Diabetes is a serious worldwide epidemic that affects a growing portion of the population. While the most common method for testing blood glucose levels involves finger pricking, it is painful and inconvenient for patients. We compared the glucose levels measured noninvasively from tears to those obtained from capillary blood in 10 diabetic and non-diabetic patients. In addition, we assessed the clinical accuracy of the newly developed non-invasive tear glucose monitoring system using a Clarke Error Grid Analysis (EGA) and tested if such a relationship is individualized or universal. A glucose meter circuit was built to analyze capillary blood and right- and left-eye tear fluids, and the results
were compared with those of a commercial glucose meter, which was used as the reference in the EGA. The prediction of glucose values from the voltages using linear regression showed the non-invasive system to be clinically accurate and universal. This result suggests that the coupling of a non-invasive glucose monitoring system, such as one that detects glucose in tears, with an insulin pump may be clinically feasible as an ex vivo artificial pancreas treatment. By employing this ex vivo artificial pancreas, many of the complications associated with frequent hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia events could be avoided, increasing the quality of life.


Globally, many rivers are experiencing declining water quality, for example, with altered levels of sediments, salts, and nutrients. Effective water quality management requires a sound understanding of how and why water quality differs across space, both within and between river catchments. Land cover, land use, land management, atmospheric deposition, geology and soil type, climate, topography, and catchment hydrology are the key features of a catchment that affect: (1) the amount of suspended sediment, nutrient, and salt concentrations in catchments (i.e., the source), (2) the mobilization ,and (3) the delivery of these constituents to receiving waters. There are, however, complexities in the relationship between landscape characteristics and stream water quality. The strength of this relationship can be influenced by the distance and spatial arrangement of constituent sources within the catchment, cross correlations between landscape characteristics, and seasonality. A knowledge gap that should be addressed in future studies is that of interactions and cross correlations between landscape characteristics. There is currently limited understanding of how the relationships between landscape characteristics and water quality responses can shift based on the other characteristics of the catchment. Understanding the many forces driving stream water quality and the complexities and interactions in these forces is necessary for the development of successful water quality management strategies. This knowledge could be used to develop predictive models, which would aid in forecasting of riverine water quality. WIREs Water 2018, 5:e1260. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1260


Amphiphilic triand penta-block copolymers containing a polyurethane central block with pendant carboxylic acid groups flanked by hydroxyl functional polyether tails were synthesized. Our intention was to investigate the activities of these copolymers as dispersants for magnetite nanoparticles in biological media. A benzyl alkoxide initiator was utilized to prepare poly(ethylene oxide) (BzO-PEO-OH), poly(propylene oxide) (BzO-PPO-OH) and poly(ethylene oxide-b-propylene oxide) (poly(BzO-EO-b-PO-OH)) oligomeric tail blocks with varying lengths of PEO and PPO. The oligomers had a hydroxyl group at the terminal chain end and a benzyl-protected hydroxyl group at the initiated end. The polyether oligomers were incorporated into a block copolymer with a short polyurethane segment having approximately three carboxylic acid groups per chain. The block co-polyurethane was then hydrogenated to remove the benzyl group and yield primary hydroxyl functionality at the chain ends. End group analysis by H NMR showed the targeted ratio of PEO to PPO demonstrating control over block copolymer composition. Number average molecular weights determined by both H NMR and GPC were in agreement and close to targeted values demonstrating control over molecular weight. Titrations of the pentablock copolymers showed that the targeted value of approximately three carboxylic acid groups per chain was achieved. Heterobifunctional poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and poly(ethylene oxide-bpropylene oxide) (PEO-b-PPO) copolymers were synthesized utilizing heterobifunctional initiators to yield polymers having a hydroxyl group at one chain end and additional moieties at the other chain end. For PEO homopolymers, these moieties include maleimide, vinylsilane, and carboxylic acid functional groups. Heterobifunctional PEO oligomers with a maliemide end group were synthesized utilizing a double metal cyanide coordination catalyst to avoid side reactions that occur with a basic catalyst. PEO oligomers with vinylsilane end groups were synthesized via alkoxide-initiated living ringopening polymerization, and this produced polymers with narrow molecular weight distributions. Heterobifunctional PEO-b-PPO block copolymers were synthesized in two steps where the double metal cyanide catalyst was used to polymerize propylene oxide (PO) initiated by 3-hydroxypropyltrivinylsilane. The PPO was then utilized as a macroinitiator to polymerize ethylene oxide (EO) with base catalysis. Heterobifunctional PEO and PEO-b-PPO block copolymers possessing carboxylic acid functional groups on one end were synthesized by reacting the vinyl groups with mercaptoacetic acid via an ene-thiol addition.


Geological and environmental silicate samples, such as soils and sediments, often contain high total carbon (carbonaceous) that poses difficulty in the precise analysis by certain XRF techniques. The presence of carbon in the matrix in excess of c. 2–3% results in pronounced enhancements of fluorescent X-ray intensities of analytes leading to overestimation by as much as >5% depending upon carbon content of the sample. In order to quantify this overestimation and its matrix dependence, XRF measurements were performed on reference silicate standards by doping with varying amounts (2–20%) of carbon. Precise measurement of carbon X-rays is commonly not used in routine analysis of silicate rock samples, which limits the use of internal matrix correction for carbon. The enhancement effect is found to be more serious on high-Z elements compared to lighter elements. The error of estimation exhibits a linear correlation with the carbon content of the sample. External correction factors, therefore, derived from this linear relationship were applied to the test samples that reasonably improved the accuracies of estimation to within an acceptable limit. Supplementary material: Reproducibility test data are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4157654


Teachers use the measurement and the evaluation in the decisions they make about students in the classroom. The measurement and evaluation courses are given in line with this need in the college of education. This study was carried out in order to determine the awareness, self-evaluation and expectations of pre-service teachers studying in the science and the social sciences departments about the educational assessment and evaluation course. For this purpose, three open-ended questions were posed to pre-service teachers using a questionnaire. The phenomenology design was used in the study. After the data were encoded in the computer environment, themes were formed by conducting the content analysis by one of the researchers. Later, a second researcher was given these themes and asked to encode the data under these themes. There was an agreement of 75% for the first question, 89% for the second and 87% for the third question between the two researchers. The themes were finalized by discussing the items for which the agreement was not achieved. The pre-service teachers mostly stated that the educational measurement and evaluation course will be beneficial for them in their professional life in "making objective and qualified exams". While 31% of the pre-service teachers considered themselves as adequate in terms of the qualifications gained in this course, 69% of the pre-service teachers considered themselves as inadequate. When the pre-service teachers were asked about how this lesson should be taught in order to be more beneficial for them in their professional life, they mostly (44%) underlined the need for "practice". The results reveal that the most of the pre-service teachers do not consider themselves competent in the measurement and evaluation course, and they think that besides the theoretical knowledge, practice should be given more importance in the measurement and evaluation course.


Anxiety and depression are the most often cited problems related to a cancer diagnosis, because receiving this diagnosis is often very frightening. Feeling sad, worrying relentlessly, and being unable to experience pleasure often lead people to feel that they may be on the path to losing their minds. However, in the past few years a more subtle phenomenon has been identified related to cognitive deficits allegedly associated with chemotherapy treatment, sometimes called chemobrain.


Shared Assets and Kingston University's Landscape Interface Studio developed a methodology and tools for engaging local people and creative industries in imagining a future for the Limehouse Cut, a canal in Tower Hamlets, London's poorest borough.

The Cut links two regenerated parts of London – the Olympic Park to the north and Limehouse to the south. It has the potential to be a substantial local asset but remains an underused and intimidating place, a place to be "got through" as quickly as possible. Part of London's industrial heritage, it is a dead straight mile of water, surrounded by local businesses and residents, in an area with limited access to green space.

As rents rise in Shoreditch and Dalston, creative businesses are looking for space elsewhere. This research has examined how engaging creative industries in re-imagining the Limehouse Cut could best benefit local people, reconnecting them with this local asset whilst expanding the infrastructure to support London's creative economy.

This project involved digital mapping of the Cut, land ownership, planning strategies and future visioning, developing a methodology for engaging local creative industries and people in imagining a shared future for the Cut thus providing scalable, replicable models for use elsewhere in London. By undertaking the research a mixed methodology has been developed which brings people together with a place and works with their direct experience of that place to co-create ideas for the future.

Landscape Interface Studio (LIS), Kingston University was selected by the Arts and Humanities Research Council to develop and present an exhibition of their recent collaborative project at the AHRC Creative Economy Showcase 2014 at King's Place, London.


In this study, we analyzed the relationship between religiosity and sexual prejudice. We examined the effects of different religious orientations (intrinsic, extrinsic, and quest), while controlling for the effects of fundamentalism and distinguishing between prejudice toward homosexuality and toward homosexuals. As predicted, intrinsic orientation was associated with prejudice toward homosexuality, but not toward homosexuals, whereas extrinsic orientation was constantly related to sexual prejudice, and quest orientation to prejudice reduction. When fundamentalism was added among predictors, the unfavourable effects of intrinsic religiosity disappeared, so as, in part, those of extrinsic orientation. At the same time, the association between quest and tolerance remained unchanged. Finally, in moderation analyses, we found that quest orientation, as a mature form of religiosity, favoured the beneficial role of intrinsic orientation. On the contrary, and consistent with the original predictions by Allport and Ross, the combination of high levels of intrinsic and extrinsic orientations had the most detrimental effects on sexual prejudice.


In the most comprehensive pyrheliometer comparison known to date, 33 instruments were deployed to measure direct normal solar radiation over a 10-month period in Golden, Colorado. The goal was to determine their performance relative to four electrical-substitution cavity radiometers that were calibrated against the World Radiometric Reference (WRR) that is maintained at the World Radiation Center in Davos, Switzerland. Because of intermittentcabling problems with one of the cavity radiometers, the average of three windowed, electrical-substitution cavity radiometers served as the reference irradiance for 29 test instruments during the 10-month study. To keep the size of this work manageable, comparisons are limited to stable sunny conditions, passing clouds, calm and windy conditions, and hot and cold temperatures. Other variables could have been analyzed, or the conditions analyzed could have employed higher resolution. A more complete study should be possible now that the instruments are identified; note that this analysis was performed without any knowledge on the part of the analyst of the instruments' manufacturers or models. Apart from the windowed cavities that provided the best measurements, two categories of performance emerged during the comparison. All instruments exceeded expectations in that they measured with lower uncertainties than the manufacturers' own specifications. Operational 95% uncertainties for the three classes of instruments, which include the uncertainties of the open cavities used for calibration, were about 0.5%, 0.8%,and 1.4%.The open cavitiesthat wereused for calibrationof allpyrheliometers havean estimated 95% uncertainty of 0.4%‐0.45%, which includes the conservative estimate of 0.3% uncertainty for the WRR.


This paper studies obstruction-free software transactional memory systems (OFTMs). These systems are appealing, for they combine the atomicity property of transactions with a liveness property that ensures the commitment of every transaction that eventually encounters no contention.
 We precisely define OFTMs and establish two of their fundamental properties. First, we prove that the consensus number of such systems is 2. This indicates that OFTMs cannot be implemented with plain read/write shared memory, on the one hand, but, on the other hand, do not require powerful universal objects, such as compare-and-swap. Second, we prove that OFTMs cannot ensure disjoint-access-parallelism (in a strict sense). This may result in artificial "hot spots" and thus limit the performance of OFTMs.


Twitter is increasingly being used within the sociopolitical domain as a channel through which to circulate information and opinions. Throughout the 2016 US Presidential primaries and general election campaign, a notable feature was the prolific Twitter use of Republican candidate and then nominee, Donald Trump. This use has continued since his election victory and inauguration as President. Trump's use of Twitter has drawn criticism due to his rhetoric in relation to various issues, including Hillary Clinton, the size of the crowd in attendance at his inauguration, the policies of the former Obama administration, and immigration and foreign policy. One of the most notable features of Trump's Twitter use has been his repeated ridicule of the mainstream media through pejorative labels such as "fake news" and "fake media." These labels have been deployed in an attempt to deter the public from trusting media reports, many of which are critical of Trump's presidency, and to position himself as the only reliable source of truth. However, given the contestable nature of objective truth, it can be argued that Trump himself is a serial offender in the propagation of mis- and disinformation in the same vein that he accuses the media. This article adopts a corpus analysis of Trump's Twitter discourse to highlight his accusations of fake news and how he operates as a serial spreader of mis- and disinformation. Our data show that Trump uses these accusations to demonstrate allegiance and as a cover for his own spreading of mis- and disinformation that is framed as truth.


Recent studies have shown that the pupillary light response (PLR) is modulated by higher cognitive functions, presumably through activity in visual sensory brain areas. Here we use the PLR to test the involvement of sensory areas in visual working memory (VWM). In two experiments, participants memorized either bright or dark stimuli. We found that pupils were smaller when a pre-stimulus cue indicated that a bright stimulus should be memorized; this reflects a covert shift of attention during encoding of items into VWM. Crucially, we obtained the same result with a post-stimulus cue, which shows that internal shifts of attention within VWM affect pupil size as well. Strikingly, pupil size reflected VWM content only briefly. This suggests that a shift of attention within VWM momentarily activates an "active" memory representation, but that this representation quickly transforms into a "hidden" state that does not rely on sensory areas.


The authors have been leading a team from the Institute of Standardization and Quality Control in Medical Laboratories (INSTAND) conducting ring tests into in vitro allergy diagnosis on behalf of the Federal Chamber of Medical Practitioners since 1995. The aim of the program was to test the comparability of results of specific IgE results against inhalation and food allergens in different laboratories. To date, 190 laboratories have taken part in ring tests and have determined specific IgE antibodies against the following allergens: birch pollen, dust mites, cat and dog, chicken protein, proteins in cow milk, bee and wasp venom, soya, celery, mugwort, apple and carrot. All the results were compared with each other. Those participating in the ring test were informed of the allergens the specific antibodies were aimed at. Their task was to determine the "RAST classes" (as known RAST tests are used anymore. In this article, the word "RAST classes" will be used because it is generally handled in the official allergologic doctor offices) and the IgE concentrations (kU/1). While all RAST results were simply compared with one another, the concentrations were compared on the basis of an area of 25% either side of the average IgE results. The results were also studied according to the testing systems and equipment used. The RAST classes were generally comparable among the individual companies represented by the participants. One negative result was the differing classification (RAST 0 - 4) of specific IgE antibodies in every group of participants independent of the company, including those against bee and wasp venom. There were clear differences when the results in kU/1 were compared. In our opinion the differing results with specific IgE are linked to a specific laboratory's experience in the field. Our results show that ring testing is essential to check the quality of in vitro allergy diagnosis. Quality can only be improved by discussing ring test results with the laboratories themselves as well as the test and equipment manufacturers. As a result of our investigations, we urgently recommend participation in ring testing and internal quality assessment.


There are plans by five West African countries to establish a second monetary zone in the sub-region by December 2009. In this paper we ask whether a monetary union is the appropriate exchange rate regime for the sub-region based on economic criteria. We address the issue using a rigorous theoretical framework that captures the crucial trade-off between the savings in transaction costs, resulting from a common currency, and the macroeconomic stabilization benefits of a flexible exchange rate regime. The main result is that a flexible exchange rate regime dominates a monetary union in the ECOWAS subregion.


Red blood cells or erythrocytes have a special protein called as hemoglobin, which helps in the transport of oxygen from lungs to all living tissues and removes carbon dioxide by exhalation. Erythrocyte count gives information regarding the patient health status on hematological diseases and can be differentiated into mainly anemia and polycythemia . Conventional method of erythrocyte counting by hemocytometer may lead to human errors. Machines developed for erythrocyte counting causes high cost and time consumption. This work emphasize on FPGA implementation of image processing algorithm for segmented erythrocyte counting. Ycbcr Color conversion algorithm is used for erythrocyte segmentation from the blood smear image and connected circular hough transform is used for counting. The proposed algorithm is implemented on the FPGA board and the accuracy of the technique is evaluated.


The aim of mathematic in the Indonesian's curriculum said clearly about ability that want to applied in student, there are: (1) problem solving ability, (2) reasoning ability, (3) communication ability, (4) connection ability, and (5) representation ability. That five things was known mathematical power process standards by NCTM. According to this aim, mathematical communication was the important thing to increased. Mathematical communication reflected
understanding in mathematic and the part of mathematical power. In construstivistic learning, student had to construct their mind by themselves. Teaching mathematic in the constructivistic view did not transfer the knowledge again but gave and arranged the study surrounding in order
to make student can be motivated to improve their mathematic knowledge by themselves.
The purpose of this research was to description about the ability to expressed mathematical idea by talking, the ability to expressed mathematical idea by writing, and the ability to used the main word and notation mathematical by writing in the student of mathematic education department in constructivistic learning in Teori Himpunan lesson.
This research was descriptif research with the quality approach. The population came from student of mathematic education department first grade of A class on the learning year 2008-2009, that amount was 45 students. And the sample was the student of this population, there was
20 students. Data collecting technique was observation and tes.
From this research showed that in constructivistic learning: the ability to expressed mathematical idea by talking had low ability 75%, the ability to expressed mathematical idea by writing had medium ability 75%, and the ability to used the main word and notation mathematical by writing had high ability 60%.


An optical system is described in which ultraviolet light from a suitable source is dispersed by a grating monochromator and focused on a specimen. Fluorescent light from the specimen passes through a second grating monochromator and is detected by a photomulitplier tube. The specimen is placed in a stand which rests on a kinematic trolley, by means of which the specimen is brought into focus and which allows stands with reference markings, an MgO surface, or a cold cell to be used.The optical system is calibrated photometrically by means of a standarized tungsten-quartz lamp. The spectral sensitivity characteristics of the detecting photomultiplier, together with its associated monochromator and mirrors, are corrected by means of a cam driven in synchronism with the wavelenght drive drive of the detecting monochromator.In order to cancel fluctuations in the exciting light source a fraction of the light emerging from the source monochromator is focused on to a second photomultiplier, whose output is used to operate a servo system. The recorded spectrum is thus a measure of the ratio of fluorescent to exciting light. The currents from the photomultipliers are amplified by dc amplifiers with silicon diode modulators, which are described.


Abstract The killing of poultry for human consumption (slaughtering) can take place in a slaughterhouse or during on‐farm slaughter. The processes of slaughtering that were assessed, from the arrival of birds in containers until their death, were grouped into three main phases: pre‐stunning (including arrival, unloading of containers from the truck, lairage, handling/removing of birds from containers); stunning (including restraint); and bleeding (including bleeding following stunning and bleeding during slaughter without stunning). Stunning methods were grouped into three categories: electrical, controlled modified atmosphere and mechanical. In total, 35 hazards were identified and characterised, most of them related to stunning and bleeding. Staff were identified as the origin of 29 hazards, and 28 hazards were attributed to the lack of appropriate skill sets needed to perform tasks or to fatigue. Corrective and preventive measures were assessed: measures to correct hazards were identified for 11 hazards, with management shown to have a crucial role in prevention. Ten welfare consequences, the birds can be exposed to during slaughter, were identified: consciousness, heat stress, cold stress, prolonged thirst, prolonged hunger, restriction of movements, pain, fear, distress and respiratory distress. Welfare consequences and relevant animal‐based measures were described. Outcome tables linking hazards, welfare consequences, animal‐based measures, origins, and preventive and corrective measures were developed for each process. Mitigation measures to minimise welfare consequences were also proposed.


The cold war--the bitter standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union--lasted for over 50 years and polarized the world. The conflict had its roots in political and ideological disagreements dating back to the Russian Revolution of 1917--disagreements that intensified in the wake of World War II. Allan M. Winkler excerpts speeches by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to demonstrate the growing abyss between the two political systems. President Harry S. Truman's announcement of the existence of a Soviet atomic bomb and his speech to Congress launching the Truman Doctrine testify to the gravity of the situation. The cold war was not always "cold"--armed conflicts were narrowly avoided in the Cuban missile crisis and the Bay of Pigs, and war did erupt in Korea and Vietnam. The complex politics of the Vietnam War are represented by voices as divergent as Vietnamese nationalist Ho Chi Minh, President Lyndon B. Johnson, antiwar protesters, and a participant in the My Lai massacre. Cold war paranoia permeated American society. The investigations of writer Ring Lardner, Jr., and government official Alger Hiss by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, along with speeches by Senator Joe McCarthy, lay bare the political repression at home generated by the perceived communist threat. Excerpts from Arthur Miller's play The Crucible and the film script of High Noon capture the mood of uncertainty and fear. A picture essay entitled "The Atom Unleashed" collects photographs and cartoons to explore one of the most controversial discoveries of the 20th century. Agreements made in the SALT treaties show the cold war finally coming to an end. In his 1992 State of the Union address, President Bush declared, "By the grace of God, America won the cold war."


Snow on sea ice plays an important role in air-ice-sea interactions, as snow accumulation may for example increase the albedo. Snow is also able to smooth the ice surface, while at the same time it may generate roughness elements by interactions with the wind. Snow density is a key property in many processes, for example by influencing the thermal conductivity of the snow layer, radiative transfer inside the snow as well as the effects of aerodynamic forcing on the snowpack. By comparing snow density from snow pits and snow micro penetrometer (SMP) measurements, augmented by terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) on an area of 50x50 m2, highly resolved density profiles and surface topology were acquired at a horizontal resolution of approximately 30 cm. Average snow densities are about 300 kg/m3, but the analysis also reveals a high spatial variability in snow density on sea ice in both horizontal and vertical direction, ranging from roughly 150 to 500 kg/m3. This variability is expressed by coherent snow structures over several meters. A comparison with TLS data indicates that the spatial variability is related to deviations in surface topology. This suggests a strong influence from surface processes, for example wind, on the temporal development of density profiles. The fundamental relationship between density variations, surface roughness and changes therein as investigated in this study are interpreted with respect to larger-scale ice-movement and ice mass balance.


There is a small but growing body of literature that discusses the benefits, challenges and opportunities of intersectional responses to the socioeconomic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a strong body of evidence pointing to the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 borne by women, who have suffered record job losses, been expected to take on even greater unpaid care burdens and home schooling responsibilities, and faced a "shadow pandemic" of violence against women and girls. However, gender inequalities cannot be discussed in isolation from other inequalities. Emerging literature stresses the importance of a Covid-19 recovery plan that addresses how gender intersects with class, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, geography, immigration status and religion or belief, and other factors such as employment, housing (and homelessness) and environmental and political stressors.


Providing racing sailboats with renewable energy sources deals with boat performances, reliability and skipper's security. In this study, an innovative solution is presented to feed a sailboat with green energy by using a hydro-generator. This paper also interests on energetic efficiency and presents the close relationship with control strategy. A new control strategy for HG is proposed and experimentally validated.


Kidney transplant is a surgical procedure which is done to treat kidney failure. Kidneys filter waste from the blood and remove it from the body through your urine. And also help in maintaining electrolyte balance and body's fluid. In case of kidney failure, waste builds up in body and can make very sick. Some people whose kidneys have failed may qualify for a kidney transplant. In the procedure of kidney transplantation, one or both kidneys are replaced with donor kidneys from a live or deceased person. Kidney Transplantation (KTx) is the treatment of choice for well-selected patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) as it improves both quality of life and life expectancy. However, although it is well documented that KTx and particularly pre-emptive KTx, should be considered as optimal regarding patient's survival, the steadily growing shortage of kidney transplants makes that approach unrealistic. In order to overpass that problem, several strategies have evolved: (1) KTx with borderline donors, (2) KTx with non-heart beating donors, (3) ABO-incompatible (ABOi) KTx, (4) KTx across a positive cross-match, (5) kidney paired donation and (6) altruistic donation. The first series of 26 successful ABOi KTx was reported by Alexandre et al. in 1987. Recipient's desensitization included splenectomy, immunosuppression with steroids, cyclosporine, azathioprine and anti-thymocyte globulin, as well as donor-derived platelets transfusion. Since 1989, ABOi KTx has been extensively implemented in Japan because of a religious-driven limited deceased organ donation. From there comes the largest published study including 1878 ABOi KTxs performed from 1989 to 2010. Recipient???s desensitization included Plasmapheresis (PP) or other apheresis technique, immunosuppression with steroids, calcineurin inhibitors, antimetabolites, anti-lymphocyte globulin, cyclophosphamide or deoxyspergualin in various combinations and anticoagulation. Splenectomy had been performed in 98% of the cases during the earlier era (1989-2000), in the recent era (2001-2010) it has been subsequently substituted by rituximab. Graft survival rates for the first year improved from 82% in the earlier era to 96% in the recent era. Given the promising results ABO-Incompatible kidney transplantation: Current trends and future perspectives Eleni Theodoropoulou Tzaneio Prefecture General Hospital of Piraeus, Greece been published by the Japanese, similar protocols have been gradually implemented in the USA and Europe since the mid1990s. The mainstay of all preconditioning regimens is the removal of preformed iso haemagglutinin antibodies (by PP, double-filtration plasmapheresis, specific and non-specific immuno adsorption) and the prevention of formation of new ones (earlier by splenectomy, later by Rituximab, intravenous immuno globulins). Graft survival time seems to be equivalent between ABOi and ABO-compatible (ABOc) transplant recipients in various studies. In a recent meta-analysis of divergent studies, it was concluded that ABOi KTx has very good outcomes, albeit inferior to ABOc KTx, but still better than remaining on dialysis or receiving a deceased donor kidney transplant. Major complications include infections which is the leading cause of death, antibody-mediated rejection and bleeding. The optimal pre-transplantation isohaemagglutinin titer is still debatable. It is of note, that blood group A2 is less antigenemic and that minor incompatibility constellations against A2 antigen have been safely transplanted without desensitization. Nevertheless, a safe pre-transplantation isohaemagglutinin titer has been reported as ≤1/8 albeit with deviation depending on the center, the measurement method used and the acceptable cut-off values. Flow cytometry has been proved to be the most reliable and reproducible technique for measurement of isohaemagglutinin titer. The reason why isohaemagglutinins against recipient's blood type antigens are detected in the peripheral blood soon after KTx but no antibody-antigen reaction is recorded has been attributed to a phenomenon called accommodation. So far, the mechanism behind that phenomenon has been remaining elusive and speculative. Today, ABO-i KTx accounts for approximately 30% of all living donor kidney transplantations performed in Japan.


The traditional architecture used by implementations of Replicated State Machines (RSM) does not fully exploit modern multi-core CPUs. This is increasingly the limiting factor in their performance, because network speeds are increasing much faster than the single-thread performance of CPUs. Thus, when deployed on Gigabit-class networks and exposed to a workload of small to medium size client requests, RSMs are often CPU-bound, as they are only able to leverage a few cores, even though many more may be available. In this work, we revisit the traditional architecture of a RSM implementation, showing how it can be parallelized so that its performance scales with the number of cores in the nodes. We do so by applying several good practices of concurrent programming to the specific case of state machine replication, including staged execution, workload partitioning, actors, and non-blocking data structures. We describe and test a Java prototype of our architecture, based on the Paxos protocol. With a workload consisting of small requests, we achieve a six times improvement in throughput using eight cores. More generally, in all our experiments we have consistently reached the limits of the network subsystem by using up to 12 cores, and do not observe any degradation when using up to 24 cores. Furthermore, the profiling results of our implementation show that even at peak throughput contention between threads is minimal, suggesting that the throughput would continue scaling given a faster network.


Natural products and anti-inflammatory agents including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors which is a type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are highly considerable interest for the prevention of carcinogenesis. The objective of this study is to evaluate the oxidative status of colitis-associated cancer induced by azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), and the effects of COX-2 inhibitor in mice. Totally 40 mice were randomized and divided to four groups. All animals except control and Cox-2 inhibitor alone group received AOM/DSS to establish colitis-associated cancer model as reported elsewhere. COX-2 preferential inhibitor meloxicam was used to minimize side effects such as gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Meloxicam were used (5mg/kg, intraperitoneal) three times a week with meloxicam alone and AOM/DSS + meloxicam group. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Malondialdehyde (MDA) and Advanced Oxidation Protein Products (AOPP) which all of them are oxidative stress markers were measured by spectrophotometrically. The combination treatment of Meloxicam and AOM/DSS significantly increased (P< 0.05) SOD activities in mice. GPx activities were found significantly increased (P< 0.05) in Meloxicam and AOM/DSS combinations or alone. There were no differences between the control and treatment groups of MDA levels. AOPP levels of Meloxicam and AOM/DSS combination group were found higher than the other groups. Meloxicam and /or AOM/DSS treatment not caused lipid peroxidations, but increased the antioxidant enzymes and Advanced Oxidation Protein Products levels.


More than 80 representatives of SMEs, industrial companies and research institutes met on September 12 at the workshop "Challenges in Additive Manufacturing: Innovative Materials and Quality Control" at BAM in Adlershof to discuss the latest developments in materials and quality control in additive manufacturing.

In special lectures, researchers, users and equipment manufacturers reported on the latest and future developments in additive manufacturing. Furthermore, funding opportunities for projects between SMEs and research institutions on a national and European level were presented.


In this study – a textual and visual analysis – I look at the ways the term "ecology" has been used to motivate western-style modernism in a global context and to prescribe and advance design decisions based largely in formal, compositional, and stylistic assumptions. Among the questions I am interested in is how new frameworks – sustainability, sustainable communities, and sustainable design – extend earlier ecological metaphors and the extent to which they have sublimated stylistic and formal design ideas without truly resolving the impact of modernization on the landscape.


Anaerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactors (AFMBRs) use granular activated carbon (GAC) particles suspended by recirculation to effectively treat low strength wastewaters (∼100–200 mg L−1, chemical oxygen demand, COD), but the effluent can contain dissolved methane. An aerobic fluidized bed membrane bioreactor (AOFMBR) was developed to avoid methane production and the need for wastewater recirculation by using rising air bubbles to suspend GAC particles. The performance of the AOFMBR was compared to an AFMBR and a conventional aerobic membrane bioreactor (AeMBR) for domestic wastewater treatment over 130 d at ambient temperatures (fixed hydraulic retention time of 1.3 h). The effluent of the AOFMBR had a COD of 20 ± 8 mg L−1, and a turbidity of <0.2 NTU, for low-COD influent (153 ± 19 and 214 ± 27 mg L−1), similar to the AeMBR and AFMBR. For the high-COD influent (299 ± 24 mg L−1), higher effluent CODs were obtained for the AeMBR (38 ± 9 mg L−1) and AFMBR (51 ± 11 mg L−1) than the AOFMBR (26 ± 6 mg L−1). Transmembrane pressure of the AOFMBR increased at 0.04 kPa d−1, which was 20% less than the AeMBR and 57% less than the AFMBR, at the low influent COD. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis indicated a more uniform biofilm on the membrane in AOFMBR than that from the AeMBR biofilm, and no evidence of membrane damage. High similarity was found between communities in the suspended sludge in the AOFMBR and AeMBR (square-root transformed Bray–Curtis similarity, SRBCS, 0.69). Communities on the GAC and suspended sludge were dissimilar in the AOFMBR (SRBCS, 0.52), but clustered in the AFMBR (SRBCS, 0.63).


Mobile environment has many issues due to mobility, energy limitations and status changing over time. Routing method is an important issue and has a significant impact in mobile networks, whereas selecting the optimum routing path will reduce the wasting in network resources, reduce network overhead and increase network reliability and lifetime. To decide which path will achieve the networks objectives, we need to construct a new routing algorithm that uses context attributes of a mobile device such as available bandwidth, residual energy, connection number and mobility value. In this paper, we propose a new mobile nodes ranking scheme based on the combination of two multi-criteria decision making approaches, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) in Fuzzy environments. The Fuzzy AHP is used to analyze the structure of the clusterhead selection problem and to determine weights of the criteria, while the Fuzzy TOPSIS method is used to obtain the final mobile node ranking value. By basing on node ranking, we propose a new cluster based routing algorithm select the optimal clusterheads and the best routing path. Our simulation results show that the proposed method increases the network accuracy and lifetime and reduces network overhead.


This thesis consists of a summary and four papers. The first two papers address political economy and industrial organization aspects of agricultural policy, and the last two international aspects of environmental policy. Paper [1] explains Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) subsidies to farmers by the influence of farmer interest-groups with an EU-wide membership. The analysis is based on panel-data for fifteen commodities over the period 1986-2003. Because the CAP is set as an overall EU policy, effective lobbying presents a collective action problem to the farmers of the EU as a whole. Indicators of lobbying, which are based on this perception, are found to explain part of the variation in agricultural support. In Paper [II], the Bresnahan-Lau framework is used to analyze whether policy reforms, i.e. the two-price system (an input quota, 1986-1991) and a general deregulation of dairy policy (1991-1994) had any market power effects on the Swedish butter market. The results show that the null hypothesis of no market power cannot be rejected, for any of the specific policy reforms, at any reasonable significance level. Paper [III] concerns the welfare consequences of environmental policy cooperation. It is assumed that countries finance their public expenditures by using distortionary taxes, and that they differ with respect to competition in the labor market. It is shown how the welfare effect of an increase in the expenditures on abatement depends on changes in environmental damage, employment and work hours. The welfare effect is also related to the strategic interaction among the countries in the prereform equilibrium. In Paper [IV] environmental policy in an economic federation, where each national government faces a mixed tax problem, is addressed. It is assumed that the federal government sets emission targets, which are implemented at the national level. It is also assumed that the economic federation is decentralized. The results highlight a strategic role of income and commodity taxation, i.e. each country uses its policy instruments, at least in part, to influence the emission target.


An ecophysiological growth process model, called INCA, for simulating the growth and development of a young walnut tree (Juglans regia L.) during three or four years, is presented. This tool, currently under development, aims at integrating architectural and physiological knowledge of the processes involved, in order to give a more rational understanding of the pruning operation. The model describes a simple three-dimensional representation of tree crown, solar radiation interception, photosynthesis, respiration, growth and partitioning of assimilates to leaves, stems, branches and roots. It supports the hypothesis that the tree grows as a collection of semiautonomous, interacting organs that compete for resources, based on daily sink strengths and proximity to sources. The actual growth rate of organs is not predetermined by empirical data, but reflects the pattern of available resources. The major driving variables are solar radiation, temperature, topological, geometrical and physiological factors. Outputs are hourly and daily photosynthate production and respiration, daily dimensional growth, starch storage, biomass production and total number of different types of organ. The user can interact or override any or all of the input variables to examine the effects of such changes on photosynthate production and growth. Within INCA, the tree entities and the surrounding environment are structured in a frame-based representation whereas the processes are coded in a rule-based language. The simulation mechanism is primarily based on the rule chaining capabilities of an inference engine.


The UK is the sixth largest donor to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. And, this year, the IF campaign is calling on the UK government to increase its annual support for sustainable small-scale food production by £425 million: a fair share of the public spending needed in agricultural and rural development to achieve the ambitious goal of zero hunger by 2025. But what are the UK government's agriculture priorities? What is the impact of the UK's aid to agriculture on those who need it most – small-scale food producers? And, is the current approach the most effective one? With these critical questions in mind, Concern Worldwide - UK, Oxfam GB, and Self Help Africa conducted research into how much of the UK's aid goes to agriculture, particularly small-scale farmers, and the impacts of this aid. We found that it is nearly impossible to know how much aid to agriculture is spent on small-scale farmers, and nearly as difficult to find the impact of the aid on poor farmers. The result is a set of key recommendations to DFID for prioritizing investment in small-scale agriculture and achieving the best value for money through their agricultural aid.


This paper analyses the process of adoption of no tillage in South-eastern Spain's olive groves. Olive tree groves in South-eastern Spain's mountainous areas are subject to a high risk of soil erosion, which is the main environmental problem for this crop, and have to incur in high costs of soil conservation. This results in a greater difficulty to comply with the practices required to benefit from both the single payment and agri-environmental schemes. In many high-steeped areas, farmers have opted for non-tillage practices as an alternative to other conservation practices. Using our own data from a survey carried out in 2006 among 215 olive tree farmers from the Granada Province in Southern Spain regarding the adoption of soil conservation and management practices, we model the diffusion process of no tillage practices using several specifications (logistic, Gompertz and exponential). We also estimate an ordered probit model to analyse which socio-economic and institutional factors determine the adoption of no tillage. Our results show that 90% of farmers in the area of study perform no tillage with either localized (21%) or no localized (69%) application of weedicides. The diffusion process of no tillage has been very intense since the middle nineties, and has been based on the interactions among farmers in the area of study rather than in external factors such as EU policies or extension services. Among other relevant factors that positively affect the adoption of no tillage practices in general, such as farm size and irrigation, the probability of a farmer adopting no tillage with non-localized application of weedicides increases when there is a relative that will continue with the farming activity, what causes the farmer to incorporate long term effects in his farming decisions, when the farmer is only a manager or when he bought the farm rather than inherited it (i.e. on more professionalized farms), and with his educational level. These results confirm some findings from previous studies in other nearby areas.


Background: The development of analgesic tolerance following chronic morphine administration can be a significant clinical problem. Preclinical studies demonstrate that chronic morphine administration induces spinal gliosis and that inhibition of gliosis prevents the development of analgesic tolerance to opioids. Many studies have also demonstrated that ultra-low doses of naltrexone inhibit the development of spinal morphine antinociceptive tolerance and clinical studies demonstrate that it has opioid sparing effects. In this study we demonstrate that ultra-low dose naltrexone attenuates glial activation, which may contribute to its effects on attenuating tolerance. Results: Spinal cord sections from rats administered chronic morphine showed significantly increased immunolabelling of astrocytes and microglia compared to saline controls, consistent with activation. 3-D images of astrocytes from animals administered chronic morphine had significantly larger volumes compared to saline controls. Coinjection of ultra-low dose naltrexone attenuated this increase in volume, but the mean volume differed from salinetreated and naltrexone-treated controls. Astrocyte and microglial immuno-labelling was attenuated in rats coadministered ultra-low dose naltrexone compared to morphine-treated rats and did not differ from controls. Glial activation, as characterized by immunohistochemical labelling and cell size, was positively correlated with the extent of tolerance developed. Morphine-induced glial activation was not due to cell proliferation as there was no difference observed in the total number of glial cells following chronic morphine treatment compared to controls. Furthermore, using 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine, no increase in spinal cord cell proliferation was observed following chronic morphine administration. Conclusion: Taken together, we demonstrate a positive correlation between the prevention of analgesic tolerance and the inhibition of spinal gliosis by treatment with ultra-low dose naltrexone. This research provides further validation for using ultra-low dose opioid receptor antagonists in the treatment of various pain syndromes.


On 10 October 2018, a symposium was held by the University of Sheffield Political Theory Research Group discussing Alasdair Cochrane's book Sentientist Politics: A Theory of Global Inter-Species Justice, published October 2018 by Oxford University Press. This forum contains extended versions of the papers at the symposium. Cochrane opens with a synopsis of the book. Siobhan O'Sullivan then reflects upon Cochrane's methodology of ideal theory and his cosmopolitanism, followed by a reply from Cochrane. Next, Josh Milburn explores the place of wild animals in Cochrane's sentientist cosmopolitan democracy, and Cochrane offers a reply.


This practice-based project investigates the uses of constructed photography to make comment on contemporary environmental issues. As humankind continues to develop, expand, and create new technology there is a growing awareness of the consequences of the waste accumulating from this expansion. The representation of impacts from human actions on nature, through photography, is an extensive field of enquiry, which has been covered by a wide range of photographers working in different genres such as landscape, documentary, and constructed imagery. Within my study I have investigated the way that the portrayal in photography of concerns about the environment has
changed; from the picturing of 'pristine' nature in landscape photography by Ansel Adams to the constructed imagery of contemporary artists highlighting the detritus that pollutes the landscape.

My study aims to provide an analysis of the methods of the contemporary photographic artists Edward Burtynsky, Chris Jordan, Mandy Barker, and the artistic duo Sara Goldschmied and Eleonora Chiari. I investigate the processes and the aesthetics they use, in order to understand how they address the relationship between humans and nature. In particular I have examined these artists' use of the 'sublime' and the 'beautiful' and the ways they have developed these aesthetic categories to draw attention to environmental issues. The aim of my examination has been to identify what is interesting and important about the shifts in methods of representation in this field.

My practical research explores how photographic representations of the relationship
between humans and nature can be created through fusing elements of electronic waste
with plant life. My work confronts the serious ecological effects of electronic waste and
its environmental consequences. My exploration uses obsolete electronic objects and
the detritus of technology as a type of land upon which nature is forced to grow. In
studio conditions I have grown seeds on waste circuit boards and discarded wires from
the computer industry. I have constructed and photographed images that resemble
miniature imaginary worlds. By fabricating new landscapes out of technological waste
and plants, the images highlight the toxic relationship between humanity and nature in
the contemporary world.


The paper reports a qualitative, interview-based study of organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) as perceived in non-subordinate colleagues by 20 Hong Kong Chinese managerial, professional and white-collar staff. Interviewees drew on their own observations of, and inferences about, specific workplace incidents to illustrate differences between authentic OCB on the one hand, and faked (pseudo-) OCB, which entailed colleagues feigning or espousing OCB while actually not transcending basic in-role requirements or even violating requirements. Faked counterparts were found for a wide range of OCB subtypes. A variety of cases of simple absent OCB and simple anti-OCB, which typically involved cover-up but not pretension to engage in OCB, were also found. Core generic definitions were developed, grounded in case material. While noting the inherent contextspecific and value-laden nature of judgements about OCB, the study pointed toward the existence of a set of bipolar continua, with dysfunctionally excessive OCB at one extreme and anti-citizenship at the other.


A horizontal view of newly emerged technologies in the field of network function virtualization (NFV), introducing the open source implementation efforts that bring NFV from design to reality -- This book explores the newly emerged technique of network function virtualization (NFV) through use cases, architecture, and challenges, as well as standardization and open source implementations. It is the first systematic source of information about cloud technologies' usage in the cellular network, covering the interplay of different technologies, the discussion of different design choices, and its impact on our future cellular network. -- Network Function Virtualization: Concepts and Applicability in 5G Networks reviews new technologies that enable NFV, such as Software Defined Networks (SDN), network virtualization, and cloud computing. It also provides an in-depth investigation of the most advanced open source initiatives in this area, including OPNFV, Openstack, and Opendaylight. Finally, this book goes beyond literature review and industry survey by describing advanced research topics such as service chaining, VNF orchestrations, and network verification of NFV systems. In addition, this resource: . Introduces network function virtualization (NFV) from both industrial and academic perspectives. Describes NFV's usage in mobile core networks, which is the essence of 5G implementation. Offers readers a deep dive on NFV's enabling techniques such as SDN, virtualization, and cloud computing -- Network Function Virtualization: Concepts and Applicability in 5G Networks is an ideal book for researchers and university students who want to keep up with the ever-changing world of network function virtualization.


We investigated, in new hearing aid candidates, whether or not the use of coping strategies and the life situation, in terms of activity limitation, participation restriction and psychological well-being, were associated with the outcome of audiological counselling, i.e. the patients' acceptance or rejection of a hearing aid (HA). The study included 173 consecutive adult patients (104 men and 69 women) with a need for audiological rehabilitation including HA-fitting. Use of communication strategies (Communication Strategies Scale, CSS), experience of activity limitation and participation restriction (Hearing Disability and Handicap Scale, HDHS), and general psychological well-being (Psychological General Well-being scale, PGWB) were assessed by self-report inventories. The hospital records, reviewed 1.5 years after the first consultation, showed that 39 patients (25 men and 14 women, 23%) had not accepted a hearing aid. In crude and adjusted logistic regression analyses a low report (high scores) of maladaptive behaviour in communication was associated with a three-times higher odds for rejecting a hearing aid, while a highly perceived activity limitation and participation restriction were related to lower odds for rejection. Patients who felt they had few problems with their hearing or overlooked or repressed their shortcomings, rejected HAs more often.


Diabetes mellitus is a challenging disease; its health damage on human population is increase globally. The need for remedy of diabetes is progressively pursued by professionals. The adverse effect of synthetic drugs such as metformin and glibenclamide are becoming a source of concern. This paves way for herbal therapy with no or minimal site effect to control and treat diabetes mellitus. This research evaluates the effect of Irvingia gabonesis seeds extract on some lipid profile indices of wistar albino rats. Glibenclamide was used as a control standard drug. A 200 mg/kg of alloxan was used to induce diabetes on rats after fasting. The median lethal dose was ascertained at 5000 mg/kg of the extract, with no indication of toxicity. Upon induction of alloxan, fasting blood glucose was significantly (p<0.05) high, which indicates defectiveness of insulin or damage pancreatic beta cells. The control group treated with Glibenclamide had low blood sugar level, compared to diabetic rats. Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels treated with 100 mg/kg of the extract was significantly (p<0.05) lower than the group treated with 200 mg/kg. Triacylglycerol concentration was significantly (p<0.05) lower in rat treated with 200 mg/kg of the extracts than rats treated with 100 mg/kg of the extract, compared to the normal control. High density lipoprotein (HDL) of the treated rats was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared to the control diabetic rats. The lipid peroxidation index reduced significantly (p<0.05) in treated groups compared to the control group and extracts treated groups relative to the diabetic untreated rats (control). Findings suggests that Irvingia gabonesis seeds extracts is considerably safe and potential therapy for management and control of type 2 diabetes mellitus, due to its ability to lower blood glucose level and ameliorate the effect on lipid profile.


A cost efficient process is the goal of every part of the wood processing chain. It is directly related to a yield that is gained out of a raw material. On the other hand these processes have to deliver a certain product quality in order to satisfy customer needs. Very often a tradeoff has to be made between the yield and theproduct quality through optimization processes. The main objective of this work was to study if the research design can be used for the purpose of predictingscanning operation parameters, in order to maximize the yield and keep the mean length of the accepted pieces of center boards at a desired value. The obtained partial least squares (PLS) regression models quite accurately predicted optimum operating settings for the given material. This method can be used to achieve the goal of optimizing the cross cutting operation. Nevertheless the knowledge about the origin of processed boards in terms of the log type they were sawn from is significant, since developed models differed between each other accordingly.


In 1978, Greil Marcus asked twenty writers on rock-including Dave Marsh, Lester Bangs, Nick Tosches, Ellen Willis, and Robert Christgau-a question: What one rock-and-roll album would you take to a desert island? The resulting essays were collected in Stranded, twenty passionate declarations to such albums as The Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet, the Ramones' Rocket to Russia, Something Else by the Kinks, and more. Universally revered as the ur-text of rock journalism, Stranded is an indispensable classic.


'Rude' forms of accountability are central to how poor people negotiate their entitlements on the frontline of service delivery in Bangladesh. This paper documents the unorganised, informal pressures that poor citizens exert on officials in a context where effective formal systems for accountability are absent, and the state remains unreformed in key respects. The paper explores the impact of 'rude accountability' on services, as well as their limitations and the consequences for formal accountability systems. Based on extensive research into how poor people experience safety nets, schools and health services, the paper argues that strong social and local political pressures go some way towards supplying a rough responsiveness to demands for service. These work through shame and embarrassment, pressures to maintain reputation and status, and the threat of violence. Poor people have good reasons to use these methods in preference to formal accountability mechanisms. And poor women may have a particularly strong comparative advantage in doing so - not because they are so much better than men or rich people at complaining and shaming, but because it is comparatively less difficult for them to do so than to engage in more formally structured means of complaint or feedback. The idea of rude accountability is seductive: when formal governance systems fail, the idea that there are informal mechanisms that are better suited to context and culture is intrinsically attractive. Yet the paper concludes that the gains from rude accountability are often short-lived and may backfire, as public officials fear and resist efforts to enable citizen participation in holding them to account. There are features of contemporary Bangladeshi state-society relations that lend themselves to informal means of accountability, the analysis here of informal accountability mechanisms has wider implications for the move towards citizen involvement in performance-based accountability in other contexts.


In this paper, we present the design, fabrication, and electrical characterization of a low-power microwave source for interrogation of cesium atomic hyperfine transition frequency using the coherent population trapping (CPT) technique. The 4.6-GHz frequency generation and signal buffering is performed by a single-chip frequency synthesizer ASIC with a frequency tuning resolution of 1 x 10-13 and a programmable RF output power from -10 to 0 dBm. The circuit was used to modulate the current of a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser through a dedicated impedance matching network and low thermal conductivity transmission line. Strong modulation sidebands with >60% of carrier amplitude were obtained with an ASIC power consumption of 12 mW. The system was used as optical source for atomic interrogation in an experimental cesium CPT clock. The measured clock stability of 5 x 10-11 at τ = 1 s, going down to 4.5 x 10-12 at τ = 200 s, is limited by the signal-to-noise ratio of the detected CPT signal.


Seventy years. These are approximately the years in which it is believed that fossil fuels will run out, although the variability of the rate at which they are consumed makes it difficult to say an exact number. Seventy years to look for, explore and define alternatives, since they constitute a very important part of everyday life for the majority of population. Despite the fact that prioritizing policies are promoted, such as using public transport, electric cars… the problem is only postponed but not deleted. Moreover, fossil fuels combustion emit pollutant gases, as carbon dioxide, which in huge quantities contributes to greenhouse effect; nitrogen oxides that contribute to acid rain; and carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons that cause skin and respiratory problems.
One alternative to fossil fuels are biofuels. There are some bacteria able to use syngas, a mix of primarily hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, as a hydrogen and reducing power source for alcohols production. Acetogenic bacteria are obligate anaerobes capable of growing with inorganic carbon as the unique carbon and reducing power source through the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP). Formate is a metabolite produced in this way, in which an acetil-CoA molecule is transformed into acids and alcohols, at the expense of huge quantities of reducing power. For this reason, formate was presented as an already reduced carbon compound to help in the increase of alcohols production.
This work studies the effect of formate addition in acid and alcohol production of two bacterial species, Clostridium ljungdahlii and Clostridium autoethanogenum, during their stationary phase. It has been also studied the genetic expression of a formate transporter during the growing phase, because it is thought that it can work as an efflux pump, regulating formate intracellular level in order to avoid its toxicity.
Thus, it has been concluded that formate addition at stationary phase of bacteria does not have any effect on their alcohol production, and also that bacteria presented a rapid consume of formate when it was added at the beginning of the exponential growth phase, but not an enhancement of their productivity


This dissertation combines African philosophical discourses with perspectives on cultural performativity to explore the theme of 'deconstructing the native' and 'imagining the postnative' through theatre. The dissertation consists of two main parts, a theoretical and a 'practical' section. The latter consists of ideas on how to translate the insights gained from the theory section into a strategy for making theatre. The theory section focuses on the aesthetically groundbreaking early works of South African theatre director Brett Bailey (Chapter 1), and their relevance to themes of African philosophy (Chapter 2). Using the concept of 'engendering space' as a point of contact between African discourse and theatre praxis, I show how Bailey's theatre engendered a physical and metaphysical space in which to deconstruct the native and imagine the post-native. I consequently argue that Bailey's aesthetic revolution has immense political and ethical consequences for contemporary African society. I imagine what these consequences are by deconstructing the cultural and moral discourse generated through critical and public responses to Bailey's often controversial work. The practical section comprises an academically extended version of the professional theatre project proposal for my play, Hondo Love Story, which will be staged subsequent to this dissertation. The contents of the section include my strategy for engendering an aesthetic space similar, but not identical, to that of Bailey's plays (Chapter 3). The similarities include aspects of form, theme and content, which I imagine may result in Hondo Love Story having a similar relevance to the theme of deconstructing the native and imagining the post-native through theatre. While I do not systematically deconstruct the play to fully elucidate this, I explain (Chapter 4) the more 'intellectual' aspects of content such as historical subtext and psycho-mythical narratives underlying story structure and characterisation. The complete script for the play is appended. vii


An efficient way to model the distributed Bragg reflector type of semiconductor devices with residual facet reflectivity is presented. Particularly, to improve the performance of such laser from two different ways of tuning—the differential or simultaneous tuning of two reflectors—the impacts of residual facet reflectivity on the sampled grating, and the static characteristics of such laser, including tuning behavior, output power, and side mode suppression ratio, are discussed. It revealed that the position of the facet relative to the gratings as well as their reflectivities are important parameters and should be carefully designed and fabricated to ensure good performance for such devices.


Ecogeographic studies provide critical information on plant genetic resources (PGR) to assess their current conservation status and prioritize areas for conservation. They have also proven useful for effective genebank management, such as the definition of core collections and identification of collection gaps. Geographic information systems (GIS) are useful tools for mapping ecogeographic distributions of biodiversity. GIS allow complex analyses to be performed, as well as clearly visualizing results in maps, which facilitates decision making and implementation of conservation policies by authorities.


Detailed diatom analysis has been carried out on one hundred forty-two samples collected from the Lower to Middle Miocene stratigraphic succession located in the Abu Qada basin, west-central Sinai. The succession is composed only of two lithostratigraphic units belonging to Gharandal Group; they are Rudies Formation followed directly by Kareem Formation. The diatom analysis shows interesting diverse and abundant different diatom assemblages of both marine and non-marine origin.Atotal of 84 diatom species and varieties belonging to 32 genera were identified. The preservation of the recorded taxa varies from poorly preserved in some samples to generally moderately to well preserve in other samples. Several intervals of pronounced diatom dissolution detected throughout the studied section. A biostratigraphic zonal framework consisting of three planktonic diatom zones is proposed and the Early /Middle Miocene boundary is determined accurately by means of diatom taxa.


With the current rapid development of internet technologies, marketing models have moved into the global virtual arena and are creating an impact on traditional promotional practices of libraries in Singapore. As observed, the value created today of such marketing models is perceived as being based on creative and innovative use of information, communication, social networking and web technologies. The exponential growth of virtual communities in recent years has led to social networks becoming increasingly popular. This is in part due to the ability of social networks to connect across diverse communities and dispersed locations virtually and globally regardless of time and physical space. This paper aims to provide an exploration and assessment of the adoption of commonly used web marketing tools by libraries in Singapore in their attempt to integrate these tools as part of a strategic, creative and innovative method for library advocacy and service promotion. This paper also attempts to look into explorations by libraries in Singapore to integrate the traditional (Web 1.0) and new (Web 2.0) web technologies into areas of library marketing and outreach activities to an increasingly diverse community of library users, who are adept with social networking tools and have embraced social networks and virtual communities as a part of their life. A review of currently available web marketing tools is also made. A study of the current state of web marketing practices adopted by libraries in Singapore is presented. Initiatives, based on a web marketing model, are proposed to move libraries in Singapore into a new role as an info-concierge, where individual information object or library activity is a self-sustainable, self-contained unit of content or service that can be effectively marketed in any form or format to each library's community of users.


Bathymetric data collections using multibeam echo sounder (MBES) have led to increasing data rates and densities. While it is really advantage having full coverage of seabed, data management is the utmost aspect to establish. In this data collection method, part of the dataset contains erroneous data, as measurements are always associated with uncertainties. The critical task for hydrographic surveyor is to make decision on which data can be accepted as good data and the remaining data will be considered as outliers. As there is no ground truth available for the MBES data to compare with, the best solution to address this problem is by using statistical outliers elimination. In order to obtain meaningful results when statistical tools are in used, the dataset should be in a Gaussian distribution. To ensure that the dataset in a bell-shaped curve characteristic, the far outliers must be eliminated prior to any processing. This certainly needs further considerations on characteristics of the erroneous data. Thus, a post-processing program was developed to detect and discard the MBES far outliers based on behaviours of propagated beam in the multibeam sonar system. The entire data have to go through a series of far outliers screening. A remarkable result can be achieved by filtering these far outliers using automatic detection mode. This paper elaborates the techniques used for the detection and elimination of the far outliers in the MBES dataset, known as robust detection algorithms. It also explains on the filtering sequences used and results produced by the developed program.


Abstract Little work has been conducted to understand how alcohol marketers engage users with their brands' Facebook pages in India and Australia. We aimed to evaluate and compare (i) the types of marketing techniques alcohol marketers utilize to facilitate user engagement on their brands' Facebook pages and (ii) the extent to which users engage with these techniques in two diverse national contexts. We identified the ten most popular alcohol brands on Facebook in India and Australia based on the number of 'likes' for each official brand site. Brand websites and data analytic sources were accessed to collect metrics relating to number of likes, frequency of posts made by alcohol marketers on their brand websites and the resulting comments from fans, and messages relating to responsible drinking. The identified brands accrued substantial user engagement (e.g. Budweiser beer attracted 12.8 million likes in Australia and Foster's beer 802,807 likes in India). The strategies employed were a mix of country-specific (e.g. India: inspirational talks and livelihood skills vs. Australia: posts related to the brand's tradition or heritage) and generic approaches (e.g. alcohol sponsorship of sport, music, and fashion, offering consumption suggestions, organizing competitions, giveaways, and use of memes). This cross-national comparison illustrates that alcohol marketing on Facebook is user-focused and flexible, works with specific national contexts, and capitalizes on the cultural meanings users invoke in their interactions with sites. The study results also demonstrate the potential for brands to engage those under the legal drinking age by delivering alcohol content on Facebook.


Pay discrimination, like many forms of discrimination, is a particularly sticky problem. In many instances, just as with other forms of discrimination, it is unrealistic to allocate all the blame and burden for its continued existence on a single actor, whether it be an employer or employee. Thus, the traditional civil rights regime in which an individual actor is held liable for the discrimination does a poor job of dealing with this problem. I propose an intervention - pay transparency - that would help prevent, root out, and correct the discrimination in the first place, instead of relying solely on after the fact blame and liability. Pay transparency - the ability for employees to find out what other employees in their workplace make - is rare outside of public employment, and cultural norms against talking about one's income may make it frightening to some readers. Yet, unlike many other approaches to reducing seemingly "blameless" discrimination, such as targeting unconscious discrimination, or potentially counterproductive "debiasing" efforts, incentivizing pay transparency can fit very comfortably within our legal framework. By turning pay transparency into an affirmative defense to pay discrimination claims, this preventive measure can be woven neatly into our current approach to civil rights enforcement and notions of individual responsibility.


Whilst we continue to wrestle with the immense challenge of implementing equitable access to established evidence-based treatments, substantial gaps remain in our pharmacotherapy armament for common forms of cardiovascular disease including coronary and peripheral arterial disease, heart failure, hypertension, and arrhythmia. We need to continue to invest in the development of new approaches for the discovery, rigorous assessment, and implementation of new therapies. Currently, the time and cost to progress from lead compound/product identification to the clinic, and the success rate in getting there reduces the incentive for industry to invest, despite the enormous burden of disease and potential size of market. There are tremendous opportunities with improved phenotyping of patients currently batched together in syndromic 'buckets'. Use of advanced imaging and molecular markers may allow stratification of patients in a manner more aligned to biological mechanisms that can, in turn, be targeted by specific approaches developed using high-throughput molecular technologies. Unbiased 'omic' approaches enhance the possibility of discovering completely new mechanisms in such groups. Furthermore, advances in drug discovery platforms, and models to study efficacy and toxicity more relevant to the human disease, are valuable. Re-imagining the relationships among discovery, translation, evaluation, and implementation will help reverse the trend away from investment in the cardiovascular space, establishing innovative platforms and approaches across the full spectrum of therapeutic development.


Projects combining agile methods with CMMI combine adaptability with predictability to better serve large customer needs. The introduction of Scrum at Systematic, a CMMI Level 5 company, doubled productivity and cut defects by 40% compared to waterfall projects in 2006 by focusing on early testing and time to fix builds. Systematic institutionalized Scrum across all projects and used data driven tools like story process efficiency to surface Product Backlog impediments. This allowed them to systematically develop a strategy for a second doubling in productivity. Two teams have achieved a sustainable quadrupling of productivity compared to waterfall projects. We discuss here the strategy to bring the entire company to that level. Our experiences shows that Scrum and CMMI together bring a more powerful combination of adaptability and predictability than either one alone and suggest how other companies can combine them to achieve Toyota level performance – 4 times the productivity and 12 times the quality of waterfall teams.


In much recent theorizing, the memory of violence is considered to constitute the post-colonial subject. The article is placed at the intersection of two arguments about the role of voice and memory, particularly memories of violence, in the constitution of the self and the collective. Richard Werbner (1998) has argued that `rights of recountability' are fast becoming part of the political arena as citizens seek to make themselves heard and acknowledged in the public sphere. Achille Mbembe (2000) traces modes of voice through the discourses of powerlessness. Here I consider the ways in which testimonies circulate in public spheres in the aftermath of South Africa's ambitious Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The impetus is drawn from the work of the Commission's Human Rights Violations Committee, which elicited powerful and moving testimonies couched in terms of victimhood. However, many, having testified, are alarmed at the ways in which their testimonies proliferate outside the contexts of individual control. The article raises questions about the effects of wide circulation on individuals' understandings of self and seeks a theory of vulnerability.


We present a simple and scalable algorithm for large-margin estimation of structured models, including an important class of Markov networks and combinatorial models. We formulate the estimation problem as a convex-concave saddle-point problem and apply the extragradient method, yielding an algorithm with linear convergence using simple gradient and projection calculations. The projection step can be solved using combinatorial algorithms for min-cost quadratic flow. This makes the approach an efficient alternative to formulations based on reductions to a quadratic program (QP). We present experiments on two very different structured prediction tasks: 3D image segmentation and word alignment, illustrating the favorable scaling properties of our algorithm.


The first three transmembrane segments (M1–M3) of human nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have been implicated in determining the efficacy of nicotine by studies of α3/α4 subunit chimeras ([Kuryatov et al., 2000a][1]). Nicotine has full efficacy on the α4β2 nAChR and partial efficacy on the α3β2 nAChR. Now, we have exchanged individually three amino acids between the α4 and the α3 subunits at positions 226(M1), 258(M2), and 262(M2). Also, similar exchanges were made in the β2 and β4 subunits at positions 224(M1), 226(M1), and 254(M2) (using α subunit numbering). Expression of these mutated nAChRs in Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that the mutated M1 amino acids were important in influencing the potency of ACh and nicotine. It is hypothesized that these M1 amino acids affect the stability between the resting and activated states of the nAChR. M2 amino acids altered the efficacy of nicotine, usually without altering its potency. When the residue located at position 258 in the M2 region of the α subunit was valine (as in the α3 subunit), the resulting nAChR exhibited partial efficacy for nicotine that was voltage-dependent. Therefore, we believe that these M2 amino acids contribute to the formation of a binding site for nicotine in the α3β2 nAChR channel, which results in a low-affinity channel block, causing the lower efficacy of nicotine on this nAChR.

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Introduction Pregnant women deemed to be at high risk of thrombo-embolic disease (TED) should be treated with prophylactic low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). LMWH is cleared by the kidneys and although guidelines exist for dose reduction in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) these are for outside of pregnancy. LMWH activity can be monitored by measuring anti-factor Xa levels. The purpose of our study was to review the safety and efficacy of LMWH dosing and the value of anti-factor Xa levels in pregnant women with CKD. Methods We conducted a retrospective, single centre review of pregnant women attending a tertiary renal-antenatal clinic who had received LMWH over 3 years. Results 31 pregnancies in 28 women were identified (median age 31y (range 17–38)). LMWH was started at 3.7–34 weeks gestation (mean 11.8). Indications for treatment included proteinuria (68%) and previous VTE (26%). Prophylactic dosing was used in all but 1 case. Anti-Xa levels were always within target range in 31% of patients. Women with CKD (creatinine >70 umol/l) had higher anti-Xa levels (0.25 IU/ml vs 0.19 IU/ml, P < 0.02) and were more likely to have had a supra-therapeutic measurement (67% vs 21%, P < 0.02) compared to women with normal renal function. Delivery was by caesarean section in 73% of patients and there were no cases of significant haemorrhage or VTE. Conclusions Prophylactic treatment with LMWH in pregnant women at high risk of VTE with CKD appears to be safe and effective. Measurement of anti-factor Xa may be helpful in guiding dosing in these patients.


Foreword Proliferation of database-driven web sites has brought upon a plethora of information access and dissemination applications. Monitoring and trading stock portfolios, news notification, weather tracking, and even simple search are just a few examples. In addition, recently, new applications have emerged that go beyond information access and dissemination and enhance creativity, information sharing, and collaboration among users providing richer interaction possibilities. Now, users cannot only access content but they can also generate, share and modify content (both theirs and others') freely, compose their applications, enhance their interface, etc. Web-based communities, wikis, social networks, mashups, folksonomies are some of the emerging new applications. In all these (classical and novel) applications, different notions of user information, such as preferences, community memberships and social interactions, and context information, such as a user's social network, location, time, and other features of a user's environment, are of paramount importance in order to improve and personalize user experience. In this context, new challenges emerge for user-centric, context-aware database systems for storing and managing different aspects of user and context information, for data management and computing taking into account personal, social and contextual information about users and for customizability of their behavior. User-centric, personalized, socially-affected, and context-aware database systems represent a remarkable step towards user-centric applications that allow users to find, generate, share and modify content and services. It is imperative that people studying and working on the different components of a database system clarify their view of contextualization and personalization and describe the ways and degree to which these can be applied to their components of interest. We need a common understanding of the new challenges and we need to design new models, new algorithms, new databases to count for the user-centric requirements of emerging applications. The PersDB 2010 workshop aims at providing a forum for presentation of the latest research results, new technology developments, and new applications in the areas of personalized/socialized access, profile management, and context awareness in database systems. The program committee consisted of 18 members and was chaired by Tiziana Catarci (Universita di Roma "La Sapienza", Italy) and Yannis Stavrakas (Institute for the Management of Information Systems, Greece). We would like to thank all the people who have supported and helped in the organization of this workshop: the authors and presenters of the papers for their interest and participation in PersDB 2010, the reviewers for their time and effort, and the …


In recent years the need for distributed data storage has led the way to design new systems in a large-scale environment. The growth of unbounded stream of data, the necessity to store and analyze it in real time, reliably, scalable and fast are the reasons for appearance of such systems in financial sector, stock exchange Nasdaq OMX especially. Furthermore, internally designed totally ordered reliable message bus is used in Nasdaq OMX for almost all internal subsystems. Theoretical and practical extensive studies on reliable totally ordered multicast were made in academia and it was proven to serve as a fundamental block in construction of distributed fault-tolerant applications. In this work, we are leveraging NOMX low-latency reliable totally ordered message bus with a capacity of at least 2 million messages per second to build high performance distributed data store. The data operations consistency can be easily achieved by using the messaging bus as it forwards all messages in reliable total order fashion. Moreover, relying on the reliable totally ordered messaging, active in-memory replication support for fault tolerance and load balancing is integrated. Consequently, the prototype was developed using production environment requirements to demonstrate its feasibility. Experimental results show a great scalability and performance serving around 400,000 insert operations per second over 6 data nodes that can be served with 100 microseconds latency. Latency for single record read operations are bound to sub-half millisecond, while data ranges are retrieved with sub-100 Mbps capacity from one node. Moreover, performance improvements under a greater number of data store nodes are shown for both writes and reads. It is concluded that uniform totally ordered sequenced input data can be used in real time for large-scale distributed data storage to maintain strong consistency, fault-tolerance and high performance.


Title of dissertation: SHOCK TRAIN/BOUNDARY-LAYER INTERACTION IN RECTANGULAR SCRAMJET ISOLATORS Jonathan Simon Geerts, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Associate Professor Kenneth H. Yu Department of Aerospace Engineering Numerous studies of the dual-mode scramjet isolator, a critical component in preventing inlet unstart and/or vehicle loss by containing a collection of flow disturbances called a shock train, have been performed since the dual-mode propulsion cycle was introduced in the 1960s. Low momentum corner flow and other three-dimensional effects inherent to rectangular isolators have, however, been largely ignored in experimental studies of the boundary layer separation driven isolator shock train dynamics. Furthermore, the use of two dimensional diagnostic techniques in past works, be it single-perspective line-of-sight schlieren/shadowgraphy or single axis wall pressure measurements, have been unable to resolve the three-dimensional flow features inside the rectangular isolator. These flow characteristics need to be thoroughly understood if robust dual-mode scramjet designs are to be fielded. The work presented in this thesis is focused on experimentally analyzing shock train/boundary layer interactions from multiple perspectives in aspect ratio 1.0, 3.0, and 6.0 rectangular isolators with inflow Mach numbers ranging from 2.4 to 2.7. Secondary steady-state Computational Fluid Dynamics studies are performed to compare to the experimental results and to provide additional perspectives of the flow field. Specific issues that remain unresolved after decades of isolator shock train studies that are addressed in this work include the three-dimensional formation of the isolator shock train front, the spatial and temporal low momentum corner flow separation scales, the transient behavior of shock train/boundary layer interaction at specific coordinates along the isolator's lateral axis, and effects of the rectangular geometry on semi-empirical relations for shock train length prediction. A novel multiplane shadowgraph technique is developed to resolve the structure of the shock train along both the minor and major duct axis simultaneously. It is shown that the shock train front is of a hybrid oblique/normal nature. Initial low momentum corner flow separation spawns the formation of oblique shock planes which interact and proceed toward the center flow region, becoming more normal in the process. The hybrid structure becomes more two-dimensional as aspect ratio is increased but corner flow separation precedes center flow separation on the order of 1 duct height for all aspect ratios considered. Additional instantaneous oil flow surface visualization shows the symmetry of the three-dimensional shock train front around the lower wall centerline. Quantitative synthetic schlieren visualization shows the density gradient magnitude approximately double between the corner oblique and center flow normal structures. Fast response pressure measurements acquired near the corner region of the duct show preliminary separation in the outer regions preceding centerline separation on the order of 2 seconds. Non-intrusive Focusing Schlieren Deflectometry Velocimeter measurements reveal that both shock train oscillation frequency and velocity component decrease as measurements are taken away from centerline and towards the side-wall region, along with confirming the more two dimensional shock train front approximation for higher aspect ratios. An updated modification to Waltrup & Billig's original semi-empirical shock train length relation for circular ducts based on centerline pressure measurements is introduced to account for rectangular isolator aspect ratio, upstream corner separation length scale, and majorand minoraxis boundary layer momentum thickness asymmetry. The latter is derived both experimentally and computationally and it is shown that the major-axis (side-wall) boundary layer has lower momentum thickness compared to the minor-axis (nozzle bounded) boundary layer, making it more separable. Furthermore, it is shown that the updated correlation drastically improves shock train length prediction capabilities in higher aspect ratio isolators. This thesis suggests that performance analysis of rectangular confined supersonic flow fields can no longer be based on observations and measurements obtained along a single axis alone. Knowledge gained by the work performed in this study will allow for the development of more robust shock train leading edge detection techniques and isolator designs which can greatly mitigate the risk of inlet unstart and/or vehicle loss in flight.


This thesis presents a rationale for providing counseling, and more specifically childcentered play therapy, to elementary school children. The purpose of this study was to measure the outcomes and evaluate the results of a community-based early intervention program that provided child-centered play therapy to students in three schools in a rural county in Western New York State. Teacher assessments, therapist reports, and parent reports were used to measure change in the students involved in the study. The importance of early intervention and preventive services is discussed, as well as the tenets and benefits of child-centered play therapy. The results of the 14 students studied demonstrated that child-centered play therapy is an effective modality for working with children. The author advocates for the implementation of the Early Intervention Program in more schools.


Although Vibrio cholerae is a human pathogen its primary habitat are aquatic environments. In this environment, V.cholerae takes advantage of the abundance of zooplankton, whose chitinous exoskeletons provide a nutritious surface. Chitin also induces the developmental programme of natural competence in several species of the genus Vibrio. Because the chitin surface can serve as the sole carbon source for V.cholerae, the link between carbon catabolite repression and chitin-induced natural competence for transformation was investigated in this study. Provision of competing phosphoenolpyruvate: carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS)-dependent carbon sources in addition to chitin significantly lowered natural transformability. These sugars are known to interfere with the accumulation of 3',5'-cyclic AMP (cAMP); therefore, the contributions of the cAMP-producing enzyme, adenylate cyclase and the cAMP receptor protein (CRP) to chitin surface colonization, chitin degradation and natural transformation were also analysed. The results provided here indicate that cAMP and CRP are important in at least three interlinked areas of the chitin-induced natural competence programme. First, cAMP and CRP are required for the efficient colonization of the chitin surface; second both contribute to chitin degradation and utilization, and third, cAMP plus CRP play a role in increasing competence gene expression. These findings highlight the complex regulatory circuit of chitin-induced natural competence in V.cholerae.


Flooding as an adverse effect of climate change is becoming more pronounced each day, making communities vulnerable to its threats. There is an urgent need for resilience planning and well-coordinated, science-based design intervention. There is significant information on coastal flooding as evident from recent resilience competitions. The goal of this paper is to learn from this information what can be done to address the lack of coordination and communication related to flooding in Pennsylvania's riverine communities. Only 186 out of more than 2500 communities are safe from high water, making flooding the most frequent and damaging disaster in Pennsylvania according to PEMA (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency). A recent survey carried out by DVPRC shows that riverine flooding represents risks in the form of flooding of private properties and roadways and stress on aging water infrastructure like sewer lines and dikes. While the US government has led initiatives to plan for resilience, there is a lack of expertise, coordination and communication to guide the process. Reports on the winning projects in recent competitions are a source to address current short-fallings. By taking a step forward and leading the path towards resilience planning, they have provided resources that can be translated to inform other regions and risks. This research undergoes a case-study review of a couple of resilience competitions to learn about their resilience design process. Using this knowledge, it aims to close the gap in knowledge and address limitations of a traditional planning process across Pennsylvania's riverine communities. Findings focus on effective community-engagement strategies, need for and ways to adopt multi-disciplinary collaboration, institutional changes required to facilitate resilience planning and the overall resilience design process. The paper concludes that traditional planning approaches by local government bodies could largely benefit from adopting or locally adapting the proposed resilient strategies.