Turbulence profile measurements made on the upper continental slope and shelf of the southeastern Weddell Sea reveal striking contrasts in dissipation and mixing rates between the two sites. The mean profiles of dissipation rates from the upper slope are 1–2 orders of magnitude greater than the profiles collected over the shelf in the entire water column. The difference increases toward the bottom where the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy and the vertical eddy diffusivity on the slope exceed 10−7 W kg−1 and 10−2 m2 s−1, respectively. Elevated levels of turbulence on the slope are concentrated within a 100 m thick bottom layer, which is absent on the shelf. The upper slope is characterized by near‐critical slopes and is in close proximity to the critical latitude for semidiurnal internal tides. Our observations suggest that the upper continental slope of the southern Weddell Sea is a generation site of semidiurnal internal tide, which is trapped along the slope along the critical latitude, and dissipates its energy in a O(100) m thick layer near the bottom and within O(10) km across the slope.


Abstract Glacier surfaces support unique microbial food webs dominated by organic and inorganic debris called 'cryoconite'. Observations from Longyearbreen, Spitsbergen, show how these aggregate particles can develop an internal structure following the cementation of mineral grains (mostly quartz and dolomite) by filamentous microorganisms. Measurements of carbon and dissolved O2 show that these microorganisms, mostly cyanobacteria, promote significant rates of photosynthesis (average 17 μgC g−1 d−1) which assist aggregate growth by increasing the biomass and producing glue-like extracellular polymeric substances. The primary production takes place not only upon the surface of the aggregates but also just beneath, due to the translucence of the quartz particles. However, since total photosynthesis is matched by respiration (average 19 μgC g−1 d−1), primary production does not contribute directly to cryoconite accumulation upon the glacier surface. The microorganisms therefore influence the surface albedo most by cementing dark particles and organic debris together, rather than simply growing over it. Time-lapse photographs show that cryoconite is likely to reside upon the glacier for years as a result of this aggregation. These observations therefore show that a better understanding of the relationship between supraglacial debris and ablation upon glaciers requires an appreciation of the biological processes that take place during summer.


Abstract. The paper presents the results of the prediction for the parameters of the position and orientation of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with compact digital camera. Issue focus in this paper is to achieve optimal accuracy and reliability of the geo-referenced video frames on the basis of data from the navigation sensors mounted on UAV. In experiments two mathematical models were used for the process of the prediction: the polynomial model and the trigonometric model. The forecast values of position and orientation of UAV were compared with readings low cost GPS and INS sensors mounted on the unmanned Trimble UX-5 platform. Research experiment was conducted on the preview of navigation data from 23 measuring epochs. The forecast coordinate values and angles of the turnover and the actual readings of the sensor Trimble UX-5 were compared in this paper. Based on the results of the comparison it was determined that: the best results of co-ordinate comparison of an unmanned aerial vehicle received for the storage with, whereas worst for the coordinate Y on the base of both prediction models, obtained value of standard deviation for the coordinate XYZ from both prediction models does not cross over a admissible criterion 10 m for the term of the exactitudes of the position of a unmanned aircraft. The best results of the comparison of the angles of the turn of a unmanned aircraft received for the angle Pitch, whereas worst for the angles Heading and Roll on the base of both prediction models. Obtained value of standard deviation for the angles of turn HPR from both prediction models does not exceed a admissible exactitude 5° only for the angle Pitch, however crosses over this value for the angles Heading and Roll.


It is known that breast milk empties more quickly from the stomach than does infant formula. We studied the difference in gastroduodenal motility between neonates fed with human milk and those fed with infant formula. Twenty-four five-to 36-day-old neonates were fed with mother's breast milk or with a cow's milk-based formula. Postprandlial gastroduodenal contractions were recorded manometrically for three hours. Repetitive, high-amplitude nonmigrating contractions were the dominant wave form during the postprandial period. The number of episodes, duration, amplitude, and frequency of nonmigrating contractions were not different following the different feedings. The migrating myoelectric complex, which signals a return to the interdigestive (fasting) state, appeared in 75% of breast milk-fed infants but only 17% of formula-fed infants (P < .05) within the three-hour recording period. Because contractions were similar following the two meals, but a fasting state recurred more rapidly in breast-fed infants, we conclude that factors other than phasic, nonpropagated antroduodenal contractions were responsible for the differences in gastric emptying between breast milk and formula.


While the PC just a few years ago included only one single-core CPU and a fixed functionality graphics card, the current commodity PC is a heterogeneous system, equipped with both a multi-core CPU and a fully programmable graphics processing unit (GPU). This change has given the commodity PC one to two orders of magnitude increase in computational performance compared with a few years ago [Brodtkorb et al. 2010; Owens et al. 2008]. We will in this paper address the potential of exploiting such a parallel computational capacity for the calculation of intersections and self-intersections of spline represented surfaces. The focus will be on massive parallel spline space refinement by knot insertion, an approach much better adapted to parallel implementations than the knot insertion used in traditional recursive subdivision based intersection algorithms. Rather than presenting a complete algorithm we address the most resource demanding sub-algorithms of surface intersection and self-intersection algorithms and their relative performance on multi-core processors and GPUs for different levels of refinement. Our results show the efficiency of the sub-algorithms on the two types of processors and how this can be used to improve the overall performance on this heterogeneous system.


After thirty years of neoliberal public sector reforms involving the increased use of the private sector and the import of private sector methods, in many respects, the public sector is barely recognisable from when Mrs Thatcher was elected.

This study is about one specific part of the public services – the public library service – and is analysed in the context of the wider picture of change in the public services. In particular, the focus of the thesis is the attitude of library service workers to the public service ethos (PSE), whether and how it informs their attitude to their work and its potential for use by their union in mobilisation.

The thesis addresses three research questions:
• Has the public service ethos survived? And if it has, what does it mean for workers?
• Is there a relationship between commitment to the public service ethos and union membership and activism?
• Could the union utilise the ethos in its campaigning? And, if so, how?

Starting from a theoretical discussion of the origins and meaning of the PSE and a discussion of the relevance of mobilisation theory, the study highlights three key areas. First, there is an examination of whether workers in the public library service believe that a PSE exists and, if so, what it means to them. It is demonstrated through qualitative and quantitative data, including a survey of union members in the library service that it is both alive and well and a significant influence on how they view their working life. Secondly, there is an analysis of whether there is a relationship between union activism and commitment and a belief in the PSE. Connected with that is a debate about the utility of the PSE as an aid to mobilisation at the workplace. Thirdly, there is a discussion of the relevance of the PSE to unions' wider campaigning, given their expressed aim of drawing on external power resources through alliances with service user groups.

The study shows that public service workers continue to believe in a PSE, offering their union the opportunity to associate itself with it, thereby distinguishing itself from the employer and strengthening the union both within and outside the workplace.


Although the numbers of adult smokers has declined, numbers of adolescent smokers have not, with females outnumbering males. Research has indicated that adolescent females have higher levels of body image dissatisfaction than males. This dissatisfaction is mostly with regard to weight, which suggests a possible association between female adolescents smoking and weight control. A study of American adolescents (Camp, Klesges & Relyea, 1993) found that adolescent females were more likely to perceive that smoking is a method of weight control and to use smoking to control their weight than adolescent males. This present study investigated the perceptions of625 Western Australian adolescents (321 males and 304 females) in the age range 13-17 years with regards to smoking and weight control. The study was a partial replication of Camp et al. ( 1993 ). Data were collected by way of a self-completed questionnaire based on the format used by Camp et al. Findings were not wholly consistent with Camp et al. There was a belief amongst the participants that smoking was a method of weight control, but this was not gender specific. Experimental smokers were significantly more likely than never or regular smokers to endorse the belief. The belief in smoking as a method of weight control reliably predicted regular smoking. Regular smokers of either gender that were classed as restricted eaters were more likely to smoke for weight control, than those who were not restricted eaters. In summary, there was a higher likelihood of being a regular smoker as opposed to a nonsmoker if the individual was an older female, believed that smoking controlled weight, had friends and or family members that smoked, positively evaluated the image of smokers, and was characterised as a risktaker or rebel. There was a higher likelihood of being a regular smoker as opposed to an experimental smoker if the individual was female, had friends and or family members that smoked, positively evaluated the image of smokers and was characterised as a risktaker or rebel. Implications for health educators may include the need to address the perception of smoking as a weight control method, especially amongst experimental smokers. Author: Mary Edwards Supervisor: Alison Salmon Co-supervisor: Dr. Lynne Cohen Submitted: 13"' November, 2000 Adolescent Smoking and Body Image iii. Declaration I certify that this thesis does not, to the best of my knowledge and belief: (i) incorporate without acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a degree or diploma in any institution of higher education; (ii) contain any material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the text: or (iii) contain any defamatory material. Signature: ___ ~~--Date: \ ·~ · \ \ · :/_(Xx)


Large areas of deforested and degraded land, particularly degraded peatlands, need a viable long-term solution for restoration, ideally one that ensures energy security without compromising food security or biodiversity conversation. To address a knowledge gap on the most adaptive bioenergy crop(s) for degraded lands, this research project assessed the survival and growth performance of potential bioenergy crops to restore burned and degraded peatlands. Our methodology compared the bioenergy species with the potential to survive in extreme environments, i.e., gamal [Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp.], kaliandra (Calliandra calothyrsus Meissner), kemiri sunan [Reutealis trisperma (Blanco) Airy Shaw], and nyamplung (Calophyllum inophyllum L.). Observed parameters are plant survival rates, tree height, and circular stem growth. The experiment was conducted between March 2016 to February 2017 in a two-hectare demonstration plot on burned and degraded peatland in Buntoi village, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan province. Using a split plot design, two treatments were given to each species, i.e., monoculture plantation and agroforestry (intercropped with Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.); with each treatment, the species were replicated on two separate plots. Results indicate that nyamplung is the most adoptable species followed by kemiri sunan, however both species performed very well under agroforestry treatment when compared with monoculture. Further study is needed to assess the productivity and associate biofuel yield.


The migration of doctors from developing to developed countries is an ongoing phenomenon. There is scant information on the attitudes of medical students to the ethical aspects of this trend. This paper reports on a study of 50 first-year medical students and 52 interns in a college in Vellore city, Tamil Nadu. Only 13 of 102 respondents thought that migrant doctors contributed significantly to the health system in India. 17% thought that doctor migration was not an ethical issue, and 40% thought that individual altruism had no role in solving public problems. The responses to case scenarios suggest that first-year medical students are more likely to have an altruistic and communitarian attitude whereas interns tended to emphasise individual liberty and autonomy.


Changes in T lymphocyte populations underlie much of the age-related decline in the protective immune response. Aging leads to the replacement of virgin T cells by memory T cells and to the accumulation of cells with signal transduction defects. Studies of antibody gene assembly, accessory cell function, post-thymic T cell development, skewed selection of T cell receptor repertoire, and the clinical concomitants of immune senescence will shed new light on the causes and consequences of age-dependent immune failure.


This paper is concerned with the 2003 film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and with the book – or more accurately – books from which it is adapted. The film's source material comes from novelist Patrick O'Brian who, between 1969 and his death in 2000, wrote 20 completed novels, plus one unfinished work. While no single text manifests a glaring temporal anomaly, taken as a whole it is apparent that numerous factors including the age of characters, aspects of their backstory, and especially the cumulative duration of several epic sea journeys do not cohere. It is not the object of this paper to treat this distortion as a failure. Rather, it is to focus on how the single screen adaptation engages with this aspect of its literary predecessors.


We introduce a novel stochastic Petri net formalism where discrete and continuous phase-type firing delays can appear in the same model. By capturing deterministic and generally random behavior in discrete or continuous time, as appropriate, the formalism affords higher modeling fidelity and efficiencies to use in practice. We formally specify the underlying stochastic process as a general state space Markov chain and show that it is regenerative, thus amenable to renewal theory techniques to obtain steady-state solutions. We present two steady-state analysis methods depending on the class of problem: one using exact numerical techniques, the other using simulation. Although regenerative structures that ease steady-state analysis exist in general, a noteworthy problem class arises when discrete-time transitions are synchronized. In this case, the underlying process is semi-regenerative and we can employ Markov renewal theory to formulate exact and efficient numerical solutions for the stationary distribution. We propose a solution method that shows promise in terms of time and space efficiency. Also noteworthy are the computational tradeoffs when analyzing the "embedded" versus the "subordinate" Markov chains that are hidden within the original process. In the absence of simplifying assumptions, we propose an efficient regenerative simulation method that identifies hidden regenerative structures within continuous state spaces. The new formalism and solution methods are demonstrated with two applications.


Now recognised as part of the cellular transcriptome, the function of long non-coding (lnc) RNA remains unclear. Previously, we found that some lncRNA molecules in bovine embryos are highly responsive to culture conditions. In view of a recent demonstration that lncRNA may play a role in regulating important functions, such as maintenance of pluripotency, modification of epigenetic marks and activation of transcription, we sought evidence of its involvement in embryogenesis. Among the numerous catalogued lncRNA molecules found in oocytes and early embryos of cattle, three candidates chosen for further characterisation were found unexpectedly in the cytoplasmic compartment rather than in the nucleus. Transcriptomic survey of subcellular fractions found these candidates also associated with polyribosomes and one of them spanning transzonal projections between cumulus cells and the oocyte. Knocking down this transcript in matured oocytes increased developmental rates, leading to larger blastocysts. Transcriptome and methylome analyses of these blastocysts showed concordant data for a subset of four genes, including at least one known to be important for blastocyst survival. Functional characterisation of the roles played by lncRNA in supporting early development remains elusive. Our results suggest that some lncRNAs play a role in translation control of target mRNA. This would be important for managing the maternal reserves within which is embedded the embryonic program, especially before embryonic genome activation.


Background: Inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) make up a large group of rare disorders caused by an inherited deficiency or absence of proteins that have enzymatic, carrier, receptor, or structural roles. This study is aimed to early detection, diagnosis, and intervention to improve outcome. Patients and methods: This cross-sectional study was done in Pediatrics Department, Zagazig University Hospitals. It included 65 cases with suspected inborn errors of metabolism. All the studied cases were subjected to full history taking, clinical examination and Laboratory investigations. Results: The age of neonates, infant and children were 35 (54.6%), 22 (34.37%), 8 (10.93%) cases respectively, 34 cases were females and 30 males. The most common complaint was poor suckling in 14 cases (21.8%) then lethargy as well as fever in 6 cases (9.37%). Disturbed consciousness and hepatosplenomegaly were present in 11 cases (17.18%). Metabolic disorders including metabolic acidosis (25%), hypoglycemia (3.12%), raise lactate level (4.68%), hyperammonemia (14) and presence of ketonuria in (4.68%) of cases, respectively. The different disease types of the studied cases after routine and specific laboratory finding, our results showed that, 18 cases Suspected IEM (not diagnosed), 11 cases Diagnosed metabolic (non PKU), 36 cases Diagnosed Phenylketonuria (PKU). Conclusion: Early diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism (IEMs) during neonatal period or infancy for starting its proper treatment will improve outcomes, control complications of metabolic diseases and decrease the mortality rates.


In this paper, the change detection of Multi-Spectral (MS) remote sensing images is treated as an image segmentation issue. An unsupervised method integrating histogram-based thresholding and image segmentation techniques is proposed. In order to overcome the poor performance of thresholding techniques for strongly overlapped change/non-change signals, a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) with three components, including non-change, non-labeling and change, is adopted to model the statistical characteristics of the different images between two multi-temporal MS images. The non-labeling represents the pixels that are difficult to be classified. A random walk based segmentation method is applied to solve this problem, in which the different images are modeled as graphs and the classification results of GMM are imported as the labeling seeds. The experimental results of three remote sensing image pairs acquired by different sensors suggest a superiority of the proposed approach comparing with the existing unsupervised change detection methods.


ABSTRACT The aim was to describe the organization of working hours in the Danish regions according to sex, age and calendar year. Based on the Danish Working Hour Database (DWHD), individuals were classified according to schedules: Permanent day (57.8%), evening (1.7%), or night (1.2%); day/evening (22.0%); day/night (6.6%); evening/night (0.6%); and day/evening/night (10.2%). More men (9.1%) than women (5.9%) worked day/night, whereas more women (10.9%) than men (7.4%) worked day/evening/night. More young than older employees worked day/evening/night, and fewer worked permanent day or night. From 2008 to 2015 we observed a trend towards more employees working permanent day and fewer employees working other schedules. Altogether DWHD provides a strong tool in research on working hours.


Law meets science in a remarkable variety of contexts. While their interactions are often studied in particular contexts, general theories of their interaction are wanting. This paper presents a general model of an interface between law and science that identifies how their interaction must be structured to promote effective interdisciplinary collaboration, and then demonstrates how this model can be used to analyze problems as diverse as: a large-scale intergovernmental attempt at ecosystem restoration; and the effects of a method of science-based alternative dispute resolution on science and negotiated outcomes. In both cases, the model features of a properly functioning law-science interface are mapped onto the actual decisionmaking structure, yielding recommendations for its improved effectiveness. The first analysis focuses on the legal and regulatory structure for the restoration of the Florida Everglades through adaptive management, examining federal water management laws affecting the Florida Everglades ecosystem and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan authorized by the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 as implemented by the Secretary of the Army. Such an analysis has not been provided elsewhere. I identify the key features of a successful strategy for "getting the science right" in ecosystem restoration, and develop recommendations for the cooperative approach taken by its implementing agencies. I also describe these efforts' effects on the region's ecology and economy, and identify the scope of the planned restoration.The second analysis turns to an alternative dispute resolution context: the model is applied to a formalized science-based dispute resolution process known as "joint fact-finding," resulting in a proposal for the development of joint fact-finding to introduce a structure for maintaining boundaries between scientific and dispute-resolution fact-finding processes while promoting their cooperation. I then recommend formal confluences between this more structured form of joint fact-finding and adaptive management for more effective science-based ecosystem management. As the multiple government agencies involved determine how to effect WRDA 2000's adaptive assessment and monitoring strategy, other agencies and project teams are eager to learn how they might similarly address large-scale ecosystem restoration elsewhere, as are scholars and nongovernmental organizations around the world. These specific applications of the model are useful in themselves, and they further demonstrate the contributions of the general model in understanding law-science interfaces more broadly.


Polymers incorporating main group elements offer different and interesting properties compared to their all carbon analogues. For example, π-conjugated polymers incorporating phosphorus in the main chain of the polymer have generated interest due to their unique thermal and electronic properties, which primarily result from delocalization of the phosphorous lone pair within aromatic units. Similarly, interest in polysilanes stems from conductivity resulting from σ electron delocalization, though current methods of preparation for both of these types of materials are lacking. In this dissertation, both early and late transition-metal compounds were used to dehydrocouple phosphine and silane substrates. The use of dehydrocoupling catalysis as a method for the synthesis of main group element-linked polymers was explored utilizing substrates designed to engender solubility in their polymeric products. Progress towards the preparation of silaneand phosphine-based conjugated materials via dehydrocoupling catalysis is reported. Catalytic reactions of bisphosphinite pincer-ligated iridium compounds pX(POCOP)IrHCl (POCOP) = 2,6-(R2PO)2C6H3, R = Pr, Bu, X = H, COOMe, H, NMe2 with primary and secondary silanes have been performed. Compounds featuring the less sterically demanding Pr-substituted ligands facilitate silane redistribution reactions, but dehydrocoupling catalysis is observed for more encumbered silane substrates or with aggressive removal of H2. The bulkier Bu-substituted compounds are silane dehydrocoupling precatalysts that also undergo competitive redistribution with less hindered substrates. Products generated from reactions utilizing Bu ligated Ir include low molecular weight oligosilanes with varying degrees of redistribution present or disilanes when employing more sterically demanding substrates. The interplay of steric and electronic effects of the POCOP ligand on the silane product distribution will be presented. In previous work by our group, a triamidoamine-supported zirconium catalyst, [κ5-(Me3SiNCH2CH2)2NCH2CH2NSiMe2CH2]Zr, 1 has been shown to be effective in catalyzing the formation of phosphorus–element bonds via dehydrocoupling. Substrates including 2,5-bisphosphinofuran and 1,4-bisphosphinobenzene were dehydrocoupled to yield hyperbranched polyphosphine products. Efforts to characterize these products have been limited due to poor solubility. Rational substrate design incorporating aliphatic side chains in primary phosphine linker molecules to engender solubility has been accomplished. Treatment of these second generation substrates with 1 or [Cp2ZrH3]Li, 2 leads to sluggish reactions reaching moderate conversions to diphosphine products. The working hypothesis is that steric congestion during the bond forming step hinders additional bond-formation. Efforts toward the characterization and utilization of these insoluble materials as metal ion scavengers will be presented.


Pragmatics concerns the material function of language use in the world, and thus touches on profound questions about the relationship between our cognition and the environments in which we operate. Both psycholinguistics and evolutionary linguistics have afforded greater attention to pragmatics in recent years. Though the potential of evolutionary psycholinguistics has been noted for over twenty-five years (e.g. Tooby & Cosmides, 1990; Scott-Phillips, 2010a), there has arguably been little dialogue between these two fields of study. This thesis explicitly acknowledges and investigates the adaptationist nature of functional claims in psycholinguistics, and attempts to demonstrate that psycholinguistic inquiry can provide evidence that is relevant to theories of how the cognitive architecture of linguistic communication evolved. Chapter two reviews a broad polarisation in the pragmatic and psycholinguistic literature concerning the relative roles of linguistic convention and contextual information in comprehension. It makes explicit the theoretical approaches that reliably give rise to these polar positions across scholarly domains. It goes on to map each model of comprehension to the adaptationist particulars it may entail, and in doing so illustrates two different pictures of how linguistic cognition has developed over phylogeny. The Social Adaptation Hypothesis (SAH) holds that linguistic comprehension is performed by relevance-oriented inferential mechanisms that have been selected for by a social environment (i.e. inference-using conspecifics). In particular, the SAH holds that linguistic conventions are attended to in the same way as other ostensive stimuli and contextual information, and because of their relevance to communicative interactions. The Linguistic Adaptation Hypothesis (LAH) holds that linguistic comprehension is performed by specialised cognition that has been selected for by a linguistic environment (i.e. language-using conspecifics) that was established subsequent to, and as a consequence of, the emergence of inferential communication. In particular, the LAH holds that linguistic conventions are a privileged domain of input for the comprehension system. The plausibility and congruence of both accounts with the current state of knowledge about the evolutionary picture necessitates empirical psycholinguistic evidence. The remainder of the thesis presents a series of experiments investigating referential expressions relevant to the contrastive predictions of these two adaptationist accounts. The broad question that covers all of these experiments is: how sensitive is the comprehension process to linguistic input qua linguistic input, relative to various other grades of relevant contextual information? Chapter three presents a reaction time experiment that uses speaker-specific facts about referents as referring expressions, in a conversational precedent paradigm. The experiment measures the relative sensitivity of comprehension processing to the knowledge states of speakers and the consistent use of linguistic labels, and finds greater sensitivity to linguistic labels. Chapter four introduces a further contextual variable into this paradigm, in the form of culturally copresent associations between labels and referents. The experiment presented in this chapter compares the relative sensitivity of processing to culturally copresent common ground, the privileged knowledge state of speakers, and the consistent use of linguistic labels. The results indicated greater sensitivity to linguistic labels overall, and were consistent with the LAH. Chapter five turns to visual context as a constraint on reference, and presents two pairs of experiments. Experiments 3 and 4 investigate the comprehension of referring expressions across congruous, incongruous, and abstract visual contexts. The experiments measured reaction time as subjects were prompted to identify constituent parts of tangram pictures. The results indicated a sensitivity to the visual context and the linguistic labels, and are broadly consistent with the SAH. If comprehension is characterised by particular sensitivities, we may expect speakers to produce utterances that lend themselves well to how hearers process them. Experiments 5 and 6 use a similar tangram paradigm to elicit referring expressions from speakers for component parts


The work focuses on translating the eight wastes of Lean for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), identify some examples of each waste and to propose appropriate Lean solutions to those wastes. To identify wastes within HEIs a combination of observation and cause-and-effect analysis utilising brainstorming were employed using a convenience sample of HE academic staff. Once all eight wastes were successfully translated for HEIs a range of examples were identified in both academic and support services, including excessive movement of people, over production of materials, excessive inventory and waste of human resources. Appropriate Lean solutions to the identified wastes include the use of 5S, point-of-use-storage (POUS), process mapping/value stream mapping and level scheduling. The cited examples come from a limited number of observations in only a few HEIs. More valid and reliable data would come from a more extensive sample of HEIs. In order to improve bottom-line performance in times of constrained resources HEIs can reduce waste and hence costs of poor quality by using Lean thinking and accessing, what Juran (1962) called, "The gold in the mine". This can be done without reducing the level of services. Particularly in a recession, HEIs need to show that they are using government funding (public money) in the most efficient and effective way possible. Lean thinking can help achieve both these objectives. Previous papers on Lean thinking applied to HEIs have concentrated on individual processes such as curriculum design or student assessment. This chapter takes a holistic view demonstrating how Lean thinking theories can be practically applied across both academic and administrative areas of HEI operations.


The model of span programs is a linear algebraic model of computation. Lower bounds for span programs imply lower bounds for contact schemes, symmetric branching programs and for formula size. Monotone span programs correspond also to linear secret-sharing schemes. We present a new technique for proving lower bounds for monotone span programs. The main result proved here yields quadratic lower bounds for the size of monotone span programs, improving on the largest previously known bounds for explicit functions. The bound is asymptotically tight for the function corresponding to a class of 4-cliques. subject "MAIL ME CLEAR", body "pub/eccc/ftpmail.txt"


The purpose of this study was to determine bakery products consumption, preference, purchasing behaviour and the factors affecting the consumer. The data for this study were obtained by the survey method with 288 households in Isparta. The purchase frequency of bread was determined that daily while for biscuit products it was 15 days and for pasta, wafers and cake was monthly. Consumers have stated that they prefer bakery products as a tasty and satisfying snack. Monthly consumption of biscuits, pasta, wafers and cakes was calculated as 433.44, 913.45, 110.33 and 144.47 grams per person, respectively. Bread consumption was calculated as 188.79 grams per day. Sweet biscuits were more preferred by consumers. It was detected that the price of bakery products is related to the income of households. As of the survey date, the average monthly income of the families was calculated as 3,061.89 TRL and average income per person was calculated as 779.10 TRL. Spending of bakery products for households was found to be 27.16 TRL. When the price of bakery products associated with income of households, these products were seen as reasonable and practical products. Although the education level of consumers varied, bakery products was preferred by every age group of consumer as a conventional taste whether it is a healthy food or not. The rate of consumers who found bakery products moderately safe was 58%. One of the most influencing factors on consumers to purchase bakery products was determined as healthy production conditions and all the shopping facilities of sellers.


A sequential one-pot indium-catalyzed intramolecular hydroarylation (IMHA) of bromopropargyl aryl ethers and amines, and palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction using triorganoindium reagents (R3In) has been developed. In this transformation, the IMHA of 3-bromo-2-propynyl aryl ethers under indium(III) catalysis, proceeds regioselectively through a 6-endo dig pathway to afford 4-bromo-2H-chromenes. Subsequent palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling with R3In gives 4-substituted-2H-chromenes in one-pot. This sequential transformation was extended to 3-bromo-2-propynyl-N-tosylanilines to afford 4-substituted-1,2-dihydroquinolines. The dual-catalyzed procedure takes place efficiently with a variety of propargyl aryl ethers and amines and R3In (R = aryl, heteroaryl, alkyl or alkynyl), showing the efficiency of these organometallics and proving the compatibility of indium and palladium in catalysis.


Costa Rican coffee farmers are almost fully exposed to world price variability. Yet, despite small farm sizes, specialization in coffee, and a marketing system that prolongs uncertainty and aggravates cash flow problems, this study finds that most farmers still manage their price risks surprisingly well. Farmers are able to forecast prices with comparable accuracy to the New York futures market. They have a favorable seasonal cash flow, ready access to credit, and are willing and able to bear risk. Within this context, the potential gains from using the New York futures market to provide forward price contracts at harvest are found to be modest.


Praise for the First Edition" . . . an excellent addition to an upper-level undergraduate course on environmental statistics, and . . . a 'must-have' desk reference for environmental practitioners dealing with censored datasets." Vadose Zone JournalStatistical Methods for Censored Environmental Data Using Minitab and R, Second Edition introduces and explains methods for analyzing and interpreting censored data in the environmental sciences. Adapting survival analysis techniques from other fields, the book translates well-established methods from other disciplines into new solutions for environmental studies. This new edition applies methods of survival analysis, including methods for interval-censored data to the interpretation of low-level contaminants in environmental sciences and occupational health. Now incorporating the freely available R software as well as Minitab into the discussed analyses, the book features newly developed and updated material including: A new chapter on multivariate methods for censored data Use of interval-censored methods for treating true nondetects as lower than and separate from values between the detection and quantitation limits ("remarked data") A section on summing data with nondetects A newly written introduction that discusses invasive data, showing why substitution methods fail Expanded coverage of graphical methods for censored data The author writes in a style that focuses on applications rather than derivations, with chapters organized by key objectives such as computing intervals, comparing groups, and correlation. Examples accompany each procedure, utilizing real-world data that can be analyzed using the Minitab and R software macros available on the book's related website, and extensive references direct readers to authoritative literature from the environmental sciences.Statistics for Censored Environmental Data Using Minitab and R, Second Edition is an excellent book for courses on environmental statistics at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. The book also serves as a valuable reference for?environmental professionals, biologists, and ecologists who focus on the water sciences, air quality, and soil science.


African Americans and Latinos use services that require a doctor's order at lower rates than do whites. Racial bias and patient preferences contribute to disparities, but their effects appear small. Communication during the medical interaction plays a central role in decision making about subsequent interventions and health behaviors. Research has shown that doctors have poorer communication with minority patients than with others, but problems in doctor-patient communication have received little attention as a potential cause, a remediable one, of health disparities. We evaluate the evidence that poor communication is a cause of disparities and propose some remedies drawn from the communication sciences.


Structural Health Monitoring has great potential to replace in-service NDT, giving the opportunity to increase intervals between maintenance shutdowns and to have early warning of the need for component replacement. However, it is essential that the performance of the SHM system is thoroughly evaluated to give confidence that it will detect the required defects at an acceptable level of false calls. This is more difficult than the evaluation of NDT methods as the SHM system will operate across a wide range of environmental operating conditions (EOCs). Although damage can be applied to test structures in a laboratory environment to evaluate the performance, it is often prohibitively expensive to comprehensively investigate the sensitivity of damage detection on different damage types, sizes, and locations under different EOC. In this paper, a cost-effective methodology is presented to evaluate the performance and estimate the sensitivity of an SHM system by synthesizing undamaged records collected under varying EOCs and simulated artificial damage signals. We produce the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) of damage detection methods on different synthetic datasets to predict the performance in practical scenarios.


The coverage of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) was modelled as a function of site and stand characteristics using the permanent sample plots of the National Forest Inventory (NFI) (Model 1). The sample sites consisted of mineral soil forests as well as fells and peatland sites. Annual variation in the bilberry yield (Model 2) was analysed based on measurements over 2001–2014 in the permanent sample plots (so-called MASI plots) in various areas of Finland. We derived annual bilberry yield indices from the year effects of Model 2 and investigated whether these indices could be used to estimate annual variation in bilberry crops in Finland. The highest bilberry coverage was found in mesic heath forests and fell forests. On peatlands the coverage was, on average, lower than on mineral soil sites; the peatland sites with most bilberry coverage were meso-oligotrophic and oligotrophic spruce mires and oligotrophic pine mires. Our bilberry yield indices showed similar variation to those derived from the mean annual berry yields reported and calculated earlier using the MASI plots; the correlation between the indices was 0.795. This approach to calculating annual berry yield indices is a promising way for estimating total annual bilberry yields over a given period of time. Models 1 and 2 can be used in conjunction with the Miina et al.'s (2009) bilberry yield model when bilberry coverage, average annual yield and annual variation in the yield are to be predicted in forest planning.


This article emerges from an approach to transformative learning where students are challenged to explore taken-for-granted assumptions about their experiences in the world. We outline the 6-Part Story Method (6PSM), which uses abstract images to provide a structured storytelling process that enables reflexive learning. This is documented through conversations between a university teacher and three Masters students about the method used in their course on practical ethics in process consulting. Using individual stories that emerged from a common set of cards, we illustrate how the method enabled us to critically explore our practices as teacher and student consultants.


The macroeconomic theories and models favored by academics, as well as those used more commonly by policymakers, effectively rule out by assumption economic and financial crises of the sort we are living through. (In particular, the longer-run dangers posed by the rapid expansion of credit and resulting private-sector balance-sheet developments are almost wholly ignored.) As a result, the current crisis was neither anticipated nor prepared for, and the crisis was also less well managed than it might have been. At the level of macroeconomic theory and modeling, this experience suggests that basic Keynesian insights need to be complemented by some insights from the Austrian school as well as those of Minsky. (Demand factors are important, but so too are supply-side and financial considerations.) Such a synthesis provides a reasonable explanation of the crisis and points to some of the difficulties likely to be faced in emerging from it. As for the policy implications in current circumstances, it needs to be better recognized that policies with positive short-run effects can have negative effects over a longer time period. If, as a result, fiscal expansion and monetary expansion have now reached their limits in some countries, supply-side policies must be given greater emphasis. (These would include measures to encourage investment, both private and public, as well as other structural measures to raise the potential growth rate of the economy.) Such measures, along with more decisive efforts to reduce the "headwinds" of over-indebtedness, should with time provide the foundations for a sustainable economic recovery.


: Considering the fact that grey scale ultrasonography findings in patients with chronic medical diseases are non specific, this study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between RI of arterial Doppler wave form and degree of renal parenchymal damage as measured clinically by serum creatinine level. Hung et al., 2011 stated that there is significant correlation between RI level and serum creatinine value and so RI may serve as an indication for predicting renal graft function after renal transplantation. Bommart et al., 2010 concluded his study by the fact that there is good correlation between RI measured by Doppler ultrasound and kidney function and histology. Material and Methods: The study included 70 patients with chronic renal parenchymal medical diseases, grey scale ultrasonography was done for all cases to assest morphological renal changes include, kidney measurements and grade of renal echogenicity. Renal resistive index was measured by color Doppler sonography for 10 interlobar arteries, (5 interlobar arteries for each kidney). The ultrasonographic findings were correlated with serum creatinine levels for these patients. Renal biopsy reports, for 30 patients were within their files. Results: We proved that RIs were normal in non echogenic kidneys and were high in echogenic kidneys. The second fact that with increasing in RI levels, there was increase in serum creatinine levels. Patients with RI of (0.6) has normal serum creatinine level 1.4. Patients of average RI of 0.74 their serum creatinine levels were reached up to (1.9). Patients of grade 111 echogenicity recorded high RIs ranged from 0.97 up to 1.9. Serum creatinine levels in these cases reached 4mg /dl and more.The third important observation was that during and after medical treatment, there was progressive lowering in RIs accompanying by decreasing in serum creatinine levels. Conclusion : The study suggests that Doppler sonography may be helpful in evaluation of renal function status in patients of medical renal diseases with same sensitivity as serum creatinine RI.in addition can delineate prognosis and guide therapy over a long term follow up in patients with chronic renal diseases .


This article explores how dialogue between policymakers from different countries can help generate learning which responds to the dilemmas they face when seeking to integrate migrants more fully within local communities. These dilemmas include reducing prejudice and discrimination between those who don't want to interact, and building collective belonging whilst valuing the complexity of diverse individual identities. The article highlights ways in which the ethical dimensions of the dialogue process can interact with the ethical dimensions of the issues under discussion within such policymakers' dialogues. In the process, the article demonstrates how research which adopts dialogical approaches, whilst being critically aware of these ethical dimensions, can help to address the gaps and limitations in existing policymakers' understandings, by generating improved exchanges of learning.


Residual soils are formed from the weathering process of rocks. Although there are many research has been conducted on engineering properties of residual soils, the study on mineralogy, microstructure, microfabric and chemical composition of residual soils, despite of its importance, is still lacking. In addition, correlations developed between the engineering properties of granitic residual soils are also still lacking. The knowledge of behaviour and correlations amongst the soil properties is important and useful for design works and construction practices. Properties of mineralogy, microstructure and microfabric and chemical composition can be correlated to physical
and engineering characteristics of residual soils. This information can be used in the design of structures placed on and in residual soils. The objectives of the study are to determine engineering properties, chemical composition, mineralogy, microstructure and microfabric of granitic residual soil, as well as to catalogue briefly on properties of residual soils, and to form related correlation charts of granitic residual soils of Peninsular Malaysia, to produce basic catalogue of the properties, and to generate correlations between the properties of the granitic residual soils. Samples of the granitic residual soils at various depths were taken from nineteen locations in Peninsular Malaysia, using thin-walled and Mazier samplers. Basic properties of soils, i.e., natural water content, grain size distribution, specific gravity, and Atterberg limits were determined. In addition, one-dimensional consolidation tests were performed using oedometer apparatus for the determination of the compressibility characteristics and the coefficient of permeability of the soils. The shear strength of the soils was determined by using Geotechnic Digital System (GDS), which includes three digital controllers, digital presure interface and Bishop Wesley's triaxial cell for an isotropic consolidated undrained test with measurement of pore water pressure. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and X-Ray Fluorescent (XRF) were used to analyse the mineralogy, microstructure and microfabric of granitic soils. The pH meter, Spectrophotometer DR4000 and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) were used for the determination of the chemical compositions and parameter of the residual soils. The results show that, the granitic residuals soils can be categorised as silty and/or clayey sand of low to high plasticity. The natural moisture content increases with increasing depth and clay content and in the range of 10% to 46 %. Specific gravity values are found to be in the range between 2.50 and 2.70. The compression index, coefficient of consolidation, and coefficient of permeability are in the range of 0.11 – 0.42, 1.53 m2/year – 49.64 m2/year, and 1.1 x 10-11m/s – 9.86 x 10-9 m/s, respectively. The effective cohesion values are in the range of 0 – 36.4 kN/m2, while the effective friction angles are in the range of 16Âo – 31Âo. The study on the mineralogy and the microstructure show that quartz and kaolinite are two major minerals that present in the granitic residual soils while montmorillonite, illite and muscovite are the minor minerals. The presence of kaolinite minerals forms microfabric of flaky shape whereas quartz exists in granular form with clothed contacts. The study on microstructure of the residual soils show the existence of clay matrix with pH values of between 4.34 to 6.93, which indicate that the residual soils are acidic. The concentration of sulphate and chloride are in the range of 2.21 ppm to 17.58 ppm and 6 ppm to 75 ppm, respectively. The test results also show that the concentration of anion increases while the cation decreases with increasing distance from the surface of clay minerals. The values of cation exchange capacity (CEC) for the soil samples were found to be in the range 0.34 meq/100 g to 12.88 meq/100 g. Several correlations between the engineering properties of the residual soils were determined. Amongst them, the liquid limit, plasticity index and compression index were found to be increasing with increasing clay content. The compression index and coefficient of volume compressibility increase with increasing void ratio. The compression index and the initial void ratio increase, but the effective friction angle decreases, with increasing clay content. The correlation between CEC versus pH values, loss on ignition (LOI) versus aluminium oxides (Al2O3), sulphate and chloride contents with depths, were developed for the residual soils of the Eastern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The results show that CEC values are influenced by the high pH values. The sulphate and chloride, both found existed in the granitic soil samples, showed that they increased with depth. The correlation between Silicon Oxide and plasticity index is found to be inversely related; this is due to the existence of quartz minerals, which reduce the plasticity of soils, whereas Al2O3 and Fe2O3 in clay minerals increase the plasticity of the soils. The generated correlations can be used as guides for preliminary designs for geotechnical structures constructed on or in residual soil of Peninsular Malaysia.


Abstract This article evaluates the results of a quantitative study of all reported federal court opinions that analyzed an issue in antidilution law during a one year period after passage of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (TDRA). The article shows the remarkable extent to which courts continue to treat the dilution cause of action as superfluous to the infringement cause of action. As a result, antidilution law continues to have no appreciable effect on the outcomes of federal trademark cases or the remedies issuing from those outcomes I. INTRODUCTION At this writing, one year has passed since the October 6, 2006 adoption and effective date of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (TDRA). (1) This brief article reports the results of a quantitative study of all reported federal court opinions that analyzed an issue in antidilution law during this one-year period. While it is still early days for the TDRA, the case law reported in the year following its adoption nevertheless presents strong and disturbing evidence of the continuing debacle of U.S. antidilution law and of the failure of the TDRA so far to effect any substantial change in course. Most significantly, the case law shows the remarkable extent to which courts continue to treat the dilution cause of action as redundant of--and, thus, made superfluous by--the infringement cause of action. For all of the legislative and academic attention paid to it, antidilution law continues to have no appreciable effect on the outcomes of federal trademark cases or the remedies issuing from those outcomes. Part II provides an overview of the eighty-five opinions studied and shows the degree to which the now-defunct Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 (FTDA) (2) and the doctrinal regime built around it continue to exert influence over our antidilution law. Part III details the degree to which, in practice, the outcome of the dilution cause of action is redundant of the outcome of the infringement cause of action. Consider, for example, that of the twenty-six opinions that found no infringement, none found dilution. Of the fifteen opinions that found infringement, fourteen also found dilution, yet none of these fourteen findings of dilution resulted in remedies not already triggered by the court's finding of infringement. Part IV shows that courts have largely failed so far to embrace certain important reforms contained in the TDRA, such as its revised definitions of dilution by "blurring" (3) and "tarnishment" (4) and its heightened standard for trademark fame. (5) Part V concludes by considering what can be done to accomplish the still-unrealized goals of the TDRA. II. OVERVIEW OF THE TDRA CASE LAW TO DATE Of all federal court opinions reported in either the Westlaw or Lexis databases and filed from October 6, 2006 through October 6, 2007, eighty-five opinions analyzed an issue in antidilution law. (6) In this Part, I briefly report the venue, posture, and outcomes of these opinions. I then show the extent to which, at least in this early set of TDRA-era opinions, the dead hand of the FTDA still guides federal antidilution case law. A. Venue, Posture, and Outcome As Table 1 shows, seventy-six of the eighty-five opinions studied were district court opinions and nine were circuit court opinions. None of the circuit court opinions reviewed previous district court opinions in the data set and none included concurrences or dissents. Given the results of past empirical analyses of federal trademark case law, (7) it should not be surprising that the Second Circuit produced the most circuit court opinions among the circuits, with three, and that the Southern District of New York produced the most district court opinions among the districts, with seven. At the district court level, other usual suspects, such as the Northern and Central Districts of California and the Northern District of Illinois, also made substantial contributions to the district court case law. …


Two competing perspectives on the role of federalism in divided societies prevail: accommodation and integration. An accommodationist reading of federalism suggests drawing subunit boundaries to provide minority groups with self-rule whereas integrationist forms of federalism argue that units should be designed to cut across group lines. While these two perspectives offer important insights on securing democracy in divided societies, they both overlook the effect of federal design on "others," that is, groups that face exclusion in the design of political institutions and in post-conflict governance processes. This contribution considers the scholarship on federalism and "others" in divided societies, focusing on gender


Orientation: Researching entrepreneurship using a network perspective is important, as social networks are assets for small business owners struggling to survive in competitive markets. Research purpose: The research question of this study has focused on what we can learn about entrepreneurial networking, considering that there is an under-explored and unarticulated set of networking principles and practices which have not been previously analysed in terms of a multiethnic country context. Motivation for the study: Often the lack of network use is reported as a feature of entrepreneurs, who have less opportunity to utilise formal social capital features. Social networks provided by extended family, community-based or organisational relationships are often theorised to supplement the effects of education, experience and financial capital. Research design, approach and method: Based on hypothesised differences in networking ties, network assistance and support relationships, a survey was used to collect data on quantitative measures. Descriptive statistics were calculated and differential tests were conducted to test the hypotheses. Main findings: Results indicate that entrepreneurial networking is largely independent on group composition. Generally at least some aspects of networking are generic and as a consequence, a more integrated view of networking can be adopted. Practical/managerial implications: The practical value of the present study points to several areas of interest to entrepreneurs, policy makers and educators, through demonstrating the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurial networks for different groups and their explanatory potential in understanding networking. Contribution/value-add: Despite the importance of entrepreneurial networking, little empirical or theoretical research has examined the dynamics of networking in a developing country context such as South Africa, which has lower than expected total entrepreneurship activity.


A new political power, Caucasian Albania, grew in the eastern Caucasus between the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire and the consolidation of the Sasanian Empire (ca. 300 BCE – 300 CE). During this period, the region was a multi-polar intersection of Mediterranean, Iranian, and Steppe zones of interest and socio-political frameworks. Although never comfortably integrated into the Seleucid, Roman, or Arsacid empires, residents in the eastern Caucasus interacted with all of them. Antik Albania, however, has remained at the margins of modern scholarship, creating a gap in our perceptions of the networks flowing across antiquity. In this dissertation, I provide an archaeological, historical, and historiographic investigation of Antik Albania that addresses that gap. It focuses on Albania's interactions with the Mediterranean world, while also exploring the ancient Iranian context. Additionally, it examines the intellectual history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet South Caucasus, and contemporary Azerbaijan that generated most archaeological data and previous scholarship on the region. Building from an examination of textual sources, I consider the way that the landscape of the eastern Caucasus shaped movement and connectivity. The mountainous terrain created distinct transit corridors through the space, but instead of positioning themselves directly along one of these, the Albanians chose to build their base of power in more distant space that controlled a juncture between lowand highlands. Despite their choice of an out-of-the-way location, the material culture associated with Albanian state administration demonstrates that local political authorities constructed their own vocabulary of power, which freely incorporated and re-imagined elements from Mediterranean and Iranian neighbors. Finally, mortuary data reflecting social identity highlight the sustained presence of mobile pastoralist populations connected to the Pontic and Eurasian steppes. These data show the fluidity between elements of the population that have been previously been presumed to be either mobile or sedentary. Throughout this study, I argue that the 'remoteness' of Albania in both its ancient context and within our Anglo-American scholarly one is, in, fact a conceptual strength of the space. It prompts us to wrestle with diverse datasets and conflicting intellectual histories, enriching and expanding our vision of a connected antiquity. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Art & Archaeology of Mediterranean World This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/2824 First Advisor Lauren Ristvet


Using a bacterial pathogen-induced acute inflammation model in the skin, we defined the roles of local lymphatic vessels and draining lymph nodes (DLNs) in antigen clearance and inflammation resolution. At the peak day of inflammation, robust expansion of lymphatic vessels and profound infiltration of CD11b+/Gr-1+ macrophages into the inflamed skin and DLN were observed. Moreover, lymph flow and inflammatory cell migration from the inflamed skin to DLNs were enhanced. Concomitantly, the expression of lymphangiogenic growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C), VEGF-D, and VEGF-A were significantly up-regulated in the inflamed skin, DLNs, and particularly in enriched CD11b+ macrophages from the DLNs. Depletion of macrophages, or blockade of VEGF-C/D or VEGF-A, largely attenuated these phenomena, and produced notably delayed antigen clearance and inflammation resolution. Conversely, keratin 14 (K14)-VEGF-C transgenic mice, which have dense and enlarged lymphatic vessels in the skin dermis, exhibited accelerated migration of inflammatory cells from the inflamed skin to the DLNs and faster antigen clearance and inflammation resolution. Taken together, these results indicate that VEGF-C, -D, and -A derived from the CD11b+/Gr-1+ macrophages and local inflamed tissues play a critical role in promoting antigen clearance and inflammation resolution.


Three-dimensional topometry is supplemented with ellipsometric measurements on the same pixel raster for calculation of the phase of the reflected waves and correction of the height fields. Lateral resolution is <1mum . The ellipsometric angles are determined by phase shifting and contrast evaluation. Three-dimensional fields of the ellipsometric angles, the real and the imaginary parts of the refractive index, and the corrected topography of the heights are presented.


Brucella arthritis is common in Mosul, Iraq, with peripheral arthritis being the most common presenting manifestation. A prospective analysis of 80 patients (43 female, 37 male) attending the Ibn-Sina General Teaching Hospital between October 2001 and September 2002recorded information on gender, age, residence, contactwith animals and intake of unsterilized dairy products andstudied the distribution of arthritis according to the patternof joint involvement. The knee joint was the most commonjoint affected (34%), followed by the hip joint (30%). Ofthe totaljoints involved, the arthritis was monoarticular in 563% andpausiarticular in 43.7%. It is recommended thatthe public and primary healthcare physicians are made aware of the occurrence, manifestations and importance of having correct treatment for this condition in view of its prevalence and economic implications.


Mobile devices are expected to become the Internet's predominant technology. Current protocols such as TCP/IP were not originally designed with mobility as a key consideration, and therefore underperform under challenging mobile and wireless conditions. MobilityFirst, a clean slate architecture proposal, embraces several key concepts centered around secure identifiers that inherently support mobility and trustworthiness as key requirements of the network architecture. This includes a hop-by-hop segmented data transport that allows late and dynamic rebinding of endpoint addresses to support mobility. While this provides critical gains in wireless segments, some overheads are incurred even in stable segments such as in the core. Bypassing layer 3 decisions in these cases, with lower layer cut through forwarding, can improve said gains. In this work, we introduce a general bypass capability within the MobilityFirst architecture that could provide both better performance and enable both individual and aggregate flow-level traffic control. Furthermore, we present a detailed OpenFlow-based design to bypass layer 3 routing in MobilityFirst, using layer 2 VLAN tagging. Finally, we present a prototype that shows that it is possible to use OpenFlow to create the bypass.


To meet the increasing demand for energy, to catalyze associated economic growth and to avoid further increases in harmful emissions including greenhouse gases, aggressive energy planning at the international, national, state and local government levels is needed with reasonably achievable targets. Solutions will require complex strategies for both energy demand and supply that simultaneously reduce emissions and other environmental concerns while promoting a green economy. Demand strategies could include more aggressive programs at all levels for energy conservation and efficiency from home heating and lighting to manufacturing and transportation. On the supply side, increases in the use of renewable power and fuel will be critical, and will include biomass (e.g. wood, plant derived sustainable fuels and organic waste) options, among other renewables. Since biomass is comprised of various types, conversion into bioenergy and bio-based products involves a variety of existing and emerging technologies. By producing multiple products from multiple feedstocks via multiple conversion technologies, a biorefinery can take advantage of the differences in biomass components and intermediates and maximize the value derived from biomass feedstocks.


This article exploit a data base of 1.522 observations related to Lombardy's municipalities to run a cross sectional estimation of the drivers of MW selection. We find no evidence of a significant correlation between the percentage of selected MW selection and market variables such as the unit charge for waste management, a result probably affected by the high degree of integration existing in Lombardy among collectors and disposal operators. On the contrary, we discover robust and significant correlation with a set of geographical, socio-economic, and political variables. Among the latter ones, we have a confirmations on the influence of party competition on the percentage of household recycling, with the left wing ruling parties more addressed to it than the rivals, and on the high correlation existing between MW selection and the implementation of a unit pricing scheme. Other positive correlations with the independent variable are shown by per-capita income, while quite surprisingly the education level of citizens seems to play no role.


We demonstrate chromatic dispersion (CD) and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) monitoring techniques via simulation and experiment for 2- and 4-level intensity-modulated as well as phase-modulated optical systems. Degree of polarization (DOP) measurement for monitoring PMD up to 100-ps and clock tone measurement for monitoring CD up to 720-ps/nm are demonstrated in 10-Gsymbol/s non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and return-to-zero (RZ) systems. Analysis on dynamic range and monitoring window shows that careful consideration and characterization are necessary when applying these monitoring techniques to multi-level systems.


Voluntary saccades were studied by electro-oculography in ten patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) and in eight patients with other types of ophthalmoplegia. Despite limited range of eye movements, maximum velocities of 20 degree and 40 degree saccades in patients with MG were not significantly different from those in normal individuals, whereas maximum velocities in patients with other types of ophthalmoplegia were significantly decreased. In some myasthenic patients, small amplitude saccades were hypermetric and had high velocities, appearing clinically as "quiver" movements characteristic of MG. In MG the preservation of saccades with high initial velocities, even in the presence of severe ophthalmoplegia, suggests that muscle fibers generating rapid movements during saccades (twitch fibers) can be relatively spared when muscle fibers responsible for maintenance of excentric gaze (tonic fibers) are severely affected.


The highest intensity of photosynthesis is obtained under red light, but plants die or their growth gets disrupted if only red light is used. For example, Korean researchers [1] have shown that under pure red light the amount of the grown lettuce is greater than under a combination of red and blue light, but the leaves have a significantly smaller amount of chlorophyll, polyphenols and antioxidants. And the researchers at the Faculty of Biology of the Moscow State University [2] have found that the synthesis of sugars is reduced, growth is inhibited and no blossoming occurs in the leaves of Chinese cabbage under narrow-band red and blue light (as compared to a sodium lamp). What kind of lighting is needed to get a fully developed, large, fragrant and tasty plant with moderate energy consumption?


With the explosive growth of wireless networking techniques in the last decade, connecting to the world from any place, at any time and for any body is no longer just a dream. New concepts of network infrastructures such as mobile ad hoc networks or dynamic spectrum access networks emerged in recent years to provide more flexible wireless networking, efficient spectrum usage and robust network connections. With the development of intelligent wireless devices such as cognitive radios, the network users' capability has been largely increased. It becomes important to analyze and understand the network users' intelligent behaviors, especially selfish behaviors. Therefore, we focus our study on these new types of wireless networks with selfish users, which need to be self-organizing and decentralized. They are also referred to as autonomous wireless networks.
In order to analyze the selfish behaviors of network users for efficient autonomous wireless networking, we analyze the cooperation in autonomous wireless networks under a comprehensive game theoretical framework. Game theory models strategic interactions among agents using formalized incentive structures. It not only provides game models for efficient self-enforcing distributed design but also derives well-defined equilibrium criteria to measure the optimality of game outcomes for various scenarios.
In this dissertation, we first study the cooperation enforcement in autonomous wireless networks under noise and imperfect information. We model the interactions among users as multi-stage games and propose a set of belief-assisted approaches to ensure cooperation by allowing reputation effects or retribution. For instance, a user in an ad hoc network will forward packets for the others if they have built up high belief values through their past cooperative behaviors, i.e., forwarding packets. Further, we investigate the impacts of network dynamics on game theoretical cooperation stimulation/enforcement in autonomous wireless networks. We model the dynamic interaction among users as multi-stage dynamic games and develop various dynamic pricing approaches to stimulate cooperation among users by using payments as incentives based on auction rules and dynamic programming. Finally, we exploit the collusive selfish behaviors in autonomous wireless networks in a non-cooperative game theoretical framework and devise countermeasures to combat or alleviate collusive behaviors.


We consider the problem of decomposing higher-order moment tensors, i.e., the sum of symmetric outer products of data vectors. Such a decomposition can be used to estimate the means in a Gaussian mixture model and for other applications in machine learning. The $d$th-order empirical moment tensor of a set of $p$ observations of $n$ variables is a symmetric $d$-way tensor. Our goal is to find a low-rank tensor approximation comprising $r \ll p$ symmetric outer products. The challenge is that forming the empirical moment tensors costs $O(pn^d)$ operations and $O(n^d)$ storage, which may be prohibitively expensive; additionally, the algorithm to compute the low-rank approximation costs $O(n^d)$ per iteration. Our contribution is avoiding formation of the moment tensor, computing the low-rank tensor approximation of the moment tensor implicitly using $O(pnr)$ operations per iteration and no extra memory. This advance opens the door to more applications of higher-order moments since they can now be efficiently computed. We present numerical evidence of the computational savings and show an example of estimating the means for higher-order moments.


Abstract Global textile and apparel industry has since the 1950s been subjected to various forms of trade policy measures. Well noted among these are tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTB)/policy indicators. Understanding the dynamics in such relevant policy indicators and the implications they yield for trade is a vital step toward informing relevant policy formulation and agribusiness investment decisions. With the textile and apparel industry being the primary grounds on which development in most Asian countries is founded, we for the first time in literature assess effects of various trade cost indicators on global textile and apparel imports from 37 Asian countries using a 'cost-incorporated' gravity model for the period 1988–2004. Estimates from this study affirm theory-based associations between trade, distance, cultural linkage, tariffs, and non-tariffs barriers. We however discovered quite interesting associations regarding effects of tariff increments and existence of NTB. Although both are primarily imposed/instilled to restrict trade flow, effect of tariff increments was consistently negative across all models, but that for NTB was consistently positive, although significant only in the case of apparel imports. Plausible reasons behind the implications for tariffs and NTB are elaborated on in this article. A keen discovery from this study, however, is that imports of apparels are more responsive than textile imports to dynamics in various trade-related cost, geographic and economic indicators.


We report here the synthesis of an ultrasound induced multi-responsive fluorescent metallogel based on a non-fluorescent citric acid derived ligand (1), LiOH and Cd(OAc)2 in DMF. Ultrasound is shown to promote the de-metallation and re-complexation of Cd(II) ions proceeding through the disruption and reformation of dynamic metal–ligand coordination bonds ultimately leading to gelation. Ultrasound also proved to be responsible for the formation of uniform nanofibers (∼20 nm) as characterized by AFM and TEM studies. A deviation from the aforesaid combination in terms of the regioisomer, alkali base, transition metal ion including Zn(II), solvent and triggering effect like mechanical or heat could only produce a solution instead of a gel. The crystal structure obtained with Zn(II) analogous to metallogel constituents supports the structure involved in gelation with Cd(II). This "sonometallogel" is also found to be thermoresponsive and reversibly fluidized under suitable mechanical stress. The true gel phase material has been proved by detailed rheological studies. Another key and yet unprecedented discovery is that the sonication-induced sol–gel phase transition leads to a tenfold increase of the conductivity values.


The time course and pattern of incorporation of rhodamine-labeled actin microinjected into cultured fibroblastic cells were examined by fluorescence microscopy. Following microinjection, the fluorescent probe was incorporated rapidly into ruffling membranes, and within 5 min faintly fluorescent stress fibers were observed. Levels of fluorescence in ruffling membranes then tended to remain constant while fluorescence of the stress fibers continued to increase until approximately 20-min postinjection. Small, discrete regions of some microinjected cells displayed high levels of fluorescence that appeared initially approximately 5-10 min postinjection. I observed these small areas of intense fluorescence frequently near the cell periphery, which corresponded to focal contacts when examined with interference reflection optics. The results of this study show that a relationship exists between patterns of fluorescent actin incorporation in these cells and cellular areas or structures presumed to play a role in cell movement. These findings suggest that actin within stress fibers and the microfilament network of ruffling membranes undergoes a rapid turnover that may relate directly to the motility of the cell.


From his illegitimate birth in a small Austrian village to his fiery death in a bunker under the Reich chancellery in Berlin, Adolf Hitler left a murky trail, strewn with contradictory tales and overgrown with self-created myths. One truth prevails: the sheer scale of the evils that he unleashed on the world has made him a demonic figure without equal in this century. Ian Kershaw's Hitler brings us closer than ever before to the character of the bizarre misfit in his thirty-year ascent from a Viennese shelter for the indigent to uncontested rule over the German nation that had tried and rejected democracy in the crippling aftermath of World War I. With extraordinary vividness, Kershaw recreates the settings that made Hitler's rise possible: the virulent anti-Semitism of prewar Vienna, the crucible of a war with immense casualties, the toxic nationalism that gripped Bavaria in the 1920s, the undermining of the Weimar Republic by extremists of the Right and the Left, the hysteria that accompanied Hitler's seizure of power in 1933 and then mounted in brutal attacks by his storm troopers on Jews and others condemned as enemies of the Aryan race. In an account drawing on many previously untapped sources, Hitler metamorphoses from an obscure fantasist, a "drummer" sounding an insistent beat of hatred in Munich beer halls, to the instigator of an infamous failed putsch and, ultimately, to the leadership of a ragtag alliance of right-wing parties fused into a movement that enthralled the German people. This volume, the first of two, ends with the promulgation of the infamous Nuremberg laws that pushed German Jews to the outer fringes of society, and with the march of the German army into the Rhineland, Hitler's initial move toward the abyss of war.


ABSTRACT Antimicrobial resistance is a major health care problem, with the intensive use of heavy metals and biocides recently identified as a potential factor contributing to the aggravation of this situation. The present study investigated heavy metal susceptibility and genetic resistance determinants in Escherichia coli isolated from clinical urine samples from Sweden, Germany, and Spain. A total of 186 isolates were tested for their sodium arsenite, silver nitrate, and copper(II) sulfate MICs. In addition, 88 of these isolates were subjected to whole-genome sequencing for characterization of their genetic resistance determinants and epidemiology. For sodium arsenite, the isolates could be categorized into a resistant and a nonresistant group based on MIC values. Isolates of the resistant group exhibited the chromosomal ars operon and belonged to non-B2 phylogenetic groups; in contrast, within the B2 phylogroup, no ars operon was found, and the isolates were susceptible to sodium arsenite. Two isolates also harbored the silver/copper resistance determinant pco/sil, and they belonged to sequence types ST10 (phylogroup A) and ST295 (phylogroup C). The ST295 isolate had a silver nitrate MIC of ≥512 mg/liter and additionally produced extended-spectrum beta-lactamases. To our knowledge, this is the first study to describe the distribution of the arsenic resistance ars operon within phylogroups of E. coli strains isolated from patients with urinary tract infections. The arsenic resistance ars operon was present only in all non-B2 clades, which have previously been associated with the environment and commensalism in both humans and animals, while B2 clades lacked the ars operon.


How do professions respond to fast-moving technological changes? Disruptive innovations overturn expectations about how markets function and develop, and they often raise moral, legal and scientific concerns among professionals. Sudden technological changes can result in a state of professional disruption, in which technological change challenges the institutional arrangements of a profession. This article distinguishes between fast and slow processes of professional change, focusing on the role of technology as one cause of fast changes to a profession. Professionals and non-professionals engage in framing contests that draw on cognitive, normative and relational keys to signal their expectations. It is in these framing contests that professionals run the risk of disruption. Drawing on interview data with key policy actors, I investigate electronic cigarettes regulation in the European Union and its recent revision to the Tobacco Products Directive. Medical and public health professionals that control tobacco issues were challenged by a coalition of e-cigarette industry representatives, e-cigarette users, and liberal politicians. The challengers drew on the contending norm of harm reduction in tobacco control, which successfully challenged the centrality of the abstinence norm in the institutional arrangements of the medical and public health professions and their organizational field. By discussing the parallels to other related cases in health regulation, I draw out the implications of the study for researchers and policymakers.


The Rudolphs' analysis reveals that Gandhi's charisma was deeply rooted in the aspects of Indian tradition that he interpreted for his time. They key to his political influence was his ability to realize in both his daily life and his public actions, cultural ideals that many Indians honored but could not enact themselves-ideals such as the traditional Hindu belief that a person's capacity for self-control enhances his capacity to control his environment. Appealing to shared expectations and recognitions, Gandhi was able to revitalize tradition while simultaneously breaking with some of its entrenched values, practices, and interests. One result was a self-critical, ethical, and inclusive nationalist movement that eventually led to independence.


As the number of satelliteborne SAR systems increases, both the availability and the length of multitemporal (MT) sequences of SAR images have also increased. Reported research with MT SAR sequences suggests that they increase the classification accuracy for all applications over single-date images. The length of the MT SAR sequences reported in the literature is still quite modest: on the order of six images. As the length of a sequence increases, the selection of images to use in a classification becomes important. The current practice is to add scenes chronologically, and some researchers have suggested that image selection does not affect classification accuracy. Our research explored the problem of image selection in MT SAR classification. We compared the chronological selection scheme with two feature selection algorithms: a very simple algorithm and a more complex class-based algorithm. We found that, while the simple feature selection algorithm was more efficient than chronological selection, yielding peak accuracy with few features, it saturated at the same accuracy as chronological selection. The more complex algorithm was significantly more accurate than chronological selection, even with just two features. Our results suggest that the use of a feature selection algorithm produces more efficient and more accurate classification results than chronological selection.


The risks of sugarcane management on soil microbes and their relationships with soil physicochemical factors and biogeochemical processes have not been described from an integrated perspective for different agronomic practices. Here, we provide a plat - form for multi-analytical interactions between ecologists analyzing the soil microbes at multiple ecological levels and geoscientists measuring the release of greenhouse gases and the physicochemical soil factors including labile fractions from soil organic matter in tropical sugarcane management systems. We compile the benefits and risks of nutri - ent management and soil amendments as well as of crop residue and harvest management in sugarcane soils on belowground microbial life and biogeochemical processes mediated by soil microbial communities, and we demonstrate that the massive plant ing of the crop brings environmental risks that include a potential impact on tropical soil ecosystem sustainability. We emphasize that soil management and harvest man agement are critical for supporting the sustainable development of biofuel production in tropical areas.


Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects around 1% of population and causes irreversible synovial joint damage and bone erosion. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play a role in pathologic processes; however their involvement in RA is not clear. This study investigated the association of MMP2, MMP7 and MMP9 with RA. Methods: DNA samples from European (103 controls, 125 patients) and South Asian (91 controls, 115 patients) populations were genotyped for MMP7 (rs11568818), MMP9 (rs17576) and MMP2 (rs2241145). Diplotype and triplotypes analyses were performed. Results: An individual is twice as likely to develop RA if they have an AG genotype at both the MMP9 and MMP7 loci in European (OR 2.2, CI 1.03-4.70) or South Asian population (OR 2.28, CI 1.00-5.20). A CG genotype at the MMP2 locus and AG at MMP9- 836 gives protection within a European population (OR 0.34, CI 0.17-0.70). Heterozygous genotype combination on all three loci in South Asians increases risk of RA by three times (OR 3.27, CI 1.04-10.20). South Asians showed a significant doubling of RA risk with a total genetic risk score of three or more. Conclusion: Our results show that polymorphisms at these three MMP loci impact RA susceptibility and have a synergetic effect.


Jack-hammering through Los Angeles's glossy surface-story isn9t easy, but for the last three years, Lynn Garrett has worked to do just that. Part old-school news editor and 21st Century content curator, Garrett hosts what is essentially a 24-hour virtual town square, an online space where "netizens" can both explore and discuss the city. Hidden Los Angeles, her wildly dynamic website, (with a corresponding Facebook page – nearly 300,000-members strong) is dedicated to the daily endeavor of "going deeper" – "deep" in a city where people often interpret that the word alone an oxymoron. Since 2009, Garrett has been linking current city-dwellers to expat, multi-generational natives with the casually curious from around the globe and feeding them into conversational threads that explore both place and perception, past, present and future.


COST (European Co-Operation in the field of Scientific and Technical esearch) Action 855 "Animal Chlamydioses and the Zoonotic Implications" was set up in order to promote and enable cooperation between scientists in veterinary research to address issues relating to chlamydial infections in animals and also their zoonotic potential. To achieve this goal, working groups were tasked to focus on five specific objectives: (1) the development and validation of new and existing diagnostic tests; (2) the field evaluation of diagnostic tests; (3) the assessment of the zoonotic risks associated with animal chlamydioses; (4) to conduct basic research to improve our understanding of chlamydial pathogenesis, virulence factors and associated immune responses; and (5) to develop new vaccines for controlling chlamydial
infection. Through the research activities of the member groups of this European network substantial advances have been made in these areas and presented at the annual conferences in Dublin (2003), Budapest (2004), Siena (2005), Edinburgh (2006), Pulawy (2007) and now culminates with this final meeting in Aarhus. Here we review some of the scientific highlights that have been achieved over the course of the 5 years of the Action.


This study uses a purpose-built corpus to explore the linguistic legacy of Britain's maritime history found in the form of hundreds of specialised 'Maritime Expressions' (MEs), such as TAKEN ABACK, ANCHOR and ALOOF, that permeate modern English. Selecting just those expressions commencing with 'A', it analyses 61 MEs in detail and describes the processes by which these technical expressions, from a highly specialised occupational discourse community, have made their way into modern English. The Maritime Text Corpus (MTC) comprises 8.8 million words, encompassing a range of text types and registers, selected to provide a cross-section of 'maritime' writing. It is analysed using WordSmith analytical software (Scott, 2010), with the 100 million-word British National Corpus (BNC) as a reference corpus. Using the MTC, a list of keywords of specific salience within the maritime discourse has been compiled and, using frequency data, concordances and collocations, these MEs are described in detail and their use and form in the MTC and the BNC is compared. The study examines the transformation from ME to figurative use in the general discourse, in terms of form and metaphoricity. MEs are classified according to their metaphorical strength and their transference from maritime usage into new registers and domains such as those of business, politics, sports and reportage etc. A revised model of metaphoricity is developed and a new category of figurative expression, the 'resonator', is proposed. Additionally, developing the work of Lakov and Johnson, Kovesces and others on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT), a number of Maritime Conceptual Metaphors are identified and their cultural significance is discussed.


The paper presents a framework for a distributed medical system meant to bring a modern approach and inhance the quality of medical services offered to chronicle patients with cardio-vascular diseases, through the latest IT&C technologies. The proposed system provides online interaction between the main actors of a medical system: patients, doctors, medical entities (e.g. hospitals, clinics) and medical authorities (e.g. social services). With the aid of widely accepted medical standards, the system supplies storage for medical records and offers services for data integration between different kinds of healthcare applications and entities. The proposed ontological approach allows interchange of medical knowledge and best practices with conceptually organized patients' records. The proposed solution allows computer assisted diagnoses and multi-criteria medical data analysis, with the possible extent of building a data warehouse for complex medical data mining.


The Osprey gas field was discovered in 1975 in the western offshore area of Brunei Darussalam. Two discovery wells penetrate the hanging wall of two separate growth faults and are associated with bright seismic amplitudes. Multiple thin reservoirs are separated by shales of 10 to a few hundred meters in thickness. In addition to seismic tuning of thin layers, there are many shallow gas clouds above these reservoirs, which cause significant and varying amount of push-down in seismic time data. Visualizing as seismic depth data reduces the amount of push-down but doesn't remove it totally because, to date, the velocity model has been neither detailed nor accurate enough to fully constrain the seismic processing. Time-to-depth conversion includes significant uncertainties in the reservoir time interpretation, with only one well control per fault block. The shallow gas clouds also cause severe amplitude distortion at reservoir levels in the time and depth data, resulting in difficulties for discriminating gas distribution from stratigraphic variations or tuning effects. Furthermore, the shallow gas clouds cause false or enhanced rollover structures and artificial fault features adjacent to expressions of "real" features in the seismic data. Thus, estimates of reservoir spatial distribution and hydrocarbon volumes have large uncertainties. Recognizing these structure and amplitude pitfalls and handling them properly are important to improve reservoir understanding and volumetric estimations and to optimize development of the field. We have uncovered a variety of pitfalls and developed some mitigation methods. One method uses the seismic flat spot to correct the gas push-down effect, and the check-shot velocity was adjusted accordingly. This led to reduced uncertainty in the reservoir depth prognosis of the planned wells. Four wells were drilled in 2014, and the actual depth in all wells came out within only a 4-m difference, validating the correction method for shallow gas push-downs.


The UV absorption spectra of N-alkyl and N-alkylphenyl derivatives of p-nitroaniline were recorded in acetone, acetonitrile, DMSO, toluene, chloroform and dichloromethane. The absorption maxima were calculated (TD-DFT) in the same solvents, using Gaussian 09 software package for windows at B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) level. Both calculated and experimental values of λmax increases with increase in solvent polarity indicating that the absorption involves a charge transfer transition. The interactions of a single molecule of polar and non-polar solvents with the substrate were studied by calculations. The results show that polar solvent (acetone) interacts more strongly than non-polar solvent (toluene) due to H bonding and causes a greater reduction in HOMO-LUMO gap and an increase in λmax.


The effect of various doses (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 300, 600 and 900 mg kg−1) of the alcoholic extract of the plant Ageratum conyzoides Linn. (ACE), on the alteration of radiation‐induced mortality in mice exposed to 10 Gy of gamma radiation was studied. The acute toxicity studies showed that the drug was non‐toxic up to a dose of 3000 mg kg−1, the highest dose that could be tested for acute toxicity. Administration of ACE resulted in a dose‐dependent decline in radiation‐induced mortality up to a dose of 75 mg kg−1, the dose at which the highest number of survivors (70.83%) was observed. Thereafter, the number of survivors declined with increasing doses of ACE and a nadir was reached at 900 mg kg−1 ACE. Since the number of survivors was highest for 75 mg kg−1 ACE, this was considered the optimum dose for radioprotection and used in further studies in which mice were treated with 75 mg kg−1 ACE before exposure to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 Gy of gamma radiation. The treatment of mice with 75 mg kg−1 ACE reduced the severity of symptoms of radiation sickness and mortality at all exposure doses, and a significant increase in survival was observed compared with the non‐treated irradiated group. The ACE treatment effectively protected mice against the gastrointestinal as well as bone marrow related death, as revealed by the increased number of survivors at all irradiation doses. The dose reduction factor was found to be 1.3. To understand the mechanism of action, various doses of ACE were evaluated for their in‐vitro scavenging action on 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), a chemically stable free radical. ACE was found to scavenge DPPH radicals in a concentration‐dependent manner, indicating that the radioprotection afforded by ACE may be in part due to the scavenging of reactive oxygen species induced by ionizing radiation.