A groundwater risk assessment protocol is needed for land restoration schemes using recycled
biosolids. A hydrogeological risk assessment for the Darnconner site in East Ayrshire
[NS5723 to NS5823] has been used as a case study to develop the protocol. The proposed
outline for developing the protocol included the following components:
1. Gather available geological information for the site and environs from 1: 50 000 scale
geological maps and more detailed information where available.
2. Interrogate the BGS borehole database (Wellmaster) to establish existing groundwater
users in the vicinity and available information regarding depth to water, water quality,
etc.
3. Identify the catchment Baseflow Index (HOST) to establish the degree to which
surface water courses are groundwater dependent.
4. Bring the three strands of information together to create a preliminary conceptual
groundwater flow model for the vicinity of the site. This is presented as a three
dimensional schematic supported by cross sections if details are available.
5. Identify pathways from the site to the water table, such as former adits, local faulting
etc., in addition to likelihood of any intergranular ingress.
6. Access BGS HiRES airborne geophysics images to see if existing pollution plumes
derive from or cut across the recycling sites.
7. Evaluate the potential risk to groundwater from the site and likely flow path any
contaminated groundwater may take, including emergence to surface water.
8. Advise on any further work that may be required, e.g. drilling and monitoring.
The time estimate for each assessment was aimed at four man days (including Coal Authority
input to access mine abandonment plans for former collieries in the vicinity, and time for
accessing the HiRES data where appropriate, to evaluate pollution egress from treated sites),
plus the walkover site of all four sites, a further one day.
Bacteria are largely attached to soil particles, are not easily mobile and die-off is rapid in the
soil profile. Bacterial risk to groundwater is, therefore, low unless there is direct transport
from the soil via a fracture or existing mine adit to the water table. The risk from metal
contamination of groundwater is also low as metals are bound to the sludge organic matter
and the receiving soil provided the pH is maintained at a near neutral environment. The main
potential pollution risk from biosolids is nitrate derived from the oxidation of ammonium and
nitrite species leaching from the topsoil. Risk assessment hinges on the potential for transport
of nitrogen species to groundwater. A scorecard system to assess the nature of the pathway
and its potential to transport nitrogen rich infiltration to the water table is presented.
The use of sewage sludge as a primer for vegetative growth and as a humic foundation for soil
development at mine sites is not new. It was common practice in the 1980s and 1990s to mix
biosolids with the more shaley rock wastes from colliery and opencast sites to attempt to
recreate a soil cover. The technique was, for example, applied repeatedly and successfully
during post-closure procedures of numerous opencast sites in South Wales. There are no
recorded instances of bacterial, metal or nitrogen contamination of local groundwaters,
although background levels of all three potential contaminant groups were likely to have been
elevated during the initial post-closure period due to intensive mining and industrial activity
taking place at that time. Detailed descriptions of this work may be available in the records of the Coal Authority at Mansfield, but there is otherwise little reliable information reported in
the open literature. Biosolids were also used at a number of Scottish reclamation sites
including Heathland Forest (Bye Law Hill) near Forth (see Section 4).


This paper focuses on the problem of fault tolerance in shared memory multiprocessors, and describes an architecture designed for transparently tolerating processor failures. The Recoverable Shared Memory (RSM) is the novel component of this architecture, providing a hardware supported backward error recovery mechanism which minimizes the propagation of recovery when a processor fails. The RSM permits a shared memory multiprocessor to be constructed using standard caches and cache coherence protocols, and does not require any changes to be made to applications software. The performance of the recovery scheme supported by the RSM is evaluated and compared with other schemes that have been proposed for fault tolerant shared memory multiprocessors. The performance study has been conducted by simulation using address traces collected from real parallel applications.


Objective: To explore the utility of end-tidal capnography for predicting hospitalization in acute childhood asthma. Design, Setting, and Participants: A prospective cohort study of a convenience sample of children 5 to 17 years of age presenting to a pediatric emergency department with an acute asthma exacerbation. Capnography was performed at baseline. The length of the plateau portion of the baseline capnograph waveform was measured in millimeters and divided by the respiratory rate at the time of the measurement to create a ratio. The sensitivity and specificity of the baseline capnography ratio for predicting hospitalization were assessed. Main Outcome Measures: Hospitalization versus discharge from the pediatric emergency department. Results: Thirty-seven patients were enrolled. The hospitalized (n = 12) and discharged (n = 25) groups did not differ in terms of any demographic or baseline characteristics except for pulmonary score and the median baseline capnography ratio. The median ratio was 0.15. Ten (83.3%) of 12 of patients who were hospitalized had a baseline ratio less than 0.15 compared with 8 (32%) of 25 of patients who were discharged from pediatric emergency department (P < 0.05). Controlling for baseline asthma severity, the odds of being hospitalized if the baseline capnography ratio was less than 0.15 were 18.77 (95% confidence interval, 1.91-184.69). Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that baseline capnography may be useful as an objective effort-independent tool for identifying children with an asthma exacerbation who are at risk for hospitalization.


Late‐onset cytomegalovirus (CMV) disease is a significant problem with a standard 3‐month prophylaxis regimen. This multicentre, double‐blind, randomized controlled trial compared the efficacy and safety of 200 days' versus 100 days' valganciclovir prophylaxis (900 mg once daily) in 326 high‐risk (D+/R–) kidney allograft recipients. Significantly fewer patients in the 200‐day group versus the 100‐day group developed confirmed CMV disease up to month 12 posttransplant (16.1% vs. 36.8%; p < 0.0001). Confirmed CMV viremia was also significantly lower in the 200‐day group (37.4% vs. 50.9%; p = 0.015 at month 12). There was no significant difference in the rate of biopsy‐proven acute rejection between the groups (11% vs. 17%, respectively, p = 0.114). Adverse events occurred at similar rates between the groups and the majority were rated mild‐to‐moderate in intensity and not related to study medication. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that extending valganciclovir prophylaxis (900 mg once daily) to 200 days significantly reduces the incidence of CMV disease and viremia through to 12 months compared with 100 days' prophylaxis, without significant additional safety concerns associated with longer treatment. The number needed to treat to avoid one additional patient with CMV disease up to 12 months posttransplant is approximately 5.


Objective To assess the role of otoendoscopy in evaluating Eustachian tube and middle ear status during myringoplasty. Background Eustachian tube function has been the center of focus as a prognostic factor for middle ear surgery success because of its primary role in the middle ear aeration and in the pathogenesis of otitis media. Otoendoscopic evaluation of Eustachian tube allows visualization of the protympanic segment of the Eustachian tube and hidden recesses of the middle ear. Patients and methods In this prospective study, patients with a persistent dry central tympanic membrane perforation were operated at Otorhinolaryngology Department of Menoufia University Hospital in the period from March 2017 to February 2019. All patients were divided into two groups: group A included 50 cases that underwent otoendoscopic-assisted microscopic myringoplasty, and group B had 50 cases that underwent microscopic myringoplasty. Results This study included 100 patients, with a mean age of 30.2 years. Overall, 42% of the patients were male and 58% of the patients were female. Otoendoscopic examination of middle ear in group A showed 20% of cases with adhesions and secretions at tympanic orifice of the Eustachian tube opening plus 8% of cases with congested mucosa at middle ear apparatus. The success of graft uptake was 94% in group A and 84% in group B. Conclusion The result of this study supports the use of otoendoscopy in traditional microscopic myringoplasty. Endoscopy could be utilized efficiently to improve the visibility of the Eustachian tube opening and middle ear apparatus and then dealing with any pathology affecting them.


OBJECTIVES: Examine statistical effects of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) symptom trajectories from 6 months to 7 years on subsequent behavior. METHODS: Parents in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children reported on children's snoring, mouth breathing, and witnessed apnea at ≥2 surveys at 6, 18, 30, 42, 57, and 69 months, and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire at 4 (n = 9140) and 7 (n = 8098) years. Cluster analysis produced 5 "Early" (6–42 months) and "Later" (6–69 months) symptom trajectories ("clusters"). Adverse behavioral outcomes were defined by top 10th percentiles on Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire total and subscales, at 4 and 7 years, in multivariable logistic regression models. RESULTS: The SDB clusters predicted ≈20% to 100% increased odds of problematic behavior, controlling for 15 potential confounders. Early trajectories predicted problematic behavior at 7 years equally well as at 4 years. In Later trajectories, the "Worst Case" cluster, with peak symptoms at 30 months that abated thereafter, nonetheless at 7 years predicted hyperactivity (1.85 [1.30–2.63]), and conduct (1.60 [1.18–2.16]) and peer difficulties (1.37 [1.04–1.80]), whereas a "Later Symptom" cluster predicted emotional difficulties (1.65 [1.21–2.07]) and hyperactivity (1.88 [1.42–2.49]) . The 2 clusters with peak symptoms before 18 months that resolve thereafter still predicted 40% to 50% increased odds of behavior problems at 7 years. CONCLUSIONS: In this large, population-based, longitudinal study, early-life SDB symptoms had strong, persistent statistical effects on subsequent behavior in childhood. Findings suggest that SDB symptoms may require attention as early as the first year of life.


Abstract This paper presents a new algorithm for the reconstruction of phase currents of an inverter-fed, three-phase induction motor from its dc link current. In conventional current-regulated induction motor drive, the phase currents are actually measured by using current sensors which are connected on the stator side. To reduce the number of sensors, different methods have been reported in literatures which are used for the reconstruction of phase currents from dc link current measurement. These methods are based either on the modification of pulse-width-modulation pattern or they consist of a machine model/load model-based observer and hence they have drawbacks like higher switching loss and increased sensitivity to parameter variations. The algorithm proposed in this paper makes use of simple logic gates and if—else statements and as a result, the drawbacks associated with conventional methods are eliminated. It also carries out auto-calibration of dc link current to remove the unwanted dc offsets that result due to asymmetry in switching of semiconductor devices. The proposed algorithm is tested on a 2.2 kW, current-regulated, field-oriented control, induction motor drive by using Matlab/Simulink software. The simulation results eshow good agreement between the reconstructed waveforms and actual waveforms under different operating conditions. This algorithm can be easily implemented by using any low-cost digital signal processor and one dc current sensor.


Hyperspectral sensors acquire images with hundreds of spectral channels. These images have a lot of information in both spectral and spatial domain, and with this kind of information different research studies can be accomplished. In this work, we present several optimizations for hyperspectral image processing algorithms intended to detect targets in hyperspectral images. The hyperspectral image selected for our study was collected by the NASA's Airborne Visible Infra-Red Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) over the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, five days after September 11th attack. The algorithm used in our experiments is the automated target generation process (ATGP) and our optimizations comprise parallel versions of the algorithm developed using open multi-processing (OpenMP) and message passing interface (MPI). Our experiments indicate that the ATGP can be successfully implemented in parallel in multicore and cluster computing architectures.


We evaluated the cardiac effects of the principle pyrolysis product of crack cocaine smoking, methylecgonidine (MEG), in comparison with cocaine. Peak cell shortening and intracellular Ca2+, as detected by the Ca2+ indicator indo 1, were recorded in enzymatically isolated ferret myocytes. Both cocaine and MEG decreased peak cell shortening and peak intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in a dose-dependent manner (10(-8)-10(-4) M). MEG shifted the peak [Ca2+]i-to-peak shortening relationship downward and was more potent than cocaine. Atropine (10(-6) M) upwardly shifted the dose-response curves of MEG, cocaine, and carbachol but not of procaine. The negative inotropic effects of MEG were inhibited by methoctramine, a selective M2 receptor blocker but not by M1 (pirenzepine) or M3 (4-diphenylacetoxy-N-methylpiperidine methiodide) blocking agents. In contrast to cocaine, the effects of large doses of MEG were irreversible over the time course of our experiments, raising the possibility of structural damage. We conclude that MEG acts primarily on M2 cholinergic receptors in the heart to produce acute cardiac intoxication and, in contrast to cocaine, may decrease the myofilament Ca2+ responseness and cause structural damage to myocytes by a direct toxic effect.


Microarchitects rely upon simulation to evaluate design alternatives, yet constructing an accurate simulator by hand is a difficult and time-consuming process because simulators are usually written in sequential languages while the system being modeled is concurrent. Structural modeling can mitigate this difficulty by allowing the microarchitect to specify the simulation model in a concurrent, structural form; a simulator compiler then generates a simulator from the model. However, the resulting simulators are generally slower than those produced by hand. The thesis of this dissertation is that simulation speed improvements can be obtained by careful scheduling of the work to be performed by the simulator onto single or multiple processors.
For scheduling onto single processors, this dissertation presents an evaluation of previously proposed scheduling mechanisms in the context of a structural microarchitectural simulation framework which uses a particular model of computation, the Heterogeneous Synchronous Re active (HSR) model, and improvements to these mechanisms which make them more effective or more feasible for microarchitectural models. A static scheduling technique known as partitioned scheduling is shown to offer the most performance improvement: up to 2.08 speedup. This work furthermore proves that the Discrete Event model of computation can be statically scheduled using partitioned scheduling when restricted in ways that are commonly assumed in microarchitectural simulation.
For scheduling onto multiple processors, this dissertation presents the first automatic parallelization of simulators using the HSR model of computation. It shows that effective parallelization requires techniques to avoid waiting due to locks and to improve cache locality. Two novel heuristics for lock mitigation and two for cache locality improvement are introduced and evaluated on three different parallel systems. The combination of lock mitigation and locality improvement is shown to allow superlinear speedup for some models: up to 7.56 for four processors.


In the powder metal industry, machining of components is becoming more prevalent as tolerances and features become more demanding. The powder manufacturing processes provide easy and flexible capability in formulating alloying and additives to achieve desired properties including machinability. Manganese sulfide (MnS) has long been the dominant machinability enhancing additive due to its ability to provide improvement in turning and drilling of PM materials, especially in machining of iron-coppercarbon materials. The development of the SM3 machining additive overcame the negative effects of MnS such as stains and corrosion while providing superior performance of turning operations but its performance in drilling of the iron-copper-carbon materials is not as good as MnS. A newly developed machinability enhancing additive aiming for improved performance in both drilling and turning has been evaluated and compared to the commercial additives in machining of iron-copper-carbon materials based on laboratory testing and full scale production trials. Machinability data, mechanical properties and corrosion testing results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new machining additive named SM4 as a potential machinability improvement solution for replacing MnS without corrosion and stain concerns.


Aiming at solving the scaling issues of bandwidth and latency in current hierarchical data center network (DCN) architectures, we propose and investigate a novel optical flat DCN architecture in which the number of interconnected ToRs scales as the square of the optical packet switches' (OPS) port count (OPSquare). The proposed flat DCN architecture consists of two parallel interand intra-cluster networks that are built on a single-hop OPS with nanosecond time and wavelength switching for efficient statistical multiplexing operations. Fast optical flow control is implemented for solving packet contentions that may occur at the buffer-less optical switches. The performance of OPSquare DCN in terms of scalability, packet loss, latency, and throughput is assessed by a numerical simulation employing OMNeT++ under realistic data center (DC) traffic. The results report a server-to-server latency of less than 2 /s (including packet retransmission), a packet loss <10−5 at a load of 0.4, and aDC size of 10,240 servers with a ToR buffer size equal to 50 KB for all traffic patterns. Moreover, the cost and power consumption of the OPSquare DCN have been studied and compared with fat-tree DCN based on electrical switches and H-LION connected by an arrayed wave guide grating router (AWGR). The results indicate 23.8% and 39% cost and power savings, respectively, for the OPSquare DCN supporting 160,000 servers with respect to the fat-tree DCN. The OPSquare has a cost saving of 56% compared with H-LION for a 160,000-server DCN.


SUMMARY

A strategic perspective for insource/outsource decisions is provided for organizations whose competitive strategies are based on product differentiation and/or focus. The basic tenants of four previous frameworks for strategic sourcing from the literature are briefly reviewed. Following a critique of these frameworks, a new strategic sourcing framework is proposed. Elements of the frame-work are discussed in terms of primary factors (competitive advantage and demand flexibility) and secondary factors (process capability, process maturity, and strategic risk). A decision flowchart incorporating these factors is given to illustrate the functioning of the proposed framework. Implementation issues are discussed using a case study wherein two products from an electronics equipment manufacturer are subjected to sourcing decisions using the framework.


In this paper, we present a method for detecting a point target using multiple antennas when the relative motion between the receivers and the target induces a non-negligible Doppler shift. As a key illustrative example, we consider a 4×4 system employing a unitary matrix waveform set, e.g., formed from Golay complementary sequences. When a non-negligible Doppler shift is induced by the target motion, the wave-form matrix formed from the complementary sequences is no longer unitary, resulting in significantly degraded target range estimates. To solve this problem, we adopt a subspace based approach exploiting the observation that the receive matrix formed from matched filtering of the reflected waveforms has a (non-trivial) null-space. Through processing of the waveforms with the appropriate vector from the null-space, we can significantly improve the detection performance. We provide simulation results to confirm the theoretical analysis.


Abstract. Karbasi anticline between west-northwest parts of Jahrom town is located in northwest 40 km distance of Aghar gas anticline in interior Fars region. This anticline has asymmetric structure and some faults with large strike separation observed in its structure. The operation of Nezamabad sinistral strike slip fault in west part of this anticline caused fault plunge change in this region. Because of complication increasing of structures geometry in Fars region and necessity to exploration activities for deeper horizons especially the Paleozoic ones, the analysis of fold style elements, which is known as one of the main parts in structural studies seems necessary. In this paper because of some reasons such as Karbasi anticline structural complication, importance of drilling and hydrocarbon explorations in Fars region, it is proceed to analysis and evaluation of fold style elements and geometry with emphasis on Nezamabad fault operation in Interior Fars region. According to fold style elements analysis results, it became clear that in east part of anticline the type of fold horizontal moderately inclined and in west part it is upright moderately plunging, so west evaluation of anticline is affected by more deformation. In this research the relationship present faults especially the Nezamabad sinistral strike slip one with folding and its affection on Dehram horizon and Bangestan group were modeled. Based on received results may be the Nezamabad fault is located between G–G' and E–E' structural sections and this fault in this area operated same as fault zone. In different parts of Karbasi anticline, Dashtak formation as a middle detachment unit plays an important role in connection to folding geometry, may be which is affected by Nezamabad main fault.


Abstract. At mid-crustal conditions, deformation of feldspar is mainly accommodated by a combination of fracturing, dissolution–precipitation, and reaction-weakening mechanisms. In particular, K-feldspar is reaction-weakened by the formation of strain-induced myrmekite – a fine-grained symplectite of plagioclase and quartz. Here we use electron backscattered diffraction to (i) investigate the microstructure of a granodiorite mylonite, developed at  ∼ 450 °C during cooling of the Rieserferner pluton (Eastern Alps); and (ii) assess the microstructural processes and the weakening associated with myrmekite development. Our analysis shows that the crystallographic orientation of plagioclase in pristine myrmekite was controlled by that of the replaced K-feldspar. Myrmekite nucleation resulted in both grain-size reduction and anti-clustered phase mixing by heterogeneous nucleation of quartz and plagioclase. The fine grain size of sheared myrmekite promoted grain-size-sensitive creep mechanisms including fluid-assisted grain boundary sliding in plagioclase, coupled with heterogeneous nucleation of quartz within creep cavitation pores. Flow laws, calculated for monomineralic quartz, feldspar, and quartz + plagioclase aggregates (sheared myrmekite) during deformation at 450 °C, show that grain-size-sensitive creep in sheared myrmekite accommodated strain rates several orders of magnitude higher than monomineralic quartz layers deforming by dislocation creep. Therefore, diffusion creep and grain-size-sensitive processes contributed significantly to bulk rock weakening during mylonitization. Our results have implications for modelling the rheology of the felsic middle crust.


We recorded echolocation sequences to examine activity of bats in 4 biomes of northwestern Argentina during August 1997 (early southern spring). Our aims were to evaluate the level of bat activity among the four biomes and to preliminarily investigate whether the acoustic structure of echolocation signals conformed to general predictions. We sampled bat activity in sites representing high Andean Puna desert, lowland Chaco thornscrub, lowland Monte desert, montane Yungas forest and montane Chaco thornscrub. No bats were recorded in the Puna, while of the other biomes the least to the most active were: Monte desert, Yungas forest, lowland Chaco thornscrub and montane Chaco thornscrub. Our preliminary results suggest that echolocation signal structure differed among the biomes. In general, signals recorded from bats in Yungas forest were of relatively high frequency whereas signals recorded from bats in Monte desert were of relatively long duration. We show that bats in the less complex biomes tend to be less active. The results of this short-term, preliminary study highlight the high level of bat activity in the Chaco and the opportunity for further study of the bat community in northwestern Argentina.


A growing scala of computational and robotic experiments are trying to pin down the cognitive and social prerequisites that may have given rise to human language. From humble beginnings showing how a lexicon may self-organize in a population of artificial agents, these research efforts are now exploring how grammatical languages about complex scenes may emerge. This paper introduces this field of inquiry and then explores whether a dialog with archeologists might be useful.


This prepared statement was in connection with my November 30, 2010 testimony before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in a hearing titled, "Examining Enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act." The following topics are covered: Congressional intent in enacting the FCPA; why FCPA enforcement has changed; the impact of the "new era of FCPA enforcement;" the prosecution of individuals; and FCPA enforcement and deterrence.Despite being a fundamentally sound statute, the FCPA is being enforced in this "new era of FCPA enforcement" in many fundamentally unsound ways. The issue is not whether FCPA enforcement is good or bad for any one constituency, but whether the DOJ is enforcing, in many instances, the FCPA consistent with its provisions and consistent with Congressional intent. The issue is also whether the DOJ''s rhetoric is consistent with its conduct in prosecuting the most egregious instances of corporate bribery so that FCPA enforcement deters and not yield inconsistent results and two tiers of justice. These are the issues that need to be examined and the time to examine these issues is now.


Iso-surface construction and rendering on programmable graphics hardware has recently been shown for tetrahedral grids. In this paper, we present a novel edge-based approach that avoids redundant computations of edge‐surface intersections. We show how to achieve a significant performance gain by considering intrinsic features of recent GPUs. The iso-surface extraction process is re-formulated in a way that reduces both numerical computations and memory access operations. A span-space data structure allows us to avoid the processing of elements not intersected by the selected surface. Finally, to allow for the rendering of transparent surfaces, a GPU sorting routine is integrated into the rendering pass. Our applications show numerical simulation results, distance volumes and advanced shading effects.


The global ocean is a significant sink for anthropogenic carbon (C-ant), absorbing roughly a third of human CO2 emitted over the industrial period. Robust estimates of the magnitude and variability of the storage and distribution of C-ant in the ocean are therefore important for understanding the human impact on climate. In this synthesis we review observational and model-based estimates of the storage and transport of C-ant in the ocean. We pay particular attention to the uncertainties and potential biases inherent in different inference schemes. On a global scale, three data-based estimates of the distribution and inventory of C-ant are now available. While the inventories are found to agree within their uncertainty, there are considerable differences in the spatial distribution. We also present a review of the progress made in the application of inverse and data assimilation techniques which combine ocean interior estimates of C-ant with numerical ocean circulation models. Such methods are especially useful for estimating the air-sea flux and interior transport of C-ant, quantities that are otherwise difficult to observe directly. However, the results are found to be highly dependent on modeled circulation, with the spread due to different ocean models at least as large as that from the different observational methods used to estimate C-ant. Our review also highlights the importance of repeat measurements of hydro-graphic and biogeochemical parameters to estimate the storage of C-ant on decadal timescales in the presence of the variability in circulation that is neglected by other approaches. Data-based C-ant estimates provide important constraints on forward ocean models, which exhibit both broad similarities and regional errors relative to the observational fields. A compilation of inventories of C-ant gives us a "best" estimate of the global ocean inventory of anthropogenic carbon in 2010 of 155 +/- 31 PgC (+/- 20% uncertainty). This estimate includes a broad range of values, suggesting that a combination of approaches is necessary in order to achieve a robust quantification of the ocean sink of anthropogenic CO2.


Templates are among the most powerful features of C++, but they remain misunderstood and underutilized, even as the C++ language and development community have advanced. In C++ Templates, Second Edition, three pioneering C++ experts show why, when, and how to use modern templates to build software thats cleaner, faster, more efficient, and easier to maintain. Now extensively updated for the C++11, C++14, and C++17 standards, this new edition presents state-of-the-art techniques for a wider spectrum of applications. The authors provide authoritative explanations of all new language features that either improve templates or interact with them, including variadic templates, generic lambdas, class template argument deduction, compile-time if, forwarding references, and user-defined literals. They also deeply delve into fundamental language concepts (like value categories) and fully cover all standard type traits. The book starts with an insightful tutorial on basic concepts and relevant language features. The remainder of the book serves as a comprehensive reference, focusing first on language details and then on coding techniques, advanced applications, and sophisticated idioms. Throughout, examples clearly illustrate abstract concepts and demonstrate best practices for exploiting all that C++ templates can do. Understand exactly how templates behave, and avoid common pitfalls Use templates to write more efficient, flexible, and maintainable software Master todays most effective idioms and techniques Reuse source code without compromising performance or safety Benefit from utilities for generic programming in the C++ Standard Library Preview the upcoming concepts feature The companion website, tmplbook.com, contains sample code and additional updates.


This paper discusses the results of numerical analysis of dispersion of passive solutes in two-dimensional heterogeneous porous formations. Statistics of flow and transport variables, the accuracy and the role of approximations implicit in existing first-order theories, and the convergence of computational results are investigated. The results suggest that quite different rates of convergence with Monte Carlo runs hold for different spatial moments and that over 1000 realizations are required to stabilize second moments even for relatively mild heterogeneity (sigma(Y)2 < 1.6). This has implications for the extent of the spatial domain for single-realization numerical studies of the same type. A comparison of the variance of plumes with the results of linear theories (0.05 < sigma(Y)2 < 1.6) shows an unexpectedly broad validity field for the theoretical solution obtained from a suitable linearization of flow and transport. Reformulation of the same problem linearizing in tum the flow or the transport equations shows opposite deviations from the linear theory. The interesting consequence is that the errors induced by linearizations in the flow or the transport equations have different signs, and their effects on the moments of dispersing plumes are compensating, thereby yielding consistent formulations. Unexpected features of the statistics of probability distributions of longitudinal and transverse velocities and travel times are also computed and discussed.


Non-cooperative scheduling games can be used to coordinate residential loads in order to achieve a common goal while accounting for individual consumer's interests, privacy, and autonomy. However, a significant portion of the residential flexibility—Thermostatically Controlled Loads (TCLs) such as water and space heating/cooling appliances—has not been fully addressed under this game theoretic approach: their comfort constraints and integer control were not considered. This paper presents a method for properly including TCLs in this framework and discusses its application in energy communities. Specifically, we propose a general mathematical formulation for considering users' comfort in non-cooperative games. We model the integer nature of the TCLs control with binary variables and show that optimal or close to optimal (less than 1%) solutions are reached. Moreover, different total cost functions can be used depending on the market context and the objective of the demand management program. To illustrate and discuss these aspects in practical applications, we used a case study of an energy community in Spain. The results show that the TC solutions are optimal or only 0.80% worse than optimal; different total cost functions result in different results (load curve smoothing or peak load reduction); consumers' comfort is respected; and the proposed game model cooperates with consumers in order to minimize community's costs.


The frequency of cloud detection and the frequency with which these clouds are found in the upper troposphere have been extracted from NOAA High Resolution Infrared Radiometer Sounder (HIRS) polar-orbiting satellite data from 1979 to 2001. The HIRS/2 sensor was flown on nine satellites from the Television Infrared Observation Satellite-Next Generation (TIROS-N) through NOAA-14, forming a 22-yr record. Carbon dioxide slicing was used to infer cloud amount and height. Trends in cloud cover and high-cloud frequency were found to be small in these data. High clouds show a small but statistically significant increase in the Tropics and the Northern Hemisphere. The HIRS analysis contrasts with the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), which shows a decrease in both total cloud cover and high clouds during most of this period.


Limited research exists about the leadership attributes registered nurses (RNs) want from their clinical nurses (CNs). This study explored the leadership attributes Western Australian RNs considered important in CNs and determine ifthere were differences in the choice of preferred CN attributes according to RNs years of experience; types of nursing education; level of seniority and nursing specialty. A modified version of the Emerging Workforce's Preference Survey was distributed to 403 RNs with a 30% response rate. The respondents ranked their top three preferences from 4 clusters oftraits. S.P.S.S. 15.0 was used to summarise demographic data and then analyse data from the 4 clusters of traits for the main group. Cross tabulations identified between group variations. The RNs wanted CNs to be clinically competent, approachable and supportive; to show understanding and integrity whilst being team players and good communicators. The between groups analysis revealed similar patterns. However, RNs with >5years nursing experience also wanted their CNs to show respect for subordinates while those with <5years experience selected mentoring as an important quality for a CN to possess. Hospital-diploma educated RNs most preferred the attributes of motivator of others; respect for subordinates, and integrity; whilst university educated RNs chose team player, followed by calm and understanding. RNs educated via hospital diploma then university favoured the attribute of motivated. RNs employed as Level 1 nurses chose similar attitudes to Level 2 RNs although the former selected the intrinsic quality of understanding while Level 2 RNs preferred dependable. Unlike the main group, RNs in peri-operative and critical care units favoured the personal attribute receptive to people and ideas while nurses employed in management preferred the intrinsic quality of intelligent. Some respondents commented on the negative effect that heavy workloads have on CNs' performance. Others mentioned that RNs are not prepared for the CN role. Competent CNs create a positive work environment which aids staff retention and improves morale. IfCNs are to be effective first-line leaders, employers and the nursing profession must espouse both current and potential CNs in developing the knowledge and skills needed for the leadership and mentoring roles required of the CN.


In this dissertation, The Public Library and the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm – A Study of Architectural Criticism in the Swedish Press, the textual genre of architectural criticism is discussed from different perspectives. The principal aim is to illuminate, through a close reading of a sample of articles, how professional critics discursively and rhetorically communicate their idea of architecture and architectural quality. My case studies consist of a selection of the critical reception in the press of Stockholm Public Library (Gunnar Asplund 1928 and the competition for an extension 2007-2008) and the Museum of Modern Art (Rafael Moneo 1998). After a briefly sketched history of architectural criticism and a survey of the critique in swedish press I give an account of a method of approaching the critical articles within the framework of a case study concerning textual analysis. My close reading, where both form and contents are in focus, has its starting point in the methods of critique (normative, interpretive and descriptive) and critical elements (description, interpretation, evaluation and contextualization) respectively. In addition I am using a variant of discourse analysis and a simplified form of rhetorical analysis. This eclectic method is above all applied to my empirical material in the vertical analysis, where I am scrutinizing every single article starting from my questions at issue. The horizontal analysis – based on all texts in the case study – consists of an all-embracing, thematic treatment as well as a reflection on the authors' use of language and rhetoric. My conclusion from the close reading is that the assessments themselves, which primarily touch upon aestethic and spatial qualities, are often expressed implicitly (for example by means of metaphors or rhetorical questions) and normatively (for example by means of comparisons with canonized buildings). My impression is that architectural critique as a phenomenon, is characterized by three different intentions: to assess architectonic quality, state one's view of architecture/introduce an ideal and to convey experiences and knowledge – which influence different texts in varying degrees. There is a verbal tradition within the field of architecture which offers both a terminology and a way of expression that is unmistakable. I am of the opinion that within the criticism of architecture there exists a kind of meta-critical model where an account of the form, function and origin of the building combined with an established terminology, expressions characteristic of the period associated with current discourses and a rich imagery is typical. (Less)


Diffusion and desorption of hydrogen in a bulk of molybdenite crystal are studied by measurement of gas emitted from the bulk crystal during cleavage experiment for observation of gases in a bulk, electron stimulated desorption (ESD) for measurement of hydrogen concentration on the surface and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) for estimating ion of an activation energy of diffusion and desorption process. The cleavage and ESD experiments are performed to observe the change of hydrogen concentration in the bulk and on the surface by the sample heating. These experiments show that a mount of hydrogen in the bulk reduces at about 500°C and that the hydrogen concentration on the surface and thermal desorption of hydrogen from the bulk also begin to increase around 500°C. The increase of hydrogen concentration on the surface suggests that the activation energy for thermal desorption is lager than the diffusion energy in the bulk to (0001) surface. However, in this case this may not be applicable because of similar temperature behavior of surface hydrogen and desorbed hydrogen. The mechanism of the diffusion and the desorption process is discussed. The activation energy for the desorption induced by diffusion of hydrogen in the bulk to (0001) surface is about 76 kJ/mol.


Contamination adhered to the surface of a µCMM stylus tip compromises the measurement accuracy of the µCMM system, potentially causing dimensional errors that are over ten times larger than the uncertainty of a modern µCMM. In prior work by the authors, the use of a high pressure CO2 gas stream was demonstrated to achieve significant cleaning rate for a range of contaminant without damage to the stylus tip surface. This paper explores the practical challenges of achieving effective stylus tip cleaning in situ on µCMM systems. Two types of snow cleaning approaches were evaluated for their coverage of cleaning, thermal impact and gas flow forces. This work then presents a novel multi-nozzle prototype system using pulsed snow streams to achieve cleaning coverage over the entire stylus tip, and balances forces from the snow streams reducing drag force imparted by the gas stream to levels comparable to the probing force of µCMMs, as well as allowing automated cleaning procedure integrated into a µCMM system.


Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) may be associated with several psychological and affective disorders. It is controversial, however, if these symptoms are a cause or rather a consequence of alcohol dependence. There are few data testing simultaneously psychosocial and affective disorders before and after a period of alcohol abstinence. The aim of this study was to perform multiple psychometric evaluations in alcohol-dependent patients before and after 12 weeks of abstinence. Twenty-five alcohol-dependent patients were included in the study. The following psychometric tests were administered at baseline (T0) and after 12 weeks (T1): addiction severity index (ASI), brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS), social behavior scale (SBS), Sheehan disability scale (DISS), aggression questionnaire (AQ). At T1, 16 (64%) patients were abstinent, 5 (20%) patients dropped out and 4 (16%) patients relapsed. Compared to T0, patients totally abstinent at T1 showed a significant reduction of the scores related to BPRS, BPRS-E and its subscales (except BPRS 5), ASI 1, ASI 2, ASI 3, ASI 6, ASI 7, BSM, AQ, DISS 1, DISS 2, DISS 3 (p < 0.05). No significant changes in ASI 4, ASI 5, DISS 4, and DISS 5, BPRS 5 scores were found at T1 compared to T0. The present study indicates that total alcohol abstinence improves psychometric features, such as alcohol addiction severity, psychiatric rating, social behavior, aggressiveness, and disability. Larger controlled studies are needed to confirm these findings.


Abstract Turbulence plays an important role in the transport of particles in many aquatic systems. In addition to various types of inorganic sediment (silt, sand, etc.), these particles typically include bacteria, algae, invertebrates, and fine organic debris. In this paper, we focus on one aspect of turbulent particle transport; namely, the average time required for a suspended particle to reach the bottom of a waterbody from a specified initial elevation. This is the mean hitting-time problem, and it is important in determining, for example, the effect of turbulence on downstream transport of organic particles, dispersal times and dispersal propagules. We approach this problem by developing a stochastic diffusion model of particle transport called the Local Exchange Model, which is an extension of a model posed by Denny & Shibata (1989) in an earlier study of the same problem. We show how the mean hitting-time of the Local Exchange Model varies with factors such as a particle's fall velocity an the shape of the vertical profile in turbulent mixing. We also show how the mean hitting-time is related to both the vertical profile in current velocity and the vertical profile in concentration of suspended particles, and how these relationships can be exploited in testing the model. Among other things, our results predict that, with the sole exception of neutrally buoyant particles that do not swim downward, there is always a region of the water-column in which turbulence increases rather than decreases the mean hitting-time. We discuss the significance of this and other results for dispersal by benthic organisms.


Globally, citrus fruits are grown over an area of 11.42 million ha with 179.0 million tons production. China with 82.7 m tons production is the major producer of citrus fruits followed by Brazil (18.14 m tons) and India (10.53 m tons) (FAOSTAT, 2019). All commercially used scion and rootstock cultivars belong to the genus Citrus, except kumquats, Fortunella spp., and Poncirus trifoliata, which are used as rootstock only all over the world. Worldwide citrus cultivars divided into four, reasonably-well-defined horticultural groups: the Sweet oranges, the mandarins, the grapefruits and the pummelos and the common acid members. The true or 'biological' citrus, including species of Citrus (C. reticulata, C. maxima and C. medica), share certain characteristics, however, these are clearly differentiated according to the morpho- taxonomic traits. Hundreds of different citrus cultivars are available. Many varieties were chance finds from natural populations, and not the product of intentional breeding efforts. Other varieties in common use have originated from planned citrus hybridization and breeding efforts from worldwide. Most of the readers will be well acquainted with the cultivated types of Citrus scion and rootstocks. This chapter provides ripening season information for worldwide, farmers/gardeners have had success with citrus in many different regions of world where tropical/subtropical climatic conditions occur.


JESSICA HISKEY: A Comparison of American Football Cleats and Soccer Cleats on Measures of Force in a Countermovement Vertical Jump (Under the Direction of Dr. John Garner) The configuration of cleats has been reported to affect force production in several performance-related tasks such as running and cutting, and it may have the ability to alter vertical jump performance. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of cleat configuration in American football and soccer cleats on force production resulting from a maximal countermovement vertical jump. Ten recreationally trained male participants (age: 21.6 ± 1.35 years; height: 180.0 ± 4.51 cm; mass: 83.89 ± 6.74 kg) volunteered to participate in one three-hour testing session. A counterbalanced, controlled cross-over design was utilized for the three footwear conditions, which included the Nike Alpha Strike 2 TD football cleat (FC), Nike Tiempo Rio 2 FG soccer cleat (SC), and the Nike Dart running shoe (RS). The session consisted of a warm-up followed by the execution of three maximal vertical jumps on a force platform covered by artificial turf for each footwear condition. Data from the force plate allowed determination of three of the dependent variables [ground reaction force (Fz), normalized ground reaction force (nFz), and rate of force development (RFD)], while a Vertec measuring device was used to obtain vertical jump height (VJH). No statistically significant differences were found (p>.05) between conditions for any of the dependent variables. Therefore, this study shows there is no advantage of wearing a certain cleat type during vertical jump


In 2001, Hal Foster wrote his paper 'The ABCs of Contemporary Design' as a supplement (part glossary, part guide) to his book Design and Crime (and Other Diatribes). Foster's ABCs paper paints design as being a near-perfect circuit of production and consumption. Foster claims that critical reflection is outdated, which means design is a consumption-based system and as such design's role is largely to feed capitalism, let it flourish, and meet the demands of the masses. Over a decade on from Foster's critical analysis of design, however, it appears that design is in the middle of yet another series of crises ranging from disciplinary challenges where the profession of design appears to be struggling with its identity, to epistemological and conceptual challenges where the zeitgeist of design thinking and the widespread democratization of the discipline would have us believe that 'we are all designers', and where the remit of design is expanding into ever more far flung areas that cover communications, services, interactions and strategies. It seems timely and fitting, therefore, that we need a new examination of the contemporary world of design. This assessment of contemporary design is apposite given that we currently inhabit a world that we have all combined to create that is seriously unprepared to deal with the mounting crises we face. Collectively, we are destroying some of the most important features of society that we claim to hold most dear (i.e. our planet, our society, and our spirit). Our ecological crisis, wherein we continue to deplete and degrade our natural capital on a massive scale, using up the equivalent of 1.5 planets to meet our current consumption has resulted in one third of our agricultural land disappearing over the last 40 years, which will inevitably lead to food supply crises and an anticipated doubling of food prices by 2030. Our present social crisis sees nearly 2.5 billion people on our planet living in abject poverty. There have been many successes at lifting people out of poverty, but this figure has not changed much over the past few decades. Furthermore, the world is currently in a spiritual crisis where, according to World Health Organization statistics, three times as many people die from suicide as die from homicide or in wars. These global dimensions are collectively creating results that nobody wants and may well constitute the most significant failure of our time. Building on Foster's ABC template, the authors present a new critical insight from A to Z into the current design situation where issues of professionalism in design, the global financial meltdown, and the rapid adoption of digital technologies have all modified the models of design thought and action. We suggest readers see this paper as a development of Foster's original supplement.


Case Study Abstract Product development, matching funds, milestones...these key words and phrases describe the new Challenge Grant - Joint Ventures in Biomedicine and Biotechnology Program. This new initiative intends to promote joint ventures between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries. It will involve 1:1 matching, performance-based grants and milestones for federal dollars by qualified entities to facilitate rapid implementation of RD vaccines for influenza and emerging and resistant infections; and therapeutics for emerging and resistant infections. MAID wisely decided to implement the program with a new cooperative agreement activity (UCI). The following paper presents an overview of the process involved in developing this new initiative. Introduction Every now and again in NIH Grants Management there is an experience that captures the temper of the times, and this moment may have come this budget season. The impetus for Congress to promote this new style of NIH grant program, aside from a period of fiscal plenty, is not apparent but it clearly supports joint product development in areas of high need and high risk. Whatever the congressional intent, the new initiative is exciting to career grant managers. The last time NIAID grants management came so tantalizingly close to developing a totally new grant program may have been the AIDS program and development of AIDS clinical trials in the 1980s. The Challenge Grant is something innovative and the questions it raises present administrative challenge. It was clear from the beginning that conceiving and implementing a $20 million program in nine months was not going to be easy. This was venturing into new territory with 1:1 matching within performance-based grants. Matching funds on research grants at NIH was unheard of - even for many of the `old timers' in grants management. A performance-based grant program is another area that breaks new ground. This would need the development of definition of a domestic organization for the NIH Grants Policy Statement. Unusual Features The project broke ground by investigating those with experience who could guide the team through inquiries. These contacts ranged from pharmaceutical company attorneys, to lieutenant colonels from the Department of Defense. Staff was interviewed from the National Endowment of the Humanities (the legislation mentions them as a model for this program) and individuals of familiarity with matching funds on construction grants. Participants developed close working relationships with the NIH Legal Advisor and the MAID Office of Technology Transfer. In addition, we reviewed the General Administrative Requirements under 45 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Parts 74.23; 92.24; HHS Grants Policy Directive 3.02; and HHS Transmittal 99.02. All of these chapters address the policies for matching or cost sharing, pre- and post-award requirements. Working on this project turned out to be a watershed experience in understanding grants management policy in its purest legalistic sense. As one division director said, "we'll all be attorneys before this is over." Performance-Based Applications and Milestones Challenge Grants are performance-based, unlike traditional research grants that are based on a principal investigator's (PI) continued scientific progress. …


Don't bother asking why a moose can shoot lasers out of his eyes; just enjoy it as his best friend, a rabbit, does. The two are a good pair in this graphic novel, as Rabbit Boy gambols around and distracts his buddy, keeping the moose's paranoia tamped down a bit, and Laser Moose keeps an eye out for endless danger, reacting with speed that . . . hardly ever works out for the best, as things—unfortunately, rarely actual villains—get lasered down with abandon. And oh, boy, when there are actually bad guys, they are doozies, from the terrifying aqua-bee-bear to the ankle-biting mechasquirrel. Rabbit's so kind that he never points out that lasers aren't particularly useful, at least on moose, and indeed, it is the endearing and enduring friendship of these two that is the star feature in this graphic novel. Wry, accessible humor, often conveyed without text (a brilliant single panel, showing a deer carrying his own leg in his mouth after another of Moose's shoot-first moments, doesn't need a word), and bright, chipper colors hearken back to Sunday comics. It's an odd concept, but an irresistible one; this is going to be a hit across a wide range of readers who will read more or less into the humor depending on their maturity level. AS


Automotive underhood electronics are subjected to high operating temperatures in the neighborhood of 150 to 200? for prolonged periods in the neighborhood of 10-years. Consumer grade off-the shelf electronics are designed to operate at 55 to 85? with a lower use-life of 3 to 5 years. Underfill materials are used to provide supplemental restraint to fine-pitch area array electronics and meet the reliability requirements. In this paper, a number of different underfill materials are subjected to automotive underhood temperatures to study the effect of long time isothermal exposure on microstructure and dynamic-mechanical properties. It has been shown that isothermal aging oxidizes the underfill, which can change the mechanical properties of the material significantly. The oxidation of underfill was studied experimentally by measuring oxidation layer thickness using polarized optical microscope. The effect on the mechanical properties was studied using the dynamic mechanical properties of underfill with DMA (Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer). Two different underfill materials were subjected to three different isothermal exposure, which are below, near and above the glass transition temperature of the underfills. The dynamic mechanical viscoelastic properties like storage modulus, loss modulus, tan delta and their respective glass transition temperatures were investigated. Three point bending mode was used in the DMA with a frequency of 1 Hz operating at 3?/min.


Programming and software engineering differ by the aspect of time and scale. Going beyond just implementing software that fulfills requirements, software engineering also means writing code that can be maintained by multiple contributors over months, years or even decades. Due to the limited time of university projects, students mainly learn to focus on writing software that works once. In in-dustry, software lifetime is longer and the aspect of time becomes highly relevant. Professional software must be readable and modular to be maintainable. In this paper, we present an experience report on a novel university course in software engineering. The course teaches the concepts of unit testing, refactoring, and automation tools to novices with basic programming experience. We present those concepts for the example of C++,but they are applicable to any programming language. Our goal is to teach students the key con-cepts of software engineering early on, giving them the opportunity to benefit from these concepts in their further projects. We present these concepts in five plenary lectures with live coding sessions, and then student teams apply the concepts in five practical homework as-signments. All assignments contribute to a single project maintained and improved by the student groups for the duration of the course. Additionally, we present a teaching tool framework that can be used to automate tasks for student project management and examinations. Finally, we discuss the lessons learned from conducting this course for the first time. We believe this course is a valuable step towards including essential software engineering skills in the education of science and engineering students.


Using an original CEP stabilization technique based on the linear electro-optical effect in a specific crystal, we achieved long term CEP stabilization of a 20 W, 1 kHz laser with residual noise as low as 440 mrad (rms). At 3 W, the CEP shot to shot noise is kept as low as 320 mrad (rms) over half an hour.


This dissertation examines the reproduction and transformation of Swiss national identity in the period from the late eighteenth century to the beginning of World War II. To this end, the major part of the thesis focuses on four relatively short time frames, all of which were characterised by heightened concern with questions of national identity; a) the period 1760-1798, which witnessed the rise of an early, elite-centred Swiss national movement, b) the civil war of 1847 and the subsequent founding of the modern Swiss nation-state in 1848, c) the late nineteenth century (1880-1900), when Swiss nationalism entered its mass phase, and d) the 1930s (1933-1939), when authoritarian volkish nationalism from Germany challenged Switzerland's poly-ethnic conception of nationhood. Two questions guide my analysis in the substantive part. First, to what extent can nationhood be invented or fabricated. And second, how are 'civic' and 'organic' conceptions of nationhood related to each other in this process of national reconstruction, and what causes shifts in the balance between the two. A final part (part III) addresses these question by way of comparison. The first comparative chapter contrasts Switzerland with Germany, arguing that there was more scope for inventing nationhood in the German than in the Swiss case during the last third of the nineteenth century. I attribute this difference to the fact that in Switzerland a popular ethno-symbolic memory posed cultural constraints on the activities of national ideologues, unlike in Germany, where pre-modern national myths and symbols never developed a constraining capacity. The second comparative chapter examines the role of landscape symbolism in the construction of national identity in Switzerland, the United States and Canada during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. I attribute the prominence of geographical determinism in the national discourse of these three societies to the divergence between the nationalist ideal of ethno-cultural homogeneity and their polyethnic composition.


This study combines direct measurements of channel strain, electrical mobility measurements and a rigorous modeling approach to provide insight about the strain induced mobility enhancement in FinFETs and guidelines for the device optimization. Good agreement between simulated and measured mobility is obtained using strain components measured directly at device level by a novel technique. A large vertical compressive strain is observed in FinFETs and the simulations show that this helps recover the electron mobility disadvantage of the (110) FinFETs lateral interfaces w.r.t. (100) interfaces, with no degradation of the hole mobility. The model is then used to systematically explore the impact of the fin-width, fin-height and fin-length stress components on n- and p-FinFETs mobility and to identify optimal stress configurations.


Enzymatic Production of FAME Biodiesel with Soluble Lipases Biodiesel is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, and biocatalysis is gaining interest as a greener process. We focus on converting oils to Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) using soluble lipases, which offer an advantage compared to immobilized enzymes by cost efficiency and ease of implementation. Firstly, we defined the range of interest for process parameters of a low catalyst loading system, intended for single use. Furthermore we systematically studied the effect and interaction between these parameters. Based on experimental data, a model was developed to evaluate the optimal conditions within the defined operating space concerning: temperature, water content, initial methanol concentration and enzyme content. The identified optimum range was experimentally evaluated, and model findings were confirmed. Another barrier in lipase use in biodiesel production is the higher melting point (m.p.) of certain oils, which is not compatible with the temperature range where lipases are most active. To address this, here we explored a novel production strategy that accommodates the enzymatic requirements with the chemical limits of the substrates. The m.p. of the methyl ester product is lower than that of the starting material. Thus, we have incorporated a varying amount of the product to lower the m.p. of the starting material. Our case study is the reaction of Palm Fatty Acid Distillate (PFAD) to FAME. Conversion rates have been measured with varying temperatures, water concentration, and initial methanol content. The results of this investigation will presented and discussed in this poster.


Many of the artificial intelligence techniques developed to date rely on heuristic search through large spaces. Unfortunately, the size of these spaces and the corresponding computational effort reduce the applicability of otherwise novel and effective algorithms. A number of parallel and distributed approaches to search have considerably improved the performance of the search process.

Our goal is to develop an architecture that automatically selects parallel search strategies for optimal performance on a variety of search problems. In this paper we describe one such architecture realized in the EUREKA system, which combines the benefits of many different approaches to parallel heuristic search. Through empirical and theoretical analyses we observe that features of the problem space directly affect the choice of optimal parallel search strategy. We then employ machine learning techniques to select the optimal parallel search strategy for a given problem space. When a new search task is input to the system, EUREKA uses features describing the search space and the chosen architecture to automatically select the appropriate search strategy. EUREKA has been tested on a MIMD parallel processor, a distributed network of workstations, and a single workstation using multithreading. Results generated from fifteen puzzle problems, robot arm motion problems, artificial search spaces, and planning problems indicate that EUREKA outperforms any of the tested strategies used exclusively for all problem instances and is able to greatly reduce the search time for these applications.


Researchers and technology developers from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), other government agencies, academia, and industry recently met in Pasadena, California, to take stock of past and current work and future challenges in the application of AI to highly autonomous systems. The meeting was catalyzed by new opportunities in developing autonomous spacecraft for NASA and was in part a celebration of the fictional birth year of the HAL-9000 computer.


This study was undertaken to see if radiographic technologists could be trained to perform double contrast barium enemas of a quality comparable to that produced by gastrointestinal radiologists and radiology residents. One technologist was from a remote rural hospital and the other from a university gastrointestinal radiology department. After initial training the two technologists continued to produce work of high quality. Analysis of the films showed that there was no significant difference between those films produced in the rural hospital and in the university centre. We recommend more widespread training of radiographic technologists in this work.


The forensic thriller has traditionally been constructed as a mainstream American narrative focused on the stereotypical representation of the country as a metropolis with an incredible amount of resources, and the American capitalist dream. The author Patricia Cornwell (Postmortem, first novel in the Kay Scarpetta series, published in 1990) is considered the founding mother of this crime fiction subgenre native to the US, closely followed by Kathy Reichs (Deja Dead, first novel in the Temperance Brennan series, published in 1997) whose series have been successfully adapted to television in the show Bones (2005-2017). But the 21st century has seen the inclusion of more diverse settings for these stories, the South being the most economically successful and dominated by women authors too.

Georgian Karin Slaughter is the author of the "Grant County" series, set in the fictional town of Heartsdale, in rural Georgia, and responsible for the inscription of the South in American forensic thrillers thanks to her own experience as a native. Blindsighted (2001) includes elements from both the grotesque southern gothic and the hard boiled tradition. My analysis of the first novel in the series will examine how the southern environment becomes quintessential to the development of the crimes and the characters from a literary, philosophical and feminist point of view. The issues examined will include, but not be limited to crime, morals, religion, professional ambition, infidelity, divorce, sexual desire, infertility, and family relationships.


This paper addresses the problem of incident response in clouds. A conventional incident response model is formulated to be used as a basement for the cloud incident response model. Minimization of incident handling time is considered as a key criterion of the proposed cloud incident response model that can be done at the expense of embedding infrastructure redundancy into the cloud infrastructure represented by Network and Security Controllers and introducing Security Domain for threat analysis and cloud forensics. These architectural changes are discussed and applied within the cloud incident response model.


HENRY WALKER, "Let Us Keep the Feast": The History of Christ Episcopal Church, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 1828-1998. Tallahassee, Florida: Sentry Press, 2000. Pp. xvi + 320, illustrations, appendices, index. No price. We should never forget that our nation was built through the settling of frontiers. When the pre-revolutionary Anglican Church was but an eastern coast reality, the frontiers were "out there" to the north, south, and west. Following independence, the gifts of "space and opportunity," significantly cotton, called many from both New England and the Middle and Southern states, into Alabama. The Rev. Robert Davis, an agent of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society in New York City, arrived in Tuscaloosa, the new state capital, in early 1828 and met with prominent laymen to establish the congregation to be named Christ Church. For the most part, these were professional and merchant types, some of whom were helpful m the move to statehood. As with most frontier congregations, whether in the Middle or Far West, the early decades for Christ Church were a continual struggle to get clerical leadership and to keep it. The building and maintenance of properties were fitful concerns since very often the costs far exceeded the income. And the mission of community building, for both the church and the social climate of the capital and the new state, was even more challenging. Mission, ministry, and maintenante bring the rhythm and resonance to this comprehensive history of a great congregation which, for the most part, has been involved in both secular and faith affairs in local, regional, and national church doings, sometimes as innovator, and at times as dissenter. For the most part, Walker has been dependent on parish records, i.e., vestry minutes, newspaper reports, and some correspondence between bishops, clergy, and lay leaders. When it has been possible, he has interviewed the recent church leaders and incorporated their insights into the history. We know of no parish history which uses pictures and building plans more comprehensively than "Let Us Keep the Feast," including a section of color photos of the church's stained glass windows with an explanation of their symbols-good educational material indeed. Schools were to be built, including the University of Alabama, and through the years the parish has had a major ministry in that academic community. It has sponsored such chaplains as George Murray, later bishop of Alabama and eventually the Central Gulf Coast, and Dr. …


Colour is where it's all happening in photography today, and New York City is colour photography's greatest subject. "New York in Colour" presents the best colour photography of New York over the last century and celebrates one of the world's most visually vibrant cities. From such iconic landmarks as Times Square, Central Park, and Coney Island to neighbourhoods and locales unknown even to many New Yorkers, colour photography provides a new perspective on the city. More than anything else, though, it is New York's famous energy, anarchy, and diversity as observed on the city's streets and in its public spaces that have inspired many of the photographers in this collection. "New York in Colour" shows the city as an ever-changing visual collage, 'a beautiful catastrophe,' as the Swiss architect Le Corbusier famously described it. Organized in thematic sections that capture the vibrancy and poetry of the changing streetscape - such as the skyline, the teeming streets, the constant motion, the nerve centres of activity, the famous landmarks, the water's edge - "New York in Colour" is destined to be a classic photographic survey of the world's most exciting city.


Greece's debt currently stands at close to €330 billion, over 180 percent of GDP, with almost 70 percent owed to European official creditors. The fact that Greece's public debts must be restructured is by now widely accepted. What remains controversial, however, is the extent of debt relief needed to make Greece's debt sustainable. This Policy Brief argues that the debt relief measures outlined by the Eurogroup will not be sufficient to restore the sustainability of Greece's debt. At the same time it shows that Greece's debt sustainability can in fact be restored without aggravating moral hazard—i.e., encouraging future governments in Greece and elsewhere in the euro area to take risks in the belief that they will be bailed out—and within the framework of EU law, in particular Article 125 of the Lisbon Treaty, which prohibits EU members from assuming liability for the debts of other members. It concludes that only conditional face value debt relief, in combination with the measures already considered by the Eurogroup, would restore Greece's debt sustainability with reasonable confidence. Furthermore, if the debt relief is structured in a way that creates incentives for additional fiscal adjustment, as proposed in this Brief, the amount of face value debt relief required could be modest—on the order of 10 to 15 percent of the outstanding official debt.


This article is based on 63 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with professional journalists across career stages and across media in six European countries (UK, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Poland and Sweden), and is concerned with how journalists answer the question: How is what you do different from what citizen journalists do? Based on existing literature on journalistic authority and the professional project, three areas where claims to professional legitimacy and distinction from amateurs are identified: expertise, duty and autonomy. The interview data show that while claims based on expertise and duty are common when professional journalists want to demarcate the boundary between them and citizen journalism, claims based on direct reference to autonomy are non-existent. However, claims based indirectly on reference to autonomy, but institutional or collective rather than individual autonomy, are common. Indeed the key result of this study is that legitimacy claims based on the collective nature of the journalistic endeavour are very common, in contrast to earlier constructions of journalistic professionalism, which emphasized individualism and individual autonomy.


Cydonia oblonga Miller (Quince) from Rosaceae family is a fruit tree cultivated in many countries mainly in Iran. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of quince juice (QJ) and quince hydroalcoholic extract (QHE) on ulcerative colitis (UC) induced by TNBS (trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid) in rats. Rats were grouped (n=6) and fasted for 36 h before colitis induction. TNBS was instilled into the colon with a hydroalcoholic carrier and then treatments were made for 5 days starting 6 h after colitis induction with different doses of QJ (200, 400, 800 mg/kg), QHE (200, 500 & 800 mg/kg) orally, QJ (400 mg/kg) and QHE (200 and 500 mg/kg) intraperitoneally. The colon tissue was removed and tissue damages were scored after macroscopic and histopathologic assessments. Albeit the examined doses of QJ and QHE were apparently effective to reduce the extent of UC lesions, only the greatest doses (500 and 800 mg/kg) resulted in significant alleviation. Weight/Length ratio as an illustrative of tissue inflammation and extravasation was also diminished with quince treatments while the results correlated with macroscopic and histopathologic evaluations. These data suggest that QJ and QHE were effective to diminish inflammation and ulcer indices in this murine model of acute colitis. Although QHE with different doses was effective in induced colitis, the dose and/or route of administration dependency was not confirmed. So quince fractions could be considered as a suitable anticolitic alternative, however further studies are needed to support this hypothesis for clinical setting.


We undertook a retrospective cohort study to determine clinical outcomes following the revision of metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacements for adverse reaction to metal debris (ARMD), and to identify predictors of time to revision and outcomes following revision. Between 1998 and 2012 a total of 64 MoM hips (mean age at revision of 57.8 years; 46 (72%) female; 46 (72%) hip resurfacings and 18 (28%) total hip replacements) were revised for ARMD at one specialist centre. At a mean follow-up of 4.5 years (1.0 to 14.6) from revision for ARMD there were 13 hips (20.3%) with post-operative complications and eight (12.5%) requiring re-revision. The Kaplan-Meier five-year survival rate for ARMD revision was 87.9% (95% confidence interval 78.9 to 98.0; 19 hips at risk). Excluding re-revisions, the median absolute Oxford hip score (OHS) following ARMD revision using the percentage method (0% best outcome and 100% worst outcome) was 18.8% (interquartile range (IQR) 7.8% to 48.3%), which is equivalent to 39/48 (IQR 24.8/48 to 44.3/48) when using the modified OHS. Histopathological response did not affect time to revision for ARMD (p = 0.334) or the subsequent risk of re-revision (p = 0.879). Similarly, the presence or absence of a contralateral MoM hip bearing did not affect time to revision for ARMD (p = 0.066) or the subsequent risk of re-revision (p = 0.178). Patients revised to MoM bearings had higher rates of re-revision (five of 16 MoM hips re-revised; p = 0.046), but those not requiring re-revision had good functional results (median absolute OHS 14.6% or 41.0/48). Short-term morbidity following revision for ARMD was comparable with previous reports. Caution should be exercised when choosing bearing surfaces for ARMD revisions.


Several of the springs, made of 1.1 mm diam Inconel X-750 wire and used for tightening the interstage packing ring in a high-pressure turbine, were found broken after approximately seven years of operation. Intergranular cracks about 1.3 mm in depth and oriented at an angle of 45 deg to the axis of the wire were revealed by metallographic examination. A light-gray phase, which had the appearance of liquid-metal corrosion, was observed to have penetrated the grains on the fracture surfaces. The spring wires were found to fracture in a brittle manner characteristic of fracture from torsional loading (along a plane 45 deg to the wire axis). Liquid-metal embrittlement was expected to have been caused by metals (Sn, Zn, Pb) which melt much below maximum service temperature of the turbine. The springs were concluded to have fractured by intergranular stress-corrosion cracking promoted by the action of liquid zinc and tin in combination with static and torsional stresses on the spring wire. As a corrective measure, Na, Sn, and Zn which were present in pigmented oil used as a lubricant during spring winding was cleaned thoroughly by the spring manufacturer before shipment to remove all contaminants.


This fMRI study examines how students extend their mathematical competence. Students solved a set of algebra-like problems. These problems included Regular Problems that have a known solution technique and Exception Problems that but did not have a known technique. Two distinct networks of activity were uncovered. There was a Cognitive Network that was mainly active during the solution of problems and showed little difference between Regular Problems and Exception Problems. There was also a Metacognitive Network that was more engaged during a reflection period after the solution and was much more engaged for Exception Problems than Regular Problems. The Cognitive Network overlaps with prefrontal and parietal regions identified in the ACT-R theory of algebra problem solving and regions identified in the triple-code theory as involved in basic mathematical cognition. The Metacognitive Network included angular gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and anterior prefrontal regions. This network is mainly engaged by the need to modify the solution procedure and not by the difficulty of the problem. Only the Metacognitive Network decreased with practice on the Exception Problems. Activity in the Cognitive Network during the solution of an Exception Problem predicted both success on that problem and future mastery. Activity in the angular gyrus and middle temporal gyrus during feedback on errors predicted future mastery.


Summary Anaphylaxis, a term first used by Richet and Portier in 1902, is a serious and potentially lethal systemic reaction affecting two or more organs or systems. It is a allergic reaction. Hypotension and shock are not necessarily present. The term "anaphylactoid" is no longer recommended for use. Trigger factors include foods, insect venoms, medications, natural rubber latex, occupational allergens, and nonimmunologic triggers include exercise, cold air or water, heat, radiation, ethanol etc. Epinephrine (adrenaline) as an essential medication for the treatment of anaphylaxis. There is no absolute contraindication to epinephrine injection. In this review article we are discussed about the rate of occurrence, triggers of anaphylaxis, pathogenesis (immunologic mechanisms – IgE dependent, IgE independent, nonimmunologic mechanisms, idiopathic anaphylaxis), clinical features (cutaneous, respiratory, etc.), biphasic reactions, risk factors for severe anaphylaxis, laboratory tests at the time of the acute anaphylactic episode, confirmation of the triggers of anaphylaxis, differential diagnosis. This review present news about prompt life – saving first – aid treatment, other drugs in the management of anaphylaxis, fatality from this allergic reaction, and long – term risk reduction: preventive measures (avoidance of specific triggers, emergency preparedness (self – injectable epinephrine), immunomodulation: desensitization, immunotherapy, and other preventive means.


The present study is focused on evaluation and optimization of biosorption of hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) using marine algae, Sargassum sp. Biosorption kinetics of Cr (VI) was studied using Langmuir and freundlich isotherms. It was found that the adsorption of Cr (VI) by Sargassum sp. could bemodeled effectively by Langmuir isotherms (R2 value of 0.994).A Full FactorialDesign (FFD)was used to determine the significance of process parameters like, pH, biomass concentration and biomass immobilization on biosorption efficiency. It was found that pH has the maximum effect on biosorption efficiencywhereas immobilizing the biomass did not seemto be significant. Central Composite Design (CCD) followed by response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to investigate the process conditions for maximum chromium adsorption. The optimum conditions for the biosorption were found to be pH 1.17 and biomass concentration of 0.3%at an initial Chromiumconcentration of 100ppm.


The bow shock is the first boundary the solar wind encounters as it approaches planets or comets. The Rosetta spacecraft was able to observe the formation of a bow shock by following comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko toward the Sun, through perihelion, and back outward again. The spacecraft crossed the newly formed bow shock several times during two periods a few months before and after perihelion; it observed an increase in magnetic field magnitude and oscillation amplitude, electron and proton heating at the shock, and the diminution of the solar wind further downstream. Rosetta observed a cometary bow shock in its infancy, a stage in its development not previously accessible to in situ measurements at comets and planets.


Abstract Nonviolent adult repeat offenders between the ages of 18 and 35 face nearly insurmountable obstacles to successful reintegration into dominant culture. Upon release from prison ex-offenders receive an average of $69 from their state department of corrections, or between $100-$500 from the Federal Bureau of Prisons to aid their transition back into their communities. As many of them search for legitimate work opportunities, they must deal with the stigma attached to a criminal record and legally enforced employment restrictions barring them from working in several occupations. In addition, most states and the federal government prohibit ex-offenders from accessing public aid funds or financial assistance for school. Finally, many released inmates find they are forced to live in isolated, impoverished communities where there are few job opportunities. In this essay, we analyze secondary data on recidivism and employability for ex-offenders. A review of the literature and history on ex-offender vocational guidance and placement programs documents contrasting views regarding their success and failures, and the reasons for recidivism. We conclude by arguing that sustainable employment is critical to the success of a supervision program, and an ex-offender's avoidance of recidivism. Therefore, resourceful vocational guidance and assistance programs that include financial assistance and follow-up services are more effective than incarceration for some offenders in deterring perpetual recidivism.


Microbial biofilms are communities of constant symbiosis and interaction in adaptation with their environment. This signaling network determines the chemistry as well as the physiology of the biofilm, it also confers protection to the microorganisms embedded in this formation, which improves the chances of survival in the face of external aggression. This mechanism known as Quorum Sensing (QS) responds to both intracellular and extracellular signals and modulates the response of the biofilm to the immune system. This chemical response to the environmental factors involved, together with the genetic factors of the genome in the development of an individual constitute the environmentome, it which represents a new source of promising therapeutic targets for the development of new treatments that prevent the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The aim of this comment paper is briefly to explore the initial elements of an approach that can be applied in the development of new tools for clinical diagnosis and treatment, as well as in other areas such as ecology.


HyperNEAT is a popular indirect encoding method for evolutionary computation that has performed well on a number of benchmark tasks. This paper presents a series of experiments designed to examine the critical factors for its success. First, we determine the fewest hidden nodes a genotypic network needs to solve several of these tasks. Our results show that all of these tasks are easy: they can be solved with at most one hidden node and require generating only trivial regular patterns. Then, we examine how HyperNEAT performs when the tasks are made harder. Our results show that HyperNEAT's performance decays quickly: it fails to solve all variants of these tasks that require more complex solutions. Next, we examine the hypothesis that fracture in the problem space, known to be challenging for regular NEAT, is even more so for HyperNEAT. Our results suggest that quite complex networks are needed to cope with fracture and HyperNEAT can have difficulty discovering them. Finally, we connect these results to previous experiments showing that HyperNEAT's performance decreases on irregular tasks. Our results suggest irregularity is an extreme form of fracture and that HyperNEAT's limitations are thus more severe than those experiments suggested.


In two experiments an attempt was made to determine young children's use of 'typical' outlines in their drawings of models. In the first experiment children aged 6, 8 and 10 years were asked to draw heads, bodies and tails of two animals, singly and in concordant and discordant combinations. It was expected that children would use 'typical' outlines and that this tendency would be stronger in the younger children. In addition, it was expected that children would adopt a drawing-by-parts strategy for the combinations, irrespective of actual viewpoint, resulting in 'twisted perspective'. The data confirmed these predictions with the exception that there were no age effects. A second experiment, undertaken to resolve the ambiguity in the drawings of one of the model bodies, found that a model with more distinctive contour elicited more typical drawings. The results of the first experiment were strongly confirmed. The relationship of the findings to the phenomenon of size constancy is discussed. An enduring perceptual mechanism is proposed to account for the 'distortions' which were found.


Spotify is currently the worlds leading music streaming ser-vice. As the leader in music streaming the task of providing listeners with music recommendations is vital for Spotify. Listening to playlists is a popular way of consuming music, but traditional recommender systems tend to fo-cus on suggesting songs, albums or artists rather than pro-viding consumers with playlists generated for their needs.This thesis presents a scalable and generalizeable approach to music recommendation that performs song selection for the problem of playlist generation. The approach selects tracks related to a playlist theme by finding the charac-terizing variance for a seed playlist and projects candidate songs into the corresponding subspace. Quantitative re-sults shows that the model outperforms a baseline which is taking the full variance into account. By qualitative results the model is also shown to outperform professionally curated playlists in some cases.


This thesis seeks to establish how to set up chronologically reliable classifications of fifth- and
sixth-century metalwork, using square-headed brooches as the principal example. The
problem arises from the absence in this period of the usual, more reliable, dating tools such as
documents, coins and pottery. As a primary dating tool metalwork is therefore unsupported,
and it is crucial that classification is carried out with great rigour and objectivity. The first
half of this thesis (chapters 2 to 7) discusses various requirements which need to be met if
classification is to be rigorous and objective. The overall conclusions are that:
- existing classifications, not just of square-headed brooches but of all fifth- and sixth-century
metalwork, may be unreliable;
- reliance on existing chronologies, not just of square-headed brooches but of all fifth- and
sixth-century metalwork, should be suspended for the time being;
- the entire system should be re-assessed from first principles.
The first stages of such a re-assessment are attempted in the second half of the thesis.
Chapter 8 attributes much of the faulty existing methodology to a misunderstanding of the
method devised and practised by Montelius in the late nineteenth century, compounded by a
false analogy with biological evolution; and in chapter 9 a revised version of Montelius'
actual method is proposed as a sound basis for re-assessing early Anglo-Saxon metalwork
classifications. Chapters 10 to 12 then exemplify various attempts to classify a corpus of 95
complete great square-headed brooches by rigorous, objective methods. In chapter 13,
however, it is shown that further progress is likely to be limited, for the time being, to
applying the suggested methods to other artefact-types, thus producing groups of various
artefacts all free-floating and awaiting evidence that will tie them down chronologically.
Finally, in chapter 14 it is recommended that classifications of early Anglo-Saxon metalwork
currently in use should be re-examined and if necessary revised; that (except for tentative
dates for the beginning and end of Salin's Style I) the attaching of even suggested dates to
artefacts of this period and their find contexts should be suspended; and that archaeologists
should make an urgent search for objective methods of demonstrating contemporeanity of
objects in addition to decorative similarity, especially toolmark links.


We describe an FPGA based Front-End Data Acquisition Module (FEDAM) for implementing Time-over-Threshold (ToT) Time-to-Digital conversion (TDC) of pulses obtained from the COSMICi astroparticle telescope detector system photomultiplier tubes. The telescope system consists of a minimum of three scintillation detectors configured to detect particle airshowers likely initiated by Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR). The relative time delay of detection events between the detectors is used to estimate the angle of incidence of the shower. The FEDAM provides time-over-threshold measurements with a resolution of 2 ns. This allows determination of shower direction to an error of 0.035 (cos {\theta})-1 radians where {\theta} is the angle between the baseline axis through a pair of detectors and the plane representing the shower front.


To establish if the benefit of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor therapy in retarding progressive diabetic renal injury is due to a specific intrarenal effect or the systemic hypotensive effect, we studied the effect of long-term ramipril treatment on blood pressure, glomerular filtration rate, and urinary protein excretion in streptozotocin-diabetic spontaneously hypertensive rats. The hypotensive effect of ramipril was prevented by a high salt diet, which did not alter the degree of renal angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition. Three weeks after uninephrectomy and induction of diabetes, rats were allocated to three groups. Groups 1 and 2 were given 1% NaCl, whereas group 3 was given water as drinking solution. One week later, groups 2 and 3 received 0.4 mg/kg/day ramipril in their drinking solution, which was continued over a 2-month period. Ramipril produced a blood pressure fall only in water-drinking rats (group 3) despite a similar reduction in plasma and renal angiotensin converting enzyme activity in groups 2 and 3. Salt-loaded rats had a progressive increase in urinary protein excretion over the duration of study. Ramipril treatment prevented an increase in protein excretion only in animals given water and with a reduced systolic blood pressure. Glomerular nitration rate was similar in all three groups. Ramipril treatment improved animal survival independently of a reduction in blood pressure or an effect on proteinuria. Although it is possible that angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors have specific intrarenal effects reducing progression of diabetic proteinuria, concomitant control of systemic blood pressure appears to be necessary to demonstrate a benefit.


With more than 1,500 citations in ranked journals and hundreds of thousands of downloads, EPANET is the benchmark software for analysis and design of pressurized water distribution networks. User-friendly, powerful and reliable, its public domain use has spread throughout the world. However, from an energy standpoint its capacity is limited to the point at which, in certain circumstances it can supply erroneous results. This is understandable because on the one hand its main aim was to model water quality, and on the other hand, because it was conceived and developed towards the end of the last century before people started talking about the water–energy nexus. Increases in the cost of energy and the need to limit greenhouse gas emissions, however, have made energy efficiency a primary and inescapable objective. As the transport of pressurized water is a big consumer of energy, it seems convenient for EPANET users, particularly for those who applied this software to pressurized irrigation networks, to understand, as far as energy is concerned, its weaknesses and limitations which, in the end, is the aim of this paper.


Mask-wearing has been a controversial measure to control the COVID-19 pandemic. While masks are known to substantially reduce disease transmission in healthcare settings (Howard et al 2021), studies in community settings report inconsistent results (Brainard et al 2020). Investigating the inconsistency within epidemiological studies, we find that a commonly used proxy, government mask mandates, does not correlate with large increases in mask-wearing in our window of analysis. We thus analyse the effect of mask-wearing on transmission instead, drawing on several datasets covering 92 regions on 6 continents, including the largest survey of individual-level wearing behaviour (n=20 million) (Kreuter et al 2020). Using a hierarchical Bayesian model, we estimate the effect of both mask-wearing and mask-mandates on transmission by linking wearing levels (or mandates) to reported cases in each region, adjusting for mobility and non-pharmaceutical interventions. We assess the robustness of our results in 123 experiments across 22 sensitivity analyses. Across these analyses, we find that an entire population wearing masks in public leads to a median reduction in the reproduction number R of 25.8%, with 95% of the medians between 22.2% and 30.9%. In our window of analysis, the median reduction in $R$ associated with the wearing level observed in each region was 20.4% [2.0%, 23.3%]. We do not find evidence that mandating mask-wearing reduces transmission. Our results suggest that mask-wearing is strongly affected by factors other than mandates. We establish the effectiveness of mass mask-wearing, and highlight that wearing data, not mandate data, are necessary to infer this effect.