Circadian rhythms can be entrained by light to follow the daily solar cycle. In Drosophila melanogaster a pair of extraretinal eyelets expressing immunoreactivity to Rhodopsin 6 each contains four photoreceptors located beneath the posterior margin of the compound eye. Their axons project to the region of the pacemaker center in the brain with a trajectory resembling that of Bolwig's organ, the visual organ of the larva. A lacZ reporter line driven by an upstream fragment of the developmental gap geneKrüppel is a specific enhancer element for Bolwig's organ. Expression of immunoreactivity to the product oflacZ in Bolwig's organ persists through pupal metamorphosis and survives in the adult eyelet. We thus demonstrate that eyelet derives from the 12 photoreceptors of Bolwig's organ, which entrain circadian rhythmicity in the larva. Double labeling with anti-pigment-dispersing hormone shows that the terminals of Bolwig's nerve differentiate during metamorphosis in close temporal and spatial relationship to the ventral lateral neurons (LNv), which are essential to express circadian rhythmicity in the adult. Bolwig's organ also expresses immunoreactivity to Rhodopsin 6, which thus continues in eyelet. We compared action spectra of entrainment in different fly strains: in flies lacking compound eyes but retaining eyelet (so1), lacking both compound eyes and eyelet (so1;gl60j ), and retaining eyelet but lacking compound eyes as well as cryptochrome (so1;cryb ). Responses to phase shifts suggest that, in the absence of compound eyes, eyelet together with cryptochrome mainly mediates phase delays. Thus a functional role in circadian entrainment first found in Bolwig's organ in the larva is retained in eyelet, the adult remnant of Bolwig's organ, even in the face of metamorphic restructuring.


Although children in primary schools in England are required to write imaginatively in order to gain optimum marks in statutory tests, an emphasis is often placed on revising decontextualised genre features, grammar and spelling. I wondered whether there was a place for creativity and imagination within the apparent constraints of a curriculum for English that had become defined by objectives and teaching procedures imposed by national strategies to raise literacy standards. Using a definition of creativity as purposeful imaginative activity, I set out to explore how teachers could interpret the objectives imaginatively and plan meaningful contexts for literacy, even in a climate of changing curriculum emphases. My thesis reports on three cycles of reflective, collaborative action research focused on literacy planning, in order to theorise meanings in relation to my values, understanding and practice.

As a result of the research, approaches to planning sequences of purposeful imaginative activities that embed literacy concepts in meaningful creative contexts are exemplified. Evidence from an analysis of literacy plans for children in classrooms across the primary phase shows that teachers use their professional imaginations to plan their provision for children to read and write imaginatively – their statutory national curriculum entitlement (DfEE, 2000). We found that children's literacy improves when they dwell in possible worlds as, for example, curators, custodians or concerned villagers, using the powerful resource of their own, and collective, imaginations. In addition, an analysis of drawings revealed evidence of the effort and effect of children's somatic and affective imaginations.

The work is underpinned by theories of: aesthetic appreciation and representation; child-centred, holistic pedagogy; inclusive creative processes; and the imagination as a resource for creating meaning. My ideas have been challenged and developed by academics such as Pat D'Arcy on literacy, Robert Sternberg on creativity, and Ken Robinson on imagination, in particular.

As a result of the research, two conceptual tools for planning were developed and tested. They are underpinned by theory and professional experience and have been used effectively in schools during and beyond the research project. Components of the creative process were identified as motivating ideas, associating ideas, generating ideas, innovating ideas and communicating ideas, and became the MAGIC planning tool. Components of the imagination's repertoire were identified as auditory, kinaesthetic, tactile, emotional and visual, and became the AKTEV imagination repertoire. These represent the living education theories that have transformed my practice, and are offered as a contribution to the field of primary English education.


The human foot plays a key role in human walking providing, among others, body support and propulsion, stability of the movement and impact absorption. These fundamental functionalities are accomplished by an extraordinarily rich bio-mechanical design. Nonetheless, humanoid robots follow different approaches to walk, hence, they generally implement rigid feet. In this study, we target the gap existing between the human foot and traditional humanoid-robot feet. More specifically, we evaluate the resulting advantages and draw-backs by implementing on a humanoid robot some of the properties and functionalities embedded in the human foot. To this end, we extract the physical characteristics of a prosthetic foot to develop a human-like foot model. This foot model is systematically tested in simulation in human-like walking tasks on flat ground and on uneven terrain. The movement of the limbs is generated by a muscle-reflex controller based on a simplified model of the human limbs. The gait features and the walking stability are evaluated for the human-like foot and compared with the results produced using rigid feet.


A talking robot which adaptively learns the vocalization skill by an auditory feedback learning is being developed. The talking robot is constructed by the mechanical vocal systems, which respectively correspond to human organs. In vocalization, the vibration of vocal cords generates a source sound, and then the sound wave is led to a vocal tract, which works as a resonance filter to determine the spectrum envelope. The talking robot autonomously learns the vocalization by applying auditory feedback. In this study, a human-like expressive speech production by the talking robot is introduced. A human generates speech by controlling their own vocal organs for changing the speech expressions such as the volume and the intonations. To realize the human-like expressive speech production, a control method for the mechanical organs has to be established. In the first part of the paper, the construction of the talking robot and the acquisition of the vocalization will be described, and then the control method for producing human-like speech with various expressions will be introduced.


This chapter deals with the development of a management system, which integrates the use of IoT in natural risk detection, revention, and management with economic evaluation of each stage. In the introductory part, recent data are pre-sented that document the importance that natural disasters have for the environment and for the Italian economy. Section 2 presents the Inte.Ri.M. project—the Internet of Things for Natural Risk Management—its purpose, activity plan, and bodies involved. Technical aspects are treated in Section 3 with the choice of hardware and software components and the solutions for collecting and transmitting data. Section 4 is about the economic aspects considering the stages of prevention, intervention, and restoration and the relation between the intensity of human activity and environment to define a range of situations. These scenarios call for different economic methodologies useful to estimate economic implications of each stage in the short, medium, and long term. Section 5 describes the structure of the Inte.Ri.M. management system and the foreseen functionalities. In the conclusion, the critical points are discussed, and the steps for the transposition of the work carried out on the territory are outlined, according to the provisions of the work program.


Students, if you are preparing for the ASVAB exam, get ready for it with the best-ASVAB Exam Cram. Verbal, math, science and technical skill sets are all covered in this succinct review guide. By giving you examples, test-taking advice and tips and a CD with a powerful test engine to practice with, ASVAB Exam Cram will help you perform at the top of your game on test day. Learn what your weaknesses and strengths are quickly as you receive explanations of both correct and incorrect answers on your practice exams. Deciding to enter the military is serious, as is the ASVAB exam, so study for it with the best.


Background Functional dyspepsia is a common gastrointestinal disorder in school-aged children, though, there is no reliable treatment. Probiotics are live microorganisms administered in adequate amounts to confer beneficial health effects on the host. Although definitive evidence is lacking, several studies have found probiotics to be effective for relieving symptoms of dyspepsia, particularly abdominal pain and bloating. Objective To determine the efficacy of lactobacillus probiotics for treating functional dyspepsia in children. Method A double-blind, randomized controlled trial was done from April to June 2012 in five schools in the Pakpak Bharat Regency, North Sumatera. A total of 116 children who fulfilled the Rome III criteria for functional dyspepsia were randomized into 2 groups to receive either lactobacillus probiotics or placebo for 2 weeks. All patients received a diary to record symptoms and frequency of pain daily. The primary outcome for treatment was defined to be no pain at the end of the intervention. Results The probiotics and placebo groups were not significantly different in recovery from functional dyspepsia (29.3% vs. 13.8%, respectively; P=0.432). However, compared to the placebo group, the probiotics group had significantly reduced frequency of pain (P=0.0001), but no significant differences in pain severity (P=0.08) or pain duration (P 0.091). Conclusion There are no significant differences in recovery from functional dyspepsia, pain severity, or pain duration between the probiotics and placebo groups. However, the probiotics group has significantly reduced frequency of pain compared to that of the placebo group.


Identification of transcriptional regulatory elements offers a key means of insight into regulation mechanisms. However, the number of known regulatory elements is inadequate and state-of-the-art identification methods are inaccurate. Moreover, it is difficult for a biologist to select interdependent tools, and existing systems ignore overall performance issues. Agent technology can provide solutions through its information integration and coordination capabilities. TREMAgent is the first multiagent-based system for mining transcriptional regulatory elements. It uses novel algorithms combined with biological domain knowledge (for example, protein functional site information) to achieve superior accuracy and collaborate with existing tools using agent technology. The autonomous problem-solving capability of agents enables the system to provide the appropriate workflow rather than having users select interdependent tools. Experiments on the real data sets show that TREMAgent can provide superior accuracy and flexible services, promising excellent potential for bioinformatics.


Objectives Working in the rubber and rubber product manufacturing industry has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as definitely carcinogenic. However, given the complex nature of the chemicals, the phasing out of the use of certain chemicals, and the trend in reduction in exposures, there remains a great deal of uncertainty about the nature of the risks, if any, encountered by workers today. Method We have at our disposal a large retrospective cohort study of 40 000+ workers who were aged 35+ in 1967, which was last followed up to 1976. We are carrying out an updated cancer mortality analysis adding 35 years to the previous cancer mortality follow-up. We will determine the nature of the dose-response relationships for important known and suspected carcinogens using quantitative exposure modelling based on available measurement data from the EXASRUB project (dust, fumes, solvents, and n-Nitrosamines). Results We will report on progress to date with the study, which has received ethical approval and is currently seeking other clearances from the UK research governance system for such studies, and will further report on proposed exposure modelling strategies. Conclusions This is the largest and statistically most powerful cohort of its type and will have an exhaustive, quantitative exposure assessment. This study will add substantially to our knowledge of the longterm risks associated with the chemicals present in the industry in the UK, including those from working conditions several decades ago, and will thereby also be important for exposure conditions in the developing world.


This study investigates the distinguishing characteristics and the modifications to the traditional male initiation ritual as practised in KwaBhaca in the Eastern Cape. The concerns surrounding the incidence of death and maiming from related traditions is also investigated. The study reveals that • the male initiation ritual is still highly regarded in K waBhaca; • the male initiation ritual itself is still performed strictly traditionally in KwaBhaca; • the male initiation ritual as practised in KwaBhaca has been successfully performed with minimal negative incident attributable to the performance of traditional circumcision; • where there is incidence of a negative reaction, this is usually attributable to a prior health condition of the initiate, and in these circumstances, the initiate is referred to a medical doctor, on condition that the medical doctor is himself an initiate, and that the consultation will be conducted in a place deemed to be safe from spiritual contamination~ • incidences of maiming and death can be attributed to a number of causes~ associated with poor practice and unacceptable conduct; • boys who do not undergo circumcision in the traditional fashion are not regarded as men and remain boys in the eyes of the community. This means that they have to forego participation in important socio-spiritual ceremonies; • there is a necessity to share the experience of the successful traditional circumcision process to avoid further misadventure, maiming and death; • it is not the mechanics of the process of traditional circumcision that endangers lives, but the poor practice of the iingcibi (traditional surgeons) and other significant role-players including the initiates; • The traditional teaching that accompanies the ritual of circumcision is as important, if not more important, than the ritual itself. The study concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at rehabilitating and supporting the continuation of this important and venerated tradition.


BACKGROUND
Physicians who complete combined residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics (med-peds) have a variety of career options after training. Little is known about career transitions among this group or among other broadly trained physicians.

METHODS
To better understand these career transitions, we conducted semistructured, in-depth, telephone interviews of graduates of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine med-peds program who self-identified as having had a career transition since completing training. We qualitatively analyzed interview transcripts, to develop themes describing their career transitions.

RESULTS
Of 106 physicians who graduated during 1980-2007, 20 participated in interviews. Participants identified factors such as personality, work environment, lifestyle, family, and finances as important to career transition. Five other themes emerged from the data; the following 4 were confirmed by follow-up interviews: (1) experiences during residency were not sufficient to predict future job satisfaction; work after the completion of training was necessary to discover career preferences; (2) a major factor motivating job change was a perceived lack of control in the workplace; (3) participants described a sense of regret if they did not continue to see both adult and pediatric patients as a result of their career change; (4) participants appreciated their broad training and, regardless of career path, would choose to pursue combined residency training again.

LIMITATIONS
We included only a small number of graduates from a single institution. We did not interview graduates who had no career transitions after training.

CONCLUSIONS
There are many professional opportunities for physicians trained in med-peds. Four consistent themes surfaced during interviews about med-peds career transitions. Future research should explore how to use these themes to help physicians make career choices and employers retain physicians.


In industrial environments, such as metallurgic facilities, human operators are exposed to harsh conditions where ambient air is often polluted with quartz, dust, lead debris and toxic fumes. Constant exposure to respirable particles can cause irreversible health damages and thus it is of high interest for occupational health experts to monitor the air quality on a regular basis. However, current monitoring procedures are carried out sparsely, with data collected in single day campaigns limited to few measurement locations. In this paper we explore the use and present first experimental results of a novel heterogeneous approach that uses a mobile robot and a network of low cost sensing nodes. The proposed system aims to address the spatial and temporal limitations of current monitoring techniques. The mobile robot, along with standard localization and mapping algorithms, allows to produce short term, spatially dense representations of the environment where dust, gas, ambient temperature and airflow information can be modelled. The sensing nodes on the other hand, can collect temporally dense (and usually spatially sparse) information during long periods of time, allowing in this way to register for example, daily variations in the pollution levels. Using data collected with the proposed system in an steel foundry, we show that a heterogeneous approach provides dense spatio-temporal information that can be used to improve the working conditions in industrial facilities.


There is increasing realisation that individuals in many animal populations differ substantially in resource, space or habitat use. Differences that cannot be attributed to any a priori way of classifying individuals (i.e. age, sex and other group effects) are often termed 'individual specialisation'. The aim of this paper is to assess the most common approaches for detecting and quantifying individual specialisation and consistencies in foraging behaviour, movement patterns and diet of marine predators using 3 types of data: conventional diet data, stable isotope ratios and tracking data. Methods using conventional diet data rely on a comparison between the proportions of each dietary source in the total diet and in the diet of individuals, or analyses of the statistical distribution of a prey metric (e.g. size); the latter often involves comparing ratios of individual and population variance. Approaches frequently used to analyse stable isotope or tracking data reduced to 1 dimension (trip characteristics, e.g. maximum trip distance or latitude/longitude at certain landmarks) include correlation tests and repeatability analysis. Finally, various spatial analyses are applied to other types of tracking data (e.g. distances between centroids of distributions or migratory routes, or overlap between distributions), and methods exist to compare habitat use. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, issues arising from other effects unrelated to individual specialisation per se (in particular those related to temporal scale) and potential solutions.


OBJECTIVE
Catholic adults in the West of Scotland, who are mainly of Irish origin, have been shown to suffer excess morbidity and mortality compared to the general population. A major contributing factor to this inequality is socio-economic disadvantage. This paper investigates the health and socio-economic position of Catholics in the youngest generation.

DESIGN
Secondary analysis of baseline data from the West of Scotland 11-16 STUDY: Teenage Health, which is a longitudinal school-based survey.

SETTING
One hundred and thirty five primary schools in Glasgow and surrounding districts.

SUBJECTS
Two thousand five hundred and eighty six final-year pupils (average age eleven years and three months), born in 1983/1984.

RESULTS
Comparing Catholics and non-Catholics on a range of indicators of general health, recent acute symptoms, chronic conditions, mental health and physical measures, we found no evidence of any systematic health inequality. A few indicators did show statistically significant differences at the five percent level, but these were not in any consistent direction. In terms of household socio-economic position, though, we found strong evidence of disadvantage for Catholics. Catholic children were more likely to have parents of manual social class, without any formal qualifications, who were less likely to own their home or a car, more likely to express difficulty 'making ends meet', and more likely to live in a deprived area.

CONCLUSIONS
We discuss the prospects for diminishing socio-economic inequality over time between Catholics and non-Catholics in this cohort, which will depend on Catholic social mobility. We consider the likelihood of enduring health equality for Catholics, which will depend on the effects of different influences on health over the life course.


The bioactive peptides of the apelinergic system and its receptor APJ have been shown to play a protective role in experimental cardiovascular and diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Mechanisms of this renoprotective effect remain to be elucidated. In this study, we examined the localization of APJ within the normal kidney and its kidney expression in the db/db model of DKD. The effect of hyperglycemia and angiotensin II on APJ was examined in cultured podocytes. In the glomerulus, APJ colocalized with podocyte but not endothelial cell markers. In podocytes stimulated with Pyr1Apelin‐13, a change in the phosphorylation status of the signaling proteins, AKT, ERK, and p70S6K, was observed with an increase 15 min after stimulation. Apelin‐13 decreased activity of Caspase‐3 in podocytes after high glucose treatment reflecting an antiapoptotic effect of APJ stimulation. In podocytes, APJ mRNA was downregulated in high glucose, when compared to normal glucose conditions and exposure to angiotensin II led to a further significant decrease in APJ mRNA. APJ and preproapelin mRNA levels in kidneys from db/db mice were markedly decreased along with decreased tubular APJ protein by western blotting and immunostaining when compared to db/m controls. In conclusion, the apelinergic system is decreased in kidneys from db/db mice. Within the glomerulus, APJ is mainly localized in podocytes and in this cell type its activation by Apelin‐13 abolishes the proapoptotic effect of high glucose, suggesting a potential therapeutic role of apelin and emerging agonists with extended half‐life for therapy of DKD.


This mixed-methods study aimed to examine the relationship between transgender students' mental health with their perceptions of belonging, social support, and overall campus climate. It was hypothesized that transgender college students who perceive a more inclusive campus climate, higher levels of perceived belongingness, and higher levels of social supports within their college environment will experience lower severity of anxiety and depression symptoms. 117 respondents were recruited via online platforms and through active membership in professional organizations. All participants completed an anonymous online survey and provided responses to three open-ended qualitative questions about their campus experiences. Quantitative data was analyzed via multiple regression analyses by step and hypothesis-coding method was utilized for qualitative data. Multiple regression analyses found significant relationships between anxiety and the independent variables of perception of family social support (p2was .37. For depression, a significant relationship was found with the independent variable of perception of family social support (p2was .38. Qualitative analysis provided voice to respondents' experiences with harassment, lack of family social support, self-stigma, and being out on campus. Fear of harassment, lack of family support, self-stigma, and lack of comfort in sharing one's full identity to those around them directly influenced the severity of anxiety and depressive symptoms transgender college experience. Support is an essential component to navigating these challenges. It is critical advocates and allies be poised to assist and support this population through their undergraduate years. Clinical social workers are well-equipped to provide critical emotional supports necessary to address the mental health needs of this population, as well as administratively influencing the personal and campus environments experienced by these individuals. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Social Work (DSW) First Advisor Phyllis Solomon, PhD Second Advisor Genny Beemyn, PhD


1. Antipyrine in a dose of 3·2 mmol (600 mg) daily for 6 weeks produced a significant fall in both total and unconjugated serum bilirubin concentrations in six patients with Gilbert9s syndrome. The maximum reduction in serum bilirubin concentration was seen after 2 weeks of treatment. 2. In the rat, administration of antipyrine in doses of 0·42 and 1·27 mmol 24 h −1 kg −1 (80 and 240 mg 24 h −1 kg −1 ) for 84 h caused a significant increase in the apparent maximal velocity ( V max. ) for the glucuronidation of bilirubin by liver microsomal preparations when the concentration of either uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid (UDPGA) or bilirubin was altered. There was no significant difference between the apparent V max. values attained with the two doses of antipyrine in either set of experiments. Neither the microsomal protein content nor the apparent affinity constant ( K m ) was altered in these studies. 3. In contrast, administration of phenobarbitone in doses of 0·34 mmol 24 h −1 kg −1 (80 mg 24 h −1 kg −1 ) caused a significant increase in the microsomal protein content but there was no significant change in the values for the apparent V max. or apparent K m for the glucuronidation of bilirubin with various concentrations of both UDPGA and bilirubin.


A new paradigm for the formation of calcified skeletons suggests mineralization proceeds through amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) precursors. The implications of this strategy in carbonate crystallization are widespread, particularly for understanding factors controlling impurity and isotopic signatures in calcium carbonates. The first chapter is a literature review of the biomineralization processes used by two important model organisms: the sea urchin larva and the foraminifera. Sea urchin larvae provide a thoroughly studied example of mineralization by an ACC pathway that is under biological control through regulation of protein chemistry and the local mineralization environment. A review of how foraminifera produce their test structures is also examined to explore the question of how organisms regulate the Mg content in proportion to the temperature their environments of formation. The second chapter demonstrates that acidic biomolecules regulate the composition of ACC for a suite of model carboxylated molecules. The physical basis for the systematic trend in Mg content is related to the ability of the affinity of the biomolecule for binding Ca versus Mg. The third chapter builds on these findings to explore the transformation of Mg-rich ACC precursors to calcites of exceptionally high Mg-contents that could not be produced by classical stepdominated growth processes. The data indicate that these materials are likely a result of a nucleation-dominated pathway. The final, fourth chapter develops Raman spectroscopybased calibrations for determining Mg contents in ACC. The calibrations are based upon peak position or peak width of the carbonate !1 stretch.


This paper was intended to test the intelligibility of English intonation spoken by Arabs learning English as a foreign language. Two native British speakers heard English sentences produced by two native British speakers and six Arabs to decide whether a sentence is said with a falling or rising tune. Findings indicated that most Arabs confused the two English tunes to a significant level. They showed insensitivity to the two intonation patterns, a situation that might have resulted from the priority given to the teaching of segmental units of the target language. Therefore, the question of priority to at least the incorporation of intonational information and other suprasegmentals in the teaching process right from the outset is reconsidered. [Research supported by Yarmouk University.]


This doctoral thesis is the culmination of work conducted in the context of an interdisciplinary research project that has been practice-based yet theory-driven and contributes to the fields of fine art and architecture with a particular focus on critical theory. It seeks to map a shared theoretical vocabulary regarding the creation of space and to frame the language of an emergent art practice that is fundamentally architecturalised and constitutes lived experiences as temporal events within actual architectural settings: loci. In this context, the thesis sets out an ontological and topological perspective regarding the occurrence and operation of immersive experiences and sees the latter as more-than-visual localised events in a state of becoming rather than mere phenomena. The investigation expands the concept of immersion beyond a digitally constructed reality and sees the virtual as a complementary element of the actual for the formation of receptive atmospheres. The thesis attempts to establish a modality of an immersive spatial experience that is sensory, multiple as well as intimate in empirical terms, with reference to the philosophy of the event and particularly the complex spatial theories of Gilles Deleuze.


There is an amazing paucity of data that is collected directly on user personal machines. One key reason for this is the perception among researchers that users are unwilling to participate in such a data collection effort. To understand the range of opinions on matters that occur with end-host data tracing, we conducted a survey of 400 computer scientists. In this paper, we summarize and share our findings.


Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with article 3 of the Procedure for the Selection of Recommended International Nonproprietary Names for Pharmaceutical Substances, the names given in the list on the following pages are under consideration by the World Health Organization as Proposed International Nonproprietary Names. The inclusion of a name in the lists of Proposed International Nonproprietary Names does not imply any recommendation of the use of the substance in medicine or pharmacy.


ABSTRACT Introduction To present the current practice patterns on percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in a developing country. Materials and Methods A survey was offered to Brazilian urologists during the II International Endourology Symposium held in Sao Paulo, in 2015. The first seven questions were related to demographic data while the 20 remaining were directed to urologists who performed PCNL. Results From 250 participants, 100 replied to the survey, 81% performed PCNL and 60.4% of performers had been in practice for less than 15 years. Eighty-one percent were trained in the prone position and 64% in supine. PCNL was learned during the residency in 66.7% and 2.5% had fellowship training. Prone position was the preferred decubitus for simple or complex calculi, though for obese patients there was no difference. Younger surgeons prefer supine while older surgeons prefer prone. The access was obtained by the surgeon in all cases, 96.3% use fluoroscopy and 3.7% prefer ultrasonography. Forty-seven percent use ultrasonic lithotripters and 4.1% laser. For kidney drainage, 71.6% place a nephrostomy tube. Double J stent is left in 77%. The postoperative image method was CT for 50%. Colonic injury was reported by 25%, predominantly in the senior group without statistically difference between positions. Conclusions From a selected group of urologists, we observe that Brazilian urologists usually gain their own access for PCNL guided by fluoroscopy. They predominantly prefer the prone position, use fascial dilators, ultrasonic lithotripters and place a nephrostomy tube when exiting the kidney. Fellowship programs, ultrasonography, flexible nephoscopy and tubeless procedures could be encouraged.


Individuals and organizations have operated for hundreds of years by planning and forecasting in an intuitive manner. It was not until the 1950s that formal approaches became popular. Since then, such approaches have been used by business, government, and nonprofit organizations. Advocates of formal approaches (for example, Steiner, 1979) claim that an organization can improve its effectiveness if it can forecast its environment, anticipate problems, and develop plans to respond to those problems. However, informal planning and forecasting are expensive activities; this raises questions about their superiority over informal planning and forecasting. Furthermore, critics of the formal approach claim that it introduces rigidity and hampers creativity. These critics include many observers with practical experience (for example, Wrapp, 1967). This chapter presents a framework for formal planning and forecasting which shows how they interact with one another. Suggestions are presented on how to use formal planning for strategic decision making. (For simplicity, references to planning and forecasting in this chapter will mean formal strategic planning and forecasting.) Planning is not expected to be useful in all situations, so recommendations are made on when planning is most useful. Descriptions of forecasting methods are then provided. Finally, suggestions are made on which forecasting methods to use when developing plans for a company. Disciplines Marketing Comments Postprint version. Published in The Strategic Management Handbook, edited by Kenneth Albert (New York: McGraw-Hill 1983), pages 1-32. The author asserts his right to include this material in ScholarlyCommons@Penn. This journal article is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/marketing_papers/123 Strategic Planning And Forecasting Fundamentals


The combined use of both radiosonde data and three-dimensional
satellite derived data over ocean and land is useful for a better understanding
of atmospheric thermodynamics. Here, an attempt is made to study the thermodynamic
structure of convective atmosphere during pre-monsoon season over southwest
peninsular India utilizing satellite derived data and radiosonde data. The stability
indices were computed for the selected stations over southwest peninsular India
viz: Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin, using the radiosonde data for five premonsoon
seasons. The stability indices studied for the region are Showalter Index (SI),
K Index (KI), Lifted Index (LI), Total Totals Index (TTI), Humidity Index (HI),
Deep Convective Index (DCI) and thermodynamic parameters such as Convective
Available Potential Energy (CAPE) and Convective Inhibition Energy (CINE). The
traditional Showalter Index has been modified to incorporate the thermodynamics
over tropical region. MODIS data over South Peninsular India are also
used for the study. When there is a convective system over south peninsular
India, the value of LI over the region is less than ?4. On the other hand, the
region where LI is more than 2 is comparatively stable without any convection.
Similarly, when KI values are in the range 35 to 40, there is a possibility for
convection. The threshold value for TTI is found to be between 50 and 55.
Further, we found that prior to convection, dry bulb temperature at 1000, 850,
700 and 500 hPa is minimum and the dew point temperature is a maximum, which
leads to increase in relative humidity. The total column water vapor is maximum
in the convective region and minimum in the stable region. The threshold values
for the different stability indices are found to agree with that reported in
literature.


Shaw has proposed an aether explanation for gravity, publishing several papers over the current decade (see http://www.duncanshaw.ca/). These have evolved into his "Aether Concept of Gravity," by which inflowing aether into cosmic bodies produces an accelerating "ram force" that manifests as the "attractive" gravitational force without the need to postulate "action at a distance." While examination of the full theory is beyond the scope of this paper, it is feasible to examine three of the key aspects which lend themselves to modeling in the form of mathematical constructs. While no attempt is made to explain the physics behind Shaw's theory, an investigation into its plausibility, at least from a mathematical perspective, is undertaken and appears to support at least this level of plausibility.


This paper assesses the impact of the location and configuration of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) on LowVoltage (LV) feeders. BESS are now being deployed on LV networks by Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) as an alternative to conventional reinforcement (e.g. upgrading cables and transformers) in response to increased electricity demand from new technologies such as electric vehicles. By storing energy during periods of low demand and then releasing that energy at times of high demand, the peak demand of a given LV substation on the grid can be reduced therefore mitigating or at least delaying the need for replacement and upgrade. However, existing research into this application of BESS tends to evaluate the aggregated impact of such systems at the substation level and does not systematically consider the impact of the location and configuration of BESS on the voltage profiles, losses and utilisation within a given feeder. In this paper, four configurations of BESS are considered: single-phase, unlinked three-phase, linked three-phase without storage for phase-balancing only, and linked three-phase with storage. These four configurations are then assessed based on models of two real LV networks. In each case, the impact of the BESS is systematically evaluated at every node in the LV network using Matlab linked with OpenDSS. The location and configuration of a BESS is shown to be critical when seeking the best overall network impact or when considering specific impacts on voltage, losses, or utilisation separately. Furthermore, the paper also demonstrates that phase-balancing without energy storage can provide much of the gains on unbalanced networks compared to systems with energy storage.


During oxidative phosphorylation most of the protons pumped out to the cytosol across the mitochondrial inner membrane return to the matrix through the ATP synthase, driving ATP synthesis. However, some of them leak back to the matrix through a proton-conductance pathway in the membrane. When the ATP synthase is inhibited with oligomycin and ATP is not being synthesized, all of the respiration is used to drive the proton leak. We report here that Mg(2+) inhibits the proton conductance in rat skeletal-muscle mitochondria. Addition of Mg(2+) inhibited both oligomycin-inhibited respiration and the proton conductance, while removal of Mg(2+) using EDTA activated these processes. The proton conductance was inhibited by more than 80% as free Mg(2+) was raised from 25 nM to 220 microM. Half-maximal inhibition occurred at about 1 microM free Mg(2+), which is close to the contaminating free Mg(2+) concentration in our incubations in the absence of added magnesium chelators. ATP, GTP, CTP, TTP or UTP at a concentration of 1 mM increased the oligomycin-inhibited respiration rate by about 50%. However, these NTP effects were abolished by addition of 2 mM Mg(2+) and any NTP-stimulated proton conductance was explained completely by chelation of endogenous free Mg(2+). The corresponding nucleoside diphosphates (ADP, GDP, CDP, TDP or UDP) at 1 mM had no effect on oligomycin-inhibited respiration. We conclude that proton conductance in rat skeletal-muscle mitochondria is very sensitive to free Mg(2+) concentration but is insensitive to NTPs or NDPs at 1 mM.


Image mosaicing is a data fusion technique used for increasing the field of view of an image. Deriving the mosaiced image entails integrating information from multiple images. Image mosaicing permits overcoming the limitations of a camera lens and help create a wide field of view image of a 3D scene and hence has a wide range of applications in various domains including medical imaging. This thesis concerns the task of mosaicing specific to neonatal retinal images for aiding the doctors in the diagnosis of Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). ROP is a vascular disease that affects low birth-weight, premature, infants. The prognosis of ROP relies on information on the presence of abnormal vessel growth and fibrosis in periphery. Diagnosis is based on a series of images obtained from a camera (such as RetCam), to capture the complete retina. Typically, as many as 20 to 30 images are captured and examined for diagnosis. In this thesis, we present a solution for mosaicing the RetCam images so that a comprehensive and complete view of the entire retina can be obtained in a single image for ROP diagnosis. The task is challenging given that the quality of the images obtained is variable. Furthermore, the presence of large spatial shift across consecutive frames makes them virtually unordered. We propose a novel, hierarchical system for efficiently mosaicing an unordered set of RetCam images. It is a two-stage approach in which the input images are first partitioned into subsets and images in each sub-set are spatially aligned and combined to create intermediate results. Given n images, the number of registrations required to generate a mosaic by conventional approaches to mosaicing is O(n2) whereas it is O(n) for the proposed system. These images are then again spatially aligned and combined to create a final mosaic. An alignment technique for low quality retinal images and a blending method for combining images based on vessel quality is also designed as part of this framework. Individual components of the system are evaluated and compared with other approaches. The overall system was also evaluated on a locally-sourced dataset consisting of neonatal retinal images of 10 infants with ROP. Quantitative results show that there is a substantial increase in the field of view and the vessel extent is also improved in the generated mosaics. The generated mosaics have been validated by the experts to provide sufficient information for the diagnosis of ROP.


Competitive release is a bedrock principle of coevolutionary ecology and population dynamics. It is also the main mechanism by which heterogeneous tumors develop chemotherapeutic resistance. Understanding, controlling, and exploiting this important mechanism represents one of the key challenges and potential opportunities of current medical oncology. The development of sophisticated mathematical and computational models of coevolution among clonal and sub-clonal cell populations in the tumor ecosystem can guide us in predicting and shaping various responses to perturbations in the fitness landscape which is altered by chemo-toxic agents. This in turn can help us design adaptive chemotherapeutic strategies to combat the release resistant cells.


Nigeria is one of the countries most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, third only to India and South Africa. With about 10% of the global HIV/AIDS cases estimated to be in the country, the public health and socio-economic implications are enormous.

This thesis has two broad aims: the first is to develop statistical models which adequately describe the spatial distribution of the Nigerian HIV/AIDS epidemic and its associated ecological risk factors; the second, to develop models that could reconstruct the HIV incidence curve, obtain an estimate of the hidden HIV/AIDS population and a short term projection for AIDS incidence and a measure of precision of the estimates.

To achieve these objectives, we first examined data from various sources and selected three sets of data based on national coverage and minimal reporting delay. The data sets are the outcome of the National HIV/AIDS Sentinel Surveillance Survey conducted in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005 by the Federal Ministry of Health; the outcome of the survey of 1057 health and laboratory facilities conducted by the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research in 2000; and case by case HIV screening data collected from an HIV/AIDS centre of excellence.

A thorough review of methods used by WHO/UNAIDS to produce estimates of the Nigerian HIV/AIDS scenario was carried out. The Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) currently being used for modelling the epidemic partitions the population into at-risk, not-at-risk and infected sub-populations. It also requires some parameter input representing the force of infection and behaviour or high risk adjustment parameter. It may be difficult to precisely ascertain the size of these population groups and parameters in countries as large and diverse as Nigeria. Also, the accuracy of vital rates used in the EPP and Spectrum program is doubtful. Literature on ordinary back-calculation, nonparametric back-calculation, and modified back-calculation methods was reviewed in detail. Also, an indepth review of disease mapping techniques including multilevel models and geostatistical methods was conducted.

The existence of spatial clusters was investigated using cluster analysis and some measure of spatial autocorrelation (Moran I and Geary c coefficients, semivariogram and kriging) applied to the National HIV/AIDS Surveillance data. Results revealed the existence of spatial clusters with significant positive spatial autocorrelation coefficients that tended to get stronger as the epidemic developed through time. GAM and local regression fit on the data revealed spatial trends on the north-south and east - west axis.

Analysis of hierarchical, spatial and ecological factor effects on the geographical variation of HIV prevalence using variance component and spatial multilevel models was performed using restricted maximum likelihood implemented in R and empirical and full Bayesian methods in WinBUGS. Results confirmed significant spatial effects and some ecological factors were significant in explaining the variation. Also, variation due to various levels of aggregation was prominent.

Estimates of cumulative HIV infection in Nigeria were obtained from both parametric and nonparametric back-calculation methods. Step and spline functions were assumed for the HIV infection curve in the parametric case. Parameter estimates obtained using 3-step and 4-step models were similar but the standard errors of these parameters were higher in the 4-step model. Estimates obtained using linear, quadratic, cubic and natural splines differed and also depended on the number and positions of the knots. Cumulative HIV infection estimates obtained using the step function models were comparable with those obtained using nonparametric back-calculation methods. Estimates from nonparametric back-calculation were obtained using the EMS algorithm. The modified nonparametric back-calculation method makes use of HIV data instead of the AIDS incidence data that are used in parametric and ordinary nonparametric back-calculation methods. In this approach, the hazard of undergoing HIV test is different for routine and symptom-related tests. The constant hazard of routine testing and the proportionality coefficient of symptom-related tests were estimated from the data and incorporated into the HIV induction distribution function. Estimates of HIV prevalence differ widely (about three times higher) from those obtained using parametric and ordinary nonparametric back-calculation methods. Nonparametric bootstrap procedure was used to obtain point-wise confidence interval and the uncertainty in estimating or predicting precisely the most recent incidence of AIDS or HIV infection was noticeable in the models but greater when AIDS data was used in the back-projection model.

Analysis of case by case HIV screening data indicate that of 33349 patients who attended the HIV laboratory of a centre of excellence for the treatment of HIV/AIDS between October 2000 and August 2006, 7646 (23%) were HIV positive with females constituting about 61% of the positive cases. The bulk of infection was found in patients aged 15-49 years, about 86 percent of infected females and 78 percent of males were in this age group. Attendance at the laboratory and the proportion of HIV positive tests witnessed a remarkable increase when screening became free of charge. Logistic regression analysis indicated a 3-way interaction between time period, age and sex. Removing the effect of time by stratifying by time period left 2-way interactions between age and sex.
A Correction factor for underreporting was ascertained by studying attendance at the laboratory facility over two time periods defined by the cost of HIV screening. Estimates of HIV prevalence obtained from corrected data using the modified nonparametric back-calculation are comparable with UN estimates obtained by a different method.

The Nigerian HIV/AIDS pandemic is made up of multiple epidemics spatially located in different parts of the country with most of them having the potential of being sustained into the future given information on some risk factors. It is hoped that the findings of this research will be a ready tool in the hands of policy makers in the formulation of policy and design of programs to combat the epidemic in the country. Access to data on HIV/AIDS are highly restricted in the country and this hampers more in-depth modelling of the epidemic. Subject to data availability, we recommend that further work be done on the construction of stratification models based on sex, age and the geopolitical zones in order to estimate the infection intensity in each of the population groups. Uncertainties surrounding assumptions of infection intensity and incubation distribution can be minimized using Bayesian methods in back-projection.


Up to now, for the telecom applications, the optoelectronic components are mainly used in the transmission systems. Due to the higher properties of the optical fiber at 1,3 and 1,55µm wavelengths, InP based adapted components were studied replacing first 0,85µm GaAs based laser diodes. Nevertheless for the short distance transmission links and due to the lower cost, GaAs based laser diodes are always industrially used. Among the different research activities devoted to the telecommunication aspect, two of them are of strong interest for optical amplification and optical interconnection. The recent boom on optical doped fiber amplification and the need of adapted pump laser has recently strongly improved research activities on 0,98µm laser diode. These GaAs based lasers are using "a strained quantum well vertical structure". The laser structure is shortly described. High performances are obtained with a CW optical power = 150mW for only = 200mA. Commercial products are already available but important research activity is still in progress. Finally due to the higher and higher bit rates needed in the telecommunication industry, optical interconnection is becoming an important technology. It allows to simplify the development of the sophisticated equipments. Several channels (> 4), with high bit rates (622 Mb/s ; 2,5 Gb/s) are used in parallel which need the development of adapted laser arrays. GaAs based lasers are studied in several companies and the paper focuses on the new vertical cavity surface emitting laser.


Recent research has suggested that native speakers of verb- and satellite-framed languages experience motion events differently because the morphology of their language encodes the concepts of Path and Manner in divergent ways (Slobin 1996 and 2000). This article presents two cognitive experiments where the stimuli are visual (i.e. televised video clips) and the task is cognitive (i.e. similarity judgement tests). The aim is to provide some cognitive evidence from French and English native speakers to elucidate the question of whether and how language may influence non-linguistic cognition. The findings reported here only look at English speakers' cognitive performance on the tests. So far they seem to contradict relativistic arguments, as subjects attended to Path as the decisive factor in their similarity judgements in approximately 60% of cases, and to Manner in about 40% of cases. This suggests that native English speakers do not experience motion events in terms of either action or result in straightforward ways.


For decades the soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been an important model system for biology, but little is known about its natural ecology. Recently, C. elegans has become the focus of studies of innate immunity and several pathogens have been shown to cause lethal intestinal infections in C. elegans. However none of these pathogens has been shown to invade nematode intestinal cells, and no pathogen has been isolated from wild-caught C. elegans. Here we describe an intracellular pathogen isolated from wild-caught C. elegans that we show is a new species of microsporidia. Microsporidia comprise a large class of eukaryotic intracellular parasites that are medically and agriculturally important, but poorly understood. We show that microsporidian infection of the C. elegans intestine proceeds through distinct stages and is transmitted horizontally. Disruption of a conserved cytoskeletal structure in the intestine called the terminal web correlates with the release of microsporidian spores from infected cells, and appears to be part of a novel mechanism by which intracellular pathogens exit from infected cells. Unlike in bacterial intestinal infections, the p38 MAPK and insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathways do not appear to play substantial roles in resistance to microsporidian infection in C. elegans. We found microsporidia in multiple wild-caught isolates of Caenorhabditis nematodes from diverse geographic locations. These results indicate that microsporidia are common parasites of C. elegans in the wild. In addition, the interaction between C. elegans and its natural microsporidian parasites provides a system in which to dissect intracellular intestinal infection in vivo and insight into the diversity of pathogenic mechanisms used by intracellular microbes.


Abstract The RAdiative transfer Model Intercomparison (RAMI) activity focuses on the benchmarking of canopy radiative transfer (RT) models. For the current fourth phase of RAMI, six highly realistic virtual plant environments were constructed on the basis of intensive field data collected from (both deciduous and coniferous) forest stands as well as test sites in Europe and South Africa. Twelve RT modelling groups provided simulations of canopy scale (directional and hemispherically integrated) radiative quantities, as well as a series of binary hemispherical photographs acquired from different locations within the virtual canopies. The simulation results showed much greater variance than those recently analysed for the abstract canopy scenarios of RAMI-IV. Canopy complexity is among the most likely drivers behind operator induced errors that gave rise to the discrepancies. Conformity testing was introduced to separate the simulation results into acceptable and non-acceptable contributions. More specifically, a shared risk approach is used to evaluate the compliance of RT model simulations on the basis of reference data generated with the weighted ensemble averaging technique from ISO-13528. However, using concepts from legal metrology, the uncertainty of this reference solution will be shown to prevent a confident assessment of model performance with respect to the selected tolerance intervals. As an alternative, guarded risk decision rules will be presented to account explicitly for the uncertainty associated with the reference and candidate methods. Both guarded acceptance and guarded rejection approaches are used to make confident statements about the acceptance and/or rejection of RT model simulations with respect to the predefined tolerance intervals. The RAdiative transfer Model Intercomparison (RAMI) activity focuses on the benchmarking of canopy radiative transfer (RT) models. For the current fourth phase of RAMI, six highly realistic virtual plant environments were constructed on the basis of intensive fi eld data collected from (both deciduous and coniferous) forest stands as well as test sites in Europe and South Africa. Twelve RT modelling groups provided simulations of canopy scale (directionaland hemisphericallyintegrated)radiativequantities,aswellasa seriesofbinary hemisphericalpho- tographs acquired from different locations within the virtual canopies. The simulation results showed much greater variance than those recently analysed for the abstract canopy scenarios of RAMI-IV. Canopy complexity is among the most likely drivers behind operator induced errors that gave rise to the discrepancies. Conformity testing was introduced to separate the simulation results into acceptable and non-acceptable contributions. More speci fi cally, a shared risk approach is used to evaluate the compliance of RT model simulations on the basis of reference data generated with the weighted ensemble averaging technique from ISO-13528. However, using concepts from legal metrology, the uncertainty of this reference solution will be shown to prevent a con fi dent assessment of model performance with respect to the selectedtoleranceintervals. As analternative, guard- edriskdecisionruleswillbepresentedtoaccountexplicitlyfortheuncertaintyassociatedwiththereferenceand candidate methods. Both guarded acceptance and guarded rejection approaches are used to make con fi dent statements about the acceptance and/or rejection of RT model simulations with respect to the prede fi ned tolerance intervals. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license


In this book some 50 papers published by K A Muller as author or co-author over several decades, amplified by more recent work mainly by T W Kool with collaborators, are reproduced. The main subject is Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) applied to the study of perovskites and other oxides with related subjects. This wealth of papers is organized into eleven chapters, each with an introductory text written in the light of current understanding. The contributions of the first editor on structural phase transitions have been immense, and because K A Muller and J C Fayet have published a review paper on the subject, the latter is reproduced in chapter VII. Not related to EPR is a part of chapter VIII on the dipolar and quantum paraelectric behavior with dielectric studies. In chapter X two papers proving the existence of Fermi glasses are reproduced. The year 1986 bears some significance: early in this year the paper by Bednorz and Muller on the possible observation of superconductivity was published. This resulted in a substantial shift in the paradigm of condensed matter physics, to which the present first editor has contributed scientifically with others and which will be reviewed in a second volume.


The Eurozone crisis revealed fundamental flaws in the institutional architecture of the Economic and Monetary Union. Its lack of political steering capacity has demonstrated the need for a broad but seemingly unachievable political union with shared economic governance and a common treasury. Agreement on further measures has been difficult to achieve, as different actors have imposed divergent external criteria for the success of the Eurozone. As part of their heritage in Western Marxism, the critical theorists of the Frankfurt School sought to overcome such problems by identifying internal standards for social criticism. Building on their understanding of immanent critique, I argue that the Eurozone already contains the normative principles necessary to support greater political integration. While the citizens of Europe must provide the democratic legitimation necessary to realize this latent potential, the flaws revealed by the crisis are already pushing Europe towards greater transnational solidarity.


C. S. Lewis is perhaps as well known for his life story as his literary accomplishments. Central to that narrative is his shocking conversion from atheism to Christianity. Despite this Surprised by Joy, Lewis's primary work on the subject, has not been the centre of a focused study. This thesis reveals that, prior to writing Surprised by Joy, Lewis developed a growing appreciation for how experiences and story factored in religious belief. Rather than focusing on arguments, Surprised by Joy tells the story of how Lewis came to terms with his fundamental experiences of the world. Tension between these experiences and his worldview drove Lewis onward until they were reconciled by his acceptance of The True Myth. Using Vollenhoven's Reformed Philosophy, I show the implications of Surprised by Joy: that the stories we feel ourselves to be living in circumscribe our experiences and knowledge, and that conversion involves coming to inhabit the biblical story.


Since 9/11, legislators and commentators alike have hailed expiration dates — or "sunset provisions" — as a means to moderate the government's tendency to curtail individual freedoms in response to security crises. Sunsets' advocates explain that they provide Congress with an opportunity to reevaluate counterterrorism legislation after the crisis atmosphere has passed, enabling legislators to adjust any policy whose infringement on civil liberties appears, in retrospect, unjustified by its benefits. This article demonstrates that, rather than guarding against the long-term entrenchment of overly robust security measures, sunsets have the opposite effect. The article begins by illustrating that Congress's high expectations for counterterrorism sunsets have not been borne out by their impact. It then explains that the failure of sunsets to prompt meaningful reevaluation of post-crisis counterterrorism measures stems from two sources. First, optimism over sunsets' potential relies on several inaccurate assumptions about how the state of the world will change between the time a statute is enacted and its sunset date. And second, it fails to account for the President's outsized role in counterterrorism policymaking. Finally, the article identifies sunsets' hidden cost: paradoxically, by insisting on including sunset provisions, legislators concerned about overzealous counterterrorism legislation actually facilitate the enactment of such statutes. And as sunsets do not subsequently correct overzealous policy, they enable the long-term entrenchment of the very policymaking errors they are designed to prevent. The article concludes that citizens and legislators concerned about the civil liberties costs of counterterrorism policy should reject claims that sunsets are an effective answer to those concerns.


Objective: CaMKII-dependent Thr-17 phosphorylation of PLB leading to higher SERCA activity has been suggested to maintain or even partially recover fractional shortening (FS) and intracellular Ca transient amplitude (ΔF/F0) during a late phase of acidosis in isolated cardiac myocytes. In accordance, CaMKII-inhibition using KN-93, which unselectively blocks all CaMKII isoforms, was reported to completely inhibit recovery from acidosis for FS as well as for intracellular Ca transients. However, the individual contribution of each CaMKII isoform is so far unknown. As CaMKIIδ is the dominant isoform of CaMKII in the heart, we investigated its relevance for maintenance/recovery of FS and Ca transients during late phase acidosis in a murine knockout model (CaMKIIδ-KO).
Methods: Ventricular cardiac myocytes were isolated from WT and CaMKIIδ-KO mouse littermates. Acidosis was induced by lowering pH0 from 7.4 (control) to pH0 6.75 (acidosis). Fractional shortening (% vs. resting cell length, % RCL) and intracellular Ca transients (Fluo-3 AM, ΔF/F0, 10 µM) were elicited using 1 Hz stimulation frequency. Data are presented as means±S.E.M. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for repeated measurement (RM) tests combined with Fisher-LSD post hoc test were performed where appropriate and values of P<0.05 were considered as statistically significant.
Results: In WT mouse myocytes (n=49) FS clearly decreased from 3.85±0.24 % RCL during control to 1.54±0.15 % RCL during early phase of acidosis (P<0.05) and could be maintained during late acidosis (1.56±0.19 % RCL). Similarly, Ca transient amplitude initially decreased from 1.13±0.05 a.U.F. in control to 0.82±0.05 a.U.F. in early acidosis (P<0.05) and remained relatively constant during late acidosis (0.83±0.06 a.U.F.). In parallel, RT90% (90% relaxation of shortening) reaccelerated from 283±23 ms in early acidosis to 253±24 ms in late acidosis (P<0.05), and Ca transient decline (τCa) slightly reaccelerated from 139±9 ms 133±8 ms. In addition, SR Ca content measured by caffeine contractures (10 mM), increased from 2.31±0.21 a.U.F. in early acidosis to 2.66±0.33 a.U.F. after 10 min of acidosis (P<0.05). In contrast, in myocytes from CaMKIIδ-KO mice (n=41) FS decreased from 3.33±0.24 % RCL in control to 1.64±0.17 % (P<0.05) in early acidosis and further decreased to 1.09±0.17 % RCL in late acidosis (P<0.05). Similarly, Ca transients also showed a significant further decrease from early to late acidosis (1.02±0.06 a.U.F. in control, 0.80±0.05 a.U.F. in early acidosis, 0.65±0.06 a.U.F. in late acidosis; P<0.05). Furthermore, there was no reacceleration of any relaxation parameter in CaMKIIδ-KO cardiomyocytes (P<0.05 vs. WT using ANOVA). In addition, SR Ca content declined from 2.25±0.15 a.U.F. in early acidosis to 1.49±0.15 a.U.F. after 10 min of acidosis (P<0.05 vs. early acidosis/WT).
Conclusion: Knockout of the δ isoform of CaMKII significantly impairs maintenance/recovery of FS and Ca transients during late phase of acidosis, pointing to an essential role of this particular CaMKII isoform in handling acidosis. This impairment most likely results from an inability to increase SR Ca content sufficiently during late phase acidosis. As CaMKII-inhibition could be of future therapeutical relevance, possible negative effects of a pharmacologically-induced lower CaMKIIδ-activity during acidosis should be carefully considered.


Abstract Context: Epidural anesthesia for labor pain is frequently complicated by maternal hypotension. Objective: To test whether continuous epidural infusion (CEI) of local anesthetic, without bolus administration, lowers the incidence of hypotension in parturient patients. Methods: In a single-blind clinical study, subjects were randomly assigned to CEI-only (10 mL/h of 0.2% ropivacaine hydrochloride without bolus) or control (10 mL of 0.2% ropivacaine hydrochloride per hour with 10-mL bolus) epidural dosing groups. The incidence of hypotension (20% decrease in systolic blood pressure or mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic blood pressure lower than 100 mm Hg, or MAP lower than 65 mm Hg) was recorded for 2 hours after dosing. Statistical analysis included a 2×2 χ2 analysis, the Fisher exact test, and paired two-tailed t tests. Results: Fifty subjects were studied, with 25 randomly assigned to each study group (CEI-only vs control). Baseline blood pressure was not different between groups (CEI-only, 127 [11]/77 [8.7] mm Hg; control, 131 [14]/78 [2]). The incidence of hypotension was lower in the CEI-only group than in the control group (5 [20%] vs 15 [60%]; P=.009), with intervention required in 1 (20%) of 5 CEI-only subjects and 7 (47%) of 15 control subjects. Sensory block reached the T10 dermatome in 54.4 (18) minutes in the CEI-only group and 38 (24) minutes in the control group (P=.04). Pain scores and maternal and fetal pulse rates were not different between groups. Analgesic supplementation (250 μg of epidural fentanyl) was used more frequently in the CEI-only group (72% vs 32%; P=.01), without adverse effects. Conclusions: Continuous epidural infusion of 0.2% ropivacaine hydrochloride without bolus administration reduces the incidence of hypotension by 67% and is safer than traditional bolus dosing for routine labor. This method requires further study in high-risk patients, including those with preeclampsia and cardiovascular disease.


The marine industry has in the past extensively used empirical models to predict transfer functions between source locations and noise sensitive cabins. These empirical methods work well for standard construction types, materials and small number of cabins. Today's tendencies are to use complex construction methods, exotic material such as composite and build larger and larger yachts with cabin layouts and numbers not easily represented in an empirical way. This paper presents an approach to build predictive vibro-acoustic models for full frequency analysis (0-10kHz). The approach makes use of several modeling methods and coupling such as FEM (Finite Element Method), FMMBEM (Fast Multipole MethodBoundary Element), SEA (Statistical Energy Analysis) and "FE/SEA Coupled" to represent the yacht structure, interior cabins, fluid tanks, underwater fluid loading and noise radiation. This approach also permits the representation of the acoustic insulation and the optimization of its content to achieve required targets while reducing mass and insulation cost. This paper also discusses the source models to be used to represent the airborne, structureborne and waterborne contribution of major excitations. This approach is applied on a 70m luxury yacht where these vibro-acoustic concepts are discussed and illustrated.


This research provides a new theoretical approach to innovation. The work also provides data processed in recent years (2002-2006) to regions of European regions, providing relevant empirical evidence on the relationship between Human Capital, Technological Capital, Innovation Capital, Network Capital and Innovation. In econometric modeling is considered especially for the regions of the European Union.


This study analyses the intra-industry trade (IIT) in selected manufacturing
sector, the SITC 7 classification under the Standard International Trade
Classification (SITC) between Malaysia and four ASEAN countries (Indonesia,
Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand). The share of SITC 7 in Malaysia's exports
today is more than 40% and we seek to measure the level of IIT between Malaysia
and those ASEAN countries from 1970 to 2000. At the same time, we are interested
in analysing the volume, growth, and flow of trade among these countries. Some
product groups (728, 759, 764, and 776) within the SITC 7 that contributed
significantly within this classification in trade since 1 980 are analysed. 1he method
of analysis involves calculating the G-L index; the volume of trade in terms of total
trade (IT), intra-industry trade (IIT), and net trade (NT); changes in the volume of
trade; and the graphical illustration of trade composition by using the industry trade
box (ITB). It is found that the level of IIT was very low for the case of Indonesia and the
Philippines during the 1970s and slowly increased in the 1980s. The level of IIT was
already high for Singapore and Thailand in the 1970s, but decreased for Singapore in
the 1990s and slightly decreased for Thailand in the late 19808. Thailand has
replaced Singapore as the country with the highest IIT level with Malaysia in the
1990s. Trade in the selected product groups shows that Malaysia traded heavily with
Singapore in all of the groups and then followed by Thailand in most of the groups.
Thailand shows more flows in both directions in all of the groups and although this
happened in the other groups with the other countries, the norm is that goods flow
mostly in one direction. In the 1980s IIT level was low for Indonesia and Philippines
but high for Singapore and Thailand. lIT level in 19908 decreased for Singapore in
all groups but increased for Thailand in all groups, except product 728. So it can be
concluded that Singapore and Thailand have been the more active IIT partner with
Malaysia.
Although time series analysis on IlT is rare, the influence of income (PCI)
and country size (GOP) on IIT is analysed in this study and it is found that PCI has a
positive influence on IIT. GOP also affect IIT positively for Indonesia and
Philippines, but negatively for Singapore and Thailand. Thus this simple model
gives us a consistent result for PCI but not for GDP. This is because IIT level for
Singapore decreased in the 1990s and the decrease in IIT for Thailand during the
second half of the 1980s.


The Ethiopian Highlands have been studied extensively, hosting a large amount of research for development projects in agriculture and forestry over several decades. The encounters in these projects were also encounters of different ways of knowing that were negotiated by the actors meeting in the space provided by the projects. This research explores these encounters and the social worlds they are embedded in, drawing on actor-oriented approaches as well as theories of narratives and framing. Ways of knowing and citizen epistemologies are taken as a lens to understand the role of identities in knowledge production and use.

The two case studies were agroforestry research projects in the Ethiopian Highlands. The research followed a range of qualitative and ethnographic research methods. Different types of farmers and scientists meet in the case studies. I recognise that they all have individual agency, nevertheless I use the terms 'scientist' and 'farmer' in this thesis. I use the terms to describe certain groups of actors who all draw on different ways of knowing, and different value systems, when interacting with each other and their environment.

The results indicate that the importance of social worlds at different scales and the contexts of research projects tend to be underestimated. In spite of good intentions scientific methodologies, terminologies and narratives tend to dominate. Scientists in the case studies acknowledged the existence of farmers' 'indigenous' knowledge, but they determined the value of knowledge by its scientific applicability and the replicability of experiments. Research systems force the scientists into a certain modus operandi with limited possibilities to experiment and to respond to the complexities and diversities of people's social worlds.

Farmers in the case studies preferred observation from their parents, observing from others or the environment as a way of learning and gaining knowledge. Depending on their personalities and their life histories they also relied on alternative ways of knowing rooted in spirituality, emotions and memories. Powerful influences on ways of knowing resulted from the way languages and authority had been used. These often led to the exclusion of marginalised community members from access to knowledge and technologies.

Unfortunately, common narratives prevailed in the case studies, and alternative ways of knowing were often marginalised. By acknowledging different ways of knowing and the importance of different social worlds and different ways of doing research, both scientists and farmers could benefit and develop more sustainable pathways for agricultural and forestry land use.


This study is meant to test the effect of involvement variable, capability of personnel Information System (IS), organization size, top management support and formalization to the system use and satisfaction of Accounting Information System (AIS) users as the surrogate of AIS performance. Besides, it is also meant to test the differences of AIS performance in relation to the users education and training program, steering committee of IS and the independence of IS department location. This study is based on Sugiharto's study (2001) with the change that lies on research focus i.e. at general ledger sub-system, research object, data processing analysis, and the instrument used to measure the satisfaction of AIS users. The research data are obtained by means of mail survey, enumerator service, and walk-in done by the researcher, directly to the respondents. There are 83 manufacturing business involved in this research showing the level of 24.93 % response out of 333 population. The analysis method of research comprises influence test using multiple regression analysis, t-test, F-test, coefficient of determination. Meanwhile, differential test uses Mann Whitney U-test. The result of partial regression test shows that involvement variable, organization size, top management support, and formalization have a significant effect to the users' satisfaction. Besides, involvement variable, capability, and top management support affect significantly to the use of AIS. Meanwhile, on the simultaneity test, all independent variables perceived to have an effect on the AIS performance. Furthermore, coefficient of determination for users' satisfaction variable (Y 1) and the system use (Y2) is 41.2% and 32.4% accordingly. On difference test using Mann Whitney U-test is to be found evidence that there is no difference of AIS performance in line with whether or not there is a steering committee, user training and education program, and the independence or dependence of the IS department. The result of the research heralds three implications for the hereinafter research. First, some variables of organizational context and moderating variables require to be entangled. Second, it needs exploration and definition of techniques and approaches for user training and education program. Third, it needs elaboration of special purpose of the software developed by the respondents.


Looked-after children (LAC) are particularly vulnerable to poor mental health. Yet there appears to be limited research on their experiences of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) despite the concept of participation and being listened to strongly exemplified throughout government policy and guidance. A multiple case study design explores the lived experiences of four looked-after young people who have accessed CAMHS and attended a therapeutic intervention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four looked-after young people, using activities that are congruent with personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1995). Thematic analysis highlights that 'CAMHS as a secure base' is a facilitator to attending CAMHS. Barriers for the looked-after young people in attending CAMHS related to limited accessibility due to in-care factors and CAMHS factors. LAC's experiences of attending a therapeutic intervention through CAMHS were positive. The overarching theme of 'exploring trauma, loss and rejection' highlights that attending a therapeutic intervention at CAMHS supported the looked-after young people to process and resolve difficult past experiences and reconstruct working models of self and attachment figures. Participants also highlighted ways in which CAMHS could be improved for LAC through a need for transparency. Implications for all professionals working with LAC are discussed.


Event Structures (ESs) address the representation of direct relationships between individual events, usually capturing the notions of causality and conflict. Up to now, such relationships have been static, i.e. they cannot change during a system run. Thus, the common ESs only model a static view on systems. We make causality dynamic by allowing causal dependencies between some events to be changed by occurrences of other events. We first model and study the case in which events may entail the removal of causal dependencies, then we consider the addition of causal dependencies, and finally we combine both approaches in the so-called Dynamic Causality ESs. For all three newly defined types of ESs, we study their expressive power in comparison to the well-known Prime ESs, Dual ESs, Extended Bundle ESs, and ESs for Resolvable Conflicts. Interestingly, Dynamic Causality ESs subsume Extended Bundle ESs and Dual ESs but are incomparable with ESs for Resolvable Conflicts.


There might appear to be little that binds the study of order and the study of violence and conflict. Bloodshed in its multiple forms is often seen as something separate from and unrelated to the domains of ''normal'' politics that constitute what we think of as order. But violence is used to create order, to maintain it, and to uphold it in the face of challenges. This volume demonstrates the myriad ways in which order and violence are inextricably intertwined. The chapters embrace such varied disciplines as political science, economics, history, sociology, philosophy, and law; employ different methodologies, from game theory to statistical modeling to in-depth historical narrative to anthropological ethnography; and focus on different units of analysis and levels of aggregation, from the state to the individual to the world system. All are essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand current trends in global conflict.


During a ship life cycle, one of the most critical phases in terms of safety refers to harbor maneuvers, which take place in restricted and congested waters, leading to higher collision and grounding risks in comparison to open sea navigation. In this scenario, a single accident may stop the harbor's traffic as well as incur in patrimonial damage, environmental pollution, human casualties, and reputation losses. In order to support the vessel's captain during the maneuver, local experienced maritime pilots stay on board coordinating the ship navigation while in restricted waters. Aiming to assess the main factors contributing to human errors in pilot-assisted harbor ship maneuvers, this work proposes a Bayesian network model for human reliability analysis (HRA), supported by a prospective human performance model for quantification. The novelty of this work resides into two aspects: (a) incorporation of harbor specific conditions for maritime navigation HRA, including the performance of ship's crew and maritime pilots and (b) the use of a prospective human performance model as an alternative to expert's opinion for quantification purposes. To illustrate the usage of the proposed methodology, this paper presents an analysis of the route keeping task along waterways, starting from the quantification of human error probabilities (HEP) and including the ranking of the main performance shaping factors that contribute to the HEP.


In this content analysis of state U.S. History and Civics standards, we compared the treatment of immigration across three types of states with differing immigration demographics. Analyzing standards from 18 states from a critical race methodology perspective, our findings indicated three sets of tensions: a unified American story versus local specificity, immigration as a historical versus civic issue, and favorable versus unfavorable tenor of the standards. Through this project, we were able to draw some initial conclusions about the relationship between states' immigration demographics and social studies standards. Thus, this study builds on the small but growing new gateway state literature and on the content analysis literature related to immigration and the formal social studies curriculum.


Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films have been thermally annealed at temperatures in the range 220-270 °C for 24-48 h either under intense visible light illumination (4-16 W/cm2) or in the dark. After each annealing, the hydrogen-concentration profile was measured with Rutherford-backscattering-spectrometry and elastic-recoil-detection-analysis ion-beam analysis methods. A model is proposed which shows that, in good agreement with our results, the hydrogen-diffusion constant DH is proportional to the power of illumination and also proportional to the loosely bonded hydrogen concentration. Other consequences of the model are discussed. © 1994 The American Physical Society.


Picturebook art fantasies about the life and work of famous artists are usually studied from an art education perspective, but they are also interesting from the point of view of life writing, because of their hybridity on three levels: the combination of fact and fiction, the synergy between text and images and their attractiveness for both child and adult readers. In this article two picturebooks are examined on this threefold hybridity, one about Wassily Kandinsky and one about Piet Mondrian. Both books are part of a series of picturebooks, initiated by the Municipal Museum in The Hague and Dutch children's book publisher Leopold. It is argued that the postmodern experimentation with the form which is characteristic of life narratives for adults, can also be observed in children's literature. The biographies of Kandinsky and Mondrian make use of novelistic techniques and the interplay between words and images to tell about the life and work of these two visual artists. The many allusions in text and images to the art and the poetics of the two painters show that these picturebooks are a challenging form of life writing for both adults and children.


We introduce the task of Visual Dialog, which requires an AI agent to hold a meaningful dialog with humans in natural, conversational language about visual content. Specifically, given an image, a dialog history, and a question about the image, the agent has to ground the question in image, infer context from history, and answer the question accurately. Visual Dialog is disentangled enough from a specific downstream task so as to serve as a general test of machine intelligence, while being grounded in vision enough to allow objective evaluation of individual responses and benchmark progress. We develop a novel two-person chat data-collection protocol to curate a large-scale Visual Dialog dataset (VisDial). VisDial contains 1 dialog (10 question-answer pairs) on ~140k images from the COCO dataset, with a total of ~1.4M dialog question-answer pairs. We introduce a family of neural encoder-decoder models for Visual Dialog with 3 encoders (Late Fusion, Hierarchical Recurrent Encoder and Memory Network) and 2 decoders (generative and discriminative), which outperform a number of sophisticated baselines. We propose a retrieval-based evaluation protocol for Visual Dialog where the AI agent is asked to sort a set of candidate answers and evaluated on metrics such as mean-reciprocal-rank of human response. We quantify gap between machine and human performance on the Visual Dialog task via human studies. Our dataset, code, and trained models will be released publicly at https://visualdialog.org. Putting it all together, we demonstrate the first visual chatbot!.


Cases in a routine (police) database and in an at-scene in-depth database were used to try to identify a central story for cyclist accidents. Four types of event accounted for 28 of the 37 fatal cases. These four types were same direction, motor vehicle into rear of cycle; same direction, side swipe; cyclist turned or swerved unexpectedly into path of motor vehicle; and cyclist emerged unexpectedly into path of vehicle from an intersection or footway.


Recent literatures on entrepreneurship and economic growth estimate the empirical relationships between the following pairs of variables: (1) institutions and entrepreneurial activity; (2) institutions and economic growth; and (3) entrepreneurship and economic growth. This paper revisits each of these relationships using US state-level real GDP per capita, the Economic Freedom of North America index, and the state-level productive and unproductive entrepreneurship scores provided by Sobel (2008). We examine whether productive (unproductive) entrepreneurial activity is associated with higher (lower) levels or growth rates of income. Additionally, we aim to "connect the dots" by asking whether higher institutional quality (i.e., greater economic freedom) affects income primarily through its effects on entrepreneurial activity. We argue that, if this is true, economic freedom should be a good instrument for entrepreneurship in an income regression.


Abstract. The 2006 Canadian Arctic ACE (Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) Validation Campaign collected measurements at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL, 86.42° W, 80.05° N, 610 m a.s.l.) at Eureka, Canada from 17 February to 31 March 2006. Two of the ten instruments involved in the campaign, both Fourier transform spectrometers (FTSs), were operated simultaneously, recording atmospheric solar absorption spectra. The first instrument was an ABB Bomem DA8 high-resolution infrared FTS. The second instrument was the Portable Atmospheric Research Interferometric Spectrometer for the Infrared (PARIS-IR), the ground-based version of the satellite-borne FTS on the ACE satellite (ACE-FTS). From the measurements collected by these two ground-based instruments, total column densities of seven stratospheric trace gases (O 3 , HCl, ClONO 2 , HF, HNO 3 , NO 2 , and NO) were retrieved using the optimal estimation method and these results were compared. Since the two instruments sampled the same portions of atmosphere by synchronizing observations during the campaign and used consistent retrieval parameters, the biases in retrieved columns from the two spectrometers represent the instrumental differences. Mean differences in total column densities of O 3 , HCl, ClONO 2 , HF, HNO 3 , and NO 2 from the observations between PARIS-IR and the DA8 FTS are 2.8 %, −3.2 %, −4.3 %, −1.5 %, −1.9 %, and −0.1 %, respectively. Partial column results from the ground-based spectrometers were also compared with partial columns derived from ACE-FTS version 2.2 (including updates for O 3 ) profiles. Mean differences in partial column densities of O 3 , HCl, ClONO 2 , HF, HNO 3 , NO 2 , and NO from the measurements between ACE-FTS and the DA8 FTS are −5.9 %, −8.5 %, −11.8 %, −0.9 %, −6.6 %, −21.6 % and −7.6 % respectively. Mean differences in partial column densities of O 3 , HCl, ClONO 2 , HF, HNO 3 , NO 2 from the measurements between ACE-FTS and the PARIS-IR are −5.2 %, −4.6 %, −2.3 %, −4.7 %, 5.7 % and −11.9 %, respectively. This work provides further evidence of the reliability of ACE-FTS measurements from the first three years of on-orbit observations. Column densities of O 3 , HCl, ClONO 2 , and HNO 3 from the three FTSs were normalized with respect to HF and used to compare the time evolution of the chemical constituents in the atmosphere over Eureka during spring 2006.


Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the studies about workaround behavior in the Information Systems (IS) area, addressing its positive and negative aspects and raising the key related issues.

Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was conducted to verify how workaround behavior has been approached in IS studies. A qualitative method was adopted and implemented in two stages: selection of articles from the time period 2007-2017 in the databases Web of Science, ScienceDirect and Scopus and analysis of the selected articles.

Findings
The results showed that many studies have been concerned with identifying the principal reasons for the manifestation of workaround behavior and the measures taken to reduce its impacts. Many studies from international journals examined the implementation of an ERP along with the workaround behavior. The need to expand the national studies on workaround behavior is emphasized, because the majority of the identified studies are international.

Research limitations/implications
The key limitation is related to the period of analysis, because only articles published since 2007 were selected.

Practical implications
This paper contributes to both theory and practice, bringing relevant concepts about workaround behavior, and corroborating the importance of the studies on workaround in the IS area. The literature review of the 20 articles analyzed reveals the main features in each article, such as theoretical and methodological aspects that support the research. Based on this analysis, a conceptual map was developed presenting the most relevant points about workaround behavior, where the causes, the negative and positive consequences, the types of solutions and the organizational and individual impacts are presented.

Originality/value
Research into workaround behavior has increased in recent years, however very few studies have been conducted in Brazil. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no articles regarding Brazil and this subject were published between 2007 and 2017. Thus, this paper seeks to redress this imbalance.


Until the mid-1980s, AI researchers assumed that an intelligent system doing high-level reasoning was necessary for the coupling of perception and action. In this traditional model, cognition mediates between perception and plans of action. Realizing that this core AI, as it was known, was illusory, Rodney A. Brooks turned the field of AI on its head by introducing the behavior-based approach to robotics. The cornerstone of behavior-based robotics is the realization that the coupling of perception and action gives rise to all the power of intelligence and that cognition is only in the eye of an observer. Behavior-based robotics has been the basis of successful applications in entertainment, service industries, agriculture, mining, and the home. It has given rise to both autonomous mobile robots and more recent humanoid robots such as Brooks' Cog. This book represents Brooks' initial formulation of and contributions to the development of the behavior-based approach to robotics. It presents all of the key philosophical and technical ideas that put this "bottom-up" approach at the forefront of current research in not only AI but all of cognitive science.


The master thesis deals with combined heat and power (CHP) production using the combined cycle gas turbine power plant (CCGT). First the different CHP technologies were described and the main characteristics are pointed out. The thesis is focused on analysis of CHP CCGT system with extraction-condensing steam turbine to provide process heat which is used for district heating. According to actual data on heat demand and also to existing heat production systems a CHP CCGT system was designed and modelled. The model was developed by introducing the linear system of equations of mass and heat balances which has been solved numerically. After obtaining the steady-state solution of the system an off-design scheme has also been developed that enables simulating of the part-load operation conditions. It has been shown that the approach provides a good tool to analyze and study the CHP CCGT system in terms to calculate the most important parameters that should be used for construction.


Enzymatic and nonenzymatic browning reactions of amino acids and proteins with carbohydrates, oxidized lipids, and oxidized phenols cause deterioration of food during storage and processing. The loss in nutritional quality and potentially in safety is attributed to destruction of essential amino acids, decrease in digestibility, inhibition of proteolytic and glycolytic enzymes, interaction with metal ions, and formation of antinutritional and toxic compounds. Studies in this area include influence of damage to essential amino acids on nutrition and food safety, nutritional damage as a function of processing conditions, and simultaneous formation of deleterious and beneficial compounds. These compounds include kidney-damaging Maillard reaction products, mutagens, carcinogens, antimutagens, antioxidants, antibiotics, and antiallergens. This overview covers the formation, nutrition, and safety of glycated proteins, characterized browning products, and heterocyclic amines. Possible approaches to inhibiting browning reactions and preventing adverse effects of browning during food processing and food consumption, including protection against adverse effects of heterocyclic amines by N-acetylcysteine, caffeine, chlorophyll, conjugated linoleic acid, lignin, and tea extracts, are also described. This research subject covers a complex relationship of the chemistry, biology, and pathology of browning products and the impact on human nutrition and health. Future study should differentiate antinutritional and toxicological relationships, define individual and combined potencies of browning products, and develop means to prevent the formation and to minimize the adverse manifestations of the most antinutritional and toxic compounds. Such studies should lead to better and safer foods and improved human health.


Estimation of actual evapotranspiration (ET) and diagnosis of its controlling factors contribute to addressing water scarcity challenges in arid regions. For detecting impacts of vegetation, precipitation, and evaporation capacity on ET, a monthly ET model was proposed on the basis of the three factors and applied in the upstream and midstream of the Heihe River basin, northwest China, an arid and semi-arid basin. Parameter sensitivity analysis, partial correlation analysis, and factor analysis were used to assess the controlling factors of ET. Results demonstrated that the proposed ET model can reconstruct monthly ET processes with satisfying performances and precipitation, evaporation capacity and vegetation are the controlling factors of ET in the study areas. The proposed ET model could be applicable with the three controlling factors to estimate ET in arid regions.