A focused, nanosecond-pulsed laser has been used to ablate, atomize, ionize, and excite milligram quantities of metal-doped energetic materials that undergo exothermic reactions in the laser-induced plasma. The subsequent shock wave expansion in the air above the sample has been monitored using high-speed schlieren imaging in a recently developed technique, laser-induced air shock from energetic materials (LASEM). The method enables the estimation of detonation velocities based on the measured laser-induced air-shock velocities and has previously been demonstrated for organic military explosives. Here, the LASEM technique has been extended to explosive formulations with metal additives. A comparison of the measured laser-induced air-shock velocities for TNT, RDX, DNTF, and LLM-172 doped with Al or B to the detonation velocities predicted by the thermochemical code CHEETAH for inert or active metal participation demonstrates that LASEM has potential for predicting the early time (<10  μs) participation of metal additives in detonation events. The LASEM results show that while Al is mostly inert at early times in the detonation event (confirmed from large-scale detonation testing), B is active-and reducing the amount of hydrogen present during the early chemical reactions increases the resulting estimated detonation velocities.


We develop a model of endogenous maturity structure for financial institutions that borrow from multiple creditors. We show that a maturity rat race can occur: an individual creditor can have an incentive to shorten the maturity of his own loan to the institution, allowing him to adjust his financing terms or pull out before other creditors can. This, in turn, causes all other lenders to shorten their maturity as well, leading to excessively short-term financing. This rat race occurs when interim information is mostly about the probability of default rather than the recovery in default, and is most pronounced during volatile periods and crises. Overall, firms are exposed to unnecessary rollover risk.


The use of the multi-serial/Ethernet conversion gateway simplifies the networked control and distributed management of information for serial devices. So the design of a new type of gateway for data converting from serial ports to Ethernet based on Embedded system is highlighted in this paper. The design is based on ARM7 (LPC2138) processor and serial ports to Ethernet data conversion gateway that will convert the serial data of various components to Ethernet data. The communication between the serial devices and monitor computer is simplified with the Ethernet protocol. Data transmission from number of serial devices used in industrial applications can be effectively achieved. The use of such system will improve the CPU efficiency of the system to ensure real-time data processing.


The committor function is a central object of study in understanding transitions between metastable states in complex systems. However, computing the committor function for realistic systems at low temperatures is a challenging task, due to the curse of dimensionality and the scarcity of transition data. In this paper, we introduce a computational approach that overcomes these issues and achieves good performance on complex benchmark problems with rough energy landscapes. The new approach combines deep learning, data sampling and feature engineering techniques. This establishes an alternative practical method for studying rare transition events between metastable states in complex, high dimensional systems.


Background

NICE requested a further evidence review to accompany a series of reviews to support the development of tobacco harm reduction (THR) guidance. This rapid review investigated the long term use of non-tobacco nicotine containing products (NCPs) in individuals who have attempted to quit smoking abruptly rather than via THR approaches. Long term use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) has previously been identified as a potential issue in treating nicotine addiction in smokers (Hughes, 1998; RCP, 2000).
For the purposes of this review 'non-tobacco nicotine containing products' were defined as NRT and 'electronic nicotine delivery systems' (sometimes known as 'electronic cigarettes' or 'e-cigarettes') and topical gels. NRT is available in the following formulations: chewing gum, transdermal patches, inhalers, microtabs, mouth/nasal sprays and lozenges.
Evidence for individuals who used NCPs long term following THR approaches (cut down to quit or long term harm reduction) would have been identified in the two previous THR effectiveness reviews.
It was agreed that a full systematic review was not required but that the SURE team would examine studies that were identified through searching for the four THR reviews for any data on long term NCP use following an attempt of abrupt cessation; as well as employing snowballing techniques to identify other relevant studies concerned with the long term use of NCPs that were not identified in the production of the THR reviews.

Aim of the review

To identify and summarise evidence relating to the long term use of NCPs at or longer than 12 months among abrupt quitters.

Research questions

Information was collected on the following:

1. Length of time of using NCP
2. Pattern of NCP use i.e. type of NCP, amount, frequency, reason for use
3. Demographics of long term users e.g. gender, ethnicity, social determinants
4. Predictors of long term


This paper analyzes, from a political and historical perspectives, the impact of each of the political groupings on the algerian nationalist movement. Based on some of the old and recent works, the study shows that the ideological basis of the algerian nationalism was determined by the interelations between liberal and conservative organisations in their struggle against the colonial power. Religion soon appeared to be the approriate means to reach the algerian public opinion. This factor (...)


Ruthenium and ruthenium dioxide thin films have shown great promise in various applications, such as thick film resistors, buffer layers for yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) superconducting thin films, and as electrodes in ferroelectric memories. Other potential applications in Si based complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices are currently being studied. The search for alternative metal-based gate electrodes as a replacement of poly-Si gates has intensified during the last few years. Metal gates are required to maintain scaling and performance of future CMOS devices. Ru based materials have many desirable properties and are good gate electrode candidates for future metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) device applications. Moreover, Ru and RuO2 are promising candidates as diffusion barriers for copper interconnects. In this thesis, the thermal stability and interfacial diffusion and reaction of both Ru and RuO2 thin films on HfO2 gate dielectrics were investigated using Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). An overview of Ru and RuO2/HfO2 interface integrity issues will be presented. In addition, the effects of C ion modification of RuO2 thin films on the physico-chemical and electrical properties are evaluated.


Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) implanted for patients as destination therapy have been shown to improve quality of life and survival, improve functional status, and prolong survival in patients with end-stage heart failure.[1,2] The indications for LVADs include bridge to recovery for patients who need short-term support, bridge to transplant for patients awaiting a heart transplant, and destination therapy for patients ineligible for cardiac transplantation. Originally developed as a bridge to heart transplant, permanent LVAD implantation as destination therapy is the fastest growing indication for device implantation, particularly as the population ages and more patients are diagnosed with end-stage heart failure (see What's an LVAD? and When an LVAD is needed).[1]


Do we now have the materials for an integrated cultural history of the American colonies? Or to pose a more difficult question, can we realistically expect to compose an ordered history from the thousands of existing studies of chairs, folk songs, farm tools, poems, flags, election rituals, games, diet, costume, festivals, gravestones, pottery, and so on? Restricting the definition of culture to the older idea oft eh arts and manners of the cultivated classes does not case the task appreciably. The scholarly work on high style seems hopelessly diverse and unconnected. The academy divides the study of high culture among departments of art history, literature, music, history, and others, each with its own canons of evidence and significance, and they are only part of the story. Rights Information © 1984 The Johns Hopkins University Press. Reprinted with permission by Johns Hopkins University Press. Recommended Citation Bushman, Richard L. "American High-Style and Vernacular Cultures." Colonial British America: Essays in the New History of the Early Modern Era. Ed. Jack P. Greene and J. R. Pole. pp. 345383.  Download


In this work, the corrosion behavior of carbon steel AISI 1018 immersed in a sour water sample solution collected from a refinery plant, was studied, changing the pH from 5.5 to 8.5, stirring at 500 rpm and at 50°C. Polarization curves indicate that both the anodic and the cathodic branch are not sensitive to pH change, but analysis of surface samples by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows different corrosion products. The results of electrochemical noise (current) show that the increase in pH would present localized attack and hence the corrosion rate is higher so the corrosion products formed could not be protective. On the other hand when the solution is more acidic (i.e. lower pH) will be showing a tendency to repassivation. However, at pH 8.5 the current oscillations were not intense and reached minimum amplitude, so localized attack is inhibited. These results have shown that variation in pH units can cause changes in the structure of the corrosion products and in localized attack and thus the severity of damage in the metal surface varies.


Abstract : Government employees and contractors cannot, in some cases, install software development tools on their local systems. For example, they may be using a mobile device that cannot adequately support software development tools, or security policy restrictions may inhibit installing these tools. A possible solution is to create development clouds that support software development without requiring any tools specific to software development to be installed in the local system. An additional argument for development clouds is that they could use parallel processing to greatly reduce compilation time. However, it would be wise to test whether this hypothesis is actually true for virtual machine (VM) environments, since they are often used to implement clouds. This document describes an IDA innovation lab (iLab) experiment that verifies that VM environments exist that support parallel processing for performing compilations, and that using them can (at least in some circumstances) significantly speed compilations compared to a single-CPU case. Using the default settings, it took 166.85 minutes to compile the Linux kernel version 3.10.5 with 1 CPU, compared to 28.50 minutes with 16 CPUs, resulting in a reduction of 138.35 minutes (over 2 hours) on average for each full compilation. Thus, 16 CPUs compiled the software 5.85 times faster compared to one CPU. Additional optimizations (involving the -j flag) slightly decreased the average 16-CPU compilation time even further. This shows that a system that can cost-effectively provide many CPUs to execute a VM, such as a development cloud environment, can significantly speed up compilations. Therefore, development cloud environments may be a useful approach for supporting software creation and maintenance.


Flying fishes (Exocoetidae) are commonly found in the epipelagic zone and play an important role in Taiwan in maintaining the stability of the marine ecosystem, local culture and coastal fisheries. However, little is known about their biology and life history, even though several species are of important commercial value in western Pacific countries. Overexploitation of one of the dominant species, the bony flying fish Hirundichthys oxycephalus, is a critical issue in the fishery management and resource assessment of this species. In the present study, H. oxycephalus eggs were harvested off northeastern Taiwan, while adult fish were collected mainly off the southeastern coast of Taiwan. We validated the daily periodicities of the growth increments in 3 otolith pairs based on the successive otolith examination of fish reared in the laboratory from fertilized eggs. The asteriscus was determined to be the most suitable otolith for age determination of the fish. Age (in days) was calculated by counting the number of growth increments on the mounted otolith and adding 11. By using a growth coefficient of 0.0075 d−1, the asymptotic length of these fish was estimated to be 253.86 mm. Back-calculated hatching dates indicated that an occurrence of the summer spawning cohort coincided with the known egg-fishing season off the northeastern coast. On the other hand, the source of the adult fishery off the southeastern coast originated from a new winter spawning cohort. The cohort dynamics of this species were found to be more complicated than previously thought. Our findings could be added to the information already known about the reproductive ecology of H. oxycephalus and used to improve the fisheries management of these fish.


The starting point for deconvolution methods in radio astronomy is an estimate of the sky intensity called a dirty image. These methods rely on the telescope point-spread function so as to remove artefacts which pollute it. In this work, we show that the intensity field is only a partial summary statistic of the matched filtered interferometric data, which we prove is spatially correlated on the celestial sphere. This allows us to define a sky covariance function. This previously unexplored quantity brings us additional information that can be leveraged in the process of removing dirty image artefacts. We demonstrate this using a novel unsupervised learning method. The problem is formulated on a graph: each pixel interpreted as a node, linked by edges weighted according to their spatial correlation. We then use spectral clustering to separate the artefacts in groups, and identify physical sources within them.


Active Traffic Management (ATM) strategies are being deployed in major cities worldwide to deal with pervasive system congestion and safety concerns. While such strategies include a diverse array of components, in the Twin Cities metropolitan area the deployment of the Intelligent Lane Control Signs (ILCS) allowed for the implementation of Variable Speed Limits (VSL). The VSL system in the Twin Cities aims to detect congestion and preemptively warn upstream drivers to reduce speed. By reducing the severe change in speed between upstream and downstream traffic, safety and operational benefits are sought. This report presents an investigation of the effect the I-94 VSL system has on the safety of the high frequency crash area located on the westbound lanes of the freeway through downtown Minneapolis (I-94/I-35W commons). This report describes several methodologies that were used to examine the impact of the VSL system within the I-94/I-35W commons high crash area. Numerous data sources were utilized, including video records of crash and near crash events, loop detector traffic measurements, machine vision sensor data, and actuations from the VSL system. A before-after approach was taken to examine the incident rates for crashes and near crashes using visually identified events within video data. Utilizing the unique capabilities of the Minnesota Traffic Observatory's I-94 Freeway Lab, high resolution traffic measurements, collected by machine vision sensors at the bottleneck location, were used within a new cross-correlation based analysis methodology to measure and visualize shockwave activity before and after the implementation of the VSL system.


Microlensing in Q2237+0305 between 1985 and 1995 has been interpreted in two different ways. First, the observed variations can be explained through microlensing by stellar mass objects of a continuum source with dimensions significantly smaller than the microlens Einstein Radius (η0), but consistent with that expected for thermal accretion discs. However, other studies have shown that models having sources as large as 5η0 can reproduce the observed variation. In this paper we present evidence in favour of a small source. Our approach uses the distribution of microlensed light-curve derivatives to place statistical limits (as a function of source size) on the number of microlens Einstein radii crossed by the source during the monitoring period. In contrast with previous analyses, our results are therefore not dependent on an assumed time-scale. Limits on the source size are obtained from two separate light-curve features. First, recently published monitoring data show large variations (∼0.8–1.5 mag) between image brightnesses over a period of ∼700 d or ∼15 per cent of the monitoring period. Secondly, the 1988 peak in the image A light curve had a duration that is a small fraction (≲0.02) of the monitoring period. Such rapid microlensing rises and short microlensing peaks only occur for small sources. We find that the observed large, rapid variation limits the source size to be <0.2η0 (95 per cent confidence). The width of the light-curve peak provides a stronger constraint of <0.025η0 (99 per cent confidence). The Einstein radius (projected into the source plane) of the average microlens mass 〈m〉 in Q2237+0305 is The interpretation that stars are responsible for microlensing in Q2237+0305 therefore results in limits on the continuum source size that are consistent with current accretion disc theory.


To the editor: Italian colleagues describe two recent cases of probable autochthonous-introduced Plasmodium vivax malaria, suggesting that sporadic cases may be considered possible in areas with vector abundance and favourable environmental conditions [1]. Nevertheless, we have some concerns about this report: firstly, no other concurrent P. vivax malaria cases have been reported in the Pontine marshes or in the Calabria Region; secondly, no secondary cases have been reported to arise from the index cases; thirdly, the first patient visited Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in 2003, an area where malaria cases still occur; fourthly, as previously affirmed in a publication by the same group about an unusual case of late relapse of P. vivax four years after the acute infection [2], at least the first case could be explained as a late relapse following an asymptomatic or paucisymptomatic primary infection. In conclusion, the described cases could in our opinion be viewed as probable imported, and not autochthonous, P. vivax cases. References


Dopaminergic (DA) neurons exhibit a short-latency, phasic response to unexpected biologically salient stimuli, including rewards. Despite extensive research on this DA signal, very little is known about the sources of sensory information reaching DA neurons. Previous research has identified the superior colliculus (SC) as the primary, if not exclusive route of short latency visual input to DA neurons. However, more recent research has suggested that the phasic DA response comprises two components; a short latency (50-110 ms), stimulus insensitive component, and a longer latency component (110-260 ms) that can reflect complex stimulus characteristics including reward value – more complex than might arise from intrinsic collicular processing. A solution to this apparent paradox may be suggested by recent studies that have demonstrated longer latency colour related responses in SC neurons. As the SC does not receive direct retinal input from colour sensitive cells, but it does receive input from a wide range of cortical structures, it is possible that cortical activation might underlie longer latency responses in the SC, which may in turn underlie longer latency responses in DA neurons. The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to investigate whether the cortex was capable of modulating the activity of DA neurons, and whether the SC was the relay for this cortical influence. In the anaesthetised rat, single pulse electrical stimulation of the barrel field of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1Bf) produced a short latency, short duration response in the SC, but DA neurons were largely insensitive to the stimulus. After disinhibition of the SC with the GABAA antagonist bicuculline, responses in the SC to S1Bf stimulation were enhanced, and DA neurons became responsive to S1Bf stimulation, suggesting that the SC is the route of cortical input to DA neurons. This was confirmed in the subsequent experiment. Responses were produced in DA neurons without the need for SC disinhibition by stimulating S1Bf with a high frequency train of pulses. This response in DA neurons was suppressed or eliminated by suppressing SC activity. Finally, the contribution of cortical and subcortical input to DA neuron responses was examined by stimulating the trigeminal nucleus. Trigeminal stimulation produced responses in the SC comparable to multiwhisker deflection, and produced responses in almost all DA neurons. Disinhibition of the SC differentially modulated phases of the SC response previously demonstrated to be produced by trigeminal and cortical input, and differential changes were seen in initial and later components of DA neuron responses, which were often associated with changes in the SC response. The results of these studies suggest that cortical inputs to the SC could provide a mechanism through which responses are produced in DA neurons that can reflect complex stimulus attributes. However, research in this thesis and elsewhere suggests that the activity of DA neurons is insufficiently discriminatory to reflect the full range of potentially rewarding stimuli, and hence it is suggested that DA neurons provide a salience signal, which can be biased by a pre-saccadic estimate of previously established reward value, but which does not communicate reward value per se.


Neonatal intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Treatment is largely conservative, though interventions to evacuate intraventricular and intraparenchymal hematomas (IPHs) have been applied. Endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration for the treatment of IPH has increasingly been shown to be a useful strategy in adults; however, it has not been studied in children, and the technology has been more commonly applied to intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). Here, the authors describe, to the best of their knowledge, the first use of endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration for IPH in a newborn.An 8-week-old female presented with IPH secondary to left M3 aneurysm rupture, which was treated with coil embolization for aneurysm securement and vessel sacrifice, followed by IPH evacuation using endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration. Through applying this approach in a newborn, the authors gained technical insight not previously reported in the application of this technique in similar cases in adults or in cases of IVH. They highlight this case to share learning points and technical challenges regarding the application of endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration in a newborn along with learning points for imaging and visualization. Endoscopic ultrasonic aspiration can be used to treat IPH in select newborns. Further study is needed to improve efficacy and ease when applying this approach in very young patients.


In the past few years, the network measurement community has been interested in the problem of internet topology discovery using a large number (hundreds or thousands) of measurement monitors. The standard way to obtain information about the internet topology is to use the traceroute tool from a small number of monitors. Recent papers have made the case that increasing the number of monitors will give a more accurate view of the topology. However, scaling up the number of monitors is not a trivial process. Duplication of effort close to the monitors wastes time by reexploring well-known parts of the network, and close to destinations might appear to be a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack as the probes converge from a set of sources towards a given destination. In prior work, authors of this report proposed Doubletree, an algorithm for cooperative topology discovery, that reduces the load on the network, i.e., router IP interfaces and end-hosts, while discovering almost as many nodes and links as standard approaches based on traceroute. This report presents our open-source and freely downloadable implementation of Doubletree in a tool we call traceroute@home. We describe the deployment and validation of traceroute@home on the PlanetLab testbed and we report on the lessons learned from this experience. We discuss how traceroute@home can be developed further and discuss ideas for future improvements.


Today's architects design highly glazed buildings with aesthetics, space transparency and daylight accessibility in mind. Glazing components however are crucial to the design and performance of a building but their energy efficiency has become more and more questioned, as there is risk of a high cooling and heating demand, during summer and winter respectively. They affect building ́s indoor comfort and energy budget in many ways. Energy use and environmental degradation have been linked because of the heavy reliance on mechanical aspects of building design to solve climate related heating, cooling and lighting problems induced by an inadequate building design approach. In the context of building design, local climate is one of the important criteria to be considered. The local natural environment should act as a building tool to enhance comfortable indoor climate. Thus, well-designed architecture is a climate responsive architecture that takes advantage of free energy in the form of heat and light of natural environment, so that buildings are conducive to the occupant's requirements of comfort using surrounding climatic conditions; in relation to ambient air temperature and humidity, wind speed and solar radiation. Significant energy consumption, however, can be reduced in building operation during the earlier phases of architectural design. Design improvement done with the aid of decision support simulation software is available to help architects predict the energy demand associated with different design option. It has been suggested that it could reduce energy use by 75% in new buildings. Since there is need to understand energy building usage performance in cold climates, hence, for this study, the Háskolatorg building, at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík was chosen as case study. DesignBuilder© energy simulation tools have been used to assess its energy balance, as a prelude to improving decision making related to building envelope design. This process is driven by the commitment to studying the building ́s potential low energy usage goal, while identifying potential improvement in the building design. Therefore, in this thesis a methodology is introduced for determining that appropriate thermal insulation, glazing type and shading elements can reduce the heat conducted through the building envelope has been introduced. Both cooling and heating strategy were studied since they are crucial and influence Háskolatorg building energy balance and building energy usage. Further, it is projected that when architects begin to work with integrating environmental climate, building energy, and comfort related factors in the design process, the balancing of these demands can be expected to result in new, broader paradigms for low-energy architecture.


Using a mix of survey data, results from a study on local planning politics and fieldwork, this article discusses the interplay of planning and welfare policies with global financial markets in the 'making' of social segregation in Halle-Neustadt, a borough in the German city of Halle (Saale). Here, different developments come together. First, Halle-Neustadt has experienced two waves of privatization, leading to a complete change of ownership structures, marked by the rise of financial investors. Second, welfare cuts have put increasing pressure on welfare recipients to live in the cheapest housing available. This has led to the emergence of a 'Hartz IV business model' based on low, but state-subsidized, rents. Third, new planning policies have led to a massive drop in house prices, thus facilitating the use of 'leverage' strategies for financial investors. We expand on an already developed debate, providing new insights about relations between planning, state restructuring and financialization in a German context. We demonstrate that a broad array of changes in national regulatory settings, policy change in different sectors and local particularities can all be crucial in enabling financialization. We conclude that research should place greater emphasis on the state in providing explanations and take differences in context more seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]


Title of dissertation: Rotorcraft Flight Dynamics and Control in Wind for Autonomous Sampling of Spatiotemporal Processes Nitin Sydney, Doctor of Philosophy, 2015 Dissertation directed by: Professor Derek A. Paley Department of Aerospace Engineering In recent years, there has been significant effort put into the design and use small, autonomous, multi-agent, aerial teams for a variety of military and commercial applications. In particular, small multi-rotor systems have been shown to be especially useful for carrying sensors as they have the ability to rapidly transit between locations as well as hover in place. This dissertation seeks to use multi-agent teams of autonomous rotorcraft to sample spatiotemporal fields in windy conditions. For many sampling objectives, there is the problem of how to accomplish the sampling objective in the presence of strong wind fields caused by external means or by other rotorcraft flying in close proximity. This dissertation develops several flight control strategies for both wind compensation, using nonlinear control techniques, and wind avoidance, using artificial potential-based control. To showcase the utility of teams of unmanned rotorcraft for spatiotemporal sampling, optimal algorithms are developed for two sampling objectives: (1) sampling continuous spatiotemporal fields modeled as Gaussian processes, and (2) optimal motion planning for coordinated target detection, which is an example of a discrete spatiotemporal field. All algorithms are tested in simulation and several are tested in a motion capture based experimental testbed.


This work is based on the first results from a systematic search for high redshift Type Ia supernovae. Using filters in the R-band we discovered seven such SNe, with redshift z = 0.3 - 0.5, before or at maximum light. Type Ia SNe are known to be a homogeneous group of SNe, to first order, with very similar light curves, spectra and peak luminosities. In this talk we report that the light curves we observe are all broadened (time dilated) as expected from the expanding universe hypothesis. Small variations from the expected 1+z broadening of the light curve widths can be attributed to a width-brightness correlation that has been observed for nearby SNe (z<0.1). We show in this talk the first clear observation of the cosmological time dilation for macroscopic objects.


The December 2018 adult content ban instituted by the social media and microblogging site Tumblr had far-reaching effects. The ban cost the platform its user base, and its economic value plummeted. Purchased by the media conglomerate Verizon as part of a $4.8 billion acquisition of Yahoo's internet business in 2017, Tumblr was sold in August 2019 for less than $3 million. This article reviews the factors that led to the adult content ban, including Verizon's plan to eliminate pornography to attract more advertisers to Tumblr, heightened concern about sexual harassment lawsuits in the wake of #MeToo and Time's Up, and the passage of two new federal laws, SESTA and FOSTA, aimed at combatting sex trafficking online. It analyzes the critical role that Tumblr played in connecting and supporting marginalized sexual communities, especially trans communities, and others whose livelihood depends on freedom of sexual speech, such as sex workers, and discusses the centrality of online communication to processes of sexual self-discovery and self-actualization. Corporate control of sexual speech, and pornography bans, which are increasing as platforms like Facebook institute ever-tighter community standards, pose a direct threat to queer individuals and limit the possibility for authentic, positive representation of trans bodies and trans sexuality.


In the present study, numerical simulation of wet compression in a transonic single stage compressor (NASA stage 35) was performed. Thermodynamic processes, heat and mass transfer that greatly influenced the water droplets in the wet compression of the gas turbine compressor were also studied. The results show that, injecting substantial amount of water droplets at the compressor inlet, fully evaporated inside the rotating blade rows, raises the amount of mass flow rates and lower the compression work which greatly influence the compressor performance and maximize its efficiency. Evaporation of water droplets decreases the temperature in front of the rotor blade position, which boosts the moisture content in the air and the formation of vapor. Combination of these factors changes the thermodynamics properties of the fluids, thus, accelerates the convective heat and mass transfer of the mixture. The convective heat between water droplets and compressed air is the primary factor for cooling in the compressor channel and helps to overcome the flow loss caused by water injection and improve the performance and efficiency of the compressor. The overall efficiency of the wet compression process growths to an average of 84%, roughly, 2 percent above the dry and experimental values of 82%.


The Numeracy Recovery scheme described here involves working with children who have been identified by their teachers as having problems with arithmetic. These children are assessed on eight components of early numeracy: (1) principles and procedures related to counting; (2) use of written arithmetical symbolism; (3) use of place value in arithmetic; (4) understanding and solution of word problems; (5) translation between concrete, verbal and numerical formats; (6) use of derived fact strategies for calculation; (7) arithmetical estimation and (8) memory for number facts. The children received weekly individual intervention in the particular components with which they were found to have difficulty. For the first 62 children in the project, Wilcoxon tests showed a significant improvement in standardised scores in both tests following intervention.


Rhizobium etli occurs either in a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with its host plant, Phaseolus vulgaris, or free-living in the soil. During both conditions, the bacterium has been suggested to reside primarily in a nongrowing state. Using genome-wide transcriptome profiles, we here examine the molecular basis of the physiological adaptations of rhizobia to nongrowth inside and outside of the host. Compared with exponentially growing cells, we found an extensive overlap of downregulated growth-associated genes during both symbiosis and stationary phase, confirming the essentially nongrowing state of nitrogen-fixing bacteroids in determinate nodules that are not terminally differentiated. In contrast, the overlap of upregulated genes was limited. Generally, actively growing cells have hitherto been used as reference to analyze symbiosis-specific expression. However, this prevents the distinction between differential expression arising specifically from adaptation to a symbiotic lifestyle and features associated with nongrowth in general. Using stationary phase as the reference condition, we report a distinct transcriptome profile for bacteroids, containing 203 induced and 354 repressed genes. Certain previously described symbiosis-specific characteristics, such as the downregulation of amino acid metabolism genes, were no longer observed, indicating that these features are more likely due to the nongrowing state of bacteroids rather than representing bacteroid-specific physiological adaptations.


Agents learning to act in a partially observable domain may need to overcome the problem of perceptual aliasing - i.e., different states that appear similar but require different responses. This problem is exacerbated when the agent's sensors are noisy, i.e., sensors may produce different observations in the same state. We show that many well-known reinforcement learning methods designed to deal with perceptual aliasing, such as Utile Suffix Memory, finite size history windows, eligibility traces, and memory bits, do not handle noisy sensors well. We suggest a new algorithm, Noisy Utile Suffix Memory (NUSM), based on USM, that uses a weighted classification of observed trajectories. We compare NUSM to the above methods and show it to be more robust to noise.


Objectives To determine whether men and women with rheumatoid arthritis are prescribed anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) treatment at different levels of disease activity. Methods Data from the Swedish national biologics registry ARTIS were used to analyse characteristics of patients' disease at the start of the first anti-TNF treatment. Means for men and women were compared using t-tests, and non-normally distributed covariates were compared using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Linear regression models, adjusted for age and calendar year, were used to investigate the association between sex and each disease activity measurement. Results Women were younger and had longer disease duration at treatment start than men. Tender joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, patient's global assessment, patient-reported pain and health assessment questionnaire scores were significantly higher in women, whereas men had a higher level of C-reactive protein (p<0.05 for all comparisons). Swollen joint count and physician's global assessment did not differ by sex. Conclusions For women with rheumatoid arthritis, treatment with anti-TNF therapy was initiated at a higher level of subjective disease activity than for men, but at the same level of physician-reported disease activity. These data imply that patients' subjectively experienced disease activity may be discounted in the treatment decision.


Various links that exist between planning and budgeting, selection, and acquisition with reference to collection development policy in libraries were revealed in this study. A collection development policy sets ground rules for planning, budgeting, selecting and acquiring library materials. Recommendations are made for combating the professional challenges facing acquisitions librarians.


Throughout the course of their lives, same-sex couples experience many legal challenges not faced by their heterosexual peers. Federal estate tax law continues this differential treatment into death. While the estate tax laws generally allow married heterosexuals to transfer unlimited assets to their spouses at death without incurring estate tax liability, Americans in same-sex relationships are limited in their ability to transfer assets tax-free to their same-sex partner upon death. Using data from several government data sources, this report estimates the dollar value of the estate tax disadvantage faced by same-sex couples. In 2009, the differential treatment of same-sex and married couples in the estate tax code will affect an estimated 73 same-sex couples, costing them each, on average, more than $3.3 million.


Graphene oxide (GO), a derivative of graphene consisting of various oxygen moieties, has gained popularity owing to its excellent physiochemical properties and applicability in various fields. GO nanomaterials can be synthesized by using Hofmann (HO), Hummers (HU), and Staudenmaier (ST) methods of oxidative treatment of graphite to give GO-HO, GO-HU, and GO-ST, respectively. These GO nanomaterials were found to exhibit different degrees of cytotoxicity that were suggested to be dependent on the amount and type of the oxygen-containing functional group present in the nanomaterials. Therefore, in this study, the transformations of GO-HO, GO-HU, and GO-ST nanomaterials in three types of natural waters over time were investigated to determine whether the oxygen-containing functional groups present in these nanomaterials undergo any changes after residing in natural waters. Based on the data obtained from Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, although the density of defects in the GO nanomaterials remained relatively similar (a slight increase was detected in the GO-HO nanomaterials) over the period of examination, changes in the oxygen content of the GO nanomaterials were observed in most of the GO suspensions, which suggests that interaction between the natural waters and the GO nanomaterials do occur. Cyclic voltammetry measurements revealed that the natural waters had opposing effects on the GO nanomaterials: the GO-HU nanomaterials suffered a reduction in the amount of electroactive oxygen-containing functional groups present, whereas an increase was observed in the GO-HO and GO-ST nanomaterials. In addition, it was proposed that some of the electroactive oxygen moieties were completely lost from the GO-ST nanomaterials after exposing them to the natural waters. More studies should be performed in the future to comprehend the underlying mechanism for the transformations observed in this study so that the fate, transport, and toxicity of GO nanomaterials in environmental waters can be better understood.


Research on the topic of cyberbullying has proliferated over the past decade, particularly on its impact on school-aged children (see Piotrowski, 2011). However, there is limited research on the incidence and impact of cyberstalldng, a related type of cyberabuse, on college-age students. Thus, it would be of interest to examine the extent of research interest in the topic across the leading databases in the social sciences and education. This paper reports on cited references, via a keyword search, for the term cyberstalking. The results showed that PsycINFO, Academic Index, Sociology Abstracts, and PROQUEST Direct indexed the majority of articles on this aberrant social malady. These findings indicate that perhaps college counselors and administrators in higher education may not be aware of the extent and impact that cyberstalking may have on college-age students. Introduction Cyberstalking has emerged as a new form of stalking behavior (Deirmenjian, 1999; Meloy, 2007), despite the fact that nosological issues that differentiate cyberbullying, cyberharassment, and cyberstalking continue to be debated in the literature (Durkin & Patterson, 2011 ; Sheridan & Grant, 2007). Cyberstalking is largely viewed as inappropriate, unwanted social exchange behaviors initiated by a perpetrator via online or wireless communication technology and devices. The proliferation of Smart phones and social networking has exacerbated the incidence of cyberstalking, and related cyber-abuse behaviors, over the past 5 years. Recent research shows that, in terms of profile, cyberstalkers tend to be well educated, struggle with Internet addiction, and are over the age of 16; many are college students (see Lucks, 2004). Incidence statistics indicate that cyberstalking is quite prevalent, with victimization rates ranging from 4%-40% across college-age populations (Reyns et al., 2012). While the scholarly literature on the topic of cyberbullying is quite extensive and interdisciplinary in nature (Piotrowski, 2011), research on cyberstalking in college-age populations is rather limited. Since this current literature is emerging and nascent in character, it would be informative to gauge the extent of research on cyberstalking from a bibliographic perspective. To that end, the current study reports on a cross-disciplinary citation analysis of scholarly research on the specific topic of cyberstalking. Method Previous studies have illustrated the benefits of research designs that involve trend analysis approaches on select topics in the scholarly literature (Garfield, 1979; Piotrowski & Gallant, 2009; Reynolds & Sundberg, 1976). The present study aims to obtain an overview of the scope and research emphasis on the issue of cyberstalking by conducting reference citation analyses across the following databases: PsyclNFO, Education/ERIC (Wilson), Sociology Abstracts, Expanded Academic Index, PROQUEST Direct, Social Sciences (Wilson), and Communication & Mass Media. To that end, a multi-file search strategy (see Piotrowski & Perdue, 1986) was performed on February 1, 2012. Recent studies in the social sciences field as well as in education show that this qualitative research methodology has both practical and investigatory value (Krippendorff, 2004; Patton, 2002). The examination of research trends in the literature has served as a useful and informative exercise in addressing the popularity or shifts in attention on a host of topics of interest to both practitioners and researchers in the field of education (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998). Moreover, analyses of patterns and topical emphasis in research have recently been reported on cyber-abuse issues like cyberbullying (see Jimerson, 2010; Piotrowski, 2011). Results and Discussion Table 1 shows the research output, based on the number of 'hits' for keyword Cyberstalking, across several key databases in the social sciences and education. …


Geochemical and Nd isotope data are presented for Palaeoproterozoic ultramafic to mafic rocks and granitoids which are associated with volcanic rocks in the southern part of the Ashanti greenstone belts of Ghana. The Prince's Town granitoids display subduction‐zone geochemical features, with some showing signatures similar to high‐SiO2 adakites (HSA). Their initial εNd (2.1 Ga) values range from −1.01 to +2.92, and they have TDM2 of 2.17–2.51 Ga. The gabbros show slightly LREE‐depleted and ‐enriched patterns, Th–U troughs, negative Nb, Zr–Hf and Ti anomalies, spikes in Sr and Pb, have εNd (2.1 Ga) values ranging from −1.23 to +5.23, and TDM2 values from 2.08 to 2.57 Ga. The Ahama ultramafic body is characterized by two groups of pyroxenites. Both groups show LREE enrichment patterns, display Th–U and Nb–Ta troughs, minor or pronounced negative Zr–Hf and Ti anomalies. However, the Group I pyroxenites exhibit minor Ce anomalies and lower total REE contents (28.1–32.8 ppm) whereas Group II pyroxenites show significant negative Ce anomalies and relatively higher total REE contents of 57.1–124 ppm. The pyroxenites show negative initial εNd (2.1 Ga) values (−0.58 to −5.68) and have TDM2 values of 2.52 to 2.75 Ga. The pyroxenitic and gabbroic rocks were most likely originated from a subduction‐related lithospheric mantle. The Aketakyi ultramafic–mafic complex is made up of mainly cumulate dunite, harzburgite, pyroxenites, and gabbro. The rocks display LREE‐depleted to flat patterns with low total REE contents (1.71 to 22.3 ppm) and demonstrate a supra‐subduction affinity. They show high positive initial εNd (2.1 Ga) values (+3.69 to +4.93), and TDM2 values of 1.99 to 2.04 Ga, which suggest that they were derived from depleted mantle magmas and were juvenile at their time of formation. The Nd isotopic data provides evidence for a possible contamination of the juvenile Birimian crust of the southern Ashanti belt by some amount of a pre‐Birimian (or Archaean?) crustal material. The trace element and isotopic signatures as well as the field relations of the studied granitoids and mafic–ultramafic rocks show they were derived through supra‐subduction‐related magmatism during the Palaeoproterozoic.


How does a government distinguish between tax planning and tax abuse? Most democratic societies agree that citizens have a right to limit their tax liability through tax planning. However, governments generally also agree that this right does not extend to tax abuse. Tax abuse substantially reduces government tax revenues and weakens the integrity of our tax systems and the efficiency of our economy. Thus, making this distinction between tax planning and tax abuse is critical. In an attempt to identify and counter tax abuse and its detrimental effects, the United States recently enacted an anti-abuse rule in Section 7701(o) of the Internal Revenue Code. Because tax abuse is difficult to legislatively define, Section 7701(o) relies heavily on the judiciary to make the ultimate determination of which transactions are abusive. This Article contends that the international experience with similar general anti-avoidance rules indicates that Section 7701(o) will not be a universal cure for tax abuse but can be an effective anti-abuse tool if certain judicial, legislative and administrative steps are taken. Therefore, it proposes a reform to Section 7701(o) that would counter the textualist trend and other judicial approaches that potentially undermine the statute while simultaneously increasing the statute's fairness and predictability.


Despite strong vetting for disease activity, only 10% of candidate new molecular entities in early stage clinical trials are eventually approved. Analyzing historical pipeline data, Nelson et al. 2015 (Nat. Genet.) concluded pipeline drug targets with human genetic evidence of disease association are twice as likely to lead to approved drugs. Taking advantage of recent clinical development advances and rapid growth in GWAS datasets, we extend the original work using updated data, test whether genetic evidence predicts future successes and introduce statistical models adjusting for target and indication-level properties. Our work confirms drugs with genetically supported targets were more likely to be successful in Phases II and III. When causal genes are clear (Mendelian traits and GWAS associations linked to coding variants), we find the use of human genetic evidence increases approval from Phase I by greater than two-fold, and, for Mendelian associations, the positive association holds prospectively. Our findings suggest investments into genomics and genetics are likely to be beneficial to companies deploying this strategy.


The objective of this study was to analyze the administrative and operational aspects of Oral Health Teams (OHT) at the Family Health Program (FHP) in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Two types of questionnaire were sent to 310 cities, and 53.5% were answered until June/2004. From the total of the respondents, 66.9% reported unstable forms of hiring and 82.5% of the dental surgeons receive wage 9 times lower than minimum wage for full-time job (8 hours); 75.9% of the cities presented an average of 4000 inhabitants for OHT. In average, 79.6% of all OHTs attended all ages group; 48.9% of dental surgeons reported not having participated in any of the courses offered. The integration between OH and FHP teams could be seen in 76.2 %, however only 54% organize regular meetings. The positive points observed were that FHP teams follow the principle of universality, the eight-hour shift and the quantitative extension allowing a higher access to oral health services. As negative points, it was observed the lack of qualification of the OHT, the excessive demand, the precarious work relations and the lack of involvement between OH and FH teams.


This portfolio outlines the five competencies that formulate the Health Psychology Professional Doctorate. The competencies are outlined by the British Psychological Society (BPS, 2009) and include the following: research via the completion of an original piece of research and a systematic review of existing literature; the development and evaluation of a consultancy; the development and evaluation of a health behaviour intervention; an evaluation of a taught lecture and review of the professional skills gained whilst completing the doctorate.
Throughout completing the doctorate, I evolved from landing a job as an Assistant Health Psychology Specialist at the very beginning into being promoted to a Health Psychology Specialist towards the end of my training. Before I was offered my first job in April 2015, I engaged in voluntary work with patients as well as doing an internship for an interventional trial at King's College London, until I was offered a full-time job role in a commercial agency who were specialised in developing patient support programmes across a wide range of chronic conditions for many of the leading international pharmaceutical companies. As there was a strong focus on international collaborations both internally and with many clients being located in central Europe, my role then expanded to additionally becoming the representative Health Psychology Specialist for the German office in Frankfurt. In my role as a Health Psychology Specialist I additionally had the opportunity to deliver training sessions to postgraduate pharmacist students as part of their curriculum on various occasions, which entailed applying behavior change techniques with their patients. The focus was on underlying psychology theories to underpin the identification of factors impacting on behaviours around illness and treatment self-management and adherence, and how these may be addressed using a viable interventional approach, for example elements derived from Motivational Interviewing or Cognitive Behavioural Theory.

My external consultancy project in the context of my doctorate training exposed me to the working practices in a different agency, which was important for me in order to be able to adapt to different circumstances, and to challenge me by dealing with two different clients or employers, but also to work under higher pressure, as this meant additional work for me and challenged my organisational skills.
Taking my two years of experience of training in this course into account, I have definitely undergone a dramatic development as a result of the multifaceted programme curriculum– both on a professional, but also on a personal level. Professionally, I have evolved from a recent graduate with very little experience and practical skills working in the UK into a full-time working professional in a health psychology environment that encompasses the relevant aspects of the five competencies. Although I initially did not plan to pursue a career in the commercial domain, I felt increasingly comfortable in regards to my transition into a role in a fast-paced and financially driven business environment, which at times meant compromising academic quality that is common in the research domain, for work outputs that align with specific client needs and restricted time and budget-related restrictions. With the various opportunities I encountered during my time as a trainee, not only did I gain confidence in seeking out experience to enhance my professional skills and status, such as presenting at conferences or sharing my knowledge with undergraduate students, but it also provided a wide range of valuable impressions and meaningful learnings that formed my personal development and made me more open towards accepting challenging situations outside my comfort zone, especially related to networking and communicating confidently with other professionals, which was something I especially struggled with before enrolling on the course.

This journey has overall been an exciting learning experience with many positive milestones I achieved during the process, for example my first publication of my systematic review. I reflect on very positively upon these two years, and I hope to evolve further in the future through becoming and working as a chartered Health Psychologist.


The principle of integrated fish farming involves farming of fish along with livestock or/and agricultural crops. This type of farming offers great efficiency in resource utilization, as waste or byproduct from one system is effectively recycled. It also enables effective utilization of available farming space for maximizing production. The rising cost of protein-rich fish food and chemical fertilizers as well as the general concern for energy conservation have created awareness in the utilization of rice and other crop fields and livestock wastes for fish culture. Fish culture in combination with agriculture or livestock is a unique and lucrative venture and provides a higher farm income, makes available a cheap source of protein for the rural population, increases productivity on small land-holdings and increases the supply of feeds for the farm livestock. The scope of integrated farming is considerably wide. Ducks and geese are raised in pond, and pond-dykes are used for horticultural and agricultural crop products and animal rearing. The system provides meat, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, mushroom, fodder and grains, in addition to fish. Hence this system provides better production, provides more employment, and improves socioeconomic status of farmers and betterment of rural economy.


Allen Ginsberg was the bard of the beat generation, and "Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems" is a collection of his finest work published in "Penguin Modern Classics", including "Howl", whose vindication at an obscenity trial was a watershed moment in twentieth-century history. 'I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked' Beat movement icon and visionary poet, Allen Ginsberg broke boundaries with his fearless, pyrotechnic verse. This new collection brings together the famous poems that made his name as a defining figure of the counterculture. They include the apocalyptic "Howl", which became the subject of an obscenity trial when it was first published in 1956; the moving lament for his dead mother, 'Kaddish'; the searing indictment of his homeland, 'America'; and the confessional 'Mescaline'. Dark, ecstatic and rhapsodic, they show why Ginsberg was one of the most influential poets of the twentieth century. Allen Ginsberg (1926-97) was an American poet, best known for the poem "Howl" (1956), celebrating his friends of the Beat Generation and attacking what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in the United States at the time. He was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Minister of Culture, won the National Book Award for "The Fall of America" and was a co-founder of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute, the first accredited Buddhist college in the Western world. If you enjoyed "Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems", you might like Jack Kerouac's "On the Road", also available in "Penguin Modern Classics". "The poem that defined a generation". ("Guardian" on "Howl"). "He avoids nothing but experiences it to the hilt". (William Carlos Williams).


Rural areas comprise 98% of our nation's territory but are typically isolated from larger academic medical centers. Collaborations between rural practitioners and such centers can serve to benefit providers, patients, and academicians. We report on a collaboration that turned an outpatient rural practice into a center providing clinical care, education, and research opportunities for the community and for distant academic medical centers.

Challenges particular to rural psychiatry include patient confidentiality and therapeutic boundary issues, overlapping relationships, cultural and ethical demands, lack of subspecialty support, professional isolation, absence of academic collaboration, and difficulties in recruiting psychiatrists. We describe the highlights of our experience since 1994 at the Sun Valley Behavioral and Research Center in Imperial, California, a rural county where 160,600 mostly Hispanic and Latino people were residing when we launched our clinical and service initiatives.

Among the successful programs is a linked outpatient and consultation liaison service for patients admitted to local general hospitals in a locale where the nearest inpatient unit is 120 miles away. This service has eliminated the need for psychiatric hospitalizations in about two-thirds of consultations. In a community that lacks a dementia unit, we established an adult day treatment center for the elderly population, which helps delay institutionalization. In 2008 we set up a clinical trials division that has collaborated in 38 research projects to date. Since 2011, cooperation between federally qualified health centers and county mental health services has allowed our psychiatrists to train a community clinic team to triage, identify at-risk-patients, follow patients in their homes, and assist with transportation.

Our unsuccessful efforts included a partial hospitalization program that closed when Medicare no longer accepted the host hospital because it was in a different county and an electroconvulsive therapy service that never launched because of perceived stigma and controversy in the community. A National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter and a support group both failed after two sessions because participants were reluctant to disclose private information in this small, tightly interwoven community. Other programs ceased for lack of a large enough base to support group work—again, we believe, a function of the low-density population.

We have learned that rural barriers can be overcome when the services launched are culturally sensitive, scientifically sound, dispensed by competent staff, affordable to the consumer, and have a priori advice from qualified people. Most of our unsuccessful initiatives lacked one or more of these components.

A persistent difficulty is finding capable staff. The likelihood of low practice income and the challenges of a "rural lifestyle" seem to be the main obstacles to recruiting psychiatrists. To address concerns about professional isolation and lack of psychiatrist availability, we created our own supervision program to enhance recruitment of mid-level practitioners such as physician assistants, master's-level trained therapists, and medical assistants.

Having trained in a large academic center, we have maintained contact with our residency mentor by phone, e-mail, and in person, and we eventually became volunteer faculty at the same university. Collaborating with academicians has helped us understand the importance of publishing as a way of communicating with other psychiatrists, thereby decreasing our isolation, receiving constructive criticism, and stimulating ideas to create new clinical services or improve the existing ones. These collaborations have also resulted in numerous publications focusing on rural psychiatry.

Being liaisons between large academic centers and our rural community has been both challenging and satisfying. The main obstacles to implementing funded research interventions include recruitment, transportation, and attrition. One challenge to recruitment is stigma that is partially overcome with extensive education. A second factor is our low-density population and poor public transportation, such that anyone applying for funds must include a larger-than-usual dedicated travel budget. Even after enrollment, some participants drop out for a variety of reasons, such as family illness, new employment, and time spent applying for benefits, such that flexible schedules for research activities should be considered.

We believe that psychiatric leadership plays an essential role in initiating and implementing these efforts and can help disseminate the idea that rural psychiatry is not only a clinical placement but also an opportunity to perform research and academic activities. Both those already in rural practices and new recruits can be encouraged to collect data, present at meetings, find a mentor, foster online collaborations, and submit to journals. We recommend reaching out to neighboring departments of psychiatry to ignite interest in rural psychiatry and to build academic bridges; we are convinced that rural psychiatrists can create value for academic centers.


This thesis aimed to understand the factors which shape the police and CPS response to domestic violence in the light of recent policy changes which recommended arrest in such cases. The decisions made by victims, police and prosecutors were charted in over one thousand three hundred reported cases of domestic violence in the Thames Valley during a seven month period in 1993. A random sample of 387 of these incidents were examined in detail. The study sought to understand the needs, desires and expectations of victims and how their choices impacted on the decisions made by police and prosecutors. Having evaluated feminist theories, the thesis argues that police and prosecutors do not randomly exercise their discretion nor can their response be explained by reference to cultural or individual prejudices. Rather, their decisions are best understood in terms of a set of informal 'working rules' developed by police and prosecutors for dealing with these complex and difficult cases. It is shown that whilst evidence of an offence was highly correlated with decisions regarding arrest and prosecution, evidence did not determine police action nor did its absence preclude such action. Rather, evidence facilitated police action where the working rules pointed towards an arrest. One of the strongest working rules related to the willingness of the victim to support a prosecution or not. The majority of victims did not want their partners or ex-partners to be prosecuted even when they had requested that the police arrest the perpetrators. Police and prosecutors believe the criminal justice system to be an extremely clumsy tool in dealing with domestic disputes. They therefore did not pursue independent evidence when victims withdrew their statements and they consequently discontinued these cases or did not initiate prosecution in the first place. Previous research has started from the premise that withdrawal of complaints by victims and the discontinuance of cases represents some kind of failure on the part of the agencies involved and that this would be remedied if the police arrested and prosecuted wherever possible. Implicit in this approach is the assumption that the criminal justice system as it presently operates is capable of responding effectively to the needs of victims of domestic violence. This thesis throws some doubt on the validity of these assumptions.


Ecosystem management is emerging as an organizing theme for land use and resource management in the United States. However, while this subject is dominating professional and policy discourse, little research has examined how such system-level goals might be formulated and implemented. Effective ecosystem management will require in- sights into the functioning of ecosystems at appropriate scales and their responses to human interventions, as well as factors such as resource markets and social preferences that hold important influence over land and resource use. In effect, such management requires an understanding of ecosystem processes that include human actors and social choices. We examine ecosystem management issues using spatial models that simulate landscape change for a study site in the southern Appalachian -highlands of the United States. We attempt to frame a set of ecosystem management issues by examining how this landscape could develop under a number of different scenarios designed to reflect historical land-cover dynamics as well as hypothetical regulatory approaches to ecosystem management. Scenarios based on historical change show that recent shifts in social forces that drive land cover change on both public and private lands imply a more stable and a more forested landscape. Scenarios based on two hypothetical regulatory instruments indicate that public land man- agement may have only limited influence on overall landscape pattern and that spatially targeted approaches on public and private lands may be more efficient than blanket regu- lation for achieving landscape-level goals.


In 1690, on the orders of Simon van der Stel, officials of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) interviewed one Nicolao Almede, a 'free black man of Mozambique' who had recently arrived at the Cape as a sailor aboard the English ship John and Mary. Almede informed his interlocutors about the country inland from the coast between Mozambique and Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay), into which he had previously ventured as a merchant. Although he does not mention the legendary name of Monomotapa, he does offer early descriptions of the Changamire dynasty, as well as the animals and people of the region, including its fabulous wealth. Some of the place names he mentioned are well known, while others cannot now be traced, perhaps because he was using indigenous rather than Portuguese names. The record of the interview concludes with Almede's description of mermaids, and the fact that their teeth could be had in the market at Mozambique. Together with producing a transcription and translation of the document this article explores it through a close reading to offer some speculations about the interweaving of legend and fact in the human and natural history of southern Africa in reports such as that of Almede.


This study was the first to use the gulf pipefish, Syngnathus scovelli, as an experimental animal in a laboratory setting. As such, it establishes guidelines for the husbandry of the species. I found the gulf pipefish to be a sex role reversed species, where females competed more intensely than did males for access to mates because males limited female reproductive success. As a result, females were more aggressive than males and possessed extensive secondary sexual characteristics (ornaments), which were used in intrasexual competition and during courtship. The ornaments were found to be reliable indicators of fitness because starved or sick individuals could not express them. This study also provides supporting evidence that the extent of sex role reversal and mating system of the gulf pipefish is highly dependant on the operational sex ratio, the ratio of sexually mature females to sexually mature males. I observed significant differences between the levels of aggression displayed by both males and females in maleand female-biased tanks, showing the importance of environmental factors on the behaviors of a species. In addition, both females and males were able to mate with multiple partners under certain conditions. Therefore, I classified the gulf pipefish as polygynandrous, contrary to previous studies. Table of


Custom design, manufacture, and deployment of new high performance materials for advanced technologies is critically dependent on the availability of invertible, high fidelity, structure-property-processing (SPP) linkages. Establishing these linkages presents a major challenge because of the need to cover unimaginably large dimensional spaces. Hierarchical Materials Informatics addresses objective, computationally efficient, mining of large ensembles of experimental and modeling datasets to extract this core materials knowledge. Furthermore, it aims to organize and present this high value knowledge in highly accessible forms to end users engaged in product design and design for manufacturing efforts. As such, this emerging field has a pivotal role in realizing the goals outlined in current strategic national initiatives such as the Materials Genome Initiative (MGI) and the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (AMP). This book presents the foundational elements of this new discipline as it relates to the design, development, and deployment of hierarchical materials critical to advanced technologies. * Addresses a critical gap in new materials research and development by presenting a rigorous statistical framework for the quantification of microstructure * Contains several case studies illustrating the use of modern data analytic tools on microstructure datasets (both experimental and modeling)


Characterization of receptor-like kinases in Arabidopsis links the ethylene synthetic pathway and regulation of cell wall biosynthesis. In plants, the properties of the cell wall are regulated in part by control of deposition of cellulose microfibrils, the orientation of which determines whether a structure grows radially or longitudinally. Xu et al. identified two genes in Arabidopsis that encode receptor-like Ser-Thr kinase (RLK) family members that, when disrupted together, caused a swollen root phenotype consistent with inappropriate radial expansion. The authors named the kinases FEI1 and FEI2. Although FEI1 and FEI2 had kinase activity in vitro, catalytically inactive mutants still retained most, but not all, of their ability to rescue the phenotype of fei1 fei2 mutant plants. Genetic and biochemical studies indicated that the FEI proteins function to regulate biosynthesis of cellulose. The plant hormone ethylene influences root growth, and the authors showed that inhibition of ethylene biosynthesis could restore normal root growth in the fei1 fei2 mutant plants. However, pharmacological inhibitors of ethylene signaling were not effective. The authors thus explored whether a precursor of ethylene might be the active agent. The FEI proteins interacted (in a yeast two-hybrid assay) with ACS5 [a member of the 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase family of enzymes]. The product of ACS is ACC, the immediate biochemical precursor of ethylene. The authors favor a model in which the FEI proteins may act as scaffolds to localized ACS proteins in a manner analogous to the function of KSR (kinase suppressor of Ras) proteins in mammals. Furthermore, they propose that ACC may itself act as a signaling molecule, thus explaining why inhibition of ethylene synthesis (during which ACC is produced), but not ethylene signaling itself, was the critical factor in rescue of the fei1 fei2 mutants. S.-L. Xu, A. Rahman, T. I. Baskin, J. J. Kieber, Two leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases mediate signaling linking cell wall biosynthesis and ACC synthase in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell preview, published 18 November 2008 as 10.1105/tpc.108.063354. [PubMed]


Deterrence strategy has been practiced over the ages and still remains a vital component of a country's national security strategy. Over time, decision-makers have sought ways to effectively deter their adversaries. As decision-makers have applied new tactics to deter, scholars have also tried to improve the explanatory and prescriptive strengths of deterrence theory. However, there still remains much to be desired, evident by continued interest on the subject.This thesis aims to answer the following research question: "What makes deterrence succeed or fail?" "Under which circumstances is deterrence more effective?" In particular, this thesis will examine the relationship between the balance of power between the deterrer and the attacker. "What aspect of the balance of power between the actors strongly influences the decision to defy an opponent's deterrent threat and attack?"To verify the main argument and hypotheses, this thesis conducted three single-case studies on cases of deterrence. Through two cases of deterrence failure and one case of deterrence success, this thesis was demonstrated that deterrence is more likely to fail when there is a parity of power, compared to when it is concentrated.


Based on the theoretical perspectives of symbolic interactions and labeling theory, this study explores the contemporaneous and longitudinal effects of informal reactions from parents and peers on delinquency. Multivariate testing of interaction effects indicates that different forms of informal reactions have differential effects on initial delinquency and delinquency in early adulthood. Results also suggest that the life course effects of informal reactions on delinquency depend on the extent to which one is associated with delinquent peers.


OBJECTIVE
We examined history of alcoholism and occurrence and timing of separation in parents of a female twin cohort.

METHOD
Parental separation (never-together; never-married cohabitants who separated; married who separated) was predicted from maternal and paternal alcoholism in 326 African ancestry (AA) and 1,849 European/ other ancestry (EA) families. Broad (single-informant, reported in abstract) and narrow (self-report or two-informant) measures of alcoholism were compared.

RESULTS
Parental separation was more common in families with parental alcoholism: By the time twins were 18 years of age, parents had separated in only 24% of EA families in which neither parent was alcoholic, contrasted with 58% of families in which only the father was (father-only), 61% of families in which only the mother was (mother-only), and 75% in which both parents were alcoholic (two-parent); corresponding AA percentages were 59%, 71%, 82%, and 86%, respectively. Maternal alcoholism was more common in EA nevertogether couples (mother-only: odds ratio [OR] = 5.95; two parent: OR = 3.69). In ever-together couples, alcoholism in either parent predicted elevated risk of separation, with half of EA relationships ending in separation within 12 years of twins' birth for father-only families, 9 years for mother-only families, and 4 years for both parents alcoholic; corresponding median survival times for AA couples were 9, 4, and 2 years, respectively. EA maternal alcoholism was especially strongly associated with separation in the early postnatal years (mother-only: birth-5 years, hazard ratio [HR] = 4.43; 6 years on, HR = 2.52; two-parent: HRs = 5.76, 3.68, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Parental separation is a childhood environmental exposure that is more common in children of alcoholics, with timing of separation highly dependent on alcoholic parent gender.


Online poker, like gambling in general, is predominantly a male activity. Thus, poker ads most often depict men as their protagonists. According to Jean Baudrillard, advertising can be seen as a 'plebiscite whereby mass consumer society wages a perpetual campaign of self- endorsement.' Ads often use stereotypical imagery for establishing a shared experience of identification with the consumer, and since their role is to sell rather than to portray the realities of life, they often have an exaggerated and monolithic – or, hyperreal – way of representing gender. This article offers an analysis of the ways in which men are portrayed in the ads of Poker Magazine Finland in the volume of 2009 (all six issues), at the peak of the so-called online poker boom.Theoretically, the article draws on postmodern theorists such as Jean Baudrillard and particularly on his concept of hyperreality (exaggerated and media-saturated reality) to analyze the way males are portrayed in the ads in question.


The last twenty years has seen an extensive and exhausting debate on how to improve the institutions of African states. But progress has been patchy at best. Many of the problems arise from a 'partial-reform equilibrium'; initial reforms are undertaken, but then strong resistance is encountered, and reform is not completed. Consequently, although donors may be heartened to find governments speaking the rhetoric of private-sector development, governments may not in fact buy into many second-generation reforms. Public management and public expenditure reform, security-sector reform, and revenue reform are all unfinished agendas. Donor assistance to countries that are stuck in a partial-reform equilibrium is most effective when internal political dynamics succeed in changing national leaderships, as in Ghana.


Synthesis of reactive forms of nitrogen such as ammonia is important in modern agricultural productivity, but present agricultural technology uses reactive nitrogen inefficiently, leading to numerous and growing environmental problems. Animal, human, and food waste all contain significant quantities of organic nitrogen that are transformed into ammonia (NH3) by bacterial degradation of organic waste. If not captured, this volatile form of reactive nitrogen is lost to the environment, reducing N content and thus the agricultural value of organic waste. Furthermore, ammonia loss to the environment initiates a cascade of environmental problems. Nonequilibrium air plasma technology creates reactive nitrogen that can be readily converted to dilute aqueous nitric acid solutions. If mixed with decaying organic waste, NH3 loss is greatly reduced via the formation of involatile ammonium nitrate, a potent nitrogen fertilizer. Air plasma technology for fixed nitrogen manufacture is currently limited only by the availability of electricity and the energy efficiency of the process. The price of electricity via distributed renewable routes such as solar photovoltaic or wind turbines is rapidly decreasing. Increasingly, inexpensive wind and solar power sources, coupled with recent advances in air plasma energy efficiency, suggest that this technology could have a significant role in improving nitrogen use efficiency and reducing environmental and other threats associated with the current system.


Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been rivaling conventional structural materials for several decades and are now pervasive in innumerable applications due to many attractive properties. Even though FRPs can be manufactured by many methods, pultrusion process is the most cost-effective and common technique for manufacturing constant cross-section composites. In this work, a thermo-chemical modeling study on an untapped and enhanced pultrusion concept known as Multi-Die, Multi-Stage (MDMS) hybrid pultrusion process based on US patent No. 6007655 is presented. This study is unique and novel, and has never been presented in the literature. Two dimensional (2-D), steady state, finite difference models (FDM) are developed for modeling a conventional Single- Die, Single-Stage (SDSS) process and the MDMS process. Since the purpose of this study is to understand the thermochemical modeling results of the MDMS concept, only steady state approach is used. Different pultruded thicknesses with varying pull speeds are considered. Fiberglass/epoxy composite is used as pultruded part for the first stage, while carbon fiber/vinyl ester composite is used for the second stage. Steel is used as a die material for both stages. The Gauss Seidel iterative scheme is implemented in MATLAB R2013b to solve the energy and species equations for the pultrusion process model. Pultrusion process for a rectangular flat plate is considered as a validation case. Due to the symmetry, only a half of pultrusion domain is modeled. The proper boundary conditions are applied to match the actual manufacturing process. Multiple pull speeds (200 mm/min, 400 mm/min, and 500 mm/min) with different composite thicknesses (20 mm and 25 mm) are considered in the present analysis to investigate the effects of composite thickness and pull speed on degree of cure. It is clear from modeling results that the short and long SDSS fail to achieve even moderate degree of cure. However, the MDMS achieves a high and uniform degree of cure. The developed model can further be used as a design tool for developing hybrid composites employing MDMS pultrusion process.


Leonardo's Adoration of the Magi's (Galleria degli Uffizi) belongs to an iconographic and semantic tradition, which beneficed of an extraordinary evolution during the second half of the fifteenth century. In such representations the poor wooden construction described by the Bible is combined with the ruins of splendid classical buildings and mean the beginning of Christianity on one hand and the submitted pagan era on the other. A comparison of the two drawings of Leonardo, held in the Louvre and the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi, and the unfinished painting reveals the various steps of the development of the architectural background. Recent ultraviolet studies identified different solutions, conceived and then abandoned by Leonardo, which allow to reconstruct the ruins and architectural fragments in a more detailed manner. In the first version, the Holy family is placed before a heterogeneous structure of wood and stone, while an antique ruin with two flights of stairs raises on the right side. The drawing of the Uffizi focuses its attention on this ruin now shifted to the left side, while the stairs advance strongly toward the centre. On the right side a fragment of a classical order completes the feature, which evokes an antique forum. In the painting the Holy family is situated is the foreground, without any wooden construction to protect them, and the ruin, whose structure and position is slightly changed, is linked to it by the moving of figures and animals. Like in the drawing of the Uffizi many busy craftsmen reveal that the ruin is intended as a building site.
The parallel flights remind us of the church of San Sebastiano in Mantua, built according to Leon Battista Alberti's project, and seems to have been inspired by the Roman temple of Claudius. In Lorenzo de' Medici's villa of Poggio a Caiano, begun in 1485, such a pattern had been adopted for the first time in a private building, introducing a complete metamorphosis of this type. Vasari records that several architects proposed drawings for this villa and if such a competition had taken place before Leonardo left Florence in 1482, the latter could have seen sketches or models, like those of Giuliano da Sangallo, and perhaps even proposed his own project. This could explain his interest for architectural features in his Adoration, a concern less present in his other paintings. No document confirms the hypothesis of a direct link between Lorenzo's villa and the ruin of the Adoration, but it is sure that the latter one is nearly connected to the entourage of Lorenzo de' Medici who promoted in this years a renewal of architectural typologies and idioms, founded on the principles of Leon Battista Alberti, the spiritus rector of Lorenzo's youth.
When Perugino finished in 1496 another Adoration for the Augustans of San Scopeto he privileged the poor stable conformingly to the biblical tradition, perhaps as required by the monks. Leonardo's ruin as building-site, as an original metaphor of the new Christian religion, had only little Nachleben. A significant testimony is however an Adoration about 1522/1523 attributed to Sebastiano Serlio, who could have known Leonardo's bold architectural background through his master Baldassarre Peruzzi.


Mark Earley, Advisor Online course delivery is becoming increasingly prevalent in K-12 education. With budget cuts and other financial difficulties facing our schools, many schools are employing online courses as a means of delivering curriculum. At the same time, time constraints are being imposed on students through increasing academic requirements. As a result of these realities, in addition to more traditional issues related to student resistance to physical education classes, more and more students are choosing to complete their physical education credit through online formats. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of students fulfilling their physical education credit requirement through an online format. Using a case study format, the researcher conducted interviews with high school students, their parents, and school administrators and physical education instructors, to collect data on the online physical education experience. Recorded interviews were transcribed into narrative written format and multi-phased readings were conducted on the interview transcripts for the purpose of thematic analysis. Similarly coded language units were compared and grouped together in subsequent readings with individual units and clusters of units continually being reassessed for fit with the emerging coding structure which itself was open to modification throughout the process. Results indicated that scheduling difficulties were the major reasons identified by participants as pursuing the online physical education option thus suggesting the "expendable" nature of brick-and-mortar physical education courses. In addition, while the online format offers a suitable mechanism for organizing and presenting physical education curricular content,


Friedel-Crafts reactions of aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds with an N-acyliminium ion pool were studied. The reaction of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene in a batch reactor gave rise to the selective formation of a monoalkylation product (69%). Presumably, the second alkylation is slower than the first alkylation because of the protonation of the monoalkylation product that decreases its reactivity. The reaction of 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene, however, gave rise to the formation of both monoalkylation (37%) and dialkylation (32%) products. Disguised chemical selectivity due to faster reaction than mixing seems to be responsible for the lack of selectivity. The use of micromixing was found to be quite effective to solve this problem to increase the selectivity. The monoalkylation product was obtained in 92% yield together with a small amount of the dialkylation product (4%). The reaction with various aromatic and heteroaromatic compounds revealed that the low mono/dialkylation selectivity was observed only for highly reactive aromatics. In such cases, the use of micromixing was quite effective to improve the selectivity. On the basis of micromixing, the selective sequential dialkylation using two different N-acyliminium ions was achieved. CFD simulations using a laminar flow and finite-rate model are consistent with the experimental observations and clearly indicate the importance of mixing.


MYOSIN ISOFORMS AND REGULATION OF TONIC AND PHASIC CONTRACTION IN SMOOTH MUSCLE Qian Huang, B.S. Marquette University, 2012 The contractile properties of smooth muscle (SM) are broadly classified as tonic and phasic. Among the hypothesized underlying regulatory mechanisms for this difference is the different actomyosin ATPase kinetic properties of SM SMA/SMB myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms and the preferential expression of SMA and SMB MHC isoforms in tonic and phasic SM respectively. Thus, we hypothesized that SM SMA/B MHC expression determines tonic and phasic contractile patterns in SM. To test the this hypothesis, the role of SMA and SMB MHC isoforms in tonic and phasic contractions was studied in phasic (longitudinal ileum and stomach circular antrum) and tonic (stomach circular fundus) smooth muscle tissues of SMB knockout mice. Knocking out the SMB MHC gene eliminated SMB MHC protein expression and resulted in up-regulation of the SMA MHC protein without altering the total MHC protein level. Switching from SMB to SMA MHC protein expression decreased the rate of the force transient and increased the sustained tonic force in SMB antrum with high potassium (KPSS) or Carbachol (CCh) stimulation. The sustained tonic force in SMB ileum was also significantly increased with KPSS stimulation but not with CCh. The increased tonic contraction under depolarized condition was not through changes in second messenger signaling pathways (PKC/CPI-17 or Rho/ROCK signaling pathway) or LC20 phosphorylation. Biochemical analyses showed that the expression of contractile regulatory proteins (MLCK, MLCP, PKCδ, and CPI-17) did not change significantly in tissues tested except for PKCα protein expression being significantly decreased in the SMB antrum. However, specifically activating PKCα with phorbol dibutyrate (PDBu) was not significantly different in knockout and wild type tissues, with total force being a fraction of the force generation with KPSS or CCh stimulation in SMB ileum and antrum. Taken together, these data show inhibiting SMB MHC protein expression results in a compensatory increase in the SMA MHC protein expression and enhanced sustained tonic contraction with a reduced rate of force generation in these phasic tissues. These results are consistent with SMA and SMB MHC regulating tonic and phasic contraction in SM.


Abstract Studies by Gardiner and colleagues connecting musical pitch and arithmetic learning support Rips et al.'s proposal that natural number concepts are constructed on a base of innate abilities. Our evidence suggests that innate ability concerning sequence ("Basic Sequencing Capability" or BSC) is fundamental. Mathematical engagement relating number to BSC does not develop automatically, but, rather, should be encouraged through teaching.


Inductively coupled, bidirectional grid interfaces are gaining popularity as an attractive solution for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and grid-to-vehicle (G2V) systems. However, such systems conventionally employ a large, electrolytic dc-link capacitor as well as a large input inductor, leading to expensive, bulky, and less reliable systems. Although, matrix converter (MC) based bidirectional inductive power transfer (BD-IPT) grid interfaces have been proposed as an alternative, implementation of safe and reliable MCs in BD-IPT applications is still a challenge, owing to the absence of natural freewheeling paths and higher complexity. As a solution, this paper proposes a new, inductively coupled, bidirectional grid interface, without a dc-link capacitor and an input inductor, consisting of two back-to-back connected converters. In contrast to existing bidirectional grid converters, the proposed system employs a simpler switching strategy with a lower switching frequency. A mathematical model, which predicts the behavior of the introduced system, is also presented. The feasibility of the proposed technique and the accuracy of the mathematical model are demonstrated through both simulations and experimental results of a 1.1-kW prototype system.


Moderate to large macropodids can increase their speed while hopping with little or no increase in energy expenditure. This has been interpreted by some workers as resulting from elastic energy savings in their hindlimb tendons. For this to occur, the muscle fibers must transmit force to their tendons with little or no length change. To test whether this is the case, we made in vivo measurements of muscle fiber length change and tendon force in the lateral gastrocnemius (LG) and plantaris (PL) muscles of tammar wallabies Macropus eugenii as they hopped at different speeds on a treadmill. Muscle fiber length changes were less than +/-0.5 mm in the plantaris and +/-2.2 mm in the lateral gastrocnemius, representing less than 2 % of total fiber length in the plantaris and less than 6 % in the lateral gastrocnemius, with respect to resting length. The length changes of the plantaris fibers suggest that this occurred by means of elastic extension of attached cross-bridges. Much of the length change in the lateral gastrocnemius fibers occurred at low force early in the stance phase, with generally isometric behavior at higher forces. Fiber length changes did not vary significantly with increased hopping speed in either muscle (P>0.05), despite a 1. 6-fold increase in muscle-tendon force between speeds of 2.5 and 6.0 m s-1. Length changes of the PL fibers were only 7+/-4 % and of the LG fibers 34+/-12 % (mean +/- S.D., N=170) of the stretch calculated for their tendons, resulting in little net work by either muscle (plantaris 0.01+/-0.03 J; gastrocnemius -0.04+/-0.30 J; mean +/- s.d. ). In contrast, elastic strain energy stored in the tendons increased with increasing speed and averaged 20-fold greater than the shortening work performed by the two muscles. These results show that an increasing amount of strain energy stored within the hindlimb tendons is usefully recovered at faster steady hopping speeds, without being dissipated by increased stretch of the muscles' fibers. This finding supports the view that tendon elastic saving of energy is an important mechanism by which this species is able to hop at faster speeds with little or no increase in metabolic energy expenditure.


AbstractThe use of artificial intelligence algorithms to solve geophysical problems is a recent development. Neural network analysis is one of these algorithms. It uses the information from multiple wells and seismic data to train a neural network to predict properties away from the well control. Neural network analysis can significantly improve the seismic inversion result when the outputs of the inversion are used as external attributes in addition to regular seismic attributes for training the network. We found that integration of prestack inversion and neural network analysis can improve the characterization of a late Pliocene gas sandstone reservoir. For inversion, the input angle stacks was conditioned to match the theoretical amplitude-variation-with-offset response. The inversion was performed using a deterministic wavelet set. Neural network analysis was then used to enhance the VP, VS, and density volumes from the inversion. The improvement was confirmed by comparisons with logs from a blind well.


Virtual reality environments are increasingly being used to encourage individuals to exercise more regularly, including as part of treatment those with mental health or neurological disorders. The success of virtual environments likely depends on whether a sense of presence can be established, where participants become fully immersed in the virtual environment. Exposure to virtual environments is associated with physiological responses, including cortical activation changes. Whether the addition of a real exercise within a virtual environment alters sense of presence perception, or the accompanying physiological changes, is not known. In a randomized and controlled study design, moderate-intensity Exercise (i.e., self-paced cycling) and No-Exercise (i.e., automatic propulsion) trials were performed within three levels of virtual environment exposure. Each trial was 5 minutes in duration and was followed by posttrial assessments of heart rate, perceived sense of presence, EEG, and mental state. Changes in psychological strain and physical state were generally mirrored by neural activation patterns. Furthermore, these changes indicated that exercise augments the demands of virtual environment exposures and this likely contributed to an enhanced sense of presence.