A quantitative scanning electron microscope study of coccolithophores was sampled during the summer and winter from the surface waters over the continental shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) was conducted. In all, only ten coccolithophorid taxa were observed during the investigation periods. Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) Hay et Mohler and Gephyrocapsa oceanica Kamptner were predominant among the coccolithophorid flora during both seasons. E. huxleyi increased its relative abundance seaward, while G. oceanica concentrated in inner shelf area. These two species accounted for over half of the coccolithophores in the middle shelf of the ECS. These dominant taxa are eurythermal, occurring in patchy and "bull's-eyes" distributions in both the summer and winter, respectively. Special emphasis has been paid to the overall distribution and intra-species frequency of malformed cells of the two dominant species, as well as other minor species. Malformed cells occurred so frequently in both seasons that the frequency amounted to as much as 80% in both dominant species. The malformation was manifested largely by corroded defects. A comparison of the malformed distribution with the hydrological and nutrient parameters suggests that the malformation was caused mainly by a deficiency of nitrate in the ambient waters.


Asymptotic properties of L_{1}-estimates in linear regression have been studied by many authors, see e.g. Bassett and Koenker (1978), Bloomfield and Steiger (1983). It is the lack of smoothness which does not allow to we the known results on asymptotic behavior of M-estimates directly (Huber (1967)). The additional lack of a convexity in the nonlinear regression case increases the complexity of the problem even under assumption that the true parameter values belong to the interior of the given parameter set; for a consistency result in this case see e.g. Oberhofer (1982).

We shall use the technique developed in Dupacova and Wets (1986, 1987) to get asymptotic properties of the L_{1}-estimates of regression coefficients which are assumed to belong to an a priori given closed convex set given, e.g., by constraints of general equality and inequality form. The method uses, i.a., tools of nondifferentiable calculus and epi-convergence and it can be applied to other classes of L_{1}-estimates as well.


Objective: Recent studies using multidimensional measures have shown that men (Exercise Dependence Scale; EDS-R) are more exercise-dependent than women, whereas others have found that women (Exercise Dependence Questionnaire; EDQ) are more exercise-dependent than men. This study investigated whether there may be sex differences in exercise dependence or whether the questionnaires may be measuring different dimensions of exercise dependence. Design: Regular exercisers voluntarily completed the EDS-R, EDQ and Drive for Thinness (DFT) subscale before or after a workout. Setting: A local health club in the eastern USA. Participants: Male (n = 102) and female (n = 102) exercisers completed the three questionnaires, but 11 participants (1 man, 10 women) were excluded from further analysis because scores indicated possible secondary exercise dependence (eating disorder). Primary outcome measures: Eight subscales of the EDQ, seven subscales of the EDS, the DFT subscale, and several demographic variables served as dependent measures. Results: A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) on the EDS-R showed that men were significantly higher than women on the Withdrawal, Continuance, Tolerance, Lack of Control, Time, and Intention Effect subscales. Another MANOVA on the EDQ indicated that women scored significantly higher than did men on the Interference, Positive Rewards, Withdrawal, and Social Reasons subscales. Statistical analysis using t tests revealed that men had significantly higher total EDS-R scores than women, but women had significantly higher EDQ and DFT scores. Conclusion: These results suggest that both questionnaires measure different aspects of exercise dependence that favour either gender. It remains for further research to determine whether these instruments are equally viable for measurement of ED in both men and women.


Insufficient academic attention has been paid to household water conservation behavior in arid and semi-arid areas of developing countries. Based on a questionnaire survey, this study analyzed factors influencing the water conservation behavior of urban residents in Zhangye City in China. Of the two variables addressed in the theory of reasoned action, attitudes toward water conservation had no obvious influence on water conservation behavior, whereas subjective norms did have an influence. Furthermore, general environmental concerns had no direct, significant influence on water conservation behavior. It has been argued that environmental motivational factors have a limited influence on water conservation behavior. The theory of reasoned action may not sufficiently explain domestic water conservation behavior in the study area, where the economy remains underdeveloped. Three contextual factors, beliefs regarding local water resources, incremental water conservation information and attitudes toward frugality, were significantly correlated with water conservation behavior.


Intrusion Detection System is considered as a core tool in the collection of forensically relevant evidentiary data in real or near real time from the network. The emergence of High Speed Network (HSN) and Service oriented architecture/Web Services (SOA/WS) putted the IDS in face of a typical big data management problem. The log files that IDS generates are very enormous making very fastidious and both compute and memory intensive the forensics readiness process. Furthermore the high level rate of wrong alerts complicates the forensics expert alert analysis and it disproves its performance, efficiency and ability to select the best relevant evidences to attribute attacks to criminals. In this context, we propose Alert Miner (AM), an intrusion alert classifier, which classifies efficiently in near real-time the intrusion alerts in HSN for Web services. AM uses an outlier detection technique based on an adaptive deduced association rules set to classify the alerts automatically and without human assistance. AM reduces false positive alerts without losing high sensitivity (up to 95%) and accuracy up to (97%). Therefore AM facilitates the alert analysis process and allows the investigators to focus their analysis on the most critical alerts on near real-time scale and to postpone less critical alerts for an off-line log analysis.


Using techniques from computational differential geometry, we present a new approach to the algorithmic study of planar curves, with applications to shape and image analysis. The main idea is to construct spaces of curves satisfying constraints suited to specific problems and exploit the geometric structure of these spaces to quantify and analyze properties of contours and solve optimization and inference problems. Applications include: (i) new geometric algorithms for the estimation of contours and appearances of partially occluded objects in images; (ii) the development of a novel multi-resolution, algorithmic approach to statistical shape analysis using progressive localization in the frequency domain; (iii) algorithms for computing planar elasticae with enhanced performance and speed.


Modern polyhedral compilers excel at aggressively optimizing codes with static control parts, but the state-of-practice to find high-performance polyhedral transformations especially for different hardware targets still largely involves auto-tuning. In this work we propose a novel customizable polyhedral scheduling technique, with the aim of delivering high performance for several hardware targets. We design constraints and objectives that model several crucial aspects of performance such as stride optimization or the trade-off between parallelism and reuse, while considering important architectural features of the target machine. We evaluate our work using the PolyBench/C benchmark suite and experimentally validate it against large optimization spaces generated with the Pluto compiler on 3 representative architectures: an IBM Power9, an Intel Xeon Phi and an Intel Core-i9. Our results show we can achieve comparable or superior performance to Pluto on the majority of benchmarks, without implementing tiling in the source code nor using experimental autotuning.


The frequency and use of religious symbols in Italian advertising is examined by analyzing the content of a large sample of advertisements drawn from popular magazines between 1969 and 2013. The findings show a long-term rise in the proportion of ads containing religion. The most common religious symbols portrayed in Italian advertising come from Christianity. There is also evidence that recent advertising has increasingly made reference to Eastern traditions, like Hinduism and Buddhism, and non-institutionalized religion. An analysis of the values manifest in the advertisements indicate that religion has become a source of creative inspiration that advertisers use without much reservation to accomplish their most diverse commercial tasks.


In Part I, this Article surveys the evolution of crimes against humanity. This part reviews interpretations of crimes against humanity by post-World War II tribunals, national courts, and the International Law Commission ("ILC"). Part II examines the formulation of crimes against humanity in the statutes that established the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia ("ICTY") and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ("ICTR"). It also looks at how the reports issued in connection with the ICTY statute and the case law from the ICTY dealt with crimes against humanity. Part III draws some preliminary conclusions regarding the status of crimes against humanity in international law in the period directly preceding the Rome Conference and analyzes the relative authority of the various sources of law discussed in Parts I and II. In Part IV, this Article surveys the issues raised by government delegates regarding crimes against humanity during the negotiations on the draft statute for an ICC from 1994 to 1998. Finally, Part V examines the debates on crimes against humanity that took place during the Rome Conference and analyzes the definition of crimes against humanity adopted in the Rome Statute. DEFINING CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY IN THE ROME STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT


Coenzyme Q10 is an important component of mitochondrial electron transport chain and antioxidant. Hyperthyroidism manifests hyperdynamic circulation with increased cardiac output, increased heart rate and decreased peripheral resistance. The heart is also under the oxidative stress in the hyperthyroidism. The aim of this study was to examine both how the coenzyme Q10 can affect heart ultrastructure in the hyperthyroidism and how the relationship between nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and heart damage and coenzyme Q10. Swiss Black C57 mice received 5 mg/kg L-thyroxine. Coenzyme Q10 (1.5 mg/kg) and L-thyroxine together was given to second group mice. Coenzyme Q10 and serum physiologic were applied to another two groups, respectively. All treatments were performed daily for 15 days by gavage. Free triiodothyronine and thyroxine were increased in two groups given L-thyroxine; thyroid-stimulating hormone level did not change. Hyperthyroid heart showed an increased endothelial NOS (eNOS) and inducible NOS (iNOS) immunoreactivity in the tissue. Coenzyme Q10 administration decreased these NOS immunoreactivities in the hyperthyroid animals. Cardiomyocytes of the hyperthyroid animals was characterized by abnormal shape and invaginated nuclei, and degenerative giant mitochondria. Desmosome plaques reduced in density. In hyperthyroid mice given coenzyme Q10, the structural disorganization and mitochondrial damage regressed. However, hearts of healthy mice given coenzyme Q10 displayed normal ultrastructure, except for increased mitochondria and some of them were partially damaged. Coenzyme Q10 increased the glycogen in the cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, coenzyme Q10 administration can prevent the ultrastructural disorganization and decrease the iNOS and eNOS increment in the hyperthyroid heart.


Listening to an auditory scene enables us to recognize a lot of events without even having to see them. For instance, a friend can often be recognized simply from the sounds of his or her footsteps. Understanding the links between the acoustical properties of sounds and the properties of the action imagined from them is a challenge that may help to understand how our sensorimotor interaction with the surrounding world constrains our perception. In this article we'll present results of recent works on the acoustic characterization of a particular category of biological movements, namely drawing movements. In fact, if we listen carefully to the friction sounds produced by someone drawing, a movement can be perceived through the dynamic behaviour of the sounds. How do we interpret this movement imagined from a friction sound? Is it for instance possible to recognize whether or not it is a human movement and can the drawn shapes be deduced from the dynamics of such sounds? These questions might not seem important at first sight. However, as opposed to visual or kinaesthetic stimuli, monophonic sounds have the remarkable ability to transmit dynamic information independently from any geometric or spatial cues. Hence, investigating the movements imagined by someone who is listening to such sounds gives a unique opportunity to relate the properties of percepts to possible sensorimotor constraints. Highlighting a relation between drawing movements and auditory perception might thus provide a new experimental framework to study how the sensorimotor contingencies (SMC) (O'Regan & Noe, 2001) shape our sensory processes and behaviours.


China's decentralization has been recognized internationally, as it has arguably made significant contributions to rapid economic growth and social development in the past three decades. However, the impact of decentralization on resource management is more ambiguous and less studied. Given the largely negative environmental outcomes of economic growth, it is critical to ask why decentralization has not fostered environmental sustainability in China, even as it has facilitated socio-economic development.

This research aims to improve theoretical and empirical understandings of natural resource decentralization by taking forest decentralization reform in China as a case. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, it examines the effects of decentralization on forest management as well as the interactive processes between policies and local institutional dynamics which have shaped decentralization and conditioned its outcomes. By an interdisciplinary strategy, the study employs a multi-scale approach that includes the collection of data from a wide range of involved actors extending from the central government to local communities and from multiple sectors to generate a holistic picture of forest governance in China.

From the research findings, it is clear that forest decentralization in China has been established in law but not in practice. Governance reforms set up a wide range of governance constraints which limit downward accountability and sufficient power transfers to lower-level administrative bodies. The research also argues the critical role of the local state, which plays not only mediator role between state and society, but also struggles with the central state for power. Meanwhile, the exercise of knowledge-based power in the form of scientific forest management undermines the possibility of potential power transfers to local people. These findings carry important implications for policy and further research on decentralization in theory and practice.


Software is continuously increasing in complexity. Paradigmatic shifts and new development frameworks make it easier to implement software but not to test it. Software testing remains to be a topic with many open questions with regard to both technical low-level aspects and to the organizational embedding of testing. However, a desired level of software quality cannot be achieved by either choosing a technical procedure or by optimizing testing processes. In fact, it requires a holistic approach.This Brief summarizes the current knowledge of software testing and introduces three current research approaches. The base of knowledge is presented comprehensively in scope but concise in length; thereby the volume can be used as a reference. Research is highlighted from different points of view. Firstly, progress on developing a tool for automated test case generation (TCG) based on a programs structure is introduced. Secondly, results from a project with industry partners on testing best practices are highlighted. Thirdly, embedding testing into e-assessment of programming exercises is described.


Dazzling, clamorous and exotic, the circus is a theatre of the improbable and impossible. From the days of travelling troupes of acrobats and jugglers to the grand spectacle of the Cirque du Soleil, the circus has exerted an indelible fascination. Of all our myths of reinvention, rebirth, second acts and new identities, running away to join the circus has a special allure. In this book Linda Simon asks why we long to soar on the flying trapeze; to ride bareback on a spangled horse; to parade through city streets in costumes of glitter and gold. Why have artists and writers repeatedly or obsessively taken the circus as their subject? What does the circus offer us that we think we so desperately need? The Greatest Shows on Earth takes us from eighteenth-century hippodromes in Britain to intimate one-ring circuses in nineteenth-century Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso became enchanted by aerialists and clowns. We meet P. T. Barnum, James Bailey and the enterprising Ringling Brothers, who created the golden age of American circuses. We explore contemporary transformations of the circus, from the whimsical Circus Oz in Australia to New York City's Big Apple Circus.Circus people are central to the story: trick riders and tightrope walkers, sword swallowers and animal trainers, contortionists and clowns - these are the men and women who create the sensational, raucous, titillating and incomparable world of the circus. Beautifully illustrated, rich in historical detail and full of colourful anecdotes, Linda Simon's vibrant history is as enchanting as a night at the big-top itself.


The nitrogen (N) retention response to the abomasal infusion of amino acids in South African Mutton Merino ram lambs fed a standard finishing diet was investigated. The basal diet consisted of (g/kg air dry weight): 300 lucerne, 80 wheat straw, 561.5 maize meal, 35 molasses meal, 10 urea, 5 salt, 7.5 ammonium chloride, 1.0 vitamin/mineral premix and 0.29 taurotec(r). Twenty-eight lambs (ca. 38 kg live weight) were randomly allocated to four treatments consisting of different abomasal infusion rates of an amino acid mixture, formulated to contain essential amino acids in the same ratio as that of the whole empty body. The mixture consisted of (g/kg): 119.7 arginine, 154.9 histidine, 22.1 isoleucine, 106.5 leucine, 91.5 lysine, 146.9 methionine, 105.6 phenylalanine, 133.8 threonine and 118.7 valine. The mixture was infused at levels of (g/d): 0.00, 38.27, 51.02 or 63.78. Glycine was used to balance the various mixtures on an iso-nitrogenous basis. Infusion of 51.02 g/d of the essential amino acid mixture resulted in a significant increase in N retention, expressed as a percentage of N intake, compared to the control group which received the test diet and glycine (Phase 1). The omission of histidine, methionine or threonine from the infusate (Phase 2) had no significant decrease in N retention or plasma amino acid concentrations compared to the infusion of the mixture of nine essential amino acids. South African Journal of Animal Science Vol.32(2) 2002: 106-112


There is growing evidence that noncognitive skills affect economic, behavioral, and demographic outcomes in the developed world. However, little such evidence exists from developing countries. This paper estimates the joint effect of five specific personality traits and cognition on a sequence of labor market outcomes for a sample of Malagasy individuals as they transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Specifically we model these individuals' age of entry into the labor market, labor market sectoral selection, and within-sector earnings. The personality traits we examine are the Big Five Personality Traits: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Additionally, we look at how these traits interact with household-level shocks in determining their labor market entry decisions. We find that personality, as well as cognitive test scores, affect these outcomes of interest, and that their impact on labor supply is, in part, a function of how individuals respond to exogenous shocks.


As part of a rehabilitation clinical course for senior baccalaureate nursing students, a disability-incontinence experiential learning activity is required. The assignment is intended to familiarize students with some of the challenges encountered by a client with mobility problems, including continence management issues using disposable undergarments. Wearing the undergarments dry and wet while being confined to a wheelchair provides insight and promotes empathy for patients with bladder control problems.


In this paper, results are presented of the development of internal stresses in 2124 aluminium alloy reinforced with 25% of particulate silicon carbide. Measurements have been made during in situ low-cycle fatigue loading of this composite, using neutron diffraction. The neutron measurements were made using the ENGIN-X diffractometer at the ISIS neutron facility, UK. The results show how the internal stresses evolve with fatigue cycling. Eshelby-based modelling has been used to allow separation of the internal stress components in the MMC.


We report results on optical phase conjugation in experimental CdSSe-doped glasses close to a quantum-confined resonance. The dispersion of the Kerr susceptibility is measured in a degenerate four-wave mixing experiment, and it is shown that the nonlinear response is quite different for experimental and commercial glasses. In particular, for the former the spectral dispersion of the nonlinearity exhibits an intensity dependence. The various results can be explained by a competition between three mechanisms corresponding to the saturation of the electronic transitions involved (volume and surface states) by taking into account the efficient trapping of carriers into deep impurity levels.


Gas lift is an artificial lift technique which is intended to be used in oil and gas production systems to enhance the oil recovery rate. The technique is used in production systems which suffers from insufficient production rates because of inadequate reservoir pressure. The principle is to inject extra gas, from an external source, into the fluid mixture flowing out of the reservoir. This reduces the weight of the fluid column, which in turn enables the reservoir pressure to lift the mixture of fluids up to the surface. Thus, the restriction in production rate, resulting from insufficient reservoir pressure, is resolved. The casing heading instability cycle is a phenomenon which may occur in such gas lift systems at certain pressure and flow conditions. In such a case, a blocking constraint leads to an accumulation of gas that is building up a high pressure in the container storing the extra gas. Eventually the pressure is able to overcome the blocking constraint which further leads to a production flow blow out at the surface. This process repeats itself over a period of several hours. The resulting flow regime may be damaging to the receiving surface equipment. It also leads to a decrease in the average production rate, which is highly undesirable. In this thesis a new low order mathematical model to describe the casing heading instability is presented. The model is further compared and fitted to a gas lift case implemented in the advanced OLGA flow simulator, which is regarded as the real flow process in this thesis. A controllability analysis is performed on the newly fitted model, and the results of the analysis are used to investigate which control structures that seems reasonable for stabilizing the casing heading instability. The most promising control strategies are further tested in simulations, both on the low order model and on the advanced flow simulator. The results from the analysis, which is further confirmed in simulations, show that out of the measurement candidates that were considered in this thesis, the bottom hole pressure, i.e., the pressure measured in the well or near the depth of the producing formation, is the single best measurement to use for both disturbance rejection and stabilization of the system. However, this measurement is known to be unreliable, if at all available, because of its location in a harsh environment. Another control structure which showed promising results both in analysis and simulations is therefore concluded as the better choice. This is a cascaded control structure, which only relies on realistically available top side pressure measurements. It proved successful in stabilizing the system.


As employers, politicians, parents, and other citizens lament the decline of writing skills among Americans, this little book comes to the rescue. An instant bestseller when it first appeared as a college textbook, "They Say / I Say" gives writers precisely what they need to know in the all-important domain of persuasive writing. Cutting through the clutter of educational diagnoses and nostrums, it goes right to the heart of what writers most need to do, and that is to listen to what others are saying (they say), summarize it, and then offer their own argument (I say) as a response. Offering user-friendly templates to help writers make these key moves in their own writing, "They Say / I Say" is already being called the Strunk & White of persuasive writing.


In recent decades, redox-active electrolytes have been applied in stationary energy storage systems, benefitting from Faradaic reactions of the electrolyte instead of the electrode material. One of the challenging tasks is to balance the redox activities between the negative and positive electrode. As a possible solution, a mixed electrolyte with vanadyl and tin sulfate was previously suggested; however, a low power performance is a great challenge to be overcome. Here, we found that the origin of the poor power performance in the mixture electrolyte system (vanadium complex and tin solution) is the reduction of the pore volume at the positive electrode via irreversible tin dioxide formation. To prevent the latter, we introduce a hybrid energy storage system exhibiting both battery-like and supercapacitor-like features via asymmetric redox electrolytes at the microporous activated carbon electrodes; SnF2 solution as anolyte and VOSO4 as catholyte. By employing an anion exchange membrane, the irreversible SnO2 formation at the positive electrode is effectively suppressed; thus, an asymmetric 1 M SnF2|3 M VOSO4 system provides a high maximum specific power (3.8 kW kg−1 or 1.5 kW L−1), while still exhibiting a high maximum specific energy up to 58.4 W h kg−1 (23.4 W h L−1) and a high cycling stability over 6500 cycles.


Wu et al. used a genome-wide search to identify effectors for the guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) Rop in Arabidopsis. They identified a new family of proteins with the Cdc42/Rac-interactive binding (CRIB) motif and studied the role of these proteins, called RICs for Rop-interactive CRIB motif containing proteins, in plants. The 11 RIC genes were divided into four groups on the basis of the sequence and structure of the predicted encoded proteins. Interactions with Rop were tested by using overexpression studies followed by phenotype and localization analysis. Not surprisingly, because of the highly variable primary sequences, the RICs appeared to interact differentially or not at all with Rop when coexpressed in tobacco pollen tubes. A direct interaction between Rop and several of the RICs was determined by yeast two-hybrid screening (the method used for the initial screen) and by glutathione S-transferase pull-down experiments. Thus, like the animal Cdc42 and the Rac GTPase family, the plant Rop GTPase appears to mediate signaling through interactions with proteins containing the CRIB domain. G. Wu, Y. Gu, S. Li, Z. Yang, A genome-wide analysis of Arabidopsis Rop-interactive CRIB motif-containing protein that act as Rop GTPase targets. Plant Cell 13, 2841-2856 (2001). [Abstract] [Full Text]


The Hizmet (Gülen) Movement is a transnational phenomenon. In the last two decades, the participants of the movement have managed to establish a large number of educational institutes, interfaith and intercultural dialogue centres, humanitarian aid organizations, media institutions, and business associations functioning around the globe. The Hizmet movement is to date an evidently admirable faith inspired movement interacting with diverse religious traditions, secular ideologies, and cultures in more than 150 countries. Questions arise here: what motivates and enables the participants of the Hizmet Movement to engage with the religious, cultural, and ideological "Other" so successfully? How do they perceive the Other? And how do they justify their construction of the Other in relation to their faith? To help answer these questions, this article aims to provide a preliminary research on and critical analysis of how Fethullah Gülen, the inspirer of the Hizmet Movement, constructs the Other in his writings.


Consent and Coercion to Sex and Marriage in Ancient and Medieval Societies-Angeliki E. Laiou 1998 This collection of essays addresses a number of questions regarding the role of consent in marriage and in sexual relations outside of marriage in ancient and medieval societies. Ranging from ancient Greece and Rome to the Byzantine Empire and Western Medieval Europe, the contributors examine rape, seduction, and the role of consent in establishing the punishment of one or both parties; the issue of marital debt and spousal rape; and the central question of what is perceived as coercion and what may be the validity or value of coerced consent. Other concepts, such as honor and shame, are also investigated. Because of the wide range--in time and place--of societies studied, the reader is able to see many different approaches to the question of consent and coercion as well as a certain evolution, in which Christianity plays an important role.


Background and Aim: Using drugs during pregnancy is one of the most important health concerns Prenatal care is crucial in addicted women and thus educational interventions are required. In the present study, the effectiveness of an educational intervention based on 'Theory of Planned Behavior' on prenatal care of addicted women was evaluated. Materials and Methods: This randomized field- trial study was performed on 46 pregnant addicted women who were randomly divided into equal experimental and control groups. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire used had been confirmed. before, immediately after, and two months after the intervention in both groups. The intervention consisted of 6 sessions, based on the theory of planned behavior, which was implemented for the experimental group. Data analysis was performed using. independent t- test, Anova and Fisher's exact test. The obtained results were interpreted at the significant level 0.05. Results: It was found that a significant increase in the mean change in attitude, intention, and perceived behavioral control before and immediately after the intervention in the experimental group compared to the control one (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study showed the effectiveness of the education based on the theory of planned behavior on the attitude, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention associated with prenatal care.


Chapter 1: Sociology and the Study of Social Problems Using our Sociological Imagination What is a Social Problem? Understanding the Sociological Perspective The Transformation From Problem to Solution Making Sociological Connections Chapter 2: The Bases of Inequality: Social Class, Ethnicity, and Race Why Does Social Inequality Exist? How Are We Different? Inequalities Based on Social Class Inequalities Based on Ethnicity or Race Policy Focus: Affirmative Action in the Workplace Chapter 3: The Bases of Inequality II: Sex and Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Age Inequalities Based on Sex and Gender Policy Focus: Title IX Inequalities Based on Sexual Orientation Inequalities Based on Age What Are Your Life Chances? Chapter 4: Families Myths of the Family Sociological Perspectives on the Family Problems in the American Family Family Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 5: Education The New Educational Standard Sociological Perspectives on Education Problems and Challenges in American Education Education Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 6: The Workplace The Changing Nature of Work Sociological Perspectives on Work Problems in the Workplace Workplace Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 7: Health and Medicine Sociological Perspectives on Health, Illness, and Medicine Inequalities in Mortality and Morbidity Other Health Care Problems Health Care Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 8: Drug Abuse Sociological Perspectives on Drug Abuse What Is Drug Abuse? The Problems of Drug Abuse Drug Abuse Advocacy, Innovation, and Policy Chapter 9: Poverty Defining Poverty Poverty in the United States Explaining Poverty The Consequences of Poverty and Welfare Reform Poverty Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 10: Crime Sociological Perspectives on Crime Sources of Crime Statistics Types of Crime The Inequalities of Crime--Offenders and Victims Our Current Response to Crime Crime Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 11: The Media Sociological Perspectives on the Media The Media and Social Problems Media Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 12: Cities and Suburbs Urban Sociology and Demography Sociological Perspectives on Urbanization The Consequences of Urbanization Urban and Community Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 13: The Environment Environmental Problems Are Human Problems Sociological Perspectives on Environmental Social Problems and the Environment Environmental Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation Chapter 14: War and Terrorism Defining Terrorism and War Sociological Perspectives on Terrorism and War The Problems of War and Terrorism War and Terrorism Policy, Advocacy, and Innovation a. Political diplomacy Chapter 15: Social Problems and Social Action: Private Troubles versus Public Issues Social Problems and Their Solutions Understanding Social Movements IV. How do social movements begin? How Do Social Movements Begin? How Have Reform Movements Made a Difference? Making the Last Connection


A space-for-time substitution approach was used to evaluate potential effects of climate change on stream nutrient uptake by examining the relationship between stream environmental parameters and carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) uptake along an altitudinal gradient. The study was carried out in 14 streams located in the Central Pyrenees (NE Spain) draining calcareous catchments that cover an altitudinal range of 700–2,100 m a.s.l. In these streams, uptake of inorganic (soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), ammonium and nitrate) and organic (acetate and glycine) nutrients was estimated. Additionally, several physical, chemical and biological parameters were measured. Results showed higher uptake for both SRP, a potentially limiting nutrient in these streams, and glycine, a labile source of dissolved organic N, than for the rest of the nutrients. Uptake of SRP, nitrate, glycine and acetate varied along stream environmental gradients associated with changes in stream hydromorphology, SRP availability and epilithic biomass. However, these gradients did not vary with altitude. These results indicate that climate change effects on stream nutrient uptake are more likely to be driven by indirect effects on hydromorphology and nutrient availability induced by shifts in the precipitation and run-off regime than by direct modifications in the thermal regime.


A Modified, Naturally-Derived Scaffold as a Multifunctional, Cell Conductive and Inductive Framework with Promising Use In Tissue Bioregeneration. P.A. McDonnell, Genomics Research Centre, School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia 4111. Our modified naturally-derived scaffold avoids the cell propagation and survivability problems faced by many current scaffolds in that it mimics a host structure that facilitates all mammalian tissue growth. The commercial target is the U.S biocompatible materials market estimated at $8.2 billion in sales in 2003 and forecast to grow by 7-8% per annum to reach some $12 billion in sales by 2008. We have employed a new approach to 3D tissue growth by the use of a modified, naturally-derived material in the construction of a unique 3D scaffold that will support the growth of a variety of cell lines. To date, the cell lines grown successfully on the scaffold include a range of mammalian (human and mouse) cell lines of neural, bone, cardiomyocyte, epithelial and intestinal mucosal cell and stem cell origins. The abundance and structural properties of the scaffold and its potential as a multifunctional, cell conductive and inductive framework indicate a promising new source of scaffold use in for tissue regeneration studies in both the in vitro and in vivo settings. The scaffold exhibits the important characteristics that must be considered when producing and applying new bioengineering technologies in the clinical setting, namely the scaffold possesses: 灠network of interconnecting pores of appropriate scale to favour tissue integration and microvascularisation of new blood vessels. 烯ntrolled biodegradability or bioresorbability. 灠surface chemistry and topography that favor cellular attachment, differentiation and proliferation. 灤equate mechanical properties to match the intended site of implantation and handling. 猯w immunogenicity. 用e capability of being easily manipulated into various shapes, sizes. The presentation will address the latest results of current studies. Griffith University seeks a collaborative arrangement with an industrial partner possessing the interest and capability to work with us to develop the technology to its full potential in accordance with their commercial requirements.


Reputation is a key factor in successful commerce. In the absence of direct product and company knowledge, buyers often rely on a variety of reputation mechanisms associated with the seller to allay fears of risk and product quality. The following paper examines the effectiveness of reputation mechanisms (third-party seal, brand name, seller guarantee) on potential consumers' perceptions of a web-based business's reputation. Preliminary results of a small pilot study indicate that brand name may have the most impact on positively enhancing a web-sites reputation.


ABSTRACT Why do processes of policymaking on migration and (migration-related) diversity so often seem 'out of control'? This article proposes a new conceptual framework for understanding the role of complexity in the governance of migration and diversity. Complexity literature argues that complex problems like migration and diversity require complex approaches. However, migration literature shows that policy processes in these areas often fail to capture complexity, for instance through 'quick fixes' in migration regulation or on a strong belief in state-led 'immigrant integration.' This results in what will be conceptualised as 'alienation' from issue developments in migration and diversity, which comes in various forms: problem, institutional, political and social alienation. Alternatively, 'mainstreaming' is conceptualised as a governance approach that does try to capture rather than deny complexity. This requires, however, a rethinking of migration and diversity governance as a generic approach that does not treat migration and diversity as 'stand-alone' topics, that is oriented at the whole (diverse) population, that involves complex actor networks and a contingent and emergent process rather than a one-size-fits-all policy model. By helping actors to understand and respond to complexity, researchers can contribute to reflexivity in policy processes and help to promote mainstreaming and prevent alienation.


A CORPUS-BASED APPROACH TO DETERMINING STANDARD WRITTEN AMERICAN USAGE Delys Waite Snyder Department of Instructional Psychology and Technology Doctor of Philosophy Many teachers, test designers, textbook writers, and instructional designers turn to books written by usage experts to determine what is correct standard written American English. Unfortunately, though, experts often disagree about what is correct and what is incorrect, and this disagreement can create problems with validity when people create and assess instruction about usage. One way to discover the rules of standard English usage is to describe what writers actually do in printed, edited English. Researchers can access large collections of standard English through digital text archives, which can be searched electronically. The text archives for this study were taken from EBSCO and ProQuest digital libraries and divided into three different registers: (a) newspapers, (b) magazines, and (c) scholarly journals. This study examines 30 representative items of controversial usage; such as a lot or alot, between you and I or between you and me, had proved or had proven; to determine the actual occurrence in these three registers of standard written American English. The results list the percentage of use in each register, as well as the total averaged percentage of use in all three registers. Items showing 90% to 100% usage in the total averaged percentages are considered standard English, but items showing 90% to 95% usage are borderline cases that should be monitored for future use. If a variant form is used more than 10% of the time, then it should be considered a possible alternative usage in dictionaries, in text books, and in tests. This study shows the results of using corpus linguistics to answer questions about usage in standard American English.


Facebook's main website, ads platform, and much of its internal tooling is implemented in PHP, a language not known for elegance or best practice in programming language design. Five years ago Facebook embarked on an ambitious project to migrate its code base to Hack, which takes the syntax of PHP, removes the worst features, and adds static typing and modern constructs for asynchronous programming. Its type system is an interesting mixture of ideas from Java, C#, Scala, and Caml, with flow-sensitive typing thrown in to capture typical PHP idioms. Type-driven development is now more than accepted: developers demand ever richer types, and evolution of the codebase goes hand-in-hand with evolution of the type system and programming language.


In this research study I explore the teaching of introductory inferential statistics to non- statistics undergraduates. My main aim in this work is a characterisation of teaching practice in the context of two introductory statistics university modules, one aimed at Psychology students and another at Engineering students from the perspective of the lecturers.In the pilot study, I investigated lecturers' beliefs about intended statistics curricula at university. The study used repertory grid interviews with twenty statistical methods lecturers. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis revealed that lecturers conceptualised the intended curricula around three themes: (1) teaching of statistics with "context", (2) teaching the statistical process components, and (3) student learning.The main study focused on the teaching of statistics on two introductory modules. Ob- servational and interview data was interpreted at the macro and micro levels of analysis using sociocultural theory as a theoretical lens and applying a grounded analytical approach. In- troductory statistics modules are taught in a range of disciplines, including Psychology and Engineering. Previous research shows that some students find statistics very difficult and challenging. The two lecturers, although approached the teaching of statistics very differ- ently, had a deep concern for their students' learning. The first lecturer, a Psychologist, approached the teaching of statistics in a 'philosophical' way meaning that the explanations were non-mathematical and there was a sequence of cases or "contexts" which the lecturer taught in different ways throughout the module. The second lecturer, a Mathematician, taught a 'typical' statistics module consisting of the mathematical underpinnings of statistical models through a sequence of statistical theory and calculations.Through this research, I provided representations into the lecturers' beliefs, intentions and strategies in relation to their teaching. The application of the sociocultural lens with a grounded analytical approach enabled me to conceptualise the lecturers' teaching actions and present a model of teaching statistics in context.


Open service innovation is an emergent new service development practice, where knowledge on how to organize development work is scarce. The purpose of the present research is to identify and describe relevant archetypes of open service innovation. The study views an archetype as an organizing template that includes the competence of participants, organizing co-creation among participants and ties between participants. In particular, the study's interest lies in how open service innovation archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation.,For the research, a nested case study was performed, in which an industrial firm with nine open service innovation groups was identified. Forty-five interviews were conducted with participants. For each case, first a within-case analysis was performed, and how to perform open service innovation in practice was described. Then, a cross-case analysis identifying similarities and differences between the open service innovation groups was performed. On the basis of the cross-case analysis, three archetypes for open service innovation were identified.,The nested case study identified three archetypes for open service innovation: internal group development, satellite team development and rocket team development. This study shows that different archetypes are used for incremental and radical service innovation and that a firm can have multiple open service innovation groups using different archetypes.,This study provides suggestions on how firms can organize for open service innovation. The identified archetypes can guide managers to set up, develop or be part of open service innovation groups.,This paper uses open service innovation as a mid-range theory to extend existing research on new service development in networks or service ecosystems. In particular, it shows how open service innovation can be organized to develop both incremental and radical service innovations.


Numerous scientific studies and non-scientific works document diverse nonhuman animal species exhibiting distress and grief-like behaviour at the loss of proximal subjects (significant others). The inability of humans to inhabit other animals' minds and feelings, including the experience of grief, often translates into negation of nonhuman animals' possession of such capacities, or of different levels of them. This paper reviews and synthesises scientific evidence from neuropsychological and biological sources that predict nonhuman animals' capacity for grief and feelings of profound loss, and establish that the core of these feelings for all animals, including humans, is attachment and the consequent separation distress. In exploring objections commonly raised by commentators of animal grief to ascribing a human-comparable grief dimension to nonhuman animals, the paper identifies several issues that need further consideration in trans-species grief studies. These include the widespread yet unfounded assumption of homogeneity/consensus in the understanding of key grief and death-related philosophical questions within the human species, and the debated over-emphasis of 'higher' cognitive processes in emotion-related issues – which in the case of grief studies tends to result in the underrating of the experience of separation distress. This journal article is available in Animal Studies Journal: https://ro.uow.edu.au/asj/vol2/iss2/5 67 Teja Brooks Pribac Abstract: Numerous scientific studies and non-scientific works document diverse nonhuman animal species exhibiting distress and grief-like behaviour at the loss of proximal subjects (significant others). The inability of humans to inhabit other animals' minds and feelings, including the experience of grief, often translates into negation of nonhuman animals' possession of such capacities, or of different levels of them. This paper reviews and synthesises scientific evidence from neuropsychological and biological sources that predict nonhuman animals' capacity for grief and feelings of profound loss, and establish that the core of these feelings for all animals, including humans, is attachment and the consequent separation distress. In exploring objections commonly raised by commentators of animal grief to ascribing a human-comparable grief dimension to nonhuman animals, the paper identifies several issues that need further consideration in trans-species grief studies. These include the widespread yet unfounded assumption of homogeneity/consensus in the understanding of key grief and death-related philosophical questions within the human species, and the debated over-emphasis of 'higher' cognitive processes in emotion-related issues – which in the case of grief studies tends to result in the underrating of the experience of separation distress. Numerous scientific studies and non-scientific works document diverse nonhuman animal species exhibiting distress and grief-like behaviour at the loss of proximal subjects (significant others). The inability of humans to inhabit other animals' minds and feelings, including the experience of grief, often translates into negation of nonhuman animals' possession of such capacities, or of different levels of them. This paper reviews and synthesises scientific evidence from neuropsychological and biological sources that predict nonhuman animals' capacity for grief and feelings of profound loss, and establish that the core of these feelings for all animals, including humans, is attachment and the consequent separation distress. In exploring objections commonly raised by commentators of animal grief to ascribing a human-comparable grief dimension to nonhuman animals, the paper identifies several issues that need further consideration in trans-species grief studies. These include the widespread yet unfounded assumption of homogeneity/consensus in the understanding of key grief and death-related philosophical questions within the human species, and the debated over-emphasis of 'higher' cognitive processes in emotion-related issues – which in the case of grief studies tends to result in the underrating of the experience of separation distress.


Background: One third of all deaths worldwide are attributed to acute coronary syndrome. The thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score is used to assess the risk of mortality and major adverse outcomes in this population. This study aimed to assess and compare the morbidity and mortality differences rate between Saudi and non-Saudi patients with acute coronary syndrome.
Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at the coronary care unit of King Abdulaziz University Hospital. All acute coronary syndrome cases were enrolled and assessed using the thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction Risk Score.
Results: 242 cases were divided as 98 ST-elevation myocardial infarction cases and 144 unstable angina/non ST-elevation myocardial infarction. Among ST-elevation myocardial infarction patients 21 were Saudi patients and 77 were non-Saudi patients with the median thrombolysis in myocardial infarction risk score for Saudi was 5 and for non-Saudi 3.5 (P = 0.6). Unstable angina/non ST-elevation myocardial infarction cases had 47 Saudi patients and 94 non-Saudi patients with the median score was 4.2 for Saudis versus 4.5 for non-Saudis (P = 0.4).
Conclusion: Overall thrombolysis in myocardial infarction were higher in Saudis with ST-elevation myocardial infarction than non-Saudis, and higher for non-Saudis with unstable angina/non ST-elevation myocardial infarction than Saudis. However, the difference was not significant (p = 0.6, p = 0.4). The 30 days and one-year mortality as well as major adverse cardiac events were similar between the two groups in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (P = 0.4 and 0.7) and unstable angina/non ST-elevation myocardial infarction population (P = 0.3 and 0.3).


This paper critiques the notion that a single approach to performance improvement can alone be responsible for significant organisational transformation. We draw on phenomenological case study evidence, placed in the context of an ongoing series of studies of the nature and prevalence of best practice benchmarking in the UK, including large‐scale questionnaire surveys and longitudinal case studies of the rich experiences of a number of practitioners and organisations. We argue that complex approaches to performance improvement such as benchmarking, however technically powerful they may be, are only as effective as the people who apply them and their compatibility with the organisational context in which they are used. The contribution of such methods is often difficult to separate from other variables. In addition to internal organisational characteristics, external contextual factors play an important part both in establishing a need to use such approaches, and encouraging commitment to their use. Some of the clearest examples of the distortion of the potential impact of new management practices by the wider policy context can be found in public services such as the National Health Service, from which examples are drawn in this paper.


Scholars writing in the field of "law and emotion" have explored how emotions influence legal decisionmaking. Legal scholars have recognized that persistent anger and conflict is harmful to divorcing parents and their children and have advocated for reforms, including no-fault divorce, mediation, and parenting education, to reduce parental anger during and after the divorce. Yet, legal scholars have rarely focused on children's anger towards their parents — an emotion that may endure for decades after the divorce and negatively affects the parent-child relationship and children's and parents' well-being. This essay describes the literature suggesting that forgiveness may help individuals cope with anger and proposes that lawmakers and mental health professionals explore forgiveness education programs as a mechanism to facilitate children's resolution of persistent anger toward their divorced parents.


In this report the development of a product to assist teachers and students in the mathematics lessons of Dutch high schools will be described. The project aims to answer the following research question: What product using existing technologies supports students in their process of learning mathematics in high schools in the Netherlands? The process of the designing of this product follows the Creative Technology design process. The three main points to take into account when designing this product were that the product should have an added value to the lesson, it should not take up time within or outside the lesson, and it should be geared towards the world and experiences of the students. With the system that was designed the teacher can gain more insight in the way students work out their mathematical problems and is able to give individual as well as class wide feedback. The end product of this project was a system that consists of three parts: an iPad application for the students, an iPad application for the teachers and a connection to the digital blackboard. The teacher can, with his or her application, send in a request to see a solution to a certain exercise of the students. This brings a notification to the application of the students, which they respond to by sending a picture of their solution. The teacher then gets an overview of all the individual solutions of the class, which can be utilized in any way the teacher pleases. He or she can give class wide feedback using the connection to the digital blackboard by choosing several solutions to present to the class. It was not possible to realize the entire system within the time frame of this project. Therefore it was chosen to focus the realization on the connecting part of the system: the application for the teachers. This application was tested using a Wizard of Oz evaluation. From this evaluation it became clear that the system that was designed, was very desirable and useful for the teachers and they were interested in using such a system more often. This depends, however, on the system being fully realized. This would fulfill all the requirements for the teachers.


Does access to four-year colleges affect degree completion for students who would otherwise attend two-year colleges? Admission to Georgia's four-year public sector requires minimum SAT scores. Regression discontinuity estimates show that access to this sector increases four-year college enrollment and college quality, largely by diverting students from two-year colleges. Access substantially increases bachelor's degree completion rates for these relatively low-skilled students. SAT retaking behavior suggests students value access to four-year public colleges, though perhaps less than they should. Our results imply that absolute college quality matters more than match quality and suggest potential unintended consequences of free community college proposals.


The development of genetic tools for non-model organisms has been hampered by cost, but advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) have created new opportunities. In ecological research, this raises the prospect for developing molecular markers to simultaneously study important genetic processes such as gene flow in multiple non-model plant species within complex natural and anthropogenic landscapes. Here, we report the use of bar-coded multiplexed paired-end Illumina NGS for the de novo development of expressed sequence tag-derived simple sequence repeat (EST-SSR) markers at low cost for a range of 24 tree species. Each chosen tree species is important in complex tropical agroforestry systems where little is currently known about many genetic processes. An average of more than 5,000 EST-SSRs was identified for each of the 24 sequenced species, whereas prior to analysis 20 of the species had fewer than 100 nucleotide sequence citations. To make results available to potential users in a suitable format, we have developed an open-access, interactive online database, tropiTree (http://bioinf.hutton.ac.uk/tropiTree), which has a range of visualisation and search facilities, and which is a model for the efficient presentation and application of NGS data.


: This paper presents stability analysis of roadways of the Tabas coal mine in Iran. Tabas Coal Mine is the first fully mechanised coal mine in Iran, producing 1.5 million tons of coal per year. The mine extracts coal by both longwall and room and pillar methods. The results gathered from field investigations and the geomechanical properties of rocks, were determined in the laboratory and indicate that the rock masses of this area are weak. So, the excavated roadways need to have suitable support. For this purpose, the roadways were modeled with FLAC-2D software. The Finite Difference Method (FDM) models were calibrated to study the interaction between rock mass and support. The use of V29 and V36 section arches are under consideration. After modelling these roadways in FLAC 2D software the results achieved from this model show that; displacements of around the roadways are high and safety factors are very low, so roadways need to be support. The extracted results from this software show that; steel arch V36 with a spacing of 1m is the best support system for these roadways. With this type of support system, displacements around the roadway are low and safety factors are in suitable values. After installation it was observed that the critical strain values on roadway walls and roof were less than the permitted values, which demonstrated the roadway stability.


Social media systems promise powerful opportunities for people to connect to timely, relevant information at the hyper local level. Yet, finding the meaningful signal in noisy social media streams can be quite daunting to users. In this paper, we present and evaluate Whoo.ly, a web service that provides neighborhood-specific information based on Twitter posts that were automatically inferred to be hyperlocal. Whoo.ly automatically extracts and summarizes hyperlocal information about events, topics, people, and places from these Twitter posts. We provide an overview of our design goals with Whoo.ly and describe the system including the user interface and our unique event detection and summarization algorithms. We tested the usefulness of the system as a tool for finding neighborhood information through a comprehensive user study. The outcome demonstrated that most participants found Whoo.ly easier to use than Twitter and they would prefer it as a tool for exploring their neighborhoods.


This paper responds to current interest in the 'untold' in organizational storytelling research. In particular the research presented here contributes to studies that consider storytelling in relational terms. In this context, untold is constructed as both a provocation and a pointer to multiplicity: innumerable relationships of story. To develop and illustrate the argument of the paper, the discussion adopts interference as a deliberate methodological device. To illustrate the significance of composition and fabrication in storytelling the study consider fragments from an extensive period of multi-site ethnographic fieldwork with a professional, established and award winning author involved in literary, television drama and other story projects. The developing field of relational storytelling studies is discussed and attention drawn to key research foci: specifically current concerns for intertextuality, heteroglossia, materiality and flux. A fieldwork vignette is used to examine and extend a relational sense of 'untold stories'. Further vignettes and a selective focus on science and technology studies relational ethnographies extends this discussion by focusing on performance, fabrication and fiction. The paper concludes that a fabrication sensibility that notices and attends to story on the move necessitates a shift in both methodological and representational strategy. In terms of method the paper demonstrates the potential value of extended, multi locational and deep field ethnography. In terms of representation, if stories are innumerable than we require a number of monograph ethnographies that can reveal and attend to varieties of limitless material, mobile and heterogeneous stories. In other words, if stories are lived, we require methods that attend to social life as lived if we are to surface and reframe hitherto untold, unseen and unheard agency at work in organizations.


Four children with autism were taught play skills through the use of video modeling. Video instruction was used to model play and appropriate language through a developmental sequence of play levels integrated with language techniques. Results showed that children with autism could successfully use video modeling to learn how to play approjmately with toys in both structured and generalized situations, although the speed with which the progression was made was not uniform. In addition, some children showed an increase in the frequency and complexity of their language used when playing.


AIM
Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a devastating neurological injury associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We postulated that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preconditioning induces neuroprotection against early brain injury (EBI) after experimental SAH.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
72 male Sprague-Dawley rats (250 to 300 g) were used. SAH was produced by injecting autologous arterial blood into the pre-chiasmatic cistern. Rats were given an intraperitoneal injection of LPS 24 hours prior SAH. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) protein expression was measured by western blot; apoptosis in the cerebral cortex were studied by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick-end labeling (TUNEL) and 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole dihydrochloride (DAPI) staining at 24 h after SAH. Brain water content was also examined.

RESULTS
MMP-9 expression was increased after SAH and decreased by LPS preconditioning at 24 h after SAH. The number of neuronal death in cortex was increased after SAH and decreased by LPS preconditioning. In addition, brain water content was attenuated by LPS preconditioning.

CONCLUSION
LPS preconditioning could modulate MMP-9 and therefore induce neuroprotection against EBI after experimental SAH.


The species composition, longitudinal distribution and seasonal dynamics of zooplankton were
studied in the Zagyva River, Hungary. A total of 108 taxa was recorded from which 61 were new for the
river. Rotatoria was the most abundant group, microcrustaceans were less important, only nauplii and
copepodites were represented in similar individual numbers. Frequent species included Anuraeopsis fissa,
Pompholyx spp., Keratella cochlearis, Brachionus angularis, Bdelloida sp., Bosmina longirostris.
Dominance of cosmopolitan species was observed both in the river and its reservoir, and species
characteristic of eutrophic waters were of major importance in the latter. There was a downstream
decrease in zooplankton densities, which was explained by modified conditions. The relatively large
number of individuals in autumn months, and the characteristic large number of individuals in the upper
section contrasted general findings of potamoplankton dynamics. On the basis of the species abundance
matrix, three river sections can be distinguished (upper, middle, lower section). Due to waste water
discharges - received from the Tarjan Stream - we found extremely high number of individuals and the
lowest diversity at the sampling site Nagybatony (148 rkm).


In this study, we demonstrate associations between housing instability and the health of young children and their caregivers among low-income families in rental housing. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate how 3 forms of housing instability relate to caregiver and child health among low-income renter households. METHODS: Caregivers of children 0 to 48 months of age were interviewed in 5 urban medical centers from May 2009 to December 2015. Caregivers reported on the following: caregiver health, maternal depressive symptoms, child's health, lifetime hospitalizations, developmental risk, and 3 housing circumstances, which were categorized as being behind on rent in the past 12 months, multiple moves (≥ 2 in past 12 months), and child's lifetime history of homelessness. Associations with caregiver and child health outcomes were examined through multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 22 324 families, 34% had at least 1 of the following adverse housing circumstances: 27% had been behind on rent, 8% had made multiple moves, and 12% had a history of being homeless. Overlap between these was limited; 86% experienced only 1 adverse housing circumstance. Each circumstance was individually associated with increased adjusted odds of adverse health and material hardship compared with stable housing. Households behind on rent had increased adjusted odds of fair and/or poor caregiver health (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.77–2.05), maternal depressive symptoms (aOR: 2.71; 95% CI: 2.51–2.93), child lifetime hospitalizations (aOR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.10–1.27), fair and/or poor child health (aOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 1.28–1.56), and household material hardships. Families with multiple moves and history of homelessness had similar adverse caregiver, child, health, and hardship outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Three forms of housing instability were associated with adverse caregiver and child health among low-income renter households. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends social screening within health care; providers could consider assessing for behind on rent, multiple moves, and homelessness in high-risk practices.


Despite a statutory definition of identity theft, there is a continuing debate on whether differences among the financial frauds associated with identity theft warrant further distinction and treatment, not only by lenders and financial institutions but also by consumers and regulatory and law enforcement agencies. In this Discussion Paper, Julia S. Cheney examines four types of financial fraud – fictitious identity fraud, payment card fraud, account takeover fraud, and true name fraud – that fall under the legal term identity theft to better understand how criminal behavior patterns, risks for consumers and lenders, and mitigation strategies vary depending upon the sort of data stolen, the type of account compromised, and the opportunity for financial gain. Three areas key to developing effective solutions that, in the view of the author, would benefit from further definitional delineations are identified: measuring the success (or failure) of efforts to fight this crime, educating consumers about the risks and responses to this crime, and coordinating mitigation strategies across stakeholders and geographies.


We conducted a cohort-study among 518 female 5-year Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors, aged 14 to 40 years (median: 25 years) at treatment (1965-1995). Multivariable Cox regression was used to quantify treatment effects on risk of premature menopause, defined as cessation of menses before age 40 years. After a median follow up of 9.4 years, 97 women had reached menopause before age 40 years. Chemotherapy was associated with a 12.3-fold increased risk of premature menopause compared with radiotherapy alone. Treatment with MOPP (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone)/ABV (doxorubicine, bleomycine, vinblastine) significantly increased the risk of premature menopause (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.9), although to a lesser extent than MOPP treatment (HR: 5.7). Alkylating agents, especially procarbazine (HR: 8.1) and cyclophosphamide (HR: 3.5), showed the strongest associations. Ten years after treatment, the actuarial risk of premature menopause was 64% after high cumulative doses (> 8.4 g/m(2)) and 15% after low doses (<or= 4.2 g/m(2)) of procarbazine. The cumulative risk of menopause at age 40 years did not differ much according to age, but time to premature menopause was much longer in women treated at early ages. As long as alkylating agents will be used for curing HL, premature menopause will remain a frequent adverse treatment effect, with various clinical implications.


The main purpose of the work is to clarify the physical mechanisms which leads to the specific spectrums of the structures [1-3]. The work is based on the ideas of the effective susceptibility. The effective susceptibility of cone-shaped nanohills located at the semiconductor surface is obtained in the frame of local-field approach. The knowledge of the effective susceptibility allows to calculate the optical absorption profiles. Using the approach similar to Levshin rule the photoluminescence spectra were calculated. Obtained results were compared with experimental luminescence spectra obtained earlier. The significant machanisms, that define the peculiarities of the spectra, is the shape of the nanoclasters and the inhomogeneity of the nanohills array are justificated. The main issue of the work is that the cause of the luminescence spectrums has electodynamical nature without spatial quantisation effects.


Disinhibition caused by Cl− dysregulation is implicated in several neurological disorders. This form of disinhibition, which stems primarily from impaired Cl− extrusion through the co-transporter KCC2, is typically identified by a depolarizing shift in GABA reversal potential (EGABA). Here we show, using computer simulations, that intracellular [Cl−] exhibits exaggerated fluctuations during transient Cl− loads and recovers more slowly to baseline when KCC2 level is even modestly reduced. Using information theory and signal detection theory, we show that increased Cl− lability and settling time degrade neural coding. Importantly, these deleterious effects manifest after less KCC2 reduction than needed to produce the gross changes in EGABA required for detection by most experiments, which assess KCC2 function under weak Cl− load conditions. By demonstrating the existence and functional consequences of "occult" Cl− dysregulation, these results suggest that modest KCC2 hypofunction plays a greater role in neurological disorders than previously believed.


A new process enabling the transfer of a single-crystal silicon film to a glass substrate has been developed allowing for the creation of fully crystalline thin-film silicon-on-glass (SiOG) transistors. The dominant 2-D effect in SiOG transistors results from fringing electric field lines emanating through the glass substrate between the source, drain, and thin-film channel regions. The fringing field leads to a shift in the flatband or threshold voltage in a similar manner to drain-induced barrier lowering. The fringing field effect can lead to an 11% shift in flatband for devices with channel length of 4 μm and a nominal flatband of -1 V. A compact model for the fringing field in these devices has been developed using conformal mapping techniques that capture the dependence on both channel length and the relative size of the source and drain electrodes. The model accurately predicts the influence of the fringing field on subthreshold drain current for SiOG PFETs operating in accumulation. The model is validated against the 2-D device simulator Silvaco Atlas.


Many companies have identified the importance of sustainable innovation for long-term competitiveness and recognition but face difficulties in translating sustainability strategies into practical action. Some companies have shown an interest to include sustainability dimensions into their product portfolio, which can be an efficient way to communicate the sustainability performance of the products internally and externally and even speed up the development of more sustainable solutions. Our research aims to determine how a sustainability portfolio can be defined and how to assess portfolios from a sustainability perspective. A systematic literature review on sustainability product portfolio was conducted. The results indicated that a general portfolio setting follows a selection criteria and the company´s strategies, which usually are based on management elements, e.g., time, cost, risk, quality, etc., leaving behind sustainability variables. Most of the tools used for evaluation criteria miss the holistic view. The companies could benefit from a systematic approach to implementing sustainability into their product portfolio. The findings were connected with a previous study to evaluate a sustainability assessment approach used for a technology portfolio. For future work, a descriptive study will complement an understanding on how to guide companies to shape their sustainability product portfolios. Keywords: Sustainable product development, sustainability portfolio, product planning, portfolio management, product portfolio


Technological tools used in teaching and learning have been reported to influence their satisfaction, engagement and their continued effort in learning (Roach, 2014). The present study, therefore, investigated students' perceptions of technological use in a flipped classroom at university level through evaluation of three different web-based tools, using the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis, 1989; Venkatesh & Davis, 2000). These tools include a collaborative canvas tool (Padlet), a live polling platform (Kahoot!) and an annotation tool (Cirrus). Results from focus group interviews show that most of the students had positive perceptions of the three technological tools targeted in this study. Nevertheless, using the TAM model that draws on two indexes, namely usefulness and perceived ease of use, the findings revealed students' mixed perceptions towards the three tools. Particularly, Padlet was perceived to be useful for both independent and colloborative learning, but less easy to use when there was too much content. Kahoot! was considered the most useful and easy to use for revision of learnt concepts. Finally, Cirrus was easy to use, but less useful for creative tasks. The results are discussed in terms of the role of technological tools in flipped learning, and implications for technologically enhanced flipped instruction are suggested.


Purpose Quality improvement (QI) is a common competency that must be taught in all physician training programmes, yet, there is no clear best approach to teach this content in clinical settings. We conducted a realist systematic review of the existing literature in QI curricula within the clinical setting, highlighting examples of trainees learning QI by doing QI. Method Candidate theories describing successful QI curricula were articulated a priori. We searched MEDLINE (1 January 2000 to 12 March 2013), the Cochrane Library (2013) and Web of Science (15 March 2013) and reviewed references of prior systematic reviews. Inclusion criteria included study design, setting, population, interventions, clinical and educational outcomes. The data abstraction tool included categories for setting, population, intervention, outcomes and qualitative comments. Themes were iteratively developed and synthesised using realist review methodology. A methodological quality tool assessed the biases, confounders, secular trends, reporting and study quality. Results Among 39 studies, most were before–after design with resident physicians as the primary population. Twenty-one described clinical interventions and 18 described educational interventions with a mean intervention length of 6.58 (SD=9.16) months. Twenty-eight reported successful clinical improvements; no studies reported clinical outcomes that worsened. Characteristics of successful clinical QI curricula include attention to the interface of educational and clinical systems, careful choice of QI work for the trainees and appropriately trained local faculty. Conclusions This realist review identified success characteristics to guide training programmes, medical schools, faculty, trainees, accrediting organisations and funders to further develop educational and improvement resources in QI educational programmes.


The complex bonding environment of many ternary Zintl phases, which often results in low thermal conductivity, makes them strong contenders as thermoelectric materials. Here, we extend the investigation of A5In2Sb6 Zintl compounds with the Ca5Ga2As6 crystal structure to the only known rare-earth analogue: Eu5In2Sb6. Zn-doped samples with compositions of Eu5In2−xZnxSb6 (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2) were synthesized via ball milling followed by hot pressing. Eu5In2Sb6 showed significant improvements in air stability relative to its alkaline earth metal analogues. Eu5In2Sb6 exhibits semiconducting behavior with possible two band behavior suggested by increasing band mass as a function of Zn content, and two distinct transitions observed in optical absorption measurements (at 0.15 and 0.27 eV). The p-type Hall mobility of Eu5In2Sb6 was found to be much larger than that of the alkaline earth containing A5In2Sb6 phases (A = Sr, Ca) consistent with the reduced hole effective mass (1.1 me). Zn doping was successful in optimizing the carrier concentration, leading to a zT of up to 0.4 at ∼660 K, which is comparable to that of Zn-doped Sr5In2Sb6.


&NA; Tickler‐chain SumWing and electrode‐fitted PulseWing trawls were compared to assess seabed impacts. Multi‐beam echo sounder (MBES) bathymetry confirmed that the SumWing trawl tracks were consistently and uniformly deepened to 1.5 cm depth in contrast to 0.7 cm following PulseWing trawling. MBES backscatter strength analysis showed that SumWing trawls (3.11 dB) flattened seabed roughness significantly more than PulseWing trawls (2.37 dB). Sediment Profile Imagery (SPI) showed that SumWing trawls (mean, SD) homogenised the sediment deeper (3.4 cm, 0.9 cm) and removed more of the oxidised layer than PulseWing trawls (1 cm, 0.8 cm). The reduced PulseWing trawling impacts allowed a faster re‐establishment of the oxidised layer and micro‐topography. Particle size analysis suggested that SumWing trawls injected finer particles into the deeper sediment layers (˜4 cm depth), while PulseWing trawling only caused coarsening of the top layers (winnowing effect). Total penetration depth (mean, SD) of the SumWing trawls (4.1 cm, 0.9 cm) and PulseWing trawls (1.8 cm, 0.8 cm) was estimated by the depth of the disturbance layer and the layer of mobilized sediment (SumWing = 0.7 cm; PulseWing trawl = 0.8 cm). PulseWing trawls reduced most of the mechanical seabed impacts compared to SumWing trawls for this substrate and area characteristics.


The potential for drug-drug interactions (DDIs) arising from transcriptional regulation of drug-disposition genes via activation of nuclear receptors (NRs), such as pregnane X receptor (PXR), constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), and aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), remains largely unexplored, as highlighted in a recent guidance document from the European Medicines Agency. The goal of this research was to establish PXR-/CAR-/AhR-specific drug-metabolizing enzyme (DME) and transporter gene expression signatures in sandwich-cultured cryopreserved human hepatocytes using selective activators of PXR (rifampin), CAR (CITCO), and AhR (omeprazole). Dose response for ligand-induced changes to 38 major human DMEs and critical hepatobiliary transporters were assessed using a custom gene expression array card. We identified novel differentially expressed drug-disposition genes for PXR (↑ABCB1/MDR1, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and EPHX1, ↓ABCB11), CAR [↑sulfotransferase (SULT) 1E1, uridine glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) 2B4], and AhR (↑SLC10A1/NTCP, SLCO1B1/OATP1B1], and coregulated genes (CYP1A1, CYP2B6, CYP2C8, CYP3A4, UGT1A1, UGT1A4). Subsequently, DME gene expression signatures were generated for known CYP3A4 inducers PF-06282999 and pazopanib. The former produced an induction signature almost identical to that of rifampin, suggesting activation of the PXR pathway, whereas the latter produced an expression signature distinct from those of PXR, CAR, or AhR, suggesting involvement of an alternate pathway(s). These results demonstrate that involvement of PXR/CAR/AhR can be identified via expression changes of signature DME/transporter genes. Inclusion of such signature genes could serve to simultaneously identify potential inducers and inhibitors, and the NRs involved in the transcriptional regulation, thus providing a more holistic and mechanism-based assessment of DDI risk for DMEs and transporters beyond conventional cytochrome P450 isoforms.


CONTEXT
The close association between generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) prompts questions about how to characterize this association in future diagnostic systems. Most information about GAD-MDD comorbidity comes from patient samples and retrospective surveys.

OBJECTIVE
To revisit the sequential and cumulative comorbidity between GAD and MDD using data from a prospective longitudinal cohort.

DESIGN
Prospective longitudinal cohort study.

SETTING
New Zealand.

PARTICIPANTS
The representative 1972-1973 Dunedin birth cohort of 1037 members was followed up to age 32 years with 96% retention.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Research diagnoses of anxiety and depression were made at ages 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 26, and 32 years. Mental health services were reported on a life history calendar.

RESULTS
Sequentially, anxiety began before or concurrently in 37% of depression cases, but depression began before or concurrently in 32% of anxiety cases. Cumulatively, 72% of lifetime anxiety cases had a history of depression, but 48% of lifetime depression cases had anxiety. During adulthood, 12% of the cohort had comorbid GAD + MDD, of whom 66% had recurrent MDD, 47% had recurrent GAD, 64% reported using mental health services, 47% took psychiatric medication, 8% were hospitalized, and 11% attempted suicide. In this comorbid group, depression onset occurred first in one third of the participants, anxiety onset occurred first in one third, and depression and anxiety onset began concurrently in one third.

CONCLUSIONS
Challenging the prevailing notion that generalized anxiety usually precedes depression and eventually develops into depression, these findings show that the reverse pattern occurs almost as often. The GAD-MDD relation is strong, suggesting that the disorders could be classified in 1 category of distress disorders. Their developmental relation seems more symmetrical than heretofore presumed, suggesting that MDD is not necessarily primary over GAD in diagnostic hierarchy. This prospective study suggests that the lifetime prevalence of GAD and MDD may be underestimated by retrospective surveys and that comorbid GAD + MDD constitutes a greater mental health burden than previously thought.


The Indonesian islands of Sumatera and Kalimantan (the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo) are a center of significant and rapid forest cover loss in the humid tropics with implications for carbon dynamics, biodiversity conservation, and local livelihoods. The aim of our research was to analyze and interpret annual trends of forest cover loss for different sub-regions of the study area. We mapped forest cover loss for 2000–2008 using multi-resolution remote sensing data from the Landsat enhanced thematic mapper plus (ETM +) and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors and analyzed annual trends per island, province, and official land allocation zone. The total forest cover loss for Sumatera and Kalimantan 2000–2008 was 5.39 Mha, which represents 5.3% of the land area and 9.2% of the year 2000 forest cover of these two islands. At least 6.5% of all mapped forest cover loss occurred in land allocation zones prohibiting clearing. An additional 13.6% of forest cover loss occurred where clearing is legally restricted. The overall trend of forest cover loss increased until 2006 and decreased thereafter. The trends for Sumatera and Kalimantan were distinctly different, driven primarily by the trends of Riau and Central Kalimantan provinces, respectively. This analysis shows that annual mapping of forest cover change yields a clearer picture than a one-time overall national estimate. Monitoring forest dynamics is important for national policy makers, especially given the commitment of Indonesia to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as part of the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries initiative (REDD +). The improved spatio-temporal detail of forest change monitoring products will make it possible to target policies and projects in meeting this commitment. Accurate, annual forest cover loss maps will be integral to many REDD + objectives, including policy formulation, definition of baselines, detection of displacement, and the evaluation of the permanence of emission reduction.


Previous studies (see, for example, Carslaw, 1988; Thomas, 1989; Niskanen and Keloharju, 2000; Kinnunen and Koskela, 2002; Van Caneghem, 2002) clearly suggest that public companies' managers tend to round up the first digit of reported earnings (i.e. for companies reporting profits). Based on a sample of listed UK companies and employing earnings rounding-up behaviour (henceforth ERUB) as an indication of earnings management, I attempt to determine the impact of differences in audit quality on earnings management. When I rely on the very popular brand-name proxy (i.e. BigFive versus non-BigFive auditors) to capture differences in audit quality, findings are inconsistent with BigFive auditors constraining earnings management practices (i.e. findings suggest ERUB for both BigFive and non-BigFive clients). Employing an alternative proxy (i.e. based on auditors' industry expertise), findings are only weakly consistent with specialist BigFive auditors constraining earnings management (i.e. ERUB) practices.


PURPOSE
Clinical studies have detected an unexpected inhibition of diabetic retinopathy by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, but the mechanism for this action is unclear. In light of evidence indicating that the severity of hyperglycemia is a major initiating factor in the pathogenesis of the retinopathy, this study was conducted to examine the effect of ACE inhibitors on glucose accumulation in retinas of diabetic rats.

METHODS
Rats were made experimentally diabetic by injection of streptozotocin and treated with captopril (25 mg/kg body weight per day) or atenolol (10 mg/kg body weight per day) for 8 weeks. Bovine retinal endothelial cells were cultured in medium containing either 5.5 or 25 mM glucose and treated with different concentrations of captopril or lisinopril for 5 days. Glucose content in retinas and cultured cells was measured by spectrometry. Expression of glucose transporter (GLUT)-1 in retinas and cultured cells was determined by Western blot analysis. Glucose uptake was performed by using 3-O-methyl-D-[(3)H] glucose.

RESULTS
Treatment of rats with captopril inhibited the diabetes-induced accumulation of glucose in the retina by 48% (P < 0.01) compared with the diabetic control, but atenolol had no significant effect. Similarly, captopril and lisinopril significantly inhibited intracellular accumulation of glucose in primary bovine retinal endothelial cells cultured in an elevated glucose concentration. These data indicate that the captopril-induced inhibition of glucose accumulation observed in retinal tissue of diabetic rats was not due to reduction in blood pressure or in vascular permeability. Although it had no effect on the expression of the GLUT1 in retinas and cultured retinal endothelial cells, captopril at a concentration of 2 mM significantly inhibited the high-glucose-induced increase in GLUT1-mediated glucose transport in cultured retinal endothelial cells by 67% +/- 10%.

CONCLUSIONS
Inhibition of glucose accumulation within retinal cells probably contributes at least in part to the observed inhibition of diabetic retinopathy by ACE inhibitors.


Observational studies are rising in importance due to the widespread accumulation of data in fields such as healthcare, education, employment and ecology. We consider the task of answering counterfactual questions such as, "Would this patient have lower blood sugar had she received a different medication?". We propose a new algorithmic framework for counterfactual inference which brings together ideas from domain adaptation and representation learning. In addition to a theoretical justification, we perform an empirical comparison with previous approaches to causal inference from observational data. Our deep learning algorithm significantly outperforms the previous state-of-the-art.


Achkakonova, E., & Staykova, G. (2019). Evaluation of the main productive traits of Ile de France sheep in Bulgaria. Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science, 25 (Suppl . 1), 69–72 Subject of the study were 1115 pure-bred sheep of the Ile de France breed. The animals were born during the period 20082016 and were raised under similar technological conditions and nutrition in three farms in the northern part of Bulgaria. The weight growth of 1115 ewes was studied from birth to 2 years of age, as well as the reproductive traits. Live weight at birth, at 30 days, 70 days, 9 months and 2 years of the age of sheep were measured. The traits average daily gain in periods, conception rates, and biological prolifi cacy from fi rst to fi fth parity of ewes were investigated. 2413 observations in total were recorded. The information was derived from the Genealogy Book kept by the Breeders of the Ile de France Breeders Association in Bulgaria (AILFB), as instructed in the Instruction Codex for Control of Productive Traits and Complex Evaluation. The information was processed using the variation statistics methods. It was found that Ile de France breed was successfully adapted in our country. The average live weight recorded was: 4.564 kg – at birth, 15.049 kg at 30 days, 24.137 kg at 70 days, 54.750 kg at 9 months, and 70.465 kg at 2 years. The average daily gains gradually decreased from 0.349 kg in the fi rst month after birth, to 0.228 kg at 70 days, and to 0.153 kg for the period from 70 days to 9 months of age. Average conception rates of 94.98 % in the ewes was established, ranging from 92.89 % at sixth parity to 97.68 % at fourth parity. Highest was the prolifi cacy (1.720 lambs per ewe) at fourth parity (P< 0.001), the average of the studied data being 1.581 lambs per ewe.


The survival motor neuron (SMN) protein, the determining factor for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), is complexed with a group of proteins in human cells. Gemin3 is the only RNA helicase in the SMN complex. Here, we report the identification of Drosophila melanogaster Gemin3 and investigate its function in vivo. Like in vertebrates, Gemin3 physically interacts with SMN in Drosophila. Loss of function of gemin3 results in lethality at larval and/or prepupal stages. Before they die, gemin3 mutant larvae exhibit declined mobility and expanded neuromuscular junctions. Expression of a dominant-negative transgene and knockdown of Gemin3 in mesoderm cause lethality. A less severe Gemin3 disruption in developing muscles leads to flightless adults and flight muscle degeneration. Our findings suggest that Drosophila Gemin3 is required for larval development and motor function.


Adoption of high-pressure common-rail (HPCR) fuel systems, which subject diesel fuels to higher temperatures and pressures, has brought into question the veracity of ASTM International specifications for biodiesel and biodiesel blend oxidation stability, as well as the lack of any stability parameter for diesel fuel. A controlled experiment was developed to investigate the impact of a light-duty diesel HPCR fuel system on the stability of 20% biodiesel (B20) blends under conditions of intermittent use and long-term storage in a relatively hot and dry climate. B20 samples with Rancimat induction periods (IPs) near the current 6.0-hour minimum specification (6.5 hr) and roughly double the ASTM specification (13.5 hr) were prepared from a conventional diesel and a highly unsaturated biodiesel. Four 2011 model year Volkswagen Passats equipped with HPCR fuel injection systems were utilized: one on B0, two on B20-6.5 hr, and one on B20-13.5 hr. Each vehicle was operated over a one-hour drive cycle in a hot running loss test cell to initially stress the fuel. The cars were then kept at Volkswagen's Arizona Proving Ground for two (35°C average daily maximum) to six months (26°C average daily maximum). The fuel was then stressed again by running a portion of the one-hour dynamometer drive cycle (limited by the amount of fuel in the tank). Fuel rail and fuel tank samples were analyzed for IP, acid number, peroxide content, polymer content, and ester profile. The HPCR fuel pumps were removed, dismantled, and inspected for deposits or abnormal wear. Analysis of fuels collected during initial dynamometer tests showed no impact of exposure to HPCR conditions. Long-term storage with intermittent use showed that IP remained above 3 hours, acid number below 0.3 mg KOH/g, peroxides low, no change in ester profile, and no production of polymers. Final dynamometer tests produced only small changes in fuel properties. Inspection of the HPCR fuel pumps revealed no deposits or abnormal wear for any fuel. The results provide some confidence that the ASTM D7467 stability requirement of 6 hr. minimum IP for B6 to B20 blends provides adequate protection for modern engine fuel systems. CITATION: Christensen, E., McCormick, R., Sigelko, J., Johnson, S. et al., "Impact of a Diesel High Pressure Common Rail Fuel System and Onboard Vehicle Storage on B20 Biodiesel Blend Stability," SAE Int. J. Fuels Lubr. 9(1):2016, doi:10.4271/2016-01-0885. 2016-01-0885 Published 04/05/2016 Copyright © 2016 SAE International doi:10.4271/2016-01-0885 saefuel.saejournals.org 203 NREL/CP-5400-65397. Posted with permission. Presented at the SAE 2016 World Congress & Exhibition, 12-14 April 2016, Detroit, Michigan.