The aims of the experiments are to characterize of the cooling tower by using the bank of the pipes as the fluid distributor. The cooling tower is constructed by rectangle of glasses which it has 9 cm x 9 cm in cross section and 100 cm in height. The fluid distributors are constructed by pipes in 5/8 inch of nominal diameter. There were five types of the packing namely the fluid distributor without baffle, fluid distributor with one baffle, the fuid distributor with two baffles, the fluid distributor with there baffles and the fluid distributor with four baffles. The experiment have been done by flowing the hot water from the top of cooling tower through the fuid distributor, on the other hand, the air cooler is flown above through the fluid distributor opposite to the water flow direction. This process makes the exchanging of the heat between air and water on the fluid distributor. The variables varied in this experiments are the inlet water temperature, Twi (45, 50, 55 and 60 °C), the height of fluid distributor, Z (30.5, 61 and 91.5 mm), the ratio of water/air mass flow, mw/ma (3.624, 5.888 and 7.700) and the number of baffle (without baffle,  one baffle, two baffles, three baffles and four baffles). The experimental results show that in the ratio of water/air mass flow rate which is lower, the increasing of the numbers baffle cause the decreasing of characteristic. Mean while, in the ratio of water/air mass flow rate which is higer, the increasing of the numbers of baffle cause the increasing of the characteristic. The cooling tower without the fluid distributor has the average characteristic is 13.4% and the average effectiveness is 16.2%. For the cooling tower with the fluid distributor has the average characteristic is 31.5% and the average effectiveness is 25.0%. Keywords : Cooing tower,  characteristic, fluid distributor.


Since the 1930s Lucha Libre Mexicana, Mexican wrestling, has evolved as a manifestation of popular culture combining spectacle, sport, theatre and ritual. Lucha Libre Mexicana, an event based performance using the mask, connects and reconnects to myth, stories, and ritual that societies, in this case the Mexican, need in order to find meaning within daily events and the contradictions and questions that confront every individual. This research analyses the cultural meanings of Lucha Libre Mexicana from the point of view of a diasporic artist and contextualizes knowledge to determine artistic practice. Identity and the construction of identity are explored throughout this thesis.

The various aspects of Lucha Libre Mexicana such as the masks, the holds, the wrestlers themselves, and the performative nature of the spectacle, serve as referents to make connections to the artist's own culture and the idea of constructed Mexicanness. This study includes a number of practice-based inquiries that are the result of the analysis and reflection on Lucha Libre and diasporic Mexicanness. The study reveals the manner by which creative processes including thinking in materials enable the artist scholar to acquire knowledge and thematic understanding.

This thesis demonstrates how the traditional icons of the Mexican luchador and his mask acquire an even stronger iconic and symbolic value, emblematic of justice, outside the Lucha Libre ring. The study contributes to the field of cultural studies by adding to the understanding of the historical timeline of the development of Lucha Libre Mexicana. A large body of original work developed from the investigations and analyses of the subjects and issues discussed.


Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a negative-sense RNA virus that infects wild and cultured salmonids throughout the Pacific Coastal United States and Canada, from California to Alaska. Although infection of adult fish is usually asymptomatic, juvenile infections can result in high mortality events that impact salmon hatchery programs and commercial aquaculture. We used epidemiological case data and genetic sequence data from a 303 nt portion of the viral glycoprotein gene to study the evolutionary dynamics of U genogroup IHNV in the Pacific Northwestern United States from 1971 to 2013. We identified 114 unique genotypes among 1,219 U genogroup IHNV isolates representing 619 virus detection events. We found evidence for two previously unidentified, broad subgroups within the U genogroup, which we designated 'UC' and 'UP'. Epidemiologic records indicated that UP viruses were detected more frequently in sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and in coastal waters of Washington and Oregon, whereas UC viruses were detected primarily in Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in the Columbia River Basin, which is a large, complex watershed extending throughout much of interior Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. These findings were supported by phylogenetic analysis and by FST. Ancestral state reconstruction indicated that early UC viruses in the Columbia River Basin initially infected sockeye salmon but then emerged via host shifts into Chinook salmon and steelhead trout sometime during the 1980s. We postulate that the development of these subgroups within U genogroup was driven by selection pressure for viral adaptation to Chinook salmon and steelhead trout within the Columbia River Basin.


In this work, the effects of the polymer–solvent interaction on the aggregation behavior of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) solutions were studied through elastic light scattering and viscosity measurements. The result in Zimm plots of PVC solutions showed that the second viral coefficient,A2, value of PVC/BrBz solutions is higher than that of PVC/DOA solutions at the same temperature. The radius of gyration, Rg, in PVC/BrBz solutions is larger than that in PVC/DOA solutions, indicating that PVC chains in a good solvent BrBz must be more extended than those in a poor solvent, DOA. The u-temperatures are about 32 8C and 688C for PVC/BrBz and PVC/DOA solutions, respectively. The result in the temperature dependence of Rg value showed that PVC/BrBz solution exhibits the coil–globule transition, while no transition is observed in PVC/DOA solution in the measured temperature range. The chain overlapping concept was used to discuss the heterogeneous degree of PVC solution. The result showed that PVC/DOA solution is more heterogeneous than PVC/BrBz solution. The time-resolved light scattering measurements indicated that the spinodal decomposition rate of PVC/DOA solution was faster than that of PVC/BrBz solution. However, the gelation time of PVC/BrBz solution was shorter than that of PVC/DOA solution. These facts may imply that the more extended chains in PVC/BrBz solution are advantageous to the intermolecular association for the gelation. The scattered profiles (I(q) vs. q) showed that the scattered intensity of PVC/DOA solution is much higher than that of PVC/BrBz solution at the same concentration. A scattered maximum was observed in PVC/DOA solution while no other peak appeared in PVC/BrBz solution. The various aggregation or the gelation behaviors between PVC/DOA and PVC/BrBz solutions must be concerned with different degrees of spinodal decomposition in the solution state, which is mainly related to different degrees of the polymer–solvent interaction. q 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the differences in the economic bases of two small towns, each tributary to nearby metropolitan areas, on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border. Thus, it combines the policy concerns of small town economic development (Alguire et al. 1987) with a social scientific interest in cross-cultural differences. Small towns face certain common problems independent of which side of the border they are on - social stratification, limited shopping opportunities, non-dynamic leaders (more ambitious residents have frequently invested their talents elsewhere), limited employment opportunities and anemic tax bases. Nevertheless, the international border does impose cultural and structural differences which are reflected in differences in the flows of capital, labor and consumption expenses. For example, Mexican rural society is poorer, less residentially mobile, less diurnally mobile and more socially tied to the local community than is the case in the U.S. Also, jobs in government service and income from transfer payments are less available in the average Mexican town than in the average U.S. town. Because of these differences people in the Mexican town are likely to purchase lower-order goods and services, spend more money locally and be less directly dependent on the government or on private pensions, for their livelihood, than their counterparts in the U.S. town. Understanding the fundamental patterns of income flows into and out of the community is a task that economic base analysis is uniquely designed to meet. Here, a modified form of the Tiebout (1962) procedure will be used to trace the basic income flow into and out of establishments and households. A town's economic viability will depend on the magnitude of the difference between the inward and outward flows. The study will analyze a town in south Texas and a town of similar characteristics in northern Coahuila. Economic base analysis in this study will refer both to the study of such exogenous income, and to the study of household and establishment expenditure patterns which determine the degree of income recycling within the local region (the multiplier).


Terroir is a word that carries powerful cultural and sensory associations in France. Although roughly translated a "taste of place," terroir is more difficult to translate as a cultural concept. Terroir in France represents sensory qualities of food that capture a dynamic engagement between people, place and taste. This engagement can be seen in the decisions made by individual food producers to craft a product characteristic of their region. In France this engagement also extends to a conversation between those producing food and the regulators and researchers charged with monitoring and promoting specific products understood to have an exceptional relationship to place. This cooperation between multiple partners helps maintain an authentic sense of terroir within the modern, global food system. In both Quebec and Vermont the provincial or state governments have developed a keen interest in the European investment in Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Geographic Indications (GI). To what extent could Vermont and Quebec lead the way in developing and protecting the first New World produits du terroir with designations parallel to those found in Europe? This essay compares the different levels of engagement between product, practice and place found in France, Quebec and Vermont.


Key to understanding a protein's biological function is the accurate determination of its spatial distribution inside a cell. Although fluorescent protein markers allow the targeting of specific proteins with molecular precision, much of this information is lost when the resultant fusion proteins are imaged with conventional, diffraction‐limited optics. In response, several imaging modalities that are capable of resolution below the diffraction limit (∼200 nm) have emerged. Here, both single‐ and dual‐color superresolution imaging of biological structures using photoactivated localization microscopy (PALM) are described. The examples discussed focus on adhesion complexes: dense, protein‐filled assemblies that form at the interface between cells and their substrata. A particular emphasis is placed on the instrumentation and photoactivatable fluorescent protein (PA‐FP) tags necessary to achieve PALM images at ∼20 nm resolution in 5 to 30 min in fixed cells. Curr. Protoc. Cell Biol. 41:4.21.1‐4.21.27. © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.


The IRS issues different types of guidance to taxpayers, and the extent to which taxpayers can rely on IRS guidance depends on the form in which it was offered. For instance, taxpayers generally cannot rely on oral advice provided over the phone but can rely on more formal types of advice. The current state of the law harms unsophisticated taxpayers who disproportionately obtain informal advice -- the least reliable type of IRS guidance.Existing literature lacks a thorough discussion of why, as a policy matter, we allow taxpayers to rely on some forms of IRS guidance more than others. This Article fills that gap by suggesting and critically evaluating potential justifications for this practice. As the analysis in this Article reveals, while a number of potential justifications are ultimately unconvincing, others are persuasive. Given the existence of several satisfactory justifications, the practice of disallowing reliance on informal guidance ought to be continued with some critical modifications. In particular, this Article proposes specific reform options that would assist unsophisticated taxpayers without undermining any compelling justifications for generally forbidding reliance on informal advice.


In order to improve the methodologies for objective evaluation of rabbit meat production a series of linear measurements have been carried out on rabbit carcasses, integrated by the carcass commercial traits usually evaluated at slaughter. Ninety-six crossbred rabbits (New Zealand White x Californian) were weaned at 28 d (LW 493±63 g), slaughtered at 77 d (LW 2167±157 g) and carcasses prepared by removing blood, skin, distal legs, urinary bladder and gastrointestinal tract. The average dressing out percentage (59.7±8.1%) was calculated. Carcasses were the n refrigerated at 2°C for 24 h and average cold carcass weight (CCW) 24 h after slaughter resulted 1179±96 g. Head, lungs, thymus gland, trachea, heart and liver were removed and the conformation, fatness and colour of carcasses was classified, by visual examination, using a scale of 5 ± scores. Averages of some linear measurements effectuated on cold carcasses resulted: body length 32.8±1.0 cm, loin width 12.4±0.7 cm, chest width 9.0±0.4 cm, carcass length 26.9±1.0 cm, chest depth 6.5±0.6 cm and leg length 16.5±0.8. Carcasses were then dissected to measure fat content and muscle to bone ratio. The average coefficients of correlation (r) calculated between the linear measurements and the dressing out percentage of carcasses resulted: body length 0.659; loin width – 0.063; chest width 0.347; carcass length 0.633; chest depth 0.844; and leg length 0.392.The main linear measurements of carcasses could represent an additional tool for supporting the evaluation of rabbit meat production.


In this article, we investigate how the linguistic landscape serves as an important strategy among a diaspora community not only to maintain a transnational identity but also to construct a unique identity in the recipient society. We examine the linguistic landscape in the Ethiopian diaspora of Washington DC, referred to as "Little Ethiopia", which provides an interesting site to investigate the role of the linguistic landscape in constructing an imaginary community built on the myth of the old homeland, including a unique African identity in a new homeland with other Africans as well as African Americans. Serving as a rich source of data for investigating language, culture and identity, the linguistic landscape in "Little Ethiopia" encompasses many semiotic resources. This Ethiopian transnational community engages in (re)constructing socio-cultural and political ideologies through the linguistic landscape.


Mobile technologies and wireless communication experienced a rapid development over the last decade, with many industrial sectors realising the benefits of mobile collaboration. The advantages of using mobile computing are in the ability to share data remotely in real time, reduce rework and paperwork, being able to solve problems on site, construct accurate databases by the timely and continuous collection of data, improve the quality of information, and decrease operational costs. Mobile technologies are now widely available offering good opportunities to the con-struction industry to work collaboratively. Due to the limitation in computational resources of mobile devices, the use of visualisation of design documents through mobiles has not been investigated in detail. However, mobile devices for the visual representation of design documents and specifications may offer new opportunities for accessing and moni-toring the construction remotely. The latest developments in mobile hardware and software enable unconditional ac-cess to 2D and 3D design information and corresponding documents. Mobile visualisation and visual communication may completely change collaboration between the project stakeholders during the execution of the construction activi-ties. The main aim of this research is to investigate the use of mobile communication and visualisation technologies during the exchange of information between design teams based in the office and construction sites with a focus of achieving real-time collaboration. This paper presents the development of a "Collaborative Mobile Visualisation in Construction (MobVisCon)" framework based on knowledge from the literature, results of a detailed industry survey, and construc-tion scenarios. Results from the application of the MobVisCon framework on a live construction project case study are also presented.


The kinase Tao-1 promotes activation of the Hippo pathway. The Hippo signaling pathway limits cell proliferation and restricts organ and tissue growth. Activation of the kinase Hippo (Hpo) stimulates the downstream kinase Warts (Wts) to phosphorylate Ser168 of the transcription factor Yorkie (Yki), thus inactivating it. Hpo is a Sterile 20-like family kinase, leading Boggiano et al. to investigate whether other kinases in this family participated in Hippo signal transduction. An RNA interference (RNAi) screen in Drosophila revealed that loss of Tao-1 led to larger than normal wing and eye imaginal discs. In addition, Tao-1 deficiency resulted in increased transcription of Hippo pathway target genes. Tao-1 phosphorylated Hpo at Thr195 (which activates Hpo), and genetic interaction and biochemistry assays revealed that overexpression of Tao-1 in the wing increased phosphorylation of Wts, the downstream target of Hpo and a measure of Hippo pathway activation. The cytoplasmic proteins Merlin (Mer) and Expanded (Ex) promote the activation of Hpo. Depletion of Mer or Ex did not decrease Tao-1–mediated phosphorylation of Wts, whereas depletion of Tao-1 prevented phosphorylation of Wts in cells overexpressing Mer and Ex, suggesting that Mer and Ex function upstream of Tao-1. To identify regulators of the Hippo pathway, Poon et al. performed an RNAi screen in a Drosophila yki transgenic line that expressed a constitutively active form of Yki, which results in larger eyes, a phenotype that was accentuated by knockdown of Tao-1. Furthermore, Tao-1 depletion in third-instar larval eye discs caused normally quiescent cells to become mitotic and increased the numbers of interommatidial cells, effects that are also seen with increased activation of Yki. As indicated by various Yki reporter genes, knockdown of Tao-1 in wing imaginal discs elicited increased Yki activity, which required the kinase activity of Tao-1 as well as its coiled-coil and central domains. Overexpression of wts and the Hippo pathway scaffold protein Salvador (Sav) causes a small eye phenotype, which was enhanced with overexpression of Tao-1, an effect that required the kinase activity of Tao-1. Overexpression of Tao-1 increased phosphorylation of Yki at Ser168, which required the presence of Hpo. The mammalian ortholog of Hpo is MST1/2, and TAO1 phosphorylated MST1/2 in vitro. Thus, these studies show that Tao-1 phosphorylates Hpo to promote activation of the Hippo pathway, a function that may be evolutionarily conserved. J. C. Boggiano, P. J. Vanderzalm, R. G. Fehon, Tao-1 phosphorylates Hippo/MST kinases to regulate the Hippo-Salvador-Warts tumor suppressor pathway. Dev. Cell 21, 888–895 (2011). [PubMed] C. L. C. Poon, J. I. Lin, X. Zhang, K. F. Harvey, The sterile 20-like kinase Tao-1 controls tissue growth by regulating the Salvador-Warts-Hippo pathway. Dev. Cell 21, 896–906 (2011). [PubMed]


We report two direct dates on shell beads from a recent excavation in Lene Hara Cave, East Timor. The significance of these dates lies in the fact that while the shell artefacts were recovered from levels dated to the Pleistocene, they themselves date to approximately 3500 and 4500 BP respectively. The beads have evidently been vertically displaced downward or, alternatively, were part of the contents of a pit or other intrusive feature which was not discernable from visual inspection of the stratigraphy during excavation. We suggest that this is a common problem and has led to dubious claims for pottery in levels dated to 6000 BP or earlier in New Guinea. Direct dating of inclusions in pottery and organic artefacts such as shell beads should be routinely carried out before such claims are published.


This paper presents a proof of concept from which the metaphor of "fair trade" is validated as an alternative to manage the private information of users. Our privacy solution deals with user's privacy as a tradable good for obtaining environmental services. Thus, users gain access to more valuable services as they share more personal information. This strategy, combined with optimistic access control and transaction registry mechanisms, enhances users' confidence in the system while encouraging them to share their information, with the consequent benefit for the community. The study results are promising considering the user responses regarding the usefulness, ease of use, information classification and perception of control with the mechanisms proposed by the metaphor.


This book provides a practical and applied approach to managing costs for foodservice managers and students. For foodservice managers to control costs effectively, they must have a firm grasp of accounting, marketing, and legal issues, as well as food and beverage sanitation, production, and service methods. This fully updated fourth edition of "Food and Beverage Cost Control" provides students and managers with a wealth of comprehensive resources and the specific tools they need to keep costs low and profit margins high. This new edition features the latest information on foodservice cost control in a global setting, addressing relevant cultural, legal, and technological questions.Highlights of this fourth edition include: a new look at international foodservice cost control in the age of globalization, with a special emphasis on using advanced technologies internationally; new leaders are readers! features provide students with additional readings related to key topics and concepts for each chapter; new technology tools have been added throughout the book alongside relevant topics because technology affects practically every aspect of cost control today; expanded and updated Test Your Skills questions help students to reinforce their understanding of the tools and concepts presented; Apply What You Have Learned exercises focus on practical applications of topics and concepts to real-world industry scenarios; a bonus CD-ROM packed with exercises that utilize manager-developed Microsoft[registered] Excel spreadsheets. It also includes a newly created Study Guide that provides several additional resources to help students review the material and exercises to test their knowledge of key topics and concepts. Students in foodservice management courses will find that "Food and Beverage Cost Control, Fourth Edition" provides a modern and focused treatment of this vital subject. Working managers will appreciate this useful reference as a source of ready-to-use forms and formulas that can be easily applied to their operations. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the author(s), who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The information in this report is intended to help health care researchers and funders of research make well-informed decisions in designing and funding research and thereby improve the quality of health care services. This report is not intended to be a substitute for the application of scientific judgment. Anyone who makes decisions concerning the provision of clinical care should consider this report in the same way as any medical research and in conjunction with all other pertinent information, i.e., in the context of available resources and circumstances. This report may be used, in whole or in part, as the basis for research design or funding opportunity announcements. AHRQ or U.S. Department of Health and Human Services endorsement of such derivative products may not be stated or implied. This document is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without permission except those copyrighted materials noted, for which further reproduction is prohibited without the specific permission of copyright holders. None of the investigators has any affiliations or financial involvement that conflicts with the material presented in this report. Preface The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) conducts the Effective Health Care Program as part of its mission to organize knowledge and make it available to inform decisions about health care. As part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Congress directed AHRQ to conduct and support research on the comparative outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of pharmaceuticals, devices, and health care services to meet the needs of Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). AHRQ has an established network of Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) that produce Evidence Reports/Technology Assessments to assist public-and private-sector organizations in their efforts to improve the quality of health care. The EPCs now lend their expertise to the Effective Health Care Program by conducting comparative effectiveness reviews (CERs) of medications, devices, and other relevant interventions, including strategies for how these items and services can best be organized, managed, and delivered. Systematic reviews are the building blocks underlying evidence-based practice; they focus attention on …


ABSTRACT Nasopharyngeal colonization by Streptococcus pneumoniae is a prerequisite for pneumococcal transmission and disease. Current vaccines protect only against disease and colonization caused by a limited number of serotypes, consequently allowing serotype replacement and transmission. Therefore, the development of a broadly protective vaccine against colonization, transmission and disease is desired but requires a better understanding of pneumococcal adaptation to its natural niche. Hence, we measured the levels of free and protein-bound transition metals in human nasal fluid, to determine the effect of metal concentrations on the growth and proteome of S. pneumoniae. Pneumococci cultured in medium containing metal levels comparable to nasal fluid showed a highly distinct proteomic profile compared to standard culture conditions, including the increased abundance of nine conserved, putative surface-exposed proteins. AliA, an oligopeptide binding protein, was identified as the strongest protective antigen, demonstrated by the significantly reduced bacterial load in a murine colonization and a lethal mouse pneumonia model, highlighting its potential as vaccine antigen.


Identifying Elements of Voice and Fostering Voice Development in First-Grade Science Writing McKenna Lucille Maguet Department of Teacher Education, BYU Master of Arts The purpose of this multi case study was to better understand voice in first grade science writing. Voice is the ability for individuals to synchronize specific narrative elements to express themselves with greater confidence and individuality. Three first-grade participants were chosen and their use of voice in science writing was examined across 8 weeks. Specific elements of voice were identified within atypical informational texts for primary grade learners in science. The 7 elements include descriptive words, placement of text and picture, creative punctuation, conversational tone, comparisons, imagery, and repeated text. The 7 voice elements were taught to a class of first-grade students. Findings from this study reveal that first graders can use descriptive words, creative punctuation, and conversational tone in their writing with great success before being formally taught, which indicates that these first graders are comfortable using these voice elements in their writing. These first graders also use text and picture placement, comparisons, and imagery prior to the weeks they are taught but with limited success. These first graders do not use repeated text until being formally taught, which indicates that it is a difficult voice element for them to include in science writing. Hand signals prove to be effective in helping these young children grasp the voice elements. Lessons used in the study are included. Mentor texts with examples of voice elements that children emulated during the study are also included and are helpful for these students. In addition to writing with words, these first graders also convey important information through their pictures. These young students can accomplish the requirements found in the Common Core State Standards to provide an opening, supply 3 facts about a subject, and write a conclusion. However, they can do this with a quality of voice that was not present in their writing prior to the unit.


This paper wants to draw attention on several aspects regarding the causes that led to the emergence of 21st century economic crisis, pointing their implications in the balance of economic-financial mechanisms. In history, on the occasion of economic and/or financial crisis, among their causes there are mentioned causes related to managers' irresponsible actions, managers who, together with accounting professionals, chose to alter accounting data in order to create a more appealing image on the market of the company's financial status. We will underline the role of accounting in system of a more efficient, socially responsible corporatist governing, capable of recreating economic-financial balances and of regaining the confidence of the population in economic values, as well as the role of accounting in "faithfully" reflecting these values.


Additive manufacturing (AM) of drug delivery systems (DDS) is a promising tool for the development of patient-tailored treatments to ensure exact formation of individual scaffolds with specific incorporated drug combinations and concentrations. This study describes a novel hybrid AM process, combining stereolithography and inkjet printing, for printing a basic Polyethylene Glycol Diacrylate (PEGDA) DDS body and placing the model drug acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) in different drug depot locations. Adjusting the drug release by drug depot positioning according to drug diffusion is being investigated. The drug release rates from first 3D printed samples are being shown.


Linear motors are widely used in cryogenic fields to drive Stirling-type cryocoolers. Generally the Joule heat loss associated with copper lead is considered as the main loss in motors while the iron loss is ignored at a lower frequency operation, not only because it's regarded as small enough but also it's difficult to measure or calculate. This paper introduces an experimental method to measure the iron loss for linear motors. Two kinds of movingmagnet linear motors have been tested, one is known as single coil and magnet linear motor, and the other as double coils and magnets linear motor. Dependence of iron loss on frequency and displacement are investigated. Results show that there is a 1.6 power exponent relation between iron loss and frequency in the single-coil movingmagnet linear motor, and its iron loss come to be the same as copper loss at 75 Hz, it even grows to 1.65 times of copper loss at 100Hz. As for the double coils and magnets linear motor, there is a 1.3 power exponent relation between iron loss and frequency, and its iron loss percentage is only 15% at 120 Hz compared with 68% in the single-coil linear motor. Iron loss is proved to be significant in linear motors especially at higher frequency.


The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex Laskey, who were inspired by Robert Cialdini's behavioral science research showing that people's normative beliefs - and messaging tailored to those beliefs - had a powerful and measurable impact on their energy-conserving behaviors. Yates and Laskey redesigned the home energy bill to include normative messaging, including feedback on how consumers' energy usage compares to their neighbors' usage. Through early trials of the program, the electrical utilities began seeing 1.5% to 3.5% savings in energy usage, almost immediately. After the rapid success of OPOWER's first three years, Yates and Laskey wondered whether their approach would produce sustainable results: what strategy should they pursue to ensure that consumers continue to read and respond to the normative messaging in the "Energy Bill 2.0"?Learning Objective: Use with OPOWER: Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (A).


In this article I consider the epistemic injustice of colonialism. I define epistemic injustice as a form of cultural injustice that occurs when the concepts and categories by which a people understand themselves and their world is replaced or adversely affected by the concepts and categories of the colonizers. A deep problem today for the sufferers of epistemic injustice is that western categories both have an undeniable universal potential and they are fully intermingled with the specificity of western practices; worse, they bear a deep imprint of western domination and hegemony. I thus argue that we can neither ignore western ideas nor fully show how they can be rescued from the pernicious effects of their own imperial imprint.


Children's voices have been diluted in the court system, as the dominant paradigm in children's legal theory has too often overlooked the voices of our youth. The dilution of children's voices in the courtroom is not only disempowering and disenfranchising to children, but is also misguided. In the United States, there is no uniform standard for the role of the child's attorney. Instead there are multiple models of lawyering for children throughout the states. This Article first examines the currently existing American child attorney paradigms through the lens of international norms and the written ideals of the CRC treaty, arguing that without the child's right to be heard codified into American law, the United States is not consonant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the - CRC), Article 12. The Article then examines the laws of New York State as an additional backdrop and also to propose forward-thinking and child rights-oriented statutes. Ultimately, this article emphasizes the fundamental importance and essence of listening to our children's true voices in the courtroom. Until children can be fully heard, their voices remain absent, or at best diluted, from the very legal system intended to help them.


EDITORIAL
Environmental pollution arising from heavy metals and minerals in the wastewater is the most serious problem. Due to extensive anthropogenic activities such as industrial operations particularly mining, agricultural processes and disposal of industrial waste materials; their concentration has increased to dangerous levels. Heavy metals in industrial effluent include nickel, chromium, lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium, selenium and uranium. A wide variety of toxic inorganic and organic chemicals are discharged into the environment as industrial wastes, causing serious water, air, and soil pollution. Water pollution caused by toxic heavy metal ions has become a serious environmental problem. Heavy metals are natural constituents of the earth crust and present in the environment as a result of weathering and erosion of parent rocks. In addition to natural sources, they are introduced in the ecosystems through wastewaters originating from anthropogenic sources such as chemical manufacturing, metal finishing, welding, alloys manufacturing, painting, mining, extractive metallurgy, plating, tannery battery industry and from agriculture using fertilizers and pesticides (Bradl, 2005). These toxic metal ions, even at low concentrations, have deteriorated water resources and drinking water and easily accumulated in the human body through the food chain, causing a variety of diseases and disorders. So, it is necessary to remove these metal ions from industrial effluents for their subsequent safe disposal. The removal of heavy metal ions from wastewaters has been a subject of extensive industrial research. Different methods, such as precipitation, solvent extraction, chemical and electrochemical techniques, ion-exchange methods ultra filtration and reverse osmosis, flotation and coagulation have been established for the removal of toxic metal ions from industrial effluents and wastewaters. However, most of these processes are unacceptable, owing to the disposal of sludge, their high cost, low efficiency and inapplicability to a wide range of pollutants (Emamjomeh and Sivakumar, 2009). So, various readily available natural materials were reviewed as adsorbents of heavy metals from industrial wastewater.
Adsorption is one of the alternatives for such cases and is an effective purification and separation technique used in industry especially in water and wastewater treatments. Cost is an important parameter for comparing the adsorbent materials. Therefore, there is increasing research interest in using alternative low-cost adsorbents. Ion exchange is probably one of the major adsorption mechanisms for binding divalent metal ions to the walnut sawdust. Novel adsorbents and membrane filtration are the most frequently studied and widely applied for the treatment of metal-contaminated wastewater. However, in the near future, the most promising methods to treat such complex systems will be the photo catalytic ones which consume cheap photons from the UV-near visible region. They induce both degradation of organic pollutants and recovery of metals in one-pot systems. Adsorption on solid-solution interface is an important means for controlling the extent of pollution due to heavy metal ions. The use of activated carbon and ion exchange resins is not suitable for developing countries due to their high capital and operational costs. This has encouraged research into discovery of materials that are both efficient and cheap. Interest has recently arisen in the investigation of some unconventional methods and low cost materials for scavenging heavy metal ions from industrial waste waters from industry.
Materials such as silica gel and bentonite are of great interest as their cost is less and are also available abundantly (Rengaraj and Moon, 2002). However, there are many cases in which these do not adsorb metals efficiently; therefore it becomes necessary to modify these materials by using suitable method. Silica gel cross linked with bentonite composite may effectively remove trace elements such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Cd, Pb, and Mn from contaminated water (Jal et al., 2004).
Composites can be defined as natural or synthesized materials which are made from two or more materials having significantly different physical and chemical properties.  Such materials remain well defined, separate and distinct at the microscopic or macroscopic scale within the material and can also be regenerated after their use through the process of desorption. Moreover, very high reactivity of composite materials and their excellent selectivity towards specific pollutant makes them a promising and attractive adsorbent for the removal of various kinds of pollutants(Jiuhui, 2008).
In recent years, polymer nanocomposites have attracted the attention of scientists and technologists in water purification due to improved processability, surface area, stability, tunable properties, and cost effectiveness (Pandey et al., 2017). The purpose to synthesize composites is to combine the desired properties of the materials. In nano composite, the nano particles (such as clay, metal, carbon nano tubes, etc.) play the role of filler in the matrix. Combined properties are shown by Polymer–clay composites; which represent an improvement in thermal, mechanical and porosity properties compared with the homogenous characteristics of the bare individual clay and polymer components (Bulut and Tez, 2007).
In Pakistan, the provision of safe water is lacking in most areas of the country. Water pollution is damaging the ecosystems and the aquatic life. The need of the hour is to deploy effective water treatment strategies for the removal of heavy metals from water sources.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Iqbal, M.N, Ashraf, A., 2018. Environmental Pollution: Heavy Metals Removal from Water Sources. Int. J. Altern. Fuels. Energy., 2(1): 14-15.
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ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the main cause of bronchiolitis, the major cause of hospitalization of infants. An ideal RSV vaccine would be effective for neonates, but the immune responses of infants differ markedly from those of adults, often showing a bias toward T-helper 2 (Th2) responses and reduced gamma interferon (IFN-γ) production. We previously developed recombinant RSV vectors expressing IFN-γ and interleukin-4 (IL-4) that allow us to explore the role of these key Th1 and Th2 cytokines during infection. The aim of the current study was to explore whether an immunomodulation of infant responses could enhance protection. The expression of IFN-γ by a recombinant RSV vector (RSV/IFN-γ) attenuated primary viral replication in newborn mice without affecting the development of specific antibody or T-cell responses. Upon challenge, RSV/IFN-γ mice were protected from the exacerbated disease observed for mice primed with wild-type RSV; however, antiviral immunity was not enhanced. Conversely, the expression of IL-4 by recombinant RSV did not affect virus replication in neonates but greatly enhanced Th2 immune responses upon challenge without affecting weight loss. These studies demonstrate that it is possible to manipulate infant immune responses by using cytokine-expressing recombinant viruses and that neonatal deficiency in IFN-γ responses may lead to enhanced disease during secondary infection.


JAMA Internal Medicine is a peer-reviewed, primary source journal publishing a broad spectrum of articles relevant to everyday patient care in general internal medicine and subspecialty areas. Articles published in JAMA Internal Medicine provide the theoretical background essential to sound clinical decision making. JAMA Internal Medicine features at least one key review article on current clinical topics in every issue, as well as editorials and commentaries.


Summary On-line service providers and their users have suffered from various sophisticated attacks on user authentication. There is a strong desire to develop and implement more secure authentication schemes to protect web services against security threats. Intensive work has been done trying to improve upon traditional password authentication, resulting in two-factor authentication, session key exchanging schemes and time dynamic password schemes. However, these schemes have been proved not effective, due to their security design or additional overheads. In this paper, we proposed a secure dynamic user authentication scheme. Unlike the traditional password authentication (where a static password is used) or two-factor authentication (which requires the user's password and another pieces of time-dynamic authentication information), our proposed authentication scheme will be based on a dynamic one-time password (OTP), which is generated by the user's password, the authenticating time, as well as a unique property that represents the user's location at the moment of authentication (for example, the MAC address of the machine that the user uses for authentication). Compared with traditional OTPs which are only time-dynamic, the proposed scheme is based on both time and space (location). It is thus called TSPass. As we will analyze, our TSPass authentication improves upon two-factor authentication and other currently known authentication schemes, and effectively protect user's account against various attacks (including phishing attack, reply attack, and perfect-man-in-the-middle attack). Our testing and simulation work show that the proposed authentication is efficient and user friendly.


Synthetic procedures have been developed for efficient preparation of caroteinoid choline-ester analogues and phospholipids. One series of choline-esters and one series of phospholipids were based on β-apo-8'-carotenic acid, whereas another series of phospholipids was based on retinoic acid. The final products generally had good surfactant properties. In addition, hydrophilic carotenoids derived from sodium and potassium β-apocarotenoates, carotenoid-oxime salts, and norbixin and its potassium salts were prepared and examined for their surfactant properties. Selected carotenoid choline-ester analogues and phospholipids were examined for their potential use as transfection agents. The carotenoid compounds were as effective as commercial standards concerning complexation and protection of nucleic acids. Preliminary biological confirm the transfection activity of the new carotenoid lipids. A novel method for radical induction was examined. Stable radicals were observed at room temperature upon addition of small amounts of base to DMF or DMSO, contradicting earlier claims of their inertness. The reaction of radicals with polyene-carbonyl compounds resulted in electrontransfer to the polyenes, forming reduced anions or radical anions. The synthetic potential of this reaction was also demonstrated. Pyran-groups operate as strong auxochromes in polyene-dyes. A new method for the synthesis of pyranocarotenoids has been developed, by reacting different polyene dicarbonyl compounds with Lewis acids.


Abstract Background: This paper examines factors influencing physicians' decisions to practise in rural communities as well as the results of a programme focused on rural recruitment and retention. Methods: Data from two sources were analysed and discussed: 1) telephone interviews with 20 of 33 (61%) recently located rural physicians regarding practice and community factors influencing their practice decisions and 2) a database of 107 graduates of a rural medical education programme who have been in practice for at least three years to examine specialty choice and practice location(s), including moves from their original practice sites. Results: Most rural physicians in this study decided to practise in rural areas because of family ties. Eighty per cent of the physicians participating in the interviews mentioned no negative personal or family factors related to their community of practice. Outcome data on graduates from the rural medical education programme are encouraging. Over 70% opt for primary care and rural practice. Over 80% have remained in their original rural practice location. Conclusion: Keys to success in rural physician retention seem to include identifying and recruiting medical students of rural origin and focusing on a healthy practice environment. Policy makers need to work with local government, schools and employers to offer programmes that provide information on health careers in rural areas and begin to identify local youth for induction in rural health care.


Visualization of large data sets, especially on small machines, requires advanced techniques in image processing and image generation. Our hybrid raytracer is capable of rendering volumetric and geometric data simultaneously, without loss of accuracy due to data conversion. Compound data sets, consisting of several types of data, are called "hybrid data sets". There is only one rendering pipeline to obtain loss-less and efficient visualization of hybrid data. Algorithms apply to both types of data. Optical material properties are stored in the same data base for both volumetric and geometric objects, and anti-aliasing methods appeal to both data types. Stereoscopic display routines have been added to obtain true three-dimensional visualization on various media, and animation features allow generation of recordable 3-D sequences.


Variable stiffness actuators realize a novel class of actuators, which are capable of changing the apparent output stiffness independently of the output position. This is mechanically achieved by the internal introduction of a number of elastic elements and a number of actuated degrees of freedom (DOFs), which determine how the elastic elements are sensed at the output. During the nominal behavior of these actuators, the power flow from the internal actuated DOFs can be such that energy is undesirably stored in the elastic elements because of the specific kinematic structure of the actuator. In this study, we focus on the analysis of the power flow in variable stiffness actuators. More specifically, the analysis is restricted to the kinematic structure of the actuators, in order to show the influence of the topological structure on the power flow, rather than on the realization choices. We define a measure that indicates the ratio between the total amount of power that is injected by the internal actuated DOFs and the power that is captured by the internal elastic elements which, therefore, cannot be used to do work on the load. In order to define the power-flow ratio, we exploit a generic port-based model of variable stiffness actuators, which highlights the kinematic properties of the design and the power flows in the actuator structure.


Liturgical deductions based on the continuity and discontinuity of Passover Holy Communion The Service of the Word constitutes the climax and junction of the liturgy during the service, and the Communion is the crucial confirmation and appropriation of the core of Scripture, namely Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The question is whether liturgic deductions for the purpose of enriching the celebration of the Holy Communion can result from a consideration of the continuity and the discontinuity of Passover and the Communion of our Lord. A literature study was employed in the investigation of this question. Passover is probably the one Old Testamentical festival that is of importance for research regarding the Holy Communion, precisely because Jesus consciously chose the time of Passover to instate the Communion. Liturgical deductions are amongst other things made regarding both festivals as celebration of the great acts of redemption in history, the eating of bread and the drinking of wine during both festivals, the eschatological elements in both festivals and the elements of commemoration, proclamation and expectation in both festivals. In each instance the continuity and discontinuity are considered as well. Article text in Afrikaans


The purpose of this study is to share the voices of healthcare graduate students participating in an interprofessional course experience, particularly as their voice relate to fundamental healthcare issues care embodied in the Triple Aims. Two research questions guided study efforts: (1) how do graduate students perceive the value of interprofessional learning experiences for their professional development as future healthcare providers? and (2) based on these experiences, how do students perceive the potential for interprofessional teams to address the Triple Aims of health care? This study was based on the qualitative approach of inductive thematic coding (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings indicated that course experiences led to favorable perspectives towards interprofessional practice, with students citing particular benefits regarding more effective and efficient patient service. Students also perceived that interprofessional healthcare would advance current practice regarding the first two triple aims (patient healthcare outcomes and patient satisfaction) due its focus on patient-centered care, improved provider communication, and better-informed treatment decisions. Regarding the third triple aim (reduced costs), students noted that healthcare cost savings were possible, but these must be viewed with a macro lens from a long-term perspective.


GPU programmers suffer from programmer-managed GPU memory because both performance and programmability heavily depend on GPU memory allocation and CPU-GPU data transfer mechanisms. To improve performance and programmability, programmers should be able to place only the data frequently accessed by GPU on GPU memory while overlapping CPU-GPU data transfers and GPU executions as much as possible. However, current GPU architectures and programming models blindly place entire data on GPU memory, requiring a significantly large GPU memory size. Otherwise, they must trigger unnecessary CPU-GPU data transfers due to an insufficient GPU memory size. In this paper, we propose GPUdmm, a novel GPU architecture to enable high-performance and memory-oblivious GPU programming. First, GPUdmm uses GPU memory as a cache of CPU memory to provide programmers a view of the CPU memory-sized programming space. Second, GPUdmm achieves high performance by exploiting data locality and dynamically transferring data between CPU and GPU memories while effectively overlapping CPU-GPU data transfers and GPU executions. Third, GPUdmm can further reduce unnecessary CPU-GPU data transfers by exploiting simple programmer hints. Our carefully designed and validated experiments (e.g., PCIe/DMA timing) against representative benchmarks show that GPUdmm can achieve up to five times higher performance for the same GPU memory size, or reduce the GPU memory size requirement by up to 75% while maintaining the same performance.


This study uses detailed soil and vegetation data collected in a 30-ha old-growth broad-leaved Korean pine forest to study the effect of soil properties on tree community structures. Spatial distribution patterns are simulated using a homogeneous Poisson process (HomP) and a homogeneous Thomas process (HomT). The simulated distributions are compared with the observed ones to explore correlations between certain tree species and several soil elements. The HomP model shows that all tested tree species are significantly correlated with at least one principal component in the upper-layer soil elements. The HomT model shows that only 36.4% of tree species are significantly correlated with the principal component of at least one upper-layer soil element. This result shows that the impact of dispersal limitation is greater than impact of environmental heterogeneity on species spatial distributions. The spatial autocorrelation of species induced by the dispersal limitation will largely conceal the plant-soil relationships caused by the heterogeneity of soil elements. An additional analysis shows that the elements in the upper soil layer which have the greatest impact on community niche structure are Pb, total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), Cu, Cr, Zn and available nitrogen (AN). The corresponding elements in the lower soil layers are Pb, TP, Cu, organic carbon (OC), Mn, total potassium (TK) and AN. Different species seem to be complementary regarding the demands on the available soil resources. The results of this study show that the tree species in the different growth groups have different habitat preferences. Compared with subcanopy and shrub species, the canopy species have more significant correlations with the soil elements.


Human serum pseudocholinesterase (PChE) has been widely studied for its genetic polymorphism, but studies defining its physiological role have not been successful. The origin of plasma PChE is the liver. Human serum PChE has been reported to be increased in hyperlipoproteinemia and obesity. -- A relationship between food assimilation and PChE was proposed on the basis of dietary experiments in mice. Further studies in hyperphagic obese mice showed that both serum and liver PChE activity increased in response to overeating. However, adipose tissue PChE activity is decreased in obese mice. -- Whether such alterations are evident in genetically (Zucker) fat (fa/fa) rats is not known. What is the age of obviously altered PChE activity in the liver and adipose tissue of the postweanling genetically obese (ob/ob) mouse? What is the sub-cellular location of PChE in the liver of ob/ob mice? Whether dietary protein, carbohydrate, or fat influences PChE induction in the liver is not clear. What effect does specific inhibition of PChE have on epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis? -- Male fa/fa rats and ob/ob mice were used as experimental models of obesity and diabetes. Dietary studies were done in male Swiss-Webster mice. Isolated rat adipocytes were used to study the effect of specific inhibition of PChE on epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis in vitro. -- PChE was determined by a colorimetric method. Sub-cellular changes in liver PChE of ob/ob mice were analyzed by a cytochemical method for electron microscopy. Rate of glycerol release was used as an indicator of rate lipolysis. Glycerol was determined by a colorimetric enzymatic method. -- Serum and liver PChE activity is significantly higher (P<0.01) in fa/fa rats when compared to lean rats. Adipose tissue PChE activity was not significantly different between the two groups. Linear regression analysis showed that serum PChE activity has a good positive correlation with liver PChE activity, serum triglycerides, body weight and food intake. -- Liver PChE activity was significantly higher (P<0.05) in ob/ob mice than in lean littermates as early as 23 days of age. Adipose tissue PChE activity was, on the other hand, significantly lower (P<0.05) in ob/ob mice than in lean littermates as early as 23 days of age. By cytochemical electron microscopy, increased staining for PChE was observed in the rough endoplasmic reticulum of ob/ob mice. Albino mice with different diets showed that high protein diets produced the greatest increase in PChE activity in the liver compared to high carbohydrate or high fat diets. Mice fed a normal mouse diet ad libitum had significantly higher (P<0.05) liver PChE activity than those fed a restricted diet of 2g of normal mouse chow per day. In albino mice, liver PChE activity varied directly with the protein content in the diet. -- A significantly higher (P<0.05) release of glycerol from rat adipocytes was observed, as expected, in the presence of epinephrine when compared to basal conditions. Propranolol, a beta-adrenoreceptor blocker, decreased the release of glycerol significantly (P<0.05) and also inhibited PChE. The specific PChE inhibitor tetramoneisopropylpyrophosphoramide (Iso-OMPA) also significantly decreased (P<0.05) the epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis. Purified horse serum PChE showed no lipase activity and Iso-OMPA had no significant effect on the lipase activity of purified triacylglycerol acylhydrolase (lipase) in vitro. -- Genetically obese (fa/fa) rats show alterations in PChE activity similar to that observed in obese human beings and mice. Liver and adipose tissue PChE activity are altered in ob/ob mice before frank expression of obesity is evident. Increased synthesis is the apparent cause of increased liver PChE activity in the ob/ob mouse. Further confirmation requires studies using immune-precipitation techniques. Dietary studies suggest that liver PChE induction is a function of the level of protein in the diet. Specific inhibition of PChE causes a decrease in epinephrine-stimulated lipolysis. The effect of propranolol and Iso-OMPA suggest a relationship between PChE and the beta-adrenoreceptor in adipose tissue.


Synthetic dyes have a hurtful effect on human health and the environment. In this work, activated carbon was produced from date stones for use in elimination of methylene blue charged in aqueous solutions. Before that, the adsorbent was characterized by BET method, SEM, X-ray and TGA. The results of the adsorption kinetics are describe better with the pseudo-second order model (R2= 0.998). Frendlich adsorption isotherm model describe better the experimental data than the Langmuir model. The capacity for methylene blue removal was found to be 163.67 mg/g. Batch experiments studies show that the activated carbon produced as of date stones can be used effectively in the treatment of cationic dyes in aqueous solutions.


The aim of this article is to discuss the relationship between economic sociology and economic policiespolicy. In the last decades, economic sociology has made significant achievements in terms of theory and research, but its influence on policies policy has remained weak. While this was inevitable in earlier decades, when scholars had to concentrate most of their effort on defining the role and contribution of economic sociology, it has since become a constraint for the institutionalization and recognition of the discipline. The return to economic sociology, since the 1980s, has brought about important theoretical achievements, especially in the analysis of economic organization at the micro level in terms of social and cultural embeddedness. The role of social relations in contemporary economy has clearly emerged, but its implications for policies to promote economic development have remained more latent so far. Although a weaker institutionalization and a poorer connection to policymaking certainly affect the political influence of economic sociology in comparison to economics, the paper focuses on the research perspective. A shift of the research focus from the statics to the dynamics of economic organization could be useful. In this framework, particular attention is drawn to the study of local development and innovation through a closer relationship of economic sociology with comparative political economy. A separation between these two approaches does not favor a full exploitation of the potential contribution of economic sociology to policies.


In this paper, we explore the trade-off Europe faces when choosing between immigration from poor countries and welfare spending. Using data from the European Social Survey on sixteen countries from 2002–2012, we document that voter preferences shifted in favor of redistribution but polarized over low-skill immigration. Notably, there is a sharp increase in the share of individuals supporting the welfare state but heavily opposing immigration. In order to provide an economic explanation for these phenomena, we present a model where support for both immigration and redistributive policies are potentially motivated by altruism. Using this model, we show how rising unemployment rates, shares of foreign-born citizens and aggregate education can explain observed shifts in policy preferences. JEL Classification: F22, H2, O15


Bioimage Informatics is a rapidly growing research field that is giving fundamental contributions to research in biology and biomedicine aiming at facilitating the extraction of quantitative information from images. Great advances in biological tissue labeling and microscopic imaging are radically changing how biologists visualize and study the molecular and cellular structures. These devices nowadays produce terabyte-sized multi-dimensional images: how to automatically and efficiently extract objective knowledge from such images has become a major challenge. In this manuscript we analyze the state-of-the-art of Bioimage Informatics, with a special focus on neuroscience. We show that there are increasing efforts to deliver methods and software tools providing functionalities for visualization, representation, management and analysis of 3D multichannel images. Nevertheless, most of them have been applied on datasets with size of MVoxel or few GVoxel, where the variations in contrast, illumination, as well as object shape and dimensions are limited. The huge dimensions of new 3D image stacks therefore ask for fully automated processing methods, whose parameters should be dynamically adapted to different regions in the volume. In this respect, this manuscript deepens in a recent contribution that digitally charts the Purkinje cells of whole mouse cerebellum, corresponding to an image dataset of 120 GVoxels.


Context: The Royal College of Physicians of London and the West African College of Physicians have a long history of collaboration with a focus on postgraduate education. The Millennium Development Goal 6 Partnership for African Clinical Training (M-PACT) Clinical Course project was undertaken to improve the theoretical and practical knowledge base in the pertinent diseases of the Millennium Developments Goals (MDG 6): Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and medical leadership. Aim: To assess the impact of the training on everyday practice of the participants at least six months' post training. Material and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was used to execute this study between April to May 2016. A self-administered questionnaire was used for this study. Questionnaires were distributed using SurveyMonkey®. Data were analyzed using SurveyMonkey® Analysis Tool and Microsoft Excel Sheet. Results: A total of 73 trainees from six different courses responded to the survey. Majority (76.06%) of all respondents were from tertiary facilities. The survey revealed a positive influence on the clinical practice of participants, on prescription patterns, diagnostic approaches, and case findings in the community. A number of new concepts such as "Doctors as Leaders" were learned by the participants with over 80% of respondents desiring further trainings in leadership. Conclusion: The M-PACT courses had changed the knowledge base of the participants with more confident diagnosis, management and prescribing reported as a result. We suggest that this format for postgraduate teaching is important not only in West Africa, but throughout sub-Saharan Africa.


Part-of-speech (POS) tagging plays an important role in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Its applications can be found in many other NLP tasks such as named entity recognition, syntactic parsing and text chunking. Recent studies for common languages such as English and French gain very high precision for this core NLP task. However, current results for less common language like Vietnamese are not as good as for those languages. In our investigation, we utilized the techniques of two widely used toolkits, ClearNLP and Stanford POS Tagger, and made two new taggers to compare with three well-known Vietnamese taggers, namely JVnTagger, vnTagger and RDRPOSTagger. We created a unique evaluation scheme to make a systematic comparison and investigate that which tagger has the best accuracy and speed. The comparison revealed that our two new taggers built from ClearNLP and Stanford POS Tagger make overall accuracies of 94.50% and 94.39%, respectively, and outperform all other toolkits. Moreover, in our speed testing, RDRPOSTagger produces an impressive tagging speed and performs significantly faster than any other stochastic taggers.


We report explicitly a novel family of exact PT-symmetric solitons and further study their spontaneous PT symmetry breaking, stabilities and collisions in Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in a PT-symmetric harmonic trap and a Hermite-Gaussian gain/loss potential. We observe the significant effects of mean-field interaction by modifying the threshold point of spontaneous PT symmetry breaking in Bose-Einstein condensates. Our scenario provides a promising approach to study PT-related universal behaviors in non-Hermitian quantum system based on the manipulation of gain/loss potential in Bose-Einstein condensates.


This article investigates perception of postgraduate students towards open access publication in two research institutions in Malaysia. A descriptive survey was used in the study which involves 121 respondents from 500 sample population sent instrument to from both Universities. A simple random techniques was used for the study. Data were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation, independent sample t-test and One-way analysis of variance tests (ANOVA) was employed to determine if there is a statistically significant mean differences in perceived usefulness and perceived effectiveness of OA publications between ages of postgraduate students. The findings revealed why postgraduate scholars should embrace Open Access publication for wider visibility and reproducibility of academic research and development. The results also shows that majority of the respondents were of mean age of 2.67 and highest age bracket was between 26-35 years. However, the sample size of the survey was quite small and further research is needed to determine if similar findings are obtained when other researchers are included in the sample.


This article presents a critical reading of Albert O. Hirschman's typology of exit, voice and loyalty as a heuristic for understanding the changing meanings of exile in the 20th and early 21st centuries. It is argued that Hirschman's experiences as well as the theory he distilled from them are highly relevant for researchers of forced migration and exile. After first defending the usefulness of Hirschman's analytical framework for exile and diaspora studies, the article then highlights the need to revise and complicate his approach. Hirschman could not foresee the emerging global possibilities of cultivating 'the art of voice', new forms of internal and self-exile as a result of post-fascist versions of authoritarianism, and the growing difficulties faced by refugees including, refugee scholars and writers, to exit their countries and find a safe haven somewhere else. The gaps in Hirschman's theory are addressed by drawing on insights from the writings of Judith Shklar.


The structural capacity of 3D printed components mainly depends on the inter‐layer bonding strength between the different layers. This bond strength is affected by many parameters (e.g. moisture content of the substrate, time gap, surface roughness,..) and any mismatch in properties of the cementitious material may lead to early failure. A common technique to improve inter‐layer bonding strength between a substrate and a newly added layer is modifying the  substrate  surface. For  the purpose of  this  research, a  custom‐made 3D printing apparatus  is used  to simulate  the printing process and  layered specimens with a different delay time (0 and 30 minutes) are manufactured with different surface modification techniques (wire brushing, addition of sand or cement and moisturizing substrate layer). The surface roughness was measured and the effect of the modification technique on the inter‐layer‐bonding strength was investigated. Results showed that the most effective way to increase the inter‐layer bonding is increasing the surface roughness by a comb. This creates a kind of interlock system that will provide a higher inter‐layer strength. The compressive strength is most influenced by the addition of cement, where the changing W/C‐ratio will create a higher degree of hydration and consequently a higher strength.


A study of density and porosity is presented for the 1285-m-long AND-1B core recovered from a flexural moat in the McMurdo Sound (Antarctica) in order to interpret sediment consolidation in an ice-proximal location on the Antarctic shelf. Various lithologies imply environmental changes from open marine to subglacial, and are numerically expressed in high-resolution whole-core wet-bulk density (WBD). Grain density data interpolated from discrete samples range from 2.14 to 3.85 g/cm3 and are used to calculate porosity from WBD in order to avoid the 5�15 overestimation and underestimation of porosities obtained by standard methods. The trend of porosity extends from 0.5 near the top (Pleistocene) to 0.2 at the bottom (Miocene). Porosity fluctuations in different lithologies are superimposed with 0.2�0.3 in sequences younger than ca. 1 Ma and 0.5�0.8 in Pliocene diatomites. The AND-1B porosities and void ratios of Pliocene diatomites and Pleistocene mudstones exhibit a large negative offset compared to modern lithological analogs and their consolidation trends. This offset cannot be explained in terms of the effective stress at the AND-1B site. The effective stress ranges from 0 to 4000 kPa in the upper 600 m, and reaches 13,000 kPa at the base of the AND-1B hole. We suggest an excess of effective overburden stress of �1700 and �6000 kPa to explain porosities in Pliocene diatomites and Pleistocene mudstones, respectively. This is interpreted as glacial preconsolidation by subsequently grounded ice sheets under subpolar to polar, followed by colder polar types of glaciations. Information on Miocene consolidation is sparse due to alteration by diagenesis.


This paper describes a power spectrum analyzer whose bandwidth is not limited by the mean sampling time. The procedure is based on the estimation of the spectral components of the autocorrelation function of the input signal through the simultaneous random sampling of the given input signal and its randomly "delayed copy". The samples are therefore randomly taken in a double-dimension space, time and delay. By using a random process in the time domain with a recursive mean previously introduced by the authors in order to avoid any bandwidth limitation due to the sampling strategy, it was shown both theoretically and through simulation that the estimate of the power spectral components is asymptotically unbiased on the unique hypothesis of a synchronized random sampling in the delay domain, i.e. the sampling delays are uniformly distributed in an interval equal to the period of the input signal. The simulation results confirm the theoretical findings.


This book presents the work that has been done to date with the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade, together with a full description and discussion of the model itself. Developed and refined for more than a decade, The Michigan Model is distinguished among general equilibrium trade models not only for its coverage (34 countries and 29 industries) but for its allowance for a wider variety of important short-run interactions among markets and a greater variety of policy parameters and institutional details than many other models permit. The model is intended as a practical tool for policymakers analyzing the effects of measures such as tariffs, taxes, and exchange rate changes on a set of highly disaggregated patterns of production, trade, and employment.Following an introductory chapter that discusses the development and use of The Michigan Model, its theoretical structure is introduced and compared to the theoretical structure of other computational models and its implementation is presented in terms of data requirements and parameters, methods of solution, and application to various issues. Six chapters then explore a number of different applications designed to analyze the effects of the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and post-Tokyo-Round negotiating alternatives, the effects of tariffs on the structure of protection in the U.S. and other major industrialized countries, the effects of domestic tax/subsidies on the structure of protection in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan, the sectoral impact of real exchange-rate changes, and the effect of trade on employment in major industrial countries. A final chapter draws together the lessons of the efforts for computer modeling of trade and for the direction of future research.Alan V. Deardorff is Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Robert M. Stern is Professor of Economics and Public Policy, also at Michigan.


This paper explores the effect of human resource practices on the relationship between locus of control and employee outcomes. Personality is a stable characteristic that employees bring to the work place. It is presumed that locus of control will influence employee outcomes but the strength of its effect will be influenced by the implementation of human resource practices in the organization. Human resource practices were expected to moderate these relationships. Predicted relationships were drawn from prior theory that identified how human resource practices influence employee outcomes and on how locus of control affected employee outcomes. The individual's locus of control was evaluated based on the external and internal continuum. Employee outcomes studied were job satisfaction, trust, employee commitment and organizational citizenship behaviour. Results obtained from 181 questionnaires from respondents in Kenyan public corporations indicated that human resources practices influenced the relationship between locus of control with job satisfaction, employee commitment, trust and organizational citizenship behaviours. Data were analyzed using multiple regression and the moderating effect was shown by the changes in r values. Implications for theory and managerial practice are given. Keywords: Locus of control, Human resource Practices, employee outcomes


This paper explores the effect of transaction costs on aggregate supply and demand and marketed surplus. A five-good non-separable household model is used to illustrate the effect of transaction costs on a generic African household. Then, the paper examines the aggregate behavior of a market consisting of 50 such households with varying production capacities. The simulations reveal that transaction costs not only decrease market surplus but that they can substantially reduce the elasticity of supply and demand. Under other circumstances (when almost all households are net sellers), transaction costs can also make supply and demand more elastic. Finally, the results show that transaction costs generally increase the price elasticity of marketed surplus. The implications for research in agricultural marketing are discussed.


Objectives To explore the impact of Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) training on the stability of medical career choices in the UK. Setting UK Participants Graduates of 2002 and 2008 from all UK medical schools, 1 and 3 years postgraduation. Design Questionnaire surveys were conducted of 2002 and 2008 graduates from all UK medical schools 1 and 3 years post graduation. Main outcome measures Doctors gave their specialty choice(s) and rated the influence of each of 11 factors on their career choice. Results 2008 graduates were a little more likely than graduates of 2002 to retain their year 1 choice in year 3 (77.3% vs. 73.3%; p = 0.002). Among 2008 graduates, the percentage retaining their year 1 choice varied between 42% (clinical oncology) and 79% (general practice). Enthusiasm for a specialty, student experience and inclinations before medical school were associated with choice retention; consideration of domestic circumstances and hours/working conditions were associated with changes of choice. 2008 graduates were more likely than 2002s to be influenced by enthusiasm for a specialty, self-appraisal of their skills, working hours and their domestic circumstances; and less likely to be influenced by their experience of jobs, a particular teacher/department or eventual financial prospects. Conclusions Post-MMC, graduates were less likely to change their career choice and more likely to be motivated by personal factors and self-assessment of their suitability to a particular area of work.


We have isolated a protein, mature RRFHCP, from chloroplasts of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) that shows 46% sequence identity and 66% sequence homology with ribosome recycling factor (RRF) of Escherichia coli. RRF recycles ribosomes through disassembly of the posttermination complex. From the cDNA analysis and from the amino-terminal sequencing of the isolated protein, the mature RRFHCP was deduced to have a Mr of 21,838 with 193 aa. It lacks the 78-aa chloroplast targeting sequence encoded by the RRFHCP cDNA sequence. The RRFHCP synthesized in vitro was imported into isolated chloroplasts with simultaneous conversion to the mature RRFHCP. Transcription of the gene coding for RRFHCP was not dependent on light, yet it was limited mostly to photosynthetic tissues in which only one transcript size was detected. Mature RRFHCP exerted a bactericidal effect on E. coli carrying temperature-sensitive RRF at the permissive temperature whereas wild-type E. coli was not affected.


Youth offenders were juvenile delinquency that offend the law and according to the decision of law they must live in child prison. However, this community culture maybe has influences the development of moral character of youth offender along live in child prisoner. This study were correlational study that tries to reveal the correlation of community culture and character of youth offender by using structured questionnaire about characteristic of 20 youth offender living in jail and School Culture Scale (SCS) to measure youth offender's perception about child prison's community culture. Result of this study shows that there relationship between youth offender's perception of community culture and youth offender character with Pearson correlation is 0,512 significant at 0,05. Character building will be much easier to do in an environment where there good relationship of each other, democratic, responsible, and friendly values are perceived as prevailing values.


The premise of this paper is that risk visualization has the potential to reduce the seemingly irrational behavior of decision makers. In this context, we present a model that enhances our understanding of visualization and how it can be used to support risk based decision making. The contribution of our research stems from the fact that decision making scenarios in business are characterized by uncertainty and a lack of structure. The complexity inherent in such scenarios is manifested in the form of unavailability of information, too many alternatives, inability to quantify alternatives, or lack of knowledge of the payoff matrix. This is particularly prevalent in domains such as investment decision making. Rational decision making in such domains requires a careful assessment of the risk reward payoff matrix. However, individuals cope with such uncertainty by resorting to a variety of heuristics. Prior decision support models have been unsuccessful in dealing with complexity and nuances that have come to typify such heuristic based decision making.


An exploratory study on the prosodic signaling of 'confirmation' in Swedish is presented. Pairs of subjects read short dialogs, constructed around selected target words, in a conversational style. A falling utterance intonation was found on the target word, and the signaling of word prosody (lexical pitch accent) appeared to be, to a certain degree, optional.


The subsidence of foreland basins is classically thought to accelerate with time. However, a synthesis of data from numerous foreland basins recognizes a wide range of signals and rates. Our analysis investigates the influence of two broadly ubiquitous controlling factors: (1) the upward and outward growth of mountain topography and (2) the subduction velocity of the underthrust lithosphere. These two factors have contrasting subsidence signals: The former tends to be slow and decelerates, while the latter is more rapid and accelerates. The geodynamic setting of a foreland basin determines the degrees to which these components dominate the final signal of tectonically induced subsidence. In small collisional mountain ranges, the common asymmetry of subduction defines a pro- and a retro-foreland basin. Based on model experiments and the synthesized data, we demonstrate that pro-foreland basins exhibit short-lived (usually 0.05 km m.y. –1 ), accelerating subsidence histories recording only a portion of the orogenic history of the mountain range; type examples are the Carpathian foredeep and the North Alpine foreland basin. In contrast, retro-foreland basins are characterized by relatively slow (>0.05 km m.y. –1 ), protracted (usually >40 m.y.) subsidence that records the majority of the orogenic history; a good example is the Aquitaine foreland basin. Retro-arc foreland basins such as the Alberta Basin appear comparable to collisional retro-foreland basins. Examples where there is more protracted subsidence appear to record greater evidence of episodic loading and unloading as the topography of the range grows or shrinks in response to the balance between crustal thickening and erosion rates.


The Cottonscope, a new instrument for fiber maturity (MR) and fineness, utilizes polarized light microscopy and image analysis to measure longitudinal, weighted fiber snippets in water. Interest has been expressed by the Commercial Standardization of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) on the potential of using the Cottonscope in CSITC Round Trials. Preliminary CSITC comparative analyses were performed on a set of diverse cotton samples. The AFIS maturity and fineness, HVITM maturity, and Cottonscope maturity (MR) and fineness results were compared. In addition, MR and fineness results were inserted into the Lord equation to obtain calculated micronaire results for each instrument, and the calculated micronaire was compared to HVITM micronaire for each sample. Overall, good instrument trend agreement was observed between the MR and fineness results. For calculated micronaire, the best method agreement to HVITM micronaire was obtained with the Cottonscope instrument. As observed in previous evaluations, the AFIS results were less responsive to changes in MR, fineness, and calculated micronaire compared to the Cottonscope.


Effects of four entomopathogenic nematode strains, i.e., Steinernema carpocapsae All, Steinernema carpocapsae A24, Steinernema feltiae SN, and Heterorhabditis bacteriophora H06, on the oriental fruit fly (OFF), Bactrocera (Bactrocera) dorsalis (Hendel) were investigated both in the laboratory and field. The results showed that among the four tested strains, the strain S. carpocapsae All displayed the strongest pathogenicity. The LD_ 50 and LD_ 95 of S. carpocapsae All in 3 days after treatment against the 3rd instar larvae were 35.0 and 257.1 infective juveniles/cm2 soil, respectively. The index of population trend (I) and the interference index of population control (IIPC) based on the life table with affecting factors in different stages in the field populations of B. (B.) dorsalis were used to evaluate the control efficacy of S. carpocapsae All against OFF. The field results showed that when S. carpocapsae All nemotodes in 300 infective juveniles/cm2 soil were used to treat the soil, the control efficacy in 9 days after treatment against larvae and pupae reached 86.3%; the I value of OFF was 15.5, significantly lower than 105.9 found in the orchard without nematode treatment; and the IIPC value of OFF in the treated orchard was 0.146, which meant that the population density of OFF in next generation in the treated orchard was reduced to 14.6% of the population density of OFF in the control orchard.


Objectives/Research Problem: Tissue engineering (TE) provides an alternative approach in regenerating human tissues for clinical transplantation and drugs development purposes. In principle, TE requires good cell source, compatible biomaterial scaffold and proper signalling factors. Regeneration of intervertebral disc (IVD) structure may be achieved by establishing well-balanced between the above three TE principles. Annulus fibrosus (AF) is a potential cell source for fabrication of IVD-engineered tissue. Anatomically, AF surrounds the inner nucleus pulposus region and forms the outer layer of IVD. Being one of the important IVD structures, much attention has been given to regenerate AF. Expansion of AF cells in monolayer culture is a vital step towards cellular incorporation onto 3D biomaterial scaffold. The present study attempted to evaluate monolayer culture expansion of AF cells at different passages.Materials and Method: The rabbit's AF cells were harvested aseptically according to the IIUM approval (IIUM/IACUCApproval/2015/[5][23]). The cells were cultured from passage 0 (P0) until passage 3 (P3). At each passage, evaluation was performed in terms of cells morphology, viability, growth kinetics, sulphated glycosaminoglycan content, DNA content, standard cytology staining and immunocytochemistry.Results and Discussion: The AF cells appeared spindle-shaped and adopted more fibroblastic traits in culture. At passage 1 (P1), AF demonstrated higher growth rate, lesser cell doubling time and significant sulphated glycosaminoglycan content when compared to other passages. No significant differences were observed in DNA content for all passages. Standard cellular staining and immunocytochemistry findings confirm the presence of pericellular matrix and cartilage specific marker i.e. collagen type II respectively. Presence of collagen type I was also noted, indicative of AF's fibrocartilaginous nature.Conclusion: Current findings suggest expansion of AF at P1 may become a potential cell source for certain application in tissue engineering. Future improvement may be made by adding growth factors to promote the proliferation of AF cells.


What was the Cold War that shook world politics for the second half of the twentieth century? Standard narratives focus on Soviet-American rivalry as if the superpowers were the exclusive driving forces of the international system. Lorenz M. Luthi offers a radically different account, restoring agency to regional powers in Asia, the Middle East and Europe and revealing how regional and national developments shaped the course of the global Cold War. Despite their elevated position in 1945, the United States, Soviet Union and United Kingdom quickly realized that their political, economic, and military power had surprisingly tight limits given the challenges of decolonization, Asian-African internationalism, pan-Arabism, pan-Islamism, Arab–Israeli antagonism, and European economic developments. A series of Cold Wars ebbed and flowed as the three world regions underwent structural changes that weakened or even severed their links to the global ideological clash, leaving the superpower Cold War as the only major conflict that remained by the 1980s.


The restructuring of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) unit during 2006 had been a contentious topic of debate among the South African non-governmental sphere and prosecutors who deal with FCS-related matters and also among members of this unit. This process caused widespread concern among internal and external stakeholders. This research aimed to identify and describe the impact of the restructuring process on this unit's functions to assess the internal and external climate on service delivery. After the re-introduction of this unit to its former structure in 2010 the impact the 2006 restructuring process had on the unit's functions was of importance. This article is a report on the impact of the restructuring process on the internal and external climate of service delivery of data, generated from a sample of FCS members, prominent non-governmental organisations and senior public prosecutors The experiences of the selected sample was probed by means of individual interviews and focus group interviews, using a semi-structured interview schedule, to promote knowledge and understanding of the restructuring process through impact evaluation. From the results of this research, it appeared that the restructuring of this unit had been unsuccessful, since this process had a detrimental effect on the service delivery of the unit as well as on the client system it served. This study was conducted in 2007/08 and was restricted to the West Rand policing area in Gauteng. This study concluded that the restructuring of the FCS impacted negatively on the services rendered by this unit.


In the Lake Superior region of North America, deposition of most banded iron formations (BIFs) ended abruptly 1.85 Ga ago, coincident with the oceanic impact of the giant Sudbury extraterrestrial bolide. We propose a new model in which this impact produced global mixing of shallow oxic and deep anoxic waters of the Paleoproterozoic ocean, creating a suboxic redox state for deep seawater. This suboxic state, characterized by only small concentrations of dissolved O 2 (~1 μ M ), prevented transport of hydrothermally derived Fe(II) from the deep ocean to continental-margin settings, ending an ~1.1 billion-year-long period of episodic BIF mineralization. The model is supported by the nature of Precambrian deep-water exhalative chemical sediments, which changed from predominantly sulfide facies prior to ca. 1.85 Ga to mainly oxide facies thereafter.


The kinase ATM, which is involved in the DNA damage response, is required for the secretion of certain inflammatory factors, such as IL-6, by senescent cells. When cells are exposed to a serious insult, such as ionizing radiation, which causes DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), they become senescent, a state of arrested cellular proliferation that opposes the development of cancer. Such cells exhibit a senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP), which is characterized by the release of factors, such as the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), that reinforce senescence, but can also paradoxically trigger the proliferation of surrounding cells to form tumors. To investigate the mechanisms that trigger the SASP, Rodier et al. studied the effects of low-dose or high-dose x-ray irradiation on human fibroblasts and found that although low doses of radiation resulted in transient DNA DSBs, SASP was not stimulated. In contrast, high-dose radiation led to the formation of persistent DNA damage foci and the onset of the SASP, as determined by measurement of secreted IL-6. Expression of p16, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase that induces cellular senescence without causing DNA DSBs, failed to trigger the SASP, whereas other agents that trigger the DNA damage response (DDR) stimulated the SASP. Knockdown of various components of the DDR, including the kinase ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated), blocked the secretion of some, but not all, of the factors characteristic of the SASP, whereas knockdown of p53, which arrests cellular proliferation during the DDR, had no effect on the SASP. ATM was also required for the secretion of IL-6 in response to oncogene-induced senescence, which also involves the DDR. As Fumagalli and di Fagagna discuss, these findings link ATM and other early components of the DDR with inflammation and potentially with tumor development, links that may provide therapeutic targets. F. Rodier, J.-P. Coppé, C. K. Patil, W. A. M. Hoeijmakers, D. P. Muñoz, S. R. Raza, A. Freund, E. Campeau, A. R. Davalos, J. Campisi, Persistent DNA damage signalling triggers senescence-associated inflammatory cytokine secretion. Nat. Cell Biol. 11, 973–979 (2009). [PubMed] M. Fumagalli, F. d'Adda di Fagagna, SASPense and DDRama in cancer and ageing. Nat. Cell Biol. 11, 921–923 (2009). [PubMed]


Computer programming should be expressing the complicated in easily understandable parts. General languages provide tools and abstractions that allow many different problems to be formulated and solved. Unfortunately, these abstraction only rarely match the problem area precisely, resulting in solutions that are obscured by the need for support code unrelated to the problem. This can be avoided, by constructing a language tailored to the specific problem, solutions can be expressed more clearly, resulting in programs that are easy to read, debug, and maintain. Designing a new language from scratch, however, is a costly venture, which has hindered the adoption of such domain specific languages (DSLs). In this thesis, we explore and describe methods for constructing and implementing DSLs. By using an existing host language, DSLs can be implemented as embedded languages, inheriting the syntax and capabilities of the host language. We argue that the embedded language approach to implementing DSLs gives many benefits over traditional language implementation techniques. Furthermore, by using a dynamic programming language as host, we can take advantage of the high-level nature of such a language; both to facilitate the implementation of the DSL and to provide high-level programming constructs in the DSL. This thesis describes two prototype languages; PyFX and PyGPU, both embedded in Python, for programming and controlling different aspects of modern graphics cards. PyFX is a language for constructing real-time graphics effects. It views effects as active entities, allowing them to be expressed concisely and clearly, without introducing the glue-code requirements of previous approaches. The second language, PyGPU, is targeted at writing high-level image processing algorithms that execute on the high performing graphics processing unit (GPU) present on modern graphics cards. PyGPU uses a combination of a high-level image abstraction and a novel compilation strategy to translate high-level PyGPU code to efficient native code running on the GPU. (Less)