Forensic science programs and courses have traditionally been housed within chemistry departments at the college/university level, largely because the pioneers of the field were chemists who applied technology that was more chemical than biological in nature. However, with the development of such areas of study as DNA analysis, anatomical studies, and forensic entomology, it is becoming more and more important for forensic science students to have a strong biological background as well as a chemical background. Furthermore, while biology students are typically required to have extensive chemistry training as part of their major, the converse is not true for chemistry students. Therefore, it is possible that a student interested in forensic science could complete a major in chemistry and never have taken a biology class, leaving them woefully under-prepared for any type of masters program or career in forensic science immediately following graduation. Indeed, an examination of available positions in forensic science shows a large number of positions for DNA analysts for which the typical chemistry student would not be prepared without extensive biology training (http://www.aafs.org). Furthermore, positions for medical examiners or pathologists require extensive training in biology in addition to the continued medical training and residency programs. Therefore, it seems imperative that introductory forensic science courses adapt to these needs and be taught with a more bi-disciplinary approach in order to educate students on the whole field rather than one aspect. To that end, a new bi-disciplinary Forensic Science course was developed at Elmhurst College. This course was team-taught by a biology and a chemistry professor so that students would obtain a thorough understanding of the field and techniques used by both biologists and chemists. A description of this new version of a forensic science course follows, focusing on the addition of biology to a traditionally chemical course, the conclusions drawn upon completion of the course, and changes to be made in the future.


Context: Prāṇāyāma, the fourth limb of ancient aṣṭāṅga yoga consists of breathing techniques which produce various physiological and psychological effects. Though various types of prāṇāyāma and their effects have been scientifically established, Bhrāmarī prāṇāyāma (Bhr.P) is the one whose effects still remain understated. Aims: The present study was conducted to find the effects of Bhrāmarī prāṇāyāma practice on pulmonary function in healthy adolescents. Study Design: Randomized control trial. Subjects and Methods: 90 healthy adolescents including 32 females and 58 males participated in the study. They were randomly divided into Bhr.P group (n = 45) and Control group (n = 45) by a simple lottery method. Pulmonary function test was done at baseline and at end of 12th week using RMS Helios spirometry. Prāṇāyāma group students were trained to do Bhr.P as 3 to 4 breaths/min for 5 min followed by 2 min rest. This was one cycle and in this way, they were instructed to do five cycles each time for 45 minutes five days in a week. Control group students were not allowed to practice any kind of exercise throughout the study period. Statistical Analysis: Student paired and unpaired T tests were used to analyse the intra group and intergroup differences using R statistical software. Results: A significant (P < 0.05) improvement in all pulmonary function parameters; FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF 25%-75% and PEFR was seen in the Bhr.P group than the control group adolescents. Slow vital capacity (SVC) and Maximum Voluntary Volume (MVV) also showed significant improvement in the prāṇāyāma group. Conclusions: Bhrāmarī Prāṇāyāma practice is effective in improving the pulmonary function among the adolescents which could be utilized for further clinical studies.


Policy-makers, research funders, and practitioners acknowledge the need for theories about the uptake of scientific evidence into policy and programs to reduce populationwide risk factors for the major avoidable chronic non-communicable diseases. Models of evidence-informed practice in public health settings have not been developed through systematic scientific inquiry. This study explores and develops a realistic account of evidence-informed tobacco control practice in Ontario public health agencies. In-depth, intensive, semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with twelve local public health agency senior executives and other key tobacco control staff in three diverse public health agencies in Ontario, Canada. Interviews explored aspects of tobacco control related decision-making and practice, as well as supports from regional, provincial, and national levels that might enhance tobacco control practice. Interview data were supplemented by field notes and other documentation provided by interviewees, as well as unobtrusive sources. A grounded theory approach to the analysis of textual data identified six major and many subcategories and dimensions implicated in evidence-informed tobacco control practice in local public health agencies. The major category structure includes: information and evidence, interpretation and decision-making, organizational aspects, organizational environment, practice integration, and time. An overall model and five sub-models were developed describing the relations among core category and sub-category factors. Propositions were developed a priori based on an extensive review of the literature. Potentially relevant social theories and concepts were also identified based on a selective review of the literature, including critical realist and other perspectives pertaining to agency-structure issues. Theories and propositions were reviewed, which resulted in a minor modification to the subcategory structure of one branch. Public health agency tobacco control case descriptions were developed based on a final category structure, including six branches, 27 sub-branches, and 98 twigs, and verified (subject to some adjustments) through a member check. Working knowledge is seen to be complex and socially constructed, incorporating aspects of social cognitive and planned behavior theories and Aristotelian intellectual virtues. Realist social theory offers insights into potential change processes. Contributions of the study of theory, practice and methods are discussed, as are strengths and limitations, and areas of needed future research.


By using quite uniformly nine-stacks side-around arranged compact pumping system, a high power Nd:YAG ceramic quasi-CW laser with high slope efficiency of 62% has been demonstrated. With 450 W quasi-CW stacked laser diode bars pumping at 808 nm, performance of the Nd:YAG ceramic laser with different output coupling mirrors has been investigated. Optimum output power of 236 W at 1064 nm was obtained and corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was as high as 52.5%. The laser system operated quite stably and no saturation phenomena have been observed, which means higher output laser power could be obtained if injecting higher pumping power. The still-evolving Nd:YAG ceramics are potential super excellent media for high power practical laser applications.


We study the non-monotonic Keplerian velocity profiles related to locally non-rotating frames (LNRF) in the field of near-extreme braneworld Kerr black holes and naked singularities in which the non-local gravitational effects of the bulk are represented by a braneworld tidal charge b and the 4D geometry of the spacetime structure is governed by the Kerr–Newman geometry. We show that positive tidal charge has a tendency to restrict the values of the black hole dimensionless spin a admitting the existence of the non-monotonic Keplerian LNRF-velocity profiles; the non-monotonic profiles exist in the black hole spacetimes with tidal charge smaller than b = 0.410 05 (and spin larger than a = 0.768 08). With decreasing value of the tidal charge (which need not be only positive), both the region of spin allowing the non-monotonicity in the LNRF-velocity profile around braneworld Kerr black hole and the velocity difference in the minimum–maximum parts of the velocity profile increase implying growing astrophysical relevance of this phenomenon.


Background In the absence of clinical trial data, large post-marketing observational studies are essential to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of medications during pregnancy. We identified a cohort of pregnancies ending in live birth within the 2000–2007 Medicaid Analytic eXtract (MAX). Herein, we provide a blueprint to guide investigators who wish to create similar cohorts from healthcare utilization data and we describe the limitations in detail. Methods Among females ages 12–55, we identified pregnancies using delivery-related codes from healthcare utilization claims. We linked women with pregnancies to their offspring by state, Medicaid Case Number (family identifier) and delivery/birth dates. Then we removed inaccurate linkages and duplicate records and implemented cohort eligibility criteria (i.e., continuous and appropriate enrollment type, no private insurance, no restricted benefits) for claim information completeness. Results From 13,460,273 deliveries and 22,408,810 child observations, 6,107,572 pregnancies ending in live birth were available after linkage, cleaning, and removal of duplicate records. The percentage of linked deliveries varied greatly by state, from 0 to 96%. The cohort size was reduced to 1,248,875 pregnancies after requiring maternal eligibility criteria throughout pregnancy and to 1,173,280 pregnancies after further applying infant eligibility criteria. Ninety-one percent of women were dispensed at least one medication during pregnancy. Conclusions Mother-infant linkage is feasible and yields a large pregnancy cohort, although the size decreases with increasing eligibility requirements. MAX is a useful resource for studying medications in pregnancy and a spectrum of maternal and infant outcomes within the indigent population of women and their infants enrolled in Medicaid. It may also be used to study maternal characteristics, the impact of Medicaid policy, and healthcare utilization during pregnancy. However, careful attention to the limitations of these data is necessary to reduce biases.


A previously unsampled outcrop of gently dipping or flat-lying Upper Cretaceous sedimentary strata in the Vancouver Island region, which contains unaltered aragonitic mollusk fossils, yielded a stable remanent magnetization that is biostratigraphically consistent with Cretaceous magnetochrons 33R, 33N, and 32R. These results, characterized by shallow inclinations, indicate an Upper Cretaceous paleolatitude of about 25 ± 3 degrees north, which is equivalent to that of modern-day Baja California. These findings are consistent with the Baja–British Columbia hypothesis, which puts the Insular Superterrane well south of the Oregon-California border in the Late Cretaceous.


The fine-tuning of local surface chemistry of CuO–CeO2 mixed oxides by means of synthesis procedure and alkali promotion towards the rational design of highly active catalysts is investigated. In particular, the impact of alkali (Cs) promotion on the N2O decomposition activity (deN2O process) of CuO–ceria mixed oxides, pre-optimized through the preparation procedure (co-precipitation among different synthesis routes), is explored. It was found that the co-optimization of the synthesis procedure (co-precipitation) and alkali loading (1.0 at Cs per nm2) can boost the decomposition of N2O and resistance to O2 inhibition, offering a half-conversion temperature (T50) ca. 200 °C lower, when compared to a reference CuO–CeO2 sample. A complementary characterization study involving surface area determination (BET method), pore size distribution (BJH method), X-ray diffraction (XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was undertaken to gain insight into structure–property relationships. The results revealed that the superiority of Cs-doped samples can be mainly attributed to the electronic effect of the alkali promoter towards the stabilization of partially reduced Cu+/Ce3+ pairs, which play a key role in the deN2O process following a redox-type mechanism.


This article investigates the ubiquitous presence of news agencies (or wire services) in the daily news. While considering the international environment, it focuses on the sole Australian news agency, Australian Associated Press (AAP), and on its dominance within the Australian news landscape. The article presents the findings of two case studies, tracing press releases through AAP and into the daily news around the world, while also analyzing the media culture that accepts copy from news agencies as "gospel"—a commodity to be used and reused without checking accuracy, and often without attribution. In addition, we identify that the heightened status of news agency copy, coupled with the "not wrong for long" approach which permeates online news, is a combination which increases the potential for error and inaccuracy. The article suggests the need for a shakeup in how media researchers view news sources, as well as a closer analysis of news agency domination within the news environment. Drawing on political economy theory, it sets the foundations for a larger study which could investigate the contemporary production of news.


Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seemingly prefer tablets to other methods of intervention, though professionals posit that a therapist's presence is beneficial. In this experiment, two unique e-stories were created specifically for children with ASD. Ten children with low- or nonverbal ASD heard each story presented on an iPad; one narrated through the iPad, and one read by a therapist trained in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). The within-participants design enabled researchers to measure the individual benefit of each type of story reading. After hearing each book, participants were tested on their comprehension via multiple choice, sequencing, and open-ended questions. Results indicated that the ideal condition for these young children with low- and nonverbal ASD was the therapist-read condition. These findings suggest that simple stories presented on a rewarding platform, with the minimally intrusive assistance of a therapist, provide young, verbally-challenged children with ASD with a foundation for receiving the benefits of shared storybook reading.


An analysis is presented of the implementation of equal employment-opportunities policies in the British National Health Service (NHS). It focuses on policy development at national level for the NHS as a whole, and also at local level in a case-study of two District Health Authorities. The material was collected from interviews with over sixty respondents. At national level they included key actors in the policy process. Data from a mail survey of all Health Authorities and Boards in the NHS - undertaken for the thesis - is used to additionally evaluate policy progress at national level. The analysis focuses on the organisation and stimulae behind policy implementation at national level. At local level, interviews were held with personnel specialists responsible for the formulation of policy, and line-managers responsible for policy implementation. The analysis focuses particularly on equal opportunities monitoring, formalisation of the selection process for employment, and positive action measures. The analysis uses concepts of racism and patriarchy to theoretically structure a variety of disparate processes which deny equality of opportunity at work. It also suggests targets and strategies for policy implementation.


The goal of the study was to determine whether hyperglycaemia or hyperlipidaemia causes pancreatitis in cats and to assess the effect of excess serum glucose and lipids on amylase and lipase activity. Ten-day hyperglycaemic and hyperlipidaemic clamps were carried out in five and six healthy cats, respectively. Ten healthy cats received saline and served as controls. The activity of amylase was below the normal range in 4 of 5 hyperglycaemic cats by day 10. The activity of lipase did not vary in any of the cats. Samples of exocrine pancreas were normal on histological examination, but the number of tissue neutrophils was increased in hyperglycaemic cats (P<0.05). In a retrospective study 14 of 40 (35%) cats with naturally occurring diabetes mellitus had amylase activities below the reference range at the time of admission. Amylase activities normalised within 1 week of insulin therapy and subsequent glycaemic control. Lipase activity was increased in 26 of 40 (65%) diabetic cats and remained elevated despite glycaemic control. In conclusion, hyperglycaemia, but not hyperlipidaemia, increases pancreatic neutrophils in cats. However, because the histological morphology of the exocrine pancreas was normal, hyperglycaemia may play only a minor role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis. Low amylase activities in diabetic cats may reflect an imbalance in glucose metabolism rather than pancreatitis.


The fungus Cunninghamella elegans has in many studies shown to have abiotransformation similar to the metabolism of mammals. If the biotransformation isgeneral, it enables the production of metabolites by the fungus and the use asreference material. The purpose of the project were to examine whether themetabolic process of C. elegans is general, with respect to the formation ofglucosides, and can be applied to different classes of drugs. During the project, theanalyses were performed on a UPLC Q-TOF, run in both MSE and MSMS mode. Themobile phase used consisted of MeOH and 0.1 % formic acid in MQ water. Toincrease the concentration of possible glucosides, the samples were subjected to anacidic or alkaline SPE. Glucosides were detected in the fungal incubates of diclofenac,buprenorphine, norbuprenorphine and oxazepam. For diclofenac, besides twodifferent glucosides (diclofenac glucoside and hydroxylated diclofenac glucoside), ahydroxylated metabolite and a hydroxylated metabolite conjugated with sulfate werediscovered. In the samples containing buprenorphine, the phase I metabolitenorbuprenorphine was also encountered. Further, in the fungal incubates ofdexamethasone a defluorinated metabolite was identified, which is a metabolicpathway never before described for C. elegans.ISSN: 1650


I. INTRODUCTION When NATO initiated a bombing campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999, the challenge to the authority of the United Nations Security Council could not have been more dramatic. The organization set up "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war"1 was evaded, as NATO countries sent their aircraft over Yugoslavia. Moreover, when one member of the Security Council asked the Council to condemn the bombing campaign, only two other members voted with it, even though the NATO action was all but impossible to square with the U.N. Charter.2 The marginalization of the Security Council in the Kosovo conflict has led to a re-appraisal of that body's role. An examination of recent practice of the Security Council may assist in explaining why a major military action like that in Kosovo could be initiated without the Security Council's involvement. In the scheme created after World War II to maintain world peace4 the U. N. Security Council was given a central role.3 However, during the years of the Cold War, the Security Council was largely unable to deal with threats to the peace' because of the superpower standoff. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the Security Council began to function in new directions.5 The Council was not, however, able to act in the even-handed fashion contemplated by the U.N. Charter.6 Freed from the constraints of superpower rivalry, the Council fell under the sway of the surviving superpower: the United States. The United States came to occupy such a commanding position in the Security Council as to threaten the Council's ability to cope with its Charter-prescribed functions. The United States pressured the Council into taking actions whose conformity with Charter principles was doubtful. In instances in which the United States was unable to convince the Council to act as it desired, the United States acted unilaterally. Four categories of situations have arisen that reflect the Security Council's inability to fulfill its functions properly as a result of United States dominance. First, in "threat to the peace"7 situations, the United States has asserted dubious facts before the Security Council, and the Council has acted as if those facts were true, without investigation. Second, the United States has at several times acted purportedly on the basis of powers granted by the Security Council, but in fact outside any powers actually granted. Third, the United States has convinced the Security Council on several occasions to authorize it to take military action unilaterally rather than under Council control. Fourth, the United States has, by use of its veto power, blocked the Security Council from dealing with the United Nations' longest standing territorial dispute, that over Israel-Palestine. This article will examine in turn these four categories of situations in the recent practice of the Security Council. On the basis of this examination, the article questions whether the Security Council is properly fulfilling its function of preserving the peace. II. FAILURE TO INVESTIGATE FACTS During the Cold War, if the United States asserted facts before the Security Council, the Soviet delegate was likely to take issue and to seek proof from the United States. On more than one occasion in which the United States took military action and asserted facts before the Security Council in justification, the facts were not as it asserted. The United States' actions in Guatemala (1954), Cuba (1961), the Dominican Republic (1965), Grenada ( 1983), and Panama (1989) did not conform to its assertions about the reasons for its actions, casting doubt on the legality of the actions.8 The Security Council did not always inquire into the facts in more than a perfunctory fashion, but, at Soviet insistence, a public airing of the facts typically took place at a Security Council session. Referring to these episodes, one recent analyst has written, "If the Cold War has indeed ended, the international legal disputes that were such an important part of that war may also have come to a close. …


We present the result of an investigation into the optical trapping of micropaticles using laser beams with a spatially inhomogeneous polarization (cylindrical vector beams). We perform three-dimensional tracking of the Brownian fluctuations in position of a trapped particle and extract the trap spring constants. We characterize the trap geometry by the aspect ratio of spring constants in the directions transverse and parallel to the beam propagation direction and evaluate this figure of merit as a function of polarization angle. We show that the additional degree of freedom present in cylindrical vector beams (CVBs) allows us to control the optical trap strength and geometry by adjusting the polarization of the trapping beam only. Experimental results are compared with a theoretical model of optical trapping using CVBs derived from electromagnetic scattering theory in the T-matrix framework.


Visual Working Memory (visual WM) is an ability to encode and temporarily maintain visual information. There is some evidence that early perceptual processes make an important contribution to successful WM performance. However, perceptual contributions to WM are not yet fully understood.

In vision, signals originating from three classes of photoreceptors in the retina (L, M and S-cones) are combined into three distinct mechanisms, which form the fundamentals of visual perception. These mechanisms are the two opponent chromatic mechanisms (L – M and S – (L + M) and an achromatic, luminance mechanism (L + M). Vision science has been long concerned with properties of these mechanisms and how they contribute to the perception of the world. Despite this, there was little interest to date in how these mechanisms contribute to creating memory representations, i.e. after the visual stimulus has disappeared from the visual field. In a series of experiments presented in this thesis, a differential contribution of three post-receptoral mechanisms to visual WM was investigated. It was hypothesised that luminance signals will prove to be more efficient in their contribution to WM encoding, maintenance and retrieval than opponent chromatic signals. This was investigated using a variety of methodologies, from psychophysical measurements and behavioural responses to recordings of neural activity using electroencephalography (EEG).

Results of the experiments have shown that indeed, remembering abstract shapes designed to excite the luminance mechanism contributed to better WM performance comparing to remembering shapes designed to excite the opponent chromatic mechanisms. EEG recordings have shown that this luminance benefit starts already during WM encoding, although later WM stages are likely to benefit as well. The findings demonstrate that luminance signals provide an advantage over opponent chromatic mechanisms in working memory processing.


Natural products have historically been a rich source of "lead compounds" in drug discovery. The investigation of terrestrial plants and marine organisms aimed at searching new biologically active compounds is a central issue of this kind of studies, trough structure elucidation combined with biological tests. My research work, described in this PhD thesis, is included in this research topic and was addressed at three different topics: - cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa and from the Indonesian sponge Dasychalina sp.; - isolation and synthesis of antimalarial compounds; - metabolites isolated from plants belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family (Jatropha curcas, Euphorbia macroclada and Euphorbia bungei).
A phytochemical investigation of the fibre cultivar of Cannabis sativa derived from the historical Carmagnola variety led to isolation of the novel spiranic stilbenoid isocannabispiradienone and the biphenyl-type cannabinoid cannabioxepane (CBX), a tetracyclic compound characterized by an unprecedented C-5/C-8' oxygen bridge and devoid of cannabinoid activity. In the same area, from the polar organic extract of the Indonesian sponge Dasychalina sp., I have isolated haplosamate A, a unique C28 sterol containing a sulfate group at C-3 and a methyl phosphate at C-15, along with its new desulfo analogue. Both compounds, as well as their semi-synthetic analogues, have been evaluated for interaction with CB1 and CB2 receptors through a binding test. Desulfohaplosamate showed a selective affinity for CB2 receptors in the low μM range. Haplosamate derivatives represent the first CB receptor ligands belonging to the class of steroids.
The search for antimalarial lead compounds is another main topics of my Ph.D. activity discussed in this thesis. On the bases of the previously developed pharmacophore of plakortin antimalarials, in this thesis I report a synthesis of a new series of simple endoperoxides, characterized by a 3-methoxy-1,2-dioxane scaffold. In particular, I have contributed to the design, the synthesis, the biological evaluation of a novel series of compounds obtained by means of an efficient one-pot three-component Mn(III)-mediated synthesis which utilizes cheap starting materials. The obtained molecules are 3,6,6-trisubstituted 3-methoxy-1,2-dioxanes with simple alkyl chains and bearing an ester group at position 4, which were tested against Pf.
As part of the ongoing research aimed at finding new antimalarial leads from natural sources, I have carried out a detailed phytochemical investigation of the fruit of an African sample of Azadirachta indica, collected in Burkina Faso. Eight known and two new triterpenoid derivatives, named neemfruitins A and B, have been isolated from the fruits of neem, Azadirachta indica A. Juss., a traditional antimalarial plant used by Asian and African populations. In vitro antiplasmodial tests carried out with the isolated metabolites evidenced a significant activity of the known gedunin and azadirone and the new neemfruitin A, and provided useful information about the structure-antimalarial activity relationships in the limonoid class.
Finally, the chemical investigation of Euforbiaceae plants carried out during my Ph.D., and described in this thesis, led to isolation of many diterpenoids. From the root barks of Jatropha curcas I isolated spirocurcasone, a diterpenoid possessing the unprecedented "spirorhamnofolane" skeleton, along with 11 known and two other new diterpenoids. The absolute configuration of spirocurcasone was established using quantum mechanical calculation of the electronic circular dichroic (ECD) spectrum. Some of the isolated diterpenoids showed a potent activity against L5178Y, a mouse lymphoma cell line. The phytochemical investigation of Euphorbia macroclada Boiss. and Euphorbia bungei, led to isolation of many new diterpenoids belonging to the jatrophane and pre-myrsinane classes. The main interest in these compounds is related to their biological activity as glycoprotein-P inhibitors and so modulators of multidrug resistance in cancer chemotherapy.
The structures of all new compounds were elucidated using modern spectroscopic methods including 2D NMR and HRMS.


Many students of British voting patterns have tested for the existence of contextual effects, which postulate that voters are influenced by events and people in their local milieux. One of those contextual effects is the neighborhood effect, whereby individuals are influenced by the nature of the politically relevant information circulating within their social networks, many of which are spatially constrained to their local area. Although ecological analyses have identified patterns consistent with this hypothesis, there have been virtually no direct investigations of the effect, largely because of the absence of relevant data. Using information from a large, clustered survey of voters at the time of the 1992 general election, this paper uncovers clear evidence of such effects: people are much more likely to change their votes in a particular direction if those with whom they discuss political issues support that direction, especially if they are members of the respondent's family and are the individuals with whom they discuss politics most.


Lactate and phosphocreatine concentrations were monitored in the white muscle of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss following swimming at 70, 80 and 100 % of critical swimming speed (Ucrit) using 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Lactate was detected following swimming at all speeds, but its concentration was greatest following swimming at 80 and 100 %Ucrit. Phosphocreatine stores were reduced following swimming at 70 and 80 %Ucrit, but were further depleted following swimming at 100 %Ucrit. Following swimming at 70 and 80 %Ucrit, lactate concentrations were higher in the rostral, relative to the caudal, musculature, whereas phosphocreatine stores were least depleted in the mid, relative to the rostral and caudal, musculature. There were no differences among muscle locations in concentrations of lactate and phosphocreatine following swimming to 100 %Ucrit. Our results indicate that anaerobic metabolism is required to support swimming at speeds equal to and greater than 70 %Ucrit. Estimates of the relative cost of anaerobic metabolism during sub-maximal swimming are presented for swimming at 70 %, 80 % and 100 %Ucrit, and the implications of these results to energy budgets are discussed.


Studies have been carried out on protozoan parasites of freshwater
fish from the Amazon region of Brazil, and the British Isles. Special
emphasis has been given to aspects of the taxonomy and life - history
of species of the order Myxosporida.
In section 1, full descriptions are given of Myxosporida from
Brazilian and British fish. The Brazilian species include three of the
genus Myxobolus from piranha (Serrasalmus sp, and S. rhombeus) and
tambaqui (Colossoma bidens), and Agarella gracilis
from lungfish
(Lepidosiren paradoxa). In British fish, Myxobolus species are described
from roach (Rutilus rutilus), gudgeon (Gobio gobio) and dace (Leuciscus
leuciscus); Myxidium species are described from roach, gudgeon and
salmon (Salmo salar).
The similarity of the genera Myxobolus and Myxosoma is noted, and
the difficulty of distinguishing them is pointed out. From the result
of histochemical tests for glycogen In spores of selected species, it
is proposed that the two genera should be synonymised as Myxobolus.
Accounts are given of attempts to establish infections of Myxidium
in Myxidium - free roach and salmon. The negative results of these
experiments suggests that myxosporidan spores may need to undergo some
form of further development outside the host before becoming infective
to a new host.
Check - lists are given of species of Myxobolus, Myxidium and,
recently described Myxosoma species.
In section 2, other protozoa, including two species of Microsporida,
one coccidian species, and Rhabdospora thelohani are described and
discussed.


Emotional Intelligence (EI) is viewed within leadership literature as a key determinant of effective leadership. Yet there is a dearth of ability-tested supporting research. Using the MSCEIT instrument this large-scale study (39 supervisors, 801 employees) examines the relationship between the EI of supervisors and a key determinant of team performance, subordinate absence. Subordinate absence rates were calculated over a one year period. Data analysis suggests that some aspects of the MSCEIT are strong predictors of subordinate absence, particularly the branches within the Experiential EI domain (r = -0.45, p < 0.01), while other aspects (e.g. Managing Emotions branch) are not. These findings have significant implications in that; (1) they endorse the validity of incorporating EI interventions alongside the recruitment and selection process and the training and development process of managerial personnel, and (2) they question the conceptual validity of a key branch (Managing Emotions) of the instrument.


Placental Growth Factor (PlGF) is a very important angiogenic protein secreted by the placenta, necessary for the proper functioning of the endothelial cells during pregnancy. In normal pregnancies, PlGF plasma circulating levels increase up to the 32 nd week of pregnancy, and then decrease until the end of pregnancy. Low PlGF plasma levels are a marker of preeclampsia and of placental function deficiency. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether a deficiency of placenta function, diagnosed through the PlGF assay, could be a cause of preterm delivery without known causes. The PlGF levels were measured in plasma samples collected by 250 pregnant women (20-35 weeks of pregnancy). In our study, PlGF levels were significantly lower than cut off values in all women with preterm delivery without known causes. Proceedings of the International Course on Perinatal Pathology (part of the 10 th International Workshop on Neonatology · October 22 nd -25 th , 2014) · Cagliari (Italy) · October 25 th , 2014 ·  The role of the clinical pathological dialogue in problem solving Guest Editors: Gavino Faa, Vassilios Fanos, Peter Van Eyken


Gravitational-wave signals from black-hole binaries with nonprecessing spins are described by four parameters—each black hole's mass and spin. It has been shown that the dominant spin effects can be modeled by a single spin parameter, leading to the development of several three-parameter waveform models. Previous studies indicate that these models should be adequate for gravitational-wave detection. In this paper we focus on the systematic biases that would result from using them to estimate binary parameters, and consider a one-parameter family of configurations at mass ratio 4 and for one choice of effective single spin. We find that for low-mass binaries within that family of configurations, where the observable waveform is dominated by the inspiral, the systematic bias in all physical parameters is smaller than the parameter uncertainty due to degeneracies between the mass ratio and the spins, at least up to signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 50. For higher-mass binaries, where the merger and ringdown make a greater contribution to the observed signal, the bias in the mass ratio is comparable to its uncertainty at SNRs of only ∼30, and the bias in the measurement of the total spin is larger than the uncertainty defined by the 90% confidence region even at an SNR of only 10. Although this bias may be mitigated in future models by a better choice of single-effective-spin parameter, these results suggest that it may be possible to accurately measure both black-hole spins in intermediate-mass binaries.


FULL-SCALE LATERAL LOAD TEST OF A 3x5 PILE GROUP IN SAND J. Matthew Walsh Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Master of Science Although it is well established that spacing of piles within a pile group influences the lateral load resistance of that group, additional research is needed to better understand trends for large pile groups (greater than three rows) and for groups in sand. A 15-pile group in a 3x5 configuration situated in sand was laterally loaded and data were collected to derive p-multipliers. A single pile separate from the 15-pile group was loaded for comparison. Results were compared to those of a similar test in clays. The load resisted by the single pile was greater than the average load resisted by each pile in the pile group. While the loads resisted by the first row of piles (i.e. the only row deflected away from all other rows of piles) were approximately equal to that resisted by the single pile, following rows resisted increasingly less load up through the fourth row. The fifth row consistently resisted more than the fourth row. The pile group in sand resisted much higher loads than did the pile group in clay. Maximum bending moments appeared largest in first row piles. For all deflection levels, first row moments seemed slightly smaller than those measured in the single pile. Maximum bending moments for the second through fifth rows appeared consistently lower than those of the first row at the same deflection. First row moments achieved in the group in sand appeared larger than those achieved in the group in clay at the same deflections, while bending moments normalized by associated loads appeared nearly equal regardless of soil type. Group effects became more influential at higher deflections, manifest by lower stiffness per pile. The single pile test was modeled using LPILE Plus, version 4.0. Soil parameters in LPILE were adjusted until a good match between measured and computed responses was obtained. This refined soil profile was then used to model the 15-pile group in GROUP, version 4.0. User-defined p-multipliers were selected to match GROUP calculated results with actual measured results. For the first loading cycle, p-multipliers were found to be 1.0, 0.5, 0.35, 0.3, and 0.4 for the first through fifth rows, respectively. For the tenth loading, p-multipliers were found to be 1.0, 0.6, 0.4, 0.37, and 0.4 for the first through fifth rows, respectively. Design curves suggested by Rollins et al. (2005) appear appropriate for Rows 1 and 2 while curves specified by AASHTO (2000) appear appropriate for subsequent rows.


This report describes a new set of macromolecular descriptors of relevance to protein QSAR/QSPR studies, protein's quadratic indices. These descriptors are calculated from the macromolecular pseudograph's alpha-carbon atom adjacency matrix. A study of the protein stability effects for a complete set of alanine substitutions in Arc repressor illustrates this approach. Quantitative Structure-Stability Relationship (QSSR) models allow discriminating between near wild-type stability and reduced-stability A-mutants. A linear discriminant function gives rise to excellent discrimination between 85.4% (35/41)and 91.67% (11/12) of near wild-type stability/reduced stability mutants in training and test series, respectively. The model's overall predictability oscillates from 80.49 until 82.93, when n varies from 2 to 10 in leave-n-out cross validation procedures. This value stabilizes around 80.49% when n was > 6. Additionally, canonical regression analysis corroborates the statistical quality of the classification model (Rcanc = 0.72, p-level <0.0001). This analysis was also used to compute biological stability canonical scores for each Arc A-mutant. On the other hand, nonlinear piecewise regression model compares favorably with respect to linear regression one on predicting the melting temperature (tm)of the Arc A-mutants. The linear model explains almost 72% of the variance of the experimental tm (R = 0.85 and s = 5.64) and LOO press statistics evidenced its predictive ability (q2 = 0.55 and scv = 6.24). However, this linear regression model falls to resolve t(m) predictions of Arc A-mutants in external prediction series. Therefore, the use of nonlinear piecewise models was required. The tm values of A-mutants in training (R = 0.94) and test(R = 0.91) sets are calculated by piecewise model with a high degree of precision. A break-point value of 51.32 degrees C characterizes two mutants' clusters and coincides perfectly with the experimental scale. For this reason, we can use the linear discriminant analysis and piecewise models in combination to classify and predict the stability of the mutants' Arc homodimers. These models also permit the interpretation of the driving forces of such a folding process. The models include protein's quadratic indices accounting for hydrophobic (z1), bulk-steric (z2), and electronic (z3) features of the studied molecules. Preponderance of z1 and z3 over z2 indicates the higher importance of the hydrophobic and electronic side chain terms in the folding of the Arc dimer. In this sense, developed equations involve short-reaching (k < or = 3), middle- reaching (3 < k < or = 7) and far-reaching (k= 8 or greater) z1, 2, 3-protein's quadratic indices. This situation points to topologic/topographic protein's backbone interactions control of the stability profile of wild-type Arc and its A-mutants. Consequently, the present approach represents a novel and very promising way to mathematical research in biology sciences.


Since the late 1980s, satellite-based global positioning systems (GPS) have provided unique and novel data that have been used to track animal movement. Tracking animals with GPS can provide useful information, but the cost of the technology often limits experimental replication. Limitations on the number of devices available to monitor the behaviour of animals, in combination with technical constraints, can weaken the statistical power of experiments and create significant experimental design challenges. The present paper provides a review and synthesis of using GPS for livestock-based studies and suggests some future research directions. Wildlife ecologists working in extensive landscapes have pioneered the use of GPS-based devices for tracking animals. Wildlife researchers have focussed efforts on quantifying and addressing issues associated with technology limitations, including spatial accuracy, rate of data collection, battery life and environmental factors causing loss of data. It is therefore not surprising that there has been a significant number of methodological papers published in the literature that have considered technical developments of GPS-based animal tracking. Livestock scientists have used GPS data to inform them about behavioural differences in free-grazing experiments. With a shift in focus from the environment to the animal comes the challenge of ensuring independence of the experimental unit. Social facilitation challenges independence of the individual in a group. The use of spatial modelling methods to process GPS data provides an opportunity to determine the degree of independence of data collected from an individual animal within behavioural-based studies. By using location and movement information derived from GPS data, researchers have been able to determine the environmental impact of grazing animals as well as assessing animal responses to management activities or environmental perturbations. Combining satellite-derived remote-sensing data with GPS-derived landscape preference indices provides a further opportunity to identify landscape avoidance and selection behaviours. As spatial livestock monitoring tools become more widely used, there will be a greater need to ensure the data and associated processing methods are able to answer a broader range of questions. Experimental design and analytical techniques need to be given more attention if GPS technology is to provide answers to questions associated with free-grazing animals.


Objective: Research-supported treatments (RSTs) are considered the gold standard of client care. Investigating how to best implement and sustain RSTs in real-world practice is important. The present study addressed a gap in the literature concerning the relative contribution of RSTs and culture and climate to client outcomes in community-based child welfare services. Method: Using data collected from 55 programs within a single, large child and family human services agency, this study examined whether programs with less productive cultures and climates were able to implement RSTs and realize successful client outcomes. Results: In contrast to findings of the existing literature, programs with less productive culture and climate scores implemented RSTs and yielded successful client outcomes. Conclusions: Given the choice between maltreated children being treated in a program with good culture and climate or one that provides RSTs, the best selection for improved outcomes would be the one offering RSTs.


In contrast to electronic travel documents (e.g. ePassports), the standardisation of breeder documents (e.g. birth certificates), regarding harmonisation of content and contained security features is in statu nascendi. Due to the fact that breeder documents can be used as an evidence of identity and enable the application for electronic travel documents, they pose the weakest link in the identity life cycle and represent a security gap for identity management. In this work, we present a cost efficient way to enhance the long-term security of breeder documents by utilizing blockchain technology. A conceptual architecture to enhance breeder document long-term security and an introduction of the concept's constituting system components is presented. Our investigations provide evidence that the Bitcoin blockchain is most suitable for breeder document long-term security.


We describe a three-dimensional grid electrode system, in which a biological cell can be precisely moved or positioned by positive and negative dielectrophoresis. The electrode system consists of two glass plates, on which parallel strip electrodes are fabricated, placed together with a spacer between them so that their electrodes face each other and cross at right angles to form the grid. The microelectrodes of width and spacing have been fabricated using two different materials and methods. For one method, electrodes of thin gold-on-chrome film on a glass substrate were fabricated using photolithography, whilst the other method employed excimer laser ablation of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films on glass. The ITO electrodes have the advantage over conventional metal electrodes of higher optical transparency, which allows visual observation of cells' behaviour in three dimensions. It has been demonstrated that a plant protoplast, whose diameter was almost identical to the electrode's size, could be continuously moved between grid intersections by controlling the magnitude and frequency of the ac signals applied to the electrodes.


Procedure Appropriateness Category Relative Radiation Level Radiography chest Usually Not Appropriate ☢ CT chest with IV contrast Usually Not Appropriate ☢☢☢☢ CT chest without and with IV contrast Usually Not Appropriate ☢☢☢☢ CT chest without IV contrast Usually Not Appropriate ☢☢☢☢ MRI chest without and with IV contrast Usually Not Appropriate O MRI chest without IV contrast Usually Not Appropriate O US chest Usually Not Appropriate O


In spite of positive developments in the last 60 years, the worldwide promotion and protection of economic and social rights remains a daunting challenge. While millions of people are deprived of clean water, primary health care and basic education, most states do not recognize economic and social rights as more than abstract declarations of principles. Also, governments and international organizations usually tackle these questions exclusively as development challenges, ignoring their relation to human rights obligations. In this article, there is an initial attempt to set out a methodological framework to illustrate how some simple quantitative methods can be used in concrete situations to assess whether a state is violating its human rights obligations. Quantitative tools can help us, as human rights advocates, not only to persuasively show the scope and magnitude of various forms of rights denial, but also in revealing and challenging policy failures that contribute to the perpetuation of those deprivations and inequalities. Original in English.


I am a Registered Comprehensive Nurse with dual practice interests in the care of terminally ill people, and in quality improvement. This research study originates from my experience of working in a hospice as a clinical nurse then as a quality improvement co-ordinator in the early 1990s. At this time, quality improvement in the health services was relatively new, and there was no locally published research on quality improvement in palliative care. World wide there was a developing body of palliative care quality improvement literature (Higginson 1989, 1993, 1995); however there had been little research undertaken which reflected the patients' perception of the palliative care experience.  As a result of my work experience came the quest to find out directly from patients, the aspects of care which they considered valuable. I chose to use the descriptive-phenomenological methodology particularly utilising van Manen's (1990) phenomenological method. This methodology allows the participants' experience to stand apart from existing health professional defined palliative care knowledge, yet provides a way for this participant  knowledge to complement and augment it.  This descriptive-phenomenological study describes six persons' experience of care within a palliative care setting, and discusses the possible significance that this may have for the practice of palliative care. The participants had at least two care experiences within this setting and were interviewed on one occasion shortly after their discharge, within their own homes.  I invited the participants to talk about their care experiences. The anecdotes  which the participants relayed, when reflected on, revealed both a pattern of  storytelling as well as individual components of care. These components or elements of the care experience as well as informing each other, created a representation, a schematic description of their experience.  The representation 'The circle of care', is orientated around the central component of 'identity', with the encircling valued components of care being: 'keeping control', 'being safe', 'chosen isolation', 'mortality awareness', 'relaxation and relinquishment', 'caring qualities', 'being watched' and 'humour'. The circle of 'palliative care philosophy' contained these components, finally being enclosed by an outer circle of the 'spiritual\aesthetic qualities of the environment of care'.  The reality of people receiving palliative care is characterised by a number of supportive traditional and non-traditional aspects of caring. Although some characteristics have been described within general health and palliative care literature, some appear to have been generated by these particular participants as part their reality. The selected methodological approach and results limit the study to the context in which it was conducted. However the study suggests that patients are valued informants, and that they are able to augment existing palliative care knowledge. Ideally their input should be sought within the current systems of evaluating existing care and in the  creation of new models of care.


This thesis consists of a study of the motivational, cognitive and personality implications of adherence to New Age practices and beliefs. The New Age, unlike traditional Western religion, possesses no church-like structure and is usually characterised as a loose network of self-development practices, with a belief system centred on the spiritual evolution of the individual through successive reincarnations and the idea of a magical interconnectedness between all things. The studies carried out used a series of psychological measures, including self-report scales, analysis of self-concepts, autobiographical episodes and attributions to life events, and experimental visual and semantic tasks. Groups of traditional religious and non-religious individuals were also assessed to serve as contrasts to the New Age group. Following from previous sociological literature on the individualist character of the New Age, the first study dealt with individualist and collectivist motivations. New Age individuals were found to emphasise more individualistic values than Catholics, but still differed from non-religious individuals in that they stressed more self-transcendent universalism values and global-holistic self-concepts. This pattern was labelled as 'holistic individualism' and the second study sought to define it more accurately by focusing on the analysis of agency and communion motivations through the analysis of autobiographical episodes. In this study, the New Age group showed a higher frequency of agency and a lower frequency of communion themes than traditional religious and non-religious participants and, in particular, emphasised life stories of self-empowerment by non-material 'energies' or entities. The last two studies looked more closely at the New Age tendency towards highly abstract cognitions, in particular its sense of connectedness, by focusing on magical thinking and personality traits. New Age individuals were found to attribute events to magical rather than naturalistic causes much more often than the other groups. This cognitive disposition was confirmed in the last study, which found a positive association between the adherence to New Age practices and schizotypal personality traits, emotional hypersensitivity, and cognitive-perceptual looseness. Women were also found to be keener adherents to the New Age than men. Given this set of results, it is suggested that the New Age should be thought of primarily as a magical, rather than a religious, system of practices and beliefs. It is also proposed that an individual may be drawn to the New Age not only because of its modern individualistic appeal, but in virtue of possessing a particular personality and cognitive disposition towards magical ideation and unusual perceptual experiences.


Despite coupling to the same class of inhibitory G proteins and binding the same physiological ligand, the human A(1) and rat A(3) adenosine receptors (ARs) desensitize at different rates in response to sustained agonist exposure. This is due to the ability of the A(3)AR, but not the A(1)AR, to serve as a substrate for rapid phosphorylation and desensitization by members of the G protein-coupled receptor kinase (GRK) family. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these differences were also manifested in their abilities to undergo agonist-dependent receptor internalization. For the first time, we report that A(3)ARs internalize profoundly in response to short-term exposure to agonist but not activators of second messenger-regulated kinases. The A(3)AR-selective antagonist MRS1523 blocked both A(3)AR phosphorylation and internalization. Moreover, in contrast to the A(1)AR, which internalized quite slowly (t(1/2) = 90 min), A(3)ARs internalized rapidly (t(1/2) = 10 min) over a time frame that followed the onset of receptor phosphorylation. A nonphosphorylated A(3)AR mutant failed to internalize over a 60-min time course, suggesting that receptor phosphorylation was essential for rapid A(3)AR internalization to occur. In addition, fusion onto the A(1)AR of the A(3)AR C-terminal domain containing the sites for phosphorylation by GRKs conferred rapid agonist-induced internalization kinetics (t(1/2) = 10 min) on the resulting chimeric AR. In conclusion, these data suggest that GRK-stimulated phosphorylation of threonine residues within the C-terminal domain of the A(3)AR is obligatory to observe rapid agonist-mediated internalization of the receptor.


We present a fully analytical point scattering model that can be applied to arbitrary anisotropic magnetoelectric dipole scatterers, including split ring resonators (SRRs) and chiral and anisotropic plasmonic scatterers. We have taken proper account of reciprocity and radiation damping for electric and magnetic scatterers with any general polarizability tensor, including magnetoelectric interactions. Our theory sheds new light on the magnitude of cross sections for scattering and extinction, and, for instance, on the emergence of structural chirality in the optical response of geometrically nonchiral scatterers such as SRRs and SRR clusters. Specifically, we predict which observables in scattering experiments allow to fully quantify all components of the polarizability tensor of SRR's, including their off-diagonal magnetoelectric response. Finally, we show that our model describes well the extinction of stereodimers of split rings, while providing a completely new interpretation of the coupling mechanisms underlying recent experiments.


Extreme heat is the deadliest weather hazard in the U.S. Flooding is the second worst, and flash flooding is the deadliest form of flooding. The nature of these flood deaths contains a human element that deserves greater study. Since 2004, the National Weather Service has attempted to educate the public with its slogan, "Turn Around Don't Drown". Vehicle related mortality rates in Texas since 1996 were examined to answer the question of whether "Turn Around Don't Drown" has been effective. The slogan has a large footprint on the social media platform Twitter, with most of the Tweets coming from private individuals that are retweeting official sources such as the National Weather Service and the Texas Department of Transportation. Despite this, there is not a convincing amount of evidence that the slogan has reduced deaths from people driving into floodwaters. Most of the deaths in Texas are occurring in the largest cities. Harris County, home to the states' largest city Houston, had the most vehicle related deaths. The study timeline contains the entire lifespan of Turn Around Don't Drown, but regression models were not able to show any significant trend in vehicle related death rates since 1996. Also, there was no evidence of any significant correlation between time and death rates. There remains some hope that the slogan or other education strategies are effective in Dallas. The states' second largest city, Dallas flooded more times than Houston, but suffered almost seven times less vehicle related deaths.


This article evaluates the relationship among the railroad
staff of the Far East during the most dramatic events in the political
life of the country at that time—repressions. As a rule, Russian academic
literature indicates that few workers perceived the Soviet
state's mechanisms of pressure negatively. This article demonstrates
that the railroad staff's position was far more diverse than traditionally
argued, which is a result of the broad variety of social groups
working for the railroad in the Far East. The article demonstrates
this diversity of opinions by focusing on those events that affected a
significant number of railroad workers.


Familial hyperparathyroidism is not uncommon in clinical endocrine practice. It encompasses a spectrum of disorders including multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 (MEN1) and 2A, hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumour syndrome (HPT-JT), familial hypocalciuric hypercalcaemia (FHH), and familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP). Distinguishing among the five syndromes is often difficult but has profound implications for the management of patient and family. The availability of specific genetic testing for four of the syndromes has improved diagnostic accuracy and simplified family monitoring in many cases but its current cost and limited accessibility require rationalisation of its use. No gene has yet been associated exclusively with FIHP. FIHP phenotypes have been associated with mutant MEN1 and calcium-sensing receptor (CASR) genotypes and, very recently, with mutation in the newly identified HRPT2 gene. The relative proportions of these are not yet clear. We report results of MEN1, CASR, and HRPT2 genotyping of 22 unrelated subjects with FIHP phenotypes. We found 5 (23%) with MEN1 mutations, four (18%) with CASR mutations, and none with an HRPT2 mutation. All those with mutations had multiglandular hyperparathyroidism. Of the subjects with CASR mutations, none were of the typical FHH phenotype. These findings strongly favour a recommendation for MEN1 and CASR genotyping of patients with multiglandular FIHP, irrespective of urinary calcium excretion. However, it appears that HRPT2 genotyping should be reserved for cases in which other features of the HPT-JT phenotype have occurred in the kindred. Also apparent is the need for further investigation to identify additional genes associated with FIHP.


Deep-well drilling costs can be reduced substantially by using higher mud pump pressures. This has been demonstrated during the drilling of 1267 m (4156 ft) of 12 1/4-in. and 8 1/2-in. hole with a land rig, using pump pressures approaching 35 MPa (5000 psi) over a period of six weeks. Drilling costs were reduced by 25% (approximately $134,000) in the test well as a result of the higher pressures. The tests used drilling bits which combined mechanical and jet action, viz., extended-nozzle bits and a diamond bit designed to withstand the increased mud velocities. Both types of bits gave significantly improved performance when used at the higher pressure. Further tests were made with standard downhole turbines driving conventional bits. Improved performance was achieved at the higher pressure, provided the correct bit was selected for the formation encountered. In these cases the increase in penetration rate was due to the higher mechanical power developed by the turbine rather than increased jet action at the bit. Of the four turbine runs, two were found to be more economic than rotary runs made in similar formations in the reference well. The high-pressure mud pumps and other conventional equipment used in the tests performedmore » well at the 35 MPa (5000 psi) pump pressure. Two standard triplex mud pumps were provided with fluid ends of an Exxon Production Research design and manufactured in Germany under Shell supervision. No failures occurred during six months of operation and in general, the equipment performed with the same downtime at the high pressure as the conventional equipment used in the reference well at the usual operating pressure (21 MPa (3000 psi)). 7 references, 6 figures, 6 tables.« less


Academic) Understanding the factors influencing the abundance and distribution of tropical floodplain fishes is an important component of fisheries management plans to support future sustainable resource use. This thesis uses a multi-scale approach to understand the habitat factors controlling the distribution and abundance of arapaima (Arapaima spp.) in river floodplains of the lower Amazon River, near the municipality of Santarém, Pará State, Brazil. In chapter 1, a study of eight environmental variables in 13 dry season floodplain lakes demonstrates that lake depth, relative depth, conductivity, and transparency were significantly related to the probability of arapaima presence at individual locations within lakes. Further, the study revealed that smaller arapaima were more likely to be found near macrophyte coverage than in open water locations. In chapter 2, a landscape scale approach was used to examine the interactions between management systems, landscape habitat coverage, and spatial arrangement on arapaima population sizes in 73 floodplain lakes. Results showed that all three influences were important in explaining variability in arapaima abundances. Management and habitat variables contributed equally in controlling arapaima abundances. Both had strong patterns of spatial arrangement and overlapped significantly, suggesting that analysis of either management systems or landscape habitats without the other would lead to overestimations of the strength of their influence. Findings from both chapters support the notion that future sustainable use of arapaima populations requires a dualistic approach combining habitat conservation with fisheries management techniques enacted at a local scale.


This paper looks at the prevalence of creative activity and sharing in an age when the barriers to disseminating material have been considerably lowered compared with earlier times. The authors use unique data to explore the extent to which young adults create video, music, writing and artistic photography, as well as the prevalence of sharing such material online. Findings suggest that despite new opportunities to engage in such distribution of content, relatively few people are taking advantage of these recent developments. Moreover, neither creation nor sharing is randomly distributed among a diverse group of young adults. Consistent with existing literature, creative activity is related to a person's socioeconomic status as measured by parental schooling. The novel act of sharing online, however, is considerably different by gender with men much more likely to engage in it. However, once internet user skill is controlled for, men and women are equally likely to post their materials on the Web.


A reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography was developed for estimation and determination of two actives pharmaceutical ingredient Udenafil (Zydena) and Dapoxetine (Priligy). In presence of pregabalin as internal standard. The chromatographic conditions were applied according to ICH-guidelines using Thermo Hypersil BDS–C18 (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μ) the mobile phase containing acetonitrile: 0.2% triethyl amine in pure water (H2O) the adjusted pH was 4.4 using orthophosphoric acid (75: 25) with flow rate amount approximately 1 ml/min using UV detection at 246 nm. Limit of detection was established to be 0.015 μg/ml and Limit of Quantification (LOQ) was found to be 0.025 μg/ml for udenafil and the Limit of Detection (LOD) of dapoxetine HCl 0.020 μg/ml. according to ICH-guidelines and statistical treatment of date the date for this method was linear with correlation coefficient R > 0.99 which prove that the method is convenient and applicable for the investigation and study of udenafil and dapoxetine HCl in drug formulation and commercials tablets found in Jordanian pharmaceutical market beyond any interference or interaction with the additives materials or the excipients.


The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is regarded as one of the most prominent enablers for successful service provisioning across different access network technologies and devices. While new paradigms, e.g. seamless communication, enter the IMS, existing solutions, e.g. for authentication, need to be re-defined, which is one of the major activities within the EUREKA!-funded Mobicome project, involving operators, manufacturers and academia. As there exist several candidate solutions for providing seamless authentication, there is a need for a set of criteria that helps to select the candidate that fulfils those criteria in a best-possible way. Given this background, this position paper proposes a framework of criteria for the evaluation of authentication schemes in IMS. The primary criteria are security, user-friendliness and simplicity. In-between these criteria, the secondary criteria can be found. These are awareness, usability and algorithms. Each criterion, both primary and secondary, is then also divided into one or several substantiating sub-criteria. The discussion of the criteria is followed by a description of the evaluation methodology, which comprises both qualitative and quantitative evaluations such as SWOT analysis, use of NIST and ISO guidelines, user rankings, and measurements of authentication times. The paper is concluded with an outlook on future work, including studies and experiments.


We revisit the question of family firms (FFs) and their capacity for internationalization, and link it to the literature
on national competitiveness. We draw widely on the FF competitive advantage and internationalization
literature to argue that FFs' organizing preferences and capabilities will typically support exporting and that
these same organizing preferences will mitigate against outward FDI, two dimensions of national competitiveness.
Using the logic of aggregation, we hypothesize that family firm prevalence (FFP), measured at the country level,
negatively moderates a series of country-level variables associated with country outward FDI, and positively moderates a
series of variables associated with country exports.We develop a unique dataset on FFP across countries using a
novel method in which we extract estimates from from both published and unpublished academic studies. We
develop empirical tests that are rooted in Porter's Competitive Advantage of Nations (Porter, 1990), and its
extensions in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). Our results provide consistent confirmation of the positive
moderator effect of FFP on country export performance hypothesis, but contrary to expectation, higher FFP in a
country has a null or positive effect on outward FDI at the country level, thus suggesting a more nuanced view of
FF strengths and weaknesses. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for both the competitiveness
and the FF literatures.


Public health agencies traditionally rely heavily on epidemiological reporting for notifiable disease control, but increasingly apply simulation models for forecasting and to understand intervention tradeoffs. Unfortunately, such models traditionally lack capacity to easily incorporate information from epidemiological data feeds. Here, we introduce particle filtering and demonstrate how this approach can be used to readily incorporate recurrently available new data so as to robustly tolerate - and correct for - both model limitations and noisy data, and to aid in parameter estimation, while imposing far less onerous assumptions regarding the mathematical framework and epidemiological and measurement processes than other proposed solutions. By comparing against synthetic ground truth produced by an agent-based model, we demonstrate the benefits conferred by particle filtering parameters and state variables even in the context of an aggregate, incomplete and systematically biased compartmental model, and note important avenues for future work to make such approaches more widely accessible.


In this paper, we report a theoretical investigation of the catalytic mechanism of peptide amidases that involve a Ser-(cis)Ser-Lys catalytic triad. Previous suggestions propose that these enzymes should follow a distinct catalytic mechanism from the one that is present in the classic Ser-His-Asp catalytic triad. The theoretical and computational results obtained in this work indicate the opposite idea, showing that both mechanisms are very similar and only few differences are observed between both reactions. The results reveal that the different alignment of the Ser-(cis)Ser-Lys catalytic triad in relation to the classical Ser-His-Asp triad may provide a better stabilisation of the reaction intermediates, and therefore make these enzymes catalytically more efficient. The catalytic mechanism has been determined at the M06-2X/6-311++G**//B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory and requires five sequential steps instead of the two that are generally proposed: (i) nucleophilic attack of serine on the carbonyl group of the substrate, forming the first tetrahedral intermediate, (ii) formation of an acyl-enzyme complex, (ii) release of an ammonia product, (iv) nucleophilic attack of a water molecule forming the second tetrahedral intermediate, and (iv) the release of the product of the reaction, the carboxylic acid. The computational results suggest that the rate-limiting step is the first one that requires an activation free energy of 15.93 kcal mol-1. This result agrees very well with the available experimental data that predict a reaction rate of 2200 s-1, which corresponds to a free energy barrier of 14 kcal mol-1.


OBJECT
The pediatric Chance fracture (PCF) is an uncommon injury, but it has been increasingly reported. Knowledge is limited to few case reports and short series. To understand the various aspects of this injury, the authors reviewed the current literature.

METHODS
A literature search was conducted using the PubMed and Ovid online databases and relevant key words. All articles that were in English and provided information regarding PCF as a sole or part of the objective were retrieved.

RESULTS
Seventy-three articles were found to fulfill the inclusion criteria. Relevant information about PCF collected from these articles included: 1) mode of trauma, 2) associated injuries, 3) radiological classification, and 4) treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Chance fractures in children are potentially devastating injuries largely caused by motor vehicle collisions, and these fractures may be more common than previously thought. Concomitant intraabdominal injuries are common and should be suspected, particularly when a seat belt sign is observed. Blunt abdominal aortic injuries are rarely associated, but should be evaluated for and treated appropriately. Magnetic resonance imaging is best for defining ligamentous injury, which aids in defining the pattern of injury, facilitating appropriate treatment regimens.


New owners of Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Sony computers, you may find a surprise program on your hard drive. Corel's WordPerfect 12 is now coming pre-installed on all models of HP, Dell and Sony computers. This program is quickly becoming one of the most popular word processing applications, already used by over 18 million people worldwide, so it is worth learning! Special Edition Using WordPerfect 12 is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book on the subject and is backed and promoted by WordPerfect Universe and wpwriter.com. You will be able to learn and grow with this book, as it provides you with reference material that will help you at all stages as you move towards software proficiency on both WordPerfect 12 and WordPerfect 11. Use this book to first learn the program's basic functions and then how to speed up your work using the writing tools, increase your accuracy, automate document production through the use of templates and generate mass mailings using the mail merge function. This is all you need to learn and master WordPerfect 12 and 11!


Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are crucial drivers of every nation's economy. However, reports suggest SMEs in Nigeria have not performed creditably well in terms of sales. Hence, they are yet to contribute to a large extent to the economic growth and development of the country. Considering that business information is an indispensable resource in overall business performance, one is forced to question the availability and utilisation of business information by SME owners. This study examines the influence of business information use on the sales performance of SMEs in the information technology sector in Lagos State. Employing a survey research design, the study population comprised of 575 Computer and Allied Product Dealers Association of Nigeria (CAPDAN) registered SMEs in Computer Village of Lagos State. The stratified sampling technique was used to survey the responses of 181 SME owners who served as respondents in this study. A selfdeveloped questionnaire was used as the instrument of data collection. Frequency distribution, simple percentages, and regression analysis were used for data analysis. Findings revealed that SMEs obtained most of the information they use from newspapers and informal sources. Also revealed was that business information utilisation influences sales performance of SMEs (R = 0.36, R Square = .212, F1,161 = 94.18, p < 0.05). The study concludes that business information use for SMEs sales performance is inevitable. However, use is predicated on availability. It is recommended that agencies in charge of SMEs in Nigeria should put more effort in ensuring formal information sources are made available to SME owners.


This thesis is based on the work done during my PhD studies and is roughly divided in two independent parts. The first part consists of Chapters 1 and 2 and is based on the two papers Cavaglia et al. [2011] and Cavaglia & Fring [2012], concerning the complex PT-symmetric
deformations of the KdV equation and of the inviscid Burgers equation, respectively. The second part of the thesis, comprising Chapters 3 and 4, contains a review and original numerical studies on the properties of certain quasilinear dispersive PDEs in one dimension with compacton solutions.

The subjects treated in the two parts of this work are quite different, however a common theme, emphasised in the title of the thesis, is the occurrence of nonsemilinear PDEs. Such equations are characterised by the fact that the highest derivative enters the equation in
a nonlinear fashion, and arise in the modeling of strongly nonlinear natural phenomena such as the breaking of waves, the formation of shocks and crests or the creation of liquid drops. Typically, nonsemilinear equations are associated to the development of singularities and
non-analytic solutions. Many of the complex deformations considered in the first two chapters
are nonsemilinear as a result of the PT deformation. This is also a crucial feature of the compacton-supporting equations considered in the second part of this work.

This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the field of PT-symmetric quantum and classical mechanics, motivating the study of PT-symmetric deformations of classical systems. Then, we review the contents of Cavaglia et al. [2011] where we explore travelling waves in two family of complex models obtained as PT-symmetric deformations of the KdV equation. We also illustrate with many examples the connection between the periodicity of orbits and their invariance under PTsymmetry.

Chapter 2 is based on the paper Cavaglia & Fring [2012] on the PTsymmetric deformation of the inviscid Burgers equation introduced in Bender & Feinberg [2008]. The main original contribution of this chapter is to characterise precisely how the deformation affects the
gradient catastrophe. We also point out some incorrect conclusions of the paper Bender & Feinberg [2008].

Chapter 3 contains a review on the properties of nonsemilinear dispersive PDEs in one space dimension, concentrating on the compacton solutions discovered in Rosenau & Hyman [1993]. After an introduction, we present some original numerical studies on the K(2, 2) and K(4, 4) equations. The emphasis is on illustrating the different type of phenomena exhibited by the solutions to these models. These numerical experiments confirm previous results on the properties of compacton-compacton collisions. Besides, we make some original observations,
showing the development of a singularity in an initially smooth solution.

In Chapter 4 , we consider an integrable compacton equation introduced by Rosenau in Rosenau [1996]. This equation has been previously studied numerically in an unpublished work by Hyman and Rosenau cited in Rosenau [2006]. We present an independent numerical study, confirming the claim of Rosenau [2006] that travelling compacton equations to this equation do not contribute to the initial value problem. Besides, we analyse the local conservation laws of this
equation and show that most of them are violated by any solution having a compact, dynamically evolving support. We confirm numerically that such solutions, which had not been described before, do indeed exist.

Finally, in Chapter 5 we present our conclusions and discuss open problems related to this work.


Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade
James R. Markusen

Despite the great importance of multinational firms in international economics, theoretical and empirical research on these firms has generally been conducted separately from that on international trade. In this book, James Markusen provides a comprehensive integration of the two fields. Drawing on twenty years of research, he focuses on the interaction of scale economies, trade costs, factor endowments, and imperfect competition. He analyzes decisions about whether to build or acquire a foreign plant separately from decisions about where to raise the financing.

Markusen begins with the simplest possible partial equilibrium models and works systematically toward a full-fledged general equilibrium model with both horizontal and vertical foreign direct investment. He offers empirical tests of hypotheses derived from the theoretical models. The notation is unified throughout, distinctions between models are explained with thoroughly explained derivations, and numerous graphs support the analysis.


Manifest is an ongoing project, a portfolio of nearly one hundred photographs of African American material culture held in public and private collections throughout the United States. These repositories have accumulated diaries, receipts for the purchase of humans, hair, a drum, a door, photographs, figurines, and other artifacts—some with great historical significance, some the commonplace, quotidian material of black life. This project is concerned with the physical remnants of the American concept and representation of race. The histories of slavery, abolition, the U.S. Civil War, segregation, oppression, accomplishment, and agency are among the narratives that emerge in these photographs. I am increasingly interested in the residual power of the past to inhabit material remains. The ability of objects to transcend lives, centuries, and millennia suggests a remarkable mechanism for folding time, bringing the past and the present into a shared space that is uniquely suited to artistic exploration. While the artifacts are remarkable as visual evidence of lives and events, I also intend the viewer to consider this informal reliquary as a survey of the impulse and motivation to preserve history and memory. Various projects have occupied my attention during the past two decades; in retrospect, each has been part of a singular effort to seek out the ghosts and resonant memories of the material world. I am drawn to the stories "dwelling within" a spoon, a cowbell, a book, a postcard, or a partially burned document.


Social media such as social networking sites, blogs, micro-blogs, Wikis, are increasingly and widely used in our daily lives. In the information system (IS) discipline, social media have become a hot research area and draw the attention of many scholars. The paper systematically reviewed social media studies published in Association for Information Systems (AIS) listed top 20 journals from 2009 to 2013. The publication time, journal preferences, research objects and research topics are discussed. Generally, the current social media studies including four areas, namely user, management, technology and information. Each area has distinct focuses and topics. By thoroughly analyzing the research topics, the authors formulate our projections and recommendations for future social media studies.


This study by respected historian Doron Mendels attempts to understand the literary genre of Eusebius's The Ecclesiastical History, by situating it in the broader context of ancient historiography and by applying the analytical tools of modern media studies.What type of history writing does The Ecclesiastical History represent? Were Eusebius's aims and methods the same as those of a Herodotus or a Thucydides? Should we think of him simply as "the Christian Josephus"? Mendels argues that Eusebius invented a new type of history writing, "media history", and that Eusebius viewed the rise and spread of Christianity itself as a media revolution. Eusebius worked much like modern journalists do in selecting, shaping, and presenting stories for popular consumption.Mendels examines Eusebius's presentation of martyrdom, heresy, missionary efforts, and other factors that contributed to Christianity's victory over its pagan competitors in the marketplace of ancient religion. As Mendels's striking study demonstrates, in the hands of Eusebius history writing itself became an important publicity tool in promoting the media revolution of early Christianity.


The paper presents preliminary experimental results which aim to demonstrate the possibility of producing easily biodegradable carbon from a two phase anaerobic digestion process for a biological nutrient removal process. Crystallization of phosphorus into struvite from the liquor of the digested flow is the second goal of the process studied. With this integrated process approach it is possible to double the amount of readily biodegradable COD entering the wastewater works by sewers and to recover up to 70% of phosphorus from the digested flow as struvite without using little amount of chemicals. Struvite granules are useful for agricultural purposes.


According to expert opinion, the Central Asian region is likely to experience climate-induced changes with the irrigation sector being the most vulnerable to any change. Climate change impacts are interconnected with land use and socio-economic changes, and many other processes of a human–environmental system. Assessment and adequate information sharing play a critical role in decision making for planning, and allocation of resources for the successful implementation of the adaptation measures. However, a successful adaptation is only possible if the interests of stakeholders and, to a large extent, communities vulnerable to the risks of climate change are provided for. This paper discusses specific assessment of potential impacts of climate change in the water sector, namely on electric pump-lifted irrigation facilities and water reservoirs in Central Asia.


Registration or spatial normalization of diffusion tensor images plays an important role in many areas of human brain white matter research, such as analysis of Fraction Anisotropy (FA) or whiter matter tracts. More difficult than registration of scalar images, spatial normalization of tensor images requires two important parts: one is tensor interpolation, and the other is tensor reorientation. Current tensor reorientation strategy possessed many defects during tensor registration. To overcome the shortcomings, we first presented a multi-channel model with one FA and six log-Euclidean tensors, and then proposed an adaptive chaotic particle swarm optimization to find the global minima of the objective function of the multi-channel model. The results on 42 slices inter-subject registration indicate that our proposed method can produce accurate and optimized parameters of tensor registration with fastest speed relative to Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm Optimization.


There is an increasing awareness that the wellbeing of a workforce is an important consideration in any organisation. Within the context of education, possibilities for supporting teacher wellbeing are mediated by neoliberal policy technologies that are incongruent with key aspects of wellness. Reviewing the literature, it appears there is value in prioritising teacher wellbeing as an intentional inclusion in both the professional development of practising teachers and within pre-service teacher education programs. This inclusion will empower teachers to better negotiate these imposed systemic constraints. Education for teachers regarding key facets of wellbeing - including managing emotional labour and the importance of professional social networks - is found to be essential in retaining and sustaining the teaching profession, thus enabling greater possibilities for professional flourishing.


There is general agreement that food hubs are principally regional food aggregators/distributors well positioned to fill a number of social roles and services not traditionally provided by wholesale food companies. However, there is little agreement among stakeholders about what these roles and services should be or understanding of how they affect food hub financial viability. This article uses 2013 National Food Hub Survey data to highlight the current divergence between expectations and realities of these food hub roles. A definition for food hubs is also proposed that is inclusive enough to embrace different types of food hubs yet prescriptive enough to provide clarity on the roles food hubs play.


In Europe, the Construction Products Regulation (CPR, 2011/305/EU) sets basic requirements (BR) on how construction works must be designed and built. BR 3 "hygiene, health and the environment" states low emissions of toxic gases, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCVOCs), particles, etc. from building materials. Meanwhile, a worldwide network of professional Commercial and non-commercial laboratories performing emission tests for the evaluation of products for interior use has been established.
Therefore, comparability of test results must be ensured. The participation in Round Robin Tests (RRTRRTs) is a means to prove a laboratory's proficiency. Since 2006 BAM offers such proficiency test for emission chamber test every two years.
Any commercially available product on the market can be used as reference material, provided it is thoroughly characterised. However, these materials often emit only a few and material specific VOCs and appropriate homogeneity is not given. Therefore, alternative materials should be found. BAM used different materials over the years. Currently, the best suited reference material is a cured lacquer surface which contained several VOCs added to the liquid lacquer system. The round robin tests 2014, 2016 and 2018 were conducted with such a system.
Compounds like Styrene or n-Alkanes like Decane or Tridecane were tested in many of the proficiency test operated by BAM. Up to now the relative standard deviation of these compounds decrease continuously. Starting with values about 30 % in 2008 we reached values for the mentioned compounds 15 to 20 % now. But even for more polar compounds improved results were received.
Over the years the results of a large group of laboratories detected many compounds with much higher accuracy than at the beginning. So, the comparability between results of different laboratories becomes much better.


The recent launch of a number of umbrella standards groups provides an opportunity to consider how they address intellectual property rights associated with their activities. Umbrella standards groups bring together standards development organisations (SDOs) and others to address standards challenges that cut across the work of established SDOs and territories. This paper considers three umbrella groups. One characteristic of umbrella standards groups is that they generally disclaim any development of standards. Rather they review and comment on the standards developed by participating SDOs; they identify and often resolve conflicts between standards; they propose gap fillers where a technical issue is not addressed. Because of their composite nature, umbrella standards group present unique issues relating to the IPR policy applicable to their activities. This paper examines the twin IPR challenges for the umbrella standards group: First, it disclaims any work to develop its own standards, but it could well have other deliverables whose mandatory nature could have standards-like qualities. What IPR policy should it have to cover these deliverables? Second, the contributions to its work come from a number of independent SDOs each with its own IPR policy. What kind of recognition should the umbrella group give to these policies? This paper examines in turn the IPR policies adopted by FOBTV, oneM2M and SGIP. It deals with SGIP's work at some length and concludes that its approach in addressing these challenges – fostering disclosure of the IPR policies of authoring SDOs, and working out a well-considered IPR policy for its own deliverables – could serve as a model for other umbrella standards bodies.


This study was designed to quantitatively assess the effects of short fiber (< 12.7 mm long) in raw cotton on the quality of 20s ring spun yarn. Twenty-eight bales of cotton with a wide range of fiber properties and an especially diverse population of short fiber content were utilized. Properties of the raw cotton were measured by High Volume Instrumentation (HVI), Advanced Fiber Information System (AFIS) instruments, and the manual Suter-Webb (SW) Array method. Ring spun yarns produced from these cottons were tested for process and product quality. Results indicate that most of the yarn properties--especially yarn strength, irregularity, and frequency of thick and thin defects--are strongly correlated with each of the three measures of short fiber content. A pool of 23 potential predictors from the AFIS, HVI, and SW fiber properties was utilized to develop "best" regression models for seven yarn properties. In five of the seven models, the short fiber content variable was the most important predictor, exceptions being the models for yarn strength and elongation. For five of the yarn properties, models developed using the four basic HVI properties alone were nearly as good in predicting yarn quality as those using all 23 fiber properties. Exceptions were models for elongation and for ends down.


Sandra Day O'Connor has called the gay rights movement "the first important civil rights struggle of the twenty-first century." Recent court decisions to overturn sodomy laws and to recognize gay marriage have emboldened activists, but have also resulted in a tremendous backlash, not the least of which has been a call for a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between members of the opposite sex. Through its historical and legal contextualization of these decisions The Future of Gay Rights in America is essential for understanding an epochal moment in the history of gay rights.


With the variety and quantity of flights
increasing, accurate and efficient surveillance methods are in great demands
for the next generation air traffic management. Relying on high accuracy, wide
coverage, low deployment cost and data share support, Automatic Dependent
Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) is becoming the primary surveillance method in
2020. However, ADS-B data is lacking of sufficient security measures to ensure
data integrity and authentication, which makes it face with various attack
threats. To detect the malicious data caused by attack behaviours accurately,
an adaptive-data-driven attack detection framework is proposed, which is
utilized to establish the consistent framework for predictive discriminant
detection methods. It is composed of sequential predictor, behaviour discriminator
and dynamic updater, enhancing adaptive sequential detection performances.
According to the framework, an effective implementation is designed to improve
attack detection accuracy: (I) The sequential predictor identifies flight
phases to predict sequential data effectively and accomplish model fusion to
generate ADS-B predictive data sequences. (II) The behaviour discriminator
utilizes value differences and contextual information to distinguish attack
data from ADS-B data sequences. (III) The dynamic updater is designed to update
the training data sets and discriminate threshold dynamically, improving the
adaptation in face of concept drifts for ADS-B data. By experiments on real
ADS-B data with diverse attack patterns, the feasibility and efficiency of the framework
are validated.


The effects of secondary sludge addition on black liquor gasification were studied. Additions of 0, 5, 10, and 15% secondary sludge solids to hardwood black liquor solids were considered. Gasification temperatures were 700 and 900°C. Residence times were 0.2, 0.7, and 1.2 seconds. Gasification was performed in a laminar entrained flow reactor. Although both amount and rate of organic carbon conversion increased with temperature, the percentage of sludge addition did not affect percent of feed carbon recovered as organic carbon. Isobutyl and ethyl mercaptan, as well as carbon disulfide, were not produced in reportable quantities. Recoveries were expressed on a percentage-of-feed-element basis. Recovery of sulfur in char was higher for the 100/0 (black liquor/secondary sludge) feed than for the 85/15 feed. Recoveries of H2S were higher for purer (less sludge added) feed stocks for all experiments except those performed 900°C/1.2 seconds residence time. Recoveries of methyl mercaptan, n-propyl mercaptan, carbon disulfide, and ammonia were relatively independent of sludge addition. Recoveries in char of magnesium, vanadium, and aluminum were higher for the 85/15 feed stock.


We introduce three-dimensional (3D) spatiotemporal vector solitary waves in coupled (3+1)D nonlinear Schrodinger equations with variable diffraction and nonlinearity coefficients. The analysis is carried out in spherical coordinates, providing for novel localized solutions. Using the Hirota bilinear method, 3D approximate but analytical spatiotemporal vector solitary waves are built with the help of spherical harmonics, including multipole solutions and necklace rings. Variable diffraction and nonlinearity allow utilization of soliton management methods. The comparison with numerical solutions is provided and the behavior of relative error is displayed. It is demonstrated that the spatiotemporal soliton profiles found are stable in propagation.