This casebook is composed of 39 realistic case studies appropriate for introductory and advanced level courses in nutrition and diet therapy. Each case study uses the medical record as its structure. The student "solves the case" by using the information provided, i.e. hospital admission data, laboratory reports, and physician's narrative. The case is followed by a series of questions and applications that focus on pathophysiology, assessment, clinical, nutritional and behavioral outcomes, interventions, and appropriate follow-up for the patient. This "real world" approach helps to prepare the student for the professional setting. Objectives for student learning within each case are built around the competencies for dietetic education as specified by the American Dietetic Association.


Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to examine and analyze the
skills and practices of lawyers in response to the misinformation/Infodemic of
COVID-19 on Social Media platforms.

Research
Methodology: In this
quantitative study an online survey was conducted among lawyers in Pakistan.
The population of the study was made up of practicing lawyers from different
District Bar Associations in Pakistan. A questionnaire was distributed to
collect data regarding demographic information, use of social media, response
to misinformation about COVID-19 on social media and to identify the methods
employed by lawyers to check the authenticity of such information. Collected
data were first analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS
V 23) and then presented in frequency, mean, percentage, and standard
deviation.

Findings: The study revealed that the majority of lawyers use social media
platforms. It shows that the most popular social media platforms among the
lawyers are Facebook and WhatsApp. The outcome shows that lawyers encounter
fake stories about COVID-19. Critical thinking, comparison, and cross-checking
are among the most commonly used techniques employed by the lawyers to check
the authenticity of any information about the COVID-19 on social media. It also
revealed that most of the time they share such news after checking its
authenticity but sometimes they share it without confirming it.


In advanced capitalist economies, a considerable
proportion of society's labour-power is expended in the
performance of unpaid labour in the household. The
domestic labour per formed in the homes of the working
class, mainly but not exclusively by women, is the subject
of this thesis.
Part One deals with theoretical questions
concerning the existence and nature of domestic labour as
a form of production. In it I attempt to develop a
Marxist, that is, a historical materialist, analysis of
domestic labour that suffers neither from functionalism
nor idealism. To a great extent, new theoretical analyses
grow out of the critique of already existing ones. The
chapters in Part One reflect this: I present a political
economy of domestic labour and an analysis of it's
historical origin in the context of a critique of both
Materialist Feminist theory and the Domestic Labour
Debate.
Part Two contains three studies in the
historical development of domestic labour in 19th and 20th
century Britain. Three themes are present throughout: the
changing nature of the domestic labour process and the
means of production employed; the relationship between
working class struggle and the development of household
labour; the relationship between the development of
domestic labour and the social position of women.
My analysis is based on the study of Marxist
political economy and secondary source research into the
history of wor king class household labour. It's
originality lies principally in it's method of approach.
To date, studies of domestic labour have generally
suffered from theoretical or empirical exclusivity. The
development of a detailed and rounded historical
materialist analysis through the interaction of historical
and theoretical research sets this thesis apart from
contributions to the Domestic Labour Debate and other
studies in the household labour studies tradition. This
approach has led to new conclusions in relation to the
political economy, the historical origin, and the
historical development, of domestic labour.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate microtiter-plate format ELISAs constructed by use of different diagnostic targets derived from the Ehrlichia ewingii p28 outer membrane protein for detection of E ewingii antibodies in experimentally and naturally infected dogs.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Serum samples from 87 kenneled dogs, 9 dogs experimentally infected with anti-E ewingii, and 180 potentially naturally exposed dogs from Missouri.

PROCEDURES
The capacities of the synthetic peptide and truncated recombinant protein to function as detection reagents in ELISAs were compared by use of PCR assay, western blot analysis, and a full-length recombinant protein ELISA. Diagnostic targets included an E ewingii synthetic peptide (EESP) and 2 recombinant proteins: a full-length E ewingii outer membrane protein (EEp28) and a truncated E ewingii outer membrane protein (EETp28)

RESULTS
A subset of Ehrlichia canis-positive samples cross-reacted in the EEp28 ELISA; none were reactive in the EESP and EETp28 ELISAs. The EESP- and EETp28-based ELISAs detected E ewingii seroconversion at approximately the same time after infection as the EEp28 ELISAs. In afield population, each of the ELISAs identified the same 35 samples as reactive and 27 samples as nonreactive. Anaplasma and E can is peptides used in a commercially available ELISA platform did not detect anti-E ewingii antibodies in experimentally infected dogs.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The EESP and EETp28 ELISAs were suitable for specifically detecting anti-E ewingii antibodies in experimentally and naturally infected dogs.


Positive and negative features of the Copenhagen interpretation are discussed. As positive features can be mentioned its pragmatism and its awareness of the crucial role of measurement. However, the main part of the contribution is devoted to the negative features, to wit, its pragmatism (once again), its confounding of preparation and measurement, its classical account of measurement, its completeness claims, the ambiguity of its notion of correspondence, its confused notion of complementarity. It is demonstrated how confusions and paradoxes stemming from the negative features of the Copenhagen interpretation can be dealt with in an amended interpretation, to be referred to as 'neo‐Copenhagen interpretation', in which the role of the measuring instrument is taken seriously by recognizing the quantum mechanical character of its interaction with the microscopic object. The ensuing necessity of extending the notion of a quantum mechanical observable from the Hermitian operator of the standard formalism to the positive operator‐valued measure of a generalized formalism yields a sound mathematical basis for a transition from the Copenhagen contextualistic‐realist interpretation to the neo‐Copenhagen empiricist one. Applications to the uncertainty relations and to the Bell inequalities are briefly discussed.


Across the world, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected economically disadvantaged groups. This differential impact has numerous possible explanations, each with significantly different policy implications. We examine, for the first time in a low- or middle-income country, which mechanisms best explain the disproportionate impact of the virus on the poor. Combining an epidemiological model with rich data from Bogotá, Colombia, we show that total infections and inequalities in infections are largely driven by inequalities in the inability to work remotely and in within-home secondary attack rates. Inequalities in isolation behavior are less important but non-negligible, while access to testing and contract-tracing plays practically no role. Interventions that mitigate transmission are often more effective when targeted on socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.


GUDEV, D., P. MONEVA, S. POPOVA-RALCHEVA and V. SREDKOVA, 2011. Tonic immobility and adrenal response in chickens fed supplemental tryptophan. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 17: 560-566 Tonic immobility duration was tested in 24 Label chickens at 34 and 49 d of age, whereas and adrenal response to catching and subsequent 30 min long crating were studied before (36 d of age) and following dietary tryptophan supplementation for 15 d (51 d of age). Seventy nine percent of the studied chickens showed short duration of tonic immobility (less fearful) whereas the rest of the chickens had several times longer tonic immobility duration (extremely fearful). Adrenal response to catching was higher in the chickens which had longer duration of tonic immobility but the response to 30 min crating after catching was similar in all chickens irrespective of the tonic immobility duration. Dietary tryptophan supplementation for 15 d reduced (P>0.05) tonic immobility duration in the extremely fearful chickens. Supplemental tryptophan alleviated adrenal response to catching and crating (P>0.05), but plasma corticosterone did not correspond to the duration of tonic immobility in each individual. Our data suggest that tonic immobility duration as an indicator of fear does not correspond to the strength of adrenal response to catching and crating because of the complexity and transient nature of the fear emotion.


International commitment to the appropriately ambitious Paris climate agreement and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 has pulled into the limelight the urgent need for major scientific progress in understanding and modelling the Anthropocene, the tightly intertwined social-environmental planetary system that humanity now inhabits. The Anthropocene qualitatively differs from previous eras in Earth's history in three key characteristics: (1) There is planetary-scale human agency. (2) There are social and economic networks of teleconnections spanning the globe. (3) It is dominated by planetary-scale social-ecological feedbacks. Bolting together old concepts and methodologies cannot be an adequate approach to describing this new geological era. Instead, we need a new paradigm in Earth System science that is founded equally on a deep understanding of the physical and biological Earth System – and of the economic, social and cultural forces that are now an intrinsic part of it. It is time to close the loop and bring socially mediated dynamics explicitly into theory, analysis and models that let us study the whole Earth System.


Abstract A study was undertaken to investigate the effects of farming systems (organic vs. conventional), diet (hay/concentrate vs. pasture) and their interaction on milk yield, gross composition and fatty acid (FA) profile of dairy cows bred in mountainous areas. For this purpose four dairy farms (two organic and two conventional) were chosen in the alpine territory of Aosta Valley (NW Italy); individual milk yield was recorded daily and bulk milk samples were collected monthly from February to September 2007 to cover dietary variations. Higher levels of milk production (P<0.05) and lower milk protein amounts (P<0.01) were observed in the organic farms with respect to the conventional ones, while no significant differences were noticed in milk fat and lactose contents and in somatic cell count. Concerning fatty acids, only small differences were detected between organic and conventional milk and such differences seemed to be related mainly to the stabled period. Diet affected almost all variables studied: pasture feeding provided a significant improvement in the fatty acid composition in both organic and conventional systems leading to lower hypercholesterolemic saturated fatty acids, higher mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid amounts (P<0.001).


In situ tissue regeneration holds great promise for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications. However, to achieve control over long-term and localised presence of biomolecules, certain barriers must be overcome. The aim of this study was to develop electrospun scaffolds for the fabrication of artificial vascular grafts that can be remodelled within a host by endogenous cell recruitment. We fabricated scaffolds by mixing appropriate proportions of linear poly (l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) and substance P (SP)-immobilised PLCL, using electrospinning to develop vascular grafts. Substance P was released in a sustained fashion from electrospun membranes for up to 30 d, as revealed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Immobilised SP remained bioactive and recruited human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in an in vitro Trans-well migration assay. The biocompatibility and biological performance of the scaffolds were evaluated by in vivo experiments involving subcutaneous scaffold implantations in Sprague-Dawley rats for up to 28 d followed by histological and immunohistochemical studies. Histological analysis revealed a greater extent of accumulative host cell infiltration and collagen deposition in scaffolds containing higher contents of SP than observed in the control group at both time points. We also observed the presence of a large number of laminin-positive blood vessels and Von Willebrand factor (vWF+) cells in the explants containing SP. Additionally, scaffolds containing SP showed the existence of CD90+ and CD105+ MSCs. Collectively, these findings suggest that the methodology presented here may have broad applications in regenerative medicine, and the novel scaffolding materials can be used for in situ tissue regeneration of soft tissues.


In this study, an automatic pattern recognition approach is developed for the classification
of volcanic tremor at Mount Etna, Italy. A Support Vector Machine (SVM)
classifier is trained by means of a supervised learning algorithm to recognize time series
recorded during different states of the volcanic system. The classification of the
signal is based on the seismic data recorded at the three-component, broadband station
ESPD, located about 6 km southeast from the summit craters. In particular, we analyze
the data recorded throughout the 17 July - 9 August, 2001 flank eruption. This episode,
with its 23 days-long effusive activity, allows us to investigate thoughtfully the whole
development of the volcano unrest. Our analysis covers the time span from 1 July to
15 August, 2001, i.e., it includes several days before the onset and after the end of the
flank eruption. Up to 142 time series are extracted as windows of approximately 10
minutes for each component of station ESPD. Then spectrograms are calculated for
each time series applying a sliding window technique, and the values obtained averaging
the rows of each spectrogram are used as classification features. Following this
approach, the frequency content averaged over time is hence used for discriminating
different states of activity. In particular, we distinguish four stages, i.e., pre-eruptive,
lava fountains, eruptive and post-eruptive. Following a boot-strap strategy, we repeat
a random selection of the training set (ca. 80% of the entire data set) and testing set
(ca. 20%) 100 times. On the basis of the data set encompassing the three components
(426 examples), SVM correctly classifies 94.65 +/- 2.43% of the data. Classification
performances can be further improved by reducing the number of classes, namely
considering lava fountains as either pre-eruptive or eruptive states depending on their
position in time. In this case, SVM correctly classifies 97.25 +/- 1.63% of the data.


Objectives: Family members of patients who die in the ICU often remain with unanswered questions and suffer from lack of closure. A letter of condolence may help bereaved relatives, but little is known about their experience of receiving such a letter. The objective of the study was to understand bereaved family members' experience of receiving a letter of condolence. Design: Qualitative study using interviews with bereaved family members who received a letter of condolence and letters written by these family members to the ICU team. This study was designed to provide insight into the results of a larger randomized, controlled, multicenter study. Setting: Twenty-two ICUs in France. Subjects: Family members who lost a loved one in the ICU and who received a letter of condolence. Measurements and Main Results: Thematic analysis was used and was based on 52 interviews and 26 letters. Six themes emerged: 1) a feeling of support, 2) humanization of the medical system, 3) an opportunity for reflection, 4) an opportunity to describe their loved one, 5) continuity and closure, and 6) doubts and ambivalence. Possible difficulties emerged, notably the re-experience of the trauma, highlighting the absence of further support. Conclusions: This study describes the benefits of receiving a letter of condolence; mainly, it humanizes the medical institution (feeling of support, confirmation of the role played by the relative, supplemental information). However, this study also shows a common ambivalence about the letter of condolence's benefit. Healthcare workers must strive to adapt bereavement follow-up to each individual situation.


This research deals with the topic of violent crime in urban Colombia. Although many references are made to the conflict between the State, guerrilla groups and paramilitary organisations in rural areas, and to the problem of drug-cartels and illegal-drug production, the main aim of the thesis is to show recent trends in violent crime and discuss citizen security strategies followed during the decade of the 1990s. Chapter 1 focuses on urban homicides. In Colombia, 40 percent of the 25,000 annual homicides are committed in the ten largest cities. The cities of Medellin, Bogota and Cali account for almost 30 percent of this total. Although the victims are mainly young men from the poorest socio-economic levels, homicides are not necessarily correlated to the areas where the poor live. The probability of getting involved in a homicide, either as a victim or as victimiser, is significantly higher in places where access to economic resources is greater. Chapter 2 analyses the problem of kidnappings. The chapter looks at recent progresses in Colombian anti-kidnapping legislation and focuses on the authors, the victims and the riskzones where most cases take place. Although these crimes affect mainly the rich and the middle class, kidnappers have recently started to target victims from all social backgrounds. This strategy creates fear among citizens and permits kidnappers to extort more fees from people who could be at risk of being kidnapped. Chapter 3 looks at the issue of perception and fear of crime. This question provides a better understanding of the concept of risk and the subjectivity of decision-making when facing insecurity. If citizen security strategies have had little impact during the last decade, it has been partly because of poor levels of co-operation and communication with the population. The consequence of this has been an increasing perception of insecurity and distrust among citizens. Chapter 4 assesses citizen security strategies followed during the administrations of Presidents Gaviria (1990-1994), Samper (1994-1998) and Pastrana (1998-2002). The reforms implemented since the adoption of a new Constitution in 1991 have had important impacts on security strategies as they have given more discretionary powers to civilian authorities, especially at the municipal level. Larger cities like Bogota, Cali and Medellin, implemented a series of successful programmes that have reduced the levels of violent crime, notably homicides. Other crimes, like kidnappings, have not decreased since the government has lacked a coherent strategy to combine its peace negotiations with insurgent organisations with its legitimate right to fight violent crime.


Attorneys should acquaint themselves with the enormous and exciting possibilities inherent in law-making by private Bill, suggests Cape Town attorney Louis Rood. In this article he discusses the procedures involved and advocates, modernising and streamlining existing private Bill procedures so as to make them even more affordable and accessible to the public. Ambitious plans have recently been initiated to promote public participation in parliamentary processes. The creation of a true 'People's Parliament' includes the formation of youth parliament projects in each province, a national youth parliament, a public relations centre in the parliamentary precinct and the continuation of the plain English campaign with the aim of making legislation comprehensible to ordinary people.


Polyclads belong to the phylum Platyhelminthes, lineage Rhabdotophora, are simple Bilateria, and represent an interesting and useful group for research in developmental biology. Although polyclads, together with catenulids and macrostomids, have been argued to be most closely related to the ancestral flatworm and hold the key to understand the relationship between development and evolution, knowledge of their embryonic development is still scarce and most of the work on spiralian development has focused on mollusks and annelids. In view of polyclad embryonic significance, a comparative study of their embryonic development including several species of direct and indirect developers was performed. Developing embryos of 16 species representing 10 families were examined and followed through embryogenesis until hatching. Considerable differences in egg plates, egg capsule morphology, size and number of eggs, and developmental time lines were found among the analyzed species. A correlation between developmental times and morphology of egg capsules was found; likewise it was possible to link larger eggs to direct developing species and longer developmental time and for most but not all, indirect developing species to smaller egg sizes. The number of eggs per egg capsule does not appear to be of systematic value, instead the morphology of the female reproductive system may play a significant role in determining the number of embryos per egg capsule. The influence of parental care on hatching success was also determined for two local species. Covering of egg masses by the adult was observed for individuals of both species and although this parental care is not necessary for egg development or hatching, it plays a significant role in the hatching success of Pleioplana atomata embryos. For individuals of Imogine zebra, parental covering of recently laid egg masses may play a role in egg capsule formation. In the polyclad Pericelis cata a case of developmental dimorphism was found. Larvae and juveniles from the same parent hatched simultaneously throughout the three-day hatching period. This represents the first case of true poecilogony reported for polyclad flatworms which may be a bet-hedging strategy in which benthic juveniles are recruited to the parental habitat, and concurrently, siblings disperse as larvae. The most notable feature of the development of P. cata was the unusual appearance of extra-embryonic yolk inside the egg capsules. Similarly, almost all the larvae of this species had only one eye, whereas three eyes characterize typical Muller's and Gotte's larvae. Understanding the origin of the muscular system may have implications for the understanding of bilaterian evolution. Hence, a comparative analysis of body wall formation and muscle organization during embryogenesis was performed. Fluorescent dye-conjugated phalloidin was used to characterize the musculature of Maritigrella crozieri and Melloplana ferruginea which represent an indirect and a direct developing species, respectively. In both species, the first myoblasts were localized in the periphery of the egg. Progressively, myoblasts formed unorganized and rudimentary muscle fibers that further differentiated during development. Muscle differentiation was similar between the two species; however, the process of muscle development progressed quite differently in larvae and juveniles. These results provide additional support that the orthogonal muscle pattern is a symplesiomorphy of Spiralia and it may have been present in the stem species of all Bilateria.


A cluster of 30–52-km-deep earthquakes, and a 7–10 km step in the Moho beneath western North Island, New Zealand, are both interpreted as manifestations of active delamination of the continental lower crust and mantle lithosphere. These phenomena occur in the back-arc region beneath the east-west–oriented Taranaki-Ruapehu (TR) line, which strikes at a high angle to the present-day plate boundary through New Zealand. Across the line, there is an abrupt change in crustal and mantle lid thickness, and in upper-mantle seismic attenuation ( Q p –1 ), showing that the mantle lithosphere has been highly thinned on the north side. We show from a receiver function profile that nearly all of the deep earthquakes reside in the uppermost mantle on the northern side of the TR line. A sum of earthquake moment tensors suggests strike-slip motion either parallel, or orthogonal, to the TR line, resulting in northwest-southeast–oriented horizontal extension. Active normal faults, oriented northwest-southeast and north-south, are seen at the surface on each side of the TR line, but the surface is uplifting here at ∼0.4 mm/yr. This requires the mantle lithosphere to be thinning at a higher rate than the overlying crust, consistent with a delamination process.


Through a nested suite of methods here we contrast the coexistence of different ecosystem states in a tropical coastal lagoon, the Laguna Larga, with increasing eutrophication stress between 2007 and 2009. Water temperature averaged 27.4°C in the lagoon and showed a slight positive trend during the study period. Salinity averaged 35.0±6.2, exhibiting high spatial and temporal variability, and also a slight positive trend in time. In contrast, dissolved oxygen showed a substantial decreasing trend (–0.83 ml L–1 y–1; –13.3% y–1) over the period, while nutrients increased dramatically, particularly total phosphorus (2.6 µM y–1), in both cases sustaining the progression of eutrophication in the lagoon during the three years we sampled. The Karydis nutrient load-based trophic index showed that the lagoon has a spatial pattern of increasing eutrophication from the sea and the outer sector (oligotrophic-mesotrophic) to the central (mesotrophic) and the inner sector (mesotrophic-eutrophic). Two ecosystem states were found within the lagoon. In the outer oligotrophic sector, the dominant primary producers were macroalgae, seagrasses and benthic diatoms, while mollusc assemblages were highly diverse. In the inner and central sectors (where trophic status increased toward the inner lagoon) a phytoplankton-dominated ecosystem was found where mollusc assemblages are less diverse. In spite of the progression of eutrophication in the lagoon, these two different ecosystems coexisted and remained unchanged during the study period. Apparently, the effect of water residence time, which increases dramatically toward the inner lagoon, dominated over that of nutrient loadings, which is relatively more homogeneously distributed along the lagoon. Therefore, we consider that actions that reduce the water residence time are likely the most effective management options for this and other similarly choked lagoons.


A recent wave of literature, partly motivated by presidential campaign tax reform plans, analyzes tax expenditure limitation proposals. These reforms are often advanced not only, or even primarily, because they reduce distortions caused by favoritism for some types of expenditures over others. Largely they are urged for a number of other reasons: on distributive grounds, because the resulting broader base enables lower marginal tax rates and hence less distortion of labor effort and other margins, and to raise revenue without requiring higher marginal tax rates. It is generally recognized that the particular results on these dimensions are heavily dependent on what sorts of rate adjustments are used to return the proceeds to taxpayers. Often, revenue neutrality is assumed. This essay advances a complementary, distribution-neutral perspective on the analysis of tax expenditure limitations. Distribution-neutral implementation provides an illuminating benchmark against which to understand prior analysts' large number of results and, more importantly, clarifies the analysis, particularly of the distribution-distortion trade-off. The central lessons contradict the common belief that one can have less distortion of labor supply through lower marginal tax rates while also maintaining or enhancing progressivity.


In order to improve the energy efficiency and economic effect of conventional diesel-powered rubber-tired gantry (RTG) cranes in container terminals, various hybrid RTG cranes were studied. However, these current hybrid RTG cranes have several disadvantages, such as high initial investment cost and poor versatility of energy management methods. In this paper, a hybrid RTG crane consisting of a small-sized diesel generator (DG), a ternary material lithium battery, and a supercapacitor (SC) is studied, and a hybrid RTG crane energy management method based on game theory is proposed. The DG, lithium battery, and SC are modeled as three independent agents to participate in the game, and a multi-agent system (MAS) is established. During the RTG crane work process, agents achieve a coordinated and stable working state through the game, i.e., the Nash equilibrium. Three typical crane operation scenarios, the rated load, continuous work, and intermittent work, are simulated and studied. According to the results, combinations of the three devices can meet the power demand and system performance. The power of the DG in the hybrid system is small (only 20 kW), reducing fuel consumption and overall emissions during RTG crane operation.


Various adsorbents for the removal of dyes from waste water may or may not be stable, resulting in the desorption of adsorbed dyes with slight changes in physical conditions. To avoid this problem, environmentally stable adsorbent such as activated aluminum oxide or alumina has been used for the removal of Diresul Black, which is a dye used in the textile processing industry. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the non-tetrahedral framework of alumina. The efficiency of alumina via adsorption implies that 1 g alumina having the Brunauer–Emmett–Telle surface area of 2.65 ± 0.25 m2/g is enough to achieve up to 85% removal of concentrated dye solution in just 20 minutes. Adsorption energy as well as adsorption capacity is calculated by different adsorption isotherms. The sorption energy E turns out to be 19.3 KJ/mol. The thermodynamic studies show that the value of ΔH for the adsorption process is −976.5 J/mol while that of ΔS is −4.748 J/mol/K. Desorption studies show that the dye remains in its adsorbed form over aluminum oxide up to a pH of 2. Various ions present in the matrix interfere with the adsorption process, however none can decrease the adsorption below 65%.


During the International Geophysical Year the National Institute of Oceanography in collaboration with Ghana IGY Committee and the Ghana Railway and Harbours Administration made recordings of sea waves at a point 2,300 feet off Sekondi point in a direction 156°. The instrument used was an N.I.O. piezo-electric wave recorder of the pressure recording type. Recordings started in June, 1958, and continued until the end of October that year when the cable suffered severe damage which could not easily be repaired. Because of the high cost of cable and the fact that a good series of records had already been obtained for a rough time of year, the instrument was recovered and used elsewhere. Records were taken every two hours and each has a useable length of twelve minutes. Most of the waves arriving at Sekondi are in the form of swell which has been generated by storms in the southern hemisphere; consequently wave conditions do not change very quickly, and it was found unnecessary to analyse every record except during rough conditions. The method of analysis used is that described in the associated paper "The Analysis and Presentation of Wave Data - a Plea for Uniformity".


Fabrication efforts have begun on a field-based compulsator for firing 9 MJ projectiles from a railgun launcher. The machine is designed to store 200 MJ kinetic energy and fire a salvo of nine rounds in three minutes at velocities between 2.5 and 4.0 km/s. Prime power required to meet this firing schedule is 1.865 kW, and will be supplied by a gas turbine engine. It is also possible to fire a burst of two shots in rapid succession, if desired. Operating speed of the machine is 8250 r/min and it has design ratings of 3.2 MA peak current and 20 GW peak power into a 9 MJ railgun load. A two-pole configuration is used for pulse-length considerations, and selectivity passive compensation is used to produced a relatively flat pulse and limit peak projectile acceleration to about 980000 m/s/sup 2/. Other distinguishing features include an air core magnetic circuit, separate rotor armature windings for self-excitation and railgun firing, ambient temperature field coils, and excitation field magnetic energy recovery capability. A detailed description of the machine as designed, and its auxiliary and control systems, is provided. Fabrication and assembly methods are reviewed, and the current status of the project is discussed. >


Abstract. The OpenStreetMap (OSM) database includes original items very useful for geographical analysis and for creating thematic maps. Contributors record in the open database various themes regarding amenities, leisure, transports, buildings and boundaries. The Michelin mapping department develops map prototypes to test the feasibility of mapping based on OSM. To translate the OSM database structure into a database structure fitted with Michelin graphic guidelines a research project is in development. It aims at defining the right structure for the Michelin uses. The research project relies on the analysis of semantic and geometric heterogeneities in OSM data. In that order, Michelin implements methods to transform the input geographical database into a cartographic image dedicated for specific uses (routing and tourist maps). The paper focuses on the mapping tools available to produce a personalised spatial database. Based on processed data, paper and Web maps can be displayed. Two prototypes are described in this article: a vector tile web map and a mapping method to produce paper maps on a regional scale. The vector tile mapping method offers an easy navigation within the map and within graphic and thematic guide- lines. Paper maps can be partly automatically drawn. The drawing automation and data management are part of the mapping creation as well as the final hand-drawing phase. Both prototypes have been set up using the OSM technical ecosystem.


In modern world, manufacturing processes have become very complex because of consistently fluctuating demand of customers. Numerous production facilities located at various geographical locations are being utilised to address the demands of their multiple clients. Often, the components manufactured at distinct locations are being assembled in a plant to develop the final product. In this complex scenario, manufacturing firms have to be responsive enough to cope with the fluctuating demand of customers. To accomplish it, there is a need to develop an integrated, dynamic and autonomous system. In this article, a self-reactive cloud-based multi-agent architecture for distributed manufacturing system is developed. The proposed architecture will assist manufacturing industry to establish real-time information exchange between the autonomous agents, clients, suppliers and manufacturing unit. The mechanism described in this study demonstrates how the autonomous agents interact with each other to rectify the internal discrepancies in manufacturing system. It can also address the external interferences like variations in client's orders to maximise the profit of manufacturing firm in both short and long term. Execution process of proposed architecture is demonstrated using simulated case study.


The aim of the present study was to develop a quantitative structure-toxicokinetic relationship (QSTkR) model for highly metabolised chemicals (HMCs). The proposed QSTkR model is essentially a physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) model, in which the blood:air and tissue:blood partition coefficients (PCs) are predicted from the molecular structure of chemicals, and the liver blood flow rate (Q1) is used to describe hepatic clearance. Molecular structure-based prediction of the blood:air and tissue:blood PCs was performed from the n-octanol:water and water:air PCs of chemicals obtained with the conventional fragment constant methods. The validity of incorporating Q1 instead of metabolic rate constants, as the hepatic clearance factor, in PBTK models for HMCs (extraction ratio > 0.7) was verified by comparing the simulations of venous blood concentration (Cv) profiles obtained with both the QSTkR and PBTK model approaches for 1,1-dichloroethylehe, trichloroethylene and furan in the rat. Following the validation of this alternative approach for describing hepatic clearance of HMCs, a QSTkR model for dichloromethane was constructed. This model used molecular structure information as the sole input, and provided simulations of Cv for human exposure to low concentrations of dichloromethane. The QSTkR model simulations were similar to those obtained with the previously validated, conventional human PBTK model with experimentally determined PCs and metabolic rate constants (Vmax, Km and Kf) for dichloromethane. The present methodology is the first validated example of a mechanistically based prediction of the inhalation toxicokinetics of HMCs made solely from information on molecular structure.


Much of what we know concerning impression formation is based on experimental methods where the participant receives a list of traits or behaviors and is asked to make trait judgments or meta-cognitive judgments. The present study aimed to put some well-known effects from the impression formation literature to a test in a more dynamic computerized environment, more akin to many real world impression formation scenarios. In three studies participants were introduced to multiple target persons. They were given information about the target persons' behavior, one at a time, while making ratings of their warmth and competence, and their probability of performing related behaviors in the future. In neither of the studies the negativity effect of warmth or the positivity effect of competence were reproduced.


"http://www.osa-jon.org/virtual_issue.cfm?vid=7" Feature Issue on Optical
 Ethernet (OE)Ethernet networks rely on the so-called spanning-tree protocol
 (IEEE 802.1d) to break cycles, thereby avoiding the possibility of infinitely
 circulating packets and deadlocks. This protocol imposes a severe penalty on the
 performance and scalability of large gigabit Ethernet backbones since it makes
 inefficient use of fibers and may lead to bottlenecks. We propose a significantly more
 scalable cycle-breaking approach based on the theory of turn prohibition. Specifically,
 we introduce, analyze, and evaluate an algorithm called tree-based turn prohibition
 (TBTP). We show that this polynomial-time algorithm maintains backward compatibility
 with the IEEE 802.1d standard and never prohibits more than half the turns in the
 network for any given graph and any given spanning tree. We further introduce a
 distributed version of the algorithm that nodes in the network can run asynchronously.
 Through extensive simulations on a variety of graph topologies, we show that the TBTP
 algorithm can lead to an order of magnitude improvement over the spanning-tree protocol
 with respect to throughput and end-of-end delay metrics. In addition, we propose and
 evaluate heuristics to determine the replacement order of legacy switches that results
 in the fastest performance improvement.


Background : The high levels of bacterial resistance in the ICU is a matter that leads to the preliminary setting up and monitoring the use of antibiotics in the ICU. World Health Organization has recommended to the medical education institutions to assess the rationality of the use of antibiotics.
Objective : Assessing the level of antibiotic use based on Defined Daily Doses/100 patients and Gyssens' criteria are viewed from quantity and quality aspects in the ICU, Dr. Kariadi the period from August to December 2008.
Methods : This study using 40 samples taken by simple random sampling method. Assessment of the quantity of antibiotic use was done by two ways, first by calculating the maximum dose and minimum dose, and the second by counting DDD/100 patients. Antibiotics are used will be assessed for compliance with the formulary of Dr. Kariadi hospital. The study of antibiotic use in quality is displayed according to Gyssens category.
Results : That was found a discrepancy between the maximum dose with minimal doses of 89,47%. Ceftriaxone is the most widely used drug that is equal to 62,2 DDD/100 patients. Based on the type of therapy of 40 medical records consists of 57,9% ADE; 38,2% ADET, and 3,9% ADP. By category Gyssens 19,7%, including category I (rational); 1,3% category IIA (not rational because it is not appropriate dose); 2,6% Gyssens category IIB (interval irrational because of inappropriate antibiotic use); 30,3% Gyssens category IIIA (irrational because of prolonged antibiotic use); 5,3% Gyssens category IIIB (irrational because of antibiotic given too short); 36,8% Gyssens category IVA (irrational because there are other antibiotics that more effective) and 3,9% category Gyssens IVD (irrational because there are other antibiotics that spectrum is narrower).
Conclusion : There were inappropriate antibiotic use including both of quantity and quality.
Key word : Rationality of antibiotic use, quantity, quality, DDD, Gyssens category.


Toxic Cyanobacteria-dominated blooms are a global phenomenon that poses a health risk to humans and animals. These blooms harbor a diverse range of heterotrophic bacteria which are involved in growth-promoting and decomposition processes. In the present study, we investigated microbial communities and microcystins in a lake cyanobacterial scum at a single point in time. The outer edges of the scum (ca. 500 cm from shore) were freshly formed, while those closest to the shore showed signs of cyanobacterial cell lysis and degradation. Samples were collected from 5 sites across the scum and from 2 separate bays. We hypothesized that cyanobacterial genera, bacterial communities and microcystin quota (toxin content per cell) would be significantly different in the degrading scums versus where the scum had freshly formed. Samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA metabarcoding (DNA and RNA), and a range of physicochemical parameters were determined. Microcystis transcripts were more abundant than Dolichospermum in the breaking-down scum, suggesting they are better suited to tolerating the harsh physicochemical conditions encountered within scums. Multivariate analysis of operational taxonomic units (excluding Cyanobacteria) showed significant differences in bacterial community structures across the scums. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum, among which Aeromonas, Caulobacter and Brevundimonas dominated. No relationships were observed between microcystin quotas and bacterial community structure or position in the scum.


We investigate separability of Laplacian matrices of graphs when seen as density matrices. This is a family of quantum states with many combinatorial properties. We firstly show that the well-known matrix realignment criterion can be used to test separability of this type of quantum states. The criterion can be interpreted as novel graph-theoretic idea. Then, we prove that the density matrix of the tensor product of N graphs is N -separable. However, the converse is not necessarily true. Additionally, we derive a sufficient condition for N -partite entanglement in star graphs and propose a necessary and sufficient condition for separability of nearest point graphs.


This article examines how football, sport and other cultural fields are characterized by complex interrelations between 'citizen' and 'consumer' identities. Our analysis centres specifically on critically examining and developing the concept of 'citimer' (citizen-consumer) with respect to activist supporter groups within European professional men's football. First, to establish the structural and cultural context for our analysis, we argue that the emergence of citizen-consumer identities in football has been driven by five underlying processes: globalization, commodification, securitization, mediatization and postmodernization. Critical football fan movements have responded to these changes through greater reflexivization and politicization. Second, drawing on the broad academic literature, we develop the concept of the citizen-consumer (or 'citimer') and introduce its relevance to football. Third, to provide a more nuanced understanding of the citizen-consumer, we explore how this 'citimer' identity is constructed in two ways: 'from below' (by fan groups themselves at everyday level) and 'from above' (by clubs, governing bodies, media and other powerful forces within the football system). In both instances, we find that the citizen and consumer aspects of the citimer identity are interrelated in complex ways. Fourth, we conclude by highlighting the political reflexivity of citimers and areas for future research. Our analysis draws on extensive data collection: with football supporters and officials in the Czech Republic, England and Italy and at the wider European level, and through access to diverse primary and secondary documents (e.g. policy papers, fanzines and online forums). Our findings may be applied to examine citimer identities, practices and social relations not just within football and sport but in many other cultural fields, such as art, communication, drama, fashion, film and music.


Objective: The objective of this article is to compare the incidence of post-cystoscopy urinary tract infections (UTIs) between cystoscopes sterilised between patients and cystoscopes that use removable sterile sheath technology. Patients and methods: A total of 200 patients undergoing flexible cystoscopy at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital (Norwich, UK) between November 2011 and March 2012 were identified prospectively as part of an ongoing audit of the department's services. One hundred patients were recruited from day procedure lists, using KeyMed® cystoscopes sterilised between patients (sterilised scope, SS); 100 patients were recruited from a 'one-stop' urology clinic, using a Vision Sciences® CST-5000 cystoscope with disposable sterile Endosheath® technology (removable sheath, RS). Mid-stream urine (MSUs) samples and patient symptoms were recorded prior to the cystoscopy and at least three days following the cystoscopy. Results: No significant difference was found in the incidence of new MSU-confirmed UTI (2.7% (SS) vs. 2.0% (RS)). In those undergoing their first cystoscopy, no significant differences were found in either new symptoms (34.1% (SS) vs. 36.7% (RS)) or requirement for antibiotics (13.6% (SS) vs. 13.0% (RS)). Conclusion: Flexible cystoscopy using removable sterile sheath technology does not have a higher incidence of UTI compared to a cystoscope sterilised between patients. The introduction of cystoscopes using this technology can therefore safely transform flexible cystoscopy into an outpatient clinic procedure.


Experimental results and theoretical predictions in laser acceleration of protons achieved energies of ten to several tens of MeV. The LIGHT project (Laser Ion Generation, Handling and Transport) is proposed to use the PHELIX laser accelerated protons and to provide transport, focusing and injection into a conventional accelerator. This study demonstrates transport and focusing of laser- accelerated 10 MeV protons by a pulsed 18 T magnetic solenoid. The effect of co-moving electrons on the beam dynamics is investigated. The unique features of the proton distribution like small emittances and high yield of the order of 10 13 protons per shot open new research area. The possibility of creating laser based injectors for ion accelerators is addressed. With respect to transit energies, direct matching into DTL's seems adequate. The bunch injection into a proposed CH- structure is under investigation at IAP Frankfurt. Options and simulation tools are presented.


The recent dramatic convergence of immigration and criminal law is transforming the immigration and criminal justice system. While scholars have begun to examine some of the structural implications of this convergence, this Article breaks new ground by examining judicial responses and specifically the lens of Miranda v. Arizona. This Article examines the divergent and largely aberrant approaches that federal appellate courts have taken to determine whether Miranda warnings and rights apply to custodial inquiries about immigration status that have clear criminal and civil implications. Part I of this Article discusses the distinctions between civil and criminal immigration laws and the background principles of Miranda. Part II synthesizes the various and inconsistent tests courts have used to determine whether Miranda applies to dual civil and criminal immigration inquiries and examines how the failure of lower courts to apply Miranda consistently in the immigration context marks an unusual shift in the Supreme Court's jurisprudence. It then explores how the emerging doctrine for immigrants departs (1) from the Court's application of Miranda to dual civil and criminal interrogations in the tax context; (2) from precedent favoring objective tests; and (3) ultimately from the animating principles in Miranda to bring clarity to police, suspects, and courts on the admissibility of statements in custodial interrogations. Part III of this Article describes the broader implications of these doctrinal shifts in light of significantly increasing federal enforcement of criminal provisions of immigration laws and the increasing number of local law enforcement officials who are untrained in immigration law and yet are involved in these prosecutions. It also analyzes the incentive structure created by federal compensation programs for local law enforcement agencies to circumvent procedural protections for immigrants, relying on new data suggesting that the government's aggressive criminal enforcement policy has raised serious constitutional issues. Finally, Part IV explores the ways in which these trends reflect declining procedural protections in the realm of criminal prosecutions for immigration-related offenses and proposes some solutions to ensure that immigrants' rights are protected in criminal immigration enforcement.


myo-Inositol synthesis and catabolism are crucial in many multicellular eukaryotes for production of phosphatidylinositol and inositol phosphate signaling molecules. myoinositol monophosphatase (IMP) is a major enzyme required for the synthesis of myoinositol and breakdown of inositol (1,4,5)-trisphosphate (InsP3), a potent second messenger involved in many biological activities. Arabidopsis contains a single canonical IMP gene, which was previously shown in our lab to encode a bifuntional enzyme with both IMP and L-galactose 1-phosphatase activity. Analysis of metabolite levels in imp mutants showed only slight modifications with less myo-inositol and ascorbate accumulation in these mutants. This result suggests the presence of other functional IMP enzymes in plants. Two other genes in Arabidopsis encode chloroplast proteins, which we have classified as IMP-like (IMPL), because of their greater homology to the prokaryotic IMPs such as the SuhB, and CysQ proteins. Prokaryotic IMP enzymes are known to dephosphorylate D-Inositol 1-P (D-Ins 1-P) and other substrates in vitro, however their in vivo substrates are not characterized. A recent study revealed the ability of IMPL2 to complement a bacterial histidinol 1-phosphate phosphatase mutant defective in histidine synthesis, which suggested an important role for IMPL2 in amino acid synthesis. The research presented here focuses on the characterization of IMPL functional roles in plant growth and development. To accomplish this I performed kinetic comparisons of the Arabidopsis recombinant IMPL1 and IMPL2 enzymes with various inositol phosphate substrates and with L-histidinol 1phosphate, respectively. The data supports that IMPL2 gene encodes an active histidinol 1-phosphate phosphatase enzyme in contrast to the IMPL1 enzyme which has the ability to hydrolyze D-Ins 1-P substrate and may be involved in the recycling of inositol from the second messenger, InsP3. Analysis of metabolite levels in impl2 mutant plants


Student team project work in higher education is one of the best ways to develop team working
skills at the same time as learning about the subject matter. As today's students require the freedom
to learn at times and places that better match their lifestyles, there is a need for any support
for team project work to be also available online. Team working requires that the task roles as
well as the maintenance roles are taken into consideration, in that social interactions are just as
important as carrying out the tasks of the project.
The literature indicates that groupware, whilst effective in supporting the task roles, provides limited
support for the maintenance roles of team working in the work place. As groupware was not
specifically designed for student team working, it provides limited support for maintenance roles
in student team projects. Virtual learning environments similarly provide support for completing
the task roles. Many researchers have found that students experience difficulties with their team
project work that reduce the perceived benefits of working in a team. It is proposed that helping
students to agree on ground rules at the start of a project will improve team cohesion.
This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a prototype system to help students to
agree on ground rules as they start their team projects. The system was tested with teams of students
carrying out information systems team projects, using an interpretive case study research
approach. In this case the teams had the additional problem of being composed of students from
across three years of their undergraduate degree programmes, so they did not always have prior
knowledge of each other's preferences. We were trying to establish how useful this software tool
would be to these student teams, in starting their project work.
The findings showed that some of the student teams did find the ground rules function useful, but
the team leaders were the ones who most appreciated its potential. The students may use the outputs
in very different ways, but even just looking at the ground rules appeared to get team members
thinking about their expectations for team working. Student teams do not often start by
thinking about norms, but this study shows a positive benefit of encouraging teams to agree on
ground rules at the start of their projects.


ABSTRACTThe institutionalization of business improvement districts (BIDs) is investigated with analyses of the state enabling laws in the United States. The results indicate that no distinct institutional BID form has emerged yet, but there is a process of institutionalization. This process can be observed in the names used for BIDs in the laws, their governing models and the methods of determining their board membership. The name "improvement district" has been used with an increasing frequency in the laws. Of the three BID governing models-subunits of local governments, autonomous public authorities, and nonprofit corporations-the last has been adopted more frequently in recent decades. The governing bodies of BIDs may be appointed or elected, but the elected board model was adopted more frequently in recent decades.Keywords: business improvement districts; special districts; institutionalizationAcknowledgementWe gratefully acknowledge Dr. Carol Becker's contribution to this study by sharing with us the detailed results of the BID survey she and her colleagues had conducted in 2010.Business improvement districts (BIDs) have been established in all states of the United States, most provinces of Canada, a few countries in Europe (United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and the Netherlands), and South Africa and a considerable size of BID literature has been built in recent decades. BID researchers investigated their implications for democratic participation and accountability (Barr, 1997; Briffault, 1999; Hochleutner, 2008; Justice & Skelcher, 2009), BID-local government relations (Morcol & Zimmermann, 2008; Wolf, 2008), and their successes and failures in helping solve urban problems (Hoyt, 2005; Ellen, Schwartz & Voicu, 2007; Cook & MacDonald, 2011).After two decades of research, there still is a need to formulate a common conceptualization of BIDs, however. An important problem is whether BIDs should be conceptualized as a distinct form of local government or a mixture of different institutional forms. There are two sets of conceptual issues within this problem. First, is there a single and coherent BID institutional form? Justice and Skelcher (2009) argue that it is possible to identify an ideal typical BID institutional form, despite the considerable functional and institutional diversity among the BIDs in the different states of the United States and other countries (p. 740). Second, are BIDs distinguishable from other forms of special districts? This is an important question, because BIDs are often defined in terms of their similarities with and differences from special districts (e.g., Kennedy, 1996; Briffault, 1999). To answer these questions, we analyzed the definitions and descriptions of BIDs in the enabling laws of the 50 states of the United States, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico.This comprehensive study of the state laws is needed because the conceptualizations of BIDs in the current literature are based on limited empirical investigations and legal analyses. Mitchell's (1999) nationwide survey in the United States in the later 1990s identified BIDs in 42 states and Washington, DC. Becker and her colleagues' survey in 2010 identified BIDs in 48 states-the only exceptions being North Dakota and Wyoming-and Washington DC (Becker, 2010; Becker, Grossman, & Dos Santos, 2011). However, the empirical and legal studies typically focus on few selected cases and/or few state laws. This narrow focus in the studies does not constitute a sufficient basis for a comprehensive conceptualization of BIDs.The empirical BID studies have focused primarily on six states and Washington, DC: California (Brooks, 2006, 2007; Cook & MacDonald, 2011; Lloyd, McCarthy, McGreal & Berry, 2003; MacDonald, Stokes & Bluthenthal, 2010; Meek & Hubler, 2008; Stokes, 2008), Pennsylvania (Hoyt, 2005; Stokes, 2006; Morcol & Patrick, 2008; Dilworth, 2010)1, New York (Ellen, Schwartz & Voicu, 2007; Gross, 2008; Meltzer, 2011), Maryland (Baer, 2008; Baer & Feiock, 2005; Baer & Marando, 2001), New Jersey (Justice & Goldsmith, 2008; Ruffin, 2010), Georgia (Ewoh & Zimmermann, 2010; Morcol & Zimmermann, 2008), and Washington, DC (Mallet, 1993; Schaller & Modan, 2005; Wolf, 2006). …


In this thesis the thermal- and photo-substitution behavior of polypyridyl ruthenium complexes is described at the surface of lipid bilayers and in homogeneous solutions. It is shown that the successive thermal binding and light-induced unbinding of the cationic ruthenium complex at the surface of the lipid bilayer requires negatively charged liposomes and ruthenium complexes containing moderately hindered N-N bidentate ligands. Our results in homogeneous solution show that changing the steric hindrance of the bidentate ligand influences both the photo- and thermal reactivities of these complexes, by altering the mechanism of the Ru-S bond formation. It is also shown that the Ru-S bond formation at the surface of negative lipid bilayers is faster than the same reaction in homogenous aqueous solutions, and a two-steps mechanism is proposed for the thermal coordination of ruthenium aqua complexes at membrane-embedded ligands. Furthermore, the application of ruthenium-functionalized liposomes in drug delivery is discussed. In vitro tests on cancer cell lines show that neutral liposomes functionalized with ruthenium compounds are more readily taken up by cancer cells than ruthenium-free liposomes. The liposome samples with ruthenium compounds are shown to be poorly cytotoxic in the dark. After light irradiation, the cytotoxicity increased at least up to five times for ruthenium complexes supported on non-PEGylated liposomes. Finally, the photoactivation of polypyridyl complexes with low-energy photons was studied using a photosensitization approach. A photosubstitution reaction was made faster upon yellow light irradiation than upon blue light irradiation by covalently linking a rhodamine B dye to the ruthenium complex.


Brimming with beautiful pictures, this successful book guides you through a project-based, progressive curriculum so that you can build all the essential skills to enhance photographs creatively and professionally with Photoshop CS3. If you are an aspiring professional, enthusiastic amateur photographer, or a student learning photography, digital imaging, art and design, or design graphics, you'll be amazed at the stunning results you can achieve!New! DVD is included FREE. Additional learning materials include * full-resolution, royalty-free images to download for trying-out your new techniques * over 8 hours of QuickTime movie tutorials to support the practical projects * Presets from layer styles to curves, shapes, and gradients * indispensable RAW files for editing practiceAnd don't miss the companion website with updates, practice material, and more at www.photoshopessentialskills.com!"The perfect companion guide for Photoshop users of multiple levels." Photoshop Creative Magazine"This book provides excellent coverage of Photoshop as a digital darkroom tool, as well as covering a truly amazing amount of background information. It is very readable and is truly a gem."Mark Lewis, Director, Mount Saint Mary College, USAThe Essential Skills Photography Series from Focal Press uniquely offers a structured learning experience for photographers of all ages, with both the underlying theory and loads of invaluable 'how to' and real-life practice projects - all from the most talented photography practitioners/educators in the world.Each subject includes:* learning objectives for each section - for class use or self-study * color images of student and teacher/author work* activities to check learning outcomes* assignments to put theories into creative practice* full glossary of termsOther titles in the series:Studio Photography: Essential Skills by John Child, Photographic Lighting: Essential Skills by John Child and Mark Galer and Digital Photography in Available Light by Mark Galer. *An affordable resource that distills the complexity of Photoshop CS3 to the essentials* Retouch photographs, create makeovers, produce sophisticated montages, and create special effects with clear, step-by-step projects * Practice with activities that show the 'why', along with the 'how-to' * Follow a structured learning approach to gain fundamental skills...and more


Background: To evaluate the risk of the adult glioma associated with farming and agricultural pesticide use, the authors conducted a population based case control study in eastern Nebraska. Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with men and women diagnosed with gliomas (n = 251) between 1988 and 1993 and controls (n = 498) randomly selected from the same geographical area. Unconditional logistic regression was used to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for farming and for use of individual and chemical classes of insecticides and herbicides, including pesticides classified as nitrosatable (able to form N-nitroso compounds upon reaction with nitrite). Non-farmers were used as the reference category for all analyses. Results: Among men, ever living or working on a farm and duration of farming were associated with significantly increased risks of glioma (⩾55 years on a farm OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.8 to 8.6); however, positive findings were limited to proxy respondents. Among women, there were no positive associations with farming activities among self or proxy respondents. Specific pesticide families and individual pesticides were associated with significantly increased risks among male farmers; however, most of the positive associations were limited to proxy respondents. For two herbicides and three insecticides, use was positively associated with risk among both self and proxy respondents. Based on a small number of exposed cases, ORs were significantly increased for the herbicides metribuzin (OR = 3.4, 95% CI 1.2 to 9.7) and paraquat (OR = 11.1, 95% CI 1.2 to 101), and for the insecticides bufencarb (OR = 18.9, 95% CI 1.9 to 187), chlorpyrifos (OR = 22.6, 95% CI 2.7 to 191), and coumaphos (OR = 5.9, 95% CI 1.1 to 32). Conclusion: The authors found significant associations between some specific agricultural pesticide exposures and the risk of glioma among male farmers but not among female farmers in Nebraska; however, most of the positive associations were limited to proxy respondents. These findings warrant further evaluation in prospective cohort studies where issues of recall bias are not a concern.


Background: Radiology is rapidly advancing, with a global transition to digital imaging technology to improve productivity and enhance communication. The major challenge confronting radiology practices is to demonstrate cost savings and productivity gains when a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is established. Aim: To undertake an incremental cost analysis of PACS compared with conventional radiology to determine productivity gains, if any, at two private hospitals in Durban. Method: An incremental cost analysis for chest radiographs, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging brain scans with and without contrast were performed. The overall incremental cost for PACS in comparison with a conventional radiology site was determined. The net present value was also determined to evaluate the capital budgeting requirements for both systems. Results: The incremental cost of both capital and the radiology information system for installing PACS shows an expected increase. The incremental PACS image cost shows a reduction. Conclusion: The study provides a benchmark for the cost incurred when implementing PACS. It also provides a decision framework for radiology departments that plan to introduce PACS and helps to determine the feasibility of its introduction.


Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD) is the nontrivial extraction of implicit, previously unknown and potentially useful information from data. Data preprocessing is a step of the KDD process that reduces the complexity of the data and offers better conditions to subsequent analysis. Rough sets theory, where sets are approximated using elementary sets, is another approach for developing methods for the KDD process.
In this doctoral Thesis, we propose new algorithms based on Rough sets theory for three data preprocessing steps: Discretization, feature selection, and instance selection. In Discretization, continuous features are transformed into new categorical features. This is required for some KDD algorithms working strictly with categorical features. In Feature selection, the new subset of features leads to a new dataset of lower dimension, where it is easier to perform a KDD task. When a dataset is very large, an instance selection process is required to decrease the computational complexity of the KDD process. In addition to that, we combine a partitioning clustering algorithm with the Rough sets approach obtaining comparable results to a hierarchical clustering algorithm used along with rough sets.
The new methods proposed in this thesis have been tested on datasets taken from the Machine Learning Database Repository at the University of California at Irvine.


Yacht races are won by good sailors racing fast boats. A good skipper takes decisions at key moments of the race based on the anticipated wind behaviour and on his position on the racing area and with respect to the competitors. His aim is generally to complete the race before all his opponents, or, when this is not possible, to perform better than some of them. In the past two decades some methods have been proposed to compute optimal strategies for a yacht race. Those strategies are aimed at minimizing the expected time needed to complete the race and are based on the assumption that the faster a yacht, the higher the number of races that it will win (and opponents that it will defeat). In a match race, however, only two yachts are competing. A skipper's aim is therefore to complete the race before his opponent rather than completing the race in the shortest possible time. This means that being on average faster may not necessarily mean winning the majority of races. This thesis sets out to investigate the possibility of computing a sailing strategy for a match race that can defeat an opponent who is following a fixed strategy that minimises the expected time of completion of the race. The proposed method includes two novel aspects in the strategy computation: • A short-term wind forecast, based on an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model, is performed in real time during the race using the wind measurements collected on board. • Depending on the relative position with respect to the opponent, decisions with different levels of risk aversion are computed. The risk attitude is modeled using Coherent Risk Measures. The proposed algorithm is implemented in a computer program and is tested by simulating match races between identical boats following progressively refined strategies. Results presented in this thesis show how the intuitive idea of taking more risk when losing and having a conservative attitude when winning is confirmed in the risk model used. The performance of ANN for short-term wind forecasting is tested both on wind speed and wind direction. It is shown that for time steps of the order of seconds and adequate computational power ANN perform better than linear models (persistence models, ARMA) and other nonlinear models (Support Vector Machines). The outcome of the simulated races confirms that maximising the probability of winning a match race does not necessarily correspond to minimising the expected time needed to complete the race.


The purchasing strategies in the construction industry have been considered by many writers in construction management as short-term and arms-length. However, a different picture is portrayed in the manufacturing industry, where the purchasing strategies are mostly long-term to secure supply for production. Industrialized building is at the crossroad between construction and manufacturing, which raises the question of what purchasing strategies are applied. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Kraljic model (1983) can be applied in an industrialized housing factory. The purchasing strategies were studied through interviews with the CEO of a timber housing manufacturer in northern Sweden. Industrialized housing manufacturers can take advantage of standardized construction systems and secure production flows that eliminate waste and improve quality. Evidence proves that long-term relationships similar to those in the manufacturing industry also exist in the construction industry regarding factory production. The analysis of these strategies suggests that the total product offer, including logistic services, plays an important role in choosing supplier.


Abstract. Continental–global-scale flood hazard models simulate design floods, i.e. theoretical flood events of a given probability. Since they output phenomena unobservable in reality, large-scale models are typically compared to more localised engineering models to evidence their accuracy. However, both types of model may share the same biases and so not validly
illustrate their predictive skill. Here, we adapt an existing continental-scale design flood framework of the contiguous US to simulate historical flood events. A total of 35 discrete events are modelled and compared to observations of flood extent, water level, and inundated buildings. Model performance was highly variable, depending on the flood event chosen and validation data used. While all events were accurately replicated in terms of flood extent, some modelled water levels deviated substantially from those measured in the field. Despite this, the model generally replicated the observed flood events in the context of terrain data vertical accuracy, extreme discharge measurement uncertainties, and observational field data errors. This analysis highlights the continually improving fidelity of large-scale flood hazard models, yet also evidences the need for considerable advances in the accuracy of routinely collected field and high-river flow data in order to interrogate flood inundation models more comprehensively.


Over 150 of the world's leading scientists and thinkers offer their choice of the ideas, strategies and arguments that will help all of us understand our world, and its future, better. Includes contributions from: Richard Dawkins, Stephen Pinker, Daniel Dennett, Clay Shirky, Daniel Goleman, Sam Harris, Lee Smolin, Matt Ridley, Mark Henderson, David Rowan, Sir Martin Rees, Craig Venter, Brian Eno, Jaron Lanier and David Brooks...among others. With his organisation Edge.org, the literary agent and all-purpose intellectual impresario John Brockman has brought together the most influential thinkers of our age. Every year he sets them a question, this year that question was: What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody's Cognitive Toolkit? Their answers are collected in this book and explore philosophy, psychology, economics, and other disciplines - and all share one aim: to provide the most reliable ways of gaining knowledge about anything, whether it be human behaviour, corporate behaviour, the fate of the planet, or the future of the universe.


How do new evolutionary units, supporting higher levels of functional organisation, arise from existing evolutionary units? The adaptive transformation of co-adapted species into new units, as in the major evolutionary transitions, is centrally implicated in the evolution of complexity but has proved very problematic for current evolutionary theory and understandably elusive in ALife. We investigate the evolution of new evolutionary units via individual adaptation in a multi-species ecosystem by modelling symbiotic associations that cause interaction probabilities to deviate from a freely mixed condition. It is well known that assortative grouping supports group selection in a well-defined sense, thus it is no surprise that enabling such associations will introduce some group selection effects. However, what form will this take when the control of such rouping is under individual adaptation? We tackle this by comparing the ecosystem attractors of the initial freely mixed system to those of the same system given the evolved association probabilities. In general we find that self-interested adaptation of associations tends to only reinforce species combinations that were already stable before the associations — which seems rather uninteresting. However, if the species densities of the ecosystem are occasionally perturbed whilst associations are developing this causes the system to visit different attractors and allows multiple, possibly incompatible, ssociations to be selected for in different contexts. Under these conditions, even when the attractors of the final system already existed as attractors in the freelymixed system, competition between different combinations of species enlarges basins of ttraction that lead to fit combinations at the expense of those that lead to less fit combinations. Thus, after the associations have evolved, a fit combination of species may be favoured in the niche that is constructed by the action of its association preferences, even if each species involved would be individually unfit if the system were freely mixed. These findings show that evolved higher-level selection can have significant effects even when the new units result from the self-interest of the constituent sub-units. They also suggest that evolved complexes observed naturally may appear to be merely the result of individual selection because they are supported by individual self-interest, but in fact the reason that this complex persists and not some other is due to competition among species combinations. Nonetheless, in small systems these mechanisms do not produce higher levels of complexity than those which occurred without evolved associations because the configurations that result were already visited in the initial freely-mixed system. However, we find that in large complex ecosystems with many local attractors, evolved associations naturally generalise over the relatively few attractors that are visited, enlarging attractors for fit species combinations even before they are visited. An idealisation of these processes has been shown to be far superior to conventional evolutionary algorithms on a fairly general class of difficult optimisation problems. This self-modification of ecosystem attractors therefore illustrates a mechanism that produces high-fitness biological complexes despite the fact that their evolution would seem highly implausible given the very small size of the basin of attraction that leads to this configuration under selection on the original units.


Biodiesel is a promising alternative to petroleum-based diesel fuel because it is renewable and its extensive use in unmodified engines has proved to be very successful. However, its future use may be limited by the higher oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions that are typically generated relative to petroleum diesel. This paper deals with the numerical investigations on the use of Waste Animal Fat (WAF) as alternative fuel in diesel engine. The advanced CFD code CONVERGE is used to perform this work. Computational methods were developed to estimate the physical and thermodynamic properties of biodiesel for combustion modeling. The data of physical WAF properties were input in the fuel library into CONVERGE program for modeling of the spray, ignition, combustion, and NOx emissions of biodiesel in diesel engine. The result validation is based on experimental data obtained from the a single cylinder direct injection diesel engine operated at its rated speed of 1800 rpm with a large range of applied loads. Comparison with the neat diesel fuel in achieved. The engine combustion parameters such as pressure, temperature, heat release rate are determined, and exhaust emissions (soot and NOx) are also evaluated at all operating conditions. Results show that when the engine is operated with WAF fuel, the combustion characteristics are slightly changed when compared to the neat diesel fuel. Also, the use of WAF fuel leads simultaneously to reduce soot and nitrogen oxides (NOx) species. This work is an achieved step with in-cylinder simulation of WAF fuel combustion and has illustrated that advancing the injection timing to 30 CA BTDC, improves pressure and consequently the brake thermal efficiency when using WAF fuel. In addition, the results reported in this paper illustrate that the numerical simulation can be one of the most powerful and beneficial tools for the internal combustion engine design, optimization and performance analysis.

 Key words: Diesel engine, waste animal fats, combustion, simulation, polluants.


PURPOSE
This work investigates the feasibility of using real-time EPID images of the treatment fields acquired during IMRT for target localization and tracking.

METHODS
In this study, 35 patients treated with IMRT were retrospectively investigated. These patients were grouped as: prostate with lymph node (n=14), prostate without lymph node (n=17), and lung (n=4). For each patient, two to four fiducial markers were implanted inside the tumor. The DRR, which projects the patient anatomy and the fiducial marker at the EPID location, was reconstructed for each field. The MLC aperture of each control point was overlay on its corresponding DRR to evaluate the fractional time when the fiducial marker was seen on the EPID image. The probability of seeing at least one, two, three, or four fiducial markers during the treatment was recorded.

RESULTS
Our results show that for prostate IMRT patients without lymph nodes included in the target volume, the average probability of seeing at least one, two, three, and four fiducial markers during the treatment was 50% (35%-59%), 39% (23%- 51%), 24% (7%-38%), and 12% (4%-29%), respectively. For prostate IMRT patients with lymph nodes, the probability was 41% (24%-51%), 29% (12%- 42%), 15% (3%-24%), and 7% (4%-15%), respectively. For lung IMRT treatment, the average probability of seeing at least one fiducial marker was 34% (20%-52%).

CONCLUSION
The continuous image acquisition from the EPID during IMRT treatment provides sufficient target movement information for real-time target localization and intrafractional target motion correction for advanced radiotherapy treatments.


This thesis describes, in a manufacturing context, the development of new waterbased core technology for light alloys. Cores used for steel casting are made from fused silica and are removed using hot sodium hydroxide under refluxing (pressurising hot acids). However, aluminium and other light alloys are attacked by sodium hydroxide. Currently there is no good core system for aluminium and other light alloys. It is therefore desirable to find an alternative material/leaching agent combination for casting aluminium and other light alloys. The recent research review has shown that ceramic cores are mostly made by fused silica with different additives. The previous research has suggested using fused silica (different mesh size) as filling material and using magnesium oxide to control the slurry working life of core mixes. Calcium silicate assists core leaching in dilute acid. The plaster (calcium sulphate) in the form of proprietary plasters (Crystcal R, Fine Casting Plaster) is used to create bond and gives strength to the core. Lithium carbonate acts has an accelerator, improving the strengthening effect of the plaster in the cores. The binder (Ludox ® AM) and water act (as added materials) to bind the composition Core compositions were made with different core trials to produce a core, which records suitable strength and quick leaching properties for light alloys. Core trials were individually mixed and poured into a wooden core box. Cores were pre-dried for twenty-four hours. Cores were fired to different temperatures for two hours, followed by two hours cooling. The cores were subjected to computerised three-point bend test to record the Modulus of rupture (MOR). The plain strain fracture toughness and Weibull parameters were calculated. The Weibull parameter was plotted using Minitab analysis software. Using the cores, gravity die casting process were carried out. The subsequent castings was dipped in diluted nitric, citric and acetic acid to leach out the core. Using different core compositions, core trials were mixed, poured, dried, tested and leached. The high amount of plaster in core trials records high MOR when cores were fired between 200°400° C and the opposite result when fired between 600°800° C. The different grade of plasters(CRP,FCP) do not influence the strength. One percent of magnesium oxide gives a very short working life. High amount of binder(Ludox ® AM) in core produce strong cores. Workable MOR results can be obtained depending on composition allowing manual handling or a waxing process. The fracture toughness is typical of a brittle material, with matching Weibull parameters. The casting process suggests that the new materials are sufficiently refractory. The cores are leached out using diluted nitric, acetic and citric acid at rates compatible with commercial manufacture. This methodology has successfully produced a core using fused silica with plaster and magnesium oxide for aluminium and possibly for light alloys. Different core trials can be used depending on the specific industrial application relating to strength and removal with acid attacking the metal. Further work is needed to fine tune optimum leaching conditions.


Feature Extraction assumes a significant function in the region of picture handling. Before getting Features, different picture pre-processing strategies like binarization, thresholding, resizing, standardization and so forth are applied on the inspected picture. From that point onward, Feature extraction methods are applied to get Features that will be helpful in arranging and acknowledgment of pictures. Feature extraction strategies are useful in different picture handling applications for example character acknowledgment. As Features characterize the conduct of a picture, they show its place regarding capacity taken, proficiency in arrangement and clearly in time utilization moreover. Here in this paper, we will talk about different kinds of Features, include extraction procedures and clarifying in what situation, which Features extraction method, will be better. Thus, in this paper, we will mention Features and Feature extraction strategies if there should be an occurrence of character identification application.


Introduction: Incidence of vascular complications is found to be high in Type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients. Conventional risk factors were not able to explain this high prevalence of CAD. Since inflammation is considered as one of the major reasons for vascular complications, markers like plasma fibrinogen, hsCRP and homocysteine may be used to analyze the risk.
Aim & Objective: To assess the cardiovascular risk by measuring fibrinogen, hsCRP and homocysteine in T2DM subjects under treatment.
Materials & Methods: 40 T2DM subjects under treatment and 40 healthy sex matched subjects of 40-60yrs were included in the study. Plasma Fibrinogen, serum hsCRP and HCY were measured by kit method.
Result & discussion: In our study, plasma fibrinogen level (697.44±84.23) and hsCRP level (1.79±1.31) were significantly increased in T2DM subjects when compared to controls (156.75±103.19, 0.55±0.44) with p value less than 0.05.
Conclusion: Increased plasma fibrinogen and hsCRP were observed in T2DM subjects compared to healthy subjects. No significant difference was observed in HCY levels among the study groups. Evaluation of these parameters along with regular blood sugar may be helpful for early prediction of cardiovascular disease.


Although the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) is a powerful tool for signal and image processing, it has three serious disadvantages: shift sensitivity, poor directionality, and lack of phase information. To overcome these disadvantages, we introduce two-stage mapping-based complex wavelet transforms that consist of a mapping onto a complex function space followed by a DWT of the complex mapping. Unlike other popular transforms that also mitigate DWT shortcomings, the decoupled implementation of our transforms has two important advantages. First, the controllable redundancy of the mapping stage offers a balance between degree of shift sensitivity and transform redundancy. This allows us to create a directional, non-redundant, complex wavelet transform with potential benefits for image coding systems. To the best of our knowledge, no other complex wavelet transform is simultaneously directional and non-redundant. The second advantage of our approach is the flexibility to use any DWT in the transform implementation. As an example, we can exploit this flexibility to create the complex double-density DWT (CDDWT): a shift-insensitive, directional, complex wavelet transform with a low redundancy of (3/sup m/-1/2/sup m/-1) in m dimensions. To the best of our knowledge, no other transform achieves all these properties at a lower redundancy.


INTRODUCTION Brain activity drives both behavior and regulated gene expression in neurons. Although past studies have identified activity-induced signaling and gene regulation cascades in cultured neurons, much less is known about how activity- dependent transcriptional networks are affected by the variations in cell-type composition, network interconnections, and firing patterns that comprise behaviorally active brain circuits in vivo. Dual mechanism model for behaviorally regulated gene expression diversity. (Left) Song brain circuit and zebra finch song motif (transcribed using https://my.scorecloud.com). (Middle) Song nucleus–specific (RA, red; Area X, blue) singing- regulated genes (gene A and gene B) in response to neural f ring (yellow). (Right) Region-general EATF and region-specific TF only bind to genomic DNA (lines) with region-specific acetylated histone 3 (H3K27ac peaks) and then transcribe their mRNAs (green arrow). RATIONALE We tested the hypothesis that behaviorally regulated gene expression is anatomically and temporally diverse and that the key determinants of this diversity are networks of transcription factors, their genomic binding sites, and epigenetic chromatin states. We analyzed genome-wide, singing-regulated gene expression across time in the four major forebrain regions of the song control system in songbirds, a model of speech production in humans. We then performed a transcription factor motif analysis to identify gene regulatory networks enriched in each song nucleus and measured acetylation of histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27ac) to identify chromatin regions that were transcriptionally active in the genomes of song nuclei before and after singing. RESULTS We found that singing was associated with differential regulation of about 10% of all genes in the avian genome that came in several waves across time. Less than 1% of these genes were comparably regulated in all song nuclei tested, and these comprised a core set dominated by immediate-early gene (IEG) transcription factors. By contrast, the vast majority of singing-regulated genes were regulated in only one or a subset of song nuclei, such that each song nucleus had its own dominant subset of genes regulated with defined temporal profiles, controlling a variety of functions. The promoters of many of the singing-regulated genes contained binding motifs for known early-activated transcription factors (EATFs) that become active in response to neural firing, some of which were expressed differentially between song nuclei at baseline. One EATF, calcium-response factor (CaRF), was tested with RNA interference knockdown in cultured neurons and found to regulate the predicted genes in response to neural activity, but was also found to modulate their expression even at baseline. More strikingly, we found with H3K27ac analysis that many song nucleus–specific singing-regulated genes did not show increased chromatin regulatory element activity after singing but rather already had primed region-specific regulatory activity before singing began. CONCLUSIONS We propose a dual mechanism for the diversity of behaviorally regulated genes across different brain regions in vivo (see the figure). First, the neural activity associated with singing activates EATFs, and some TFs differentially expressed in brain regions at baseline, to trigger region-specific expression of their target genes. Second, brain region–specific enhancers near activity- regulated genes are waiting in an epigenetically primed state, ready to modulate transcription of general and song nucleus–specific genes at a moment's notice when the neurons fire. The combination of these two mechanisms underlies a great diversity of behaviorally regulated gene expression, permitting each nucleus to perform its particular function in this complex behavior. Songbirds represent an important model organism for elucidating molecular mechanisms that link genes with complex behaviors, in part because they have discrete vocal learning circuits that have parallels with those that mediate human speech. We found that ~10% of the genes in the avian genome were regulated by singing, and we found a striking regional diversity of both basal and singing-induced programs in the four key song nuclei of the zebra finch, a vocal learning songbird. The region-enriched patterns were a result of distinct combinations of region-enriched transcription factors (TFs), their binding motifs, and presinging acetylation of histone 3 at lysine 27 (H3K27ac) enhancer activity in the regulatory regions of the associated genes. RNA interference manipulations validated the role of the calcium-response transcription factor (CaRF) in regulating genes preferentially expressed in specific song nuclei in response to singing. Thus, differential combinatorial binding of a small group of activity-regulated TFs and predefined epigenetic enhancer activity influences the anatomical diversity of behaviorally regulated gene networks.


The prefrontal cortex has long been suspected to play an important role in cognitive control, in the ability to orchestrate thought and action in accordance with internal goals. Its neural basis, however, has remained a mystery. Here, we propose that cognitive control stems from the active maintenance of patterns of activity in the prefrontal cortex that represent goals and the means to achieve them. They provide bias signals to other brain structures whose net effect is to guide the flow of activity along neural pathways that establish the proper mappings between inputs, internal states, and outputs needed to perform a given task. We review neurophysiological, neurobiological, neuroimaging, and computational studies that support this theory and discuss its implications as well as further issues to be addressed


Abstract Objectives: To obtain consensus-based agreement on a classification system of adverse events (AE) following cervical spinal manipulation. The classification system should be comprised of clear definitions, include patients' and clinicians' perspectives, and have an acceptable number of categories. Methods: Design: A three-round Delphi study. Participants: Thirty Dutch participants (medical specialists, manual therapists, and patients) participated in an online survey. Procedure: Participants inventoried AE and were asked about their preferences for either a three- or a four-category classification system. The identified AE were classified by two analysts following the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). Participants were asked to classify the severity for all AE in relation to the time duration. Results: Consensus occurred in a three-category classification system. There was strong consensus for 16 AE in all severities (no, minor, and major AE) and all three time durations [hours, days, weeks]. The 16 AE included anxiety, flushing, skin rash, fainting, dizziness, coma, altered sensation, muscle tenderness, pain, increased pain during movement, radiating pain, dislocation, fracture, transient ischemic attack, stroke, and death. Mild to strong consensus was reached for 13 AE. Discussion: A consensus-based classification system of AE is established which includes patients' and clinicians' perspectives and has three categories. The classification comprises a precise description of potential AE in accordance with internationally accepted classifications. After international validation, clinicians and researchers may use this AE classification system to report AE in clinical practice and research.


A single field trial was conducted during the 2004 season to evaluate three different mepiquat formulations used to control vegetative plant growth. This project involved the evaluation of mepiquat formulations of Mepex Ginout (DuPont), Pix Ultra and Pentia (BASF). These three treatments, along with a control, were arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Plots were 20, 36" wide rows and extended for a full one half mile irrigation run. Applications of all treatments were made on 22 July 2004 at a rate of 16 oz/acre for each formulation. Lint yields were determined at the end of the season by harvesting the center eight rows of each plot. The harvested seed cotton was weighed using a weigh wagon equipped with load cells. Sub samples were collected from each plot for fiber quality and lint percent determinations. No significant differences were observed among treatments with respect to any of the fiber quality parameters measured. The Mepex Ginout treatment produced the highest lint yield and also the highest percent lint. The control was not significantly different from the other two formulation treatments. Lint percent values had a major impact on lint yield. The control had the lowest seed cotton yield but because of the higher percent lint values, lint yield for the control was ultimately higher than both the Pentia and Pix Ultra treatments. This study demonstrates the positive effect of the PGR applications and also the effect that percent lint can have on final lint yield.