A life cycle assessment (LCA) has been carried out on biofuels for the transportation sector in
Sweden originating from a feedstock of domestically farmed wood. When talking about
biofuels today, there is a distinction between 1st generation's biofuels and 2nd generation's
biofuels. Wood is often referred to as 2nd generation's biofuel feedstock. The benefits of 2nd
generation's biofuels, compared to that of the 1st generation's, are for example a higher yield
per hectare and a lesser need for fertilisers during the cultivation. The hard wood species salix
was chosen as feedstock. The time frame was 30 years and the studied fuel alternatives were
expected to have been introduced on a large scale, thus the studied fuel is considered being
used in the background system. Prospective attributional LCA has been used throughout the
study. The functional unit was 1 hectare*year and the chosen indicators for the environment
were green house gases, energy efficiency and land use.
The life cycle included 3 major steps: 1. cultivation of wood; including soil preparation,
harvest and termination of the cultivation, 2. conversion of energy into a specific fuel and 3.
end use, which in this case meant power to the power train from the engine/motor.
The conversion of the harvested salix into transport energy was done in 2 major ways, but
with 3 different outcomes:
1. Gasification with either;
a. fuel synthesis resulting in DME/methanol, or
b. electricity generation by burning the synthetic gas instead of synthesis, or
2. fermentation, where ethanol was the main outcome.
In other words: DME/methanol, electricity and ethanol were the main outcomes. Even though
DME and methanol are two different fuels, the production was similar up to the very last step,
thus the reason for putting them together as one outcome.
In the fermentation process, a large amount of lignin-fuel was by-produced. In fact the
production of lignin was even larger than the produced amount of ethanol. A system
expansion solution was therefore carried out for the lignin, which resulted in theoretically
higher conversion efficiency.
Since the system was looked upon as a closed loop, meaning that it was self sufficient and
that the exact amount of wood harvested was replanted, the only significant GHG's emitted
could be traced to the manufacturing of fertilisers. The difference between the outcome
alternatives was small and of a very low importance for the overall environmental
performance.
The most energy efficient conversion was gasification with synthesis to DME or methanol
followed by gasification to electricity and, as the most inefficient alternative; fermentation to
ethanol. However, when the end use was counted in, the tables turned. Since the efficiency of
an electric motor is higher than that of the combustion engine, regardless fuel, the overall
efficiency of the gasification to electric motor path was more efficient than the other two
alternatives.


From the Book:
PREFACE: Preface
Software architecture is an emerging discipline and an exciting career path for software professionals. We encourage both new and experienced practitioners to read this book as an aid to becoming better software architects. You may have noticed that most software books today do not say much about software architecture. Here, in this volume, we've concentrated the knowledge that you need to be the most effective architect possible.

As co-authors, we have lived through the experience of graduating from "member of technical staff" developers to becoming practicing software architects at the most senior levels of our respective companies. We are technical people, not managers, and we enjoy the technical nature of our work. We enjoy parity of salary and benefits with the senior managers at our respective firms. In other words, we are none-the-worse-for-wear as a consequence of choosing a software architecture career. We think that many of our readers would like to gain from our experience. Hence this book.

This is more than a book about software architecture. It is a field manual that can train you. We choose the pseudomilitary style, because it embodies an essential attitude. As a software architect, you need many survival skills—some technical, some political, some personal. While neither author has military experience, we have seen software architecture become a battleground in many ways. It is a battleground of ideas, as developers compete to forward their own comcepts. It is a battle ground for control of key design decisions that may be overruled by managers or developers, perhaps covertly. It is a battleground with manyrisks,since architects are responsible for a much wider range of technical and process risks than most managers or individual developers.

If you are a practicing software architect, we know that you are a busy professional. After buying this book, we would suggest that you peruse the table of contents and the index for topics that are new to you. Focus on those sections first. When you have time, we suggest that you attempt a cover-to-cover read-through, to familiarize yourself with all of the covered topics and terminology.

If you are new to architecture and want to become a software architect, we suggest that you do a cover-to-cover read-through beginning with the first chapter. Work the exercises provided, which will add an experiential learning element to your experience base.

Raphael Malveau
Thomas J. Mowbray, Ph.D.
McLean, Virginia, U.S.A.


A single transcription factor can often be the target of multiple signaling cascades. For example, in Drosophila, the transcription factor Jun is phosphorylated by two different MAP kinases, JNK and ERK. Jun forms a heterodimer with another transcription factor called Fos, but it has not been clear whether Fos is also a target of both MAP kinases or whether it is merely a passive cofactor. Ciapponi et al. demonstrate in biochemical and genetic studies that Fos is indeed the target of multiple MAP kinases. Residues that are phosphorylated by ERK or JNK appear to specify Fos regulation of photoreceptor cell differentiation or ommatidial rotation, respectively, in the same cell of the developing Drosophila eye. The authors speculate that modification by a specific enzyme to regulate downstream biological events may be a general mechanism for molecules that are the target of multiple signaling pathways. L. Ciapponi, D. B. Jackson, M. Mlodzik, D. Bohmann, Drosophila Fos mediates ERK and JNK signals via distinct phosphorylation sites. Genes Dev. 15, 1540-1553 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Despite over a century's study, the trigger mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias are poorly understood. Even modern experimental methods do not provide sufficient temporal and spacial resolution to trace the development of fibrillation in samples of cardiac tissue, not to mention the heart in vivo. Advances in human genetics provide information on the impact of certain genes on cellular activity, but do not explain the resultant mechanisms by which fibrillation arises. Thus, for some genetic cardiac diseases, the first presenting symptom is death.

Computer simulations of electrical activity in cardiac tissue offer increasingly detailed insight into these phenomena, providing a view of cellular-level activity on the scale of a whole tissue wall. Already, advances in this field have led to developments in our understanding of heart fibrillation and sudden cardiac death and their impact is expected to increase significantly as we approach the ultimate goal of whole-heart modelling.

Modelling the propagation of Action Potential through cardiac tissue is computationally expensive due to the huge number of equations per cell and the vast spacial and temporal scales required. The complexity of the problem encompasses the description of ionic currents underlying excitation of a single cell through the inhomogeneity of the tissue to the complex geometry of the whole heart. The timely running of computational models of cardiac tissue is increasingly dependant on the effective use of High Performance Computing (HPC), i.e. systems with parallel processors. Current state of the art cardiac simulation tools are limited either by the availability of modern, detailed models, or by their hardware portability or ease of use. The miscellany of current model implementations leads many researchers to develop their own ad-hoc software, preventing them from both utilising the power of HPC effectively, and from collaborating fluidly. It is, arguably, impeding scientific progress.

This paper presents a roadmap for the development of Beatbox, a computer simulation environment for computational biology of the heart--an adaptable and extensible framework with which High Performance Computing may be harnessed by researchers.


"The beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder". Hence if a prosthesis has to be appreciated that has to maintain its position and function appropriately. Earlier maxillofacial prosthetic retention was very challenging so as its esthetics. Thus the retentive aids used to be magnets, pins, buttons adhesives etc. which requires frequent replacement as well. But once maxillofacial implants are evolved the answer to these challenges found to be comprehensive. Though the design and size of the maxy implants used for mastoid and zygoma region differ from that of conventional dental implants, the mode of biologic adhesion for both are found to be the same through osseointegration after four to six months.


Objectives Physical exertion is a high-risk activity for aerosol emission of respiratory pathogens. We aimed to determine the safety and tolerability of healthy young adults wearing different types of face mask during moderate-to-high intensity exercise. Design Cross-over randomised controlled study, completed between June 2021 and January 2022. Participants Volunteers aged 18–35 years, who exercised regularly and had no significant pre-existing health conditions. Interventions Comparison of wearing a surgical, cloth and filtering face piece (FFP3) mask to no mask during 4×15 min bouts of exercise. Exercise was running outdoors or indoor rowing at moderate-to-high intensity, with consistency of distance travelled between bouts confirmed using a smartphone application (Strava). Each participant completed each bout in random order. Outcomes The primary outcome was change in oxygen saturations. Secondary outcomes were change in heart rate, perceived impact of face mask wearing during exercise and willingness to wear a face mask for future exercise. Results All 72 volunteers (mean age 23.9) completed the study. Changes in oxygen saturations did not exceed the prespecified non-inferiority margin (2% difference) with any mask type compared with no mask. At the end of exercise, the estimated average difference in oxygen saturations for cloth mask was −0.07% (95% CI −0.39% to 0.25%), for surgical 0.28% (−0.04% to 0.60%) and for FFP3 −0.21% (−0.53% to 0.11%). The corresponding estimated average difference in heart rate for cloth mask was −1.20 bpm (95% CI −4.56 to 2.15), for surgical 0.36 bpm (95% CI −3.01 to 3.73) and for FFP3 0.52 bpm (95% CI −2.85 to 3.89). Wearing a face mask caused additional symptoms such as breathlessness (n=13, 18%) and dizziness (n=7, 10%). 33 participants broadly supported face mask wearing during exercise, particularly indoors, but 22 were opposed. Conclusion This study adds to previous findings (mostly from non-randomised studies) that exercising at moderate-to-high intensity wearing a face mask appears to be safe in healthy, young adults. Trial registration number NCT04932226


In this paper we argue that in the multidisciplinary field related to behavior change support systems using a body-centric approach where participants act rather than discuss and contemplate is a worthwhile technique and should also be investigated more often. Especially now that technology better allows to respond to bodily actions in an appropriate and experiential engaging setting. To this end we will introduce and reflect on two recent case studies we performed: 1) an interactive projection game to trigger better self-management of children with asthma and 2) a Virtual Reality (VR) environment to be integrated in therapy sessions on substance abuse for people with intellectual disabilities (i.e. IQ 50-85 and limited adaptive skills). This resulted in a realistic and controlled environment where individuals with substance use disorder and intellectual disabilities are confronted with substances related to alcohol or cannabis in order to trigger application of strategies for self-control. Both cases included interviews with experts and several user confrontations. These confrontations showed possibilities of including such technologies for persuasive purposes. Furthermore, the responses of the users and experts included where quite positive. This is why we suggest this might be a fruitful direction to look into for other use cases regarding behavior change support systems.


In this Article, Goodman endeavors to provide some guidance to courts and juries in evaluating whether there was valid consent to intercourse when alcohol has been consumed by one or both parties. In doing so, she attempts to address the more difficult cases involving scenarios that are closer to the line dividing consent from non-consent. Because of the varied effects alcohol has on perceptions, Goodman proposes a sliding-scale approach toward evaluating consent that would establish an appropriate level of explicit consent that varies with the number of drinks or level of intoxication of the parties. This sliding-scale approach suggests that the more alcohol that has been consumed, the more explicit manifestations of consent must be, although at some point, even explicit consent will not be adequate when the woman is intoxicated to the point of incapacity. In addition, this sliding scale would amend the application of many existing rape and sexual-assault statutes in several ways. First, explicit consent is not required under most existing statutes but would be required in some circumstances under this approach. More equivocal words or conduct will be permissible evidence of consent at the lower levels of alcohol consumption. Second, this approach would reduce the level of intoxication necessary to trigger a relaxation of the force and resistance requirement and provide protection not only for the severely intoxicated, but also for those at lower levels of intoxication who are unable to effectively resist due to alcohol consumption. Existing statutes omit the force and resistance requirements when the intoxication is severe, or when the intoxicant was administered by the defendant, but this standard would provide protection even when the intoxicant was voluntarily ingested. Finally, Goodman recommends that silence be inadequate to constitute consent when either party has consumed more than a de minimis amount of alcohol. Current standards use silence as evidence of consent in some cases. Incorporating this sliding-scale approach into jury instructions, as well as reported judicial decisions, would help to protect more women from the dangers of intoxication during intimate activities.


Abstract. The micro stick-slip motion systems, such as piezoelectric stick-slip actuators (PE-SSAs), can provide high resolution motions yet with a long motion range. In these systems, friction force plays an active role. Although numerous friction models have been developed for the control of micro motion systems, behaviors of these models in micro stick-slip motion systems are not well understood. This study (1) gives a survey of the basic friction models and (2) tests and compares 5 friction models in the literature, including Coulomb friction model, Stribeck friction model, Dahl model, LuGre model, and the elastoplastic friction model on the same test-bed (i.e. the PE-SSA system). The experiments and simulations were done and the reasons for the difference in the performance of these models were investigated. The study concluded that for the micro stick-slip motion system, (1) Stribeck model, Dahl model and LuGre model all work, but LuGre model has the best accuracy and (2) Coulomb friction model and the elastoplastic model does not work. The study provides contributions to motion control systems with friction, especially for micro stick-slip or step motion systems as well as general micro-motion systems.


Objective: To develop a consensual list of the most important aspects of activity pacing (AP) as an intervention within the context of non-pharmacological rheumatology care. Method: An international, multidisciplinary expert panel comprising 60 clinicians and/or healthcare providers experienced in AP across 12 different countries participated in a Delphi survey. Over four Delphi rounds, the panel identified and ranked the most important goals of AP, behaviours of AP (the actions people take to meet the goal of AP), strategies to change behaviour in AP, and contextual factors that should be acknowledged when instructing AP. Additionally, topics for future research on AP were formulated and prioritized. Results: The Delphi panel prioritized 9 goals, 11 behaviours, 9 strategies to change behaviour, and 10 contextual factors of AP. These items were integrated into a consensual list containing the most important aspects of AP interventions in non-pharmacological rheumatology care. Nine topics for future research on AP with the highest ranking were included in a research agenda highlighting that future research should focus on the effectiveness of AP interventions and on appropriate outcome measures to assess its effectiveness, as selected by 64% and 82% of the panellists, respectively. Conclusions: The diversity and number of items included in the consensual list developed in the current study reflect the heterogeneity of the concept of AP. This study is an important first step in achieving more transparency and homogeneity in the concept of AP in both rheumatology daily clinical practice and research.


We report a novel design of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a rectangular array of four closely-spaced, highly elliptical air holes in the core region and a circular-air-hole cladding. The proposed PCF is able to support ultra-wideband single-polarization single-mode (SPSM) transmission from the visible band to the near infrared band. With the aid of the inner cladding formed by the central air holes, one polarization of the fundamental mode can be cut off at very short wavelengths and ultra-wideband SPSM propagation can be achieved. The inner cladding also suppresses the higher order modes and allows large air filling fraction in the outer cladding while the proposed fiber remains SPSM, which significantly reduces the mode effective area and the confinement loss. Our simulation results indicate that the proposed PCF has a 1540 nm SMSP range with ≪ 0.25 dB/km confinement loss and an effective area of 2.2 µm2. Moreover, the group velocity dispersion (GVD) of the proposed PCF can also be tuned to be flat and near zero at the near infrared band (∼800 nm) by optimizing the outer cladding structure, potentially enabling many nonlinear applications.


Profiles of circulating plasma inhibin A and inhibin B during sexual maturation in male chimpanzees were investigated by using two-site enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Plasma concentrations of testosterone and pituitary gonadotropins were also measured. Concentrations of inhibin B, testosterone, luteinizing hormone (LH) and prolactin increased with age throughout prepuberty to adulthood, whereas inhibin A level was low and there were no age-related changes in concentrations of either inhibin A and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Inhibin B showed an inverse correlation with FSH in adult (7 years or order) but not in immature (6 years or younger) male chimpanzees. There was no correlation between plasma levels of FSH and testosterone throughout the period of sexual maturation. However, testosterone levels were positively correlated with inhibin B levels. These results suggest that circulating inhibin B is involved in the regulation of FSH secretion after puberty in adult male chimpanzees, and also that circulating inhibin B is an important form of inhibin as a marker of Sertoli cell function in adult male chimpanzees.


Most existing geometry processing algorithms use meshes as the default shape representation. Manipulating meshes, however, requires one to maintain high quality in the surface discretization. For example, changing the topology of a mesh usually requires additional procedures such as remeshing. This paper instead proposes the use of neural fields for geometry processing. Neural fields can compactly store complicated shapes without spatial discretization. Moreover, neural fields are infinitely differentiable, which allows them to be optimized for objectives that involve higher-order derivatives. This raises the question: can geometry processing be done entirely using neural fields? We introduce loss functions and architectures to show that some of the most challenging geometry processing tasks, such as deformation and filtering, can be done with neural fields. Experimental results show that our methods are on par with the well-established mesh-based methods without committing to a particular surface discretization. Code is available at https://github.com/stevenygd/NFGP .


How food tastes is strongly influenced by its physical properties, such as texture and appearance. The texture of baked goods in particular can be altered by adjusting variables like sugar ingredient ratios and baking times. To examine their effect on cookie chewiness, sugar ingredient ratio and baking time were varied in two sets of cookie batches. Chewiness and springiness was measured by performing a "two bite" double compression test on the texture analyzer. An initial analysis demonstrated that baking time is a more significant variable in influencing cookie physical properties than sugar ratio. This investigation also found that a positive quadratic relationship exists between baking time and chewiness, longer baking times of 14 min result in cookie fractures during data collection, and that optimal springiness can be achieved with a baking time range of 10 to 12 minutes. These results confirm previous research in that a positive correlation exists between baking time and cookie hardness.


Abstract For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) youth of color, the intersection of identifying as both LGBQ and a person of color results in not only managing racial stereotypes, but also heterosexism and genderism. Developing a critical understanding of oppressive social conditions and ways to engage in social action is a form of resistance for these youth. Research is needed among LGBQ youth of color that examines the range of predictors and outcomes related to civic engagement, development, and empowerment. Drawing on data derived from a sample of urban youth of color (N = 383; 53.1% Female; 75% Hispanic; Age range = 14 to 18 years; 15% identify as LGBQ), this study will: (1) examine the relationship between community-based perceptions (e.g., psychological sense of community), ethnic identity, behaviors (e.g., community civic participation) and awareness of social justice concerns with dimensions of psychological empowerment; and (2) assess differences that these relationships have between LGBQ and non-LGBQ youth of color. Findings indicate that main predictors have a positive impact on intrapersonal and cognitive dimensions of psychological empowerment through social justice orientation, with noted variations between LGBQ and non-LGBQ youth of color.


A detailed study has been made of titanium carbide (TiC) coatings
chemically vapour deposited on powder metallurgy (PM) BT42 grade high
speed steel (HSS) indexable cutting tool inserts, in collaboration
with Edgar Allen Tools, Sheffield.
Initially, the characteristics of a TiC coating deposited under
the standard conditions employed by Edgar Allen Tools were determined,
both before and after the obligatory HSS substrate heat treatment.
This was done using various techniques including x-ray diffraction,
scanning electron microscopy, micro-hardness testing, profilometry,
optical microscopy and scratch-adhesion testing. Although the characteristics
of the TiC coating were found not to be significantly affected by
the HSS substrate heat treatment, some of them were different to those
presented in the literature for TiC coatings chemically vapour deposited
on cemented carbide substrates.
A comprehensive survey of the literature revealed that the process
parameters employed during the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) of TiC
coatings, particularly the CHy/TiCly mole ratio and deposition temperature,
have a significant effect on coating characteristics. Consequently,
it was decided to investigate the effect of these parameters on the
characteristics of the TIC coatings chemically vapour deposited on the
PM HSS inserts and, further, their effect on the tool lives exhibited by
the coated inserts. The latter were determined from a series of turning
tests on 817M40 workpiece material, carried out under conditions of builtup-
edge (bue) formation, at cutting speeds in the range 37.5 - 60 m min
1.
Both process parameters were found to have a marked effect on the characteristics
of the TiC coatings and on the tool lives exhibited by the coated
inserts. The reasons for this are discussbd.
The TiC coated inserts which displayed the most favourable combination
of coating characteristics and tool life were used in two further series
of turning tests carried out to investigate tool wear, bue size, tool
forces, apparent coefficient of friction and workpiece surface finish. Uncoated inserts were also tested. The application of the TiC
coating was found to have led to a marked improvement in the cutting
properties of the PM HSS inserts. Its role during cutting was
studied from metallographic sections through worn inserts and the
reasons for its effect on cutting properties are discussed.


A modern mine involves increasingly smart and connected products that are integrated in a mine automation system. Integration enable many possible applications that could substantially aid in achieving the goals of increased safety and productivity of the mine operation including the machine maintenance process. What data will be shared by the involved organizations and products, heavily affects how successful improvements of operation can be accommodated. We have devised a method to map out and evaluate envisioned new collaborative functions for a complex System-of-systems such as the mine maintenance operation. The proposed method map user stories for the involved stakeholders and estimate the value of fulfillment based on different candidates of data sharing architectures. The method is explained and exemplified by a realistic example based the real case. There seems to be a need for a method such as the presented one just to map out what new applications are really feasible. By estimating value in terms of stakeholder benefits and identifying possible showstoppers in terms of protected data, the method seems to help reveal what improvements in the mine operation is in fact possible. Deciding on a data-sharing architecture for a collaborative mine seems to provide useful design prerequisites to a developing organization improving their smart connected products.


Certain parasite species have free-living stages, so habitat range may influence host-species range. We tested whether regional occurrence and habitat use of parasitic water mites were related to their host-species range. We collected 7445 Arrenurus Duges, 1834 mites from 7107 coenagrionid damselflies, representing 11 host species from 13 sites in southeastern Ontario and southwestern Quebec. Because larval water mites are difficult to identify morphologically to species, we chose to amplify the barcode fragment of cytochrome oxidase subunit I to explore host-species ranges. Fifteen operational taxonomic units or clades were identified based on the amplification from 217 larval mites. The Arrenurus clades that were present in both bog and marsh habitats had a broader host-species range than clades found only in marshes (the comparison with one clade found only in bogs lacked statistical power). As predicted, host-species range increased with the regional occurrence of an Arrenurus clade. Addi- tionally, the most commonly barcoded species also have high host-species ranges. This result could be because species with broader host-species ranges are more common and were more likely to be sampled and barcoded (an explanation we favor), or due to sampling bias. Although this is the first study exploring whether habitat range affects host-species range, further investigation is needed to tease apart which habitat factors influence host-species ranges the most.


Objective: In this study, the biosurfactant, produced by a potent non-pathogenic bacterial strain of Marinobacter litoralis MB15 was used for anti-microbial, anti-oxidant and biocompatibility assay. Materials and Methods: Biosurfactant producing bacteria were screened by oil displacement assay and emulsification assay. The best isolate was sequenced by 16S rRNA gene analysis. The biosurfactant was produced in modified Zobel marine broth media followed by the recovery of biosurfactant by solvent extraction method. The produced biosurfactant was characterized by using thin layer chromatography, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Electron spray Ionization-Mass Spectroscopy analysis. 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay, crystal violet assay, 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay were performed to determine the anti-oxidant activity, anti-microbial activity and biocompatibility of biosurfactant respectively. Results: The best biosurfactant producing isolate was found to be Marinobacter litoralis. The produced biosurfactant was characterized as rhamnolipid molecules, comprising of both mono (m/z = 358.98 [M+H]+, Rha-C12:2; m/z = 543.29 [M+K]+,Rha–C10-C10) and di rhamnolipid homologs (m/z = 689.34 [M+K]+,Rha-Rha-C10-C10). The product showed excellent antimicrobial properties against several pathogens including Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Bacillus subtilis, S. aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia and Streptococcus pyogenes. The antioxidant activity of biosurfactant was 72.6% at 5 mg/ml. The biosurfactant showed negligible cytotoxic effect to mouse L292 fibroblastic cell line. Most importantly, after 48 h of incubation, 84.7 % of cell viability on L292 was observed at 250 μg/ml for biosurfactant. Conclusion: Therefore, this investigation shows the utility of rhamnolipids as non-cytotoxic, natural antimicrobial and antioxidant agent for various industrial and biomedical application.


Widespread quartz pseudomorphs after evaporitic minerals are interbedded with stromatolites in 2.2 Ga sedimentary rocks in the Yerrida rift basin of Western Australia. These deposits preserve diverse original crystal morphologies that grew displacively either as individuals or as clusters within stromatolitic horizons and associated fine-grained siliciclastic beds. The stromatolites were deposited in shallow-marine, restricted environments. Although evaporitic minerals are largely replaced by quartz, their crystal shapes include lenticular, rosette, needle, and nodular forms, suggesting that they formed from calcium sulfate–rich brines. Textures suggest that replacement by quartz occurred during early alteration of the sediments. Original calcium sulfate minerals such as gypsum or anhydrite are indicated by the morphologies of the pseudomorphs; this concept is supported by anhydrite inclusions in the quartz crystals that form the pseudomorphs, and this finding indicates that calcium sulfate existed in Early Proterozoic sedimentary environments.


It was 200 years ago that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus was published. Over the decades, this gothic tale has captured the popular imagination through the numerous theater productions and films it inspired. The story is commonly taken to imply a dire warning about the dangers of scientific hubris. Just mention the name Frankenstein and laypersons think of scientists "playing God." In the common view, the inevitable consequence of Frankenstein's alleged transgression—bestowing life on inanimate matter—was that he created a monster that would wreak havoc on his family and friends. Frankenstein's name is repeatedly invoked in debates about emerging technologies like biotech, nanotech, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. However, the view of Shelley's story as a cautionary tale about scientific hubris, although dominant, is only one possible interpretation. Her novel, actually, is a multilayered story full of ambivalences and much subtler than most Hollywood versions. It naturally lends itself to diverse interpretations.


A novel method for the determination of semi-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in gaseous samples was developed using a partition-based extraction device. The target compounds were collected and concentrated on the basis of partitioning between air and octadecyl (C18) chains bound to macroporous silica particles. The extracted PAHs were rapidly desorbed by just passing 10 mL of acetone. The desorption solvent was then subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine PAHs. On the basis of the quantitative evaluation of the extraction and desorption conditions for 15 PAHs, the benefits of the partition-based extraction for typical airborne PAHs were clearly indicated. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of PAHs in tobacco side-stream smoke.


The sources for drinking water in Finland are surface water, groundwater or artificially recharged groundwater. There are approximately 1400 groundwater plants in Finland that are microbiologically at a high risk level because in most cases they do not use any disinfection treatment. Campylobacter jejuni has caused waterborne epidemics in several countries. Since the middle of the 1980s, C. jejuni has been identified as the causative agent in several waterborne outbreaks in Finland. Between 1998 and 2001, C. jejuni or C. upsaliensis caused seven reported waterborne epidemics. In these epidemics approximately 4000 people acquired the illness. Most of the outbreaks occurred in July, August , September or October. In four of them source water and net water samples were analysed for total coliforms or fecal coliforms, E. coli and campylobacters. We showed that large volumes of water samples in studies of indicator organisms (up to 5000 ml) and campylobacters (4000–20,000 ml) increased the possibility to identify faecal contamination and to detect the causative agent from suspected sources.


Introduction: Moringa plant is a plant that is spread throughout the region in Indonesia and has many benefits. Moringa oleifera L. plant is also known as the "miracle of tree" because almost all parts of the plant, from the leaves, bark, seeds, fruit of moringa to the roots are used by humans, especially as traditional medicine. Moringa has been proven effective as antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, for example in toothpaste, mouthwash, and root canal irrigation from chitosan. So this systematic review reviews some of the literature on the potential of moringa plants as antibacterial and antiinflammatory in the oral cavity. Methods: In this systematic review, article searches were conducted on Google Search and Pubmed. Studies published from 2011 to 2020. 104 articles were rated, including 104 articles from electronic databases, 0 from manual search. 96 records were screened, 63 records were excluded, 33 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and 17 full-text articles were included. Result: There are 8 articles about antibacterial of Moringa oleifera and 10 articles about anti-inflammatory of Moringa oleifera. Conclusion: Based on 18 articles show that chitosan is very potential as a herbal plant that can be antibacterial and anti-inflammatory in the oral cavity.


A tidal inlet on an alluvial shore presents a littoral barrier which must be overcome by flushing and bypassing of material. Presumably, the tidal inlet arranges itself in the most practical way by providing the highest flushing ability at the least loss of energy to bottom friction. This, however, is not the only condition for stability of a tidal inlet. There must be enough tidal flow available to accomplish the task of transporting all the littoral material which entered the inlet. This requires a tidal prism and discharge of a certain size compared to the quantity of littoral drift which is carried to the inlet. Part of this material may be transferred across the inlet entrance on a bar or shoal. In the inlet channel, a bottom shear stress which corresponds to a velocity of about 1 m per sec results. At this velocity, sand bottom with 0.15 mm to 0.3 mm sand changes its geometry by flattening the dunes approaching plane bottom. Both tangential and normal forces contribute to the drag of a duned-bed stream. Because the tangential forces contribute directly to sediment transport, the drag force of the bed on the stream is more effectively used to transport sediment with flatter dunes and plane bottom.


Tyrosine sulfation is a very important posttranslational modification of proteins. It is catalyzed by tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase and recently became increasingly important for biomedicine and pharmacy. An important insight about structure–activity relationships of human tyrosylprotein sulfotransferase has been received by elucidating the crystal structure, but there is still no understanding about how conformational flexibility and dynamics which are fundamental protein properties influence structure–function relationships of the enzyme. In order to provide this missing but crucially important knowledge we performed a comprehensive atomistic molecular dynamics study which revealed that (i) the conformational flexibility influences sensitively key structural determinants and interactions between the enzyme, the substrate and the cofactor; (ii) a more open conformation adopted by the substrate for binding in TPST 2; (iii) the mutations of key residues related with catalysis and binding change alter the enzyme structure and influence important interactions between the enzyme, the cofactor and the substrate.


The case discusses the problems in achieving production efficiency at DIGI Camera, Malaysia. The parent company was established in Japan in 1928 and since then, had been consistently introducing new and advanced technologies in their line of products. The company introduced digital lens cameras in March 2001 and was struggling to meet the
production targets because of high rejection rates. The company was respected for its high quality products and the current situation was completely unacceptable to the company's top management. Through systematic analysis, the causes for high rejection rates were identified. The case provides information on the costs and benefits that could be
obtained by eliminating these causes. This study illustrates how systematic analysis of quality problems can help generate viable solution alternatives and can help select the best alternative to implement.


The goal of strategic IT-business alignment has been to deploy IT applications that support business strategy. In spite of voluminous "strategic" IT plans and numerous studies on strategic IT-business alignment, accounts of wasted IT investments and deployment of business-irrelevant applications are rampant, indicating lack of alignment at the tactical level, that is, lack of execution-level processes addressing issues of resources, objectives and implementation-priority matching, between IT and the business. We answer the question: What are the aspects and outcomes of tactical IT-business alignment? We (1) identify six aspects of tactical IT-business alignment, and (2) show how they lead to four outcomes - implementation of planned applications, execution of IT-enabled aspects of business strategy, increased credibility of the IT function and increased business value from IT projects. Our results are based on qualitative primary data (45 hours of interviews with 28 IT and functional managers and company documents) from four organizations.


The field emission digital display tube with a nano-crystalline graphite cold cathode is designed and fabricated. Under the control of the driving circuits, a dynamic digital display with uniform luminance distribution is realized. The luminance of the character segments is 190 cd/m2 at the operating voltage of 900 V. And the stable emission is attained with a fluctuation of about 3% at an average segment current of 75 \muA. The results demonstrate that nano-crystalline graphite film is a promising material for cold cathode.


textabstractIn this paper, I construct a pragmatist theory of legal dynamics. John Dewey's pragmatism is the starting point for my theory of law. Central to that theory is that law is to be regarded as an interactional practice oriented towards legal values. The core meaning of the concept of law therefore focusses on people's activities, not on a system of rules. The dynamics of law are influenced by at least two factors often neglected by mainstream legal philosophy: pluralism of norms and practices, and pluralism of lawmakers. By explaining how different legal practices bring about their own norms and how conflicts between these norms are negotiated, I will argue that the dynamics of law are not so much a result of conscious lawmaking but of changing practices. Conscious lawmaking (legislation, regulation) is an important legal practice, but I will argue that the process includes a host of different actors both on a (sub)national and transnational level, such as non-state institutions and groups of citizens, so that it is not only legal officials who make the law. Pragmatist ideas such as the primacy of practice and problem-solving, the continuity of fact and value, and the importance of individual creativity, can thus be used to generate an account of law as a pluralist, problem-solving, value-oriented practice. This pragmatist account can be used to underpin the pluralism of legal orders that is central to the rule of law programme. It can therefore be regarded as a contribution to the conceptual development of the rule of law idea.


The goals of the present chapter are twofold. On the one hand, it aims to show the potential that studies on grammaticalization offer for reconstructing earlier phases in the evolution of language or languages, that is, phases that are not within the scope of the classical methods of historical linguistics. What distinguishes grammaticalization theory from other linguistic approaches that have been recruited is that it has a diachronic foundation and that the hypotheses proposed on the basis of this theory rest, first, on regularities in linguistic change and, second, on typological generalizations across languages. Building on the reconstruction work proposed in Heine and Kuteva (2007), the chapter looks at some phenomena that were not discussed there. One of these phenomena concerns the role of "linguistic fossils" in discourse organization. The focus of the present paper is on the question of what such possible "fossils" can tell us about the structure that early human language may have had.


Aboriginal populations in Northern Canada have, for many years, been confronted with socio-economic problems affecting their development. In the early 1990s, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996) report concluded that it was important to integrate Aboriginal people into the management of public policies that concern them and to encourage their autonomy. In order to produce a quality evaluation that is useful in particular cultural contexts, measures have been developed to assure that the evaluation highly regards cultural sensitivity while integrating local participants in the evaluation process. This study, based on the systematic analysis of a non-probability sample of 27 program evaluation reports, presents an inventory of evaluation practice in Aboriginal contexts and estimates in what measure a culturally sensitive and participatory approach was applied. It was apparent that cultural sensitivity is gradually being integrated into Aboriginal program evaluation and that certain indicators show that there has been a positive evolution in this direction. Finally, the study shows an occasional recourse to participatory approaches, but this is not a strong tendency as systematically technocratic approaches are more broadly employed.


This article describes the effect of a four-questions technique used to enhance critical thinking in online discussions. Students in a graduate educational psychology course participated in three online asynchronous discussions in reaction to case studies. Prior to the second discussion only, students responded to questions designed to encourage critical thinking through the four-questions technique of analyzing, reflecting, applying, and questioning. The researchers measured evidence of critical thinking by rating students' comments in an online discussion with The Washington State University Critical and Integrative Thinking Scale. Results suggest that the four-questions technique is effective in enhancing critical thinking in online discussions.


The continued intrusion, overregulation and complete lack of interest towards the betterment of American businesses shown by Federal and State government agencies has had a crippling effect on their ability to compete, profit and survive. The mutually beneficial relationship that existed for decades between American business and Federal agencies is but a memory for today's business owners. Governing agencies have taken a much more adversarial position and their recent actions have done nothing to improve or alter that perception in the business community.


ISO TC22/SC12/WG5 set up a Task Group to develop an advanced, biofidelic, globally acceptable side impact dummy known as WorldSID. The WorldSID TG has developed the dummy to meet the biofidelity requirements in ISO TR 9790. The European Commission (EC) project SID-2000 contributed to the design of the WorldSID head, neck, thorax and pelvis. The follow-on EC project, SIBER, has evaluated the repeatability, reproducibility, sensitivity and biofidelity of the WorldSID prototype and pre-production dummy (PPD). This paper presents the results of the SIBER evaluation of the shoulder, thorax and abdomen of the WorldSID PPD, including temperature sensitivity, biofidelity and impact configuration sensitivity tests. The WorldSID PPD was found to be sensitive to temperature at the thorax and, particularly, the shoulder. It was also found that the dummy generated a noticeable amount of heat internally, from the thorax instrumentation and internal data acquisition system. It is recommended that both the ambient and internal temperature are specified for full-scale testing. The thorax met or was close to meeting the IHRA biofidelity requirements, but exceeded the ISO requirements in the same test condition. The abdomen was found to be too stiff and it is recommended that the stiffness of the WorldSID abdomen ribs is reduced. Earlier test work with the WorldSID prototype had indicated that the rib compression instrumentation was not capable of measuring correctly rib compression in oblique loading conditions. This was confirmed by the results of HyGe sled testing, which examined lateral and oblique impacts in a representative vehicle environment with additional thorax rib instrumentation. Additional tests with an isolated WorldSID rib are also presented. These showed that the measured rib compression markedly underestimates the actual compression in oblique loading conditions. It is recommended that the WorldSID thoracic compression instrumentation is revised to ensure the correct measurement of rib compression in oblique loading conditions up to plus or minus 30 degrees from lateral. (A)


Introduction Julie Stubbs Violence against Women: A global issue Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin An analysis of the Hamilton Abuse Intervention Pilot Program Ruth Busch and Neville Robertson Aboriginal Women and Domestic Violence in New South Wales Pam Greer Lawyering and Domestic Violence Nan Seuffert An Analysis of New Zealand Judges' Attitudes towards Domestic Violence Ruth Busch Swimming against the Tide: Keeping violent men out of mediation Hilary Astor Battered Woman Sydrome: Development in Canadian law after R v Lavallee Elizabeth Sheehy Battered Woman Syndrome in Australia Julie Stubbs and Julia Tolmie Appendices The UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women The Power and Control Wheel Table of Cases/ Table of Statutes/ References/ Index


Industrial wastewaters containing chlorophenolic compounds exhibit various degrees of resistance to biodegradation. Preoxidation of these wastewaters by using ozone as the chemical oxidant has been found previously to be quite effective in promoting their biodegradabilities. This study was made to further investigate whether or not preozonation taking place under different pH conditions would bring about different effects over the following activated-sludge treatment systems. The results indicate that the pH conditions set for the preozonation step did play significant roles in the subsequent biological treatment processes. To the activated sludge system which had not been exposed to chlorophenolic compounds before, preozonation carried out at low or high pH both greatly improved the biodegradabilities of the influents, with the latter condition showing better improvements. Nevertheless, to the activated sludge system previously acclimated to the individual chlorophenolic compounds, the process of preozonation in some cases would then bring about retarding effects over the biodegradabilities of the influent. The phenomena of retardation were generally more apparently observed in the samples which had been preozonated under alkaline conditions.


A wireless network solution is generally implemented when the bounds of walls of buildings and the constraints of   wires   need   to   be  broken.   Wireless   technologies   provide   the   potential   for   freedom  of  mobility   which   is undoubtedly a convenience for organisations in today's market. The security of a wireless network is crucial for data integrity, especially when the data is not secured by the insulation of wires. While data is being transferred across   a   wireless   network,   it   is   vulnerable.   There   is   no   room   for   error,   neglect   or   ignorance   from   an organisation, as a breech of data integrity can be devastating for both businesses and institutions. Securing a wireless network needs to be treated as mandatory for educational institutions, and not just as best practice. With both legal and financial consequences for a breech of data integrity and the data protection act, education institutions need to realise the legal obligations and liabilities they face with respect to the sensitive data and information traversing their network.


COMBINED USE OF CONGESTION CONTROL AND FRAME DISCARDING FOR INTERNET VIDEO STREAMING Ongun Yucesan M.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering Supervisor: Assist. Prof. Dr. Nail Akar January 2003 Increasing demand for video applications over the Internet and the inherent uncooperative behavior of the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) used currently as the transport protocol of choice for video networking applications, is known to be leading to congestion collapse of the Internet. The congestion collapse can be prevented by using mechanisms in networks that penalize uncooperative flows like UDP or employing end-to-end congestion control. Since today's vision for the Internet architecture is based on moving the complexity towards the edges of the networks, employing end-to-end congestion control for video applications has recently been a hot area of research. One alternative is to use a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-friendly end-to-end congestion control scheme. Such schemes, similar to TCP, probe the network for estimating the bandwidth available to the session they belong to. The average bandwidth available to a session using a TCP-friendly congestion control scheme has to be the same as that of a session using TCP. Some TCP-friendly congestion control schemes are highly responsive as TCP itself leading to undesired oscillations in the estimated bandwidth and thus fluctuating quality. Slowly responsive TCP-friendly congestion control schemes to prevent this type of behavior have recently been proposed in the literature. The main goal of this thesis is to develop an architecture for video streaming in IP networks using slowly responding TCP-friendly end-to-end congestion control. In particular, we use Binomial Congestion Control (BCC). In this architecture, the video streaming device intelligently discards some of the video packets of lesser priority before injecting them in the network in order to match the incoming video rate to the estimated bandwidth using BCC and to ensure a high throughput for those video packets with higher priority. We


Background: Delirium is common and distressing for patients receiving palliative care. Interventions targetting modifiable risk factors in other settings have been shown to prevent delirium. Research on delirium risk factors in palliative care can inform context-specific risk-reduction interventions. Aim: To investigate risk factors for the development of delirium in adult patients receiving specialist palliative care. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis (PROSPERO CRD42019157168). Data sources: CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Embase, MEDLINE and PsycINFO (1980-2021) were searched for studies reporting the association of risk factors with delirium incidence/prevalence for patients receiving specialist palliative care. Study risk of bias and certainty of evidence for each risk factor were assessed. Results: Of 28 included studies, 16 conducted only univariate analysis, 12 conducted multivariate analysis. The evidence for delirium risk factors was limited with low to very low certainty. Potentially modifiable risk factors: Opioids and lower performance status were positively associated with delirium, with some evidence also for dehydration, hypoxaemia, sleep disturbance, liver dysfunction and infection. Mixed, or very limited, evidence was found for some factors targetted in multicomponent prevention interventions: sensory impairments, mobility, catheter use, polypharmacy (single study), pain, constipation, nutrition (mixed evidence). Non-modifiable risk factors: Older age, male sex, primary brain cancer or brain metastases and lung cancer were positively associated with delirium. Conclusions: Findings may usefully inform interventions to reduce delirium risk but more high quality prospective cohort studies are required to enable greater certainty about associations of different risk factors with delirium during specialist palliative care.


Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems great diversity are affected by many types of environmental impacts, originated by old economic development concepts. It is necessary a integrated multidisciplinary management. Who will plan and coordinate this management form? Problems due to social-political factors - as insufficient economic resources and qualified staff - do not identify federal, state, and municipal responsibilities. Also, there is no follow up of government projects, neither data exchange between official agencies in charge of environmental management, specially in the aquatic sector. The human impacts on continental, coastal, and oceanic environments affects directly the fishery resources basis for industry and other related activities. Fisheries management can be seen as a descriptive model, for the understanding environmental management. Marine living resources should be managed on scientific basis, reproduced on a sustainable standards. During UNCED'92, the importance of descriptive modeling for a Fisheries Management Integrated System (FMIS) was emphasized. This FMIS aims to establish harmonic relations between aquatic bio-production and different sectors of production systems and processes, to reduce economic costs and increase environmental benefits. Planning process is an important part for a general sustained development policy.


In this contribution, we report the working mechanisms of several processing additives for controlling the morphology of four all-polymer systems. The optical and electrical properties, photovoltaic performance, morphology and the dynamic process of film formation of these all-polymer systems were thoroughly examined. We revealed that the effect of additives is largely dependent on the aggregation behaviors of the polymers used. Here, the polymer acceptors with large planar structures have stronger inter-chain interactions, which make their morphology more susceptible to additive treatment compared to the donors. 1,8-Di(R)octane (R = Cl, Br, and I) additives can be applied to multiple all-polymer devices with improved efficiency due to their general capability to increase the crystallinity and extend the effective time during the film formation. Interestingly, DBrO outperforms the widely used DIO, obtaining a highest efficiency of 8.23% for the PTzBI/P(NDI2OD-T2) based all-polymer solar cells, indicating finer morphology control by a subtle change of the additive structure. In contrast, the addition of chloronaphthalene (CN) can alleviate the inter-chain interaction of polymers to prevent the formation of oversized domains, which make it especially efficient for systems using strongly aggregated polymers like P(NDI2OD-T2). Our results provide insight into processing additives and suggest guidelines to rationally select additives for nonfullerene solar cells.


Contemporary Research on crime, prisons, and social control has largely ignored women. Partial Justice, the only full-scale study of the origins and development of women's prisons in the United States, traces their evolution from the late eighteenth century to the present day. It shows that the character of penal treatment was involved in the very definition of womanhood for incarcerated women, a definition that varied by race and social class. Rafter traces the evolution of women's prisons, showing that it followed two markedly different models. Custodial institutions for women literally grew out of men's penitentiaries, starting from a separate room for women. Eventually women were housed in their own separate facilities-a development that ironically inaugurated a continuing history of inmate neglect. Then, later in the nineteenth century, women convicted of milder offenses, such as morals charges, were placed into a new kind of institution. The reformatory was a result of middle-class reform movements, and it attempted to rehabilitate to a degree unknown in men's prisons. Tracing regional and racial variations in these two branches of institutions over time, Rafter finds that the criminal justice system has historically meted out partial justice to female inmates. Women have benefited in neither case. Partial Justice draws in first-hand accounts, legislative documents, reports by investigatory commissions, and most importantly, the records of over 4,600 female prisoners taken from the original registers of five institutions. This second edition includes two new chapters that bring the story into the present day and discusses measures now being used to challenge the partial justice women have historically experienced.


Enterococcus faecalis represents a major group of pathogens causing nosocomial infections that are resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. An important challenge associated with E. faecalis infection is the emergence of multidrug-tolerant strains, which have normal MICs but do not respond to antibiotic treatment. Here, we report a strain of E. faecalis that was isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient and demonstrated high-level tolerance to ampicillin, vancomycin, and tetracycline. Whole-genome sequencing revealed critical substitutions in one of the tetracycline efflux pump repressors that are consistent with the increased tolerance of E. faecalis UM001B to tetracycline. These findings provide new information about bacterial antibiotic tolerance and may help develop more effective therapeutics. ABSTRACT Bacteria can survive antibiotic treatment both by acquiring antibiotic resistance genes and through mechanisms of tolerance that are based on phenotypic changes and the formation of metabolically inactive cells. Here, we report an Enterococcus faecalis strain (E. faecalis UM001B) that was isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient and had no increase in resistance but extremely high-level tolerance to ampicillin, vancomycin, and tetracycline. Specifically, the percentages of cells that survived 3.5-h antibiotic treatment (at 100 μg · ml−1) were 25.4% ± 4.3% and 51.9% ± 4.0% for ampicillin and tetracycline, respectively; vancomycin did not exhibit any significant killing. Consistent with the changes in antibiotic susceptibility, UM001B was found to have reduced penetration of ampicillin and vancomycin and accumulation of tetracycline compared to the reference strain ATCC 29212. Based on whole-genome sequencing, four amino acid substitutions were identified in one of the tetracycline efflux pump repressors (TetRs), compared to ATCC 29212. Results of molecular simulations and experimental assays revealed that these mutations could lead to higher levels of tetracycline efflux activity. Consistently, replicating these mutations in Escherichia coli MG1655 increased its tolerance to tetracycline. Overall, these findings provide new insights into the development of multidrug tolerance in E. faecalis, which can facilitate future studies to better control enterococcal infections. IMPORTANCE Enterococcus faecalis represents a major group of pathogens causing nosocomial infections that are resistant to multiple classes of antibiotics. An important challenge associated with E. faecalis infection is the emergence of multidrug-tolerant strains, which have normal MICs but do not respond to antibiotic treatment. Here, we report a strain of E. faecalis that was isolated from a cystic fibrosis patient and demonstrated high-level tolerance to ampicillin, vancomycin, and tetracycline. Whole-genome sequencing revealed critical substitutions in one of the tetracycline efflux pump repressors that are consistent with the increased tolerance of E. faecalis UM001B to tetracycline. These findings provide new information about bacterial antibiotic tolerance and may help develop more effective therapeutics.


Given the importance of globalization in today's world, this salutary and timely book explores how globalization is specifically shaping the Asia-Pacific. It investigates future prospects and challenges, identifies the key winners and losers, and concludes in many cases that the portents for globalization are not particularly promising.


This paper brings together several important strands of the econometrics literature: error-correction, cointegration and dynamic factor models. It introduces the Factor-augmented Error Correction Model (FECM), where the factors estimated from a large set of variables in levels are jointly modelled with a few key economic variables of interest. With respect to the standard ECM, the FECM protects, at least in part, from omitted variable bias and the dependence of cointegration analysis on the specific limited set of variables under analysis. It may also be in some cases a refinement of the standard Dynamic Factor Model (DFM), since it allows us to include the error correction terms into the equations, and by allowing for cointegration prevent the errors from being non-invertible moving average processes. In addition, the FECM is a natural generalization of factor augmented VARs (FAVAR) considered by Bernanke, Boivin and Eliasz (2005) inter alia, which are specified in first differences and are therefore misspecified in the presence of cointegration. The FECM has a vast range of applicability. A set of Monte Carlo experiments and two detailed empirical examples highlight its merits in finite samples relative to standard ECM and FAVAR models. The analysis is conducted primarily within an in-sample framework, although the out-of-sample implications are also explored.


Current reforms in science education call for science for all. In the most progressive sense, this means teachers finding ways to help all children feel comfortable with and connected to science. It also means helping all children develop strong, intellectual, conceptual understandings of the major concepts and theories in science. Despite general consensus about ideal science for all, science educators have been largely unsuccessful in transforming the curricular and pedagogical strategies from traditional practices to practices inclusive of all students (Atwater, 1996). Teacher education programs have had little or no impact on preservice teachers' philosophy of teaching and learning, especially as it relates to underserved populations in science (Rodriguez, 1998). Teacher education programs are populated with many students resistant to deep exploration of racist and other socially oppressive classroom practices (Rodriguez, 1998). In this article, I explore the role of a community-based service learning project in enhancing the multicultural dimension of preservice education and on the development of preservice teachers crafting a multicultural science teaching practice. Community Service Learning Some (Checkoway, 1996) define community service learning as learning activities combining classroom work with social and service action to promote student development of subject matter knowledge, practical skills, social responsibility, and civic values. Although most research about community service learning has dealt with K-12 education, the literature points to the significant impact community service has on improvement in the attitudes, motivation, and achievement of all students, including college students (Barber, Schine, & Kielsmeier, 1997). These improvements have been attributed to how these educational experiences integrate life experience with substantive and practical knowledge and skills. Recently, service learning has garnered attention in teacher education programs as one way to help preservice and inservice teachers learn about complex social problems such as poverty encountered in schools (DeJong & Groomes, 1996). Preservice students can acquire this kind of learning in out-of-school settings in which they can develop relationships with children and families in nonschool contexts, learn about children as children rather than merely as students, develop ties with the community, develop social and interaction skills, and gain greater awareness of other cultural and social norms and values as well as their own beliefs, strengths, and weaknesses (Stachowski & Visconti, 1998). Service learning in teacher education is not new. Many of the most influential thinkers in education and related fields, including Dewey and Freire, have advocated the idea of learning about children, community, disciplinary knowledge, and the relationships among these areas in informal educational settings. Dewey (1938/1963) wrote that the experience in itself is not enough, whether it be a service learning experience or any other kind of experience. He argues that not all experiences are genuinely or equally educative (p. 25). The experience has to be examined, understood, and challenged, thus providing intellectual and psychological continuity and growth. In college-level programs, including teacher education, service learning historically has been enacted individually and collectively. In the individual approach, students must, either as part of a course or program requirement or for individual course credit, engage in some form of service such as volunteer tutoring, serving meals at a soup kitchen, or providing adult companionship for homebound adults (Checkoway, 1996). Students usually generate ongoing reflection journals and written or oral reports documenting the activity from conception to conclusion. Although these are individual service projects, students often share the reflections and reports in a group setting such as a course or seminar, where participating students receive critical feedback, support, and encouragement from peers and professors. …


Chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs), including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (inflammatory bowel diseases, IBD), rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritides, hidradenitis suppurativa, and immune-mediated uveitis, are treated with biologics targeting the pro-inflammatory molecule tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF) (i.e., TNF inhibitors). Approximately one-third of the patients do not respond to the treatment. Genetics and lifestyle may affect the treatment results. The aims of this multidisciplinary collaboration are to identify (1) molecular signatures of prognostic value to help tailor treatment decisions to an individual likely to initiate TNF inhibitor therapy, followed by (2) lifestyle factors that support achievement of optimised treatment outcome. This report describes the establishment of a cohort that aims to obtain this information. Clinical data including lifestyle and treatment response and biological specimens (blood, faeces, urine, and, in IBD patients, intestinal biopsies) are sampled prior to and while on TNF inhibitor therapy. Both hypothesis-driven and data-driven analyses will be performed according to pre-specified protocols including pathway analyses resulting from candidate gene expression analyses and global approaches (e.g., metabolomics, metagenomics, proteomics). The final purpose is to improve the lives of patients suffering from CIDs, by providing tools facilitating treatment selection and dietary recommendations likely to improve the clinical outcome.


The mechanisms of replicative senescence by telomere shortening are not fully understood. The Indian muntjac has the fewest chromosomes of all mammals, greatly simplifying the analysis of each telomere over time. In this study, telomere shortening was observed throughout the life span of cultured normal muntjac cells by quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization and terminal restriction fragment analysis. Ectopic expression of the human telomerase catalytic subunit in these cells reconstituted telomerase activity, extended telomere lengths, and immortalized the cells, demonstrating that the Indian muntjac cells can serve as a telomere-based replicative senescence model for human cells. In one strain, two chromosome ends had significantly shorter telomeres than the other ends, which led to a variety of chromosome abnormalities. Near senescence, additional ends became telomere signal free, and chromosome aberrancies increased dramatically. Interstitial telomere sequences coincided with fragile sites, suggesting that these remnants of chromosome fusion events might contribute to genome instability. One SV40-immortalized cell line lacked telomerase, and its genetic instability was corrected by the ectopic expression of telomerase, confirming that too-short telomeres were the source of abnormalities. Indian muntjac cells provide an excellent system for understanding the mechanism of replicative senescence and the role of telomerase in the elongation of individual telomeres.


Packet loss is undesirable for real-time multimedia sessions, but it
can occur due to congestion or other unplanned network outages. This
is especially true for IP multicast networks, where packet loss
patterns can vary greatly between receivers. One technique that can be
used to recover from packet loss without incurring unbounded delay for
all the receivers is to duplicate the packets and send them in
separate redundant streams. This document defines the semantics for
grouping redundant streams in the Session Description Protocol (SDP).
The semantics defined in this document are to be used with the SDP
Grouping Framework. Grouping semantics at the Synchronization Source
(SSRC) level are also defined in this document for RTP streams using
SSRC multiplexing.


This series of three articles is a summary of the operations, findings and results of the hospital reform projects in the Canton of Zurich, termed LORAS. With the aid of the LORAS project within four years Zurich hospitals have been transformed. Whereas they used to adhere to input-oriented covering of deficits they now operate with outcome-oriented prospective financing of output. Part 1 describes the whole project. Part 2 focuses on the development of outcome-measurement. Part 3 finally describes the implementation of the outcome-measurement in the canton of Zurich.


Aquatic ecosystems are dynamic mixtures of physical, chemical, biological, geological, and meteorological elements. Understanding how that mixture produces the observed water quality at a given location is one of our greatest challenges. To a large degree, our understanding has been limited by the availability of tools and by our research approach. Advances within the last two decades have allowed us to go beyond synoptic sampling (data collection from many sites without regard to travel time) to multiple site, continuous sampling efforts (high frequency data from multiple fixed locations). While those data are important for assessing regulatory water quality, fixed position sampling (Eulerian perspective) falls short of providing a true understanding of aquatic ecosystem function because of the significant spatiotemporal gaps between data collection sites. Continuous data from multiple locations increases data resolution but connecting those data within the context of advective transport requires simulation; this results in far more simulated than measured data. Continuous measurements while following the same parcel of water as it is advectively transported (Lagrangian perspective) is another important approach to understanding aquatic ecosystem function. This approach allows for better spatiotemporal resolution and can lead to better understanding of ecosystem function. The Lagrangian perspective is however limited by the costs and time associated with conducting this type of data collection effort and data sets may be limited in the range of seasonal and stochastic conditions. For six years, Southeastern Natural Sciences Academy has been collecting water quality data with Eulerian data collection methods throughout the Middle and Lower Savannah River Basins. In June 2012, we launched our first Lagrangian research expedition along 233 kilometers (145 miles) of the Middle Savannah River Basin. The goal of this paper is to discuss some of the differences between our Eulerian and Lagrangian data sets and the challenges that lie ahead.


Many systems help us increase our knowledge of the world in one way or another. Systems engineering needs a better way to understand how systems help or hinder the creation of knowledge. The Knowledge Pyramid was developed as a reference model to facilitate systems analysis with respect to data, information and knowledge. This paper describes the elements of the Pyramid and how they relate to system architecture.


Revised July 2011James K. Boyce and Matthew Riddle have updated earlier anlysis that examines the household-level impacts of a cap-and-dividend plan, and how they differ between states. In this paper, the authors not only consider the specific parameters of the 2010 CLEAR Act, but also add an assessment of the state-by-state job creation that would have resulted from the bill. Boyce & Riddle find that interstate differences in the bill's impact on household incomes would have been small: much smaller than differences across the income spectrum, and vastly smaller than the differences in other federal programs, such as defense spending. As a result, the CLEAR Act would have delivered positive net benefits to the majority of households in every state. Where there are interstate differences, Boyce & Riddle suggest ways in which the CLEAR Act could have been modified to eliminate them altogether.


Meet the economic gangster. He's the United Nations diplomat who double-parks his Mercedes on New York City streets at rush hour because the cops can't touch him--he has diplomatic immunity. He's the Chinese smuggler who dodges tariffs by magically transforming frozen chickens into frozen turkeys. The dictator, the warlord, the unscrupulous bureaucrat who bilks the developing world of billions in aid. The calculating crook who views stealing and murder as just another part of his business strategy. And, in the wrong set of circumstances, he might just be you. In Economic Gangsters, Raymond Fisman and Edward Miguel take readers into the secretive, chaotic, and brutal worlds inhabited by these lawless and violent thugs. Join these two sleuthing economists as they follow the foreign aid money trail into the grasping hands of corrupt governments and shady underworld characters. Spend time with ingenious black marketeers as they game the international system. Follow the steep rise and fall of stock prices of companies with unseemly connections to Indonesia's former dictator. See for yourself what rainfall has to do with witch killings in Tanzania--and more. Fisman and Miguel use economics to get inside the heads of these "gangsters," and propose solutions that can make a difference to the world's poor--including cash infusions to defuse violence in times of drought, and steering the World Bank away from aid programs most susceptible to corruption.


This Note examines the conflicts of interest that hedge fund managers face and the negative effects that these conflicts can have on hedge fund investors. Taking a bifurcated approach, this Note analyzes the regulation of hedge funds at both the federal and state level, focusing specifically on the regulation of conflict transactions. With an emphasis on the retailization of the hedge fund industry, this Note demonstrates the inadequacy of the safeguards from such conflicts of interest that the law currently affords investors. Given the public interest in protecting the growing number of "ordinary" investors who indirectly invest in hedge funds, this Note suggests that Congress take action to protect investors from hedge fund managers' conflicts of interest, either through enhanced disclosure obligations or the imposition of federally mandated fiduciary responsibilities.


Objectives: Much of the cost of exposure assessment for studies of residential cohorts is in scheduling and travel time for field staff. One way to reduce costs is to simplify methods such that subjects can sample their own residence. Analysis of settled dust is being widely used for assessment of exposures to allergens, lead and pesticides and can also be used for endotoxins. While vacuum sampling is the most common surface sampling method, wipe sampling has the advantage that it can be readily performed by the resident when convenient and samples can then be mailed to researchers. Thus, we evaluated the feasibility of wipe sampling for endotoxin environmental assessment using electrostatic wipes with or without the use of disposable examination gloves. Methods: Multiple lots of six types of commercial wipes and eight types of gloves were extracted and analyzed for endotoxin content using the kinetic chromogenic Limulus amebocyte lysate assay. Wipes were compared across brands, between lots, within lots, between pairs depending on proximity to cardboard packaging, and in wipe tests with or without gloves. Collected dust samples of known concentration were also tested in spiking assays for endo-toxin recovery. Results: The most striking finding was the high variability of endotoxin contamination of both wipes and gloves across brands and between various lots. The content of endotoxin in unused gloves ranged from <1.5 to 5810 endotoxin units (EU). The range for unused wipes was 3.6–87.8 EU. Surfaces of equal loading and area were sampled using three types of cloths that had low initial endotoxin contamination. The cloths were very good at collecting dust and endotoxin could be assayed from aqueous extracts of the wipes. Samples collected using cloths with bare washed hands yielded higher endotoxin loading per mass of collected dust versus samples collected wearing endotoxin-free gloves. This demonstrated additional endotoxin loading from the subject's hand. Conclusion: This study shows that wipe sampling while wearing medical gloves can be an effective method for collecting and assessing endotoxin on surfaces, so long as each lot of wipes and gloves have been tested and determined to be low in endotoxin.


Introduction One of the great problems of geology is the explanation of the differences between the climate of the present and that of the past. Today there are great contrasts from zone to zone and from season to season. During much of the past there was relative uniformity from latitude to latitude and from summer to winter. Doubtless many factors helped bring about this change. One factor that appears not to have been discussed, however, is increased salinity of the ocean. There is a general agreement among geologists that the ocean has become increasingly saline throughout the ages. Indeed, calculations of the rate of accumulation of salt have been a favorite method of arriving at estimates of the age of the ocean and hence of the earliest marine sediments. So far as known, however, no geologist or climatologist has discussed the probable climatic effects of increased salinity. Yet it seems . . .


New electroencephalography (EEG) devices, more portable and cheaper, are appearing on the market. Studying the reliability of these EEG devices for emotional studies would be interesting, as these devices could be more economical and compatible with Virtual Reality (VR) settings. Therefore, the aim in this work was to validate a low-cost EEG device (Emotiv Epoc) to monitor brain activity during a positive emotional induction procedure. Emotional pictures (IAPS) were used to induce a positive mood in sixteen participants. Changes in the brain activity of subjects were compared between positive induction and neutral conditions. Obtained results were in accordance with previous scientific literature regarding frontal EEG asymmetry, which supports the possibility of using this low-cost EEG device in future mood induction studies combined with VR.


The aim of this research is to evaluate the kinetics study of hot air drying with aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) as a specimen and also to find the influence of temperature in various kinetic models proposed. In hot air drying different temperatures ranging from 30-50˚C with an air velocity of 2.0 m/s is used. In this experiment the proposed mathematical models are studied they are Newton, Henderson–Pabis, Page, modified Page and Logarithmic model. Using the linear regression coefficient (R2), sum square error (SSE), root mean square error (RMSE) and Chi-square statistic (w2) the best fit quality is found. As the temperature range is increased the effective moisture diffusivity is also increased from 4.78 × 10- 10 m2/sec to 13.45 × 10-10 m2/sec. From the mathematical models evaluated in this research the modified Page model gives the best result and fits into the experimental and predicted drying data


Background: Asthma is one of the chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways in which many cells and cellular elements play a major role. It is an estimated about 344 million people have the condition as per global asthma network in 2014. The progress of the disease is getting downhill in particular in quickly developing countries, as Ethiopia is one of the east Africa's fast developing country as evidenced by its GDP improvement. The estimated prevalence of asthma in Ethiopia is about 9.1% as per Global asthma network. So, This study aims to assess the asthma treatment outcomes among the adult patients on follow-up at NEMMH, Southern Ethiopia. Methods: A retrospective study was designed and conducted based on the asthma patient information card at NEMMH for the past two years (Jan 1st 2014-Jan 1st 2016 G.C). The collected data were analyzed by using SPSS software. Results: A total of 174 asthmatic patient's cards was reviewed, and among the patients majority (62.6%) were male and the mean age of the respondents was 35.1 years with standard deviation (SD) of 9.4. The most (53.45%) used asthma drug combination was Salbutamol with Prednisolone for long term asthma control. Among the patients, 40.8% were prescribed for antibiotics for their respiratory and urinary tract infections. The study found that there is a strong effect of social drug abuse with disease improvement (p-value<0.05). Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that despite the availability of effective therapy for asthma, the control of disease is sub-optimal and it falls short of the standard treatment guidelines set by the global network.


In this article we develop an original, non-positivist conception of legal pluralism, which we then deploy to identify and evaluate a particular type of legitimacy crisis. Such crises occur when settler-states attempt unilaterally to resolve conflicts between their own legal orders and indigenous legal orders, and thus treat the relevant indigenous communities unjustly. By identifying each legal order in terms of its morally valuable instantiation of the rule of law, we emphasise their equal normative status; the legitimacy crises we identify are typified by failures to acknowledge and respect this equality on the part of settler-states. Using case studies drawn from the United States of America and Australia, this article not only advances the first non-positivist theory of legal pluralism, but also demonstrates the utility of non-positivism as an analytical tool within socio-legal jurisprudence.


This paper describes the application of effective source in forward calculations and the adjoint method to the solution of fast neutron fluence and activation detector activities in the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and RPV cavity of a VVER-440 reactor. Its objective is the demonstration of both methods on a practical task. The effective source method applies the Boltzmann transport operator to time integrated source data in order to obtain neutron fluence and detector activities. By weighting the source data by time dependent decay of the detector activity, the result of the calculation is the detector activity. Alternatively, if the weighting is uniform with respect to time, the result is the fluence. The approach works because of the inherent linearity of radiation transport in non-multiplying time-invariant media. Integrated in this way, the source data are referred to as the effective source. The effective source in the forward calculations method thereby enables the analyst to replace numerous intensive transport calculations with a single transport calculation in which the time dependence and magnitude of the source are correctly represented. In this work, the effective source method has been expanded slightly in the following way: neutron source data were performed with fewgroup method calculation using the active core calculation code MOBY-DICK. The follow-up neutron transport calculation was performed using the neutron transport code TORT to perform multigroup calculations. For comparison, an alternative method of calculation has been used based upon adjoint functions of the Boltzmann transport equation. Calculation of the three-dimensional (3-D) adjoint function for each required computational outcome has been obtained using the deterministic code TORT and the cross section library BGL440. Adjoint functions appropriate to the required fast neutron flux density and neutron reaction rates have been calculated for several significant points within the RPV and RPV cavity of the VVER-440 reactor. Both of calculation methods are briefly described and the results are compared.


BACKGROUND Hypotension is a common side effect of spinal anaesthesia during caesarean delivery and is associated with maternal and foetal adverse effects. We developed an updated double intravenous vasopressor automated (DIVA) system that administers phenylephrine or ephedrine based on continuous noninvasive haemodynamic monitoring using the Nexfin device. OBJECTIVE The aim of our present study is to compare the performance and reliability of the DIVA system against Manual Vasopressor Bolus administration. DESIGN A randomised, double-blind controlled trial. SETTING Single-centre, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore. PATIENTS Two hundred and thirty-six healthy women undergoing elective caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was the incidence of maternal hypotension. The secondary outcome measures were reactive hypertension, total vasopressor requirement and maternal and neonatal outcomes. RESULTS The DIVA group had a significantly lower incidence of maternal hypotension, with 39.3% (46 of 117) patients having any SBP reading less than 80% of baseline compared with 57.5% (65 of 113) in the manual vasopressor bolus group (P = 0.008). The DIVA group also had fewer hypotensive episodes than the manual vasopressor bolus group (4.67 versus 7.77%; P < 0.0001). There was no difference in the incidence of reactive hypertension or the total vasopressor requirement. The DIVA group had less wobble in system performance. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were similar. CONCLUSION The DIVA system achieved better control of maternal blood pressure after spinal anaesthesia than manual vasopressor bolus administration. TRIAL REGISTRATION Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02277730.


We have recently reported the isolation and purification of the Treponema pallidum outer membrane and the identification of its rare protein constituents, including a 31-kDa protein markedly enriched in the outer membrane preparation (D.R. Blanco, K. Reimann, J. Skare, C.I. Champion, D. Foley, M. M. Exner, R. E. W. Hancock, J. N. Miller, and M. A. Lovett, J. Bacteriol. 176:6088-6099, 1994). In this study, we report the cloning, sequencing, and expression of the structural gene which encodes the 31-kDa outer membrane protein, designated Tromp1. The deduced amino acid sequence from the tromp1 gene sequence encodes a 318-amino-acid polypeptide with a putative 40-amino-acid signal peptide. Processing of Tromp1 results in a mature protein with a predicted molecular mass of 30,415 Da and a calculated pI of 6.6. Secondary-structure predictions identified repeated stretches of amphipathic beta-sheets typical of outer membrane protein membrane-spanning sequences. A topological model of Tromp1 containing 14 transmembrane segments is proposed. Specific antiserum against a recombinant Tromp1 fusion protein was generated and was used to identify native Tromp1 in cellular fractionation. Upon Triton X-114 extraction and phase separation of T. pallidum, the 31-kDa Tromp1 protein was detected in the detergent-phase fraction but not in the protoplasmic cylinder or aqueousphase fractions, consistent with a hydrophobic outer membrane protein. Anti-Tromp1 antiserum was also used to identify native Tromp1 purified from whole T. pallidum by Triton X-100 solubilization followed by nondenaturing isoelectric focusing. Reconstitution of purified Tromp1 into planar lipid bilayers showed porin activity based on the measured single channel conductanes of 0.15 and 0.7 nS in 1 M KCl. These findings demonstrate that Tromp1 is a transmembrane outer membrane porin protein of T. pallidum.


This paper describes an executable formal semantics of C. Being executable, the semantics has been thoroughly tested against the GCC torture test suite and successfully passes 99.2% of 776 test programs. It is the most complete and thoroughly tested formal definition of C to date. The semantics yields an interpreter, debugger, state space search tool, and model checker "for free". The semantics is shown capable of automatically finding program errors, both statically and at runtime. It is also used to enumerate nondeterministic behavior.


Online Material: Figures showing bias of PSA between data and simulations and between GMPEs and simulations for validation events and scenarios.

This article summarizes the evaluation of ground‐motion simulation methods implemented on the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) Broadband Platform (BBP), version 14.3 (as of March 2014). A seven‐member panel, the authorship of this article, was formed to evaluate those methods for the prediction of pseudospectral accelerations (PSAs) of ground motion. The panel's mandate was to evaluate the methods using tools developed through the validation exercise (Goulet et al. , 2015) and to define validation metrics for the assessment of the methods' performance. This article summarizes the evaluation process and conclusions from the panel. The five broadband, finite‐source simulation methods on the BBP include two deterministic approaches herein referred to as CSM (Anderson, 2015) and UCSB (Crempien and Archuleta, 2015); a band‐limited stochastic white noise method called EXSIM (Atkinson and Assatourians, 2015); and two hybrid approaches, referred to as G&P (Graves and Pitarka, 2015) and SDSU (Olsen and Takedatsu, 2015), which utilize a deterministic Green's function approach for periods longer than 1 s and stochastic methods for periods shorter than 1 s.

Two acceptance tests were defined to validate the broadband finite‐source ground‐motion simulation methods (Goulet et al. , 2015). Part A compared observed and simulated PSAs for periods from 0.01 to 10 s for 12 moderate‐to‐large earthquakes located in California, Japan, and the eastern United States. Part B compared the median simulated PSAs with published Next Generation Attenuation‐West 1 (NGA‐West 1) (Abrahamson and Silva, 2008; Boore and Atkinson, 2008; Campbell and Bozorgnia, 2008; Chiou and Youngs, 2008) ground‐motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for specific magnitude and distance cases, using a pass–fail criterion based on a defined acceptable range around the spectral shape of the GMPEs. For the initial part A and part …


Some new mushroomers will find this single volume all the library they need to harvest and enjoy wild mushrooms for the table. --Mushroom the Journal The publication is of excellent quality and print, well edited, authoritative, and provides an excellent introduction to edible and poisonous wild mushrooms. --Mycologia Unusual shapes and colors make many mushrooms alluring to the eye, while the exotic flavors and textures of edible mushrooms are a gourmet delicacy for the palate. Yet many people never venture beyond the supermarket offerings, fearing that all other mushrooms are poisonous. With amateur mushroom hunters especially in mind, David Fischer and Alan Bessette have prepared Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America. This field guide presents more than 100 species of the most delicious mushrooms, along with detailed information on how to find, gather, store, and prepare them for the table. More than 70 savory recipes, ranging from soups and salads to casseroles, canapes, quiches, and even a dessert, are included. Throughout, the authors constantly emphasize the need for correct identification of species for safe eating. Each species is described in detailed, nontechnical language, accompanied by a list of key identifying characteristics that reliably rule out all but the target species. Superb color photographs also aid in identification. Poisonous lookalikes are described and illustrated, and the authors also assess the risks of allergic or idiosyncratic reactions to edible species and the possibilities of chemical or bacterial contamination.


This paper examines how 'surveillance medicine' (Armstrong 1995) has expanded the realm of the medical gaze via its infiltration of cyberspace, where specific features of healthism are now present. Drawing on Foucault's notion of biopower, we examine how digital health resources offer new ways through which to discipline individuals and regulate populations. The emergence of health regulation within and through cyberspace takes place in a context wherein the relationship between the body and technology is rendered more complex. Departing from early literature on cyberspace, which claimed that the body was absent in virtual worlds, we articulate a medicalized cyberspace within which the virtual and corporeal are enmeshed. The range of health issues articulated through surveillance discourses are many and varied, though of significance are those related to weight and health, as they provide a particularly rich example through which to study medical surveillance in cyberspace due to their moral and regulative focus. We argue that the capacity for health resources to encourage disciplinary and regulative practices defies the designation of virtual, as non-reality. Moreover, with the advent of a range of digital platforms that merge entertainment with the regulation of the body, such as Internet based nutrition games, and the use of games consoles such as Nintendo wii fit, cyberspace may be providing a forum for new forms of regulative practices concerning health. These virtual environments expand our understandings of the boundaries of the body, since much of what takes place occurs through both a virtualization of identity, such as the use of an avatar or graphic image of one's body on screen, and a prostheticisation of the body within cyberspace. To conclude, while surveillance medicine regulates physical selves in real time, we argue that there is a growing tendency towards a prosthetic surveillance, which regulates and defines bodies that are simultaneously hyper-text and flesh.