Unsaturated polyester (UP)/organically modified clay (OMC) nanocomposites were prepared by multistep simultaneous mixing of UP oligomer chain, styrene (St) monomer, and OMC. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy data were in support of the formation of a partially intercalated nanocomposite. The glass transition temperatures of the nanocomposites revealed that the crosslinking reaction occurred homogeneously inside and outside of the OMC galleries. Adding 3 wt% OMC improved the flextural and storage modulus of UP by 31.5% and 30.2%, respectively. The Izod impact strength of UP was also improved by 51.7% at 1 wt% of OMC loading. Similar results were obtained for low-profile UP/St/OMC nanocomposites. Resin shrinkage data measured by inhouse constructed apparatus showed that, at an OMC content of 3 wt%, the UP/St/OMC/low profile additive (LPA) system cannot provide superior volume shrinkage control. But, it is found that the use of nanoscale reinforcement in the UP systems is able to restore flextural and storage moduli loss when using LPAs. POLYM. COMPOS., 2009. © 2008 Society of Plastics Engineers


1. Introduction Over the past six decades a number of public documents have been issued relating to the Christian relationship with Jews. These public documents have been written by the International Council of Christians and Jews (I.C.C.J.) (first in 1947), the Vatican (notably in 1965), the World Council of Churches (W.C.C.) and some of its agencies, and--especially in the past two decades--a growing number of individual Christian denominations. (1) These documents have canvassed a range of issues, which have taken the relationship into areas that are, at times, stimulating, challenging, and fraught with difficulties. Many of these documents have taken pains to begin by stating the "common denominators" that exist between Christianity and Judaism. Practitioners of each faith have been able to focus on a set of key affirmations to which each believer might give assent. Because of the direction in which these documents look--from the Christian perspective, looking toward the Jewish religious experience--these shared affirmations are most often expressed in Christian terms. However, they point the way to fruitful developments in the relationship in the future. The documents also canvass a range of issues that have difficulties and dangers embedded in them--some because of the emotional freight attached to them from history, others because of the way in which they shape current perceptions and behaviors of Christians in relation to Jews. Both evangelical fervor and persecutory actions have characterized ways that Christians have related to Jews in past centuries, up to the present day. Such matters are named and discussed in a number of these documents. In the process of exploring these issues in careful and sensitive fashion, a number of questions have been identified that merit deeper and more rigorous consideration. Such questions relate to the role of "covenant" in this relationship, the place of the Messiah in the respective faiths, models of "salvation" that might inform this relationship, the common activities that might be undertaken by Christians and Jews in partnership, and how Christians might address the difficulties inherent in Jewish commitment to the Land of Israel within the contemporary religious and political context. The basic stance adopted throughout the range of documents is that Judaism is a living faith that is to be respected as an integral part of the contemporary religious scene and with which it is important for Christians to engage in mutual dialogue and common action. While this stance is not always explicitly noted, it is evident in the various documents. Nostra aetate, the 1965 Vatican statement on relationships with non-Christian religions, refers to the "spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews." (2) A decade later, the Roman Catholic bishops of the U.S.A. developed this terminology with their affirmation of "our common patrimony and spiritual ties with Jews," (3) while a 1985 document from the Vatican itself refers to "the faith and religious life of the Jewish people as they are professed and practiced still today." (4) In more recent decades documents emanating from the W.C.C. have referred to "the continuing vocation of the Jewish people," (5) their "rich history of spiritual life," (6) and "the living tradition of Judaism." (7) The Anglican Communion has described Judaism as "a living and still developing religion," (8) Australian Catholic bishops have referred to "the living and complex reality of Judaism," (9) and U.S. Methodists have noted that "Judaism and Christianity are living and dynamic religious movements." (10) The Evangelical Churches in Austria "recognize Judaism as a living and diverse entity," (11) while the Uniting Church in Australia has affirmed Judaism as "a living faith possessed of its own integrity and vitality." (12) Such statements about Judaism, while obvious to the observer of the contemporary world religious scene, are needed because of the widespread tendency within the churches to regard Judaism entirely through the lenses provided by a traditionalist (and uncritical) interpretation of the Christian Scriptures--often resulting in a stereotyped and inadequate view of Judaism as legalistic and moribund. …


As a burgeoning two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor, InSe holds unique electronic properties and great promise for novel 2D electronic devices. To advance the development of 2D InSe devices, the exploration of n-type and p-type conductivities of InSe is indispensable. With first-principles calculations, we investigate the properties of native defects and substitutional impurities in monolayer InSe, including formation energies and ionization energies. As the traditional jellium scheme encounters an energy divergence for charged defects in 2D materials, an extrapolation approach is adopted here to obtain convergent energies. We find that In vacancy is a deep acceptor and Se vacancy is an electrically neutral defect. All the studied substitutional dopants at In or Se sites have high ionization energies in the range of 0.41-0.84 eV. However, electrons may transport through the defect-bound band edge states in XSe (X = Cl, Br, and I) as a potential source of n-type conductivity.


This research aimed to compare the social representations of adolescents who study during the day and of those who study in the evening concerning three related objects: the work itself, the association between working and studying, and the adolescent who works. The subjects were 724 male and female high school students from 14 to 18 years old, divided into a worker and a non-worker groups. Data were collected using the free evocation method with inductor terms, and the software Evoc helped in the formulation of hypotheses about the centrality of the main contents of each representation. The most important results were: the anchoring by workers of the term "work" in elements of their everyday life; the predominance among workers of negative central elements as to the association between studying and working; the positive image for both groups regarding the adolescent who works.


Abstract. Data collected from research networks present
opportunities to test theories and develop models about factors responsible
for the long-term persistence and vulnerability of soil organic matter
(SOM). Synthesizing datasets collected by different research networks
presents opportunities to expand the ecological gradients and scientific
breadth of information available for inquiry. Synthesizing these data is
challenging, especially considering the legacy of soil data that have
already been collected and an expansion of new network science initiatives.
To facilitate this effort, here we present the SOils DAta Harmonization
database (SoDaH; https://lter.github.io/som-website, last access: 22 December 2020), a flexible database designed to harmonize diverse SOM datasets from
multiple research networks. SoDaH is built on several network science
efforts in the United States, but the tools built for SoDaH aim to provide
an open-access resource to facilitate synthesis of soil carbon data.
Moreover, SoDaH allows for individual locations to contribute results from
experimental manipulations, repeated measurements from long-term studies,
and local- to regional-scale gradients across ecosystems or landscapes.
Finally, we also provide data visualization and analysis tools that can be
used to query and analyze the aggregated database. The SoDaH v1.0 dataset is
archived and available
at https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/9733f6b6d2ffd12bf126dc36a763e0b4 (Wieder et al., 2020).


MXenes, a novel family of two dimensional (2D) materials with excellent electronic conductivity and hydrophilicity, have emerged as a promising material for energy storage. Based on the intercalation mechanism, MXenes have demonstrated an excellent performance for supercapacitors but low capacities for sodium-ion batteries. Herein, we developed a facile solution-phase method to fabricate the Sb2O3/MXene(Ti3C2Tx) hybrid materials for sodium storage with enhanced electrochemical performances. The as-prepared Sb2O3/Ti3C2Tx composite has a hierarchical structure with Sb2O3 nanoparticles (sub-50 nm) uniformly incorporated in the MXene Ti3C2Tx 3D networks. The Sb2O3 nanoparticles serve as a sufficient sodium ion reservoir; meanwhile, the MXene Ti3C2Tx network provides highly efficient pathways for transport of electrons and Na-ions. The volume expansion of Sb2O3 during sodiation/desodiation can be buffered and confined between the 2D Ti3C2Tx sheets. As a result, the Sb2O3/Ti3C2Tx hybrid anodes present good structural stability and superior electrochemical performance in Na-ion batteries, including an excellent rate performance with a capacity of 295 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1, and an enhanced cycling performance with a capacity of 472 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1. This work is expected to inspire the development of MXene materials for high performance batteries.


This paper describes that France is apparently one of the few rich countries to have avoided a significant increase in income inequality in recent decades. However, stable average inequalities mask an asymmetric trends of income between age groups, the elderly improving their situation while the young see theirs worsening. Furthermore, it shows that behind this relatively still surface, a general trend of precarization of more and more ordinary workers is occurring,. The importance of wage- setting processes and of regulation of the labour market is bought out, together with the way the tax and transfer systems have operated, in restraining the forces driving inequality upwards. Wage growth, while limited, has thus been reasonably uniform across the distribution and together with the redistributive system have kept household income inequality within bounds. However, in response to high unemployment both regulatory and tax–transfer systems have served to underpin the very rapid growth in precarious working over the last decade, representing a very serious challenge for policy.


The processes responsible for patterns of cytonuclear discordance remain unclear. Here, we employ an exon capture dataset, demographic methods, and species distribution modeling to elucidate the impact of historical demography on patterns of genealogical concordance and discordance in ground squirrel lineages from the Otospermophilus beecheyi species complex. Previous studies in O. beecheyi revealed three morphologically cryptic and highly divergent mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages (named the Northern, Central, and Southern lineages based on geography) with only the Northern lineage exhibiting concordant divergence in nuclear markers. We show that these mtDNA lineages likely formed in allopatry during the Pleistocene, but responded differentially to climatic changes that occurred since the last interglacial (∼120,000 years ago). We find that the Northern lineage maintained a stable range throughout this period, correlating with genetic distinctiveness among all genetic markers and low migration rates between the other lineages. In contrast, our results support a scenario where the Southern lineage expanded from Baja California Sur during the Late Pleistocene and hybridized with the Central lineage, eventually driving the Central lineage to extinction. While high intraspecific gene flow among newly colonized populations eroded significant signals of Central ancestry from autosomal markers, male sex-biased dispersal in this system preserved signals of this past hybridization and introgression event in matrilineal-biased X-chromosome and mtDNA markers. Our results highlight the importance of range stability in maintaining the persistence of phylogeographic lineages, whereas unstable range dynamics can increase the tendency for lineages to interact and collapse upon secondary contact.


Timing and distribution of fractures related to folding is a crucial topic for migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons in structural traps. We performed sandbox analogue models to investigate the fracture patterns evolution in fault-related anticlines, e.g. fault-propagation and fault-bend fold. Analogue models allow us to: ( i ) reproduce geometry and kinematics of different kinds of folds, and ( ii ) describe and quantify fractures through time in all deformation stages. Three-dimensional digital model reconstructions facilitate the comparison of different steps in the evolution of fault-related anticlines and to highlight similarities and differences in fractures development. Quantitative parameters of fractures as orientation, number and average length have been acquired in each step of deformation using an automated procedure. The fault-related anticline models show that fractures development evolves with a cyclic and non-linear trend, depending on the geometry and kinematic of anticlines. We validate our approach by comparing experimental results with natural cases. Our methodology combined with other studies such as seismic surveys, field analyses and boreholes data may contribute to understanding the nature of fracture networks in real fault-related anticlines, identifying uncertainties and helping to reduce risks during exploration and drilling activities.


Book synopsis: This new collection of writings on Alfred Hitchcock considers Hitchcock both in his time and as a continuing influence on filmmakers, films and film theory. The contributions, who include leading scholars such as Slavoj Zizek, Laura Mulvey, Peter Wollen, and James Naremore, discuss canonical films such as Notorious and The Birds alongside lesser-known works including Juno and the Paycock and Frenzy. Articles are grouped into four thematic sections: 'Authorship and Aesthetics' examines Hitchcock as auteur and investigates central topics in Hitchcockian aesthetics. 'French Hitchcock' looks at Hitchcock's influence on filmmakers such as Chabrol, Truffaut and Rohmer, and how film critics such as Bazin and Deleuze have engaged with Hitchcock's work. 'Poetics and Politics of Identity' explores the representation of personal and political in Hitchcock's work. The final section, 'Death and Transfiguration' addresses the manner in which the spectacle and figuration of death haunts the narrative universe of Hitchcock's films, in particular his subversive masterpiece Psycho. Metadata Item Type: Book Section School: Birkbeck Schools and Departments > School of Arts > Film, Media and Cultural Studies Depositing User: Sarah Hall Date Deposited: 08 Oct 2018 14:57 Last Modified: 08 Oct 2018 14:57 URI: http://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/24485 Statistics Loading... Loading... 0 Downloads 18 Hits Additional statistics are available via IRStats2. Archive Staff Only (login required) Edit/View Item Statistics | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us © Copyright Birkbeck, University of London Search ... Death drives


Abstract We report an unusually high return rate (16%) of one-year-old Roseate Terns (Sterna dougallii) to their natal colony on Aride Island, Seychelles, in 2005. Detailed accounts of these birds are provided in terms of timing of arrival, breeding status, and plumage characteristics, and compared with those of two other age classes (2-year-olds and 3 to 6 year-olds) in the same colony and with temperate populations. One-year-old individuals returned on average three weeks later than older birds and did not attempt to breed. Their immature plumage dress ('portlandica phase') differed from their one-year-old temperate counterparts, with most birds showing several characteristics of adults in full breeding plumage, such as red bill and red legs, long tail-streamers, and absence of a dark carpal bar. Contrary to expectations from temperate studies, nonbreeding two-year-old individuals did not retain any characteristic of the portlandica plumage, and were virtually inseparable from breeding adults. The ad hoc return rate of Roseate Tern one-year-olds found in this particular year is high compared to recapture/resighting data from colonies in temperate areas, but is comparable to observations made at other tropical (Caribbean) breeding colonies. Altogether, these findings suggest that tropical Roseate Terns are prone to return to their natal site earlier than their temperate counterparts, and show a more rapid acquisition of the adult plumage. This may be especially the case in years of good food supply conditions, since the 2005 event coincided with the two years (2004-2005) of highest marine productivity recorded in the vicinity of Aride Island over the 1997-2005 period.


The right to erasure requires removal of a user's information from data held by organizations, with rigorous interpretations extending to downstream products such as learned models. Retraining from scratch with the particular user's data omitted fully removes its influence on the resulting model, but comes with a high computational cost. Machine "unlearning" mitigates the cost incurred by full retraining: instead, models are updated incrementally, possibly only requiring retraining when approximation errors accumulate. Rapid progress has been made towards privacy guarantees on the indistinguishability of unlearned and retrained models, but current formalisms do not place practical bounds on computation. In this paper we demonstrate how an attacker can exploit this oversight, highlighting a novel attack surface introduced by machine unlearning. We consider an attacker aiming to increase the computational cost of data removal. We derive and empirically investigate a poisoning attack on certified machine unlearning where strategically designed training data triggers complete retraining when removed.


This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the International Conference on Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers, EHAWC 2011, held within the framework of the 14th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCII 2011, incorporating 12 thematically similar conferences. A total of 4039 contributions was submitted to HCII 2011, of which 1318 papers were accepted for publication. The 25 papers presented in this volume were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. They are organized in topical sections on quality of working life; health and well-being; and, interactive devices and interfaces.


Student satisfaction is important in assessing whether universities are fulfilling their mission. The objective of the study is to investigate the satisfaction level of undergraduate level students enrolled in regular program of Dire-Dawa University and there by understand Dire Dawa University's level of service quality perceived by the students. The study used cross-sectional design and data were collected from students of all colleges/institutes in the university using stratified random sampling technique. Results indicated that almost half of the students studying in the university are satisfied with the program diversity and alternative departments. The multinomial logistic regression model identified facility provision, gender, and academic staff quality and assessment system as significant predictors of students' general satisfaction with the university. As the students satisfaction with the facility available increased by one score the students general satisfaction with the university increased by nearly two fold (OR=1.906, 95% CI=1.35, 2.68) controlling for satisfaction with academic staff quality and assessment system. Therefore all stakeholders involved in both quality enhancement and expansion should take action on facility provision of the university. Keywords: Student satisfaction,  Determinants, Higher education, Ethiopia


The authors use a unique longitudinal data set from Ontario, covering the years 1984–92, to estimate the determinants of strike incidence and duration. Unlike most empirical analyses of strikes, the data set for this study contains both small and large bargaining units. The authors find strong evidence that the likelihood of a future strike was lower among bargaining units that had struck before than among those that had not (the "teetotaler" effect); the longer a strike lasted, the greater was the probability of settling (positive duration dependence); and smaller bargaining units were less likely to strike than were larger bargaining units, but had longer strikes when they did strike.


Reproduction by binary fission generates a clonal genetic structure in bacterial populations in the absence of a high rate of recombination. The extent of recombination in natural populations of Neisseria gonorrhoeae was determined from an analysis of electrophoretically demonstrable allelic variation at structural genes encoding nine enzyme loci in 227 worldwide isolates. No significant linkage disequilibrium was evident in the population, indicating that recombination must be frequent, relative to binary fission. The genetic structure of N. gonorrhoeae was compared with that of Bacillus subtilis from an earlier study. Linkage disequilibrium was less extreme in the N. gonorrhoeae population than in the local population of B. subtilis, in which only modest clonal structure was evident. Thus, N. gonorrhoeae, unlike pathogens so far examined, has a non-clonal population structure. As expected in a freely recombining population, no correlation was found between electrophoretic genotype and serovar or auxotype.


Servants of Globalization offers a groundbreaking study of migrant Filipino domestic workers who leave their own families behind to do the caretaking work of the global economy. Since its initial publication, the book has informed countless students and scholars and set the research agenda on labor migration and transnational families.With this second edition, Rhacel Salazar Parrenas returns to Rome and Los Angeles to consider how the migrant communities have changed. Children have now joined their parents. Male domestic workers are present in significantly greater numbers. And, perhaps most troubling, the population has aged, presenting new challenges for the increasingly elderly domestic workers. New chapters discuss these three increasingly important constituencies. The entire book has been revised and updated, and a new introduction offers a global, comparative overview of the citizenship status of migrant domestic workers. Servants of Globalization remains the defining work on the international division of reproductive labor.


The chair of road planning and operation initiated two research projects concerning the dynamics between right-turning vehicles and cyclists going straight ahead. It should be analyzed in what way the infrastructure and behavior from both road users influence the turning accident occurrence and how to reduce the conflict rate. The first project, initiated by the German Insurers Accident Research (UDV) as part of the German Insurance Association (GDV), was finalized in 2012 including right and left turning vehicles and cyclists driving straight ahead. The target of that research project was to give recommendations to improve safety of cycling infrastructure at intersections in built-up areas. The second project for the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt) was finalized in 2014 and focused on the conflict between right-turning trucks and cyclists driving straight ahead. Both projects conclude in recommendations concerning measures for infrastructural changes, driver assistance systems and behavior change to improve the traffic safety for cyclists.Both projects comprised a macroscopic and microscopic accident analysis, an infrastructure analysis and a behavioral observation of cyclists and vehicle drivers at intersections in order to identify types of infrastructure and behavior that provoke turning-off accidents. The second project included an extra behavioral observation of truck drivers in a driving simulator. Additionally, an analysis of turning assistant systems which can minimize the blind spot was implied to this project. The aim of this research project is to outline recommendations to improve the safety of cycling infrastructure at intersections and to evaluate the safety-benefit of driver assistant systems. Results of the accident analyses are that most accidents happen in motion when the cyclists arrive from behind and the vehicle drivers are busy with turning so they tend to oversee cyclists. Situations where the vehicle drivers and the cyclists start at the beginning of the green phase are nearly conflict-free.Key recommendations are to improve the visibility between vehicles and cyclists for example by guiding the bicycle lane close to the carriageway and therefore improve the awareness of road users. The car drivers should look out for cyclist not only through mirror checking but also by directly looking over their shoulder. Last but not least electronic assistant systems could support the driver to recognize cyclists. Nevertheless, due to the behavior of cyclists and obstacles in the side areas it continues to be challenging to detect them reliably. At complicated and complex intersections with many cyclists it is therefore recommendable to use different signalizing phases.


Gene-corrected patient-specific induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells offer a unique approach to gene therapy. Here, we begin to assess whether the mutational load acquired during gene correction of iPS cells is compatible with use in the treatment of genetic causes of retinal degenerative disease. We isolated iPS cells free of transgene sequences from a patient with gyrate atrophy caused by a point mutation in the gene encoding ornithine-δ-aminotransferase (OAT) and used homologous recombination to correct the genetic defect. Cytogenetic analysis, array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH), and exome sequencing were performed to assess the genomic integrity of an iPS cell line after three sequential clonal events: initial reprogramming, gene targeting, and subsequent removal of a selection cassette. No abnormalities were detected after standard G-band metaphase analysis. However, aCGH and exome sequencing identified two deletions, one amplification, and nine mutations in protein coding regions in the initial iPS cell clone. Except for the targeted correction of the single nucleotide in the OAT locus and a single synonymous base-pair change, no additional mutations or copy number variation were identified in iPS cells after the two subsequent clonal events. These findings confirm that iPS cells themselves may carry a significant mutational load at initial isolation, but that the clonal events and prolonged cultured required for correction of a genetic defect can be accomplished without a substantial increase in mutational burden.


A growing body of evidence indicates that cytokines, especially interleukin-1 beta, are involved in the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. The aim of the present pilot study was to investigate the relationship between interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and gamma-interferon (gamma-IFN) production and the regulation of sleep and wakefulness. Four healthy male volunteers were investigated. After one adaptation night, beginning at 8 a.m. in the morning, the EEG was recorded by means of a mobile long-term EEG and blood samples were drawn every 45 min for the analysis of IL-1 beta, gamma-IFN and cortisol for 24 h. For the analysis of cytokines whole blood cultures were established. After 48 h of incubation in the presence of endotoxin Salmonella typhimurium, IL-1 beta and gamma-IFN levels were measured in the culture supernatants using specific immunodetection assays. Methods of stochastic time series analysis were adopted to evaluate the biochemical data. Our results show the capability of cultured blood cells to produce cytokines upon endotoxin challenge to be at a maximum around the time of sleep onset and during the first hours of sleep, declining during the night to a minimum level in the morning hours. The opposite was observed for cortisol. The analysis of autocorrelation functions gives evidence of a 24-hour rhythm of cortisol and cytokines. The results indicate that the cytokines IL-1 beta and gamma-IFN may play a role in sleep regulation.


Extracted from text ... GUEST EDITORIAL
In South Africa and throughout the world
the vast majority of people with diabetes,
particularly type 2 diabetes, receive their
routine care from family practitioners.
Providing quality diabetes care is not a
simple matter as it requires attention not
only to glycaemic control, but also to
lipids and blood pressure, screening for
and appropriate management of microand
macrovascular complications and
addressing the psychosocial needs of the
patient.Yet quality diabetes care is critical
to ensuring optimal patient outcome. It
has been suggested that the quality of care
in family practice for patients with diabetes
can act as a ..


Abstract. From an environmental perspective, the underground metro system is one of the cleanest forms of public transportation in urban agglomerations. Current studies report contradicting results regarding air quality in the metro systems: whereas some reveal poor air quality, others report PM levels which are lower or of the same order of magnitude than those measured in traffic sites above ground level. The present work assesses summer and winter indoor air quality and passenger exposure in the Barcelona metro, focusing on PM levels and their metal contents. In addition, the impact on indoor air quality of platform screen door systems (automated systems consisting of closed rail track and platforms) is evaluated, to determine whether these systems reduce passenger exposure to PM when compared with conventional systems (open tracks and platforms). In the Barcelona metro PM levels inside the trains in summer are amongst the lowest reported for worldwide metro systems (11–32 μg m−3 PM2.5). This is most likely due to the air conditioning system working in all carriages of the Barcelona metro during the whole year. Levels were considerably higher on the platforms, reaching mean levels of 46 and 125 μg m3 in the new (L9) and old (L3) lines, respectively. PM10 data are also reported in the present study, but comparison with other metro systems is difficult due to the scarcity of data compared with PM2.5. Results showed distinct PM daily cycles, with a drastic increase from 06:00 to 07:00 a.m., a diurnal maximum from 07:00 to 10:00 p.m., and marked decrease between 10:00 p.m. and 05:00 a.m. The elements with the highest enrichment were those associated with wheel or brake abrasion products (Ba, Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr, Sb, As, Mo, Co, Sr, among others). Laminar hematite (Fe2O3) was the dominant particle type, being mainly originated by mechanical abrasion of the rail track and wheels. Regarding passenger exposure to PM, the contribution of commuting by metro was estimated to account for around 10% of the daily exposure. However, this contribution may be one order of magnitude higher when specific matals are considered. Finally, we conclude that the implementation of platform screen door systems results in reductions of both PM levels and metal concentrations. In addition an advanced optimized ventilation system gave even a much higher efficiency in reducing exposure to PM of metro commuters. Combining these two features PM exposure levels in the platforms may be reduced down by a factor of 7 with respect the old subway lines in Barcelona.


The nature of the driving forces for plate tectonics has been a subject for intense, often heated debate, for more than a quarter of a century. On 15 April 1992 Peter Ziegler delivered the annual William Smith lecture to the Geological Society on the subject of Plate-Moving Mechanisms, followed by a series of lectures on related themes. This thematic set of papers, resulting from the meeting, covers some of the major issues discussed. For more than a quarter of a century Earth Scientists have debated the nature of the forces which drive the lithospheric plates. One of the major problems has been whether mantle convection, including the activity of mantle plumes, dominates or whether boundary and plate forces, such as slab pull and ridge push, exert the most important controls on plate motions. Clearly the relative importance of the different forces involved may vary, both in space and time, and they may either reinforce or counterbalance each other depending upon the tectonic setting. On 15 April 1992 Peter Ziegler delivered the annual William Smith Lecture to the Geological Society on the subject of Plate-Moving Mechanisms. This was followed by a further eight presentations on related themes by an international group geoscientists from Europe and North America. Of the nine papers presented at the meeting, six are included in this thematic set (Ziegler, Bott, Wilson, Searle et al., Doglioni, Pavoni). The other speakers were Randall M. Richardson, University of Arizona, Tuscon, USA, John F. Dewey, Oxford and Sierd Cloetingh, Free University,


This paper presents results of simulating a more collusive behavior of a group of natural gas producing and exporting countries, sometimes called GASPEC. We use the World Gas Model, a dynamic, strategic representation of world gas production, trade, and consumption between 2005 and 2030. In particular, we simulate a closer cooperation of the GASPEC countries when exporting pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas; we also run a more drastic scenario where GASPEC countries deliberately withhold production. The results shows that compared to a Base Case, a gas cartel would reduce total supplied quantities and induce price increases in gas importing countries up to 22%. There is evidence that the natural gas markets in Europe and North America would be affected more than other parts of the world. Lastly, the vulnerability of gas importers worldwide on gas exporting countries supplies is further illustrated by the results of a sensitivity case in which price levels are up to 87% higher in Europe and North America, but non-GEC countries increase production by a mere 10%.


By placing the Tarzan novels and films in the historical context of the development of aviation and aerial bombardment, Bady traces how changing fantasies of flight mediate the Tarzan franchise's changing relationship to white supremacist violence. Edgar Rice Burroughs's original novels were published contemporaneously with the popular "airmindedness" that accompanied the invention of the airplane, and Tarzan's ability to "fly" expresses the types of fantasy by which this advance was popularly understood. For Burroughs, Tarzan's flight signified the white race's "natural" superiority over nature. By the time the novels were adapted into films, however, aerial bombardment had come to seem monstrously unnatural, a technology serving racialized colonial governance. The Tarzan films made in the 1930s, this essay argues, use flight to describe a very different fantasy, the desire to forget and transcend the very histories of racial violence that the Tarzan character was once unthinkable without.


Motivated by the success of the Picture in Picture feature of the traditional TV, several commercial Peer-to-Peer MultiMedia Streaming (P2PMMS) applications now support the multi-view feature, with which a user can simultaneously watch multiple channels on its screen. This paper considers the peer selection problem in multi-view P2PMMS. This problem has been well studied in the traditional single-view P2PMMS; however, it becomes more complicated in multi-view P2PMMS, mainly due to the fact that a peer watching multiple channels joins multiple corresponding overlays. In this paper, we propose a novel peer selection algorithm, called Channel-Aware Peer Selection (CAPS), where a peer selects its neighboring peers based on the channel subscription of the system, in order to efficiently utilize the bandwidth of all peers in the system, especially those peers watching multiple channels. The results of a large-scale simulation with 10,000 peers and 4 channels shows that CAPS can significantly improve the system performance over the straightforward Random Peer Selection (RPS), which is widely used in single-view P2PMMS networks.


Background Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the world that can persist and also ascend in the genital tract. This intracellular and silent infection is related to some adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as miscarriage. The aims of this study were to explore the best CT screening tests using blood and vaginal samples and to investigate the correlation between CT infection and the incidence of miscarriage. Materials and Methods This case-control study was done in October 2013 through June 2014, using purposive sampling from 157 female participants with or without a history of miscarriage. The samples were taken after each participant had signed a letter of consent and had completed a questionnaire. To achieve the objectives of this study, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests were performed on vaginal swabs and blood samples, respectively. Results PCR results showed a significantly higher CT infection rate in the miscarriage group compared to the control group (11.3 vs. 0%, P=0.007). Anti-CT IgG and IgA antibodies were found in 4.2 and 2.1% of cases in the miscarriage group, and in 1.7 and 6.7% of cases in the control group, respectively (P>0.05). Despite lower humoral responses in this study, positive samples were detected only by one of the following techniques; PCR, ELISA IgA and ELISA IgG. It also should be noted that PCR worked best in terms of detection. Conclusion Based on the obtained data, there is a strong association between molecular evidence of CT infection and miscarriage. A higher rate of CT detection in molecular tests compared to serological assays suggests that PCR could be used as the first-choice assay for detection of C. trachomatis. However, the importance of serological tests in detecting potential past CT infection or upper genital infection not amenable to sampling is undeniable.


Estimates from the US suggest that increasing levels of human capital over the second half of the last century accounted for approximately one third of productivity growth, while some estimates of the social rate of return to R&D in the manufacturing sector have exceeded one hundred percent. Despite the contribution of both human capital and R&D to economic growth, the UK fiscal system does not treat the two equally when it comes to employer incentives to invest. Firms that invest in R&D are able to claim generous tax relief on their investments whereas there is no such across-the-board incentive to invest in the training of their workers. This is despite the fact that the rationale for government support to firm investment in human capital is similar to that for R&D and both are important for economic growth. We explain the economic rationale for government support in the form of tax credits, discuss current practice in the UK in relation to R&D, and address the evidence on effectiveness. We then discuss how the policy might be adapted to provide similar incentives for investing in human capital.


and Implications Ovotransferrin and ovomucoid were separated using two methods after extracting ovotransferrinand ovomucoid-containing fraction from egg white. Diluted egg white (2x) was added with Fe and treated with 43% ethanol (final conc.). After centrifugation, the supernatant was collected and treated with either a high-level ethanol (61%, final conc.) or an acidic salt combination (2.5% ammonium sulfate and 2.5% citric acid) to separate ovotransferrin and ovomucoid. For the high-level ethanol method, ovotransferrin was precipitated using 61% ethanol. After centrifugation, the precipitant was dissolved in 9 vol. distilled water and the residual ethanol in the solution was removed using ultrafiltration. The supernatant, mainly containing ovomucoid, was diluted with 4 vol. water, ethanol removed, concentrated, and then used as ovomucoid fraction. For the acidic salt precipitation method, the ethanol in the supernatant was removed, first. The ethanol-free solution was concentrated and treated with 2.5% ammonium sulfate and 2.5% citric acid combination. After centrifugation, the precipitant was used as ovotransferrin and the supernatant as ovomucoid fraction. The ovomucoid fraction from both of the protocols was further purified by heating at 65 C for 20 min and the impurities were removed by centrifugation. The yields of ovomucoid and ovotransferrin were > 96% and > 92%, respectively. The purity of ovomucoid was > 89% and that of the ovotransferrin was > 88% purity. ELISA results confirmed that the activity of the separated ovotransferrin was > 95%. Both of the protocols separated ovotransferrin and ovomucoid effectively and the methods were simple, fast and easy to scale-up.


Premla DeviChander , Chai Mee Kin College of Foundation and General Studies, UniversitiTenagaNasional, Jalan IKRAM-UNITEN, 43000 Kajang, Selangor. firstname.lastname@example.com Fax:03-89287275 ABSTRACT According to the European Union (EU) legislation, a strong attention has been focused on the presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) on the environment and also on foods. As known, the presence of PAH mainly on food leads to the activation of carcinogenic agent as the cause of the genotoxic and mutagenic production. Various analytical methods have been used to analyze the concentration of PAH on foods such as fruits and vegetables. The efficiency of PAH concentration on food samples depends on the types of extraction method implemented.The extraction methodswereAccelerated Solvent Extraction (ASE), QuEChERS (acronymic name from quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe)extraction,Supramolecular solvent extraction (SUPRAS),Ultrasonication Extraction, Soxhlet extraction method and Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction (DLLME). Most of the mentioned extraction methods use the High-Resolution Gas Chromatography (HRGC), High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) to carry the analysis of PAH in fruits and vegetables. The percentage recoveries of each method have been discussed and it was known that SUPRAS showed the best result in percentage recovery and relative standard deviation. In the present review, all the implemented extraction of PAHmethods on food were analyzed and discussed in terms of the advantages andthe limitations on each extraction methods as well as the analytical performances. Keywords: PAH, Extraction Methods, Fruits and Vegetables.


The advantages of a polymathic approach are remarkable: it cross-pollinates ideas, encourages creativity, defines new methodologies, and solves complex problems. Interdisciplinarity also presents challenges. In this case study, which intersects math, science, and art, we describe how a project can benefit from a respect for the rigors, focus, and coherence of multiple disciplines. Although most interdisciplinary projects are dominated by a particular field (in point of view, level of expertise, and disciplinary significance), this does not preclude a project's author-maker from complying with the standards of the component disciplines. The author-maker of the project described in this case study is a professional artist who holds a decidedly mathematical point of view. The art, which is created with a high degree of disciplinary proficiency, predominates; and although elementary, the math is no less legitimate.


The objective of this study is to determine how students who are taking synchronous distance education classes via video conferencing perceive distance learning courses. A qualitative research approach was used for the study. Scale sampling was also used. The study's subjects consisted of a total of nine students comprised of 2 nd and 4 th grade students engaged in a course via synchronous distance education. For the study, the case method, a qualitative research method, was used, and research data was obtained via semi-structured interviews and observation results. Data was analyzed by means of the descriptive analysis method. Findings obtained at the study's conclusion indicate that students' perceptions of the course changed during and at the completion of the course. It was generally seen in the descriptions students made about the environment before taking synchronous distance education that they did not have advance information or that they had a prejudice due to their misinformation. It is seen in the conducted interviews that these prejudices start to be eliminated thanks to the opportunities provided by synchronous distance education through this process. It appears, from students' descriptions of the course environment prior to taking the course, that they did not have enough information or had preconceived ideas. As the course progressed, student perception changed and they were able to perceive more clearly the opportunities that synchronous distance education can provide. In this study, the most important problem in synchronous distance education was determined to be disconnection and sound problems. In this study, a significant problem was the hardware – i.e., sound, speed and connectivity issues. As well, students became bored after some time because of limited camera angles and cameras. It was concluded that this situation prevents the continuity of the course and so leads to distraction. On the other hand, it was observed that students start to get bored of the course after a while due to the fixedness of the camera angle and the small quantity of cameras. We also noticed that the fixed camera angle, small number of cameras and problems occurring in the images affected student perceptions. Besides these technical problems, the researchers observed, and the students expressed that the factors of teacher,


The popularity of Aloha-like algorithms for resolution of contention between multiple entities accessing common resources is due to their extreme simplicity and distributed nature. Example applications of such algorithms include Ethernet and recently emerging wireless multi-access networks. Despite a long and exciting history of more than four decades, the question of designing an algorithm that is essentially as simple and distributed as Aloha while being efficient has remained unresolved.
 In this paper, we resolve this question successfully for a network of queues where contention is modeled through independent-set constraints over the network graph. The work by Tassiulas and Ephremides (1992) suggests that an algorithm that schedules queues so that the summation of `weight' of scheduled queues is maximized, subject to constraints, is efficient. However, implementing such an algorithm using Aloha-like mechanism has remained a mystery. We design such an algorithm building upon a Metropolis-Hastings sampling mechanism along with selection of `weight' as an appropriate function of the queue-size. The key ingredient in establishing the efficiency of the algorithm is a novel adiabatic-like theorem for the underlying queueing network, which may be of general interest in the context of dynamical systems.


Despite a transformative half century of social change, marital status still matters. The marriage equality movement has drawn attention to the many benefits conferred in law by marriage at a time when the "marriage gap" between affluent and poor Americans widens and rates of nonmarital childbearing soar. This Essay explores the contested history of marital supremacy — the legal privileging of marriage — through the lens of the "illegitimacy" cases of the 1960s and 1970s. Often remembered as a triumph for nonmarital families, these decisions defined the constitutional harm of illegitimacy classifications as the unjust punishment of innocent children for the "sins" of their parents. By reaffirming the legitimacy of governmental objectives such as discouraging illicit sex and promoting traditional marriage, courts obscured the ways in which marital supremacy injured adults as well as children, reinforcing racial, gender, and economic inequality and circumscribing sexual and reproductive freedom.Using court documents and archival sources, this Essay uncovers alternative visions of the harm of illegitimacy penalties offered by advocates and activists who framed these laws and practices as centrally connected to poverty, systemic racial oppression, and the subordination of women. Civil rights and poverty lawyers spotlighted the disparate impact of illegitimacy penalties on poor families of color, especially African Americans in the South. Feminists emphasized how these laws disproportionately burdened women — who often bore primary responsibility for nonmarital children's care and support — curtailing their sexual, reproductive, and economic freedom. The failure of these broader accounts of the harms of illegitimacy penalties to influence judicial opinions impoverished our constitutional politics in ways that reverberate today. In a world where marriage is both a privileged status and a status of the privileged, marriage equality that rests upon non-marriage's ignominy risks reinforcing the many other status inequalities that taint the legacy of marital supremacy.


ABSTRACT This article investigates recent reforms of the Greenland coastal fisheries in order to contribute to the general lessons on reform and policy networks in the context of a changing Arctic stakeholdership. It analyses participation in fisheries governance decision-making by examining the emergence of discourses and policy networks that come to define the very need for reform. A policy network is identified across state ministries, powerful officials, banks and large scale industry that defined the need for fisheries reform within a 'grand reform' discourse. But inertia characterised the actual decision-making process as reform according to this 'grand reform' discourse was blocked by a combination of small-scale fishers' informal networks and the power of the parliamentary majority. After a parliamentary shift in power the new government implemented the 'grand reform' gradually whilst new patterns of participation and exclusion emerged. In this process, the identities of the participating participants were reinterpreted to fit the new patterns of influence and participation. The article argues that fishery reform does not necessarily start with the collective recognition of a problem in marine resource use and a power-neutral process of institutional learning. Instead, it argues that fishery reform is likely to be the 'reform of somebody' and that this 'somebody' is itself a changing identity.


The atomic force microscope (AFM) and related scanning probe microscopes have become resourceful tools to study cells, supramolecular assemblies and single biomolecules, because they allow investigations of such structures in native environments. Quantitative information has been gathered about the surface structure of membrane proteins to lateral and vertical resolutions of 0.5 nm and 0.1 nm, respectively, about the forces that keep protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid assemblies together as well as single proteins in their native conformation, and about the nanomechanical properties of cells in health and disease. Such progress has been achieved mainly because of constant development of AFM instrumentation and sample preparation methods. This special issue of Nanotechnology presents papers from leading laboratories in the field of nanobiology, covering a wide range of topics in the form of original and novel scientific contributions. It addresses achievements in instrumentation, sample preparation, automation and in biological applications. These papers document the creativity and persistence of researchers pursuing the goal to unravel the structure and dynamics of cells, supramolecuar structures and single biomolecules at work. Improved cantilever sensors, novel optical probes, and quantitative data on supports for electrochemical experiments open new avenues for characterizing biological nanomachines down to the single molecule. Comparative measurements of healthy and metastatic cells promise new methods for early detection of tumors, and possible assessments of drug efficacy. High-speed AFMs document possibilities to monitor crystal growth and to observe large structures at video rate. A wealth of information on amyloid-type fibers as well as on membrane proteins has been gathered by single molecule force spectroscopy—a technology now being automated for large-scale data collection. With the progress of basic research and a strong industry supporting instrumentation development by improving robustness and reliability and making new instruments available to the community, nanobiology has the potential to develop into a field with great impact on our understanding of the complexity of life, and to provide a major contribution to human health. This special issue of Nanotechnology on nanobiology would not have been possible without the highly professional support from Nina Couzin, Amy Harvey and the Nanotechnology team at IOP Publishing. We are thankful for their most constructive and effective help in pushing the project forward. We are also thankful to all the authors who have contributed with excellent original articles, as well as to the referees who have helped to make this special issue such an insightful document of a rapidly moving field.


The concept and design of a new thermal imager branded Attica M-ER is presented which is dedicated to long range border surveillance applications. The camera makes use of a 1280x1024 pixel CMT or InSb detector being sensitive in the MWIR atmospheric window between 3 and 5 micron. For high quality imaging with fields of view between 0.6° and 30° a 50x IR optical zoom lens is designed comprising 11 lenses. Five of the lenses are aspheric and one in addition with a diffractive surface structure. Specially adapted image processing algorithms for homogenization, edge enhancement and dynamic compression as well as automatic functions (focus, contrast, brightness, etc.) are completing the package. Video clips of a first application and examples of image simulation are also presented.


SMART MEDICINE FOR HEALTHIER LIVING is a complete A-to-Z guide to the most common ailments and disorders and their treatments, using both alternative care and conventional medicine. This unique book is designed to give you quick and easy access to up-to-date information and advice regarding your personal health and safety. SMART MEDICINE FOR HEALTHIER LIVING is divided into three parts. Part One explains the full spectrum of approaches used to effectively treat health problems. It provides an overview of the fundamentals and uses of conventional medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupressure, diet, and nutritional supplements. Part Two contains a comprehensive A-to-Z listing of the various health problems--from asthma to the common cold to toxoplasmosis. Each entry in this section clearly explains the problem and offers specific advice using a variety of approaches. Where appropriate, highlighted emergency treatments are included for quick and easy reference. Part Three provides step-by-step guidance on using many therapies and procedures suggested in Part Two--from locating acupressure points to preparing herbal remedies.


There is a need for emergency management systems in Australia to shift to a more collaborative model that involves working with communities rather than simply delivering to communities. This research paper argues that in order to address this, emergency services organisations in Australia need to continue to shift from a service delivery approach to a more localised, participatory and consultative model that acknowledges and harnesses local leadership, knowledge, skills and experience creating opportunities for community driven and fit-for-purpose emergency management. The paper makes the case for why localised approaches are important in places with diverse populations such as the Northern Territory (NT). The NT Aboriginal community of Nauiyu's experience of evacuations due to flooding in 2015 and 2018 will be used as a case study to offer an example of locally led approaches to disaster resilience.


Reactive electrophiles formed from toxic drugs and chemicals and by endogenous oxidative stress covalently modify proteins. Although protein covalent binding is thought to initiate a variety of adaptive and toxic responses, the identities of the protein targets are generally unknown, as are protein structural features that confer susceptibility to modification. We have analyzed the protein targets in nuclear and cytoplasmic proteomes from HEK293 cells treated in vitro with two biotin-tagged, thiol-reactive electrophiles, (+)-biotinyl-iodoacetamidyl-3, 6-dioxaoctanediamine (PEO-IAB) and 1-biotinamido-4-(4'-[maleimidoethylcyclohexane]-carboxamido)butane (BMCC). Biotinylated peptides were captured by affinity enrichment using neutravidin beads, and the adducted peptides were then analyzed by multidimensional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 897 adducts were mapped to different cysteine residues in 539 proteins. Adduction was selective and reproducible, and > 90% of all adducted proteins were modified at only one or two sites. A core group of 125 cysteines (14% of the total) was consistently modified by both electrophiles. Selective modification of several protein domain structures and motifs indicates that certain protein families are particularly susceptible to alkylation. This approach can be extended to studies of other protein-damaging oxidants and electrophiles and can provide new insights into targets and consequences of protein damage in toxicity and disease.


We rely upon visual short-term memory (VSTM) for continued access to perceptual information that is no longer available. Despite the complexity of our visual environments, the majority of research on VSTM has focused on memory for lower-level perceptual features. Using more naturalistic stimuli, it has been found that recognizable objects are remembered better than unrecognizable objects. What remains unclear, however, is how semantic information changes brain representations in order to facilitate this improvement in VSTM for real-world objects. To address this question, we used a continuous report paradigm to assess VSTM (precision and guessing rate) while participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the underlying neural representation of 96 objects from 4 animate and 4 inanimate categories. To isolate semantic content, we used a novel image generation method that parametrically warps images until they are no longer recognizable while preserving basic visual properties. We found that intact objects were remembered with greater precision and a lower guessing rate than unrecognizable objects (this also emerged when objects were grouped by category and animacy). Representational similarity analysis of the ventral visual stream found evidence of category and animacy information in anterior visual areas during encoding only, but not during maintenance. These results suggest that the effect of semantic information during encoding in ventral visual areas boosts visual short-term memory for real-world objects.


To our knowledge, the Qilian Mountains in NW China have been investigated with respect to Recent or sub-Recent ostracods for the first time. The Qilian Mountains (95–103°E/37–40°N) extend along the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau reaching a maximum altitude of 5826 m above sea-level (m asl). In September 2001, surface mud from the bottom of various water bodies including brooks, rivers and small shallow meadow and oxbow pools were sampled at an altitude ranging from 2900 m to 3570 m asl. In addition, surface mud samples and short cores were obtained from the small (c. 1 km2) and shallow (<0.4 m) freshwater Lake Luanhaizi situated at about 3200 m asl. Ostracod valves were usually abundant in all of the 32 samples and comprised the taxa listed in Table 1, some of which are illustrated in Plate 1. The recorded taxa are mainly distributed in the holarctic realm but Fabaeformiscandona danielopoli and Ilyocypris echinata appear to be restricted to the cold mountainous regions in China (Huang, 1985; Wang & Zhu, 1991; Sun et al., 1995; Yin & Martens, 1997). Following the first survey, a 14 m long core was drilled in Lake Luanhaizi in January 2002 which is currently under multidisciplinary investigation to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and climatic history of the Qilian Mountains.


In this paper, farm level technical efficiency of production and its determinants are investigated in a sample of 51 cereal producing farms located in the main cereal production region in Tunisia using a stochastic frontier production model. Empirical findings show that labor input factor appears with a minimal effect on the production. The hypothesis of constant returns to scale is rejected at the 5% level of significance, and returns to scale were found to be decreasing. Moreover, the estimated coefficients in the technical inefficiency model are also as expected. The estimated coefficients of the instruction level of farmer and the rotation, technical variable, are negatives and statistically significant at 5% level, which indicates their positive effect on technical efficiency. In addition, results indicated that estimated technical efficiency of cereal production in the sample varied widely, ranging from 52.63% to 94.62, with a mean value of 77%. This suggests that, on average, cereal producing farmers could increase their production by as much as 23% through more efficient use of production inputs. On a second step, Timmer and Kopp indexes of technical inefficiency were estimated for the same farms using a Cobb–Douglas frontier production function with a composite error term, and a developed relationship between these two indices. Results show that the mean values of the Timmer and Kopp TE indices were over 0.80, but one half of the farms were below 0.80 for the Timmer index and below 0.83 for the Kopp index. The level of inefficiency was found to be related to farm size: small and large farms were shown to be more technically efficient than medium-sized farms. With the given inputs, the production of cereals could be increased by 20% on average through making all farms 100% efficient. Alternatively, inputs could be reduced by 17% on average to produce the same amount of cereal output. Finally, the lower level of efficiency but higher yield and total factor productivity in the medium-sized farms means that more cereals can potentially be produced in these farms. The findings revealed that significant factors related to TFP were age, education level and the share of wheat crops into total cropped area. These results calls for policies aimed at provision of training programs, extensions services. In addition, the encouragement of experienced farmers by applying improved input management on these farms can be recommended alongside appropriate new technologies, especially for wheat farmers.


The aim of the study was to determine geographically relevant cutoffs for IgM ELISA in Himachal Pradesh. A total of 392 individuals including 292 patients of all age groups with clinically suspected scrub typhus and 100 healthy people were enrolled after taking a proper consent at Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. An indirect ELISA that detects IgM antibodies to Orientia tsutsugamushi was performed in all serum samples. The serum samples from patients were subjected to IgM immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) (Fuller Laboratories, USA). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn for ELISA to generate cutoff for the test. A total of 192 patients were found to be positive for scrub typhus. A set of 100 sera samples collected from healthy volunteers from Shimla were used to establish region specific cutoff for IgM ELISA. The cut off calculated from healthy volunteer was mean OD +3 standard deviation = 0.5. The ROC curve analysis of 392 participants revealed a cutoff-OD value of 0.46 with sensitivity and specificity of 91.7% and 99.5% respectively. Hence, a cutoff-OD value of 0.46 or 0.5 can be used as the cutoff for the diagnosis of scrub typhus for Himachal Pradesh based on our findings.


Benjamin Weaver is awaiting death in Newgate gaol. Mysteriously convicted for a murder he didn't commit by a judge determined to see him hang, he is suddenly - and equally mysteriously - offered the means to escape. What, you may well ask, is going on? It's a question Weaver asks of himself as he slinks out into the London night on a mission to clear his name. In doing so, he steps straight into a labyrinthine plot that weaves, like Benjamin, across eighteenth century London. For the conspiracy against him is part of a grimmer and gaudier picture: one that encompasses double-dealings and dockworkers, the extorting of a priest - and a looming election with the potential to spark a revolution and topple the monarchy. Handily, Weaver is a private investigator. He's also an ex-pugilist, which is also a good thing when it comes to punching his weight in the 'polite' society of plotters and politicians, power-brokers, crime lords, assassins and spies. At the apex of which sits, rather precariously, a recent import from Hanover: The King.


General practice has undergone considerable change in the last two decades. New roles for nurses working in general practice have extended to include tasks that were previously delivered by general practitioners, in particular chronic disease management, and the development of new, advanced roles such as independent nurse prescribing. There have been few research studies investigating the impact of these changes, especially after the introduction of the new General Medical Services contract in April 2004. The overall aim of the work presented in this thesis was to examine the emerging roles of practice nurses, the forces influencing that development, and the effects of these changes on doctor-nurse skill mix in general practice within NHS Scotland.

The work employed a mixed methods approach, with three inter-linked studies. The first study was a quantitative, desk-based analysis of workload and clinical activities of doctors and nurses working in 37 practices across Scotland for the year 2002. The second study was a postal questionnaire to all practice nurses working within NHS Greater Glasgow (n=329), conducted in autumn 2005 and achieving a 61% response rate. The third study was a qualitative study, consisting of eighteen interviews with a doctor and nurse inform each of nine general practices. The interviews were conducted between January and July 2006 and practices were selected according to the number of partners and the deprivation status of the practice population.

Analysis of workload data showed that practice nurses and general practitioners dealt with 27.5% and 72.5% of total face-to-face encounters, respectively. Many of the encounters with nurses involved chronic disease management, with 20% of such encounters appearing similar in content to the work of GPs.

The postal survey found that one third of practice nurses were aged over 50, and will be approaching retirement within 10 years. The majority worked in small teams of nurses, although 31% worked alone. This may have contributed to the finding that 52% (n=103) reported feeling isolated in their workplace. Many had attended CPD training on chronic conditions, but identified minor illness treatment as an area for future training.

The qualitative study showed that the Quality and Outcomes Framework of the 2004 contract had been a key driver of changes in general practice service delivery. This has led to an increasing shift in routine care from doctors to nurses. As new roles for practice nurses have evolved, GPs have been able to focus on treating complex morbidities that need medical diagnosis and intervention. The incentivised targets of the new contract have made chronic disease management a predominant activity for practice nurses, with treatment room and non-incentivised activities featuring less and increasingly being provided by new, lower grade nurses or nurse replacements such as Health Care Support Workers (HCSW).

There was no consensus between interview participants in terms of the most appropriate use of doctor-nurse skill mix in general practice. Nor did they agree on the merit of advanced roles for practice nurses. However, respondents did emphasise that nurses who wanted to have an independent/advanced role in the practice would need to combine three competencies (independent nurse prescribing, triaging, and minor illness treatment).

Most practice nurses interviewed were concerned with obtaining a fair financial return to match their increasing responsibilities, especially after the introduction of the nGMS contract. GPs, however, tended to believe that nurses were appropriately remunerated for the level of responsibility they had within the practice. The continuing role of the GP as the employer of practice nurses was problematic for some nurses and many felt there would be advantages to being employed on Agenda for Change terms and conditions. However, the majority of nurses interviewed preferred being employed by a GP rather than the Health Board. There was little support amongst either nurses or GPs for the notion of nurse partners within practices.

Overall, these studies provide lessons which will be of value in planning the future training and development of practice nurses. It suggests that practice nurses should obtain proper training and support in order to meet their individual needs and to carry out new responsibilities and roles. In addition, the impending shortage of practice nurses due to retirement, lack of retention and potential recruitment difficulties needs to be addressed urgently at the level of primary care policy and manpower planning.


The surfaces of airless bodies such as lunar and S-type asteroids typically become spectrally redder in visible to near-infrared reflectance with longer exposures to space weathering. However, some carbonaceous asteroids instead become spectrally bluer. Space weathering experiments on carbonaceous meteorites have provided some clues as to the space weathering products that could produce spectral bluing. We applied these experimental results to our Hapke radiative transfer model, with which we modeled spectral data from the OSIRIS-REx mission in order to determine whether these space weathering products—specifically, nanophase and microphase metallic iron, troilite, and magnetite—could explain the globally blue spectrum of the carbonaceous asteroid (101955) Bennu. The model suggests that the surface of Bennu has microphase iron, nanophase magnetite, and nanophase and microphase troilite. Considering previous space weathering experiments together with our spectral modeling of Bennu, we posit that the presence of nanophase magnetite is what causes a carbonaceous asteroid to become spectrally bluer with exposure time. Nanophase magnetite can form on asteroids that have Fe-bearing hydrated minerals (phyllosilicates). On anhydrous carbonaceous asteroids, nanophase iron forms instead of magnetite, leading to spectral reddening. We therefore predict that samples returned by the OSIRIS-REx mission from Bennu will have more nanophase magnetite than nanophase iron with nanophase and microphase sulfides, whereas samples returned by the Hayabusa2 mission from the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu, which is spectrally red, will contain nanophase and microphase sulfides as well as more nanophase iron than nanophase magnetite.


The new organisational strategy, Project Orientated Management was presented in 1990 in Vienna1 opening the third developmental stage2 of project management knowledge. This strategy is based on a fundamental coherence stating that every project functions as a temporary organisation and, therefore, offers strategic options for the usual organisational structures (with the incorporation of projects into the organisational structures, temporary organisations are created that disappear as soon as their individual task is done). This approach dramatically increases the importance of projects regardless of the previously known coherence that states a project created for various aims in public, non-profit and industrial sectors can heavily improve a company's efficiency and its chances of survival as well. These processes result in power shifts in society and change the forms of knowledge utilization.


It has been suspected for over 20 years that the observed negative superhumps in cataclysmic variables are due to the retrograde precession of a tilted disk. We present new smooth particle hydrodynamics simulation results that demonstrate that the source of the modulation of the luminosity of the light in a negatively superhumping cataclysmic variable is the transit of the bright spot across the face of an accretion disk that is tilted out of the orbital plane. In an untilted disk the bright spot is always located on the outer edge of the disk, and the intrinsic brightness of the accretion spot is constant for a disk at equilibrium. However, if the accretion disk is tilted out of the orbital plane and only slowly precessing in the inertial frame, then the bright spot will have this luminosity just twice per orbit as the accretion stream impacts the disk edge at the line of nodes. At other times, however, the accretion spot will transit across one face or the other of the tilted disk as the secondary star moves in orbit. Because the impact point is then deeper in the gravitational potential well of the primary white dwarf, the bright spot luminosity is correspondingly higher. Because only one face of the disk is visible in these optically thick disk systems, only one brightening per orbit is observed, and the slow retrograde precession of the tilted disk results in a period slightly shorter than the orbital period. We present simulation light curves and an animation to demonstrate these results.


In the absence of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), Patched (Ptc, a receptor for Shh) inhibits signaling by Smoothened (Smo). In certain cancers, including medulloblastoma, the Shh pathway is activated, for example, by loss-of-function mutations in Ptc. However, defective Shh signaling is also associated with disease. Defects in sterol biosynthesis can lead to developmental phenotypes associated with Shh deficiency. Corcoran and Scott used a medulloblastoma cell line that was heterozygous for Ptc and completely deficient in p53 (PZp53MED) to understand the role that sterols play in Shh signaling in the signal-receiving cell. Using pharmacological inhibitors that blocked different steps in the biosynthesis of sterols, they determined that products of cholesterol metabolism, but not steroids, were required for the enhanced cell proliferation of PZp53MED and induction of expression of an endogenous Shh-regulated gene, gli, and a Shh reporter gene. Addition of water-soluble cholesterol or specific oxysterol derivatives of cholesterol, of which 25-hydroxycholesterol was most potent, restored cell proliferation and Shh reporter gene expression in PZp53MED cells in which cholesterol biosynthesis was blocked. Proliferation of medulloblastoma cells transfected to constitutively express Gli, which is downstream of Smo, was not reduced by inhibition of cholesterol synthesis. The authors proposed a model whereby Ptc, which is structurally similar to a cholesterol transporter, pumps sterols out of cells keeping Smo inactive. When Shh inhibits Ptc, then the sterol ligand of Smo accumulates and activates Smo. R. B. Corcoran, M. P. Scott, Oxysterols stimulate Sonic hedgehog signal transduction and proliferation of medulloblastoma cells. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 8408-8413 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


A compressed fossil seed, described as Carpolithes sp., is found in the coal-bearing Miocene Shihti Formation from the Lifeng coal mine, Sanshia District of the New Taipei City. The fossil is generally rounded with a diameter of ca. 10 mm in lateral view. The anatomical features of the testa epidermal cells were observed using anatomical analysis. The anatomical features of the megafossil organ from the Formation are reported for the first time.


The phenomenon of trust and trust building has been widely researched with regard to different contexts and subjects. Nevertheless, the factors that influence trust building in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and the way in which trust affects the post-M&A process remain unclear. This study explores trust development in the cross-cultural integration process following emerging country firms' acquisitions in an advanced economy. A grounded theory model was developed to link the contextual characteristics of Chinese M&As in Germany that require the development of trust and the way in which managers understand sources of trust building. The perceived future uncertainty, different levels of technology and management, previous public discourses, and differences in institutional and cultural norms require the development of trust. The data reveal that a range of factors can foster trust development, including economic factors as well as emotional factors, such as mutual understanding, reliability, familiarity, and emotional bonding. A three-stage cross-cultural trust development theory is proposed, asserting that trust can be established based on economic factors, improved through mutual understanding and reliability, and further developed based on familiarity and emotional bonding. Trust development influences the acquiring firm's behavior with regard to the transparency in information policies, the integration in decision-making, the exercise of control over the acquired firm, and the granting of autonomy in the cross-cultural integration processes.


The aim of this study is to investigate effective and sustainable measures to contain heavy metal contaminated sediments inside a geotextile tube during dewatering process. The efficacy of cellulosic materials (Jute fibers, Peanut hull, and Kraft pulp) on adsorption of selected heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn, and Cd) and dewatering performance inside a geotextile tube was studied by a series of Batch Adsorption and Pressure Filtration tests (PFT). The cellulosic materials were chosen keeping in mind their cost, accessibility, ease of handling and use, and sustainability. The studied adsorbents are inexpensive, easily available, and sustainable. In order to understand the optimum amount of cellulosic materials to be added into the slurry as well as the optimum mixing time for maximum removal, an independent study was conducted with the heavy metal ions and the cellulose materials. In this study, batch adsorption tests were conducted on a 500 ppm metal solution by changing the amount of cellulose materials from 0.5 g to 2g equilibrated for 4 hours. Two filtrate samples were collected at tested for metal concentration using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) at 0.5hr, 1 hr, 2 hr, and 4 hr to understand the time of mixing on removal efficiency of studied heavy metal ions. The adsorption data were fitted using Langmuir isotherm to quantify their maximum adsorption capacity to heavy metal ions. It was found out that among the studied metals, all adsorbents exhibited highest affinity towards Pb ions, the order being jute> peanut hull> kraft pulp. A removal efficiency of 47% and maximum adsorption capacity of 100 mg/g Pb ions was highest for all combinations of adsorbents and metal ions. A maximum removal efficiency of 28% of Cu was achieved by the kraft pulp and the decreasing affinity was kraft pulp>peanut hull>jute. The maximum adsorption capacity of kraft pulp determined from Langmuir isotherm for Cu was 13 mg/g. Similarly, kraft pulp exhibited highest affinity for Cd and Zn followed by peanut hull and jute. The removal efficiency of Cd and Zn by kraft pulp was almost 28%, significantly higher than 13% removal of Cu or Pb. The maximum adsorption capacity of kraft pulp for Cd and Zn were 24 mg/g and 11 mg/g respectively. It has been seen that the dredged sediments contain soil particles with varying sizes and properties. Hence, understanding the role of different sediments in adsorption and retention of heavy metal ions inside geotextile tube is very important to predict the fate of contaminants leaching out from the tubes. To address this issue, a separate study was conducted where two soil sediments, Tully coarse (55% coarse and 45% fine fractions), and Tully fines (100% fine fractions) were mixed with heavy metal solution (500 ppm2500 ppm) to form a 15% solid concentration slurry. The slurries was mixed for 1 hour and the filtrate samples collected after mixing were tested for metal concentration using ICP-OES. Moreover, Kaolinite clay was also used in this study. It was seen from these tests that the presence of fine fractions, hydrous oxides of iron and aluminum, reactive clay minerals Illite and Chlorite, surface charge, and pH of a soil play dominant role in adsorption and retention of heavy metal ions specially Pb and Cu. Tully fine sediments exhibited excessively high affinity towards Pb as the more than 99% of Pb was adsorbed and retained. Tully coarse also had high affinity to Pb and Cu with removal efficiency ranging between 85-95%. Kaolinite (1:1 clay) being less reactive and having high molecular stability than most of the 2:1 clays (e.g. Illites, Smectites) exhibited less affinity towards Pb and Cu. However, Kaolinite had better affinity towards Cd ions (approximately 3 times) than both Tully fine and Tully coarse soils. In terms of adsorption of Zn, both Tully soils adsorbed more than Kaolinite. Generally, it was concluded that the presence of reactive clay minerals plays a significant role in adsorption of Pb and Cu. After the understanding of the role of cellulose materials as well as soil sediments in studied heavy metal adsorption, PFT tests were conducted to see the role of cellulose materials in dewatering performance. A 15% solid concentration contaminated slurry was prepared by mixing soil, cellulose materials (2% weight of solids) and heavy metal solution (1000 ppm Pb+500 ppm Cu+500 ppm Cd+500 ppm Zn). It was observed from the PFT tests that in both sediment slurries, the addition of cellulose materials except kraft pulp significantly increased the dewatering rate irrespective of the contamination. However, profound effect of jute fibers and peanut hull on increasing dewatering rate was observed in case of contaminated slurries. A reduction in turbidity of more than 80% was observed with the addition of jute fibers. Peanut and kraft pulp were successful in reducing the turbidity of the filtrate by 78 and 69% respectively. Addition of peanut hulls and jute on contaminated Tully coarse increased the solid content by approximately 33% and 46% respectively. However, in case of contaminated Tully fines a minor increase of 12% was achieved with the addition of jute. The addition of kraft pulp had no significant effect in the solids content. The filtrates collected from dewatering of contaminated Tully fines showed that approximately 98-99% of Cu and Pb was retained, whereas, in Tully coarse slurries 89% Cu and 96% Pb were retained. Although not very high adsorption, both Tully soils were able to retain more than 75% Cd and Zn. CONTAINMENT AND DEWATERING OF HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATED SLURRIES USING REACTIVE SOIL MINERALS AND CELLULOSE MATERIALS by Prabesh Rupakheti B.S., Pulchowk Engineering Campus, Lalitpur, Nepal, 2010 Thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering Syracuse University May 2016 Copyright © Prabesh Rupakheti 2016 All Rights Reserved


Predicting the impact of warming and acidifying on oceans on the early development life history stages of invertebrates although difficult, is essential in order to anticipate the severity and consequences of future climate change. This review summarises the current literature and meta-analyses on the early life-history stages of invertebrates including fertilisation, larval development and the implications for dispersal and settlement of populations. Although fertilisation appears robust to near future predictions of ocean acidification, larval development is much more vulnerable and across invertebrate groups, evidence indicates that the impacts may be severe. This is especially for those many marine organisms which start to calcify in their larval and/or juvenile stages. Species-specificity and variability in responses and current gaps in the literature are highlighted, including the need for studies to investigate the total effects of climate change including the synergistic impact of temperature, and the need for long-term multigenerational experiments to determine whether vulnerable invertebrate species have the capacity to adapt to elevations in atmospheric CO2 over the next century.


This PhD study explores the transitional experiences of working class students between institutions of Further Education and Higher Education within the field of post-16 sports education. It draws its empirical illustration from the interview and ethnographic data collected over an 18 month period between October 2007 and July 2009 from a group of six students who had enrolled on a vocational FDSc Foundation Degree qualification. The study is comprised of two interrelated parts: Part I of the study illustrates the conceptual and methodological considerations which have driven the exploration of the student experience. The theoretical approach for investigating these experiences is informed by the structurationist perspective of Rob Stones (Stones, 2005). Stones conceptualises the relations between agent and structure four interlinked areas: External Structures, Internal Structures, Active Agency and Outcomes. Conceptualising transitional experience in this manner offers possibilities for a more contextually sensitive, refined, developed and ultimately adequate ontology of structuration. In further developing the framework, the study draws upon the sociological understanding of Basil Bernstein and Pierre Bourdieu. The incorporation of these two distinguishable but related perspectives allows the framework to inform an understanding of the interconnections between the sanctioned practices of a context, the role of agents within a context and the power capacities that are derived from these relations (Mouzelis, 1991; Morrison, 2005). In doing so, it provides a number of lenses in understanding the practices and relations between Further and Higher Education and the consequences of this for agents who enter this transition. Part II critically reflects on the participants experiences. Drawing upon data collected at three institutions: Hope Further Education College (HFEC), Fawlty University-College (FUC) and Ivory Tower University (ITU), the study discusses and explores in depth how the relations between the participants and the external structures of the institutions begin to form three identifiable and conceptually distinguishable transitional experiences which are seen to be either Empowering, Fragmented or Failed. In reflecting upon such relations and experiences, the study suggests that discourses of opportunity surrounding vocational qualifications forwarded to these students prior to, and during their course, is rather more complex than previously illustrated and for some functions as more of a myth than empowering discourse. Rather than providing equal possibility, the relations and transitional experiences that are currently produced only afford restricted opportunities to students choosing this vocational pathway within post-16 sports education. In conclusion, the study begins to discuss the implications of the relations and experiences highlighted for present and prospective relations and practices, asking whether change is possible, creating equal possibilities, not restricted opportunity.


Abstract Linear mixed-effects (LME) models analyze data that contain complex patterns of variability, specifically involving different nested layers. While LME models can match well the stratification and clustering of survey data, it is not clear how sampling weights should be incorporated into LME estimates. This report uses twelve simulation studies to compare two published methods of inserting sampling weights into LME estimates, Pfeffermann et al. (1998), denoted PSHGR, and Rabe-Hesketh and Skrondal (2006), denoted RHS. There are five main conclusions based on these simulations. 1) The PSHGR and RHS point estimates are very similar, with differences due to numerical instabilities in the estimation procedures. 2) Confidence intervals based on the sandwich estimator and the design based estimator of the variances provide similar coverage when there is no model misspecification. However, when there is model misspecification, the design-based variance estimator has unexpectedly large coverage, implying that the variance estimates are too large. 3) When there is model misspecification that does not induce informative sampling, weighted estimates do not reduce bias of the estimators. 4) When there is informative sampling, the weighted estimators do reduce the bias of the point estimates, though they do not eliminate it. 5) The unweighted estimate has the smallest variance. When there is informative sampling, the unweighted estimates are biased. The weighted unscaled estimate corrects the bias in the fixed effects, but produces more bias in the random effects. The scaled 1 weightings remove the bias in the fixed effects, and overcorrect for the weighted unscaled bias in the random effects. The scaled 2 weightings remove the bias in the fixed effects and are in between the weighted unscaled and weighted scaled 1 bias in the random effects.


STS studies in India have found their impetus and site in social movements rather than in the academe and science policy centres. Our official scientists were eloquent about our nuclear power and our need for greater investment in science. But it is the movements that have provided the great critiques of science. STS in an academic sense has been the case of a missing discipline that democracy in India urgently needs but cannot access.


The three-dimensional geometric modeling in computer graphics is concerned with the representation, specification, and manipulation of free-form curves, surfaces, and volumes. This research explores a model for constructing representations of complex three-dimensional surfaces of real-world objects, such as sculptures in a museum, from sample points acquired with a special 3-D camera, and for synthesizing computer-generated pictures from this model. The difficulty of this problem comes from the complexity of the surface characteristics of such objects, which involve complicated irregular shapes and rich textures.
This thesis presents a new three-dimensional surface model - three-dimensional fuzzy disk model, for computer graphics display. This model allows any curved surface to be approximated by a number of overlapping disks. A new blending method has been developed to generate smoothly curved surfaces from the overlapping disks. The shape of a blending surface can be controlled by varying some geometric parameters. This three-dimensional fuzzy disk representation is organized into a multi-resolution structure which allows adaptive refinement of surfaces details and supports coarse-to-fine display process.
A scan-line rendering algorithm has been developed to synthesize images from the new model. We also present a simpler, less accurate, but more efficient approximation to the original model. In addition, we present a fast shadow penumbra approximation algorithm capable of generating soft shadows.


A continuum-scale model is presented to explain how electroactive polymers such as polythiophene can be used to provide overcharge protection for lithium-ion batteries. The model shows how the cell is transformed upon overcharge from a battery to a resistor with a resistivity that varies with position across the separator. Upon discharge or open circuit, self discharge transforms the resistor back into a battery, and normal cycling can be resumed. A simplified model yields a design equation that shows how the potential at which the cell shorts depends on the current density, separator thickness, and the variation of the electronic conductivity and the oxidation potential of the polymer with a degree of oxidation. The effect of these parameters on the transient and steady-state behavior of the short is explored. The shorting voltage is independent of the choice of positive electrode and scales with the potential of the charged negative electrode. Kinetic effects on the transient behavior and thermal effects are also considered.


With US soldiers stationed around the world and engaged in multiple conflicts, Americans will be forced for the foreseeable future to come to terms with those permanently disabled in battle. At the moment, we accept rehabilitation as the proper social and cultural response to the wounded, swiftly returning injured combatants to their civilian lives. But this was not always the case, as Beth Linker reveals in her provocative new book, "War's Waste". Linker explains how, before entering World War I, the United States sought a way to avoid the enormous cost of providing injured soldiers with pensions, which it had done since the Revolutionary War. Emboldened by their faith in the new social and medical sciences, reformers pushed rehabilitation as a means to 'rebuild' disabled soldiers, relieving the nation of a monetary burden and easing the decision to enter the Great War. Linker's narrative moves from the professional development of orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists to the curative workshops, or hospital spaces where disabled soldiers learned how to repair automobiles as well as their own artificial limbs. The story culminates in the postwar establishment of the Veteran's Administration, one of the greatest legacies to come out of the First World War.


Abstract The interpretation of mode shapes and dynamic response of bending-torsion coupled beams is assessed by using the concept of generalized mass. In the first part of this investigation, the free vibratory motion of bending–torsion coupled beams is studied in detail. The conventional method of interpreting the normal modes of vibration consisting of bending displacements and torsional rotations is shown to be inadequate and replaced by an alternative method which is focussed on the constituent parts of the generalized mass arising from bending and torsional displacements. Basically, the generalized mass in a particular mode is identified and examined in terms of bending, torsion and bending–torsion coupling effects. It is demonstrated that the contribution of individual components in the expression of the generalized mass of a normal mode is a much better indicator in characterizing a coupled mode. It is also shown that the usually adopted criteria of plotting bending displacement and torsional rotations to describe a coupled mode can be deceptive and misleading. In the second part of the investigation, attention is focussed on the dynamic response characteristics of bending–torsion coupled beams when subjected to random bending or torsional loads. A normal mode approach is used to establish the total response. The input random excitation is assumed to be stationary and ergodic so that with the linearity assumption, the output spectrum of the response is obtained by using the frequency response function. The contribution of each normal mode to the overall response is isolated. Particular emphasis is placed on bending-induced torsional response and torsion-induced bending response. A number of case studies involving different types of bending–torsion coupled beams with Cantilever end conditions are presented. The limitations of existing methods of modal interpretation are highlighted, and an insight into the mode selection for response analysis is provided.


Knowledge-based systems, frequently referred to as expert systems, have been used in a variety of computer-based design applications. They are particularly suited to design processes where computational procedures must be used in conjunction with some degree of knowledge in the design process. In this context, the authors have developed a PROLOG-based program for design of localized mixing systems. During execution of the program, the user is asked for key parameters which affect the mixing process such as thermal stratification pattern and depth of the thermocline. The program conducts error checking on user input data such as thermal stability and intake structure elevations. Comparison of a prototype localized mixing system to one designed with PUMP is provided for illustration purposes.