This thesis represents an attempt to improve the state of the art in our ability to understand and check object protocols, with a particular emphasis on concurrent programs. Object protocols are the patterns of use imposed on clients of APIs in object-oriented programs. We show through an empirical study of open-source object- oriented programs that object protocols are quite common. We then present "Sync-or-Swim;' a methodology and suite of accompanying tools for checking at compile- time that object protocols are used and implemented correctly. This methodology is based upon the existing access permissions method of alias control, which is here extended to be sound in the face of shared-memory concurrency. The analysis is formalized as a type system for an object-oriented calculus, and then proven to be free from false-negatives using a proof of type safety. The type system is extended with parametric polymorphism, or "generics," in order to increase its ability to check commonly occurring patterns. An implementation of the approach, a static analysis for programs written in the Java programming language, is presented. This implementation was used to perform a series of case studies whose goal was to evaluate the ease of use, expressiveness and ability to verify commonly occurring patterns. These case studies are presented. Next, an approach and an associated tool for inferring access permission annotations is presented. This inference tool can reduce the burden of using our protocol-checking approach by automatically inferring the required typing annotations. This inference is built upon a system of probabilistic constraints, which allows the easy encoding of heuristics. Finally, an optimization of software transactional memory runtimes is presented. This optimization is enabled by the typing annotations required to use the concurrent protocol checker and can remove some of the overhead typically associated with transactional memory systems. As a result of the work presented in this thesis, it is possible to guarantee the absence of certain API usage errors even in concurrent programs, and to do so with a low burden on programmers. By adhering to such an approach, programmers can produce more reliable software.


Heterogeneous computers—platforms that make use of multiple specialized devices to achieve high throughput or low energy consumption—are difficult to program. Hardware vendors usually provide compilers from a C dialect to their machines, but complete application rewriting is frequently required to take advantage of them. In this thesis, we propose a new approach to building bridges between regular applications written in C and these dialects. From an analysis of the hardware constraints, we propose original code transformations that can meet those constraints, and we combine them using a completely programmable pass manager that can handle the complex compilation flows required by the code generation process for multiple targets. It makes it possible to build a collection of compilers based on the same infrastructure while targeting different architectures. All the code transformations are done at the source level using the pips source-tosource compiler framework. New transformations are detailed using denotational semantics on a simplified language and have been combined to build four different compilers: an openmp directive generator, a retargetable multimedia instruction generator for sse, avx and neon, an assembly code generator for an fpga-based image processor and a cuda generator.


This thesis explores how policy evolves in weak commodity dependent African states, in a context of increasing organisational diversity due to fast-growing foreign investment from emerging markets. Through a case study of the Zambian mining sector, where state-firm relations have been highly contentious following privatisation in the late 1990s, I develop an interdisciplinary and empirically grounded account of how policy evolves. My findings are based on over 100 interviews conducted with employees of Chinese, Indian and 'western' case-study firms, as well as government officials, NGOs and other stakeholders. My aim is to give adequate attention to both state and firm perspectives on regulatory policy making. To this end, the thesis first reviews the literature on policy making in the African state as well as theories of institutional change. It then draws on evolutionary economics and organisational theory, to develop a framework for understanding firm behaviour that emphasises the role of organisational routines and objectives. I develop and define the concept of organisational learning as the process through which organisational routines and objectives change over time. I find that policy development in Zambia, in its formal expression, appears framed around a 'partnership approach' to regulation. This approach is based on a view of government as enabler of private investment, emphasising state-firm consultations and consensus in policy development. This approach contrasts but co-exists with an alternative expression of state power through the Presidency, which maintains strong informal links with the foreign mining companies. I find significant yet nuanced variation in organisational routines and aims across the companies under study. This includes the tendency among western companies to seek operational stability by engaging with local stakeholders directly, whilst Chinese investors prefer to operate through close relationships with the Presidency, relying on the Zambian state to 'broker' its wider social relations. Over time there is some evidence of organisational learning taking place among the mining companies, including through convergence in regulatory standards and practices. Yet differences persist because routines and aims – conditioned by a firm's institutional background – change slowly over time, even in the presence of inefficiencies. Zambia's mining sector was during the period under study subject to various pressures for policy reform, stemming from discontent with limited tax contributions and pervasive negative environmental and safety impacts. These reform proposals, however, failed to move ahead despite support from some of the mining companies. I show how Zambia's accommodating and pro-investor regulatory framework sits uneasily with an interventionist political culture and a diverse mining sector. The consensus among the regulated companies – on which effective partnership regulation relies – proves elusive in a 'presidential' state that readily accommodates different articulations of state-firm relations.


Modern data acquisition routinely produce massive amounts of event sequence data in various domains, such as social media, healthcare, and financial markets. These data often exhibit complicated short-term and long-term temporal dependencies. However, most of the existing recurrent neural network based point process models fail to capture such dependencies, and yield unreliable prediction performance. To address this issue, we propose a Transformer Hawkes Process (THP) model, which leverages the self-attention mechanism to capture long-term dependencies and meanwhile enjoys computational efficiency. Numerical experiments on various datasets show that THP outperforms existing models in terms of both likelihood and event prediction accuracy by a notable margin. Moreover, THP is quite general and can incorporate additional structural knowledge. We provide a concrete example, where THP achieves improved prediction performance for learning multiple point processes when incorporating their relational information.


The direct coupling of excited electronic states to optical phonons in single CdSe colloidal quantum dots is explored using both photoluminescence emission and excitation spectroscopies. We find a broad optical phonon spectrum associated with a single fine structure state. Multiple peaks in the optical phonon sideband are ascribed to different optical phonon types emanating from both the core and shell layers. A mixed emission process that involves the simultaneous generation of two different types of optical phonon is also observed. In general, rather than a single mode, each designated phonon type is associated with a dispersed family of modes. Narrow optical phonon sidebands, consistent with the dominant LO mode, are observed in some nanocrystals. A linewidth analysis indicates that optical phonon lifetimes are in the 10 picosecond range. We demonstrate the ability to selectively excite a specific band-edge state by directly exciting its LO phonon sideband.


The recent debate about a suitable research paradigm
for palliative care1 has highlighted the importance
of methodologies which are sensitive enough
to allow subjective experiences to be elicited with
compassion, whilst at the same time conforming to
expectations and principles of scientific rigour. One
possible framework for addressing this issue lies
within the tradition of phenomenology, and this
approach has attracted a good deal of interest, particularly
among those undertaking research in
nursing.2
Phenomenology comes from two Greek words:
phainomenon, meaning 'appearance' and logos,
which denotes 'reason'. Contemporary phenomenology
revolves around the problem of how we
make sense of the everyday world. It provides
opportunities to tease out some of the concepts,
ideas, frameworks and structures of meaning which
are found in the day to day world of human interaction.
Phenomenology has therefore been attractive
to some researchers of health care practice who
see in it the potential to illuminate otherwise takenfor-
granted assumptions which can exist in the
process of giving and receiving care. Benner and
Wreubel,3 for example, have applied the ideas to
nursing in an attempt to identify the elements in a
'science of caring'.
Studies which make claims to a phenomenological
perspective are now appearing in palliative care.
Our purpose here therefore is to outline very briefly
the fundamental principles of the phenomenological
approach and to highlight some key issues which
palliative care researchers may wish to consider
when assessing the relevance of phenomenology to
their


Summary form only given. The imaging experiments of microwave tomography are typically conducted in free space or other types of environment lacking focusing properties. Such experiments lead to inherent ill-posedness of the underlying inverse problem. This ill-posedness dramatically complicates reconstruction of the sought object properties from the collected information about its scattered field. In our recent work (Okhmatovski, et.al., IEEE TAP, vol. 60, no. 5, pp. 2418-2430, 2012) we showed that the ill-posedness of the inverse problem is not inherent, however, but rather originates from improperly staged imaging experiments. If the medium in which imaging experiment is conducted features focusing properties and the field scattered by the object is collected at properly prescribed locations the ill-posedness of the imaging experiment can be eliminated. Examples of such focusing media formed by Veselago Lens, Maxwell Fish Eye Lens, and parabolic mirror have been previously shown to allow for direct reconstruction of 1D objects. In this work we demonstrate numerical experiments in which the Veselago Lens is utilized for direct non-regularized reconstruction of 2D objects. We also study the impact of media in which imaging experiment is staged on the convergence Contrast Source Inversion (CSI) iterative algorithm for solution of the inverse problem.


Meanings and Motivation in Education Research demonstrates the vibrant and vital connection between the researcher and their research. Research is often perceived as an entity which is seemingly produced in isolation; however, there are many important factors which are involved, and this book explores the complexities of investigating the specific areas of meaning and motivation for researchers working in the education sector.

With contributions from authors drawn from the field of education in various stages of their career, the perspectives shared in this book are from a diverse range of countries including Australia, Canada, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Key topics include: personal and professional identity; narrative inquiry as method; teacher educators as researchers
conducting education research; mixed methods in educational research.

Foregrounding the personal experiences, interests and motivations of educational researchers Meanings and Motivation in Education Research proves important insights into current discussions in educational research including researchers' identities, the ways they conduct research and most importantly the impact institutional and personal politics have on their work.


Two aspects of global imbalances - undervalued exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds - require a multilateral response. For reasons of inadequate leverage and eroding legitimacy, the International Monetary Fund has not been effective in dealing with undervalued exchange rates. This paper proposes new rules in the World Trade Organization to discipline cases of significant undervaluation that are clearly attributable to government action. The rationale for WTO involvement is that there are large trade consequences of undervalued exchange rates, which act as both import tariffs and export subsidies, and that the WTO's enforcement mechanism is credible and effective. The World Trade Organization would not be involved in exchange rate management, and would not displace the International Monetary Fund. Rather, the authors suggest ways to harness the comparative advantage of the two institutions, with the International Monetary Fund providing the essential technical expertise in the World Trade Organization's enforcement process. There is a bargain to be struck between countries with sovereign wealth funds, which want secure and liberal access for their capital, and capital-importing countries, which have concerns about the objectives and operations of sovereign wealth funds. The World Trade Organization is the natural place to strike this bargain. Its General Agreement on Trade in Services, already covers investments by sovereign wealth funds, and other agreements offer a precedent for designing disciplines for these funds. Placing exchange rates and sovereign wealth funds on the trade negotiating agenda may help revive the Doha Round by rekindling the interest of a wide variety of groups.


The contributions of this paper are three-fold. First, we present a general formulation for reaping the benefits from both non-negative data factorization and semi-supervised learning, and the solution naturally possesses the characteristics of sparsity, robustness to partial occlusions, and greater discriminating power via extra unlabeled data. Then, an efficient multiplicative updating procedure is proposed along with its theoretic justification of the algorithmic convergency. Finally, the tensorization of this general formulation for non-negative semi-supervised learning is also briefed for handling tensor data of arbitrary order. Extensive experiments compared with the state-of-the-art algorithms for non-negative data factorization and semi-supervised learning demonstrate the algorithmic properties in sparsity, classification power, and robustness to image occlusions.


This article uses the human capabilities approach to evaluate an institutional approach to teaching and learning at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The human capabilities framework makes it possible to examine the impact of social arrangements and interventions on the expansion of valuable beings and doings in teaching and learning. The institutional approach at UWC which involved the development of a strategic plan for teaching and learning and a case study of the teaching and learning retreats for Heads of Academic Departments is examined using the normative framework of the human capabilities approach. The constraints and opportunities regarding the institutionalisation of teaching and learning are illuminated through an analysis of data from a human capabilities perspective.


In Malaysia, motorcycle use has grown in popularity in the past decades and this has resulted in increased casualties among motorcyclists. However, earlier studies focused primarily on motorcycle safety issues rather than identifying factors that influence motorcycle use and motorcyclists' mode choice behavior. To overcome these problems, this study focused on the concept of exposure control measures such as an alternative to road transport as a countermeasure aimed at shifting motorcycle users to other safer modes in order to reduce the number of motorcycle road accidents. This study developed a model for motorcyclist mode choice behavior and potential mode shift from the motorcycle to other safer modes.

A cross-sectional survey of mode choice among bus, car and motorcycle users in Selangor state, Malaysia was conducted. Selangor state was chosen for the study as it has the highest number of motorcycle crashes in Malaysia. A total of 810 randomly self-administered questionnaires were collected from the household surveys for each mode user over a period of 6 months. Among the data collected were the demographic details, such as income, age, gender, and educational level, trip characteristics, and travel behavior of each mode user. In order to assess the relative importance of demographic, socio-economic and service attributes that influence travelers' mode choice behavior, discrete choice models were developed in the form of a binomial logit (when there are only two choices), and the multinomial logit (when there are more than two choices)

For the motorcycle and bus model, the results suggested that travel time and travel cost are characteristics that determine why motorcycle use is the favored modal choice. The estimated coefficients for travel time and travel cost for the bus mode are negative, implying that an increase in travel time and travel cost for the bus mode is likely to increase the probability of a motorcyclist to continue choosing the motorcycle as the preferred mode of transport. In order to promote greater use of public transport services, the study examined the probability of motorcycle riders shifting to public transport based on a scenario of a reduction in bus travel time and travel cost. The results of the predicted mode share probability show that when the bus and motorcycle are equally fast, 38% would use the motorcycle and 62% the bus

The motorcycle and car model examined the influence of future income and car ownership on model shift. The results of the model predict that when the income level of motorcyclists reaches RM 2500 (about US$700) per month, the probability of motorcycle use would drop from 80% to 57%. At the same time, the probability of car commuters would increase from 20% to 41%. According to a World Bank study, if the current rates of economic growth continue uninterrupted, per capita income for Malaysia is expected to reach RM 2000 by the year 2013. According to our 8th Malaysia plan, the per capita income growth target under Vision 2020 is expected to be RM 3166. Therefore, a 29% reduction in motorcycle use is expected to be achieved between years 2013-2020.

Similar trends were found for household car ownership. The results showed that ownership of one car in the household would result in a 14% reduction in motorcycle use, while ownership of two cars would result in a 42% reduction in motorcycle use relative to car use. Therefore, the study suggests that improvements in motorcyclists' income and car ownership would have the greatest impact in influencing the mode preference of motorcyclists, and result in a significant reduction in motorcycle use and a shift towards safer modes of transport.


Russia today represents one of the major examples of the phenomenon of oelectoral authoritarianismo which is characterized by adopting the trappings of democratic institutions (such as elections, political parties, and a legislature) and enlisting the service of the countryAEs essentially authoritarian rulers. Why and how has the electoral authoritarian regime been consolidated in Russia? What are the mechanisms of its maintenance, and what is its likely future course? This book attempts to answer these basic questions. Vladimir GelAEman examines regime change in Russia from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present day, systematically presenting theoretical and comparative perspectives of the factors that affected regime changes and the authoritarian drift of the country. After the fall of the Soviet Union, RussiaAEs national political elites aimed to achieve their goals by creating and enforcing of favorable orules of the gameo for themselves and maintaining informal winning coalitions of cliques around individual rulers. In the 1990s, these moves were only partially successful given the weakness of the Russian state and troubled post-socialist economy. In the 2000s, however, Vladimir Putin rescued the system thanks to the combination of economic growth and the revival of the state capacity he was able to implement by imposing a series of non-democratic reforms. In the 2010s, changing conditions in the country have presented new risks and challenges for the Putin regime that will play themselves out in the years to come.


textabstractAnalysing regional competitiveness by benchmarking regions on various indicators is a common practice. However, such rankings of regions are not based on actual competition; instead, they compare a set of regions on various indicators. This chapter benchmarks regions using a measure for revealed competition based on product-specific spatial market overlap on firms' export markets, on knowledge cooperation among scientists, and on the attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI). This analysis shows that this revealed competition is not only spatially different for these three types of competition, but that it is also region- and market-specific. This confronts policymakers with complicated place-based decisions concerning investments aimed at enhancing a region's competitive position in Europe, which is far more complicated than suggested by existing benchmarking exercises. The chapter illustrates this with the example of the city of Utrecht, which is currently the most competitive region according to the European Regional Competitiveness Index.


We report a simultaneous increase of carrier concentration, mobility and photoresponsivity when SiC-grown graphene is decorated with a surface layer of colloidal PbS quantum dots, which act as electron donors. The charge on the ionised dots is spatially correlated with defect charges on the SiC-graphene interface, thus enhancing both electron carrier density and mobility. This charge-correlation model is supported by Monte Carlo simulations of electron transport and used to explain the unexpected 3-fold increase of mobility with increasing electron density. The enhanced carrier concentration and mobility give rise to Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the magnetoresistance, which provide an estimate of the electron cyclotron mass in graphene at high densities and Fermi energies up to 1.2  ×  1013 cm−2 and 400 meV, respectively.


The spatiochromatic receptive-field structure of neurons in the macaque visual system has been studied almost exclusively with stimuli based on the human foveal cone fundamentals of Smith and Pokorny [Vision Res. 15, 161 (1975)] and generated on cathode ray tube displays. In the current study the artifacts evoked by cone-isolating, spatially structured stimuli due to variations in the eye's preretinal absorption characteristics and axial chromatic aberration are quantified. In addition, the luminance artifacts evoked by nominally isoluminant sinusoidal grating stimuli due to the same factors are quantified. The results indicate that the spatiochromatic stimuli commonly employed to map receptive fields of neurons at eccentricities > 10 deg are especially prone to artifacts and that these artifacts are maximal for the high-contrast S-cone-isolating stimuli that are often used. On the basis of these simulations, a method is introduced that improves spatiochromatic receptive-field estimates by compensating for response contributions from the incompletely silenced cone mosaics during cone-isolating stimulation.


Full-range spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with a 1-µm band light source is shown here. The phase of the reference beam is continuously stepped while the probing beam scans the sample laterally (B-scan). The two dimensional spectral interferogram obtained is processed by a Fourier transform method to obtain a complex spectrum leading to a full-range OCT image. A detailed mathematical explanation of the complex conjugate resolving method utilized is provided. The system's measurement speed was 7.96 kHz, the measured axial resolution was 9.6 µm in air and the maximum sensitivity 99.4 dB. To demonstrate the effect of mirror image elimination, In vivo human eye pathology was measured.


The objective of this review is double-folded: to show materials scientists, mechanical engineers and reliability physicists not involved in electronics, photonics, micro-electronic-mechanical-systems (MEMS) or MOEMS (optical MEMS) engineering what kind of value they could bring to this important "high-tech" area, as well as to demonstrate to "high-tech" engineers how they could benefit from the application of what has been developed, for many years, in the general field of physical design for reliability of materials and structures employed in various fields of engineering and applied science and what could be effectively applied to their body of knowledge. Accordingly, in the perspective part of the review some critical and even paradoxical, i.e., a-priori non-obvious, problems encountered in microelectronics and photonics materials science, reliability physics and structural analysis are addressed using what could be called analytical ("mathematical") modeling. The extension part has to do with some specific, mostly aerospace, recent applications of the probabilistic design for reliability concept and analytical modeling effort.


The high-tech sector accounts for the majority of corporate innovation in modern economies. In a sample of 38 countries, we document a strong positive relation between the initial size of the country's high-tech sector and subsequent rates of GDP and total factor productivity growth. We also find a strong positive connection between a country's equity (but not credit) market development and the size of its high-tech sector. Our main difference-in-differences estimates show that better developed stock markets support faster growth of innovative-intensive, high-tech industries. The main channels for this effect are higher rates of productivity and faster growth in the number of new high-tech firms. Credit market development fosters growth in industries that rely on external finance for physical capital accumulation but is unimportant for growth in innovation-intensive industries. These findings show that stock markets and credit markets play important but distinct roles in supporting economic growth. Stock markets are uniquely suited for financing technology-led growth, a particularly important concern for advanced economies.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, noncoding RNA molecules that posttranscriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting the 3´-untranslated region
(3´-UTR) of mRNAs. Interaction of miRNA with the 3´-UTR results either in RNA degradation or in translational repression that affects various fundamental biological processes and different diseases. The aim of the present study was the identification of one miRNA which is involved in basic mechanisms of fibrogenesis. Activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSC) by profibrogenic growth factor stimulation leads to their transdifferentiation into activated myofibroblastic HSC. During liver fibrogenesis these activated HSC are the main cell type of matrix accumulation and profibrogenic growth factor secretion. In this doctoral thesis work, algorithms of different databases identified miR-29 as a putative repressor of the collagen transcripts Col1A1, Col1A2, Col4A1, Col4A5 as well as the profibrotic cytokines "Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A" (VEGF-A), "Platelet-Derived Growth Factor-C" (PDGF-C), and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I" (IGF-I) mRNAs. In order to demonstrate miRNA binding and translational inhibition, reporter assays were performed. Reporter luciferase plasmids containing either the putative miR-29 binding sites from the
3´-UTR sequences of the target transcripts or corresponding binding sites with two point mutations were constructed. Thus, the interaction of miR-29 with the target sequence leads to repression of the luciferase activity. Indeed, reporter assays revealed that cotransfection of miR-29 causes repression of the reporter acitvity. Additionally, miR-29 treatment of HSC resulted in repression of Col1A1, Col1A2, Col4A1, Col4A5 transcripts, and profibrotic cytokines PDGF-C and IGF-I synthesis. Furthermore, miR-29 levels were reduced in an experimental rat model with liver fibrosis after bile duct occlusion. Additionally, during myofibroblastic differentiation of primary HSC isolated from rat livers and cultured on a plastic surface to induce myofibroblastic transition, decreasing miR-29 expression level was observed. Therefore the abolished inhibition of collagen, PDGF-C and IGF-I synthesis during liver fibrogenesis can be explained by the reduced miR-29 expression in myofibroblastic HSC. Stimulation of HSC with the fibrogenic mediators, "Transforming Growth Factor-β" (TGF-β) and "Platelet-Derived Growth Factor BB" (PDGF-BB), augmented whereas the antifibrogenic "Hepatocyte Growth Factor" (HGF) decreased the collagen type I and IV synthesis. In contrast, the influence of TGF-β and PDGF-BB induced a repression whereas HGF led to an induction of miR-29 expression. Therefore, regulation of miR-29 expression is the focus of the antagonism between TGF-β and HGF.
Interestingly, the decrease of miR-29 in HSC, mediated by TGF-β and PDGF-BB, was accompanied by highly elevated levels of miR-29 in the supernatant. A secretion of vesicles from HSC after TGF-β and PDGF-BB stimulation was evidenced by negative staining. These vesicles contained high amounts of miR-29. Hence, regulation of miR-29 in HSC is suggested with an increase of extracellular miR-29a by vesicular release from HSC in vitro. Finally, for a myofibroblast-specific expression of the antifibrogenic miR-29, an adenoviral vector was created and successfully tested in activated HSC. Thus, the presented study provides a novel perspective to analyze the antifibrogenic function of miR-29 in an experimental liver fibrosis model in vivo.


We document and discuss the implications of a sharp increase in the regional dispersion of skill premia in China in recent years. This has previously been little noted or discussed. We use three urban household surveys for 1995, 2002, and 2007 and estimate skill premia at provincial and city levels. Results show an increase in the skill premium across all regions between 1995 and 2002, but only coastal regions show significant increases in skill premia between 2002 and 2007. For 2007, coastal regions also have much higher within region wage inequality and this contributes more to overall urban wage inequality than within region inequality of non-coastal regions. Using a fixed effects model at city level, we find that ownership restructuring is a significant factor in driving up skill premia during the first period, and that the ongoing process of China's integration into the global economy plays a significant and regionally concentrated role in the second period.


BACKGROUND:The treatment of patients with IBD-related complex anal fistulae (IBD-CAF) remains challenging, and high recurrence rates have been reported even in the anti-TNF era. Autologous stems cells (ASC) are able to differentiate into multiple different cell lines, and moreover present anti-inflammatory and angiogenic effects. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) improves wound healing and acts as scaffold for ASC. The purpose of this study is to analyze the treatment results with a combination of ASC and RPR in patients with recurrent IBD-CAF. METHODS:Adult patients with IBD-CAF were prospectively enrolled between January 2013 and August 2014. This protocol was approved by the local IRB, and all patients signed informed consent. All patients had been treated unsuccessfully with anti-TNF and/or surgery before entering the study. The treatment protocol included 2 stages: (1) exam under anesthesia with fistula mapping and seton placement, combined with a lipoaspiration of 200 cc followed by ASC culture and expansion in the Laboratory of Tissue Engineering. (2) Between weeks 4 and 6, the closure of the internal fistula opening was performed using a flap advancement technique, combined with implantation of 100.000—200.000 ASC with PRP in the fistula tract and surrounding tissues. Standard follow-up was performed at 4 months, assessing the patients by a physical exam and MRI imaging. Results were classified into complete healing (CH), partial healing (PH) or no healing (NH). Patients were further followed, and current follow-up data were included in this report. RESULTS:A total of 5 patients were enrolled (4 female), 4 of them with Crohn's disease and 1 with indeterminate colitis. Three patients had high transsphincteric fistulae, and 2 had pouch-vaginal fistulae. The mean time span from fistula diagnose to enrollment was 22 months (r: 9—60). No ASC-related peri- or postoperative complications were observed. At 4 months follow-up, 4 patients showed CH, and 1 patient with a pouch-vaginal fistula referred symptoms consistent with PH, without any radiologic evidence of a persisting fistula neither on MRI nor on Gastrografin enema of the pouch. At 9, 2 months follow-up, all the patients were completely healed. CONCLUSIONS:The present treatment protocol with ASC and PRP for recurrent IBD-CAF shows encouraging results at a mid-term follow-up, achieving complete healing in all patients. A larger number of patients and a longer follow-up are required to confirm these preliminary results.


Book synopsis: Despite the advent of new sexual knowledges,new perspectives, new experiences even, we do not routinely or habitually reflect on the interface of social and legal dimensions of sexuality. Rather, the law is periodically reviewed in response to some crisis or campaign. The idea for the book thus came from awareness that it is important to explore some of the social and moral censures, contours and controversies that shape and mark the boundaries of sexuality. The production of the book has coincided with a major review and new legislation concerning sexual offences, fuelling the authors' concerns and making their explorations timely.

Interdisciplinary in scope, drawing in biological, psychological, sociological and historical perspectives to set out the new battlegrounds of sexuality, for instance, but with particular emphasis on socio-legal issues, the book examines the following areas: the development of sexuality and the right to define one's sexuality; genetic maps and sexual politics; sexuality and same sex relationships in law; the law in relation to intersecting oppressions concerning lesbians, gay men and trans people; the sexual abuse of children and the limitations of the law; the contours of regulation concerning young people, 'sexual health', and prostitution; sexual freedoms versus protectionist debates; sexuality, desire and embodied performances in the workplace; sexuality, film and the law, and the law on sexuality in the everyday practice of the Care Standards Tribunal. The book also reviews the recent reform of sexual offences and examines the current vogue for psychological treatment interventions for
sexual offenders. This book offers a highly original and exciting new exploration of contemporary socio-legal issues in relation to different sexual positions.


Growing interest in the simulation of first order transient systems, typical of those encountered in transient heat conduction, flow transport, and fluid dynamics, has prompted the development of a variety of time integration methods for solving these systems numerically. The primary contribution of this thesis is the design and development of a new time integration/discretization framework, under the class of single step single solve algorithms which are the most popular, for use in such first order transient systems with computationally attractive features. These include second order accuracy, unconditional stability, zero-order overshoot, and controllable numerical dissipation with a new selective control feature which overcomes the restrictions in the existing and current state-of-the-art methods. Throughout the thesis, we demonstrate the capability and advantage of the newly developed framework, termed GS4-1, in comparison to existing methods using various types of numerical examples (both linear and nonlinear). The numerical results consistently demonstrate the roles played by the new feature in improving the numerical solutions of both the primary variable and its time derivative which is important to correctly capture the dynamics of the problems, in contrast to the existing methods without such a feature. Additionally, a breakthrough contribution presented in this thesis is the development of an isochronous integration framework (iIntegrator), stemming from the novel relations between the newly developed GS4-1 framework and the existing GS4-2 framework (for second order dynamic systems). Such a development enables the use of the same computational framework to solve both first and second order dynamic systems without having to resort to the individual GS4-1 and GS4-2 frameworks; hence the practicality in the computational and implementation aspects. Finally, the application of the new GS4-1 framework to silica particle deposition, which is a practical problem of interest, is presented with the focus primarily on the physics of the problem. In this part of the thesis, a numerical model of the problem is presented and employed to investigate the effects of the flow and physicochemical parameters on the rate of deposition. The results of the parametric studies undertaken based on the employed numerical model enable some recommendations for the mitigation of the problem, and therefore serve as additional valuable contribution of the thesis.


This article inquires into the shaping force that competition at musical contests exercised on ancient perceptions of literary genres, particularly for the non-choral and non-dramatic kinds of the Classical Period. Three musical contests of the fourth century BCE, the Panathenaia, the Amphiaraia, and the Artemisia, are taken as case studies. After a reconstruction of their programs, principles of categorization that spectators might have inferred from the contests are deduced, and modes in which categories of competition and literary genres interacted are put forward. The article concludes by suggesting that, by enacting taxonomies, either strengthening or weakening the specificity of traditional types, institutionalized poetic and musical competitions contributed to the ancient conceptualization of literary genres.


A guide to all aspects of Nursing & Allied Health, providing users with reliable healthcare information covering nursing, allied health, alternative and complementary medicine, and much more


Background/Aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer in the world and the third leading cause of cancer-related death. Critical roles for long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been demonstrated for a variety of cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the effect and mechanism of lncRNAs in HCC tumorigenesis and chemoresistance have not been extensively characterized. Methods: In the current study, we have identified a HCC-expressed lncRNA termed as HANR (HCC associated long non-coding RNA). We identified HANR by microarray analysis and validated its up-regulated expression by quantitative PCR. RNA pull-down and pathway analyses were conducted to evaluate physical and functional interactions with HANR. In vivo experiments were performed to assess tumorigenesis and increase of chemoresistance. In addition, the HANR expression in HCC specimens was detected by FISH. Xenograft and orthotopic mice model was constructed to observe the effect of HANR on tumorigenesis and chemoresistance in vivo. Results: HANR was demonstrated to be up-regulated in HCC patients and HCC cell lines. Increased HANR expression in HCC predicted short survival of patients. Knock-down of HANR markedly retarded cell proliferation, suppressed HCC xenograft/orthotopic tumor growth, induced apoptosis and enhanced chemosensitivity to doxorubicin, while over-expression of HANR showed the opposite effects. It was found that HANR bind to GSKIP for regulating the phosphorylation of GSK3β in HCC. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that HANR contributes to the development of HCC and is a promising therapeutic target for chemosensitization of HCC cells to doxorubicin, which may represent a promising therapeutic target in the future.


In this study, we analysed stakeholders' organizational role expectations for nurses. We defined organizational role expectations as a set of informal expectations in behavioural patterns and formal expectations in work tasks related to a certain position in the organization. A qualitative study was conducted, and content analysis was applied to 150 articles published in a Finnish nursing trade journal. We identified five general organizational role expectations of patients and their relatives, physicians and other healthcare professionals, the work community, the nursing association, and legislators in our analysis: "the alongside stroller," "the patients' advocate," "the reliable colleague and team member," "the expert and skills developer," and "the organizational underdog." This study explores these nursing roles and links stakeholder perspective to the organizational role expectations in professional services.


The 23 August 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake ( M w 5.8) was the largest to strike the eastern U.S. since 1897 and was felt over an extraordinarily large area. Although no large landslides occurred, the shaking did trigger many rock and soil falls from steep river banks and natural cliffs in the epicentral area and from steep road cuts along, and northwest of, the Blue Ridge Parkway. We mapped the occurrence of rock falls to determine distance limits that could be compared with those from other documented earthquakes. Studies of previous earthquakes indicated a maximum epicentral distance limit for landsliding of ∼60  km for an M  5.8 earthquake; the maximum distance limit for the 2011 earthquake was 245 km, the largest exceedance of the historical limit ever recorded. Likewise, the previous maximum area affected by landslides for this magnitude was 1500  km2; the area affected by landslides in the 2011 earthquake was 33,400  km2. These observations provide physical evidence that attenuation of strong shaking for eastern U.S. earthquakes is significantly lower than for plate‐boundary earthquakes. Also, distance limits parallel to the regional structural trend are greater than those that transect the structure, which suggests anisotropic attenuation related to the regional geologic structure. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) at the landslide distance limits is estimated to have been about 0.02–0.04 g .


This paper deals with the question of the dream in couple therapy, taken as a technical resource for analysis, in the elaboration of a traumatic material. The dream is understood by Freud as an individualized work, representative of repressed content related to a forbidden wish. However, the dream, under the theory of Rene Kaes about its polyphony, gains a shared function when present in the intersubjective dimension of a group, family and, in the case of this study, of a couple. Not only the dream content, but the work carried out by the pre-conscious as well, reveals relevant data for clinical investigation. The marital link comprises a fertile ground in which psychological activities, such as projections and identifications, appear with more intensity, and are shared in dreaming. Fragments of a couple clinical case show how the dream can be a way of understanding intersubjectivity that is bound to repressed material.


Foundations of the Semantic Web: XML, RDF, & Ontology proceeds from a broad-spectrum discussion of the Semantic Web and progresses through various technologies such as XML, XML Schema, XPath, RDF, RDF Schema frameworks, Ontology, and then delivers current applications and potential future developments. The sequence builds in line with Tim Berner Lee s layer cake diagram and explains concepts clearly. Each chapter ends with interesting exercises and Further Readings section that lists advance reference pointers.


The work of the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu has emerged, over the last two decades, as one of the most substantial and innovative bodies of theory and research in contemporary social science. The Craft of Sociology, both a textbook and an original contribution to epistemology in social science, focuses on a basic problem of sociological research: the necessity of an epistemological break with the preconstructed objects social practice offers to the researcher. Pierre Bourdieu and his co-authors argue in the epistemological tradition of scholars like Bachelard, Canguilhem, Koyre, a tradition that identifies the construction of the object as being the fundamental scientific act. Their way of discussing the issue makes it accessible not only to academics and experts of epistemology, but also to advanced students of social science, using for illustration a wide range of texts from the various social sciences as well as from philosophy of science. The book includes an interview with Pierre Bourdieu and an introduction by the editor to his sociological methodology.


The paper presents the sensitivity analysis of an integrated urban water quality system by means of the global sensitivity analysis (GSA). Specifically, an home-made integrated model developed in previous studies has been modified in order to include the micropollutant assessment (namely, sulfamethoxazole SMX). The model is able to estimate also the interactions between the three components of the system: sewer system (SS), wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and the receiving water body (RWB). The analysis has been applied to an experimental catchment nearby Palermo (Italy): the Nocella catchment. Five scenarios each characterized by different combinations of sub-systems (i.e., SS, WWTP and RWB) have been considered applying the Extended-FAST method. Results demonstrated that GSA is a powerful tool for increasing operator confidence in the modelling results; the approach can be used for blocking some non-identifiable parameters thus wisely modifying the structure of the model and reducing the related uncertainty. The model factors related to the SS have been found to be the most relevant factors affecting the SMX modeling.


Tobacco harm reduction is increasingly recognized as a promising approach to accelerate the decline in smoking prevalence and smoking-related population harm. Potential modified risk tobacco products (MRTPs) must undergo a rigorous premarket toxicological risk assessment. The ability to reproducibly generate, collect, and use aerosols is critical for the characterization, and preclinical assessment of aerosol-based candidate MRTPs (cMRTPs), such as noncombusted cigarettes, also referred to as heated tobacco products, tobacco heating products, or heat-not-burn (HNB) tobacco products. HNB tobacco products generate a nicotine-containing aerosol by heating tobacco instead of burning it. The aerosols generated by HNB products are qualitatively and quantitatively highly different from cigarette smoke (CS). This constitutes technical and experimental challenges comparing the toxicity of HNB aerosols with CS. The methods and experimental setups that have been developed for the study of CS cannot be directly transposed to the study of HNB aerosols. Significant research efforts are dedicated to the development, characterization, and validation of experimental setups and methods suitable for HNB aerosols. They are described in this review, with a particular focus on the Tobacco Heating System version 2.2. This is intended to support further studies, the objective evaluation and verification of existing evidence, and the development of scientifically substantiated HNB MRTPs.


There is ample amount of ambiguity regarding the concept of mass in present principles of physics. The mass of a gas nebula will be measured as the combined mass of all the atoms within that nebula. The only option for the measurement of mass of the same nebula when it collapses to a neutron star is by combining the mass of all the neutron particles. These two values of mass for the same object will never be the same. This is, in fact, against the definition of mass which states that the mass of an object is a fixed amount irrespective of the size of the object. It appears that our understanding of mass and the way we measure it is flawed. All the observations demonstrate that there will be deficit or gain in the mass of an object when there is a change in the volume of that object. An object measures more mass when the volume of the object was decreased. A neutron star is a compact form of the gas nebula from which it was collapsed, therefore the neutron star measures more mass or gravity than the gas nebula. A nucleus measures more gravity when all the particles were packed together in a small volume. The cause for the deficit of mass inside a nucleus is the increase in volume in which the particles were occupied.


"Today's resource boom in Africa, driven by Asian economic growth, offers new opportunities for resource-rich African countries. Contrary to the experience of previous booms, however, most mining profits now accrue to foreign companies, leaving little room for governments to use revenues for pro-poor investments or to mitigate adverse distributional impacts. Taking Zambia as a case study, this paper shows that despite privatization, Dutch disease remains a valid concern and may hamper economic diversification, worsen income distribution, and undermine poverty reduction strategies. Mining royalties must, therefore, be increased and used to finance growth-inducing investments that encourage pro-poor economic diversification, else many African countries will remain caught in a resource trap." from Author's Abstract


We applied a finite-difference time domain algorithm to the study of field and intensity correlations in random media. Close to the onset of Anderson localization, we observe deviations of the correlation functions, in both shape and magnitude, from those predicted by the diffusion theory. Physical implications of the observed phenomena are discussed.


We present three-dimensional reconstructions of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which were obtained through polarization analysis of single-view images recorded with the use of the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) C2 coronagraph on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. Analysis of a loop-like CME shows a complex three-dimensional structure centered at 40° from the plane of the sky, moving radially at 250 kilometers/second. Reconstruction of two halo CMEs suggests that these events are expanding loop arcades.


Researching Culture: Qualitative Method and Cultural Studies. By Pertti Alasuutari. (London: Sage Publications, 1995. Pp. ix + 208, references, index, ISBN 0-8039-7630-8 cloth, 0-8039-7831-6 pbk.) Marrying & Burying: Rites of Passage in a Man's Life. By Ronald L. Grimes. (Boulder: Westview Press, 1995. Pp. xii + 263, $59.50/$18.95 U.S., ISBN 0-8133-2459-9 cloth, 0-8133-2460-2 pbk.) As the boundaries of folklore as a discipline, and of disciplines in general, become more permeable, answering our often-asked question "yes, but is it folklore?" holds greater difficulties. This query's new context makes it more fraught than previously, but it nevertheless has the particular discursive qualities of all questions. And these attributes are not always as straightforward as they might initially seem. A prime characteristic of questions is that they constrain answers. When asked by the more powerful of the less powerful (as when judges interrogate accused persons) they overdetermine the power of the questioner, because the interlocutor must respond. However, when asked by the less powerful of the more powerful, questions can be attempts to exercise some control over discourse. Feminist analysis has shown that women often use questions -- and question-intonation -- in mixed conversation as attempts to influence the choice of topics on the discursive floor, or other aspects of a discussion's direction, or simply to ensure they receive some response. Questions can also be asked rhetorically, in which case the speaker's assumption is that no right-thinking person could give any but the answer s/he expects. And like other discursive structures I periodically recall when the question "yes, but is it folklore?" was asked of my MUN M.A. thesis proposal, nearly twenty years ago. My repeatedly unsuccessful responses dealt with the question at hand, until somebody took pity on me and explained that the issue was not my intellectual/ideological framework, but instead my plan to conduct fieldwork in Ontario rather than in Newfoundland. "Yes, but is it folklore?" didn't have anything to do with the theoretical issues I had engaged; it was a way of obscuring issues of cultural, social, and economic power. No Newfoundland thesis topic, no fellowship. But I digress. Questions, including this one, engender -- indeed, demand -- dialogue. But when one is in a position of power and control, as a book reviewer is over the text s/he produces, questions don't necessarily constrain responses within the parameters they seem to define. I will address each one of the above books in terms of how they might suggest possibilities for answering the question, "Yes, but is it folklore?" I'll also consider how the answers implied by each book might open up the discipline of folklore's possibilities in ways that do or don't constrain its current, though permeable, boundaries. These prospects concern taking account of cultural studies, extending audience research, considering reflexivity and autobiography as research, and attempting accountability and advocacy on research subjects' own terms. I will begin with what is, as I see it, the most conventional of the four books, Alasuutari's Researching Culture. Its subtitle, Qualitative Method and Cultural Studies is somewhat misleading to those of us who were taught to see method in terms of actual modes of research -- interviewing, participant observation, and so on. In fact this is what I would call a methodology text, exploring how to conceptualise questions and answers more than it does how to gather data to answer them. Though folklorists may find the author's initial suggestion that he wants to include quantitative methodology in cultural studies somewhat less than simpatico, they may feel more comfortable with his metaphor for qualitative research -- the riddle. Alasuutari traces a historical definition of cultural studies, focusing primarily on its European roots, and then discusses a series of systems for producing observations. …


This research concerns the transformation and morphing between a full body 2D and 3D animated character. This practice based research will examine both technical and aesthetic techniques for enhancing morphing of animated characters. Stylized character transformations from A to B and from B to A, where details like facial expression, body motion, texture are to be expressively transformed aesthetically in a narrated story.
Currently it is hard to separate 2D and 3D animation in a mix media usage. If we analyse and breakdown these graphical components, we could actually find a distinction as to how these 2D and 3D element increase the information level and complexity of storytelling. However, if we analyse it from character animation perspective, instance transformation of a digital character from 2D to 3D is not possible without post production techniques, pre-define 3D information such as blend shape or complex geometry data and mathematic calculation.
There are mainly two elements to this investigation. The primary element is the design system of such stylizes character in 2D and 3D. Currently many design systems (morphing software) are based on photo realistic artifacts such as Fanta Morph, Morph Buster, Morpheus, Fun Morph and etc. This investigation will focus on non photo realistic character morphing. In seeking to define the targeted non photo realistic, illustrated stylize 2D and 3D character, I am examining the advantages and disadvantages of a number of 2D illustrated characters in respect to 3D morphing. This investigation could also help to analyse the efficiency and limitation of such 2D and 3D non photo realistic character design and transformation where broader techniques will be explored.
The secondary element is the theoretical investigation by relating how such artistic and technical morphing idea is being used in past and today films/games. In a narrated story contain character that acts upon a starting question or situation and reacts on the event. The gap between his aim and the result of his acting, the gap between his vision and his personality creates the dramatic tension. I intend to distinguish the possibility of identifying a transitional process of voice between narrator and morphing character, while also illustrating, through visual terminology, the varying fluctuations between two speaking agents. I intend to prove and insert sample demonstrating "morphing" is not just visually important but have direct impact on storytelling.


Garnet megacrysts from Colorado Plateau diatremes (Green Knobs, Garnet Ridge) and the Wesselton kimberlite, South Africa, commonly contain a structural hydrous component. The Colorado Plateau samples range from 0.0 to 0.26 wt% H_(2)O, and the Wesselton samples contain from 0.01 to 0.07%. Concentrations were measured using P_(2)O_5 cell coulometry, H_2 gas manometry, and thermogravimetry. These were used to calibrate infrared integrated absorbance in the 3-µm region, which is a more sensitive measure of total O-H content than the other analytical methods. Infrared absorbance patterns were also used to differentiate structural hydrous component from water contained in alteration and included phases. The structure of the hydrous component in these garnets appears to be the classic H_(4)O_(4)^(4−) = SiO_(4)^(4−). Profiles at 100-µm intervals across these samples show flat concentration profiles or slightly increasing concentration toward the center. A large range of water content among samples appears to represent real differences in water fugacity at the point where the garnets equilibrated. Garnets in eclogite nodules from South Africa and the Solomon Islands were also studied but were either anhydrous or too badly altered to determine the content of structurally bound water. The high concentration of hydrous component in the Colorado Plateau samples is consistent with other indicators of high volatile content in that region of the mantle. The water content of mantle garnets may prove to be an accurate indicator of mantle-water fugacities.


The present study theoretically deals with furoxan-fused [2,2]paracyclophane systems and some structures possibly involved in their isomerization processes. These intermediate structures are certain di- and tetra-nitroso derivatives and systems having dioxadiazatidine ring(s). Computationally, B3LYP/6–31G(d,p) level of density functional theory has been employed. Certain properties of the systems, such as geometries, energies, and aromaticity of the benzenoid rings, are harvested and discussed.


We develop a frequency-domain formulation in the form of generalized eigenvalue problems for reciprocal microlasers and nanolasers. While the goal is to explore the resonance properties of dispersive cavities, the starting point of our approach is the mode expansion of arbitrary current sources inside the active regions of lasers. Due to the Lorentz reciprocity, a mode orthogonality relation is present and serves as the basis to distinguish various cavity modes. This scheme can also incorporate the asymmetric Fano lineshape into the emission spectra of cavities. We show how to obtain the important parameters of laser cavities based on this formulation. The proposed approach could be an alternative to other computation schemes such as the finite-difference-time-domain method for reciprocal cavities.


Complex land use and land cover change (LULCC) processes modify ecosystems' ability to store and sequester carbon and regulate the climate, resulting in thermally uncomfortable climates and even more carbon emissions in an unchecked cycle. The value of potential loss of such climate ecosystem services remains understudied in urbanization planning and development. Using ecosystem modeling, this research quantifies potential changes of carbon storage and sequestration for a case of future LULCC in a tropical country by building an initial baseline carbon account of the existing forest. This study looked at a unique case of planned local-scale LULCC in Singapore where a secondary forest, Punggol Forest, is slated for conversion into a mixed-use residential neighborhood, Punggol Eco-Town. Carbon accounting is conducted to determine the carbon footprint of the LULCC, specifically for carbon storage and rate of carbon sequestration, using a sampled tree inventory with primary data collection. The results suggest that considerations of urban tree species selection in urban forestry are important in planning in order to reduce climate ecosystem services loss as a result of development. It is also a first step in using urban forestry tools for carbon accounting in decision-making for urban planning.


We investigate why vessels that contain blood, which has a red or a dark red color, may look bluish in human tissue. A CCD camera was used to make images of diffusely reflected light at different wavelengths. Measurements of reflectance that are due to model blood vessels in scattering media and of human skin containing a prominent vein are presented. Monte Carlo simulations were used to calculate the spatially resolved diffuse reflectance for both situations. We show that the color of blood vessels is determined by the following factors: (i) the scattering and absorption characteristics of skin at different wavelengths, (ii) the oxygenation state of blood, which affects its absorption properties, (iii) the diameter and the depth of the vessels, and (iv) the visual perception process.


The voluntary feed intake of the dairy cow is an important variable in dairy operation but is impossible to measure individually when cows are kept in groups or grazing. Existing formulas that calculate dry matter intake (DMI) from ration and performance variables are not applicable to an individual cow for online decision-making, such as daily ration density adjustment by computerized feeders in a milking robot. This led to a new DMI modeling approach of using only animal factors that are measurable online on an individual basis. In 1997 we published a small-scale attempt of this approach using milk yield (MY) and body weight (BW). In 2001, this approach was adopted by the National Research Council (NRC), using 4% fat-corrected milk rather than MY together with BW and time after calving. In the present study, we increased the number of cows. The model is a multiple regression, where the descriptive variables are the interrelation MY/BW, daily BW change, and milk fat including the effect of previous 2 d. The coefficients are calculated on daily basis, i.e., each day has its own coefficients. Our model differs from that of the NRC by: 1) the descriptive variable, 2) using daily coefficients to deal with the ever-changing physiological state of lactation, and 3) considering previous performance. Two data sets (60 cows together) acquired in 2 intervals of the Volcani Center herd were used to calibrate (18 cows) and test (42 cows) the model. Model validity was statistically tested, compared to that of the NRC, and was not rejected with 99.5% confidence.


CRA4008 The full, final text of this abstract will be available in Part II of the 2009 ASCO Annual Meeting Proceedings, distributed onsite at the Meeting on May 30, 2009, and as a supplement to the June 20, 2009, issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Aim: To formulate and evaluate controlled release herbal mosquito repellent gel containing encapsulated essential oils (EO) obtained from natural sources indigenous to North East India. Material & Methods: Essential oils were extracted from the fruits of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium (ZA) and Litsea cubeba (LC). The essentials oils were analysed using Gas chromatography and Mass spectrometry. Essential oils loaded Chitosan-Sodium lauryl sulphate (Chitosan-SLS) microparticles were prepared using ionic cross-linking method. Essential oils loaded microparticles were characterized using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry, Particle size and Encapsulation efficiency determination. Essential oils containing microparticles were loaded into a gel base containing Carbopol 934 and Lutrol F 127. Formulated gels were characterized by organoleptic characteristics, homogeneity test, pH determination, Viscosity determination, In vitro membrane permeation and Acute dermal irritation study. Mosquito repellent study was carried out for the gels using non-blood-fed females Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. Results & Discussion: The percentage yield of essential oils from the fruits of Zanthoxylum acanthopodium and Litsea cubeba were 0.8647 % w/w and 2.485 % w/w respectively. Encapsulation efficiencies of ZA EO loaded Chitosan-SLS microparticles and LC EO loaded chitosan-SLS microparticles particles were 97.16 % w/w and 96.64 % w/w respectively. Organoleptic properties of EO containing chitosan-SLS microparticles loaded gels were white in colour, having characteristic odour, homogenous and washable. pH of the gels were found within the range of 5.35 to 5.85. The formulated gel containing 3 % w/w essential oil in the encapsulated form (G3) demonstrated 21.49 % w/w permeation of essential oil in the study of in vitro membrane permeation. Maximum mosquito repellent activity was observed with G3 gel. Complete protection time for G3 gel was 2 h against Aedes aegypti. Protection time of G3 gel was observed up to 3 h. Acute dermal irritation study confirmed that there was no irritation effect due to the gels. Retained sample stability testing demonstrated that there was no significant change in gels over three months. Conclusion: The study resulted in successful development of a novel herbal controlled release mosquito repellent gel using essential oils from North East India.


Over 50% of clinically-marketed drugs target membrane proteins; in particular G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs are vital to living cells, performing an active role in many processes, making them integral to drug development. In nature, GPCRs are not sufficiently abundant for research and their structural integrity is often lost during extraction from cell membranes. The objectives of this thesis were to increase recombinant yield of the GPCR, human adenosine A2A receptor (hA2AR) by investigating bioprocess conditions in large-scale Pichia pastoris and small-scale Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultivations. Extraction of hA2AR from membranes using novel polymers was also investigated. An increased yield of hA2AR from P. pastoris was achieved by investigating the methanol feeding regime. Slow, exponential feed during induction (μlow) was compared to a faster, exponential feed (μhigh) in 35 L pilot-scale bioreactors. Overall hA2AR yields were increased for the μlow cultivation (536.4pmol g-1) compared to the μhigh148.1 pmol g-1. hA2AR levels were maintained in cytotoxic methanol conditions and unexpectedly, pre-induction levels of hA2AR were detected. Small-scale bioreactor work showed that Design of Experiments (DoE) could be applied to screen for bioprocess conditions to give optimal hA2AR yields. Optimal conditions were retrieved for S. cerevisiae using a d-optimal screen and response surface methodology. The conditions were 22°C, pH 6.0, 30% DO without dimethyl sulphoxide. A polynomial equation was generated to predict hA2AR yields if conditions varied. Regarding the extraction, poly (maleic anhydride-styrene) or PMAS was successful in solubilising hA2AR from P. pastoris membranes compared with dodcecyl-β-D-maltoside (DDM) detergent. Variants of PMAS worked well as solubilising agents with either 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) or cholesteryl hemisuccinate (CHS). Moreover, esterification of PMAS improved solubilisation, suggesting that increased hydrophobicity stabilises hA2AR during extraction. Overall, hA2AR yields were improved in both, P. pastoris and S. cerevisiae and the use of novel polymers for efficient extraction was achieved.


The analysis of tear constituents at point-of-care settings has a potential for early diagnosis of ocular disor-ders such as dry eye disease, low-cost screening, and surveillance of at-risk subjects. However, current minimally-invasive rapid tear analysis systems for point-of-care settings have been limited to assessment of osmolarity or inflammatory markers and cannot differentiate between dry eye subclassifications. Here, we demonstrate a portable microfluidic system that allows quantitative analysis of electrolytes in the tear fluid that is suited for point-of-care settings. The microfluidic system consists of a capillary tube for sample collection, a reservoir for sample dilution, and a paper-based microfluidic device for electrolyte analysis. The sensing regions are functionalized with fluorescent crown ethers, o -acetanisidide, and seminaphtorhodafluor that are sensitive to mono- and divalent electrolytes, and their fluorescence outputs are measured with a smartphone readout device. The measured sensitivity values of Na + , K + , Ca 2+ ions and pH in artificial tear fluid were matched with the known ion concentrations within the physiological range. The microfluidic system was tested with samples having different ionic concentrations, demonstrating the feasibility for the detection of early-stage dry eye, differential diagnosis of dry eye sub-types, and their severity staging.


Successive observation of transgranular small fatigue crack growth behavior of alpha-brass was performed by means of an atomic force microscope (AFM) equipped with small in-plane bending fatigue testing machine. In the low growth rate region after crack initiation, the fatigue crack grew in a zig-zag manner as a result of successive crack branching and deflection. The fatigue crack deflection behavior was investigated by the crystallographic orientation analysis based on the Electron Back Scatter Diffraction (EBSD) technique. The slip factor considering the slip system and singular stress field at the crack tip was introduced in order to evaluate the easiness of slip deformation instead of Schmid factor. The direction of crack deflection was found to be explained well by the slip factor and the geometric relative location between the preferential slip plane and crack front.


Synthetic thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) has been shown to be a stimulator of prolactin release as well as of thyrotropin (TSH) release in normal man. This paper presents data concerning the effect of TRH on the PRL response in normal human subjects and in patients with thyroid diseases. Synthetic TRH (500 mug) was administered intravenously to 12 normal males, 12 normal females, 8 female patients with hyperthyroidism, and 8 female patients with primary hypothyroidism. Blood samples were taken for the determination of the serum prolactin(PRL) and thyrotropin (TSH concentrations. Serum PRL and TSH levels were determined by each specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay. The mean serum PRL level was 6.1 +/- 4.9 ng/ml (mean +/- SD) before TRH administration in normal females, and 4.9 +/- 5.0 ng/ml in normal males. The difference was not statistically significant. The serum PRL levels 15 min after TRH administration were significantly higher in females than in males (42.0 +/- 17.2 vs. 26.3 +/- 8.6 ng/ml, p smaller than 0.001). The mean serum PRL level before Trh administration in patients with hyperthyroidism was higher than in normal females (12.5 +/- 5.5 vs. 6.2 +/- 4.9 ng/ml, p smaller than 0.05), but the mean serum PRL level 30 min after TRH was lower in cases of hyperthyroidism than in normal females (14.3 +/- 5.0 vs. 44.1 +/- 13.7 ng/ml, p smaller than 0.05). The mean serum PRL level before TRH administration in primary hypothyroidism was significantly higher than in normal females (37.6 +/- 29.0 vs. 6.2 +/- 4.9 ng/ml, p smaller than 0.05) and serum PRL level after TRH was also higher in hypothyroidism than in normal females (132.8 +/- 83.4 vs. 42 +/- 17.2, p smaller than 0l05). There was a positive correlation between the maximum increase in serum PRL concentration above the base line (...PRL) and the increment in serum TSH (...TSH) after TRH administration in these subjects. In conclusion, the PRL response to TRH was greater in females than in males, abolished in hyperthyroidism and exaggerated in primary hypothyroidism. These results indicate that the thyroid hormone concentration influences the PRL response to TRH as well as TSH response.


With the increased penetration of distributed generation, maintaining voltages across distribution networks within statutory limits becomes challenging. To maintain the voltage within statutory limits with the variability of the distributed generation, a dynamic voltage control (DVC) mechanism should be implemented. Such voltage control also facilitates load control especially at peak load periods as the demand depends on the load busbar voltages to some extent. An electronically controlled series compensator based on smart distribution transformer was investigated to achieve the DVC in the low voltage distribution system. The controller design and the operation of the three-phase series compensator and its control are discussed. The proposed topology and control strategies are evaluated on a typical distribution network. From simulations, it was found that the smart distribution transformer can be controlled with less than two cycle response to obtain performance similar to a conventional transformer. Further, the DVC enhances the loadability of the smart distribution transformer.


The associated production of a Higgs boson with a $W$ or $Z$ boson decaying into leptons and where the Higgs boson decays to a $b\bar{b}$ pair is measured in the high vector-boson transverse momentum regime, above 250 GeV, with the ATLAS detector. The analysed data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$, were collected in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV. The measured signal strength, defined as the ratio of the measured signal yield to that predicted by the Standard Model, is $0.72 ^{+0.39}_{-0.36}$ corresponding to an observed (expected) significance of 2.1 (2.7) standard deviations. Cross-sections of associated production of a Higgs boson decaying into $b$ quark pairs with a $W$ or $Z$ gauge boson, decaying into leptons, are measured in two exclusive transverse momentum regions, 250-400 GeV and above 400 GeV, and interpreted as constraints on anomalous couplings in the framework of a Standard Model effective field theory.


Adaptive robust optimization problems are usually solved approximately by restricting the adaptive decisions to simple parametric decision rules. However, the corresponding approximation error can be substantial. In this paper we show that two-stage robust and distributionally robust linear programs can often be reformulated exactly as conic programs that scale polynomially with the problem dimensions. Specifically, when the ambiguity set constitutes a 2-Wasserstein ball centered at a discrete distribution, then the distributionally robust linear program is equivalent to a copositive program (if the problem has complete recourse) or can be approximated arbitrarily closely by a sequence of copositive programs (if the problem has sufficiently expensive recourse). These results directly extend to the classical robust setting and motivate strong tractable approximations of two-stage problems based on semidefinite approximations of the copositive cone. We also demonstrate that the two-stage distributionally robust optimization problem is equivalent to a tractable linear program when the ambiguity set constitutes a 1-Wasserstein ball centered at a discrete distribution and there are no support constraints.


Shear displacements in crustal fault zones are accommodated by a range of seismic styles, including standard earthquakes, non-volcanic tremor, and continuous and transitory aseismic slip. Subduction channel shear zones, containing highly sheared, fluid-saturated trench-fill sediments intermingled with fragments of oceanic crust, are commonly inferred to occur along active subduction megathrusts. If this interpretation is correct, these plate boundary faults are not discrete planes, but may resemble the melange shear zones commonly found in exhumed subduction-related rock assemblages. Melange deformation appears to depend critically on the ratio of competent to incompetent material, with shear surfaces localized along lithological contacts or within competent domains, while matrix flow accommodates shearing by distributed strain. If the style of strain and/or displacement accommodation in a melange reflects the partitioning between aseismic and seismic slip, the proportion of competent material seems likely to be a significant factor affecting seismic style within subduction channel shear zones, and along comparable mixed-lithology fault zones.


Leadership and management can and should be differentiated. The differentiation gives insight in the nature of organisational practices, dynamics and cultures . By differentiating between management and leadership the need for leadership development to compliment the well established training practices of management skills and techniques, becomes clear. The focus on leadership development can furthermore be seen in the context of new challenges that organisations have to face . Challenges that need to be understood in a global context as well as new thinking paradigms that emerged in recent years . A holistic and transdisciplinary approach is followed in researching the challenges. Systems and complexity theories are essential to new understanding of organisational dynamics and change. The psychol ogical dimension of working practices as a legacy from the industrial age is also reviewed in the study. The need to overcome the fragmentedness that we suffer from in the modern world is recognised. The research was taken to the practice field where interview data was collected. Here, the focus was on the experience, or lack of it, of leadership with regard to various processes in organisations. The need for leadership development and a process to facilitate such development came out strongly in the quantitative research. Promotion and successful development of leadership will, in the end, have an impact on the organisational culture. The process that is proposed for such development and change make use of the theories that are highlighted in the study. Concepts that are central to the study are: Holism, process, relationships, leadership development and culture.


In the last two decades, Indonesia has seen a dramatic proliferation of environmental disputes in a variety of sectors, triggered by intensified deforestation and large scale mining operations in the resource rich outer islands, together with rapid industrialisation in the densely populated inner island of Java. Whilst the emergence of environmental disputes has sometimes attracted political repression, attempts have also been made in recent times to explore more functional approaches to their resolution. The Environmental Management Act of 1997 created a legal framework for the resolution of environmental disputes through both litigation and mediation. This book is the first attempt to analyse the implementation of this framework in detail and to assess the effectiveness of litigation and mediation in resolving environmental disputes in Indonesia.


An extensional duplex consisting of fault-bounded blocks (horses) located between low-angle normal faults is exposed in Proterozoic strata in the Purcell Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. This is one of the rust documented extensional duplexes, and it is geometrically and kinematically analogous to duplexes developed in contractional and strike-slip fault systems, The duplex formed within an extensional fault with a ramp and flat geometry when horses were sliced from the ramp and transported within the fault system.


Accurately assessing free-ranging animals' patterns of surface activity and refuge use is critical, yet fundamentally challenging for biologists and wildlife managers. We evaluate the accuracy of an automated technique—temperature-based activity estimation (TBAE)—in estimating surface activity and refuge use patterns of two sympatric reptiles, the western diamond-backed rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox) and the Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) in the Sonoran Desert. TBAE derived from a comparison of body temperature to shaded air temperature was effective in estimating the overall percent surface activity for both rattlesnakes (observed surface activity 51.8%, TBAE estimated surface activity 48.2%) and Gila monsters (observed 22.3%, TBAE 24.5%). There was, however, considerable interspecific difference in the effectiveness of TBAE in predicting surface activity at specific time points; TBAE was far more accurate for Gila monsters than for rattlesnakes (96% vs. 66% time point-specific accuracy, respectively). We assert that, when validated, TBAE can be used to yield concurrent and accurate body temperatures and activity estimates for multiple free-ranging animals, particularly in arid environments, which improves our understanding of animal biology and can be used to inform management decisions. r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


The central Iranian plateau contains part or all of five provinces and covers more than a third of the total area of Iran (Figure 3). This area has one of the most unfavorable hydrologic conditions on earth, and as a result its water resources are very limited. With a few exceptions the only sources of usable water are the deep regional aquifers. This arid region is bordered on three sides by high mountain ranges which all but block the clouds coming from the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. This study describes the results of more than two years of intensive hydrologic, erosion, salinity and water resources investigations in the central province of Yazd with an area of about 60,000 square kilometers and a population of more than half a million. The findings of this study lead the investigators to recommend drastic changes in the management of groundwaters in the region. Prime among these changes should be the abandonment of the customary agricultural and irrigation practices and limiting or changing them to save water to relieve the present stress on the aquifers.


The Seventh International Conference on Communities and Technologies (C&T 2015), hosted by the University of Limerick, Ireland, took place between 27 and 30 June 2015. This biennial meeting serves as a forum for stimulating and disseminating research on the complex connections between communities --- both physical and virtual --- and information and communication technologies. This seventh edition of the conference aimed to provide a stronger link with community activists, in particular with the work being done and published in the field of 'Community Informatics'. Therefore, the conference was co-sponsored by the Journal of Community Informatics (http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej) aiming to revitalize the academic discussion in a way that also makes the academic discourse more relevant for practice and to widen the base of relevant case studies. At the same time, this collaboration aimed to strengthen the reflection and discussion on these practice-based cases.


The purpose of this study was to investigate, in a group of Italian children, the development of the capacity to use prosodic features to mark different syntactic organizations of multi-word utterances, during the first phase of syntactic acquisition. The focus is on the prosodic realizations of multi-word utterances in which children begin to use the argument structure of verbs (vocabulary size > 400 words, MLU range 1.3 3.0). Results showed that non-canonical order is not marked by specific type of intonation contours and does not show specific values of duration, F0 max, F0 min or key. On the other hand, when the (optional) subject is expressed in canonical utterances it is very frequently marked by primary stress.


Albert Camus's novels provide insight into the worldview of the pieds-noirs, Algerian-born descendants of European settlers facing ever-increasing pressure to abandon what they saw as their homeland as decolonization accelerated after the Second World War, when Camus was writing. This study examines Camus's four main novels, L'etranger, La peste, La chute, and Le premier homme in their colonial context. Through a careful analysis of Camus's use of the tropes and imagery associated with the robinsonnade, or island adventure tale, and its inherent connection to colonialist discourse, this study nuances our understanding of Camus's position on the subject of Algeria. We will argue that Camus's fiction suggests mixed feelings about the colonial project in Algeria and furthermore that he clearly anticipated the impending end of the French-Algerian experiment. In L'etranger we see how the Algerian landscape is defined by impenetrable borders, forcing mutually antagonistic groups into violent encounters within narrow spaces. In La peste we examine the islanding of the city of Oran due to the plague outbreak, and we note how the functioning of the city is laid bare due to the pressure of quarantine. La chute shows us that Camus was fixated on an insular Algeria even when writing of northern Europe. Le premier homme provides final proof that the island Algeria portrayed in Camus's novels is associated with the colonial adventure of the pieds-noirs, and that this adventure will end, as in all robinsonnades, with a return to the mother country.The novels of Albert Camus were read as expressions of universal existentialist truth until Conor Cruise O'Brien pointed out the importance of considering them in the colonial Algerian context. Subsequent criticism of Camus has been largely shaped by O'Brien's approach and by that of the late Edward Said, who followed up O'Brien's critiques with an even stronger indictment in Culture and Imperialism of Camus as being in "outright opposition to Algerian independence" and in assuming that the French colonial project in Algeria is immutable. We will more clearly analyze Camus's perspective on the French colonial endeavor in Algeria as it is expressed in his novels.


We consider learning problems where the training set consists of two types of examples: private and public. The goal is to design a learning algorithm that satisfies differential privacy only with respect to the private examples. This setting interpolates between private learning (where all examples are private) and classical learning (where all examples are public). We study the limits of learning in this setting in terms of private and public sample complexities. We show that any hypothesis class of VC-dimension $d$ can be agnostically learned up to an excess error of $\alpha$ using only (roughly) $d/\alpha$ public examples and $d/\alpha^2$ private labeled examples. This result holds even when the public examples are unlabeled. This gives a quadratic improvement over the standard $d/\alpha^2$ upper bound on the public sample complexity (where private examples can be ignored altogether if the public examples are labeled). Furthermore, we give a nearly matching lower bound, which we prove via a generic reduction from this setting to the one of private learning without public data.


This book is a follow-on from the author's previous bestselling title, Techniques of Kiln-formed Glass (1997). In recent years, kiln forming has taken over from glassblowing as the major glass art form, and where the last book was very much a guide to techniques, this one looks at artists putting them into practice. It is an overview of the contemporary scene, with most of the book showcasing the work of about 50 international glass makers using kiln-formed glass, with an account of their making techniques and artists statements. Contemporary Kiln-formed Glass also discusses the latest developments in the field in terms of materials and methods over the last 10 years. It also looks back at the fascinating history and background of glass in the art world, and uncovers new research into Amalric walter, one of the most innovative artists to develop glass in 3D forms in the kiln.


The Mobile Window Thermal Test facility (MoWiTT) predicts the energy efficiency of windows by continuously measuring the net heat transfer into and out of two room-sized calorimeters. The system consists of a data acquisition/control unit which communicates through a General Purpose Interface bus (GPIB IEEE-488) with an LSI-11/23 computer. We wrote the software in FORTRAN 77 and run it under TSX+ using detached jobs, the message facility, and shared run time systems to execute nine 64KB jobs which simultaneously take data and store it on disk. We arbitrate the access to a single scanner on the GPIB by running a SERVER task which acts as virtual machine to serialize the requests. We control and monitor the system remotely and run a number of interactive jobs without interfering with the data collection tasks. We cover a description of the hardware; the software requirements, including the libraries to control the data collection and drive the hardware; the system architecture, including a block diagram; design considerations to meet real-world requirements; and the problems we discovered along the way and the solutions we found either to correct or bypass them. 6 figs.


The conventional account lists four types of transaction costs: - Identifying potential buyers and sellers; - Negotiating deals; - Measuring performance, e.g., metering use; and - Enforcing agreements. Despite recent hype, cyberspace is not truly Newtonian because it does not eliminate all of these sources of friction. Enforcement costs in particular are still considerable with existing technology. With an eye toward these transaction costs, this Essay discusses one aspect of law in the on-line environment: the respective roles of contract and property rights. I discuss why property rights are necessary in cyberspace, notwithstanding predictions that low transaction costs will allow contract to usurp property rights in this setting. The possibility of a break in the chain of privity means that property rights -- which can be thought of as an "off the shelf" contract -- will still be necessary. In other words, contract formation may be costless, but monitoring post-contract execution behavior will often not be. Property rights will thus continue to be necessary to permit enforcement against parties not in contractual privity with information providers. The ease of contract formation informs the analysis of another important legal issue -- the "fair use" doctrine in copyright law. Conditions in cyberspace at least partially undermine the prevailing "market failure" theory that informs this doctrine. Instead of abandoning the doctrine, which I believe serves some important goals, I advocate a different theory. At least where markets are robust, I argue that we should return to the redistributive roots of the doctrine, in effect giving low transaction-cost subsidies for certain users of copyrighted works.


This paper discusses necessities, prerequisites, problems and political consequences of including the concept of social capital in the evaluation of innovation policies. Theoretical development and shortcomings to reveal and measure social capital are explained, and basic difficulties of the way to measurement techniques like context-dependence and uncertainties in private and public management of social capital are reviewed against the background of innovation processes. Finally, a view on empirical case studies illustrates the political relevance of strategies to improve the availability of social capital for innovation processes by suitable instruments.


Australian railways offer an efficient and economic mode for transporting freight and passengers across all States. Conventionally, rail tracks are positioned on ballast for reasons including economy (availability and abundance), rapid drainage, and high load bearing capacity. However, the ballast becomes fouled due to the intrusion of fines either from the subgrade or surface which impairs track drainage. In order to maintain serviceability, it is necessary to maintain adequate drainage capacity in the track. To identify the risk associated with fouling, it is important to understand the effects of the amount of fouling on drainage conditions. In this present study a critical assessment of different types of mass based fouling indices was carried out. A new parameter, the Void Contaminant Index, which considers variations in the specific gravity of ballast and fouling materials, is proposed to evaluate the amount of fouling. A series of large scale constant head hydraulic conductivity tests were conducted to establish the relationship between the extent of fouling and the associated hydraulic conductivity. Subsequently, a seepage analysis was carried out using finite element software to simulate a more realistic two-dimensional flow under actual track geometry to capture the drainage capacity of ballast. The drainage condition of the track was classified into different categories using the average rainfall in Australia. Finally, a maintenance schedule for practising engineers was provided based on the proposed drainage criteria.


The temporomandibular joint receives its name from the two bones that enter into its formation, namely the temporal bone and the mandible. This complex synovial system is composed of two temporomandibular joints together with their articulating ligaments and masticatory muscles. This articulation affects other synovial joints that relate specifically to masticatory function. The causes of temporomandibular disorders are complex and multifactorial. There are numerous factors that can contribute to temporomandibular disorders. In some instances a single factor may serve one or all of these roles. Iatrogenic injuries can act as both initiating as well as predisposing factors. The term craniomandibular disorder is used synonymously with the term temporomandibular disorders and is considered a major cause of nondental pain in the orofacial pain region. The successful management of temporomandibular disorders is dependent on identifying and controlling the contributing factors. The temporomandibular disorders are more common in females, the reason is not clearly known. The following article provides detailed information regarding temporomandibular joint disorders.


Large-scale foreign investments in African farmland are rising and may contribute to agricultural productivity growth and economic development. However, host countries sometimes have to wait longer for the economic benefits to arrive than initially expected. In this respect, the timing of project development is crucial and depends on the economic incentives provided to the investors. We therefore present a dynamic stochastic programming model that reflects the typical bargaining situation concerning large land deals in Africa and allows the effect of market- and country-specific risks and taxation to be assessed. The model shows that commodity price volatility increases the value of the land development option, but slows down the land development process. Furthermore, it shows that host country attempts to negotiate fixed commitments to the speed of project development may run counter to the structure of economic incentives at the project site. The applicability of the model is demonstrated for a recent 10,000-hectare cotton project in Ethiopia. Response surface estimations suggest that Ethiopia has negotiated a contract under which it will receive about half the expected total project value, as long as it levies the regular corporate tax rate.


What Is the Basis for Nursing Practice? Choosing a Model of Nursing. Using a Model in the Planning and Delivery of Care. Critical Pathways. Some Models Used in This Book. Models and Critical Pathways in Adult Hospital-Based Care. Models in Community Care. Mental Health Nursing and Models. Nursing Models in Oncology. What Next? Changing Practice: A Case Study.


Aldur 500 steels (minimum yield strength of 500 MPa, or 73 ksi, for thicknesses up to 50 mm, or 2 in.) are a part family of water-quenched, high-strength, fine-grained steels that have excellent toughness at low temperatures. This datasheet provides information on composition, physical properties, and tensile properties. It also includes information on low temperature performance. Filing Code: SA-850. Producer or source: Voestalpine Grobblech GmbH.