This study aimed to assess pregnancy outcomes after high-quality D5- and D6-blastocyst transfer in frozen cycles of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer and to further evaluate whether there was a difference in blastocyst development potentials with different developmental speeds and in pregnancy outcomes. A retrospective analysis was conducted to analyze 247 frozen cycles in our center from September 2015 to July 2017, which were divided into two groups: a D5-FET group with 193 cycles of D5-blastocyst transfer, and a D6-FET group with 54 cycles of D6-blastocyst transfer. Hormone replacement method was utilized to prepare frozen-cycle endometria. Pregnancy outcomes were analyzed and compared between these two groups. The mean ages of the two groups were 31.45 ± 4.43 years and 31.98 ± 4.84 years, respectively, with no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). The difference in the endometrial thickness during transfer was also not statistically significant. The implantation rate in the D5-FET group was 60.13%, significantly higher than that in the D6-FET group (31.58%, P < 0.05). The clinical pregnancy rate in the D5-FET group was 68.91%, significantly higher than that in the D6-FET group (40.74%, P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the abortion rate and ectopic pregnancy rate between the two groups. The implantation, biochemical pregnancy, and clinical pregnancy rates of the blastocyst D5 were all superior to those of the blastocyst D6. In clinics, therefore, D5-blastocyst transfer could be prioritized for embryo transfer.


This paper represents an attempt to describe Dewey's representative thoughts on the role of science and technology education in society. An attempt is made to demonstrate the relevance of his thinking to a justification and critique of an African nation's science and technology policy for social and economic transformation. The paper concludes by identifying aspects of national science and technology policy that have direct relevance to science education and by identifying problems that typically undermine the intents and purposes of science education in the secondary school system in Zimbabwe.


This Article addresses critically the implications of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Christensen v. Harris County, 120 S.Ct. 1655 (2000), for standards of judicial review of agency interpretations of law. Christensen is a notable case in the administrative law area because it purports to clarify application of the deference doctrine first articulated in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134 (1944). By reviving this doctrine, the case narrows application of the predominant approach to deference articulated in Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837 (1984), thus reducing the level of deference in many appeals involving administrative agency interpretations of law. This Article addresses the deference debate in this context, criticizing Christensen, especially Justice Thomas' majority opinion. The Article argues that the majority did not properly apply Skidmore, and that the Court's decision invites ad hocery by lower courts in their review of agency legal interpretations. It concludes that conceptualizing Skidmore within the architecture of Chevron's step two ? not as an alternative to the application of Chevron ? will best promote goals of accountability, uniformity, and flexibility.


Introduction: Turkey is the second most rapidly aging country in the world which requires reconsideration of planning and healthcare services related to the health state of the older people. For qualified healthcare services, positive attitudes and behaviours of health professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists etc.) towards older people beginning from the undergraduate period carry utmost importance. The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes and behaviour of physiotherapy students training in different regions of Turkey towards older people. Materials and Method: Attitudes and behaviour of 1270 students towards older people were evaluated using the Turkish version of the UCLA-GA scale. Results: Mean UCLA-GA score was 48.18 ± 5.67. Female students demonstrated a more positive attitude and behaviour towards older people than male students. Positive attitude and behaviours towards older people were stronger in students who were living with an older individual, in those who wanted to live with his/her older relative/intimate, who visited nursing homes, who wanted to work in the field of geriatrics after they graduate, and in those who attended courses or any meeting organised during their training period. Conclusion: The attitudes and behaviour of physiotherapy students towards older people can change dependent on various factors including gender of the students, whether they want to work in the field of geriatric rehabilitation during their postgraduate period, have attended training, course or meetings during their undergraduate education, visited nursing homes, or want to live with an old individual.


The separate collection of poultry slaughterhouse trimmings and blood is partially solved in Hungary. Only properly prepared animal by-products, protein meals can be utilized as animal feed additive. However, different protein meals are appropriate for feeding different animal species. That is the reason why it is important to avoid accidental cross contamination of the products. Meat and blood meal produced on the same technological line, therefore mixing of the products can happen in various proportions during the shift of production.

Thus the aim of this study is to develop a spectral method which will allow to estimate the ratio of meat and blood protein meal in the final product. During the test the products were mixed in different proportions and were examined by the spectral method. Measurements were conducted with AvaSpec 2048 spectrometer in visible (VIS) and in near infrared (NIR) wavelength range (400–1000 nm) to define the spectral differentiation of the different meal products. Significant difference can be detected in spectral reflectance between the meat and blood product in the VIS-NIR range. The blood product has a characteristic spectral property: in the range of 600 and 735 nm reflectance values are increasing following a sigmoid curve. This property is not observed in the case of meat meal: close to linear rising is detected. Effective protein rate and purity detection could be made by Blood Product Sensitive Mixing Index (BPSMI – R930/R600), and by the calculation of inflection point in 600–735 nm.


Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death and disability with millions of people living with long-term complications or disability related to TBI in the United States alone. This study examined the relationship between the p53 coding gene (TP53) and outcome variability following severe TBI. p53 has a known impact on neuronal apoptosis following TBI, which warrants investigation into TP53 genetic variability as a prognosticator for TBI outcomes (assessed using the Glasgow Outcome Scale, Neurobehavioral Scale, and Disability Rating Scale.) Participants (n = 429) were recruited from the UPMC Presbyterian Hospital with a Glasgow Coma Score 8 and were followed for 24 months. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1042522 was analyzed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and digested with BstuI restriction enzyme. Individuals with the CC genotype (Arginine homozygotes) were at risk for poorer outcomes following TBI at the 24-month point when compared to CG/GG variants. The findings provide preliminary evidence that p53 plays a role in recovery following TBI and, if replicated, may warrant investigation into p53 targeted therapies for risk allele carriers.


Concrete is most widely used construction material in the world. Fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) is a concrete in which small and discontinuous fibers are dispersed uniformly. The fibers used in FRC may be of different materials like steel, G.I., carbon, glass, asbestos, polypropylene, jute etc. The addition of these fibers into concrete mass can dramatically increase the compressive strength, tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of concrete. FRC has found many applications in civil engineering field. Based on the laboratory experiment on fiber reinforced concrete (FRC), cube and cylinders specimens have been designed with steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) containing fibers of 0% and 0.5% volume fraction of hook end Steel fibers of 53.85, 50 aspect ratio. Comparing the result of FRC with plain M20 grade concrete, this paper validated the positive effect of different fibers with percentage increase in compression and splitting improvement of specimen at 7 and 28 days, analyzed the sensitivity of addition of fibers to concrete with different strength.


(ABSTRACT) In order to meet demands for faster and more efficient data processing, modern microprocessors are being designed with lower voltage implementations. The processor voltage supply in future generation processors will decrease to 1.1 V ~ 1.8V. More devices will be packed on a single processor chip, and processors will operate at higher frequencies, beyond 1GHz. Therefore, microprocessors need aggressive power management. Future generation processors will draw current up to 50 A ~ 100 A [2]. These demands, in turn, will require special power supplies and Voltage Regulator Modules (VRMs) to provide lower voltages with higher currents and fast transient capabilities for microprocessors. This work presents several low-voltage high-current VRM technologies for future generation data processing, communication, and portable applications. The developed advanced VRMs with these new technologies have advantages over conventional ones in power density, efficiency, transient response, reliability, and cost. ii The multi-module interleaved quasi-square-wave VRM topology achieves a very fast transient response and a very high power density. This topology significantly reduces the filter inductance and capacitance, while having small output and input ripples. The analysis, design, and experimental verification for this new topology are presented in this work. The current sensing and current sharing techniques are developed with simple and cost-effective implementations. With this technique, traditional current transformers and sensing resistors are not required, and the inductance value, MOSFET on resistance and other parasitics have no effect on current sharing results. The design principles are developed and experimentally verified. A generalized approach and an extension of the novel current sharing control are presented in this work. The techniques for improving VRM light load efficiency are developed in this work. By utilizing the duty cycle signal, VRMs can be implemented with advanced power management functions to reduce further the power consumption at light loads to extend the battery-operation time in portable systems or to facilitate the compliance with various "energy star" ("green" power) requirements in office systems. Four improved approaches are presented and verified with experimental results. The high-input-voltage VRM topology, push-pull forward converter, can be used in high-bus-voltage distributed power systems. This converter has a high efficiency, a high power density, a fast transient response, and can be easily packaged as a standard module. The circuit design and experimental evaluation are addressed to demonstrate the operation principles and advantages of this topology. iii Acknowledgments I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my advisor, Dr. …


Land lease granting rights to Oxy Petroleum, Inc. for eight acres in Anderson County, Texas held by Nellie Cummings. The agreement allows for the exploration for and removal of oil, gas, and minerals found on the property.


Abstract Over the past 20 years, tuberculosis incidence in southern Africa has increased at an alarming rate, fuelled primarily by the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic. The emerging prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the region represents a new threat to tuberculosis control. The intersecting double burden is a cause for concern since diabetes mellitus increases the risk of tuberculosis and results in poor treatment outcomes. This review article discusses the evidence of a causal association between these two conditions, and examines the numerous clinical challenges that relate to tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus co-management. Diabetes is associated with a more advanced age and body weight in patients with tuberculosis, although not with a specific clinical presentation of tuberculosis. Rifampicin adversely alters glycaemic control by lowering the concentrations of most oral antidiabetic drugs. Poor glycaemic control, possibly exacerbated by tuberculosis and anti-tuberculous therapy, is an important contributing factor to tuberculosis case fatality and relapse. Clinicians need to be aware of these clinical and pharmacological challenges when co-managing these complex diseases.


This paper is written as the final thesis of our master degree in Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics, NHH. The thesis is a contribution to the Girl Empowerment Project – a research project launched by the Christian Michelsen Institute (CMI), the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), Femina HIP and the Development Pioneer Consultants (DPC). Teenage pregnancies are common in many low-income countries, but the reasons for why teenage girls become pregnant are not well understood. Given the health and economic downfalls that can come with early pregnancy, the Girl Empowerment Project investigates whether adolescent pregnancies can be countered by empowering young women. This is done by providing young women in Tanzania with two different empowerment strategies: an information treatment, containing information on reproductive health, gender equality and rights, and an opportunity treatment, providing the girls with entrepreneurship training to improve their skills and knowledge of how to run a business. By comparing the two treatments, and a combination of the two, the study provides insights about their relative importance of providing teenagers with information and opportunities. As a part of the project, we have collected new data from a subsample of the girls, with updated information of where they are today. The process of collecting the data also contributes to the project by providing useful insights to the planning of the next and final round of data collection. This thesis compares the new data to data that has been collected in previous surveys, and evaluates the effects of the treatments on girls' plans to start a business and incomegenerating activities. We find that the business training has successfully encouraged the girls to develop business plans, and findings from the new data suggest that business training also has inspired them to commence income-generating activities. The findings further indicate that the business training has made the girls better equipped to overcome constraints to starting and running a business.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

Microtissues produced in 3D cell culture are much more representative of actual living tissue compared to monolayers produced in 2D cell culture. In fact, in the area of oncology research, multicellular tumor spheroids are considered an excellent platform for testing drug delivery and efficacy. As the necessity for established 3D cell culture models rises, there is also a need for convenient assays that have been specifically demonstrated to be effective for use with 3D microtissues. The more complex architecture of 3D microtissues demands increased lytic effectiveness and reagent penetration, characteristics that are often only minor considerations for reagents designed for 2D cell culture. Here we report on a variety of bioluminescent and fluorescent cell-based assays applied to hanging-drop spheroids produced from HCT116 colon cancer cells. The first assay to be described is an ATP detection reagent for measuring cell viability. This reagent has both an improved formulation and an optimized assay protocol and has clear advantages over other viability assays. Other cell health assays will also be described, including reagents that measure cell death, apoptosis, mechanistic cytotoxicity, or reporter gene expression. These additional assays do not require a change in formulation, but do require new protocols in order to optimize their effectiveness when applied to 3D microtissues. As with their application to cells in 2D culture, these "add-mix-measure" reagents are robust and amenable to both low- and high-throughput applications.

Citation Format: Michael P. Valley, Kevin R. Kupcho, Chad A. Zimprich, Andrew L. Niles, James J. Cali, Jens M. Kelm, Wolfgang Moritz, Dan F. Lazar. Luminescent cell health assays for tumor spheroid evaluation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 3731. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-3731


Extreme heat is one of the deadliest health hazards that is projected to increase in intensity and persistence in the near future. Temperatures are further exacerbated in the urban areas due to the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect resulting in increased heat-related mortality and morbidity. However, the spatial distribution of urban temperatures is highly heterogeneous. As a result, metrics such as UHI Intensity that quantify the difference between the average urban and non-urban air temperatures, often fail to characterize this spatial and temporal heterogeneity. My objective in this thesis is to understand and characterize the spatio-temporal dynamics of UHI for cities across the world. This has several applications, such as targeted heat mitigation, energy load estimation, and neighborhood-level vulnerability estimation.Towards this end, I have developed a novel multi-scale framework of identifying emerging heat clusters at various percentile-based thermal thresholds Tthr and refer to them collectively as intra-Urban Heat Islets. Using the Land Surface Temperatures from Landsat for 78 cities representative of the global diversity, I have showed that the heat islets have a fractal spatial structure. They display properties analogous to that of a percolating system as Tthr varies. At the percolation threshold, the size distribution of these islets in all cities follows a power-law, with a scaling exponent = 1.88 and an aggregated Area-Perimeter Fractal Dimension =1.33. This commonality indicates that despite the diversity in urban form and function across the world, the urban temperature patterns are different realizations with the same aggregated statistical properties. In addition, analogous to the UHI Intensity, the mean islet intensity, i.e., the difference between mean islet temperature and thermal threshold, is estimated for each islet, and their distribution follows an exponential curve. This allows for a single metric (exponential rate parameter) to serve as a comprehensive measure of thermal heterogeneity and improve upon the traditional UHI Intensity as a bulk metric.To study the impact of urban form on the heat islet characteristics, I have introduced a novel lacunarity-based metric, which quantifies the degree of compactness of the heat islets. I have shown that while the UHIs have similar fractal structure at their respective percolation threshold, differences across cities emerge when we shift the focus to the hottest islets (Tthr = 90th percentile). Analysis of heat islets' size distribution demonstrates the emergence of two classes where the dense cities maintain a power law, whereas the sprawling cities show an exponential deviation at higher thresholds. This indicates a significantly reduced probability of encountering large heat islets for sprawling cities. In contrast, analysis of heat islet intensity distributions indicates that while a sprawling configuration is favorable for reducing the mean Surface UHI Intensity of a city, for the same mean, it also results in higher local thermal extremes. Lastly, I have examined the impact of external forcings such as heatwaves (HW) on the heat islet characteristics. As a case study, the European heatwave of 2018 is simulated using the Weather Research Forecast model with a focus on Paris. My results indicate that the UHI Intensity under this HW reduces during night time by 1oC on average. A surface energy budget analysis reveals that this is due to drier and hotter rural background temperatures during the HW period.To analyze the response of heat islets at every spatial scale, power spectral density analysis is done. The results show that large contiguous heat islets (city-scale) persist throughout the day during a HW, whereas the smaller islets (neighborhood-scale) display a diurnal variability that is the same as non-HW conditions. In conclusion, I have presented a new viewpoint of the UHI as an archipelago of intra-urban heat islets. Along the way, I have introduced several properties that enable a seamless comparison of thermal heterogeneity across diverse cities as well as under diverse climatic conditions. This thesis is a step towards a comprehensive characterization of heat from the spatial scales of an urban block to a megalopolis.


Achieving an immersive experience enabling users to explore virtual environments with six degrees of freedom (6DoF) is essential for various applications such as virtual reality (VR). Wide-baseline panoramas are commonly used in these applications to reduce network bandwidth and storage requirements. However, synthesizing novel views from these panoramas remains a key challenge. Although existing neural radiance field methods can produce photorealistic views under narrow-baseline and dense image captures, they tend to overfit the training views when dealing with \emph{wide-baseline} panoramas due to the difficulty in learning accurate geometry from sparse $360^{\circ}$ views. To address this problem, we propose PanoGRF, Generalizable Spherical Radiance Fields for Wide-baseline Panoramas, which construct spherical radiance fields incorporating $360^{\circ}$ scene priors. Unlike generalizable radiance fields trained on perspective images, PanoGRF avoids the information loss from panorama-to-perspective conversion and directly aggregates geometry and appearance features of 3D sample points from each panoramic view based on spherical projection. Moreover, as some regions of the panorama are only visible from one view while invisible from others under wide baseline settings, PanoGRF incorporates $360^{\circ}$ monocular depth priors into spherical depth estimation to improve the geometry features. Experimental results on multiple panoramic datasets demonstrate that PanoGRF significantly outperforms state-of-the-art generalizable view synthesis methods for wide-baseline panoramas (e.g., OmniSyn) and perspective images (e.g., IBRNet, NeuRay).


Insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) for personal protection against malaria vectors have been in use for the control of malaria in most tropical areas where malaria transmission is intense. However, the emergence of insecticide resistance in Anopheles vectors of malaria may impair the effectiveness of this control measure. Insecticide resistance has been reported in several countries, Kenya included. Effects of long-term use of ITNs on species composition and knockdown resistance (kdr) were investigated in Asembo Location of Western Kenya where a large scale ITN program has been implemented since 1997. Mosquitoes were sampled from a 12km transect in February and May 2004 from Asembo ITN intervention area and the adjacent Seme non-ITN intervention area. Indoor collection of adult mosquitoes from human dwellings was done using mouth aspirators and larval collection from habitats around homesteads using dippers. The mosquitoes were identified morphologically as Anopheles gambiae s.l. and as An. arabiensis or An. gambiae s.s. by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Analysis of the presence of knockdown resistance (kdr) allele was done using kdr diagnostic PCR. Results showed that there was significant reduction in the proportions of An. gambaie s.s. in Asembo with relatively higher proportion of An. arabiensis compared to Seme (Binomial regression GenMod procedure, P<O.OOOI).The kdr allele was present in An. gambiae s.s. only but absent in An. arabiensis. There was no statistical difference in kdr allele frequency trend along the transect (logistic regression, df=l, X=2.7664, P=0.0963). Overall, the frequency of kdr gene was 25% in Asembo and 16.7% in Seme despite lack of wide spread use of ITNs in Seme. Nevertheless, these kdr allele frequencies were not statistically different from each other (Fisher Exact test, F=17.9614, df=2, P=0.05274). The genetic differentiation based on the kdr allele was estimated but was also not significant with a low genetic variability (Fst value) of 0.0098, which corresponded to migration index (Nm value) of 25.23. The difference in kdr phenotypes between Asembo and Seme mosquitoes was not significantly different (ANOVA, F=8.71E-16, df=l.4, P=l.OOO). These results suggest free interaction between the Asembo and Seme mosquito populations. The observations of this study suggest that widespread use of ITN s in Western Kenya has led to an increase in kdr frequency ~reading to adjacent Seme non-ITN intervention area. Another impact of long-term use of ITNs was seen in altered species proportions (less An. gambiae proportion and more An. arabiensis in Asembo than Seme). Though the kdr allele responsible for knockdown resistance in mosquitoes was absent in An. arabiensis, this species is known to be exophilic hence may not be effectively controlled by use of ITNs.


This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liege and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centers facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper1 provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liege port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2010 - 2015, with an emphasis on 2015. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. The developments concerning economic activity in the six ports in 2014 - 2015 are summarized in the table on the next page. In 2015 the growth of maritime traffic in the Flemish maritime ports was due to developments in the port of Antwerp and the port of Ghent. Direct value added increased in all Flemish maritime ports in 2015. However, direct employment is continuing to decline. Investment was down everywhere except in the port of Zeebrugge. Cargo traffic in the Liege port complex declined in 2015, whereas it slightly slowed down in the port of Brussels. At the same time, direct value added in Liege shrank while it rose sharply in the port of Brussels. By contrast, direct employment was down in both ports. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2015.


Regulators and privacy advocates increasingly demand that privacy be protected through the technical design of products and services, as well as through organizational procedures and policies. Privacy research by computer scientists and engineers are producing insights and techniques that empower a new professional in the technology sector---the privacy engineer. Despite great enthusiasm for this approach, there has been little effort to explore if and how this new direction in privacy protection is influencing the design of products. Understanding how design is being used to protect privacy requires analysis of sociotechnical systems, not de-contextualized technical artifacts. We analyze how privacy concerns in public policy debates about drones are raised and addressed in two concept videos from 2013 and 2015 developed by Amazon that depict fictional scenarios involving its future automated drone package delivery service. Drawing on design and communications methods we find that the concept videos reveal increased attention over time to privacy concerns. Our findings offer some evidence that privacy concerns are influencing Amazon's product and service design. Representations about the service offered in the 2015 video shape consumer expectations about how it addresses privacy concerns. While the videos reviewed do not represent an existing product, we discuss the shifting role such concept videos might play when Amazon's drone delivery service comes to market. As consumer facing representations of product functionality, concept videos, like other public statements, if misleading could form the basis of a deceptive statements claim by the Federal Trade Commission or state consumer protection agency. Finally, reflecting on our review, we suggest that concept videos are a useful tool for engaging regulators and other stakeholders in contextually specific considerations of when and how to enlist product and system design to protect privacy.


In theory, the objectives of a dividend policy is to maximize shareholder's return so that the value of the investment is maximized. Shareholder's return consist of two components namely dividends and capital gains. Dividend policy has a direct influence on these two components of return (Pandey 2006). It is clear that firms give dividends to
their shareholders but differ in the levels of dividends given. It has also been noted that
SACCOs do give dividends to their members. However the levels of dividends given
differ. This research project provided an insight into the factors that determine levels of
dividends given by co-operative societies. The paper focused on how SACCOs distribute
dividends to their members. It's important to note that retained earnings are a source of
finance in any given organization. It is also worth remembering that shareholders require
return from their investments. Due to this, a need to find the factors that determine levels
of dividends given was a major driving force in this research. In analyzing the dividend
decision of SACCOs, this research project incorporated such parameters as earnings per
share, dividends per share, after tax profits, retained earnings among others with the aim
of establishing a consistency of their dividend decisions. Further, the paper recognized
that management should come up with a policy that balances between need for future
development of the firm and at the same time maximize shareholders wealth. This then
implies that dividend decisions should not be taken in isolation from other decisions of
the firm.


Aortic aneurysms are of different types as different ones are the types of treatment available to us. Following the advent of endovascular surgery, perioperative mortality has been significantly reduced, but open surgery remains the first choice under some occurrences. The purpose of this chapter is to try to clarify the dichotomy between open and endovascular aortic aneurysms in the several types of aortic aneurysms, highlighting the indications and complications to guide to the best therapeutic choice.


Abstract. The Greenland Interstadial 21 (GIS 21), one of the longest warm events during the last glacial, occurred in conjunction with the transition from marine isotope stages (MIS) 5a to 4. Precise determination of the timing and duration of this event can improve our understanding of hydroclimatic connection between low and high latitudes over this MIS boundary. Facilitated by a robust chronology with closely spaced U-Th ages, replicated sub-decadal-resolved δ18O records of two stalagmites from Sanxing Cave, Southwest China, express Asian Summer Monsoon (ASM) history from 79.0 ± 0.2 to 75.7 ± 0.2 thousand years before present (kyr BP, before AD 1950) to reveal detailed structure of MIS 5a/4 transition and Chinese Interstadial (CIS) 21. The composited Sanxing record is characterized with three centennial-scale strong monsoon peaks and a 700-yr-long weak monsoon period within the CIS 21 rebound-type event, concurrent with its counterpart of Greenland Interstadial 21 (GIS 21). This strong resemblance suggests a rapid atmospheric teleconnection between the North Atlantic and the ASM regions. The transition at the termination of the Chinese Interstadial (CIS) 21 is determined to be from 77.0 ± 0.2 to 76.6 ± 0.2 kyr BP with a mid-point at 76.8 ± 0.2 kyr BP, which is 0.5–1.0 kyr younger than the correspondent of the end of GIS 21 on GICC05modelext and AICC2012 timescales. Given its high accuracy, our Sanxing Cave chronology can become one of the potential references for chronological refinement for ice-core records.


Abstract This study sought to identify dimensions of culturally sensitive clinical practice by comparing the personal clinical styles of Latino and non-Latino clinicians, and their clinical decisions in respect to Latino immigrant clients. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Sixty Latino American clinicians and 47 non-Latino (White) clinicians in Northern California completed the Achieving Styles Inventory (ASI) which yields information on direct, instrumental and relational styles. Demographic data were obtained as well as information on language proficiency and years of clinical experience. Statistical analysis included uses of t-test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis and revealed significant differences between the two groups in personal achieving styles within all three domains. There were no significant differences on the demographic variables. Nine clinician members of each ethnic group were interviewed in-depth through non-directive interviewing styles to assess their clinical decision making via use of a case vignette. Content analysis pointed to similarities and differences in proposed assessment and intervention strategies. The Latino group displayed more culturally relevant interpretations. The non-Latino clinicians were more directive and instrumental than the Latinos who put more emphasis on self disclosure, case management, use of Spanish with the client, and crisis intervention. This finding is consistent with both the quantitative data analysis of ASI hypotheses and the expected linguistic/cultural findings of the qualitative content analysis. Bilingual non-Latino White clinicians showed more cultural sensitivity and competence than the monolingual non-Latino clinicians. These findings suggest that linguistic/cultural match and linguistic/cultural compatibility are important in cross-cultural clinical practice.


Some thin metallic films show anomalous optical properties, namely, that both energetic position and magnitude of the absorption bands depend on the film thickness. An interpretation, usually accepted, is based on a direct excitation of surface plasmons by means of the granular structure or the roughnesses of the films. The existence of these anomalous bands are explained, independently of the surface irregularities, if we assume a localized absorption.


Abstract. Pinonaldehyde oxidation by OH radicals under low-NO x conditions produces significant secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass yields. Under concurrent UV illumination, mass yields are lower than high-NO x yields published earlier by our group. However, when OH radicals are produced via dark ozonolysis the SOA mass yields are comparable at high and low NO x . Because pinonaldehyde is a major first-generation gas-phase product of α-pinene oxidation by either ozone or OH radicals, its potential to form SOA serves as a molecular counterpoint to bulk SOA aging experiments involving SOA formed from α-pinene. Both the general tendency for aging reactions to produce more SOA and the sensitivity of the low-NO x products to UV photolysis observed in the bulk clearly occur for this single species as well. Photochemical oxidation of pinonaldehye and analogous first-generation terpene oxidation products are potentially a significant source of additional SOA in biogenically influenced air masses.


Testing infiltrometer techniques to determine soil hydraulic properties is necessary for specific soils. For a loam soil, the water retention and hydraulic conductivity predicted by the BEST (Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters) procedure of soil hydraulic characterization was compared with data collected by more standard laboratory and field techniques. Six infiltrometer techniques were also compared in terms of saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, Ks. BEST yielded water retention values statistically similar to those obtained in the laboratory and Ks values practically coinciding with those determined in the field with the pressure infiltrometer (PI). The unsaturated soil hydraulic conductivity measured with the tension infiltrometer (TI) was reproduced satisfactorily by BEST only close to saturation. BEST, the PI, one-potential experiments with both the TI and the mini disk infiltrometer (MDI), the simplified falling head (SFH) technique and the bottomless bucket (BB) method yielded statistically similar estimates of Ks, differing at the most by a factor of three. Smaller values were obtained with longer and more soil-disturbing infiltration runs. Any of the tested infiltration techniques appears usable to obtain the order of magnitude of Ks at the field site but the BEST, BB and PI data appear more appropriate to characterize the soil at some stage during a rainfall event. Additional investigations on both similar and different soils would allow development of more general procedures to apply infiltrometer techniques for soil hydraulic characterization.


PURPOSE
To test the efficacy of a novel dual treatment for improving accommodative accuracy and dynamics in young persons with myopia.

METHODS
Ninety-three young persons with myopia (mean spherical equivalent, -3.0 +/- 1.8 D; age 16.8 +/- 2.1 years; spherical aberration +0.06 +/- 0.04 microm) participated in the study. Custom-designed soft contact lenses were used to alter ocular SA to -0.10 microm to improve accommodative accuracy and reduce any lag of accommodation. A vision training regimen was performed for 18 minutes per day for up to 6 weeks to improve speed of dynamic accommodation. Control groups had contact lenses with no added SA and/or no exercises. To avoid any effects of natural levels of negative aberration on the results of the study, all participants who had negative SA were excluded.

RESULTS
The treatment contact lenses produced a significant reduction in lag of accommodation (P < 0.05) at all proximal viewing distances measured. The vision training measurement and treatment resulted in a significant increase in distance facility rate for all groups compared with their own baselines (P < 0.05). Near facility rate improved in the vision training treatment group only compared with its baseline (P < 0.05). Both positive and negative response times for distant viewing were significantly shorter in all groups after training compared with their baseline values (P < 0.05). At near, the positive response times were decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in both groups, whereas the negative response times decreased significantly only in the vision training treatment group.

CONCLUSIONS
After 3 months, the dual treatments (altering SA and vision training) used in the study were effective in modifying accommodation. The static accommodative response to targets at proximal distances was increased by the altered SA contact lenses and rates of dynamic accommodation improved with vision training.


This paper describes the design and delivery of a new programme of support for PhD students who act as Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) at a research intensive university. Although much attention has been paid to programmes that prepare GTAs for teaching, this scheme was intended to prepare them for continuing professional learning (CPL) about teaching. In this sense, then, the underpinning rationale for the scheme is different to most GTA programmes, and this has implications for the pedagogical approach taken. The design of the scheme was based on the premise that 'learning in academia' (i.e. learning about academic work and developing one's practice) is different from 'academic learning', which the PhD participants are both familiar with and successful at (Trevitt, 2008). It follows then that the type of learning most likely to lead to development of practice, is a work-based, experiential approach undertaken by those in other practice-based professions like law, medicine and (non-HE) teaching. The paper describes the rationale and design of a development scheme which aims to prepare and equip GTAs for continuing professional learning during the PhD and on into their later careers. The benefits for the action learning approach are explored, both in terms of what it might offer participants, but also in terms of what it might offer to educational developers as learning set facilitators.


Analysis of anomalies that occur during operations is an important means of improving the quality of current and future software. Although the benefits of anomaly analysis of operational software are widely recognized, there has been relatively little research on anomaly analysis of safety-critical systems. In particular, patterns of software anomaly data for operational, safety-critical systems are not well understood. We present the results of a pilot study using orthogonal defect classification (ODC) to analyze nearly two hundred such anomalies on seven spacecraft systems. These data show several unexpected classification patterns such as the causal role of difficulties accessing or delivering data, of hardware degradation, and of rare events. The anomalies often revealed latent software requirements that were essential for robust, correct operation of the system. The anomalies also caused changes to documentation and to operational procedures to prevent the same anomalous situations from recurring. Feedback from operational anomaly reports helped measure the accuracy of assumptions about operational profiles, identified unexpected dependencies among embedded software and their systems and environment, and indicated needed improvements to the software, the development process, and the operational procedures. The results indicate that, for long-lived, critical systems, analysis of the most severe anomalies can be a useful mechanism both for maintaining safer, deployed systems and for building safer, similar systems in the future.


We demonstrate an inverse light-scattering analysis procedure based on using the T-matrix method as a light-scattering model. We measure light scattered by in vitro cell monolayers using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry (a/LCI) and compare the data to predictions of the T-matrix theory. The comparison yields measurements of the equal volume diameter and aspect ratio of the spheroid cell nuclei with accuracy comparable to quantitative image analysis of fixed and stained samples. These improvements represent a significant upgrade for the a/LCI technique, expanding both the range of tissue in which it is applicable and potentially increasing its value as a diagnostic tool.


In this paper, a new method for fixed-order controller design of systems with polytopic uncertainty in their state space representation is proposed. The approach uses the strictly positive realness (SPRness) of some transfer functions, as a tool to decouple the controller parameters and the Lyapunov matrices and represent the stability conditions and the performance criteria by a set of linear matrix inequalities. The quality of this convex approximation depends on the choice of a central state matrix. It is shown that this central matrix can be computed from a set of initial fixed-order controllers computed for each vertex of the polytope. The stability of the closed-loop polytopic system is guaranteed by a linear parameter dependent Lyapunov matrix. The results are extended to fixed-order H infinity controller design for SISO systems.


This study explored how interest in camp was formed in girls with little previous experience at camp. Basic Needs Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) suggests that interest (i.e., feeling intrinsically motivated) in engaging in activities requires supports that meet individuals' needs for autonomy, relatedness, and competence. A qualitative case study approach was used to explore the experiences of twenty-one 12 to 15 year-old girls who attended a residential Girl Scout camp. We collected data through semi-structured interviews that were based on Basic Needs Theory, yet remained open to other possible influences on interest. The results showed that experiences of relatedness most strongly influenced interest in camp. Additionally, interest in camp arose from the setting of camp, namely engagement in new and unique experiences, feelings of flow, and connections with nature. We discuss implications for designing and implementing youth development programs.


Graffiti is an art form that has been largely ignored by institutions of art education. This art-based, classroom study explores the student learning that can occur through the implementation of a graffiti-inspired unit. The content assessed for student growth in understanding was artistic conventions, symbolism, and visual metaphor. This study describes how the data on student learning was accumulated through the use of questionnaires, individual interviews, and written artist statements. The graffiti-inspired curriculum of this study, that included three major assignments based on a common theme of personal identity, showed that students were able to significantly increase their understanding of artistic conventions, symbolism, and metaphor almost universally. The final results of this study were applied to a graffiti-inspired unit plan for art educators to use and adjust in order to engage and increase the knowledge of their individual student populations. Keywords: graffiti-inspired, artistic conventions, visual culture, visual metaphor Running
  Head:
  GRAFFITI-‐INSPIRED
  CURRICULUM


Introduction NIV for acute hypercapnic respiratory failure (AHRF) in COPD, obesity related morbidity, chest wall and neuromuscular conditions has become widespread in the UK over the past decade. In terms of acute NIV set up, the BTS/Royal College of Physicians/Intensive Care Society 2008 guidance recommends starting with an inspiratory positive airway pressure (IPAP) of 10 cm H2O and expiratory positive airway pressure(EPAP) of 4–5 cmH2O, with small increments in IPAP aiming for apressure target of 20 cm H2O or until therapeutic response is achieved. We felt it necessary to analyse trends in maximum pressures achieved in the evolution of a respiratory ward-based NIV Unit (established2004). Methods Comparison of the in-house NIV registry data01/08/2004 –31/01/2006(Period 1) with 01/01/2011–30/06/2012 (Period 2) at an 11-bedded ward-based NIV unit within a1000-bedded hospital Trust in central England, looking at maximum IPAP and maximum EPAP achieved. There were 281 episodes of AHRF treated in Period 1 and 240 in Period 2 with similar distribution of gender. Results Maximum IPAP achieved for period 2 was significantly higher than period 1 (median IPAP max achieved=20 cmH2O vs. 14 cmH2O; Wilcox on rank sum test p=2.2 × 10–16) and the maximum EPAP achieved for period 2 was higher than period 1 (median EPAP max achieved=5 cmH2O vs. 14 cmH2O; Wilcoxonrank sum test p=8.068 × 10–6). Discussion We have previously shown that we achieved adequate therapeutic response with median IPAP max of 16.7 and median EPAP max of 5.2 cmH2O (Ali A et al. Pressure support in acute hypercapnic respiratory failure in an acute clinical setting. European Respiratory Journal 2011; 38:55. 683s.). However, as the ward-based, physiotherapy-intensive, multidisciplinary NIV service matures over an 8-year period, we are achieving significantly higher maximum IPAP and maximum EPAP. This is probably (a) in keeping with the increasing severity of AHRF that is being treated in the unit with similar in-hospital mortality (around 22%) and (b) demonstrates a learning curve. Further analysis of population characteristics and comparison with units of similar size may give further insights intoorganisational learning in relation to NIV. Abstract P220 Figure 1 Comparison of the distribution of the maximum IPAP achieved Comparison of the distribution of the maximum EPAP achieved


The residential area in any municipality is an area that ideally should pay
special attention to the development of environmental management and pollution
control. Most households in developing countries are located close to industrial
activities and this may cause environmental problems such as water and air
pollution The government or the Local Authority may not be able to cope with
this problem of pollution perhaps due to financial constraints and lack of
technology and expertise. Moreover, law enforcement is mostly ineffective due to
lack of knowledge on the part of officials involved in environmental management.
The objective of the study is to develop an Environmental Information
System on human activities, location and sources of pollution in urban residential
areas because such a study has not been previously undertaken. Decision makers
will therefore be provided with an important tool that will furnish them with complete and accurate information to help them plan and implement a programme
for sustainable growth of the city.
The Indonesian Government has laid a valuable and solid foundation for a
environmental information system through a system of land codes for tax
collection. The land in cities has been given location codes in relation to the width
and type of building; and width of each land unit. The linkage and relation between
the tax administrative system and environmental management system constitutes the
basic structure in the formulation of the environmental information system
developed in this study. The Environmental Information System study consists of
data collection, processing and analysis of data and data presentation. Data
collection and organisation were based on the Environmental Audit Guidelines
declared by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment in 1994. The concept of unit
operation in a factory is applied to each land unit in the study area.
The system that was developed was implemented in the three Subvillages of
Tanjung Mulia Village, Medan Municipality, Indonesia. The study covered 152
locations of land units. The parameters obtained in this study such as distribution of
population and solid and liquid waste handling systems was analysed by a
Geographic Information System (GIS) and the output is presented in thematic
maps. This data may be useful for environmental management and pollution control
and land development planning of the study area.


These two volumes contain the papers presented at the 6th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (PSAM 6). The PSAM meetings are the leading forums for the technical presentation of probabilistic risk and safety assessment and management methods and techniques applied to complex systems. These proceedings provide a collection of technical summaries on the application of risk and safety assessment management in 18 different technical disciplines. PSAM6 also included six plenary presentations in topics such as: combating terrorism; risk assessment for aerospace systems; environmental issues in developing countries; risk assessment in transportation systems; sustainable development; and risk assessment in science and technology initiatives. It brought together world-recognized experts to discuss these topics along with emerging areas of direct relevance to practitioners of risk and safety assessment.


Future design procedures for civil structures, especially those to be protected from extreme and blast related loads, will need to account for temporal evolution of their frequency content. There are, however, several instances where acceleration time histories are required as seismic input. For example, to determine the ultimate resistance and to identify modes of structures' failure, a nonlinear time history analysis is needed. In other cases, acceleration time histories are required for linear analyses. Many seismic codes require this type of analysis for buildings which have irregularities. The process of time-frequency analysis made possible by the wavelet transform provides insight into the character of transient signals through time-frequency maps of the time variant spectral decomposition that traditional approaches miss. In this paper an approach is examined and a new method for processing the ground motion which is modeled as a non-stationary process (both in amplitude and frequency), is proposed. This method uses the best basis search algorithm with wavelet packets. In this approach, the signal is expressed as a linear combination of time- frequency atoms which are obtained by dilations of the analyzing functions, and are organized into dictionaries as wavelet packets. Several numerical examples are given to verify the developed models.


Even chicks may count from left to right For the most part, humans represent numbers across a mental number line, with smaller numbers on the left and larger numbers on the right. Some have argued that this is due to culture rather than being innate. Rugani et al., however, show that 3-day-old chicks share this representation of numbers, consistently seeking lower numbers to the left of a target and larger numbers to the right (see the Perspective by Brugger). These results suggest that there may be an innate spatial representation of numerical values that we share with other animals. Science, this issue p. 534; see also p. 477 Baby chicks also "count" from left to right. [Also see Perspective by Brugger] Humans represent numbers along a mental number line (MNL), where smaller values are located on the left and larger on the right. The origin of the MNL and its connections with cultural experience are unclear: Pre-verbal infants and nonhuman species master a variety of numerical abilities, supporting the existence of evolutionary ancient precursor systems. In our experiments, 3-day-old domestic chicks, once familiarized with a target number (5), spontaneously associated a smaller number (2) with the left space and a larger number (8) with the right space. The same number (8), though, was associated with the left space when the target number was 20. Similarly to humans, chicks associate smaller numbers with the left space and larger numbers with the right space.


An experimental node-based wireless 802.11 b/g/n mesh network providing Internet access to users in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while complementary thermal modeling was conducted at the University of North Texas. Netgear WGT634U 108-megabyte-per-second wireless storage routers mounted within environmental enclosures at outdoor and indoor locations across the Cambridge coverage area serve as signal repeater nodes for the network. Denton, Texas, is a promising site to deploy a wireless network similar to the one in Cambridge. However, the ambient outdoor conditions in Denton differ from those in Cambridge and may exceed the operating envelope of the repeater nodes if not mitigated by well-designed environmental enclosures. By instrumenting a sacrificial node with thermocouples and baking it in a furnace, we determined that the node's built-in safety shut-off temperature is 130 ± 3 °C and that the temperature at which irreversible damage occurs is in the range of 135 °C to 145 °C. By synthesizing this data with historic regional ambient temperatures through heat transfer modeling, we conclude that node thermal failure cannot be induced by high ambient temperature, provided that the node enclosure is designed with sensible thermal management precautions. Additionally, we measured the maximum viable distance between a node and a receiver. Beyond this maximum separation distance, low signal fidelity yields high packet losses (50% packets lost) and data transfer rates inferior to those of dial-up Internet (less than 56 kilobytes per second). Using a global positioning satellite system, we found maximum ranges for inter node communication both via a line of sight and through a building wall. These ranges were 183 ± 4 meters and 49 ± 4 meters, respectively. These shut-off temperature data and signal range data guide the design of future outdoor node enclosures and indicate the inter node spacing necessary to assure fast, reliable WiFi Internet coverage in Denton.


The first documented occurrence of Nb-Ta mineralization in a granitic pegmatite from the Svalbard Archipelago, Arctic Caledonides and the relationships between primary and secondary Nb,Ta-bearing phases are discussed. The Skoddefjellet NYF pegmatite located in southwest Spitsbergen (Wedel Jarlsberg Land) is characterized by enrichment in Nb, U, Zr, Y, REE and Pb, low Zr/Hf (∼8-10), and (∼8-12) Nb/Ta ratios. Columbite-(Fe) and columbite-(Mn) (locally enriched in Ti, Y, Sc and Ca) and Nb,Ta, Y-bearing titanite (≤3.8 wt. % Nb2O5, ≤1.9 wt. % Ta2O5, ≤2.9 wt. % Y2O3) represent the primary magmatic Nb-Ta minerals. The secondary assemblage comprises Nb,Ta-bearing rutile (≤23 wt. % Nb2O5, ≤1.7 wt. % Ta2O5), ilmenite, fersmite and pyrochlore group minerals: including yttropyrochlore-(Y), plumbopyrochlore, yttrobetafite-(Y) and plumbobetafite. Internal zoning of columbite group minerals is expressed by distinct rimward increase of the Mn/(Mn+Fe) ratio (0.07 to 0.83) and low Ta/(Ta+Nb) ratio (0.03 to 0.10), suggesting alkaline environment and increasing fluorine activity during the pegmatite evolution. The formation of secondary phases is related to the hydrothermal stage of the pegmatite. Notably, the formation of Nb,Ta-bearing rutile and ilmenite seems to be a product of Nb,Ta-bearing titanite alteration.


The field of performance measurement and management (PMM) is well filled with frameworks, models and guidelines addressing what to measure and how to design a performance measurement system (PMS). However, what has been less examined so far is how to ensure that PM evolve in tandem with their environments. Further, the few approaches available today are prescriptive and outlines how or what practitioners should do in order to manage change in their PM. Thus, a gap exists in understanding how organisations manage change in their PM in practice. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to outline and compare the approaches of three case companies for managing PM change. In order to fulfil the purpose of the paper, the data presented has been collected through the deployment of case studies. The choice of case studies as means for data collection stems from the possibility of an in-depth and holistic examination of the formulated phenomenon. All three case companies belong to the same company-group that operates within the transportation industry. The industrial footprint of the company is global with operations and sales spread out over the world. The findings suggest that all three companies have processes in place for managing change in PM. However, the approaches differ in design and context. Even though the case companies had different approaches in place to manage change in PM, they shared several commonalities. Commonalities were shared in the way of execution, process input and challenges in IT and culture. Furthermore, employee involvement seemed to be the biggest challenge for all three companies. The findings put forward in this paper are limited as they are confined to three companies from the same company-group. More studies, both from within and outside the company-group, are needed in order to establish a solid base of empirical data for generalisation. However, this paper makes a contribution both through describing how three companies manage PM change and through elaborating on the underlying factors affecting functionality.


Evaluation of financial document design formed the central part of a recent research project by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The study, entitled The Presentation of Financial Information for Visually Impaired People, investigated financial information design in four alternative formats: large print; Braille; audio cassette; and computer disk. The results have raised some interesting implications for designers of financial documentation. Several design feature preferences were drawn from the research which are being recommended as general guidelines for financial information design. These results are outlined within a discussion of the importance of this type of research not only for visually impaired people themselves but also for financial institutions as a result of impending legal requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act (1995). Future research on this topic by the RNIB is discussed, as are some thoughts on incorporating creativity with accessible design.


- Waste is defined as material by-products of any kind that have no residual value from human or industrial activities. Elimination of brick dust landfills is a serious and important task that is being considered by many countries around the world. The reuse of brick dust for road construction is a sustainable solution to ecological problems. The reuse of brick dust reduces road construction and landfill costs. The purpose of this study was to examine the overall performance of a bituminous concrete mix in which brick dust replaced certain combinations of specific aggregates in different proportions. In this study, brick dust was used in proportions of 5%, 10%, and 15% as a substitute for natural sand. The optimum range of substitution was determined based on results obtained from Marshall Parameters. In general, studies have shown that the use of brick dust in bituminous Concrete mixes is acceptable.


Abstract Gatedalite, Zr(Mn2+2 Mn3+4 )SiO12, is a new mineral of the braunite group. It is found in hausmanniteimpregnated skarn together with jacobsite, Mn-bearing calcite, tephroite, Mn-bearing phlogopite, långbanite, pinakiolite and oxyplumboroméite at the Långban Mn-Fe oxide deposit, Värmland, central Sweden. The mineral occurs as very rare, small (≤ 60 μm), grey, submetallic, irregularly rounded anhedral grains. Gatedalite has a calculated density of 4.783 g/cm3. It is opaque and weakly anisotropic with reflectivity in air varying between 17.1 and 20.8% in the visible spectral range. Gatedalite is tetragonal, space group I41/acd, with the unit-cell parameters a = 9.4668(6) Å , c = 18.8701(14) Å, V = 1691.1(2) Å3 and Z = 8. The crystal structure was refined to an R1 index of 5.09% using 1339 unique reflections collected with MoKα X-ray radiation. The five strongest powder X-ray diffraction lines [d in Å , (I), (hkl)] are: 2.730(100)(224), 2.367(12)(040), 1.6735(12)(440), 1.6707(29)(048) and 1.4267(16)(264). Electron microprobe analyses in combination with single-crystal structure refinement resulted in the empirical formula: (Zr4+0.49Mn2+0.40Mg0.07Ca0.02Zn0.01Ce3+0.01)∑1.00(Mn3+4.44Fe3+0.59Mn2+0.57Mg0.41Al0.01)∑6.02Si0.99O12. Gatedalite is a member of the braunite group (general formula AB6SiO12). It is related to braunite (Mn2+Mn3+6 SiO12) through the net cation exchange (Zr4+ + Mn2+) → 2Mn3+, which results from the substitutions Zr4+ → Mn2+ at the 8-fold coordinated site (A in the general formula) coupled with a 2Mn2+ → 2Mn3+ substitution at the 6-fold coordinated sites (B in the general formula).


Saharan dust events are currently the predominant source of lithogenic particles in the Canary Basin. In order to quantify this input and its relationship with the biogenic fluxes, a sediment trap was deployed in a free-drifting system at 150 m depth, 50 km off the north coast of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands). The mineralogy of the lithogenic particles included illite, calcite, hematite quartz, barite and kaolinite. The biogenic matter was composed of chitin, transparent exopolymer particles, and carbonates from foraminifera and gastropod shells. The average Saharan dust flux over the ocean surface was approximately 5±4 mg m–2 day-1. The lithogenic, carbonate and chitin fluxes were 0.8±0.6, 6.0±7.4 and 154±386 mg m–2 day-1, respectively. A fairly strong Saharan dust event during sampling was observed in the trap, with a delay of three days in the peaks of lithogenic and biogenic fluxes. The theoretical settling velocity of the lithogenic particles associated with Saharan dust events at 150 m depth was vStokes=275 m day-1, and the experimental settling was about 50 m day-1. The associated sinking behaviour of particulate organic carbon and biogenic and lithogenic fluxes observed in this study may contribute to a more realistic prediction of these fluxes in carbon biological pump models.


Defending programs against illegitimate use and tampering has become both a field of study and a large industry. Code obfuscation is one of several strategies to stop, or slow down, malicious attackers from gaining knowledge about the internal workings of a program. Binary code obfuscation tools often come in two (sometimes overlapping) flavors. On the one hand there are "binary protectors", tools outside of the development chain that translate a compiled binary into another, less intelligible one. On the other hand there are software development kits that require a significant effort from the developer to ensure the program is adequately obfuscated. In this paper, we present obfuscation methods that are easily integrated into the development chain of C++ programs, by using the compiler itself to perform the obfuscated code generation. This is accomplished by using advanced C++ techniques, such as operator overloading, template metaprogramming, expression templates, and more. We achieve obfuscated code featuring randomization, opaque predicates and data masking. We evaluate our obfuscating transformations in terms of potency, resilience, stealth, and cost.


Women are a major human resource and assure adequate nutrition, health and cognitive development of their households and children in their formative years. However, women are over-represented among the poor, suffer heavy workloads and have little control over resources for family care. Poverty and food insecurity are enhanced by lack of access to, and control over assets, and lack of access to institutions that provide opportunities and buffer from shocks and crises. The need to improve household food security and empower women in households has seen the implementation of agricultural projects, particularly livestock projects that target women smallholder farmers. These projects are used as one of the major strategies to expand agricultural output in rural areas. Livestock contributes a higher share of income to rural households, improves food security and possibly enhances women's participation in civic activities. Livestock development projects seek to empower women through increased household incomes, improve household incomes of women and nutritional status of women and other members of the households. This paper sought to establish a link between participation in livestock projects, socio-economic status and nutritional status of index women. A crosssectional survey with a case-control model was conducted to establish the link between participation in a livestock project. Socio-economic and nutritional status of women from beneficiary and non-beneficiary households of livestock projects in Vihiga District, Kenya was assessed using both the Body Mass and the Brokas Index. A total of 300 beneficiary and non-beneficiary women were interviewed and their heights and weights measured during the study. Results revealed better incomes, education levels and nutritional status among the beneficiary women. Development projects can attain their objectives when there is deliberate effort to ensure that the project goals are understood by all stakeholders, to create commitment to resource re-direction and embrace the purpose of the project. There has to be proper understanding of the familial and community cultures and practices if the course of women is to be addressed profitably, with full support of their husbands and the entire household for the success of the project.


Fresh water supplies increasingly are under stress in many parts of the world due to rising populations, higher per capita incomes and corresponding consumption, greater environmental concerns, and the effects of climate change. Water rights and markets are part of the institutional menus for responding to these problems. We examine water markets in both Australia's MDB and the western US and their prospects for addressing water scarcity. The two regions share a number of important similarities including: climate variability that requires investment in reservoirs to make water available in low-rainfall periods; the need for internal and cross-border (state) water management; an historical major allocation of water to irrigators; increasing competition among different uses (agricultural, environmental and recreational in situ uses, urban demand); and the potential for water trading to more smoothly and quickly allocate water across these competing uses. A comparison of the two regions provides important insights about how economic factors can encourage more efficient water allocation, market structure and government regulation. We show that rights are more clearly defined and trading more common in Australia than appears to be the case in the western U.S. Longer periods of scarcity and hence, higher water values may explain this difference.


Spitzer Space Telescope infrared observations indicate that several transiting extrasolar giant planets have thermal inversions in their upper atmospheres. Above a relative minimum, the temperature appears to increase with altitude. Such an inversion probably requires a species at high altitude that absorbs a significant amount of incident optical/UV radiation. Some authors have suggested that the strong optical absorbers titanium oxide (TiO) and vanadium oxide (VO) could provide the needed additional opacity, but if regions of the atmosphere are cold enough for Ti and V to be sequestered into solids they might rain out and be severely depleted. With a model of the vertical distribution of a refractory species in gaseous and condensed form, we address the question of whether enough TiO (or VO) could survive aloft in an irradiated planet's atmosphere to produce a thermal inversion. We find that it is unlikely that VO could play a critical role in producing thermal inversions. Furthermore, we find that macroscopic mixing is essential to the TiO hypothesis; without macroscopic mixing, such a heavy species cannot persist in a planet's upper atmosphere. The amount of macroscopic mixing that is required depends on the size of condensed titanium-bearing particles that form in regions of an atmosphere that are too cold for gaseous TiO to exist. We parameterize the macroscopic mixing with the eddy diffusion coefficient Kzz and find, as a function of particle size a, the values that Kzz must assume on the highly irradiated planets HD 209458b, HD 149026b, TrES-4, and OGLE-TR-56b to loft enough titanium to the upper atmosphere for the TiO hypothesis to be correct. On these planets, we find that for TiO to be responsible for thermal inversions Kzz must be at least a few times 107 cm2 s−1, even for a = 0.1 μm, and increases to nearly 1011 cm2 s−1 for a = 10 μm. Such large values may be problematic for the TiO hypothesis, but are not impossible.


We have successfully completed 4 years (2013 2016) of facilitating the Pacific Islands Field Education (PIFE) initiative, striving to achieve the following three key components: 1. Provide international learning opportunities for Western Sydney University students 2. Enhance social work education; including teaching, learning and research resources through University of the South Pacific (USP) 3. Promote the development and identity of professional Social Work across Oceania region. Within this active partnership with University of the South Pacific, the project has provided scope to develop ongoing relationships with community based services, whilst bolstering the manner in which social work education is manifested through field education across both institutions. To date, 20 Western Sydney University Bachelor of Social Work students have successfully completed their final year social work placement in the Pacific, 15 in Fiji, 3 in Samoa and 2 in Tonga. We have now partnered with 7 agencies in the region, which includes family and health services in the Kingdom of Tonga.


Galaxy groups and clusters are cosmic giants. They are the largest observable virialised objects that have materialised from the initial perturbations in the early Universe. These systems comprise of not only galaxies, but also hot gas and dark matter. They are ideal astrophysical laboratories to study the matter distribution of the Universe and cluster physics whilst their distribution and evolution can be used constrain cosmological parameters. Clusters are the ultimate test for the structure formation paradigm. However, for this to be achieved requires knowledge of their mass which is a particularly challenging task since there are no 'cosmic scales' to directly measure the masses of these objects.
Groups and clusters are massive enough to gravitationally influence light emitted from background galaxies, an effect known as gravitational lensing. Its mass can be inferred from the strength of the weak lensing signal and is only dependent on the gravitational potential well depth. However, its limitations arise from systematic uncertainties of shape measurement, photometric redshift and shallow survey depth. This thesis concerns constraining accurate and precise cluster mass estimates of low mass groups and poor clusters, and testing the limits that can be achieved with current noisy, ground-based data.


Objectives
To evaluate the effect of secukinumab, a fully human anti-interleukin-17A monoclonal antibody, on efficacy, imaging outcomes, and safety through 4 years (208 weeks) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Methods
Patients opting to enrol had completed 2 years' treatment in the MEASURE 1 core study with subcutaneous secukinumab 150 or 75 mg every 4 weeks (q4Wk), following intravenous loading to Week (Wk) 4, or placebo treatment to Wk16/24. Up-titration from secukinumab 75-150 mg q4Wk was permitted following a protocol amendment. Efficacy is reported for patients originally randomized to secukinumab. Radiographic changes were assessed using the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS) and changes in MRI measures of inflammation using the Berlin scoring method. Safety and tolerability were evaluated.

Results
Among 274 extension study participants, 89.7% (78/87) and 93.0% (93/100) originally randomized to secukinumab 150 and 75 mg, respectively, completed 208Wk. Through Wk208, Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society 20/40 (observed) were 79.7%/60.8% (150 mg), 71.0%/43.5% (75 mg) and 80.0%/76% (up-titrators; n = 25). Mean (s.d.) changes in mSASSS were 1.2 (3.91) (150 mg), 1.8 (4.32) (75 mg) and 1.6 (5.67) (up-titrators). No radiographic progression (mSASSS change from Baseline < 2) was observed in 79% of patients receiving either secukinumab dose. Exposure-adjusted incidence rates per 100 patient-years were: serious infections (1.0), Candida infections (0.4), Crohn's disease (0.6), ulcerative colitis (0.2), and malignant/unspecified tumours (0.5), with no new safety signals.

Conclusion
Through 4 years, secukinumab provided sustained efficacy on signs and symptoms, and MRI outcomes, a low rate of radiographic progression and a consistent safety profile.

Trial registration
NCT01863732.


The COVID-19 pandemic has spread to almost every country in the world since it started in China in late 2019. Controlling the pandemic requires a multifaceted approach including whole genome sequencing to support public health interventions at local and national levels. One of the most widely used methods for sequencing is the ARTIC protocol, a tiling PCR approach followed by Oxford Nanopore sequencing (ONT) of up to 24 samples at a time. There is a need for a higher throughput method to reduce cost per genome. Here we present CoronaHiT, a method capable of multiplexing up to 95 small genomes on a single Nanopore flowcell, which uses transposase mediated addition of adapters and PCR based addition of symmetric barcodes. We demonstrate the method using 48 and 94 SARS-CoV-2 genomes per flowcell, amplified using the ARTIC protocol, and compare performance with Illumina and ARTIC ONT sequencing. Results demonstrate that all sequencing methods produce inaccurate genomes when the RNA extract from SARS-CoV-2 positive clinical sample has a cycle threshold (Ct) >= 32. Results from set same set of 23 samples with a broad range of Cts show that the consensus genomes have >90% coverage (GISAID criteria) for 78.2% of samples for CoronaHiT-48, 73.9% for CoronaHiT-94, 78.2% for Illumina and 73.9% for ARTIC ONT, and all have the same clustering on a maximum likelihood tree. In conclusion, we demonstrate that CoronaHiT can multiplex up to 94 SARS-CoV-2 genomes per nanopore flowcell without compromising the quality of the resulting genomes while reducing library preparation complexity and significantly reducing cost. This protocol will aid the rapid expansion of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequencing globally, to help control the pandemic.


Atherosclerotic plaques prone to rupture may cause acute myocardial infarction (MI) but can also heal without causing an event. Certain common histopathological features, including inflammation, a thin fibrous cap, positive remodelling, a large necrotic core, microcalcification, and plaque haemorrhage are commonly found in plaques causing an acute event. Recent advances in imaging techniques have made it possible to detect not only luminal stenosis and overall coronary atherosclerosis burden but also to identify such adverse plaque characteristics. However, the predictive value of identifying individual adverse atherosclerotic plaques for future events has remained poor. In this Position Paper, the relationship between vulnerable plaque imaging and MI is addressed, mainly for non-invasive assessments but also for invasive imaging of adverse plaques in patients undergoing invasive coronary angiography. Dynamic changes in atherosclerotic plaque development and composition may indicate that an adverse plaque phenotype should be considered at the patient level rather than for individual plaques. Imaging of adverse plaque burden throughout the coronary vascular tree, in combination with biomarkers and biomechanical parameters, therefore holds promise for identifying subjects at increased risk of MI and for guiding medical and invasive treatment.


In High Frequency (HF) communication, both sky wave and ground wave plays an important part. During a communication trial, it was observed that duplex communication was established over the range of 250 kilometers using dipole and rod antenna. There is null in the vertical direction of rod antenna and hence sky wave communication theoretically is not possible. Thus there is a need to study the radiation pattern in null direction as effect of main lobe is already known. This phenomenon needs to be understood so as to stop unintended transmission in the null direction. This paper describes the simulation of radiation pattern of HF antennas and proposes a hardware blocking model to stop them from emission in the null direction.


Since the earliest days of philosophy, thinkers have debated the meaning of the term happiness and the nature of the good life. But it is only in recent years that the study of happiness—or "hedonics"—has developed into a formal field of inquiry, cutting across a broad range of disciplines and offering insights into a variety of crucial questions of law and public policy. Law and Happiness brings together the best and most influential thinkers in the field to explore the question of what makes up happiness—and what factors can be demonstrated to increase or decrease it. Martha Nussbaum offers an account of the way that hedonics can productively be applied to psychology, Cass R. Sunstein considers the unexpected relationship between happiness and health problems, Matthew Adler and Eric A. Posner view hedonics through the lens of cost-benefit analysis, David A. Weisbach considers the relationship between happiness and taxation, and Mark A. Cohen examines the role crime—and fear of crime—can play in people's assessment of their happiness, and much more. The result is a kaleidoscopic overview of this increasingly prominent field, offering surprising new perspectives and incisive analyses that will have profound implications on public policy.


Interactive theorem provers are tools designed for the certification of formal proofs developed by means of man-machine collaboration. Formal proofs obtained in this way cover a large variety of logical theories, ranging from the branches of mainstream mathematics, to the field of software verification. The border between these two worlds is marked by results in theoretical computer science and proofs related to the metatheory of programming languages. This last field, which is an obvious application of interactive theorem proving, poses nonetheless a serious challenge to the users of such tools, due both to the particularly structured way in which these proofs are
constructed, and to difficulties related to the management of notions typical of programming languages like variable binding.

This thesis is composed of two parts, discussing our experience in the development of the Matita interactive theorem prover and its use in the mechanization of the metatheory of programming languages. More specifically, part I covers:

- the results of our effort in providing a better framework for the development of tactics for Matita, in order to make their implementation and debugging easier, also resulting in a much clearer code;

- a discussion of the implementation of two tactics, providing infrastructure for the unification of constructor forms and the inversion of inductive predicates; we point out interactions between induction and inversion and provide an advancement over the state of the art.

In the second part of the thesis, we focus on aspects related to the formalization of programming languages. We describe two works of ours:

- a discussion of basic issues we encountered in our formalizations of part 1A of the Poplmark challenge, where we apply the extended inversion principles we implemented for Matita;

- a formalization of an algebraic logical framework, posing more complex challenges, including multiple binding and a form of hereditary substitution; this work adopts, for the encoding of binding, an extension of Masahiko Sato's canonical locally named representation we designed during our visit to the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science at the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Randy Pollack.


The UK government - in common with the governments of many Western countries - is in the midst of implementing policies to reform education. However, the government has, as a matter of principle, decided that profit-making schools cannot provide state-funded education even if they would lead to substantial improvements in quality.This monograph makes the case for widespread acceptance of the profit motive in education. It does so not by presenting statistics that demonstrate that profit-making organisations could drive up quality - there is already a substantial literature on this. Instead, the authors show how profit-making organisations could create an entirely new dynamic of entrepreneurship and innovation. As well as improving quality and reducing costs within existing models, such an approach could lead to the development of completely new ways of providing education.The authors of this monograph have a range of international experience. Many of them have run profit-making schools in countries more accepting of the profit motive than the UK, such as Sweden. Others have struggled against the odds to participate in education reform programmes in the UK. Overall, this collection makes an important contribution to the international debate about education reform.


ABSTRACT Contending that a significant portion of current ethnobiological research continues to overlook cultural variation in traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and practice, this paper explores the potential impacts of gender-imbalanced research on data collection, hypothesis testing, and the formulation and application of ethnobiological inventories and theories. A multidisciplinary review of over 220 studies addresses commonly held stereotypes underlying gender-imbalanced field research and demonstrates the need for more inclusive, finely-tuned studies which disaggregate indigenous knowledge and practice by gender. The paper outlines factors underlying gender-based spatial and temporal variation in ecosystem exposure and traditional ecological knowledge in rural societies worldwide, and discusses how these factors contribute to gender differences in wild food harvesting, biodiversity and agrobiodiversity maintenance, natural resource management, and the transmission and conservation of sacred and secular customs. The review concludes with suggestions for designing and implementing more inclusive research.


The assumption of the importance of the translator's talent has often led to the result that poetry translation appears unfathomable, in particular the view exists that poetry translation can only be successful as a form of rewriting or re-creation (Bassnett, 1998), while the difficulties and intricacies involved in poetry translation may have led to the subjectivity and 'isolatedness' of numerous relevant studies. In this research study, I propose the 'argumentative perspective' to analyze classical Chinese poetry, by which I argue that description of the nature of poetry translation can be described in a relatively objective manner. Seemingly incompatible with the strong lyric tradition of classical Chinese poetry (Liu & Lo, 1975) but nevertheless a long-standing concept in Western literary studies (Kertzer, 1988), 'argument' is defined in this study as having a structural and meaning dimension. Using the comparative approach in translation studies (Williams & Chesterman, 2002), I discuss how different translations of the same poem can be judged against the threshold of whether or not the poetic argument of the source text is transferred as far as possible. While different translation issues are foregrounded as I discuss the two dimensions of poetic argument, the discussions concerned are given coherence by the common aim of demonstrating the usefulness of the argumentative perspective in achieving my research purpose of an objective description of poetry translation, as well as how such a description leads to a simple and accommodating theory, the latter I propose in particular to be contribution to the field of translation studies. All in all, the conclusions derived from adopting the argumentative perspective should have generalizing power, and allow poetry translation to be understood in a way which is rid of the mysticism, subjectivity, and isolated nature associated with previous studies.


The threat of greenhouse gases and the resulting climate change have been causing concern at international levels. This has led towards new sustainable policies towards reducing the anthropogenic effects on the environment and the population through promoting sustainable solutions for the freight industry. The research was prompted by the growing concerns that were no mode-choice tool to select as an alternative to road freight transport. There were growing concerns that a large percentage of transport related negativities, related various costs and pollution costs, losses arising from traffic accidents, delay costs from congestion and abatement costs due to climate impacts of transport, etc., were not being borne by the user. Economists have defined them as external costs. Internalising these external costs has been regarded as an efficient way to share the transport related costs. The aim of this research was to construct a freight mode choice model, based on total transport costs, as a mode choice substitution tool. This model would allow the feasibility of choosing alternative intermodal system to a primarily 'road system'. The thesis postulates a novel model in computing total freight transport costs incurred during the total transit of goods along three North European transport corridors. The model evaluated the total costs summing the internal, external and time costs for varied mode choices from unimodal and the second level of intermodal transport systems. The research outcomes have shown the influences of total costs on the shipper and the preferred mode choices from the available mode/route options with sustainable transport solutions. The impacts of such alternatives were evaluated in this research. This will allow the embedding of intermodal infrastructures as sustainable and alternative mode choices for the freight industry.


By the application of esterification-polymerization two-step synthesis method, comb-shaped polycarboxylate slump-loss resistance agent XBT for small slump concrete is prepared by controlling ester ratio. The experimental results of concrete and fresh cement paste indicate that XBT has excellent function of plasticity retention in small slump concrete. The experiment of gel permeation liquid chromatogram shows that XBT has wide range of molecular weight distribution, which may be the source of fine plasticity retention performance in the small slump concrete. The combined experiment between ultraviolet and conductivity indicates that there is strong adsorptive action between XBT and Ca2+, and their adsorptive characteristics may be closely related to the plasticity retention properties.


AIM
This is a report of a correlational study to test the Integrated Theory of Health Behaviour Change within the context of postpartum weight self-management including the impact of race/ethnicity and weight classification.

BACKGROUND
Women experiencing childbirth face increasing challenges to manage their weight postpartum. Little is known about women's weight self-management during the complex physiological and psychosocial transition of the postpartum period.

METHODS
Data were collected during the birth hospitalization and 4 months postbirth during 2005 and 2006. A quota sample of 250 postpartum women using two strata, race/ethnicity and prepregnant weight classification, were enrolled; 179 women completed the follow-up survey. A survey questionnaire measured concepts from the Integrated Theory of Health Behaviour Change concepts, including knowledge and beliefs (self-efficacy, outcome expectancy and goal congruence), self-regulation skills and abilities, and social facilitation (social support and social influence) and the proximal outcome of weight retention. Factor analysis identified 5 factors consistent with the theoretical concepts that accounted for 47·1% of total survey variance.

RESULTS
Model testing using path analysis explored the relationship among factors. The final model explained 25·7% of the variance in self regulation at 4 months, but did not explain weight retention. The contribution of select concepts to total variance was different for Caucasian and African American women, but not by weight classification.

CONCLUSIONS
Findings support use of theoretical concepts and relationships to understand postpartum weight self-management. The different relationships among concepts in Caucasian and African American women should be considered in planning targeted postpartum weight self-management interventions.


Over the past few years, South Asian culture has crossed over into the mainstream as never before with fusion projects across various genres as well as Bollywood films enjoying considerable success at the UK box office. Focusing on the Bollywood hit Lagaan, this article will examine how directors play with the tested Bollywood formula in order to generate a broader appeal not only within India but increasingly across the globe. The film raises serious issues and questions about the nature of a globalised world since, for many years, globalisation has been regarded as a euphemism for Western cultural domination. Indeed, must we not re-examine this in the light of increasing South Asian influences penetrating mainstream culture and argue that globalisation allows these influences to travel backwards and forwards, threatening the perceived pre-eminence of Western popular culture?


The thermal evolution of the Junggar Basin, northwest China, was evaluated based on the thermal modelling results of 59 wells by using vitrinite reflectance (Ro) and apatite fission track (AFT) data. The thermal history indicates a cooling process of the basin since the Permian, but some differences in thermal evolution existed among the six structural units of the basin due to tectonic movements. The Junggar Basin was a 'hot basin' during the Permian, after which a cooling process with normal heat flow values occurred during the Mesozoic. Then the basin became a 'cool basin' from the beginning of the Tertiary. The average heat flow of the whole basin was 80 mW m−2 at the beginning of the Permian, then it decreased to 68 mW m−2 at the end of the Permian, to 63 mW m−2 at the end of the Triassic, 55 mW m−2 at the end of the Jurassic, 50 mW m−2 at the end of the Cretaceous and 42 mW m−2 at the present day. The heat flow distribution of the basin at different geological times also shows the thermal evolution characteristics of the Junggar Basin. At the beginning of the Permian, the highest heat flow, 85 mW m−2, occurred in the central basin and the eastern part of the basin, but the lowest heat flow was distributed along the southern and western basin margins, down to 70 mW m−2. The heat flow values were between 45 mW m−2 and 65 mW m−2 at the end of the Jurassic, with the lower value of 45 mW m−2 at the southern basin margin. The highest heat flow value again occurred at the southern end of the Luliang Uplift, at the northern part of the Central Depression and at the Eastern Uplift area during that period. At the end of the Cretaceous, it was down to 40–55 mW m−2. The lowest heat flow occurred at the Southern Margin and in the Wulungu Depression, and the highest value in the Eastern Uplift area. The tectonic subsidence also supports this thermal evolution of the basin. The rapid decrease of heat flow during the Tertiary in the Southern Margin of the basin may be caused by the uplift of the Tianshan Mountain. These heat flow data can provide useful parameters for the study of the Junggar Basin. Palaeoheat flow data are the critical parameter for hydrocarbon generation calculations. The results of this study provide a foundation for hydrocarbon generation history modelling and petroleum resource assessment in the Junggar Basin, which are important factors in the exploration of the Wulungu Depression and the study of stratigraphic and subtle traps in the Central Depression.


While the savings of retired singles tend to fall with age, those of retired couples tend to rise. We estimate a rich model of retired singles and couples with bequest motives and uncertain longevity and medical expenses. Our estimates imply that while medical expenses are an important driver of the savings of middle-income singles, bequest motives matter for couples and highincome singles and generate transfers to nonspousal heirs whenever a household member dies. The interaction of medical expenses and bequest motives is a crucial determinant of savings for all retirees. Hence, to understand savings, it is important to model household structure, medical expenses, and bequest motives. Reference Details CWPE 2172 Published 20 October 2021


This study concerns the use of counter based laser Doppler anemometry in a wet steam flow of variable wetness fraction. Velocity measurements across the flow were made under different steam conditions. Comparison was made with a theoretical profile based upon a simple flow analysis. A small radial turbocharger was used as a means of extracting enthalpy homogeneously from a dry superheated flow of steam using the compressor as a brake. The wetness fraction of the exhaust was estimated using measured values of the thermodynamic properties. A laser extinction method was used to determine the number concentration and mean radius of the water droplets acting as natural scatterers in the wet steam. A laser anemometer was designed which made use of the properties of a propagating gaussian beam to produce a small probe volume. This was required to reduce the number of water droplets likely to be present simultaneously in the measuring volume. Good Doppler signals were obtained and these have been presented for a range of wet steam conditions. A computer model was developed to predict the scattering of laser light through wet steam. Results have shown that this can be accurately modelled using a particle size distribution function. The program written to perform the simulation takes into account both single and multiple scattering events. The parameters used for the distribution function required a knowledge of the wetness fraction and so provided a useful means of checking the estimate based upon the thermodynamic measurements. It has been demonstrated that the ability to obtain Doppler signals from the wet steam can be predicted by computation of the signal-to-noise ratio for the medium. Good results were obtained for the wet steam conditions under investigation.