The purpose of this study was to determine, based on the code knowledge of users, the effectiveness of Drupal's graphical user interface in aiding developers during website creation. It includes research on current website developer trends, with a heavy emphasis on Drupal's content management system, its usage, and the pros and cons of its graphical user interface. An online survey querying website developer knowledge of content management systems and preferences was distributed. Additionally, an in person case study that allowed users from two controlled groups, individuals with code knowledge and individuals with limited code knowledge, to physically interact with Drupal's graphical user interface in order to complete the same series of instructions. The participants were timed in order to gauge the intuitiveness of Drupal's interface in aiding various levels of experience in developers. The results of this study can be used to map the past and future trends in web development.


BACKGROUND--The occurrence of respiratory symptoms and abnormal lung function in children is known to be influenced by genetic and many environmental factors. The association between specific respiratory symptoms in children of school age and their parents has been examined. METHODS--Respiratory symptoms and ventilatory function were recorded for 4549 schoolchildren in Queensland, Australia. RESULTS--The cumulative prevalence of wheezing was 23.1% of 8 year olds and 20.8% of 12 year olds, and the prevalence of wheezing within the previous 12 months was 13.9% and 10.5% respectively. A parental history of asthma or wheeze and hayfever was associated with wheeze in the child, but did not affect either the age of onset or frequency of episodes. A history of frequent cough in children who had never wheezed was associated with a parental history of frequent bronchitis, but less strongly with parental wheeze. These familial aggregations were not mediated by common exposure to cigarette smoke. Both a history of parental wheeze and maternal cigarette use were associated with a decrease in FEF25-75 in the child and these effects were additive. CONCLUSIONS--The association of specific symptoms (wheeze and cough without wheeze) in parent and offspring is interpreted as evidence for different mechanisms of familial transmission, which may be genetic.


The conflict that exists between the competing needs of biological conservation and pastoral production is well recognised but few studies have examined these conflicts due to their complexity and the uncertainty that surrounds these relationships. The development of a Bayesian network model that examines the trade-offs between the conservation value of the landscape for a range of taxa (flora, mammals, birds and herpetofauna) and its primary production value under alternative land uses is described. The model emphasises structural diversity of vegetation and ecosystem productivity as key drivers of both biodiversity and agricultural production. Simple scenarios, used to examine the influence of different land uses on multiple components of biodiversity and agricultural productivity, demonstrated the potential for the analysis of the trade-offs associated with alternative landscape designs. The potential of the model, as a planning or policy development tool for land management agencies or regional Natural Resource Management bodies, at multiple scales, is identified.


abstract: Low molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) have proved to be as safe and effective as unfractionated heparin for the treatment of venous thromboembolism. They have the advantage of not requiring frequent measurement of activated partial thromboplastin time and subsequent dosage adjustments. Patients who have deep venous thrombosis can be treated with once- or twice-daily subcutaneous doses. Hospital admission is necessary for patients with risk factors for major bleeding complications, for those with symptomatic pulmonary embolism, or when noncompliance is likely. Symptomatic proximal deep venous thrombosis and asymptomatic pulmonary embolism may be managed on an outpatient basis if there are no contraindications. Although heparin-induced thrombocytopenia occurs less frequently with LMWHs than with unfractionated heparin, the platelet count must still be monitored during therapy. (J Respir Dis. 2007;28(4):132-138)


OBJECTIVE In our randomized controlled trial, we investigated the impact of healthy eating (HE) aiming for restricted gestational weight gain (GWG) and physical activity (PA) interventions on maternal and neonatal lipid metabolism. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Obese pregnant women (n = 436) were included before 20 weeks' gestation and underwent glucose testing (oral glucose tolerance test) and lipid profiling at baseline and 24–28 and 35–37 gestational weeks after an at least 10-h overnight fast. This secondary analysis had a factorial design with comparison of HE (n = 221) versus no HE (n = 215) and PA (n = 218) versus no PA (n = 218). Maternal changes in triglycerides (TG), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, free fatty acids (FFAs), and leptin from baseline to end of pregnancy and neonatal outcomes were analyzed using general linear models with adjustment for relevant parameters. RESULTS At 24–28 weeks' gestation, FFAs (mean ± SD, 0.60 ± 0.19 vs. 0.55 ± 0.17 mmol/L, P < 0.01) were increased after adjustment for FFA at baseline, maternal age, BMI at time of examination, gestational week, insulin resistance, self-reported food intake, self-reported physical activity, and maternal smoking, and GWG was lower (3.3 ± 2.6 vs. 4.3 ± 2.8 kg, P < 0.001, adjusted mean differences −1.0 [95% CI −1.5; −0.5]) in HE versus no HE. Fasting glucose levels (4.7 ± 0.4 vs. 4.6 ± 0.4 mmol/L, P < 0.05) and 3-β-hydroxybutyrate (3BHB) (0.082 ± 0.065 vs. 0.068 ± 0.067 mmol/L, P < 0.05) were higher in HE. Significant negative associations between carbohydrate intake and FFA, 3BHB, and fasting glucose at 24–28 weeks' gestation were observed. No differences between groups were found in oral glucose tolerance test or leptin or TG levels at any time. Furthermore, in PA versus no PA, no similar changes were found. In cord blood, elevated FFA levels were found in HE after full adjustment (0.34 ± 0.22 vs. 0.29 ± 0.16 mmol/L, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS HE intervention was associated with reduced GWG, higher FFAs, higher 3BHB, and higher fasting glucose at 24–28 weeks of gestation, suggesting induction of lipolysis. Increased FFA was negatively associated with carbohydrate intake and was also observed in cord blood. These findings support the hypothesis that maternal antenatal dietary restriction including carbohydrates is associated with increased FFA mobilization.


The interest in two-dimensional liquid chromatography separations is growing every year together with the number of open questions on the benefits of multidimensional systems in comparison to one-dimensional liquid chromatography. In order to solve some of these open questions this work presents a comparison of one-dimensional and microscale two-dimensional liquid chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry for targeted analysis in wastewater. The comparison is based on the evaluation of a reference standard mixture containing 99 compounds and a real wastewater sample. For the evaluation and compound identification three different criteria were chosen. At first, a deviation of ±5 ppm from the exact mass was defined as acceptable to include the compound for further evaluation. To eliminate false positive results, a maximum retention time deviation of less than 2.5% for each compound of the reference standard and the compounds detected in the wastewater sample was defined for a positive identification as a second criterion for 1D-LC and the second dimension of 2D-LC. In the third step, fragment information from MS/MS experiments was used for further identification of compounds in wastewater. Additionally, the influence of a higher mass accuracy of 1 ppm on the number of identified compounds in comparison to a mass accuracy of 5 ppm was investigated. The results showed that the number of identified compounds was higher by a factor of three in the wastewater sample when using the microscale 2D-LC approach. Moreover, a higher reliability for compound identification is obtained when using retention time and MS/MS information as identification criteria instead of only applying high mass accuracy of 1 or 5 ppm.


Unique in its approach and in the variety of methods and data employed, this book is the first of its kind to provide an in-depth evaluation of the financial system of Thailand, a proto-typical Asian developing economy. Using a wealth of primary source qualitative and quantitative data, including survey data collected by the author, it evaluates the impact of specific financial institutions, markets for credit and insurance, and government policies on growth, inequality, and poverty at the macro, regional, and village level in Thailand. Useful not only as a guide to the Thai economy but more importantly as a means of assessing the impact that financial institutions and policy variation can have at the macro- and micro-level, including the distribution of gains and losses, this book will be invaluable to academics and policymakers with an interest in development finance.


This paper reports a novel cost-effective multiwavelength optical source for OCDM. This source has a simple configuration and emits well-flattened light with a precisely controlled wavelength spacing by using a directly sinusoidally modulated laser diode technique. The flattened multiwavelength light generation is analytically evaluated by using a small signal approximation. The application of the proposed optical source to OCDM was demonstrated experimentally.


Estimation of the design flood flow for hydraulic structures is often performed by adjusting probabilistic models to daily mean flow series. In most cases, this may cause under design of the structure capacity with possible risks of failure because instantaneous peak flows may be considerably larger than the daily averages. As there is often a lack of instantaneous flow data at a given site of interest, the peak flow has to be estimated. This paper develops new machine-learning-based methods to estimate the instantaneous peak flow from mean daily flow data where long daily data series exist but the instantaneous peak data series are short. However, the presented methods cannot be used where only daily flow data are available. Developed methodologies have been successfully applied to series of flow information from different gauging stations in Iran, with important improvements compared to traditional empirical methods available in the literature. Reliable results produced by the machine-learning-based models compared to the traditional methods show the superior ability of these techniques to solve the problem of inadequate measured peak flow data periods, especially in developing countries where it is difficult to find sufficiently long instantaneous peak flow data series.


We consider resource sharing networks of the form introduced in the work of Massouli\'{e} and Roberts(2000) as models for Internet flows. The goal is to study the open problem, formulated in Harrison et al. (2014), of constructing simple form rate allocation policies for broad families of resource sharing networks with associated costs converging to the Hierarchical Greedy Ideal performance in the heavy traffic limit. We consider two types of cost criteria, an infinite horizon discounted cost, and a long time average cost per unit time. We introduce a sequence of rate allocation control policies that are determined in terms of certain thresholds for the scaled queue length processes and prove that, under conditions, both type of costs associated with these policies converge in the heavy traffic limit to the corresponding HGI performance. The conditions needed for these results are satisfied by all the examples considered in Harrison et al. (2014).


In contrast to past consensus, many authors now feel that the passive voice compromises the quality of scientific writing. However, studies involving sci- entific articles are rare. Using a corpus of 60 scientific research articles from six journals, this study examined the proportion of passives used, and the contexts and forms in which they occurred. The results revealed that about 30% of all clauses were passive clauses. The canonical form was most pervasive, followed by the bare passive; together, they constituted more than a quarter of all clauses analyzed. Passives were typically used in main clauses, followed by relative and adverbial clauses. Roughly 29% of all passives were located in the methodology section. Based on the results, the proportion of passives in scientific writing may stabilize at about 30%. It is unlikely to dramatically drop any further since the trend suggests that passives are still widely used in the methodology section.


The changes in the number of wet days (NWD) in Oman projected by climate models was analyzed, focusing mostly on variation of precipitation intensity and its effect on total annual precipitation (PTOT) in the future. The daily precipitation records of 49 gage stations were divided into five regions. Of the five general circulation models studied, two of them were selected based on their performance to simulate local-scale precipitation characteristics. All regions studied, except the interior desert region of the country, could experience fewer wet days in the future, with the most significant decreases estimated in southern Oman. The contribution from the cold frontal troughs to the PTOT in the northeast coastal region would decrease from 85% in the 1985–2004 period to 79% during the 2040–2059 period and further decrease to 77% during the 2080–2099 period. In contrast, results depict enhanced tropical cyclone activities in the northeast coastal region during the post-monsoon period. Despite the decreases in the NWD, PTOT in all regions would increase by 6–29% and 35–67% during the 2040–2059 and 2080–2099 periods, respectively. These results, therefore, show that increases in precipitation intensity dominate the changes in PTOT.


Inguinal hernia is one of the most common causes of surgery in the world. With increasing of age hernia prevalence rate increases so that in age over 70 years its prevalence gets at 50 percent. Different methods are described in hernia repair and each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages. At present the method of choice for inguinal hernia repair is the tension free procedure which was first introduced by Lichtension. .This study investigates the short-term side effects of drainage applied in Lichtenstein method.

 Materials &Methods: This clinical trial study investigates 60 patients admitted to this center with the above mentioned diagnosis who have undergone hernia repair surgery. In 31 patients at the end of the operation close suction drain was applied versus 29 patients in whom no drain was used.

 Results: In the group of patients with drain the incidence of side effects was as follows: Hematoma 9.7%, seroma3.2%, urinary retention 0% versus the results in patient without drain: Hematoma3.4%, seroma0%, urinary retention 3.4% the mean time needed for the patients to return to their daily work in drain applied group was 17.48 days versus 18.30 days in patients with no drain application .Hence no significant statistical difference was observed in the two compared groups. A significant statistical difference was obvious when comparing two groups with post surgery hospitalizing period. This period in patients with drain was 2.9 days versus 1.48 days in patients without drain.

 Conclusion: Based on findings close suction drain not only decreases the incidence of complications such as hematoma, seroma and urinary retention but also increases the hospitalizing period, as well as producing overwhelming costs and depression of patients spirits, so that, it is suggested not to apply any drain at all.


We experimentally and numerically demonstrate the time delay (TD) signature suppression of chaotic output in a double optical feedback semiconductor laser (DOF-SL) system. Two types of TD signature suppression are demonstrated by adjusting the lengths and the feedback power ratios of the two external cavities. One can significantly eliminate all TD signatures of the DOF-SL system and the corresponding power spectrum distribution becomes quite smooth and flat, the other suppresses one of two TD signatures and remains another one.


Abstract This paper investigates the distribution of reflexive and nonreflexive pronouns in the prepositional phrase, concluding that multiple semantic factors play a role in the appearance of one pronoun over the other. The distributional trends in English are explained by referencing the crucial role space plays in grammar, and the resulting implications for Binding Theory (Chomsky 1995) are discussed. The motivating forces for the corpus distribution are based on perceived directionality and location of the denoted event with respect to the body of the event's protagonist. The patterns found in the corpus data are attributed to a range of factors that play a role in the semantic specifications and associations of the pronouns themselves. First, it is argued that the high rate of reflexive pronouns in events that are metaphorically located in the body is due to the reflexive pronoun's close semantic association with the concept of self, a metaphorical body-internal entity. Second, it is argued that the reflexive pronoun is used to signal either an event which is performed on the body (in the referent's peri-personal space) or directed toward the body. Cases of these types are explained by a schematic, semantic parallelism between syntactically complex reflexive events and syntactically simple reflexive events. In both cases, the reflexive pronoun signals a contrastive element. In syntactically complex cases, the PP examples (e.g. John pushed the box toward himself), and syntactically simple cases, those with basic clause structure (e.g. John kicked himself), the reflexive is used to signal that the direction of the event is counter to the direction of expectation, thus explaining why certain reflexive events (e.g. bathe, or pull something toward you) do not have to, and most often, do not occur with the reflexive pronoun.


Fast response data taken aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WP-3D aircraft are used to determine the structure of atmospheric boundary layer turbulence on either side of a well-developed sea surface temperature front southwest of Bermuda. The data were taken on February 17, 1986, as part of the Frontal Air-Sea Interaction Experiment (FASINEX). A broad region of low-humidity air extending from 15 km to 35 km south of the front is probably due to the presence of a frontally induced secondary circulation. Evidence for a secondary flow is found in both the time series of atmospheric variables and the statistics obtained from conditionally sampled updrafts and downdrafts in the transect across the SST front. Larger sea-air temperature and humidity differences on the warm (south) side of the front give rise to surface layer sensible and latent heat and buoyancy fluxes that are larger than those on the cold side. Turbulence structure appears to be influenced as much by the presence of strong wind shear at the top of the boundary layer as by differing conditions at the surface on either side of the front. A larger rate of entrainment on the warm side of the front is indicated by the greater influence of low-momentum air from the overlying shear layer on updrafts in the upper part of the mixed layer, as well as the more frequent overturning of cool/moist updrafts and warm/dry downdrafts. It is conjectured that the larger entrainment rate is due to the interaction between the inversion layer and more energetic updrafts produced by greater surface forcing on the warm side of the front.


The roughly 9.1 of all U.S. families that are without some type of transaction account (unbanked) are disproportionately represented among minorities. The unbanked often must rely on alternative ways to carry out basic financial transactions such as cashing payroll checks and paying bills. This study analyzes unique survey data and finds that a consumer's decision to patronize check-cashing businesses is jointly made with the decision to be unbanked. For the unbanked, these businesses are an important source of financial services. Attributes that contribute to these decisions, however, vary with the racial/ethnic group. Latent preference effects are also observed to influence this joint decision for blacks and Hispanics. These findings may explain in part why the provisions of the Debt Collection Improvement Act (DCIA) of 1996 have not been more successful in bringing unbanked federal benefits recipients into the financial mainstream. Consumer participation in mainstream financial markets can improve their ability to build assets and create wealth, can protect them from theft and discriminatory, predatory, or otherwise unsavory lending practices, and may promote economic stability and vitality in the communities where they reside. By more fully understanding consumers' financial decisions, policies can be better directed to improve the effectiveness of legislation such as the DCIA of 1996 in encouraging mainstream financial market participation.


Abstract The construction of historical memory is closely linked to the guarantees provided by the right to freedom of expression. This right ensures that victims and society in general are able to speak about the past, narrate their own stories, and call for and influence social discussion and institutional reform. Mechanisms such as access to State archives, participation in the media, journalistic coverage of armed conflicts and the free flow of stories, artistic endeavours, criticisms and condemnations empower victims and the rest of society in the construction of alternative narratives and independent memories. This article examines case law of the Inter-American System of Human Rights that elaborates on freedom of expression, and considers its importance for the construction of historical memory. It also touches upon some decisions taken by the Colombian high courts, relevant to a context in which mechanisms of transitional justice have recently been implemented.


The evolution of an electromagnetic pulse propagating through a linear, dispersive, and absorbing dielectric (as predicted by the modern asymptotic extension of the classic theory of Sommerfeld and Brillouin) is described in physical terms. The description is similar to the group-velocity description known for plane-wave pulses propagating through lossless, gainless, dispersive media but with two modifications: (1) the group velocity is replaced by the velocity of energy in time-harmonic waves, and (2) a nonoscillatory component is added that consists of a wave that grows exponentially with time with a time-dependent growth rate. In the nonoscillatory component the growth rate at each space–time point is determined by the velocity of energy in exponentially growing waves in the medium. The new description provides, for the first time to our knowledge, a physical explanation of the localized details of pulse dynamics in dispersive and absorbing dielectric media and a simple mathematical algorithm for quantitative predictions. Numerical comparisons of the results of the algorithm with the exact integral solution are presented for a highly transparent dielectric and for a highly absorbing dielectric. In both cases the agreement is excellent.


Commonwealth marine reserve networks play a central role in supporting important conservation objectives and also contribute to economic and social values. Efficient design and effective management of reserve networks requires consideration of the costs and benefits of alternatives, and should include measurement of the preferences of the general public who, even if they do not make direct use of the marine estate, may still hold existence values for assets protected by these networks. An online survey of 1122 residents of the South-east marine region (South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania) was undertaken to identify the public's knowledge and perceptions of the South-east Commonwealth Marine Reserves Network, and to investigate the values that they hold for various features protected by the Network. We also determine the effect of providing information about these key features in different ways on the measured public preferences, and of explicitly explaining the importance of affording protection to a representative range of features through a network of reserves. Respondents were drawn from an online research panel and the survey was conducted in June 2015.


Background— The residual Synergy Between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Taxus and Cardiac Surgery (SYNTAX) Score is an objective measure of the degree and complexity of residual stenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods and Results— In the randomized PCI cohort of the SYNTAX Trial (n=903), the baseline and residual SYNTAX Scores were calculated. Subjects with a residual SYNTAX Score of 0 were defined as having undergone complete revascularization (CR), and a residual SYNTAX Score >0 as incomplete revascularization (ICR). Five-year clinical outcomes were stratified by CR and ICR (tertiles of the residual SYNTAX Score: >0–4, >4–8, and >8). In the PCI cohort, the mean baseline and residual SYNTAX Scores were 28.4±11.5 and 4.5±6.9, respectively. The mean &Dgr; SYNTAX Score (representative of the burden of disease removed by PCI) was 23.8±10.9. The residual SYNTAX Score was distributed as follows: CR, 0 (n=386, 42.7%); ICR, >0 to 4 (n=184, 20.4%), >4 to 8 (n=167, 18.5%), >8 (n=153, 16.9%). A progressively higher residual SYNTAX Score was shown to be a surrogate marker of increasing clinical comorbidity and anatomic complexity. Subjects with CR or residual SYNTAX Scores ⩽8 had comparable 5-year mortality (CR, 8.5%; residual SYNTAX Score >0–4, 8.7%; >4–8, 11.4%; P=0.60). A residual SYNTAX Score >8 was associated with 35.3% all-cause mortality at 5-years (P<0.001). Stratified analyses in the predefined medical treated diabetic and left main subgroups yielded similar results. Conclusions— The residual SYNTAX Score was shown to be a powerful indicator of 5-year mortality in the SYNTAX Trial. The residual SYNTAX Score may aid in determining a reasonable level of revascularization. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00114972.


Measurements reported in the literature on ultimate analysis of various types of torrefied woody biomass, comprising 152 data points, have been compiled and empirical correlations are developed to predict the carbon content, hydrogen content, and heating value of a torrefied wood as a function of solid mass yield. The range of torrefaction temperature, residence time and solid yield of the collected data is 200–300 °C, 5–60 min and 58–97%, respectively. Two correlations are proposed for carbon content with a coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) of 81.52% and 89.86%, two for hydrogen content with R 2 of 79.01% and 88.45%, and one for higher heating value with R 2 of 92.80%. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of the proposed correlations are 0.037, 0.028, 0.059, 0.043 and 0.023, respectively. The predictability of the proposed relations is examined with an additional set of experimental data and compared with the existing correlations in the literature. The new correlations can be used as a useful tool when designing torrefaction plants, furnaces, or gasifiers operating on torrefied wood.


A series of chiral synthetic compounds is reported that shows intricate but specific hierarchical assembly because of varying positions of coordination and hydrogen bonds. The evolution of the aggregates (followed by absorption spectroscopy and temperature-dependent circular dichroism studies in solution) reveal the influence of the proportion of stereogenic centers in the side groups connected to the chromophore ring in their optical activity and the important role of pyridyl groups in the self-assembly of these chiral macrocycles. The optical activity spans 2 orders of magnitude depending on composition and constitution. Two of the aggregates show very high optical activity even though the isolated chromophores barely give a circular dichroism signal. Molecular modeling of the aggregates, starting from the pyridine-zinc(II) porphyrin interaction and working up, and calculation of the circular dichroism signal confirm the origin of this optical activity as the chiral supramolecular organization of the molecules. The aggregates show a broad absorption range, between approximately 390 and 475 nm for the transitions associated with the Soret region alone, that spans wavelengths far more than the isolated chromophore. The supramolecular assemblies of the metalloporphyrins in solution were deposited onto highly oriented pyrolitic graphite in order to study their hierarchy in assembly by atomic force microscopy. Zero and one-dimensional aggregates were observed, and a clear dependence on deposition temperature was shown, indicating that the hierarchical assembly took place largely in solution. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy images of porphyrins and metalloporphyrins precipitated under out-of-equilibrium conditions showed the dependence of the number and position of chiral amide groups in the formation of a fibrillar nanomaterial. The combination of coordination and hydrogen bonding in the complicated assembly of these molecules-where there is a clear hierarchy for zinc(II)-pyridyl interaction followed by hydrogen-bonding between amide groups, and then van der Waals interactions-paves the way for the preparation of molecular materials with multiple chromophore environments.


This paper provides a stochastic programming approach to optimally reinforce and expand the transmission network so that the impact of deliberate attacks is mitigated. The network planner selects the new lines to be built accounting for the vulnerability of the transmission network against a set of credible intentional outages. The vulnerability of the transmission network is measured in terms of the expected load shed. An instance of the previously reported terrorist threat problem is solved to generate the set of credible deliberate attacks. The proposed model is formulated as a mixed-integer linear program for which efficient solvers are available. Results from a case study based on the IEEE Two Area Reliability Test System are provided and analyzed.


The use of middleware systems to support multi-tenancy applications in cloud computing environments can help to decrease the application costs by reducing the hardware infrastructure and the amount of software license required to run a software, and facilitating the its maintenance. However, the design and implementation of middleware systems that support multi-tenancy feature is complex due challenges such as hardware sharing, security, scalability, configuration per tenant and tenant isolation. Furthermore, developers generally implement middleware systems through general-purpose object-oriented languages without taking the benefits of using a language that allows a higher level of abstraction and concision on writing concurrent and parallel systems. In this paper, we present FIrM (Functional Middleware), a cloud computing middleware implemented in Haskell, which allows multi-tenant-aware remote procedure calls. In order to evaluate FIrM, we carry out a performance evaluation that shows the impact of the multi-tenancy mechanisms on the performance of the applications.


Childlessness, a driving force of fertility, has undergone strong variations in 20th-century Europe, and educational attainment has been rising continuously. We analyse how these two factors were related to each other over time. Our study is based on census and largescale survey data from 13 European countries, collected in the Cohort Fertility and Education database. We compare the trends in the share of women childless at age 40+ in the 1916–1965 birth cohorts, by level of education. The results suggest that the changes in the educational composition of the population were only marginally related to the overall variation in childlessness rates. With time, the positive educational gradient in childlessness usually decreased: the differences between women of medium/high education and low educated women diminished. However, the childlessness ratio between highly and medium educated women remained stable in Western and Southern Europe and even slightly increased in the East.


Abstract. In preparation for routine deployment in a network of greenhouse gas monitoring stations, we have designed and tested a simple method for drying ambient air to near or below 0.2% (2000 ppm) mole fraction H2O using a Nafion dryer. The inlet system was designed for use with cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) analyzers such as the Picarro model G2301 that measure H2O in addition to their principal analytes, in this case CO2 and CH4. These analyzers report dry-gas mixing ratios without drying the sample by measuring H2O mixing ratio at the same frequency as the main analytes, and then correcting for the dilution and peak broadening effects of H2O on the mixing ratios of the other analytes measured in moist air. However, it is difficult to accurately validate the water vapor correction in the field. By substantially lowering the amount of H2O in the sample, uncertainties in the applied water vapor corrections can be reduced by an order of magnitude or more, thus eliminating the need to determine instrument-specific water vapor correction coefficients and to verify the stability over time. Our Nafion drying inlet system takes advantage of the extra capacity of the analyzer pump to redirect 30% of the dry gas exiting the Nafion to the outer shell side of the dryer and has no consumables. We tested the Nafion dryer against a cryotrap (−97 °C) method for removing H2O and found that in wet-air tests, the Nafion reduces the CO2 dry-gas mixing ratios of the sample gas by as much as 0.1 ± 0.01 ppm due to leakage across the membrane. The effect on CH4 was smaller and varied within ± 0.2 ppb, with an approximate uncertainty of 0.1 ppb. The Nafion-induced CO2 bias is partially offset by sending the dry reference gases through the Nafion dryer as well. The residual bias due to the impact of moisture differences between sample and reference gas on the permeation through the Nafion was approximately −0.05 ppm for CO2 and varied within ± 0.2 ppb for CH4. The uncertainty of this partial drying method is within the WMO compatibility guidelines for the Northern Hemisphere, 0.1 ppm for CO2 and 2 ppb for CH4, and is comparable to experimentally determining water vapor corrections for each instrument but less subject to concerns of possible drift in these corrections.


Background The aim of this paper is to describe clinical aspects of the torsion of the omentum. Methods In this observational, retrospective study, the study group consisted of patients surgically managed for torsion of the omentum, between 1998 and 2008, in a second level medical facility in Mexico. Variables in the study included age, sex, signs and symptoms, body mass index (BMI), treatment and evolution time. Descriptive statistical analysis was employed. Results Eleven patients were confirmed torsion of omentum, 7 (63.63%) women and 4 (36.36%) men, median age 33 (20 to 58) years, BMI > 25.0 in 9 (81.81%), average evolution 6.54, SD 3.47 days. All presented with abdominal pain, 6 (54.54%) with abdominal distension, 4 (36.36%) with ambulatory difficulty, 3 (27.27%) with malaise, and 5 (45.45%) with previous surgery. In all cases diagnosis was made by means of laparotomy, treatment was the resection of the affected segment, and there were no further complications. Conclusions Torsion of the omentum resembles acute appendicitis; abdominal pain and abdominal distension are the most common symptoms. It is often discovered during surgery and it is treated surgically by removal of the affected segment of the omentum.


Chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CI) of aliphatic and aromatic carbonyl compounds using water as the reagent gas provides intense pseudomolecular ions and class-specific fragmentation patterns that can be used to identify aliphatic aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and esters. The length of ester acyl and alkyl groups can easily be determined on the basis of loss of alcohols from the protonated parent. Water CI provides for an approximately 200:1 selectivity of carbonyl species over alkanes. No reagent ions are detected above 55 amu, allowing species as small as acetone, propanal, acetic acid, and methyl formate to be identified. When deuterated water was used as the reagent, only the carboxylic acids and β-diketones showed significant H/D exchange. The use of water CI to identify carbonyl compounds in a wastewater from the supercritical water extraction of lignite coal, in lemon oil, and in whiskey volatiles is discussed.


Tidal currents are one of the most promising sources of power within the renewable energy sector, especially for countries with suitable marine conditions. The United
Kingdom has the edge over the rest of countries in this type of renewable energy
and leads the innovation race in order to keep the UK economy competitive in future
years.
Following these reasons, several types of marine turbines are currently being
developed and tested. Nevertheless, one of the key issues, in the future development of marine hydrokinetic power generation systems, is to properly understand their prospective performance, not only for each power generation device alone but also for an array of devices as a whole. Recent theoretical studies have suggested that a dense cross-stream array of turbines (so-called turbine fence) is a promising way to extract power from marine currents; however, its optimal intraturbine spacing depends on several physical factors, some of which are still uncertain. One of those uncertain factors is the effect of seabed friction causing vertical shear of the flow, which is difficult to study theoretically and requires 3-D CFD simulations. Also, little is known about the performance of multiple rows of marine turbines.
Consequently, throughout this thesis, numerous arrangements of marine turbines
(modelled as actuator disks) have been tested using ANSYS Fluent®, with the idea
of assessing the effects of various parameters such as: intra-device spacing, number of rows and turbine resistance coefficient. These CFD simulations have been
compared with existing theoretical models (two-scale actuator disk models) for the
power extracted by the turbines with the aim of validating these theoretical models.
Also, the results of CFD simulations have been analysed in detail to better understand the characteristics of flow past these turbine arrays.


Environmental Sensitivity Indexing (ESI) mapping of Atlas Cove, Lagos, Nigeria was carried out with the objective of producing an Environmental Analysis Index map of the shorelines. The study integrated methodologies developed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Nigerian Oil Producing Trade Sector (OPTS). The result of the assessment was validated by comparison with the ESI standards in Nigeria. Nine ESI types were found in the area namely; ESI 1b, 2a, 2b 3a, 4a, 6b, 9b, 9c, and 10a. Animal biodiversities such as shorebirds ( Tringaly poleucos and Charadrinning marginatus ), sea turtles ( Dermocellys spp ) and white crabs ( Occipoda africana ) were more prominent on the western shores. Spearman's Correlation coefficient (r) value of -0.6 was obtained for the association between number of socioeconomic features and biological species along the shores. The result shows that a cause and effect exists between biological productivity and anthropogenic activities along the shorelines. The study ranked Mangrove swamps, creeks and fresh water swamp highest with ESI values of 10a. Margalef's index also shows that the same areas are the most sensitive with respect to species richness. The database developed from the study provides baseline information on the biophysical and socio-cultural condition of the environment and can serve as good decision support system for coastal managers.


The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2015 is the second such report published by UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and ESCAP (the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). In capturing the region's rapid urban transformation The State of Asian and Pacific Cities 2015 highlights the growing gaps between current urbanisation patterns and what is needed to shift to a more inclusive and sustainable urban future, in which the region's cities are unquestionably tied to national, regional and global development prospects. The Report also draws upon the most recent urban data from The World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision.


Bayesian analysis of continuous time, discrete state space time series is an important and challenging problem, where incomplete observation and large parameter sets call for user-defined priors based on known properties of the process. Generalized linear models have a largely unexplored potential to construct such prior distributions. We show that an important challenge with Bayesian generalized linear modelling of continuous time Markov chains is that classical Markov chain Monte Carlo techniques are too ineffective to be practical in that setup. We address this issue using an auxiliary variable construction combined with an adaptive Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm. This sampling algorithm and model make it efficient both in terms of computation and analyst's time to construct stochastic processes informed by prior knowledge, such as known properties of the states of the process. We demonstrate the flexibility and scalability of our framework using synthetic and real phylogenetic protein data, where a prior based on amino acid physicochemical properties is constructed to obtain accurate rate matrix estimates. MSC 2010 subject classifications: Primary 60K35, 60K35; secondary 60K35.


Document servers complying to the standards of the Open Archives Initiative (OAI) are rich, yet seldom exploited source of textual primary data for research fields in text mining, natural language processing or computational linguistics. We present a bilingual (English and German) text corpus consisting of bibliographic OAI records and the associated full texts. A particular added value is that we annotated each record with at least one Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) number, inducing a subject-based categorization of the corpus. By this means, it can be used as training data for machine learning-based text categorization tasks in digital libraries, but also as primary data source for linguistic research on academic language use related to specific disciplines. We describe the construction of the corpus using data from the Bielefeld Academic Search Engine (BASE), as well as its characteristics.


This letter proposes a novel neural root finder based on the root moment method (RMM) to find the arbitrary roots (including complex ones) of arbitrary polynomials. This neural root finder (NRF) was designed based on feedforward neural networks (FNN) and trained with a constrained learning algorithm (CLA). Specifically, we have incorporated the a priori information about the root moments of polynomials into the conventional backpropagation algorithm (BPA), to construct a new CLA. The resulting NRF is shown to be able to rapidly estimate the distributions of roots of polynomials. We study and compare the advantage of the RMM-based NRF over the previous root coefficient methodbased NRF and the traditional Muller and Laguerre methods as well as the mathematica roots function, and the behaviors, the accuracies of the resulting root finders, and their training speeds of two specific structures corresponding to this FNN root finder: the log and the FNN. We also analyze the effects of the three controlling parameters P0 p with the CLA on the two NRFs theoretically and experimentally. Finally, we present computer simulation results to support our claims.


Due to widespread application of portable electronic devices and the evaluation of microelectronic technology, power dissipation has become a critical parameter in low power VLSI circuit designs. In emerging VLSI technology, the circuit complexity and high speed imply significant increase in the power consumption. In low power CMOS VLSI circuits, the energy dissipation is caused by charging and discharging of internal node capacitances due to transition activity, which is one of the major factors that also affect the dynamic power dissipation. The reduction in power, area and the improvement of speed require optimization at all levels of design procedures. Here various design methodologies are discussed to achieve our required low power design concepts.


Introduction: It is known that the wound-healing process can be aided by the presence of antioxidants. Many plants have been reported to possess wound-healing and antioxidant properties. This review aims to appraise published literature and evaluate whether wound-healing and antioxidant properties co-exist in plants. Methods: Web of knowledge, Google Scholar and PubMed were primarily used to search for published reports on wound-healing and antioxidant properties of plants. Other relevant publications, e.g., books and journal articles, were also consulted. Results: Literature search has revealed that several wound-healing plants also possess considerable antioxidant properties as evident from the results of various in vitro and in vivo assays. It has appeared that the wound-healing properties of plants, in most cases, are associated with their antioxidant activities. Conclusions: The wound-healing property and antioxidant activity co-exist in many plant species from a variety of families.


This paper presents an abstract, mathematical formulation of classical propositional logic. It proceeds layer by layer: (1) abstract, syntax-free propositions; (2) abstract, syntax-free contraction-weakening proofs; (3) distribution; (4) axioms (p OR NOT p).
Abstract propositions correspond to objects of the category G(Rel^L) where G is the Hyland-Tan double glueing construction, Rel is the standard category of sets and relations, and L is a set of literals.
Abstract proofs are morphisms of a tight orthogonality subcategory of Gl(Rel^L), where we define Gl as a lax variant of G. We prove that the free binary product-sum category (contraction-weakening logic) over L is a full subcategory of Gl(Rel^L), and the free distributive lattice category (contraction-weakening-distribution logic) is a full subcategory of Gl(Rel^L). We explore general constructions for adding axioms, which are not Rel-specific or (p OR NOT p)-specific.


Digital platforms provide a variety of technology-enabled tools that enhance market transparency, such as real-time monitoring, ratings of buyers and sellers, and low-cost complaint channels. How do these innovations affect moral hazard and service quality? We investigate this problem by comparing driver routing choices and efficiency on a large digital platform, Uber, with traditional taxis. The identification is enabled by matching taxi and Uber trips at the origin-destination-time level so they are subject to the same underlying optimal route, by exploiting characteristics of the pricing schemes that differentially affect the incentives of taxi and Uber drivers in various circumstances, and by examining changes in behavior when drivers switch from taxis to Uber. We find that (1) taxi drivers route longer in distance than matched Uber drivers on metered airport routes by an average of 8%, with nonlocal passengers on airport routes experiencing even longer routing; (2) no such long routing is found for short trips in dense markets (e.g., within-Manhattan trips) or airport trips with a flat fare; and (3) long routing in general leads to longer travel time, instead of saving passengers time. These findings are consistent with digital platform designs reducing driver moral hazard, but not with competing explanations such as driver selection or differences in driver navigation technologies. We also find evidence of Uber drivers' long routing on airport trips in times of surge pricing, suggesting that the tech-enabled market designs may not be binding in our setting. This paper was accepted by Chris Forman, information systems.


Amidinoquinoxaline N-oxides represent a novel family of heterocyclic spin traps. In this work, their ability to trap O- and C-centered radicals was tested using selected derivatives with different structural modifications. All the studied nitrones were able to trap radicals forming persistent spin adducts, also in the case of OH and OOH radicals which are of wide biological interest as examples of ROS. The stability of the adducts was mainly attributed to the wide delocalization of the unpaired electron over the whole quinoxaline moiety. The nitroxide spectral parameters (hfccs and g-factors) were analyzed and the results were supported by DFT calculations. The N-19 hfccs and g-factors were characteristic of each aminoxyl and could aid in the identification of the trapped radical. The enhanced stability of the OH adducts under the employed reaction conditions could be ascribed to their possible stabilization by IHBs with two different acceptors: the N-O˙ moiety or the amidine functionality. DFT calculations indicate that the preferred IHB is strongly conditioned by the amidine ring size. While five membered homologues show a clear preference for the IHB with the N-O˙ group, in six membered derivatives this stabilizing interaction is preferentially established with the amidine nitrogen as an IHB acceptor.


The Pintupi, a hunting-and-gathering people of Australia's Western Desert, were among the last Aborigines to come into contact with white society. Despite their extended relocation in central Australian settlements, they have managed to preserve much of their traditional culture and social organization. This book presents a comprehensive ethnographic interpretation of the ways in which Pintupi politics, cosmology, kinship systems, nomadic patterns, and social values reinforce and sometimes contradict each other.


The Evidence-Based Scholarly Communication Conference (EBSCC) was held March 11-12, 2010 in Albuquerque, NM. The conference addressed the perceived gap in knowledge and training for scholarly communication principles in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program. The EBSCC brought together librarians and information specialists to share evidence -based strategies for developing effective local scholarly communication support and training and, it is hoped, to form new coalitions to address this topic at the local and national levels. This brief communication summarizes the need for the conference, highlights the general sessions in order of presentation, and introduces the EBSCC research papers appearing in this issue of Evidence Based Library and Information Practice (EBLIP). It also includes a description of a unique peer-review process methodology pioneered at EBSCC.


Water is an essential building block of the Earth system and a nonsubstitutable resource upon which humankind must depend. But a growing body of evidence shows that freshwater faces a pandemic array of challenges. Today we can observe a globally significant but collectively unorganized approach to addressing them. Under modern water management schemes, impairment accumulates with increasing wealth but is then remedied by costly, after-the-fact technological investments. This strategy of treating symptoms rather than underlying causes is practiced widely across rich countries but leaves poor nations and many of the world's freshwater life-forms at risk. The seeds of this modern "impair-then-repair" mentality for water management were planted long ago, yet the wisdom of our "water traditions" may be ill-suited to an increasingly crowded planet. Focusing on rivers, which collectively satisfy the bulk of the world's freshwater needs, this essay explores the past, present, and possible future of human-water interactions. We conclude by presenting the impair-then-repair paradigm as a testable, global-scale hypothesis with the aim of stimulating not only systematic study of the impairment process but also the search for innovative solutions. Such an endeavor must unite and cobalance perspectives from the natural sciences and the humanities.


The authors studied the posterior attachment of the ciliary muscle in seven young (3-10 yr) and five old (26-34 yr) rhesus monkeys by light microscopy and electron microscopy. Posterior attachment of the muscle bundles consisted of elastic tendons, exclusively. The elastic tendons were continuous with the elastic lamina of Bruch's membrane and were also connected by smaller elastic fibers to an elastic meshwork that surrounds the pars plana vessels. In some areas, the tendons formed focal contacts with the endothelial cells. The authors found that in old eyes, the tendons and the elastic fibers of the posterior ciliary body showed pronounced structural changes. The tendons appeared thickened, showed increased amounts of associated microfibrils, and were surrounded by dense layers of thick collagen fibrils. An increased amount of collagen fibrils was also seen between the elastic layer of Bruch's membrane and the pigmented epithelium. A mechanical link between those collagen fibrils and the elastic fibers is suggested by the presence of osmiophilic points of contact. The age-related increase in elastic fibrillar material could cause decreased compliance of the posterior insertion of ciliary muscle and could be an essential factor for presbyopia in rhesus monkeys.


Classical approaches for robot navigation among people have focused on guaranteed collision-free motion with the assumption that people are either static or moving obstacles. However, people are not ordinary obstacles. People react to the presence and the motion of a robot. In this context, a robot that behaves in human-like manner has been shown to reduce overall cognitive effort for nearby people as they do not have to actively think about a robot's intentions while moving on its proximity. Our work is focused on replicating a characteristic of human-human interaction during collision avoidance that is the mutual sharing of effort to avoid a collision. Based on hundreds of situations where two people have crossing trajectories, we determined how total effort is shared between agents depending on several factors of the interaction such as crossing angle and time to collision. As a proof of concept our generated model is integrated into gls{rvo}. For validation, the trajectories generated by our approach are compared to the standard gls{rvo} and to our dataset of people with crossing trajectories. Collaboration during collision avoidance is not without its potential negative consequences. For effective collaboration both agents have to pass each other on the same side. However, whenever the decision of which side collision should be avoided from is not consistent for people, the robot should also account for the risk that both agents will attempt to incorrectly cross each other on different sides. Our work first determines the uncertainty around this decision for people. Based on this, a collision avoidance approach is proposed so that, even if agents initially choose to incorrectly attempt to cross each other on different sides, the robot and the person would be able to perceive the side from which collision should be avoided in their following collision avoidance action. To validate our approach, several distinct scenarios where the crossing side decision is ambiguous are presented alongside collision avoidance trajectories generated by our approach in such scenarios.


The structured development of simulation-based learning tools as an alternative to physical experiments in undergraduate engineering courses is described. A methodology for the design of simulation-based learning tools is proposed. This methodology combines the key elements of a standard systems development approach with an iterative development framework which highlights the importance of incorporating both pedagogic and communicational objectives throughout the design process. A simulation for use in learning the Taguchi method is developed using this methodology. Details of the evaluation of the tool and the resulting modifications and reassessment are provided.


The purpose of this chapter is threefold: to (a) document the history of encomia of dogs in Greek and Latin rhetoric from the fourth century BCE to the fifteenth century CE; (b) analyze the three extant medieval and Renaissance encomia of dogs—those by Nikephoros Basilakes (twelfth century, Greek), Theodorus Gaza (fifteenth century, Greek), and Leon Battista Alberti (fifteenth century, Latin)—in the light of the rhetorical tradition; and (c) highlight the physical, mental, and moral attributes of dogs that these medieval and Renaissance writers found most worthy of praise. Although no encomium of a dog is extant from Graeco-Roman antiquity, the theme is implicit in Aristotle, Lucian, and Basil. Three rhetoricians (Quintilian, Menander Rhetor, and Aphthonius) briefly discuss animals as possible subjects for encomia, but only Ps.-Hermogenes in his textbook on rhetorical composition provides instructions on how to praise them.It is not until the middle ages that we find an extant encomium of the dog. Nikephoros Basilakes (twelfth century) praises dogs for their service to their human masters as hunters, seeing-eye dogs, rescuers, protectors, companions, and faithful friends, illustrating his essay with references to famous ancient dogs. The emigrant Byzantine humanist Theodorus Gaza (fifteenth century) does not closely follow ancient prescriptions for encomia, but instead illustrates a few key benefits of dogs with numerous examples drawn from a wide range of ancient authors. For Gaza, dogs are loving, kind, loyal, obedient, and brave in battle. He gives special emphasis to their usefulness in hunting and warfare. The Italian humanist Leon Battista Alberti (fifteenth century) was written as a funeral oration in honor of a favorite dog that had been poisoned. Born of illustrious ancestors, Alberti's dog rejected military glory and instead pursued learning. Drawing on Gaza's earlier encomium, Alberti praises the furry humanist for his prodigious memory, devotion to learning, philosophical lifestyle, and ability to distinguish good men from bad.


Computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) and myocardial perfusion imaging techniques (single photon emission computed tomography, SPECT, or positron emission tomography, PET) are established non-invasive modalities for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Cardiac hybrid imaging consists of the combination (or 'fusion') of both modalities and allows obtaining complementary morphological (coronary anatomy, stenoses) and functional (myocardial perfusion) information in a single setting. However, hybrid cardiac imaging has also generated controversy with regard to which patients should undergo such integrated examinations for clinical effectiveness and minimization of costs and radiation dose. The feasibility and clinical value of hybrid imaging has been documented in small cohort studies and selected series of patients. Hybrid imaging appears to offer superior diagnostic and prognostic information compared with stand-alone or side-by-side interpretation of data sets. Particularly in patients with multivessel disease, the hybrid approach allows identification of flowlimiting coronary lesions and thereby provides useful information for the planning of revascularization procedures. Furthermore, integration of the detailed anatomical information from CTCA with the high molecular sensitivity of SPECT and PET may be useful to evaluate targeted molecular and cellular abnormalities in the future. While currently still restricted to specialized cardiac centres, the ongoing efforts to reduce radiation exposure and the increasing clinical interest will further pave the way for an increasing use of cardiac hybrid imaging in clinical practice.


Abstract. The gradual cooling of the climate during the Cenozoic has generally been attributed to a decrease in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. The lack of transient climate models and, in particular, the lack of high-resolution proxy records of CO2, beyond the ice-core record prohibit, however, a full understanding of, for example, the inception of the Northern Hemisphere glaciation and mid-Pleistocene transition. Here we elaborate on an inverse modelling technique to reconstruct a continuous CO2 series over the past 20 million year (Myr), by decomposing the global deep-sea benthic δ18O record into a mutually consistent temperature and sea level record, using a set of 1-D models of the major Northern and Southern Hemisphere ice sheets. We subsequently compared the modelled temperature record with ice core and proxy-derived CO2 data to create a continuous CO2 reconstruction over the past 20 Myr. Results show a gradual decline from 450 ppmv around 15 Myr ago to 225 ppmv for mean conditions of the glacial-interglacial cycles of the last 1 Myr, coinciding with a gradual cooling of the global surface temperature of 10 K. Between 13 to 3 Myr ago there is no long-term sea level variation caused by ice-volume changes. We find no evidence of change in the long-term relation between temperature change and CO2, other than the effect following the saturation of the absorption bands for CO2. The reconstructed CO2 record shows that the Northern Hemisphere glaciation starts once the long-term average CO2 concentration drops below 265 ppmv after a period of strong decrease in CO2. Finally, only a small long-term decline of 23 ppmv is found during the mid-Pleistocene transition, constraining theories on this major transition in the climate system. The approach is not accurate enough to revise current ideas about climate sensitivity.


This paper evaluated the frequency, magnitude and dose/concentration range of hormesis in four species: The aquatic plant Lemna minor, the micro-alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata and the two terrestrial plants Tripleurospermum inodorum and Stellaria media exposed to nine herbicides and one fungicide and binary mixtures thereof. In total 687 dose-response curves were included in the database. The study showed that both the frequency and the magnitude of the hormetic response depended on the endpoint being measured. Dry weight at harvest showed a higher frequency and a larger hormetic response compared to relative growth rates. Evaluating hormesis for relative growth rates for all species showed that 25% to 76% of the curves for each species had treatments above 105% of the control. Fitting the data with a dose-response model including a parameter for hormesis showed that the average growth increase ranged from 9±1% to 16±16% of the control growth rate, while if measured on a dry weight basis the response increase was 38±13% and 43±23% for the two terrestrial species. Hormesis was found in >70% of the curves with the herbicides glyphosate and metsulfuron-methyl, and in >50% of the curves for acifluorfen and terbuthylazine. The concentration ranges of the hormetic part of the dose-response curves corresponded well with literature values.


This article studies the role of research orientation for attracting research grants at higher education institutions in Germany. Traditionally research activities were funded by the institutions' core budget. More recently, extramural research funding has become increasingly important. Besides the public sector, industry provides a growing share of such funds. The results based on a sample of professors in science and engineering suggest that basic and applied research is complementarity for attracting research funding from industry. Thus, professors who conduct basic research in addition to research on the applicability of their results appear to be a more interesting target or most successful in raising industry funds. For raising grants from public sources, it turns out that specialization is more important. Specialized research units on either basic or applied research obtain significantly more public grants which points to a substitutive relationship between basic and applied research for grants from public sources.


Summary
Species sanitation has been the dominant directive in mosquito control for 40 years, with attack concentrated on the aquatic stages of these insects by means of widely varying techniques specifically adapted to the breeding habits of each individual species. With the introduction of house spraying with DDT, the adult mosquito becomes the main target, and its domesticity, in biting and resting habits, emerges as the factor determining the success of this new procedure. The human habitation is the "bottle neck" in the life history of a large variety of obnoxious arthropods (not mosquitoes only) where DDT can be applied with the greatest ease and with the maximal effect. Within the house, species sanitation has no significance.
Taking into consideration these new concepts in mosquito control, the domestic proclivities of the mosquitoes of the British Guiana coastland have been investigated. For this purpose, material has been collected in six representative localities with varying hydrological characteristics. Observations were taken both by day and by night, and for comparative purposes adult captures were also made with a cattle-baited Shannon dawn trap, and parallel larval surveys have been carried out in most localities.
The highly domestic biting and resting habits of A. darlingi have been confirmed, so that the prospects of control of this species, the sole malaria carrier of the region, by spraying with DDT, appear excellent. The same can be said for Aedes aegypti, at present under control in the more densely populated centers by the classical anti-aedes technique. Culex fatigans, with its eclectic biting habits, constitutes a more difficult problem, since spraying of houses will have little effect on its total incidence. Supplementary antilarval measures will be required for its effective control and the prevention of filariasis.
Anopheles albitarsis, A. aquasalis an A. triannulatus are all common, but they are zoophilous in their feeding habits and do not enter houses. Aedes taeniorhynchus, Mansonia titillans and Aedeomyia squamipennis enter houses only occasionally, and it cannot be expected that any of these will be influenced by the spraying of houses with DDT.


Prospective doctoral students or anybody who wishes to undertake research activities find often difficult to know what research is about, how the settings are where research takes place, and how results are presented and communicated. In addition, for people who want to make innovative contributions within an organization is important to tell research from what is not, and where to find the results. In the supply chain field, there are two additional difficulties. On the one hand, the lack of a generally accepted definition of supply chain. On the other, the fact that, alongside research publications, others proliferate that, although being rather informative, speculative or even falling in self-help literature field, are sometimes presented as if they were search results. The text is a tool to answer the questions implicit in the above considerations, in order to reduce the time elapsed between the moment the student decides to do research and when he or she starts to really do it, and thus contribute to improve productivity and quality of research.


Background and Objectives: In order to constantly provide important and reliable sources of information for various health stakeholders, public health surveys should be neatly-planned, well-conducted, and implemented. The study evaluated the design and implementation of six major public health surveys conducted in the Philippines (2002-2012); identified stakeholders' utilization of the different survey results;and recognized areas of improvement in the design and implementation of these surveys. Methodology: The study purposively selected and evaluated six major public health surveys based on the contents of their respective final reports. The study also identified areas in the design and implementation of these surveys that can be improved. The researchers also conducted key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) within the Department of Health (DOH) to validate the usefulness of the results of these surveys in developing health policies. Results: Each survey had an adequate description of the sampling design, scientific determination of the sample size, appropriately described cluster selection, completely discussed survey questionnaires, and a very comprehensive analysis of survey results. However, not all surveys presented a thorough description of the field operations and discussed survey organization and data management procedures. Common problems as reported by the stakeholders include lack of access to the data results, absence of disaggregated data, and the differences of methodology that hamper comparisons between surveys. Conclusion: In the development of protocol and standard operating procedures on the design and implementation of each public health survey, there should be a close coordination among the stakeholders to promote harmonization of survey methodology and research outcomes. Effective dissemination plans should also be devised for a more efficient data utilization. There is a need for a central repository of all databases to further promote data sharing and harmonization of public health data. Disaggregation of survey results up to the provincial level is also recommended for local planning, policy formulation, and decision making. Lastly, data on health human resources and migrant health might be additional areas of concern that a public health survey might address.


This paper deals with studying the effects of some micro-level exergetic parameters of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) on macro-level environmental pollution and sustainability. For this purpose, various exergetic, environmental and sustainability parameters of a PEMFC are investigated based on its operating and technical conditions. Consequently, these parameters may be utilised as some indicators in the development of energy and environmental policies for residential and industrial applications using PEMFC power systems. These parameters are also expected to help understand the linkage between micro-fuel-cell parameters and global aspects in terms of environmental impact and sustainable development and hence make PEMFCs more efficient, more environmentally benign and more sustainable.


Due to the emergence of antibiotic resistant pathogens, plants are being an excellent alternate to fight the further spread of multidrug resistant microorganisms. In this study, six plant species grown wildly in Palestine were used to determine their efficacy against multidrug resistant clinical isolate of Escherichia coli. The dried areal parts of Calamintha incana, Lupins pilosus, Parietaria judica, Satureja thymbra, Thymbra spicata and Verbascum fruticulosum were extracted with water, ethanol and methanol solvents. All extracts were screened for their antibacterial activity using micro-dilution method. Plant extraction with alcohol solvents provided stronger antibacterial effect compared to the aqueous ones. All alcoholic extracts have an inhibitory effect against E. coli except the ethanol extract of L. pilosus and the methanol extracts of V. fruticulosum and C. incana. Moreover, C. incana aqueous extract was the only aqueous extract with bacteriostatic activity. Among the studied plant species, ethanol extract of T. spicata was the most potent one with MBC value 12.5 mg/mL. However, P. judica ethanol extract which exhibited the best MIC effect (6.25 mg/mL) killed E. coli isolate at a 25 mg/mL. In conclusion, obtained results confirmed the efficacy of using some plant extracts as natural antibacterial alternatives. Therefore, it suggests the possibility of using them as drugs for the treatment of other multidrug resistant bacterial isolates.


Concern about the increasing militarization of police has grown in recent years. Much of this concern focuses on the material aspects of militarization: the greater use of military equipment and tactics by police officers. While this development deserves attention, a subtler form of militarization operates on the cultural level. Here, police adopt an adversarial stance toward minority communities, whose members are regarded as presumptive objects of suspicion. The combination of material and cultural militarization in turn has a potential symbolic dimension. It can communicate that members of minority communities are threats to society, just as military enemies are threats to the United States. This conception of racial and ethnic minorities treats them as outside the social contract rather than as fellow citizens. It also conceives of the role of police and the military as comparable, thus blurring in a disturbing way the distinction between law enforcement and national security operations.


Background : The global burden of reproductive tract infections (RTIs) is enormous and of a major public health concern, particularly in developing countries where RTIs are endemic. RTIs constitute the second major cause of disease burden (after maternity related causes) in young adult women in developing countries . Aim of work: To measure the prevalence of Candida albicans, Trichomonas vaginalis and Bacterial vaginosis among married women and to identify some factors associated with them. Subject and methods: a cross sectional descriptive study was conducted in four health centers in El -Montazah health district-Alexandria. All women seeking family planning services at these clinics were included in the study till fulfilling the calculated sample size. An interview questionnaire, clinical examination and laboratory diagnosis were implemented on studied participants. Result: The study revealed that 484/615 (78.7%) studied women had at least one type of reproductive tract infections based on laboratory test. Candida albicans constituted (48.1%), Bacterial Vaginosis constituted (28.9%), mixed Candidiasis and Bacterial Vaginosis constituted (15.4%) Trichomonas vaginalis constituted (4.1%) mixed Trichomonas and Candidiasis and / or Bacterial Vaginosis constituted (3.3%). Education and employment were found to be significantly associated with reproductive tract infections however age and parity were not significantly associated with RTIs. Conclusion: RTIs are prevalent among women attending the family planning clinics. Both education and employment influence the presence of RTIs. Recommendation: As family planning is often a woman's primary, and sometimes sole contact with the health care system; it is recommended to integrate RTI saeening & management with family planning services


Birds of Paradise is destined to be the first-ever popular book to reveal the most exotic birds on earth. Photographer and National Geographic grantee Tim Laman and co-author Edwin Scholes (ornithologist/leading authority) traveled to the most remote parts of the New Guinea wilderness - the only place these birds occur - to photograph and study their "secret" lives. The authors' documentation of the appearance, displays, and behaviors of these 39 species of birds has taken years of dedicated fieldwork. This high quality, large-format photography book will inform and enthrall the book-buying public with images of astonishing beauty, solid yet approachable natural history, and a National Geographic message of conservation. With universal appeal and a huge cross-platform presence similar to the blockbusters Polar Obsession and March of the Penguins, this brilliant, one-of-a-kind photography book will also have a strong presence in spcial and international sales.


Majority of the time-frequency representations (TFRs) make some kind of compromise between auto-component's resolution and cross-terms suppression during the analysis of time varying signals. Linear TFRs offer no cross-terms but have low resolution of auto-components. Quadratic TFRs offer better resolutions of auto-components but have cross-terms. The proposed research focuses on TFRs that can combine the advantages of both linear and quadratic TFRs. In the first part of this research, a modified form of Gabor Wigner Transform (GWT) has been proposed by using adaptive thresholding in Gabor Transform (GT) and Wigner Distribution (WD). The proposed GWT combines the advantages of both GT and WD and provides a powerful analysis tool for analyzing multi-component signals. This technique is however not very efficient for multi-component signals having large abrupt amplitude variation in its auto-components. In multi-component signal analysis where GWT fails to extract auto-components, the combination of signal processing techniques such as fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) and image processing techniques such as image thresholding and segmentation have proven their potential to extract auto-components. In the second part of this research, an algorithm is proposed for an effective representation in time-frequency domain called Modified Fractional GWT that combines the strengths of GWT, image segmentation and FRFT. This representation maintains the resolution of auto-components besides recognizing FRFT, a powerful tool for signal analysis. Performance analysis of proposed fractional GWT reveals that it provides solution of cross-terms of WD and worst resolution faced by linear TFRs. In the third part of this work, a novel algorithm for effective representation of multi-component signals in time-frequency domain is proposed. The scheme not only suppresses the cross terms but also ensures that all the auto-components even very weak ones are properly shown in time-frequency domain. The scheme also results in much localized time frequency representation (TFR). The algorithm uses the strengths of GWT and linear time-varying (LTV) filtering in time domain to design a filter in time-frequency domain that suppresses cross terms and enhances auto components through an iterative approach. Performance analysis of proposed algorithm reveals that it provides concentrated and high resolution auto-components which are desirable for a TFR. The TFRs are used to separate and extract signal's auto-components which are buried in noise and are used to estimate the instantaneous frequency of a multi-component signal in low SNR scenarios. The modified GWT can be used for detection, identification and classification of power quality disturbances (such as voltage sag, voltage swell, transients and harmonics). The LTV based GWT and modified fractional GWT can be extended for IF estimation of auto-components of EEG Seizure.


The intensive care units (ICUs) are often considered as the epicenters of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the total antibiotic consumption is approximately ten fold greater in ICU wards than in general hospital wards. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current use of antibiotics in Latin American ICUs. Three cross-sectional (one-day point) prevalence studies were undertaken in 43 Latin American ICUs. Of 1644 patients admitted, 688 received antibiotic treatment on the days of the study (41.8 %) and, 392 cases (57 %) were due to nosocomial-acquired infections. Of all infections, 22 % (151/688) corresponded to septic shock; and 22 % (151/688) to nosocomial pneumonia (50/151 [33 %], ventilator-associated pneumonia). In 485 patients (70.5 %), cultures were performed before starting antibiotic treatment. The most common microorganisms isolated were extended-spectrum ß-lactamase Enterobacteriaceae, (30.5 %), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17 %). Carbapenems (imipenem or meropenem) were the antibiotics most frequently prescribed (151/688, 22 %), followed by vancomycin (103/688, 15 %), piperacillin-tazobactam (86/688, 12.5 %) and broad-spectrum cephalosporins (mainly cefepime) (83/688, 12 %). In summary, carbapenems were the most frequent antibiotics prescribed in Latin American ICUs. This practice seems justified for the high rates of ESBL-producing Gram-negatives found in our patients. Beyond this reason, the problem of bacterial resistance in LA requires that physicians improve the use of carbapenems. The high prevalence of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa in the region, along with the prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, have increased markedly. A comprehensive evidence-based stewardship program based on local antimicrobial use and resistance problems should be implemented in our clinical settings.


Abstract More than 1.6 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and >10 times that number carry antibodies to it. High-risk patients presenting with progressing symptomatic disease have only hospitalization treatment with its high mortality. An outpatient treatment that prevents hospitalization is desperately needed. Two candidate medications have been widely discussed: remdesivir, and hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin. Remdesivir has shown mild effectiveness in hospitalized inpatients, but no trials have been registered in outpatients. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been widely misrepresented in both clinical reports and public media, and outpatient trials results are not expected until September. Early outpatient illness is very different than later hospitalized florid disease and the treatments differ. Evidence about use of hydroxychloroquine alone, or of hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin in inpatients, is irrelevant concerning efficacy of the pair in early high-risk outpatient disease. Five studies, including two controlled clinical trials, have demonstrated significant major outpatient treatment efficacy. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been used as standard-of-care in more than 300,000 older adults with multicomorbidities, with estimated proportion diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmias attributable to the medications 47/100,000 users, of which estimated mortality is <20%, 9/100,000 users, compared to the 10,000 Americans now dying each week. These medications need to be widely available and promoted immediately for physicians to prescribe.


Starch degrading enzymes like amylase have received great deal of attention
because of their perceived technological significance and economic benefits.
Selection of a suitable strain is the most significant factor in the amylase
production process. On the other hand the screening for a single amylase is
difficult because one strain can produce different amylases with different
specificities or the amount of amylase produced may be very low. Thus the
cloning of one gene directing the synthesis of the desired amylase in a well
characterized host like E. coli should help greatly in the characterization of new
amylases and also allow a significant yield increase. Studies on the screening of
amylase producing bacterial strains were carried out on soil and water samples
collected from a hot spring located in Slim River, Perak, Malaysia. The bacteria
were cultivated in a mineral medium containing soluble starch as the sole carbon
source. Three of the isolates namely SR37, SR41, SR74 have demonstrated good
activity based on the assay performed using DNS method at 60oC and pH 7.0. The isolates showed activity of 2.44 U/ml, 4.5 U/ml, 2.05 U/ml for amylopectin and
1.78 U/ml, 3.54 U/ml, 1.65 U/ml for soluble starch, respectively. None of the
isolates except SR74 (1.65 U/ml) showed activity at 70oC. Since it showed
activity at 70oC, further study was conducted on the isolate SR74 for
identification, gene cloning, sequencing and expression for the α-amylase enzyme.
Gram staining and morphological studies revealed the isolate was a Gram positive
Bacillus. Molecular characterization using the 16S rDNA for the isolate SR74
revealed the organism closely related to the members of the genus Geobacillus.
The fatty acid methyl ester analysis using the Sherlock system also resulted in a
typical fatty acid profile of a thermophilic Geobacillus and other bacilli. Among
them the iso-branched pentadecanoic acid (iso-15:0), haxadecanoic acid (iso-16:0)
and heptadecanoic acids ( iso-17:0) accounted for 82.26% of the total fatty
acids.Iso-15:0 and iso-17:0 were especially abundant. This isolate exhibited
anteiso-15:0 (1.05%) and anteiso-17:0 (6.5%) as minor components (7.55% of the
total). The isolate was identified as Geobacillus sp. SR74. The gene coding for a
thermostable α-amylase from Geobacillus sp. SR74 was isolated, sequenced and
expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS. Gene sequencing showed that
the enzyme secreted by this isolate shared 98% similarity with Geobacillus
stearothermophilus α-amylase gene. The ORF of the gene codes for 549 amino
acids. The signal peptide comprised 34 amino acids and the remaining 515 amino
acids belong to the mature polypeptide. The region encoding the mature α-
amylase was heterogeneously expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS cells using
the pET-32b expression system under the control of the T7 promoter. The mature
enzyme had a theoretical molecular weight of 58,547 Daltons and a theoretical pI
of 5.61. Optimization studies revealed that the highest enzyme activity was obtained at 16h post induction (32.414 U/ml). The optimum inducer concentration
was found to be 0.15mMol L-1 IPTG (39.73 U/ml). With regard to production
media, LB (49.53 U/ml) and 0.75YT (51.06 U/ml) were found to be best for
optimum production of the recombinant enzyme, while the A600nm of 0.75 (58.3
U/ml) being the best microbial density for inducing the production of the enzyme.


Abstract. Maps are produced to represent geography and spatial organization of natural or human features. They deliver spatial forms where each graphic object have its influence and can change the perceived message. The cartographic realization participates to the geographical analyzes and helps their memorization. Adding innovation to this achievement ensures a perception and understanding of the scientific information delivered. The question is to understand what innovation is, when we speak about cartography. The underpinnings of the design and delivery of these representations are surely linked to developments in theory and technology applied to the geosciences, but not only. The purpose of this paper is to offer some ideas on the influence of an institutional framework on innovation and the relevance of a cartographic realization. Based on the example of the cartographic models construction in the framework of the research projects financed by the ESPON (European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion) Programme, we try to show how a framework that is too strict and fixed upstream of cartographic design can lead to a homogeneous and stereotyped production, without innovation or simply cartographic originality. In conclusion, we show how a close negotiation between funders and cartographers can help to evolve the cartographic scheme in place. Several proposals are put forward.


Denying precedential status to unpublished opinions muddles the already unclear law surrounding qualified immunity. Government officials may claim qualified immunity as a defense to claims that they have violated a person's civil rights. The test is whether they have violated "clearly established law." The federal circuits differ on whether unpublished opinions may be used in determining clearly established law. This article, Clear as Mud: How the Uncertain Precedential Status of Unpublished Opinions Muddles Qualified Immunity Determinations, argues that unpublished opinions are ideal sources for determining what law is clearly established. The article reviews the purpose of both civil rights actions against government officials and the qualified immunity defense available to such officials. It also analyzes the characteristics of unpublished opinions and finds them, by definition, to be ideal sources to help determine the clearly established law. It then examines the circuit courts' variation in the use of unpublished opinions in their qualified immunity analyses. Finally, it proposes a resolution to this problematic circuit split through jurisprudential or rulemaking means. Opinions that are issued as unpublished are by definition clearly established law; opinions that make new law or expand or contract existing law must be published under the federal circuit rules. Denying precedential status to unpublished opinions has relegated these opinions to a second class status, which is unjustified and unconstitutional, but also obfuscates their inherent suitability to demonstrate clearly established law.


Public-Private Partnership (PPP) originates from the financial needs of the public sector to provide public goods or services at a high quality level embodying optimal risk allocation between the parties; that is, minimizing cost while realizing project developmental objectives. Asia-Pacific countries have undertaken PPPs to correct the shortfall in investment in infrastructure, which remains an expensive and complex undertaking both in its construction and upkeep. However, PPP projects involve more risks than other traditional procurement because of their complexities. This article appraises the viability of a PPP project undertaken by Pasay City, a highly-urbanized local government unit in Metro Manila. It addresses two questions: (a) why did the City Government of Pasay decide to undertake a reclamation project (costs-benefits of reclamation project) and (b) why did the City Government of Pasay pursue a PPP arrangement in this project? Also, this article contributes to the growing literature on PPPs in the Philippines and the wider Asia-Pacific region


Research has confirmed that elevated synthetic estrogen in surface waters can lead to intersex characteristics in aquatic vertebrates. Unmetabolized antibiotics, hormones from animal wastes, including humans, and discarded pharmaceuticals are some ways synthetic estrogen enter aquatic ecosystems through the release of contaminated effluents. In this investigation, the Agilent 1260 Infinity HPLC was used to detect the possible presence of 17-α-ethindyl estradiol in effluents released from the Chattanooga Sewer Treatment Plant. Results were analyzed by comparing HPLC chromatograms from effluent and spiked samples. We detected a possible peak of synthetic estrogen in the effluent samples with a retention rate of 6 minutes detected at 280 nm. This method could be used to determine if synthetic estrogen is present, within the mdl, in the Tennessee River at various distances downstream from the Chattanooga Sewer Treatment Plant and to compare these levels with those documented as being able to feminize male fish.


The human B1 bradykinin (BK) receptor (B1R) is more efficacious than the human B2 BK receptor (B2R) in both ligand-independent and agonist-dependent coupling to Gq/11-mediated phospholipase Cβ activity. In fact, B1R is constitutively active, whereas B2R exhibits little if any constitutive activity. To evaluate the role of the C-terminal domain in receptor Gq/11 coupling, we constructed chimeric and C-terminally truncated receptors. The slopes of the increase in basal and agonist-dependent cellular phosphoinositide hydrolysis as a function of receptor density in transiently transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells provided parameters of receptor coupling. Exchanging the C-terminal domains between the two receptors revealed that these domains are largely responsible for the difference in coupling. B1R truncation showed that this receptor does not directly depend on the C-terminal domain for efficient coupling, although coupling is dramatically augmented by residues in the membrane-distal portion of the domain downstream from Tyr327. On the other hand, coupling of B2R is absolutely dependent on a membrane-proximal epitope in the C-terminal domain upstream from Lys315. This epitope is adjacent to a basic residue, Arg311, which exerts an inhibitory effect on coupling. Arg311 is not conserved in B1R, and complementary mutations in B2R and B1R showed that this residue, together with previously identified serines and threonines, acts to attenuate the coupling efficacy of B2R. Therefore, the C-terminal domain participates intimately in the efficacy of B1R and B2R Gq/11 coupling by contributing both positive and negative regulatory epitopes.


The phenomenon of superfluidity (as well as the related phenomenon of superconductivity) is of quantum nature and as such looks paradoxical from the standpoint of both classical physics and common sense. Suffice it to say that these phenomena imply the ability to flow without exhibiting viscosity or resistance (for this reason, for example, the circulation of a superconducting current within a closed circuit in the absence of external sources would last without damping for a period much in excess of the age of the Universe). At the same time, a number of unusual and quite unexpected features appear to be intrinsic to specific events of superfluid physics. Some of them will be considered in the present study.


Examining four narratives of the "Good Parliament" of 1376, this essay explores the shifting meanings of commune in late medieval English political writing. Considering the ways in which each harnesses the rhetoric of community reveals a late fourteenth-century anxiety about political communities, unanimity, and competing systems for classifying different types of persons. The texts—Piers Plowman, the Anonimalle Chronicle, Thomas Walsingham's Chronicle, and the parliamentary rolls—present very different accounts of what the commune was, who was included, who was excluded, and who was invisible. Using the crisis of 1376 as an example, the article also argues that the use of modern political terms such as "conservative" and "radical" may hide rather than illuminate the political stakes and categories of the period, obscuring how complex and varied the responses to a changing system of government were at this time.


This paper reports a study of ground-dwelling, small mammals in coastal eucalypt forest in south-eastern Australia from 1970 through 2005. During this time, the study area burnt in an intense fire in December 1972 and was partially burnt in November 1980. Both fires were associated with prolonged drought. The mammals studied comprised two dasyurid marsupials, Antechinus agilis and A. swainsonii, two native murid rodents, Rattus fuscipes and R. lutreolus, and the introduced house mouse Mus musculus. After intensive sampling throughout the year from 1970 through 1972 to establish basic ecological and population parameters of the small mammal community, populations were sampled annually during late autumn and early winter before the onset of breeding. There were marked differences in the annual (autumn/winter) abundances of all species; numbers of A. agilis ranged from 4 to 142 individuals; A. swainsonii 0 to 43; R. fuscipes 4 to 54; R. lutreolus 0 to 11; M. musculus 0 to 23. Following the 1972 fire, numbers fell to the lowest level recorded during the study and each population subsequently disappeared from the plot between the 1973 and 1974 winter censuses. The less intense 1980 fire did not lead to extirpation, but numbers of A. agilis, A. swainsonii and R. fuscipes declined as drought conditions persisted through 1983. R. lutreolus occurred consistently only following the fires, when a grassy ground vegetation favoured by this species developed. Similarly, M. musculus colonised within two years of the fires and persisted on the plot for 3–4 years before disappearing. Following the fires, populations of the omnivorous R. fuscipes recovered first followed by the scansorial, insectivorous A. agilis and last by the fossorial, insectivorous A. swainsonii. Two primary conclusions emerged from this study. First, the intense fire of 1972 did not kill all the animals immediately, but led to the disappearance of each species from the plot over 18 months. Thus, intense fire had a delayed but catastrophic impact on small ground-dwelling mammals. The fluctuations in population levels, covering more than an order of magnitude, demonstrate that factors other than fire, such as rainfall and drought, drive the population dynamics of these small mammals. As stability and recovery are not features of local populations, long-term studies of benchmark populations are necessary to manage forest biodiversity.


Computer networks courses are hard to teach as there are many details in the protocols and techniques involved that are difficult to grasp. Employing programming assignments as part of the course helps students to obtain a better understanding and gain further insight into the theoretical lectures. In this paper, the Partov simulation engine and experience using this engine in a computer networks course are discussed. Since 2009, various programming assignments based on the Partov system have been set to help students in their learning process. Student feedback has been very good; this has been quantified in two surveys in which a majority of students expressed their satisfaction with this approach.


Code profiling enables a user to know where in an application or function the execution time is spent. The Pharo ecosystem offers several code profilers. However, most of the publicly available profilers (MessageTally, Spy, GadgetProfiler) largely ignore the activity carried out by the virtual machine, thus incurring inaccuracy in the gathered information and missing important information, such as the Just-in-time compiler activity. This paper describes the motivations and the latest improvements carried out in VMProfiler, a code execution profiler hooked into the virtual machine, that performs its analysis by monitoring the virtual machine execution. These improvements address some limitations related to assessing the activity of native functions (resulting from a Just-in-time compiler operation): as of now, VMProfiler provides more detailed profiling reports, showing for native code functions in which bytecode range the execution time is spent.