrence was 1/17(6%) caldwel-Luc surgery and 1/9 (11%) lateral rhinotomy for inverted papilloma. Facial scar was seen in 21/38(55%) but the cosmetic effect of the scars was acceptable to our patients. Postoperative stay was between 5 to 17 days. We conclude that open nasal surgery met the therapeutic expectations of our patients. The recurrence rate compared with that of endoscopic resection reported in the literature and cosmetic effect of facial scar was acceptable to the patients, however, postoperative stay in the hospital is longer. It is our hope that this will serve as a baseline to compare the result of endoscopic nasal surgery in future when it becomes a widespread procedure in the developing countries. African Journal of Health Sciences Vol. 14 (1-2) 2007: pp. 44-48


The aim of my thesis is to demonstrate how my research aids the academic understanding of the sub-disciplinary field of hospitality management development. I evaluate the extent to which the unique features of the UK hospitality industry and the characteristics of hospitality management
influence the training and development regime of managers. I also explore the relationship of hospitality management development processes with organisational systems and how the nature of hospitality managerial roles and skills influence the development of managers in the UK hospitality industry.

I view management development from a contingent perspective, asserting that this evolves in response to both internal operating requirements and influences external to the organisation. I provide a critical analysis of key literatures in management development, culminating with the development
of my own conceptual framework. I then review the nature of the hospitality industry, and hospitality management development as practised in the UK. This enables me to develop a theoretical framework for understanding
management development practices in the British hospitality industry.

My commentary presents a critical reflection on nine of my academic writings in the sub-discipline of hospitality management development. From a realist research approach, I assess my contribution to this field, through reviewing my research journey as evidenced by the articles chosen for this
submission. I seek to demonstrate progression in my understanding of hospitality management development, and the factors influencing its scope and character, through the development of the conceptual framework. I summarise my contribution to academic understanding within this area
using three themes, namely macro-environmental and industry structural influences, organisation environment dimensions and identifying development needs through exploring hospitality managerial roles and skills.

Assessing the opportunities to develop this area of research further, I suggest a need for further study of management development processes at both macro-and micro levels of the industry; for investigation of the relational and subjective human aspects of hospitality management development; greater focus on individual management learning; and for
more critical research studies which explore the operation of power and politics within hospitality management development.


In this paper, emotion recognition using EEG signals has been reviewed. The methods applied, dataset used for simulation, the results obtained along with the limitations and future work/gap is summarised in this review paper. This paves a way for the upcoming researchers to focus on the problems to be solved and the methods to be proposed as a novel new method or could be an integration or hybrid of the existing techniques or algorithms, along with the dataset to be used.


We were interested to study the relationship between DNA lesions, DNA repair, mutation fixation, and tumour development. Therefore, mice harbouring lacZ reporter genes and being either wild-type or defective in the DNA excision repair gene XPA, were treated with the genotoxic carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene at an oral dose of 13 mg/kg b.w. (3 times/week). At different time points, i.e. 1, 5, 9 or 13 weeks after start of the oral administration, levels of BPDE-N2-dG adducts (the major formed DNA adduct by benzo[a]pyrene in mice), and lacZ mutation frequencies were measured both in target (spleen) and non-target (lung and liver) tissues. Both in wild-type and XPA-deficient mice, benzo[a]pyrene treatment resulted in increased BPDE-N2-dG adduct levels in all three tissues analysed. In XPA-deficient mice, BPDE-N2-dG adduct levels still increased up to 13 weeks of oral benzo[a]pyrene treatment, whereas in DNA repair proficient mice steady-state levels were reached after 5 weeks of treatment. After 13 weeks, the BPDE-N2-dG adduct levels observed in XPA-/- mice, were 2- to 3-fold higher than the steady state levels observed in XPA+/+ mice in the same tissues. Mutation frequencies in the lacZ reporter gene were the same in wild-type and XPA-deficient mice that were treated with the solvent only. Oral benzo[a]pyrene treatment resulted in an increase in mutation frequency in the lacZ marker gene in all three tissues, but this increase was most profound in the spleen. After 13 weeks of treatment, a 7-fold increase in lacZ mutation frequency was detected in the spleen of wild-type mice as compared to mutation frequencies in control mice. At the same time point, a 15-fold increase in lacZ mutation frequency was observed in the spleen of XPA-deficient mice. The data presented here show, that a defect in NER mainly results in enhanced mutation frequencies in lymphocytic cells after oral treatment with the genotoxic compound benzo[a]pyrene. Interestingly, as we established in a previously performed carcinogenicity assay, the same oral treatment with benzo[a]pyrene induced lymphomas residing in the spleen of XPA-deficient mice.


Enzymatic modification of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes has been found not only feasible, but also an environmentally attractive way to vary surface properties systematically. In this paper, we summarize the effect of modification layers on protein adsorption and bacterial adhesion on PES membranes and surfaces. The enzyme laccase was used to covalently bind (poly)phenolic acids to the membrane, and compared to other membrane modification methods, this method is very mild and did not influence the mechanical strength negatively. Depending on the conditions used during modification, the modification layers were capable of influencing interactions with typical fouling species, such as protein, and to influence attachment of microorganisms. We also show that the modification method can be successfully applied to hollow fiber membranes; and depending on the pore size of the base membrane, proteins were partially rejected by the membrane. In conclusion, we have shown that enzymatic membrane modification is a versatile and economically attractive method that can be used to influence various interactions that normally lead to surface contamination, pore blocking, and considerable flux loss in membranes.


Convolutional Neural Networks, as most artificial neural networks, are commonly viewed as methods different in essence from kernel-based methods. We provide a systematic translation of Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets) into their kernel-based counterparts, Convolutional Kernel Networks (CKNs), and demonstrate that this perception is unfounded both formally and empirically. We show that, given a Convolutional Neural Network, we can design a corresponding Convolutional Kernel Network, easily trainable using a new stochastic gradient algorithm based on an accurate gradient computation, that performs on par with its Convolutional Neural Network counterpart. We present experimental results supporting our claims on landmark ConvNet architectures comparing each ConvNet to its CKN counterpart over several parameter settings.


espanolUso de la teoria de restricciones para la gestion efectiva de la cadena de abastecimiento EnglishThis article provides methodology and guidelines for employing a 'constraint-based approach for effective supply chain management. The article explores the shortcomings of using a traditional supply chain management as well as an Activity Based Management (ABM) approach in the managing of supply chains. In addition, the article introduces a supply chain management methodology based on achieving a global optimum for the entire chain. Examples are provided on how constraint-based techniques are currently being applied to the management of certain subsets of the supply chain. Guidelines are presented for managing supply chains using a constraint-based approach. Finally, the article ends with the discussion of the implications regarding the use of a constraint-based approach to the management of supply chains along with the need for future research in this area.


Convection in a layer inclined against gravity is a thermally driven non-equilibrium system, in which both buoyancy and shear forces drive spatio-temporally complex flows. As a function of the strength of thermal driving and the angle of inclination, a multitude of convection patterns is observed in experiments and numerical simulations. Several observed patterns have been linked to exact invariant states of the fully nonlinear three-dimensional Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations. These exact equilibria, travelling waves and periodic orbits reside in state space and, depending on their stability properties, are transiently visited by the dynamics or act as attractors. To explain the dependence of observed convection patterns on control parameters, we study the parameter dependence of the state space structure. Specifically, we identify the bifurcations that modify the existence, stability and connectivity of invariant states. We numerically continue exact invariant states underlying spatially periodic convection patterns at $Pr=1.07$ under changing control parameters for a temperature difference between the walls and inclination angle. The resulting state branches cover various inclinations from horizontal layer convection to vertical layer convection and beyond. The collection of all computed branches represents an extensive bifurcation network connecting 16 different invariant states across control parameter values. Individual bifurcation structures are discussed in detail and related to the observed complex dynamics of individual convection patterns. Together, the bifurcations and associated state branches indicate at what control parameter values which invariant states coexist. This provides a nonlinear framework to explain the multitude of complex flow dynamics arising in inclined layer convection.


The object of this paper is to examine two approaches to giving non-vacuous truth conditions for counterpossibles, counterfactuals with impossible antecedents. I first develop modifications of a Lewis-style sphere semantics with impossible worlds. I argue that this approach sanctions intuitively invalid inferences and is supported by philosophically problematic foundations. I then develop modifications of certain ceteris paribus conditional logics with impossible worlds. Tableaux are given for each of these in an appendix and soundness and completeness results are proved. While certain of the latter systems are shown to have similar problems to logics from the first approach, at least one relatively weak system appears to offer an adequate uniform semantics for counterpossibles and counterfactuals.


This manuscript overviews exact testing of goodness of fit for log-linear models using the R package exactLoglinTest. This package evaluates model fit for Poisson log-linear models by conditioning on minimal sufficient statistics to remove nuisance parameters. A Monte Carlo algorithm is proposed to estimate P values from the resulting conditional distribution. In particular, this package implements a sequentially rounded normal approximation and importance sampling to approximate probabilities from the conditional distribution. Usually, this results in a high percentage of valid samples. However, in instances where this is not the case, a Metropolis Hastings algorithm can be implemented that makes more localized jumps within the reference set. The manuscript details how some conditional tests for binomial logit models can also be viewed as conditional Poisson log-linear models and hence can be performed via exactLoglinTest. A diverse battery of examples is considered to highlight use, features and extensions of the software. Notably, potential extensions to evaluating disclosure risk are also considered.


I have always been interested in the topic of polygamy and have, over the past few decades, read just about every book and commentary on the topic that I could find. I have spent many hours in the Church History Library, the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Library at BYU, and various other repositories poring over all of the source documents I could locate. Thus, I looked forward to reading a recent addition to the literary corpus on the subject contributed by Carol Lynn Pearson. Her book, The Ghost of Eternal Polygamy: Haunting the Hearts and Heaven of Mormon Women and Men, isn't a scholarly look at polygamy, but instead lays out her case for expunging polygamy completely from our history and disavowing its possibility in any future realm.


Videos are one of the most frequently used forms of multimedia resources. People want to interact with videos to find a specific part or to obtain relevant information. To support user interactions, current videos should be transformed to interactive videos. This paper proposes an interactive cooking video system to generate automatically interactive cooking videos. To do this, the proposed system performs semantic video annotation on cooking videos. Semantic video annotation process includes three parts: synchronization between recipes and corresponding cooking videos based on a caption-recipe alignment algorithm, information extraction on food recipes using lexico-syntactic patterns, and semantic entity interconnection between recognized entities and semantic web entities. Cooking video annotation ontology is modeled to handle annotation data. To evaluate the proposed system, comparative experiments are performed on the caption-recipe alignment algorithm. The accuracy of information extraction and semantic entity interconnection is also measured. Experimental results show that the proposed system is superior to compared algorithms in alignment perspectives. Information extraction and semantic interconnection method also achieve high accuracy over 95%, respectively. Consequently, the proposed system generates interactive cooking videos in high accuracy and support user interactions by providing a user interface which allows users to easily find specific scenes and obtain detailed information on objects users have interested in.


We examined life cycle plasticity in two populations of the copepod Paralabidocera antarctica, one of which inhabits the coastal sea ice belt of Antarctica and the other of which has been isolated in a nearby saline lake for several thousand generations. Similarities in the life cycles of the two populations included long overwintering phases (.5 months) by late‐stage nauplii, rapid development through the copepodid stages, and a short adult life span of 2–3 weeks. Adults appeared in late spring or early summer and spawned and died soon after. However, the life cycle of the lacustrine population was much less tightly regulated than at the marine site; animals were rarely found living within the lake ice, and synchrony in the developmental cycle was diminished. It is likely that a combination of factors, including ice hardness, a lack of predation threat, and a consistent food supply has freed the lacustrine population from the constraints imposed by living within the ice cover. Instantaneous growth rates calculated for the marine site showed a variable growth rate (0.04–0.14 d21). The lacustrine population in general had faster growth rates than the marine population (0.10–0.26 d21) and reached maturity at a smaller size. This is attributed, in part, to the higher environmental temperatures experienced by the lacustrine population.


In the western part of the Philippines, in the Palawan province, studies have shown that large quantities of mercury are spread to the surrounding area during heavy rainfall. In addition, mercury is spread to rice fields and bioaccumulated in marine fish and seafood. The mercury originates from the abandoned Palawan Quicksilver Mine. Since mercury is toxic for the human body and new studies have shown that mercury accumulates in rice, it is important to investigate human exposure from mercury in rice.This project investigates the total amount of mercury and methylmercury (MeHg) accumulated in rice, soil and water from four different rice fields in Palawan. The soil samples have been taken directly from the fields and water samples have been taken from nearby streams and springs. Rice grains harvested earlier this year from the same fields have been collected from farmers. The soil, water and rice samples were analyzed in Manila and rice samples were as well analyzed in Sweden and China. Furthermore, this project contains a dietary survey and calculation of daily exposure values of MeHg. The survey investigates how often people eat fish and rice and if they have dental amalgam. It also investigates possible health problems related to mercury exposure from rice and fish consumption.The analyses from China show that rice samples from all barangays contain total mercury and MeHg. Analyses from Sweden also show that rice from the barangays contains total mercury but the levels were found to be higher than the ones analyzed in China. Furthermore, the health problems found in the diet survey were hard to relate to mercury exposure from rice since the health problems can be caused by other factors. When calculating daily exposure values, the values were found to be as high as the recommended maximum acceptable daily intake in one of the barangays. There might therefore be a risk of eating rice from these four barangays. It is important to consider that these daily exposure values were only based on MeHg exposure from rice consumption, not taking dental amalgam and fish consumption into consideration. This means that the daily exposure values might be even higher than the ones calculated in this study.


Robot control by TCP/IP communication is investigated in this thesis for existing robots used in tertiary education. The request for newer software for robotic computer control came from the University of Stellenbosch Industrial Engineering department where existing software dating back to 1988 is still in use. A thorough investigation into the research and technologies available is followed by a discussion on the proposed software to adhere to the requirement of compatibility with existing languages in use by the department and provide tools to assist in future research in robotic manipulators and control. The proposed software solution uses a client/server model running over an IP-based network providing online and offline programming with visual feedback by means of video streaming and 3D simulations, developed as separate modules combined into an effective tool for future research and development.


Trauma is defined as a sudden, potentially deadly experience, often leaving lasting, troubling memories. Traumatology (the study of trauma, its effects, and methods to modify effects) is exploding in terms of published works and expanding in terms of scope. Originally a narrow specialty within emergency medicine, the field now extends to trauma psychology, military psychiatry and behavioral health, post-traumatic stress and stress disorders, trauma social work, disaster mental health, and, most recently, the subfield of history and trauma, with sociohistorical examination of long-term effects and meanings of major traumas experienced by whole communities and nations, both natural (Pompeii, Hurricane Katrina) and man-made (the Holocaust, 9/11). One reason for this expansion involves important scientific breakthroughs in detecting the neurobiology of trauma that is connecting biology with human behavior, which in turn, is applicable to all fields involving human thought and response, including but not limited to psychiatry, medicine and the health sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, the humanities, and law. Researchers within these fields and more can contribute to a universal understanding of immediate and long-term consequences-both good and bad-of trauma, both for individuals and for broader communities and institutions. Trauma encyclopedias published to date all center around psychological trauma and its emotional effects on the individual as a disabling or mental disorder requiring mental health services. This element is vital and has benefited from scientific and professional breakthroughs in theory, research, and applications. Our encyclopedia certainly will cover this central element, but our expanded conceptualization will include the other disciplines and will move beyond the individual.


BACKGROUND
Increased body mass index (BMI) is associated with higher postmenopausal breast cancer risk and lower premenopausal breast cancer risk. Less is known about the central adiposity-breast cancer risk association, particularly for tumor subtypes.

METHODS
We used prospective waist (WC) and hip circumference (HC) measures in the Nurses' Health Studies. We examined associations of WC, HC and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with breast cancer independent of BMI, by menopausal status. Cox proportional hazards models estimated the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusting for breast cancer risk factors, with and without BMI.

RESULTS
Adjusting for BMI, WC, and HC were not associated and WHR was positively associated with premenopausal breast cancer risk (WHR, quintile 5 vs. 1: HRQ5vQ1, BMI-adjusted=1.27, 95%CI = 1.04-1.54, p-trend = 0.01); particularly for, estrogen receptor-negative (ER-)/ progesterone receptor-negative (PR-) and basal-like breast cancers. Premenopausal WC, HC, and WHR were not associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk, with or without BMI adjustment. Postmenopausal WC, HC, and WHR were each positively associated with postmenopausal breast cancer (eg, WC HRQ5vsQ1=1.59, 95%CI = 1.36-1.86); after adjustment for BMI, only WC remained statistically significant (HRQ5vsQ1, BMI-adjusted=1.38, 95%CI = 1.15-1.64, p-trend = 0.002). In postmenopausal women, associations were stronger among never users of hormone therapy and for ER+/PR+ breast cancers.

CONCLUSIONS
Central adiposity was positively associated with pre- and postmenopausal breast cancers independent of BMI. This suggests that mechanisms other than estrogen may also play a role in the relationship between central adiposity and breast cancer. Maintaining a healthy waist circumference may decrease pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer risk.


Modulation of immune response is highly relevant in tumor cell destruction. The present study is focused on the effect of amentoflavone, a biflavonoid from Biophytum sensitivum on cell-mediated immune responses in normal and tumor-bearing control animals. Tumor was induced in BALB/c mice by intraperitoneal injection of Ehrlich ascites carcinoma cells. Treatment of amentoflavone significantly enhanced natural killer cell activity in normal (42.8% cell lysis) and tumor bearing animals (48.2% cell lysis) on the fifth day, which was much earlier compared to tumor-bearing control animals (20.2% cell lysis on day 9). Antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity was also increased in amentoflavone -treated normal (41% cell lysis on day 9) and tumor bearing animals (43.8% cell lysis on day 9) compared to untreated tumor bearing control animals (maximum of 15.2% cell lysis on day 13). Amentoflavone administration could significantly enhance the mitogen-induced splenocyte, thymocyte, and bone marrow cell proliferation. Treatment of amentoflavone significantly elevated the production of interleukin-2 and interferon-gamma in normal and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma-bearing animals. Moreover amentoflavone treatment significantly reduced the elevated levels of serum sialic acid and serum gamma glutamyl transpeptidase activity in tumor bearing animals.


Two fatal cases of Streptococcus pyogenes emm st22.6 bacteraemia occurred in a care home in England during April and June 2010, initiating a cluster investigation. The first case had left the home 13 days before the second case took up residence. We sought further cases and carriers. We swabbed throat and chronic skin lesions from residents and staff and examined these specimens for the presence of S. pyogenes. 61 specimens were taken from 18 of 19 residents and 39 of 39 staff. All results from swabbing were culture negative. We observed infection control practices and the environment at the care home for deficiencies. Issues were identified relating to the correct use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, clinical waste and laundry. Infection control practices were improved and training given. Infection control practices and the environment at a care home should be examined as part of the investigation of a S. pyogenes cluster. Screening for carriage of S. pyogenes should be done before antibiotic chemoprophylaxis is issued to care home residents and staff.


During prolonged exercise, fluid and salt losses through sweating reduce plasma volume which leads to heart rate drift in association with hyperthermia and reductions in performance. Oral rehydration with water reduces the loss of plasma volume and lessens heart rate drift and hyperthermia. Moreover, the inclusion of sodium in the rehydration solution to levels that double those in sweat (i.e., around 90 mmol/l Na(+)) restores plasma volume when ingested during exercise, and expands plasma volume if ingested pre-exercise. Pre-exercise salt and fluid ingestion with the intention of expanding plasma volume has received an increasing amount of attention in the literature in recent years. In four studies, pre-exercise salt and fluid ingestion improved performance, measured as time to exhaustion, either during exercise in a thermoneutral or in a hot environment. While in a hot environment, the performance improvements were linked to lowering of core temperatures and heart rate, the reasons for the improved performance in a thermoneutral environment remain unclear. However, when ingesting pre-exercise saline solutions above 0.9% (i.e., > 164 mmol/l Na(+)), osmolality and plasma sodium increase and core temperature remain at dehydration levels. Thus, too much salt counteracts the beneficial effects of plasma volume expansion on heat dissipation and hence in performance. In summary, the available literature suggests that pre-exercise saline ingestion with concentrations not over 164 mmol/l Na(+) is an ergogenic aid for subsequent prolonged exercise in a warm or thermoneutral environment.


The Australian Road Safety Strategy (2011-2020) identifies the importance of assessing risk on the road network. Accident prediction models have been developed to identify characteristics of the road and roadside that affect crash risk, however, these are mainly restricted to simple road environments like rural roads and freeways. Modelling crash risk in urban areas is complicated due to the difficulty obtaining data to fully characterise complex environments. The aim of this research was to identify the characteristics of the road and roadside, surrounding environment and socio-demographic factors that affect crash risk in complex urban environments, namely, strip shopping centres. A literature review and consultation with experts resulted in a comprehensive list of data items required for measuring the influence of the road, roadside and other factors on crash risk. Strip shopping segments located on arterial roads in metropolitan Melbourne were identified and separated into midblock segments and signalised intersections. Extensive data describing the characteristics of these segments were collected from a diverse range of sources, e.g. administrative government databases (VicRoads- crashes, traffic volume, speed limit and pavement condition; Australian Bureau of Statistics- socio-demographic information; Department of Justice- liquor licensing), detailed maps, on-line image sources and digital images of arterial roads collected by ARRB for VicRoads. The quality of the collected data was thoroughly checked using secondary sources and errors rectified. Negative binomial regression was used to investigate risk factors for crashes in urban strip shopping centres. Separate models were developed for midblock and intersection crashes. In this paper, factors associated with midblock crash risk in strip shopping centres will be discussed and implications for the design of evidence-based risk assessment tools will be considered.


With the advent of LANDFIRE fuels layers, an increasing number of specialists are using the data in a variety of fire modeling systems. However, a comprehensive guide on acquiring, critiquing, and editing (ACE) geospatial fuels data does not exist. This paper provides guidance on ACE as well as on assembling a geospatial fuels team, model calibration, and maintaining geospatial data and documentation. The LANDFIRE Data Access Tool (LFDAT), an ArcMap extension, and the Wildland Fire Decision Support System (WFDSS) are the primary tools outlined in this guide to obtain the Fire Area Simulator (FARSITE) landscape file (LCP) for geospatial fuels application. Other useful geographic information system (GIS) data acquisition websites and layers for geospatial fire analysis are also provided. Critiquing the data consists of (1) a tabular critique of the inputs using LCP Critique and (2) a geospatial critique of the inputs and outputs using FlamMap and ArcMap. Detailed information is provided on many of the layers that constitute the LCP (fuel model, canopy cover, stand height, crown base height, crown bulk density). Inputs are spatially critiqued using FlamMap and ArcMap in combination with the existing vegetation type layer. Outputs critiqued include flame length, rate of spread, fireline intensity, crown fire activity, and fire growth. Compare-Models-Four and Minimum Travel Time (MTT) are discussed, the WFDSS landscape editor is demonstrated as a tool to edit and update an LCP and a section on model calibration using FARSITE and MTT is included. The paper concludes with direction and discussion on data maintenance, documentation, and complexities of a national fuels dataset for field application.


Blastocystis is an ubiquitous, enteric protozoan of humans and many other species. Human infection has been associated with gastrointestinal disease such as irritable bowel syndrome, however, this remains unproven. A relevant animal model is needed to investigate the pathogenesis/pathogenicity of Blastocystis. We concluded previously that pigs are likely natural hosts of Blastocystis with a potentially zoonotic, host-adapted subtype (ST), ST5, and may make suitable animal models. In this study, we aimed to characterise the host-agent interaction of Blastocystis and the pig, including localising Blastocystis in porcine intestine using microscopy, PCR and histopathological examination of tissues. Intestines from pigs in three different management systems, i.e., a commercial piggery, a small family farm and a research herd (where the animals were immunosuppressed) were examined. This design was used to determine if environment or immune status influences intestinal colonisation of Blastocystis as immunocompromised individuals may potentially be more susceptible to blastocystosis and development of associated clinical signs. Intestines from all 28 pigs were positive for Blastocystis with all pigs harbouring ST5. In addition, the farm pigs had mixed infections with STs 1 and/or 3. Blastocystis organisms/DNA were predominantly found in the large intestine but were also detected in the small intestine of the immunosuppressed and some of the farm pigs, suggesting that immunosuppression and/or husbandry factors may influence Blastocystis colonisation of the small intestine. No obvious pathology was observed in the histological sections. Blastocystis was present as vacuolar/granular forms and these were found within luminal material or in close proximity to epithelial cells, with no evidence of attachment or invasion. These results concur with most human studies, in which Blastocystis is predominantly found in the large intestine in the absence of significant organic pathology. Our findings also support the use of pigs as animal models and may have implications for blastocystosis diagnosis/treatment.


Abstract. Ammonia (NH3) plays an increasingly important role in the global biogeochemical cycle of reactive nitrogen as well as in aerosol formation and climate. We present extensive and nearly continuous global ammonia measurements made by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) from the Aqua satellite to identify and quantify major persistent and episodic sources as well as to characterize seasonality. We examine the 13-year period from September 2002 through August 2015 with a retrieval algorithm using an optimal estimation technique with a set of three, spatially and temporally uniform a priori profiles. Vertical profiles show good agreement (∼  5–15 %) between AIRS NH3 and the in situ profiles from the winter 2013 DISCOVER-AQ (DISCOVER-Air Quality) field campaign in central California, despite the likely biases due to spatial resolution differences between the two instruments. The AIRS instrument captures the strongest consistent NH3 concentrations due to emissions from the anthropogenic (agricultural) source regions, such as South Asia (India/Pakistan), China, the United States (US), parts of Europe, Southeast (SE) Asia (Thailand/Myanmar/Laos), the central portion of South America, as well as Western and Northern Africa. These correspond primarily to irrigated croplands, as well as regions with heavy precipitation, with extensive animal feeding operations and fertilizer applications where a summer maximum and a secondary spring maximum are reliably observable. In the Southern Hemisphere (SH) regular agricultural fires contribute to a spring maximum. Regions of strong episodic emissions include Russia and Alaska as well as parts of South America, Africa, and Indonesia. Biomass burning, especially wildfires, dominate these episodic NH3 high concentrations.


Need to learn HTML and CSS fast? This best-selling reference's visual format and step-by-step, task-based instructions will have you up and running with HTML in no time. In this updated edition author Bruce Hyslop uses crystal-clear instructions and friendly prose to introduce you to all of today's HTML and CSS essentials. The book has been refreshed to feature current web design best practices. You'll learn how to design, structure, and format your website. You'll learn about the new elements and form input types in HTML5. You'll create and use images, links, styles, and forms; and you'll add video, audio, and other multimedia to your site. You'll learn how to add visual effects with CSS3. You'll understand web standards and learn from code examples that reflect today's best practices. Finally, you will test and debug your site, and publish it to the web. Throughout the book, the author covers all of HTML and offers essential coverage of HTML5 and CSS techniques.


Mineralisation, nitrification and denitrification in sediments are key processes that
contribute to the removal of nitrogen from coastal waters. Together these processes are important
in preventing the buildup of nitrogen, which can lead to eutrophication in estuarine systems. Spatial
and temporal patterns in the composition of nitrifier (bacterial [AOB] and archaeal ammonia
oxidizers [AOA]; amoA ), denitrifier ( nirS ) and total bacterial and archaeal (16S rRNA gene) communities
in sediment from the Derwent Estuary in southeast Tasmania, Australia, were contrasted
with key environmental parameters and benthic nutrient fluxes. Spatial and temporal factors were
significant in terms of shaping microbial community composition. Organic matter composition
(C:N isotope ratios, %N and %C) was significantly related to the abundance of the different
microbial guilds. There was a significant correlation between both the sediment nitrogen content
and carbon stable isotope ratio with community composition for total bacteria, AOA and denitrifiers.
Sediment chlorophyll a was significantly associated with AOB composition and carbon
isotope ratio was related to total archaeal community composition.


Because mobile ad hoc networks have characteristics such as lack of center nodes, multi-hop routing and changeable topology, the existing checkpoint technologies for normal mobile networks cannot be applied well to mobile ad hoc networks. Considering the multi-frequency hierarchy structure of ad hoc networks, this paper proposes a hybrid checkpointing strategy which combines the techniques of synchronous checkpointing with asynchronous checkpointing, namely the checkpoints of mobile terminals in the same cluster remain synchronous, and the checkpoints in different clusters remain asynchronous. This strategy could not only avoid cascading rollback among the processes in the same cluster, but also avoid too many message transmissions among the processes in different clusters. What is more, it can reduce the communication delay. In order to assure the consistency of the global states, this paper discusses the correctness criteria of hybrid checkpointing, which includes the criteria of checkpoint taking, rollback recovery and indelibility. Based on the designed Intra-Cluster Checkpoint Dependence Graph and Inter-Cluster Checkpoint Dependence Graph, the elimination rules for different kinds of checkpoints are discussed, and the algorithms for the same cluster checkpoints, different cluster checkpoints, and rollback recovery are also given. Experimental results demonstrate the proposed hybrid checkpointing strategy is a preferable trade-off method, which not only synthetically takes all kinds of resource constraints of Ad hoc networks into account, but also outperforms the existing schemes in terms of the dependence to cluster heads, the recovery time compared to the pure synchronous, and the pure asynchronous checkpoint advantage.


Abstract. Analysing satellite datasets over large regions may introduce spurious relationships between aerosol and cloud properties due to spatial variations in aerosol type, cloud regime and synoptic regime climatologies. Using MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer data, we calculate relationships between aerosol optical depth τa derived liquid cloud droplet effective number concentration Ne and liquid cloud droplet effective radius re at different spatial scales. Generally, positive values of dlnNe dlnτa are found for ocean regions, whilst negative values occur for many land regions. The spatial distribution of dlnre dlnτa shows approximately the opposite pattern, with generally postive values for land regions and negative values for ocean regions. We find that for region sizes larger than 4° × 4°, spurious spatial variations in retrieved cloud and aerosol properties can introduce widespread significant errors to calculations of dlnNe dlnτa and dlnre dlnτa . For regions on the scale of 60° × 60°, these methodological errors may lead to an overestimate in global cloud albedo effect radiative forcing of order 80% relative to that calculated for regions on the scale of 1° × 1°.


This work stems from two different studies related to this performance assessment of seismic resistant systems. The first study compares the performance of newly developed and traditional seismic resisting systems, and the second study investigates many of the assumptions made within provisions for nonlinear response history analyses. In the first study, two innovative systems, which are hybrid buckling restrained braces and collapse prevention systems, are compared to their traditional counterparts using a combination of the FEMA P-695 and FEMA P-58 methodologies. Additionally, an innovative modeling assumption is investigated, where moment frames are evaluated with and without the lateral influence of the gravity system. Each system has a unique purpose from the perspective of performance-based earthquake engineering, and analyses focus on the all intensity levels of interest. The comparisons are presented in terms consequences, including repair costs, repair duration, number of casualties, and probability of receiving an unsafe placard, which are more meaningful to owners and other decision makers than traditional structural response parameters. The results show that these systems can significantly reduce the consequences, particularly the average repair costs, at the important intensity levels. The second study focuses on the assumptions made during proposed updates to provisions for nonlinear response history analyses. The first assumption investigated is the modeling of the gravity system's lateral influence, which can have significant effect on the system behavior and should be modeled if a more accurate representation of the behavior is needed. The influence of residual drifts on the proximity to collapse is determined, and this work concludes that a residual drift check is unnecessary if the only limit state of interest is collapse prevention. This study also finds that spectrally matched ground motions should cautiously be used for near-field structures. The effects of nonlinear accidental torsion are also examined in detail and are determined to have a significant effect on the inelastic behavior of the analyzed structure. The final investigation in this study shows that even if a structure is designed per ASCE 7, it may not have the assumed probability of collapse under the maximum considered earthquake when analyzed using FEMA P-695.


The main objective of this study is to assess the role of cavitation as a complementary therapy to weight reduction in women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and abdominal obesity. Sixty Egyptian women with abdominal obesity and PCOS were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups consumed hypo- caloric diet and performed physical exercise for 6 months in aim to lose at least seven % of their body weight. In addition women in the second group underwent ultrasound fat cavitation to the abdomen once weekly. Total testosterone, fasting insulin, ovulation and regularity of menstrual cycles were assessed before and after treatment for both groups. The results showed that the participants in the second group had higher rates of regular menstrual cycles (83.3% vs 60%, P>0.05), higher rates of ovulation (76.6% vs 50%, P>0.05), lower levels of fasting insulin (12.4 ± 3.2 vs 15.3 ± 3.9, P>0.01) and lower serum total testosterone levels (46.8 ± 4.7 vs53.5 ± 5.4, P>0.001) compared to women in the first group. Ultrasound cavitation is considered as a safe and effective adjuvant to weight loss for Egyptian women with polycystic ovarian syndrome and abdominal obesity and it is associated with higher incidence of ovulation and regular menstrual cycles.


This paper introduces a new approach to test input generation, based on reinforcement learning via easy to use adaptation-based programming. In this approach, a test harness can be written with little more effort than is involved in naïve random testing. The harness will simply map choices made by the adaptation-based programming (ABP) library, rather than pseudo-random numbers, into operations and parameters. Realistic experimental evaluation over three important fine-grained coverage measures (path, shape, and predicate coverage) shows that ABP-based testing is typically competitive with, and sometimes superior to, other effective methods for testing container classes, including random testing and shape-based abstraction.


Air pollution is a major environmental risk. For many decades, air pollutants have increased dramatically in the city of Dhaka. Study of air pollutants in Dhaka, as well as other urban areas, is significantly important for the sustainable environment. The present research is focused on air pollutants and their possible health effects in the areas of Dhaka city. Different pollutants such as, volatile organic compounds (VOC, s), carbon monoxide (CO), relative humidity (RH), nitrogen oxide (NOx), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), oxygen (O2),sulfur dioxide(SO2), particulate matter (PM10), particulate matter (PM2.5), suspended particulate matter (SPM), and lead (Pb) were found to be at hazardous levels in this study area. The VOC was found to have a statistically positive correlation with CO, RH, NOx, H2S, CO2, PM10, PM2.5, SPM, and Pb (p<0.01; 0.01<p ≤ 0.05; 0.05<p ≤ 0.1). Similarly, a positive correlation was found between each of CO2, CO, SO2, NOx, H2S, SPM, PM10, PM2.5, and Pb. These air pollutants have significantly increased from June 2016 to July 2017 at different locations in Dhaka. According to public perception and health physicians, air pollutants contribute to health concerns such as, eye irritation, headaches, damage to kidneys and central nervous system, skin cancer, cardio vascular diseases, nausea, asthma, and anemia. Regular monitoring of air quality parameters can be effective to protect inhabitants from various illnesses as well as significant help in providing a guideline for the development of a sustainable environment in the city dwellers of Dhaka.


Forty Sprague Dawley rats were randomly placed in five groups with eight rats per group. Each group varied in dietary composition for fiber type and carbohydrate source. Groups one and two received oat fiber and either sucrose or corn starch as the carbohydrate source. Groups three and four received corn bran as the fiber source and either sucrose or corn starch as the carbohydrate source. Group five (considered the control group), received Purina standard rat chow. Analysis of variance showed only significant differences for food intake, and the control group had a significantly higher food intake. Weight gain, serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels showed no significant differences.


The echinoderm symbionts Myzostomida are marine worms that show an enigmatic lophotrochozoan body plan. Historically, their phylogenetic origins were obscured due to disagreement about which morphological features are evolutionarily conserved, but now most morphological evidence points to annelid origins. In contrast, recent phylogenetic analyses using different molecular markers produced variable results regarding the position of myzostomids, but all suggested these worms are not derived annelids. To reexamine this issue, we analyzed data from nuclear genes (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, Myosin II, and Elongation Factor-1alpha), and a nearly complete myzostomid mitochondrial genome. Here, we show that the molecular data are in agreement with the morphological evidence that myzostomids are part of the annelid radiation. This result is robustly supported by mitochondrial (gene order and sequence data) and nuclear data, as well as by recent ultrastructural investigations. Using Bayes factor comparison, alternative hypotheses are shown to lack support. Thus, myzostomids probably evolved from a segmented ancestor and gained a derived anatomy during their long evolutionary history as echinoderm symbionts.


PURPOSE
The focus of this work was to investigate the implementation of low-Z targets in a TrueBeam linear accelerator (linac) using Monte Carlo simulations.

METHODS
Simulation of a TrueBeam linac was accomplished by using Varian Virtualinac. Virtualinac is a cloud based web application utilizing GEANT4 Monte Carlo code to model TrueBeam components. Phase spaces were recorded above the jaws and used as input to BEAMnrc simulations of the lower portion of TrueBeam. Dose distributions and spectral distributions were calculated using DOSXYZnrc and BEAMdp, respectively. For validation, 6 MV flattened and FFF photon beams were generated and compared to measurement. Two low-Z targets were investigated: a carbon target operated at 2.35 MeV and the proposed 2.50 MeV commercial imaging target. The carbon target was also simulated in a 2100EX Clinac using BEAMnrc. Contrast simulations were made by scoring the dose in the phosphor layer of an IUD20 detector after propagating through 4 and 20 cm thick water and ICRP bone phantoms.

RESULTS
Measured and modeled depth dose curves for 6 MV flattened and FFF beams agree within 2% for 99.7% of points at depths greater than 0.85 cm. The two low-Z target photon spectra produced in TrueBeam are harder than that from a Clinac. Percent dose at depth 10 cm is greater by 8.6% and 14.2%; the fraction of photons in the diagnostic energy range is lower by 7% and 25%; and contrasts are lower by factors of 1.2 and 1.5 (thin phantom) and 1.06 and 1.4 (thick), for the TrueBeam 2.35 MV/carbon and commercial imaging beams, respectively.

CONCLUSION
Virtualinac is effective for Monte Carlo modeling of novel target designs. A significant spectral difference is observed between the low-Z target beam on the Clinac platform, and the proposed imaging beam line on TrueBeam, with the former providing greater diagnostic energy content. This research was supported by Varian Medical Systems and was accomplished using Varian's Virtualinac Monte Carlo application.


There is very little documentation on the economic importance of locally available marine sponges (Porifera) in north-western Europe. From Iceland and the Faroe Islands there are records of naming and using the so-called mermaid's glove sponge (Isodictya palmata) especially for cleaning purposes. As late as in the 1940s, school children in the Faroe Islands gathered this sponge and used it to clean the slate.


Recent results obtained by the COSY – 11 collaboration concerning the production of η and η mesons in the pp → ppMeson reaction are presented. A comparison of the production amplitude for the π, η and η mesons at the same phase space volume allows to conclude that the proton η interaction is in the order of, or smaller than, the proton-π one. A total cross section determined in a preliminary analysis of the data of elementary kaon and antikaon production via the pp → ppKK reaction measured at excess energy of Q = 17 MeV is reported.


As multi-channel audio and visual processing becomes more accessible to the general public, musicians are beginning to experiment with performances where players are in two or more remote locations. These co-located or telepresence performances challenge the conventions and basic rules of traditional musical experience. While they allow for collaboration with musicians and audiences in remote locations, the current limitations of technology restricts the communication between musicians. In addition, a telepresence performance introduces optical distortion that can result in impaired auditory communication, resulting in the need to study certain auditory-visual interactions. One such interaction is the relationship between a musician and a virtual visual environment. How does the attendant visual environment affect the perceived presence of a musician? An experiment was conducted to determine the magnitude of this effect. Two pre-recorded musical performances were presented through virtual display in a number of acoustically diverse environments under different relative background lighting conditions. Participants in this study were asked to balance the level of the direct-to-reverberant ratio, and reverberant level until the virtual musician's acoustic environment is congruent with that of the visual representation. One can expect auditory-visual interactions in the perception of a musician in varying virtual environments. Through a multivariate parameter optimization, the results from this study will be used to develop a parametric model that will control the current auditory rendering system, Virtual Microphone Control (ViMiC), in order to create a more perceptually accurate auditory visual environment for performance. AES 123 Convention, New York, NY, 2007 October 5–8


We introduce a method for showing that there exist prime numbers which are very close together. The method depends on the level of distribution of primes in arithmetic progressions. Assuming the Elliott-Halberstam conjecture, we prove that there are infinitely often primes differing by 16 or less. Even a much weaker conjecture implies that there are infinitely often primes a bounded distance apart. Unconditionally, we prove that there exist consecutive primes which are closer than any arbitrarily small multiple of the average spacing, that is, lim inf n→∞ Pn+1-Pn/log Pn/log = 0. We will quantify this result further in a later paper.


In the UK, much regulation of nonprofit organisations (NPOs) is linked to charitable status – but a charity is not a legal form: many types of organisation can be recognised as charities if they meet certain tests, and not all NPOs are charities. Recent legislation has introduced
changes to the definition of charity, and significant changes in the regulation of charities, especially on accounting issues, were implemented in England and Wales in 1996 with updates in 2000, 2005, 2008 and 2009. A different charity accounting regime applies in Scotland, and new proposals were recently enacted in Northern Ireland. Yet the UK has no specific accounting framework for those NPOs that are not charities: everything hinges on the issue of charitable status. Drawing on legislative analysis, existing literature and fieldwork, this paper asks how far the various charity reforms implemented over the period 1996–2009 have led to an effective basis for the regulation of NPO accounting in the UK.


In this paper an extended Viterbi algorithm is presented for first-order hidden Markov processes, with the help of a dummy combined state sequence. For this, the Markov switching's transient probabilities and steady probabilities are studied separately. The algorithm gives a maximum likelihood estimate for the state sequence of a hidden Markov process. Comparing with the standard Viterbi algorithm, this method gives a higher maximum likelihood, and also picks up the state switching earlier, which is particularly important for the out of sample applications. The theory of this method is discussed in this paper and then a sample of a series of experiment is presented to illustrate the theory. A quantitative comparison is also given between this method and the standard Viterbi algorithm.


Background It has been established that patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) often have co-existing asthma. Objective We aimed to test two hypotheses: (i) upper and lower airway inflammation in CRSwNP is uniform in agreement with the united airways concept; and (ii) bronchial inflammation exists in all CRSwNP patients irrespective of clinical asthma status. Methods We collected biopsies from nasal polyps, inferior turbinates and bronchi of 27 CRSwNP patients and 6 controls. All participants were evaluated for lower airway disease according to international guidelines. Inflammatory cytokines were investigated using a Th1/Th2 assay including 14 chemokines and cytokines; tissue concentrations were normalized according to tissue weight and total protein concentration. Individual cytokines and multivariate inflammatory profiles were compared between biopsy sites and between patients and controls. Results We found significantly higher concentrations of Th2 cytokines in nasal polyps compared to inferior turbinate and bronchial biopsies. In addition, we showed that the inflammatory profile of nasal polyps and bronchial biopsies correlated significantly (p<0.01). From the Th2 cytokines measured, IL-13 was significantly increased in bronchial biopsies from CRSwNP patients with, but not without asthma. Conclusion Our findings support the united airways concept; however, we did not find evidence for subclinical bronchial inflammation in CRSwNP patients without asthma. Finally, this study indicates for the first time that nasal polyps potentially play an important role in the airway inflammation rather than being a secondary phenomenon.


Nutritional Ergogenic Aids provides an up-to-date review of what is hypothetical and what is known about the most extensively used nutritional ergogenic aids dietary supplements to enhance physical and athletic performance. Among the 23 aids discussed are branched-chain amino acids, carnitine, creatine, glucosamine, chrondroitin sulfate, taurine, biocarbonates, and ginseng. Research conducted primarily with data available from human studies is analyzed and discussed. The book presents information and guidelines on safe use and provides a scientific basis regarding the benefits, shortcomings, and usefulness of nutritional ergogenic aids.


In addition to their direct effects, episodes of financial instability may decrease investor confidence. Measuring the impact of a crisis on investor confidence is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to disentangle the effects on investor confidence from coincident direct effects of the crisis. In order to isolate the effects of financial crises on investor confidence, we study the investment behavior of immigrants in the U.S. Our findings indicate that systemic banking crises have important effects on investor behavior. Immigrants who have experienced a banking crisis in their countries of origin are significantly less likely to have bank accounts in the U.S. This finding is robust to including important individual controls like wealth, education, income, and age. In addition, the effect of crises is robust to controlling for a variety of country of origin characteristics, including measures of financial and economic development and specifications with country of origin fixed effects.


When producing thermomechanical pulps (TMP), wood chips and fiber material are loaded mechanically in a disc-refiner to separate the fibers and to make them flexible. In the process, much of the energy supplied is transferred to the fiber material through cyclic compression, shear and friction processes. Therefore, compression and friction characteristics are needed in order to gain a better grasp of the forces acting during refining. To this end, in this thesis, the compressive and frictional behaviors of wood were investigated under simulated chip refining conditions (i.e., hot saturated steam, high strain rate compression, and high sliding speed). Two new, custom-designed, experimental setups were developed and used. The equipment used for compression testing was based on the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) technique and the friction tester was a pin-on-disc type of tribotester (wear rig). Both pieces of equipment allow a testing environment of hot saturated steam. In the wood–steel friction investigation, the influence of the steam temperature (100-170°C) was of primary interest. The wood species chosen for the friction tests were spruce (Picea abies), pine (Pinus sylvestris, Pinus radiata), and birch (Betula verrucosa). When performing measurements in the lower-temperature region (100-130°C), the friction coefficients registered for the softwoods were generally low and surface properties such as lubrication were suggested to have a great influence on the results; however, in the higher-temperature region (~130 -170°C), the friction coefficients of all investigated wood species were probably determined by bulk properties to a much greater extent. When most of the wood extractives had been removed from the specimens, testing results revealed distinct peaks in friction at similar temperatures, as the internal friction of the different wood species are known to have their maxima at ~110–130°C. One suggested explanation of these friction peaks is that reduced lubrication enabled energy to dissipate into the bulk material, causing particularly high friction at the temperature at which internal damping of the material was greatest. During the friction measurements in the higher-temperature region, the specimens of the different wood species also started to lose fibers (i.e., produce wear debris) at different characteristic temperatures, as indicated by peaks in the coefficient of friction. In refining, the generally lower shives content of pine TMP than of spruce TMP could partly be explained by a lower wear initiation temperature in the pine species. Wood stiffness is known to decrease with temperature, when measured at low strain rates. The results presented in this thesis can confirm a similar behavior for high strain rate compression. The compressive strain registered during impulsive loading (using a modified split Hopkinson equipment) increased with temperature; because strain rate also increased with temperature. Accordingly, the strain rates should determine the strain magnitudes also in a refiner, since the impulsive loads in a refiner are of similar type. Larger strains would thus be achieved when refining at high temperatures. The results achieved in the compression tests were also considered in relation to refining parameters such as plate clearance and refining intensity, parameters that could be discussed in light of the stress–strain relations derived from the high strain rate measurements. Trials recorded using high-speed photography demonstrated that the wood relaxation was very small in the investigated time frame ~6 ms. As well, in TMP refining the wood material has little time to relax, i.e., ~0.04–0.5 ms in a large single disc refiner. The results presented here are therefore more suitable for comparison with the impulsive loads arising in a refiner than are the results of any earlier study. It can therefore be concluded that the modified SHPB testing technique combined with high-speed photography is well suited for studying the dynamic behavior of wood under conditions like those prevalent in a TMP system.


Functional analysis of a clinical microbiome facilitates the elucidation of mechanisms by which microbiome perturbation can cause a phenotypic change in the patient. The direct approach for the analysis of the functional capacity of the microbiome is via shotgun metagenomics. An inexpensive method to estimate the functional capacity of a microbial community is through collecting 16S rRNA gene profiles then indirectly inferring the abundance of functional genes. This inference approach has been implemented in the PICRUSt and Tax4Fun software tools. However, those tools have important limitations since they rely on outdated functional databases and uncertain phylogenetic trees and require very specific data pre-processing protocols. Here we introduce Piphillin, a straightforward algorithm independent of any proposed phylogenetic tree, leveraging contemporary functional databases and not obliged to any singular data pre-processing protocol. When all three inference tools were evaluated against actual shotgun metagenomics, Piphillin was superior in predicting gene composition in human clinical samples compared to both PICRUSt and Tax4Fun (p<0.01 and p<0.001, respectively) and Piphillin's ability to predict disease associations with specific gene orthologs exhibited a 15% increase in balanced accuracy compared to PICRUSt. From laboratory animal samples, no performance advantage was observed for any one of the tools over the others and for environmental samples all produced unsatisfactory predictions. Our results demonstrate that functional inference using the direct method implemented in Piphillin is preferable for clinical biospecimens. Piphillin is publicly available for academic use at http://secondgenome.com/Piphillin.


Heavier bodies—particularly female bodies—are stigmatized. Such fat stigma is pervasive, painful to experience, and may even facilitate weight gain, thereby perpetuating the weight-stigma cycle. Leveraging research on functionally distinct forms of fat (deposited on different parts of the body), we propose that body shape plays an important but largely underappreciated role in fat stigma, above and beyond fat amount. Across three samples varying in participant ethnicity (White and Black Americans) and nation (United States, India), patterns of fat stigma reveal that, as hypothesized, participants differently stigmatized equally overweight or equally obese female targets as a function of target shape, sometimes even more strongly stigmatizing targets with less rather than more body mass. Such findings suggest value in updating our understanding of fat stigma to include body shape and in querying a predominating, but often implicit, theoretical assumption that people simply view all fat as 'bad' (and more fat as 'worse').


The Liverpool Care Pathway has been recently phased out in favour of new priorities of care. In her regular column, Aysha Mendes delves into the rapidly evolving world of end-of-life care and explores what it all means for renal nurses who are caring for patients with end-stage renal disease.


Abstract Ecological footprint analysis is a method to evaluate the real demands made by each of us on earth's ecologically productive area by our patterns of consumption of food and wood products and our share of built up (ecologically degraded) land. A separate calculation of our energy footprint estimates the area of new forest that would need to be generated if we wanted to sequester all of the carbon emitted into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels. Calculation of the current ecological footprint for each citizen of the United States shows that our style of consumption, which we market to the world, is not sustainable for the world population of ~9 billion people expected in 2050 if they wish to live as we do. Our food footprint can be significantly mitigated by reducing beef consumption by ~80%; our wood products footprint, if extrapolated to the world, exceeds the carrying capacity of earth's forests. We continue to degrade ecologically productive land beneath cities and the transport and business infrastructure that maintains our economy. Our energy footprint is so large that there is no realistic sink for the excess carbon dioxide we produce from the burning of fossil fuels. We need to know the consequences of this more clearly. We must face the reality of replacing our petroleum-based economy with alternative renewable energy sources during the twenty-first century. The challenge to bring human consumption into balance with earth resources for a sustainable and humane future, probably within two generations, is daunting.


Modern analog faunal distributions are increasingly being used in fossil foraminiferal studies to provide quantitative estimates of past environmental conditions, requiring an accurate assessment of modern taphonomic assemblages. A fundamental issue with such an approach is the differentiation of live versus dead foraminifera in the modern assemblage. The effectiveness of various biological staining techniques for this purpose has long been debated. In this study, the reliability of the stain rose Bengal, which has been widely used for over 50 years, was compared to that of the modern fluorogenic probe CellTracker™ Green in identifying live agglutinated salt-marsh foraminifera from two locations on the South Island, New Zealand. Cored samples within these locations yielded low diversity assemblages, dominated by Trochamminita salsa, an important high tidal salt-marsh species in the Southern Hemisphere. Parametric statistical analysis of replicate data shows that there is no significant difference between the ability of the two techniques to discriminate between live and dead foraminifera.


A method is reported for the measurement of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) from plant foods. NSP are the major components of "dietary fibre." The polysaccharides are divided into cellulose and non-cellulosic material and the constituent sugars are determined by gas-liquid chromatography. Starch is removed, after gelatinisation, by incubation with hog pancreatic α-amylase together with pullulanase. The enzyme preparations are shown to be specific for the hydrolysis of α-1,4- and α-1,6-glucosidic bonds, and not to affect NSP. The starch-free material is then analysed by three separate but complementary procedures: (A) hydrolysis with 1 M sulphuric acid after solubilisation of cellulose with 12 M sulphuric acid; (B) hydrolysis with 1 M sulphuric acid; and (C) extraction with phosphate buffer at pH 7 and 100 °C, solubilisation of cellulose with 12 M sulphuric acid and then hydrolysis with 1 M sulphuric acid. Neutral sugars are measured by gas-liquid chromatography as alditol acetates and uronic acids by a colorimetric method. Starch made resistant to α-amylase digestion by food processing is identified by additional steps in procedure B, and measured as "resistant starch." Procedure A gives total NSP and procedure B neutral non-cellulosic polysaccharides. A value for cellulose is obtained as the difference between glucose measured in procedures A and B. Procedure C gives NSP insoluble in phosphate buffer at pH 7. Soluble NSP is the difference between total NSP and insoluble NSP. Results for the NSP analysis of selected foods are given.


Abstract:The widespread debate on an East Asian power shift is generally based on the crude notion that power and capability are interchangeable. We critique this view and offer the alternative that power is the capacity of actors and discourses to produce effects— what we call relational and productive power, respectively. We also engage in a reflexive exercise by addressing the productive power of the power-shift debate itself, and emphasize the danger that this debate might enable the kind of realpolitik that it forebodes.


This paper describes experiences gained in teaching a new course aimed at providing junior-level undergraduate engineering students with some of the fundamentals needed in developing new products. A six-stage engineering approach to develop a new product is proposed. Through a cooperative education partnership arrangement with Black and Decker, a new product is introduced to the class. Engineers from this corporation present a series of lectures on some their real-life experience with this product. The students work as teams to complete assigned course projects related to the new product development. During the redesign, Pro/ENGINEER and a method of rapid prototyping are introduced. These tools aid the students in inventing new components and in visualizing their ideas in the learning process. An extremely positive response from the participating students reflects upon the innovative approach developed in this course.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the cost-utility of a lifestyle intervention among adolescents and young adults with cerebral palsy.

DESIGN
Single-blind, randomized controlled trial.

SETTING
Six university hospital/clinics in the Netherlands.

PARTICIPANTS
Fifty-seven adolescents and young adults with spastic cerebral palsy classified as Gross Motor Functioning Classification System (GMFCS) level I-IV.

INTERVENTION
A 6-month lifestyle intervention consisting of physical fitness training combined with counselling sessions focusing on physical behaviour and sports participation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Data on quality of life, direct medical costs and productivity costs were collected using standardized questionnaires. Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) were derived from the Short-Form 36 questionnaire using the Short-Form 6D.

RESULTS
Quality of life remained stable over time for both groups. No significant differences between groups were found for direct medical costs or productivity costs. A cost-utility ratio of -€23,664 per QALY was found for the lifestyle intervention compared with no treatment.

CONCLUSION
The results of this study are exploratory, but indicate that implementing a lifestyle intervention for the cerebral palsy population might be cost-effective or cost-saving compared with offering no intervention to improve physical behaviour and fitness. However, the large range of uncertainty for the cost-utility ratio should be taken into account and the results interpreted with caution.


Pulse-labelling of plants in a 14CO2 or 13CO2 atmosphere is a useful tool for investigating C allocation in plants and soils, revelation of C sources in soil organisms, as well as for CO2 partitioning studies. Recently, these labelling experiments have been used to produce isotopically labelled biomass of plants or microorganisms for the investigation of C dynamics in these organisms or in soil. However, it remains unknown whether these labelling approaches may affect the composition of plant constituents that react to modifications of environmental conditions during biosynthesis. Lipids as primary biosynthesis products and main components of plant waxes are well known to react fast to environmental changes resulting in a modified lipid composition. In this study, we demonstrate that lipid composition may be only slightly affected by the labelling procedure, especially, when only short pulses (only a few hours) are applied and when the sampling does not occur immediately after the labelling. While the differences of plant lipid compositions are obviously modified not as a result of isotopic pulses, the environmental conditions of plants grown under controlled laboratory conditions have a significant effect leading to a shift of the distribution pattern of plant lipids compared to the lipid composition of plants grown under field conditions.


1. The relationship between the antihypertensive action of captopril and its inhibitory effect on angiotensin I(ANG I)-converting enzyme has been investigated. Converting enzyme was measured in plasma by its ability to generate hippuric acid from the synthetic substrate hippuryl-l-histidyl-l-leucine. Inhibition by captopril appeared transient on storage of the plasma samples at −20°C, so that measurements in such samples were not a valid index of the effect in vivo. 2. Rapid reversal of captopril9s inhibitory effect on ANG I-converting enzyme in plasma was achieved by the addition of N -ethylmaleimide (0.1 mmol/l). In this way an estimate of converting enzyme 'concentration' was obtained both in stored and in freshly prepared plasma samples. Measurements of converting enzyme 'activity' in freshly prepared samples, in the absence of N -ethylmaleimide, were used as an index of inhibition in vivo. 3. In eight hypertensive subjects ANG I-converting enzyme 'concentration' did not change after a single oral 100 mg dose of captopril. Long-term treatment of 10 hypertensive subjects with captopril was associated with a gradual increase in converting enzyme 'concentration' from 29 ± 2 to 47 ± 3 m-units/ml (mean ± sem) over a period of several weeks. In contrast, captopril caused a rapid fall of converting enzyme 'activity'. 4. Abrupt withdrawal of captopril after long-term treatment caused a gradual decrease in ANG I-converting enzyme 'concentration' to the control value. In contrast, converting enzyme 'activity' rose rapidly and became equal to enzyme 'concentration' 2 days after the drug had been stopped. 5. The concentration of enzymatically active renin in plasma rose from 13 ± 3 to 81 ± 34 μ-units/ml during long-term captopril treatment (mean ± sem). Blood pressure fell from 168 ±4/108 ± 3 to 140 ± 3/90 ± 3 mmHg and had not returned to the control value in the first week after the drug had been stopped, despite the fact that circulating active renin and ANG I-converting enzyme 'activity' were elevated. 6. It is concluded that long-term inhibition of ANG I-converting enzyme by captopril is associated with an increased plasma concentration of this enzyme. The results also suggest that the level of converting enzyme 'activity' in plasma is not the only factor that determines the long-term effect of captopril on blood pressure.


Background: Foot compartment syndrome is diagnosed with intracompartmental pressure measurements. The purpose of this study was to determine the ability of two techniques to accurately place a needle tip within the medial foot compartment and to compare the proximity of the needle tip to the medial foot compartment neurovascular structures between the two techniques. Materials and Methods: This was a laboratory study using ten unembalmed cadaveric ankle-foot specimens. Two 18-gauge side-ported needles were placed into the medial foot compartments of each cadaveric specimen utilizing two separate techniques (Mollica and Reach techniques). Ultrasound was used to confirm needle tip placement within the medial foot compartment and needle proximity to the neurovascular structures. Results: Both needle placement techniques accurately placed the needle tip within the medial foot compartment. However, the distance between the needle tip and the neurovascular structures of the medial foot compartment was significantly closer (p = 0.037) using the Mollica technique (mean = 3.9 mm ± 2.2 mm) than the Reach technique (mean = 10.9 mm ± 5.2 mm). Neither needle placement technique perforated the medial foot neurovascular structures. Conclusion: While both medial foot compartment pressure techniques accurately placed the needle tip within the medial foot compartment, the needle tip was significantly further from the medial foot neurovascular structures using the Reach technique than the Mollica technique. The Reach technique involves inserting the needle 6 cm below the distal tip of the medial malleolus, and advancing it 1 cm in a medial to lateral direction.


The present study deals with the new methodology for simulation of earthquake ground motion for the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of structures. Peak ground acceleration, acceleration response spectra, and ground motion duration are selected as the parameters to characterize earthquake ground motions. In the proposed method, the seismic hazard curve in terms of peak ground acceleration is calculated and normalized response spectrum and ground motion duration are probabilistically evaluated given that the ground motion intensity exceeds a certain acceleration level. Correlation coefficients between the spectral values at different natural periods are also examined using observed earthquake records. The Monte Carlo technique is adopted to generate sample normalized response spectra in which the correlation relation is taken into account, and the earthquake ground motions for the dynamic response analyses are simulated to fit the sample spectra.


This study aims to propose and empirically test a multilevel model of cross-level interactions between authentic leadership and innovation at the team level, and perception of support for innovation and creativity at the individual level. We use data from 23 team leaders and 289 team members in a Slovenian manufacturing and processing firm engaged in producing innovative products and customer solutions and conduct a multilevel analysis using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). The results indicate that whereas perceived team leaders' authentic leadership directly influences team members' individual creativity and team innovation, the impact of self-ascribed team leaders' authentic leadership was not significant. In addition to that, the relationship between team leaders' authenticity and creativity is mediated by perception of support for innovation. Using a multilevel approach, this is the first study to our knowledge to quantitatively examine the relationship between authentic leadership and creativity and innovation. In addition, unlike previous research on related topics that relied solely on one source of information, we examine authentic leadership with empirical data gathered from both team leaders and their employees.


Combining or pooling individual samples when carrying out transcript profiling using microarrays is a fairly common means to reduce both the cost and complexity of data analysis. However, pooling does not allow for statistical comparison of changes between samples and can result in a loss of information. Because a rigorous comparison of the identified expression changes from the two approaches has not been reported, we compared the results for hepatic transcript profiles from pooled vs. individual samples. Hepatic transcript profiles from a single-dose time-course rat study in response to the prototypical toxicants clofibrate, diethylhexylphthalate, and valproic acid were evaluated. Approximately 50% more transcript expression changes were observed in the individual (statistical) analysis compared with the pooled analysis. While the majority of these changes were less than twofold in magnitude ( approximately 80%), a substantial number were greater than twofold (approximately 20%). Transcript changes unique to the individual analysis were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR, while all the changes unique to the pooled analysis did not confirm. The individual analysis identified more hits per biological pathway than the pooled approach. Many of the transcripts identified by the individual analysis were novel findings and may contribute to a better understanding of molecular mechanisms of these compounds. Furthermore, having individual animal data provided the opportunity to correlate changes in transcript expression to phenotypes (i.e., histology) observed in toxicology studies. The two approaches were similar when clustering methods were used despite the large difference in the absolute number of transcripts changed. In summary, pooling reduced resource requirements substantially, but the individual approach enabled statistical analysis that identified more gene expression changes to evaluate mechanisms of toxicity. An individual animal approach becomes more valuable when the overall expression response is subtle and/or when associating expression data to variable phenotypic responses.


We study public-sector bargaining and contract outcomes using Canadian data from 1978 to 2008. We have a number of interesting results, but our principal findings are from our analysis of wage settlements. We find that the essential services designation, which only allows non-essential members of a bargain unit to strike, is associated with decreases in wages. Our estimates also suggest that there is an arbitration wage premium and that making adjustments to the ability to pay criterion used by arbitrators to determine awards does not affect this premium. We also discuss the implications of our estimates.


The failure of firms in the face of technological change has been a topic of intense research and debate, spawning the theory (among others) of disruptive technologies. However, the theory suffers from circular definitions, inadequate empirical evidence, and lack of a predictive model. The authors develop a new schema to address these limitations. The schema generates seven hypotheses and a testable model relating to platform technologies. The authors test this model and hypotheses with data on 36 technologies from 7 markets. Contrary to extant theory, technologies that adopt a lower attack ("potentially disruptive technologies") 1) are introduced as frequently by incumbents as by entrants, 2) are not cheaper than older technologies, and 3) rarely disrupt firms, and 4) both entrants and lower attacks significantly reduce the hazard of disruption. Moreover, technology disruption is not permanent due to multiple crossings in technology performance and numerous rival technologies co-existing without one disrupting the other. The proposed predictive model of disruption shows good out-of-sample predictive accuracy. The authors discuss the implications of these findings.


ABSTRACT We report a duplex real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous screening of mutations involved in fluoroquinolone resistance within gyrA and parC quninolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Our assay clearly detects all mutated QRDRs and allows the identification of common genotypes, whether the QRDRs contain single or double mutations, providing valuable epidemiological tools. When this method is used in conjunction with similar assays and in vitro analyses, essential antibiotic resistance surveillance can be performed for public health purposes.


Introduction: Prediabetic patients have higher risk for cardiovascular diseases, which further increases the rate of mortality. Reason for the rate of increase may be lack of observation, follow-up programs, and self-awareness about the conditions of disease. Lifestyle interventions such as yoga can prove to be a beneficial nonpharmacologic intervention in preventing progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. This study highlights importance of short-term intervention, i.e., yoga in prediabetic patients and use it as a tool for primary prevention of diabetes. Methods: This was an interventional study among adults aged 30–50 years in RUHS college of Medical Sciences and Associated Rukmani Devi Beni Prasad Jaipuria Hospital in Jaipur city. The design of study was quasi prospective comparative study. A total of 102 prediabetic patients of age group 30–50 years were recruited from Jaipuria Hospital. These were divided into two groups: study group (Group A, n = 51) were engaged in yoga session and control group (B, n = 51) not performed any yoga session. Results: Yoga intervention resulted in a significant decline in blood glucose (P < 0.001), glycated hemoglobin (P < 0.01), lipid profile cholesterol (P < 0.01), triglyceride (P < 0.01), and low-density lipoprotein (P < 0.01), but high-density lipoprotein (P < 0.02) and very low-density lipoprotein increase (P < 0.03) but not statistically significant relative to the control group. Conclusion: Short-term yoga intervention is helpful in the control of glycemic parameters like blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin and lipid profile in prediabetic patients. This preliminary study indicates that a yoga program would be a possible risk reduction option for adults at high risk for type 2 diabetes. In addition, yoga holds promise as an approach to reducing cardiometabolic risk factors and increasing exercise self-efficacy for prediabetics performing yoga.


Digital redesign method called the Plant-Input-Mapping (PIM) method is used as bases for the design of a digital controller to track a ramp-type reference input without steady-state errors. This is achieved by modifying a lower order part of the numerator in the pre-filter so that the condition for the controller to have zero steady-state error is satisfied. The Euler operator is used so that the arguments made in the continuous-time domain are carried over to the discrete-time domain with ease. Simulation results are presented to show that the proposed modification made to the PIM digital controller is effective. Comparisons with the digital controller designed using the Tustin discretization method are also shown.


A number of females, commonly recognized as 11 victims, were murdered in separate events in Whitechapel, London between 1888 and 1891. An evaluation of the murders revealed that six of those murders were linked by a number of distinct, personal signature characteristics, including picquerism, overkill, incapacitation, domination and control, open and displayed, unusual body position, sexual degradation, mutilation, organ harvesting, specific areas of attack, preplanning and organization, and a combination of signature features. The signature characteristics observed in these infamous Jack the Ripper murders were compared to a 1981‐1995 cohort of 3359 homicide cases from Washington State's HITS database. The analysis revealed that the signature displayed in six of the Whitechapel murders was extremely rare. There were only six records of female victims, one a prostitute, with probed, explored, or mutilated body cavities. There were only two cases, both females who were not prostitutes, where the body was left in an unusual position and body cavities were explored, probed, or mutilated. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The use of beachfill in addressing coastal erosion problems is becoming increasingly popular. It is often more attractive than the conventional structural approaches for economic, aesthetic and environmental reasons. The complexity of coastal morphodynamics warrants a comprehensive investigation into the stability of proposed beachfill projects in order to fully capitalize on the advantages of the beachfill approach. Two aspects of the beachfill stability must be investigated, the short term storm response and the long term redistribution (and eventual loss) of fill material. In this paper, two examples of short term response tests for engineering projects are investigated using a numerical model. A micro-computer based numerical model has been developed for the prediction of cross-shore sediment transport and beach profile evolution. The model is based entirely on physical processes and therefore may be applied to any beach without the need of calibration. In an extensive Investigation of this type of approach to modelling. Nairu (1990) has demonstrated the capabilities of the model in predicting both beach erosion and recovery.


Abstract.
 As a result of intensified agriculture, farmland in Europe is the habitat where the most pronounced changes have occurred in recent decades. In parallel, breeding populations of birds have been declining over much of Europe. Today, farmland has the largest proportion of Red-List species. This paper reviews studies on the impact of agriculture on birds breeding in the farmland ecosystems of Europe: breeding bird density in relation to farming practice, effects of agriculture on foraging and feeding ecology while rearing young, and consequences for breeding success. Specialised bird species are most affected by farming practice. They are rare or even absent in intensively managed farmland with a much reduced habitat and structural diversity. As crops grow fast and as their vegetation is very dense, large fields become inaccessible to or unprofitable for ground feeding birds. To exploit alternative food resources, parents feeding nestlings have to cover larger distances to isolated and distant food patches. Reduced food availability in modern farmland and increased time and energy costs of foraging may result in lower body conditions of parent birds and their broods, in a reduced breeding success and lower survival. Some species breeding in intensively farmed areas are at least locally unable to produce sufficient recruits to maintain their numbers in the long term. Our knowledge of the breeding ecology and population dynamics of farmland birds is growing, but it is still based mainly on short-term and small-scale case studies on a few species. Little is known about whether measures to improve habitat quality (e.g. set-asides) are adequate to halt negative trends in bird populations. Hence, there is a need for internationally coordinated scientific work with important implications for conservation.


In his 2008 book, Here Comes Everybody: The
Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Clay Shirky
explored how the Internet empowered groups outside of
traditional organizational structures. His 2010 book,
Cognitive Surplus: How Technology Makes Consumers into
Collaborators, expands that theme, expertly examining how
and why individuals choose to join these technologicallyenabled
groups and analyzing how these groups are
transforming modern communications. Defining "cognitive
surplus" as "the free time of the world's educated citizenry
as an aggregate" (9), Shirky uses examples from around the
world. These include everything from a crowd-sourced
service to track ethnic violence in Kenya to the LOLCats of
ICanHasCheezburger.com, all in order to analyze the source
of our cognitive surplus and the ways it can be harnessed
effectively. In a world of participatory archives and a focus
on developing new user groups, Shirky's observations and
recommendations are pertinent to archivists striving to grow
communities locally and online.


Background To date, only one study reported the impact attenuation of protective taekwondo headgear. Although Olympic boxing has discontinued the use of headgear, similarities in designs are thought to provide a framework for improvements of taekwondo headgear. Objective To determine differences in impact attenuation of taekwondo and boxing headgear. Design Between groups. Setting Impact biomechanics laboratory. Participants World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) and Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) approved protective headgear. Risk factor assessment A standardized (ASTM F-2397) martial arts headgear striker was used to impart impacts to a 50th Percentile Male Hybrid III Dummy head and neck complex. All impacts were imparted with a terminal striking velocity of 5.0 m/s (min - max=4.75 −5.15m/s). 2 AIBA-approved headgear (Adidas and Green Hills) and 2 WTF-approved headgear were selected for testing. Each headgear model was fitted to the Hybrid III and impacted a total of 5 times to the left side (temporal) of the headgear along an ASTM-specified impact region. As per ASTM standards low velocity impacts must yield head RLAs below 50g. Main outcome measurements Resultant linear acceleration (RLA). Results 1-way ANOVA showed significant differences between the headgear brands (eta2=0.928). The most protection was provided by the taekwondo Adidas headgear (60.5±4.3g) followed by the boxing Adidas (75.4±9.9g), boxing Greenhill (109.4±10.11g), and taekwondo Nike headgear (129.5±8.2g). The greatest difference in RLA was observed between the two taekwondo models (d=−9.54, 95% CI=−13.91 – −5.18), whereas the smallest clinically meaningful difference was observed between the two Adidas models (d=−1.94, 95% CI=−3.20 – −0.29). Conclusions Each of the headgear brands performed differently under the testing conditions. All models need to be redesigned to mitigate low velocity impacts. Future testing must include impacts at high impact velocities.


Drained depressional wetlands are typically restored by plugging ditches or breaking drainage tiles to allow recovery of natural ponding regimes, while relying on passive recolonization from seed banks and dispersal to establish emergent vegetation. However, in restored depressions of the southeastern United States Coastal Plain, certain characteristic rhizomatous graminoid species may not recolonize because they are dispersal-limited and uncommon or absent in the seed banks of disturbed sites. We tested whether selectively planting such wetland dominants could facilitate restoration by accelerating vegetative cover development and suppressing non-wetland species. In an operational-scale project in a South Carolina forested landscape, drained depressional wetlands were restored in early 2001 by completely removing woody vegetation and plugging surface ditches. After forest removal, tillers of two rhizomatous wetland grasses (Panicum hemitomon, Leersia hexandra) were transplanted into singlespecies blocks in 12 restored depressions that otherwise were revegetating passively. Presence and cover of all plant species appearing in planted plots and unplanted control plots were recorded annually. We analyzed vegetation composition after two and four years, during a severe drought (2002) and after hydrologic recovery (2004). Most grass plantings established successfully, attaining 15%–85% cover in two years. Planted plots had fewer total species and fewer wetland species compared to control plots, but differences were small. Planted plots achieved greater total vegetative cover during the drought and greater combined cover of wetland species in both years. By 2004, planted grasses appeared to reduce cover of non-wetland species in some cases, but wetter hydrologic conditions contributed more strongly to suppression of non-wetland species. Because these two grasses typically form a dominant cover matrix in herbaceous depressions, our results indicated that planting selected species could supplement passive restoration by promoting a vegetative structure closer to that of natural wetlands.


There is not yet a straightforward method for determining the D-T ratio in the centre of a tokamak plasma. One of the simpler measurements put forward in the past is the interpretation of the MHD spectrum in the frequency range of the global Alfven eigenmodes (GAE). However, the frequencies of these modes do not depend on the plasma mass alone, but are also quite strongly dependent on the details of the current and density profiles; this creates a problem of deconvolution of the estimate of the plasma mass from an implicit relationship between several measurable plasma parameters and the detected eigenmode frequencies. In view of the lack of competitive diagnostics, this method has been revisited to assess its likely precision for the JET tokamak. Our results show that the low-n GAE modes are sometimes too close to the continuum edge to be detectable and that the interpretation of the GAE spectrum is therefore rendered less direct than had been hoped. However, information on the effective plasma ion mass is still available in the detectable modes and we present a statistical study on the precision with which this quantity could be estimated from the GAE spectrum on JET, including other directly measured or simply available plasma parameters.