The Bioclimatic Prediction System, BIOCLIM, was used to produce a climate profile for the present distribution of the introduced Common Myna Acridotheres tristis in Australia. This climate profile was then used to predict further areas in Australia which are climatically suitable for colonisation by the Common Myna. Suitable areas were predicted as occurring throughout the eastern regions of Australia from north of Cairns, Queensland, through to south-east South Australia. Further areas predicted as suitable occurred on the gulf peninsulas of South Australia and in the extreme south-west comer of Western Australia. Much of the predicted area occurs in the more intensively settled regions of Australia where considerable suitable habitat for the Common Myna exists. The hypothesis that Common Myna range expansion is limited above latitude 40°S due to unsuitable climate is further supported by this study. Colder regions of south-eastern Australia were also predicted to be unsuitable.


Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPN), which is caused by asbestos exposure, is one of aggressive lung tumors. In the present study, we elucidated the anti-tumor mechanism of ursolic acid in malignant mesotheliomas. Ursolic acid significantly exerted cytotoxicity in a time and dose dependent manner in H28, H2452 and MSTO-211H mesothelioma cells and inhibited cell proliferation by colony formation assay in a dose-dependent fashion. Also, ursolic acid treatment accumulated the sub-G1 population, attenuated the expression of procapase 9, cyclin D1, pAKT, p-glycogen synthase kinase 3-alpha/beta (pGSK3α/β), β-catenin and nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NFkB) and also cleaved caspase 3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in mesothelioma cells. Furthermore, ursolic acid treatment blocked epithelial and mesenchymal transition (EMT) molecules by activating E-cadherin as an epithelial marker and attenuating Vimentin, and Twist as mesenchymal molecules. Interestingly, miRNA array revealed that 23 miRNAs (>2 folds) including let-7b and miRNA3613-5p, miRNA134 and miRNA196b were significantly upregulated while 33 miRNAs were downregulated in ursolic acid treated H2452 cells. Furthermore, overexpression of let 7b using let-7b mimics enhanced the antitumor effect of ursolic acid to attenuate the expression of procaspases 3, pro-PARP, pAKT, β-catenin and Twist and increase sub-G1 accumulation in H2452 mesothelioma cells. Overall, our findings suggest that ursolic acid induces apoptosis via inhibition of EMT and activation of let7b in mesothelioma cells as a potent chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of malignant mesotheliomas.


Adolescent orangutans become competitors with mothers supporting newborn infants. Thus, adolescent orangutans must coordinate with other orangutans in order to find fruit. How adolescent orangutans respond is reflected in the size and utilization of their home range area. The aims of our research were to determine (i) fruit availability, as an important component of orangutan diet, (ii) and the effect of fruit availability on home range use by adolescent orangutan. This research was conducted from August 2013 to July 2014 in Tuanan Orangutan Research Station, Central Kalimantan. The fruit trail method was used to estimate abundance of fruits (both from trees and lianas).Fallen fruit on census trails was assessed once per month, while focal animal sampling was used to estimate the home range by tagging a GPS point every 30 minutes during the tracking of an orangutan. In total, 62 tree and 15 liana species included in the known orangutan diet were fruiting during this study period. The highest period of fruit abundance for orangutan food occurred in November until January. Adolescent orangutans responded by increasing their monthly ranging area during this time of high fruit availability and decreased their range when fruit vailability was low. Adolescent orangutans often used areas in their monthly range that had a high to medium abundance of fruit trees. When the number of trees bearing fruit decreased (low period), adolescent orangutans changed their monthly range to areas that consisted of medium


Aim/Purpose: This study examined experiences related to the impostor phenomenon among Black doctoral and postdoctoral scholars in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Background: Research on the impostor phenomenon is usually focused on undergraduates, especially for Blacks, with sparse research on Black doctoral and postdoctoral scholars. This phenomenon was originally investigated among Whites. Due to fewer studies on Blacks, culturally-relevant understanding of the impostor phenomenon is limited.

Methodology: This study used surveys and interviews (convergent mixed-methods) to examine the impostor phenomenon among U.S.-based doctoral and postdoctoral scholars (together referred to as "trainees") in STEM. Participants took a survey (that used the Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale or CIPS to individually compute impostor phenomenon scores) and a one-on-one, semi-structured interview. Survey (with CIPS scores) and interview data were converged from the same participants, who were recruited from a national conference focused on minorities in STEM (convenience sampling). Using constant comparative method and analytic induction, interview-data were categorized into themes.

Contribution: Findings documented race-based impostor-experiences, possibly culturally relevant to other groups of underrepresented minorities (URMs). Findings have implications for research, policy, and practice. These include future initiatives to broaden participation in STEM careers among the underrepresented groups, support those who might experience this phenomenon and transition challenges in academia, and create greater awareness of the challenges trainees face based on their background and life experiences.

Findings: Surveys indicated moderate to intense impostor phenomenon among 15 participants at the time data were collected. Interviews with the same participants found six themes linked to the impostor phenomenon: 1) Being the only-one, 2) Lack of belonging, 3) Stereotyping, micro-aggression and judgment, 4) External appearances, 5) Feeling like the "diversity enhancers," and 6) Complications of intersecting identities.

Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners should consider the tensions and complications of Black identity and how it ties to training experiences in STEM as well as how race-based impostor phenomenon could shape an individual's interaction with faculty, mentors, and peers. This knowledge could be helpful in designing professional development programs for Blacks.

Recommendation for Researchers: Study findings could have research implications on the way doctoral and postdoctoral training is reimagined to be more inclusive and welcoming of diversity across multiple axes of gender, race/ethnicity, class, first-generation status, ability, sexual orientation, and country of origin, among others.

Impact on Society: Black trainees could be vulnerable to leaving STEM fields due to their underrepresentation, lack of critical mass, racial discrimination, and other unpleasant experiences. Conversations around training, development, and means to address psychological distress could focus on culturally-relevant experiences of the impostor phenomenon.

Future Research: Future research could look at the experiences of other underrepresented groups in STEM such as Native Americans and Hispanics as well as among faculty of color and individuals from other fields beyond STEM.


This is the last in a series of three articles

This final article in the series describes how torture and organised violence may affect the health of survivors. A definition of torture, often used for asylum purposes, is shown in the box. It should be noted, however, that not all those who employ torture are acting in an official capacity.

#### United Nations' definition of torture1

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as:

obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession,

punishing him for an act that he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed,

or intimidating or coercing him or a third person,

or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,

when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of a public official acting in an official capacity.

#### Summary points

Torture and organised violence are still prevalent in many countries and have previously been experienced by some refugees in the United Kingdom

The problems of survivors of torture and organised violence are not fully appreciated within the health services

Survivors of torture may not volunteer their history due to feelings of guilt, shame, or mistrust; consideration must be given to building a relationship of trust

Much can be done by health workers to alleviate the physical and psychological difficulties that face survivors

Organised violence is defined as violence which has a political motive. Survivors of torture or organised violence have often been ill treated by government agents such as the army, police, or security forces or other groups perpetrating organised violence, including rebel groups. States have a duty to prevent, investigate, and prosecute cases of torture, but if those who are supposed to do this are themselves the …


Cast iron arch bridges were built in the late 18th and early 19th century across Europe. After the famous Iron Bridge in the Ironbridge Gorge in Coalbrookdale in England, being now part of the UNESCO world heritage, many cast iron bridges followed and substituted timber bridges. A series of cast iron bridges has been built in central Europe, in Laasan, Breslau, (now Wroclaw), in Berlin, Potsdam, Bad Muskau and Schwerin. The paper gives an overview about the current state of some remaining cast iron arch bridges, typical damage cases, material properties and rehabilitation. Most of the old cast iron arch bridges serve as pedestrian bridges. Some of these bridges have been strengthened to increase the traffic load. Different rehabilitation measures as substitution of parts of the bridges and strengthening using Carbon Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) are discussed.


Ever since their discovery in the1670s, and proof of their link with disease in the 1870s, bacteria have had a bad name and are often called pathogens. They are regarded as the cause of diseases and things to be avoided. However, there are an estimated 100 trillion of bacteria, ten times more than the number of cells in a human body. These commensal microbes (the microbiota) live on all surface barriers of a human body and are particularly abundant and diverse in the gut. Therefore, bacteria are something that we cannot avoid.


Microplates are the building blocks of many micro-electro-mechanical systems. It is common for them to experience initial curvature imperfection due to residual stresses caused by the micro fabrication process. Such plates are essentially different from perfectly flat ones and cannot be modeled using flat plate models. In this paper, we adopt a dynamic analog of the von Karman governing equations of imperfect plates. These equations are then used to develop a reduced order model based on the Galerkin procedure, to simulate the static and dynamic behavior of the microplate under electrostatic actuation. To validate the simulation results, an initially curved imperfect microplate made of silicon nitride is fabricated and tested. The static behaviour of the microplate is investigated when applying a DC voltage Vdc. Then, the dynamic behaviour of the microplate is examined under the application of a harmonic AC voltage, Vac, superimposed to Vdc. The simulation results show good agreement with the experimentally measured responses.


Insight into protein requirements of intensive care unit (ICU) patients is urgently needed, but at present, it is unrealistic to define protein requirements for different diagnostic groups of critical illness or at different stages of illness. No large randomized controlled trials have randomized protein delivery, adequately addressed energy intake, and evaluated relevant clinical outcomes. As a pragmatic approach, experimental studies have focused on protein requirements of heterogeneous ICU patients. Data are scarce and the absolute value of protein requirements therefore is an approximation. Experimental studies indicate a protein requirement of >1.2 g/kg protein, which is supported by several outcome-based observational studies. Protein intake levels of up to 2.0-2.5 g/kg appear to be safe. A higher level of personalized treatment, within 1.2 and 2.5 g/kg, must involve identification of patients with low muscle protein mass that might benefit most from adequate protein nutrition in the ICU.


Design of printed promotional material commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust, 2002. This design research project was commissioned by the Energy Saving Trust (EST), a quasi governmental non-profit organisation funded by the UK Government, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The researcher was commissioned to substantially review and redesign its printed communications specifically for domestic utilities users. This commission came about due to a strategy decision to encourage less energy use and carbon emissions as embodied in its EST's 'Electricity and Gas Energy Efficiency Obligations Order 2001' and its report 'Current Activities of the Energy Saving Trust, UK' subsequently published in February 2002. A further factor leading to the commission was EST's dissatisfaction with its current printed materials which had not generated sufficient public interest following a television advertising campaign promoting domestic energy efficiency developed by Saatchi and Saatchi. Working with the EST marketing department, the researcher reviewed the documents referred to above to identify the core values and the desired public response. It was concluded that the central message should be to emphasise the specific advantages of different energy saving measures in the home as a consequence of pro-active individual choice. The design strategy communicated direct and straightforward textual propositions to a wide audience, using supporting images of everyday objects in modern but not overly stylised settings. A set of standards for the use of logos, typefaces, typographic hierarchies, grids, formats and colour palettes was also tested and instigated. The resulting promotional material was distributed by direct mail campaigns and through Energy Efficiency Centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The emphasis on the family is an important part of EST's energy saving advertising although has since by overtaken by a focus on what individuals and families can do to impact less on the environment.


We compare the pe@ormance of systems consisting of one large cluster containing q processors with systems where processors are grouped into k clusters containing U processors each. A parallel program, consisting of n processes, is executed on this system. Processes may be relocated between the processors in a cluster: They may, howevel; not be relocated from one cluster to another: The pelformame criterion is the completion time of the parallel program. We present two functions: g(n,k,u,q) and G(k,u,q). Provided that we canjnd optimal or near optimal schedules, these functions put optimal upper bounds on the gain of using one cluster containing q processors compared to using k clusters containing U processors each. The function g(n,k,u,q) is valid for programs with n processes, whereas G(k,u,q) only depends on the two multiprocessor architectures. By evaluating g(n,k,u,q) and G(k,u,q) we show that the gain of increasing the cluster size from I to 2 and from 2 to 4 is relatively large. Howevel; the gain of using clusters larger than 4 is very limited.


Within the 14 days leading up to a recent change of two give way rules in New Zealand, the website www.giveway.co.nz had more than 340,000 active visitors who used a give way training programme to prepare for the rule change. It was shared 16,000 times on Facebook and tweeted over 300 times. It was emailed around workplaces and posted on numerous online bulletin boards. Our approach complemented the New Zealand Transport Agencyrs $1.2 million education campaign. This paper will present a descriptive analysis of the large data set we gathered in the backend database of the website, including the average percentage of correct answers overall (90 per cent) and for each question, and average time it took the users to answer correctly overall (4.345s) and for each question. The paper will provide insights into the psychology of educating a very large number of drivers using an effective online interactive driver training resource, promoted predominantly via social media.


This paper describes the development of an intensified charge coupled device (ICCD)-based fiber-optic monitor for remote Raman and surface-enhanced Raman (SERS) sensing. Both Raman and SERS data were obtained with the use of a fiber-optic probe design incorporating 20-m optical fibers carrying the Raman signal. Spectra were obtained in 5 milliseconds for Raman and 9 ms for SERS. The proposed system could be used for a highly sensitive portable Raman system for rapid and remote chemical sensing.


Whittles Publishing is delighted to announce that Airborne and Terrestrial Laser Scanning has been awarded the Karl Kraus Medal by the ISPRS with the presentation being made on 31st August at the XXII Congress in Melbourne. We are also very pleased for all the authors who have contributed to the book and especially to George Vosselman and Hans-Gerd Maas for their commitment and expertise which has resulted in such an acclaimed and highly successful book. It is gratifying that our growing list of geomatics titles continues to receive recognition and we are endeavouring to create more books that will be equally well-received and useful.

 Written by a team of international experts, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the major applications of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning. The book focuses on principles and methods and presents an integrated treatment of airborne and terrestrial laser scanning technology.

 Laser scanning is a relatively young 3D measurement technique offering much potential in the acquisition of precise and reliable 3D geodata and object geometries. However, there are many terrestrial and airborne scanners on the market, accompanied by numerous software packages that handle data acquisition, processing and visualization, yet existing knowledge is fragmented over a wide variety of publications, whether printed or electronic.

 This book brings together the various facets of the subject in a coherent text that will be relevant for advanced students, academics and practitioners. After consideration of the technology and processing methods, the book turns to applications. The primary use thus far has been the extraction of digital terrain models from airborne laser scanning data, but many other applications are considered including engineering, forestry, cultural heritage, extraction of 3D building models and mobile mapping.


This chapter studies the ordinal content of supermodularity on lattices. This chapter is a generalization of the famous study of binary relations over finite Boolean algebras obtained by Wong, Yao and Lingras. We study the implications of various types of supermodularity for preferences over finite lattices. We prove that preferences on a finite lattice merely respecting the lattice order cannot disentangle these usual economic assumptions of supermodularity and infinite supermodularity. More precisely, the existence of a supermodular representation is equivalent to the existence of an infinitely supermodular representation. In addition, the strict increasingness of a complete preorder on a finite lattice is equivalent to the existence of a strictly increasing and infinitely supermodular representation. For wide classes of binary relations, the ordinal contents of quasisupermodularity, supermodularity and infinite supermodularity are exactly the same. In the end, we extend our results from finite lattices to infinite lattices.


The high sulphur coals of North Eastern region (NER) of India have 70%–80% of organic sulphur affixed to the coal structure due to the influence of marine sources during its formation. The per-acid (H2O2/HCOOH) medium is used here to see its effect in removing the organic sulphur from this coal. The rate of the oxidation was studied for 60, 120, 180 and 240 minutes at room temperature. The oxidised coals are also extracted with dimethyl formamide and treated with alkali. Total sulphur removal has been found to be 38.09 wt% during oxidation while, alkali treatments after the oxidation showed 46.5 wt% desulphurisation. The kinetic studies on this removal of organic sulphur from coal showed that the reaction is of second order and found to be faster in nature. The FTIR and physico-chemical properties of oxidised, alkali treated coals are also reported.


The use of synthetic unit hydrographs often requires the estimation of lag or other travel time parameters. Several procedures are available for estimating such unit hydrograph parameters. One method is the lag equation that often is applied to dimensionless S-graphs. The traditional form of the lag equation has been used for about 40 years. That equation is not particularly sensitive to watershed slope. Additionally, the use of that equation requires the estimation of a resistance coefficient. Selection of the resistance coefficient is rather subjective leading to uncertainty and lack of reproducibility when using the method. A new form of the lag equation was developed that is dimensionally correct. Data on measured lag and watershed characteristics was used to develop prediction equations for the lag equation coefficient. These prediction equations do not require subjective selection of resistance coefficients or other uncertain input. Therefore, the new lag procedure provides reproducible results by all users. The lag equation coefficients were developed for use in southwestern desert/rangeland and mountain watersheds. Another lag equation coefficient was developed for use with urban watersheds. The desert/rangeland lag equation was modified for use with agricultural watersheds. These equations are presently used for flood hydrology in Arizona.


Abstract We studied longitudinal changes in self-development and psychopathology over a 15.7-month period (SD = 4.4 months) in 271 maximum-security prisoners who were participating in either the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program, counseling, drug rehabilitation, or Muslim or Christian groups. For each program, new and advanced participants were compared with (a) subjects interested in participating who were delayed from starting, (b) subjects who were not interested in participating, and (c) subjects who dropped out. Only regular participants in the TM program changed significantly. Controlling for pretest scores, overlap of membership, and 19 demographic and criminal history factors, both new and advanced TM members who were regular in their practice increased more than one step in Loevinger's ego development scale, while drop-outs, delayeds, and not interesteds remained relatively unchanged (p < .00025). On the average, after 15.2 months of practice, new TM subjects moved from the Conformist, I-3 level, a dependent, exploitative orientation, to the Self Aware transition level, I-3/4, modal stage of American adults, which is characterized by a greater awareness of norms and goals. Advanced TM subjects (20 months regular practice at the beginning of the study) were at the Self-Aware stage at pretest, but after 13 additional months of TM practice, they grew to the next stage (Conscientious, I-4), which is more responsible, self-monitoring, self-respecting, and communicative. TM subjects also showed significant reductions in aggression (p < .05), especially those who meditated at least twice a week (p < .005). In addition, they showed reduced schizophrenic symptoms (p < .05), decreased trait-anxiety (p < .10, trend), and increased frequency of postconceptual experience of higher states of consciousness (p < .01), but did not significantly differ on either of the misleading items scale.


The term "activated macrophage" was introduced into the literature and employed extensively by Mackaness in the 1960s to describe the enhanced microbicidal activity of macrophages from animals with acquired immunity to infection with facultative, intracellular bacterial parasites. The notion that macrophages need to undergo functional modification in order to express resistance to infection with certain bacteria can be traced back to the writings of Metchnikoff at the turn of the century (1). It was subsequent studies of tuberculosis more than of any other infectious disease, however, that provided the evidence for the concept of a mechanism of cellular immunity based on the capacity of macrophages to acquire and to intrinsically express increased microbicidal mechanisms. The knowledge a) that a major visible aspect of the host response to tuberculosis consisted of the accumulation of macrophages at infective foci to form tubercles, b) that the tubercle bacillus is invariably engaged by and harbored inside macrophages, c) that secondary infection results in an accelerated rate of tubercle formation and in the destruction of the tubercle bacilli therein, and d) that all of these events proceed apparently without the participation of humoral antibody were sound reasons for postulating a mechanism of cellular immunity based on the intrinsic microbicidal powers of the macrophage.


The article describes an active map service (AMS) that supports context-aware computing by providing clients with information about located-objects and how those objects change over time. The authors focus on the communication issues of disseminating information from an active map server to its clients, and in particular, address how to deal with various overload situations that can occur. Simple unicast callbacks to interested clients work well enough if only a few located-objects are moving at any given time and only a few clients wish to know about any given move. However, if many people are moving about in the same region and many clients are interested in their motion, then the AMS may experience overload due to the quadratic nature of the communications involved. This overload affects both the server as well as any slow communications links being used. Mobile distributed computing enables users to interact with many different mobile and stationary computers over the course of the day. Navigating a mobile environment can be aided by active maps that describe the location and characteristics of objects within some region as they change over time.<<ETX>>


In recent years, politicians across the United Kingdom have become increasingly preoccupied with the social management of anti-social individuals and groups. Translating governmental strategies and policies in to action at street level requires an understanding of the mechanics of deviant lifestyles and the ways in which lifestyle choices increase the amount of contact that individuals have with the police and other crime control agencies. The subjective nature of terms such as 'anti-social behaviour' (ASB), 'problem drug use' and 'deviant lifestyles' makes it particularly difficult to generate valid data concerning their prevalence or otherwise and presents challenges for methodological approaches. In part, this is due to the governmental drive to regulate and control groups of generally young people without a clear evidence base for these actions. This political strategy bypasses the complexities inherent in understanding ASB and, more broadly, what are perceived to be deviant lifestyles. In order to make sense of the extent of ASB it is essential to create a critical understanding of how different groups of people define both anti- and pro-social behaviour. In particular, these include the different perspectives of victims of crime, offenders, people who live in different communities and those who have different life experiences. It would also take account of gender, generational and class differences. Through police case file analysis and interviews it has been possible to investigate how different categories of people who come into contact with the criminal justice system understand ASB and deviant lifestyles, particularly in relation to offenders and victims. By using methodology in a more creative way it is possible to develop a greater understanding of what ASB means to different groups of people. These methodological approaches highlight the fluid nature of victim and offender groups and the importance of subjectivity in understanding terms such as 'anti-social behaviour', 'problem drug use' and 'deviant lifestyles'. Questions still remain concerning what acts constitute ASB and, because of this, this article asks whether there are any similarities between ASB discourse and previous debates about deviance. These debates are illuminated by two recent research studies concerning the policing of ASB and an evaluation of drug lifestyles, both conducted in the Chiltern Vale police area. These examples provide a critical appreciation of two distinct forms of deviant lifestyle that are often misunderstood in the public arena. A bottom-up focus moves the emphasis of the study away from official statistics and instead provides a more holistic vision of community safety issues that emphasises the lived reality of deviant lifestyles. These findings have direct implications for national initiatives concerning the use of ASB legislation and the development of effective harm reduction strategies for drug users. Finally, key questions are raised concerning the problematic role played by political actors in the development of policy and practice and the potential harmful consequences that this presents for local communities.


Humans are exposed to electrophilically reactive compounds, both formed endogenously and from exogenous exposure. Such compounds could react and form stable reaction products, adducts, at nucleophilic sites in proteins and DNA. The formation of adducts constitutes a risk for effects, such as cancer and contact allergy, and plays a role in ageing processes. Adducts to proteins offer a possibility to measure electrophilic compounds in vivo.Adductomic approaches aim to study the totality of adducts, to specific biomolecules, by mass spectrometric screening. This thesis describes the development and application of an adductomic approach for the screening of unknown adducts to N-terminal valine (Val) in hemoglobin (Hb) by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).The adductomic approach is based on the FIRE procedure, a modified Edman procedure for the analysis of adducts to N-terminal Val in Hb by LC/MS/MS. The adduct screening was performed by stepwise scanning of precursor ions in small mass increments and monitoring four fragments common for derivatives of detached Val adducts, in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Samples from 12 smokers/nonsmokers were screened with the adductomic approach, and seven previously identified adducts and 19 unknown adducts were detected. A semiquantitative approach was applied for approximate quantification of adduct levels.A strategy for identifying unknown Hb adducts using adductome LC/MS/MS data was formulated and applied for the identification of unknown adducts. Identifications were based on the observed m/z of precursor ions and retention times combined with databases and Log P calculations. Hypothesized adducts were generated in vitro for comparison and matching with the corresponding unknown adducts. Five identified adducts correspond to the precursor electrophiles ethyl vinyl ketone (EVK), glyoxal, methylglyoxal, acrylic acid, and 1-octen-3-one. These adducts, except the adducts corresponding to glyoxal and methylglyoxal, have not been observed as protein adducts before. Probable exposure sources to these electrophiles are diet and/or endogenous formation. The observation of these adducts motivate further studies to evaluate possible contributions to health risks, as well as their potential as biomarkers of exposure.The adduct from EVK was quantitatively assessed through different experiments to estimate the daily internal dose (area under the concentration-time-curve, AUC). EVK is about 2 × 103 more reactive than the reference compound acrylamide. The EVK adduct was shown to be unstable, with a relatively short half-life. The daily AUC in humans of EVK was estimated to be about 20 times lower than the corresponding AUC of acrylamide from intake via food.To confirm the observation of the detected unknown adducts and obtain a statistical foundation, analysis of unknown adducts were performed in large sets of blood samples (n = 50–120) from human cohorts. The majority of the previously detected unknown adducts were found in all analyzed samples, and the levels of many adducts showed large variations between individuals. The cause and significance of these observed variations are not yet clarified, but are of importance for the directions of future studies.In conclusion, a new approach for identification of unknown human exposure to electrophiles was developed and successfully applied.


Along with the development of AI democratization, the machine learning approach, in particular neural networks, has been applied to wide-range applications. In different application scenarios, the neural network will be accelerated on the tailored computing platform. The acceleration of neural networks on classical computing platforms, such as CPU, GPU, FPGA, ASIC, has been widely studied; however, when the scale of the application consistently grows up, the memory bottleneck becomes obvious, widely known as memory-wall. In response to such a challenge, advanced quantum computing, which can represent 2N states with N quantum bits (qubits), is regarded as a promising solution. It is imminent to know how to design the quantum circuit for accelerating neural networks. Most recently, there are initial works studying how to map neural networks to actual quantum processors. To better understand the state-of-the-art design and inspire new design methodology, this paper carries out a case study to demonstrate an end-to-end implementation. On the neural network side, we employ the multilayer perceptron to complete image classification tasks using the standard and widely used MNIST dataset. On the quantum computing side, we target IBM Quantum processors, which can be programmed and simulated by using IBM Qiskit. This work targets the acceleration of the inference phase of a trained neural network on the quantum processor. Along with the case study, we will demonstrate the typical procedure for mapping neural networks to quantum circuits.


Predictability of social interactions can be an important measure for the social complexity of an animal group. Predictability is partially dependent on how consistent interaction patterns are over time: does the behaviour on one day explain the behaviour on another? We developed a consistency measure that serves two functions: detecting which interaction types in a data set are so inconsistent that including them in further analyses risks introducing unexplained error; and comparatively quantifying differences in consistency within and between animal groups. We applied the consistency measure to simulated data and field data for one group of sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys atys) and to groups of Western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, to test its properties and compare consistency across groups. The consistency measures successfully identified interaction types whose low internal consistency would likely create analytical problems. Species-level differences in consistency were less pronounced than differences within groups: in all groups, aggression and dominance interactions were the most consistent, followed by grooming; spatial proximity at different levels was much less consistent than directed interactions. Our consistency measure can facilitate decision making of researchers wondering whether to include interaction types in their analyses or social networks and allows us to compare interaction types within and between species regarding their predictability.


 Abstract — This paper presents the Colzate-Vertova landslide, a Deep Seated Gravitational Slope Deformation (DSGSD) located in the Seriana Valley, Northern Italy. The paper aims at describing the development as well as evaluating the factors that influence the evolution of the landslide. After defining the conceptual model of the landslide, numerical simulations were developed using a finite element numerical model, first with a two-dimensional domain, and later with a three-dimensional one. The results of the 2-D model showed a displacement field typical of a sackung, as a consequence of the erosion along the Seriana Valley. The analysis also showed that the groundwater flow could locally affect the slope stability, bringing about a reduction in the safety factor, but without reaching failure conditions. The sensitivity analysis carried out on the strength parameters pointed out that slope failures could be reached only for relevant reduction of the geotechnical characteristics. Such a result does not fit the real conditions observed on site, where a number of small failures often develop all along the hillslope. The 3-D model gave a more comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the DSGSD, also considering the border effects. The results showed that the convex profile of the slope favors the development of displacements along the lateral valley, with a relevant reduction in the safety factor, justifying the existing landslides.


Multichronometric studies of the low-temperature eclogitic Tso Morari unit (Ladakh, India) place timing constraints on the early evolution of the northwest Himalayan belt. Several isotopic systems have been used to date the eclogitization and the exhumation of the Tso Morari unit: Lu-Hf, Sm-Nd, Rb-Sr, and Ar-Ar. A ca. 55 Ma age for the eclogitization has been obtained by Lu-Hf on garnet, omphacite, and whole rock from mafic eclogite and by Sm-Nd on garnet, glaucophane, and whole rock from high-pressure metapelites. These results agree with a previously reported U-Pb age on allanite, and together these ages constrain the subduction of the Indian continental margin at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. During exhumation, the Tso Morari rocks underwent thermal relaxation at about 9 ± 3 kbar, characterized by partial recrystallization under amphibolite facies conditions ca. 47 Ma, as dated by Sm-Nd on garnet, calcic amphibole, and whole rock from metabasalt, Rb-Sr on phengite, apatite, and whole rock, and Ar-Ar on medium-Si phengite from metapelites. Ar-Ar analyses of biotite and low-Si muscovite from metapelites, which recrystallized at <5 kbar toward the end of the exhumation, show that the Tso Morari unit was at upper crustal levels ca. 30 Ma. These results indicate variable exhumation rates for the Tso Morari unit, beginning with rapid exhumation while the Indian margin subduction was still active, and later proceeding at a slower pace during the crustal thickening associated with the Himalayan collision.


Arguably the most important conceptual development in the area of placebo research in recent times was the redefinition of the placebo effect as an "effect due to the meaning of an intervention" (Moerman & Jonas, 2002). The placebo effect was reframed from a nuisance to a potential resource. When Martini in Germany (Martini, 1932) and Beecher in the US (Beecher, 1955; Lasagna, Mosteller, von Felsinger, & Beecher, 1954) started discussing the placebo-effect in the 30ies and 50ies it was a conundrum. Clinical pharmacology set out with the promise to find ever more specific treatments for diseases. This project assumes that through scientific knowledge we will unravel the causal network of diseases that can then be specifically targeted through clearly designed drugs with specific, known and targeted causal pathways of efficacy. This is theory. Or shall we say poetry and fantasy? Following this theory, everything that is not causal can only be background noise and a nuisance (Grunbaum, 1989). And hence the placebo-effect, as it showed in clinical trials that were necessary to prove the specific efficacy of these interventions, was considered a nuisance and, technically speaking, error variance to be minimised. Research and clinical experience showed how powerful such effects can be in practice. The redefinition by Moerman and Jonas captured this cultural move: the placebo-effect grew from a nuisance to be avoided to a resource that can be very helpful (Walach & Jonas, 2004). In this contribution I would like to take this development one step further and argue that this effect is actually the most important therapeutic effect of all. All so called specific effects, causal interventions etc. are only maneouvres that help marshal this most powerful therapeutic ally: the self-healing response. And so my thesis is that behind the placebo-effect we see self-healing at work. I am advocating a kind of figure-ground perceptual change: What has been considered the background, even background noise, namely the placebo-effect, I would hold to be the most important element. It should move to the foreground and become what it actually is: the most important component of every therapeutic system (Wampold, Minami, Tierney, Baskin, & Bhati, 2005). That does not negate that there are specific effects, like in life-saving surgeries in cases of emergencies or when resecting tumours. But they are the background that only allow the figure to emerge: the individual self-healing trajectory.


A signaling pathway called the Hippo pathway has important roles in the control of tissue organization in development and in the regulation of organ size in the fruit fly. Hippo is a protein kinase that appears to pass signals from atypical cadherin molecules Fat and Dachsous at the cell surface to another intracellular kinase, Warts, which then regulates a transcriptional coactivator. Another protein somewhat distantly related to the protein kinases, Four-jointed, has also been implicated genetically in the pathway. Ishikawa et al. provide evidence that Four-jointed, which is localized to the Golgi complex, is indeed a kinase and that it appears to phosphorylate the cadherin domains of Fat and Dachsous, which will become extracellular domains at the cell surface. H. O. Ishikawa, H. Takeuchi, R. S. Haltiwanger, K. D. Irvine, Four-jointed is a Golgi kinase that phosphorylates a subset of cadherin domains. Science 321, 401-404 (2008). [Abstract] [Full Text]


An active optical sensor probes a region of free space that is engulfed in bright thermal noise to determine the presence (or absence) of a weakly reflecting target. The returned light (which is just thermal noise if no target is present, and thermal noise plus a weak reflection of the probe beam if a target is present) is measured and processed by a receiver and a decision is made on whether a target is present. It has been shown that generating an entangled pair of photons (which is a highly nonclassical state of light), using one photon as the probe beam and storing the other photon for comparison to the returned light, has superior performance to the traditional classical-light (coherent-state) target detection sensors. An entangled-photon transmitter and optimal receiver combination can yield up to a factor of 4 (i.e., 6 dB) gain in the error-probability exponent over a coherent state transmitter and optimal receiver combination, in a highly lossy and noisy scenario (when both sensors have the same number of transmitted photons). However, the receiver that achieves this advantage is not known. One structured receiver can close half of the 6-dB gap (i.e., a 3-dB improvement). It is based on phase-conjugating the returned light, then performing dual-balanced difference detection with the stored half of the entangled-photon pair. Active optical sensors are of tremendous value to NASA s missions. Although this work focuses on target detection, it can be extended to imaging (2D, 3D, hyperspectral, etc.) scenarios as well, where the image quality can be better than that offered by traditional active sensors. Although the current work is theoretical, NASA s future missions could benefit significantly from developing and demonstrating this capability. This is an optical receiver design whose components are, in principle, all implementable. However, the work is currently entirely theoretical. It is necessary to: 1. Demonstrate a bench-top proof of the theoretical principle, 2. Create an operational prototype off-the-bench, and 3. Build a practical sensor that can fly in a mission.


Commentary: The Tokelau solar project first came to the attention of this filmmaker at a Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2013. Three remote islands in the Pacific becoming the first 100 percent solar-powered nation on earth and setting an example for the complete adaptation of sustainable energy sounded like a story too good to be overlooked by mainstream news media. However, research demonstrated that this was indeed widely ignored. So the author set about his usual practice of pitching the idea to his colleagues at German Television. The fact that he had already made a short documentary about Tokelau in 2006 ( ARTE TV Reportage: Independence Referendum in Tokelau ) and was thus familiar with the territory and its people, which worked in his favour. But funding proved to be a difficult challenge because the logistics of the project demanded a longer than usual shooting schedule and crew time. In the end, a solution was found by accessing additional funding and negotiating a bulk deal with the crew to make The Solar Nation of Tokelau (2014).


Self-diffusivities and ion pair lifetimes were calculated for 24 ionic liquids at 400 K. These values were then compared with the experimental viscosities of the ionic liquid at 298 K. Experimental viscosities were found to have a strong correlation with both the ion pair lifetime and the inverse diffusivity. For both properties, the ionic liquids were divided into two groups based on the nature of the anion. It was found that both the ion pair lifetime and the self-diffusivity can be used to predict the ionic liquids with a viscosity lower than a given threshold with an 80% success rate. This predictive capability would allow for rapid screening of ionic liquids to determine those with low viscosities.


As we enter the twenty-first century, middle-level music education (grades six through eight or nine) remains in turmoil regarding appropriate curricular offerings for young adolescents. Should music offerings be primarily performance-oriented? Should music be required of every student? What level of performance should be expected of young adolescents? How is musical experience balanced with the developmental needs of students? Are there musical experiences outside of large-group performance experiences that would attract more students to musical learning? As the profession struggles with these issues, it is important to look back at nearly a century of experience with middle-level education for models of excellence to determine the factors that contributed to their success. One such model was the operetta performance tradition at Ramsey Junior High School in Minneapolis, due in part to the large number of operettas presented, the commitment of two teachers to giving students abundant vocal performance opportunities at the junior high level, and the perceived success of the operetta performances by community members. Between 1932 and 1966, students at Ramsey presented more than sixty-seven operettas in addition to regular choral, oratorio, and cantata performances. The operettas were full-scale productions with lighting, scenery, and costumes, and in the early years it was not unusual for the students to present four operettas in one academic year. Quotes from the editorial staff of the student newspaper, the Ramsey Record, demonstrate the perceived quality of the operetta productions: "The operetta was very much liked by the students, teachers, and parents, and congratulations are given to all those who helped make the performance a splendid success." (1) "The success of the performance was evident as wave after wave of applause swept over the audience as the curtain closed." (2) This paper describes the development of the operetta performance tradition at Ramsey and examines the people and conditions that contributed to its success. Background To fully appreciate the conditions necessary for the operetta program at Ramsey Junior High School to thrive, it is important to examine the historical environment in which the school opened. Especially important are a brief history of the Minneapolis public schools, the development of the junior high school movement in the United States, and the implementation of the junior high school system in the Minneapolis public schools. A Brief History of the Minneapolis Public Schools The first educational institution in Minneapolis was for children from Fort Snelling and the Mdewakanton Dakota and opened on the shores of Lake Harriet in 1834, about twenty years before Minneapolis was incorporated in 1854. (3) As more settlers moved into the area educational opportunities continued to develop. By 1874 there were six school buildings in Minneapolis with an enrollment of 2,907 pupils, and four school buildings in St. Anthony (part of Minneapolis since 1872) with an enrollment of 900 students. The first school board met in 1860 in the village of St. Anthony. (4) In 1878, legislation merged the two school boards of Minneapolis and St. Anthony into one Board of Education to manage all of the public schools in Minneapolis. Through the early-twentieth century Minneapolis and its schools continued to grow, and by 1933 the city served more than 85,000 students in its school system. Development of the Junior High School Movement in the United States The junior high school movement in the United States traces its history back to 1872 when the Kalamazoo Decision by the Michigan State Supreme Court first mandated tax-supported secondary education. (5) Secondary education evolved unevenly over the next twenty years, with inconsistent requirements among school systems. In the early 1890s, the National Education Association (NEA) Committee of Ten recommended standardization of the high school curriculum to prepare students for college entrance, and high school evolved into a six-year program. …


The advent of synchronized phasor measurements allows the problem of real time prediction of instability and control to be considered. The use of direct methods for these on-line applications is assessed. The classical representation of a power system allows the use of two reference frames: Center of angle and one machine as reference. Formulae allowing transition between the two reference frames are derived. It is shown that the transient energy in both formulations is the same, and that line resistances do not dampen system oscillations. Examples illustrating the mathematical characterization of the region of attraction, exitpoint, closest u.e.p. and controlling u.e.p. methods are presented. Half-dimensional systems (reduced-order systems) are discussed. The general expression _ for the gradient system which accounts for transfer conductances is derived without making use of the infinite bus assumption. Examples illustrating the following items are presented: a) Effect of the linear ray approximation on the potential energy (inability to accurately locate the u.e.p.'s); b) Comparison of Kakimoto's and Athay's approach for PEBS crossing detection; c) BCU method and; d) One·parameter transversality condition. It is illustrated that if the assumption of the one-parameter transversality condition is not satisfied, the PEBS and BCU methods may give incorrect results for multi-swing stability. A procedure to determine if the u.e.p. found by the BCU method lies on the stability boundary of the original system is given. This procedure improves the BCU method for off~line applications when there is time for a hybrid approach (direct and conventional), but it does not improve it for on-line applications due to the following: a) It is time consuming and b) If it finds that the u.e.p. does not belong to the stability boundary it provides no information concerning the stability/instability of the system.


In this paper, we propose an approach for abnormal event detection, using the object-level spatio-temporal representation. Our approach detects an abnormal event in complex scenes which contain objects classified in various categories. We compute the object-level 3D Region-of-interest (3D RoI) and extract object-level 3D volume. Then, the object-level 3D volume is inputted to 3D deep convolutional neural network (3D-DCNN) for detecting the abnormal event. In the experiments, we compare our method with several methods on our experimental dataset.


One hundred dogs with nasal disease were evaluated by computed tomography (CT). Certain findings were significantly correlated with neoplasia. These included patchy areas of increased density within soft tissue opacity, destruction of part or all of the ethmoid bones, abnormal soft tissue in the retrobulbar spaces, destruction of one or both the lateral maxillae, destruction of the nasal bone or rostral dorsal maxilla, or hyperostosis of the lateral maxilla. Combinations of these findings were even more significant for neoplasia. No single finding or combination of findings was absolutely definitive of neoplasia. The results of this study are useful in indicating that biopsy results should be questioned if one or more of the above factors is present and a diagnosis of inflammation is made.


The foraging range and principal feeding areas of White-chinned Petrels breeding at South Georgia were determined using satellite telemetry. Foraging trips during incubation lasted 12–15 days and covered 3000–8000 km and 2–11 days and 1100–5900 km during chick-rearing. Adults covered less distance per day during chick-rearing (71 km) than during incubation (91 km) but the proportion covered at night (47%) was the same. Mean (31–34 km/h) and maximum (80 km/h) flight velocities were similar during both periods of the breeding season and during day and night. Between incubation shifts, White-chinned Petrels travelled to the Patagonian shelf; during chick-rearing they foraged more extensively. Most locations were between 30° to 55°W and 52° to 60°W around South Georgia/Shag Rocks and south to the South Orkney Islands. Diet samples from known foraging locations suggested birds fed mainly on krill and squid. They caught the squid Brachioteuthis? picta and Galiteuthis glacialis around Shag Rocks/South Georgia and also at sites close to the South Orkney Islands; Illex argentinus on the Patagonian shelf. Dispersal of adults after breeding failure was south to the South Orkney Islands then west to the Falkland Islands. This study confirms that breeding White-chinned Petrels are amongst the widest-ranging of seabirds; they may minimise competition with other Procellariiformes in the South Atlantic by their more extensive foraging range. The nature and extent of their range also brings substantial risk of high mortality rate in South Atlantic long-line fisheries.


Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy. We investigated serial changes of VEGF in the kidney and assessed whether glomerular and urinary VEGF levels are related to the severity of diabetic nephropathy. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between urinary VEGF levels and the urinary albumin excretion (UAE) rate in Otsuka-Long-Evans-Tokushima-Fatty (OLETF) rats. Glomerular VEGF mRNA expression and protein synthesis were evaluated by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization. Urinary levels of VEGF were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. UAE was significantly higher in OLETF rats than in control Long-Evans-Tokushima-Fatty (LETO) rats throughout the study period. Urinary VEGF levels were significantly higher from 25 to 37 weeks, and then gradually reduced until 55 weeks, although the levels were still higher than those in control rats. Urinary VEGF levels also showed a significant positive correlation with UAE (r=0.262, P=0.045) and serum creatinine (r=0.398, P=0.044), and were found to be independently correlated with UAE by Spearman's rank correlation. By immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization, VEGF was mainly detected in the podocytes in the glomeruli. Interestingly, a significant increase in VEGF mRNA expression was observed in the early period of diabetic nephropathy, and this was associated with increased urinary VEGF excretion. Thus, the overproduction of VEGF in the diabetic kidney may participate in the pathogenesis of early-stage diabetic nephropathy.


Introduction: Radial access for neurovascular procedures is rarely performed or even considered. There is increasing evidence from the interventional cardiology literature that radial access is associated with lower costs, lower incidence of myocardial infarction, stroke, decreased major access site complications, and even decreased mortality. Roadblocks for adopting or considering radial access for neurovascular procedures includes physician bias, physician training, and limitations in technology/devices. As we move towards a patient centered health care delivery, patient preference and complication rates should be considered. The 2 goals of this poster presentation are to provide a simplified approach to performing radial access for neurovascular and to present data on patient preference and outcomes for radial access. Hypothesis: Radial access for neuro interventional procedures is preferred by patients over traditional femoral access and can be performed with a high degree of technical success and low rates of complications. Methods: Over a two-year period, 25 patients that had undergone conventional femoral angiography and presented for repeat angiography or subsequent neurovascular intervention were offered radial access. By including only patients that had undergone both femoral and radial access, we felt that this would provide the best comparison between the 2 techniques. Patient assessment survey included: Preference for femoral versus radial, degree of stress between the 2 procedures, degree of pain during and post-procedurally, any immediate/delayed complications, recovery time and ambulation time. Results: There was 100% patient preference for radial access and no minor (hematoma or pseudoaneurysm) or major access site complications (bleeding requiring transfusion, pseudoaneurysm requiring intervention, arteriovenous fistula, delayed occlusion). Conclusion: Radial access was preferred by patients over femoral access for neurovascular procedures and associated with low complications and high technical success.


In a recent article in the Stanford Law Review, Professor Richard Sander argues that law schools should dramatically reduce or eliminate their affirmative action policies for black applicants because these policies harm rather than help their intended beneficiaries. Although Sander presents many troubling statistics about black performance in law school and on the bar exam, his core claim that blacks are harmed by affirmative action rests on the counterintuitive assertion that blacks who attend more highly ranked law schools because of such policies are hurt more by the lower grades that they are likely to receive at these institutions than they are helped by the benefits of graduating from a more prestigious institution. In a Response that will also be published in the Stanford Law Review, I argue that the evidence Sander proffers does not come anywhere close to proving that most black lawyers would be better off in a world in which the vast majority of them would attend law schools 20-50 places below the ones that they currently attend, and where hundreds of blacks who currently attend law school today would be denied the opportunity to do so altogether. Affirmative action has played a crucial role in helping black lawyers to overcome the systematic and persistent obstacles that continue to make it more difficult for these new entrants to succeed notwithstanding the progress the country has made in reducing the overt discrimination that for the first two centuries of our history kept blacks out of virtually every desirable aspect of American society. Indeed, it is precisely because these policies have been so successful that for the first time blacks with high grades from lower-status schools have a plausible chance of gaining entry into high-paying positions in the legal profession. These tentative gains, however, are unlikely to continue if the number of black graduates from highly-ranked schools were to decline dramatically. Although the picture is more complex with respect to those black students who are unlikely to end up in high-status jobs, they too have benefited more from affirmative action than Sander's analysis suggests. Equally important, the problems those in this group undoubtedly confront have as much to do with the way that bar exams are conceived and administered as they do with these students' potential to become competent practitioners. The argument proceeds in four parts. Part I briefly reminds us of the long and sorry history of exclusion that gave rise to the need for affirmative action in the first place and examines how this legacy continues to disadvantage black lawyers. Part II examines Sander's contention that grades are more important than law school status in the context of black graduates from highly-ranked schools. Contrary to Sander's assertion, black lawyers in this group gain benefits from their prestigious degrees that extend far beyond the starting salaries that they receive upon graduation. In turn, these fledgling members of the profession's elite provide important benefits to all black lawyers - and to society as a whole. Part III examines those black lawyers who appear to have benefited the least from affirmative action: those who attend lower-tier local and regional law schools. Although Sander makes a persuasive claim that these students face daunting risks in pursuing a career in law, a significant number plausibly benefit from their legal education, even if they do not go on to become lawyers. Moreover, given that bar passage is the most important obstacle facing blacks in this group, we can gain as many new black lawyers by reforming the way that such exams are administered and taken as Sander claims will result from eliminating affirmative action. Part IV briefly concludes by arguing that, rather than improving conditions for black lawyers, Sander's proposal runs the risk of making many of the problems he identifies worse.


This paper applies the experiential learning theory of Kolb (1984), the sequential case study learning theory of Knoop (1984), the techniques of effective class role play (Gross Davis, 1993; Pike, 1994) and Rausch's (1999) recommendations for debriefing to a class exercise of graduate Hotel Administration students in teaching the necessity of crisis planning for hotel properties. Starting with the concept of four learning modalities presented by Kolb, we suggest introducing four instructional elements when developing effective experiential learning environments. As judged through qualitative assessment of student participation and the final product produced by the group as a result of its role play, the integration of these theories and techniques produced a dynamic, participative and productive environment. Presented first is a brief explanation of the theories, followed by a rationale for their use in this particular teaching objective, followed by detail of the manner in which the experience was framed, implemented, and discussed. While the role play presented is specifically aimed at demonstrating the critical importance of advance planning in responding to a crisis in a hotel setting, it is believed that the instructional model created herein may be generalized for application in other educational contexts.


Sport fishing or angling is the capture of fish for recreation or competition, i.e., for entertainment. Contrary to the claims of Key (2016), there is good evidence that fish feel pain and have the capacity for self-awareness (Sneddon et al., 2018; Woodruff, 2017). Wild fish experience a variety of adverse conditions in nature that can harm their welfare, but this does not justify humans intentionally inflicting such conditions on fish solely for our pleasure. This commentary summarises the many ways fish suffer harm to their welfare as a result of sport fishing. There are also discussions on associated activities that have negative effects on the welfare and conservation of other animals, as well as deleterious impacts on the environment. We should not allow scientific evidence-based conclusions to be discounted because of the large number of people that participate in the sport or the large sums generated for regional or national economies. The time has come for improvements in fish welfare to be incorporated in sport fishing, and a logical starting point would be the development of welfare guidelines for anglers.


Higgins argues that the depth of science fiction's engagement with imperial themes allows the genre to function as a critical literature of empire. As a literary mode engaged with imperial dream-work, science fiction addresses the operations of imperialism more fully than any other mode of cultural production, and it is from this deep understanding of empire (in both its colonial and neocolonial forms) that the genre produces rich cosmopolitan alternatives to imperial discourse and practice. One example of science fiction's successful interrogation of cosmopolitan concerns can be found in Ursula K. Le Guin's Hainish novels. Unlike the work of many other SF authors from the 1960s and 1970s, Le Guin's extrapolations develop throughout her Hainish cycle beyond a straightforward negative critique of imperialism toward a positive and creative conceptualization of cosmopolitan conviviality. The Hainish novels move from a preliminary critique of imperialism and an exploration of cosmopolitan ethics in the early Worlds of Exile and Illusion novellas (1966-67) to a more fully developed imperial critique and a radical imagining of the possible political shapes of instantiated cosmopolitan conviviality in The Left Hand of Darkness (1969). The essay concludes by suggesting that science fiction's celebrations and condemnations of imperial discourse and practice enable the genre as a whole to transcend its own oft-complicit engagements with empire and to generate an imaginative space for the exploration of rich and open-ended cosmopolitan possibilities.


Cryptographically secure pseudo-random number generators known so far suffer from the handicap of being inefficient; the most efficient ones can generate only one bit on each modular multiplication (n/sup 2/ steps). Blum, Blum and Shub ask the open problem of outputting even two bits securely. We state a simple condition, the XOR-Condition, and show that any generator satisfying this condition can output logn bits on each multiplication. We also show that the logn least significant bits of RSA, Rabin's Scheme, and the x/sup 2/ mod N generator satisfy boolean predicates of these bits are secure. Furthermore, we strengthen the security of the x/sup 2/ mod N generator, which being a Trapdoor Generator, has several applications, by proving it as hard as Factoring.


Palm has a fibrous root system, consisting of a primary root, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. In general, palm root system is closer to ground level, however, in certain cases it may penetrate deeper. One of the root functions is to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. Palm roots dispersion can be determined by using the geoeletric resistivity method. Geoelectric resistivity data using Wenner configuration method is measured in three trajectory forming an equilateral triangle on palm plant row with a variation of 9 m (AB / 2) in accordance with palm plant spacing, with potential electrode spacing of 30 cm (MN / 2). Collection of geoelectric resistivity data is done by injecting electric current into the earth through two electrodes, the potential difference is then measured through two potential electrodes. Measurements were performed by varying the distance of the electrodes and potentials, gradually from the smallest distance to the largest. Measurement of palm root dispersion detection consists of 3 tracks (L1, L2, and L3). Measurements on June 24, 2014 carried out on track 1 (L1) between rows of palm plants, track 2 (L2) between the palm plant within the same row, and track 3 (L3) diagonally between the rows of plants (Figure 1). Measurement on July 8, 2014 were on track 1 (L1) is between rows of palm plants, track 2 (L2) and track 3 (L3) diagonally between the rows of plants.Geoelectric on diagonal trajectory where modified biopore infiltration pit is in place resulted in low resistivity values. This is related to soil water availability, where it affects the development of the root towards the biopore pits.


In 2002, the Dutch construction industry encountered a problem with collusion. They had a very difficult time understanding the solution to the problem. The visionary Dutch government officials approached the Performance Based Studies Research Group (PBSRG) at Arizona State University to solve the problem. PBSRG introduced the Construction Industry Structure (CIS) and explained that collusion environment is created by the client and not the contractors. Meeting resistance from Dutch researchers, PBSRG created a new research approach upon which the Dutch BV effort flourished. Instead of consensus, PBSRG used simplistic logic, identified visionaries who could understand, and ran tests without years of theoretical discussion. The simplicity of the explanations and the results of repeated testing identified that the problem of collusion was non-technical. It was a problem with the delivery of services. The same problem came up in the ICT industry. PBSRG took the same approach to resolve the problem. Find Dutch visionary partners, educate them, run tests, and document the test and minimization of problems.


The European Union launched the Southern Gas Corridor initiative with the twofold aim of strengthening the diversification of Europe's gas sources and transportation routes, and reducing the role of upstreamers in the European gas market. The clear preference expressed by the European Commission - the corridor's mastermind - for Nabucco was expected to weigh in heavily, allowing the EU-backed project to easily win the competition. However, other factors, beyond political support, ended up tilting the balance decisively in favour of Nabucco West's final rival, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). These do not include only the technical and commercial criteria set out by the Shah Deniz II consortium, but also more mundane considerations. Nabucco West's complex organizational and decision-making procedures, the attractiveness of the exemption from Third Party Access (TPA) granted by the EU to TAP, and SOCAR's specific interest in the Greek market also influenced the consortium's final decision. An analysis of the Southern Gas Corridor competition suggests that when it comes to energy, political support and institutional involvement do not always represent the decisive element, and may be counterproductive at times.


Results in nonlinear dynamics and chaos during this decade have been applied to problems in secure communications with limited success. Most of these applications have been based on the chaotic synchronization property discovered by Pecora and Carroll in 1989 [37]. Short [44, 45, 48] demonstrated the effectiveness of nonlinear dynamic (NLD) forecasting methods in breaking this class of communication schemes. In response, investigators have proposed enhancements to the basic synchronization technique in an attempt to improve the security properties. In this work two of these newer communication systems will be analyzed using NLD forecasting and other techniques to determine the level of security they provide. It will be shown that the transmitted waveform alone allows an eavesdropper to extract the message. During the course of this research, a new impulsively initialized, binary chaotic communication scheme has been developed, which eliminates the most significant weaknesses of its predecessors. This new approach is based on symbolic dynamics and chaotic control, and may be implemented using one-dimensional maps, which gives the designer more control over the statistics of the transmitted binary stream. Recent results in a certain class of one-dimensional chaotic maps will be discussed in this context. The potential for using NLD techniques in problems from standard digital communications will also be explored. The two problems which will be addressed are bit errors due to channel effects and co-channel interference. It will be shown that NLD reconstruction methods provide a way to exploit the short-term determinism that is present in these types of communication signals.


The synthesis of the unusual alkaloid concavine, isolated from Clitocybe concava (Basidiomycetae), has been accomplished. The synthetic route features regio- and stereoselective manipulation of polycyclic imide intermediates via enolate substitution and Grignard addition, along with a key bridge-forming step involving a new method for sulfenylative radical cyclisation. The NMR data for synthetic concavine demonstrate that the original data reported for the natural product refer to the derived acetic acid salt, probably formed as an artefact of isolation or puri fi cation.


Since its birth in the early seventeenth century, the press has played a prominent role in the political and social life of France. Over the two last decades, the economic and even cultural pillars on which the press ecosystem is built has been challenged by the growing use of digital technologies, and by the increasing role of the Internet as a way to distribute and access information. Heritage libraries need to address the accelerating shift from analogue to digital in order to maintain the continuity of their objectives and of their missions. Many aspects need to be taken into account: legal, scientific, technical, economic and organizational issues have to be identified and addressed. This paper looks at the example of the National Library of France (Bibliotheque nationale de France or BnF), and at the way it has dealt with collecting newspapers in digital form. During the ten last years, the BnF has launched several experiments, testing different approaches, with varying degrees of success: - Direct deposit of electronic publications on physical media (CDs and DVDs) or through FTP. - Fully automated web harvesting. Since December 2010, almost 100 news websites (national and daily newspapers, pure players, news portals...) are collected on a daily basis. -Web harvesting through agreements with producers.


This report begins by discussing the current legal framework governing U.S. military operations in Iraq. The report then provides a general background as to the types of international agreements that are binding upon the United States, as well as considerations affecting whether they take the form of a treaty or an executive agreement. Next, the report discusses historical precedents as to the role that security agreements have taken, with specific attention paid to past agreements entered with Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the Philippines. The report then discusses the oversight role that Congress plays with respect to entering and implementing international agreements involving the United States. Finally, the report describes legislation proposed in the 110th Congress to ensure congressional participation in the conclusion of a security agreement between the United States and Iraq.


Changes in the analytical performance of double focusing sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) caused by addition of methane to the argon gas ICP were studied for approximately 100 isotopes of 70 elements. The parameters under consideration included instrumental background, analyte sensitivity, precision and formation of spectral interferences as functions of methane flow added to the sample gas. It was shown that for many analytes the capabilities of ICP-SFMS significantly improve by virtue of enhanced sensitivity and reduction of polyatomic interferences. In contrast to quadrupole-based ICP-MS, these gains in instrumental performance do not compromise multi-element capabilities given that the amount of methane is carefully optimized. The accuracy of the results for the determination of 50 elements in water samples was evaluated using the certified reference materials SLRS-4 and SLEW-2.


While social security numbers are issued by the Social Security Administration (SSA) for the purpose of collecting revenue and distributing benefits and to manage data for that purpose, the three major credit bureaus and other agencies use these numbers to identify individuals for other purposes. The credit reporting agencies or bureaus also create credit profiles and credit scores to analyze risk factors for employers, banks, property managers, and many other lenders concerning people seeking credit. However, credit bureau agencies also compile data on target groups and compare the controlled data to compose individual credit scores, which is attached to individual social security numbers. Additionally, the credit agencies create maps based on the geographical and demographic information of consumers in a given area and use these geographic information systems (GIS) to compare the data to the highest scores in the United States to create a comparative score score. Therefore, the credit bureau data may help create lower credit scores and unequal lending opportunities, higher interest rates, racial steering, segregation, and discrimination against the population in urban communities.


This is the first full discussion of Philoponus' account of matter. It is shown here that philosophical problems in Neoplatonism motivated the definition of prime matter as three-dimensional extension, and that Plotinus, Syrianus, and Proclus prepared the way for Philoponus.


The ongoing automation of modern production processes requires novel human-computer interaction concepts that support employees in dealing with the unstoppable increase in time pressure, cognitive load, and the required fine-grained and process-specific knowledge. Augmented Reality (AR) systems support employees by guiding and teaching work processes. Such systems still lack a precise process quality analysis (monitoring), which is, however, crucial to close gaps in the quality assurance of industrial processes.We combine inertial sensors, mounted on work tools, with AR headsets to enrich modern assistance systems with a sense of process quality. For this purpose, we develop a Machine Learning (ML) classifier that predicts quality metrics from a 9-degrees of freedom inertial measurement unit, while we simultaneously guide and track the work processes with a HoloLens AR system. In our user study, 6 test subjects perform typical assembly tasks with our system. We evaluate the tracking accuracy of the system based on a precise optical reference system and evaluate the classification of each work step quality based on the collected ground truth data. Our evaluation shows a tracking accuracy of fast dynamic movements of 4.92mm and our classifier predicts the actions carried out with mean F1 value of 93.8% on average.


For remote underdeveloped and sparsely populated regions, the use of national power grids to provide electricity can be both unsustainable and impractical. In recent years, decentralised renewable power has gained popularity, endowing social benefits to the local inhabitants through clean rural electrification. However, power reliability and system autonomy are often the primary technical concerns as current systems are largely single source reliant. Hybrid power systems that utilise multiple complementary renewables can help to reduce the dependency on conventional unclean options. A few selected case studies for both single source and hybrid power systems are reviewed, analysing critical success factors and evaluating existing difficulties. The additional integration of the novel rain-powered kinetic-to-electric generator technology to the existing hybrid model is analysed. As with development in general, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to bringing power to remote communities and the most sustainable solution should be found through analysing local resources, environmental conditions and maximising local involvement.


English courts are frequently criticised for their flexible approach to the finding of implied choice and the use of the escape clause in the context of the Rome I Regulation/Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations. This paper argues that such criticism is misplaced. Based on empirical evidence, the article shows that those choice of law decisions are directly influenced by their procedural context and respond to the need to balance the multiple policy issues generated by international commercial litigation. In particular, English decisions need to be assessed in light of three distinct factors: the standard of proof required at different stages of the procedure in England, the national policy to promote England as a center for commercial dispute resolution and the incentives to export English law in certain strategic industries. The use of implied choice and the escape clause to achieve these ends constitutes a legitimate practice that does not frustrate the aims of the EU choice of law regime.


The RNA-binding protein Hfq is a global regulator which controls diverse cellular processes in bacteria. To begin understanding the role of Hfq in the Sinorhizobium meliloti-Medicago truncatula nitrogen-fixing symbiosis, we defined free-living and symbiotic phenotypes of an hfq mutant. Over 500 transcripts were differentially accumulated in the hfq mutant of S. meliloti Rm1021 when grown in a shaking culture. Consistent with transcriptome-wide changes, the hfq mutant displayed dramatic alterations in metabolism of nitrogen-containing compounds, even though its carbon source utilization profiles were nearly identical to the wild type. The hfq mutant had reduced motility and was impaired for growth at alkaline pH. A deletion of hfq resulted in a reduced symbiotic efficiency, although the mutant was still able to initiate nodule development and differentiate into bacteroids.


Immune checkpoint inhibitors have completely changed the treatment approach and prognosis in several types of solid cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are proving important clinical benefits, but are also associated with a unique and different palette of side effects. Immune-related adverse events are different from common toxicities and they can have a wide spectrum of manifestations, involving different and multiple organ systems. Hematologic immune-related adverse events are rarely documented. Secondary neutropenia due to immune checkpoint inhibitors is a very rare entity and there are no guidelines available to date to provide a clear management in this situation. The awareness of this adverse event, albeit rare, is very important in order to prevent significant morbidity and mortality. Early diagnosis and the initiation of treatment are very important to prevent fatal outcome, and the complete blood count of patients receiving immunotherapy should be closely monitored.


An environmentally friendly process for the separation of the transition metals copper, cobalt, iron, manganese and zinc from rare earths by solvent extraction with the ionic liquid trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride has been developed. The solvent extraction process is carried out without the use of organic diluents or extra extraction agents and it can be applied as a sustainable hydrometallurgical method for removing transition metals from neodymium–iron–boron or samarium–cobalt permanent magnets. The recycling of rare earths is of high importance because of the possible supply risk of these elements in the near future. The method was tested for the removal of cobalt and iron from samarium and neodymium, respectively. The highest distribution ratios for cobalt and iron were found with 8.5 and 9 M HCl. At the tested conditions, the concentrations of neodymium and samarium in the ionic liquid were below 0.5 mg L−1 (0.5 ppm), even for feed concentrations of 45 g L−1. The separation factors of Nd/Fe and Sm/Co are 5.0 × 106 and 8.0 × 105, respectively. The percentage extraction of iron is still higher than 99.98% at loadings of the ionic liquids with 70 g L−1 of iron. The viscosity of the ionic liquid containing the tetrachloroferrate(III) complex [FeCl4]− is lower, and less depending on the feed concentration, than in the case with a tetrachlorocobaltate(II) anion [CoCl4]2−. After extraction, cobalt can be stripped very easily from the ionic liquid phase with water. However, due to the very high distribution ratio, iron could only be stripped by forming a water-soluble iron complex with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). Also the possibility to extract chromium, nickel, aluminium, calcium and magnesium with trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride has been investigated, but the distribution ratios of these elements are very low in the tested conditions.


The navigation of high-dimensional data spaces remains challenging, making multivariate data exploration difficult. To be effective and appealing for mainstream application, navigation should use paradigms and metaphors that users are already familiar with. One such intuitive navigation paradigm is interactive route planning on a connected network. We have employed such an interface and have paired it with a prominent high-dimensional visualization paradigm showing the N-D data in undistorted raw form: parallel coordinates. In our network interface, the dimensions form nodes that are connected by a network of edges representing the strength of association between dimensions. A user then interactively specifies nodes/edges to visit, and the system computes an optimal route, which can be further edited and manipulated. In our interface, this route is captured by a parallel coordinate data display in which the dimension ordering is configured by the specified route. Our framework serves both as a data exploration environment and as an interactive presentation platform to demonstrate, explain, and justify any identified relationships to others. We demonstrate our interface within a business scenario and other applications.


Purpose: There is currently no scale assessing test anxiety in physical education (PE), despite the specificities of this class (e.g., body image, failure in front of peers). Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to develop a specific scale named the "Revised Test Anxiety and Regulatory Dimension of Anxiety in Physical Education" (RTAR-PE). Method: Self-report data were collected from 281 (Study 1) and 390 (Study 2) students in French schools (age range: 13–18 years). Results: Study 1 showed that the RTAR-PE scale has acceptable psychometric properties. Study 2 confirmed the results of Study 1 and showed the convergent, discriminant, and predictive validities of the scale. Gender differences were found, with girls showing higher PE test anxiety than boys. Discussion/Conclusion: The RTAR-PE is a newly available scale assessing the different facets of test anxiety in PE (worry, self-focus, bodily symptoms, somatic tension, and perceived control) considering the specificities of this class.


Three Total Petroleum Systems each consisting of one assessment unit have been identified in the Ghaba and Fahud Salt Basin Provinces of north-central Oman. One Total Petroleum System and corresponding assessment unit, the North Oman Huqf/'Q'-Haushi(!) Total Petroleum System (201401) and GhabaMakarem Combined Structural Assessment Unit (20140101), were identified for the Ghaba Salt Basin Province (2014). In the Fahud Salt Basin Province, however, two overlapping Total Petroleum Systems (TPS) were recognized: 1) the North Oman Huqf Shu'aiba(!) TPS (201601); Fahud-Huqf Combined Structural Assessment Unit (20160101), and 2) the Middle Cretaceous Natih(!) TPS (201602); Natih-Fiqa Structural/Stratigraphic Assessment Unit (20160201). The boundary for each Total Petroleum System also defines the boundary of the corresponding assessment unit and includes all trap styles and hydrocarbon producing reservoirs within the petroleum system. In both the Ghaba and Fahud Salt Basin Provinces, hydrocarbons were generated from several deeply-buried source rocks within the Infracambrian Huqf Supergroup. One general 'North Oman Huqf type oil is dominant in the Fahud Salt Basin. Oils in the Ghaba Salt Basin are linked to at least two distinct Huqf source-rock units based on oil geochemistry: a general North Oman Huqf-type oil source and a more dominant 'questionable unidentifiedsource' or 'Q'-type Huqf oil source. These two Huqf-sourced oils are commonly found as admixtures in reservoirs throughout northcentral Oman. Hydrocarbons generated from Huqf sources are produced from a variety of reservoir types and ages ranging from Precambrian to Cretaceous in both the Ghaba and Fahud Salt Basin Provinces. Clastic reservoirs of the Gharif and Al Khlata Formations, Haushi Group (M. Carboniferous to L. Permian), dominate oil production in the Ghaba Salt Basin Province and form the basis for the Huqf/'Q' Haushi(!) TPS. In contrast, the Lower Cretaceous Shu'aiba and Middle Cretaceous Natih limestones account for most of the production in the Fahud Salt Basin with about 50 percent of the basin's production from porous, fractured Shu'aiba limestones in Yibal field, thus the name North Oman Huqf -Shu'aiba(!) TPS. Deep gas is produced mainly from Middle Cambrian to Lower Ordovician clastic reservoirs of the Haima Supergroup. Traps in nearly all hydrocarbon accumulations of these petroleum systems are mainly structural and were formed by one or more mechanisms. These trap-forming mechanisms were mainly periodic halokinesis of the thick Cambrian Ara Salt and consequent folding and faulting from basin loading, rifting, or other major tectonic events, particularly those events forming the Oman Mountains and associated foreland-basin system during the Late Cretaceous and Late Tertiary. Many of the future new-field targets will likely be low-relief, subtle structures, as many of the large structures have been drilled. Oman's recent interest and commitments to liquid natural gas export make deep gas a primary objective in the two North Oman Huqf petroleum systems. New-field exploration of deep gas and exploring deeper targets for gas in existing fields will likely identify a significant gas resource in the next thirty years. Moreover, salt-diapir flank traps in these two North Oman Huqf petroleum systems and salt basin provinces have gone essentially untested and will likely be targeted in the near-future. The Middle Cretaceous Natih(!) TPS is a small efficient system of the Fahud Salt Basin. Natih source rocks are only mature in the Late Cretaceous/Tertiary foredeep and production is primarily from Natih reservoirs; minor production from the Shu'aiba limestone is documented along fault-dip structures. Most traps are structural and are related to development of the foreland basin and formation of the Oman Mountains. Future targets of the Natih TPS will be less obvious than those of Fahud and Natih fields and likely include smaller structural closures along the northern flank of the foreland bulge and traps above salt domes with late Tertiary movement. Frontier exploration is predicted to be mainly in stratigraphic traps within Natih buildups and in unproven turbidite and other marine elastics of the Fiqa Formation. Petroleum Systems and Geologic Overview of Ghaba and Fahud Salt Basin Provinces Pollastro


Cloud computing implementation is fast and simple with benefits like, Cost reduction by gaining a worldclass IT infrastructure without the hardware, secure access to critical information 24/7 using only a Web browser, ability to stay mobile and many more. According to the survey 85 per cent of public sector organizations are using public cloud services, while on the other side data owner having concern about data confidentiality and query privacy due to the lost control of the infrastructure. To address these issues a criterion called CPEL is constructed; Data confidentiality, query privacy, efficient query processing, and low in-house processing cost. Satisfying these requirements will dramatically increase the complexity of constructing query services in the Cloud. Some related approaches have been developed to address some aspects of the problem. However, they do not satisfactorily address all of these aspects. We proposed the random space perturbation (RASP) approach with traffic redundancy elimination techniques, in which practical range query is constructed by using k-nearest neighbor (kNN) and range query algorithm, and to reduce redundancy in process predictive acknowledgement algorithm and redundancy aware routing algorithm is used by this way we can achieve CPEL criterion with high bandwidth of data processing with reduced cost.


Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of orbital lymphatic vessels during fetal and neonatal development and in adults using a panel of lymphatic markers. Methods This was a retrospective observational case series. For analyzing lymphatic vessels, we used formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded enucleated eyes from 25 human fetuses between 13 and 24 weeks of gestation and postnatal eyes from 15 children and 5 adults. Immunohistochemical analysis of lymphatic vessels was performed for the markers: lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronic acid receptor-1 (LYVE-1), podoplanin (D2-40), Prospero-related homeobox gene-1 (Prox-1), pan-endothelial marker CD31, and blood vessel endothelium specific CD34. Results Vasculature showing endothelial expression of LYVE-1, D2-40, Prox-1, and CD31 in combination with absence or weak expression of CD34, as would be expected for lymphatic vessels, was seen in 11 of 25 fetuses in an age range from 14 weeks to 23 weeks of gestation (44%). This lymphatic vascular staining pattern was also observed in 4 of 15 liveborn children (27%), all within 1 month of age, of which two were born prematurely at 32 and 34 weeks of gestation. Interestingly, an incomplete lymphatic staining pattern was observed in another 4 fetuses and two liveborn children of 4 months and 7 years old. No expression of lymphatic markers was observed in adult orbital vasculature. Conclusions No retrobulbar intraorbital lymphatic vessels were observed in adults, however, we did observe transient expression of lymphatic markers in retrobulbar intraconal orbital vasculature during fetal and early neonatal development. The orbit may, therefore, be proposed to possess a full range of lymphatic plasticity.


The pyrolysis of bromodifluoromethane has been examined over the temperature range 437–515 °C with initial pressures of reactant between 20 and 250 Torr. The predominant mode of decomposition involves an α-elimination of hydrogen bromide to give difluoromethylene as the initial step (i) but there is also a free-radical chain component CF2HBr = CF2+ HBr (i) to the decomposition which is reduced to negligible importance by the presence of propene. The α-elimination component of the reaction is homogeneous and of the first order in the initial stages, but inhibition by hydrogen bromide becomes important as the reaction proceeds. The first-order rate constant obtained from the initial rates is independent of pressure and is given by log k1/s–1= 14·33 ± 0·32 –(55,600 ± 1100)/4·576T. The rate constant (k2) for the reverse reaction has also been evaluated as log k2/l mol–1 s–1= 8·33 ± 0·37 –(9600 ± 1300)/4·576T and combination of these Arrhenius parametes with the relevant heats of formation and standard entropies give ΔH°f(CF2)=–42 kcal mol–1 and S°(CF2)= 66·2 cal mol–1 K–1 at 750 K, which are in good agreement with literature values.


Introduction Sessions were designed around the practical information and emotional support needs of carers looking after relatives or friends living with MND. More than half (56%) of MND carers spend more than 100 hours every week on their caring role.1 Aim and method To provide tailored support, information and advice, leading to clear improvements in well-being for carers. Our approach was to provide a safe, supportive environment to enable carers to learn and develop useful coping strategies for their futures. Experienced facilitation allowed conversations the space to emerge and voices to be heard. Attention was focused on a need to pace the flow of information to the responses and individual carer inputs as well as emerging dialogue from group discussions. Results 45 carers attended sessions in 2015, 2016 and 2017. • 80% of carers reported a large improvement in their ability to cope with carin with reduced levels of anxiety • 65% of carers reported some improvement in their levels of isolation and overall health • 95% of carers reported a positive change in their level of confidence as a carer • 75% of carers reported a positive change in their knowledge in what improves the wellbeing of the cared for. • 100% of carers reported that they would be Extremely Likely or Likely to recommend sessions to friends and family members in a similar position. Conclusion We were interested in whether, having participated in sessions, there had been any change in carer's confidence, knowledge or understanding of the various issues surrounding caring for a loved one. Evidence supported significant positive change. Reference . Fitzgerald S. Experiences and views of carers of people living with MND - Findings of the MND Association Carers Survey 2015.