We study economic globalization as a multidimensional process and investigate its effect on incomes. In a panel of 147 countries during 1970-2014, we apply a new instrumental variable, exploiting globalization's geographically diffusive character, and find differential gains from globalization both across and within countries: Income gains are substantial for countries at early and medium stages of the globalization process, but the marginal returns diminish as globalization rises, eventually becoming insignificant. Within countries, these gains are concentrated at the top of national income distributions, resulting in rising inequality. We find that domestic policies can mitigate the adverse distributional effects of globalization.


Selling state-owned enterprises to the private sector has become a popular policy for governments all around the world. Chapter 1 provides an historical perspective on privatization, and it describes the objectives and the privatization techniques that have been adopted by many governments since the late 70s. The chapter then focuses on two important issues in the privatization debate, the underpricing of shares and the effect of ownership on performance. It reviews the most significant theoretical and empirical contributions to the analysis of these two issues, and it introduces the questions addressed in the remaining chapters of this dissertation. In Chapter 2 I consider a government that first privatizes a company and then competes for votes against a political opponent. The government's objective is to choose the price of shares and the level of promotional effort to maximize its total net revenues. After the sale of the company to the public there is an election and the two parties announce what expropriation rate they would implement if they win the political competition. I show that in this context it is optimal for the party in power in the first period to actively promote the sale and to underprice the stock with respect to its true value, in order to increase the size of the shareholders' interest group that will vote for the party announcing a low expropriation rate. In Chapter 3 I estimate the long-term impact of the British privatization program of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, on the government's finances. For a large sample of British companies that were privatized in the years 1979 to 1994, regression analysis shows no effect of change in ownership on company's gross profitability. This information is then combined with estimates of all relevant costs (implicit and explicit) and revenues for each sale, to assess the long-term effect of the privatization policies on the government's net worth. The results show that "Selling the State" generated considerable losses for the British Government.


Network embedding aims to learn a low-dimensional vector representation for each node in the social and information networks, with the constraint to preserve network structures. Most existing methods focus on single network embedding, ignoring the relationship between multiple networks. In many real-world applications, however, multiple networks may contain complementary information, which can lead to further refined node embeddings. Thus, in this paper, we propose a novel multi-network embedding method, DMNE. DMNE is flexible. It allows different networks to have different sizes, to be (un)weighted and (un)directed. It leverages multiple networks via cross-network relationships between nodes in different networks, which may form many-to-many node mappings, and be associated with weights. To model the non-linearity of the network data, we develop DMNE to have a new deep learning architecture, which coordinates multiple neural networks (one for each input network data) with a co-regularized loss function. With multiple layers of non-linear mappings, DMNE progressively transforms each input network to a highly non-linear latent space, and in the meantime, adapts different spaces to each other through a co-regularized learning schema. Extensive experimental results on real-life datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method.


The properties of semiconductor laser diodes for trace gas measurements are reviewed. First, the modulation characteristics of these lasers are discussed. Then, two sensitive spectroscopic methods using a frequency-modulated near-IR laser are presented and their performance compared. In the λ = 2 μm range, second-harmonic optical detection has shown a 20 times better detection limit than photoacoustic detection. The extension of these methods to longer wavelengths is finally discussed.


Background Deficiencies in record keeping practices have been reported at primary care level in the public health sector in South Africa. These deficiencies have the potential to negatively impact patient health outcomes as the break in information may hinder continuity of care. This disruption in information management has particular relevance for patients with chronic diseases. Objectives The aim of this study was to establish if the implementation of a structured clinical record (SCR) as an adjunct tool to the algorithmic guidelines for chronic disease management improved the quality of clinical records at primary care level. Method A quasi-experimental study (before and after study with a comparison group) was conducted across 30 primary health care clinics (PHCs) located in three districts in South Africa. Twenty PHCs that received the intervention were selected as intervention clinics and 10 facilities were selected as comparison facilities. The lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) method was used to determine the number of records required to be reviewed per diagnostic condition per facility. Results There was a a statistically significant increase in the percentage of clinical records achieving compliance to the minimum criteria from the baseline to six months post-intervention for both HIV patients on antiretroviral treatment and patients with non-communicable diseases (hypertension and diabetes). Conclusions A multifaceted intervention using a SCR to supplement the educational outreach component (PC 101 training) has demonstrated the potential for improving the quality of clinical records for patients with chronic diseases at primary care clinics in South Africa.


From the latter part of the 19th century, when New York City trains began to operate, until the present time, New York City's Transit Authority has received train noise complaints from riders and residents living near its transit system. The growing body of literature demonstrating the adverse effects of noise on physical and mental health raises the question as to whether transit noise is hazardous to the health of New York City's transit riders and residents living near the transit system. Several studies have examined the impacts of the noise of New York's transit system on hearing, health and learning. Despite the Transit Authority's efforts to remedy transit noise in response to complaints, the noise problem has not yet been satisfactorily ameliorated. This paper will suggest how the Transit Authority could employ techniques that could lower the noise levels of its system and benefit the health and welfare of New Yorkers. The recommendations in this paper could also apply to other cities with major transit systems where noise abatement has not been treated seriously.


Treatment modalities have been developed to address patient concerns with skin laxity and focal adipose excess. A previously published multicenter clinical trial reported improvement in cellulite severity after a single dermal and subcutaneous treatment on the upper thigh with a microneedle radiofrequency device. In the current study, this device was used to improve the esthetic appearance of body skin laxity and localized fat deposits above the knee, upper arms, and upper‐mid back/axillary region ("bra‐line").


Youth are important assets for the continuous development of the nation. Youth
are also in a critical stage for development. Therefore, many youth development
programmes have been conducted to help youth to develop and equip them with
the necessary attitudes, knowledge and skills to enable them to meet the future
challenges and become indispensable leaders of tomorrow. A major
developmental task during youth is the creation of a sense of identity. Theatre is
one of the most common developmental programme used in the United States,
Britain, Canada and Australia because through performing, the youth are able to
project a new identity and discover themselves (Courtney, 1980). However, in
Malaysia, theatre has not been embarked forcefully as a developmental programme
for the youth. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine whether theatre will
be suitable in youth identity development programme in Malaysia. This study
determine the effects of theatre performance towards the identity development of
the youth; specifically the development of self-esteem, emotional'matbr&y. and-. : , * ' .
self-efficacy. Six selected elements of theatre performance were also used to determine their influence towards the development of these three identities. The
respondents for this study comprised of all the diploma students majoring in
theatre from year one right up to the final year of two higher learning institutions in
Malaysia. The number of respondents responded to the self-administered
questionnaires were 109. The findings show that majority of the respondents have
a high level of self-esteem and self-efficacy. The findings also show that majority
of the respondents have a moderate level of emotional maturity but the overall
respondents' emotional maturity can be considered high as almost half of the
respondents reported to have a high level of emotional maturity. The other
findings of this study show that theatre performance had equal influence towards
the development of self-esteem, emotional maturity and self-efficacy. Among the
six elements of theatre performance, role-playing, improvisation and
characterization have the greatest influenced towards the development of the
respondents' self-esteem, emotional maturity and self-efficacy. These findings
imply that theatre performance is a suitable youth identity development
programme as it helps to develop the youths' inner resources, identity, positive
attitude and meet the basic needs for youth to be competent. The study
recommended that theatre to be incorporated as one of the youth identity
development programme in Malaysia, to give greater emphasis and to incorporate
the three most influential theatre performance elements; role-playing,
improvisation and characterization into other youth development programmes and
to incorporate theatre into the academic curriculum in school.


Introduction: Despite the high numbers of participants in both rugby league and union, literature on body image of male rugby players is somewhat limited. However researchers have theorized that the exercise adopted by males may reflect different levels of dissatisfaction, especially in activities that require a large body build, or lean aesthetic physique [1]. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the prevalence of body (dis)satisfaction in terms of muscularity and body fat, and secondly to identify areas of the body that require a change (in either increase/decrease in musculature or body fat) to improve body image. Method: A volunteer sample of n = 93 male University Rugby Union and League participants between the ages 18 – 25 years of age were targeted via social media. An online survey was taken using a mixture of multiple choice and Likert scaled questions from an adaptation of the Bodybuilders Image Grid (BIG-O) [2]. Participants identified areas for increased muscularity and areas of the body for body fat changes and statistical analyses used to assess the difference between current and ideal body size. Results: Participants were mostly dissatisfied (49.46%) with their current body image. All participants highlighted at least one muscle group for increased muscularity. 88.44% of participants desired no increase in body fat, whilst 86.41% wished to reduce body fat in at least one area. Pectorals (50.52%), quadriceps (43.01%) and abdominals (34.41%) were the most common areas for increased muscle mass. Main areas targeted for reduced body fat were stomach (86.02%), chest (39.78%) and back (24.73%). Conclusion: Although body image is complex and easily influenced, the majority of participant's were dissatisfied with their body and desired a reduction in body fat levels and increased muscularity. Recommendations would allow researchers to compare body (dis)satisfaction between those with a performance focus and those focused on societies ideal. Furthermore, to recruit varying rugby playing standards, such as international and club level players and compare if there are differences in body (dis)satisfaction.


This paper provides evidence that a person's race influences the probability of receiving proper health care during a pandemic. In order to do so, we use country-wide individual-level data of people hospitalized due to respiratory infections in Brazil during the COVID-19 crisis. We find that white individuals are more likely to receive intensive care treatment than their counterparts from different races, even after accounting for observable characteristics such as symptoms, co-morbidities, and hospital and epidemiological-week fixed effects. We also find that this effects comes mostly from private hospitals, where only patients with insurance can have access to ICU units. No racial disparity is found in public hospitals, where ICUs are allocated regardless of access to private insurance. Our findings are consistent with the presence of institutional racism in Brazilian health care markets, where racial inequalities in the economy are reproduced in this market through race-neutral rules.


During the period of 1958 and 1960, the richest sample of Palaeoloxodon ex gr. P. falconeri (104 individuals) was recovered from Spinagallo cave (Syracuse, Hyblean Plateau, SE Sicily). Subsequently, several composite skeletons were reconstructed. Four of them are today exhibited at the Paleontological Museum of Department of Earth Sciences of Sapienza University of Rome (MPUR). Three of the skeletons represented by an adult male (MPUR/V n1), an adult female (MPUR/V n2) and a calf (MPUR/V n3), were analysed in order to reconstruct the physical appearance and estimate the body mass of the species. The rigorous skeletal restorations suggest that the males approached 100 cm at the shoulder height in the flesh and over 300 kg in body mass, whereas females were around 80 cm in height and around 165 kg. The sexual dimorphism in Palaeoloxodon ex gr. P. falconeri was concluded to be comparable to extant elephants. The small size probably had a direct influence in the animals' physiology and biology; including a shorter life span, rapid growth, and changes in thermoregulation mechanisms. The drastic allometric size reduction experienced by Siculo-Maltese dwarf elephants, produced noticeable changes in the skull, showing some paedomorphic features that were present in young P. antiquus and in extant juvenile elephants, and in the axial and appendicular skeleton proportions respect to its putative mainland ancestor Palaeoloxodon antiquus. Some unique traits observed in the limb bones suggest a more agile locomotion in P. ex gr. P. falconeri than other elephantids. Nevertheless, the most noteworthy change, is the positive allometric increase of the brain case. Indeed, the brain of P. ex gr. P. falconeri was proportionally 13 times larger than that of P. antiquus. The large change in brain proportions was related to the need to maintain the minimal functional volume of the brain when the size of the skull was drastic reduced. Download the complete issue.


Ion implantation has been investigated as an alternative technique to epitaxial deposition for the synthesis and doping of strained Si1-xGex alloy layers. Use of an all-implanted process has the potential to overcome many issues and difficulties of doping, reproducibility and yield in the commercial production of SiGe heterostructure devices. Samples with different germanium peak concentrations, x (0 ≤ x ≤ 15) were synthesised by implantation of Ge+ into bulk Si, and were heavily doped with boron or with arsenic (10 20 cm-3). Some layers were also post-amorphised by Si+ implantation. Room temperature sheet resistance and Hall mobility were measured using the Van der Pauw method. Depth profiles were obtained using Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) and Spreading Resistance Profiling (SRP), to determine dopant distribution and sheet carrier concentration, respectively. The re-grown material quality of selected samples was investigated using cross-sectional Transmission Electron Microscopy (XTEM). As a general trend, an increase in sheet resistance and a decrease in Hall mobility was observed with increasing germanium peak concentration in the ion beam synthesised layers. However, a speculative approach used to propose values and trends in drift mobility (muD) suggested some improvements compared to bulk Si. Some confidence in the values of muD proposed is given by corresponding values of the Hall scattering factor, rH, which are consistent with values reported in the literature for similar germanium content and layer thickness. Electrical junction depths were reduced in the synthesised layers compared to bulk Si. Evidence from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrical measurements shows that the highest germanium peak concentrations used exceed the critical threshold for production of strained SiGe layers after solid phase epitaxial growth (SPEG) in accordance with Paine's experimental model of strain relaxation in ion beam synthesised SiGe layers. It is proposed that estimated trends in rH may provide a useful source of evidence for strain relaxation. Furthermore, use of ion beam synthesised SiGe leads to a reduction in diffusion of both boron and arsenic, compared to bulk-Si. This is attributed to the formation of BGe pairs and/or boron-interstitial (BI) clusters, and GeAs precipitates and/or AS4V- clusters, which are also responsible for reduced carrier activation in the synthesised layers. In the As-doped samples, this trend differs from findings reported in the literature for deposited strained SiGe layers. Silicon post-amorphisation improves the carrier activation in As-doped samples; hence it is postulated that end-of-range (EOR) defects act as a barrier to arsenic enhanced diffusion. It is concluded that an all-implanted route to the production of strained, doped SiGe layers is worth incor-porating into commercial device manufacture.


Background: Direct thrombin inhibitors and factor Xa inhibitors are gaining popularity as alternatives to warfarin for patients requiring anticoagulation. Toxicity due to these medications is difficult to manage because overdose experience is very limited and there is no clear guidance on when or whether to use antidote in this setting.
Case Presentation: A 50-year-old man with normal renal function ingested 10 to 25 tablets of dabigatran 150 mg. He denied any specific symptoms and had an unremarkable physical exam. No bleeding or bruising was noted and stool was guaiac negative on initial workup. Per recommendations from the Regional Poison Center, a single 100 g dose of activated charcoal was administered approximately three hours post-ingestion and the patient was admitted for monitoring. Baseline coagulation parameters of the patient (including aPTT) revealed coagulopathy. However, no sign of systemic or local hemorrhage was detected. Having received only supportive treatments during admission, aPTT restored to normal limits by hospital day 2. A dabigatran level revealed the drug to be almost completely eliminated by 34 hours after ingestion.
Discussion: Specific reversal agents for direct thrombin inhibitors are under final phases of development. The question of whether or not to use these antidotes is expected to come up in situations of accidental or intentional overdose with direct thrombin inhibitors. Similar to our observation, some scientists showed that dabigatran overdose can be managed conservatively with supportive treatments.
Conclusion:This case adds to the limited pool of literature regarding dabigatran overdose and outcomes, and suggests that a patient with an overdose of this magnitude may be safely managed without acute intervention. Literature review suggests that aPTT might be an appropriate method for monitoring anticoagulant effects related to this drug in the clinical setting.


The spatial distribution and scale dependence of the very short-term predictability of precipitation by Lagrangian persistence of composite radar images is studied under different flow regimes in connection with the presence of orographic features. Data from the weather radar composite of eastern Victoria, Australia, a 500 × 500 km 2 domain at 10 min temporal and 2 × 2 km 2 spatial resolutions, covering the period from February 2011 to October 2012, were used for the analyses. The scale dependence of the predictability of precipitation is considered by decomposing the radar rainfall field into an eight-level multiplicative cascade using a fast Fourier transform. The rate of temporal development of precipitation in Lagrangian coordinates is estimated at each level of the cascade under different flow regimes, which are stratified by applying a k-means clustering algorithm on the diagnosed velocity fields. The predictability of precipitation is measured by its lifetime, which is derived by integrating the Lagrangian auto-correlation function. The lifetimes were found to depend on the scale of the feature as a power law, which is known as dynamic scaling, and to vary as a function of flow regime. The lifetimes also exhibit significant spatial variability and are approximately a factor of 2 longer on the upwind compared with the downwind slopes of terrain features. The scaling exponent of the spatial power spectrum also shows interesting geographical differences. These findings provide opportunities to perform spatially inhomogeneous stochastic simulations of space–time precipitation to account for the presence of orography, which may be integrated into design storm simulations and stochastic precipitation nowcasting systems.


A case study of how to achieve efficiency & maintainability of test automation Abstract More and more companies experience problems with maintainability and time-consuming development of automated testing tools. The MPC department at Ericsson Software Technology AB use methods and tools often developed during time pressure that results in time-consuming testing and requires more effort and resources than planned. The tools are also such nature that they are hard to expand, maintain and in some cases they have been thrown out between releases. For this reason, we could identify two major objectives that MPC want to achieve; efficient and maintainable test automation. Efficient test automation is related to mainly how to perform tests with less effort, or in a shorter time. Maintainable test automation aims to keep tests up to date with the software. In order to decide how to achieve these objectives, we decided to investigate which test to automate, what should be improved in the testing process, what techniques to use, and finally whether or not the use of automated testing can reduce the cost of testing. These issues will be discussed in this paper.


Particle-driven gravity currents, as exemplified by either turbidity currents in the ocean or ignimbrite flows in the atmosphere, are buoyancy-driven flows due to the suspension of dense particles in an ambient fluid. They are formed naturally from sediment-laden outflows from rivers into coastal waters, from submarine landslides along coastal shelves or as the result of volcanic eruptions. The porous rock and sand of both consolidated and unconsolidated oil-reservoirs are often derived from the sediment deposited from turbidity currents over geological time. A knowledge of the genesis of these reservoirs may provide better methods to estimate their porosity and permeability distribution, which would improve evaluation and management of these valuable resources. This paper presents a theoretical model for the dynamics and deposition of a two-dimensional particle-driven gravity current composed of a polydispersed suspension of dense particles and compares the theoretical predictions against data obtained from laboratory experiments. After developing a scaling analysis of the governing equations, we propose a simple algebraic method to compute the areal density of deposit, or mass deposited per unit area, and the distribution of particle-sizes within deposits arising from either two-dimensional or axisymmetric currents. The resulting formulae suggest an inverse method to estimate the density of deposit and the distribution of particle sizes as a function of position in a reservoir from a limited number of cores.


Neither science nor practice seems to regard the implementation of a continuous improvement (CI) programme as a problematic organisational innovation. Many organisations do not regard CI implementation as a major change and tend to use their existing hierarchy to organise and manage the process. There is no specific literature on CI programme implementation processes. This article shows that the implementation of a CI programme is a non-trivial and actually problematic process, especially if the programme is implemented using the existing hierarchy. Two case studies are presented to illustrate and discuss the problems related to this strategy, showing that the hierarchical approach is not suited for furthering, detailing and implementing the general ideas behind CI. Yet, this is exactly what this design-and-learn type of organisational innovation needs. In our case studies, all the people involved need to learn about the CI programme, appreciate its value and develop their role in it. Using the existing hierarchy does not seem to enable this. Rather, CI appears to need what could be called, 'participative embedding'.


Porphyrins are tetrapyrrole macrocycles that can coordinate transition metal ions such as iron, cobalt and magnesium and are able to perform a diversity of functions and applications. In biological systems, these molecules are associated with proteins involved in photosynthesis, cell respiration, cell death, antioxidant defence, among others. The stability and versatile applications of porphyrins inspired the synthesis of derivatives including 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(N-methyl pyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin (TMPyP) that is the object of the present chapter. In synthetic porphyrins such as TMPyP, the catalytic and photochemical properties can be achieved by the coordination with a diversity of central metal ions. In photodynamic therapy (PDT), TMPyP and other porphyrins act as photosensitizers. The photochemical properties of TMPyP and other porphyrins are also useful for the fabrication of solar cells. The catalytic properties require the presence of a central metal. The MnTMPyP have antioxidant activity that is influenced the capacity of membrane binding, substituents, and meso substituents. Manipulation of the interfacial confinement properties is one of the newest application areas of porphyrins. The associa tion of porphyrins with different surfaces modulates the electronic and physicochemical properties of these molecules. All of these properties are the object of experimental and theoretical studies discussed in the present chapter.


AN ACOUSTICAL ANALYSIS OF DOMES COUPLED TO ROOMS, WITH SPECIAL APPLICATION TO THE DARUSSHOLAH MOSQUE, IN EAST JAVA, INDONESIA Sentagi S. Utami Department of Physics and Astronomy Master of Science Concave surfaces are often considered to be detrimental or precarious in room acoustics, especially because of the impact they have on the distribution of sound energy. However, it is often difficult to avoid such surfaces in buildings with specific architectural functions. A primary example of this involves mosques, which are sacred places of worship for Muslims. In keeping with the Islamic architectural style, most mosques incorporate a symbolic centralized domed ceiling as part of their roof structures. These domes are open on the bottom and coupled to the acoustic spaces below. In many cases, the lower spaces may be idealized as rectangular enclosures. Owing to the distinctness and ubiquity of this basic architectural form, a thorough, fundamental analysis of such environments would be useful to the architectural acoustics community. In this study, predictions from EASE computer models were compared to the results derived from physical scale model measurements. The scale model measurement techniques involved evaluation of impulse responses in a 1:12 scale model of Darussholah mosque, in East Java, Indonesia. A miniature human voice source was created to carry out the impulse response measurements. It was carefully evaluated to ensure that it produced adequate frequency response and directivity comparable to an actual human voice. Acoustical parameters were derived from the impulse responses. Statistical analysis using ANOVA and t-tests were used to compare results from the measurements with variations of domed ceiling configurations and other aspects of the measurement setting. Conclusions were based on these comparisons and on auralization listening tests in order to ascertain the elements that produced the most significant impact on the mosque acoustics. The analysis helps establish criteria for good acoustics in mosques and other buildings with domed ceilings.


Microwave propagation through an electric-field-coupled metamaterial lens with a refractive index gradient is experimentally investigated. A gradient in the refractive index of the metamaterial is introduced by continuous tuning of a single parameter in the metamaterial elements. Experimental field maps, acquired in a planar waveguide, demonstrate that the planar gradient index lens can be used to collimate radiation from a line source, thereby forming a beam.


Recent history shows an increasing number of privacy breaches, usually attributed to a lack of diligence when handling personal data. Little awareness for privacy concerns is asserted as the pivotal negative effect on diligence. Challenging this conventional wisdom, this study shows that physicians are fully aware of the privacy issues. Their lack of diligence mainly results from a trade-off between the prospected consequences resulting from a privacy breach and the impediments diligent data handling has on the actual workflow of the physicians. Based on the grounded theory method, we chose hospitals as research field since patient data is commonly perceived as especially sensitive. We add to the body of knowledge by emphasizing the role of actors processing personal data in contrast to existing research that focuses on the behavior of affected actors, such as consumers. In sum, we provide a new perspective on the factors leading to privacy breaches.


Topical treatment of several inner ear diseases through the round window membrane (RWM) might be feasible in the near future. Bacteria toxins, ototoxic drugs and noise trauma seem to harm the inner ear by a common pathway which involves, excessive outflow of the afferent neurotransmitter glutamate and formation of nitric oxide (NO), which can severely damage cells/nerve endings and lead to cell death.In this study we used 98 Sprague-Dawley rats and seven human temporal bones. Various substances were instilled into the middle ear of the rat, such as Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Exotoxin (PaExoA), gentamicin, NO-inhibitor N-Omega-Nitro-L-Arginine Methyl Ester (L-NAME), and glucocorticoids. The effects of the substances were studied by morphological analysis of RWM and the endolymphatic sac (ES) by light and electron microscopic. Hearing level was measured in the rats by ABR technique. The human temporal bones were studied immunomorphologically to search for glutamate.In the human inner ear, glutamate receptors and glutamine synthetase, were identified. In the rat, we found, following PaExoA exposure, reversible and permanent hearing loss and morphological changes in the RWM. The ES showed increased numbers of macrophages and thickening of the epithelia. When L-NAME was used as an otoprotector from gentamicin ototoxicity a therapeutic effect in the high frequency area was found. Hydrocortisone (but not dexamethasone) exposure of the RWM resulted in membrane thickening, and adjacent to the membrane, inflammatory cells.The importance of the RWM as a portal for toxic substances and topical treatment of inner ear diseases was highlighted in this study. The difficulties of applying drugs in the round window niche were exposed. The results of this study add important knowledge concerning certain mechanisms of inner ear injury and help us to understand possibilities and problems of local treatment of inner ear diseases in patients.


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The United States, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide (CO2), generates about half of its electricity by burning coal. In terms of capacity, the average coal plant is just over 30 years old. Although most have been renovated and upgraded, there is no escaping the fact that these plants are aging, and sooner or later many will have to be replaced. Since 2002, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has tracked the plans of U.S. electricity generators to build new coal-fired power plants. They report plans to build 154 gigawatts (GW) of new coal plants over the next 24 years, and 50 GW in just the next 5 years, a big jump from the 6 GW built during the past 5 years. Age is only one reason for this expected boom in new coal plant construction. In recent years, natural gas has been the fuel of choice for new power plants. High and volatile gas prices are now contributing to what NETL calls "the resurgence of coal." However, for each kilowatt-hour generated, coal plants emit roughly twice as much CO2 as gas plants. If the United States builds a large number of new very long-lived coal plants, reducing future emissions of CO2 will become vastly more expensive than it needs to be.

![Figure][1]

CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

Why should the United States limit emissions, given that other major CO2 emitters, including China, are not doing so? Although other nations are adding coal power too, unless the United States takes action, other nations, especially industrializing nations, cannot be expected to follow.

Most U.S. utility executives believe it likely that CO2 emission constraints will be imposed in the United States within a decade. No one knows exactly what form they will take, although economists argue for a gradually escalating tax on every ton of CO2 emitted. But in U.S. politics, "tax" is a dirty word, so a more likely strategy is a cap-and-trade system with emission permits. Those permits will have to be allocated to start the process, and some planners of new plants may hope that their allocations will be proportional to their generators' emissions when regulation begins. Because permits will become more valuable as their numbers gradually shrink over time, that allocation scheme could hand a future windfall to firms that built substantial new capacity now. Of course, another possible approach to emission constraints would be to mandate controls only on new plants, while exempting existing plants for some extended period on the grounds that firms would otherwise face large "stranded costs." Some investors may be counting on this or on the hope that such costs could be passed on to electricity rate-payers.

Although a number of U.S. states are moving to control CO2 emissions from power plants, federal regulation is probably unlikely for the duration of the Bush presidency. However, with the changed political complexion of the Congress, federal legislation might be possible, stipulating that when CO2 controls are imposed, no plant built after 2006 will be exempted from coverage (that is, grandfathered), no matter what form future controls on emissions may take. Such a law would not prevent the construction of new coal plants but would strongly encourage builders of conventional coal plants to design them so as to permit amine-based CO2 "scrubbers" to be added later. It would also provide an incentive for those building new plants to adopt advanced "clean coal" technology such as integrated gasification combined-cycle or oxyfuel plants that can capture and sequester CO2 in deep geological formations.

Federal legislation would clearly be best. But if that is impossible, a number of state legislatures might adopt such laws. A state-by-state approach is not optimal but could clearly place future liability on investors, not rate-payers, and thus send a clear message to those planning new plants and help to create political momentum for subsequent action at the federal level.

 [1]: pending:yes


Students in a large introductory psychology class were given an opportunity to cheat on a class examination. Some time later, they were asked to volunteer to participate in a project designed to help mentally retarded children. On the basis of attitudinal and behavioral self-report measures, the subjects were divided into four groups according to religious belief: Jesus people, religious, nonreligious, and atheists. The four groups did not differ in frequency or magnitude of cheating, nor did they differ in committing themselves to performing the altruistic act. Females showed a significantly higher frequency of altruistic behavior than did males. Resistance to temptation and altruism were essentially unrelated to one another, and level of religiousness did not appreciably affect the magnitude of the relationship.


A new frequency-domain robust control toolbox is introduced and compared with the robust control toolbox of Matlab. A summary of the theoretical background for H∞ controller design using the spectral models is given. The main advantage of this toolbox is that almost all types of model uncertainties like unmodelled dynamics, multimodel uncertainty, spectral uncertainty and parametric uncertainty can be taken into account without conservatism. As a result, the uncertain parametric or frequency-domain models identified by the identification toolbox of Matlab can be used directly for computing robust controllers. The main commands of the new toolbox are briefly explained and the performance of the designed controllers are illustrated via some sand experimental results.


The performances, in the description of excited state potential energy surfaces, of several density functional approximations representative of the currently most applied exchange correlation functionals' families have been tested with respect to post Hartree‐Fock references (here Symmetry Adapted Cluster‐Configuration Interaction results). An experimentally well‐characterized intermolecular proton transfer reaction has been considered as test case. The computed potential energy profiles were analyzed both in the gas phase and in toluene solution, here represented as a polarizable continuum model. The presence of intermolecular (dark) and intramolecular (bright) charge transfer excited states, whose polarity strongly differs along the reaction pathway, makes clear that only subtle compensation between spurious electronic effects—related to the incorrect asymptotic behavior of the functional—and solvent stabilization of polar states leads to the overall correct description of this excited state reaction when using global hybrids with low percentage of Hartree Fock exchange. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Surface sediments collected from deep basins (1018–4087 m depth) of the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Ionian Sea, southern Aegean Sea and northwestern Levantine Sea) were analyzed for aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as tracers of natural and anthropogenic inputs. Concentrations of total aliphatic hydrocarbons, n-alkanes and the unresolved complex mixture (UCM) of aliphatic hydrocarbons varied significantly, ranging from 1.34 to 49.2 μg g −1 , 145 to 4810 ng g −1 and 0.73 to 36.7 μg g −1 , respectively, while concentrations of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ranged between 11.6 and 223 ng g −1 . Molecular profiles of determined hydrocarbons reflect a mixed contribution from both natural and anthropogenic sources in deep-sea sediments of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, i.e., terrestrial plant waxes, degraded petroleum products, unburned fossil fuels and combustion of grass, wood and coal. Hydrocarbon mixtures display significant variability amongst sub-regions, reflecting differences in the relative importance of inputs from various sources and phase associations/transport pathways of individual hydrocarbons that impact on their overall distribution and fate. Hydrocarbon concentrations correlated significantly with the organic carbon content of sediments, indicating that the latter exerts an important control on their transport and ultimate accumulation in deep basins. Additionally, water masses' circulation characteristics also seem to influence the regional features and distribution patterns of hydrocarbons. Our findings highlight the role of deep basins/canyons as repositories of both natural and anthropogenic chemical species.


Socialist cities during their design, construction, and expansion have mostly been studied as an expression of the socialist system itself, directly linked to the political fate of the Communist Parties in power. This article revisits the concept of socialist city and argues for the validity of the term both historically and in the present. Looking qualitatively at this distinct European urban typology, two analytical frameworks are offered, infrastructural thinking and the socialist scaffold. The text demonstrates that the universal aspiration for socialist cities was their continuous operation as synchronized instruments of economic production and social transformation in physical space. Distinct from capitalist cities, they had an ideological role in an economic model that instrumentalized cities as nodes in an integrated system or 'single entity', a term borrowed from Stephen Kotkin. The agency of the socialist scaffold has continued into the era of neoliberalism, shown here to have previously unexplored roots in socialism.


The rhombus-shaped Tarim basin in northwestern China is controlled mainly by two left-lateral strike-slip systems: the northeast-trending Altun fault zone along its southeastern side and the northeast-trending Aheqi fault zone along its northwestern side. In this paper, we discuss the northern Tarim basin's structural features, which include three main tectonic units: the Kalpin uplift, the Kuqa depression, and the North Tarim uplift along the northern margin of the Tarim basin. Structural mapping in the Kalpin uplift shows that a series of imbricated thrust sheets have been overprinted by strike-slip faulting. The amount of strike-slip displacement is estimated to be 148 km by restoration of strike-slip structures in the uplift. The Kuqa depression is a Mesozoic-Cenozoic foredeep depression with well-developed flat-ramp structures and fault-related folds. The Baicheng basin, a Quaternary pull-apart basin, developed at the center of the Kuqa depression. Subsurface structures in the North Tarim uplift can be divided into the Mesozoic-Cenozoic and the Paleozoic lithotectonic sequences in seismic profiles. The Paleozoic litho-tectonic sequence exhibits the interference of earlier left-lateral and later right-lateral strike-slip structures. Many normal faults in the Mesozoic-Cenozoic litho-tectonic sequence form the negative flower structures in the North Tarim uplift; these structures commonly directly overlie the positive flower structures in the Paleozoic litho-tectonic sequence. The interference regions of the northwest-trending and northeast-trending folds in the Paleozoic tectonic sequence have been identified to have the best trap structures. Our structural analysis indicates that the Tarim basin is a transpressional foreland basin rejuvenated during the Cenozoic.


"This is the definitive reference book for any serious or professional UNIX systems programmer. Rago has updated and extended the original Stevens classic while keeping true to the original." Andrew Josey, Director, Certification, The Open Group, and Chair of the POSIX 1003.1 Working Group The same trusted content from the Second Edition, now in paperback! For over a decade, serious C programmers have relied on one book for practical, in-depth knowledge of the programming interfaces that drive the UNIX and Linux kernels: W. Richard Stevens' Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment. Now, Stevens' colleague Stephen Rago has thoroughly updated this classic to reflect the latest technical advances and add support for today's leading UNIX and Linux platforms. Rago carefully retains the spirit and approach that made this book a classic. Building on Stevens' work, he begins with basic topics such as files, directories, and processes, carefully laying the groundwork for understanding more advanced techniques, such as signal handling and terminal I/O. Substantial new material includes chapters on threads and multithreaded programming, using the socket interface to drive interprocess communication (IPC), and extensive coverage of the interfaces added to the latest version of the POSIX.1 standard. Nearly all examples have been tested on four of today's most widely used UNIX/Linux platforms: FreeBSD 5.2.1; the Linux 2.4.22 kernel; Solaris 9; and Darwin 7.4.0, the FreeBSD/Mach hybrid underlying Apple's Mac OS X 10.3. As in the first edition, you'll learn through example, including more than 10,000 lines of downloadable, ANSI C source code. More than 400 system calls and functions are demonstrated with concise, complete programs that clearly illustrate their usage, arguments, and return values. To tie together what you've learned, the book presents several chapter-length case studies, each fully updated for contemporary environments. Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment has helped a generation of programmers write code with exceptional power, performance, and reliability. Now updated for today's UNIX/Linux systems, this second edition will be even more indispensable.


OBJECTIVES
To examine the contemporary effect of smoking in a multiethnic sample, and to explore the respective contributions of inflammation and subclinical atherosclerosis to the cardiovascular consequences of smoking.

APPROACH AND RESULTS
We studied 6814 participants free of cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease (CHD) from the Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Smoking status and cumulative exposure were determined by self-report and confirmed by urinary cotinine. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate the association between smoking parameters and all-cause cardiovascular disease, all-cause CHD, and hard CHD events. We further adjusted for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and coronary artery calcium (CAC) in hierarchical Cox models. We identified 3218 never smokers, 2607 former smokers, and 971 current smokers. Median follow-up was 10.2 years. Compared with never smokers, adjusted hazard ratios in current smokers were 1.7 (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.2) for all-cause cardiovascular disease, 1.6 (1.1-2.1) for all-cause CHD, and 1.7 (1.2-2.4) for hard CHD. Similarly, among current smokers, hazard ratios were higher in the 4th versus 1st quartile of pack-years (eg, all-cause CHD hazard ratio=2.7 [1.1-6.6]). Both CAC>100 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ≥3 mg/L identified higher relative risk among current smokers (eg, all-cause CHD hazard ratio of 3.0 [1.5-6.0, compared with CAC=0] and 2.6 [1.4-4.8, compared with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein <2 mg/L], respectively). However, CAC was a stronger mediator of events and adversely modified the effect of smoking on events (eg, P-interaction=0.02 for hard CHD). Compared with never smokers, former smokers (median cessation interval=22 years) had similar adjusted hazard for events.

CONCLUSIONS
In this multiethnic cohort, current smoking and cumulative exposure remain important modifiable determinants of cardiovascular disease. Both high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ≥3 mg/L and, particularly, CAC>100 identified high-risk smokers who may benefit from more intensive smoking-cessation efforts.


Solvent effects and sample concentration effects on the structural changes of propylamide have been investigated by FT-IR measurement using principal component analysis. The absorption peaks observed at higher frequency and higher intensity when using chloroform and dichloromethane compared to benzene. The concentration study reveals that propylamide form a high degree of association in benzene. Shifting the composition of the solvent from benzene to chloroform or dichloromethane, the intensity that comes from the association of molecule decreases since association is more favored in non-polar solvents. In spectra of propylamide in mixtures of benzene and dichloromethane an increment in the intensity of bands as well as a solvatochromic effect (blue shift) is observed upon increasing the polarity of the medium (solvatochromic effect).


The detection of lung cancer in early stage is a difficult problem, because the cancer cell causesmany dangerous effects due to their overlapped structure. Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. The causes of lung cancer is due to smoking, random gas, air pollution, genetics etc. This paper includes two segmentation methods, Neural fuzzy Network (NFN) and a Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) clustering algorithm, for segmenting the early stage of lung cancer. The manual segmentation of lung cancer consumes more time, inaccurate and it requires well trained people to avoid diagnostic fault. The segmentation results will be used as a base for a Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) system for early detection of lung cancer which will improve the chances of survival for the patient. However, the gray level and the relative contrast results in inaccurate manner, thus we applied a thresholding technique as a Pre-processing step in all images to extract the nuclei regions, because most of the quantitative procedures are based on its nuclei feature. This thresholding algorithm had succeededin extracting the nuclei regions. Moreover, it succeeded in determining the best range of thresholding values. The NFN and FCM methods are designed to classify the image of N pixels among M classes. This paper includes many color images to test both methods, and NFN has shown a better classification result than FCM, the NFN has succeeded in extracting the nuclei regions.


We compile a worldwide catalog of shallow (depth < 70 km) and large (Ms ≥ 7) earthquakes recorded between 1900 and 1989. The catalog is shown to be complete and uniform at the 20-sec surface-wave magnitude Ms ≥ 7.0. We base our catalog on those of Abe (1981, 1984) and Abe and Noguchi (1983a, b) for events with Ms ≥ 7.0. Those catalogs, however, are not homogeneous in seismicity rates for the entire 90-year period. We assume that global rates of seismicity are constant on a time scale of decades and most inhomogeneities arise from changes in instrumentation and/or reporting. We correct the magnitudes to produce a homogeneous catalog. The catalog is accompanied by a reference list for all the events with seismic moment determined at periods longer than 20 sec. Using these seismic moments for great and giant earthquakes and a moment-magnitude relationship for smaller events, we produce a seismic moment catalog for large earthquakes from 1900 to 1989. The catalog is used to study the distribution of moment released worldwide. Although we assumed a constant rate of seismicity on a global basis, the rate of moment release has not been constant for the 90-year period because the latter is dominated by the few largest earthquakes. We find that the seismic moment released at subduction zones during this century constitutes 90% of all the moment released by large, shallow earthquakes on a global basis. The seismic moment released in the largest event that occurred during this century, the 1960 southern Chile earthquake, represents about 30 to 45% of the total moment released from 1900 through 1989. A frequency-size distribution of earthquakes with seismic moment yields an average slope (b value) that changes from 1.04 for magnitudes between 7.0 and 7.5 to b = 1.51 for magnitudes between 7.6 and 8.0. This change in the b value is attributed to different scaling relationships between bounded (large) and unbounded (small) earthquakes. Thus, the earthquake process does have a characteristic length scale that is set by the downdip width over which rupture in earthquakes can occur. That width is typically greater for thrust events at subduction zones than for earthquakes along transform faults and other tectonic environments.


Ruderman, D., Clapp, J., Hofstetter, C., Irvin, V., Kang, S., & Hovell, M. (2016). Comparison of heavy episodic drinking patterns between Korean and Chinese immigrants.  The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5 (2), 65-71. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i2.220 Objective: Drinking-related problems are increasing among Asian immigrants despite the popular perceptions of a "model minority." Sociocultural factors may relate to differing drinking patterns among subsets of Asian American populations. This study explores the relationship between nationality and alcohol consumption among Chinese and Korean Americans, specifically in regards to acculturation and social networks. Method: First-generation Chinese and Korean immigrants residing in the greater Los Angeles area were recruited ( N = 2715). Structured interviews were conducted over the phone and by professional bilingual interviewers in the language of participant preference. Results: Although subsamples were demographically similar, Chinese immigrants were less likely to report heavy episodic drinking (HED) than Korean immigrants. Participants in each group with social networks composed of drinkers or problem drinkers and those that encouraged drinking were more likely to report HED themselves. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption and its dynamics are impacted by peer networks among first-generation Chinese and Koreans residing in the United States. While drinking behaviors differ for Chinese and Korean immigrants, the impact of peer's drinking behaviors on one's own drinking is paramount. This result has important implications for interventions and the need for further research focusing on the impact of peer interactions and alcohol use among this population.


Wild emmer (Triticum dicoccoides) is a progenitor of tetraploid wheat and currently grows in environments subject to abiotic stresses, including high salinity. Fifty-four genotypes originating from nine geographical populations in Israel, and five standard wheats (three durum and two bread wheats) were assessed for salinity tolerance using supported hydroponics. In this study, we summarize two key components that contribute to salinity tolerance: shoot growth in saline conditions relative to control conditions (relative dry weight); and Na accumulation in leaves of salinised plants. An additional third component (shoot growth under control conditions) has an indirect role but is important for salinity tolerance in an agricultural context. Variability in these three components was high. Some genotypes showed high overall relative dry weight, having the ability to maintain growth in moderately saline solution, a low-to-moderate Na accumulation, and high biomass production under control conditions. Genotypes from other populations had very high relative dry weight but grew very slowly, so were of limited agricultural relevance. Six selected genotypes possessing useful qualities for at least one of the tested components of salinity tolerance were re-analyzed, and a genotype from Gitit in the eastern Samaria steppes was identified as the most promising salt-tolerant line for further investigation.


Superior photoswitchable fluorescent polymer nanoparticles (PFPNs) are highly desirable for photo-rewritable data storage and ultrahigh-resolution bioimaging. Herein, 2-(3′,3′-dimethyl-6-nitrospiro[chromene-2,2′-indolin]-1′-yl)ethyl 2-(((dodecylthio)-carbonothioyl)thio)-2-methylpropanoate (SPTTC), a novel photochromic spiropyran-based reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) reagent, and 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene-N-allyl-1-sulfonamide (DNS), the energy-level matched green fluorescent dye, were firstly synthesized. Then, they are used as donor and acceptor of the designed fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) system to help fabricate superior dual-color PFPNs via a simple one-pot RAFT miniemulsion method. Thanks to its multiple merits such as the photochromic property, improved miscibility, and the ability to control polymerization rate, not only did the designed SPTTC provide the PFPNs with superior photoswitchable fluorescence properties such as high energy transfer efficiency (up to 91%), high dual-color contrast (green and red), rapid photoresponsiveness (2–4 min) and outstanding photoreversibility upon irradiation with UV and visible light, but it also endowed PFPNs with controllable molecular weight and narrow polydispersity index (PDI), excellent cell membrane permeability and long-term fluorescence stability. Moreover, the as-prepared PFPNs were successfully used for rewritable fluorescence patterning and intracellular dual-color imaging due to its prominent properties.


The use of high-strength structural composite bandings is essential for high-speed rotors. In addition to bandings designed for maximum stiffness and strength, there is also a need for bandings that exhibit a controlled radial growth during operation. Controlling the radial growth rate of rotor bandings to match the growth of other rotor components maximizes the structural integrity of the rotor by minimizing reaction forces between parts during operation. This paper presents the structural material properties and strain-to-failure of a composite banding built with a nontraditional layup consisting of high-strength IM7 hoop filament windings and a combination of T700 tape laid at 0deg and plusmn45deg. The analysis and structural test results used to determine the strength of a composite banding with this layup is discussed


This study evaluates the breeding of durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) during the 20th century with respect to yield and grain carbon isotope discrimination (A), and their relationship with plant height, harvest index (HI), days from sowing to anthesis, and days from anthesis to maturity. Twenty-four cultivars released before 1945 (old), between 1950 and 1985 (intermediate), and between 1988 and 2000 (modern), and previously characterized by whether dwarfing genes were present (semidwarf) or absent (tall), were selected from germplasm obtained in Italy and Spain. Experiments were conducted in six environments with average yields ranging from to 2113 to 4827 kg ha -1 . The total absolute genetic gain in yield across countries from before 1945 to 2000 was 20 kg ha -1 yr -1 (51% of increase), which represents a relative genetic gain of 0.61% yr -1 . Yield gains led to a loss of stability. The mean increase in Δ 13 C was 6% (0.014%o yr -1 or 0.09% yr -1 ). Early heading and a long grain-filling period were correlated with high yields in the tall cultivars. Increased plant height and low Δ 13 C values were associated with high yields for the semidwarf cultivars, while a long grain-filling period was not advantageous for semidwarf cultivars.


The concept of transmedia storytelling introduced by Henry Jenkins (2003, 2006) has been widely developed in the academic field, getting popular and being redefined with time. In transmedia storytelling's definition we can observe the focus on the concept of world, which from a theoretical and critical perspective did not had the development that the relationship among narrative and media had. This work gathers and analyzes a selection of references from the main authors that have defined the nature, limits and transferability of the so called transmedial worlds, proposing conclusions related to the need to observe the phenomenon of transmedia narratives, its founding elements and the processes related to them, with the aim to elaborate a catalogue of criteria for the analysis and consideration of key element of transmedia storytelling.


Executive Summary: This study addresses the legal and policy frameworks for compensation of occupational diseases attributable to asbestos exposure in five Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Ontario and Quebec. It aims to describe and compare criteria applied by compensation boards and appeal tribunals in each jurisdiction, for the purpose of determining entitlement to workers' compensation for asbestos related disease.The report relies essentially on classical legal methodology including a legal analysis of legislation, publicly available policy documents of the respective workers' compensation boards, and publicly available case law and administrative decisions rendered between 2000 and 2009.A comparative table describing legislative and policy instruments can be found in Appendix 1. Comparative tables of compensation statistics regarding injuries and fatalities for the period 1998 - 2008, based on data provided by the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada, can be found in Appendix 2. The report examines principles of adjudication applicable to compensation for occupational disease claims, and then focuses more specifically on occupational diseases recognized in law or policy to be attributable to asbestos exposure.Entitlement to compensation for asbestos related diseases: Legislative presumptions govern compensation for occupational disease in all the provinces studied, but there is significant variation between provinces with regard to many issues. An overview of similarities and differences in legislation and policy with regard to specific illnesses may be found in Appendix 1. Asbestosis is the only disease presumed to be related to work involving exposure to asbestos in Alberta, while mesothelioma is also included in the legislation of the other four provinces. Lung cancer, cancer of the larynx and gastro-intestinal cancers are targeted by legislation and policy of some provinces but not others. Ontario and Newfoundland provide for irrebuttable presumptions in the case of asbestosis and, this is also so in Ontario with regard to mesothelioma, if very specific conditions of exposure and latency are met. Other provinces allow for the possibility that the presumptions may be overturned, and the presumptions are often overturned in the case law, notably in Quebec, where the presumptions are framed in more general terms. In those provinces with policies determining specific exposure and latency requirements there is variation between provinces. Some provinces are not explicit with regard to the exposure and latency requirements, evaluating the individual situation in each case. Specialized medical evaluators (six) are systematically consulted in all claims for respiratory diseases in Quebec, and Ontario provides for evaluation of individuals in the context of the appeal process, while, in other provinces, like Newfoundland, level of evidence in the case law leads us to believe that it is more difficult for workers to obtain diagnostic analyses in that province. Cross-cutting issues: Boards and adjudicators are faced with the challenge of determining in individual cases whether workplace exposure to asbestos contributed to the worker's disease. Legally, all provinces require that it be more likely than not that the workplace exposure contributed to the worker's illness, and usually they require evidence that work was a significant contributing factor in the development of the disease. Generally, either by legislation, policy or case law, there is a consensus that the worker should be given the benefit of the doubt in cases where the evidence for and against legal causation is of equal weight. Asbestosis claims are clearly acknowledged to be related to asbestos exposure, and this is also true of mesothelioma, although this is not explicitly acknowledged in law and policy of all provinces. With those diseases, the challenge is to determine where that exposure took place, and, in the absence of asbestos exposure registries, the burden of proving exposure falls on the worker or his estate, a difficult burden to meet. Lung cancer claims are even more challenging because tobacco can also have played a significant role in the development of the disease. Case law allows for compensation for lung cancer even when the worker smoked, if asbestosis or pleural plaques are present. Ontario and Quebec allow for compensation even in the absence of asbestosis or pleural plaques, when evidence of significant exposure is clear, while Newfoundland policy has no explicit criteria in this regard. Policy in B.C., and most case law in that province, will not compensate for lung cancer if asbestosis is not present, unless there is evidence of "bilateral diffuse pleural thickening or fibrosis, over 5 mm thick and extending over more than a quarter of the chest wall", a requirement not seen in any other province. Concerns: The report expresses concerns with regard to fairness and equity. Given the long latency requirements for all asbestos related diseases, it is unclear why policies in some situations only apply if the worker is still active in the industry shortly before or at the time of onset of disablement, as is the case in Alberta, B.C. and Newfoundland. Requirement of significant in-province exposure, as is the case in British Columbia, is also a preoccupation, and will become even more preoccupying as workers are increasingly mobile, notably in the construction industry. A broader concern is that some policies, particularly those that provide for explicit exposure requirements or latency periods, have been developed in a way that imports thresholds based on levels of scientific certainty, even though the appropriate legal test aims to determine whether, in a given case, it is more likely than not that workplace exposure contributed to the onset of disease. Yet the purpose of legislative presumptions is to govern behaviour in the context of scientific uncertainty; they are policy instruments that determine who should bear the cost of that uncertainty. As such, they should not be predicated on scientific certainty.Issues requiring further study: All members of the research team are jurists, and the study does not include an evaluation by medical specialists as to the relevance of the criteria applied and the policy orientations. Such an analysis would no doubt be useful. Furthermore, some cases have applied the "Helsinki criteria" in adjudication of individual claims. The present report does not review these criteria as such, but provides information as to the discourse of the adjudicators in this regard. Further study of these criteria and their potential relevance in adjudication could perhaps provide useful direction for the development of policy. This study, because of its methodology, does not provide information either on reporting levels or acceptance rates for compensation claims. It also cannot address inequitable access to health care professionals specialized in occupational disease related to asbestos, yet there is some concern that workers in some provinces are not receiving specialized evaluations that would improve their chances of accessing compensation. Studies on all of these issues could contribute to defining more equitable policy and practice.


This paper describes an experiment to investigate the effectiveness of adding sound to tool palettes. Palettes have usability problems because users need to see the information they present, but they are often outside the area of visual focus. We used nonspeech sounds called earcons to indicate the current tool and when tool changes occurred so that users could tell what tool they were in wherever they were looking. Results showed a significant reduction in the number of tasks performed with the wrong tool. Therefore, users knew what the current tool was and did not try to perform tasks with the wrong one. All of this was not at the expense of making the tool palettes any more annoying to use.


Mine hoisting plant in South Africa are predominantly clutched, double drum winders having one or two Lang's lay triangular strand ropes per drum for hoisting in vertical shafts. Over the last hundred years the trend has been for ever increasing shaft depths with single lift shafts currently being sunk to 3200 m. The preferred construction for hoisting ropes has been the single layer triangular strand design as its properties include very good wear and abrasion resistance, ability to tolerate high crushing forces arising from multi-layer coiling on the drums, robustness and relatively low costs when compared to more sophisticated constructions. The rope design also allows for very efficient conversion of wire strength to rope strength. It is generally agreed that the performance versus cost ratio of these ropes is acceptable and a large amount of experience in the their manufacture, operation and inspection exists in the South African industry. The down side of the single layer Lang's lay construction is that it generates high torque under tensile load which results in considerable changes to the as-manufactured lay length of the rope. The extent of shortening of lay length at the splice end and lengthening at the drum end increases with depth and is also compounded by maintenance practices. It is accepted that at a certain depth these changes in lay length will eventually be so great as to prejudice the performance and safety of such ropes in service. Using previously developed and verified modelling procedures this paper investigates the depth limits of triangular strand ropes as a function of both manufacturing and operational parameters. Analysis supported by site observations has shown that seemingly small changes in rope design and the manner in which ropes are maintained or handled in service can have significant advantages in terms of the maximum depth of operation. The analysis indicates that, using current available technology, torsional deformations in triangular strand hoisting ropes can be kept within acceptable limits for winding depths of at least 3200 m.


Research Summary In ecosystems, tensions between value creation and appropriation can arise when complementors form relationships with a partner that benefits from network effects. While creating value collectively, these relationships strengthen the network effects, which increase the partner's ability to appropriate value. We posit that complementors strategize their product offerings to benefit from the relationship with the partner while preserving bargaining power by keeping relationships with other partners as outside options. We examine book publishers' product portfolios in the Amazon Kindle e‐book and the printed book ecosystems. Our results illuminate specific product offering decisions by large publishers that are more protective of the printed book ecosystem and less conducive to Kindle's success. This research adds to the literature on interorganizational relationships, platform ecosystems, and managing digital innovations. Managerial Summary How do book publishers deal with Amazon? This paper compares book publishers' product offerings on Amazon's Kindle digital platform and in the physical print channel. We find that publishers offer high demand products as e‐books on Kindle to benefit from logistics savings. Yet, relative to small publishers, large publishers product decisions that support Kindle less, such as withholding some of their greatest revenue generating books. Such decisions could both limit Kindle's attractiveness to the consumers and preserve the economic viability of the print channel as an outside option. These findings improve our understanding of how companies can leverage their product portfolios to both benefit from digital technology efficiencies and maintain their bargaining power vis‐a‐vis digital platforms.


The reaction norm model is becoming a popular approach to study genotype x environment interaction (GxE), especially when there is a continuum of environmental effects. These effects are typically unknown, and an approximation that is used in the literature is to replace them by the phenotypic means of each environment. It has been shown that this method results in poor inferences and that a more satisfactory alternative is to infer environmental effects jointly with the other parameters of the model. Such a reaction norm model with unknown covariates and heterogeneous residual variances across herds was fitted to milk, protein, and fat yield of first-lactation Danish Holstein cows to investigate the presence of GxE. Data included 188,502 first test-day records from 299 herds and 3,775 herd-years in a time period ranging from 1991 to 2003. Variance components and breeding values were estimated with a Bayesian approach implemented using Markov chain Monte Carlo. The posterior distribution of the variance of genetic slopes was markedly shifted away from zero for all traits under study, supporting the presence of GxE. The ratio of the genetic slope variance to the genetic level variance was highest for fat yield, followed by protein and milk yields. Genetic correlations between environments that differ by plus and minus 1 standard deviation from the mean environmental effect were 0.93, 0.91, and 0.89 for milk, protein, and fat yield, respectively. Genetic variances and heritabilities increased with increasing level of environmental effects. The rank correlations between predicted breeding values at the 5th and 95th percentiles of the distribution of environmental effects were, respectively, equal to 0.91, 0.90, and 0.76, for milk, protein, and fat yield. Thus in this study, although GxE was detected, it has a small effect on reranking of candidates for selection.


Continuous handling of solids creates challenges for realizing continuous production of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. We present a new miniature continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) cascade to handle solid-forming reactions in flow. Single-phase residence time distribution (RTD) measurements of the CSTR cascade reveal nearly ideal CSTR mixing behavior of the individual units. Consistency of experimental and predicted conversions of a Diels–Alder reaction further confirms the CSTR performance. Two solid-forming reactions, (i) glyoxal reacting with cyclohexylamine to form N,N′-dicyclohexylethylenediimine, (ii) sulfonylation of 2-octanol with methanesulfonyl chloride, demonstrate the ability of the reactor cascade to transport solid particles continuously for hours without significant signs of clogging.


Organic chemistry is very challenging to many students pursuing science careers. Flipping the classroom presents an opportunity to significantly improve student success by increasing active learning, which research shows is highly beneficial to student learning. However, flipping an entire course may seem too daunting or an instructor may simply choose to use this approach selectively. This exploratory, mixed-methods study examines the effectiveness of a partially flipped course in the first semester organic chemistry course. Two sections were taught by the author in Fall 2015: a control section (n = 28 students) using a lecture-based format, and a flipped section (n = 26 students), where 8, 75 min classes (a third of the course) were taught with flipped pedagogy. Significant improvements in test questions on flipped topics were observed, as well as a significant reduction in the course withdrawal rate. While the average overall course grade was similar in the two sections, the flipped section had 25% mor...


Balanced scorecards is strategic planning tool which can align the organisation to the vision of success, and get people working on the right things and focusing on results. Development of balanced scorecard system is like putting a puzzle together, where different pieces come together to form a complete mosaic. We developed a conceptual framework and model for the implementation of balanced scorecard with the focus on customer relationship-based strategic planning. We successfully implemented the conceptual framework for a case company and it is discussed in detail with the focus on architecture for balanced scorecard.


This paper reviews the results of a challenging engineering project that arose with the goal of implementing an electromechanical, automatic, portable, and inexpensive device. The device should be able to assist people who lack of dexterity in their hands to use small tools and everyday utensils, such as scissors or tweezers. In this paper, the hardware development and software functionality are described. The original specifications were developed to implement an affordable functional prototype able to serve as a low-cost assistive technology. Several commonly used electronic devices were integrated to create an innovative application. A simple mechanical system based on gears and a worm screw is used to convert the stepper motor rotation to a linear movement on the device tip. A tool-oriented control to increase the device usability was designed through two simultaneous communication channels: touch-screen and smartphone app. Pilot trials were conducted at healthcare facilities to evaluate the technical feasibility, the obtained functionality, as well as the device acceptance by target users. Based on user experience design, the app functionality was enhanced and subsequently tested. Finally, a review and reformulation of the specifications of the original design were accomplished. These changes helped to achieve a system with a lower manufacturing cost and better acceptance, while considering the user in the development cycle.


There are many forms of perceptual bi-stability where perceptual experience alternates between two (sometimes even more) different images or interpretations. The alternation could happen between different images (e.g., binocular rivalry, monocular rivalry, stimulus rivalry), different viewpoint perspectives (e.g., the Necker cube), different surface depth assignments (e.g., 3D Structure-from-Motion), or different levels of perceptual organization (e.g., moving plaids vs. component gratings). These diverse phenomena seem to have different temporal dynamics, some with slow and others with fast alternating rates. One previous study (Suzuki & Grabowecky, 2007) discovered that in binocular rivalry the dynamics of perceptual switches was profoundly altered by perceptual experience, that there were within-trial slowdown and a long-term speeding of binocular rivalry switch when observers viewed the binocular rivalry repeatedly over many days. In this study, we investigated whether such an experience-induced change in perceptual dynamics is unique to binocular rivalry or is general to many forms of bi-stability, and in addition, whether there is transfer of this long-term speeding-up of switch rate from a trained form of bi-stable perception to other untrained forms. Over a 10-day period, in a paradigm similar to Suzuki and Grabowecky (2007), subjects viewed their individually assigned form of bistable stimuli for 12 trials a day, with each trial lasting 30 seconds separated by 2 minutes rests. Results show a consistent within-trial slowdown as well as a day-to-day long-term speedup for all types of bi-stable stimuli tested. In addition, there was evidence of transfer of the long-term speeding from trained to untrained types of bi-stable stimuli. Overall, these results indicate that there are common (e.g., adaptation) and even shared neural mechanisms underlying the temporal dynamics of different forms of bi-stable perception. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2015.


The purpose of the chapter is to explore the readiness of local governments (municipalities) in South Africa to transform to be able to deliver services to its citizens using ICT. The study applied Structuration Theory (ST) and drew on the concepts of duality of structure and action particularly: the enactment of technology-in-practice (ETiP) as a lens to understand and interpret the social construct. The objective was to determine the factors contributing to the readiness of municipalities to adopt ICT to transform the way and manner they deliver essential services to the public. The concept "Transformational e-Government" (TeG) is discussed in this chapter to analyse the determinant factors influencing service delivery. This chapter aimed to analyse the readiness of South African local government when rendering services through information and communication technology (ICT). An interpretive case study methodology where semi-structured interviews were used to collect information. The findings were that out of the 15 participated municipalities only 7% were ready for TeG initiatives, 60% were near ready and 33% have a long way to go to implement TeG initiatives. The results also showed that 5 out of the 8 Metro Cities in South Africa were ready to implement TeG initiatives successfully. The implications of the study were that, the ST is able to provide the lens through which to understand, interpret and determine the factors contributing to the readiness of municipalities to implement TeG to improve service delivery.


The problem of estimating the power of the multivariate Intersection Union test (IUT) is studied. Four classical parametric solutions and a bootstrap non-parametric one, providing statistical lower bounds (i.e. one directional confidence intervals) for the power, are considered. The performances of these techniques in several bivariate IUT settings are compared through a simulation study. All solutions are biased, since their actual coverage probabilities are higher than the nominal one. The bootstrap solution shows the smallest bias, and the variability of its estimates is the lowest. Moreover, the bias of the bootstrap solution reduces faster than those of the other techniques when the pilot sample size, or the correlation, or the rate between the two non-centrality parameters increases. Also, the non-parametric bootstrap solution can be improved by calibration, with a considerable bias reduction.


Agricultural innovation systems (AIS) approaches contribute to achieving impact at scale: this is still a statement which is questioned and not yet a widely accepted fact. Any claims supporting it are based on circumstantial evidence at best. This chapter discusses why this is the case, examining how AIS approaches primarily create a relevant context perspective in support of learning and partnership processes, rather than leading to targeted strategies for achieving impact at scale. The Working Paper also explains how AIS approaches are adapted to common traditional approaches, which are often still limiting and linear, instead of developing new, complexity aware ways to scaling based on an AIS perspective. These considerations translate to a need for new steps in AIS thinking and practice to enhance the effectiveness of AIS approaches. This should include AIS-based theories of change, which are better articulated in relation to capacities to innovate and in relation to achieving impact at scale.


Ten new passes have been made of the frozen sea area of Elysium imaged near the equator of Mars early in the Mars Express mission by the High Resolution Stereo Camera. These new images, taken in August and September 2005, provide complete coverage of much of the western part of the area at resolutions down to 13 metres. Together with THEMIS and MOC NA images, they show an interconnected series of
different flooded areas hundreds of kilometres in extent, and the whole complex may be as large as 800 x 2500 km – comparable to the Great Lakes in North America. With a water depth of 50 metres, the total volume of water would have been between 5000 and 75,000 km3. Each sea is connected by a channel system, sometimes dissecting through layered terrain. There are between 4 and 7 layers, suggesting that there may have been several previous episodes of flooding and deposition here. The difference
in sea surface level between the different bodies of water is up to 200 metres.


This chapter reviews the recent debate about the role of social capital in economics. We argue that all the difficulties this concept has encountered in economics are due to a vague and excessively broad definition. For this reason, we restrict social capital to the set of values and beliefs that help cooperation - which for clarity we label civic capital. We argue that this definition differentiates social capital from human capital and satisfies the properties of the standard notion of capital. We then argue that civic capital can explain why differences in economic performance persist over centuries and discuss how the effect of civic capital can be distinguished empirically from other variables that affect economic performance and its persistence, including institutions and geography.


The principal goal of the annual Music Information Retrieval Evaluation eXchange (MIREX) experiments is to determine which systems perform well and which systems perform poorly on a range of MIR tasks. However, there has been no systematic analysis regarding how well these evaluation results translate into real-world user satisfaction. For most researchers, reaching statistical significance in the evaluation results is usually the most important goal, but in this paper we show that indicators of statistical significance (i.e., small p-value) are eventually of secondary importance. Researchers who want to predict the realworld implications of formal evaluations should properly report upon practical significance (i.e., large effect-size). Using data from the 18 systems submitted to the MIREX 2011 Audio Music Similarity and Retrieval task, we ran an experiment with 100 real-world users that allows us to explicitly map system performance onto user satisfaction. Based upon 2,200 judgments, the results show that absolute system performance needs to be quite large for users to be satisfied, and differences between systems have to be very large for users to actually prefer the supposedly better system. The results also suggest a practical upper bound of 80% on user satisfaction with the current definition of the task. Reflecting upon these findings, we make some recommendations for future evaluation experiments and the reporting and interpretation of results in peer-reviewing.


The paper will present three main theses. They will be supported with an analysis of documents related to the shaping of the policies of social and economic development, and higher education development in Poland. 1) Thesis: imitational character of modernization processes in relation to the modernization of Polish society. The specific character of the Polish modernization process is described in the categories of imitational modernization, where emphasis is placed on the necessity of Poland's adaptation to a certain democratic and market economy model. These processes got stronger together with Poland's accession to the EU, when the state intensified its activities to foster policies of social and economic development. Pursuing the goals of the Lisbon Strategy (to build a knowledge-based economy and society) was of particular importance as it was perceived as a chance to catch up with the civilization development. 2) Thesis: decision makers' failure to perceive or understand the function of higher education in view of society's modernisation needs. During the state transformation period the Polish decision makers forgot the fact that modernization of economy cannot happen without a concurrent social modernization, and the directions for the changes were paved only with general market economy and democracy slogans. The potential of schools of higher education was neglected for two decades. There is numerous data indicating poor "modernisation" of the education and research systems and therefore it is difficult to say that the decision makers treated higher education as a key factor determining the level of modernization potential of society. Reformatory measures of the Polish government in the area of higher education have intensified only within the last several years and the paper will analyse them in detail. 3) Thesis: ideological character of modernization of higher education. Higher education reforms are connected with pursuing the goals of the Bologna Process. The ideological character of the reforms carried out in Poland is manifested in the fact that both the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy are perceived as political projects. Strategic documents generated by the government constitute a makeshift and politically orchestrated reply to the recommendations made by the EU. Polish decision makers have never placed higher education within their genuine political priorities before. The paper will show how this situation has recently changed.


Catalytic synthesis and physicochemical characterization of multi- and single-wall carbon nanotubes are presented. Supported transition metal(s) catalysts were prepared by different methods and were tested in the production of nanotubes by decomposition of hydrocarbons at 700 and at 1000 °C, using a fixed bed flow reactor. The carbon deposits were measured and the quality of the nanotubes was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The inner and outer diameters of the nanotubes were also measured and the diameters distribution histograms were established: Thick multi-wall straight and coiled nanotubes with inner diameters (minimum-[average]-maximum) of 4-[6]-10 nm, outer diameters of 8-[25]-50 nm and with lengths up to 50 mm. Thin multi-wall straight and coiled nanotubes with inner diameters of 3-[4]-7 nm, outer diameters of 5-[15]-25 nm and with lengths up to 50 mm. Very thin multi-wall straight and coiled nanotubes with inner diameters of 2-[4]-7 nm, outer diameters of 3-[10]-15 nm and with lengths up to 50 mm. Single-wall nanotubes isolated or as bundles with diameters of 1-[2]-4 nm and with lengths up to 1 mm. The influence of various parameters such as the way of catalyst preparation, the nature and the pore size of the support, the nature of the metal(s), the quantity of catalyst active particles and the reaction conditions on the nanotubes formation were studied.


Caption: Researchers have used Chandra to study 29 "blobs" of hydrogen gas in the early Universe. The X-ray data (blue) reveal the presence of growing supermassive black holes inside five of these blobs (one of which is shown in the left panel). Along with bursts of star formation, the black holes are responsible for heating the blobs' gas – depicted in the artist's illustration on the right. The results suggest that blobs represent a stage when the galaxies and black holes are just starting to switch off their rapid growth because of these heating processes.


Despite the ubiquitous use of motion in animated displays, its impact may be minimal unless the motion can highlight task-relevant features. An examination of static vs. dynamic route presentations revealed that a continuous motion of routes in animated displays inhibited encoding of taskrelevant landmarks – i.e. landmarks at turns – because the continuous motion focused participants' attention more equally across critical and less important landmarks along the route. These findings are relevant in research on air traffic controller displays. Current displays represent airplanes as "dots" that move at the radar update rate, typically every twelve seconds. With an upcoming GPSbased technology, some planes will be capable of providing aircraft position information at much faster update rates. The faster update rates have two potential implications for the display design. First, it is an open question whether a display with fast update rates, which resembles a dynamic motion display, will be better than a display with slower update rates that presents traffic information as a sequence of static images. Second, a mixture of aircraft with different update rates will be likely in the airspace until all aircrafts migrate to GPS-based technology, which may disrupt controllers' cognitive model of the airspace. This paper discusses these issues and some of the solutions considered by designers, users, and researchers in this field.


The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of human echinococcosis in Tibetan
communities of Sichuan Province, undertake genotyping of human echinococcosis isolates
from the Tibetan Plateau, and assess the clinical efficacy of albendazole in human cystic and
alveolar echinococcosis. In addition, specific IgG serologic responses against recombinant
antigens (AgB and Em 18) were also examined in Tibetan cystic and alveolar echinococcosis
patients.
Abdominal ultrasound screening programmes for echinococcosis were conducted in 31
Tibetan townships in Ganze and Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures of northwest Sichuan
Province during 2001-2008. Hospital records (1992-2006) in a major regional treatment
centre for echinococcosis in Aba Prefecture were also reviewed. Of 10.186 local residents
examined by portable ultrasound scan, 645 (6.3%) were diagnosed with echinococcosis: a
prevalence of 3.2% for cystic echinococcosis (CE), 3.1% for alveolar echinococcosis (AE)
and 0.04% for dual infection (both CE and AE). Further analysis revealed that human cystic
and alveolar echinococcosis in pastoral areas was highly co-endemic, in comparison to much
lower human prevalences found in semi-pastoral or farming regions. The high ultrasound
prevalence of hepatic echinococcosis in these co-endemic areas in northwest Sichuan
Province was also reflected in the hospital study, and hospital records furthermore indicated
another possibly highly co-endemic transmission focus in Guoluo Prefecture of Qinghai
Province, located at the border of northwest Sichuan.
Parasite isolates from 68 human cases originating from Sichuan and Qinghai provinces
in eastern China were postoperatively examined by histopathology and PCR-RFLP for
specific identification of Echinococcus spp. Histopathologically, 38 human isolates were
confirmed as E. granulosus and 30 as E. multilocularis. PCR-RFLP with rrnL as the target
gene confirmed 33 of 53 of the isolates to have the Gl genotype of sheep/dog strain of E.
granulosus as the only source of infection, while the remaining 20 were confirmed as E.
multilocularis. No human infections were shown to be caused by E. shiquicus which is also
endemic in wildlife hosts in the region.
Specific IgG responses to recombinant antigen B and Eml8 in ELISA were examined in
422 ultrasound-detected echinococcosis patients, including 246 with CE, 173 with AE, and 3·
with dual infection. As a result, rAgB-specific antibody was detected in 77.6% of CE and
86.1% of AE cases, while rEmlS-specific antibody was present in 28.9% of CE and 87.3% of
AE patients. All three patients with dual infection exhibited specific antibodies responding to
rAgB and rEml8. Further analysis revealed that rAgB-specific antibody was elevated in a
significantly greater proportion (87.3%) of CE patients with cysts at active or transitional
stages (CE1, CE2 or CE3), compared to 54.8% of other patients with cysts at an early or an
inactive stage (CL or CE4 or CE5). Additionally, rAgB-specific antibody was detected in
95.6% of CE2 cases, which was statistically greater than that (73.7%) in CE1 patients.
Although rEmlS-specific antibody was elevated in 28.9% of CE patients, the positive reaction
was much weaker in CE than in AE cases. Serum levels and concentrations of rEmlS-specific
antibody were further indicated to be strongly disease phase correlated in AE patients, with
positive rates of 97.4% in cases with alveolar lesions containing central necrosis and 66.7% in
patients with early alveolar lesions that measured <5 cm.
Efficacies of cyclic albendazole treatment were longitudinally assessed in 49 CE patients
using ultrasonography and ELISA with rAgB as antigen. Of these 49 cases, 32.7% (16) were
considered to be cured by ultrasound, 49.0% (24) were improved, 14.3% remained unchanged,
whereas 4.1% were aggravated. Based on rAgB in ELISA, IgG4 was indicated to be the most
predominant IgG subclass in serum of CE patients. However, the changes of specific
antibodies (IgG and IgG4) were poorly correlated with the outcomes of treatment. Even so,
positive antibody seroconversion (IgG and IgG4 antibodies) in patients who were originally
seronegative, and simultaneous observation of detachment of cyst membrane and/or partial
degeneration of cyst content occurred in 46.2% (6/13) of CE1 patients after 6-12 months
chemotherapy. In 28 AE patients following cyclic albendazole therapy (mean course = 23.4
months), ultrasound examination indicated that 25 (89.3%) had static alveolar lesions,
whereas 3 (10.7%) had aggravated disease. In response to rEml8, IgG4 was the predominant
IgG subclass in AE cases, and it was broadly correlated with the outcomes of treatment.
In conclusion, human cystic and alveolar echinococcosis proved to be highly co-endemic
in pastoral areas of Tibetan communities of Sichuan Province, with the Gl genotype of E.
gmnulosus as the only identified source of human CE infection. Recombinant AgB proved to
be highly useful for serodiagnosis of human echinococcosis, whereas rEmlS was more
species-specific in differential diagnosis of human AE. Cyclic albendazole therapy was
effective for treatment of human CE and AE. The changes of specific antibody against rAgB
were poorly correlated with the outcomes of treatment in CE patients, whereas serum
concentrations of rEmlS-specific antibody were strongly correlated with parasite activities in
AE cases.