Competitive interactions shape coral assemblages and govern the dynamics of coral ecosystems. Although competition is an ecological concept, the outcomes of competitive interactions are ultimately determined by patterns of gene expression. These patterns are subject to genotypic variation on both sides of any interaction. Such variation is typically treated as "noise", but it is sometimes possible to identify patterns within it that reveal important hidden factors in an experiment. To incorporate genotypic variation into the investigation of coral competitive interactions, we used RNA-sequencing to study changes in gene expression in a hard coral (Porites cylindrica) resulting from non-contact competition experiment with a soft coral (Lobophytum pauciflorum). Hard coral genotype explained the largest proportion of variation between samples; however, it was also possible to detect gene expression changes in 76 transcripts resulting from interaction with the soft coral. In addition, we found a group of 20 short secreted proteins that were expressed as a coordinated unit in three interacting Porites-Lobophytum pairs. The presence of this secretion response was idiosyncratic in that it could not be predicted based on polyp behaviour, or the genotype of hard or soft coral alone. This study illustrates the significance of individual variation as a determinant of competitive behaviour, and also provides some intriguing glimpses into the molecular mechanisms employed by hard corals competing at a distance.


Bankruptcy law is developing rapidly in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) that have recently escaped the domination of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The communist governments fell in those countries that were separate from the USSR in 1989, and those countries that were a part of the USSR gained their independence and acquired new non-communist governments in 1989 (the Baltic states) and 1991 (Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Russia). While many other areas of law that are basic to the development of a market economy need substantial development or revision, bankruptcy law is leading the way, for the most part, in all of these countries.However, the legal structures and economic conditions in the CEE countries are quite different from those in the United States and, in consequence, pose unique problems for the application of bankruptcy law. The most important difference is the process of privatization of state-owned enterprises, in which bankruptcy law has a unique and important role. This Article explores those legal structures and economic conditions and discusses their implication for bankruptcy law in these countries.This Article is based principally on that I have learned from my experience teaching seminars on bankruptcy law (and other subjects) in the CEE countries and in advising various government officials on bankruptcy law and other commercial law. It also draws to a certain extent on conversations with colleagues who have taught seminars similar to those that I have taught in the region.


This paper presents a system for compact and intuitive video summarisation aimed at both high-end professional production environments and small-screen portable devices. To represent large amounts of information in the form of a video key-frame summary, this paper studies the narrative grammar of comics, and using its universal and intuitive rules, lays out visual summaries in an efficient and user-centered way. In addition, the system exploits visual attention modelling and rapid serial visual presentation to generate highly compact summaries on mobile devices. A robust real-time algorithm for key-frame extraction is presented. The system ranks importance of key-frame sizes in the final layout by balancing the dominant visual representability and discovery of unanticipated content utilising a specific cost function and an unsupervised robust spectral clustering technique. A final layout is created using an optimisation algorithm based on dynamic programming. Algorithm efficiency and robustness are demonstrated by comparing the results with a manually labelled ground truth and with optimal panelling solutions.


Prevention of abrupt discontinuation of intrathecal baclofen requires careful attention to programming and monitoring of the infusion system, refill scheduling and procedures, and pump alarms. Patients and caregivers should be advised of the importance of keeping scheduled refill visits and should be educated on the early symptoms of baclofen withdrawal. Special attention should be given to patients at apparent risk (e.g. spinal cord injuries at T-6 or above, communication difficulties, history of withdrawal symptoms from oral or intrathecal baclofen). Consult the technical manual of the implantable infusion system for additional postimplant clinician and patient information (see WARNINGS).


Oxygen depletion, eutrophication, acidification, toxic pollution, poor hygienic state, salinity, and excess suspended matter are among the issues usually included in the concept of water quality problems. This report focuses on inland surface waters, namely on rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, to each of which the problem categories listed above are relevant. The variety of problems, the multidisciplinarity among water quality experts, the wide spectrum of societal water needs, together with the high diversity of computational approaches presently available contribute to the present situation in which applicable methodology is developing from a variety of fronts and directions, among which dynamical, partial differential equation models were taken here in focus. Transport, flow and reaction equations for shallow water bodies are reviewed for 1 and 2-dimensional cases, including an introduction to and illustration of a selection of numerical techniques. Four case studies on eutrophication modeling, and a review and discussion on the application of decision support systems on water quality management are presented thereafter.


Tropical deforestation increases carbon emissions, reduces carbon sinks, simplifies ecosystems, affect soil quality, can eliminate endemic species and can drastically change labor market prospects for local populations. All of these consequences may lead to large private gains and losses as well as global externalities and have drawn the attention of scholars and policy makers. More recently, the Paris Agreement stemming from the XXI Conference of the Parties placed protection of tropical forests as a key component for curbing climate change. Among the main causes of tropical deforestation, several commentators have identified logging of high-value timber species as an important precursor of large scale deforestation. A number of countries have accepted this argument and appealed to strict policies such as logging bans to protect specific species and forests. One example of such policy is the Brazilian mahogany market prohibition. We find evidence that the shutting down of this market combined with poor enforcement has led to an even larger volume of illegal mahogany harvesting. We use this result and differences-in-differences estimation to test whether municipalities where mahogany naturally occurs have experienced increased deforestation after prohibition. Our paper contains two main contributions: (i) evaluation of the impact of a timber market prohibition policy on deforestation, and (ii) the testing of the hypothesis that harvesting of high-value timber indirectly leads to large-scale deforestation. To our best knowledge, no study has attempted to directly estimate this hypothesis, despite its prevalence in the tropical deforestation literature and its use to at least partly justify forest protection policies such as logging bans. Our results suggest that the mahogany prohibition policy in Brazil meant to protect the species and the Amazon forest has instead led to increased deforestation in affected areas.


Abstract: The so-called "Puidoux Conferences" (1955-1962) were the first substantial theological dialogues between members of Anabaptist-related churches and mainline Protestants since the sixteenth century. They were sponsored by the European Continuation Committee of the Historic Peace Churches (Mennonites, Friends, Brethren) and originally intended to focus and unify the peace testimony of these groups vis-a-vis the ecumenical movement. In the course of the conferences, the young Mennonite scholar John Howard Yoder emerged as the leading spokesman for the peace groups. He introduced there many of the basic concepts later elaborated in his significant theological writings. Though never elaborating a truly systematic theology, Yoder remained strikingly persistent and consistent throughout his long career in developing themes first articulated in these conferences. ********** Without question, the late John Howard Yoder was the dominant voice for the Historic Peace Churches (HPC) in the significant series of ecumenical conferences that became known as the "Puidoux Conferences" (1955-1962), after the name of the Swiss retreat center near Lausanne, Switzerland, where the first meeting was held in late summer of 1955. The formal title of the series was "The Lordship of Christ Over Church and State," which, however, proved too cumbersome for ready reference. (1) Both German church leaders and Mennonite scholars have called that series of meetings the first meaningful theological exchange between Radical Reformation churches and the established churches created by the Protestant Reformation; participants in the initial colloquy understood their interchange as a veritable Kairos moment. Albert J. Meyer, who worked closely with John Howard Yoder in planning and administering the first two conferences in the series, said of them: "The Puidoux theological conferences, of the fifties and sixties[,] were the first extended theological conferences in over four hundred years between the Historic Peace Churches, who date from the Anabaptists of the early days of the Reformation, and the official churches of Central Europe." (2) There is a certain irony in this finding, because initially the intent of the first 1955 meeting was to deepen theological understanding and agreement on peace issues among the Friends, Brethren and Mennonites--an internal focus. Leaders of these groups meeting in Europe felt such intramural dialogue was a necessary preliminary step toward later external dialogue with European church leaders. To assist in sharpening and unifying their own positions, HPC planners invited sympathetic European theologians, not necessarily of pacifist persuasion, intending that they should serve as resource persons and advisors. Instead, in the course of the initial Puidoux meeting, these non-HPC theologians moved directly into substantial and foundational interchange. Some of the German participants, themselves veterans of the Confessing Church, reported that the seriousness and intensity of dialogue there reminded them of the days in 1933-1934 when the Barmen Confession was hammered out as the answer of the church to burgeoning National Socialism) In this emotionally and intellectually charged context John Howard Yoder began to articulate themes that he later developed in more substantial form. The Puidoux discussions served him as a kind of apprenticeship, beginning years as a journeyman scholar and then of eventual mastery of theological discourse, later so evident in broader ecumenical circles. THE BACKGROUND OF THE PUIDOUX CONFERENCES The backdrop for the Puidoux meetings was the sustained attempt by HPC leaders to engage the World Council of Churches (WCC) in meaningful conversations on appropriate Christian response to the issues of war, peace and justice. The attempt grew out of the sense of fellowship and unity generated by the cooperation of Mennonites, Friends and Brethren in the U. …


The future success of Grid-enabled e-Science depends on the availability of semantic/knowledge-rich resources on the Grid, i.e., the so-called semantic Grid. This requires not only novel knowledge modelling and representation formalisms but also a shift of knowledge acquisition and population from a limited number of specialised knowledge engineers to resource providers. To this end we have developed a lightweight ontology-enabled tool, "Function Annotator", to support resource providers in capturing and publishing resource semantics and knowledge. Function Annotator takes a different line to most knowledge acquisition tools in that it is designed for use by resource providers, probably in the absence of a knowledge engineer. Its aim is to facilitate large scale knowledge population on the Grid. Function Annotator is built on the state-of-the-art of semantic web technologies, such as ontologies, OWL, instance store and DL-based reasoning, thus ensuring flexibility and scalability on the Grid. This paper describes the tool's role in a Grid-oriented resource lifecycle, its underlying technologies and implementation. It also illustrates the usage of the tool in the context of engineering design search and optimisation.


Background There is significant heterogeneity in the clinical expression of structural brain abnormalities, including Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. Some individuals preserve their memory despite the presence of risk factors or pathological brain changes, indicating resilience. We aimed to test whether resilient individuals could be distinguished from those who develop cognitive impairment, using sociodemographic variables and neuroimaging. Methods We included 550 older adults participating in the Whitehall II study with longitudinal data, cognitive test results, and multi-modal MRI. Hippocampal atrophy was defined as Scheltens Scores >0. Resilient individuals (n = 184) were defined by high cognitive performance despite hippocampal atrophy (HA). Non-resilient participants (n = 133) were defined by low cognitive performance (≥1.5 standard deviations (S.D.) below the group mean) in the presence of HA. Dynamic and static exposures were evaluated for their ability to predict later resilience status using multivariable logistic regression. In a brain-wide analysis we tested for group differences in the integrity of white matter (structural connectivity) and resting-state networks (functional connectivity). Findings Younger age (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.83 to 0.92, p<0.001), higher premorbid FSIQ (OR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.10, p<0.0001) and social class (OR 1 vs. 3: 4.99, 95% CI: 1.30 to 19.16, p = 0.02, OR 2 vs. 3: 8.43, 95% CI: 1.80 to 39.45, p = 0.007) were independently associated with resilience. Resilient individuals could be differentiated from non-resilient participants by higher fractional anisotropy (FA), and less association between anterior and posterior resting state networks. Higher FA had a significantly more positive effect on cognitive performance in participants with HA, compared to those without. Conclusions Resilient individuals could be distinguished from those who developed impairments on the basis of sociodemographic characteristics, brain structural and functional connectivity, but not midlife lifestyles. There was a synergistic deleterious effect of hippocampal atrophy and poor white matter integrity on cognitive performance. Exploiting and supporting neural correlates of resilience could offer a fresh approach to postpone or avoid the appearance of clinical symptoms.


Estimation of the accuracy of a large-scale knowledge graph (KG) often requires humans to annotate samples from the graph. How to obtain statistically meaningful estimates for accuracy evaluation while keeping human annotation costs low is a problem critical to the development cycle of a KG and its practical applications. Surprisingly, this challenging problem has largely been ignored in prior research. To address the problem, this paper proposes an efficient sampling and evaluation framework, which aims to provide quality accuracy evaluation with strong statistical guarantee while minimizing human efforts. Motivated by the properties of the annotation cost function observed in practice, we propose the use of cluster sampling to reduce the overall cost. We further apply weighted and two-stage sampling as well as stratification for better sampling designs. We also extend our framework to enable efficient incremental evaluation on evolving KG, introducing two solutions based on stratified sampling and a weighted variant of reservoir sampling. Extensive experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed solution. Compared to baseline approaches, our best solutions can provide up to 60% cost reduction on static KG evaluation and up to 80% cost reduction on evolving KG evaluation, without loss of evaluation quality.


We investigate environmental factors of severe convective weather using temperature and moisture retrievals from the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) that lie along parcel trajectories traced from tornado, large hail, and severe wind producing events in the central United States. We create AIRS proximity soundings representative of the storm environment by calculating back trajectories from storm times and locations at levels throughout the troposphere, using the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model forced with the 32-km North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and 12-km North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM12). The proximity soundings are calculated for severe weather events including tornadoes, hail ≥2 in. diameter, and wind gusts >65 mph (29 m s−1) specified in the NCEI Storm Events database. Box-and-whisker diagrams exhibit more realistic values of enhanced convective available potential energy (CAPE) and suppressed convective inhibition (CIN) relative to conventional "nearest neighbor" (NN) soundings; however, differences in lifting condensation level (LCL), level of free convection (LFC), and significant tornado parameter (STP) from the HYSPLIT-adjusted back traced soundings are more similar to NN soundings. This methodology should be extended to larger swaths of soundings, and to other operational infrared sounders, to characterize the large-scale environment in severe convective events.


In this study, development experiences toward economic development are investigated to provide an alternative analysis of economic development, human capital, and genetic inheritance in the light of consanguineous marriages. The countries analyzed in the study are discussed in accordance with consanguineous marriage practices and classified by their per capita gross domestic product (GDP) growth. A broad range of countries are analyzed in the study. Arab countries that experienced high rates of growth in their gross national income during the twentieth century but failed to fulfill adequate development measures as reflected in the growth in national income, countries undergoing transition from tight government regulation to free market democracy, and African nations that have experienced complications in the process of development show important differences in the process of economic development. It is shown that the countries that have reached high average development within the context of per capita GDP have overcome problems integral to consanguineous marriage.


This paper presented a new algorithm for the performance improvement of fundamental positive sequence voltage extraction under unbalanced and distorted conditions. In this algorithm, an improved software phaselocked loop (SPLL) with a second order low-pass filter was proposed and analyzed, completely eliminating the phase detection errors of the unbalanced and distorted source voltages. The paper began with a description of the proposed fundamental positive sequence extraction method, and then a detailed analysis of the designed SPLL was introduced. The proposed algorithm improved the sinusoidal current control strategy of active power filter (APF) which was based on the classical power theories for obtaining an optimal extraction of the fundamental positive sequence current. To verify the feasibility of the algorithm in realtime applications, the simulation model was established in MATLAB-Simulink environment. Then, the algorithm was implemented in DSP using the TMS320F28335 development board. The results indicated that the proposed algorithm is feasible and effective, and it could be directly used in the practical applications.


BY TERRY G. MAHN AND DR. GAURI M. DHAVAN I n 2011, generic drugs accounted for nearly 80% of all prescriptions filled by U.S. pharmacies. Yet, doctors prescribe generics by name in only about 10% of all prescriptions written, so what accounts for the high percentage of generic sales? The answer lies with state laws and health insurance policies that require prescriptions to be filled with ''therapeutically equivalent'' or ''A-rated'' generics (i.e. those listed in the Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book) whenever a brand is named. With ''interchangeable'' biosimilars soon coming to market, many have questioned whether the current system is capable of ensuring that these drugs will be properly dispensed in the same way. This begs the question: is it time to reform the Orange Book. The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) of 2009 introduced the concept of ''interchangeable'' biosimilars, which allows biologic drugs to be substituted for the brand without the intervention of a health care professional. This is similar to the HatchWaxman (H-W) concept of ''therapeutic equivalence,'' which confers substitutability of generic drugs for brand prescriptions, but with one important difference. Interchangeability of biologics is conferred on an indication-by-indication basis whereas therapeutic equivalence under H-W is routinely conferred for all indications. This means that when pharmacists, insurers and pharmaceutical benefits managers (PBM) decide to interchange a biosimilar for a pioneer biologic drug, they will be required to know what indication(s) the biosimilar was approved for and whether the doctor's prescription was intended to treat one of those indications. The Orange Book, which is used only for H-W approvals, does not provide ''substitutability'' information at the indication level so it cannot accommodate biosimilar approvals in its current form. Therefore, the FDA will have to modify its Orange Book or develop a new drug compendium to deal specifically with biosimilars and interchangeability. A careful look at the issues suggests that Orange Book reform is the more compelling option. Not only will it unify the important prescribing information for both drugs and biologics, but Orange Book reform also will address a drug substitution issue that has plagued brand manufacturers for years. An example of this is the Orange Book's false designation of therapeutic equivalence for generic drugs that are not approved for all of the brand's indications (so-called ''skinny labeled'' generics) and which often omit certain safety information from the generic's label, putting patients needlessly at risk.


We describe a design for security in a distributed system and its implementation. In our design, applications gain access to security services through a narrow interface. This interface provides a notion of identity that includes simple principals, groups, roles, and delegations. A new operating system component manages principals, credentials, and secure channels. It checks credentials according to the formal rules of a logic of authentication. Our implementation is efficient enough to support a substantial user community.


Economic literature highlights the vital role that women can play in enhancing the economic development of nations. However, there is still gender inequality in developing countries, especially in education and labour market participation. Although women represent nearly half of the population in Egypt, their labour force participation rate is still very low compared to men. This paper's primary goal is to investigate the short and long-run associations between female labour force participation and Egypt's GDP growth rate. The study used annual time series data from 1990-2019, where the vector error correction model (VECM) was employed. The study found that female labour force participation and the gross fixed capital formation growth rate can enhance the GDP growth rate in the long run. Nevertheless, there is no statistically significant relationship in the short run. This paper's main recommendations are that the Egyptian government needs to implement policies that encourage women's labour force participation and decrease gender inequality. These policies could be changes in legislation, modernization of social norms, Job flexibility, and increasing access to childcare. Moreover, they need to focus on both the demand and supply sides of the quality of female labour force participation by matching the women's education with the creation of suitable jobs.


The general issue of relations between sociality and spatiality, until recently profoundly ignored outside
spatial studies, has become a focus of great theoretical attention in a number of disciplines – what has been
called, remarkably, the "spatial turn" in social and cultural theory. The thesis wishes to address a central
problem in that debate: the connection of practice and space. It does so emphasising a dimension that has not
been previously explored to a significant degree: the conditions of sociation of practice, or a material account
of how action becomes social action and practice social practice. In other words, it investigates the place of
space in semantically mediated interactions that constitute the knots in (spatialised) networks of sociation – or
communication. The thesis explores the spatiality of practice and communication as a problem worth of
theoretical attention, suggesting that precisely the absence of this dimension has led theory to fail to spot the
spatial traces of relations between our daily acts – traces active in the very moment of sociation of practice,
indeed constitutive of the very possibility of any sociation; traces produced and performed through the
interpenetration of communication and space. The question the thesis addresses is the possibility of space not
just as contingent location but also in itself encapsulating an essential constituent of the communicative
condition of the social.
The aim of this thesis is to focus on this theoretical deficit in a number of ways. First, existing theories of
society and space relations as found in social theory, architecture and human geography are reviewed in order
to assess how far they provide compelling answers to the problem of the communicative constitution of
practice, and from this analysis, to set areas where further progress is needed. Second, an attempt is made to
build an alternative frame to the sociality-spatiality relation as a relation between practice, communication
and space, drawing on a number of diverse sources, mainly the theory of self-referentiality of Niklas
Luhmann, the theory of communicative action of Jurgen Habermas, the post-modern questioning of notions
like "meaning" and "structure," and new approaches in human geography and architecture. Thirdly, the
implications of this unconventional approach to the spatiality of the social world are discussed, and a concept,
the duality of meaning is proposed as a means to address the multiple relations between space and social
practice. Fourth, the thesis suggests the possibility that the spatial emergence of practice as a communicative
process requires, in order to come into being, some structuring of the space in which it occurs – a mutual,
referential structuration beyond the contingency of practice and space.
Developing the idea of space as referential to communication, the thesis shows how space becomes the
unconscious but referential substrate which provides a certain form of available organisation to the semantic
field where communication networks are performed, and social structures constantly emerge and fade away in
connections of linguistic acts and spaces. It suggests that a new and active role for space may be identified in
the sociality-spatiality relation: a "semanticised space" as a key dimension of (1) the "communicability of
practice," i.e. the informational connections that mediate the passage from the individual act into the
socialised act that takes part in unfolding social events; and (2) the very possibility of ontological relatedness, seeing space as a dimension of the "strings of reference" that produce the sense of "world-relationality" or
structure, inform socialities of possibilities of acts, and constitute the very possibility of actualisation of acts
through the referentiality of practice, communication and space. Disclosing a "material referentiality" at the
heart of practice, as the crisscrossing of communication, language, and space, it finally suggests the
possibility of space as a counterpart to the elusiveness of forms of communication and relationality in the
social world, such as those semiotic fluxes based on spoken and written language, and electronic and visual
media. In building such a conceptual scheme, the thesis lays down the aims of a "referential approach" to the
materiality of the social world: clarifying space itself in the communicability of practice; clarifying its role for
socialities by showing a referential space as a means to the sociation of acts; and clarifying socialities
themselves by showing how profoundly and pervasively they rely on the referentiality of space.


Abstract Cardinality estimators like HyperLogLog are sketching algorithms that estimate the number of distinct elements in a large multiset. Their use in privacy-sensitive contexts raises the question of whether they leak private information. In particular, can they provide any privacy guarantees while preserving their strong aggregation properties? We formulate an abstract notion of cardinality estimators, that captures this aggregation requirement: one can merge sketches without losing precision. We propose an attacker model and a corresponding privacy definition, strictly weaker than differential privacy: we assume that the attacker has no prior knowledge of the data. We then show that if a cardinality estimator satisfies this definition, then it cannot have a reasonable level of accuracy. We prove similar results for weaker versions of our definition, a nd a nalyze t he p rivacy o f existing algorithms, showing that their average privacy loss is significant, e ven f or m ultisets w ith l arge cardinalities. We conclude that strong aggregation requirements are incompatible with any reasonable definition o f privacy, and that cardinality estimators should be considered as sensitive as raw data. We also propose risk mitigation strategies for their real-world applications.


INTRODUCTION: Age-related changes in locomotor performance and motor task execution strategy have been associated with reduced leg-extensor muscle-tendon unit capacities in old age (Karamanidis & Arampatzis, 2005; Kulmala et al., 2014). However, it remains unclear if leg-extensor muscle strength and tendon stiffness are the primary drivers of these alterations seen with ageing, or if other factors also play a role. We aimed to determine if potential age-related differences in drop jump (DJ) performance and motor task execution strategy would be eliminated in a group of younger and middle-aged adults when triceps surae (TS) muscle strength and Achilles tendon (AT) stiffness were matched. METHODS: Ankle plantarflexion moments and AT stiffness of both legs were assessed in 12 younger (20-30y) and 12 middle-aged (50-65y) adults during isometric plantarflexion contractions using dynamometry and ultrasonography synchronously. Tendon elongation during the loading phase was assessed by visualising the myotendinous junction of the gastrocnemius medialis muscle and stiffness of the AT was determined in the linear region of the force-length relationship. There were no significant differences between the matched young and middle-aged adults in maximal ankle plantarflexion moment (young: 3.2±0.4; middle-aged: 3.1±0.5 Nm/kg) and AT stiffness (580.3±121.8 vs. 590.2±108.4 N/mm). On a second occasion, the matched participants performed a series of DJs from different starting heights (13, 23, 33 and 39 cm) onto a force plate. A two-way ANOVA (factors: age, starting height) was performed in order to detect any age or starting height effects on DJ height and motor task execution strategy. The effect of TS muscle strength and AT stiffness on DJ height was investigated by using Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient. RESULTS: There was no significant age effect for DJ performance, meaning that matched younger and middle-aged adults achieved similar DJ heights, independent of starting height (Fig. 1). Concerning DJ mechanics, there were significant age effects (p<.05) on ground contact time, maximum vertical ground reaction force and mechanical power, with the middle-aged adults showing higher ground contact times (Fig. 2A), but lower forces (Fig. 2B) and lower mechanical power (Fig. 2C) for all starting heights. Significant correlations were found between DJ performance and TS muscle strength and AT stiffness (.41≤r≤.81; p<.05) for all starting heights. DISCUSSION: The results of the current study demonstrate that matching younger and middle-aged adults for TS muscle strength and AT stiffness eliminates age-related differences in the performance of a jumping task, independent of starting height and hence, task demand. However, the age groups used different motor task execution strategies, as measured by ground contact time, ground reaction forces and mechanical power for all starting heights, indicating that while changes in leg extensor muscle strength and tendon stiffness may be the primary drivers of deteriorated locomotor performance in older age, they may not be major contributors to motor task execution strategy during jumping. CONCLUSION: Jumping performance appears to be unaffected when leg extensor muscle strength and tendon stiffness are maintained with age and therefore, countering the degeneration of these properties may help prevent the decline in locomotor performance seen with ageing. REFERENCES: Karamanidis, K., & Arampatzis, A. (2005). Mechanical and morphological properties of different muscle-tendon units in the lower extremity and running mechanics: effect of aging and physical activity. The Journal of Experimental Biology, 208, 3907–23. Kulmala, J.-P., Korhonen, M. T., Kuitunen, S., Suominen, H., Heinonen, A., Mikkola, A., & Avela, J. (2014). Which muscles compromise human locomotor performance with age? Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 11, 20140858.


Modern organizations face many external constraints arising from an external environment characterized by various economic, political, and technology-related forces that reshape business dynamics. Many authors have emphasized that information technology plays a critical role in maintaining competitive advantage of organizations. Agile Information systems are among the instruments proposed by academics and practitioners to help organizations in managing continuous change and overcoming problems induced by external pressures. Nevertheless, building an agile information system able to support the continuously changing organizational processes – is a difficult task notably because, in each organization, information system is a stack of applications developed using methods, languages, and tools which corresponds to different periods and technology eras. The heterogeneity of information systems makes difficult both the maintenance and evolution of existing applications or the development of new applications that must be integrated in the information system. Many solutions have been proposed by academics and practitioners in order to help organizations build agile information systems. Despite their richness, the proposed solutions don't consider the relationships between information systems agility and information systems governance. In this paper, we propose a framework based on the city landscape metaphor which links enterprise architecture and information systems governance.


Abstract. Methane is a strong contributor to global climate change, yet our current understanding and quantification of its sources and their variability is incomplete. There is a growing need for comparisons between emission estimates produced using bottom-up inventory approaches and top-down inversion techniques based on atmospheric measurements, especially at higher spatial resolutions. To meet this need, this study presents using an inversion approach based on the Inversion Technique for Emissions Modelling (InTEM) framework and measurements from four sites in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Atmospheric methane concentrations were recorded at 1–2 minute time-steps at each location within the region of interest. These observations, coupled with the UK Met Office's Lagrangian particle dispersion model, NAME (Numerical Atmospheric dispersion Modelling Environment), were used within InTEM2014 to produce methane emission estimates for a 1-year period (June 2013–May 2014) in this eastern region of the UK (~ 100 × 150 km) at high spatial resolution (up to 4 × 4 km). InTEM2014 was able to produce realistic emissions estimates for East Anglia, and highlighted potential areas of difference from the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI). As this study was part of the UK Greenhouse gAs Uk and Global Emissions (GAUGE) project, observations were included within a national inversion using all eleven measurement sites across the UK to directly compare emission estimates for the East Anglia Region. Results show similar methane estimates for the East Anglia region. Methane emissions from Norfolk and Suffolk show good agreement with the estimates in NAEI, with differences of ~ 5 %. Larger differences are found for Cambridgeshire where our estimate is 22.5 % lower than that of NAEI. The addition of the EA sites within the national inversion system enabled finer spatial resolution and a decrease in the associated uncertainty for that area. Further development of our approach to include a more robust analysis of the methane concentration in the air entering this region and the uncertainty associated with the resulting emissions would strengthen this inverse method. Nonetheless, our results show there is value in high spatial resolution measurement networks and the resulting inversion emission estimates.


Do you need to know what signal type to select for a wireless application? Quickly develop a useful expertise in digital modulation with this practical guide, based on the author's experience of over 30 years in industrial design. You will understand the physical meaning behind the mathematics of wireless signals and learn the intricacies and tradeoffs in signal selection and design. Six modulation families and 12 modulation types are covered in depth, together with a quantitative ranking of relative cost incurred to implement any of 12 modulation types. Extensive discussions of the Shannon Limit, Nyquist filtering, efficiency measures and signal-to-noise measures are provided, radio wave propagation and antennas, multiple access techniques, and signal coding principles are all covered, and spread spectrum and wireless system operation requirements are presented.


The hypothesis that computational models can be reliable enough to be adopted in prognosis and patient care is revolutionizing healthcare. Deep learning, in particular, has been a game changer in building predictive models, thus leading to community-wide data curation efforts. However, due to inherent variabilities in population characteristics and biological systems, these models are often biased to the training datasets. This can be limiting when models are deployed in new environments, when there are systematic domain shifts not known a priori. In this paper, we propose to emulate a large class of domain shifts, that can occur in clinical settings, with a given dataset, and argue that evaluating the behavior of predictive models in light of those shifts is an effective way to quantify their reliability. More specifically, we develop an approach for building realistic scenarios, based on analysis of \textit{disease landscapes} in multi-label classification. Using the openly available MIMIC-III EHR dataset for phenotyping, for the first time, our work sheds light into data regimes where deep clinical models can fail to generalize. This work emphasizes the need for novel validation mechanisms driven by real-world domain shifts in AI for healthcare.


Context: The impulsive phase of solar flares is a time of rapid energy deposition and heating in the lower solar atmosphere, leading to changes in the temperature, density, ionisation and velocity structure of this region. Aims: We aim to study the lower atmosphere during the impulsive phase of a flare using imaging and spectroscopic data from Hinode/EIS, RHESSI and TRACE. We place these observations in context by using a wide range of temperature observations from each instrument. Methods: We analyse sparse raster data from the Hinode/EIS spectrometer to derive the density and line-of-sight velocity in flare footpoints, in a GOES C6.6 flare observed on 05-June-2007. The raster duration was 150s across the centre of a small active region, allowing multiple exposures of the flare ribbons and footpoints. Using RHESSI and Hinode/XRT we test both non-thermal and thermal models for the HXR emission. Results: During the flare impulsive phase, we find evidence from XRT for flare footpoints at temperatures exceeding 7 MK. We measure the electron number density increasing up to a few ×10¹⁰ cm⁻³ in the footpoints, at temperatures of \~1.5-2 MK, accompanied by small downflows at temperatures below Fe XIII and upflows of up to \~140 km s⁻¹ at temperatures above. This is reasonable in the context of HXR diagnostics of the flare electron beam. The electrons inferred have sufficient energy to affect the chromospheric ionisation structure. Conclusions: EIS sparse raster data coupled with RHESSI imaging and spectroscopy prove useful here in studying the lower atmosphere of solar flares, and in this event suggest heat deposition relatively high in the chromosphere drives chromospheric evaporation while increasing the observed electron densities at footpoints. However, from RHESSI spectral fitting it is not possible to say whether the data are more consistent with a model including a non-thermal beam, or purely thermal model.


Recent photoabsorption measurements have revealed a rich fine structure in the collective charge-density excitation spectrum of few-electron quantum dots in the presence of magnetic fields. We have performed systematic computational studies of the far-infrared density response of quantum dots, using time-dependent density-functional theory in the linear regime and treating the dots as two-dimensional disks. It turns out that the main characteristics observed in the experiment can be understood in terms of the electronic shell structure of the quantum dots. However, additional features arise if a breaking of the circular symmetry of the dots is allowed, leading to an improved description of the experimental results.


This story is not a story at all. It all happened. On New Year's Day Becky Morley begins to write her diary. By March, her world has changed for ever. Foot-and-mouth disease breaks out on a pig farm hundreds of miles from the Morleys' Devon home, but soon the nightmare is a few fields away. Local sheep are infected and every animal is destroyed. Will the Morleys' flock be next? Will their pedigree dairy herd, the sows with their piglets, and Little Josh, Becky's hand-reared lamb, survive? Or will they be slaughtered too? The waiting and hoping is the most agonizing experience of Becky's life ...


Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was one of the leading figures of twentieth-century architecture. For architects and many others who are committed to the modernist tradition, he is a pivotal figure. With in-depth, scholarly essays and opulent photographs and plans, this book traces the multifaceted development of his work, including his first Berlin buildings, his villa projects, his work at the Bauhaus in the 1930s, and his American projects of the postwar years. Jean-Louis Cohen was the director of the Institut francais d'architecture until 2003 and is currently a professor at New York University. He has an established reputation as a leading international historian of architecture. His broad and encompassing perspective makes this book a reliable and comprehensive introduction to the work of Mies van der Rohe.


This article reports on employees' perceptions of the treatment of employees from designated groups in the workplace. The objective of the study was to identify the components of workplace treatment that indicate the perceived treatment of employees from designated groups.  The study further investigated the influence of  demographic factors on these perceptions.  A quantitative approach was followed, and a questionnaire was developed to collect data pertaining to employees' biographical details and their perceptions of the treatment of employees from designated groups in the workplace.  The population consisted of 29 688 employees at a leading South African bank and a sample of 1720 was used. A disproportionate, stratified sampling method was adopted and a sample of 349 employees participated. Factor analysis, correlations, T-tests and analysis of variance statistics were computed to achieve the objectives.  The factor analysis identified four factors relating to the treatment of employees from designated groups: task autonomy, respect, responsibility and realistic expectations. The results of the T-tests revealed that race, years of service and staff category do influence employees' perceptions of the treatment of workers from designated groups in terms of task autonomy and respect. Black respondents, unlike white respondents, believe that employees from designated groups are not treated with respect, nor are they accorded task autonomy.  This study represents a vital step towards a better understanding of the dimensionality of perceptions of fair and just treatment and should ultimately contribute to more effective treatment of all employees in the workplace.


Kunttu, Heidi Characterizing the bacterial fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare, and some factors affecting its pathogenicity Jyvaskyla: University of Jyvaskyla, 2010, 69 p. (Jyvaskyla Studies in Biological and Environmental Science ISSN 1456-9701; 206) ISBN 978-951-39-3867-3 (PDF), 978-951-39-3853-6 (nid.) Yhteenveto: Kalapatogeeni Flavobacterium columnare -bakteerin ominaisuuksia ja patogeenisuuteen vaikuttavia tekijoita Diss. Flavobacterium columnare is a bacterial pathogen of fresh water fish causing lethal columnaris disease worldwide. At Finnish fish farms, columnaris disease has occurred since the early 1980s, and is a serious problem in salmonid farming in Finland. Currently, the only effective treatment is with antibiotics. Factors related to the pathogenicity of F. columnare, transmission of columnaris disease and the immunity of salmonids to columnaris infections are poorly known. F. columnare strains isolated from Finnish fish farms were characterized genoand phenotypically, virulence and transmission experiments were conducted, and the efficacy of two immunostimulants against columnaris infections in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum) fingerlings was evaluated. Finnish F. columnare strains constituted a genetically homogeneous group that differed from strains isolated from other parts of the world and tolerated narrower pH and salinity ranges than F. columnare type strain (NCIMB 2248T). Finnish strains could be divided into seven genetic groups, which can co-occur during the same outbreak at fish farms. Among the genetic groups, four colony types were formed. Formation of rhizoid colonies is suggested to be a prerequisite for virulence of F. columnare. Colony types may have a role in the infection process and persistence of F. columnare at fish farms. The bacterium was able to survive in fresh water and also as a saprophyte, and to use saprophytism as a transmission strategy. These properties, together with cooccurrence of different genetic groups, may promote the continuous nature of outbreaks at fish farms and lead to development of highly virulent F. columnare strains. Immunostimulation was effective in boosting innate immune defence parameters of rainbow trout, but was inefficient in protecting fish against F. columnare infections. This suggests that antibody-mediated immunity is also essential in protecting fish from columnaris disease.


One of the aims of university education is to prepare an independent researcher who is able to process and manage information flow and think critically. The task of making an oral presentation is very effective in developing indispensable professional skills and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) skills. In addition, it allows an ESP teacher to combine autonomous learning with social interaction in the classroom. The object of the research is focused on the ESP teaching/learning. This object has been chosen due to its importance and relevance in the overall academic setting as well as for the formation of individual professional skills of students. The main question raised in the research is how presentation preparation task and its outcomes add up to the improvement of professional skills. Thus the research was carried out aiming to reveal that preparation for a presentation stimulates learner independence (autonomy), the follow-up tasks (prepared by students) and discussion enhance social interaction and students gain valuable research skills. As a research tool a questionnaire was designed to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data. The main questions addressed were: (1) how does preparation for a presentation stimulate learner independence (autonomy)? (2) how do the follow-up tasks and discussion enhance social interaction? and (3) what skills do students gain while implementing the task? The research proved that preparation for a presentation and the subsequent performance supplemented by language use tasks designed by students themselves (i) catalyse learner independence (autonomy), (ii) assist the learner and his group mates in acquiring indispensable scientific research skills and ESP skills, and (iii) develop critical thinking.


The rationale for the definition of a set of paths referred to as "hyperpath" is that some uncertainty (for example waiting time) means that the choice of a specific option is not being pre-determined. Rather the choice process is assumed to occur on two levels. At a "strategic level" a passenger defines a set of paths any of which might be potentially optimal, and at "a tactic level" a specific path out of these is chosen depending on events occurring en-route. This paper discusses that the same concept of hyperpath might also be true for passengers already on on-board a transit vehicle. The uncertainty in this case arises from the seat availability. The paper extends an earlier version of the frequency-based transit assignment model with seat capacity by Schmocker et al (2009) to describe that passengers choose their alighting point depending on whether they have obtained a seat or not. This behaviour is compared to the "deterministic" case where passengers have decided their alighting point independent of whether they might obtain a seat or not during the journey.


In 2006, the income for tourism activity in Mexico was nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 5.5% with respect to 2005. A lack of development planning could produce significant pressure on coastal systems, which could generate a shortage of resources, landscape deterioration, pollution, and loss of biodiversity. Future planning must include the analysis and integration of environmental, social, and economic aspects. This study aims to propose a planning scheme for tourism activities in the coastal zone of Loreto Bay in the Gulf of California, using a prospective analysis. The methods used in this study include micro region zoning through a Geographical Information System (GIS) and capacity of use evaluation. Based on the physical, biological, economical and social characteristics of the study area and the integration of fragility, pressure, and vulnerability indicators, 21 environmental units are proposed. Results showed that the predominant environmental policy would be management within 77.9% of the total area, while conservation policy would represent 22.1% of the area. The sites with major anthropogenic perturbation would need an environmental management policy, allowing high capacity tourism with the encouragement of sustainable tourism, but eliminating and further excluding any extreme use or high impact tourism. This methodology allows the determination of areas or zones suitable for tourism activity development. It will be necessary for the Mexican government to define and implement, with integrated criteria, the areas of relevant zones for sustainable tourism development in the Gulf of California with a better characterization, diagnosis, and prospective analysis to meet the long term sustainable development goals in this Gulf of California region.


The overthrow of the regime of President Ben Ali in Tunisia on 14 January 2011 took the world by surprise. The popular revolt in this small Arab country and the effect it had on the wider Arab world prompted questions as to why there had been so little awareness of it up until that point. It also revealed a more general lack of knowledge about the surrounding western part of the Arab world, or the Maghreb, which had long attracted a tiny fraction of the outside interest shown in the eastern Arab world of Egypt, the Levant and the Gulf. This book examines the politics of the three states of the central Maghreb - Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco - since their achievement of independence from European colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. It explains the political dynamics of the region by looking at the roles played by various actors such as the military, political parties and Islamist movements and addresses issues such as Berber identity and the role played by economics, as well as how the states of the region interact with each other and with the wider world.


A number of experimental models of blast brain injury have been implemented in rodents and larger animals. However, the variety of blast sources and the complexity of blast wave biophysics have made data on injury mechanisms and biomarkers difficult to analyze and compare. Recently, we showed the importance of rat position toward blast generated by an external shock tube. In this study, we further characterized blast producing moderate traumatic brain injury and defined "composite" blast and primary blast exposure set-ups. Schlieren optics visualized interaction between the head and a shock wave generated by external shock tube, revealing strong head acceleration upon positioning the rat on-axis with the shock tube (composite blast), but negligible skull movement upon peak overpressure exposure off-axis (primary blast). Brain injury signatures of a primary blast hitting the frontal head were assessed and compared to damage produced by composite blast. Low to negligible levels of neurodegeneration were found following primary blast compared to composite blast by silver staining. However, persistent gliosis in hippocampus and accumulation of GFAP/CNPase in circulation was detected after both primary and composite blast. Also, markers of vascular/endothelial inflammation integrin alpha/beta, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, and L-selectin along with neurotrophic factor nerve growth factor-beta were increased in serum within 6 h post-blasts and persisted for 7 days thereafter. In contrast, systemic IL-1, IL-10, fractalkine, neuroendocrine peptide Orexin A, and VEGF receptor Neuropilin-2 (NRP-2) were raised predominantly after primary blast exposure. In conclusion, biomarkers of major pathological pathways were elevated at all blast set-ups. The most significant and persistent changes in neuro-glial markers were found after composite blast, while primary blast instigated prominent systemic cytokine/chemokine, Orexin A, and Neuropilin-2 release, particularly when primary blast impacted rats with unprotected body.


Skeptics and champions of the use of arbitration for consumer and employment disputes do not agree about much, but each group views arbitration as an individuated dispute resolution process. According to many skeptics, arbitration prevents consumer and employee claimants from aggregating their claims (by formal or informal means) and thus forces these claimants into individualized proceedings where neither they nor their lawyers can counter the advantages presumably enjoyed by more powerful, repeat-player businesses. I call this the individuation critique. In reply, arbitration proponents defend its fairness as a forum and advance efficiency arguments in its favor, but they generally do not suggest that arbitration could or should facilitate the aggregation of consumer and employee claims. This article calls into question skeptics' and proponents' shared conception of arbitration. Relying in part on evidence from the recent, and rather unusual, phenomenon of class arbitration, I argue that the individuation critique may overestimate the extent to which arbitration agreements and arbitration procedures currently individuate the disputing process. Moreover, I argue that arbitration may have significant potential to facilitate formal and informal aggregation, especially for consumer claimants. Class arbitration illustrates this potential most clearly, for it may enable forms of collective adjudication that are unavailable to litigants in court. Even in individual disputes, however, arbitration might facilitate aggregation in informal but important ways. For example, although arbitrators generally do not create or follow precedent, evidence from pending class arbitrations suggests that they may be strongly influenced by other arbitrators' decisions in similar cases. Under the right conditions, arbitrators may produce something akin to informal precedent, and this possibility may encourage plaintiffs' lawyers to invest in creating rules from which multiple claimants can benefit. I conclude by suggesting some reforms to arbitration provider policies that might encourage specialized, repeat-player lawyers to accept, even seek out, arbitration cases and to make meaningful investments in these disputes.


Patient: Male, 47 Final Diagnosis: Bilateral psoas abscess • acute lower extremity deep vein thrombosis • bilateral pulmonary embolism Symptoms: Progressive left leg swelling • productive cough with whitish sputum • right flank pain Medication: Antibiotics and anticoagulation Clinical Procedure: CT-guided percutaneous drain placement Specialty: Internal Medicine/Critical Care Objective: Unusual presentation Background: Psoas abscesses are a known cause of back pain, but they have not been reported as a cause of acute lower extremity thromboses and bilateral pulmonary emboli. We report a patient with bilateral psoas abscesses causing extensive pulmonary emboli through compression of the iliac vein. Case Report: A 47-year-old man presented with bilateral leg swelling over 4 weeks. Physical examination revealed a thin male with bilateral leg swelling, extending to the thigh on his left side. He had hemoglobin of 10.5 g/dl, leukocytosis of 16 000/ml, and an elevated D-dimer. A computed tomography (CT) angiogram of his chest showed extensive bilateral pulmonary emboli and infarcts. He remained febrile with vague flank pain, prompting a CT of his abdomen and pelvis that showed large, multiloculated, septated, bilateral psoas abscesses with compression of the left femoral vein by the left psoas abscess and a thrombus distal to the occlusion. Two liters of pus was drained from the left psoas abscess by CT-guidance, and although the Gram staining showed Gram-positive cocci in clusters, cultures from the abscess and blood were negative. A repeat CT showed resolution of the abscesses, and the drain was removed. He was discharged to a nursing home to complete a course of intravenous antibiotics and anticoagulation. Conclusions: Although the infectious complications of psoas abscesses have been described in the literature, the mechanical complications of bilateral psoas abscesses are lacking. It is important to assess for complete resolution of psoas abscesses through follow-up imaging to prevent venous thromboembolic events.


The meridional transport of salt is computed in a global eddy-resolving numerical model (1/12° resolution) in order to improve our understanding of the ocean salinity budget. A methodology is proposed that allows a global analysis of the salinity balance in relation to surface water fluxes, without defining a "freshwater anomaly" based on an arbitrary reference salinity. The method consists of a decomposition of the meridional transport into (i) the transport by the time–longitude–depth mean velocity, (ii) time–mean velocity recirculations and (iii) transient eddy perturbations. Water is added (rainfall and rivers) or removed (evaporation) at the ocean surface at different latitudes, which creates convergences and divergences of mass transport with maximum and minimum values close to ±1 Sv. The resulting meridional velocity effects a net transport of salt at each latitude (±30 Sv PSU), which is balanced by the time–mean recirculations and by the net effect of eddy salinity–velocity correlations. This balance ensures that the total meridional transport of salt is close to zero, a necessary condition for maintaining a quasi-stationary salinity distribution. Our model confirms that the eddy salt transport cannot be neglected: it is comparable to the transport by the time–mean recirculation (up to 15 Sv PSU) at the poleward and equatorial boundaries of the subtropical gyres. Two different mechanisms are found: eddy contributions are localized in intense currents such as the Kuroshio at the poleward boundary of the subtropical gyres, while they are distributed across the basins at the equatorward boundaries. Closer to the Equator, salinity–velocity correlations are mainly due to the seasonal cycle and large-scale perturbations such as tropical instability waves.


Jensen and Helles' model for studying the Internet as a cultural forum describes six prototypical communicative practices based on synchronicity and number of participants. This study seeks to examine the validity of their model in a broader intercultural setting. Using data from a large-scale, cross-European research project, the study reveals that mass media, particularly the synchronous media (television and radio), maintain their place as the most time-consuming communicative practice, and that there is a somewhat greater intensity of many-to-many practices than one-to-one practices. Many significant differences among subsegments of the sample are also reported. The results reflect inclinations and trends that were well documented in recent audience research. Consequently, they support the applicability of the model and demonstrate its strength.


Abstract. We examine the influence of the grid aspect ratio of horizontal to vertical grid spacing on turbulence in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in a large-eddy simulation (LES). In order to clarify and distinguish them from other artificial effects caused by numerical schemes, we used a fully compressible meteorological LES model with a fully explicit scheme of temporal integration. The influences are investigated with a series of sensitivity tests with parameter sweeps of spatial resolution and grid aspect ratio. We confirmed that the mixing length of the eddy viscosity and diffusion due to sub-grid-scale turbulence plays an essential role in reproducing the theoretical −5/3 slope of the energy spectrum. If we define the filter length in LES modeling based on consideration of the numerical scheme, and introduce a corrective factor for the grid aspect ratio into the mixing length, the theoretical slope of the energy spectrum can be obtained; otherwise, spurious energy piling appears at high wave numbers. We also found that the grid aspect ratio has influence on the turbulent statistics, especially the skewness of the vertical velocity near the top of the PBL, which becomes spuriously large with large aspect ratio, even if a reasonable spectrum is obtained.


Diel dynamics of marine bacterioplankton was monitored at sampling sites in the Both- nian Sea (NB1) and the Mediterranean Sea (Villefranche Bay). At both locations, considerable diel variation was found in bacterial production, with highest values recorded during midday and lower values during night and early morning. The abundance of bacteria scored by the number of nucleoid- containing cells (NUCC) also changed during the day, with minimum numbers during midday. The bacterial turnover rate based on thymidine incorporation and NUCC varied between 0.22-0.31 and 0.48-2.40 d -1 in the Bothnian Sea and Mediterranean, respectively. There was a significant positive correlation between the community turnover rate and phosphate concentration both in the Bothnian Sea and in the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, nutrient addition experiments showed that phosphate was the least available 'commodity' for the bacterial community. Combined addition of phosphate and glucose stimulated bacterial growth more than a single addition of either substrate alone, reaching a bacterial turnover of 2.4 d -1 . This value was equal to the maximum turnover rate found in situ during the daily cycle. Our results suggest that bacterioplankton rapidly adjust their growth rate in response to diel changes in nutrient supply.


This study utilized retrospective reports from a sample of college students and their primary care giver during childhood to examine the interplay among parent and adolescent personality, parent psychopathology, parenting behaviors, and adolescent outcomes, specifically substance use and risky sexual behavior. It was hypothesized that positive parent and adolescent personality traits, low levels of parent psychopathology, and high levels of warmth and demandingness, would reduce the severity of adolescent outcomes of substance use and risky sexual behaviors. Multiple linear regression analyses resulted in a significant equation to predict risky sexual behavior (F (15,127) = 2.26, p < .012), with an R2 of .198. Significant predictors of risky sexual behavior included permissive parenting style, parent internalizing psychopathology, and adolescent neuroticism. A significant equation was also found to predict substance use (F (15, 125) = 2.26, p < .008), with an R2 of .21. Significant predictors of substance use behaviors included adolescent neuroticism and extraversion. Findings illuminate the influence of personality characteristics in particular, on adolescent behavior. Findings suggest also that parenting variables, specifically parenting style and internalizing psychopathology, are better at predicting risky sexual behavior (i.e., not using contraception) than they are at predicting substance use in emerging adults. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research will be discussed.


of a dissertation at the University of Miami. Dissertation supervised by Kerry Burnstein, Ph.D. No. of pages in text. (129) Advanced or metastatic prostate cancer is treated by androgen deprivation; however, patients inevitably relapse with castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). CRPC remains dependent on androgen receptor (AR) signaling, which may include constitutive, ligand-independent action of naturally occurring AR splice variants. For example, the AR splice variant AR3 (also termed AR-V7) is expressed in CRPC and is linked to poor prognosis. Vav3, a Rho GTPase guanine nucleotide exchange factor, is an AR coactivator that is up-regulated in human prostate cancer, compared to benign tissue, and in pre-clinical models of CRPC. Vav3 confers castration-resistant growth to androgen-dependent human prostate cancer cells. Despite the importance of AR coactivators in promoting CRPC, the potential role of these regulatory proteins in modulating AR splice variant activity is unknown. We examined the contributions of Vav3 to AR activity in two CRPC cell lines that naturally express relatively high levels of Vav3 and AR3. Vav3 or AR3 knockdown greatly attenuated cell proliferation, soft agar growth and ligandindependent AR activity. Vav3 potently enhanced the transcriptional activity of AR3 and several other clinically relevant AR splice variants including ARv567es, AR1/2/3/2b, AR1/2/3/CE1, and AR1/2/3/CE2. Vav3 knockdown resulted in lowered nuclear AR3 levels while total AR3 levels remained similar. Conversely, overexpression of Vav3 resulted in increased nuclear AR3. Co-immunoprecipitation revealed that AR3 and Vav3 interact yet Vav3 and full length AR failed to show convincing interaction under the same conditions. Mutation studies demonstrated that Vav3 enhances AR3 activity by a mechanism distinct from AR coactivation. The Diffuse B-cell lymphoma (DH) domain of Vav3 is critical for coactivation of AR3 but not full length AR. Overexpression of the DH domain disrupted Vav3-AR interaction and impaired Vav3-mediated enhancement of AR3 activity but not full length AR activity. Furthermore, disruption of AR3-Vav3 interaction led to decreased anchorage dependent and independent growth of castration resistant prostate cancer cells expressing both AR3 and Vav3. Additional studies were directed at identifying AR3 and Vav3 target genes that promote growth and survival of prostate cancer cells. These novel data demonstrating physical and functional interactions between Vav3, a unique AR coactivator, and all forms of AR provide insights into the mechanisms by which Vav3 exploits and enhances AR signaling in the progression to CRPC.


From best friends James Bowen and street cat Bob, stars of the number one bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob, comes a special edition of The World According to Bob for children aged 11 and above. Best friends James Bowen and street cat Bob have been on a remarkable journey together. In the years since their story ended in BOB: NO ORDINARY CAT James, with Bob's help, has begun to find his way in the world. Along with the adventures and the fun there have been tough times too, but through moments of real danger and sometimes illness Bob has always been there as James' protector and guardian angel. FOR THE LOVE OF BOB is the is the incredible story of James and Bob's life-saving friendship, and the lessons James has learnt from his street-wise cat.


Pollinator-mediated selection has been suggested to play a major role for the origin and maintenance of the species diversity in orchids. Sexually deceptive orchids are one of the prime examples for rapid, pollinator-mediated plant radiations, with many species showing little genetic differentiation, lack of postzygotic barriers, but strong prezygotic reproductive isolation. These orchids mimic mating signals of female insects and employ male insects as pollinators. This kind of sexual mimicry leads to highly specialised pollination and provides a good system for investigating the process of pollinator-driven speciation. Here, we summarise the knowledge of key processes of speciation in this group of orchids and conduct a meta-analysis on traits that contribute to species differentiation, and thus potentially to speciation. Our study suggests that pollinator shift through changes in floral scent is predominant among closely related species in sexually deceptive orchids. Such shifts can provide a mechanism for pollinator-driven speciation in plants, if the resulting floral isolation is strong. Furthermore, changes in floral scent in these orchids are likely controlled by few genes. Together these factors suggest speciation in sexually deceptive orchids may happen rapidly and even in sympatry, which may explain the remarkable species diversity observed in this plant group.


A visible wavelength linear photosensor featuring a pixel size of 3mm has been designed for fabrication using commercial 0.25 mm CMOS technology. For the photo-sensing element, the design uses a special ''deep N-well'' in P-epi diode offered by the foundry for imaging devices. Pixel reset is via an adjacent p-FET, thus allowing high reset voltages for a wide pixel voltage swing. The pixel voltage is buffered using a voltage-follower op-amp and a sampling scheme is used to allow correlated double sampling (CDS) for removal of reset noise. Reset and signal levels are buffered through a 16:1 multiplexer to a switched capacitor amplifier which performs the CDS function. Incorporated in the CDS circuit is a programmable gain of 1–8 for increased signal-to-noise ratio at low signal levels. Data output is via 4 analogue output drivers for off-chip conversion. Each driver supplies a differential output voltage with a 71V swing for improved power supply noise rejection. The readout circuitry is designed for 12 bit accuracy at frame rates of up to 6.25 kHz. This gives a peak data rate at each output driver of 10M samples/s. The device will operate on a 3.3V supply and will dissipate approximately 950mW. Simulations indicate an equivalent noise charge at the pixel of 66.3 e for a full well capacity of 255,000 e , giving a dynamic range of 71.7 dB. r 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 95.55.Aq; 85.60.Gz; 07.07.Df


Laboratory experiments were used in conjunction with a two-dimensional depth-averaged numerical flow model, RBFVM-2D, to investigate the relationship between flow velocity distribution and scour depth around an abutment. Velocities obtained by the RBFVM-2D model varied up to 15% relative to the data recorded during this study. Location of the maximum velocity as predicted by the numerical model, however, differed from the actual measured data in that the experimental maximum was found in close proximity to the nose of the abutment, whereas RBFVM-2D predicts that the maximum velocity will occur further downstream near the centerline of the contracted region. Results were compared with values produced by the equations of past investigators for the given flow conditions. The dimensionless parameters of interest in this study are in good agreement with the values predicted by these other equations. Furthermore, dimensionless analysis reveals tendencies yielded by the experimental data agree with the results Tey (1984) had obtained from a similar experiment. As such, an objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between scour depth and the local maximum velocity for the engineering purposes of design and analysis.


An exact theory describing the electromagnetic plane-wave force density on a scattering
slab having various constitutive parameters and embedded in a background material with complex
impedance is presented. It is shown that the constitutive parameters of the background medium
contribute to the force density only through the impedance and not the refractive index. Asymptotic
expressions show that the total force per unit area for sufficiently thick slabs having overall loss
or gain remains positive, irrespective of the refractive index sign in the slab. However, example
material responses indicate that for thin slabs the total force per unit area can be negative for
both positive and negative refractive index slabs with gain.


The article covers the trends of the agribusiness development in Russia. It is shown that it is desirable to develop organizational-economic forms of entrepreneurship based on the cluster approach in the modern realities. The most famous agribusiness clusters in the world are explored. Regions of Russia that have achieved the most significant results in agribusiness clustering are mentioned. It is found that the establishment of agribusiness in Russia is defined by the political decision of regional authorities rather than based on research and development. An algorithm for establishing the agribusiness cluster is proposed, which includes four stages: methodological, analytical, organizational-economic and control. The key areas of state support for the development of agribusiness clusters in Russia are defined.


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To the Editor: Changes in spleen structure, frequently encountered during malaria, may result either in a simple asymptomatic enlargement or in serious complications such as hematoma, rupture, or infarction (1–3). Hematoma or infarction of the spleen might be followed by the development of a splenic abscess, a clinical condition that has been reported in only 1 patient, to our knowledge (4).

A 21-year-old woman sought treatment at the hospital outpatient department of "Emergency," an Italian nongovernmental organization (NGO) in Freetown, Sierra Leone in May 2004, reporting malaise and persisting dull abdominal pain, accompanied by isolated episodes of spiking fever. Several recurrent malaria attacks (Plasmodium falciparum) had been reported by this patient in the last 2 months. At physical examination, conjunctival pallor and a tender, enormously distended abdomen were observed. A large abdominal mass, extending from the xiphoid process to the pubis, was palpable. Lymph nodes (neck, axillary, inguinal) were normal. Laboratory features showed severe anemia (hemoglobin 62 g/L; hematocrit 0.24), with low platelet count (90 × 103/μL) and elevated leukocyte count (130 × 103/μL), together with a moderate increase in liver enzymes (both aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were more than twice the upper limit of normal values). No malaria parasites were observed on blood smear at admission. Results of an HIV test were negative as were results of a sickle cell test, and hemoglobin electrophoresis results were normal. Other evident septic foci (e.g., typhoid fever, urinary tract infection, osteomyelitis) were excluded. Stool and urine examination excluded schistosomiasis. Blood cultures were not available.

An abdominal radiograph showed intraperitoneal fluid without distension of the bowel, whereas results of an abdominal ultrasound, performed in a private laboratory, diagnosed a large tumor on the left ovary. After receiving a blood transfusion (2 units) and intravenous antimicrobial drug treatment (ampicillin 500 mg 4 times/day, chloramphenicol 1 g 2 times/day, and metronidazole 500 mg, 2 times/day), the patient was scheduled for an exploratory laparotomy. Abdominal paracentesis was performed the day before surgery, and 2 L of thick brownish fluid was extracted.

An explorative laparotomy found ≈3 L of infected fluid in the peritoneal cavity. Widespread fibrin membranes covered thickened ileal loops. The mass was found to consist almost entirely a very large abscess on the spleen (Figure), which contained ≈5 L of pus. Dense adhesions were observed between the spleen, greater omentum, liver, and ileal loops. The liver was normal, and portal hypertension was not found. After splenectomy, the spleen's length was found to be 48 cm, and its weight was 6 kg. On histologic examination, splenic tissue was found to have been replaced by congested inflammatory infiltrates and fibrotic tissue. Leishmaniasis was excluded at microscopic examination. The patient completely recovered after surgery.

Figure

Dimensions of the abscess cavity are shown during the operation.

An enlarged spleen is found in 50% to 80% of malaria patients (1), while only 25 cases of splenic rupture have been reported since 1960 (0%–2% in natural occurring infection) (5). A break of a contained hematoma is usually involved in splenic rupture, which occurs almost exclusively during acute infection and the primary attack (6). The incidence of splenic hematoma without rupture is unknown (2).

Spleen infarction is rarer than rupture and may go unnoticed. Only 9 documented cases of splenic infarction associated with malaria have been reported (3), all consequent to P. falciparum infection (except in 1 patient who was coinfected with P. vivax and 2 cases in which the etiologic agent was unknown). Splenic rupture following infarction has not yet been described.

Recently, an abscess of the spleen caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis has been reported as a complication of P. falciparum malaria (4) and, to our knowledge, is the only case in the literature definitely related to Plasmodium infection. Indeed, splenic hematoma or infarction, together with the humoral and cellular immunodepression due to malaria, might well be predisposing factors for bacterial (e.g., salmonellae) colonization of the spleen from the gut, as likely happened in this patient, although cultures of the pus, blood, or intraabdominal fluid were not performed. Bacteremia caused by nontyphoidal salmonellae was significantly associated with malaria parasitemia (7), and splenic abscess has been recently reported as an atypical presentation of salmonellosis (8). Splenic abscesses caused by Salmonella infection usually occur on preexisting lesions (4) and have been increasingly reported recently (9).

Because of its insidious symptoms, a spleen abscess remains a diagnostic challenge in developing countries, where ultrasounds and computed tomographic scans are not easily accessible. Moreover, as in our patient, a spleen abscess is unlikely to develop as an immediate complication of malaria.

While splenectomy was the only possible treatment in this patient, a conservative approach, whenever possible, is always desirable, especially in the tropics, where the exposure to infective agents is particularly widespread. The overall prognosis of splenic abscesses remains discouraging, with 13%–16% of cases resulting in death (9), mainly consequent to late diagnosis and admission to a hospital. The growing volume of international travel will likely lead to an increase in the incidence of splenic complications in malaria patients, even in areas where the disease is not endemic. Therefore, clinicians should always keep the possibility of a superimposed abscess in mind.


Executive functioning (EF) facilitates the development of academic, cognitive, and social-emotional skills and deficits in EF are implicated in a broad range of child psychopathologies. Although EF has clear implications for early development, the few questionnaires that assess EF in preschoolers tend to ask parents for global judgments of executive dysfunction and thus do not cover the full range of EF within the preschool age group. Here we present a new measure of preschoolers' EF—the Ratings of Everyday Executive Functioning (REEF)—that capitalizes on parents' observations of their preschoolers' (i.e., 3- to 5-year-olds) behavior in specific, everyday contexts. Over 4 studies, items comprising the REEF were refined and the measure's reliability and validity were evaluated. Factor analysis of the REEF yielded 1 factor, with items showing strong internal reliability. More important, children's scores on the REEF related to both laboratory measures of EF and another parent-report EF questionnaire. Moreover, reflecting divergent validity, the REEF was more strongly related to measures of EF as opposed to measures of affective styles. The REEF also captured differences in children's executive skills across the preschool years, and norms at 6-month intervals are reported. In summary, the REEF is a new parent-report measure that provides researchers with an efficient, valid, and reliable means of assessing preschoolers' executive functioning.


In view of the unique biological characteristics of mangroves, it is interesting to assess the extent to which these ecosystems can be used as indicators of coastal change or sea-level rise. From recent studies of mangrove mortality at several locations (including Guiana, Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, India and Bangladesh), it appears that these coastal ecosystems are so specialized that any minor variation in their hydrological or tidal regimes causes noticeable mortality. Each species of mangrove (but particularly those belonging to the genera Rhizophora, Bruguiera, Sonneratia, Heritiera and Nypa) occurs in ecological conditions that approach its limit of tolerance with regard to salinity of the water and soil, as well as the inundation regime. If the duration of daily immersion were to be modified by tectonic, sedimentological or hydrological events, the species either readjusts to the new conditions or succumbs to unsuitable conditions. Consequently, the use of remote sensing data for mangrove ecosystems offers excellent potential as a tool for monitoring coastal change.


This study presents a history of the Islamic banking sector, its accountability and regulation in Pakistan, set in its contexts of the rise of Islamic banking internationally in a global finance marketplace alongside the localized Islamization of Pakistan's economy. The historical analysis is informed by the Economic Theory of the State and the principles of Islamic theocracy, and examines the events leading to the establishment of the Islamic banking system in Pakistan, government accountability and regulatory strategies, and the market response. The findings reveal the complexity of attempts to reform Pakistan's banking sector into a purely Islamic-based system and the contests between government, the central bank and religious authorities for the sector's accountability, regulation and control. The re-emergence of a dual banking system and its accountability and regulation for both economic management and theocratic purposes illustrates the ongoing compromise and accommodation between national religious culture and a global financial environment.


Background People with prodromal symptoms have a very high risk of developing psychosis. Aims To use functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the neurocognitive basis of this vulnerability. Method Cross-sectional comparison of regional activation in individuals with an 'at-risk mental state' (at-risk group: n=17), patients with first-episode schizophreniform psychosis (psychosis group: n=10) and healthy volunteers (controls: n=15) during an overt verbal fluency task and an N-back working memory task. Results A similar pattern of between-group differences in activation was evident across both tasks. Activation in the at-risk group was intermediate relative to that in controls and the psychosis group in the inferior frontal and anterior cingulate cortex during the verbal fluency task and in the inferior frontal, dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortex during the N-back task. Conclusions The at-risk mental state is associated with abnormalities of regional brain function that are qualitatively similar to, but less severe than, those in patients who have recently presented with psychosis.


This essay explores the idea of 'bio-politics' in relation to the modern city. The concept is traced through its original Foucauldian formulation to more recent explorations of the relationship between the body and the city. We explore the idea through the emergence of discourses on hygiene, public health and differing conceptions of 'urban order'. We find that the bio-political dynamics of urban space encompass both juridical and dispersed sources of power in modern societies. It is concluded that existing conceptions of power in urban space need to take account of those diffuse sources of power that enable the modern city to function in spite of its contradictory dynamics. We also need to contend with those 'zones of indistinction' which appear to lie outside conventional urban discourse yet reveal much about the hidden dimensions of urban modernity.


This paper is an expanded version of a talk given at a Generic Skills Workshop at the University of Wollongong, and was intended for academic staff from any discipline and general staff with an interest in teaching. The issues considered in the paper include the capacity of all to learn, the distinction between learning as understanding and learning as information, the interaction between the communication and content of ideas, the tension between perception and content in communication between persons, and the human functions of a love of learning. In teaching, the creation of a fear-free environment is emphasised, as is the use of analogy as a means of breaking out of one discipline and making connections with another, with mathematics and history being used as a possible example. Some of the issues raised are explored in more depth in the notes at the end of the paper, to which there are references in the main text. About the author. Rodney Nillsen studied literature, mathematics and science at the University of Tasmania. He proceeded to postgraduate study at The Flinders University of South Australia, studying mathematics under Igor Kluvánek and, through him, coming into contact with the European intellectual tradition. He held academic positions at the Royal University of Malta and the University College of Swansea, Wales. Upon returning to Australia, he took up a lecturing position at the University of Wollongong, where he continues to teach and conduct research in pure mathematics. At the University he is a member of Academic Senate and is the Chair of the Human Research Ethics Committee. He received a Doctor of Science degree from the University of Tasmania in 2000. His interests include literature, classical music and the enjoyment of nature.


Purpose: To assess the feasibility of multiple-bolus dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the pancreas; to optimize the analysis; and to
investigate the application of the method to glucose challenge in type II diabetes. This has
the benefit of using MRI as a diagnostic tool for investigating diabetes Type II and
developing diabetes medications.
Materials and Method: The study was approved by the Local Research Ethics Committee
and all subjects gave written informed consent written informed consent was obtained.
Method 1: Three non-diabetic volunteers (two women aged 26 and 31 years respectively
and one man aged 41 years) underwent 3D RF-spoiled fast field echo-GRE, non enhanced
axial planes to optimize and develop high resolution pancreatic MR imaging protocol using
3.0T MR scanner. Qualitative and quantitative assessments were done to measure the image
quality of the resultant images, and statistical significances for the pancreas and the
surrounding organs using different MR imaging pulse sequences were calculated using an
analysis of variance.
Method 2: Imaging was carried out using a 1.5T MR imaging system. DCE MR with a 3D
RF-spoiled fast field echo (spoiled gradient echo (GRE)) axial planes was used to assess
pancreatic microcirculation in subjects with and those without type II diabetes (1 female, 4
male; mean age 56.4 years; range, 31-68 years) and (6 female , 5 male; mean age 24.7 years;
range 24-54 years) respectively. The perfusion studies were done in baseline and under
glucose challenge on both groups. Microcirculatory semi-quantitative parameter, the area
under the first 60s of the contrast agent concentration curve (lAUCeo) was calculated on avoxel-by-voxel basis within the defined 3D ROIs, were compared between the groups with
and without glucose challenge by using paired t-test.
Results: Method 1: The resulting images were rated to be of low quality (SNR, CNR) and
the images were degraded by image artefacts which negatively affected the visual
appearance of images (qualitative) and the TI relaxation values of the pancreas tissue
(quantitative). Reaching the upper SAR limits quickly and magnetic field inhomogeneity
also affected the quality of the pancreas image. Hence it was decided to transfer the study to
lower field 1.5T MR scanner.
Method 2: Significant differences in perfusion parameters (IAUC60) between the two
pancreatic regions were observed (P < .05) where the IAUC60 reading was higher at the tail
in non diabetic subjects (^=0.001). A significant increase in pancreatic perfusion IAUC60
was observed between the tail regions before and after glucose administration (P= 0.003).
Patients with diabetes had a significantly lower IAUC60 in the tail region compared with
patients without diabetes during glucose challenge (P= 0.01).
Conclusion: Multiple bolus DCE-MRI is feasible in the pancreas as it enables noninvasive
quantification of regional pancreatic perfusion in non-diabetic and diabetic type II under
glucose challenge. This could greatly aid the diagnosis, staging, and treatment efficiency of
this disease.


A salient characteristic of monkey inferior temporal (IT) cortex is the IT face processing network. Its hallmarks include: "face neurons" that respond more to faces than non-face objects, strong spatial clustering of those neurons in foci at each IT anatomical level ("face patches"), and the preferential interconnection of those foci. While some deep artificial neural networks (ANNs) are good predictors of IT neuronal responses, including face neurons, they do not explain those face network hallmarks. Here we ask if they might be explained with a simple, metabolically motivated addition to current ANN ventral stream models. Specifically, we designed and successfully trained topographic deep ANNs (TDANNs) to solve real-world visual recognition tasks (as in prior work), but, in addition, we also optimized each network to minimize a proxy for neuronal wiring length within its IT layers. We report that after this dual optimization, the model IT layers of TDANNs reproduce the hallmarks of the IT face network: the presence of face neurons, clusters of face neurons that quantitatively match those found in IT face patches, connectivity between those patches, and the emergence of face viewpoint invariance along the network hierarchy. We find that these phenomena emerge for a range of naturalistic experience, but not for highly unnatural training. Taken together, these results show that the IT face processing network could be a consequence of a basic hierarchical anatomy along the ventral stream, selection pressure on the visual system to accomplish general object categorization, and selection pressure to minimize axonal wiring length.


Greece has started to employ a new measure of financing with quite important success, especially over the last years, and this is the option of financial leasing. The measure has been decreed and put into effect quite earlier, in year 1986, (while it has been used widely long time ago in the United States and elsewhere) but only lately it has started in Greece to be considered seriously as an alternative source of investment financing. Three main issues are addressed in this paper. First, an attempt is made to answer the question whether the lease decision and the borrow decision of firms are substitutes or compliments. Assumptions about complimentarity run the risk of deciding in favour of leasing. Especially in Greece, where at the moment all leases are treated as operating, lessee firms are candidates for making the wrong assumptions about the impact of leasing in their financial position. Also in this paper another question is asked, as long as a firm has decided on the lease option, as to how many units of capital equipment of a certain type the company is optimal to employ through leasing. A decision rule is employed and an illustration of this decision rule is made. The final question which is posed is whether leasing is viewed as a financing or as an investment decision. We believe that treading leasing as a financing decision is a fundamental assumption. Firms though that decide in favour of investment projects based on favourable lease terms only, run the risk of accepting otherwise unacceptable projects and vice versa. What is suggested at present is to view at the combined result of both the investment and financing analysis in order to decide about the acceptability of an investment project.


A palm oil milling process to facilitate the treatment of the effluent discharged using zero-discharge technology cost-effectively has eluded the industry despite intensive efforts over several decades. A novel clarification process that significantly reduces the quantity of effluent discharged may provide the impetus for revolutionising the treatment, disposal and utilisation of effluent in palm oil mills. In the new process, a two-phase decanter is used to remove as much suspended solids as possible from undiluted press liquor to facilitate oil-sludge separation without the addition of water. Further, by making use of the large amount of oil in the feed as a fluidising agent, it is possible to use a multiple-effect evaporator system to remove a significant amount of water in the incoming feed in an energy-efficient manner. Oil-sludge separation after evaporation is to be achieved using equipment similar to that used in a conventional palm oil mill. The article examines the technical viability of the new clarification process based on pilot plant studies and explores its potential for making palm oil mills more environmental-friendly.


Secondary shoulder surgery is frequently needed to improve shoulder contracture and movement after obstetrical brachial plexus palsy. This surgery comprises subscapularis release coupled in half the cases with tendon transfers, and is generally performed from ages three to nine years. Postoperatively, a shoulder splint is used to immobilize the shoulder in a position that maintains the released position and prevents tension on the tendon transfer, if performed. A thermoplastic splint design that is light and effective is presented.