We present the optical imaging polarimetric observations of comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) at three different phase angles e.g. 28 $_{.}^{\circ}$2, 28 $_{.}^{\circ}$1 and 21 $_{.}^{\circ}$6. The observations were carried out using the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera mounted on Cassegrain focus of the 2 m telescope of IGO, IUCAA, Pune, in R comet , Rphotometric bands, on 2012 March 21 and 22 and Aryabhatta Research Institute of observational sciencES (ARIES) Imaging Polarimeter mounted on Cassegrain focus of the 1.04 m Sampurnanand Telescope of ARIES, Nainital, in R photometric band, on 2012 May 23. We show the presence of a jet activity in the rotational-gradient-treated image of comet Garradd at phase angle 28 $_{.}^{\circ}$1. These jets are mainly oriented towards the Sun and extended up to ∼5100 km from the cometary photocentre. The antisolar extension of the jet seems to be fainter, which is extended up to ∼1800 km. It is found that the comet Garradd shows negative polarization at phase angle 21 $_{.}^{\circ}$6. The degree of polarization derived for Garradd is in good agreement with other comets at nearly similar phase angles e.g. comets 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, 22P/Kopff, 1P/Halley, C/1990 K1 (Levy), 4P/Faye and C/1995 O1 (Hale–Bopp) at phase angle ∼28°, and 47P/Ashbrook–Jackson at phase angle ∼21 $_{.}^{\circ}$6, respectively. It is also found that the degree of polarization of dusty coma of comet Garradd at phase angle ∼28° is high but not as high as in the case of comet Hale–Bopp.


Purpose. The purpose of the study was to examine the independent associations of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness with clustered cardiometabolic risk. Methods. A cross-sectional sample of 192 adolescents (118 boys), aged 14–16 years, was recruited from a South Lanarkshire school in the West of Scotland. Anthropometry and blood pressure were measured, and blood samples were taken. The 20 m multistage fitness test was the indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). A clustered cardiometabolic risk score was constructed from HDL-C (inverted), LDL-C, HOMA, systolic blood pressure, and triglycerides. Interleukin-6, C-reactive protein, and adiponectin were also measured and examined relative to the clustered cardiometabolic risk score, CRF, and adiposity. Results. Although significant, partial correlations between BMI and waist circumference (WC) and both CRF and adiponectin were negative and weak to moderate, while correlations between the BMI and WC and CRP were positive but weak to moderate. Weak to moderate negative associations were also evident for adiponectin with CRP, IL-6, and clustered cardiometabolic risk. WC was positively associated while CRF was negatively associated with clustered cardiometabolic risk. With the additional adjustment for either WC or CRF, the independent associations with cardiometabolic risk persisted. Conclusion. WC and CRF are independently associated with clustered cardiometabolic risk in Scottish adolescents.


PURPOSE
To retrospectively determine the frequency and spectrum of findings and recommendations reported with whole-body computed tomographic (CT) screening at a community screening center.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
This HIPAA-compliant study received institutional review board approval, with waiver of informed consent. The radiologic reports of 1192 consecutive patients who underwent whole-body CT screening of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis at an outpatient imaging center from January to June 2000 were reviewed. Scans were obtained with electron-beam CT without oral or intravenous contrast material. Reported imaging findings and recommendations were retrospectively tabulated and assigned scores. Descriptive statistics were used (means, standard deviations, and percentages); comparisons between subgroups were performed with univariate analysis of variance and chi(2) or Fisher exact tests.

RESULTS
Screening was performed in 1192 patients (mean age, 54 years). Sixty-five percent (774 of 1192) were men and 35% (418 of 1192) were women. Nine hundred three (76%) of 1192 patients were self referred, and 1030 (86%) of 1192 subjects had at least one abnormal finding described in the whole-body CT screening report. There were a total of 3361 findings, with a mean of 2.8 per patient. Findings were described most frequently in the spine (1065 [32%] of 3361), abdominal blood vessels (561 [17%] of 3361), lungs (461 [14%] of 3361), kidneys (353 [11%] of 3361), and liver (183 [5%] of 3361). Four hundred forty-five (37%) patients received at least one recommendation for further evaluation. The most common recommendations were for additional imaging of the lungs or the kidneys.

CONCLUSION
With whole-body CT screening, findings were detected in a large number of subjects, and most findings were benign by description and required no further evaluation. Thirty-seven percent of patients had findings that elicited recommendations for additional evaluation, but further research is required to determine the clinical importance of these findings and the effect on patient care.


Objectives: Anxiety and depression are major health problems for carers of frail older people. Positive reactions to caregiving have been shown to protect people against anxiety and depression. The aims of this study are to explore specific aspects of self-esteem, termed positive caregiving reactions, and examine its relationship with caregiving anxiety and depressive symptoms. Method: A cross-sectional study of a cohort of carers (n = 119) of community-living people (≥70 years) identified empirically as frail completed postal questionnaires. Positive caregiver reactions were evaluated using the self-esteem subscale (seven items) of the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA). Anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: Anxiety and depressive symptoms were related significantly (p < 0.05) to six of the seven CRA self-esteem items. Caregiving resentment scores were relatively low, mean score (SD) 1.79 (0.91) on a 1–5 scale with higher scores indicating more resentment: yet regression analysis revealed that this factor was the only independent predictor of anxiety and depressive symptoms (r 2 = 0.093, p = 0.044 for anxiety, and r 2 = 0.121, p = 0.041 for depression). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that those carers who resent having to care for their frail older relative are susceptible to anxiety and depressive symptoms. This study supports the notion that there is a need for assessment of caregiving reactions in carers of frail older people.


Organized journalism in every era offers examples of news sharing: cooperative practices by which rival news outlets work together to produce or distribute news. Today, this behavior is being institutionalized by certain emergent news organizations. To understand news sharing, we argue, requires attention to how these journalists seek to not only practice but repair the field of journalism. This article analyzes news sharing as a form of field repair, drawing on ethnographic studies of investigative news nonprofits and professional fact-checking groups. We argue that journalism's "high-modern" era, with its broad alignment of economic and professional goals, highlighted competitive rather than collaborative elements of newswork. As that alignment unravels, journalists are engaging in explicit news sharing in pursuit of two intertwined goals: to increase the impact of their own reporting and to build institutional resources for public-affairs journalism to be practiced more widely across the field.


Projects in mechanized tunneling frequently do not reach their targeted production performance. Reasons are often related to an undersized or disturbed supply-chain management of the surface jobsite. Due to the sensitive interaction of production and logistic processes, planning and analyzing the supply-chain is a challenging task. Transparent evaluation of chosen logistic strategies or project setups can be achieved by application of process simulation. This paper presents the continued work of a simulation approach to analyze the complex system of mechanized tunneling. Special focus of this publication lies on the internal logistic as a part of the jobsite supply-chain. The generic implementation allows a flexible configuration of jobsite elements to compare possible setups. A case study demonstrates the approach and highlights the sensitive interaction of production and logistic processes under the influence of disturbances. Additionally, improvements to the original setup of the case study's construction equipment can be derived.


The battery model is the basis for battery state estimation, and its accuracy will directly affect the accuracy of the estimate. In the field of rail transit, combined with the actual operating conditions of the train to properly allocate the battery capacity, it is also necessary to establish an accurate battery model. At present, the commonly used battery model less considers the influence of temperature on the model parameters[1]. Because of the extreme low temperature conditions during the actual running of the train, this paper uses lithium iron phosphate battery as the research object, based on the second-order equivalent circuit model of the battery[2]. At the same time, considering the influence of low temperature on the available capacity of the battery[3], open circuit voltage, ohmic internal resistance and polarization parameters, a battery model suitable for room temperature below is proposed[4].


We introduce DMTet, a deep 3D conditional generative model that can synthesize high-resolution 3D shapes using simple user guides such as coarse voxels. It marries the merits of implicit and explicit 3D representations by leveraging a novel hybrid 3D representation. Compared to the current implicit approaches, which are trained to regress the signed distance values, DMTet directly optimizes for the reconstructed surface, which enables us to synthesize finer geometric details with fewer artifacts. Unlike deep 3D generative models that directly generate explicit representations such as meshes, our model can synthesize shapes with arbitrary topology. The core of DMTet includes a deformable tetrahedral grid that encodes a discretized signed distance function and a differentiable marching tetrahedra layer that converts the implicit signed distance representation to the explicit surface mesh representation. This combination allows joint optimization of the surface geometry and topology as well as generation of the hierarchy of subdivisions using reconstruction and adversarial losses defined explicitly on the surface mesh. Our approach significantly outperforms existing work on conditional shape synthesis from coarse voxel inputs, trained on a dataset of complex 3D animal shapes. Project page: https://nv-tlabs.github.io/DMTet/.


A new, less time consuming and cost effective UV spectrophotometric method was developed for the quantification of rivaroxaban in bulk. Rivaroxaban was estimated at 270 nm in dimethyl sulphoxide. The linearity range was found to be 2–20μg mL–1 (regression equation: Absorbance = 0.1086 × Concentration of drug in μg mL–1 + 0.0154; R2 = 0.9991). The apparent molar absorptivity and sandell's sensitivity were found to be 4.825 × 104 L mol−1 cm−1 and 2.262 × 10-3 μg cm−2, respectively. The method was tested and validated for various parameters according to ICH guidelines. The results demonstrated that the procedure is sensitive, selective, precise, accurate, robust, rugged and useful for the determination of rivaroxaban in bulk samples.


Research in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is diverse and multi-vocal, in that multiple theoretical and methodological traditions speak to questions concerning how learning takes place in social settings. Whether this multivocality leads to balkanization or is a source of strength may require deliberate efforts at identifying strategies and finding boundary objects for productive discourse across this diversity. This paper and associated symposium reports on the results of such an effort—a four-year series of five workshops exploring the basis for productive dialogue between multiple analytic traditions in CSCL. After a brief introduction to our objectives and the series of workshops, we illustrate lessons learned with three examples in which a group of analysts deliberately chosen for their diversity analyzed three small corpora with respect to identifying "pivotal moments" in collaborative learning and compared their results. The project also illustrates more generally the potential value of collaborative learning among researchers.


Much like their counterparts in the United States and elsewhere, British newspaper publishers have seen a sharp decline in revenues from traditional sources—print advertising and copy sales—and many are intensifying efforts to generate new income by expanding their online offerings. A study of the largest circulation newspapers in the 66 cities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland showed that while only a small minority did not have companion websites, many of the publishers who do have an online presence have transferred familiar revenue models. It has also been recognised that income from these sources is not enough to sustain current operations and innovative publishers have diversified into additional broad categories of Web business models. Significantly, this study did not only compare the approaches of various news publishers with each other, but it also considered how active newspaper publishers were in taking advantage of the variety of business models generally being employed on the Web—and which opportunities were ignored.


The rapid emergence of China as a major industrial power poses a complex challenge for global resource markets. Backed by the Chinese government, Chinese companies have been acquiring equity stakes in natural resource companies, extending loans to mining and petroleum investors, and writing long-term procurement contracts for oil and minerals. These activities have aroused concern that China might be "locking up" natural resource supplies, gaining "preferential access" to available output, and extending "control" over the world's extractive industries. On the demand side, Chinese appetite for vast amounts of energy and minerals puts tremendous strain on the international supply system. On the supply side, Chinese efforts to procure raw materials can either exacerbate or help solve the problems of high demand. * Evidence from the 16 largest Chinese natural resource procurement arrangements shows that Chinese efforts--like Japanese deployments of capital and purchase agreements in the late 1970s through the 1980s--fall predominantly into categories that help expand, diversify, and make more competitive the global supplier system. Investigation of smaller projects indicates the 16 largest do not suffer from selection bias. However, Chinese attempts to exercise control over mining of rare earth elements may constitute a significant exception. * The investigative focus of this analysis is deliberately narrow and precise, assessing the impact of Chinese resource procurement on the structure of the global supply base. The broader policy discussion in the concluding chapter raises other separate important issues, including the impact of Chinese resource procurement on rogue states, on authoritarian leadership, on civil wars, on corrupt payments and the deterioration of governance standards, and on environmental damage. Such effects may make patterns of Chinese resource procurement objectionable, on grounds quite apart from the debate about possible "control" of access on the part of China and Chinese companies.


PURPOSE
To develop a phantom and measurement protocol for quantifying spatial accuracy of an MR imaging system over its entire imaging volume.

METHODS
The measurement protocol is comprised of a phantom, a set of MR sequence parameters for imaging the phantom, and analysis software for calculating spatial errors in the acquired phantom images. The phantom covers the entire imaging volume of the scanner above the patient table. It consists of layers of tooling foam which does not produce any detectable signal on conventional MR images, embedded with a matrix of oil capsules to serve as markers. To account for possible spatial errors in the construction of the phantom, the phantom was imaged with CT to create a gold standard data set. On MR scanners, the phantom is acquired with a 3D FGRE sequence that covers an extended FOV of 61.44 mm and with bandwidth = ±62.5 kHz. Error measurements are performed by detecting markers in the image sets and identifying them based on their known locations on the phantom. The spatial error of a marker is defined as the difference between its locations on the MR and CT image sets.

RESULTS
The phantom was constructed and the measurement protocol was executed on two different MR scanners. Some markers were located in areas of severe field inhomogeneity or gradient nonlinearity, and could not be adequately detected for analysis. Maximum errors over concentric spherical regions were observed by plotting the error of each marker as a function of their distance from isocenter.

CONCLUSION
The proposed phantom and protocol can be an effective tool for verifying the spatial accuracy of an MR system, which in turn can improve the accuracy and confidence of MR guided therapies. Data from this protocol may also be used in the development of advanced distortion correction algorithms. Employed by General Electric Healthcare.


Growing season length can control plant size over altitudinal and biogeographic scales, but its effect at the scale of meters is largely unexplored. Within the riparian zone of a northern California river, scarlet monkeyflower, Mimulus cardinalis, grows significantly larger at sites high in the channel as compared to sites low in the channel, and even larger where tributaries meet the main stem of the river. We explored the hypothesis that markedly different growing season length controls this size variation. Due to the very gradual retreat of the water level following winter flooding, emergence time is three months longer for plants growing at tributary confluences than for plants growing at low elevations in the channel. Consistent with the growing season length hypothesis, we found no difference in transplant growth between river and tributary confluence sites in an experiment where we equalized growing season length at these locations. Moreover, a second experiment showed that individuals planted earlier in the year gain a distinct size advantage over those planted later, even though growing conditions are less ideal. These results suggest that emergence time may be a key determinant of plant size structure along rivers, an important result considering forecasted variation in water flows with climate change.


Background/Aims: In patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), selection of candidates for liver transplantation (LT) requires refinement based on tumor biology to maximize the outcome. We aimed to prognosticate LT candidates with HCC using a risk prediction model for post-LT recurrence. Patients and Methods: A total of 197 consecutive patients were included who underwent LT for hepatitis B-related HCC within the Milan criteria. A risk prediction model was developed for post-LT recurrence using the Cox model and was internally validated. Results: Among those undergoing LT as their first HCC treatment (n=70, initial LT group), poor prognosis was associated with maximal tumor size and multinodularity. The remaining 127 patients (deferred LT group) received radiofrequency ablation (n=69) and/or transarterial chemoembolization (n=98) before LT. Multinodularity, maximal tumor size, posttransarterial chemoembolization progressive disease, baseline alpha-fetoprotein, and alpha-fetoprotein difference (between baseline and pre-LT) were incorporated into a risk prediction model for the deferred LT group, which was thereby stratified into low-risk (score<5), intermediate-risk, and high-risk (score≥8) subgroups. Recurrence-free survival was significantly different among the deferred LT prognostic subgroups (P<0.001). Conclusions: This risk prediction model may help refinement of "ablate-and-wait" strategy for LT candidates by avoiding LT in those with either high risk score at baseline or increasing score under repeated locoregional therapies.


ABSTRACT The three skin disorders of Lyme borreliosis in Europe include erythema migrans, an acute, self-limited lesion; borrelial lymphocytoma, a subacute lesion; and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, a chronic lesion. Using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR, we determined mRNA expression of selected chemokines, cytokines, and leukocyte markers in skin samples from 100 patients with erythema migrans, borrelial lymphocytoma, or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans and from 25 control subjects. Chemokine patterns in lesional skin in each of the three skin disorders included low but significant mRNA levels of the neutrophil chemoattractant CXCL1 and the dendritic cell chemoattractant CCL20 and intermediate levels of the macrophage chemoattractant CCL2. Erythema migrans and particularly acrodermatitis lesions had high mRNA expression of the T-cell-active chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 and low levels of the B-cell-active chemokine CXCL13, whereas lymphocytoma lesions had high levels of CXCL13 and lower levels of CXCL9 and CXCL10. This pattern of chemokine expression was consistent with leukocyte marker mRNA in lesional skin. Moreover, using immunohistologic methods, CD3+ T cells and CXCL9 were visualized in erythema migrans and acrodermatitis lesions, and CD20+ B cells and CXCL13 were seen in lymphocytoma lesions. Thus, erythema migrans and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans have high levels of the T-cell-active chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10, whereas borrelial lymphocytoma has high levels of the B-cell-active chemokine CXCL13.


Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most prevalent type of oral cancer. Counting of mitotic figures as well as the detection of Ki-67 expression by immunohistochemistry have been used to detect cell proliferation in malignant tumors. We correlated Ki-67 expression with mitotic activity and observed any notable relationship between them, to ascertain the role of Ki-67 protein as a tumor proliferative marker in OSCC. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken at a tertiary care hospital in Western Maharashtra over a period of 2 years. Fifty paraffin blocks of patients diagnosed as OSCC were included in our study, who were classified into well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (n = 24), moderately-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (n = 23), and poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (n = 3). Two slides per case were stained with H and E and Ki-67 marker, then observed under light microscopy to obtain Mitotic Index (MI) and Ki-67 Labeling Index (LI), respectively. Results were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, Chi-square test, and unpaired t-test. Results: Hyperplastic epithelium revealed higher Ki-67 LI as compared to normal epithelium. There was a statistically significant (P = 0.045) increase in Ki-67 LI in the proliferating margin with grade of OSCC. Positive linear correlation was noted between Ki-67 and MI in tumor proper (r = 0.186) and proliferating margin (r = 0.337) and was statistically significant in the latter (P = 0.017). Conclusions: Ki-67 LI can reliably detect the proliferative potential of cells at the invasive margin of a tumor. MI, on the other hand, can detect the cell proliferation rate of the tumor that is in correlation with the histopathological grade of OSCC.


Children and adults often hold naive intuitive theories about how the physical world around them works, and their misconceptions can be difficult to change. Self-explanations have been found to be effective in producing better understanding of science (Chi, de Leeuw, Chiu, & LaVancher, 1994), and explaining another person's reasoning can also bring about cognitive change (Siegler, 1995). This study deals with one domain of physics-balance-and investigates the effects of 2 interventions on children who had either a procedure for balancing but could not explain it or had a naive theory. We pretested 140 children, ages 5 to 9 years, to assess their ability on a balance beam task and their knowledge about the principles of balance. These children were classified according to levels of representation derived from Karmiloff-Smith's (1992) Representational Redescription model. In this sample, 104 children could not explain the principles of balance or possessed a naive theory that all things had to balance in the center. These children were allocated to 1 of 2 intervention conditions. Approximately half of the children watched the experimenter model the correct solution to the balance task; the rest observed the model and were also encouraged to produce verbal explanations of what they saw. At posttest, a significantly higher number of children from the latter condition had improved their understanding of balance. The positive effects of interpersonal explanation are discussed in relation to Karmiloff-Smith's model of children's development, and the implications for teaching are highlighted.


This course, on the mechanics of solids and materials, as well as aeronautical structures, aims to give an overview of the necessary notions for structure sizing within the aeronautics field. It begins by establishing all of the classic notions of mechanics: stress, strain, behaviour law and sizing criteria. Also covered are notions that are particular to aeronautics, with a particular emphasis on the notion of limit loads and ultimate loads.
Different problem-solving methods, particularly the finite element method, are then introduced. The methods are not classically presented and instead, energy minimization is drawn on in order to minimize the number of equations, all while remaining within a framework that one may comprehend 'with their hands'.
The book then addresses the subject of plasticity, showcasing its influence on structure sizing, and especially the advantages it has for sizing criteria.
Finally, the physics of the 2 main materials in aeronautics, namely aluminum and composite materials, are discussed, so as to shed light on the sizing criteria outlined within the previous chapters.
The corrected exercises help the student to test their comprehension of the different topics.
What is so original about this book is that from the outset, it places itself within the field of Aeronautics. Sizing criteria are indeed rather particular in this field. Nevertheless, the notions discussed remain valid for the majority of industrial fields: Mechanical Engineering and Finite Elements do in fact remain the same.
Another original facet of this work is that it consolidates basic continuum mechanics with a very succinct description of finite elements, and a description of the material aspect of the main materials used in aeronautical structures, being aluminum and composites. This publication is therefore a summary of the basic knowledge deemed necessary for the ("Airbus") engineer working within research departments. The book is simultaneously aimed at both students who are beginning their training and also engineers already working in the field who desire a summary of the basic theories.
Lastly, the publication aims to limit the amount of formulas provided as much as possible, in order to highlight the significance of the physical. Any readers who may be interested in demonstrations are advised to refer to more specific and theoretical works, such as [COI 01], [DUV 98], [GER 73], [HEA 77], [KHA 95], [LEM96], [MIR 03], [SAL 02], [THU 97], [UGU 03], etc.


Human modelling tools provide a means to perform virtual task evaluations upon designs within the computer environment. The ability to evaluate the accommodation of a design early on in the design process before physical prototypes can be built has many advantages. These advantages are particularly relevant in supporting people in attempting to design products that are inclusive and accessible. HADRIAN is a new tool developed to provide accessible, and applicable data on people with a broad range of size, age, and ability together with a means of optimising virtual task evaluations. This paper describes the use of HADRIAN in performing a task evaluation, focusing on the underlying methodology that aims to achieve a virtual simulation that mimics a real world user trial.


Chromatin isolated from adult rat liver was fractionated into template active and inactive components by controlled shearing and glycerol gradient centrifugation. The fractionated chromatin was assayed for DNA-dependent DNA polymerase (DNA mucleotidyl transferase EC 188.8.131.52) activity with and without exogenous activated DNA serving as template. With endogenous chromatin as template, it was found that 90% of the endogenous chromatin bound DNA polymerase activity was located in the transcriptionally active fraction of chromatin, while the distribution of DNA polymerase assayed with exogenous activated DNA was found to be 65% in the transcriptionally active and 35% in the inactive fractions. However, when DNA polymerase was solubilized from these fractions by salt extraction, enzyme activity was found to be equally distributed, suggesting that the difference in endogenous DNA polymerase activity observed between eu- and heterochromatin is due to the restricted template found in repressed fractions.


IL-2, a cytokine produced by T cells, is a key regulator of immune responses and T cell homeostasis. Controlling the availability of IL-2 is consequently of significant import to the immune system. Like other cytokines, IL-2 is thought to function as a soluble agonist, transiently present when secreted in response to appropriate stimuli. In this study, we show that the most salient properties of IL-2, propagation and control of T cell responses, are mediated in vivo by bound and not free cytokine and specifically by heparan sulfate-bound IL-2. These findings necessitate a new look at how IL-2 regulates immune responses and support the notion that the microenvironment plays a determining role in modulating the character of immune responses.


The introduction of an international standard on odour measurement presents a new challenge for olfactometry laboratories to meet tough new instrumental performance and panellist performance criteria. The paper reviews a number of olfactometers used in the last ten years both in Australia and overseas. It has found that the back pressure could contribute a significant error in the delivery of the required dilution ratio and the contamination of the olfactometer was the source of large variation in olfactometry results. The paper discusses the instrumental performance of the newly developed olfactometer. DynaScent is a fourth generation olfactometer which uses no flow measurement device (flowmeter or mass flow controller). The dilution ratios of the DynaScent were calibrated using CO gas and auto calibration feature. The effects of the CO sampling point locations (within the system and above the sniffing cup) could have significant impacts on the dilution ratio. Practically, the manual calibration is both time consuming and labour intensive. Furthermore, it was found that the accuracy and instability results were sensitive to the selection of the CO gas range. It is concluded that the calibration of a dynamic olfactometer should be carried out more frequently than once a year. The DynaScent olfactometer was able to achieve averaged instability of 1.7% and accuracy of 9% over the dilution range of 2 65000.


It is known that, without awareness of the process, our brain appears to focus on the general shape of objects rather than superficial statistics of context. On the other hand, learning autonomously allows discovering invariant regularities which help generalization. In this work, we propose a learning framework to improve the shape bias property of self-supervised methods. Our method learns semantic and shape biased representations by integrating domain diversification and jigsaw puzzles. The first module enables the model to create a dynamic environment across arbitrary domains and provides a domain exploration vs. exploitation trade-off, while the second module allows the model to explore this environment autonomously. This universal framework does not require prior knowledge of the domain of interest. Extensive experiments are conducted on several domain generalization datasets, namely, PACS, Office-Home, VLCS, and Digits. We show that our framework outperforms state-of-the-art domain generalization methods by a large margin.


Abstract. Glacier surges often initiate in winter, but the mechanism remains unclear in contrast to the well-known summer speed-up at normal glaciers. To better understand the mechanism, we used radar images to examine spatial-temporal changes in the ice velocity of surge-type glaciers near the border of Alaska and the Yukon, focusing on their quiescent phase. We found significant accelerations in the upstream region from autumn to winter, regardless of surging episodes. Moreover, the winter speed-up propagated from upstream to downstream. Given the absence of surface meltwater input in winter, we suggest the presence of water storage near the base that does not directly connect to the surface, yet can promote basal sliding through increased water pressure. Our findings have implications for the modelling of glacial hydrology in winter, which may help us better understand glacier dynamics.


Orientation: Identification of tourists' needs and finding ways of satisfying them is crucial to any tourism destination. Research purpose: This paper investigated the challenges, demands and expectations of Nigerian tourists to South Africa. Motivation for the study: Nigeria, along with other African nations, has been identified as one of the core regional source markets with air links to South Africa. Increasing revenue generated from regional tourism is important to South African Tourism. Research design, approach and method: Descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests were used to analyse the data collected using a questionnaire survey of 320 Nigerian tourists to South Africa. Main findings: Results showed that Nigerian tourists visit South Africa mostly for the purposes of business, holiday, visiting friends and relatives, education and medical care. Challenges perceived by these Nigerian tourists visiting South Africa include long waiting time for the visa process in Nigeria, expensive cost of living in South Africa, safety and security problems, not so many airlines to choose from and expensive flight costs. Nigerian tourists mostly expect South Africans to be friendlier and have expectations of linking up with new business partners or performing transactions. They also have a strong demand for shopping, leisure and quality education. Practical/managerial implications: This study recommends a bilateral tourism relationship agreement between the Nigerian and South African governments to ameliorate the visa process; targeted marketing communications by South African Tourism toward Nigerian tourists based on study results; strong police presence and proper policing in South Africa; air transport liberalisation and low-cost carriers implementation for shared economic growth within the African region. Contribution/value-add: No former research has specifically identified Nigerian tourists' challenges, expectations and demands whilst visiting South Africa.


Breastfeeding offers numerous health benefits to the mother, infant, and society. In the United States breastfeeding initiation rates have increased, but continue to fall short of objectives set forth by the CDC in the Healthy People 2020 initiative, regarding duration and exclusivity. African Americans have lower rates of breastfeeding initiation, duration, and exclusivity than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States (USDHHS, 2012). The purpose of this study was to examine the breastfeeding experiences of a diverse group of African American women, in order to better understand what social networks encouraged or discouraged breastfeeding initiation, continuation, and exclusivity. Close attention was given to the type of support provided by support systems to positively influence breastfeeding in this group of women. Additionally, this study sought to uncover the meaning of adequate breastfeeding support as perceived by the women in the study. This study employed a qualitative research design using semi-structured in-depth interviewing. The sample included 15 African American women recruited from 2 sites serving breastfeeding women in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The purpose of the interviews was to ascertain the women's perspectives on breastfeeding experiences and support systems. Results of this study indicate that participants engaged in a number of supportive social relationships which positively affected their breastfeeding experiences. Women in the study perceived romantic partners, breastfeeding peer counselors, and hospital-based lactation consultants to me most supportive during breastfeeding. Additionally, women received support from female relatives and friends, and online breastfeeding support groups. Participants found emotional, informational, and instrumental support to be most essential to breastfeeding success.


As a major contributor to the planetary greenhouse effect, construction industry needs to adopt
sustainability at the core of its activities - to reverse or slow down the impacts of climate change.
Increased collaboration among stakeholders along with analysis/performance based decision making
is the way forward for enhanced sustainability. Emphasis is placed on the process of shared creation
through multi-disciplinary collaboration, enabled by the implementation of IT (Information
Technology) that acts as a platform to augment our ability to communicate. Developments in the
Construction IT have been product oriented and aimed at solving particular domain problems
usually with a narrow focus - further reducing the accessibility and interoperability of information
over the lifecycle stages. Advances in the semantics based interoperable data standards, such as IFC
(Industry Foundation Classes) offer significant advantage in removing such barriers to successful
vertical and horizontal integration of software tools and process. The use of building simulation in
architectural design requires specialist knowledge and a rich set of information about the proposed
building which are not available to the design team at early stages. Standards based mapping of
information for input processing of the simulation engines can act as an alternative to simplified
tools supporting the exploratory nature of design. Detailed based input processing also restricts the
use of simulation to occasional validation of solutions - even during detailed design stages. For a
directed exploration of the solution space, numerical optimisation methods can be applied to
enhance simulation assisted design. Successful application of optimisation methods pivots on the
ability of the analysis and decision making components of the software to communicate with each
other without the loss of data semantics. To realise this potential, a process-oriented integrated framework based on the interoperability of
information and software tools have been developed and implemented in this thesis. For horizontal
integration of domain specific tools through intra-software messaging, ardML - an XML (eXtensible
Markup Language) based schema has been developed which attempts to connect non-interoperable
software tools. Multi-disciplinary environmental design of buildings has been chosen as the domain
of discourse. The framework currently employs industry standard zonal building simulation as an
analysis tool and gradient-based mathematical optimisation methods for informed decision making.
Interoperability among tools, processes and information has been achieved through the
implementation of IFC based data model. The modular nature of the object-oriented framework
allows incorporation of existing and future tools. The applicability of the framework has been
investigated in the early stages of architectural design, in particular the selection of form and
orientation - considering the environmental aspects. The implementation of the framework at an
ambiguous and exploratory stage of design reinforces its applicability in a wider industry context.


Recent scientific and technological advances have accelerated our understanding of the causes of disease development and progression, and resulted in innovative treatments and therapies. Ongoing work to elucidate the effects of individual genetic variation on patient outcomes suggests the rapid pace of discovery in the biomedical sciences will only accelerate. However, these advances belie an important and increasing shortfall between the expansion in therapy and treatment options and knowledge about how these interventions might be applied appropriately to individual patients. The impressive gains made in Americans' health over the past decades provide only a preview of what might be possible when data on treatment effects and patient outcomes are systematically captured and used to evaluate their effectiveness. Needed for progress are advances as dramatic as those experienced in biomedicine in our approach to assessing clinical effectiveness. In the emerging era of tailored treatments and rapidly evolving practice, ensuring the translation of scientific discovery into improved health outcomes requires a new approach to clinical evaluation. A paradigm that supports a continual learning process about what works best for individual patients will not only take advantage of the rigor of trials, but also incorporate other methods that might bring insights relevant to clinical care and endeavor to match the right method to the question at hand. The Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care's vision for a learning healthcare system, in which evidence is applied and generated as a natural course of care, is premised on the development of a research capacity that is structured to provide timely and accurate evidence relevant to the clinical decisions faced by patients and providers. As part of the Roundtable's Learning Healthcare System series of workshops, clinical researchers, academics, and policy makers gathered for the workshop Redesigning the Clinical Effectiveness Research Paradigm: Innovation and Practice-Based Approaches. Participants explored cutting-edge research designs and methods and discussed strategies for development of a research paradigm to better accommodate the diverse array of emerging data resources, study designs, tools, and techniques. Presentations and discussions are summarized in this volume.


Large scale computations from various scientific endeavors are composed as workflows that access shared data and high performance systems. Similarly, business applications in cloud computing systems use distributed infrastructure as part of mainstream business models. Recent advances in grid and cloud computing provide tools to monitor and manage execution. However they do not not provide predictable bounds on the Quality of Service (QoS) that can be expected in such variable multi-user distributed environments. Understanding the dynamic properties of resources and coordinated control of resources and workflows is critical especially for deadline-sensitive workflows such as weather prediction.
In this dissertation we revisit the software stack that supports the multi-tier services and propose and evaluate the WORDS (Workflow ORchestrator for Distributed Systems) architecture that abstracts the differences between specific resource models and provides a clear separation of concerns between the resource-level and application-level tools. In the context of the WORDS architecture we explore interfaces and mechanisms necessary for providing predictable quality of service to web service workflows with time and accuracy constraints.
We make the following four primary contributions. First, we propose a resource abstraction across grid and cloud resource control mechanisms that enables higher-levels tools to abstract the differences between systems. Second, we propose a probabilistic Quality of Service (QoS) model that enables providers to quantify the variation in resource availability; both for resource procurement due to competition and for the duration of the resource request from failures at various levels. Third, we use performability analysis through a Markov Reward Model to quantify the loss in performance and study the impact on cost due to availability variations. Finally, we propose a multi-phase orchestration approach that balances performance, reliability and cost considerations for a set of workflows.


There is wide-spread agreement amongst software engineers that Formal Methods (FM) are generally too slow in their application, whereas Agile Methods (AM) in their extreme form cannot sufficiently produce the degree of software reliability which is needed, for example, for safety- and industry-critical software systems, including embedded systems in various environments. Consequently it makes sense to search for feasible combinations of the best of both worlds, with the goal of making the application of FM faster and the application of AM more formally sound. This is the purpose of the workshop FM+AM'11 which is going to be held for the 3rd time (after FM+AM'09 in Brasil and FM+AM'10 in Italy).


Genome editing, also known as gene editing, encompasses a broad range of techniques that allows targeted changes in the DNA of animals (and plants). The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill 2022 -2023, due for Second Reading in the House of Lords on 21 November 2022, intends to change the regulatory definition of certain genome-edited animals.


More than 80% of available malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are based on the detection of histidine-rich protein-2 (PfHRP2) for diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Recent studies have shown the genes that code for this protein and its paralog, histidine-rich protein-3 (PfHRP3), are absent in parasites from the Peruvian Amazon Basin. Lack of PfHRP2 protein through deletion of the pfhrp2 gene leads to false-negative RDT results for P. falciparum. We have evaluated the extent of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene deletions in a convenience sample of 198 isolates from six sites in three states across the Brazilian Amazon Basin (Acre, Rondonia and Para) and 25 isolates from two sites in Bolivia collected at different times between 2010 and 2012. Pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 gene and their flanking genes on chromosomes 7 and 13, respectively, were amplified from 198 blood specimens collected in Brazil. In Brazil, the isolates collected in Acre state, located in the western part of the Brazilian Amazon, had the highest percentage of deletions for pfhrp2 25 (31.2%) of 79, while among those collected in Rondonia, the prevalence of pfhrp2 gene deletion was only 3.3% (2 out of 60 patients). In isolates from Para state, all parasites were pfhrp2-positive. In contrast, we detected high proportions of isolates from all 3 states that were pfhrp3-negative ranging from 18.3% (11 out of 60 samples) to 50.9% (30 out of 59 samples). In Bolivia, only one of 25 samples (4%) tested had deleted pfhrp2 gene, while 68% (17 out of 25 samples) were pfhrp3-negative. Among the isolates tested, P. falciparum pfhrp2 gene deletions were present mainly in those from Acre State in the Brazilian Amazon. These results indicate it is important to reconsider the use of PfHRP2-based RDTs in the western region of the Brazilian Amazon and to implement appropriate surveillance systems to monitor pfhrp2 gene deletions in this and other parts of the Amazon region.


Increased interest in sustainable development, and in policy assessment as a means to achieve that, have yielded little evidence of sustainable development principles in policy assessment. This paper presents a study at a more strategic level of policy-making: the European Union (EU)'s environmental Thematic Strategies (TSs). Elements of Integrated Sustainability Assessment (ISA), such as consultation, were often strong, and quantitative analysis was integrated into policy development. But the primary aim of EU policy of pursuing economic growth and de regulation limits the scope and effectiveness of sustainability assessment. This paper concludes by drawing on literature on evidence in policy-making to suggest lessons for ISA.


Global capital markets are in a state of flux. Castigated in the past as "Barbarians at the Gate", private equity providers are once again proclaiming the end of the public corporation. This important book addresses the implications of private equity for the governance of corporations, the capital markets in which they operate and the professionals who provide corporate advisory services. The book evaluates and ranks the precise nature of the risk posed by private equity by situating it within an overarching analysis of the dynamics of financial capitalism. Key issues addressed include: the management of conflicts of interest, fiduciary duties, the role of enforcement, the efficacy of adopting a rules- or principles-based system of regulation, the form and function of compliance, and a detailed examination of how to embed accountability into an integrity system for the financial markets. The book therefore has enormous benefit for industry, regulatory and academic communities alike.


This thesis study presents an exploration of the development of graduate learners' monitoring proficiencies and task understandings in the context of a complex writing task. Participants were seventeen students enrolled in a graduate Learning Theories course, engaged in writing six, weekly learning logs; logs were based on the content being covered in the course. Data was collected primarily using a self-assessment tool, the Task Analyzer and Performance Evaluator, which accompanied each learning log. Measures analysed included instructors' performance assessments, students' predicted performances, students' prediction confidence scores, independently scored performances on the logs, criteria justification scores, and monitoring proficiencies, which included bias and discrimination. Results suggest that learners showed improved monitoring proficiencies as instruction progressed. Findings also reveal that while learners exhibited signs of a general monitoring ability across the six logs, prediction confidence, bias and discrimination abilities were mostly unrelated to one another. While learners showed improved criteria justification scores as instruction progressed, there were no relationships found between this measure of task understanding and monitoring abilities. The findings are discussed in relation to recent research on the domain-generality of monitoring and instructional features that promote self-regulation. Due to the exploratory nature of this study and the small sample size, findings cannot be generalized and must be treated with caution. Further research is needed to better characterize monitoring abilities in adult learners engaged in complex, writing tasks.


The size of an animal is of utmost importance for its overall success and each species is thought to have its own optimal size. If this is true, size traits ought to be under stabilising selection unless the animal is living in a highly unstable environment. Wing length is a standard measurement of the size of birds, but up to date there have been few indications of stabilising selection on wing length. In this study we analyse recovery data for reed warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus (n=771) ringed as juveniles in Sweden from 1981 until 2001. The data showed a significant relationship between juvenile wing length and survival time, with median juvenile wing lengths (66–67 mm) being the most favourable. The estimated stabilising selection differential (C=−0.094) supports that wing length of the reed warblers in our study is under stabilising selection. The reed warbler is a long-distance migratory species and we suggest that opposing selection pressures may act on wing length during different life history stages, and that this might explain the rather broad peak of favourable wing lengths found.


The essential oils and fatty constituents of Capparis spinosa as an important medicinal plant were extracted in petroleum ether and tested as antioxidant and antimicrobial agents. The components of the petroleum ether extract were identified by spectroscopic analysis using GC/MS. The spectral analysis showed that this extract contains mainly tetracosane (14.368%), methyl-cyclopentane (11.979%), heptadecane (11.794%), heptacosane (10.098%), eicosane (3.481%), vitamin E (4.280%), α-Cadinol (3.079%), Spathulenol (0.868%), α-Curcumene (1.188%), Muurolol (0.917%), phytol (1.727%), trans geranyl geraniol (0.862%), Palmitic acid (1.132%) and stigmasterol (2.172%). The functional chemical groups were estimated using Fourier transform infrared" FTIR" spectroscopy. The main phytochemical constituents present in this extract were quantitatively estimated. The antioxidant scavenging activity of petroleum ether extract was also examined using DPPH·, FIC, ABTS+· and FRAP assays. The petroleum ether extract of C. spinosa expressed a good antioxidant activity. The antimicrobial activity of C. spinosa extract was evaluated against several pathogenic bacterial strains such as Bacillus subtilis, Klebsiella pneunomonia, Erwinia carotovora and Escherichia coli in addition to Candida albicans as pathogenic fungal strain. The extract exhibited a broad antimicrobial spectrum against the tested microorganisms. MIC and MBC of the extract were determined. The results showed inhibitory activity against all the tested organisms while showed cidal activity against only B. subtilis, K. pneunomonia and C. albicans.


The Wizard of Oz exemplifies the "experience of order" some scholars have posited as the heart of both religion and film. But it also undermines the notion that such order requires a transcendent guarantee. Oz provides a vision of religion as no less powerful for having been unmasked as the product of interpersonal human collusion in illusion, thereby reversing the film's implicit critique of religion. The essay makes use of the motif of "the man behind the curtain" to explore and critique theories of myth and religion from Karl Marx to Russell McCutcheon, Sam Gill, and Jonathan Z. Smith.


Audibility, is a common problem for hearing-impaired individuals and is especially frequent in older adults. Despite the debilitating nature of the problem the cause is not yet completely clear. This review considers the role of spatial processing ability in understanding speech in noise, highlights the potential impact of disordered spatial processing, and attempts to establish if aging leads to reduced spatial processing ability. Evidence supporting and opposing the hypothesis that spatial processing is disordered among the aging population is presented. With a few notable exceptions, spatial processing ability was shown to be reduced in an older population in comparison to young adults, leading to poorer speech understanding in noise. However, it is argued that to conclude aging negatively effects spatial processing ability may be oversimplified or even premature given potentially confounding factors such as cognitive ability and hearing impairment. Further research is required to determine the effect of aging and hearing impairment on spatial processing and to investigate possible remediation options for spatial processing disorder. Difficulty understanding speech in background noise, even with amplification to restore.


The international financial crisis has affected people's everyday activities, changing multiple aspects of their daily behavior. In countries deeply affected by the economic recession, the crisis has produced a significant incentive to change transport and mobility habits towards cheaper and affordable modes of transport. The impacts of the crisis have been spatially heterogeneous and socially diverse, and consequently mobility adaptation strategies depend on both territorial and social resilience. The present paper analyzes the main changes of mobility habits that occurred between 2004–2012 in the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, covering the end of the era of economic growth, and the advent and unfolding of the economic crisis. The research uses travel survey data to understand how different population groups have adapted their mobility to the crisis, and how core and outer metropolitan areas have shaped the adaptation strategies of their inhabitants. The results show a general trend towards a rationalized use of private modes in favor of an increased use of shorter trips and non-motorized modes, but also show how social factors and urban forms interact to generate significant differences in mobility adaptation strategies.


Human impacts on the environment are multifaceted and can occur across distinct spatiotemporal scales. Ecological responses to environmental change are therefore difficult to predict, and entail large degrees of uncertainty. Such uncertainty requires robust tools for management to sustain ecosystem goods and services and maintain resilient ecosystems. We propose an approach based on discontinuity theory that accounts for patterns and processes at distinct spatial and temporal scales, an inherent property of ecological systems. Discontinuity theory has not been applied in natural resource management and could therefore improve ecosystem management because it explicitly accounts for ecological complexity. Synthesis and applications. We highlight the application of discontinuity approaches for meeting management goals. Specifically, discontinuity approaches have significant potential to measure and thus understand the resilience of ecosystems, to objectively identify critical scales of space and time in ecological systems at which human impact might be most severe, to provide warning indicators of regime change, to help predict and understand biological invasions and extinctions and to focus monitoring efforts. Discontinuity theory can complement current approaches, providing a broader paradigm for ecological management and conservation.


This thesis analyses the concept and practice of philosophy within the
Spanish academia during the first half of the XX century, in relation to
different political and institutional regimes. In particular, the research
focuses on the academic career of the most prominent intellectual of
that time, Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), who dominated the Spanish
philosophical scene for almost fifty years. Through the analysis and
study of his intellectual biography and of his theory of education, this
research sheds light on the instrumental political and social function
that the academic teaching of humanities did play in the case of the
Spanish contemporary history. The thesis investigates the mutual
relations between the philosophy of Ortega and the one purported by
the Spanish academia, thought as a social and political institution,
considering the period comprised since his first appointment as a
professor at the University of Madrid, in 1910, until his death in 1955.
In particular, contrary to the majority of the studies on the author, the
thesis pays particular attention to the second part of his life marked,
since 1936, by a long exile, a brief return in Spain after the end of World
War II, and the creation, in 1948, of the Institute of Humanities, an
exp erim en tal ed u cative p r oject h e d evelop ed d u rin g Fran co's regim e.
The kernel of this investigation is constituted by an often dismissed
featu re of Or tega's p h ilosop h y: i.e. th e cen tr ality of the theory and
practice of education during the whole course of his life. Significantly,
he always developed his theorisations within a particular context: the
Spanish academia and, in particular, the University of Madrid. This
institution constantly underwent relevant changes during the first half
of the XX century due to paradigmatic mutations in the political
regimes leading the country. In particular, the period analysed in this
thesis includes the study of four different historical paradigms: the
period which followed the end of the Restoration, the one ruled by the
II Republic, th e begin n in g of Fran co's regime and, finally, its changes in
relation to the post-war international context. This variability affected
the way in which Ortega conceived the function of philosophers an d
intellectuals in society. His philosophy, which can be defined as a
constant intellectual protrepsis, changed in relation to the political and
academic circumstances under which he lived. In fact, he conceived the role of the intellectual as strictly intertwined with a social and political
mission, that went beyond the limited boarders of the academia, even if
it always arose from this institution.
Based on a stu d y of Ortega's teach in gs in their historical context,
conducted through a careful reconstruction of the academic debates
that characterised the Spanish University – rendered possible by the
analysis of a wide range of primary sources, both from personal and
public archives, as well as of newspapers, cultural reviews, books and
school texts – this research contributes to shed light on the functioning
of the academic debate and its role within society, in particular in
relation to the creation and diffusion of humanistic disciplines. The
research offers an analysis of a very compelling case study that permits
to comprehend how academic debates evolve under different political
regimes, and the extent to which philosophy is always forged and, at
the same time, contribute to modify the institution within which it
develops. In conclusion, the work offers an innovative reading of the
philosophy and intellectual activity of Ortega y Gasset, contributing to
clarify one of the most controversial period s of his life which, until
now, had not been analysed in-depth.


The present work was carried out to investigate the silver concentration Effect (Ag %)othe optical and the electrical properties of the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). The samples were casted as films from the photopolymer (PMMA) stated above and the reason. The optical constant (α,k,n, εr, and εi)for the photopolymer (PMMA),and Ag/PMMA composites at different concentration were investigated. It was seen that there was nonlinear relationship between the optical constants and the concentration ratio, which was attributed to their incompatibility. These results were confirmed with optical micrographs. It was found that there was increasing of carrier concentration with Ag ratio which Ag/PMMA composites at different concentration. These prepared polymer systems were analyzes spectrophotometically. It was found that an increasing in the absorption spectra with increasing of the silver concentration in Ag/PMMA composites, which was attributed to the increasing in localized states. The results proved that its energy gap was for 13%Ag/PMMA (4.85eV), which was the lowest of all polymer system involved due to previous was caused decreasing in the mobility. The results showed that the best conductivity was at 9%Ag ratio, and the lowest receptivity.


For more than 20 years of directing, teaching, and participating in improvisation, Mick Napier has watched thousands of scenes. His experience as founder of the acclaimed Annoyance Theatre/Annoyance Productions, as well as Resident Director and Artistic Consultant for The Second City, has led him to continually question why and how scenes work or don't work and what one must do in order for a scene to be successful. In this book, Napier takes an irreverent, but constructive look at the art and practice of improvised scenes. He covers such topics as: two-person scenes group scenes entering scenes techniques to achieve richer, more layered scenes auditioning solo exercises for practice at home. Napier also challenges the conventional wisdom of the "rules" of improvisation, examining what's behind them and how they came to be in the first place. Get helpful, tangible guidelines for bringing strength and direction to your scenes. Just "Improvise."


Poland's structural deficit is one of the largest in the EU. While other Member States are taking action to reduce their deficits, the Polish government has not only introduced costly projects, but has also announced additional projects that will further aggravate the state of Polish public finances. The aim of maintaining the nominal deficit under 3% of GDP, as declared by the government, is insufficient because it does not leave a margin of safety in case of an economic slowdown. In the meantime, the turbulent global economy and the structural challenges the Polish economy is facing make the scenario of an economic slowdown increasingly plausible. Dr. Aleksander £aszek evaluates the government's current policy through the lens of the challenges that stand a head of Polish economy, and its resilience to shocks, in the new mBank-CASE Seminar Proceedings "Economic policy, the international environment and the state of Poland's public finances: Scenarios".


Many decisions in agriculture are made over combinations of inputs and/or practices that may be complements. The presence of complementarity among producer decisions can have deep implications for market outcomes and for the effectiveness of policies intended to influence them. Identifying complementarity relations, however, is a challenging pursuit. Drawing on recent methodological advances, in this paper we propose a new test for complementarity between glyphosate tolerant soybeans and conservation tillage that overcomes limitations of previous studies. Specifically, we develop a structural discrete choice framework of joint soybean-tillage adoption that explicitly models both complementarity and unobserved heterogeneity. The model is estimated with a large dataset of farm-level choices that spans the 1998–2011 period and contains repeated observations for many of the sampled individuals. We find that glyphosate tolerant soybeans and conservation tillage are indeed complementary practices, a conclusion supported by several robustness checks. In addition, our estimation shows that farm operation scale promotes the adoption of both conservation tillage and glyphosate tolerant seed, and that all of higher fuel prices, more droughty conditions, and soil erodibility increase use of conservation tillage. We also apply our results to simulate annual adoption rates for conservation tillage in a scenario without glyphosate tolerant soybeans available as a choice. We find that the adoption of conservation tillage has been about ten percent higher due to the advent of glyphosate tolerant soybeans. Key Words: complementarity, conservation tillage, discrete choice models, genetically engineered crops, mixed multinomial logit, supermodularity, technology adoption, unobserved heterogeneity. JEL codes: C35, D22, Q12, Q55 (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)


Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been adopted to deliver transport infrastructure assets worldwide, attributing to governments' increasingly limited fiscal budget. However, the key issue about whether PPPs can provide taxpayers with better value for money (VfM) is still under controversy. As an integral component of infrastructure procurement process, VfM assessment acts as an essential stage of governments' ex-ante evaluation for the use of PPPs. Despite this, relevant empirical research, especially within the context of transport infrastructure, has received limited attention. Against this backdrop, a total of 3 case studies of the Australian transport PPP projects has been undertaken and the SWOT analysis was conducted to examine the current practice in VfM assessment. The empirical evidence indicates that the approach being used by the Australian state governments for assessing VfM fails in addressing a critical perspective in terms of the improved service quality to be generated by private-sector entities. Based on this finding, a novel VfM-oriented decision-making model that is underpinned by the Dynamic Discrete Choice Model (DDCM) has been proposed. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge of PPPs VfM assessment and is significant for improving industry practice in decision making of procurement selection for transport assets.


Marina Carr ' s writing in On Raftery's Hill (2000) is the most recent, most relentlessly focused and complex of responses from an Irish dramatist to the issue of incestuous sexual violation. In her play she creates a world astray, full of obsession, havoc, mutilation and disgust. Eighteen-year old Sorrel Raftery is a young woman, living with her sister (Dinah), grandmother (Shalome), brother (Ded) and her father (Red). Sorrel is engaged to Dara Mood and just prior to her wedding her father rapes her. As the drama progresses it is discovered that Dinah is not Sorrel ' s sister, but her mother. Father and daughter, who was twelve at the time, were brought together by Dinah's own mother and now many years on, nobody intervenes when Red attacks Sorrel. Carr grapples with the issues of power, sexuality, secrecy, shame, dysfunction, inferiority, indignity and addiction at the core of sexual abuse. Should the incestuous abuser be regarded as mentally ill, morally reprehensible and/or a criminal, she queries? Can we distinguish between sexual and psychological gratification? She confirms for an audience how a negative bond can be as strong as a positive one, how family victims of violation can be antagonistic, almost rivals towards each other, and seldom allies, and how the victims of abuse through processes of internalisation and identification with the abuser can accommodate themselves on one level to situations and circumstances, even as self-esteem is slowly peeled away through threat and apparent powerlessness. In this play there is no morality; it is a world at times almost without the mantle of humanity. The capacity to survive that experience is superbly captured by Carr, the complexity of the bond between the family members is brilliantly achieved, but for the first time in one of her midland's plays the life of the central female character does not end in suicide. There is optimism in the basic survival of the victims of the Raftery curse.


Rationale: In a prior study, lumacaftor/ivacaftor treatment (≤28 d) in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) heterozygous for F508del‐CFTR did not improve lung function. Objectives: To evaluate an optimized lumacaftor/ivacaftor dosing regimen with a longer duration in a cohort of patients heterozygous for F508del‐CFTR. Methods: Patients aged 18 years or older with a confirmed CF diagnosis and percent predicted FEV1 (ppFEV1) of 40 to 90 were randomized to lumacaftor/ivacaftor (400 mg/250 mg every 12 h) or placebo daily for 56 days. Primary outcomes were change in ppFEV1 at Day 56 and safety. Other disease markers were evaluated. Measurements and Main Results: Of 126 patients, 119 (94.4%) completed the study. Lumacaftor/ivacaftor was well tolerated, although chest tightness and dyspnea occurred more frequently with active treatment than with placebo (27.4% vs. 14.3% and 14.5% vs. 6.3%, respectively). Mean (SD) ppFEV1 values at baseline were 62.9 (14.3) in the active treatment group and 60.1 (14.0) in the placebo group. Absolute changes in ppFEV1 (least squares mean [SE]) at Day 56 were −0.6 (0.8) percentage points in the active treatment group and −1.2 (0.8) percentage points in the placebo group (P = 0.60). CF respiratory symptom scores in the active treatment group improved by a mean of 5.7 points versus a decrease of −0.8 in the placebo group (P < 0.01). No changes in body mass index occurred. Changes from baseline in sweat chloride (least squares mean [SE]) at Day 56 were −11.8 (1.3) mmol/L in the active treatment group and −0.8 (1.2) mmol/L in the placebo group (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: Sweat chloride and respiratory symptom scores improved with lumacaftor/ivacaftor, though no meaningful benefit was seen in ppFEV1 or body mass index in patients heterozygous for F508del‐CFTR. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01225211).


Flexible optical networks appear as the most prevalent candidates for next-generation core transport networks. The transition from a fixed to a flexible frequency grid calls for novel spectrum allocation techniques. This work focuses on the notion of dynamic cooperative spectrum sharing and addresses the issue of dynamic cooperative spectrum allocation for flexible optical networks. In order to cope with the dynamicity of the traffic demands, spectrum expansion/contraction (SEC) policies attempt to accommodate incoming requests by means of expanding/contracting the allocations of connections. When spectrum expansion is limited by neighboring connections, appropriate spectrum defragmentation (SD) policies undertake the task of reallocating connections in order to free up the spectrum. In this work, a novel cooperative SEC policy is examined, which takes into consideration the spectrum allocation of neighboring connections. Additionally, a class of cooperative SD policies is proposed, based on the capabilities of current technology. Simulation results from two reference core networks quantify the benefits that can be reaped in terms of blocking rate. Trade-offs with respect to the achieved reduction in blocking rate and the number of reallocated connections during the SD procedure are examined.


Annual energy costs are rising and threatening the affordability of public housing and are subsequently increasing subsidy payments from the government. Action needs to be taken to reduce energy consumption and to improve the energy efficiency of low-income housing. This is the case with the Kingsport Housing and Redevelopment Authority (KHRA) in Kingsport, Tennessee. In 2010, KHRA completed construction at Riverview Place of 38 energy-efficient housing units. Although designed for energy efficient operation, energy use in some of the units far exceeds projections and results in utility bills for tenants that are much higher than their subsidies cover. The purpose of this study was to determine the underlying factors related to energy consumption in the Riverview Place development. With spending decisions based on grant money received, city financial support, and annual operating and upkeep costs of the development, this study sought to provide recommendations addressing cost-saving energy efficiency measures and programs. To do this, a survey was distributed to the primary tenant of each of the 38 units. The 2013 monthly and annual energy consumption data for each home within Riverview Place was used to choose six units for building performance testing. These six units were subjected to air leakage testing, including a blower door and duct blaster test. In order to better explain why such a large percentage of tenants exceeded utility allowances in Riverview Place, this study highlighted two major points. First, KHRA should allot utility subsidies that reflect actual tenant behavior; specifically, use of air conditioning in summer months. Second, KHRA should implement education programs for tenants regarding energy efficiency and the need to follow certain energy-efficiency strategies.


Fifteen healthy male subjects were exposed to about 540 and 1,080 mg/m3 of trichloroethylene (TRI) in the air during rest and exercise on a bicycle ergometer. Each subject was exposed during four 30-min periods. The arterial blood concentration increased linearly with the concentration in the alveolar air. The uptake of TRI was about 55% of the supplied amount at rest. At a work load of 150 W during the fourth period the percentage uptake decreased to about 25%. For one fairly thin subject the uptake was near zero at the end of exposure. This development was probably due to the relatively low solubility of TRI in blood and tissues. The uptake of TRI may be estimated from pulmonary ventilation and the concentration in alveolar and inspiratory air.


Traumatic experiences are known to have a significant impact upon one's physical and mental health. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is understood to be a common mental health consequence of trauma. However, Complex Trauma and consequences of adverse childhood experiences appear more prevalent and a serious public health concern that hinders the individual's daily existence, thus emphasising the need to implement a culturally free treatment intervention. In this chapter, we begin by introducing traumatic experiences in several contexts and explore the treatment for trauma. It will focus on a research study that employs Comprehend, Cope and Connect (CCC), a third wave CBT approach, to deliver a culturally free form of therapy that has been adapted for individuals from diverse populations. The CCC approach's relevance to cultural adaptation is explained and discussed through the use of two case examples from the main study. The Culture Free study found that CCC was both feasible and acceptable in diverse populations, echoing existing research on cultural adaptations which found use of mindfulness to be accepted and appreciated as an effective intervention that can elicit concrete positive change across a broad range of mental health presentations, including trauma and trans-diagnostically. Further investigations utilising a robust methodology and powered sample are warranted in particular with diverse populations presenting with complex trauma.


ABSTRACT In today's media environment, the flow of incoming information can be overwhelming. Citizens are exposed to both congruent and incongruent information, following each other at a fast pace. At the same time, citizens have the freedom to compose their own daily information diet. This demanding and personalized media environment plays a decisive role in political decision-making. One crucial political evaluation is to assign credit or blame to politicians. In this setting of selective exposure and motivated reasoning, we conducted two experiments (N = 1,117) to test how forced versus selective exposure to mixed congruent-incongruent news articles and fact checkers on immigration (Study 1) or climate change (Study 2) affects citizens' evaluations of responsibility. The key findings expand extant research that identified partisan biases in citizens' responsibility perceptions: People select and process partisan information in a biased way to reassure partisan identities. A key democratic implication is the prevalence of citizens' defensive motivation when assigning responsibility.


Summary
Adenoviruses were isolated from 106 of 204 patients diagnosed as having epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) who attended the National Taiwan University Ophthalmology Clinic in 1958 and 1959. Serological studies on some of the patients from whom virus was not isolated suggest that most, if not all, were adenovirus infections. Of the adenovirus types isolated, type 8 was by far the most common (72%), while type 4 was the only other type isolated with any frequency (13%). In addition, types 2, 3, 7, 10, 11 and several adenoviruses not types 1 to 18 were isolated. Of the patients in whom follow-up examinations were carried out, 14 of 18 from whom type 8 was isolated developed subepithelial punctate keratitis (SPK), while only 3 of 11 with other types developed this pathognomonic sign. In all, SPK was found in 32 patients including 1 from whom type 4 was isolated, 1 with type 11 and 2 with unclassified types. Type 8 was isolated from throat swabs and from the eyes of 13 patients. The average length of incubation time to isolate 129 strains of type 8 was 27 days as compared to averages of 13 to 20 days for the other types isolated. Conjunctival swab specimens were as good or slightly better than scrapings were for the isolation of adenovirus.
Most EKC cases occurred in the late summer and fall. All ages were involved, but SPK was not seen in patients under 13 years. Detailed clinical findings are reported on a portion of the patients. Most cases were unilateral, had conjunctival petechial hemorrhage and preauricular lymphadenopathy. Only a few had pharyngeal or generalized symptoms. The clinical severity was similar, irrespective of virus type isolated.


This Note critiques the current structure and practice of the ICSID annulment mechanism by shifting away from the traditional focus on the ICSID arbitration system as a dispute settlement body and instead analyzing the annulment mechanism's role in a progressively "judicializing" investor-state arbitration system. Recent developments in ICSID arbitration indicate that, over time, ICSID arbitral tribunals have undergone "judicialization"—that is, they have acquired domestic court–like characteristics enabling them to impact state and individual behavior prospectively, rather than merely to resolve the specific dispute at bar. These developments raise the question of whether the current annulment mechanism, which provides for cancellation of tribunal awards on a strictly limited set of grounds, is capable of accommodating this shift. Although the drafters of the ICSID Convention did not intend to allow an annulment committee, convened after the tribunal's issuance of an award, to review the substantive merits of that tribunal's award, annulment committees have previously based their decisions on more expansive substantive review than that permitted under the Convention. This Note argues that in a recent series of decisions, annulment committees appear to be engaging in greater substantive review of tribunals' awards once again, a fact that triggers a renewed sense that annulment committees are still confused over the proper role of annulment in the ICSID arbitration system. Such confusion has serious implications in that it leads to the production of inconsistent decisions at the annulment level of the ICSID arbitration system, thus adding to the layer of inconsistent decisions produced at the tribunal level. These incoherent decisions may ultimately imperil the legitimacy of the ICSID arbitration system as a judicialized body for shaping prospective state and individual behavior. To strengthen the legitimacy of ICSID arbitral decisions and promote further development of coherent international investment law, I argue that it is critical for ICSID to establish a mechanism with official powers of substantive review.


By the line-by-line method, a computer program is used to analyze Earth atmospheric radiosonde data from hundreds of weather balloon observations. In terms of a quasi-all-sky protocol, fundamental infrared atmospheric radiative flux components are calculated: at the top boundary, the outgoing long wave radiation, the surface transmitted radiation, and the upward atmospheric emittance; at the bottom boundary, the downward atmospheric emittance. The partition of the outgoing long wave radiation into upward atmospheric emittance and surface transmitted radiation components is based on the accurate computation of the true greenhouse-gas optical thickness for the radiosonde data. New relationships among the flux components have been found and are used to construct a quasi-all-sky model of the earth's atmospheric energy transfer process. In the 1948–2008 time period the global average annual mean true greenhouse-gas optical thickness is found to be time-stationary. Simulated radiative no-feedback effects of measured actual CO2 change over the 61 years were calculated and found to be of magnitude easily detectable by the empirical data and analytical methods used. The data negate increase in CO2 in the atmosphere as a hypothetical cause for the apparently observed global warming. A hypothesis of significant positive feedback by water vapor effect on atmospheric infrared absorption is also negated by the observed measurements. Apparently major revision of the physics underlying the greenhouse effect is needed.


Context: Use of hyrax expander for palatal arch lengthening (anteroposterior) is not new, but large series with long-term follow-up is lacking. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate surgically assisted rapid maxillary expansion for hypoplastic maxilla, its efficacy, patient's satisfaction, and relapse rates. Settings and Design: A prospective study was done in PGD of Plastic Surgery, KGMU, Lucknow, between October 2014 and December 2015. Subjects and Methods: Fifteen patients with maxillary hypoplasia associated with cleft lip and palate underwent anterior segmental maxillary osteotomy. Distraction of anterior segment was done with a tooth-anchored hyrax expansion screw oriented in anteroposterior direction. Distraction was started on the 7th day. After desired advancement, the device was left intact for a consolidation period of 3 months and follow-up for any complication was done at the end of 6 months. Statistical Analysis Used: IBM SPSS version 20 software was used. Data expressed as number (percentage) and mean ± standard deviation, Student's t-test and ANOVA were used to compare mean between groups. Results: Bony landmarks sella–nasion–A point angle, maxillary length (ANS-PNS), mean space created on one side (mesial border of first molar to distal border of first premolar), and point A-N perpendicular improved significantly (P < 0.001). There was no significant change in vertical height of maxilla. Soft-tissue profile of patient (Sn–G perpendicular) also improved significantly (P < 0.001). No relapse was observed in patient during the 6 months of follow-up. Conclusion: Results of hyrax distractor in maxillary hypoplasia associated with cleft lip and palate patients were highly promising in patients with occlusal discrepancy <8 mm.


Background: Latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA) is a slowly progressive form of diabetes managed with diet and oral hypoglycemic agents before becoming insulin requiring. Islet autoantibodies are used for differential diagnosis between LADA and Type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of LADA using islet autontibodies in population with T2DM and characterize clinical and biochemical characteristics of them.
Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 86 T2DM patients aged between 28-67 years were tested for the presence of autoantibodies by ELISA technique. The Glutamic acid decarboxylase antibody, Islet Cell Antibody and Insulinoma Antigen2 Antibody were evaluated for diagnosis of LADA patients.
Results: Of 86 T2DM, 35 (40.70%) were antibody positive and 51 (59.30%) persons were negative for any antibody. A significant difference was found between groups in age at study, insulin therapy, C- peptide levels and family history of autoimmune diseases. On the other hand, no significant difference was found between the two groups in other risk factors.
Conclusions: Among our T2DM subjects, the number of LADA patients were not high. Also, multiple autoantibodies were more frequent than single autoantibodies in LADA patients
Keywords: LADA, Autoantibody, Diabetes Mellitus


Methane borylation in a cyclohexane sea Although methane combusts readily at high temperatures, it is generally the hardest hydrocarbon to transform under gentler conditions, owing to its particularly strong C-H bonds. Cook et al. now show that soluble rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium catalysts can slice through these C-H bonds to add boron substituents to methane at 150°C. Smith et al. report the iridium-catalyzed reaction using phosphine ligands to enhance activity. Both studies were performed in cyclohexane solvent, revealing a remarkable selective preference for the methane reaction over functionalization of the cyclic hydrocarbon. Science, this issue pp. 1421 and 1424 Metal catalysts in cyclohexane solvent append boron substituents to methane selectively through C–H bond scission at 150°C. Despite steady progress in catalytic methods for the borylation of hydrocarbons, methane has not yet been subject to this transformation. Here we report the iridium-catalyzed borylation of methane using bis(pinacolborane) in cyclohexane solvent. Initially, trace amounts of borylated products were detected with phenanthroline-coordinated Ir complexes. A combination of experimental high-pressure and high-throughput screening, and computational mechanism discovery techniques helped to rationalize the foundation of the catalysis and identify improved phosphine-coordinated catalytic complexes. Optimized conditions of 150°C and 3500-kilopascal pressure led to yields as high as ~52%, turnover numbers of 100, and improved chemoselectivity for monoborylated versus diborylated methane.


Abstract Objectives: To investigate the effect of pubertal timing, assessed in adolescence, on bone size, strength and density in men and women in early old age. Design: A British birth cohort study with prospective indicators of pubertal timing based on age at menarche, clinical assessment of pubertal stage, and growth tempo from serial height measures, and bone measures derived from peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at 60-64 years of age among 866 women and 792 men. Methods: A first set of regression models investigated the relationships between pubertal timing and bone size, strength and density, adjusting for current height and weight, smoking and adult socioeconomic position. To make an equivalent comparison between men and women, the percentage difference in bone outcomes was calculated for a 5-year difference in age at menarche, and in men a comparison between those who were fully mature or pre-adolescent at 14.5 years. A second set of models investigated the percentage difference in bone outcomes for a 5-year difference in timing of peak height velocity (height tempo) derived from longitudinal growth modelling (Superimposition by Translation and Rotation model; SITAR). Results: After adjustment for current height and weight, a 5-year increase in age at menarche was associated with an 8% [95% confidence interval (CI) -17%, 0.5%, P = 0.07) lower trabecular volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD); men who were pre-adolescent at 14.5 years had a 9%, (95% CI -14%, -4%; P = 0.001) lower trabecular vBMD compared with those who had been fully mature. Other confounders did not attenuate these estimates further. Patterns of association were similar but somewhat weaker for lumbar spine and total hip areal BMD. Age at peak height velocity was associated with even larger differences in BMD in men and women, and was negatively associated with bone size and strength. Conclusions: The association between later puberty and lower BMD persists into early old age. The 9-10% lower trabecular vBMD in later compared with earlier maturers could be clinically important given a rate of bone loss from midlife of 1-2% a year and the negative association between BMD and fracture.


The objective of this study was to develop a suitable experimental model of natural Mycobacterium bovis infection in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), describe the distribution and character of tuberculous lesions, and to examine possible routes of disease transmission. In October 1997, 10 mature female white-tailed deer were inoculated by intratonsilar instillation of 2 × 103 (low dose) or 2 × 105 (high dose) colony forming units (CFU) of M. bovis. In January 1998, deer were euthanatized, examined, and tissues were collected 84 to 87 days post inoculation. Possible routes of disease transmission were evaluated by culture of nasal, oral, tonsilar, and rectal swabs at various times during the study. Gross and microscopic lesions consistent with tuberculosis were most commonly seen in medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes and lung in both dosage groups. Other tissues containing tuberculous lesions included tonsil, trachea, liver, and kidney as well as lateral retropharyngeal, mandibular, parotid, tracheobronchial, mediastinal, hepatic, mesenteric, superficial cervical, and iliac lymph nodes. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from tonsilar swabs from 8 of 9 deer from both dosage groups at least once 14 to 87 days after inoculation. Mycobacterium bovis was isolated from oral swabs 63 and 80 days after inoculation from one of three deer in the low dose group and none of four deer in the high dose group. Similarly, M. bovis was isolated from nasal swabs 80 and 85 days after inoculation in one of three deer from the low dose group and 63 and 80 days after inoculation from two of four deer in the high dose group. Intratonsilar inoculation with M. bovis results in lesions similar to those seen in naturally infected white-tailed deer; therefore, it represents a suitable model of natural infection. These results also indicate that M. bovis persists in tonsilar crypts for prolonged periods and can be shed in saliva and nasal secretions. These infected fluids represent a likely route of disease transmission to other animals or humans.


Physical disruption of cellular membranes arising from interactions with engineered nanoparticles is an important, but poorly understood aspect of nanotoxicology and nanomedicine. Model cellular membranes (i.e. lipid bilayers) can be used to identify interaction mechanisms, and most studies have largely focused on lipid bilayers supported on solid planar or spherical substrates. While useful and informative, these systems do not accurately represent an intact cell membrane because they restrict the elastic motion of the bilayer and the capacity for mechanical changes. Free standing bilayers are preferred, but add complexity. Given the importance of nanoparticle–membrane interactions in nanotoxicology and nanomedicine, and the vast range in nanoparticle composition, size, shape, and surface functionalization, there is a need to develop techniques that can rapidly and inexpensively analyze the membranenanoparticle activity by using free standing or unsupported membranes. This work develops a centrifugation-based assay that can analyze the membranenanoparticle activity as a function of nanoparticle surface functionalization, membrane lipid composition, and monovalent salt concentration (NaCl). Free standing, unsupported vesicles were used to gain relevant information on elastic membrane deformation and vesicle destabilization due to nanoparticle binding. Silver nanoparticles were chosen due to their widespread biological applications and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties. UV-vis based centrifugation assay, coupled with cryo-TEM and DLS analysis, was proposed to screen nanoparticle-membrane interactions; silver nanoparticles binding ratio RSPR was calculated as a function of Ag nanoparticle coating and vesicle composition. Study showed that strong electrostatic attraction led to significant sedimentation, vesicle / membrane disruption and higher RSPR value; in contrast, systems that exhibited weak or no electrostatic attraction did not show significant sedimentation, membrane disruption or high RSPR value. The centrifugation assay provides a rapid and straightforward way to screen nanoparticle– membrane interactions.


Photon management aims at optimizing the solar cell efficiency by, e.g., incorporating supporting optical nanostructures for absorption enhancement. Their geometrical design, however, is usually a compromise since requirements in different spectral domains need to be accommodated. This issue can be mitigated if multiple optical nanostructures are integrated. Here, we present a photon management scheme that combines the benefits of a randomly textured surface and an opaline photonic crystal. Moreover, upon considering the device with an increasing complexity, we show that a structure that respects the mutual fabrication constraints has the best performance, i.e., a device where the photonic crystal is not perfect but to some extent amorphous as enforced by the presence of the texture.


COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF WAVEONE AND LIGHTSPEED LSX FOR THE RESIDUAL DENTIN THICKNESS OF THE BIFURCATED MAXILLARY FIRST PREMOLAR BUCCAL ROOT UTILIZING LIMITED FIELD CONE BEAM COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY By Manpreet Singh Sarao, BDS, DDS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2013. Director: Karan J. Replogle, DDS, MS Department Chair, Department of Endodontics The purpose of this study was to compare the thickness of dentin removed from the buccal root of bifurcated maxillary first premolars (BMFP) in the area of furcation groove after instrumentation with WaveOne and LightSpeed LSX files utilizing limited field cone beam computerized tomography. All data was analyzed using repeated-measured mixed-model ANOVA and differences were described using Tukey's multiple comparison procedure. The thickness of dentin removed with LightSpeed LSX files (0.1 mm) was significantly less than the thickness of dentin removed with WaveOne files (0.2 mm). To conclude, LSX files remove a more predictable and consistent thickness of dentin from the buccal root of BMFP, irrespective of the pre-instrumentation thickness of dentin and the file size when compared to WO files that remove a more variable thickness of dentin.