The orographic and temporal gradients of rainfall in a mountainous watershed in southwestern British Columbia have been analyzed and streamflow has been estimated using a watershed model. The study watershed is the Jamieson Creek watershed located approximately 30 km north of Vancouver in the Coastal Mountains. The purpose of the study was to determine whether rainfall follows a definable pattern in this mountainous watershed. Regression analysis has been performed for the total rainfall depth per event and hourly intensity for the period 1972-1975. Data is taken from the rainfall season of June to mid-November in order to avoid complications of combined rain and snow events. In this analysis, the rainfall data from a gauge at the lower elevation was used as the set of independent variables and the data from the other four gauges in the watershed as dependent variables. The results showed that the rainfall depth per event increased up to the mid-elevation of the watershed, and then decreased at the upper elevations. On the other hand, the hourly rainfall intensity was found to decrease with increase of elevation in the watershed, so that longer duration of rainfall events occurs at the middle and upper watershed. The regression equations, developed from the analysis of the distribution of the hourly intensity, were used for the prediction of rainfall events of the years 1976-1977. The agreement between the predicted and the observed rain was statistically good. Also, the simulation of the watershed streamflow using the predicted rainfall gave good results. Consequently, because the rainfall follows a definable distribution as a function of elevation, it is possible to use data from one station located at the lower elevation in combination with the developed predictor equations to accurately describe the rainfall over the watershed.


Supplementation in Peripheral Arterial Disease: No Benefit and Possible Harm" To the Editor: I read with interest the article by Wilson et al1 on the Nitric Oxide in Peripheral Arterial Insufficiency (NO-PAIN) study, which showed that long-term supplementation of L-arginine was less effective than placebo in improving absolute claudication distance in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Most surprising was the finding that flow-mediated vasodilation of the brachial artery decreased after 6 months of L-arginine supplementation, whereas flow-mediated vasodilation in the placebo group increased. The results of this long-term study are discordant with results of previous studies of shorter duration that showed an improvement in vascular reactivity of coronary and peripheral arteries in patients with cardiovascular disease, presumably due to increased NO production. The authors1 speculate that counterregulatory mechanisms induced by prolonged administration of the NO precursor L-arginine may lead to L-arginine tolerance, that is, a paradoxical reduction in NO production. I would like to point out that L-arginine is involved in a plethora of biochemical pathways,2,3 and possibly an alternative explanation should be sought in a metabolic route other than the arginine–NO pathway. Specifically, arginase, the enzyme that splits L-arginine into L-ornithine and urea, may be relevant in this context. Arginase has a very high Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) with respect to arginine, which implies that under physiological conditions, the enzyme is not fully saturated. Accordingly, in the NO-PAIN study, L-arginine supplementation resulted in increased ornithine levels. Most important, ornithine is a precursor of polyamines and proline. Polyamines are required for cell proliferation and proline is an essential component of collagen, a major constituent of extracellular matrix.2,3 Hence, sustained stimulation of ornithine production by induction of cell proliferation and extracellular matrix deposition may induce or accelerate vascular remodeling. The resulting alterations in elastic properties of the vessel wall, that is, increased stiffness and reduced compliance, limit the ability of the vessel to react to any vasodilatory stimulus.4,5 This mechanism offers an explanation for the reduced flow-mediated vasodilation after prolonged L-arginine administration, even if NO production is unaltered or increased. Overall, the beneficial short-term effects and harmful long-term effects of L-arginine supplementation may reflect stimulation of different metabolic pathways in which L-arginine is rate limiting. Stimulation of NO synthesis has an acute beneficial effect on vascular function, whereas in the long run, vascular function may be adversely affected by ornithine-induced stimulation of cell proliferation and matrix formation.


ABSTRACT Eleven acid-sulphate and quartz-sericite-pyrite altered mine waste samples from the Animas River watershed in SW Colorado were subjected to a series of 5 to 6 successive leaches using the US EPA 1312 leach protocol to evaluate the transport of metals and loss of acidity from mine wastes as a function of time. Multi-acid digestion ICP-AES analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD) mineral identification, total sulphur, and net acid potential (NAP) determinations were performed on the initial starting materials. Multiple leaching steps generally showed a 'flushing' effect, whereby elements loosely bound, presumably as water-soluble salts, were removed. Aluminum, Cd, Fe, Mg, Mn, Sr, Zn, and S showed decreasing concentration trends, whereas Cu concentrations showed initially decreasing trends, followed by increasing trends in later steps. Concentrations of Zn in the first leach step were independent of whole-sample Zn content. Lead and Ba concentrations consistently increased with each step, indicating that anglesite (PbSO4) and barite (BaSO4), respectively, were dissolving in successive leach steps. Comparison of Fe content with NAP resulted in a modest correlation. However, using the S analyses and XRD identification of sulphide minerals to apportion S amongst enargite, barite, anglesite/galena, and sphalerite, and assigning the remaining S to pyrite, provided a useful correlation between estimated pyrite content and NAP. Whole-sample mass loss correlated well with NAP, but individual elements' behaviors varied between positive correlation (e.g. Al, Fe, Mg), no apparent correlation (Ca, Cd, Pb, Zn), and negative correlation (Cu). Comparison of the summed titrated acidities of the leachates with the whole-sample NAP values yielded an estimate of the fraction of NAP consumed, and led to an estimate of the time it would take to consume the sample acidity by weathering. We estimate, on the basis of these experiments, the acidity in the upper 30 cm would be consumed in 200–1000 years. In addition, calculations suggest that the acidity would be depleted before the complete store of the metals Cu-Cd-Zn in these mine wastes would be released to the environment.


Background: HIVAIDS are syndrome characterized with the deficiency of immune system. In Indonesia, HIVAIDS spreading is still in epidemic concentration and people with high risk transmission. HIVAIDS people are susseptible to opportunistic infection especially pulmonary disease which contributes to its mortality and morbidity (3040%) rate in Indonesia. Research on pulmonary disease pattern in HIVAIDS patients needed to be assessing to improve management of HIVAIDS patients in Malang, and Indonesia.
Purposes: To identify pattern of pulmonary disease in patients with HIVAIDS during hospitalization in dr. Saiful Anwar Hospital, and determine the most common pulmonary disease in patients with HIVAIDS in Malang.
Method: Research was conducted using descriptive analitic retrospective study using medical records of hospitalized HIVAIDS patients. Age, sex, nutritional status, place of residence,employment, and modes of transmission and pulmonary disease pattern was recorded and analyzed.
Results: During periods of January 1st, 2006 – December 31st, 2007 was gathered 230 hospitalized HIVAIDS patients and 63 of them are admitted with pulmonary diseases then used as research sample. Among 63 patients, Pulmonary TB hold number 1 place with 44.44% (n = 28) totally 82.54% (n = 52), followed with mixed pulmonary diseases (pulmonary TB & pneumonia) 38.10% (n = 24), pneumonia 15.87% (n = 11) and pneumocystic carinii 1.59% (n =1).
Discussions: This research proved that pulmonary TB is the most common infection and mortality cause of HIVAIDS patients in accordance with WHO Research.
Conclusion: Pulmonary TB is the most common pulmonary disease of HIVAIDS patients in dr. Saiful Anwar Hospital Malang.


Formal models of categorization are psychological theories that try to describe the process of categorization in a lawful way, using the language of mathematics. Their mathematical formulation makes it possible for the models to generate precise, quantitative predictions. SUSTAIN (Love, Medin & Gureckis, 2004) is a powerful formal model of categorization that has been used to model a range of human experimental data, describing the process of categorization in terms of an adaptive clustering principle. Love et al. (2004) suggested a possible application of the model in the field of object recognition and categorization. The present study explores this possibility, investigating at the same time the utility of using a formal model of categorization in a typical machine learning task. The image categorization performance of SUSTAIN on a well-known image set is compared with that of a linear Support Vector Machine, confirming the capability of SUSTAIN to perform image categorization with a reasonable accuracy, even if at a rather high computational cost.


The focus of this study is the provision of Access courses for Irish adults. This interest arose from the researcher's involvement with Access initiatives in one Irish higher education institution. The principal research questions investigate the development of the policies and practices associated with the Access movement in Ireland. The research begins from the theoretical, and narrows down to an examination of policies and perceptions, then to initiatives, and fmally to the experiences and voices of a small number of Access students. Action research methodology, selected as an appropriate approach for a practitioner working in the field, is used to investigate these questions. In attempting to answer the principal research questions, the study examines the defmitions and rationales for Access. This leads to a categorisation of such rationales in terms of equity, economic and social factors, and those connected with personal development. A comparative analysis of world-wide trends and EU educational policy and provision in a number of selected countries is next undertaken, prior to an examination of recent Irish Access policy. The comparative research report commissioned by the Irish government from Professor Skilbeck was not foreseen when this study began, but it is such an important recent influence on Irish policy that it is given serious consideration. The study moves from an examination of policy to that of practice. A national survey of Access course providers is carried out to show the extent and nature of Access provision. At a more local level, the outcomes for a selected group of Access students are examined, including the experiences of a small number of students from this group. From these a number of key issues arise and are considered. The answer to the research questions posed is that a conflation of economic investment in education; social cohesion strategies; membership of the EU; equity awareness, the 'Celtic Tiger' and an increased demand by adults for education are the forces driving Access in Ireland. Analysis of representations by one group, and reinforced by the survey of Access students show that students represent the least source of influence on Access policy and practice. The study demonstrates that education is now conceived as an 'absolute good', capable of tackling many ills in society. The research concludes with a SWOT analysis showing the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that arise in relation to the expansion of Access opportunities in Ireland. This is followed by a number of key points for practice and suggestions for further research.


Cadmium oxide thin film has been synthesized using spray pyrolysis method. The structural and optical properties of the film were study by usingX-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force microscope (AFM), and UV- VIS spectroscopy. Result show that the film has spherical shape grain with size (460nm) and band gap (2.49eV). Moreover, the RMS equal to 58.7 nm.


Configure Ansible and start coding YAML playbooks using the appropriate modules
Key Features
Create and use Ansible Playbook to script and organise management tasks

Benefit from the Ansible community roles and modules to resolve complex and niche tasks

Write configuration management code to automate infrastructure
Book Description
Configuration Management (CM) tools help administrators reduce their workload. Ansible is one of the best Configuration Management tools, and can act as an orchestrator for managing other CMs. This book is the easiest way to learn how to use Ansible as an orchestrator and a Configuration Management tool. With this book, you will learn how to control and monitor computer and network infrastructures of any size,physical or virtual.

You will begin by learning about the Ansible client-server architecture. To get started, you will set up and configure an Ansible server. You will then go through the major features of Ansible: Playbook and Inventory. Then, we will look at Ansible systems and network modules.

You will then use Ansible to enable infrastructure automated configuration management, followed by best practices for using Ansible roles and community modules.

Finally, you will explore Ansible features such as Ansible Vault, Ansible Containers, and Ansible plugins.
What you will learn
Implement Playbook YAML scripts and its capacities to simplify day-to-day tasks

Setup Static and Dynamic Inventory

Use Ansible predefined modules for Linux, Windows, networking, and virtualisation administration

Organize and configure the host filesystem using storage and files modules

Implement Ansible to enable infrastructure automated configuration management

Simplify infrastructure administration

Search and install new roles and enable them within Ansible

Secure your data using Ansible Vault
Who this book is for
This book is targeted at System Administrators and Network Administrators who want to use Ansible to automate an infrastructure. No knowledge of Ansible is required.


The fouling mechanism of the hollow fiber UF membrane with a pretreatment by coagulation/sedimentation process was investigated. The experiments were carried out in three different feed water conditions: river surface water, coagulated water containing micro flocs and clarified water from the coagulation/sedimentation process. The river water contained a lot of suspended particles (high turbidity) and natural organic matter (NOM) such as humic substances. From analysis of the data obtained in the three membrane processes, the mathematical model expressing the change of the filtration resistance is proposed and proved, which includes the pore size distribution of the membrane. The effect of DOC and DOC/E260 on the membrane fouling was also discussed. The analysis of the pore size distribution change with increasing filtration time suggests that the primary mechanism of the fouling is the decrease in the pore number by the high molecular weight humic substances. As a result of experiments and mathematical model analysis, it could be concluded that the coagulation/sedimentation pretreatment process was very effective for expanding ultrafiltration membrane life, because the coagulation/sedimentation process could remove the primary foulants such as high molecular weight humic substances.


Solute fluxes from a glacier-covered alpine catchment are partitioned into components derived from sea-salt, acid aerosol, dissolution of atmospheric CO2, and crustal weathering. The bulk of solute is crustally derived. Coupled sulfide oxidation and carbonate dissolution (SO-CD) and carbonation of carbonate minerals generate approximately equal amounts of solute. Chemical denudation constitutes <1.5% of solid denudation but is significantly higher than the continental average. CO2 drawdown by weathering reactions varies directly with discharge and suspended-sediment load and inversely with meltwater p(CO2). If it is generally true that flushing rates control CO2 drawdown in glacier-covered catchments, then glacially driven chemical weathering could be a significant factor in carbon cycling and climate change on glacial-interglacial time scales.


Objectives This study evaluates the safety, principal feasibility and restoration potential of laser-supported CD133+ intramyocardial cell transplantation in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy. Methods Forty-two patients with severe ischemic cardiomyopathy (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >15% and <35%) were included in this prospective multicenter phase I trial. They underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with subsequent transepicardial low-energy laser treatment and autologous CD133+ cell transplantation, and were followed up for 12 months. To evaluate segmental myocardial contractility as well as perfusion and to identify the areas of scar tissue, cardiac MRI was performed at 6 months and compared to the preoperative baseline. In addition, clinical assessment comprising of CCS scoring, blood and physical examination was performed at 3, 6 and 12 months, respectively. Results Intraoperative cell isolation resulted in a mean cell count of 9.7±1.2×106. Laser treatment and subsequent CD133+ cell therapy were successfully and safely carried out in all patients and no procedure-related complications occurred. At 6 months, the LVEF was significantly increased (29.7±1.9% versus 24.6±1.5% with p = 0.004). In addition, freedom from angina was achieved, and quality of life significantly improved after therapy (p<0.0001). Interestingly, an extended area of transmural delayed enhancement (>3 myocardial segments) determined in the preoperative MRI was inversely correlated with a LVEF increase after laser-supported cell therapy (p = 0.024). Conclusions This multicenter trial demonstrates that laser-supported CD133+ cell transplantation is safe and feasible in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy undergoing CABG, and in most cases, it appears to significantly improve the myocardial function. Importantly, our data show that the beneficial effect was significantly related to the extent of transmural delayed enhancement, suggesting that MRI-guided selection of patients is mandatory to ensure the effectiveness of the therapy. Trial Registration: EudraCT 2005-004051-35) Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN49998633


This paper deals with the types of knowledge publishing conducted by museums in the digital age. Digital environments are seen as spaces for the renegotiation and reterritorialization of the relations between culture, science and society. We analyze the linkage dynamics between cultural and scientific mediation and digital techniques by focusing on authorship and intermediation. This work is based on a corpus of professional sources and field work. We conclude by discussing the reconfiguration of models of mediation in an international public space where institutional communication policies and cultural mediation, industrial strategies and public contributions interconnect.


'Contas' was received as the name of a tool in "K&R distribution area" ― Coastal area and Remote island area of Northwest Kyushu region. In addition, 'Contas' was handed down over centuries by Hidden-Christians up until about 1870. 'Rosario' has been received as a new word by Catholic believers since about 1870. Catholic propagators of the age had a consciousness that 'Rosario' was the best name for the Rosary (a string of prayer beads, or a series of prayers), but Catholic believers of the same age mainly used 'Contas' instead of 'Rosario' as the name of a rosary. Nowadays, 'Rosario' has come to be used in lieu of 'Contas' in Coastal area and Remote island area of Northwest Kyushu region where 'Contas' had been used from the 16th century onward, and the distribution area of 'Rosario' is now being expanded along with the propagation of Catholic Churches in the Central part of Kyushu region, whereas in the Southeast Kyushu region where the faith in the Catholic Church has not been well established, 'Rosario' is yet to be fully received.


Time of flight (TOF) measurements in positron emission tomography (PET) are very challenging in terms of timing performance, and should achieve ideally less than 100ps FWHM precision. We present a time-based differential technique to read out SiPMs that has less than 25ps rms electronic jitter. The novel readout is a fast front end circuit (NINO) based on a first stage differential current mode amplifier with 20Ω input resistance. Therefore the amplifier inputs are connected differentially to the SiPM's anode and cathode ports. The leading edge of the output signal provides the time information, while the trailing edge provides the energy information. Based on a Monte Carlo photon-generation model, SPICE simulations were run with a 3×3mm2 SiPM-model, read out with a differential current amplifier. The results of these simulations are presented here and compared with experimental data obtained with a 3×3×15mm3 LSO crystal coupled to a SiPM. The measured time coincidence precision is interpreted by the combined Monte Carlo/SPICE simulation, as well as by Poisson statistics.


To empower libraries to better understand—and positively change—the way the public views them and to help libraries retain current library users, attract new users, and convert former non-users, this general review offers in-depth analysis of some of the most common desires and complaints expressed by 9,000 library users and non-users from across the U.S. over an 18-month period. This collected feedback includes discussion of "active v. quiet" spaces and increased demand for co-working and business centers; improved access to centralized electrical outlets; alternatives to Makerspaces, such as digital creativity spaces and curated, circulating activity kits; and an eagerness for more streamlined, "personalized" marketing communications from libraries. Selfservice holds, outdoor workspaces, and a strong preference for flip-through shelving are also discussed. Further, the authors demonstrate ways in which libraries can incorporate such public input effectively and affordably by redeploying existing resources, reconfiguring library facilities, and by implementing newly available products, technologies, and best practices. It must be noted that, because not all public insights shared in this general review may be applicable to every library, libraries are also encouraged to seek out localized public input and to incorporate widely available, state-reported benchmarking data from other libraries—especially during and after employing new strategic planning. Guidance around gathering and acting upon localized feedback from library users and non-users, as well as guidance around the use of statereported data are also provided.


Nature, especially the marine environment, provides the most effective drugs used in human therapy. Among the metazoans, the marine sponges produce the most potent and highly selective bioactive secondary metabolites. These animals (or their associated symbiotic microorganisms) synthesize secondary metabolites whose activity and selectivity has developed during their long evolutionary history. During the course of exploitation of these resources two marine sponges, Fasciospongia cavernosa doc var.brown (dark brown) Fasciospongia cavernosa doc var.yellow (yellow) collected from the visakhapatnam coast of Bay of Bengal were investigated in order to assess the potential of these microorganisms for the production of antimicrobial compounds. The aqueous and organic extracts of both the sponges showed broad spectrum antibiotic activity. In this study a total of 178 microorganisms were isolated from different parts of two sponges and most of them from middle part of the sponge. The isolates were investigated in order to assess the potential of these microorganisms for the production of antimicrobial compounds. Testing for antimicrobial activities were performed against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus) Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris), fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger) and 10 pathogenic organisms. Resulting mean diameter of inhibition zones revealed isolates B4 & B6 were the most potent of all the isolates. The present study has revealed the presence of high numbers of diverse culturable microorganisms associated with the marine sponges from Visakhapatnam Coast of Bay of Bengal as well as their potential to produce bioactive metabolites.


Non-collusive corruption, i.e., corruption that imposes an additional burden on business activity, is particularly widespread in low-income countries. We build a macroeconomic model with credit market imperfections and heterogeneous agents to explore the roots and consequences of this type of corruption. We find that credit market imperfections, by generating rents for the incumbent entrepreneurs, create strong incentives for corrupt behavior by state officials. However, non-collusive corruption not only redistributes income from non-officials towards officials but also within the group of potential entrepreneurs. If borrowing is limited, bribes prevent poorer but talented individuals from starting a business. But this is likely to benefit those who may enter anyway; the cost of capital is lower and there is less competition on the goods markets.


The main goal of this study was to analyze the development of historical thinking abilities in two groups of fourth graders in Colombian schools. The study consisted of the design, implementation, and evaluation of a three-month pedagogical intervention. After an initial assessment, nine learning activities were implemented. An Intervention Group (IG) received the intervention, while a Control Group (CG) served as a comparison. The assessment comprised three main areas (Historical Sources, Narratives, and Change and Continuity). The results of the intervention indicated that the IG performed better than the CG in the assessment. Introducing concepts that favor historical thinking development such as working with historical sources, identifying change and continuity, and constructing narratives, seems to promote the construction of historical knowledge in a complex way. Pedagogical interventions focused on the development of these concepts provide information on the progression of learning and the ability of children to understand the past.


Changes in the cytoarchitecture of vocal control nuclei were investigated in nestling budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) from hatching to fledging (five to six weeks) in relation to changes in vocalizations produced by nestlings during this period. The nuclei investigated were the hypoglossal nucleus, dorsomedial nucleus of the intercollicular midbrain, central nucleus of the archistriatum, central nucleus of the lateral neostriatum, oval nucleus of the hyperstriatum ventrale, medial division of the oval nucleus of the anterior neostriatum, and magnocellular nucleus of the lobus parolfactorius. These nuclei have been shown to form functional circuits in adults related to vocal learning. Consistent with previously reported results, we found that call development could be described in terms of five different phases based on changes in the duration and segmentation of single and multiple segment foodbegging calls and the appearance of the first socially learned contact calls around the time of fledging. We also found that call segment duration exhibited an inverted U-shaped developmental function during the nestling period, as has been found for total call duration. Cytoarchitectonic studies revealed striking changes in the cellular architecture of vocal control nuclei during the first four weeks posthatching. At hatching the hypoglossal nucleus exhibits adult-like cytoarchitecture, and the central nucleus of the archistriatum and the central nucleus of the lateral neostriatum are distinguishable from surrounding fields. By one week posthatch, the central nucleus of the archistriatum exhibits an adult-like appearance, while other telencephalic vocal control nuclei do not exhibit adult-like cytoarchitecture until three to four weeks posthatching. By two weeks posthatching, the dorsomedial nucleus of the intercollicular midbrain also exhibits adult-like cytoarchitecture. We observed substantial decreases in the thickness of ventricular proliferation zones during this period, with decreases in ventricular zones occurring at about the same point that nuclei at corresponding levels come to exhibit adult-like cytoarchitectonic features. Of interest is the fact that cytoarchitectural development occurs asynchronously in different brain regions, with the appearance of adult-like characteristics in the hindbrain and midbrain occurring before the appearance of adult-like cytoarchitectonic characteristics in telencephalic nuclei. These results are consistent with recent lesion studies indicating that neither auditory feedback nor telencephalic vocal control nuclei are necessary for the production of foodbegging and other nestling calls until three to four weeks posthatching.


Background: Childhood obesity rates in the United States have skyrocketed thus making it a major public health concern. The impact of childhood obesity is also reflected on the economic status of the country and is leading to increased health care spending. Public health policies, laws and other intervention policies can have a substantial impact on preventing and reducing childhood obesity rates. Public health policies play a crucial role in changing the physical and social environment to promote healthy behavior. The purpose of this article was to conduct a narrative review of childhood obesity as a public health issue of prime importance and address some of the public health policies implemented at the federal and the state level which can assist in the development and implementation of future policies related to childhood obesity prevention. Methods: In order to collect materials for this review a detailed open search of various databases was carried out and relevant articles were narratively summarized. Results: Lobbying and advocacy efforts to prevent and reduce childhood obesity can encourage policymakers and public healthcare practitioners to devise effective public health policy interventions to address this very important public health issue. Conclusions: A multidimensional approach to childhood obesity has increased the importance of comprehensive and coordinated public health policies targeted to address this issue. Future policy recommendations are also mentioned in conclusion of this review.


We have critically reconsidered the standard representation of optical signals in the form of quasimonochromatic electromagnetic waves. We propose an alternative formulation in terms of ortho-normalized series of elementary wave packages (EWP). We show that this allows the synthesis and analysis of superwideband optical signals, for example, femtosecond optical pulses (fs pulse). In addition, it includes the general properties of electromagnetic waves. We also propose a technique for describing the polarization and angular momentum of the fs pulse. As examples of the application of the proposed EWP representation, we investigated nonstationary diffraction of fs pulse of any duration by a slit and interaction of the fs pulse with a two-level system. We have established the resonant character of these processes over the duration of the fs pulse.


Abstract. Measurements from ground-based cloud radar, high spectral resolution lidar and microwave radiometer are used in conjunction with a column version of the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTMG) and radiosonde measurements to derive the surface radiative properties under mixed-phase cloud conditions. These clouds were observed during the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Mixed-Phase Arctic Clouds Experiment (M-PACE) between September and November of 2004. In total, sixteen half hour time periods are reviewed due to their coincidence with radiosonde launches. Cloud liquid (ice) water paths are found to range between 11.0–366.4 (0.5–114.1) gm −2 , and cloud physical thicknesses fall between 286–2075 m. Combined with temperature and hydrometeor size estimates, this information is used to calculate surface radiative flux densities using RRTMG, which are demonstrated to generally agree with measured flux densities from surface-based radiometric instrumentation. Errors in longwave flux density estimates are found to be largest for thin clouds, while shortwave flux density errors are generally largest for thicker clouds. A sensitivity study is performed to understand the impact of retrieval assumptions and uncertainties on derived surface radiation estimates. Cloud radiative forcing is calculated for all profiles, illustrating longwave dominance during this time of year, with net cloud forcing generally between 50 and 90 Wm −2 .


Dosage compensation is the equalisation of gene expression from unequal doses of genes. Drosophila males up-regulate transcription from their single X chromosome to equal that from the two female X chromosomes. Five malespecific lethal (msl) genes are required in males, and encode the main agents of the up-regulation. At least these proteins, together with either or both of two noncoding RNAs, form the MSL chromatin-modifying complex. Female-specific translational repression of a key component, msl2, limits the complex to males. The MSL complex binds to the X chromosome at hundreds of distinct loci, acetylates nucleosomes, and de-condenses the chromatin. Together with possibly many co-factors, the transcriptional up-regulation caused by MSL complex appears to counteract repressive factors to achieve an average effect of transcriptional doubling. Here, I have studied the initiation of MSL regulation on the X chromosome with a variety of approaches. In order to study early events, dosage compensation was induced in females with ectopic expression of msl2 from the tetracycline system. However, low background expression without activation prohibited further studies. To identify novel factors that affect dosage compensation, a reporter gene system based on variable eye size was evaluated. The system provided a dose-dependent phenotype, but could not report additional up-regulation by the MSL complex, and was thus unsuitable for the proposed mutational screen. The quantifiable lacZ gene was measured in a strict comparison of expression from an eye-specfic (GMR) or a constitutive (armadillo) promoter. At defined locations on the X chromsome, armadillo-lacZ acquired local compensation, but GMR-lacZ did not. Further modifications upstream of GMR-lacZ increased the response, and confirmed the importance of the promoter in attraction of dosage compensation. To corroborate this with the established importance of genic sequences in MSL attraction, a combinatorial model of attraction is proposed. The relative importance of early or constitutive expression was also tested, by providing GMR-lacZ with extra expression through the tetracycline system. A burst of embryonic expression, and constitutive expression, were both insufficient to increase dosage compensation of the transgene. Finally, the compensation of GMRmediated transgenes was confounded by 'transvection' effects of chromosome pairing. This effect may have wider implications on the study of compensation at individual genes.


At the time of constantly emerging technologies, information professionals need frameworks for modeling users' preferences as well as understanding adoption and usability issues. One such framework, the decision making Expected Utility theory, is reviewed for its ability to offer the logic of mathematical modeling with graphical aids for analyzing information seeking decisions. Major information seeking decisions, including decisions to seek information, select information sources and search strategies, select relevant information objects, and decisions to stop seeking, are analyzed using the four expected utility components: alternatives, outcomes, likelihoods and values. Application of decision theoretic framework helps to identify under-studied areas of information seeking research, as well as offers new ways of analyzing information preferences.


We report the results of an ethnographic study of a natural food cooperative in which we found an inherent tension in its mission between idealism and pragmatism, and we explore the dynamics through which that tension was managed and engaged in day-to-day governance and activities. Insights from participant observation, archival data, semi-structured interviews, and surveys provide a detailed and holistic account of the intergroup and intragroup processes through which the co-op negotiated its dualistic nature, as embodied in its hybrid organizational identity. The findings suggest that the value of each side of the duality was recognized at both the individual and organizational levels. Members' discomfort with the duality, however, led them to split the mission in two and identify with one part, while projecting their less-favored part on others, creating an identity foil (an antithesis). This splitting resulted in ingroups and outgroups and heated intergroup conflict over realizing cooperative ideals vs. running a viable business. Ingroup members favoring one part of the mission nonetheless identified with the outgroup favoring the other because it embodied a side of themselves they continued to value. Individuals who exemplified their ingroup's most extreme attributes were seen by the outgroup as prototypical, thus serving as "lightning rods" for intergroup conflict; this dynamic paradoxically enabled other ingroup members to work more effectively with moderate members of the outgroup. The idealist–pragmatist duality was kept continually in play over time through oscillating decisions and actions that shifted power from one group to the other, coupled with ongoing rituals to repair and maintain relationships disrupted by the messiness of the process. Thus ostensible dysfunctionality at the group level fostered functionality at the organizational level.


Nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) may act as retrograde messages for long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Zinc protoporphyrin IX, an inhibitor of the enzyme that produces CO, blocked induction of LTP in the CA1 region of hippocampal slices. Application of either NO or CO to slices produced a rapid and long-lasting increase in the size of evoked synaptic potentials if, and only if, the application occurred at the same time as weak tetanic stimulation. This long-term enhancement was spatially restricted to synapses from active presynaptic fibers and appeared to involve mechanisms utilized by LTP, occluding the subsequent induction of LTP by strong tetanic stimulation. The enhancement by NO and CO was not blocked by an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker, suggesting that NO and CO act downstream from the NMDA receptor. Also, CO produced long-term enhancement when paired with low-frequency stimulation. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that NO and CO, either alone or in combination, serve as retrograde messages that produce activity-dependent presynaptic enhancement during LTP.


While people are now using peer-to-peer (P2P) applications for various processes, such as file sharing and video streaming, many research and engineering issues still need to be tackled in order to further advance P2P technologies. Peer-to-Peer Computing: Applications, Architecture, Protocols, and Challenges provides comprehensive theoretical and practical coverage of the major features of contemporary P2P systems and examines the obstacles to further success. Setting the stage for understanding important research issues in P2P systems, the book first introduces various P2P network architectures. It then details the topology control research problem as well as existing technologies for handling topology control issues. The author describes novel and interesting incentive schemes for enticing peers to cooperate and explores recent innovations on trust issues. He also examines security problems in a P2P network. The final chapter addresses the future state of the field. Throughout the text, the highly popular P2P IPTV application, PPLive, is used as a case study to illustrate the practical aspects of the concepts covered. Addressing the unique challenges of P2P systems, this book presents practical applications of recent theoretical results in P2P computing. It also stimulates further research on critical issues, including performance and security problems.


Ethics of complexity consists of a set of theories based on a complexity worldview, considering the relation of this worldview with, and its effect on, morality. The theories were propounded after objections to the effect of a simplicity worldview on traditional widespread moral theories, encompassing all various views offering preparations for encountering moral issues and situations. Despite their shared concepts, these views have differences too, and in each of these, one might find noteworthy or overlooked aspects necessitating a revision and development of the ethics of complexity. Thus, in this paper, we introduce ethics of complexity through a presentation of extant theories in this field, trying to reformulate and elaborate upon ethics of complexity. The elaboration is aided by shared and reliable concepts in the extant theories through a content composition in light of meta-languages of morality and complexity. It has two levels: the first level includes complex thought and selfcriticizing rationality in the grand field of complexity, and is indeed a bedrock and requisite of the second level which constitutes ethics of complexity. The second level consists in a set of preparations, including three principles: "correlate existence," "temporary command," and "planetary benevolence" having cooperative and complimentary relations with one another. The moral agent is expected to gain a more extensive moral insight by considering these three principles and be able to act better in her moral decisions and actions.


[1] Macrophysical properties of optically thin marine low clouds over the nonpolar oceans (60°S–60°N) are measured using 2 years of full-resolution nighttime data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP). Optically thin clouds, defined as the subset of marine low clouds that do not fully attenuate the lidar signal, comprise almost half of the low clouds over the marine domain. Regionally, the fraction of low clouds that are optically thin (fthin,cld) exhibits a strong inverse relationship with the low-cloud cover, with maxima in the tropical trades (fthin,cld > 0.8) and minima in regions of persistent marine stratocumulus and in midlatitudes (fthin,cld< 0.3). Domain-wide, a power law fit describes the cloud length distribution, with exponentβ = 2.03 ± 0.06 (±95% confidence interval). On average, the fraction of a cloud that is optically thin decreases from ∼1 for clouds smaller than 2 km to <0.3 for clouds larger than 30 km. This relationship is found to be independent of region, so that geographical variations in the cloud length distribution explain three quarters of the variance in fthin,cld. Comparing collocated trade cumulus observations from CALIOP and the airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar reveals that clouds with lengths smaller than are resolvable with CALIOP contribute approximately half of the low clouds in the region sampled. A bounded cascade model is constructed to match the observations from the trades. The model shows that the observed optically thin cloud behavior is consistent with a power law scaling of cloud optical depth and suggests that most optically thin clouds only partially fill the CALIOP footprint.


The implant periapical lesion is the infectious-inflammatory process of the tissues surrounding the implant apex. It may be caused by different factors: contamination of the implant surface, overheating of bone during drilling, preparation of a longer implant bed than the implant itself, and pre-existing bone disease. Diagnosis is achieved by studying the presence of symptoms and signs such us pain, swelling, suppuration or fistula; in the radiograph an implant periapical radiolucency may appear. A diagnostic classification is proposed to establish the stage of the lesion, and determine the best treatment option accordingly. The following stages are distinguished: acute apical periimplantitis (non-suppurated and suppurated) and subcacute (or suppurated-fistulized) apical periimplantitis. The most adequate treatment of this pathology in the acute stage and in the subacute stage if there is no loss of implant stability is apical surgery. In the subacute stage, if there is implant mobility, the extraction of the implant is necessary. Key words:Implant periapical lesion, apical periimplantitis, retrograde periimplantitis.


Musical agents are artificial agents that tackle musical creative tasks. Musical agents implement the technologies of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Multi-agent systems (MAS) for musical applications. Musical agent studies situate in the interdisciplinary studies of Musical Metacreation (MuMe) with a focus on the agent architectures. Metacreation and MuMe combine the artistic practice of Generative Arts with the scientific literature of Computational Creativity. We define Musical Metacreation as an interdisciplinary field that studies the partial or complete automation of musical tasks. In this work, we concentrate on an audio-based musical agent architecture with unsupervised learning while presenting the literature review of musical agents. Our review of musical agents surveys seventy-eight musical agent systems that have been presented in peer-reviewed publications. Building on our literature review, we propose a typology of musical agents in nine dimensions of agent architectures, musical tasks, environment types, number of agents, number of agent roles, communication types, corpus types, input/output types, human interaction modality. Our typology of musical agents builds on the AI terminology and agent architecture typology in MAS. In comparison to agent typology of MAS, the categories that we present in our typology address the specific phenomenon that appear in the agent-based applications of musical tasks. Our survey of musical agents indicated a possibility of research on an audio-based musical agent architecture with unsupervised learning. The implementations of musical agents that we present in this thesis utilize audio recordings with unsupervised learning because a variety of musical styles are available in the audio domain. Audio recordings are accessible; thus, the curation of a corpus for agent learning is easier. amount of work to gather the training data. To address this research possibility, we proposed an architecture called Musical Agent based on Self-Organizing Maps (MASOM) for audio applications. We were inspired by Edgard Varèse's definition of music, which suggested that music is "nothing but organized sounds." We put the notion of music as organized sounds into practice by combining autonomous audio latent space generation with musical structure modelling. This unique combination suggests that an audio-based musical agent architecture requires two kinds of sound organization: organizing sounds in latent sonic space to differentiate sound objects and organizing sounds in time to create temporal musical structures. We present two main real-time applications of Musical Agents based on Self-Organizing Maps: architectures for experimental electronic music with machine listening and an architecture for virtual reality applications with respiratory user interaction. Our applications exemplify the strengths and possibilities of audio-based musical agents in the artistic domain. We believe that MASOM architectures can be useful for the applications of "musical creativity as it is." We also propose that the innovative perspective of MASOM architectures provide an exploration of the "musical creativity as it could be."


The shearing box approximation to the compressible unsteady Euler equations in a shearing, rotating, and stratified flow is investigated. A fundamental review is presented, detailing the development of a 2D finite volume method in a cartesian shearing box representing a circular accretion disc. An overall 2nd order method is constructed using the HLLC approximate Riemann solver, a dimensionally split WAF flux-limited reconstruction scheme, and a symplectic source term integrator to conserve energy. The developed algorithm is validated against a comprehensive test suite modelled after that of Toro (1999) at each 1D, 2D, and source term construction step. The solver is finally employed to explore and further validate against a number of popular problems from accretion disc literature, looking both in the plane of the disc (r) as well as at azimuthally invariant solutions in the r-z plane.


Recent analyses of the Pal 5 and GD-1 tidal streams suggest that the inner dark matter halo of the Milky Way is close to spherical, in tension with predictions from collisionless N-body simulations of cosmological structure formation. We use the Eris simulation to test whether the combination of dissipative physics and hierarchical structure formation can produce Milky Way–like galaxies whose dark matter halos match the tidal stream constraints from the GD-1 and Pal 5 clusters. We use a dynamical model of the simulated Eris galaxy to generate many realizations of the GD-1 and Pal 5 tidal streams, marginalize over observational uncertainties in the cluster galactocentric positions and velocities, and compare with the observational constraints. We find that the total density and potential of Eris contributed by baryons and dark matter satisfies constraints from the existing Milky Way stellar stream data, as the baryons both round and redistribute the dark matter during the dissipative formation of the galaxy, and provide a centrally concentrated mass distribution that rounds the inner potential. The Eris dark matter halo or a spherical Navarro–Frenk–White dark matter work comparably well in modeling the stream data. In contrast, the equivalent dark matter–only ErisDark simulation produces a prolate halo that cannot reproduce the observed stream data. The ongoing Gaia mission will provide decisive tests of the consistency between and Milky Way streams, and should distinguish between models like Eris and more spherical halos.


Valentina Napolitano explores issues of migration, medicine, religion, and gender in this incisive analysis of everyday practices of urban living in Guadalajara, Mexico. Drawing on fieldwork over a ten-year period, Napolitano paints a rich and vibrant picture of daily life in a low-income neighborhood of Guadalajara. Migration, Mujercitas, and Medicine Men insightfully portrays the personal experiences of the neighborhood's residents while engaging with important questions about the nature of selfhood, subjectivity, and community identity as well as the tensions of modernity and its discontents in Mexican society.


AbstractA qualitative exploration of sense of self and anorexia nervosaKaren WilliamsDoctor of Clinical Psychology (ClinPsyD)The University of ManchesterJune 2014The thesis has been prepared in paper based format and includes three papers: paper 1 is a literature review, paper 2 is an empirical study and paper 3 is a critical reflection. Paper 1 has been prepared for submission to Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy and systematically reviews the qualitative literature pertaining to the process of recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN). A metasynthesis of 12 studies was conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) principles. The metasynthesis identified factors that helped and factors that hindered recovery from AN, in addition to offering an interpretation of how these factors underpin the process of recovery. The strengths and limitations of the review are discussed, as are the implications of the findings for clinical practice. Paper 2 has been prepared for submission to the British Journal of Clinical Psychology and is a qualitative exploration of the nature of the relationship between the self and the eating disorder in individuals with a lifetime history of AN. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 women and the interview transcripts analysed using constructivist grounded theory methodology. The results suggested that the self is shared with AN and separating the self from AN has an important role to play in recovery from the disorder. A theoretical framework explaining the nature of the relationship between the self and AN is presented and discussed. The strengths and limitations of the study are considered, as are the implications of the findings on the content of therapeutic interventions. Paper 3 is not intended for publication and is a critical reflection of the research process as a whole. It evaluates the strengths and limitations of both paper 1 and paper 2, in addition to offering a critical review of completing a qualitative research project. Paper 3 also discusses issues surrounding reflexivity, implications of the research for clinical practice/working as a clinical psychologist and draws overall conclusions.


Existing methods and a newly proposed method are used to estimate the magnitudes of the horizontal principal stresses from stress-induced borehole breakouts and leak-off tests. Under the condition that the depth interval between leak-off and breakout is sufficiently small, so that the stress ratios sigma H /sigma v and sigma h /sigma v can be reasonably regarded as constants within the depth range, both horizontal principal stresses sigma H and sigma h can be resolved with some knowledge of breakout width. A comparison of the methods has been conducted with well data from the North West Shelf of Australia. The estimated stress magnitudes are generally consistent with the measured trend from neighbouring modified leak-off (or hydraulic fracturing) tests, and also indicate that the tectonic stress regime in the depth range from 2.6 to 2.9 km, at the location of the borehole, is likely to be on the boundary between extension and strike-slip. Knowledge of the in situ stress field provides a crucial development factor in petroleum engineering, such as the optimum design of inclined or horizontal drilling for maximizing wellbore mechanical stability and recovery from fractured reservoirs.


This paper proposes Statefull Addressing Protocol(SAP) for Address Autoconfiguration for Mobile Ad Hoc networks. SAP uses Statefull approach which maintains complete information about the Allocated and free IP addresses. SAP maintains this information at the Agent as well as at the nodes. SAP use a single bit to represent the status of an IP address thereby reducing the overhead involved in transmitting the periodic broadcasts about the status of Addresses. SAP has the advantage over other protocols as it addresses all the major problems of the mobile ad hoc network like uniqueness of address, network partitioning and merging, node mobility etc. This protocol scales well while providing backup.


In analogy with the separation of the total optical angular momentum into a spin and an orbital part in electrodynamics, we introduce a new concept of spin and orbital angular coherence momenta into the general coherence theory of vector electromagnetic fields. The properties of the newly introduced spin and orbital angular coherence momenta are investigated through the decomposition of the total coherence angular momentum into the sum of these two components, and their separate conservations have been derived for what is believed to be the first time.


Abstract. In this study, we revise the index that quantifies the North African Dipole Intensity (NAFDI), and explain its relationship with the Saharan Heat Low (SHL) and mid-latitude Rossby waves. We find outstanding similarities of meteorological patterns associated with the positive NAFDI and the SHL West-phase on the one hand, and with the negative NAFDI and the SHL East-Phase, on the other hand. We introduce the daily NAFDI index and the daily SHL West-East Displacement Index (SHLWEDI). The Pearson correlation coefficient between the daily SHLWEDI 1-day lagged and the daily NAFDI for the period 1980–2013 20 June–17 September is fairly high (r = 0.77). The correlation reduces to 0.69 if the SHLWEDI is not lagged. We observe that the SHL West-phase is significantly more frequent than the SHL East-phase, and that the SHL is more intense during its East-phase. We find positive aerosol optical depth (AOD) anomalies in the Western Sahara during positive NAFDI/SHL West-phase, and negative AOD anomalies in the central and eastern Sahara during negative NAFDI/SHL East-phase. A significant positive (negative) NE-SW axis AOD anomaly over the Subtropical North Atlantic for positive (negative) NAFDI is found. Remarkable patterns of positive (negative) AOD anomalies over the tropical Atlantic and the Central-Western Mediterranean during negative (positive) NAFDI are observed. The impact of mid-latitude Rossby waves on NAFDI variations depends on both the amplitude and phase of the Rossby wave at 200–300 hPa, which is quantified in this study by the daily Zonal Wind Anomaly at 300 hPa over South Morocco (ZWA300), and the penetration of the Rossby wave into the lower troposphere, quantified by the daily Omega at 500 hPa over Northwest Algeria (O500). The correlation of both ZWA300 and O500 with NAFDI is significant: 0.48 and 0.53, respectively, when we apply 5-day running means to the time series before calculating the correlation coefficients, and increases to 0.66 when a multi-linear regression is performed. The results suggest that ZWA300 drives almost one day in advance the NAFDI, whereas O500 might be ahead respect to NAFDI less than 12 hours. The power spectra of the NAFDI, SHL, ZWA300 and O500 times series in the intermediate time scale range (between 10 and 30 days) show 10 especially intense NAFDI spectral peaks, most of them also present in the SHLWEDI spectrum, finding that for many of the NAFDI/SHLWEDI peaks there is associated an O500 and/or ZWA300 peak. Our results indicate that the modes of oscillation of both the NAFDI and the SHL are driven by those mid-latitudes Rossby waves that go deep enough into the lower troposphere imposing their perturbation to the background meteorological fields. A comprehensive top-down conceptual model is introduced to explain the relationships between the NAFDI, the SHL and the mid-latitude Rossby waves and their impact in dust mobilization and transport in Northern Africa.


We present a LTE model atmosphere analysis of the EUVE medium and long wavelength spectrum of the cool DO white dwarf HD149499B. This observation in the spectral range 230-700 A supplements a previous analysis of an ORFEUS spectrum between 912 and 1170 A which yielded the atmospheric parameters Teff = 49500±500K and log g = 7.97± 0.08 and a hydrogen-to-helium number ratio of 0.22 ± 0.11. The EUVE data are in full agreement with the ORFEUS result and allow a more precise determination of the effective temperature (Teff = 49500 ± 200K) and the interstellar hydrogen column density (NH = 7 · 1018 cm−2). None of the features in the EUVE spectrum could be identified with any additional absorber besides helium. Exploratory calculations with fully metal blanketed LTE model atmospheres show that the metal abundances predicted by current diffusion theory are clearly at variance with the observed spectrum.


This article examines the political parties in Iran between 1941 and 1947, with particular emphasis on the left – wings parties. In 1905 awareness grew of the need for constitutional reform, and, as the necessary Pressure on the government could not be brought by parties as we understand them, wich had not yet developed, the struggle was finally won by anjumans. At this stage, Iran was in very bad order, facing economic disaster. The country was plagued by foreign intervention. The 1921 coup d'etat was the only hope for prevention and Rezā Khān, on his assumption of power, did bring some political stability to Iran, However, the freedom given to parties and unions was crushed, along with the independence and integrity of the tribes and ulamā, when the Shāh realized the threat which these same bodies could pose to his position. A background sketch, discusses the emergence of parties from anjumans, the coup d'etat of 1921 and the subsequent dictatorship of Rezā Shāh, which filled the power vacuum on the abdication of Rezā Shāh; this general view indicates the prevalent political atmosphere and structure. The occupation of Iran had some consequences. Iran achieved her goal of freeing the country from Riza Shah's regime and enormous freedom was suddenly granted to the political parties, trade unions and religious elements; this encouragement to new political parties came partly from occupying elements. The mushrooming of political parties came about partly due to this political "indulgence" by the Allies and partly as a natural reaction to the sudden end of the twenty years oppressive rule by Reza Shah.


Hot-pressed aluminium and silicon coated boron steel is used in the car industry where high tensile strength is of great importance, such as in the safety cage of a car where deformation has to be kept to a minimum in case of a collision. After hot-pressing the AlSi-boron steel shows excellent properties with high tensile strength, minimal spring back and also shows good protection against corrosion. A thickness of the AlSi coating of 150 [g/m2] for AlSi coated boron steel is typically used by the car industry today. However the coating thickness would be desirable to be minimized to 80 [g/m2]. Welding of this boron steel with 80 [g/m2]have shown difficulties; and it's not clear why this occurs.In this report the metallurgical properties of the different coating layers will be investigated, simulations with Thermocalc module Dictra will be used, SEM/EDS will be used to characterize phases in coating layers and correlate to weldability. Resistance spot welding tests will also be performed where the welding parameters of pre-pulse, pulse time, time in between pulses and current will be varied to achieve desirable weld plug diameter without expulsion. Hardness testing in form of micro Vickers will executed. The Materials used will be USIBOR® 1500, AS80 with four different annealing times and one sample of AS150.


Introduction: Immediate proper care of newborn is vitally important for survival, growth and development of a baby. In the home, a number of simple strategies have been shown to prevent infant and childhood illness and malnutrition, including breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding practices and seeking a complete course of vaccines for infants in their first year of life. The present study has been undertaken to assess the effect of newborn care, infant feeding practices and immunization status on nutritional status of infants in Jasra Block of Allahabad district. Method: A cohort study conducted in a community among newborns born during the period of November 2011 to April 2012. IEC (Information, Education and Counselling) was given to their mothers from last three months of pregnancy till the newborns completed one year of age. The effect of newborn care, infant feeding practices and immunization status was assessed in terms of anthropometric measurements. Results: More than half of the infants i.e. 47 (60.26 %) gained weight to reach within the normal range and weight of 33 (42.31%) infants was below 2 standard deviation.


An Early Cretaceous siliceous large igneous province (SLIP) that developed on the eastern margin of Gondwana produced some of the most voluminous siliceous volcaniclastic deposits known globally. We report U-Pb ages and trace-element and Hf-isotopic signatures of detrital zircons from the Madura Shelf (onshore Bight Basin), Western Australia. These zircons include a geochemically distinct 106 Ma component with age and Hf characteristics that match SLIP volcanics some 2300 km distant in eastern Australia. This young subpopulation shows limited grain abrasion, which contrasts with older detrital components that are stratigraphically persistent. Regional detrital zircon provenance demonstrates that sediment routing systems were disconnected in the eastern and western Bight Basin, negating terrestrial transport mechanisms as a possible vector of the zircons from the SLIP to their recovered position. Palynology indicates that the 106 Ma zircons are syn-depositional, and we interpret them as being significantly transported in an eruption plume. Given the grain size and distance from source, such distal zircon emplacement suggests previously undocumented 106 Ma super-eruptions. The 106 Ma zircons likely reflect Southern Hemisphere winter eruptions when tropospheric polar easterly winds would have been favored across southeastern Australia.


Drawing on the concept of information subsidy, this study explores the network neutrality debate in the context of Twitter. Content analysis of the top 150 most retweeted URLs demonstrates that the composition of information subsidizers on Twitter was more or less evenly divided among stakeholders, including government, industry, nonprofit/advocacy, and experts. Despite the diversity of sources, there was a clear lack of diversity in stance. The majority of sources displayed a favorable attitude toward net neutrality. Our findings highlight the potential of Twitter to represent the position of resource-poor information subsidizers, including advocacy groups, entrepreneurs, and race-based online communities, as they seek to uphold the neutrality of the Internet.


Brucella spp. are facultative intracellular parasitic pathogens that can survive and multiply in professional and nonprofessional phagocytes. These pathogens are responsible for brucellosis, which can cause abortion in domestic animals and undulant fever in humans. Brucella spp. can survive in a variety of cells and their virulence and chronic infections are thought to be due to their ability to evade the killing mechanisms within host cells, one of which is the inhibition of phagosomelysosome fusion. Lipid raft-associated molecules, such as GPI-anchored proteins, GM1 ganglioside, and cholesterol, are selectively integrated into Brucella-containing macropinosomes following the internalization of Brucella into macrophages, contin‐ uously sustaining a dynamic state of the phagosomal membrane. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important systems that detect microbial invasion via recognition of microbial components that triggers signaling pathways to promote the expression of genes and regulate innate immune responses. Recent several studies have revealed the importance between TLRs-Brucella interactions to control Brucella infection. Here, we reviewed selected aspects of lipid raft-associated molecules and TLRs-Brucella interaction, which may help to understand the mechanism of Brucella pathogenesis.


The present study assesses the sites and the corresponding artefacts that were recently discovered during cultural inventory studies in the Urfa region in south-eastern Turkey. The studies were conducted at PPN sites located at Herzo Tepe, Basaran Hoyuk and Kocanizam, Tasli Tepe and  Inanli Tepe within the borders of Viransehir and Siverek boroughs; the already known site at Sefer Tepe is also re-examined. The sites extend in a north-south direction and were founded within a 3–5km distance, and they exhibit unique characteristics for this region. Recently discovered sites are compared to already known PPN sites in the region to reveal similar features and characteristics. In particular, the article elaborates similarities and discrepancies between sites with T-shaped pillars and sites with circular structures. The recently discovered sites demonstrate that the pillar tradition is predominant in the region and that the settlements have a distinct layout.


Chronic ischemic heart disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Several trials have been performed to evaluate benefit of stem cells transplantation to restore cardiac function in short- and long-term period after myocardial infarction. This concise review analyzes 15 clinical trials between 2005 and 2020 comprising 1372 patients (608 treated) and is aimed to: 1): assess percent increase in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and decrease in New York Heart Association (NYHA) class at 12 months after stem cells transplantation after acute myocardial infarction and 2) correlate LVEF percent increase with number of transfused stem cells.

Nine trials reported a significant percent LVEF increase and NYHA class decrease at 12 months after bone marrow and peripheral blood stem cells transplantation correlating with transplanted cells number. Caution should be exercised in the evaluation of these results due to the different stem cells utilized, transplant protocols and endpoints, and the small number of patients treated in some studies.


Polymers are an important material in modern life. Most of our modern world is made of polymeric materials. When we think of polymers, the synthetic plastics we use on a regular basis typically come to mind, but not all polymers are synthetics. The natural world is made up of polymers; we are made up of biological polymers. In fact, polynucleotides, polypeptides, and polysaccharides are all important polymers essential for life as we know it. Chitin is a valuable biopolymer that is an easily attainable, sustainable natural material and has the potential to become more commercially important in the near future. Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer on the planet. This exquisitely abundant natural resource is found in the exoskeletons of arthropods, the beaks of cephalopods, the radulae of mollusca, and the cell wall of fungi. As a biopolymer, chitin is robust and strong, biologically compatible, and insoluble in all common polar solvents. Chitin shows resilience to wear, but it is completely biodegradable and enzymatically digested by chitinases. It provides much the same properties to insect cuticle as cellulose provides in the cell walls of plants: strength, rigidity, protection, and a basis for a mechanically resilient composite material. However, the organization of chitin in these structures, especially at the nanoscale, remains undescribed, as do the mechanisms that govern this organization. For this thesis I will determine and characterize the patterns of chitin alignment in an insect cuticle, characterize the linear polarization associated with specific cuticle structures, determine the role that chitin organization plays in this property, and determine the underlying rules of chitin nanofiber alignment.


Cochlear implant-like spectrally reduced speech (SRS) has previously been shown to afford robustness to additive noise. In this paper, it is evaluated in the context of microphone array based automatic speech recognition (ASR). It is compared to and combined with post-filter and cepstral normalisation techniques. When there is no overlapping speech, the combination of cepstral normalization and the SRS-based ASR framework gives a performance comparable with the best obtained with a non-SRS baseline system, using maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation, either on microphone array signal or lapel microphone signal. When there is overlapping speech from competing speakers, the same combination gives significantly better word error rates compared to the best ones obtained with the previously published baseline system. Experiments are performed with the MONC database and HTK toolkit.


Quadtree representation of two-dimensional objects is performed with a tree that describes the recursive subdivision of the more complex parts of a picture until the desired resolution is reached. At the end, all the leaves of the tree are square cells that lie completely inside or outside the object. There are two great disadvantages in the use of quadtrees as a representation scheme for objects in geometric modeling system: The amount of memory required for polygonal objects is too great, and it is difficult to recompute the boundary representation of the object after some Boolean operations have been performed. In the present paper a new class of quadtrees, in which nodes may contain zero or one edge, is introduced. By using these quadtrees, storage requirements are reduced and it is possible to obtain the exact backward conversion to boundary representation. Algorithms for the generation of the quadtree, Boolean operations, and recomputation of the boundary representation are presented, and their complexities in time and space are discussed. Three-dimensional algorithms working on octrees are also presented. Their use in the geometric modeling of three-dimensional polyhedral objects is discussed.


Printers who spend more time preparing and managing print jobs than actually printing them probably have digital presses sitting idle, which hurts their return on investment, revenues, efficiencies and productivity. Far better is to keep the production pipeline filled with revenue-generating jobs, liberate their trained employees for more important tasks, and streamline their processes from order entry to shipping and billing so they can take on more work and satisfy more customers. Easier said than done. Or is it?


For the fist time the citizens in Guangzhou, China and in Perth, Australia were brought into exchange through an artistic real time performance on public screens from 15 to 29 November 2015. Peoples Screen was presented during the Guangzhou Light Festival on the screen at the Flower Garden Square and on the Northbridge Screen in Perth, offering public audiences the opportunity to co-create coincidental encounters and spontaneous interactions between these two cities. "Peoples Screen" by Paul Sermon and Charlotte Gould was a site-specific work commissioned by Public Art Lab Berlin for the Guangzhou Light Festival from 15 to 29 November 2015, linking audiences in Guangzhou's new Flower Garden Square, China and Northbridge Piazza in Perth, Australia. This installation builds on practice-based research and development of previous interactive works for large format urban screens such as "Occupy the Screen" for "Connecting Cities - Urban Reflections" in September 2014 between Supermarkt Gallery Berlin, Germany and Riga European Capital of Culture, Latvia. This new installation pushed the playful, social and public engagement aspects of the work into new cultural and political realms in an attempt to 'reclaim the urban screens' through developments in ludic interaction and internet based high-definition videoconferencing. Through the use of illustrated references to site-specific landmarks of Guangzhou and Perth, audiences were invited to occupy the screen. The concept development of "Peoples Screen" was inspired in part by 3D street art as a DIY tradition, referencing the subversive language of graffiti. The interface borrows from the "topoi" of the computer game, as a means to navigate the environment; once within the frame the audience becomes a character immersed within the environment. "Peoples Screen" linked two geographically distant audiences using a telematics technique; the installation takes live oblique camera shots from above the screen of each of these two audience groups, located on a large 64 square metre blue ground sheet and combines them on screen in a single composited image. As the merged audiences start to explore this collaborative, shared ludic interface, they discover the ground beneath them, as it appears on screen as a digital backdrop, locates them in a variety of surprising and intriguing anamorphic environments where from a particular position the characters can look as if in a precarious situation. "Peoples Screen" aimed to include the widest range of urban participation possible and aligns to a Fluxus "Happening" in a move away from the object as art towards the street environment and the "every day" experience. It also borrows from a tradition of early cinema where audiences were transfixed by the magic of being transported to alternative realities though screenings at traveling fairs. Lumiere contemporaries, Mitchell and Kenyon, whose films of public crowds in the 1900's present a striking similarity to the way audiences react and respond to "Peoples Screen". Through this research we found that the environment and timing have a large impact on the way that an audience responds. The inspiration was drawn both from the cities of Guangzhou and Perth, with input from the communities. The area of play was clearly demarked as a space via a blue box groundsheet in both cities identifying a theatre of play, once in the space the participant engages as they wish. In many ways "Peoples Screen" broke down cultural and social barriers, both in the local communities, but also between two cities, Guangzhou and Perth, where new collocated spaces and creative encounters could be founded and occupied.


A novel structure of fiber optic biosensor and its principle are introduced. The sample is detected in microchannels of several microns diameter in fiber optic biosensors. The relation between the optic fiber tapered angle and the fluorescence incident angle is calculated in signal receiving part. As the sensor is a zero-order system, calculating formula of the static sensitivity is derived. When ZnSe nano-crystalline cluster is used for marking the molecules, the static sensitivity for fiber optic biosensors is calculated. At the same time, the relation between the static sensitivity and the ratio of exciting wavelength to fluorescence wavelength is presented.


Emotional eating plays a significant role in the aetiology of eating disorders and obesity, and has been observed in healthy, non-restrained individuals. Despite this, research that examines emotional eating has mainly focused on females, obese populations and individuals who have a formal diagnosis of an eating disorder, the studies of which have been mainly involved surveys, experimental, observational or quantitative methods. Research has also found significant gender differences in emotional eating, yet there has been limited investigation into emotional eating in men. This research attempted to understand the process of emotional eating in men using constructivist grounded theory. The purpose of this study was to understand the way in which men use food in response to emotions and the impact it has on their psychological well-being. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen male participants aged between 23-61 years of age. All participants were fluent in English, half of the participants were from the UK, 4 were from Europe, and the remaining three were from Mexico, Egypt and Malaysia. Four main categories were developed from the data: Negotiating Masculinity, Emotional Eating Serving a Function, Seeking Control and Stuck in the Cycle. One core category encompassed all of the categories: Navigating Emotions and Masculinity through Eating. The categories were complex and linked to one another, demonstrating the cyclical nature of emotional eating. An emergent theory was developed and mapped onto a conceptualisation that attempts to explain the process of emotional eating in men, demonstrating the way masculinity affects the way that these men cope with their emotions through eating. The findings of this study provide an insight for Counselling Psychologists and other mental health practitioners working with men who struggle with managing their emotions and turn to food in attempt to cope.


This thesis describes a comprehensive, simulation based scaling study – including device design, performance characterization, and the impact of statistical variability – on deca-nanometer bulk MOSFETs. After careful calibration of fabrication processes and electrical characteristics for n- and p-MOSFETs with 35 nm physical gate length, 1 nm EOT and stress engineering, the simulated devices closely match the performance of contemporary 45 nm CMOS technologies. Scaling to 25 nm, 18 nm and 13 nm gate length n and p devices follows generalized scaling rules, augmented by physically realistic constraints and the introduction of high-k/metal-gate stacks. The scaled devices attain the performance stipulated by the ITRS. Device a.c. performance is analyzed, at device and circuit level. Extrinsic parasitics become critical to nano-CMOS device performance. The thesis describes device capacitance components, analyzes the CMOS inverter, and obtains new insights into the inverter propagation delay in nano-CMOS. The projection of a.c. performance of scaled devices is obtained.

The statistical variability of electrical characteristics, due to intrinsic parameter fluctuation sources, in contemporary and scaled decananometer MOSFETs is systematically investigated for the first time. The statistical variability sources: random discrete dopants, gate line edge roughness and poly-silicon granularity are simulated, in combination, in an ensemble of microscopically different devices. An increasing trend in the standard deviation of the threshold voltage as a function of scaling is observed. The introduction of high-k/metal gates improves electrostatic integrity and slows this trend. Statistical evaluations of variability in Ion and Ioff as a function of scaling are also performed.

For the first time, the impact of strain on statistical variability is studied. Gate line edge roughness results in areas of local channel shortening, accompanied by locally increased strain, both effects increasing the local current. Variations are observed in both the drive current, and in the drive current enhancement normally expected from the application of strain. In addition, the effects of shallow trench isolation (STI) on MOSFET performance and on its statistical variability are investigated for the first time. The inverse-narrow-width effect of STI enhances the current density adjacent to it. This leads to a local enhancement of the influence of junction shapes adjacent to the STI. There is also a statistical impact on the threshold voltage due to random STI induced traps at the silicon/oxide interface.


Cancer represents one of the most up to date issues worldwide because of the increasing number of affected people and the impact of it on the families and health system. It is one of the new challenges that face scientists and health worker and for many years lots of research and trials were trying to help in fighting this killer. The main aim of this review is to get a general look at the new understanding of cancer pathways and possible causes of resistance and their application in trails and clinical works, this piece of work aims to highlight the importance of pathophysiology of cancer in producing an effective treatment through targeting them. This review depended mainly on reviewing articles in the PubMed and Google Scholar, through writing (The hallmark of cancer, Hanahan and Weinberg) in the PubMed, around 14 articles had been emerged and only articles produced by the same authors in the years 2001 and 2011 had been selected as they were talking about the hallmark of cancer and resistance in details. Then, each pathway was followed as we searched according to a specific pathway and its targeted therapy in the PubMed and Google Scholar. Around 60 articles and trials had proved that targeting these pathways at different levels and even trying to stop these pathways with different targets can help to control cancer, and the new studies showed very promising results and they opened the door for future studies. For long time it was believed that cancer cells share six characteristic between them to develop and growth, however the same researchers who developed the initial hallmark of cancer had added new hallmarks which are : (1) abnormal metabolic pathways, (2) evading the immune system and two enabling characteristics: (1) genome instability, and (2) inflammation. Targeting these pathways has improved survival dramatically in most of cancers.


A surrey has been conducted with the assistance of the reflectophotometric techniques within the populations of three different countries - Sweden, Spain and England - in order to study the pigmentary differences between and within them, and to what extent they obey to environmental instead of genetic diversity. In order to illustrate the differences between accurately determining the colour of a skin and looking at its adaptive role, a detailed exposition of the physics of colour has been undertaken in the introductory chapter. In recognition of the the effects of human behaviour and the physical milieu in moulding the phenotypical manifestations of the genetical structure of a population, extensive information was gathered about the ethnic origins of people and about their leisure and working habits. That information - together with other about non- cutaneous pigmentation, stature, blood groups and their reflectance readings - was codified and transformed into variables, in order to study their associations (if any) with each other. That task has been undertaken in chapters III to VII, where the combined effect of the behavioural variables was in certain cases found capable of explaining as much as 35% of the internal variability. Some significant differences were also found to parallel climatic factors such as insolation and precipitation. In chapter V11 a number of significant associations were found between pigmentation, blood groups and stature - and were attempted to be put in relation with certain racial strains. Chapter VIII constitutes an enquiry into the subject of mating preferences and its potential effect on the genetic structure of the populations under study. The author's samples have, in the last chapter, been compared to other Caucasoid populations, arriving to the conclusion that a non-negligible part of the differences is probably due to plain instrumental error.


In Finland, new curriculum and new teaching guidelines have placed new demands on schools and learning requirements. This article discusses outdoor education and organized learning in out-of-school setting. Thematic inquiry based learning is a significant method in outdoor learning because it brings pupils and teachers outside of the traditional classroom. Therefore, we discuss how outdoor education has been defined and why outdoor education should be an important element of education at all schools according to the scholarly research. Outdoor education has been found to increase student's psychological and physical well-being, and students have been found to perform and learn better in applied environments. The pedagogical concepts that underlie related teaching concepts are also discussed, and a review of the relevant literature is performed. In conclusion, we highlight some of the main benefits of outdoor education as out-of-school learning such as for wellbeing, self-capability and experimental learning experiences and moreover, its applications for the pupils in the 21st century.


Professionals in various fields such as medical imaging, biology and civil engineering require rapid access to huge amounts of uncompressed pixmap image data. In order to fulfil these requirements, a parallel image server architecture is proposed, based on arrays of intelligent disk nodes, each disk node being composed of one processor and one disk. Pixmap image data is partitioned into rectangular extents, whose size and distribution among disk nodes minimize overall image access times. Disk node processors are responsible for maintaining both the data structure associated with their image file extents and an extent cache offering fast access to recently used data. Disk node processors may also be used for applying image processing operations to locally retrieved image parts. This contribution introduces the concept of an image oriented file system, where the file system is aware of image size, extent size and extent distribution. The performance of the proposed transputer-based multiprocessor-multidisk image server is compared with the performance of an ideal single processor disk array system having an infinite bandwidth between the disks and the processor's memory


A previous manuscript on this website, SURGICALLY PRODUCED VOLUME AND PRESSURE OVERLOAD HEART FAILURE MODELS IN SWINE, discussed heart failure models that could be produced in swine using selected surgical techniques. Pressure overload hypertrophy is produced by surgical banding of the great vessels of the heart and leads to concentric hypertrophy of the heart. Volume overload hypertrophy of the heart is produced by surgically creating valvular regurgitation or an arteriovenous fistula leading to eccentric hypertrophy of the heart. These conditions lead to different types of heart failure which are reviewed in the previous manuscript. The manuscript also describes the anatomy and physiology of the porcine heart. 1


Abstract The transient response of the subcritical advanced burner reactor (SABR) subcritical, sodium-cooled, transuranic-fueled, fast transmutation reactor design concept, which ensued from several accident initiation events, has been simulated. The results establish such things as the number of primary loop pumps that could fail or the magnitude of flow reduction in the intermediate loop heat removal capability due to either pump failure or intermediate heat exchange failure that could be tolerated without core damage, the consequences of loss of electrical power, and the consequences of control rod ejection or neutron source excursions. Suggestions are offered for design changes to improve the already good safety characteristics of the design concept.


Personal data is becoming more and more valuable because of new possibilities in gathering and analyzing data. Although, users integrate information systems in their most private spheres, they do not take adequate care of their privacy. In fact, they are becoming increasingly concerned about their information privacy, but act in a different way. This inconsistency in users' behavior is known as privacy paradox. This paper takes up the psychometric measurement of future self-continuity and investigates the relationship to selected constructs of information privacy research. The results show significant correlations to the concerns users have about their privacy – an increasing future self-continuity is related with higher concerns. Thus, users should be aware of the implications their current disclosure of personal data have on their future self.


Anthocyanin is a natural pigment with color varying from red, purple, blue to yellow. The stability of its anthocyanin color is affected by pH, temperature and light. Purple sweet potato is rich in anthocyanin, particularly a stable acylated anthocyanin. This research was conducted to study the effect of pH on color and antioxidative activity of anthocyanin extracted from purple sweet potatoes harvested from Cilembu-Sumedang, Banjaran-Bandung, and Pakembangan-Kuningan. The experiments applied a completely randomized design with two replicates analyzed triplo.The results showed that the total number of monomeric anthocyanin in purple sweet potato harvested from Cilembu (3.78±0.08 mg cyanidin-3-glucoside/g dry weight, dw) was higher than that of Banjaran (3.18±0.01 mg/g) and Pakembangan (2.25±0.01 mg/g). The color of purple sweet potato anthocyanin extract was pH dependent. The color changed from red, faded red, purple, blue, green and yellow along with the increase of pH from 1 to 14. The content of anthocyanins from three locations of purple sweet potatoes differed from each other (p<0.05). Radical scavenging activity and reducing power of purple sweet potato anthocyanins extract at pH 1 was higher than that at pH 4.5 and pH 7.


The assembly of immature retroviral particles is initiated in the cytoplasm by the binding of the structural polyprotein precursor Gag with viral genomic RNA. The protein interactions necessary for assembly are mediated predominantly by the capsid (CA) and nucleocapsid (NC) domains, which have conserved structures. In contrast, the structural arrangement of the CA-NC connecting region differs between retroviral species. In HIV-1 and Rous sarcoma virus, this region forms a rod-like structure that separates the CA and NC domains, whereas in Mason-Pfizer monkey virus, this region is densely packed, thus holding the CA and NC domains in close proximity. Interestingly, the sequence connecting the CA and NC domains in gammaretroviruses, such as murine leukemia virus (MLV), is unique. The sequence is called a charged assembly helix (CAH) due to a high number of positively and negatively charged residues. Although both computational and deletion analyses suggested that the MLV CAH forms a helical conformation, no structural or biochemical data supporting this hypothesis have been published. Using an in vitro assembly assay, alanine scanning mutagenesis, and biophysical techniques (circular dichroism, NMR, microcalorimetry, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay), we have characterized the structure and function of the MLV CAH. We provide experimental evidence that the MLV CAH belongs to a group of charged, E(R/K)-rich, single α-helices. This is the first single α-helix motif identified in viral proteins.


Free listing is a methodological tool that is widely used in various scientific disciplines. A typical assumption of this approach is that individual lists reflect a subset of total knowledge and that the first items listed are the most culturally important. However, little is known about how cognitive processes influence free lists. In this study, we assess how recent memory of use, autonoetic and anoetic memory, and long-term associative memory can affect the composition and order of items in free lists and evaluate whether free lists indicate the most important items. Based on a model of local knowledge about medicinal plants and their therapeutic targets, which was collected via individual semi-structured interviews, we classify each item recorded in free lists according to the last time that the item was used by the informant (recently or long ago), the type of relevant memory (autonoetic or anoetic memory) and the existing associations between therapeutic targets (similar or random). We find that individuals have a tendency to recall information about medicinal plants used during the preceding year and that the recalled plants were also the most important plants during this period. However, we find no trend in the recall of plants from long-term associative memory, although this phenomenon is well established in studies on cognitive psychology. We suggest that such evidence should be considered in studies that use lists of medicinal plants because this temporal cognitive limit on the retrieval of knowledge affects data interpretation.


ABSTRACT Background: Vaccinations have prevented millions of infectious illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths among US children. Yet the long-term health outcomes of the routine vaccination program remain unknown. Studies have been recommended by the Institute of Medicine to address this question. Specific Aims: To compare vaccinated and unvaccinated children on a broad range of health outcomes, and to determine whether an association found between vaccination and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD), if any, remains significant after adjustment for other measured factors. Design: A cross-sectional survey of mothers of children educated at home. Methods: Homeschool organizations in four states (Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oregon) were asked to forward an email to their members, requesting mothers to complete an anonymous online questionnaire on the vaccination status and health outcomes of their biological children ages 6 to 12. Results: A total of 415 mothers provided data on 666 children, of which 261 (39%) were unvaccinated. Vaccinated children were significantly less likely than the unvaccinated to have been diagnosed with chickenpox and pertussis, but significantly more likely to have been diagnosed with pneumonia, otitis media, allergies and NDDs (defined as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and/or a learning disability). After adjustment, the factors that remained significantly associated with NDD were vaccination (OR 3.1, 95% CI: 1.4, 6.8), male gender (OR 2.3, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.3), and preterm birth (OR 5.0, 95% CI: 2.3, 11.6). In a final adjusted model, vaccination but not preterm birth remained associated with NDD, while the interaction of preterm birth and vaccination was associated with a 6.6-fold increased odds of NDD (95% CI: 2.8, 15.5). Conclusions: In this study based on mothers' reports, the vaccinated had a higher rate of allergies and NDD than the unvaccinated. Vaccination, but not preterm birth, remained significantly associated with NDD after controlling for other factors. However, preterm birth combined with vaccination was associated with an apparent synergistic increase in the odds of NDD. Further research involving larger, independent samples is needed to verify and understand these unexpected findings in order to optimize the impact of vaccines on children's health.