Degradation of organic carbon stored in permafrost may represent an additional source of atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a warming climate. However, there is no clear understanding of how seasonal freeze–thaw affects gas permeability and emission of methane in permafrost soils, in part due to the lack of chemical and physical characterisation of the soils. Here, we report vertical profiles of CO2, CH4 and other soil properties with resolutions of 0.05–0.1 m depth from five soil cores, drilled to 0.9 m depth, in Alaskan permafrost during the early spring of 2013, when the ground was frozen under snow cover. Two cores from tundra and black spruce bog showed sudden increases in methane concentration (up to 416 µmol litre−1soil), indicating excess CH4 trapped in gas‐impermeable soil layers during the freezing period. Active‐layer cooling in late autumn, producing a frozen surface and relatively warm sub‐surface, may have allowed underground microbial activity and facilitated CH4 production, while the upward transport of CH4 was hampered by the frost. Our preliminary results show that estimating annual GHG efflux from permafrost regions can be complicated because of heterogeneous distributions of trapped methane within soil columns. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Objectives. The aim of this paper is to identify the correlations between the clinical evolution of the neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and the stage of disease, associated risk factors and the type of treatment used. Material and methods. A 6 years retrospective study was performed based on reviewing the casuistry of the Regional Centre of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) "Cuza Voda" and 205 cases of necrotizing enterocolitis were identified from a total number of 6183 neonates admitted there. Patients were divided in to study groups based on the gestational age (GA) and birth weight (BW). The analysis protocol was realized based on a working sheet that included the epidemiological data of the patients, the risk factors, type of nutrition, age at diagnosis, stage of disease according to Bell classification, type of treatment (medical, surgical or combined), complications and the general evolution. The statistical data processing was performed in SPSS Statistics 20 program. Results. NEC had a frequency of 3.3% is the study group and was diagnosed in premature newborns in 75.6% of cases. The mean GA for the study group was 33 weeks. The mean BW was 1896 g with 43% of the cases in very low birth weight (VLBW) group and 31.2% in low birth weight (LBW) group. The percentage incidence of the risk factors was as follows: persistence of ductus arteriosus 19.5%, perinatal asphyxia 13.7% and respiratory distress 100% of cases. 75.5% were treated and discharged from NICU, 16.6% were transferred to Pediatric Surgery Department "Sf. Maria" and 3.9% died in NICU. From the 34 cases transferred19 cases were surgically treated: 8 cases with peritoneal drainage (PD), 8 cases with primary laparotomy (LAP) and 3 cases with PD and LAP. The survival rate in this group was 2.4% and for the medically treated group was 4.9%. Conclusions. Prematurity is statistically correlated with encountering advanced stages of enterocolitis at the time of diagnosis. The option for surgical treatment (peritoneal drainage or laparotomy) does not influence the results and early enteral feeding with formula is the most important risk factor for NEC followed by age of gestation and very low birth weight.


Most inbred strains of mice, including DBA/2 (D2), are highly susceptible to the lethal effects of ectromelia virus, but C57BL/6 (B6) mice are innately resistant. Resistance is controlled by multiple, unlinked, autosomal dominant genes. Of 101 male (B6 x D2)F1 x D2 backcrossed (N2) mice, 18 died after ectromelia virus challenge and all were homozygous for the D2 allele at the proline-rich protein (Prp) locus on distal chromosome 6 (P < 0.001). This association was suggested by the patterns of susceptibility to lethal mousepox in recombinant inbred strains derived from B6 and D2 mice (D. G. Brownstein, P. N. Bhatt, L. Gras, and R. O. Jacoby, J. Virol. 65:1946-1951, 1991). The association between the Prp locus and susceptibility to lethal mousepox also held for N2 male mice that were castrated as neonates, which increased the percentage that were susceptible to 40. Spleen virus titers were significantly augmented in B6 (NK1.1+) mice depleted of asialo GM1+ or NK1.1+ cells, whereas spleen virus titers were unaffected in D2 (NK1.1-) mice depleted of asialo GM1+ cells. These results suggest that a gene or genes within the natural killer gene complex, adjacent to the Prp locus, determine strain variations in resistance to lethal ectromelia virus infection.


Laboratory and field tests established that the adult tomato pinworm, Keiferia lycopersicella (Walsingham), is crepuscular (evening) in its mating habits. Approximately 75% of males captured in traps baited with female pheromone extracts and placed in tomato fields in February were caught during the twilight period (5-8 PM EST). Females exposed to an abrupt-transition photoperiod in the laboratory exhibited maximum calling activity 0.5 after lights-out, but males were responsive to female extracts throughout the night. Virgin pairs mated only during hours 1-3 of the laboratory scotophase. Females called most and males were most responsive to the pheromone in a laboratory olfactometer during the third night after eclosion. Males were more responsive when bioassayed with dim light both above and below the olfactometer than when there was light only from below.


Hydroponics is the process of planting seeds inside a solid growth medium instead of soil and providing them with nutrients that soil would normally provide. Aquaponics is a method of growing plants without soil, utilizing fish waste to fertilize plants. In this experiment, we compared both methods to observe if hydroponic nutrients and fish waste would produce plants with different heights when growing a widely cultivated vegetable like Lactuca sativa. Our hypothesis was that aquaponics would be a more efficient farming method in terms of growth per day and average height, since the method uses a natural fertilizer. The aquaponics system would simulate an open environment, helping the plants better adapt to the natural fertilizer provided by fish. At the beginning of the experiment, the plants in the aquaponics system were taller than those in the hydroponics system, but the hydroponics plants had a faster growth rate than aquaponics plants by the end of the experiment. However, the aquaponics system had a higher growth rate than the hydroponics system in the majority of the experimental timeframe, and had a higher average plant height. Therefore, the aquaponics system was a superior system to the hydroponics system, producing plants with better height by 0.4 centimeters on the final day, and higher average growth rate by 0.02329545455.


A 3D numerical model was used to compute the discharge distribution in the channel branches of Lake Oyeren9s delta in Norway. The model solved the Navier–Stokes equations with the k – ɛ turbulence model on a 3D unstructured grid. The bathymetry dataset for the modelling had to be combined from different data sources. The results for three different flow situations in 1996 and 1997 showed a relative accuracy of the computed discharges within the range of 0 to±20% compared with field measurements taken by an ADCP at 13 cross sections of the distributary channels. The factors introducing the most error in the computed results are believed to be uncertainties concerning the bathymetry. A comparison between the computational results of the older morphology data from 1985–1990 and the model morphology from 1995–2004 indicated that morphological changes in this period had already had consequences for the flow distribution in some channels. Other important error sources were the inevitable use of averaged water level gradients because of unavailable water level measurements within the delta.


The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Article 24 states that "States Parties shall ensure inclusive education at all levels of education and life long learning." This article focuses on the inclusion of people with visual impairments in learning processes including complex table-based data. Gaining insight into and understanding of complex data is a highly demanding task for people with visual impairments. Especially in the case of table-based data, the classic approaches of braille-based output devices and printing concepts are limited. Haptic perception requires sequential information processing rather than the parallel processing used by the visual system, which hinders haptic perception to gather a fast overview of and deeper insight into the data. Nevertheless, neuroscientific research has identified great dependencies between haptic perception and the cognitive processing of visual sensing. Based on these findings, we developed a haptic 3D surface representation of classic diagrams and charts, such as bar graphs and pie charts. In a qualitative evaluation study, we identified certain advantages of our relief-type 3D chart approach. Finally, we present an education model for German schools that includes a 3D printing approach to help integrate students with visual impairments.


In modern, low emission, gas turbine combustion systems the amount of air
available for cooling of the flame tube liner is limited. This has led to the
development of more complex cooling systems such as cooling tiles i.e. a double
skin system, as opposed to the use of more conventional cooling slots i.e. a single
skin system. An isothennal experimental facility has been constructed which can
incorporate 10 times full size single and double skin (cooling tile) test specimens.
The specimens can be tested with or without effusion cooling and measurements
have been made to characterise the flow through each cooling system along with
the velocity field and cooling effectiveness distributions that subsequently develop
along the length of each test section. The velocity field of the coolant film has
been defined using pneumatic probes, hot-wire anemometry and PIV
instrumentation, whilst gas tracing technique is used to indicate (i) the adiabatic
film cooling effectiveness and (ii) mixing of the coolant film with the mainstream
flow. Tests have been undertaken both with a datum low turbulence mainstream
flow passing over the test section, along with various configurations in which
large magnitudes and scales of turbulence were present in the mainstream flow.
These high turbulence test cases simulate some of the flow conditions found
within a gas turbine combustor. Results are presented relating to a variety of
operating conditions for both types of cooling system.
The nominal operating condition for the double skin system was at a coolant to
mainstream blowing ratio of approximately 1.0. At this condition, mixing of the
mainstream and coolant film was relatively small with low mainstream
turbulence. However, at high mainstream turbulence levels there was rapid
penetration of the mainstream flow into the coolant film. This break up of the
coolant film leads to a significant reduction in the cooling effectiveness. In
addition to the time-averaged characteristics, the time dependent behaviour of the
.:coolantfilm was. also investigated. In particular, unsteadiness associated with
large scale structures in the mainstream flow was observed within the coolant film
and adjacent to the tile surface. Relative to a double skin system the single skin geometry requires a higher
coolant flow rate that, along with other geometrical changes, results in typically
higher coolant to mainstream velocity ratios. At low mainstream turbulence levels
this difference in velocity between the coolant and mainstream promotes the
generation of turbulence and mixing between the streams so leading to some
reduction in cooling effectiveness. However, this higher momentum coolant fluid
is more resistant to high mainstream turbulence levels and scales so that the
coolant film break up is not as significant under these conditions as that observed
for the double skin system.
For all the configurations tested the use of effusion cooling helped restore the
coolant film along the rear of the test section. For the same total coolant flow, the
minimum value of cooling effectiveness observed along the test section was
increased relative to the no effusion case. In addition the effectiveness of the
effusion patch depends on the amount of coolant injected and the axial location of
the patch.
The overall experimental data suggested the importance of the initial cooling film
conditions together with better understanding of the possible mechanisms that
results in the rapid cooling film break-up, such as high turbulence mainstream
flow and scales, and this will lead to a more effective cooling system design. This
experimental data is also thought to be ideal for the validation of numerical
predictions.


Background. Balance and walking impairments are frequent in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective. The aim was to investigate the effects of a group-based balance exercise program targeting core stability, dual tasking, and sensory strategies (CoDuSe) on balance, postural sway, walking, perceived walking limitations, and balance confidence. Design. A single-blinded randomized multicenter trial. No intervention was given to controls. Participants. People with MS able to walk 100 meters but unable to maintain tandem stance ≥30 seconds. Eighty-seven participants were randomized to intervention or control. Intervention. The 60-minute CoDuSe group program, twice weekly for seven weeks, supervised by physical therapists. Measurements. Primary outcome was dynamic balance (Berg Balance Scale (BBS)). Secondary outcomes were postural sway, walking (Timed-Up and Go test; Functional Gait Assessment (FGA)), MS Walking Scale, and Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale. Assessments were performed before and after (week 8) the intervention. Results. 73 participants fulfilled the study. There were significant differences between the intervention and the control groups in change in the BBS and in the secondary measures: postural sway with eyes open, FGA, MS Walking Scale, and ABC scale in favor of the intervention. Conclusions. The seven-week CoDuSe program improved dynamic balance more than no intervention.


The current study attempted to investigate the antioxidant activities of 10 Arabian herbs and spices namely, A. obesum flower, T. foenum-graecum leaves, S. officinalis leaves, Z. piperitum seeds, A.vera gel, I. verum seeds, A. corrorima fruits, N. sativa seeds, L.sativum seeds, and Z. spina-christi leaves by determining their total phenolic, total flavonoid and Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity. The mean values of the total phenolic content were 1889.66, 789.63, 235.33, 1264.85, 5477.53, 693, 62.37, 166.05, 602.25, and 938.27 (mg GAE/100g) in A. obesum , T. foenum-graecum, S. officinalis, Z. piperitum , A. vera , I. verum , A. corrorima, N. sativa, L. sativum, and Z. spinachristi respectively, whereas the mean values of the total flavonoid content were 553.52 , 598.82, 178.67, 434.4, 1958.27, 112.13, 4.33, 36.87, 61.85, and 249.56 ( mg QEA / 100g ) respectively. The mean values of Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) were 6328.51, 1273.2, 579.07, 4357.45, 11642.56, 1842.38 , 158.77, 511.15 , 910.22 , 3293.33 (μmole /100 g) in A. obesum, T. foenum-graecum, S. officinalis, Z. piperitum , A. vera, I. verum , A. corrorima, N. sativa , L. sativum, and Z. spina-christi, respectively. Our findings showed that A. vera gel and A. obesum have a high total phenolic content, also the two plants possess a considerable content of total flavonoid and they also have a high levels of TEAC radical-scavenging activity compared with the current studied plants. It will be useful to further analyze A. vera gel and A. obesum flower in order to separate and identify their possible protective roles against diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia.


Tunnelling experiments have played an essential role in the development and verification of theories for superconductivity. They are usually interpreted within the so-called semiconductor model, in which the tunnelling current is given by the convolution of the density of states of the tunnelling electrodes. With a break junction technique, we have measured the current-voltage characteristics I(V) in the high Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2Can-1CunO2(n+2) at different temperatures and doping levels. The derivative dI/dV shows the well-known peak-dip-hump structure. These results, including their dependence on temperature and doping, are similar to that of other tunnelling experiments like scanning tunnelling microscopy, grain boundary junction or mesa structure experiments. In mesa structures it is known that self-heating of the structure is a severe problem. At a bath temperature of 4.2 K, temperatures as high as Tc were measured in the mesa stack already when a voltage comparable to the dip-position was applied. The typical current-voltage characteristics can be described with a heating model, in which all the non-linearities are explained by only the temperature dependence of the junction resistance. It seems that the peak-dip-hump structure is an artefact of Joule heating. This heating model can in principle also explain the peak-dip-hump structure of our break junction measurements. Many features like the temperature or doping dependence of the I(V) characteristics are described naturally. Furthermore we realised that the so-called Kohlrausch relation gives an estimate of the junction temperature in function of the voltage that is consistent with the heating model. The typical features of our spectra are independent of the contact area between the broken parts: this observation has often been used as a proof against heating. The Kohlrausch relation shows that this argument does not hold. For low bath temperatures the relation predicts that a voltage U = 3.6 kBT/e has to be applied to reach the contact temperature T. This similarity to the BCS relation 2Δ = 3.52 kBTc makes clear that care has to be taken when an experimental feature appears at twice the BCS gap energy Δ: it might be caused by heating. Due to problems of thermal dilatation of the sample holder, the validity of the heating model could only be tested qualitatively for our break junction technique. However, data of grain boundary structures allowed a more precise verification. These results are in very good agreement with the model predictions: the heating model is a valid alternative to the semiconductor model. This work opens many questions concerning the validity of the semiconductor model. We argue that further investigation of heating effects in tunnelling experiments is important.


Social interaction with colleagues is an important job attribute for many workers. To attract and retain workers, managers therefore need to think about how to create and preserve high-quality co-worker relationships. This paper develops a principal-multi-agent model where agents do not only engage in productive activities, but also in social interaction with their colleagues, which in turn creates co-worker altruism. We study how financial incentives for productive activities can improve or damage the work climate. We show that both team incentives and relative incentives can help to create a good work climate.


Objective : Skin and ear infections, primarily caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), are recurrent problems for saturation divers, whereas infections caused by P. aeruginosa are seldom observed in healthy people outside saturation chambers. Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients suffer from pulmonary infections by P. aeruginosa, and it has been demonstrated that CF patients have high levels of autoantibodies against Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) compared to controls, probably due to cross-reacting antibodies induced by P. aeruginosa. The present study investigated whether rats immunised with P. aeruginosa produced autoantibodies against their own HSP60 and whether diving influenced the level of circulating anti-HSP60 antibodies. Methods : A total of 24 rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups ('immunised', 'dived' and 'immunised and dived'). The rats in group 1 and 3 were immunised with the bacteria P. aeruginosa, every other week. Groups 2 and 3 were exposed to simulated air dives to 400 kPa (4 ata) with 45 min bottom time, every week for 7 weeks. Immediately after surfacing, the rats were anaesthetised and blood was collected from the saphenous vein. The amount of anti-HSP60 rat antibodies in the serum was analysed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results : The immunised rats (group 1) showed a significant increase in the level of autoantibodies against HSP60, whereas no autoantibodies were detected in the dived rats (group 2). The rats both immunised and dived (group 3) show no significant increase in circulating autoantibodies against HSP60. A possible explanation may be that HSP60 is expressed during diving and that cross-reacting antibodies are bound.


The problem of burn in developing countries like India is more due to various socio-cultural factors present in the country. The study was aimed to find the distribution, determinants, outcome and psychological effect of burns. The present hospital based descriptive study was carried out in surgery ward of Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, General Hospital Solapur, to know socio – demographic profile, duration of stay and outcome of burn. All cases of burns admitted in Hospital during study period (September 2000 to August 2001) were the study subjects. More than half were in the age group between 21 and 40 years. More than two third were females. Rural patients outnumbered urban patients. Majority of patients were unemployed and among unemployed majority of patients were housewives. 40% patients were literate. Majority of the cases were from class IV (Upper Lower) socioeconomic group. Majority of patients (37.78%) were admitted during winter season. Maximum number of burns occurred between 5pm and 11 pm. Majority of burns (97.56%) took place at home. 79.33% of burns were accidental. 36% patients had hospital stay less than one day. Among 450 cases, 65.78% died, 16.44% were discharged against medical advice


Two computationally fast fluid mechanical models for vertical axis turbines are the streamtube and the vortex model. The streamtube model is the fastest, allowing three-dimensional modeling of the turbine, but lacks a proper time-dependent description of the flow through the turbine. The vortex model used is two-dimensional, but gives a more complete time-dependent description of the flow. Effects of a velocity profile and the inclusion of struts have been investigated with the streamtube model. Simulations with an inhomogeneous velocity profile predict that the power coefficient of a vertical axis turbine is relatively insensitive to the velocity profile. For the struts, structural mechanic loads have been computed and the calculations show that if turbines are designed for high flow velocities, additional struts are required, reducing the efficiency for lower flow velocities.Turbines in channels and turbine arrays have been studied with the vortex model. The channel study shows that smaller channels give higher power coefficients and convergence is obtained in fewer time steps. Simulations on a turbine array were performed on five turbines in a row and in a zigzag configuration, where better performance is predicted for the row configuration. The row configuration was extended to ten turbines and it has been shown that the turbine spacing needs to be increased if the misalignment in flow direction is large.A control system for the turbine with only the rotational velocity as input has been studied using the vortex model coupled with an electrical model. According to simulations, this system can obtain power coefficients close to the theoretical peak values. This control system study has been extended to a turbine farm. Individual control of each turbine has been compared to a less costly control system where all turbines are connected to a mutual DC bus through passive rectifiers. The individual control performs best for aerodynamically independent turbines, but for aerodynamically coupled turbines, the results show that a mutual DC bus can be a viable option.Finally, an implementation of the fast multipole method has been made on a graphics processing unit (GPU) and the performance gain from this platform is demonstrated.


A three dimensional, approximately half scale experimental test has been carried out to investigate the effect of precast-prestressed floor units on the seismic performance of reinforced concrete moment resisting frames. This paper gives an overview of the experiment and summarizes the results obtained from the test. The paper focuses on the level of strength enhancement and elongation within the plastic hinges. The results show that the presence of prestressed floor units partially restrains elongation of plastic hinges such that elongation in the exterior and interior plastic hinges differs significantly. This increases the strength of the beams more than that specified in the major structural design codes. This is a cause of great concern as this underestimation of beam strength may result in brittle column failure modes in a major earthquake.


Escherichia coli has been commonly used as a platform for recombinant protein production and accounts for approximately 30% of current biopharmaceuticals on the market. Nowadays, many recombinant proteins require post-translational modifications which E. coli normally cannot facilitate. Therefore, novel technological advancements are unceasingly being developed to improve the E. coli expression system. In this work, some of the most recently engineered platforms for the production of disulfide bond-containing proteins were used to study the E. coli proteome under heterologous protein production stress. The effects of protein secretion via the Sec and Tat translocation pathways were examined using a comparative LC-MS/MS analysis. The E. coli proteome responds to foreign protein production by activation of several overlapping stress responses with a high degree of interaction. In consequence, a number of important cellular processes such as cellular metabolism, protein transport, redox state of the cytoplasm and membrane structure are altered by the production stress. These changes lead to the reduction of cellular growth and recombinant product yields. Resolving the identified bottlenecks will increase the efficiency of recombinant protein expression processes in E. coli.


Hamiltonian Monte Carlo and slice sampling are amongst the most widely used and studied classes of Markov Chain Monte Carlo samplers. We connect these two methods and present Hamiltonian slice sampling, which allows slice sampling to be carried out along Hamiltonian trajectories, or transformations thereof. Hamiltonian slice sampling clarifies a class of model priors that induce closed-form slice samplers. More pragmatically, inheriting properties of slice samplers, it offers advantages over Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, in that it has fewer tunable hyperparameters and does not require gradient information. We demonstrate the utility of Hamiltonian slice sampling out of the box on problems ranging from Gaussian process regression to Pitman-Yor based mixture models.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To compare treatment protocol adherence, satisfaction, and perceived changes in emotional and functional status between patients with lymphedema with and without cancer using the home-based Flexitouch (Tactile Systems Technology, Inc.) system for lymphedema self-care.

DESIGN
Quasi-experimental, pre- and post-test design.

SETTING
Private homes in the continental United States and Alaska.

SAMPLE
155 community-dwelling individuals with lymphedema: 93 with cancer-related lymphedema and 62 with noncancer-related lymphedema.

METHODS
A survey was completed before use of the Flexitouch system. Participants received in-home education about device use, safety precautions, and the two-phase therapy protocol. A post-therapy survey was completed during the maintenance phase of the protocol.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Use of the Flexitouch system, treatment protocol adherence, participant satisfaction, and emotional and functional status.

FINDINGS
Participants without cancer were more adherent to the prescribed protocol. Both groups were satisfied with the system, perceived it to be effective, and reported improvement in physical and emotional status. Participants' use of professional manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) therapy, self-MLD, and bandaging declined after they initiated use of the Flexitouch system.

CONCLUSIONS
Patients using the Flexitouch system were satisfied with the device and perceived it to be beneficial in management of their lymphedema.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Patients using the Flexitouch system should be assessed for adherence to the prescribed treatment protocol and use of other self-care treatments. Healthcare professionals should facilitate communication among members of the lymphedema treatment team and the patient when problems are noted.


Internet of Things (IoT) addresses the challenge to provide a transparent access to a huge number of IoT resources that can be either physical devices or just data resources. Moreover, because of the large number of resource-constrained devices and the dynamic nature of IoT environments, integrating the resulted data becomes a non trivial task. We believe that the use of mashups, a way to compose new services from existing ones, can be a solution to the above challenge if each resource exposes its functionalities as a Web service. In the IoT environment, this will constitute a Web of Things where mashups development will take advantage of the connected physical world. The huge amounts of IoT-generated data from physical devices and data sources, called IoT Big Data, requires new design solutions to speed up data processing, scale up with the data volume and improve data adaptability. Besides existing techniques for IoT data collection, filtering, and analytics, we present in this article a mashup oriented model, called IoT Big Services, for provisioning data-centric IoT services in the context of IOT mashups. These IoT services are organized in tree structure where each node, called an IoT Big Service, acts as an integrator that collects data from lower level, processes them and delivers the results to higher level in the architecture.


The study of branded reality show is still very limited, especially in the perspective of discursive psychoanalysis. In fact, the phenomenon of reality show is currently growing in the television industry, so brands are inspired to create similar programs. This paper aims to analyze the desire and pleasure of success are presented and disclosed by branded reality show 'Diplomat Success Challenge' on a national TV channel in Indonesia. Using discursive psychoanalysis method in the Lacanian perspective, author found that participants in the 'Diplomat Success Challenge' saw competitors (other participants) as 'other' in imaginary phase which is the object of desire in having the pleasure of success, while the audience used the praticipants as reflection of their desire and pleasure of success. There are two tendencies of the spectatorship style in responding to the discourse. In one hand the audiences tend to be more emphatic and figural, while on the other hand they tend to be more logic and systematic. In addition, the desire and pleasure of success in the 'Diplomat Success Challenge' becomes a powerful discourse that alienated negative issues related to the Diplomat as a tobacco product brand. Thus, the politics of reality through a discourse of success in the branded reality show has successfully infiltrated into the subconscious and control the public consciousness.


This study examines whether financial reporting with a specific focus on risk disclosures have a predictive (informative) effect on banks' credit ratings (BCRs) and, consequently, ascertains whether governance structures can moderate such an association. Using one of the largest banklevel datasets collected from 12 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries over the 2006-2013 period to-date, our findings are as follows. First, we find that risk disclosures have a predictive effect on BCRs. Second, we find that the relationship between risk disclosures and BCRs is contingent on the quality of governance structures. Specifically, we find that the informativeness of risk disclosures on BCRs is higher in banks with larger board size, greater independence, higher government ownership, and better Shariah supervisory board, but lower in banks with greater block ownership, higher foreign ownership and the presence of CEO duality. The central tenor of our findings remains unchanged after controlling for a number of firm- and country-level factors, alternative risk disclosure measures, firm- and national-level governance proxies, different types of banks, and potential endogeneities. The findings have important implications for investors, especially bondholders, standard-setters, regulators, and central governments


Professional learning communities (PLCs) provide schools with a tool to meet the
professional development needs of their teachers through ongoing, job-embedded staff
development designed to improve instruction and student learning. While research exists
on the development of PLCs, there is a gap in the literature concerning the principal's
role in the development and perpetuation of PLCs and the perceived impact of PLCs on
instruction and student learning. The purpose of this study was to explore the
development and perpetuation of PLCs at two elementary schools.
The specific research questions addressed in this study were: (1) How did the
professional learning communities in two elementary schools develop and perpetuate? (2)
What was the role of the principals in the development of a professional learning
community in two elementary schools? (3) How have the principals in these two
elementary schools perpetuated the professional learning community? and (4) What, if
any, relationship do teachers perceive exists between the development and perpetuation
of the professional learning and improved instruction and student learning?
The two elementary schools in this study were purposefully selected based on
their histories with PLCs and their dramatic growth in student achievement in recent
years. Through an ethnographic case study approach that included face-to-face
interviews, on-site observations, and document analysis, I explored how the schools
developed and perpetuated PLCs and the principals' role in the PLCs development
process. The principals in this study allowed teachers input in various school-based
decisions, established a tone of professionalism and high expectations, created a
caring/supportive environment where teachers felt appreciated and supported, and
facilitated the transition of the PLC from development to perpetuation.
Four themes were significant to the principals' role in the perpetuation of the
PLCs at one or both schools. The principals in this study ensured the teachers understood
the PLC would take precedence over non-teaching responsibilities, worked diligently to
overcome time barriers that would interfere with the PLC, conducted needs assessments
to ascertain the professional development needs of their teachers, and actively
participated in the PLC.
Since the implementation of the PLCs, the teachers in this study have begun
sharing/collaborating more frequently, using data to drive instruction, focusing on student
success, working to increase student participation, incorporating research-based practices
into instruction, and consistently differentiating instruction to meet the needs of students.
With the support of the PLCs, classroom instruction and student learning have improved
considerably across all grade levels at both schools.
Several implications for research and practice emerged from the study. Future
research may want to explore the role of district versus school decisions to implement
PLCs, examine the role of the instructional coach, determine the impact of the principal's
leadership style, and explore other forms of data collection. Principals desiring to develop
or perpetuate a PLC in their own school may choose to apply this study's findings in their
own schools.


Lifestyle emerging diseases like obesity, metabolic syndrome (MeS), and diabetes mellitus are considered high-risk factors for lethal arrhythmias and side effects. A Poincaré plot is constructed with the time series of RR and PP electrocardiogram (ECG) intervals, using two stages: the new phase and the old phase. We proposed this diagram of two dimensions, a way to quantify and observe the regularity of events in space and time. Therefore, the heart rate variability (HRV) can be used as a biomarker for early prognostic and diagnostic of several metabolic diseases; additionally, this biomarker is obtained by a noninvasive tool like the electrocardiogram.


The present study is concerned with the single crystal growth of functional oxides by the floating zone technique using a four mirror image furnace. This thesis attempts to extend our knowledge of the subject by firstly studying the optical floating zone method as a technique in terms of the experimental growth parameters and then by performing crystal growth and characterization on a number of functional oxides such as rutile (TiO\(_2\)), Co-doped rutile and rare earth orthoferrite crystals (RFeO\(_3\), R=Er and Y). When growing high quality, large and homogeneous crystals using an image furnace, finding the optimum growth parameters (such as growth speed, rotation rate, gas pressure and type of atmosphere) is a crucial first step since it has been found that these parameters can all affect the eventual crystal quality and properties. Comprehensive characterization of an image furnace revealed that the growth behaviour, and consequently, the quality of the as-grown crystal, can be explained by the effects that varying these growth parameters have upon the temperature profiles within growing crystals. Characterization of as-grown crystals has been performed using a combination of different techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray analysis, x-ray diffractometry, back reflection x-ray Laue, polarised optical microscopy and vibrating sample magnetometry. The best quality TiO\(_2\) crystals were prepared when neither the growing crystal nor the feed rod were rotated during crystal growth. When rotation was employed, this was found to introduce sub-grain boundaries in crystals when the linear growth rate was low, or bubble inclusions when the linear rate was high. The use of lower molten zone temperatures was found to give pale-yellow crystals, while crystals grown using higher molten zone temperatures tended to have the blue colour characteristic of oxygen deficient material. A study of Co-doped TiO\(_2\) single crystals, prepared from the melt using the FZ technique, revealed that Co does not dissolve into the rutile matrix and that the type of atmosphere used during FZ affects the type of cobalt-based second phases formed. Magnetization measurements of Co-doped rutile bulk samples (both single crystals prepared using the FZ technique and polycrystalline powders prepared using a solid state reaction) also indicated that the magnetic properties depend upon the material preparation conditions. An oxygen deficient environment during the preparation of Co-doped TiO\(_2\) powders and single crystals was crucial for the observation of room temperature ferromagnetism, since preparation in oxygen rich conditions led to the formation of paramagnetic material that included the second phase CoTiO\(_3\). Finally, growth of ErFeO\(_3\) and YFeO\(_3\) single crystals by the FZ technique revealed that the best quality crystals were prepared when the growth rate was 6 mm/h or less, since the use of higher growth rates (12, 18 and 24 mm/h) was found to result in the formation of second phase inclusions within the crystals. The magnetic properties of these crystals, as represented by the hysteresis loops, showed that crystals of both materials grown at higher rates have significantly lower coercivities; this was attributed to the effect of the second phase in nucleating reverse magnetic domains and so aiding the demagnetization process.


A Java-language computer program has been written to facilitate mining of data in files in the Shuttle Data Center (SDC) archives. This program can be executed on a variety of workstations or via Web-browser programs. This program is partly similar to prior C-language programs used for the same purpose, while differing from those programs in that it exploits the platform-neutrality of Java in implementing several features that are important for analysis of large sets of time-series data. The program supports regular expression queries of SDC archive files, reads the files, interleaves the time-stamped samples according to a chosen output, then transforms the results into that format. A user can choose among a variety of output file formats that are useful for diverse purposes, including plotting, Markov modeling, multivariate density estimation, and wavelet multiresolution analysis, as well as for playback of data in support of simulation and testing.


Abstract BACKGROUND Successful cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos is essential not only to maximize the safety and efficacy of ovarian stimulation cycles in an IVF treatment, but also to enable fertility preservation. Two cryopreservation methods are routinely used: slow-freezing or vitrification. Slow-freezing allows for freezing to occur at a sufficiently slow rate to permit adequate cellular dehydration while minimizing intracellular ice formation. Vitrification allows the solidification of the cell(s) and of the extracellular milieu into a glass-like state without the formation of ice. OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE The objective of our study was to provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical outcomes following slow-freezing/thawing versus vitrification/warming of oocytes and embryos and to inform the development of World Health Organization guidance on the most effective cryopreservation method. SEARCH METHODS A Medline search was performed from 1966 to 1 August 2016 using the following search terms: (Oocyte(s) [tiab] OR (Pronuclear[tiab] OR Embryo[tiab] OR Blastocyst[tiab]) AND (vitrification[tiab] OR freezing[tiab] OR freeze[tiab]) AND (pregnancy[tiab] OR birth[tiab] OR clinical[tiab]). Queries were limited to those involving humans. RCTs and cohort studies that were published in full-length were considered eligible. Each reference was reviewed for relevance and only primary evidence and relevant articles from the bibliographies of included articles were considered. References were included if they reported cryosurvival rate, clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), live-birth rate (LBR) or delivery rate for slow-frozen or vitrified human oocytes or embryos. A meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model to calculate relative risk ratios (RR) and 95% CI. OUTCOMES One RCT study comparing slow-freezing versus vitrification of oocytes was included. Vitrification was associated with increased ongoing CPR per cycle (RR = 2.81, 95% CI: 1.05–7.51; P = 0.039; 48 and 30 cycles, respectively, per transfer (RR = 1.81, 95% CI 0.71–4.67; P = 0.214; 47 and 19 transfers) and per warmed/thawed oocyte (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.02–1.28; P = 0.018; 260 and 238 oocytes). One RCT comparing vitrification versus fresh oocytes was analysed. In vitrification and fresh cycles, respectively, no evidence for a difference in ongoing CPR per randomized woman (RR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.87–1.21; P = 0.744, 300 women in each group), per cycle (RR = 1.01, 95% CI: 0.86–1.18; P = 0.934; 267 versus 259 cycles) and per oocyte utilized (RR = 1.02, 95% CI: 0.82–1.26; P = 0.873; 3286 versus 3185 oocytes) was reported. Findings were consistent with relevant cohort studies. Of the seven RCTs on embryo cryopreservation identified, three met the inclusion criteria (638 warming/thawing cycles at cleavage and blastocyst stage), none of which involved pronuclear-stage embryos. A higher CPR per cycle was noted with embryo vitrification compared with slow-freezing, though this was of borderline statistical significance (RR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.00–3.59; P = 0.051; three RCTs; I2 = 71.9%). LBR per cycle was reported by one RCT performed with cleavage-stage embryos and was higher for vitrification (RR = 2.28; 95% CI: 1.17–4.44; P = 0.016; 216 cycles; one RCT). A secondary analysis was performed focusing on embryo cryosurvival rate. Pooled data from seven RCTs (3615 embryos) revealed a significant improvement in embryo cryosurvival following vitrification as compared with slow-freezing (RR = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.30–1.93; P < 0.001; I2 = 93%). WIDER IMPLICATIONS Data from available RCTs suggest that vitrification/warming is superior to slow-freezing/thawing with regard to clinical outcomes (low quality of the evidence) and cryosurvival rates (moderate quality of the evidence) for oocytes, cleavage-stage embryos and blastocysts. The results were confirmed by cohort studies. The improvements obtained with the introduction of vitrification have several important clinical implications in ART. Based on this evidence, in particular regarding cryosurvival rates, laboratories that continue to use slow-freezing should consider transitioning to the use of vitrification for cryopreservation.


This thesis ia an interdiscipinary study about the nature and causes of transsexuality and an attempt to formulate a Christian ethical response to it, a subject which until now has received no extended academic attention from a Christian perspective.
There are two aims. The first is to examine what the Christian theological tradition has to say about transsexuality. the second is to explore what the experience of transsexual people has to say to the Church, and to the formation of its theology and ethics.
It is a survey of the evidence for the existence of transsexuality prior to the twentieth century, when it was first recognised and described. It explores the experience of transsexual and some transgendered people in Britain today. It pays particular attention to their encounters with and within the Church. It investigates how those transsexual and transgendered people who profess Christian faith use the Bible and relate to the Christian tradition as they attempt to understand their condition better, and try to come to terms with the theological issues that this process of reflection raises - an example of 'ordinary theology'.It then examines what the Bible and the Christian tradition themselves might have to say about transsexuality, and about those same far-reaching issues, which include the significance of the human self, of embodiment and of sex, gender and sexuality. It draws in particular on the foundational theology of Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen and Gregory of Nyssa and on the writings of four contemporary theologians: Lisa Sowle Cahill, Elaine Graham, Susan Frank Parsons and Rowan Williams.
At the heart of the study are seven detailed case studies of transsexual or transgendered British Christians, but I also draw on a personal engagement with around twenty five others over a period of almost thirty months.


Female genital mutilation is still practiced in 28 African countries despite international calls for its abolishment. A 1991 survey of 1365 14-year-old girls undertaken by a nongovernmental organization in Kenya revealed that 90% had suffered mutilation ranging from the least mutilating form, "sunna" to excision to infibulation. Most of the procedures had taken place when the girls were aged 10-14 years as part of a ritual where the same unsterile knife was used on several girls. Whereas 65% of respondents stated that they approved of female genital mutilation, a little more than a third would abolish the practice. In Sudan, a 1989-90 Demographic and Health Survey of 5860 ever married women aged 15-49 included a number of questions related to female genital mutilation. 89% of respondents were mutilated, and 82% of these had suffered infibulation. This prevalence rate showed a decrease from the 96% level recorded in 1977-78. Among younger women, the incidence of sunna is increasing. Most of these procedures were performed by medical workers such as trained midwives or traditional birth attendants. 79% of the respondents favored continuation of the procedure, but women with a secondary-level education and urban women showed strong opposition. Most women cite tradition as the reason for their approval, and almost half of the women who disapprove cite medical complications. This survey provided the necessary data to implement a policy of eradication of this harmful practice through increasing women's education and provoking open discussion about the procedure.


This Essay explains why lawyers, policy-makers and scholars interested in medical malpractice reform and tort reform more generally must attend to tort theory. Theory does not provide answers to policy questions. Rather, it frames and guides analysis. The Essay uses two examples to make its point. The first concerns the phenomenon of "underlitigation," which is typically treated by commentators as a symptom of tort law's deficiencies as a scheme for deterring undesirable behavior and/or compensating injury victims. This evaluation presupposes, of course, that tort law is properly theorized as a scheme for deterring and/or compensating. An alternative and more satisfactory conception of tort treats it as a law that empowers victims of wrongs to respond to those wrongs by seeking redress from their wrongdoers. Given this alternative conception, we will want to know much more about why malpractice victims tend not to sue. For if they are knowingly and voluntary choosing not to pursue claims that the law has made available to them, then, on a wrongs-and-redress theory, there is nothing at all wrong with the tort system. The second example concerns the constitutionality of reform measures that cut back on malpractice liability in the name of making medical services more readily available or cheaper. If tort law is conceived as public regulation of bad medical practices - i.e., enforcement actions brought by plaintiffs playing the role of private attorneys general - then courts probably should assess the constitutionality of malpractice reform measures under toothless rational basis analysis. If, by contrast, tort is understood as a law for the redress of wrongs, courts will be entitled to deploy a more robust form of judicial review.


Indian and Chinese enterprises have emerged as important outward investors in recent times with their involvement in a number of prominent Greenfield investments and acquisitions. The theory of international business posits that the ownership of some unique advantages having a revenue generating potential abroad combined with the presence of internalization and locational advantages leads to outward FDI. Conventional MNEs based in the industrialized countries have grown on the strength of ownership advantages derived from innovatory activity that is largely concentrated in these countries. It examines the case of steel industry that has become an important sector of overseas activity for Chinese and Indian companies with a string of major acquisitions of foreign MNEs for acquiring footprints and natural resources in order to identify the sources of ownership advantages and strategies of outward investments from emerging countries.


At the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings, an Indian delegate proposed a new research base located within an environmental protection area, because it is where India and Antarctica were connected on the 125-million-year-old continent of Gondwana. How did this claim come to be successful for the Indian Antarctic Program? In the production of documents within international governing bodies, policy makers enroll allies, emphasizing particular aspects of their plans to members of diverse epistemic communities. Instead of trying to make nationally oriented ideas work through uniform procedural rules, international policy makers reshape the contours of acceptable policy-making procedure and the political possibilities of international governance.


This paper describes ELaC, a fully implemented and evaluated novel integrated environment for personalized e-training in programming and the language C. Software development relies on many different programming languages and tools, ranging from procedural to object-oriented and query languages; an individual learning a new language may already know a range of other languages, or may know no other languages at all. Given the variety of backgrounds of prospective learners of programming, developing learning environments for all of them is not easy. In the light of these problems, this work has focused on the development of an original integrated e-training environment for programming and the language C, incorporating a student model responsible for identifying and updating the student's knowledge level, which takes into account each individual user's pace of learning. The system can adapt dynamically to each individual learner's needs by scheduling the sequence of learning lessons on the fly. This personalization allows each learner to complete the e-training course on at their own pace and according to their ability.


Bloor v. Falstaff has become the standard casebook example of judicial interpretation of a "best efforts" clause. The court held that Falstaff's lackluster promotional efforts for Ballantine beer violated its "best efforts covenant, a result that has met with near universal approval. However, when the problem is properly framed, the decision is clearly wrong. The court's failure to consider the purpose of the transaction led it astray. Falstaff almost certainly did not breach its obligation. The essential feature of the contract is that Ballantine was exiting the beer business and was making a one-shot sale of some of its assets to Falstaff. Ballantine wanted to receive the highest possible price and, other things equal, the fewer post-sale restrictions on Falstaff's exploitation of the assets, the more Falstaff would be willing to pay. So, any restriction, like the best efforts clause, immediately raises a red flag: how might the particular restriction raise the value of the Ballantine assets, ex ante? The deal included an "earnout" designed to cope with the information asymmetries inherent in the transaction. A significant part of Ballantine's compensation was in the form of a per barrel royalty. The role of the best efforts clause was to guard against the possibility that Falstaff could obtain the value from the Ballantine assets in a manner which bypassed the royalty. The poor performance of Ballantine beer post-acquisition was due not to Falstaff's diversion of revenue, but to the poor quality of the Ballantine assets (and the changing conditions in the beer industry).


Sequential selective extraction procedures have been developed to determine the fate of potentially toxic trace metal pollutants in aquatic sediments. These multistep procedures operate through the application of reagents of increasing strength which solubilize different components of a sediment, thus releasing associated trace metals. Evaluation of the accuracy of these procedures is impossible with natural sediments because the location and concentration of trace metal pollutants are not known. Synthetic sediment standards must be made available to test extraction procedures. For this research, model aquatic sediments are produced by combination of individually synthesized geochemical phases. Each phase is doped with a trace metal contaminant, such as copper, lead, nickel, or zinc. Since the compositions of the model sediments are known, they are used to evaluate an extraction procedure. The results indicate that extraction procedures are susceptible to several deficiencies including inadequate reagent strength, nonselectivity of extracting reagents, and redistribution of extracted elements onto residual phases. The problem of redistribution is addressed by incorporating an ion-chelating resin, poly-dithiocarbamate, into the extraction procedure which competes with residual sediment phases for extracted elements. A model sediment is produced with a calcium carbonate phase which contains all the trace metal contaminants and with an undoped iron oxyhydroxide phase for scavenging extracted elements. The sediment is subjected to a sodium acetate extractant which can solubilize the contaminated phase. A portion of the resin is placed in the extractant to trap metals as they are extracted. The resin is successful in capturing some but not all of the extracted metals.


Recent years have seen major changes in the approach to Computer Aided Design (CAD) in the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) sector. CAD is increasingly becoming a standard design tool, facilitating lower development costs and a reduced design cycle. Not only does it allow a designer to model designs in two andthree dimensions but also to model other dimensions, such as time and cost into designs. Computer Aided Design Guide for Architecture, Engineering and Construction provides an in-depth explanation of all the common CAD terms and tools used in the AEC sector. It describes each approach to CAD with detailed analysis and practical examples. Analysis is provided of the strength and weaknesses of each application for all members of the project team, followed by review questions and further tasks. Coverage includes: 2D CAD 3D CAD 4D CAD nD modelling Building Information Modelling parametric design, virtual reality and other areas of future expansion. With practical examples and step-by step guides, this book is essential reading for students of design and construction, from undergraduate level onwards.


This thesis will argue that 1945-51 was a seminal period in the development of communication between the Government, the media and the people in Britain. The Attlee Government was the first British Government to fully engage with the dilemma of how a Government communicates with its citizens to sustain a credible democracy. To do this it established the modern machinery of Government communication and used the mass media extensively. Its experience, and in particular the crises it faced during its two terms in office, caused it to shift away from an idealistic vision of helping to develop an informed electorate towards the pragmatic use of information as a means of persuasion and a tool for engineering consent. The period laid the framework, in other words, of modern information management. In order to demonstrate this the thesis will show how the Government's attitudes changed over its period in office, and how its approach towards communication altered. It will start by examining how and why the Government established the machinery of communication in 1945. It will then seek to explain why the Government's relationship with the Press deteriorated so far and so fast, and with what consequences. It will try to demonstrate that there was the genuine possibility of radical reform of the Press and that it is important to understand why this did not happen. The thesis will go on to consider the closeness of the Government-BBC relationship after the war and how that closeness seriously damaged the credibility of the Corporation's monopoly. It will assess the Government's major experiment in film-making and why it found it so difficult to use film as a means of informing the public. And, it will show how the Government ignored, alienated and eventually collaborated with the newsreels. The thesis will end by assessing the distance the Government had travelled in its use of communication.


The action of calmodulin (CaM) on target proteins is important for a variety of cellular functions. We demonstrate here, however, that the presence of a CaM-binding site on a protein does not necessarily imply a functional effect. The alpha-subunit of the cGMP-gated cation channel of human retinal cones has a CaM-binding site on its cytoplasmic N-terminal region, but the homomeric channel that it forms is not functionally modulated by CaM. Mutational analysis based on comparison to the highly homologous olfactory cyclic nucleotide-gated channel alpha-subunit, which does form a CaM-modulated channel, indicates that residues downstream of the CaM-binding domain on these channels are also important for CaM to have an effect. These findings suggest that a CaM-binding site and complementary structural features in a protein probably evolve independently, and an effect caused by CaM occurs only in the presence of both elements. More generally, the same may be true for other recognized binding sites on proteins for modulators or activators, so that a demonstrated physical interaction does not necessarily imply functional consequence.


Since its creation in 1914, Cooperative Extension has evolved to include a variety of traditional and nontraditional program areas. To reach new clientele, Extension must create programs that appeal to more generalized audiences and that communicate public value. One area that has the potential to create public value with nonagriculturalists is home horticulture. The application of marketing analysis, planning, implementation, and management should be used to reach this audience and provide better service. The University of Florida Extension Service uses an integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach to convey the role Extension plays in the state and in local communities. One component of this approach has been the development of a home horticulture radio show to be broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR) stations. Two focus groups consisting of target audience members (both users and nonusers of Extension) evaluated potential topics and formats for the radio program. Participants preferred topics dealing with plant selection and basic maintenance in the climatic zone of North Central Florida. They preferred the radio show name to mention the 2-minute time format and favored the use of the word "gardening" over "landscaping." They also wanted the radio show to be linked to a Web site and wanted both the Web site and radio show to use a question-and-answer format. Overall, the focus group method was effective in discovering audience preferences. This research is available in Journal of Applied Communications: https://newprairiepress.org/jac/vol90/iss4/5 Journalof Applied Comm1micatio11s, Vol. 90, No. 4, 2006, 39-53 ©ACE Using Focus Groups to Develop an Extension Home Horticulture Public Radio Program Courtney Meyers, Tracy Irani, and Erin Eckhardt


Williams v. Illinois, handed down in 2012, is the latest in a new and revolutionary line of U.S. Supreme Court cases beginning with the 2004 decision of Crawford v. Washington which radically altered the Court's former approach to the Constitutional Confrontation Clause. That clause generally requires persons who make written or oral statements outside the trial, that may constitute evidence against a criminal defendant, to take the witness stand for cross-examination rather than those statements being presented at the trial only by the writing or by another person who heard the statement.Previous to Crawford, under Ohio v. Roberts, decided in 1980, the Court did not apply the requirement to statements made outside the trial if they were considered reliable. They were considered reliable only if they fit a traditional "firmly rooted" hearsay exception or were otherwise deemed reliable on the facts. But Crawford overruled Roberts. Crawford held that reliability is too subjective and flexible a concept, and that the Confrontation Clause by its terms does not command merely that evidence be reliable, but that reliability be determined in a particular way -- by live cross examination. Thus Crawford decreed that henceforth, oral or written statements made outside of the trial that are "testimonial" cannot be admitted into evidence against the criminal defendant unless defendant has an opportunity to cross examine the maker at the trial or (if the maker is unavailable then) there was a sufficient earlier opportunity for cross examination. "Testimonial" generally speaking seemed to mean statements intended or understood to potentially supply evidence (perhaps only if the statement is acquired by agents of the state in a somewhat formal or solemn setting).


With the wide array of home area network (HAN) options being presented as solutions to smart grid challenges for the home, it is time to compare and contrast their strengths and weaknesses. This white paper examines leading and emerging HAN technologies. The emergence of the smart grid is bringing more networking players into the field. The need for low consistent bandwidth usage differs enough from the traditional information technology world to open the door to new technologies. The predominant players currently consist of a blend of the old and new. Within the wired world Ethernet and HomePlug Green PHY are leading the way with an advantage to HomePlug because it doesn't require installing new wires. In the wireless the realm there are many more competitors but WiFi and ZigBee seem to have the most momentum.


New Historicism is applied in this examination of Dostoevsky's selected protagonists, the Underground Man and Raskolnikov. The protagonists' discourse and polemics are
examined in relation to the cultural, political, social, economic and historical context of the 1860 Russia. The analysis shows an emerging pattern of a new social and
economic order that alienates, displaces and subjugates the youth of the era. The Underground Man's monologue and Raskolnikov's actions and psychological tunnoil suggest an oppressive hand in the political and social system. It also highlights the beginnings of radicalism as a result of the existing suppression. The dissonance in the protagonists' multi-layered polemics is examined as the mediated discourse, which implies domination, inequality among the working class and a perpetuation of class distinction. The discrimination causes dissatisfaction and marginalization among the underprivileged The progressive ideas of the time
encourage action that is directed by reason and rationalism. Indirectly the rationalistic ideas become an excuse for the privileged to further dominate over these protagonists, which intensifies their alienation. The protagonists' arguments and actions imply that the socialist ideology does not eradicate inequality. Contrarily, they accentuate the characters' displacement in the society. Furthermore, the innate corruptness of man is hinted as the reason for the failure of this utopianism. Dostoevsky's characterization is perhaps an attack on the
degeneration of man and the values of the milieu. The analysis reflects a deep sense of loss and disillusionment in the protagonists in a materialistic society. The protagonists' discourse could be the voice of the intelligentsia or the nihilists of the era that reflects their alienation in a society where the reforms they believed would change the social order did not materialize.


The discovery of microplastics (plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters) in the world's oceans has in the recent decade caused great concerns amongst scientists. These microplastics are widely distributed over the world's oceans and have been found in sediments, along coasts, in the pelagic and in remote areas such as the poles. They derive from fragmented larger pieces of plastic and from industry and households wastewater. These particles are often mistaken by invertebrates as food and threatens the marine biota. The plastics are known to block the gut and intestines in the animal, which lead to a feeling of saturation. In the long run this could lead to starvation of the animal. In this study, examination has been done on blue mussels from the Swedish west coast, with the aim to discover the presence of microplastics in them. The blue mussels were diluted in nitric acid and sieved in mesh sizes of 0.07, 0.55 and 0.9 millimeters. Of 120 examined blue mussels 80 contained microplastics and in total 147 plastic particles were found. The particles consist of fibers and fragments in the colours black, blue, red and white/yellow/transparent. The fibers strongly dominated the samples and were found in all mesh sizes. The fragments were only found in the smallest mesh size and only in a few numbers. A correlation was found between the wet weight of the mussels and their plastic containment. This study shows distinct resemblance with earlier studies of Belgian and Canadian blue mussels in which fibers in different colours also dominated. Unfortunately it is almost impossible to ensure the source of the plastics only by visual comparisons, to do that further analysis will be needed. The problems associated with microplastics in blue mussels has been shown to be a lowered filtering activity and a lower uptake of nutrient, at the same time the mussels increase its energy consumption. In the end this leads to severe malnutrition. As the blue mussels make up an important base in the nutrient web the microplastics does not only have a negative impact to themselves, but also to many predators at higher trophic levels.


Televangelism or the use of satellite television/YouTube to preach religion has become one important media phenomenon, inter alia, among Muslim communities in minority contexts such as the United Kingdom and the United States of America (e. g. see Echchaibi, 2011). In a similar way to public figures, televangelists have become "media celebrities" with hundreds of thousands of fans and followers on YouTube and social media networks. The aim of the PhD thesis is twofold: first, to provide an explanatory framework for the rise of the phenomenon of televangelism, explore the broader dynamics it relates to and its characteristic features; second, to examine three case studies of American Muslim televangelists popular in the West, who belong to three different generations, namely Yusuf Estes (born 1944), Hamza Yusuf (born 1958) and Baba Ali (born 1977). The "celebrity status" that these televangelists have acquired (see Chapter 1 of the study) raises the question of what self-presentation strategies televangelists draw upon (e. g. see Goffman 1959), i. e. what identities they present for themselves and what multi-modal features they use to construct their identities and appeal to their audiences. Further, the post 9-11 context, which has witnessed the rise of anti-semitic and anti-Muslim rhetoric raises the question of how the three televangelists, that have achieved popularity among Muslim communities in the West, represent Muslim identities in their sermons, for example, if they draw on particular legitimation strategies to respond to anti-Muslim rhetoric. In fact, over the past few decades, many scholars in different disciplines (e. g. psychology, sociology and linguistics) have explored the concept of identities' construction (e. g. see Triandafyllidou and Wodak 2003 and Anderson 2006). Discourse-language in use- can be one domain for constructing identities (e. g. Hall 1996: 17 and Wodak et al 2009:22). Through discourse, individuals can instruct others and be instructed as to who they think they are, with whom they should align, and from whom to distance themselves; from that perspective, identity is a discursive construction (e. g. Wodak et al 2009:22). From this perspective, this study seeks to: a) explore the multimodal and discursive strategies televangelists use to self-represent their identities and b) construct Muslim identities in their sermons. Given the nature of the topic of the study and the many features that are related to this phenomenon (e. g. use of entertainment, use of websites and social networks), a Critical Discourse Studies (thereafter, CDS) approach is well-suited for the study. CDS can be briefly defined as an approach towards exploring complex social phenomena that pays particular attention to the relationship between language, ideology and power (e. g. Wodak and Meyer 2009; Angouri and Wodak 2014). A critical approach will enable us to go beyond perceiving televangelism as a "novel" phenomenon towards raising the question of what might be at stake in televangelism and what might be the wider interactions that have contributed to the shaping of this phenomenon and maintaining its existence. This study employs an innovative synergy of the Discourse Historical Approach and the theory of Visual Grammar to deconstruct the layers of contexts surrounding the phenomenon of televangelism and to explore televangelists' discourses. I argue that televangelism is a complex phenomenon that can be seen within the contextual prism of media power, transnationalism, info-tainment and rise of digital Islam, among other aspects (Chapters 1-4). The study makes general and more specific claims about televangelism and the discourses of the three American Muslim televangelists under investigation. First, the study illustrates that televangelists' sermons and YouTube excerpts represent hybrid multi-modal fields in which televangelists navigate through different discourses and modes to self-represent their (multiple) identities, and gain wider constituencies of audiences, which testifies to the understanding of this type of religious celebrity who can play multiple roles (see Chapter 6). Second, one finding of the study is that the three televangelists are -in varied ways- addressing the socio-historical context of Muslims in the West (e. g. awareness of misrepresentation in mass media), which could be one reason for their popularity. In terms of the representation of Muslim identities in televangelists' sermons, using the DHA, I explore the nomination, predication and argumentation strategies, among other aspects and explain that one feature of the sermons of the three televangelists is that they are also addressing non-Muslims, attempting to bring about change of attitudes towards the perception of Islam. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).


Recognition of cardiac arrhythmias by electrocardiogram (ECG) is an important issue for diagnosis of cardiac abnormalities. Many studies on recognition of cardiac arrhythmias by ECG, using various techniques, have been performed in the past 20 years. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are the most widely used tool in medical diagnosis systems (MDS) because of their powerful prediction characteristics. An ANN model is inspired by real biological neural networks, with a parallel structure that is potentially fast for computation. However, the suggested ANN architectures in the literature can only be run sequentially, on powerful processors, due to their complexity. Our approach enables the implementation of a simple ANN architecture with lower requirements for hardware resources. The features of the ECG signal are reduced dramatically using principle component analysis (PCA) while keeping the error rate of the ANN at an acceptable level, near 5%. To enable the implementation of real ANN models on parallel devices, the features of the ECG signal that are applied to the ANN inputs must be reduced. In this study, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) implementation of a fully parallel, fault-tolerant ANN for ECG arrhythmia classification (FPAAC) is realized. An ANN model, which consists of 8 inputs, a hidden layer with 2 neurons, and 1 output neuron, is implemented on an FPGA using IEEE-754 32-bit floating-point numerical representation. FPAAC classifies 3 classes of arrhythmia, premature ventricular contraction (PVC), fusion (F), and normal (N) beats, and its accuracy is 97.66%. The ECG records used in this work were taken from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database.


Economists have speculated that the welfare gains from technological innovation that reduces the future costs of environmental protection could be a lot more important than the "Pigouvian" welfare gains over time from correcting a pollution externality. If so, then a primary concern in the design of environmental policies should be the impact on induced innovation, and a potentially strong case could be made for additional instruments such as research subsidies. This paper examines the magnitude of the welfare gains from innovation relative to the discounted Pigouvian welfare gains, using a dynamic social planning model in which research and development (R&D) augments a knowledge stock that reduces future pollution abatement costs. We find that the discounted welfare gains from innovation are typically smaller....and perhaps much smaller....than the discounted Pigouvian welfare gains. This is because the long-run gain to innovation is bounded by the maximum reduction in abatement costs and, since R&D is costly, it takes time to accumulate enough knowledge to substantially reduce abatement costs. Only in cases when innovation substantially reduces abatement costs quickly (by roughly 50% within 10 years) and the Pigouvian amount of abatement is initially modest, can the welfare gains from innovation exceed the welfare gains from pollution control. These results apply for both flow and stock pollutants, and for linear and convex environmental damage functions. Our results suggest that spurring technological innovation should not be emphasized at the expense of achieving the optimal amount of pollution control. More generally, our results appear to have implications for a broad range of policy issues. They suggest that the welfare gains from innovation that reduces the costs of supplying any public good (defense, crime prevention, infrastructure, etc.) may be fairly small relative to those from providing the optimal amount of the public good over time.


Web services are getting popular in the domain of business to business electronic commerce and in automating information exchange between business processes. The use of handheld devices such as PDAs and smart phones is spreading rapidly in the business community. Accessing Web services from small devices is very common these days, but there is hardly any solution available to host Web services on such devices. There are a number of challenges to host a Web service on handheld device. These include limited resources and the lack of the execution environment to host Web services. Because of the resource constraints, it is not possible to use the existing Web service provider toolkits to host the Web service. In this paper, a light weight Web service provider toolkit is proposed that can be used for a variety of handheld devices. The insights gained into this Web service provider system are discussed in detail.


Due to its unique role as a hydrogen-bond donor and its positive charge, the guanidine group is an important pharmacophoric group and often used in synthetic ligands. The chemical modification of the guanidine group is often considered to destroy its function. Herein, we show that the N-methylation, N-alkylation, or N-acylation of the guanidine group can be used to modify the receptor subtype specificity of the integrin ligand cilengitide. Using the αvβ6/α5β1-biselective ligand c(isoDGRkphg) and the αvβ6-specific ligand c(FRGDLAFp(NMe)K(Ac) as examples, we show that the binding affinities of the ligands can be fine-tuned by this method to enhance the selectivity for αvβ6. Furthermore, we describe a new strategy for the functionalization of integrin ligands. By introducing longer N-alkylguanidine and N-acylguanidine groups, we are able to simultaneously identify a hitherto unknown anchoring point and enhance the subtype selectivity of the ligand.


Abstract. We investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of multidecadal climate variability in the North Atlantic realm, using observational data, proxy data and model results. The dominant pattern of multidecadal variability of SST depicts a monopolar structure in the North Atlantic during the instrumental period with cold (warm) phases during 1900–1925 and 1970–1990 (1870–1890 and 1940–1960). Two atmospheric general circulation models of different complexity forced with global SST over the last century show SLP anomaly patterns from the warm and cold phases of the North Atlantic similar to the corresponding observed patterns. The analysis of a sediment core from Cariaco Basin, a coral record from the northern Red Sea, and a long-term sea level pressure (SLP) reconstruction reveals that the multidecadal mode of the atmospheric circulation characterizes climate variability also in the pre-industrial era. The analyses of SLP reconstruction and proxy data depict a persistent atmospheric mode at least over the last 300 years, where SLP shows a dipolar structure in response to monopolar North Atlantic SST, in a similar way as the models' responses do. The combined analysis of observational and proxy data with model experiments provides an understanding of multidecadal climate modes during the late Holocene. The related patterns are useful for the interpretation of proxy data in the North Atlantic realm.


Haydn's symphony no. 45, especially the final Farewell -Andante, has been looked at puzzlingly twofold: More recent understandings emphasize the wit and humour of the finale, while reports of the late 18th and early 19th century tend to notice a gloomier, even melancholic tint. This perception here is taken as a starting point for an interpretation of that symphony in terms of the 18th-century notion of melancholy as noble suffering of princes, intellectuals, and artists. Since musical works of melancholy are normally for piano or a soloist to allow for an identification of the player and the melancholic, a symphony leads us to ask anew for the melancholy persona of that orchestral piece. Answers are tried that highlight the respective roles of the orchestra, Haydn, and his most eminent listener, Prince Esterhazy, within that game of deciphering melancholy. In addition, the different anecdotes concerning the Farewell -finale are analysed as tokens of an aesthetic irritation that try to tame the bewilderin...


A number of studies undertaken by Total have measured the improvement that can be expected when Turbotal TM inserts are installed in heat exchangers. These studies have fully established that Turbotal TM both improve heat transfer coefficient and mitigate fouling. It has been found that fouling levels vary with application. Consequently, economics of installing inserts are difficult to quantify. Gains must be estimated through specific tests. A model that predicts fouling development solves this problem. In this paper first steps towards the understanding of how Turbotal TM limits the fouling rate are described. Authors suggest that the calculation of both pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient in a tube equipped with insert can be used to extend the Ebert & Panchal fouling model to predict the fouling rate in tube equipped with Turbotal TM . This extension of the Ebert-Panchal Model requires adjustment of both the deposition term and the removal term. The deposition term can be adjusted by multiplying by the ratio of plain to enhanced heat transfer coefficients and the removal term can be based on the pressure drop imposed by the insert. This modified model is then compared with operating cases to verify its reliability. Further issues that require consideration are a mechanical effect that gives rise to limiting growth of the fouling deposit, and total suppression of fouling in parts of the exchanger into account.


ESID Research Associate Laura Routley has produced an annotated bibliography as part of ESID's inception phase. This publication offers a starting point for investigating some of ESID research themes, drawing together what is known about the politics of what works, and laying out current insights into the key political processes which operate to build effective states and enable inclusive development. The bibliography concentrates on scholarship focused on three areas; Developmental States, Political Settlements and Citizenship Formation. These key concepts are a crucial element of the foundation on which ESID's research will be built.


Farmers can choose from a wide selection of crop insurance products and marketing strategies. Combinations of these risk management tools have varying effects on the user's risk environment. In this paper, the authors rank nine risk management strategies for their impacts on average returns, certainty equivalent returns, and risk premiums. The analysis is conducted using historical price and yield data for 1976 to 1999 in five Iowa counties. The results show the benefits of crop insurance in reducing revenue risk. Also, given that the producer will forward contract some of his or her crop, the combination of E-Markets' Decision Rules for Contracts (DRC) pricing tool and Crop Revenue Coverage (CRC) crop insurance receives the highest ranking.


Background: Tuberculosis remains an important public health problem especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria currently ranks 4th among the 22 high Tuberculosis (TB) burden countries with an estimated prevalence of 338/100,000 population. Few studies have utilized spatial data analysis techniques in the understanding of the pattern of distribution and possible correlates of TB especially in Africa. This study examines the spatial distribution of TB and its associated socioeconomic determinants in Nigeria. Methods: The study used an ecological design based on the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Nigeria as the spatial units. Initial exploratory analysis used measures of spatial autocorrelation (Global and Local Moran's test statistics). The associations between TB incidence and nine covariates were assessed using a spatial regression analysis in the R statistical package. Result: A total of 100,217 TB cases were notified in 2013. There is significant spatial autocorrelation among case notifications rates (CNR). Spatial regression analysis identifies 138 (17%) of LGAs with high TB risks and finds a significant relationship between household size, urban residence access to transportation, population density, number of TB diagnostic services and TB. An index defining socioeconomic status, living in a single room, TB treatment centres and total health facilities are not significantly associated with TB CNR. Conclusion: The study presents a national picture of TB spatial heterogeneity at the lowest administrative level in Nigeria with the identification of high risk LGAs. This information can assist policy makers to rationally plan targeted specific interventions to effectively control TB while addressing the underlying socioeconomic risk factors in the country.


A new class of agents with potential utility for the treatment of erectile dysfunction has been discovered, guided by the hypothesis that selective D4 agonists are erectogenic but devoid of the side effects typically associated with dopaminergic agents. The lead agent 2-(4-pyridin-2-ylpiperazin-1-ylmethyl)-1H-benzimidazole (1, ABT-724) was discovered by optimization of a series of benzimidazole arylpiperazines. This highly selective D4 agonist was found to be very potent and efficacious in vivo, eliciting penile erections in rats at a dose of 0.03 micromol/kg, with a positive response rate of 77% erectile incidence. Even at high doses, it was devoid of side effects in animal models of central nervous system behaviors, emesis, or nausea. The structure-activity relationship of the parent benzimidazole series leading to 1 is described, with the detailed in vitro and in vivo profiles described. Distinctive structural features were discovered that are associated with D4 selective agonism in this series of analogues.


We demonstrate the presence of strong longitudinal electric fields (E(z)) in silicon nanowire waveguides through numerical computation. These waveguide fields can be engineered through choice of waveguide geometry to exhibit amplitudes as high as 97% that of the dominant transverse field component. We show even larger longitudinal fields created in free space by a terminated waveguide can become the dominant electric field component, and demonstrate E(z) has a large effect on waveguide nonlinearity. We discuss the possibility of controlling the strength and symmetry of E(z) using a dual waveguide design, and show that the resulting longitudinal field is sharply peaked beyond the diffraction limit.


INTRODUCTION
Soft tissue sarcomas are rare neoplasms, and most plastic surgeons do not commonly resurface large tissue defects after a wide resection of these tumors.

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to elucidate the clinical results of large skin grafts after wide sarcoma resection by comparison with grafts for traumatic skin defects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
A retrospective review was performed of patients who received skin grafts > 50 cm2 after traumatic injury or wide sarcoma resection from 2014 to 2016. Patient medical records were reviewed; graft take rate, graft loss, and days to complete epithelialization were compared between the 2 groups.

RESULTS
In the sarcoma group (n = 8), 5 grafts were partially lost; the sarcoma group mean graft take rate of 67.5% ± 30.0% was significantly lower than that of the trauma group (n = 7) at 99.6% ± 1.1%. The mean time to complete epithelialization from the skin graft placement in the sarcoma group was 113.3 ± 66.0 days, which was significantly longer than that of the trauma group (40.3 ± 38.0 days). Wounds located around the shoulder joint in 2 sarcoma group patients did not heal even after 300 days of conservative treatment; 1 required a secondary flap.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of skin grafting for resurfacing large defects after sarcoma resection are inferior to those for traumatic injury repair. Skin grafts may fail because the blood supply for the wound bed is impaired during resection. Furthermore, due to the wound bed movement, epithelialization over muscles of the shoulder joint is difficult to achieve, and skin grafts in this region will likely fail.


Ranking problems based on pairwise comparisons, such as those arising in online gaming, often involve a large pool of items to order. In these situations, the gap in performance between any two items can be significant, and the smallest and largest winning probabilities can be very close to zero or one. Furthermore, each item may be compared only to a subset of all the items, so that not all pairwise comparisons are observed. In this paper, we study the performance of the Bradley-Terry-Luce model for ranking from pairwise comparison data under more realistic settings than those considered in the literature so far. In particular, we allow for near-degenerate winning probabilities and arbitrary comparison designs. We obtain novel results about the existence of the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and the corresponding $\ell_2$ estimation error without the bounded winning probability assumption commonly used in the literature and for arbitrary comparison graph topologies. Central to our approach is the reliance on the Fisher information matrix to express the dependence on the graph topologies and the impact of the values of the winning probabilities on the estimation risk and on the conditions for the existence of the MLE. Our bounds recover existing results as special cases but are more broadly applicable.


A precipitation simulation associated with Typhoon Sinlaku using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University – National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) initialized diabatically with the Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) is evaluated over the Taiwan area. Two purposes of this paper are to test the performance of the LAPS diabatic data assimilation technique and investigate the impact of the Doppler radar data on the short-range quantitative precipitation forecasts for the typhoon. Typhoon Sinlaku was selected because Doppler radar is one of the most important data sources for an accurate analysis of typhoons and Sinlaku was located close to the Wu-Fen-Shan (WSR-88D) Doppler radar station at north tip of Taiwan during part of its lifetime on 6-7 September 2002. The observed rainfall distribution associated with Sinlaku was closely related to the topography in northern Taiwan. Simulation results show that the MM5 initialized diabatically with LAPS has higher skill for precipitation simulation than the non-LAPS cold start experiment, especially for the higher thresholds in the early portion of model integration (?10 mm in 0-6 h). The assimilation of the Wu-Fen-Shan Doppler radar data played a key role in the improvement of precipitation simulation owing to improvement in the presentation of typhoon hydrometeorological features, such as clouds and the outer rainband, in the model initial conditions. The presence of these initial hydrometeor species had a beneficial impact on reduced precipitation spin-up time. The use of Doppler radar data also can enhance the forecast definition of typhoon structure and rainband simulations. However, these radar data only play a minor role on the typhoon track simulations. However, these radar data only play a minor role on the typhoon track simulation in this case study. Overall, the mesoscale model initialized diabatically with LAPS data assimilation shows improved capability on the typhoon short-range quantitative precipitation forecasts, especially when the Doppler radar data is included.


The summary nature of child abduction proceedings and the desire to give effect to the goal of prompt return has often led to limited consideration and importance being afforded to the views of the children involved. The established position is now subject to reappraisal as a result of Brussels II Revised and case-law of the House of Lords. The impact of these developments is considered against a detailed review of the Court of Appeal's recent interpretation of Article 13(2) of the Hague Convention.


Simple Summary More pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. Making production systems and practices more sustainable will benefit the animals, the planet and people. A system is presented by which production practices are evaluated using a sustainability matrix. The matrix shows why some practices are more common in some countries and regions and the impediments to more sustainable systems. This method can be used to assess the sustainability of production practices in the future where objective, science-based information is presented alongside ethical and economic information to make the most informed decisions. Finally, this paper points to current pork production practices that are more and less sustainable. Abstract Among land animals, more pork is eaten in the world than any other meat. The earth holds about one billion pigs who deliver over 100 mmt of pork to people for consumption. Systems of pork production changed from a forest-based to pasture-based to dirt lots and finally into specially-designed buildings. The world pork industry is variable and complex not just in production methods but in economics and cultural value. A systematic analysis of pork industry sustainability was performed. Sustainable production methods are considered at three levels using three examples in this paper: production system, penning system and for a production practice. A sustainability matrix was provided for each example. In a comparison of indoor vs. outdoor systems, the food safety/zoonoses concerns make current outdoor systems unsustainable. The choice of keeping pregnant sows in group pens or individual crates is complex in that the outcome of a sustainability assessment leads to the conclusion that group penning is more sustainable in the EU and certain USA states, but the individual crate is currently more sustainable in other USA states, Asia and Latin America. A comparison of conventional physical castration with immunological castration shows that the less-common immunological castration method is more sustainable (for a number of reasons). This paper provides a method to assess the sustainability of production systems and practices that take into account the best available science, human perception and culture, animal welfare, the environment, food safety, worker health and safety, and economics (including the cost of production and solving world hunger). This tool can be used in countries and regions where the table values of a sustainability matrix change based on local conditions. The sustainability matrix can be used to assess current systems and predict improved systems of the future.


A spectrum-sliced multi-wavelength fiber source (SS-MWFS) based on double-pass superfluorescent fiber source (SFS) with a reflection Mach-Zehnder filter (RMZF) as the reflected comb filter is demonstrated. With backward pumped configuration, MWFS with 50 wavelength channels of extinction ratio (ER) of 16.7 dB is obtained over the almost total C-band gain region. Total output power of the MWFS is 16.2 mW which shows that a power of about 0.3 mW of per channel is achieved. The SS-MWFS with forward pumped configuration is also discussed for comparing. The backward pumped configuration can provide a larger output power while only a little smaller ER than that of the forward pumped configuration.