The paper presents the design of a horizontal velocity controller for the unmanned helicopter APID MK-III developed by Scandicraft AB in Sweden. The controller is able of regulating high horizontal velocities via stabilization of the attitude angles within much larger ranges than currently available. We use a novel approach to the design consisting of two steps: 1) a Mamdani-type of a fuzzy rules are used to compute for each desired horizontal velocity the corresponding desired values for the attitude angles and the main rotor collective pitch; and 2) using a nonlinear model of the altitude and attitude dynamics, a Takagi-Sugeno controller is used to regulate the attitude angles so that the helicopter achieves its desired horizontal velocities at a desired altitude. According to our knowledge this is the first time when a combination of linguistic and model-based fuzzy control is used for the control of a complicated plant such as an autonomous helicopter. The performance of the combined linguistic/model-based controllers is evaluated in simulation and shows that the proposed design method achieves its intended purpose.


Plant mitochondria have the unique ability to directly oxidize exogenous NAD(P)H. We recently separated two NAD(P)H dehydrogenase activities from maize (Zea mays L.) mitochondria using anion-exchange (Mono Q) chromatography. The first peak of activity oxidized only NADH, whereas the second oxidized both NADH and NADPH. In this paper we describe the purification of the first peak of activity to a 32-kD protein. Polyclonal antibodies to the 32-kD protein were used to show that it was present in mitochondria from several plant species. Two-dimensional gel analysis of the 32-kD NADH dehydrogenase indicated that it consisted of two major and one minor isoelectric forms. Immunoblot analysis of submitochondrial fractions indicated that the 32-kD protein was enriched in the soluble protein fraction after mitochondrial disruption and fractionation; however, some association with the membrane fraction was observed. The membrane-impermeable protein cross-linking agent 3,3[prime] -dithiobis-(sulfosuccinimidylpropionate) was used to further investigate the submitochondrial location of the 32-kD NADH dehydrogenase. The 32-kD protein was localized to the outer surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane or to the intermembrane space. The pH optimum for the enzyme was 7.0. The activity was found to be severely inhibited by p-chloromercuribenzoic acid, mersalyl, and dicumarol, and stimulated somewhat by flavin mononucleotide.


Scholars cannot become too infatuated with Equal Protection arguments. Doing so blinds them to the various tactics employed by the pre-Civil Rights Movement African American bar to combat racial segregation and discrimination. Ignoring the actual arguments of historical actors is a form of teleology, in which we allow our knowledge of the present to direct how we interpret the past. History becomes less objective when done in this manner. Moreover, lawyers of today, when presented with teleological scholarship, can remain blind to possibilities open to them to defend clients in the embattled black community and beyond.


We report on the design of two hybrid lighting luminaires that blend light from a fiber optic end-emitted solar source with electric T8 fluorescent lamps. Both designs involve the retrofit of a commercially-available recessed fluorescent luminaire with minimal reductions in the original luminaire's optical efficiency. Two methods for high-angle dispersion of fiber optic end-emitted solar light are described and the resulting spatial intensity distributions, simulated using ZEMAX, are compared with standard cylindrical fluorescent tubes. Differences in spatial intensity distribution are qualitatively characterized and potential design improvements discussed.


Recent studies have shown that people whose early growth is poor have an increased risk of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is an important risk factor for falls, but it is not known whether poor early growth is related to falls. The authors investigated this association in the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (1998–2004), where 2,148 participants from the United Kingdom provided their history of falls. Grip strength was used as a marker of sarcopenia. Birth weight, weight at 1 year, and conditional infant growth were analyzed in relation to history of falls. The prevalence of any fall in the last year was 14.3% for men and 22.5% for women. Falls in the last year were inversely related to adult grip strength, height, and walking speed in men and women as well as to lower conditional infant growth in men (odds ratio 1⁄4 1.27, 95% confidence interval: 1.04, 1.56 per standard deviation decrease in conditional infant growth; p 1⁄4 0.02). This association was attenuated after adjustment for grip strength. These findings support an association between poor early growth and falls in older men that appears to be mediated partly through sarcopenia. The lack of a relation with birth weight suggests that postnatal rather than prenatal influences on muscle growth and development may be important regarding the risk of falls in later life.


The Druyvesteyn method of measuring electron energy distributions in low-pressure plasmas has been applied to the cathode region of hot cathode discharges in helium, neon and argon at a pressure of 0·05 mm Hg. In all gases the column was striated. In helium and neon, measurements in the striation nearest the cathode show two well separated groups of electrons, the more energetic or primary electrons arising from the Langmuir double space-charge sheath at the filament; the lower-energy group or secondary electrons being produced by the primary electrons in inelastic collisions. The concentrations of both groups fall off with increasing distance from the filament, but their separation and energy spread is constant throughout the striation indicating the absence of any energy exchanging process capable of appreciably modifying the energy distribution. It would appear therefore that the energy-exchanging processes observed by Langmuir (1925), by Merrill & Webb (1939), and by Gabor, Ash & Dracott (1955) were inoperative in the discharges employed in the present experiments. In the absence of an energy-exchanging process a uniform column cannot arise at the pressures employed, since in order to give rise to a truly uniform column the axial field must extend over many mean free paths, a condition which is not fulfilled in these discharges, since the entire discharge tube is less than 100 mean free paths long and thus on the average an electron makes fewer than 1000 collisions between cathode and anode. The application of an axial field simply augments the energy of the electrons without modifying the broad features of the energy distribution. If therefore the energy distribution consists of two separate groups of electrons a uniform field can maintain the discharge while primary electrons remain, but when these are exhausted, because of the distinct separation between the primary and secondary groups, new primary electrons can only be created by a step of potential. Under these conditions the striated column will exist and a transition to a stable uniform column is only to be expected when a mechanism exists for modifying the energy distribution in a few mean free paths. Measurements at higher currents in helium and neon show a definite tendency for the trough between the two groups to be eliminated; this is presumably due to secondary processes. The presence of a high metastable concentration enables both primary and secondary groups to be modified by secondary collisions thus eliminating the sharp demarcation between the two groups which was evident at lower currents. It seems possible also that the disposition of the first critical potential in a gas may influence its ability to develop a uniform column, since if the first excitation potential is appreciably less than half the ionization potential the primary and secondary groups will overlap. This might be effective in the metal vapours. The probable influence of impurities on the appearance of the discharge and the energy distribution are considered on the basis of the data available from measurements in hydrogen, helium and neon. Measurements in the negative regions in argon, while showing features characteristic of the striated column, were quite different in character from the other rare gases in that a fairly strong but decreasing field existed in the tube. Measurements here show very clearly how a uniform field augments the energy of the electrons without modifying the broad features of the distribution.


The dictionary contains 115,000 Russian terms and set expressions with their corresponding English/American equivalents representing the modern level of knowledge and development in all fields of economics, business, finance, and related spheres of law. It provides the user with a thorough coverage of relevant terms encountered in professional texts, scientific papers, specifications, contracts and agreements, advertisements and commercials, projects, business letters, business talks and mass communication media.The dictionary widely reflects fundamental branches such as philosophy and methodology of economic science, history of economics, political economy, economic theories, models, systems and structures, demography, geography and psychology; econometrics, game theory, teaching of economics and economic education, legislation and economics, management and accounting science, demand and supply, taxes, taxation, transfers and government spending, world economy, business, business economics and finance, markets and marketing, money and banking, exchange, etc.National and international economic organisations and societies are also included. Special attention is devoted to "branch-wise" and specialised economic sciences and the sectoral structure of economy, such as managerial, monetary, natural resource, urban-regional, environmental and labour economics; economics of industry, agriculture, construction, transport, business, science, educational systems, culture, public health, tourism, finances, discrimination, communication, every-day service, housing and municipal service, water management, recreation, taxation, antitrust and regulation, defence, domestic trade, foreign trade, retail trade, wholesale trade, cooperative trade, consumer cooperation; municipal economy, maintenance supply economy, business economy, etc. This dictionary will be useful to all those involved with many fields and branches of economics, business, finance, and related spheres of law. It features 1540 pages in two volumes and includes 115,000 terms.


There is currently a lack of experimental data required for kinetic model validation of the effect of oxidizer vitiation on laminar flame speeds of aviation fuels. This study examines the role of vitiation through the introduction of CO2 and H2O to the oxidizer stream at varying pressures (0.5 - 5.0 atm) at 450 K, conditions relevant to vitiated combustion devices, using n-decane as the model fuel. The experimental portion of this effort has acquired laminar flame speed data of n-decane in vitiated air using two separate techniques. A well-validated Bunsen Flame Technique was used to primarily examine the effect of total dilution and vitiation over a range of equivalence ratios and the Combustion Bomb Technique was used to investigate vitiation effects at various pressures and equivalence ratios. Overlap between measurement techniques has been performed as well as comparison to an analytical model to better understand the thermodynamic and chemical kinetic effects that vitiation has on hydrocarbon fuel combustion and flame structure. Experimental data shows that CO2 has the largest effect in reducing the flame speed over the range of equivalence ratios and pressures studied. Based on a kinetic analysis, chemical kinetic effects play a major role in reducing the flame speed when CO2 is present. The impact of chemical kinetic effects due to the diluent species on flame speed was found to have the following trend: CO2 > H2O > N2.


We compared near‐bottom seston and surface sediment composition in Cape Cod estuaries receiving different N loads to determine whether eutrophic‐driven changes in seston and sediment composition occur in tandem and what implications such coupling has for the quantity and quality of particles available as food for benthic consumers. Δ15N signatures in seston and sediment increased with increasing N loads to estuaries and linked particles in nearshore seston and sediment to land‐derived wastewater sources. Δ13C signatures in seston and sediment reflected C inputs primarily from microalgae. Sediments, however, were consistently lighter in Δ15N and heavier in Δ13C compared with seston among our estuaries and in other estuaries worldwide, which suggests a seston‐sediment biogeochemical coupling that may be independent of estuary‐specific differences. In Cape Cod estuaries, N enrichment increased microalgal production in seston and sediment in nearshore areas, and higher N loads decreased C:N in sediments, but not in seston. The biogeochemical coupling reflected in isotopic signatures in seston and sediment persisted despite these changes associated with N enrichment and differences in grazer abundance, salinity, and flushing times across estuaries. Differences in isotopic signatures in benthic algae compared with phytoplankton were consistent with isotopic differences in sediment compared with seston, and microalgal production was the only aspect of composition that responded similarly to N loading in both seston and sediment across estuaries. The consistent coupling between seston and sediment composition, therefore, was likely related to differences in microalgal composition and, in turn, the type and quantity of particles available as food to consumers at the sediment‐water interface.


The treatment of articular cartilage damage is a major task in the medical science of orthopedics. Hydrogels possess the ability to form multifunctional cartilage grafts since they possess polymeric swellability upon immersion in an aqueous phase. Polymeric hydrogels are capable of physiological swelling and greasing, and they possess the mechanical behavior required for use as articular cartilage substitutes. The chondrogenic phenotype of these materials may be enhanced by embedding living cells. Artificial hydrogels fabricated from biologically derived and synthesized polymeric materials are also used as tissue-engineering scaffolds; with their controlled degradation profiles, the release of stimulatory growth factors can be achieved. In order to make use of these hydrogels, cartilage implants were formulated in the laboratory to demonstrate the bionic mechanical behaviors of physiological cartilage. This paper discusses developments concerning the use of polymeric hydrogels for substituting injured cartilage tissue and assisting tissue growth. These gels are designed with consideration of their polymeric classification, mechanical strength, manner of biodegradation, limitations of the payload, cellular interaction, amount of cells in the 3D hydrogel, sustained release for the model drug, and the different approaches for incorporation into adjacent organs. This article also summarizes the different advantages, disadvantages, and the future prospects of hydrogels.


Although fully generative models have been successfully used to model the contents of text documents, they are often awkward to apply to combinations of text data and document metadata. In this paper we propose a Dirichlet-multinomial regression (DMR) topic model that includes a log-linear prior on document-topic distributions that is a function of observed features of the document, such as author, publication venue, references, and dates. We show that by selecting appropriate features, DMR topic models can meet or exceed the performance of several previously published topic models designed for specific data.


Abstract. Accurate and long-term rainfall estimates are the main inputs for several applications, from crop modeling to climate analysis. In this study, we present a new rainfall data set (SM2RAIN-CCI) obtained from the inversion of the satellite soil moisture (SM) observations derived from the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) via SM2RAIN (Brocca et al., 2014). Daily rainfall estimates are generated for an 18-year long period (1998–2015), with a spatial sampling of 0.25° on a global scale, and are based on the integration of the ACTIVE and the PASSIVE ESA CCI SM data sets. The quality of the SM2RAIN-CCI rainfall data set is evaluated by comparing it with two state-of-the-art rainfall satellite products, i.e. the Tropical Measurement Mission Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis 3B42 real-time product (TMPA 3B42RT) and the Climate Prediction Center Morphing Technique (CMORPH), and one modeled data set (ERA-Interim). A quality check is carried out on a global scale at 1° of spatial sampling and 5 days of temporal sampling by comparing these products with the gauge-based Global Precipitation Climatology Centre Full Data Daily (GPCC-FDD) product. SM2RAIN-CCI shows relatively good results in terms of correlation coefficient (median value  >  0.56), root mean square difference (RMSD, median value The SM2RAIN-CCI rainfall data set is freely available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.846259 .


A pilot oxidation pond plant was designed and constructed at the Karachi University of Campus for the treatment of domestic wastewater. Performance of this system was evaluated for three consecutive years (1991-1993) with respect to BOD5, COD, TKN, NH3-N, PO4-P, TCC, TFC and TFS count. The results reported are pertaining to two facultative ponds connected in series and designated as P-3 and P-4.

In the first year (1991) of study, the treatment efficiency of oxidation ponding system was evaluated at a BOD5 loading rate of 500 Kg/ha.d with a total retention time of 15 days (7.5 days in each pond) in relation to different climatological factors.

In the second year (1992) ponds performance efficiency was evaluated at a higher BOD5 load of 1168 Kg/ha.d with retention time of 5.8 days (2.9 days in each pond).

In the third year (1993) the performance efficiency was evaluated by recycling 50% oxygen-rich effluent with 50% influent with a total retention time of 2.9 days (1.45 days in each pond) and total BOD5 loading rate of 1340 Kg/ha.d.

1During the entire period of study, the BOD5 removal efficiency was greater than 70%. This is considered to be satisfactory especially wit respect to a very high organic loading and short retention time.

2During the entire period of study, the monthly average residual BOD5 remained within a range of 19-76 mg/L. Whenever soluble BOD5 (filtered) of the effluent was measured , it was found to be between 10-42 mg/L.

3A very high BOD5 loading reate (500 Kg/ha.d, 1168 Kg/ha.d and 1340 Kg/ha.d) could be sfely applied in the facultative ponding system without causing odour nuisance or undesirable physical changes in the ponds.

4with the recirculation of oxygen-rich pondAƒÂƒA'¢AƒÂ'A'€AƒÂ'A'™s effluent it was possible to increase BOD5 loading rate.

5It was observed that the algal bacterial symbiotic system performed well even at a high BOD5 load with no or little indication of undesirable odour

6The COD removal tends show trend similar to that of BOD5 removal though in general the BOD5 removal efficiency was better than COD removal efficiency.

7The removal of NH3-N, TKN and PO4-P was found to be in direct relationship with retention time. The maximum removal efficiency of these parameters was observed during summer months with high wind velocity and ambient temperature(April to August).

8The removal of coliforms and faecal coliforms was higher in the primary pond while in the secondary pond no further significant removal was observed. Unlike coliforms and faecal coliforms, the removal of faecal streptococci was more pronounced in the secondary pond. In general, the removal of these organisms followed seasonal fluctuations

9The physical performance of the ponds was also appreciably good with no mosquito breeding problem.

10The multiple regression models developed for BOD5 and faecal coliforms removal were statistically significant.

11The model for faecal coliform removal shows that none of the climatological factor plays a significant role in faecal coliform killing. It seems likely that oxygen plays an important role in the destruction of faecal coliforms.

12The cost comparison of biomechanical and biological systems( oxidation ponds) operating in Pakistan indicates that oxidation ponds are much more economical than the biomechanical systems of wastewater treatment.

13The ponds effluent successfully met the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) criteria at all the three BOD5 application rates viz 500, 1168 and 1340 Kg/ha.d


The Bromide Formation of southern Oklahoma was deposited in a linear basin and on the adjoining platform during a marine transgressive-regressive event in the middle Ordovician. The formation displays wide lateral (platform-basin) and vertical (transgressive-regressive) sedimentary facies variation. From the prolific and diverse ostracod fauna present in the Bromide Formation two lithofaeies-related ostracod associations can be defined: a geographically and stratigraphically widespread Anisocyamus Association, occupying subtidally deposited marine sediments: and a Leperditella Association, which is restricted to marginal marine environments. The ostracods of the Bromide Formation demonstrate that the group can be utilized in the Ordovician as a tool to help establish palaeoenvironments and differentiate palaeoshoreline.


This paper reflects on metametaphysics and as such develops a metametameta-physical view: that quietist metametaphysics requires dialetheism, and in turn a paraconsistent logic. I demonstrate this using Carnap's metametaphysical position in his 'Empiricism, Semantics and Ontology' (1950) as an example, with regard to how it exhibits self-reference and results in inconsistency. I show how applying Carnap's position to itself produces a dilemma, both horns of which lead to a contradiction. Such inconsistency commonly arises from meta-theories with global scope, as the 'meta' approach aims to transcend the scope of that which it is theorizing about, whilst the global nature will place itself back within the scope of that which it is theorizing about, which together result in the theory referring to itself whilst refuting itself. I argue that any global metametaphysical theory that draws a limit to thought will face self-reference problems leading to contradictory realms. My conclusion is conditional: If we want to meta-philosophize in such a way and treat quietist meta-theories as being true, then we need to be dialetheist and utilize a paraconsistent logic in order to accommodate the contradictions that result from such theorizing.


Operational transconductance amplifier and capacitor (OTA-C) filters have outstood among different types of filter due to high frequency and low power capabilities in the main stream digital CMOS technology. They have been widely used in computer hard disk drive (HDD) and wireless communication transceivers. OTA-C filters based on cascade and passive ladder simulation are well-known. However, multiple loop feedback (MLF) OTA-C filters which have certain advantages still have the scope for further research. So far there have been no explicit formulas for current-mode leapfrog (LF) filter design and performance evaluation of current-mode MLF OTA-C filters are still lacking. From application viewpoints, read channels for computer hard disk drives require very high frequency continuous-time filters. This automatically disqualifies activeRC/MOSFET-C filters and OTA-C filters become the only solution. In wireless communications, active-RC/MOSFET-C filters have been proved useful for mobile systems whose baseband frequency falls below a few MHz. However, for wireless LANs with the frequency of several tens of MHz, OTA-C filters are a strong candidate. Whilst in HDD read channels, cascaded OTA-C architectures have been most utilized and in wireless receivers, OTA-C structures based on ladder simulation have been popular, MLF OTA-C filters have not been practically used in either of the applications. This thesis describes some novel designs and applications of multiple loop feedback OTA-C filters with extensive CMOS simulations. Analogue filters for computer hard disk drive systems are first reviewed; the state of the art and design considerations are provided. Three VHF linear phase lowpass OTA-C filters are then designed, which include a seventh-order and a fifth-order current-mode filter based on the follow-theleader-feedback (FLF) structure and a seventh-order voltage-mode filter using the inverse FLF (IFLF) configuration. These filters all have very low power consumption. The synthesis and design of general current-mode LF OTA-C filters are conducted next. Iterative design formulas for both all-pole and finite-zero functions are derived and explicit formulas for up to sixth-orders are given. These formulas are very easy to use for designing any type of characteristics. Subsequently, linear phase lowpass OTA-C filter design for HDD read channels using LF structures are investigated in details. A current-mode filter and a voltage-mode filter using the fifth-order LF structure are presented. The two filters can operate up to 800MHz and have very small passband phase ripple. Analogue filters for wireless communication baseband applications are also reviewed thoroughly in this thesis, where the design of a fourth-order current-mode FLF Butterworth lowpass OTA-C filter for multi-standard receivers is presented. Then two fifth-order current-mode elliptic lowpass OTA-C filters based on respective LF and FLF structures for wireless communication baseband are designed. Fifth-order voltage-mode IFLF and LF elliptic lowpass filters are also presented. All these MLF baseband filters designed can operate up to 40MHz to cover all important wireless and mobile standards. Simulations show that the LF structures have better dynamic range and stopband attenuation performances than the FLF and IFLF configurations.


Academic Constraints in Rhetorical Criticism of the New Testament: An Introduction to a Rhetoric of Power, by J. David Hester Amador. JSNTSup 174. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Pp. 354. $85.00 (cloth). This book, representing an intervention in NT rhetorical criticism, features a trenchant critique of the subdiscipline itself and the elusive promise of new interpretive practices. Close scrutiny of the institutional contexts and conventions of biblical criticism characterizes Amador's vision. In ch. 1 Amador develops two primary arguments and offers his own methodological perspective. First, rhetorical criticism as currently practiced is "rhetoric restrained." With too much emphasis on style and arrangement, scholars miss out on the persuasive dimension of biblical discourse. And with the assumption that texts provide a window to the past and with a commitment to the text's "original meaning," scholars exclude the rhetorical practices of interpretation, appropriation, and institutionalization. Second, while style, arrangement, and historical context may be legitimate interests (Amador is skeptical about reconstructing history), even the most daring NT rhetorical critics fail to challenge the institutional frameworks and constraints of biblical interpretation. Amador promises an alternative perspective-a rhetoric of power that recognizes the materiality of text and interpretation, even a rhetoric of rhetorical criticism itself. In ch. 2 Amador argues that while rhetorical criticism in the broader academy features a variety of practices, inside biblical criticism a few characteristics dominate. The discipline is antiquarian (relying on ancient sources such as the rhetorical handbooks and progymnasmata), synthesist (ignoring the diversity among ancient rhetorical practices and tending toward taxonomic analysis), causalist (assuming that situations produce rhetoric and thus may be reconstructed through it), and historicist (looking only to original meaning as valid interpretation). In contrast to the "rhetoric restrained" that limits contemporary rhetorical criticism, Amador sketches three characteristics of his rhetoric of power in ch. 3. It is symbiotic, recognizing the complexity of rhetorical action, including the histories and material conditions of reading, the media of communication, and other dimensions. It is symphonic, recognizing a multiplicity of critical approaches and perspectives that may result in cacophony (p. 55). And it is museful, emphasizing the ongoing inventive power of words as opposed to static meaning grounded in "an ontology of truth" (p. 55). Amador's rhetoric of power involves "the explicit commitment to search out and question the 'powerful' within the presumptions, values, judgments, `truths,' 'facts' and beliefs at work in every rhetorical a(rtifa)ct; the systems perpetuating and legitimating the `powerful'; and, finally, the 'powerful' as given form in the a(rtifa)ct itself' (pp. 58-59). One wonders whether and how this perspective moves beyond what has come to be known as cultural studies. Three sources nourish Amador's model. First, the new rhetoric of Chaim Perelman and Luce Olbrechts-Tyteca recognizes that all argumentation depends on its audience. Rhetoric, then, is not just a way of analyzing ancient texts; it provides a potential vehicle for public deliberation concerning the Bible's significance (p. 83). Second, the work of Wilhelm Wuellner moves beyond style and arrangement to larger practices of persuasion and the recognition of varieties of argumentative situations in which the Bible functions. Wuellner is a rare rhetorical critic dedicated to bringing the Bible into conversation with modern readers. And third, literary theorist Stephen Mailloux foregrounds the institutional argumentative context of scholarship, including its rhetorical strategies and assumptions. Mailloux rejects any grand theory of reading, instead considering how rhetorical practices address specific institutional concerns and values in specific historical contexts. …


In this work, an electrochemically assisted coagulation for the removal of chromium from water has been studied using zinc as anode and galvanized iron as cathode. The effects of pH, current density, concentration of chromium, temperature, adsorption kinetics and isotherms on the removal of chromium were investigated. The results showed that the optimum removal efficiency of 96.5% was achieved at a current density of 0.2 A/dm 2 , at a pH of 7.0. First- and second-order rate equations, Elovich and intraparticle diffusion models were applied to study adsorption kinetics. The adsorption process follows second-order kinetics model with good correlation. An equilibrium isotherm was measured experimentally and the results were analyzed by the Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin-Redushkevich model using linearized correlation co-efficient. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm was found to fit the equilibrium data for chromium adsorption. Temperature studies showed that the adsorption was endothermic and spontaneous in nature.


Under the Clean Air Act, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to determine the stringency of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), arguably the most important federal environmental program, without considering the costs of achieving these standards. Instead, it must rely exclusively on health-related criteria. This Article argues that health-based standards, which are one of the principal approaches to setting the stringency of environmental requirements in the United States, exhibit two serious pathologies: the stopping point problem and the inadequacy paradox. The stopping point problem arises because there is no coherent, defensible way for EPA to set the permissible level of pollution based on health considerations alone. Moreover, contrary to the commonly accepted view, the NAAQS have generally been set at levels that are less stringent than those that would result from the application of cost-benefit analysis, giving rise to the inadequacy paradox. We urge a reinterpretation of the Supreme Court's important decision in Whitman v. American Trucking Associations that would solve the inadequacy paradox and explain how non-welfarist considerations, although they do not avoid the stopping point problem, could justify health-based trumps.


Detailed geological mapping (1:5,000) of a 16 sq. km. area was completed within the northwestern quadrant of the Troodos plutonic complex, Cyprus. The plutonic complex incorporates an older, high-temperature deformed sequence of harzburgite, dunite, transition zone orthopyroxenite and layered olivine and hypersthene gabbro that is intruded and truncated/disrupted by a series of post-kinematic ultramafic-mafic (i.e.: wehrlite, feldspathic-wehrlite, lherzolite, feldspathic-lherzolite, clinopyroxenite, websterite and pyroxene-hornblende gabbro) plutons. Post-kinematic mafic dikes intrude both the older and younger magmatic suites, marking the final stage of magmatism within this section of the ophiolite. -- A penetrative, steep to subvertical regional S₁ foliation, traced intermittently from the harzburgite tectonite into portions of the layered olivine gabbro tectonite, is coaxial to large scale infolding of the dunite-harzburgite boundary. An equant granoblastic to porphyroclastic microfabric prevails in the harzburgite, dunite and transition zone lithologies whereas the layered gabbro exhibits both primary cumulate igneous and secondary ductile deformation textures. The structurally highest position of the high-temperature ductile deformation, termed the deformation front and marked by the transition from ductile to brittle deformation mechanisms, occurs within the layered olivine gabbro of the Troodos plutonic complex. -- The plutons of the younger suite represent variable sized, spatially and temporally distinct, fault-controlled magma chambers that are focused primarily along the transition zone of the older suite. Most of the older suite transition zone orthopyroxenite and part of both the dunite and layered gabbro have been removed through faulting and intrusion of the younger suite plutons. -- The fractional crystallization sequence of the older suite layered gabbro and the younger suite ultramafic-mafic lithologies is olivine -> clinopyroxene -> orthopyroxcne -> plagioclase -> +/- hornblende (+/- quartz). Textural features indicate simultaneous crystallization of the pyroxene phases within the gabbroic units. Electron microprobe studies indicate that the younger and older suites cannot be distinguished on the basis of their respective mineral chemistry, that fractionation trends occur within both the younger and older suites and that cryptic chemical layering cannot be detected over a 20 m section of the layered olivine gabbro. The mafic dikes exhibit a tholeiitic affinity (island-arc tholeiite) and an extremely depleted, Mg-rich and Ti-poor chemistry correlative with the depleted upper pillow lava suite and indicative of derivation from a residual mantle source that had undergone previous partial melting and melt extraction event(s). -- A dynamic crustal accretionary history consisting of multiple intrusion and ductile-brittle deformation is established for the Troodos plutonic complex. The geometrical relations between the penetrative regional foliation, infolding along the paleo-Moho and orientation of the enveloping surface of this folded dunite-harzburgite boundary at a high-angle to the regional foliation suggest that the Troodos ophiolite may represent a segment of diapirically flowing asthenosphere in an ancient ocean spreading region.


Perovskite-type $\mathrm{Bi}\mathrm{Ni}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ is an insulating antiferromagnet in which a charge disproportionation occurs at the Bi site. La substitution for Bi suppresses the charge disproportionation and makes the system metallic, and for $0.05\ensuremath{\le}x\ensuremath{\le}0.1$ a broad metal-insulator transition (MIT) occurs as a function of temperature. We have measured the temperature dependence of the photoemission and x-ray absorption (XAS) spectra of ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{La}}_{x}\mathrm{Ni}{\mathrm{O}}_{3}$ to investigate how the electronic structure changes across the MIT. From the $\mathrm{Ni}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}2p$ XAS spectra of $x=0.05$, we found almost no change in the valence of Ni across the MIT. In the valence-band photoemission spectra, the Fermi cutoff disappeared for $x=0.05$ at a low temperature, whereas for $x=0.1$ and 0.2, it remained at all temperatures but the intensity at the Fermi level decreased gradually with decreasing temperature. Our experimental results suggest that the MIT is caused by the localization of holes in the $\mathrm{O}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}2p$ band and that the ``insulating'' phase below the MIT is indeed a mixture of insulating and metallic regions.


Riparian spider abundance is influenced by the extent and architecture of litter, which is greatly influenced by flood regime. Flood-deposited clumps of intertwined plant material and inorganic debris ("litter hovels") attached to trees and elevated above the ground by past high water events present a unique, persistent, and unstudied habitat type for spiders. We investigated spider use of litter hovels along an unregulated reach of West Clear Creek, Arizona, USA dominated by native riparian vegetation. Ninety two percent of litter hovels were occupied by at least one spider, with a mean occupancy of 4.5 spiders per hovel. Spider abundance and diversity at the family level were positively correlated with litter hovel size. Furthermore, spiders were non-randomly distributed among litter hovels in three areas of this riparian system: the vegetated floodplain, creek edges, and islands within the creek channel. Overall spider diversity was two-fold greater on creek islands than in the vegetated floodplain, and spider abundance also varied by predation guild among the three habitat types. Running and web-building spiders were most abundant on creek islands, while stalking and ambushing spiders were two-fold more abundant along creek edges in comparison with other habitats. For this riparian system, we estimate that spider densities could reach 270,000/ha in hovels alone, and therefore alteration of flood regimes through stream management may have important implications for arthropod dynamics. Current efforts to restore natural flood regimes and native vegetation in Southwestern streams are likely to benefit spider populations, their predators, and the regulation of herbivorous arthropods.


With increasing marine traffic, the global level of anthropogenic noise is likely to rise. This might induce further stress to already endangered marine mammals, which rely on their acoustic senses for foraging, orientation and communication. The Southern Ocean provides an important habitat for marine mammals, both residential and migratory. To study its cetacean and pinniped populations as well as the ambient soundscape, autonomous underwater recorders were deployed on moorings in the Atlantic section of the Southern Ocean. Natural ambient noise is generated by the interaction of wind, waves, ice, biological and geological sources and subject to seasonal variations. Transient sounds such as whale and seal vocalisations strongly influence the acoustic spectra. Due to limited marine traffic and industrial activity the Southern Ocean contrasts regions with anthropogenic noise pollution on the northern hemisphere. This rather uninfluenced soundscape is analysed according to indicators as proposed under the European Union marine strategy frameworks directive. In this way a useful reference to the northern hemisphere oceans is given. The scope of anthropogenic and natural noise as well as sound examples will be presented.


The paper studied new system of agriculture crop systems without soil. The culture systems without soil can be called also the hydroponic systems and now in Romania are not used only sporadically. In other countries (USA, Japan, the Netherlands, France, UK, Denmark, Israel, Australia, etc..) they represent the modern crop technology, widely applied to vegetables, fruits, fodder, medicinal plants and flowers by the experts in this area. In the world, today there are millions of hectares hydroponics, most of the vegetables, herbs, fruits of hypermarkets are coming from the culture systems without soil. The process consists of growing plants in nutrient solutions (not in the ground), resorting to an complex equipment, depending on the specifics of each crop, so that the system can be applied only in the large farms, in the greenhouses, and not in the individual households. These types of culture systems have a number of advantages and disadvantages also. Even if today's culture systems without soil seem to be the most modern and surprising technology applied in plant growth, the principle is very old. Based on him were built The Suspended Gardens of the Semiramis from Babylon, in the seventh century BC, thanks to him, the population from the Peru"s highlands cultivates vegetables on surfaces covered with water or mud. The peasant households in China, even today use the millenary techniques of the crops on gravel. .This hydroponic agriculture system is a way of followed for Romanian agriculture too, despite its high cost, because it is very productive, ecological, can cover, by products, all market demands and it answer, increasingly, constraints of urban life. The concept of hydroponics agriculture is known and appreciated in Romania also, but more at the theory level.


The dominance of multimedia applications has increased with the emergence of high speed data networks. Among the multimedia applications, VoIP has placed itself in a strong position. However, the market is dominated by a number of VoIP applications with different architectural and protocol layouts. Therefore, analysis and comparison is necessary to understand their behavior and to define the QoS of these applications. This paper analyzes various performance aspects, points out the observed weaknesses, strengths and user expectations of VoIP applications. We focus on analyzing the application performance using holistic manner. Our focus is mainly concentrated on three widely used VoIP applications: Skype, GTalk, and Gizmo. Our analysis observed that, each the application has good performance figure under some criteria. However, no application has shown good performance under all criteria. In addition, current VoIP applications lack interconnection, inter-operability, flexibility, and integration with other services.


Given the exponential rate of growth of HIV/AIDS in the Western Cape in recent years, and university concerns about the health of students and others, knowledge about young peoples' ideas and social constructs of the virus and syndrome is important. Medical anthropology lecturers Fiona Ross and Susan Levine present here their preliminary findings about University of Cape Town student perceptions regarding HIV/AIDS. This paper shows that young adults tend to imagine that they have an immunity to HIV infection and so continue to practice unsafe sex, irrespective of their educational background and specific knowledge about HIV/AIDS. The data suggest a critical need to reassess the efficacy of education as a means of disease prevention, and to examine more closely the knowledge, attitudes and practices of young adults.


Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major concern in fisheries management around the world. Several measures have been taken to address the problem. In Lake Victoria, the alleviation of IUU fishing is implemented through the Regional Plan of Action (RPOA-IUU), which restricts use of certain fishing gear, as well as prohibits fishing in closed areas and during closed seasons. Despite the long-term efforts to monitor and control what goes on in the fisheries, IUU fishing has persisted in Lake Victoria. Inspired by interactive governance theory, this paper argues that the persistence of IUU fishing could be due to different images that stakeholders have about the situation, rather than the lack of management competency. Through structured interviews with 150 fisheries stakeholders on Ijinga Island in the southeastern part of Lake Victoria, Tanzania, using paired comparison questionnaires, the study elicits stakeholders' perspective about the severity of different locally-pertinent fishing-related activities. The results show that while fisheries stakeholder groups agree on their judgments about certain fishing gears, some differences are also apparent. For instance, fisheries managers and scientists do not always agree with fishing people about what activities cause the most damage to fisheries resources and ecosystem. Further, they tend to consider some IUU fishing-related activities less damaging than some non-IUU fishing. Such disparity creates governability challenges, pointing to the need to revisit relevant regulatory measures and to make them consistent with the knowledge and judgments of all stakeholders. Based on these findings, we discuss governing interventions that may contribute to addressing IUU fishing in Lake Victoria and elsewhere.


We propose a minimal model for the response of vegetation to pullout constraints at early development stage. We try to capture both the average mechanical properties of the root system and the stochastic component of the uprooting process of seedlings. We identify a minimal set of relevant physical components in the purpose of quantifying the uprooting process: length of the root fibres, elastic response of the fibres and adhesion between the roots and the soil matrix. We present for validation a dataset extracted from Edmaier et al. (under revision), accounting for 98 uprooting experiments using Avena sativa L. seedlings (common oat), growing in non-cohesive sediment under controlled conditions. The corresponding root system has a very simple architecture, with three root fibres of different lengths. The response of the system to the constraint is however complex: the stress-strain signal presents sudden jumps followed by partial elastic recoveries. The analysis of the jumps and partial recoveries gives an insight into the resilience of the system. The anchorage of less mature seedlings rapidly collapses after the peak force has been reached, while more mature seedlings usually recover from partial failures. We explore this crossover with our validation dataset. The type of seedlings we study has been used in flume experiments investigating the feedbacks between the vegetation and the river morphodynamics (see for example Perona et al. (2012)). An understanding of the characteristics of the uprooting curve (maximal uprooting force and total uprooting work) of such vegetation reveals the ability of seedlings to withstand environmental constraints in terms of duration or intensity (see Edmaier et al., under revision), and is therefore helpful for planning future experiments. REFERENCES - P. Perona, P. Molnar, B. Crouzy, E. Perucca, Z. Jiang, S. McLelland, D. Wuthrich, K. Edmaier, R. Francis, C. Camporeale, et al., Biomass selection by floods and related timescales: Part 1. Experimental observations, Advances in Water Resources 39 (2012) 85-96. - K. Edmaier, P. Burlando and P. Perona, Mechanisms of vegetation uprooting by flow in alluvial non-cohesive sediment. Hydrology And Earth System Sciences, vol. 15, p. 1615-1627, 2011. - K. Edmaier, B. Crouzy, P. Perona, Experimental characterization of root anchoring in non-cohesive sediment, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (under revision).


Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE), esterification products of ethanol and fatty acids, have been implicated as mediators of ethanol-induced organ damage. After ethanol ingestion in humans, FAEE circulate in blood, bound to lipoproteins and albumin. We have analyzed the binding of ethyl (1-13C, 99%) oleate (EO) to small unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (SUV), human low density lipoprotein (LDL), and bovine serum albumin (BSA) by 13C-NMR spectroscopy. Binding of < or = 25 mol% EO to SUV yielded a single EO carbonyl peak (172.6-172.9 ppm) downfield from that of EO oil (171.9 ppm). Thus, the carbonyl forms hydrogen bonds with water in the SUV aqueous interface. At 30 mol% EO in SUV, a second EO carbonyl peak appeared, indicating a limit in FAEE solubility in SUV. Addition of EO to isolated human LDL yielded a peak at 171.9 ppm, suggesting that the EO exists in an unhydrated environment, most likely the core of the lipoprotein. This binding was also observed using high levels of EO added to human serum. The addition of EO dissolved in ethanol or as an oil to a solution of BSA yielded no visible EO peak, whereas addition of (1-13C, 99%) oleic acid resulted in several narrow peaks, demonstrating a much greater affinity of BSA for oleic acid than for EO. Bidirectional transfer of EO between LDL and SUV was observed and was 85% complete within 30 min. There was no measurable transfer of EO from LDL or SUV to albumin. The weak binding of EO to albumin will result in increased transport of EO by lipoproteins as plasma levels of EO increase.


Two separate narratives have emerged in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis. One interpretation speaks of private financial excess and the key role of the banking system in leveraging and deleveraging the economy. The other emphasizes the public sector balance sheet over the private and worries about the risks of lax fiscal policies. However, the two may interact in important and understudied ways. This paper examines the co-evolution of public and private sector debt in advanced countries since 1870. We find that in advanced economies significant financial stability risks have mostly come from private sector credit booms rather than from the expansion of public debt. However, we find evidence that high levels of public debt have tended to exacerbate the effects of private sector deleveraging after crises, leading to more prolonged periods of economic depression. We uncover three key facts based on our analysis of around 150 recessions and recoveries since 1870: (i) in a normal recession and recovery real GDP per capita falls by 1.5 percent and takes only 2 years to regain its previous peak, but in a financial crisis recession the drop is typically 5 percent and it takes over 5 years to regain the previous peak; (ii) the output drop is even worse and recovery even slower when the crisis is preceded by a credit boom; and (iii) the path of recovery is worse still when a credit-fueled crisis coincides with elevated public debt levels. Recent experience in the advanced economies provides a useful out-of-sample comparison, and meshes closely with these historical patterns. Fiscal space appears to be a constraint in the aftermath of a crisis, then and now.


This paper describes the introduction of a novel system to steer and control projects in small and medium sized enterprises in the German trade sector. These businesses are facing increasing competition and need to find innovative ways to organise processes more professionally. Trade businesses usually plan projects accurately, but once a project has started, the plan does not necessarily reflect the changes that occur in real life. Reporting is usually done on paper with insufficient processing time and therefore problems can not be taken care of in an adequate fashion. The introduction of PDAs to those businesses as mobile devices for steering and controlling proves to make these processes more efficient. Therefore we explore relevant business processes in the building trade, the singular properties of PDAs and related software developing issues as well as introducing our project steering and controlling system.


It has been found that high prevalence of hypertension and Type II diabetes is coincidental to obesity. A well-defined nutrition therapy is one of the most effective methods of managing and slowing down the rate of development of Type II diabetes, gastrointestinal (GI) problems, and hypertension. A healthy diet or plan for the above-mentioned complications should be one that is naturally rich in phytochemicals and low in glycemic index, bad fats, and excess calories. This case study deals with the benefits of an "Integrated approach" in the management of diabetes, hypertension, gastric disorders, and obesity. The "integrated approach" includes patient-specific nutritional therapy, ayurvedic herb support, vitamins and dietary supplements, stress management, and regular exercise. The subject in this study was a 39-year-old obese female with a clinical history of Type II diabetes, borderline hypertension, and GI issues. Apart from these she also complained of low immunity, low energy levels, and high levels of stress. During the 10-month treatment, significant weight loss was achieved along with normalization of blood sugar levels and steady lowering of blood pressure with subsequent improvement in gastric problems and improved energy levels. Hence, the case report aptly illustrates that an integrated approach can help, not only manage diabetes, hypertension, and obesity but also reduce drug dosage and significantly improve quality of life.


Most textbooks on modern heuristics provide the reader with detailed descriptions of the functionality of single examples like genetic algorithms, genetic programming, tabu search, simulated annealing, and others, but fail to teach the underlying concepts behind these different approaches. The author takes a different approach in this textbook by focusing on the users' needs and answering three fundamental questions: First, he tells us which problems modern heuristics are expected to perform well on, and which should be left to traditional optimization methods. Second, he teaches us to systematically design the "right" modern heuristic for a particular problem by providing a coherent view on design elements and working principles. Third, he shows how we can make use of problem-specific knowledge for the design of efficient and effective modern heuristics that solve not only small toy problems but also perform well on large real-world problems. This book is written in an easy-to-read style and it is aimed at students and practitioners in computer science, operations research and information systems who want to understand modern heuristics and are interested in a guide to their systematic design and use.


The theory of categories of fractions as originally developed by Gabriel and Zisman is reviewed in a pedagogical manner giving detailed proofs of all statements. A weakening of the category of fractions axioms used by Higson is discussed and shown to be equivalent to the original axioms.


This thesis strives to create opportunities within landscape architecture to promote the development of the outdoors as a resource for health and well-being in healthcare settings. The overall aim is to describe users' experiences of contact with the outdoors in healthcare environments, and from this generate frameworks and tools for use in the design processes of such environments. The work is built on theoretical frameworks including person-environment fit and universal design, together with theories on restorative and supportive environments. In the background, evidence-based design is described in relation to outdoor environments in healthcare and this leads to the identification of four zones of contact that are used as part of a holistic approach to explore the experience of contact with the outdoors. The result reflects two different parts of the working process. The first part describes the users' contact with the outdoors, as experienced by staff, next of kin and residents. These descriptions portray a variety of universal wishes, needs and opportunities in relation to the outdoor environment in healthcare settings. Such universal needs and wishes became the main perspective in the second part of the work, as the empirical results were interpreted from a researcher's and designer's point of view.

The main contribution of the present work is the generation of frameworks and tools useful in design processes that correspond to users' wishes and needs in healthcare settings. The quality evaluation tool (QET) is the final manifestation of these frameworks. In all, these frameworks consist of 19 environmental qualities, the three design concepts of comfortable design, inspiring design, and the gradient of challenge, and the principal model of the four zones of contact with the outdoors. The frameworks also offer explanations of the ways in which the 19 environmental qualities relate to theories on different resources of the outdoors. These frameworks are designed to help designers to be comprehensive and aware in their work, and not overlook important qualities and aspects of the outdoors in a healthcare context. Furthermore, they are designed to be useful in participatory design processes.
Keywords: case study, evidence-based, healthcare architecture, instorative, landscape architecture, nursing home, person-environment fit, phenomenology, place attachment, restorative, salutogenesis, supportive environment, universal design.


PURPOSE
Monte Carlo (MC) models of radiotherapy beams can be used as a comparison benchmark for other dose calculation methods. In any such comparison process, the degree to which an identified deviation represents an actual error will depend upon the accuracy of the benchmark. As part of an ongoing dosimetric study, we have sought to model the standard Varian Clinac 6MV beam as accurately as possible with the BEAMnrc MC code.

METHODS
In order to insure the reproducibility of our results, the accelerator head geometry was modeled exactly as specified by the manufacturer, with only the electron source parameters and jaw positions varied. Similarly, the widely available Eclipse ' tGolden Beam' t data was used for open field comparisons with a target matching criteria of 1% of local dose or 1 mm distance-to-agreement for all depths >= Dmax and field sizes ranging from 3×3 to 40×40 cm2 . Except for target bremsstrahlung settings, all other transport parameters were left at their default values. Simulations were run for varied monoenergetic electron energy [5.6:0.05:6.2]MeV, Gaussian intensity distribution FWHM [0.0:0.05:0.25]cm, and beam divergence [0.0:0.2:1.2]°.

RESULTS
As has been previously established in the literature, matching was found to be strongly dependent on electron beam energy, intensity FWHM, and choice of bremsstrahlung settings. However, as matching approached the target criteria, results became increasingly sensitive to beam divergence as well. It was also found that when using the default bremsstrahlung settings, accuracy better than ∼2% was unobtainable. Under the specified parameter resolution, matching of all points within 1.4%/1.0mm was achieved when using the NRC bremsstrahlung cross section, the higher termed Koch and Motz bremsstrahlung angular sampling, and electron beam parameters of 5.9MeV, 0.1cm, and 0.8°.

CONCLUSION
Under the listed constraints, significant improvements (e.g. matching ∼ 1%/1mm) in Golden Beam modeling are not likely achievable.


Gastrointestinal parasites of livestock cause diseases of important socioeconomic concern worldwide. The two main types of intestinal parasites are helminths and protozoa. They can cause high mortality, reduce production and lead to significant overall economic losses. In tropical and subtropical areas, parasitic nematodes are recognised as a limiting factor to the expansion and improvement of smallholder production of small ruminants. In addition to their veterinary importance, some parasites of domesticated livestock can also be transmitted to companion animals and wildlife, and are a threat to public health.

Little is known of the prevalence of internal pathogens in domesticated animals or wildlife in Papua New Guinea (PNG). There have been various reports on gastrointestinal helminth and Eimeria infections in sheep and goats in PNG. However, those surveys have been restricted in their geographical range and have only been performed on animals raised in government or institutional (either university or agriculture research institution) farms. There is insufficient information on the epidemiology of gastrointestinal parasites infecting sheep and goats in smallholder farms. Fish, both cultured and wild caught, are an important food source in PNG, but there have been few previous surveys of parasite infection in fish. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of various pathogens including gastrointestinal nematodes, Eimeria, Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Chlamydia in sheep and goats; and Cryptosporidium, Giardia and anisakids in fish in PNG. A total of 504 faecal samples were collected from sheep (n = 276) and goats (n = 228) in smallholder, government and institutional farms, and a total of 614 fish (25 species) (cultured freshwater n = 132, wild freshwater n = 206 and wild marine n = 276) were sampled from February to August 2011. The study sites for sheep and goats covered a wide geographical area, representing the major sheep and goat farming regions of PNG. Samples were screened using microscopy and molecular techniques.

The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in sheep and goats in 165 small ruminants (110 sheep and 55 goats) using a modified McMaster technique was 77.6 % (128/165), with 72 % (79/110) of sheep and 89 % (49/55) of goats having one or more species of gastrointestinal parasite. The gastrointestinal parasites found and their prevalences in sheep (S) and in goats (G) were: trichostrongylids 67.3 % (S), 85.5 % (G); Eimeria 17.3 % (S), 16.4 % (G); Strongyloides 8.2 % (S), 23.6 % (G); Fasciola 5.5 % (S), 18.2 % (G); Trichuris 1.8 % (S), 3.6 % (G); and Nematodirus 1.8 % (S), 3.6 % (G). Two additional genera were found in goats: Moniezia (9.1 %) and Dictyocaulus (3.6 %). To identify the pathogenic trichostrongylids, further analysis using a speciesspecific qPCR was performed on genomic DNA from faeces of 263 sheep and 228 goats. The prevalence of each nematode in sheep (S) and goats (G) were: Haemonchus contortus 41.1 % (S) and 41.7 % (G), Teladorsagia circumcincta 21.3 % (S) and 24.1 % (G) and Trichostrongylus spp. 14.8 % (S) and 14 % (G). In addition, a total of 94 samples (mostly Eimeria-positives by microscopy), which included 57 faecal samples from sheep and 37 faecal samples from goats, were screened by qPCR. The prevalence of Eimeria was 64.9 % (37/57) for sheep and 91.9 % (34/37) for goats. This is the first study to quantitatively examine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in goats in PNG. The high rates of parasitism observed in the present study are likely to be associated with poor farming management practises including lack of pasture recovery time, lack of parasite control measures and poor quality feed.

Using molecular tools (nested PCRs), genomic DNA samples from sheep (n = 276), goats (n = 228) and fish (n = 614) were screened for Cryptosporidium spp. and positives were genotyped at the 18S rRNA, 60 kDa glycoprotein (gp60) and actin loci. The overall prevalence for Cryptosporidium at the 18S rRNA locus was 2.2 % (6/276) in sheep, 4.4 % (10/228) in goats and 1.14 % (7/614) in fish. In sheep, C. parvum (subtypes IIaA15G2R1 and IIaA19G4R1), C. andersoni and C. scrofarum were identified. In goats, C. hominis (subtype IdA15G1), C. parvum, C. xiaoi and rat genotype II were identified. In fish, C. hominis (subtype IdA15G1), C. parvum (IIaA14G2R1, IIaA15G2R1 and IIaA19G4R1) and a novel genotype were identified in cultured freshwater (n = 2), wild freshwater (n = 1), and wild marine (n = 4) fish hosts. Cryptosporidium was found in four different fish species; Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), silver barb (Puntius gonionotus), mackerel scad (Decapterus macarellus) and oblong silver biddy (Gerres oblongus). A novel piscine genotype in fish (piscine genotype 8) was identified in two marine oblong silver biddies and it exhibited a 4.3 % genetic distance from piscine genotype 3 (its closest relative) at the 18S locus. The three subtypes of C. parvum identified in sheep and fish (IIaA14G2R1, IIaA15G2R1 and IIaA19G4R1) were all zoonotic. This is the first report of Cryptosporidium spp. in sheep, goats and fish in PNG. Identification of Cryptosporidium in livestock warrants better care of farm animals to avoid contamination and illness in vulnerable populations. The detection of zoonotic Cryptosporidium in livestock suggests these animals may serve as reservoirs for human infection. Zoonotic Cryptosporidium were identified in fish samples from all three groups (cultured and wild freshwater fish and wild marine fish). The identification of zoonotic Cryptosporidium genotypes in fish is important to public health in PNG and should be further investigated. In particular, detection of Cryptosporidium among fingerlings from aquaculture farms warrants further research to gain a better understanding of the epidemiology of Cryptosporidium infection in cultured fish.

Giardia duodenalis was screened in sheep (n = 276), goats (n = 228) and fish (n = 272) using qPCR targeting the glutamate dehydrogenase (gdh) gene. The overall prevalence of G. duodenalis was 9.1 % (25/256) in sheep, 12.3 % (28/228) in goats and 7 % (19/272) in fish. Although the present study found a low prevalence for G. duodenalis in adult small ruminants and fish, these animals can be considered as sources of contamination for susceptible hosts in PNG, because low numbers of Giardia cysts can cause infection. This is the first study to identify Giardia spp. in sheep, goats and fish in PNG. It demonstrates that G. duodenalis is prevalent in small ruminants and fish in PNG. Giardia duodenalis assemblage E (livestock genotype) was more prevalent in sheep and goats than zoonotic assemblages A and B. Further research into the characterisation of G. duodenalis assemblages in livestock, fish and humans in PNG is required to better understand its zoonotic potential.

The prevalence of anisakid nematode larvae in marine fish collected on the coastal shelves off the townships of Madang and Rabaul in PNG was investigated using microscopy and molecular techniques. The third-stage larvae of several genera of anisakid nematodes are important etiological agents for zoonotic human anisakidosis. Nematodes were found in seven fish species including Decapterus macarellus, Gerres oblongus, Pinjalo lewisi, Pinjalo pinjalo, Selar crumenophthalmus, Scomberomorus maculatus and Thunnus albacares. They were identified by both light and scanning electron microscopy as Anisakis Type I larvae. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) and the mitochondrial cytochrome C oxidase subunit II (cox2) gene identified all nematodes as Anisakis typica. This study represents the first in-depth characterization of Anisakis larvae from seven new fish hosts in PNG. The overall prevalence of larvae was low (7.6 %) and no recognised zoonotic Anisakis species were identified, suggesting a low threat of anisakidosis in PNG.

Finally, the prevalence of Chlamydia abortus and C. pecorum in sheep (n = 221) and goats (n = 128) were investigated using two species-specific qPCR assays, targeting the outer membrane protein cell surface antigen gene (ompA). The overall prevalence of C. abortus was 12.2 % (27/221) in sheep and 8.6 % (11/128) in goats, while for C. pecorum, it was 7.7 % (17/221) in sheep and 8.6 % (11/128) in goats. This is the first study to identify C. abortus and C. pecorum in sheep and goats in PNG. It also demonstrates that C. abortus and C. pecorum are prevalent in sheep and goats in PNG, highlighting a need for further research to quantify the production impacts of these bacteria. Furthermore, the results of the present study indicate that C. abortus could pose a risk of transmission to humans, especially, in PNG, where small ruminants in villages are cared for by women on a daily basis.

 In summary, the present study represents the most detailed investigation of gastrointestinal parasites using molecular tools in sheep, goats and fish in PNG to date. A variety of gastrointestinal pathogens were identified. This provides an important update on internal pathogens of sheep and goats from previous studies (Quartermain, 2004b). Future investigations should include longitudinal studies and larger cohorts to further assess parasite epidemiology in the diverse agro-climatic zones in the country.


As chairman of examiners in last year's preclinical examinations I was responsible for drafting the examiners' report. I circulated the first draft to my coexaminers. One of them asked me to change "fetus" to "foetus."

Fetus derives from the Latin word feto , I breed, but the spelling "foetus" has been around since at least the beginning of the seventh century. St Isidore, Archbishop of Seville, in a section entitled "De homine et partibus eius" in his Originum sive etymologiarum libri ( Books of Origins or Etymologies ), commonly known as the Etymologiae (published in about 620 AD), …


As China continues to be heralded as a rising economic power, the need for an understanding of its institutional effects--such as investment-related policies, regulations, and laws--on foreign direct investment increases as well. Institutions and Investments employs interdisciplinary perspectives from economics, business, law, and political science to shed light on the interaction between institutional changes and investment patterns and to form a clear picture of investment behavior as China's legal and regulatory infrastructure has developed over the reform years. Organized into three main parts, the book first discusses the evolution and nature of China's FDI regulatory framework. Part 2 examines the various modes and variant patterns of FDI in China in the reform years. Part 3's central task is to demonstrate a systematic link between institutional changes in China's FDI regulatory framework and the changing patterns of FDI. In conclusion, Jun Fu finds that China has made substantial progress from a command economy to a market system, but that it still has a long way to go before it truly attains a transparent and rule-based system. This book adds new dimensions to the scholarship on China as a growing economic power and will be of particular interest to international economists, political scientists, and business scholars studying China. Jun Fu is Associate Professor in the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University.


In this paper, a case study on the operability of a high-purity distillation column is presented. This process is known to be difficult to control and operate due to the high degree of nonlinearity of the process. The analytical framework used to assess the process operability is the regions of steady-state attainability, recently developed by Rojas et al (2006). This framework is selected because it allows one to assess the viability of applying linear control to a nonlinear process solely based on the process nonlinear steady-state information. In this approach, two operating regions are defined in both input and output space, which provide an indication of the inherent difficulty of controlling the nonlinear process using linear output feedback. In order to integrate this operability analysis to the process design practice, the analysis is based on a numerical steady-state simulation of the column using the ASPEN PLUS. By using ASPEN Sensitivity Analysis Tool that varies the column inputs across a pre-defined Available Input Space, the steady-state nonlinear map of the column outputs can be generated. Based on these simulation results, the regions of steady-state attainability can be obtained and used to provide insights to the operability properties of this highly non linear system.


Spheroplasts of L. casei were prepared by the simultaneous action of trypsin and lysozyme in the presence of EDTA and 20% sucrose. Electron microscopy of thin sections of cells during the formation of spheroplasts showed that the spheroplasts emerged from the cell wall through a weak point at one end of the cell. Electron microscopy of negatively stained preparations showed that the structure of spheroplast membranes obtained by disruption in hypotonic medium varied according to the nature of the hypotonic medium used. Disruption in water gave small, delicate membrane fragments; disruption in 0.1 M tris-Cl gave large pieces with tubulo-vesicular attachments. The effects of Mg 2+ and EDTA were also investigated. Bactoprenol, the C 55 isoprenoid alcohol concerned in cell wall biosynthesis, was located by growing L. casei in [ 14 C]mevalonic acid. Over 90% of the cellular bactoprenol was found in the spheroplast membrane when this was obtained with 0.1 M tris-Cl, but only 42% when the spheroplasts were burst in water. It is suggested that the missing bactoprenol may be solubilized with the membranes of mesosomal orgin, and that bactoprenol is therefore a component of both plasma and mesosomal membranes.


There are many benefits to using corpora. In order to reap those rewards, how should someone who is setting up a dictionary project proceed? We describe a practical experience of such 'setting up' for a new Portuguese-English, English-Portuguese dictionary being written at Oxford University Press. We focus on the Portuguese side, as OUP did not have Portuguese resources prior to the project. We collected a very large (3.5 billion word) corpus from the web, including removing all unwanted material and duplicates. We then identified the best tools for Portuguese for lemmatizing and parsing, and undertook the very large task of parsing it. We then used the dependency parses, as output by the parser, to create word sketches (one page summaries of a word's grammatical and collocational behavior). We plan to customize an existing system for automatically identifying good candidate dictionary examples, to Portuguese, and add salient information about regional words to the word sketches. All of the data and associated support tools for lexicography are available to the lexicographer in the Sketch Engine corpus query system.


The purpose of this study was to detail teachers' proving activity and contribute to a framework of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Proof (MKT for Proof). While working to justify claims about sums of consecutive numbers, teachers searched for key ideas and productively used examples to make, test and refine conjectures. Analysis of teachers' mathematical activity revealed knowledge of the proving process that would be useful for and useable in the teaching of proof. This includes knowledge of the interconnections among empirical exploration, conjecturing, generalizing, and justifying as well as an understanding of the characteristics of examples and conjectures that could support the proving process. The central premise of this paper is that delineating aspects of teacher knowledge is a first step to supporting teachers' efforts to engage all students in fundamental mathematical practices of conjecturing, generalizing and justifying.


The recent COCO object detection dataset presents several new challenges for object detection. In particular, it contains objects at a broad range of scales, less prototypical images, and requires more precise localization. To address these challenges, we test three modifications to the standard Fast R-CNN object detector: (1) skip connections that give the detector access to features at multiple network layers, (2) a foveal structure to exploit object context at multiple object resolutions, and (3) an integral loss function and corresponding network adjustment that improve localization. The result of these modifications is that information can flow along multiple paths in our network, including through features from multiple network layers and from multiple object views. We refer to our modified classifier as a "MultiPath" network. We couple our MultiPath network with DeepMask object proposals, which are well suited for localization and small objects, and adapt our pipeline to predict segmentation masks in addition to bounding boxes. The combined system improves results over the baseline Fast R-CNN detector with Selective Search by 66% overall and by 4x on small objects. It placed second in both the COCO 2015 detection and segmentation challenges.


There have been dramatic advances in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Whereas HIV was once a dire diagnosis, today it is treatable, and individuals who receive early and consistent treatment can expect to live a normal lifespan. Why has the scientific community made the same strides with mental illness? When I was the Legal Director of the National Association of Mental Health in the United Kingdom in the 1980s, major mental illnesses were primarily treated with powerful antipsychotics, such as haloperidol, that carried the debilitating side effects of tardive dyskinesia -- involuntary movements of the tongue, lips, face, trunk, and extremities. When I first saw mental patients shuffling, tongues protruding, and physically shaking, I thought they exhibited symptoms of mental illness, but soon realized it was the treatment itself. Newer second-generation medicines cause metabolic syndrome, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. In other words, the therapeutic science of mental health has not come nearly far enough.Another indicator of the lamentable failure to meet the needs of persons with mental disabilities is the large number of vulnerable individuals warehoused in large, inhumane institutions, often for decades. While the de-institutionalization movement (a strained alliance between civil libertarians and fiscal conservatives) tore down sterile hospitals, today many individuals with mental illness are in prisons, nursing homes, or are homeless. Inadequacies of science and failures in policy might be overlooked if mental illness were not so prevalent, with enormous individual, family, community, and economic costs.Mental illness accounts for about 13% of healthcare costs globally, but only 3% of healthcare funding; many countries have no dedicated mental health budget. Despite a higher death rate, mental illnesses receive a fraction of the charitable donations made to combat cancer or HIV/AIDS. Moreover, the trained mental health workforce is pitifully small given the need. Mental health professionals account for just 1% of the global health workforce. HIV/AIDS and mental illness have common features. Both are complex intractable diseases affecting marginalized communities throughout the lifespan and both are shrouded in stigma and discrimination. Certainly the human suffering and social alienation caused by HIV/AIDS remains an urgent global threat. Yet, AIDS has changed the world. How did all these technological advances come about, and why did a particular disease, AIDS, forge a pathway toward unprecedented scientific discoveries while mental illness remains largely ignored? So much scientific progress has been made since AIDS first emerged. But today, persons with serious mental illnesses -- particularly in lower socioeconomic classes -- are no better off than they would have been if they were born decades ago. Their treatment, if they have access to any treatment, will be nearly as debilitating as the disease. They are likely to be in a prison or nursing homes, or just as problematic, living on the streets. Sadly, in 2015, the mentally ill remain the most stigmatized and isolated among us. How is that for scientific and social progress?


The rise of Barack Obama is one of the great stories of this century: a defining moment in American history, and one with truly global resonance. Until now, no journalist or historian has written a book that fully investigates the circumstances and experiences of Obama's life or explores the ambition and conviction behind his journey to election. The Bridge from a writer whose gift for illuminating the historical significance of unfolding events is unsurpassed offers a portrait, at once masterly and fresh, nuanced and unexpected, of the man who was determined to become the first African-American president. Through extensive on-the-record interviews with friends and teachers, mentors and disparagers, family members and Obama himself, David Remnick allow us to see an early life coloured by absence and uncertainty: one that asked demanding questions of a rootless and literate man in search of himself, sending him firstly towards social work and then into law. Deftly setting Obama's burgeoning political career against the volatile scene in Chicago, Remnick shows us how it was that city's complex racial legacy that shaped the young politician and made his first forays into politics a source of controversy and bare-knuckle tactics: his clashes with older black politicians in the Illinois State Senate, his disastrous decision to challenge the former Black Panther Bobby Rush for Congress in 2000, the sex scandals that would decimate his more experienced opponents in the 2004 Senate race, and the story from both sides of his confrontation with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. In exploring the way in which Barack Obama imagined and fashioned an identity for himself against the backdrop of race in America, Remnick illuminates an American life without precedent, and reminds us that, electrifying though Obama's victory may have been, there was nothing fated about it. Interrogating both the personal and political elements of the story and, most crucially, the points at which they intersect he gives shape to a decisive period of American history, and in turn, to the way it crucially influenced, animated and motivated a gifted and complex man.


The Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) Galileons are a generalization of the Galileon terms, which extend the internal Galilean symmetry to an internal relativistic symmetry, and can also be thought of as generalizations of DBI which yield second order field equations. We show that, when considered as local modifications to gravity, such as in the Solar System, there exists a region of parameter space in which spherically symmetric static solutions exist and are stable. However, these solutions always exhibit superluminality, casting doubt on the existence of a standard Lorentz invariant UV completion.


This report summarizes West Nile virus (WNV) surveillance data reported to CDC through ArboNET as of 3 a.m., Mountain Standard Time, October 29, 2003.


This study concerns itself with the relationship between game design and emergent social behaviour in massively multiplayer online games and virtual worlds. This thesis argues for a legitimisation of the study of 'communities of play', alongside communities perceived as more 'serious', such as communities of interest or practice. It also identifies six factors that contribute to emergent social behaviour and investigates the relationship between group and individual identity, and the emergent ways in which these arise from and intersect with the features and mechanics of the game worlds themselves.

Methodology: Under the rubric of 'design research', this study was conducted as an ethnographic intervention, an anthropological investigation that deliberately privileged the online experience whilst acknowledging the performative nature of both game play and the research process itself. The research was informed by years of professional practical experience in game design and playtesting, as well as by qualitative methods derived from the fields of Anthropology, Sociology, Computermediated Communications and the emerging field of Game Studies. The process of conducting the eighteen-month ethnographic study followed the progress of a sub-set of members of the 'Uru Diaspora,' a group of 10,000 players who were made refugees when the massively multiplayer game 'Uru: Ages Beyond Myst' was closed in February of 2004. Uru refugees immigrated into other virtual worlds, using their features and capabilities to create ethnic communities that emulated the culture, artefacts and environments of the original Uru world. Over time, players developed 'hybrid' cultures, integrating the Uru culture with that of their new homes, and eventually creating entirely new Uru and Myst-inspired content.

The outcome is the identification of six factors that serve as 'engines for emergence' and discusses their relationship to each other, to game design, and to emergent behaviour.
These include:
• Play Ecosystems: Fixed-Synthetic vs. Co-Created Worlds: Online games and virtual worlds exist along a spectrum, with environments entirely authored by the designer at one end, and those comprised primarily of player-created content and assets on the other, with a range of variations between. The type of world will impact the sort of emergent behaviour that occurs, and worlds that include player-created content will be more inclined to promote emergent behaviour.
• Communities of Play: Distributed groups formed around play demonstrate distinct characteristics based on shared values and play styles. The study describes in detail one such play community, and analyses the ways in which its characteristic play styles drove its emergent behaviours.
• The Social Construction of Avatar Identity: Individual avatar identity is constructed through an emergent process engaging social feedback.
• Intersubjective Flow: A social reading of the psychological notion of 'flow' that describes the way in which flow dynamics occur in a social context through play.
• Productive Play: Countering the traditional contention that play is inherently 'unproductive' as some scholars suggest, the thesis argues that play can be seen as a form of cultural production, as well as fulcrum for creative activity.
• Porous Magic Circles and the 'Ludisphere': The magic circle, which bounds play activities, is more porous than game scholars had previously believed. The term 'ludisphere' is used to describe the larger context of aggregated play space via the Internet. Also identified are leakages between 'virtual worlds' and 'real life'.

By identifying these factors and attempting to trace their roots in game design, the study aims to contribute a new approach to the making and analysis of user experience and creativity 'in game'. The thesis posits that by achieving a deeper cultural understanding of the relationship between design and emergent behaviour, it is possible to make steps forward in the study of 'emergence' itself as a design
material.


Public confidence in policing has become an important issue in the UK. The police rely on legitimacy and public support, and initiatives to improve levels of confidence are currently underway. The point of contact between citizens and officers is vital in any such endeavour. But how are encounters judged and how important for public confidence are assessments of the quality of contacts? We draw upon data from the 2005/2006 Metropolitan Police Public Attitudes Survey to answer these questions. We test Skogan's (2006) finding that personal contact has a largely negative impact on confidence; we demonstrate that unsatisfactory contacts are indeed associated with less favourable opinions about police effectiveness, fairness and engagement with the community. Yet consistent with the procedural justice model we also show that positively received contacts can improve perceptions of fairness and community engagement. Moreover, seeing regular police patrols and feeling informed about police activities are associated with higher opinions of effectiveness and community engagement. We conclude with some more positive thoughts on the ability of the police to improve the quality of contacts and, perhaps, public confidence.


My name is Amber Fraser. I've just moved in at Number 40, Lime Park Road. You'll come to think of me as a loving wife, a thoughtful neighbour and a trusted friend. This is a lie. When Christy and Joe Davenport are handed the keys to Number 40 on picture-perfect Lime Park Road, Christy knows it should be a dream come true. How strange though that the house was on the market for such a low price. That the previous owners, the Frasers, had renovated the entire property yet moved out within a year. That none of the neighbours will talk to Christy. As her curiosity begins to give way to obsession, Christy finds herself drawn deeper into the mystery of the house's previous occupants - and the dark and shocking secret that tore the street apart...Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Jane Shemilt, The Sudden Departure of the Frasers is a Rear Window for modern times. Praise for The Sudden Departure of the Frasers: "A thriller novel meets soap opera with hints of Rear Window...addictive and fun...it will keep you guessing until the." (Stylist). "Brilliantly obsessive." (Viv Groskop, Red). "Tense and intriguing." (Woman and Home). "Pacy and claustrophobic." (Fabulous). "Smart and perceptive." (Good Housekeeping). "Louise Candlish's latest thriller is packed with twists and turns." (Hello Magazine). "A story of manipulation, obsession and love. I couldn't put it down!" (Essentials). "Subtle, clever and sexy, this is irresistibly enjoyable." (Sunday Mirror). Praise for Louise Candlish: "A master of her craft." (Rosamund Lupton). "Louise Candlish's stories don't shy away from life's more painful and emotional moments." (Glamour). "I loved this book. Full of complicated yet sympathetic characters and riven with the kind of dilemmas that characterise real lives. I honestly didn't see the twist coming. Perfect." (Jojo Moyes on The Day You Saved my Life). "Tense, twisty and completely addictive, will keep you guessing right until the end..." (Good Housekeeping). "Absorbing, perceptive and gripping." (Daily Mail).


Cost containment has emerged as a major point of contention in the current congressional debate about designing a cap-and-trade program to limit future U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This paper reviews basic concepts and policy options for cost management, drawing on a March 2008 workshop sponsored by Resources for the Future (RFF), the National Commission on Energy Policy, and Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. The different sources and temporal dimensions of cost uncertainty are explored, along with possible mechanisms for addressing short- and long-term cost concerns, including banking and borrowing, emissions offsets, a price cap (or safety valve), quantity-limited allowance reserve, and the concept of an oversight entity for GHG allowance markets modeled on the Federal Reserve. Recognizing that the inherent trade-off between environmental certainty and cost certainty has no perfect solution, the paper nonetheless concludes that numerous options exist for striking a reasonable and politically viable balance between these two objectives. In the effort to forge consensus around a particular set of options, it will be important for policymakers to strive to fit the remedy to the problem they are trying to solve and to preserve the underlying integrity of the overall program in terms of its long-term ability to sustain meaningful market incentives for low-carbon technologies.


AbstractIn this case study, the overburden, pore-pressure, and fracture gradients are calculated for several nearby analog wells and subsequently used to generate a predrill pore-pressure prediction for the deepwater subsalt Gulf of Mexico well, Flying Dutchman, located in Green Canyon 511 no. 1 (OCS-G 22971). Two key analog wells penetrated the lower Miocene and have sufficient data to generate pore-pressure profiles. Subsequently, the predrill pore-pressure prediction is found to be in good agreement with the pore pressure estimated from well logs while drilling. During the drilling phase of the Flying Dutchman well, two zones of significant fluid loss and wellbore breathing were encountered and are evaluated as a means of determining the formation types where they are most likely to occur, as well as their related minimum horizontal stress and fracture gradient.


INTRODUCTION
Serum bilirubin is an endogenous antioxidant biomarker and its low level is a potential risk factor for smoking related health disorders. This study investigated the association of cigarette smoke with serum total bilirubin among Koreans.

METHODS
Between 2006 and 2011, we examined 4899 Korean adults living in a rural community. After excluding 38 participants with serum bilirubin more than 2mg/dL, 75 participants who did not report their smoking status or who had liver or bile duct disorders, and 711 participants with liver enzymes exceeding the upper reference values, we performed a cross-sectional analysis on 4075 participants. Participants were classified into four groups: never-smokers without secondhand smoke exposure (SHSE), never-smokers with SHSE, former smokers, and active smokers. Serum total bilirubin concentration was measured using the enzyme method.

RESULTS
Compared to never-smokers without SHSE, never-smokers with SHSE (β = -0.025 mg/dL), former smokers (β = -0.049 mg/dL), and active smokers (β = -0.149 mg/dL) had significantly lower serum bilirubin even after adjusting for demographic factors, study year, alanine aminotransferase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, hemoglobin, lifestyle factors, and chronic diseases. A sex-stratified analysis indicated that for men, former smokers and active smokers were significantly associated with having lower bilirubin when compared to never-smokers without SHSE. However, for women, never-smokers with SHSE and active smokers were significantly associated with having lower bilirubin when compared to never-smokers without SHSE.

CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that both active and passive cigarette smoking are associated with low serum bilirubin among Korean adults.

IMPLICATIONS
Our results suggest that not only active smoking but also passive smoking including SHSE can have an influence on decreasing serum bilirubin levels. With this different point of view, our study supports efforts to create smoke-free environments in order to foster more favorable serum bilirubin profiles, which may improve endothelial function and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.


The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers and critical success factors that affect the R&D organisational performance in Indian manufacturing scenario. Reviewing the literatures on R&D performance measurement in manufacturing organisations, this paper first brings out a number of key factors contributing to the R&D organisational performance. Based on these factors, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the different manufacturing sectors. An analysis of the responses to the questionnaire survey, together with the use of principal component analysis and factor analysis, helped in framing five constructs: R&D productivity, TQM index, roadblocks to R&D, technical competency, and effectiveness of R&D. Using these constructs, seven hypotheses were developed and tested in the framework of structural equation modelling. The results indicate that technical competency and TQM index are the key drivers to encourage the performance of R&D, which enhance effectiveness of R&D in manufacturing sectors ...


Background Ethanol is a potent teratogen. Its adverse neural effects are partly mediated by disrupting fetal neurogenesis. The teratogenic process is poorly understood, and vulnerable neurogenic stages have not been identified. Identifying these is a prerequisite for therapeutic interventions to mitigate effects of teratogen exposures. Methods We used flow cytometry and qRT-PCR to screen fetal mouse-derived neurosphere cultures for ethanol-sensitive neural stem cell (NSC) subpopulations, to study NSC renewal and differentiation. The identity of vulnerable NSC populations was validated in vivo, using a maternal ethanol exposure model. Finally, the effect of ethanol exposure on the ability of vulnerable NSC subpopulations to integrate into the fetal neurogenic environment was assessed following ultrasound guided, adoptive transfer. Results Ethanol decreased NSC mRNAs for c-kit, Musashi-1and GFAP. The CD24+ NSC population, specifically the CD24+CD15+ double-positive subpopulation, was selectively decreased by ethanol. Maternal ethanol exposure also resulted in decreased fetal forebrain CD24 expression. Ethanol pre-exposed CD24+ cells exhibited increased proliferation, and deficits in cell-autonomous and cue-directed neuronal differentiation, and following orthotopic transplantation into naïve fetuses, were unable to integrate into neurogenic niches. CD24depleted cells retained neurosphere regeneration capacity, but following ethanol exposure, generated increased numbers of CD24+ cells relative to controls. Conclusions Neuronal lineage committed CD24+ cells exhibit specific vulnerability, and ethanol exposure persistently impairs this population's cell-autonomous differentiation capacity. CD24+ cells may additionally serve as quorum sensors within neurogenic niches; their loss, leading to compensatory NSC activation, perhaps depleting renewal capacity. These data collectively advance a mechanistic hypothesis for teratogenesis leading to microencephaly.


Abstract President Trump's decision to move his official state of residence from high-tax New York to no (income)-tax Florida has brought public attention to an issue that has long troubled scholars, designers and administrators of income tax systems: how the interaction of tax rules deferring the taxation of income and tax rules based on residency allows taxpayers to reduce and even avoid taxation of their deferred income. These discontinuities in tax treatment may lead to excessive migration, as well as reductions in state income tax revenues and distortions in the design of state taxing mechanisms. This Article explains what states would have to do to eliminate these avoidance opportunities. However, it also points out that many of these policy changes would create other tax discontinuities. Ultimately, it leaves open the question whether making any of these changes would lead to fewer financial and behavioral distortions.