Summary Background: Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1), also called Wermer syndrome, is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by tumors of the parathyroid glands, the anterior pituitary, and the endocrine pancreas. Case Report: Here, we report a case of MEN1. Our patient was a 44-year-old woman who manifested typical features of MEN1, including insulinoma, pituitary tumors, and parathyroidoma, and exhibited multiple lipomas and a gastrinoma with duodenal ulcers. She was admitted to our hospital because of recurrent massive bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract and hypoglycemia. The first operation for pituitary tumors was performed when she was 40 years old. According to these examinations and her clinical course, the patient was diagnosed with insulinoma and gastrinoma. She subsequently underwent surgery for the pancreatic tumors. The majority of these tumor cells were immunohistochemically positive for insulin and negative for glucagon. Conclusions: This case suggests that multiple lipomas, insulinoma and gastrinoma may provide clues for a diagnosis of MEN1.


We introduce TensorFlow Agents, an efficient infrastructure paradigm for building parallel reinforcement learning algorithms in TensorFlow. We simulate multiple environments in parallel, and group them to perform the neural network computation on a batch rather than individual observations. This allows the TensorFlow execution engine to parallelize computation, without the need for manual synchronization. Environments are stepped in separate Python processes to progress them in parallel without interference of the global interpreter lock. As part of this project, we introduce BatchPPO, an efficient implementation of the proximal policy optimization algorithm. By open sourcing TensorFlow Agents, we hope to provide a flexible starting point for future projects that accelerates future research in the field.


The development of the bonding phase within reduced ironsand-coal compacts was studied to investigate the reduction of ironsand-coal compacts and to understand how the oxide bonding phase develops during reduction. Ironsand ore and sub-bituminous coal were mixed and pressed into compacts which were reduced by heating in a thermogravimetric furnace (TGA) to 1 350°C under argon. The reduced compacts were characterised in terms of their composition, strength and microstructure. The strength in the reduced compacts is brought about by slag bonding between the relict ironsand particles. Formation of a metallic network was limited, and seen only in relatively few samples. As the ironsand particles reduce, oxides surrounding the sponge iron structure form a slag. Slags from different particles then join to form a slag network between the particles. The formation of a slag and the bonding between the particles is aided by inherent silica and added lime. Reducing the spacing between ironsand particles in the green compacts was found to be important in increasing inter-particle bonding. Increasing the coal-iron ratio in the compacts increased the spacing and decreased the bonding. Decreasing the ironsand particle size decreased the spacing between ironsand particles, and increased the bonding in the reduced compacts.


Large fiscal challenges will confront OECD governments for some time to come. The economic crisis that began in 2008 caused deficits to surge, and fiscal imbalances were swollen further by stimulus measures and bank rescue operations. Together, these forces led to ballooning public indebtedness, the general government public debt-GDP ratio rising from under 80% of GDP in 2008 to almost 100% of GDP in 2010. In many countries, arresting the rise in debt and returning debt stocks to sustainable levels will require large and durable improvements in budget balances. With the economic recovery weak and hesitant, growing out of the fiscal problems is unlikely to be a durable solution, putting the onus in pursuing fiscal consolidation through spending cuts and revenue-raising measures. The size of the adjustment in many countries means that consolidation will continue to affect growth and also affect large spending areas, as revealed by fiscal consolidation intentions. However, there are a number of options that will have less detrimental impact, such as increasing spending efficiency and reforming unsustainable pension systems. Furthermore, reviews of tax and benefit systems could help identify how policy objectives could be achieved at lower cost and where support is less justified.


The Cosmic Ray Subsystem aboard Voyager 2 measured large fluxes of trapped energetic
protons and electrons in the inner magnetosphere of Neptune during the 1989 flyby; the
protons above 1.9 MeV observed by the Low Energy Telescopes are analyzed in this thesis.
Proton events are extracted from pulse-height distributions dominated by low-energy electron
pileup noise, and fluxes are calculated with corrections for discriminator deadtime. Theoretical
models for satellite absorption of charged particles are adapted to the large gyroradii of
energetic protons, and model magnetospheres are constructed that involve diffusion of particles
in the presence of this absorption; parameters of these model magnetospheres are
adjusted to reproduce the observations. The inward-diffusing proton flux is limited by
absorption due to the moon 1989N1 (Proteus), with absorption at high magnetic latitudes
(whence high Ls) proving to be most important. The proton radial diffusion coefficient is an
order of magnitude less than that inferred elsewhere for the electrons; this prevents protons
from diffusing inward past 1989N1 before they are absorbed, and in fact the proton flux
returns to background levels within a limit well outside the minimum L-shell of 1989N1,
while electrons can diffuse past this satellite so that their flux recovers before they are
absorbed by the other moons and rings closer to the planet. The rate of proton radial
diffusion, in comparison with that for electrons, is consistent with the diffusion being driven
by electric fields from wind fluctuations in the ionosphere of Neptune. Radial diffusion
alone, however, produces too much pitch-angle anisotropy as particles with mild anisotropy
in the outer magnetosphere are transported inward, and pitch-angle diffusion must be invoked
to reduce the excess anisotropy and reproduce the observations. The pitch-angle distributions
at different Ls are consistent with the diffusion coefficient for this process being comparable
in magnitude to that for radial diffusion inside L of about 6.8, though still much less than the
strong-diffusion limit, and negligible outside that L.


Because of their high mechanical strength, excellent corrosion resistance and good weldability, duplex stainless steels are mostly used in industries such as oil, chemistry, petrochemistry, food and occasionally used in medical industry. These properties have enabled us to use duplex stainless steels in biomedical applications recently. Accordingly, duplex stainless steel material can be highly important to examine the toxic effect on the cells. In this study, the effect of the AISI 2205 duplex stainless steels which are joined by CO2 laser beam welding on viability of L929 fibroblast cells has been studied in vitro for the first time. For this aim, the cells were kept in DMEM/F-12 (Thermofisher Scientific 31331-028) medium for 7 days. The viability study was experimentally studied using the MTT (Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide) method for 7 days. The cell viability of the laser beam welded sample has been detected to be higher than that of the base metal and the control based on 7th day data. According to the obtained results, it was revealed that laser beam welded and base metal AISI 2205 duplex stainless steel has been found suitable to study for biomedical applications. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.24.2.18006


Preservation of natural tooth in dental arch is ultimate objective of dental treatment. After endodontic treatment, tooth becomes brittle and prone to fracture which results in reduction of strength of crown causing fracture of cusp or sometimes weakness of the roots. In order to strengthen crown some anchorage within teeth has to be made and that anchorage and support is gained by rigid structure which is known as post. This article focuses on recent advances in post systems and their application, merits and demerits in endodontics.


The distribution function of the electrons produced in the interaction between an intense electromagnetic wave and a neutral gas is derived and is shown to be nonequilibrium and anisotropic. By assuming that the time scale of gas ionization is much greater than the field period, it is shown that the electron distribution function formed in microwave and optical discharges has sharp anisotropy affecting the discharge plasma. The anisotropy stimulated by the inequality of average longitudinal and transverse energy of electrons is investigated. Furthermore, the parametric instability stimulated by scattering of incident wave on the density oscillation of plasma under the positive slope of EDF with respect to velocity is studied.


In March 2011, the German sentinel surveillance system for influenza (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Influenza (AGI)) was complemented by an Internet-based syndromic monitoring system (GrippeWeb) for acute respiratory infections (ARI) and influenza-like-illness (ILI). To assess representativeness of GrippeWeb participants, key demographic variables and lifetime prevalence of asthma and diabetes were compared with data from the general population of Germany. To 'validate' GrippeWeb, we compared weekly ARI and medically attended ARI (MAARI) rates, generated between weeks 35/2011 and 34/2012, with AGI MAARI rates and overlaid GrippeWeb ILI rates with the number of positive influenza samples obtained by the AGI. GrippeWeb had high weekly participation rates (62% of participants reported in ≥90% of possible weeks). Although it varied by age group, participants reported a mean of between 1.3 and 6.0 ARI episodes and between 0.1 and 2.4 ILI episodes during the study year. Estimated GrippeWeb MAARI incidence was very similar to the AGI MAARI incidence and influenza circulation was reflected well in the GrippeWeb ILI rates. GrippeWeb became a reliable monitoring system shortly after implementation, capturing the burden of ARI and ILI at general population level. The high degree of agreement between GrippeWeb's and AGI's MAARI data lends support to the validity of both systems. .


Institutional investors such as pension funds or insurance companies commonly invest in the unsecuritized and securitized real estate market. We investigate how institutional investor sentiment in the inefficient commercial real estate market affects institutional trading behavior in the REIT market and subsequently asset pricing. In particular, we test two alternative theories flight to liquidity and style investing theory to explain the sentimentinduced trading behavior of institutional investors in the REIT market for the pre-crisis (2002-2006), crisis (2007-2009) and post-crisis (2010-2012) period. We find that the applicability of either theory depends on economic conditions. In the pre-crisis period institutional investors switched capital in and out of REITs based on their sentiment in the private market (style investing). However, in the crisis period institutional investors switched capital from the illiquid private market to the more liquid REIT market (flight to liquidity). The flight to liquid REITs continues into the post-crisis to a lesser extent and suggests that the financial crisis has changed institutional investment behavior. Our findings hold across different groups of REITs (e.g. high and low institutional ownership, S&P and non-S&P REITs) and property types. We also find that institutional real estate investor sentiment introduces a non-fundamental component into REIT pricing.


The ultimate reference book; for analog design engineers who don't like to read! Published: March 2012. Arthur Kay's exciting new publication is a must have for practicing, professional electrical engineers. This comprehensive guide shows engineers how to design amplifiers and associated electronics to minimize noise, providing tricks, rules-of-thumb, and analysis to create successful low noise circuits. Forget the classical textbook traps of equations, virtual grounds, and a lot of double-speak, the novel but educational presentation used here uses definition-by -example and straight-forward analysis. This is the ultimate reference book for engineers who don't have the time to read, since the concepts are presented in detailed pictures and then repeated in the text for those who like both. Operational amplifiers play a vital role in modern electronics design. Today, op amps serve as the interfaces between the digital world of microprocessors, microcontrollers, and other digital circuits and the analog "real world". If an analog signal must be amplified, conditioned, filtered, or converted to be used by a digital system, an op amp is almost always involved. Noise is an unwanted signal that will corrupt or distort the desired signal, and veteran engineers as well as new college graduates are faced with a lack of experience in noise analysis for operational amplifiers. Using his decades of experience, the author has created a publication that is packed with essential information, while still being accessible to all readers. * Clear, definition-by-example presentation allows for immediate use of techniques introduced; * Tricks and rules-of-thumb, derived from author's decades of experience; * Extreme use of figures for rapid absorption of concepts; * Concise text explains the key points in all figures; * Accessible to all types of readers; * Analysis and design of low-noise circuits using op amps, including design tradeoffs for low-noise; * Desktop reference for designing low-noise op amp circuits for novice to experienced engineers; * Accurate measurement and prediction of intrinsic noise levels, using analysis by hand and SPICE simulation. Published: July 2011


Fifty years ago John Willis wrote Two Approaches to the Conflict of Laws: A Comparative Study of the English Law and the Restatement of the American Law Institute. There he described two different — perhaps even opposed — conceptions of the problem posed by cases involving geographically complex facts. It is a goal of this article to assess the status and the vices and virtues of those two approaches in Canada today. Such a task is not a mere updating of Willis' piece, though that alone might be a useful exercise. In the first place, Willis' analysis takes place largely at the level of conflict-of-laws theory. He is concerned with the way in which one's understanding of the jurisprudential nature of conflict of laws affects one's approach. Of such matters there is virtually no discussion in Canadian courts today. For instance, argument over whether a Canadian conflict of laws is based on a vested rights theory or a local law theory rarely occurs today in either courtroom or classroom. But the disputes over theory of the 1930s are now reflected in disputes over judicial methodology: What facts are relevant to a choice-of-law decision? What questions should be asked and in what order? What sort of arguments can be made and what authorities should be appealed to? In addition to analyzing the state of Willis' two approaches today I want to comment on why the terms of the debate between those approaches have become so predictable.


Recent empirical studies have found significant evidence of departures from competition in the input side of the bread, breakfast cereal and margarine end-product markets. In this study we specify a general duality model of profit maximisation that allows for imperfect competition in the input and output markets of the grains and oilseeds industries. The model allows for variable-proportions technologies and can be regarded as a generalisation of several models appearing in the agricultural economics and industrial organisation literatures. Aggregate Australian data are used to implement the model for thirteen grains and oilseeds products handled by seven groups of agents. The model is estimated in a Bayesian framework. Results are reported in terms of (characteristics of) estimated probability distributions for demand and supply elasticities and indexes of market power.


Higher education institutions are faced with many challenges in fulfilling their core mandate of teaching, research and community engagement. To achieve this, strong, sound and visionary institutional leadership is required, which should be embedded in sound corporate governance practices. The study aims to ascertain what registrars' views on the effectiveness and value added by current corporate governance practices of higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa are. This was done through a literature review and supported by empirical evidence obtained from questionnaires addressed to registrars of public HEIs in South Africa, as well as follow up interviews held with participants. The study found strong support for sound corporate governance practices at HEIs in South Africa, and also indicates that these institutions are complying with and adhering to this, although room for improvement exists in certain areas. The value added to and contributions to corporate governance effectiveness by student representative council members and institutional forums were also investigated, and it was found that the evolving corporate governance role of the registrar, over and above the traditional academic and student affairs responsibilities, enjoyed much support. Additional reporting responsibilities, in accordance with current corporate governance developments, were identified as areas not meeting expectations.


When it comes to teaching and interacting with students, having experience and knowledge about different cultures and cultural backgrounds can help teachers navigate through cultural hurdles in their classroom. To seek insight on how teachers' knowledge of their students' cultures impacts their teaching and classroom adaptation, this study used surveys, and one-on-one interviews similar to a previous study done by Lindquist (2016). This study had twelve participants, all of which are in or were in an M.A. TESL program and taught as a graduate assistant in the Intensive English Center (IEC), in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program or helped students with their writing as part of their graduate assistantship (GA). The participants had either previously taken the optional, for-credit ESL and Culture course, or were currently enrolled, or did not take the course. The participants have various cultural backgrounds, and previous teaching experience. An analysis of the surveys and interviews revealed common themes such as beliefs about culture and teaching ESL students, pedagogical challenges, and teachers' beliefs on students adapting to U.S. culture. Similar to Lindquist's (2016) study, the participants that had taken the ESL and Culture course used generalizations less, and were more confident in their teaching strategies. Those that did not take the course used more generalizations, and scored themselves lower on the self-assessment of cultural knowledge.


Composite materials are widely recognized as a resource for repairing damaged pipelines. The fibers in conventional composite repair systems typically incorporate E-glass and carbon materials. To provide greater levels of reinforcement a system was developed that incorporates steel half shells and an E-glass composite repair system. In comparison with other competing composite technologies, the hybrid system has a significant capacity to reduce strain in corroded pipeline to a level that has not been seen previously. Specifically, the hybrid system was used to reinforce a pipe sample having 75% corrosion subjected to cyclic pressure at 36% SMYS. This sample cycled 767,816 times before a leak failure developed. Furthermore, recent testing has demonstrated that the hybrid system actually places the pipeline in compression during installation. This paper will provide results on a series of specifically-designed tests to evaluate the performance of the hybrid system and the implications in relation to the service of actual pipelines.Copyright © 2012 by ASME


In the early nineteenth century, both general literary periodicals and the first American legal journals often featured reviews of new volumes of U.S. Supreme Court and state court opinions, suggesting their importance not only to lawyers seeking the latest cases, but to members of the public. The reviews contributed to public discourse through comments on issues raised in the cases and the quality of the reporting, and were valued as forums for commentary on the law and its role in American society, particularly during debates on codification and the future of the common law in the 1820s. James Kent saw the reports as worthy of study by scholars of taste and literature, or to be read for their drama and displays of great feeling. By the 1840s fewer lengthy reviews of reports were published in the journals, but shorter reviews continued in the years prior to and after the Civil War; they largely disappeared with the emergence of West's National Reporter System and other privately published reporters in the 1880s. This paper examines role and influences of the reviews in earlier decades of the century.


Three quarters of American children have been exposed to neighborhood violence in their lifetimes. Most of the existing research has concluded that exposure to violence leads to restricted emotional development, aggressive behavior and poor school outcomes. However, this literature fails to account for the fact that children exposed to neighborhood violence are highly disadvantaged in other ways: they are more likely to be black, poor and have poorly educated parents. As such, it is not clear whether exposure to violence or the underlying measures of disadvantage are responsible for the poor child outcomes observed. Using individual survey data on urban youth and their families from Los Angeles, we find that the most violent neighborhoods are also characterized by the highest degree of disadvantage: greatest poverty, highest unemployment, least education. And while living in a violent neighborhood increases the probability of exposure to violence, within violent neighborhoods those personally exposed to street violence are significantly more disadvantaged and are more likely to associate with violent peers than their unexposed neighbors. Once we control for observed and unobserved family disadvantage, the impact of violence declines for some child outcomes, suggesting that underlying disadvantage explains some of the negative outcomes observed, but not all - it is still the case that associating with violent peers is negatively correlated with cognitive test scores. In addition, when we control for underlying differences across families, the relationship between violence and internalizing behavioral problems appears stronger.


Wireless sensor network-based (WSN-based) applications need an efficient and reliable data dissemination service to facilitate maintenance, management and data distribution tasks. As WSNs nowadays are becoming pervasive and data intensive, bulk data dissemination protocols have been extensively studied recently. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the state-of-the-art bulk data dissemination protocols. The large number of papers available in the literature propose various techniques to optimize the dissemination protocols. Different from the existing survey works which separately explores the building blocks of dissemination, our work categorizes the literature according to the optimization purposes: Reliability, Scalability and Transmission/Energy efficiency. By summarizing and reviewing the key insights and techniques, we further discuss on the future directions for each category. Our survey helps unveil three key findings for future direction: (1) The recent advances in wireless communications (e.g., study on cross-technology interference, error estimating codes, constructive interference, capture effect) can be potentially exploited to support further optimization on the reliability and energy efficiency of dissemination protocols; (2) Dissemination in multi-channel, multi-task and opportunistic networks requires more efforts to fully exploit the spatial-temporal network resources to enhance the data propagation; (3) Since many designs incur changes on MAC layer protocols, the co-existence of dissemination with other network protocols is another problem left to be addressed.


In the wake of the financial crisis output fell dramatically while inflation remained above its target and productivity collapsed relative to its previous trend. The fall in productivity relative to trend was particularly pronounced within the service sector, and then most particularly in certain subsectors such as 'Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities'. Given the weight of services in the economy – 75% in GDP and 50% in the CPI – it would seem that understanding how this sector works is crucial if we are to understand how the economy as a whole responds to shocks. But our standard macroeconomic models are not well suited to analysing this sector. In this paper, we try to address these deficiencies by modelling better the service sector and then examine the implications of trying to take certain features of the service sector into account. In order to do this, we first embarked on a series of structured visits to a set of firms that span the service sector. The motivation for doing this was that we could use our findings from these visits to get a better feel for how service sector firms operate and, so, to be able to construct a model of a 'typical' service sector firm. We then build a model taking into account what we found from the visits and examined the effects of demand shocks within the model. We find that the model can explain some of the qualitative movements in productivity seen in response to the financial crisis.


In this paper a hybrid optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) over wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) network is proposed to support large number of subscribers. The system combines two different techniques, namely OCDMA and WDM for supporting many subscribers simultaneously. We used modified double weight (MDW) codes as a signature address in designing the system because this code can accommodate more number of simultaneous active users under considerable standard bit error rate (e.g. ≤ 10-9). The induced MDW code for hybrid system can eliminate multiuser interference fully and increase the bit-error-rate performance compared to other codes at the same time. We ascertained by simulation results that the proposed scheme provides very good performance and enhance the network capability. Therefore, this system can be considered as a promising solution for the next generation optical access network.


The thesis examines the nature of the organization, both as a whole and as a stage set up for the
members to interact. Chapter One considers why and how an organization as a whole, represented by
its name, holds reputation, like a natural person, even thought it, unlike the latter, has no fixed self, or
"type" as called in economics. The chapter finds that having names hold reputations improves the
economic efficiency; it also discovers two mechanisms that drive organizational reputation. Chapter
Two considers the optimal allocation of ownership of physical capital. The effect of the allocation on
control receives little attention in the literature and is the focus of the chapter. Control means here to
affect the project choice of the agent, while incentive means the choice of ex ante human capital
investment and ex post effort. The chapter finds that the principal ownership improves control, yet
reduces incentive of the agent, compared to the agent ownership; thus the former, called "integration",
happens iff the benefit of coordination outweighs the loss in incentive. Chapter Three provides a new
angle of delineating the boundary of the firm, by the allocation of the liability to investors. In a Towsend
economy, it examine all modes of financing, each defined by the according allocation of the liability;
particularly, Financial intermediation (FI) is defined by the fact the monitor alone takes the liability. The
real race is between FI and Conglomeration, where the entrepreneurs and the monitor form a
conglomerate to take the liability. FI has "Number Advantage": when default is declared, the investors
audit one bank asset under FI but many entrepreneur projects under conglomerate. Conglomeration
has "Collateral Advantage": its collateral is the pool of the projects contains as a part the bank asset,
the collateral of FI. Both FI and Conglomeration implement the benefit of diversification; indeed, under
the perfect diversification, Conglomeration is as good as FI. The chapter thus challenges the view that
the benefit of diversification drives Financial Intermediation (FI), a view first established by Diamond
(1984) and well accepted by the literature.


The motivation for this paper is to evaluate the legacy of John B. Canning to financial accounting, particularly regarding his attempt to identify the qualitative, empirical property underlying the accounting elements for measurement of periodic profit. Canning's adaptation of Fisher's (1906) concept of individual real income to deduce enterprise earnings together with the underlying concept of services is explored for its impact on profit measurement. Fisher (1930b), in his review of Canning's book, provides a clear description of profit as an 'adjusted cash flow'. In endorsing this approach Canning (1933) also, in effect, endorses much to be found in conventional accounts. Canning's (1929a) break with economic value was announced in a paper which appeared before publication of his book, but which was written after the book was completed. Canning's experience casts light on the current debate on the conceptual framework definitions, and measurement in financial reporting. The interest and excitement his work continues to generate is an enduring contribution to accounting.


This paper discusses the ways in which employers view the contribution of work-based learning, how participating learners' experience the provision offered to them and how far work-based programmes can contribute to changing the discourse about learning from one of deficit to one of strengths. It draws on two complementary studies of work based learning undertaken by those regarded as having limited skills in order to discuss how the relationship between organisational culture, learner identity and learning opportunities impact in the workplace. It argues that encouraging learning that builds on employees' tacit knowledge and is shared vertically and horizontally across the workplace is likely to lead to increasing competence as it regards people as knowledge-rich rather than suffering from a skills-deficit. It suggests that learner identity is not static but is shaped by the interaction between the individual, the workplace culture and the activities in which people engage. It concludes that employers can influence the workplace culture positively as well as negatively and that it is in their own longer term interests to see the value of developing their employees capacities so that all can benefit from the new knowledge that is created.


China's effectiveness in population control can be credited to the direct line of command through party and administrative cadres that extends from the leadership in Beijing down to the production team in a distant rural commune. The reason that the administrative machine has devoted so much attention to population control is twofold: the perceived limits of the natural environment, as indicated by slowness of growth of food supplies, and the difficulty of arranging productive employment for the large cohorts of the 1960s. The employment problem is intensified by mechanization in the countryside, and applies especially to the increasing numbers of middle school graduates. Raising the capital that would employ the new entrants into the labor force productively involves undesired commitments for repayment if money is borrowed abroad and risks political tension if the exactions from the rural population go beyond a certain point. Among other potential sources of division is the ambition of the young generation to get ahead with work and careers, and their fear that too many of the limited number of places are being held by the old. The one-child family now being promoted would avoid repeating about the turn of the century the pressures to find jobs now being experienced. On the other hand it would make for a very awkward age distribution as the births of the 1960s appear as claimants for old age security about 2040.


What does it mean to be a citizen in a multicultural society? And what role must patriotism play in defining our relationship with our country and fellow citizens? In The Virtuous Citizen Tim Soutphommasane answers these questions with a critical defence of liberal nationalism. Considering a range of contemporary political debates from Europe, North America and Australia, over issues including multiculturalism, national history, civic education and immigration, Soutphommasane argues that a love of country should be valued alongside tolerance, mutual respect and public reasonableness as a civic virtue. A liberal form of patriotism, grounded in national identity, is, if anything, essential for political stability in a diverse society. This book is required reading not only for political theorists and philosophers but also for researchers and professionals in political science, sociology, history and public policy.


Introduction Vygotsky's (1930s) theoretical contributions to the development of curricula and teaching strategies are widely known among educational theorists. Vygotsky devised a sociocultural theory which subsequently influenced the development of the constructivist movement. Although Vygotsky's contributions to the field of education are apparent, what has not been specifically addressed is how the particulars of his theoretical framework helped shape the development of constructivist curricula. In short, how does his sociocultural theory connect with the schooling praxis of constructivism. Goals The purpose of this paper is to analyze Vygotsky's (1930s) sociocultural theory of learning with respect to how it relates to education. To do this, I deem it essential to examine how this theory of learning impacted the teaching strategies and curricula of the constructivist movement The conceptual content of this paper addresses the following primary educational query: With respect to the learning theory of constructivism how do students learn? To answer this query, I deem it essential to investigate how his approach was ultimately based on a theoretical framework because this phenomenon shapes the methodology of an educator's research and teaching. Objectives The objective is to describe how this approach was intrinsically shaped by a theoretical framework. This theoretical framework consists of the following interrelated procedural components: query, conceptual framework, philosophical assumptions, methodology, data, principles, techniques, and learning setting. That is, as a researcher of curricula and learning, Vygotsky ([1933] 1978) conceived these ideas and strained them through a procedure to form them, whereas practicing teachers tend to explicitly apply each educational theory's teaching implications to the classroom(1). Fortunately, Vygotsky taught in the classroom setting and conducted research, which probably gave him valuable insight as to how to connect educational research theory with practical application in the classroom. Teacher-Practitioner and Education Researcher Roles Although the teacher and researcher of learning both utilize theory, they do so in different ways. In general, the teacher, as a practitioner, primarily employs theory when constructing curricula and teaching strategies while the researcher primarily utilizes theory to test its efficacy in a student-learning setting, or to devise novel ones. Although these distinct roles exist, there is a general relationship between each theory of learning and the respective curricula and teaching strategies that distinct schools of educators employ. Those educators who adhere to behavioristic, cognitivistic, and positivistic theoretical frameworks tend to instruct their students in a teacher-centered mode, whereas those who adhere to constructivism, collectivistic, and thematic holistic theories tend to teach students in a collective learning environment. The teaching strategies and curricula that educators adopt implicitly reflect the learning theories which they advocate. Because teaching strategies and curricula are based on theories of learning, it is necessary to initially examine the explanation of Vygotsky and then, relate it to curricula instruction. Methodology of this Paper I interpreted Vygotsky's approach from the standpoint of an educational anthropologist. This perspective involves adopting the roles of an arm-chair researcher and a field-based classroom researcher. The duties of these roles comprise reviewing the literature, interpreting classroom lecture-notes, and employing past participant-observations of various classroom settings; that is, one who interprets student-teacher interactional-learning settings at the school site. Context of Limitations: Disclaimer My interpretation of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory is based on English translations of his work, and further upon the interpretations of his works by psychologists, such as Berk (1994), Tudge (1990), and Gallimore and Tharp (1990). …


Abstract Some of the more important processes leading to the development of primary igneous porosity due to the cooling and crystallization of magma are reviewed. A distinction is made between volcanic and plutonic rocks, and crystalline and granular volcanic material. Porosity in each rock type is classified according to a proposed effective length scale and geometry into diffusive (Class D) and macroscopic flow (Class F) features. Estimated ranges in values of porosity and permeability are given for a wide selection of igneous rock types, and comparison is made with permeability variations (Δk) derived for both the continental and oceanic crust. While fracture porosity is dominant in most crystalline materials, primary porosity development may play an important role in the final (total) porosity in igneous basement. Some types of primary porosity and permeability in igneous rocks will be strongly time- and scale-dependent due to thermal effects associated with the emplacement and cooling of magmas and volcanic material. Tectonic reworking of the primary petrophysical properties of basement-forming igneous rocks may be significant in the development of regions of anisotropy and enhanced porosity.


Social exclusion is considered critical for understanding poverty, livelihoods, inequality and political participation in rural India. Studies show how exclusion is produced through relations of power associated with gender, caste, religion and ethnicity. Studies also document how people confront their exclusion. We use insights from these studies – alongside science and technology studies – and rely on life history narratives of 'excluded' people from rural Tamil Nadu, to develop a new approach to agency as constituted by two contrasting ways of relating: control and care. These ways of relating are at once social and material. They entangle humans with each other and with material worlds of nature and technology, while being mediated by structures such as social norms and cultural values. Relations of control play a central role in constituting exclusionary forms of agency. In contrast, relations of care are central to the agency of resistance against exclusion and of livelihood-building by the 'excluded'. Relations can be transformed through agency in uncertain ways that are highly sensitive to trans-local contexts. We offer examples of policy-relevant questions that our approach can help to address for apprehending social exclusion in rural India and elsewhere.


Orientation programs have been used for years in facetoface universities and colleges to help prepare new students adjust to their new college community by providing key information about school resources and providing an opportunity socially interact with other students. These orientation efforts have been a vital component in increasing a students' likelihood of persisting in their program of study (i.e. not dropping out). Distance Education institutions (often with online course offerings) tend to have significantly higher drop out rates than their facetoface counterparts, and thus orienting new online students to their new online learning environment is a logical progression. However, orientation events need to be customized to the population if they are to have a significant impact on persistence. This study explores the perceptions that a group of online undergraduate students had of three different types of orientation events. These events included a traditional facetoface orientation session, a prerecorded course orientation video, and a live webinar. These perceptions were revealed in responses to an online survey and comments within and after the webinar. The study concludes with suggestions for further research and presents possible alternatives to the traditional methods of student orientation.


Transport properties of chemical species are required for many combustion models. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the significance of transport properties and their underlying molecular parameterizations for atmospheric pressure premixed laminar flames for three different fuels and two different approaches to transport property calculations. The analysis is performed at both the macroscopic level of Arrhenius A-factors and transport coefficients as well as at the molecular scale. First- and second-order sensitivities of reactant, intermediate, and product species concentrations, temperature, and flame velocity were calculated with respect to various parameters, all within the mixture approximation using ADIFOR 2.0, a software package that supports exact differentiation. Parameters considered were the binary diffusion coefficients, pure species thermal conductivity coefficients, and thermal diffusion ratios. The more fundamental molecular parameters: collision diameters, well depths, dipole moments, polarizabilities, and the rotational relaxation collision numbers were also considered.

Influential transport properties are found to be as important in flame modeling as influential reaction rates, and both should be taken into account when building chemical mechanisms. Transport parameter importance was found to vary according to the independent variable being considered and the flame type. Magnitudes of sensitivities appear to be more influenced by the underlying molecular parameters than the approach used to compute the transport properties. The number of significant sensitivities to transport parameters increases for the progression: flame temperature, flame velocity, reactant species, product species, and intermediate radical species. Many dependent variables have significant sensitivities to the pure species thermal conductivities of N2, O2, and the fuel. At the molecular level, large sensitivities to the collision diameters of several species are also observed, but significant sensitivity to well depths, although observed is less and more rare. Large sensitivities are not observed to the rotational relaxation collision number, the dipole moment, or to the molecular polarizability. Second-order sensitivities are significant for a number of dependent variables. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 538–553, 2005


English-speaking Germanists have shown considerably less interest in Gottfried Benn than their German colleagues. The latter have produced, in recent years, a multitude of critical works, approaching Benn from various angles and arriving at very different conclusions. Outside Germany, the picture is less variegated. The few voices to be heard seem to agree that there is, or may be, some value in Benn's poetic works, but little or none in his theoretical pronouncements. By offering a dissenting view, this thesis hopes to animate the discussion outside Germany and, with due respect, to expose and correct a number of misconceptions that have, in my view, tarnished Benn's image and brought upon him undeserved opprobrium. I shall endeavour to show that Benn's views on lyric poetry form a consistent and significant pattern of thought which defies the many suggestions we have heard of his fickleness, irrationalism, rigid formalism and all-pervading self-contradiction. A diachronic approach seemed best suited to counter the assumption of an essential stasis of Benn's views - an assumption that underlies tacitly most critical discussions of the various aspects of his alleged irrationalism. At the same time, this approach brings out the consistency with which Benn's views developed and crystallized. Three chapters of my thesis are devoted to tracing this development (chapters two, three and four): close interpretations of some critical and literary works, selected to represent the successive stages of Benn's evolving thought, are designed to illuminate and place into context Benn's understanding of the various issues he himself raised and elaborated over the years. From these analyses emerges a poetic theory identical with that presented at Marburg under the title 'Probleme der Lyrik' and discussed, for strategic purposes, in my first chapter. This rather extended discussion has three principal goals: First, to show that Benn, in order to be understood, must be approached as a poet and provocateur who aims at neither accuracy of quotation nor conceptual precision and consistency, but at effective formulation. Second, to present in a new light the salient aspects of Benn's poetological conception. The creative process is shown to be thought of as involving, at all stages, a close co-operation of intellectual and imaginative energies. It is suggested that the 'absolute poem' , as Benn envisages it, is a vehicle of depth and significance whose 'monologic' character activates and affects the reader; that poetic 'montage' aims at the production of an organic whole whose 'fascination' addresses itself to the reader's emotional and cognitive faculties; that the 'transcendence of the creative pleasure' is an aid in life. Third, to call attention to Benn's 'historical' stance which causes him to relate every important aspect of 'modern' poetry to the poetic tradition and invalidates the charge, levelled against Benn from various quarters, that he adopted a progressive pose to present an antiquated second-hand theory. Chapter five deals with the question of Benn's alleged self-contradiction. It argues that 'ambivalence' and 'tension', to be clearly distinguished from 'contradiction', are the principles informing the whole of his poetological thought, endowing it with perspective, depth, and ultimate credibility. In conclusion it is suggested that the generally accepted placement of Benn's poetology at the extreme 'absolute' , 'anti-human' end of the modernist spectrum and, consequently, our evaluation of its historical significance, need to be reconsidered.


Aim: To examine the relationship between the perception of same gender coaches by male and female Iranian skaters and their sport achievement motivation and commitment. Participants: Fifty two female and forty two male skaters, age range 13 to 18 years, from the province of Isfahan in Iran. Materials: The following 3 questionnaires, tested for reliability and validity for the Iranian population and adapted for Farsi, were used: i) Pelletier, Fortier, Vallerand and Briere (2001) Interpersonal Behaviour Scale to measure social support of trainers, ii) Gill and Deeter (1988) Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) to measure achievement motivation, and iii) Scanlan, Simons, Carpenter, Schmidt and Keeler (1993) Sport Commitment Model to measure sport commitment. Procedure: The questionnaires were administered to participants in person by the first author after training sessions in sport stadiums. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between perceived coaches' social support and sport achievement motivation and commitment for both male and female participants. However, on all of the above measures females scored significantly more positive ratings than their male counterparts. Results of regression analyses conducted separately for males and females showed that relatedness support is the strongest predictor for sport achievement motivation and commitment for males, whereas autonomy support was the strongest predictor for sport commitment amongst females. Implications: These findings are of particular interest in understanding the impact of perceived coaching support for young male and female athletes, especially if coached exclusively by the same gender.


Abstract Aldous, JWF, Akubat, I, Chrismas, BCR, Watkins, SL, Mauger, AR, Midgley, AW, Abt, G, and Taylor, L. The reliability and validity of a soccer-specific nonmotorised treadmill simulation (intermittent soccer performance test). J Strength Cond Res 28(7): 1971–1980, 2014—This study investigated the reliability and validity of a novel nonmotorised treadmill (NMT)-based soccer simulation using a novel activity category called a "variable run" to quantify fatigue during high-speed running. Twelve male University soccer players completed 3 familiarization sessions and 1 peak speed assessment before completing the intermittent soccer performance test (iSPT) twice. The 2 iSPTs were separated by 6–10 days. The total distance, sprint distance, and high-speed running distance (HSD) were 8,968 ± 430 m, 980 ± 75 m and 2,122 ± 140 m, respectively. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between repeated trials of the iSPT for all physiological and performance variables. Reliability measures between iSPT1 and iSPT2 showed good agreement (coefficient of variation: <4.6%; intraclass correlation coefficient: >0.80). Furthermore, the variable run phase showed HSD significantly decreased (p ⩽ 0.05) in the last 15 minutes (89 ± 6 m) compared with the first 15 minutes (85 ± 7 m), quantifying decrements in high-speed exercise compared with the previous literature. This study validates the iSPT as a NMT-based soccer simulation compared with the previous match-play data and is a reliable tool for assessing and monitoring physiological and performance variables in soccer players. The iSPT could be used in a number of ways including player rehabilitation, understanding the efficacy of nutritional interventions, and also the quantification of environmentally mediated decrements on soccer-specific performance.


Interpreting geologic information from seismic data involves the following: Data, their quality and signal-to-noise ratio; workstations, their manipulative capabilities; and people, their mental acumen and experience. Using all our high technology today and our capable workstations, it is easy for seismic interpreters to forget the basics of the reflection process. Reflections come from interfaces where the acoustic (and elastic) properties of the rocks change. Amplitude is thus a property of interfaces, more amplitude coming from more impedance contrast. We know this, of course, but we must think of the implications. A reservoir rock encased in some other rock, sand encased in shale for example, has an interface at the top (shale/sand) and an interface at the bottom (sand/shale). Thus there is a reflection at the reservoir top and a reflection at the reservoir bottom, as illustrated in Figure 1. Does every seismic interpreter realize this, and does every interpreter make full use of both these reflections?


Routine-biased technological change has emerged as a leading explanation for the differential wage growth of routine occupations, such as manufacturers or office clerks, relative to less routine occupations. Less clear, however, is how the effects of technological advancement on occupational wage trends vary across political-institutional context. This paper investigates the extent to which collective bargaining agreements and union coverage shape the relative wage growth of automatable occupations. Using data from the Luxembourg Income Study and the United States Current Population Survey, I measure the 'routine task intensity' of occupations across 15 OECD Member States and the 50 United States from the 1980s onward. Findings suggest that bargaining coverage is more consequential for the wage growth of high routine occupations relative to less routine occupations, and that high routine occupations lose coverage at a faster rate when bargaining coverage at the national level declines. As a result, declines in bargaining coverage within a country are associated with declining relative wage growth for automatable occupations. Estimates suggest that had union coverage in the United States not declined from 1984 levels, the earnings of high routine occupations might have grown at the same rate as low pay occupations between 1984 and 2015, rather than experiencing a relative wage decline. However, the findings also suggest that gains in the relative wage growth may increasingly come at the cost of reduced employment shares of automatable occupations.


Maintaining glycemic control in diabetes and prediabetes is necessary to prevent many health complications and mortality. Although different hypoglycemic drugs are used for this purpose, there is still a growing interest in the use of medicinal plants due to their low price, easy availability, and fewer or no side effects. Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lam.) is a medicinal plant that has been traditionally used in the management of diabetes. This review aims to present the existing literature published until February 2019 on the role of moringa leaves in glycemia and their physiological mechanisms. In the conducted studies, moringa leaves have shown to reduce glycemia, without causing any adverse effects. The proposed mechanisms for reducing glycemia include inhibition of α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase activities, increased glucose uptake in the muscles and liver, inhibition of glucose uptake from the intestine, decreased gluconeogenesis in the liver, and increased insulin secretion and sensitivity. However, these studies are limited in numbers and mostly conducted in animals, in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, long‐term human studies are required to determine the hypoglycemic effect of moringa leaves, their physiological mechanisms, active ingredients, and safety. Overall, this review provides evidence that moringa leaves have the possibility to be used as a glycemic control agent in diabetes and prediabetes.


OBJECTIVE To determine if shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) is associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) in a community setting. The pancreas is vulnerable to injury at SWL as evidenced by case studies; thus, concern exists for the development of DM after SWL. METHODS The Rochester Epidemiologic Project was used to identify all Olmsted County, Minnesota residents diagnosed with urolithiasis from 1985 to 2008. New-onset DM was identified by diagnostic codes and treatment with SWL by surgical codes. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the risk of DM after SWL therapy. RESULTS A total of 5287 incident cases of stone formation without pre-existing DM and with 3 months of follow-up. After an average follow-up of 8.7 years, 423 patients (8%) were treated with SWL and new-onset DM had developed in 743 (12%). The diagnosis of DM followed SWL in 77 patients. However, no association was evident between SWL and the development of DM before (hazard ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval 0.76-1.26) or after (hazard ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.71-1.18) SWL, controlling for age, sex, and obesity. CONCLUSION In the present large, population-based cohort, the long-term risk of developing DM was not increased in persons who underwent SWL to treat their kidney stones. UROLOGY 79: 298–303, 2012. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.


We present AssemblyHands, a large-scale benchmark dataset with accurate 3D hand pose annotations, to facilitate the study of egocentric activities with challenging hand-object interactions. The dataset includes synchronized egocentric and exocentric images sampled from the recent Assembly101 dataset, in which participants assemble and disassemble take-apart toys. To obtain high-quality 3D hand pose annotations for the egocentric images, we develop an efficient pipeline, where we use an initial set of manual annotations to train a model to automatically annotate a much larger dataset. Our annotation model uses multi-view feature fusion and an iterative refinement scheme, and achieves an average keypoint error of 4.20 mm, which is 85% lower than the error of the original annotations in Assembly101. AssemblyHands provides 3.0M annotated images, including 490K egocentric images, making it the largest existing benchmark dataset for egocentric 3D hand pose estimation. Using this data, we develop a strong single-view baseline of 3D hand pose estimation from egocentric images. Furthermore, we design a novel action classification task to evaluate predicted 3D hand poses. Our study shows that having higher-quality hand poses directly improves the ability to recognize actions.


The Bullard detachment fault, a regional low-angle normal fault exposed in the Harcuvar Mountains of west-central Arizona, separates lower-plate mylonitic rocks and chloritic breccia from upper-plate volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Areally extensive K-metasomatism has converted upper-plate mafic flows and felsic ash-flow tuffs into rocks with 8 to 12 wt. % K 2 O, 2 O, and a simple K-feldspar-hematite-quartz mineralogy. The secondary K-feldspar is very pure (Or 95 to 99.5), monoclinic, and structurally similar to orthoclase. Differences in δ 18 O values between secondary K-feldspar replacing sanidine phenocrysts (9‰ to 11‰) and K-feldspar replacing groundmass (11‰ to 14‰) in the tuffs imply differential O-exchange with migrating fluids. Whole-rock δ 18 O values for tuffs (10‰ to 14‰) and mafic flows (6‰ to 9‰) do not, therefore, represent primary igneous values. The rocks apparently became K-metasomatized and 18 O-enriched while interacting with low- to moderate-temperature, neutral to alkaline, oxidizing brines that accumulated in an extensional basin above the detachment fault. Cu-Au-Ag mineralization is concentrated in faults and fissures in metasomatized mafic flows above the detachment fault. Fluid-inclusion studies show that mineralizing fluids had minimum temperatures of 290 to 330 °C along the detachment fault, 240 to 290 °C in mafic flows above the detachment fault, and 100 to 130 °C in barite-calcite-Mn-oxide veins farther from the detachment fault. The predominant mineralizing fluids near the detachment fault and in the mafic flows were saline brines with 13 to 17 equivalent wt.% NaCI More dilute brines with 6 to 12 equivalent wt. % NaCI formed the barite-calcite-Mn-oxide veins. Inferred δ 18 O values of the mineralizing fluids range from +3‰ for high-temperature quartz-sulfide veins to -5‰ for lower-temperature barite-calcite-Mn-oxide veins. The high salinities, oxygen isotope compositions, and geologic setting indicate that the mineralizing fluids were basinal brines. The mineralizing fluids apparently evolved from early deep-level, reducing basin brines to a later stage marked by the influx of higher-level, oxidizing basin brines. Relatively minor amounts of less evolved, lower- 18 O meteoric water entered the system during the very late stages of mineralization. Paragenetic relations and geochemical and isotopic data indicate that mineralization was superimposed on previously K-metasomatized rocks. Mineralization and K-metasomatism may be indirectly linked, however, because both occurred during detachment faulting and both involved basinal brines. Specifically, K-metasomatism of upper-plate units liberated elements, such as Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Sr, and Na, that were incorporated into the mineralizing basin brines. Multiple fluid regimes during detachment faulting are indicated, because basin-brine-dominated mineralization overprinted lower-plate mylonitic rocks and breccia that had probably previously equilibrated with igneous or metamorphic fluids at deeper levels of the detachment system.


Previous research with classical instrumental musicians has highlighted the intrinsic benefits of teaching in addition to the perhaps more obvious benefits of securing a regular income. Yet, despite the presence of educational activities in the portfolio of most musicians, teaching remains on the periphery of many music performance programmes in universities and conservatoria. The hierarchical inference in musicians' self-report of success as a soloist, instrumentalist or teacher is perpetuated in the separation of education and performance students during their university education. This study investigated the effects of providing a positive engagement with teaching through a unit of study delivered to a combined cohort of 2nd-year undergraduate music education, composition and performance students. The unit was designed to increase students' understanding of the realities of professional practice, and to form productive and mutually beneficial partnerships: promoting a better appreciation of career development and self-identity during the formative years of tertiary study. Students' responses were gauged with the use of surveys implemented at the commencement and conclusion of the unit. Performance and composition majors reported a positive change in their perception of the role of teaching in their careers, and music education majors reflected a growing awareness of the benefits of working in partnership with performers. The study demonstrated that positive teaching experiences during the training of musicians increases the likelihood that students will plan a positive engagement with teaching.


A fatty acid from adipose tissue acts as a hormone to control systemic metabolism. Cao et al. identify the fatty acid palmitoleate as a hormone (lipokine) that coordinates changes in fatty acid metabolism in adipose tissue with systemic control of metabolism. The authors studied knockout mice that lack the fatty acid binding proteins aP2 and mal1 (FABP4 and FABP5), which act primarily in adipose tissue. Such mice are resistant to metabolic syndrome, a common disease cluster characterized by metabolic dysfunction in humans. The authors therefore explored how changes in fatty acids in adipose tissue could alter systemic metabolic function. Unsupervised cluster analysis of high-resolution lipidomic analysis of some 400 lipid species in the major insulin-responsive tissues showed that the mice lacking FABPs had a lipid profile in adipose tissue similar to that of lean, insulin-sensitive, wild-type animals, even when they were fed a diet high in fat. The adipose tissue in the knockout animals showed increased production of palmitoleate, which is a marker of de novo lipogenesis (conversion of glucose to fatty acids). Application of plasma lipids from the FABP–/– or control animals or of palmitoleate alone to cultured cells or tissues showed that palmitoleate could reproduce the systemic effects on liver and muscle and adipose cells seen in the knockout animals. Further lipidomic analysis supported movement of palmitoleate from adipose tissue to muscle in the FABP–/– animals. This single fatty acid also appeared to substantially influence insulin sensitivity. Intralipid infusion of triglycerides composed only of the fatty acid palmitate caused decreased insulin signaling (phosphorylation of insulin receptor substrates 1 and 2 and of the kinase AKT) in liver, whereas triglyceride composed only of palmitoleate potentiated insulin signaling and caused improved glucose metabolism in the whole animal. The authors note that if humans have similar regulatory mechanisms, analysis of lipid composition could provide biomarkers of metabolic disease and alteration of lipid composition might provide a new avenue for clinical intervention in metabolic disease. H. Cao, K. Gerhold, J. R. Mayers, M. M. Wiest, S. M. Watkins, G. S. Hotamisligil, Identification of a lipokine, a lipid hormone linking adipose tissue to systemic metabolism. Cell 134, 933-944 (2008). [PubMed]


Recent measurements of the skewness of the derivative of the temperature fluctuation θ, implying the breakdown of local isotropy even in high Reynolds number shear flows, are examined. Using the temperature signal in a slightly heated axisymmetric jet, a detailed quantitative analysis is made of the suggestion that the observed presence of a well-defined large-scale pattern of the temperature signal in these flows is responsible for this breakdown. A selective ensemble averaging technique is used for separating this pattern from fluctuations superposed on it. The technique is extended to extract the large-scale patterns in simultaneously measured axial (u), radial (v) velocity fluctuations, and the products uv, uθ and vθ, so that it is possible to separate contributions of these patterns from those of the superposed fluctuations to several important turbulent quantities. The mean shape of the patterns, their degree of anisotropy and correlation, and their contribution to turbulence intensities and Reynolds shear stress are obtained. Probability densities and spectra of these quasi-homogeneous superposed fluctuations are also obtained. Results show that the fluctuations are consistent with local isotropy and make the dominant contribution to the turbulence intensities, that the large-scale patterns are responsible for the observed skewness values of the derivative of v, and that the fluctuations may be responsible for a significant part of the turbulent momentum and heat transport, especially in the region of the jet where the turbulent energy production is substantial.


Schwann cells are the target of Mycobacterium leprae, the pathogen responsible for leprosy. Once inside the cell, M. leprae activates the host's proliferative machinery, thereby increasing the number of cells susceptible to infection. This astonishing manipulation of the mammalian cell cycle is the subject of recent work by Tapinos and Rambukkana, who show that M. leprae drives proliferation through a novel route to extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK). In this Perspective, we discuss this important piece of work and highlight the noncanonical pathway used by M. leprae to induce proliferation.


A new approach is proposed for manipulating and rotating micro- or nano-objects by using polarized laser light with low intensity. The polarized light excites resonant dipoles on a cap-shaped Au nanoparticle array, which generates a highly nonuniform radiation field that induces large dielectrophoresis force on dielectric objects. The orientation control of the objects is realized by adjusting the polarization direction of the incident light. Theoretical modeling, fabrication, and characterization results for the cap-shaped Au nanoparticle array, as well as preliminary trapping results, are reported.


Since becoming an Olympic event in 2008, open water swimming has become one of the fastest growing mass participation sports worldwide; events have taken place with over 25 000 participants. With these numbers comes an inherent risk of adverse medical events. The recently released USA Triathlon (USAT) Fatality Incidents Study1 reviewed data from 2003 to 2011 and reports that over that period 43 athlete fatalities were recorded during race events. Of these, five were considered 'traumatic', caused during cycling; of the remaining 38 deaths, 30 occurred during the swim.

These data suggest that a swim represents the greatest relative hazard associated with mass participation sports events. Despite this, the mechanism and cause of death remains something of a mystery; in the USAT Fatality Incidents Study, autopsy information was not reviewed, but it is concluded that 'available data indicates the swimming fatalities appear to be caused by episodes of sudden cardiac death (SCD)'—having not found enough evidence of deaths caused by swimming-induced pulmonary edema …


A transplantable murine colon adenocarcinoma (MAC16) was utilised as a model of human cancer cachexia. This tumour has been found to produce extensive weight loss, characterised by depletion of host body protein and lipid stores at a small tumour burden. This weight loss has been found to be associated with production by the tumour of a lipolytic factor, activity of which was inhibited in vitro by the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). EPA has also been shown to possess anti-tumour and anti-cachectic activity in vivo, leading to the hypothesis that fatty acids mobilised by the lipolytic factor supply a growth requirement of the MAC16 tumour. In this study mobilisation and sequestration of fatty acids by the tumour was found to be non-specific, although a relationship between weight loss and arachidonic acid (AA) concentration was found in both tumour-bearing mice, and human cancer patients. The anti-tumour effect of EPA, which was found to be associated with an increase in cell loss, but not its anti-cachectic activity, was reversed by the administration of the PUFAs oleic acid (OA) and linoleic acid (LA). LA was also found to be capable of stimulating tumour growth. Inhibition of either the cyclooxygenase or lipoxygenase pathways was found to result in reduction of tumour growth, leading to the implication of one of the metabolites of LA or AA in tumour growth and cachexia. The ethyl ester of EPA was found to be inactive against the growth and cachexia of the MAC16 tumour, due to its retarded uptake compared with the free acid. The anti-proliferative agent 5-fluorouracil was found to cause tumour growth inhibition, and when given in combination with EPA, reduced the phase of tumour regrowth observed after 4 to 5 days of treatment with EPA.


Background: Diabetes mellitus has been identified as one of the global cause of disability and death. Objectives: The study aim to investigate the in-vitro antidibetic and antioxidant activities of methanolic extract of Encephalartos ferox leaves. Materials and Methods: The plant was screened for its Phytochemical composition. The plant material was extracted with methanol and the methanolic extract was screened (in-vitro) for its antioxidant activity using ABTS and DPPH assays. The potential antidiabetic activity of the plant extract was evaluated against some carbohydrates (αamylase and α-glucosidase) and lipid (pancreatic lipase) digestive enzymes. The inverted intestinal sac model was also used to investigate the effect of the extract on intestinal glucose absorption. The anti-protein glycation activity of the extract was determined using haemoglobin. Results: The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of most of the phytochemicals (Tannins, Flavonoids, Terpenoids, Alkaloids etc) that were screened for. The crude extract exhibited the antidiabetic potential as it significantly (P < 0.05) inhibited α-glucosidase and pancreatic lipase in a dose dependent fashion. The extract also effectively reduced intestinal glucose absorption. The extract further showed antioxidant activity by efficiently scavenging ABTS and DPPH radicals with IC50 values of 68.3 μg/ml and 308 μg/ml, respectively. The extract also inhibited haemoglobin glycation, thus displaying the anti-protein glycation potential. Conclusion: It is apparent that E. ferox extract could serve as scaffold for diabetic therapy. For future study, cytotoxicity profile and in vivo investigation of the antidiabetic activity of the crude extract are essential.


Here, a low-temperature solution-processed nickel oxide (NiOx) thin film was first employed as a hole transport layer in both inverted (p-i-n) planar and regular (n-i-p) mesoscopic organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). In p-i-n PVSCs, the wetting properties, perovskite morphology, absorption and hole extraction process can be significantly enhanced with a suitable surface treatment, resulting in a significantly increased fill factor (from 0.684 to 0.742) and short circuit current density (from 16.73 to 20.66 mA cm−2). On the basis of the treated NiOx thin film, a promising power conversion efficiency of 15.9% with negligible hysteresis was obtained for inverted planar PVSCs, and 11.8% was obtained for the flexible devices. More importantly, the presynthesized NiOx can be directly deposited on the perovskite film as a top hole transport layer without decomposing the perovskite in n-i-p PVSCs. The resulting n-i-p device shows a five-fold improvement in power conversion efficiency when compared with a hole transport material free device, which indicates that this solution-processed NiOx is promising for all-inorganic charge selection layer based, stable and low cost PVSCs.


Bioluminescent jellyfish has a unique structure derived from fiber/polymer interfaces that is advantageous for effective light scattering in the dark, deep sea water. Herein, we demonstrate the fabrication of bio-inspired hybrid films by mimicry of the jellyfish's structure, leading to excellent light-scattering performance and defrosting capability. A haze value reaching 59.3% and a heating temperature of up to 292 °C were achieved with the films. Accordingly, the developed surface constitutes an attractive optical device for lighting applications, especially for street or vehicle luminaries for freezing Arctic-climate countries. The morphological details of the hybrid films were revealed by scanning electron microscopy. The light-scattering properties of these films were examined by ultraviolet-visible-infrared spectrophotometry and anti-glare effect analyses. The defrosting performance of the hybrid films was evaluated via heating tests and infra-red observations.


Purisima-Rumicruz district consists of several polymetallic veins, rich in copper and lead. The veins have a breccia texture and are located in shear bands, with locally high concentrations of sulfides in a carbonatic gangue. The host rock of the veins consists of a black shale sequence with thin levels of fine sands, with a low degree of metamorphism, and corresponds to the Acoite formation (Lower Ordovician). The depositional environment was an open clastic platform where storm processes prevailed. An exploratory program using induced polarization and resistivity with the dipole-dipole method was carried out with the objective of establishing geoelectric anomalies in depth, which would permit the identification of exploratory targets. The group of veins was divided into three sectors: Purisima, El Brechon, and La Nueva. Low-resistivity values correspond to faulty zones, some of which are related to surface veins. The presence of diagenetic pyrite in the shales of Acoite formation considerably increases background chargeability (induced polarization) values. However, small chargeability anomalies associated to low-resistivity values represent exploratory targets for the Purisima-Rumicruz district.


Multiple Intelligences Theory (MIT) has significant implications for educational performance, because it changes our perception of intelligence and academic achievement in the learning world. Traditionally learners are taught as if they are all the same without any regard to their unique learning needs or differing learning profiles. While Gardner's theory lit a candle for a new conceptualization about intelligence and academic abilities, it is far from achieving a widespread popularity in the traditional language classroom. More scholarly explorations are necessary to introduce its promises and potential in the English language teaching world. An example is shared from the School of Foreign Languages at the University of Mediterranean Karpasia. An experimental MIT approach is utilized in an elementary language class in the School of Foreign Languages. This paper integrated three steps in its research. First, key literature review on MIT is introduced highlighting Howard Gardner as the founder of MIT. Then, results of content analysis for two random units from the course book are shared to get a general idea about MIT practice in an elementary language class. Lastly, an innovative teaching praxis tried in an elementary language class. This innovative MIT approach is discussed to determine the future research areas to explore and further investigate the phenomenon which will inform language teaching practices


This study assessed the various risk factors associated with nutritional rickets among children aged 2–36 months old in the Gaza Strip. The study sample consisted of 170 children with rickets and 170 control children. A questionnaire interview was used. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square, odd ratios and logistic regression were applied. Rickets was higher among children of unemployed mothers. Rickets was also higher among exclusively breast-fed children (OR = 2.3, P = 0.000). Early introduction of complementary food particularly that contains eggs or fishes protects against rickets. Children who were not exposed to sunlight had more rickets (OR = 16.3, P = 0.000). Rickets was higher with decreasing frequency of exposure to sunlight and among children who had been fully dressed. None of the control children were found to live in the basement compared to 11.8% cases. The more deliveries the mothers had, the more rickets was found among their children (P = 0.028). Rickets was higher among children of mothers who did not receive health education (OR = 41.3, P = 0.000). In conclusion, lack of sunlight exposure and health education, and exclusive breastfeeding were the major risk factors contributed to rickets among children in the Gaza Strip.


Tool life is an important factor to be considered during the optimisation of a machining process since cutting parameters can be adjusted to optimise tool changing, reducing cost and time of production. Also the performance of a tool is directly linked to the generated surface roughness and this is important in cases where there are strict surface quality requirements. The prediction of tool life and the resulting surface roughness in milling operations has attracted considerable research efforts. The research reported herein is focused on defining the influence of milling cutting parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate and axial depth of cut, on three major tool performance parameters namely, tool life, material removal and surface roughness. The research is seeking to define methods that will allow the selection of optimal parameters for best tool performance when face milling 416 stainless steel bars. For this study the Taguchi method was applied in a special design of an orthogonal array that allows studying the entire parameter space with only a number of experiments representing savings in cost and time of experiments. The findings were that the cutting speed has the most influence on tool life and surface roughness and very limited influence on material removal. By last tool life can be judged either from tool life or volume of material removal.


Erythropoietin (EPO) mRNA levels were measured by ribonuclease (RNase) protection in organs from unstimulated rats and from animals after normobaric hypoxia or hemorrhagic anemia. Both liver and kidney responded to stimulation with large increases in EPO mRNA, but the response characteristic to graded stimulation was different. The liver responded poorly to mild normobaric hypoxia, accounting for only 2 +/- 1% of total EPO mRNA at 11% O2, but hepatic EPO mRNA levels increased steeply with more severe hypoxia so that at 7.5% O2 the liver contributed to 33 +/- 7% of the total. After hemorrhagic anemia, the liver also responded more strongly to more severe stimulation, but at all points it accounted for a significant proportion of total EPO mRNA, contributing 18 +/- 6% after removal of 2.5 ml (hematocrit 37.2 +/- 1.3%), increasing to 37 +/- 14% after venesection of 10.5 ml (hematocrit 15.8 +/- 0.8%). Studies of EPO mRNA in other organs confirmed that EPO production outside the liver and kidney were quantitatively insignificant in stimulated animals. However, the hypoxia-induced increases in EPO mRNA in brain, testis, and spleen suggest the existence of an oxygen-sensing mechanism at other sites.


The experience of infertility creates negative economic, physical, ,social, and psychological effects, especially for women, This often results in multiple stresses and needs for coping in these women. Because the manner in which women cope with these experiences are not fully understood, existing counseling interventions fail to adequately meet the needs of women experiencing infertility. Eighty-three women receiving varied services at assisted reproduction clinics participated in a study of the relationship between the use of social coping resources, growth fostering relationships, and infertility stress. The results support the use of social coping resources for coping with infertility stress. In addition, the results indicate the usefulness of understanding the types of growth-fostering relationships that can be an additional resource for helping counselors conceptualize women's experiences an design effective interventions to kelp women rope with infertility stress


The essence of sustainability is about reconnecting man's relationship to nature. This paper proposes the creation of a practical international mechanism for creating collaborative partnerships between stakeholders such as scientists, NGOs, foundations, local authorities, and the business community. The proposed mechanism Nature Resilience would initiate and organise tailor-made ecological restoration partnerships between companies and stakeholder groups, wherein the explicit goal would be the restoration of millions of hectares of ecosystems in cooperation with local people, farmers and NGOs, in a way that conforms to international established guidelines.


Two climate projections are used as forcing data in a hydrological model for the Lake Mälaren catchment, in order to evaluate the expected impact on nutrient fluxes (nitrogen and phosphorus) into the lake. Lake Mälaren comprises a large lake system, discharging into the Baltic Sea through the city of Stockholm, Sweden. Being a major fresh-water source, the lake is a potentially vulnerable resource under climate change impacts on e.g. inflow of nutrients, which is a main factor for drinking water production. The two projections both point at a future increase of temperature and precipitation and a decrease of snow cover, although the level of change differs somewhat. According to the model results, these changes will increase both nutrient concentrations in the catchment and the inflow to Lake Mälaren, the latter sometimes by a significant fraction of today's inflow.


ABSTRACT Cytokinesis is a crucial step in the creation of two daughter cells by the formation and ingression of the cleavage furrow. Here, we show that sphingomyelin (SM), one of the major sphingolipids in mammalian cells, is required for the localization of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) to the cleavage furrow during cytokinesis. Real-time observation with a labeled SM-specific protein, lysenin, revealed that SM is concentrated in the outer leaflet of the furrow at the time of cytokinesis. Superresolution fluorescence microscopy analysis indicates a transbilayer colocalization between the SM-rich domains in the outer leaflet and PIP2-rich domains in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. The depletion of SM disperses PIP2 and inhibits the recruitment of the small GTPase RhoA to the cleavage furrow, leading to abnormal cytokinesis. These results suggest that the formation of SM-rich domains is required for the accumulation of PIP2 to the cleavage furrow, which is a prerequisite for the proper translocation of RhoA and the progression of cytokinesis.


Current theories of genre based in action neglect form. While recognizing that genre study needed to reject earlier formalism, this chapter argues that genre necessarily encompasses form as part of the fusion of form, substance, and action and should be re-examined as contextualized form. Neither Carolyn Miller nor Mikhail Bakhtin, seminal genre theorists, rejected form but rather rejected formalism. Form in this chapter is defined as the visible results and notable absences of language-use in generic contexts, A contextualized treatment of generic form embeds form into its individual, social, and cultural contexts; recognizes generic form as variable individually, synchronically, and diachronically; balances treatment of generic forms as both unique and shared; and views generic forms as inter-genre-al, interacting with other genres.


A type of error was found through statistical analysis of geosynchronous satellite data. This systematic error may seriously compromise the integrity of cloud climate. Case studies of cloud-top temperature in the Mei-Yu front and ITCZ revealed the level and the locations of contamination. The errors became the dominant feature on the radiance histogram unless some correction was made.


Mana and kaitiakitanga capture the relationships essential to Māori perceptions of wellbeing. These relationships reflect the interconnectedness and interdependence of humans with the people, places and things in their worlds, and the responsibilities associated with these relationships. Mana is critical for mokopuna, as is the requirement to action it, through kaitiakitanga (Marsden, 2003; Paul-Burke & Rameka, 2015). Kaitiakitanga recognises the place of humans, including mokopuna, to assume guardianship roles and responsibilities. The article reports on Phase 1 of a two-year Teaching and Learning Research Initiative research project, that aimed to explore ways that early childhood education (ECE) accords mokopuna opportunities to recognise mana and understand ways to attain mana through being kaitiaki of themselves, others and their environment, thereby contributing to a collective sense of wellbeing. In this phase, pūrākau collected from kaumātua and Māori ECE leaders were utilised to illuminate how mana and kaitiakitanga were traditionally upheld for the benefit and wellbeing of all.


As a tribute to the exceptional contributions of Alan Walters to monetary theory and policy, this book draws together a distinguished cast of international contributors to write about money. In a series of essays they review controversies in monetary economics and debate current policy issues.

Combining theoretical analysis with policy evaluation, this book touches on a whole spectrum of issues ranging from monetary union and exchange rate regimes, to credit rationing and policy games. The book focuses on the problems of modelling the effects of monetary and fiscal policy, and setting optimal policies for the future. It concludes with two stimulating panel discussions, one questioning whether the UK should join the Euro and the other discussing the appropriate targets of monetary policy.

Bringing together for the first time papers celebrating Alan Walters' achievements in this field, this book will be warmly welcomed by those with special interest in monetary economics, particularly policymakers, students and academics.


Legislation mandating the protection and restoration of wetlands has led to numerous projects to reverse the trend of wetland loss in the San Francisco Bay region. While natural tidal marshes are characterized by broad, high marsh plains dominated by perennial plant species, restored sites are often lower in elevation, have more annual plant species, and lack well-developed tidal channels, at least during the first 6 to 10 years. Waterbird and fish habitat utilization was compared within a restored wetland (Hayward Regional Shoreline) and a natural marsh (San Leandro Bay). In abundance, the natural marsh site supported greater number of waterbirds during all stages of the tide compared to the restored marsh. Shorebirds tended to utilize the high marsh to a greater extent in the natural marsh and did not utilize the high, artificial islands in the restored wetland. Public access in the restored wetlands investigated greatly diminished wildlife use. There was no significant difference in fish utilization between the natural and restored marsh, however, fish generally preferred sheltered mud habitats over open water or vegetated areas.


On learning physics, many students are less understanding concept well.Students only memorization theory and formulas than understand the physics so its difficult to apply knowledge in daily life. Media of instruction designed can help students for creative thinking and discover patterns so that they could understand the subject matter well. Air track is one of the media that can be used for experimental mechanics of motion. However, the barriers are is the price of air track is an expensive. According to the survey of one of the producers of educational tools, a set of air track is prices reaches 10,5 million rupiah. The author intends to make the air track based infrared sensor as mechanic learning media that cheap and qualified. So that through these device, students can improve the understanding of the mechanics and physics learning interest. The methods used in the manufacture of air track design are prototype, preparation tools and materials, prototyping, testing and analysis, as well as finalization and completion. The results obtained with the prototype units with 3 components namely fotogate, gliders, air track support, series of electronic sensors and stopwatch, ackrilic, pulley and a spring System. Air track based infrared sensor worthy of use because the friction that occurs between the glider with air track very small (µ_k = 0.12). In addition, air track can be used as a device of teaching physics especially mechanics because it makes easy for students to understand the concepts, as well as the students were very interested to learn the mechanics of using the air track. Keywords : Air track, Media, Sensor


Abstract. At the present time the digital cartographic models of geophysical fields are taking a special significance into geo-physical mapping. One of the important directions to their application is the creation of zoning maps, which allow taking into account the morphology of geophysical field in the implementation automated choice of contour intervals. The purpose of this work is the comparative evaluation of various digital models in the creation of integrated gravity field zoning map. For comparison were chosen the digital model of gravity field of Russia, created by the analog map with scale of 1 : 2 500 000, and the open global model of gravity field of the Earth – WGM2012. As a result of experimental works the four integrated gravity field zoning maps were obtained with using raw and processed data on each gravity field model. The study demonstrates the possibility of open data use to create integrated zoning maps with the condition to eliminate noise component of model by processing in specialized software systems. In this case, for solving problem of contour intervals automated choice the open digital models aren't inferior to regional models of gravity field, created for individual countries. This fact allows asserting about universality and independence of integrated zoning maps creation regardless of detail of a digital cartographic model of geo-physical fields.


Accurate modeling of the reaction rate of char particles is decisive for precise computational fluid dynamics simulations of gasifiers. Pore diffusion limits the reaction rate at medium temperatures and strongly depends on the pore size. In most of the present research, pore diffusion is either completely neglected or modeled with a single mean pore size. This work introduces a particle model with two pore sizes. Large pores transport the reactant gases into the particle and distribute them to small pores, in which the heterogeneous reactions take place. This approach is compared with a simpler model with a single mean pore size. The particle and the small pores are discretized by an appropriate number of elements, which allows an exact numerical calculation of the concentration profile for nth order reactions. Both models are implemented into a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics simulation of a lab-scale fixed bed gasifier. Simulations and experiments are carried out for 1.362 mm, 0.815 mm, and 0.458 mm sized particles, which are gasified with carbon dioxide and steam at 1200°C and 1.1 bar total pressure. The reactant gases can penetrate smaller particles more easily. However, the measured product gas flow is independent of the particle size although the reactions take place under pore diffusion limitation. Only the proposed model with two pore sizes is able to reproduce the experiments adequately. However, it causes a significant extra computational effort.


A recent debate in the Journal of Consumer Psychology illustrates many of the unresolved issues concerning the development and application of models to predict attitude. A central issue in the debate is whether a noncognitive factor, such as affect, may exert a direct influence on attitude, or whether its influence is mediated by the cognitive structure. We describe the results of two studies designed to determine (a) whether affect and attitude are separate constructs and (b) whether affect influences attitude independently of cognitive structure. The studies address the methodological criticisms levied against previous research and provide results to indicate that affect does influence attitudes directly and independently of cognitive structure.


What determines the success of open source projects? In this study, we investigate the impact of network social capital on open source project success. We define network social capital as the benefits open source developers secure from their membership in developer collaboration networks. We focus on one specific type of success as measured by the rate of knowledge creation in an open source project. Specific hypotheses are developed and tested using a longitudinal panel of 2,378 projects hosted at SourceForge. We find that network social capital is not equally accessible to or appropriated by all projects. Our main results are as follows. First, projects with greater internal cohesion (that is, cohesion among the project members) are more successful. Second, external cohesion (that is, cohesion among the external contacts of a project) has an inverse U-shaped relationship with the project's success; moderate levels of external cohesion are best for a project's success rather than very low or very high levels. Third, the technological diversity of the external network of a project also has the greatest benefit when it is neither too low nor too high. Fourth, the number of direct and indirect external contacts positively affects a project's success such that the effect of the number of direct contacts is moderated by the number of indirect contacts. These results are robust to several control variables and alternate model specifications. Several theoretical and managerial implications are provided.


William Butler Yeats once wrote "Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire." I believe that a safe, well-structure, inquiry-based demonstration provides an opportunity to do both in a classroom; light a fire and fill a pail. And more specifically, a science demonstration draws on a student's natural wonder about the world around them. In only for a brief moment, a science demonstration causes the student to ask "How did that happened?" or "Why did that just do that?" At that moment and the moments that follow, a teacher has an extraordinary opportunity to simultaneously "light a fire" and to "fill a pail." This study aims to discover the best practice methods for improving the depth of learning and understanding that surrounds a well-structured, inquiry-based demonstration. Specifically, the study seeks to determine how the effectiveness of a demonstration can be increased when students are required to record observations and make connections between the demo and real-world applications. As well, the study aims to determine if peer collaboration and discussion is a critical element for student understanding and to make connections between textbook concepts and practical examples. Lastly, the study will evaluate the value of demonstrations presented in-person versus in video format. The study will involve two sections of Chemistry C, which is an elective upperlevel course. Approximately 45 students will be included in the study. The study will be conducted during the unit Chemical Reactions and Types because the unit naturally includes several demonstrations within the curriculum. Qualitative and quantitative data collection methods will be utilized during the course of this study. These methods include a summative assessment for the Chemical Reactions and Types Unit, a student survey, a student questionnaire, several student interviews and several other data collection sources.


In this work, the application of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as the recognition element of a chemiresistor sensor was introduced. Toluene-imprinted polymer and non-imprinted polymer (NIP) were synthesized and then mixed with carbon black powder in the presence of melted n-eicosane as the binder agent. The obtained composites were applied for the construction of chemiresistor sensors. The sensor, fabricated with toluene-imprinted polymer, showed a significant response towards toluene. Moreover, the response of the NIP-based (polymer synthesized without solvent) chemiresistor sensor was very small and negligible. The components of the MIP-based sensing composite were found to strongly influence the sensor sensitivity. Response surface experimental design methodology was applied to optimize the important parameters of the proposed sensor. Cross-sensitivity of the MIP-based chemiresistor sensor for different vapours was investigated and a satisfactory result was found for toluene vapour recognition. It was shown that the sensor response to toluene concentration in air was linear in the concentration range of 3.8 to 46.4 ppm. The detection limit and relative standard deviation (for five separate determinations) of the designed sensor were calculated equal to 0.8 ppm and 5.6%, respectively.