This study investigates the use of Pyroformer intermediate pyrolysis system to produce alternative diesel engines fuels (pyrolysis oil) from various biomass and waste feedstocks and the application of these pyrolysis oils in a diesel engine generating system for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) production. The pyrolysis oils were produced in a pilot-scale (20 kg/h) intermediate pyrolysis system. Comprehensive characterisations, with a view to use as engine fuels, were carried out on the sewage sludge and de-inking sludge derived pyrolysis oils. They were both found to be able to provide sufficient heat for fuelling a diesel engine. The pyrolysis oils also presented poor combustibility and high carbon deposition, but these problems could be mitigated by means of blending the pyrolysis oils with biodiesel (derived from waste cooking oil). The blends of SSPO (sewage sludge pyrolysis oil) and biodiesel (30/70 and 50/50 in volumetric ratios) were tested in a 15 kWe Lister type stationary generating system for up to 10 hours. There was no apparent deterioration observed in engine operation. With 30% SSPO blended into biodiesel, the engine presents better overall performance (electric efficiency), fuel consumption, and overall exhaust emissions than with 50% SSPO blend. An overall system analysis was carried out on a proposed integrated Pyroformer-CHP system. Combined with real experimental results, this was used for evaluating the costs for producing heat and power and char from wood pellets and sewage sludge. It is concluded that the overall system efficiencies for both types of plant can be over 40%; however the integrated CHP system is not economically viable. This is due to extraordinary project capital investment required.


Investors often increase their cash and near-cash balances during periods of significant equity volatility. Feeling compelled to salvage what they can in the face of adversity, these investors overlook the opportunity to enhance performance by extending duration in the fixed-income portion of their balanced portfolios. They neglect to keep strategic as well as tactical goals in mind. When equities dominate portfolio volatility, the risk profile of the overall portfolio is relatively insensitive to measured duration extensions. Conversely, the portfolio receives the full return benefit of such an extension. The decoupling of liquid Treasury returns from equity returns during periods of crisis can reinforce the beneficial trade-off of extending duration and slightly reducing equity exposure. An analysis of market data over the past 21 years not only documents the risk-adjusted return benefits of extending duration, but also suggests enhanced downside risk protection.


We propose a novel method for imputing missing data by adapting the well-known Generative Adversarial Nets (GAN) framework. Accordingly, we call our method Generative Adversarial Imputation Nets (GAIN). The generator (G) observes some components of a real data vector, imputes the missing components conditioned on what is actually observed, and outputs a completed vector. The discriminator (D) then takes a completed vector and attempts to determine which components were actually observed and which were imputed. To ensure that D forces G to learn the desired distribution, we provide D with some additional information in the form of a hint vector. The hint reveals to D partial information about the missingness of the original sample, which is used by D to focus its attention on the imputation quality of particular components. This hint ensures that G does in fact learn to generate according to the true data distribution. We tested our method on various datasets and found that GAIN significantly outperforms state-of-the-art imputation methods.


A B S T R A C T Background and Objectives: In the production process of foods rich in carbohydrates and some other foods containing precursors of acrylamide formation, there is the possibility of acrylamide creation, which is a mutagen and carcinogen material. This study aims to introduce and optimize a new method for determining acrylamide in potato chips using xanthydrol as a derivative representative with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Materials and Methods: Important factors in the derivatization and measurement processes were optimized using the one-factor-at-a-time method. The peak areas were assumed as the GC-MS response to evaluate the extraction efficiency of acrylamide, and optimization for all tests was performed two times. Figures of merit of the proposed method were evaluated. The amount of acrylamide in four potato chips samples, obtained from the market in Tehran city, was determined using the proposed method. Results: The optimum amounts of effective parameters, including derivatization temperature at 25 o C, derivatization time (40 min), xanthydrol volume (40 µL), extracted solvent volume (500 µL) and pH=7 were determined. The figures of merit for the proposed method were at the ideal range. The maximum and minimum amounts of acrylamide in the chip samples were also measured. Conclusions: The performance and reliability of proposed method as a simple, efficient and rapid method for determining acrylamide in potato chip samples were demonstrated.


Numerous Fuzzy Time Series (FTS) models have been proposed in scientific literature during the past decades or so. Among the most accurate FTS models found in literature are the high order models. However, three fundamental issues need to be resolved with regards to the high order models. First, current prediction methods have not been able to provide satisfactory accuracy rates for defuzzified outputs (forecasts). Second, data becomes underutilized as the order increases. Third, forecast accuracy is sensitive to selected interval partitions. To cope with these issues, a new high order FTS model is proposed in this thesis. The proposed model utilizes aggregation and particle swarm optimization (PSO) to reduce the mismatch between forecasts and actuals. Comparative experiments confirm the proposed model's ability to provide higher accuracy rates than the current results reported in the literature. Moreover, the utilization of aggregation and PSO, to individually tune forecast rules, ensures consistency between defuzzified outputs and actual outputs, regardless of selected interval partitions. As a consequence of employing these techniques, data utilization is improved by: (1) minimizing the loss of forecast rules; (2) minimizing the number of pattern combinations to be matched with future time series data. Finally, a fuzzification algorithm, based on the trapezoid fuzzification approach, has been developed as a byproduct. The proposed algorithm objectively partitions the universe of discourse into intervals without requiring any user defined parameters.


For social scientists, one of the consequences of the so-called third wave of democratization(1) that has taken place over the past two decades or so has been the revitalization of structural or neoinstitutional approaches to politics.(2) With a great number of states during this period experiencing transitions away from various types of authoritarian rule and toward more explicitly democratic systems of governance, students of these transitions to democracy have focused increasing attention on the consequences of institutional choices, constitution building, electoral sequencing, and other structural factors with a view to determine the impact of specific institutional arrangements on the long-term prospects for the consolidation of these "uncertain democracies." Given the temporal development of this third wave of democratization, the bulk of the original research on transitions was dominated by students of Latin America and, to a lesser extent, southern Europe. As a result, those interested in the political processes of "late" third-wave democratizers (e.g., Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet states) have looked to the tentative conclusions of those familiar with such processes in "early" third-wave transitions. This article falls squarely into these two traditions. First, it examines aspects of the transition from communist authoritarianism in Russia from a decidedly institutional perspective. Specifically, it joins the extant debate among students of transitions from authoritarianism on the relative desirability of presidentialism and parliamentarianism as the defining structural arrangement for uncertain democracies. This debate is an ongoing one in part because, as Shugart and Carey explain, while the bulk of the scholarly literature on transitions has come down on the side of parliamentarianism as the preferred democratic institutional arrangement for transition states, "nearly all the new democracies in the 1970s and 1980s ... have had elected presidents with varying degrees of political authority."(3) This trend has continued as the late third-wave new democracies emerging in East and Central Europe and the former USSR have also tended to create systems that, while perhaps not purely presidential in structure, do entail significant presidential power. In the Russia case, this proclivity toward strong executive power is perhaps most pronounced. Indeed, one student of the December 1993 Russian constitution has described the system it defines as "superpresidential."(4) As such, Russia is arguably a critical case for shedding additional light on the current executive-legislative powers debate. Second, this article attempts to be explicitly comparative in focus, drawing as it does on the democratic transition literature, in general, and on a particular framework for the evaluation of presidential authority in uncertain democracies, more specifically. In each instance, then, the analysis of the Russian case that follows borrows heavily from the scholarly literature that was developed as a response to democratic transitions outside the communist world. While such a stance vis-a-vis the postcommunist transitions is no longer overly controversial and is based on the notion that transitions from authoritarianism in Latin American and southern Europe may at some level be instructive to students interested in a similar process in postcommunist transitions.(5) an additional aim of this exercise is to suggest appropriate modifications of the theoretical literature. Presidents and Parliaments in Uncertain Democracies Most students of postauthoritarian transitions have concluded that uncertain democracies are best served by the adoption of parliamentary forms of government. This argument has rested on two pillars--one positive and one negative. First, proponents of parliamentarianism have argued that the system is inherently more democratic in that the representative function of the government is maximized, as compared to the greater degree of separation between the electorate and a powerful president. …


Gemstones form in metamorphic, magmatic, and sedimentary rocks. In sedimentary units, these minerals were emplaced by organic and inorganic chemical processes and also found in clastic deposits as a result of weathering, erosion, transport, and deposition leading to what is called the formation of placer deposits. Of the approximately 150 gemstones, roughly 40 can be recovered from placer deposits for a profit after having passed through the "natural processing plant" encompassing the aforementioned stages in an aquatic and aeolian regime. It is mainly the group of heavy minerals that plays the major part among the placer-type gemstones (almandine, apatite, (chrome) diopside, (chrome) tourmaline, chrysoberyl, demantoid, diamond, enstatite, hessonite, hiddenite, kornerupine, kunzite, kyanite, peridote, pyrope, rhodolite, spessartine, (chrome) titanite, spinel, ruby, sapphire, padparaja, tanzanite, zoisite, topaz, tsavorite, and zircon). Silica and beryl, both light minerals by definition (minerals with a density less than 2.8–2.9 g/cm3, minerals with a density greater than this are called heavy minerals, also sometimes abbreviated to "heavies". This technical term has no connotation as to the presence or absence of heavy metals), can also appear in some placers and won for a profit (agate, amethyst, citrine, emerald, quartz, rose quartz, smoky quartz, morganite, and aquamarine, beryl). This is also true for the fossilized tree resin, which has a density similar to the light minerals. Going downhill from the source area to the basin means in effect separating the wheat from the chaff, showcase from the jeweler quality, because only the flawless and strongest contenders among the gemstones survive it all. On the other way round, gem minerals can also be used as pathfinder minerals for primary or secondary gemstone deposits of their own together with a series of other non-gemmy material that is genetically linked to these gemstones in magmatic and metamorphic gem deposits. All placer types known to be relevant for the accumulation of non-gemmy material are also found as trap-site of gemstones (residual, eluvial, colluvial, alluvial, deltaic, aeolian, and marine shelf deposits). Running water and wind can separate minerals according to their physical-chemical features, whereas glaciers can only transport minerals and rocks but do not sort and separate placer-type minerals. Nevertheless till (unconsolidated mineral matter transported by the ice without re-deposition of fluvio-glacial processes) exploration is a technique successfully used to delineate ore bodies of, for example, diamonds. The general parameters that matter during accumulation of gemstones in placers are their intrinsic value controlled by the size and hardness and the extrinsic factors controlling the evolution of the landscape through time such as weathering, erosion, and vertical movements and fertility of the hinterland as to the minerals targeted upon. Morphoclimatic processes take particular effect in the humid tropical and mid humid mid-latitude zones (chemical weathering) and in the periglacial/glacial and the high-altitude/mountain zones, where mechanical weathering and the paleogradients are high. Some tectono-geographic elements such as unconformities, hiatuses, and sequence boundaries (often with incised valley fills and karstic landforms) are also known as planar architectural elements in sequence stratigraphy and applied to marine and correlative continental environments where they play a significant role in forward modeling of gemstone accumulation. The present study on gems and gemstone placers is a reference example of fine-tuning the "Chessboard classification scheme of mineral deposits" (Dill 2010) and a sedimentary supplement to the digital maps that form the core of the overview "Gemstones and geosciences in space and time" (Dill and Weber 2013).


Traditionally, long established oxidation tests such as TOST (ASTM D 943-03) and RPVOT (ASTM D 2272-02) in combination with the acid number (ASTM D 974-03) test has been used to screen the oxidation stability of turbine oils. Lately, nevertheless, a new voltammetric method has been applied to measure the remaining useful life (RUL) of turbine oils, RULER™ (ASTM D 6971-03) as it uses microlitre amounts of sample and needs only a short testing time. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between the RULER™ voltammetric test in comparison to the standing oxidation turbine methods, TOST and RPVOT. Three fully formulated commercially available oils were studied; two were based on synthetic esters and one was mineral oil based. In addition, other oils were tested in our laboratories in Norway and Sweden in order to investigate the correlation between RULER™ and RPVOT oxidation stability tests. Field samples were also used to evaluate those methods. Although those studies have been worthwhile, reaching a definite conclusion regarding correlations has proven to be somewhat difficult. It is clear, however, that by a careful methodology, a useful correlation for the investigated oil types may be obtained. For example, guide limits for RULER™ results and their correlation to RPVOT values were established.


Qingdao lies in the south of Shandong Peninsula, on the coast of the Yellow Sea. As a coastal and hilly city, Qingdaohas topographic features consisting of twisted coastlines dotted with capes and bays. The beginning of the 20th century witnessed the construction of western-style streets and buildings in Qingdao when it was occupied by Germany. Liyuan is the name of the residential buildings for Chinese labors during the German occupation. Liyuan retain the spatial composition of Chinese quadrangles (Siheyuan), and at the same time feature western technology. Therefore they have both Chinese and western flavors. In addition, they are the earliest urban residential complexes in China. The space system of Liyuan blocks has played an important role in the lifestyle and social network of the local residents. Liyuans have been home to Qingdao people from generation to generation, which makes it a spiritual symbol. Owing to its history and characteristics, Liyuan architecture has been designated as one of the historical and cultural protected areas in Qingdao, and has contributed to the formation of a distinctive geographical landscape. Since the 1980s, urban renewal and redevelopment in Qingdao have greatly impacted upon the protection of Liyuans, which has aroused concern from various communities.This research on Liyuans shows the geographic location of all the Liyuan blocks, classifies them in terms of courtyard composition and architectural features, and analyzes the relationship between their spatial composition and the residents' life-style.


Ethanol is a promising alternative fuel, due to its renewable biobased origin. Also, it has lower carbon content than diesel fuel and it is oxygenated. For this reason, ethanol is providing remarkable potential to reduce particulate emulsions in compression-ignition engines. In this study, performance of ethanol-diesel blends has been investigated experimentally. Tested fuels were mineral diesel fuel (E0D100), 15% (v/v) ethanol/diesel fuel blend (E15D85), and 30% (v/v) ethanol/diesel fuel blend (E30D70). Firstly, the solubility of ethanol and diesel was experienced. Engine tests were carried out to reveal the performance and emissions of the engine fuelled with the blends. Full load operating conditions at various engine speeds were investigated. Engine brake torque, brake power, brake specific fuel consumption, brake thermal efficiency, exhaust gas temperature, and finally exhaust emissions were measured. Performance of the tested engine decreased substantially while improvement on smoke and gaseous emissions makes ethanol blend favorable.


Background Previous research suggests that the Great Depression led to improvements in public health. However, these studies rely on highly aggregated national data (using fewer than 25 data points) and potentially biased measures of the Great Depression. The authors assess the effects of the Great Depression using city-level estimates of US mortality and an underlying measure of economic crisis, bank suspensions, at the state level. Methods Cause-specific mortalities covering 114 US cities in 36 states between 1929 and 1937 were regressed against bank suspensions and income data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Database, using dynamic fixed-effects models and adjustments for potential confounding variables. Results Reductions in all-cause mortalities were mainly attributable to declines in death rates owing to pneumonia (26.4% of total), flu (13.1% of total) and respiratory tuberculosis (11.2% of total), while death rates increased from heart disease (19.4% of total), cancer (8.1% of total) and diabetes (2.9%). Only heart disease can plausibly relate to the contemporaneous economic shocks. The authors found that a higher rate of bank suspensions was significantly associated with higher suicide rates (β=0.32, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.41) but lower death rates from motor-vehicle accidents (β=−0.18, 95% CI −0.29 to −0.07); no significant effects were observed for 30 other causes of death or with a time lag. Conclusion In contrast with existing research, the authors find that many of the changes in deaths from different causes during the Great Depression were unrelated to economic shocks. Further research is needed to understand the causes of the marked variations in mortality change across cities and states, including the effects of the New Deal and Prohibition.


Interactive storytelling encompasses a wide variety of applications and systems that aim to allow players in a virtual world to affect the narrative progression prescribed by the author. The story world is often modeled by a set of hand-crafted causal and temporal relationships that define the possible narrative sequences based on the user's actions. In our view, a more promising approach involves applying methods from statistical language processing to create data-driven stories. Here, we explore integrating a typology of narrative clauses from Labov & Waletzky's theory of oral narrative(henceforth L&W) into the Say Anything data-driven storytelling approach. We show that we can automatically distinguish evaluation clauses from orientation and action clauses with 89% accuracy in fables, suggesting that it will be possible to develop new types of data-driven stories using L&W's typology.


The AMICUS project was designed to promote scholarly networking in a topical area, motif recognition in texts, including its automation. Prior to doing so however it is necessary to show the theoretical underpinnings of the research idea. My argument is that evidence from different disciplines amounts to fragmented pieces of a bigger picture. By compiling them like pieces of a puzzle, one can see how the concept of formulaity applies to folklore texts and scholarly communication alike. Regardless of the actual name of the concept (e.g. motif, function, canonical form), what matters is that document parts and whole documents can be characterized by standard sequences of content elements, such formulaic expressions enabling higher-level document indexing and classification by machine learning, plus document retrieval. Information filtering plays a key role in the proposed technology.


The feeding rate of a parasitic gnathiid isopod on fish was examined. Individual fish, Hemigymnus melapterus, were exposed to gnathiid larvae and sampled after 5, 10, 30, 60, and 240 min. I recorded whether larvae had an engorged gut, an engorged gut containing red material, or had dropped off the fish after having completed engorgement; variation among sampling times and larval stages was analyzed using generalized linear mixed model analyses. The likelihood that larvae had an engorged gut increased with time and varied with larval stage. First stage ( 1.45 mm) larvae. After 30 min, however, most (>93%) larvae had an engorged gut regardless of their larval stage. The likelihood of red material in the gut of third stage larvae increased over time (46% after 30 min, 70% after 60 min, and 86% after 240 min) while that of first and second stage larvae remained relatively low (<27%) at all times. First and second stage larvae left the fish at a higher rate (approximately 23% after 30 min and 81% after 60 min) than third stage larvae (3% after 30 min and 26% after 60 min). After 60 min, however, the likelihood that larvae dropped off fish did not change. The variation in feeding behaviour with larval stage is likely due to variation in their diet and gut volume. The rapid feeding rate of gnathiid larvae suggests that their turnover rate on fish is high. This may explain why some fish species seek cleaner fish, which eat many gnathiid larvae, so often. By repeatedly visiting cleaner fish, gnathiids may also be removed from hosts before the parasites become fully engorged.


Challenges to the subjective nature of qualitative inquiry, recent interest in evidence-based practice, and the advances in mixed-method design have all contributed to the value and utilization of qualitative inquiry. The author is concerned, however, that the value placed on evidence and the agenda of qualitative-quantitative mixed-method design will devalue the role and contributions of insight and inference in our research. In this address, she argues that research using insight and inference can and must be used and valued in qualitative inquiry. Insights invariably arise from single instances, exemplars, or single-case studies, albeit often, but not always, verified in other instances. But the knowledge gained from insight might make a greater contribution to scholarly study than replication and verification, for without insight, research can be mundane and obvious.


Excavations at site 41 BX 1, located behind the Olmos Dam in San Antonio, Texas, were funded by the San Antonio River Authority. The excavations resulted in the documentation of a Late Archaic cemetery and Early to Late Transitional Archaic occupations. Thirteen human burials, accompanied by a variety of grave offerings, including deer antlers and marine shell ornaments, were radiocarbon dated 1680 B.C. (maximum date) to A.D. 260 (minimum date). In addition, two distinct occupational areas, horizontally separated from the cemetery, were investigated. In conjunction with the excavations, final resource management negotiations resulted in mitigation measures of avoidance and protection for the remaining portions of the sileo


Chute aerators are applied to high-velocity spillways to entrain air into the flow so that cavitation damage is avoided. Air entrainment occurs locally at the aerator, whereas further downstream the flow is deaerated. This process is relevant because it defines the influence range of an aerator. A preliminary study investigated the effect of the aerator geometry and of the approach flow conditions on the streamwise bottom and average air concentration characteristics. Two aspects were excluded, namely, the effect of (1) steep deflectors, which operate more efficiently regarding air entrainment yet with simultaneously poor flow features; and (2) cavity subpressure effect on the streamwise air concentration field. A cavity subpressure reduces, in particular, the streamwise bottom air concentrations or it provokes aerator choking so that the cavitation protection is not ensured. Physical model tests indicate that optimum aerator performance results at deflector angles around 10°, i.e., a slope of 1∶5 relative to the chute bottom with acceptable shock wave formation, spray generation, and jet height


In the last decade, the performances of hedge funds were surprisingly satisfactory and recurrent. However, the bankruptcy of LTCM reminded investors of the risks associated with this asset class. The purpose of this study is to analyse systematically the relationship between the performances of hedge funds' strategies and those of standard asset classes via facto r models. As in the existing literature, we open the scope of the factors drawn upon to non-conventional measures such as performance spread or payoff of options on a standard asset class. Furthermore, we add other non-conventional measurements that aim to quantify, inter alia, the intensity of trends, the opportunities generated by range trading or arbitrage operations between various assets or the role of the heterogeneity of individual performances in the stock markets. We highlight the strategies that present a simple exposure to standard assets, those for which this exposure is combined with more complex exposures (notably non-linear/optional ones) and those, lastly, for which it is very difficult to reproduce performances. We notably present a synthetic transition matrix that allows us to link a relatively standard financial scenario and an allocation within major hedge funds' strategies (while giving a degree of confidence about the various strategies). Moreover, we illustrate the importance of extreme risk in hedge funds' strategies. In particular, we will show that once conditioned on "usual" or "normal" risk, several strategies present a substantial risk of extreme loss relative to standard asset classes. We analyse the impact of these results for the management of hedge funds in a prospect of asset allocation. We show as well that allocations based on standard measurements of risk (of the variance type) lead to non-optimal portfolios given the risk of extreme loss and suggest other measurements of risk that could be substituted. We then show the attractiveness in terms of return-to-risk ratio of inserting hedge funds into a standard asset portfolio, notably when a high enough individual degree of risk diversification by hedge funds has been achieved by blending strategies (funds of funds).


This article examines U.S. policy toward Tibet from the end of the 1940s to the end of the 1980s, especially the 1950s and 1960s. U.S. policy during this period operated on two levels. At the strategic level, the United States consistently supported China's claim of sovereignty over Tibet. But at the tactical level, U.S. policy varied a great deal over time, ranging from the provision of military and financial aid to Tibetan guerrilla forces in the 1950s and 1960s to the almost complete lack of official attention to Tibet in the 1970s and early 1980s. The article explains why the U.S. government has never accepted Tibet's claim to independence and why the question of Tibet, after falling into obscurity in the 1970s, reemerged on the U.S. agenda in the mid- to late 1980s. The article highlights the cynicism that has often characterized tactical shifts in U.S. policy.


Mining investment is a kind of venture capital, the risk level of which is impacted by various factors. There are still a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity in the process of evaluating on mining investment decision, so it is more suitable to use fuzzy evaluation methods for it. The core of fuzzy evaluation is membership degree transformation. But the existing transformation methods should be questioned, because redundant data in index membership degree is also used to compute object membership degree, which is not useful for object classification. The new algorithm is: using data mining technology based on entropy to mine knowledge information about object classification hidden in every index, affirm the relationship of object classification and index membership, eliminate the redundant data in index membership for object classification by defining distinguishable weight and extract valid values to compute object membership. The new algorithm of membership degree transformation includes three calculation steps which can be summarized as "effective, comparison and composition", which is denoted as M(1,2,3). The paper applied the new algorithm in fuzzy evaluation on mining investment decision.


Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) encoding genes are part of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) on human chromosome 6. This region is one of the most polymorphic regions in the human genome. Prior knowledge of HLA allelic polymorphisms is clinically important for matching donor and recipient during organ/tissue transplantation. HLA allelic information is also useful in predicting immune responses to various infectious diseases, genetic disorders and autoimmune conditions. India harbors over a billion people and its population is untapped for HLA allelic diversity. In this study, we explored and compared three HLA typing methods for South Indian population, using Sequence-Specific Primers (SSP), NGS (Roche/454) and single- molecule sequencing (PacBio RS II) platforms. Over 1020 DNA samples were typed at low resolution using SSP method to determine the major HLA alleles within the South Indian population. These studies were followed up with medium resolution HLA typing of 80 samples based on exonic sequences on the Roche/454 sequencing system and high-resolution (6-8 digit) typing of 8 samples for HLA alleles of class I genes (HLA-A, B and C) and class II genes (HLA-DRB1 and DQB1) using PacBio RS II platform. The long reads delivered by SMRT technology, covered the full-length class I and class II genes/alleles in contiguous reads including untranslated regions, exons and introns, which provided phased SNP information. We have identified three novel alleles from PacBio data that were verified by Roche 454 sequencing. This is the first case study of HLA typing using second and third generation NGS technologies for an Indian population. The PacBio platform is a promising platform for large-scale HLA typing for establishing an HLA database for the untapped ethnic populations of India.


Redmond O'Hanlon describes his extraordinary three-week trip on an Orkney trawler as it journeys far into the north Atlantic in search of its catch. Young skipper Jason Schofield has a 2 million pound overdraft on his boat, the Norlantean, which is why he has to go out in a Category One Force 12 hurricane when the rest of the Scottish fleet has run for shelter. O'Hanlon may not be much help when it comes to seamanship - in the words of one of the crew, he doesn't know his arse from his tit - but he is able to wax lyrical on the amazing deep-sea fish to be found north of the Wyville Thomson Ridge: greater argentine, flying squid, blue ling, the truly disgusting hagfish and many other exotics. Combining humour with erudition, O'Hanlon has written a vivid and compulsively readable account of a journey that for sheer terror beats all his previous adventures.


Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) have emerged as a key technology for next generation wireless networking. The performance of these networks depends on routing protocols. IEEE 802.11s is one of the emerged standards designed to build WMNs for the classical standard 802.11. It defines the HWMP (Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol) as its default routing protocol which combines the Radio Metric Ad hoc on-demand distance vector (RM-AODV) with a proactive tree building mode. RMAODV relies on the well known AODV protocol which provides paths by broadcasting path requests. However broadcast to find routing paths consumes much bandwidth and increases the traffic overhead. In this situation broadcast optimization is an ever-present issue. In this paper, the Geographical Hybrid Wireless Mesh Protocol (GHWMP) is presented


We present a low-temperature indium hermetic bonding technique on wafer level without using flux, active atmosphere or other pretreatment of the indium. Its simplicity and low temperatures allow encapsulation of sensitive MEMS devices. Bonding stronger than 18 MPa was accomplished with temperatures never exceeding 140°C. Leak rate measurements revealed leak rate below 2.5 × 10-12 atm cc/s. This bonding technique is then applied to fabricate rubidium vapor-cells for chip-scale atomic clocks (CSAC). Saturated absorption spectroscopy performed two and five months after fabrication confirms less than 1 mbar of gas contamination, and the retrieved clock signal demonstrates the suitability of the cell for clock applications.


Mid-latitude spring blooms of phytoplankton show considerable year-to-year variability in timing, spatial extent and intensity. It is still unclear to what degree the bloom variability is connected to the magnitude of the vertical flux of organic matter. A coupled three-dimensional hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model is used to relate interannual variability in phytoplankton spring-bloom dynamics to variability in the vertical export of organic matter in the NW Mediterranean Sea. Simulation results from 2001 to 2010, validated against remote-sensing chlorophyll, show marked interannual variability in both timing and shape of the bloom. Model results show a tendency for the bloom to start later after cold and windy winters. However, the onset of the bloom occurs often when the mixed layer is still several hundred metres deep while the heat flux is already approaching zero and turbulent mixing is low. Frequency and intensity of wind episodes control both the timing and development of the bloom and the consequent export flux of organic matter. The wintertime flux is greater than zero and shows relatively low interannual variability. The magnitude of the interannual variability is mainly determined in March when the frequency of windy days positively correlates with the export flux. Frequent wind-driven mixing episodes act to increase the export flux and, at the same time, to interrupt the bloom. Perhaps counterintuitively, our analysis shows that years with discontinuous, low-chlorophyll blooms are likely to have higher export flux than years with intense uninterrupted blooms. The NW Mediterranean shows strong analogy with the North Atlantic section within the same latitude range. Hence, our results may also be applicable to this quantitatively more important area of the world ocean.


"Quietly powerful and a great help. Glorious". (Emma Thompson). 'Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves.' First published in 1955 and an instant bestseller, Gift from the Sea is a classic, wise book for women about how to flourish in life, how to balance life, work, motherhood; about finding space to think and breathe. Holidaying by the sea, and taking inspiration from the shells she finds on the seashore, Anne Morrow Lindbergh meditates on youth and age, love and marriage, peace, solitude and contentment. Her insights - into aspects of the modern world that threaten to overwhelm us, the complications of technology, the ever multiplying commitments that take us from our families - are as relevant today as they ever were, perhaps even more so. By recording her thoughts during a brief escape from everyday demands, Anne Morrow Lindbergh helps readers find a space for contemplation and creativity within their own lives.


This paper generalizes the model of Salant et al. (1983; Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 98, pp. 185–199) to a successive oligopoly model with product differentiation. Upstream firms produce differentiated goods, retailers compete in quantities, and supply contracts are linear. We show that if retailers buy from all producers, downstream mergers do not affect wholesale prices. Our result replicates that of Salant's, where mergers are not profitable unless the size of the merged firm exceeds 80 per cent of the industry. This result is robust to the type of competition.


The article addresses the timely intersection of knowledge management with design thinking. As knowledge management is seemingly grasping for its last breath according to many, the rise of human-centered design thinking has everything KM needs to thrive. By injecting key elements of design thinking - Eperimentation, Collaboration, Human-centeredness, and Optimism (ECHO) - a powerful combination emerges that gets most value out of knowledge in ways that resonate with people. The article will underline this much-needed integration by way of real-world examples related to development and why Knowledge Design Thinking is the future of KM. It will help KM practitioners in development create solutions that resonate more with the people they are serving.


This issue brief was written to assist state policymakers in better understanding how social and emotional learning (SEL) can help students to be college and career ready. The brief provides a short description of what SEL is, why it is needed, and what it looks like in practice. In addition, examples of standards that support SEL at the federal and state levels, current SEL initiatives and programs, and outcomes and measures that can be used to assess SEL programming are described. A list of resources is included at the end of this brief for policymakers who are interested in learning more.


A prominent theory of the N2 event-related potential component holds that the 'oddball' N2 is generated in the anterior cingulate cortex. However, observations of oddball N2s with posterior scalp distributions are inconsistent with this hypothesis. We suggest that variability in the topology of the oddball N2 is a key characteristic of the component that can inform theories of its neural basis. We propose that the oddball N2 reflects cortex-wide noradrenergic modulation of the ongoing cortical activity and thus should have a topology that varies systematically according to task specifics. Participants engaged in an oddball task with male and female faces tinted either yellow or blue, counting targets according to color or sex. Between blocks, targets were frequent or infrequent, counterbalanced across task (attend color, attend sex), and category (blue male, yellow male, blue female, yellow female). We created difference waves by subtracting frequent from infrequent category trials to isolate the oddball N2. When participants attended to color the oddball N2 was maximal over frontal–central areas and when they attended to sex it was maximal over lateral–occipital areas. Thus, the oddball N2 has a variable scalp distribution that depends on the relative engagement of cortical areas, consistent with noradrenergic modulation having the greatest impact in those areas mostly engaged by the task at hand.


The On Poems by Philodemus (c.110-35 BC), the Epicurean philosopher and poet who taught Virgil and influenced Horace, is our main source for Hellenistic literary theory. In Book 1 Philodemus summarizes a survey of previously unknown poetic and aesthetic theories. Compiled by Crates of Mallos this survey reviews the critical theories of earlier Epicureans, Peripatetics, and Stoics, who argued in some way that sound is the source of poetic excellence, and that the ear, unaided by the mind, can judge it. Philodemus led the reaction against this invasion of Hellenistic literary criticism by musical theory, arguing that form and content are interrelated, and that substantive content, not pretty sound, is what makes poetry worthwhile. The 200 fragments of Book 1 were entirely jumbled after its discovery at the site of Vesuvius' destruction of Herculaneum. This edition reconstitutes their original sequence, according to a new method, while exploiting previously unknown manuscript sources and new techniques for reading the extant pieces. In thus restoring this important aesthetic treatise from antiquity, it makes a major addition to the corpus of classical literature.


The claim I advance is that the large firm's ownership structure is too often analyzed as one arising solely from organizational imperatives and technical foundations. The political and social predicates that make the large firm possible and that shape its form can deeply affect which firms, which ownership structures, and which governance arrangements survive and prosper, and which do not. To be concrete, much political analysis can be made to fit a principal-agent model. For ownership to separate from control, managers must be sufficiently aligned with shareholders. But the ways in which some polities settle conflict - or the ways in which the corporate players team up to work together - can affect the degree to which managers ally with shareholders and, concomitantly, how easy it is for ownership and control to separate. Managers' agendas can differ from shareholders'; tying managers tightly to shareholders has been central to American corporate governance. But in other economically advanced nations, ownership is not diffuse but concentrated. It is concentrated in no small measure because the delicate threads that tie managers to shareholders in the public firm fray easily in common political environments, such as those in common in continental European in the late 20th century. Politics can press managers to stabilize employment, to forego some profit-maximizing risks with the firm, and to use up capital in place rather than to downsize when markets no longer are aligned with the firm's production capabilities; these political tendencies correspond closely to managers' historical tendencies, even in the United States. Since managers must have discretion in the public firm, how they use that discretion is crucial to stockholders, and common political pressures induce managers to stray farther than otherwise from their shareholders' profit-maximizing goals. Owners may be reluctant to turn the firm over to independent managers if managers would more willingly expand and make hard-to-reverse investments. The polity may refuse to give distant shareholders the tools that roughly align managers with shareholders, and it may denigrate the private means that align the two. And some of these political results are easily to implement in weakly competitive product markets, the kind of markets that give managers yet more discretion. Hence, public firms in such polities, all else equal, have higher managerial agency costs, and large-block shareholding has persisted as shareholders' best remaining way to control those costs. Indeed, when we line up the world's richest nations on a left-right political continuum and then line them up on a close-to-diffuse ownership continuum, the two correlate powerfully. True, the effects on total social welfare are ambiguous; such polities may enhance total social welfare, but if they do, they do so with fewer public firms than less socially responsive nations. These results strongly suggest that the corporate governance and ownership characteristics are linked, directly or indirectly, to basic political configurations in the wealthy West. European structures, for example, may link more tightly to Europe's late 20th-century politics than to technical institutions, and the technical institutions may derive from late 20th-century politics as much as anything else. We thus uncover not only a political explanation for ownership concentration in Europe, but also a crucial political prerequisite to the rise of the public firm in the United States, namely the weakness of social democratic pressures on the American business firm.


This research explores the economic causes and consequences of language structures. It advances the hypothesis and establishes empirically that variations in pre-industrial geographical characteristics that were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment, larger gender gap in agricultural productivity, and more hierarchical society, are at the root of existing cross-language variations in the presence of the future tense, grammatical gender, and politeness distinctions. Moreover, the research suggests that while language structures have largely reflected the coding of past human experience and in particular the range of ancestral cultural traits in society, they independently affected human behavior and economic outcomes.


Decision support system (DSS) for sustainable development is an efficient tool in managing aquifers, since an aquifer as a complex system is not a structural issue due to varied components. In this article, software entitled DSS-SMGW-01 is developed based on the so-called DSS to realize sustainable management of groundwater. This system includes a database, a simulation model, and a decision-making model controlled through a graphical user interface. This software controls exploitation of groundwater in managing subunits and integrated management of water resources and consumptions. Furthermore, management options are evaluated by the software according to aquifer sustainability and socio-economic indicators. In this system, WEAP-MODFLOW linked model (Water Evaluation And Planning system dynamically linked to the United States Geological Survey modular finite-difference groundwater flow model), Analytic Hierarchy method, and Simple Additive Weighting method are utilized for simulation of groundwater resources system, weighting indicators and prioritizing options, respectively. In order to evaluate efficiency of the exerted system, Qazvin plain data was used and 68 experts from different parts of water industry in Iran were consulted to have the best analysis on weighting the indicators. Consequently, the prepared system was found to be successful in designing and prioritizing the seven managing indices.


During almost two decades, beginning in the early 1970s, the Horn of Africa was racked by the ravages of hunger and war. Natural disasters are not new to the region, which historically could count on at least seven major droughts each century, but in the current era they have been increasing, in part due to massive deforestation and the changing pattern of weather. It is estimated that in Ethiopia alone, because of soil erosion and deforestation, 30,000 million tons of top-soil are lost each year. A second important factor affecting the severity of famine has been the dramatic escalation in the level and intensity of civil conflict, nowhere more evident than in Ethiopia.


Guatemala's Q'eqchi'-Maya employ the past to construct their identity. In modern states, leaders like Mussolini or Hitler appropriated the past to shape national identities. Unlike these top-down approaches, the Q'eqchi' offer a bottom-up perspective. In the Guatemalan highlands, Q'eqchi' ritual practices involve the tzuul taq'a's, supernatural beings linked to mountains and owners of the land. Recently many Q'eqchi' migrated into the tropical lowlands and settled among Classic Maya ruins. Through questionnaires and interviews we reconstruct the complex ways in which Q'eqchi' transfer the tzuul taq'a' to the lowlands and appropriate their new surroundings both ideologically and physically.


Estelle is an internationally standardized formal description technique (FDT) designed for the specification of distributed systems, in particular communication protocols. An Estelle specification describes a system of communicating components (module instances). The specified system is closed in a topological sense, i.e. it has no ability to interact with some environment. Because of this restriction, open systems can only be specified together with and incorporated with an environment. To overcome this restriction, we introduce a compatible extension of Estelle, called "Open Estelle". It allows the specification of (topologically) open systems, i.e. systems that have the ability to communicate with any environment through a well-defined external interface. We define aformal syntax and a formal semantics for Open Estelle, both based on and extending the syntax and semantics of Estelle. The extension is compatible syntactically and semantically, i.e. Estelle is a subset of Open Estelle. In particular, the formal semantics of Open Estelle reduces to the Estelle semantics in the special case of a closed system. Furthermore, we present a tool for the textual integration of open systems into environments specified in Open Estelle, and a compiler for the automatic generation of implementations directly from Open Estelle specifications.


The benthic foraminifer Amphisorus hemprichii Ehrenberg is widely distributed in the Indo-Pacific. However, submarine surveys revealed large populations of A. hemprichii along the southwestern coasts of Antalya, Turkey, between Kalkan andKekova. It is also present in the Red Sea which suggests that this species recently experienced Lessepsian migration. It inhabits mostly rocky substrate between 8-18 m water depth, but is also found epiphytically on Posidonia oceanica (Linne) Delile and Halophila stipulacea (Forsskal) Ascherson. We found rich populations of this species with individuals as large as 1cm in diameter in Kas and Kekova. This indicates that environmental conditions are suitable to promote the survival of this species along the southwestern coasts of Turkey.


Abstract. The stratospheric mean-meridional circulation (MMC) and eddy mixing are compared among six meteorological reanalysis data sets: NCEP-NCAR, NCEP-CFSR, ERA-40, ERA-Interim, JRA-25, and JRA-55 for the period 1979–2012. The reanalysis data sets produced using advanced systems (i.e., NCEP-CFSR, ERA-Interim, and JRA-55) generally reveal a weaker MMC in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) compared with those produced using older systems (i.e., NCEP/NCAR, ERA-40, and JRA-25). The mean mixing strength differs largely among the data products. In the NH lower stratosphere, the contribution of planetary-scale mixing is larger in the new data sets than in the old data sets, whereas that of small-scale mixing is weaker in the new data sets. Conventional data assimilation techniques introduce analysis increments without maintaining physical balance, which may have caused an overly strong MMC and spurious small-scale eddies in the old data sets. At the NH mid-latitudes, only ERA-Interim reveals a weakening MMC trend in the deep branch of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC). The relative importance of the eddy mixing compared with the mean-meridional transport in the subtropical lower stratosphere shows increasing trends in ERA-Interim and JRA-55; this together with the weakened MMC in the deep branch may imply an increasing age-of-air (AoA) in the NH middle stratosphere in ERA-Interim. Overall, discrepancies between the different variables and trends therein as derived from the different reanalyses are still relatively large, suggesting that more investments in these products are needed in order to obtain a consolidated picture of observed changes in the BDC and the mechanisms that drive them.


In situ complex impedance spectroscopy of H 2 O-bearing wadsleyite was performed in a multianvil apparatus at 14 GPa at temperatures up to 950 °C in order to determine electrical conductivity. With increasing H 2 O content in wadsleyite the electrical conductivity increases at a rate higher than observed in previous studies. The activation enthalpy in the temperature range studied where proton conduction dominates is low (0.66 eV) suggesting an inevitable crossover to small polaron conduction at moderately higher temperatures, depending on H 2 O concentration. Although the solubility of H 2 O in wadsleyite is significant for a silicate mineral (>3 wt%), the presence of more than trace dissolved H 2 O in wadsleyite is likely to result in a conductivity too high compared to recent estimates of transition-zone conductivity. The use of complex impedance spectroscopy shows that the frequency dependence of electrical properties is very different in the case of H 2 O-bearing silicate phases. At frequencies below 1000 Hz complex impedance spectra contain strong features which likely result from the sample–electrode interface such that including the low-frequency data would lead to artificially low conductivities.


Active noise control (ANC) is an effective technique used to reduce noise levels at the controlled points by introducing a cancellation sound wave into the primary acoustic field. To achieve better sound design and noise attenuation, it is critical to have good knowledge of the characteristics of the primary noise source, which is also necessary for condition monitoring (CM).
This paper investigates various ANC schemes to achieve both noise reduction and fault diagnosis. Firstly an effective acoustic measurement method is developed to estimate the characteristics of noise sources for the ANC in a pipeline system. Two sensors are mounted along the pipe to measure the acoustic signals and the source of the noise is estimated based on these measurements. An ANC algorithm embedded with CM capability is developed for both noise reduction and fault detection in the system. The algorithm is evaluated through both simulation study and experimental work. Preliminary results show that both noise reduction and fault diagnosis can be achieved and the system operates reliably under different operating conditions.
Keywords: Active noise control, Condition monitoring, Diesel engine, Fault diagnosis.


Liverworts (Phylum Marchantiophyta) form the earliest diverging lineage of extant land plants and hold a key position in the evolutionary history of land plants. The family Cleveaceae, first defined in 1881 by Leitgeb by its complex thallus anatomy and star-shaped epidermal pores with strongly thickened radial walls, is now included within Marchantiopsida (Complex Thalloid Liverworts). The family is widely distributed in warm temperate to arctic regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but very rare in South America and absent from Australia and New Zealand. Since Cleveaceae was described, the number and names of genera and species recognized within the family have changed many times, with three genera currently accepted: Athalamia (12 to 15 species), Sauteria (2 to 5 species) and Peltolepis (1 or 2 species). However, no robust phylogenetic frame work or taxonomic monographs of the family have previously been undertaken and the species diversity within the genera remains uncertain. The study presents the first robust phylogenetic framework for the family, based on three chloroplast genes (psbA, rpoC1 and rps4) and one nuclear ribosomal region (26S) sequenced for 54 ingroup accessions representing a substantial part of the geographic range of the family (except South America) and a large part of its morphological diversity. Samples sequenced include the type species of the three currently accepted genera as well as those of previously synonymised genera; Clevea, Spathysia, Gollaniella and Sauchia. The current circumscription and relationships of the genera were tested using Maximum Parsimony, Bayesian and Likelihood inferences. Cleveaceae was strongly supported as monophyletic with four main lineages resolved within the family, two corresponding to Peltolepis and Sauteria and two composing a polyphyletic Athalamia. The latter is therefore divided into a more narrowly defined Athalamia and a fourth genus, for which Clevea is the earliest published name. Inferred evolutions of twelve morphological characters, that are useful or have been used in classifications of Cleveaceae, were reconstructed using maximum parsimony and maximum likelihood methods. The misleading influence of homoplasy on past morphological classifications and phylogenies is discussed. The study also presents the first worldwide taxonomic revision of Cleveaceae based on around 2300 specimens studied, including all available type specimens. The monographic work is based on morphological and anatomical characters reviewed using dissecting, compound and scanning electron microscopes including both herbarium and fresh material collected on field excursions during the study. Ventral scale morphology, position and aggregation of androecia and shape of receptacle were found to be valuable characters in generic and species delimitation. The traditional definition of genera of Cleveaceae based mainly on two characters (carpocephalum stalk position and anatomy) was rejected. A total of seven species were recognized from 25 formerly described names including…


LUNG atelectasis was first described by the French physician René Théophile Hyacinthe Laënnec in his iconic book entitled, De L'Auscultation Médiate; ou Traité du Diagnostic des Maladies des Poumons et du Cœur published in 1819 in Paris, where he compiled his observations of lung and heart sounds derived from the use of his newly invented stethoscope, a simple wooden tube carved by himself. Europe was recovering from the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars and was battling with poverty, famine, and tuberculosis, a mysterious, untreatable pulmonary disease, reminiscent of today's SARS-CoV-2. In this issue of the Journal, Zeng et al. present their data exploring the molecular events related to atelectasis, a common clinical entity, by taking advantage of a translational large animal model with high fidelity to human disease. Atelectasis was induced with a bronchial blocker and thoracotomy on the left whole lung, while the right lung was ventilated in the presence or absence of systemic endotoxin infusion. Physiologic parameters were recorded, and imaging techniques were used to visualize regional aeration. After 8 h, lung tissue was collected from aerated and atelectatic lung regions and used for next generation RNA sequencing. The authors used gene set enrichment analysis, a pattern recognition tool assessing whether functionally related genes are coordinately and consistently regulated, and transcription factor prediction analysis, a tool pinpointing the transcription factors that drive the transcriptomic differences among groups, to reveal a wealth of novel findings. Downregulated genes associated with host defense, barrier integrity, and tissue regeneration or repair were found to be overrepresented in atelectatic tissue. Systemic endotoxin was capable of upregulating the immune response in atelectatic tissue, while genes linked to alveolar-capillary barrier integrity and function remained depressed. Results from transcription factor prediction analysis were even more intriguing. The data suggested the involvement of the interferon regulatory factor family of transcription factors in endotoxin-exposed atelectasis. These transcription factors, which play pivotal roles in many aspects of the immune response, including immune cell development and differentiation, are likely involved in the enhanced response of the atelectatic tissue to systemic inflammation. In addition, the authors found defective YESassociated protein signaling in atelectasis independent of endotoxin exposure. YES-associated protein, a transcriptional coactivator of the transcriptional enhanced associate domain transcription factor family, which controls cell proliferation and stem cell functions, appears to be involved in the loss of pulmonary barrier function of the atelectatic lung. These are important discoveries and fit very well to our current understanding where interferon-stimulated genes have been linked to severe outcomes in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) patients because of their role of predisposing to additional lung injury. Likewise, YES-associated protein signaling is known to play a major role in respiratory epithelial cell regeneration and regulation of the cytoskeleton, and it is conceivable that lack of cyclic stretch in atelectatic tissue downregulates this pathway. Does this study have translational implications for the practicing clinician? Since the discovery of atelectasis, a


Sufficient anchorage of an interbody device will allow osseointegration and avoid implant migration. Shear forces in the lumbar spine are transferred across the bone/implant interface, resulting in relative motion between the implant and bone. Relative motion greater than 150 μm will have a detrimental effect on the osseointegration of titanium (Ti) implants. This study developed an in vitro, primary stability testing protocol to assess a total disc replacement (TDR). Testing was performed on seven human cadaveric L4 and L5 vertebrae. Cyclic shear loading of the prepared implant/bone interface was applied for 20 cycles in the anterior and posterior directions to ±350 N under an axial compressive load of 600 N. The relative motion was measured and the average of the last five cycles analysed. The shear force necessary to cause complete anterior migration of the TDR was also measured. The averaged cyclic motion for the last five cycles in both the anterior and posterior directions was below 85 μm for all specimens. The average yield force for complete anterior implant migration was 522.2 N (±105.9 N) and the failure force was 605.1 N (±118.4 N). A primary stability testing protocol was developed and employed to assess a TDR in human cadaveric bone. The measured relative motion for this TDR for each loading cycle was below 150 μm, which is favourable for osseointegration with the vertebral body endplates.


Dragonflies achieve agile maneuverability by flapping four wings independently. Different phase angles between the flapping forewing and hindwing have been observed during various flight modes. The aerodynamic performance depends on phase angle control, as exemplified by an artificial flying ornithopter. Here, we present a dragonfly-like ornithopter whose phase angle was designed to vary according to the phase lag between the slider-cranks of the forewing and hindwing. Two microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) differential pressure sensors were attached to the center of both forewing and hindwing to evaluate the aerodynamic performance during flapping motions when the phase angle was changed. By varying the phase angle in both the tethered condition and free-flight, the performance of the forewing remained approximately constant, whereas that of the hindwing exhibited obvious variations; the maximum average value was two-fold higher than the minimum. The experimental results suggest that simple phase angle changes enable a flying ornithopter to control flight force balance without complex changes in the wing kinematics.


Abstract Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent malignant neoplasms worldwide. Genetic polymorphism has been reported as a predictive factor related to a higher risk for HCC. Because the stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and its receptor, CXCR4, have been reported to play important roles in tumor cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis of HCC, the aim of this study was to estimate the relationship between SDF-1 and CXCR4 gene variants to HCC risk and clinicopathological status. Methods: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism was used to measure SDF-1 (rs1801157) and CXCR4 (rs2228014) gene polymorphisms in 311 healthy controls and 102 patients with HCC. Results: Compared to controls, individuals with at least one A allele had a higher risk of 1.57-fold (95% CI: 1.00–2.47) to induce HCC and had a risk of 2.81-fold (95% CI: 1.04–7.58) to develop a status of stage III or stage IV disease, after being adjusted for other confounders. However, there was no significant association between CXCR4 gene polymorphism and either HCC risk or pathological status. Additionally, both gene polymorphisms were not associated with the serum expression of liver-related clinical pathological markers. Conclusions: SDF-1–3′A gene polymorphism could be considered as a factor related to an increased susceptibility to the risk and pathological development of HCC. Clin Chem Lab Med 2009;47:412–8.


In the United States, the dominant approach to responding to various forms of interpersonal violence, such as intimate violence or bias attacks, supports and expands the state apparatus of incarceration. For communities of color and LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer) communities who are already at risk for institutional violence, solutions that are built on a foundation of criminalization become a source of violence as they intensify policing mechanisms. These uneasy dynamics can be examined through a closer look at legislation intended to protect survivors of intimate violence and hate crimes. Analyzing the emergence of legislative responses to violence that is committed against people who are marginalized because of their race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability provides an insight into systematized sociopolitical institutions, such as the state incarceration apparatus. Legislation that addresses "violence against women" and "hate crimes" are used both against and in "protection of" Asian American communities and offer illustrative examples of the relationship between individualized violence and state violence. In this Article, we examine how these legislative acts exclude, neglect, and punish survivors who deviate from the parameters of the "model minority victim." Next, we examine the impact of these different legal remedies -- how they expand state criminalization of immigrant communities and perpetuate negative stereotypes of people of color, and how they rely on the criminal-legal infrastructure in the United States for "safety" and "punishment" and serve to build the perpetually expanding prison system. Finally, we examine the potential for transformative justice strategies as a response to individualized violence that do not rely on the state. We look at the ways in which state-based responses to violence contribute to race-based discrimination and fail to encourage solidarity among people of color. Instead, we propose a shift away from state-based responses to community-based responses that identify all forms of violence whether personal, political, state, or systemic.


Storm-created nesting habitat and low wave energy moist sediment habitat (MOSH), such as intertidal sandflats, have long been considered important to the recovery of the piping plover (Charadrius melodus), a federally threatened shorebird. Beach renourishment is a common practice on the U.S. Atlantic Coast for the protection of human property from storms, but it also prevents normal MOSH formation. We examined factors limiting piping plover nesting pair density and reproductive output on Atlantic Barrier Islands, 20012004, including one site that had been breached by a storm in 1992, and subsequently repaired and renourished by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We also investigated the short-term impact of beach renourishment at these sites. Number of pairs at a site increased with beach area. Pair density increased with MOSH availability at the site level. Home range size increased as the distance from plover nests to MOSH increased. Home range size was smaller for plovers with higher foraging rates in the territory-establishment period, but this effect was most likely independent of distance to MOSH. Reproductive output was not apparently related to availability of MOSH to adults or broods, and was limited by predation. Habitat widths, prey abundance, and brood habitat selection changed at two of our sites after renourishment. However, similar changes occurred in reference areas. Other research shows that in addition to long-term loss of storm-created features, beach stabilization can lead to loss of habitat and low reproductive success due to human development and an increased presence of introduced predators. Management for recovery of this species should thus include permitting natural storm-mediated habitat creation to occur where feasible. However, since we found no direct negative short-term impact of renourishment on prey or habitat availability, habitat restoration via renourishment of eroded beaches could be a viable strategy for plover recovery, if negative indirect short and long-term effects are mitigated. Restoration projects should include restoration or creation of MOSH adjacent to nesting habitat, because MOSH attracts a high density of pairs and to offset long-term loss of storm-created habitat. Human disturbance and predation must also be controlled at restoration sites.


of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Growth dynamics of braided gravel-bed river deltas in New Zealand by Michelle Anne Wild This research has been undertaken to further our knowledge of decade-to-century timescale braided, gravel-bed river delta growth dynamics. The study included: a review of available literature; field studies; the development of microscale models for two study deltas; and the development of a simple numerical model incorporating movement of braided river channels across a delta topset (varying the location of sediment delivery to the delta). Results from the microscale modelling showed that successful physical modelling requires welldefined fixed boundaries and, ideally, good historical aerial photography for the estimation of the model time scale. A complex braided gravel-bed river delta system composed of two merging deltas entering a deep, low-energy receiving basins was able to be successfully modelled to provide valuable information on delta growth dynamics. However, a microscale model of a delta prograding into shallow receiving basins, with a large supply of fine sediment, was more difficult to calibrate and assess (partly due to limited field data), and was considered less reliable. The simple rule-based numerical model 'DELGROW', developed to simulate a braided river system entering a deep, low-energy body of water, requires a known sediment supply rate, as well as information on the braided river topography, submerged delta foreset, and lakebed bathymetry. Unlike simple 1-d width-averaged geometric models, DELGROW takes into consideration barriers (e.g. islands) as well as relatively complex converging braided river delta configurations. By changing the sediment supply, or modifying the river system, the response of the river system to various scenarios can also be assessed. Microscale models and DELGROW appear to realistically simulate decade-to-century timescale growth of braided gravel-bed river deltas entering a deep, low-energy, receiving basin. Both of these modelling methods initially use the supplied sediment to try and eliminate any riverbed irregularities (e.g. low areas), before continuing to advance and deposit sediment in a more evenly-distributed manner, whilst taking into consideration irregularities due to barriers, and asymmetric sediment sources such as merging deltas. Neither model can reliably predict locations of bank erosion, or channel avulsions that divert flow and sediment outside of the fixed model boundaries.


ABSTRACT Over the years a large body of literature has developed regarding cultural difference using Hofstede's cultural dimensions. In the course of studies regarding this literature attention has been placed on the differences between management and employees from a management perspective, yet little attention has been focused in the opposite direction. This study uses an in-basket laboratory experiment to determine if US students would prefer to work for a boss who shared cultural traits. The literature, methods and findings are followed by a discussion of the results and implications for entrepreneurs. INTRODUCTION Buntzman and Parker (2004) recently applied the Hofstede value system to an analysis of MBA student perceptions of CEO effectiveness and found evidence in a pilot study that their perceptions of CEO effectiveness might in fact be related to their internationally diverse cultural backgrounds. This study is in some ways a follow-on study. It examines the preferences of undergraduate students to possibly work for individuals whose philosophies reflect various cultural backgrounds typical of the USA and certain European, Latin American and Asian regions. Currently a wealth of literature exists on the impact of culture on business operations particularly in the area of employer/employee relations. Much of this literature is useful in examining the role that cultural differences plays in the understanding of how business works. Culture though extends farther than just an individual's background; one must also consider the culture of business to which a new graduate will be entering upon completion of a degree program or an experienced worker might enter upon changing jobs. "Corporate culture is comprised of philosophy and mission, manner of internal communications and hiring practices. From the outside such things as dress code, flexibility of work schedules and level of volunteerism often form a company's public profile" (Pfister 1999). This perception of corporate culture is particularly true in America. As one U. S. CEO stated: "I think the most important thing you can have is pride in how you dress, in how you act...when you have facilities that are clean and painted, people take pride in that, and you end up with a better safety record, a better environmental record" (Pfister 1999). The philosophy of the CEO was reflected in how the employees reacted to it. One employee indicated that as a result of the CEO's attitude the company had become "extremely image conscious" and failure to adhere to norms would result in co-workers quietly pointing out violations (Pfister 1999). The American value system as pointed out in a number of studies is not universally accepted. In an application of the Hofstede values (collectivism vs. individualism, high vs. low uncertainty avoidance, high vs. low power distance, masculine vs. feminine and dynamic vs. Confucian) Gouttefarde (1996) observed the interaction between Americans and French working in French companies. The comparison was justified given the cultural differences between the two nations. The Gouttefarde study showed the French are high on the power distance scale whereas Americans rate low. The study also showed French and Americans are at odds on uncertainty avoidance. Not surprisingly many of the respondents in the Gouttefarde study expressed frustration at their cultural counterparts. The Americans were seen as brash and too individualistic. The French were seen as micromanagers who stifled the creativity of American employees and were mired in bureaucracy. French bosses were seen as aloof from subordinates whereas the feeling was among French subordinates that the American supervisors got too close. In other international studies (e.g. MacMahon 1996 and Channon & Dakin 1995) the importance of cultural understanding and identity was seen as a key to business success. In terms of hiring practices by small business owners in Ireland one entrepreneur stated: "I think that in a small company you have to be careful in selecting your workforce anyway - you try to make sure that people will fit in with your way of thinking, your way of doing things and the other employees" (MacMahon 1996). …


The population genetic structure of two species of mayflies was studied using protein electrophoresis at eight locations in the headwater region of the Delaware River drainage basin. Study sites were located upstream and downstream from two large reservoirs. The working hypothesis was that little or no genetic differentiation occurs between conspecific populations within and among tributaries of the same drainage basin. A total of 24 and 28 loci were examined for Eurylophella verisimilis and Ephemerella subvaria respectively. Geographic differentiation was significant for three of nine polymorphic loci (average FST=0.028) for Ep. subvaria when all populations were compared. Spatial variation in allele frequencies among populations of Ep. subvaria was substantially higher in the West Branch than in the East Branch of the Delaware River. The spatial cline of allele frequencies for certain loci of Ep. subvaria paralleled environmental gradients in the vicinity of the two reservoirs but no cause-effect relationship can be implied without more extensive data. Regardless, the results for Ep. subvaria failed to support the hypothesis. In contrast, geographic differentiation for Eu. verisimilis was low, being limited to one locus and caused by allelic abnormalities at one site (average FST=0.008). No significant spatial clines were observed for Eu. verisimilis among study sites. These data seem to be consistent with the hypothesis. There was no indication of disrupted gene flow caused by the reservoirs acting as barriers to dispersal by larval drift or adult flight in either species. However, additional data on species in drainage basins without potential barriers to gene flow are needed to adequately test the hypothesis.


This study presents a review of cases reported in the news media regarding unarmed black men shot and killed by police in the United States (U.S.) between the years 2011 and 2016. In the sampled cases, all police officers involved were acquitted following decisions from grand juries or district attorneys. This research comprises cases involving deaths of unarmed African-American males. Case data were collected from two prominent newspapers: The Washington Post and The New York Times. Analyzing these articles allows for a better understanding regarding the outcomes, effects, and the repercussions of the incidents in the African American community. By incorporating Critical Race Theory (CRT), this research will provide individuals with a better understanding of racism and discrimination that has been historically propagated by police forces, and its negative effect on Western society. By investigating police policies and procedures, as well high-profile incidents of police coercion, this study will reveal the extent of racially motivated police misconduct in the U.S.


The present work was carried out in 2008 with the objective of determining the alfalfa chain research needs in the state of Hidalgo. The productive chain approach was used and the following five steps were also carried out: i) Chain characterization, ii) Identification of critical factors, iii) Identification of research demands iv) Identification of research supply and v) Identification of research needs. Among the most outstanding results we have: the development of an alfalfa chain conceptual model integrated by 6 links and 25 segments; identification of 19 critical factors; identification of 17 demands including 12 regarding research, validation, and technology transfer and 5 regarding design and policy strategies; identification of 97 products supplied by research including 29% on varieties' generation and validation, 15% on plague and disease control, 11% on efficient water usage, and 2% on cut methods. In conclusion, 60% of the supply takes care of the identified demands, and needs exist in: validation and transfer of high productive potential alfalfa varieties; generation of new products, design of an updated catalogue regarding the main plagues and diseases that harm the alfalfa culture as well as a control method; training and technology transfer regarding the efficient irrigation water usage; design of agricultural machinery for alfalfa cut and packing, and training producers on seeds production.


Small reservoirs known as tanks are constructed in the watersheds of arid, semiarid, and subhumid regions of India to provide supplementary or protective irrigation to crops during dry spells of the monsoon season or full irrigation during the postmonsoon season. The stored water in tanks or recharged groundwater is used for this irrigation. Several models have previously been developed to design the capacity of individual tanks. However, for optimum utilization of water generated in a watershed to meet the demands for irrigation and for downstream release, it is necessary to design the tanks together in terms of their number, locations, and capacities. A comprehensive methodology for this is presented using stream points, i.e., possible tank locations on the main stream(s) in the watershed. Tank strategies (combinations of numbers of tanks, their locations at stream points, and tank types) are then generated for the identified stream points. Subsequently, fields in the watershed are assigned to the catchment and the command of different tanks of a specified tank strategy. Simulation of field, tank, and groundwater balance is then carried out on a daily basis, from which optimum tank dimensions are obtained for a specified tank strategy. The optimum tank strategy and corresponding optimum tank dimensions are obtained by investigating all the possible tank strategies.


Globalization and the growth of multinational enterprises (MNEs) has been accompanied by an increasing call for corporations to take responsibility for their environmental and social impacts, and for greater corporate disclosure and transparency with regard to non-financial risks (collectively known as corporate social responsibility, or CSR). At the same time, governments have increasingly turned to mandatory obligations for formerly voluntary CSR engagement, a trend we call the legalization of CSR. This article analyzes the "hardening" and legalization of CSR, and considers what this process tells us about norms and assumptions regarding the social responsibility of firms in the United States and around the world. Through our analysis of corporate trends, regulations, and case law from the United States, European Union, China, and India, we argue that the process of legalization and redefinition of CSR through a shareholder primacy lens may, troublingly, undermine the very notion of corporate social responsibility. In the face of these trends, this article redefines CSR with a reference to a fresh commitment to corporations' social and ethical responsibility to society.


Participation in recreational mountaineering and mountaineering holidays
continues to grow in the UK, however, participation rates are higher for men
than women. Despite women's under-representation, little has been done to
understand women's experiences of mountaineering. This study employed a
mixed-methods approach to examine the experiences of female mountaineer
tourists. In doing so, it utilised concepts related to participation constraints,
constraints negotiation and participation benefits, which have previously been
examined independently of each other. The qualitative component of this study
involved one-month of phenomenology-based ethnography fieldwork in Nepal
where I, the author, participated in a commercially organised mountaineering
expedition. An observant participant role was adopted, and data were
generated by my own practical co-participation and combined with other data
collection methods. The quantitative component consisted of an online survey,
which produced 307 usable responses.
The findings revealed that intra-personal constraints, in particular self-doubt in
one's fitness and climbing ability, were key constraints for female mountaineer
tourists. Moreover, the negotiation of intra-personal constraints is a complex
process and efficacy plays a pivotal role and is central to successful
participation. The identification of a fourth category relating to family constraints
independent to the three familiar constraint categories (intra-personal, interpersonal
and structural) represents a theoretical contribution to literature and an
additional barrier to women's participation in mountaineering tourism. The
findings also demonstrate how women utilise a range of negotiation strategies
to ensure participation and, regardless of the mountaineering tourism activity
they participate in, seven core participation benefits were present. New
constraint negotiation and benefit categories were also quantitatively verified
and new in-situ constraints and negotiation strategies specific to the context of
commercially organised high-altitude expeditions emerged in the qualitative
data. In addition, the findings of this study also contribute to our understanding
of women's empowerment through their participation in mountaineering tourism.
A conceptual model illustrates these key findings and the interrelationships
between women's participation constraints, constraints negotiation and
participation benefits of mountaineering tourism. Some of the findings reinforce
previous research on the experiences of female adventure participation, in
particular those relating to constraint negotiation and benefits. Therefore, this
conceptual model not only enhances our understanding of female mountaineer
tourists, it also contributes to adventure tourism and adventure recreation
literature more broadly. The originality of this study is also present in the
ethnography approach employed. Through my own practical co-participation, I
was able to understand the meanings and record an embodied account of a
mountaineering expedition, which would have been undetected through
observation by a non-experiential ethnographer. The implications for adventure
tourism management and future research are also considered.


This is a report performed for the Canadian government in 1981 on the impact of copying (photocopying) on copyright holders. As far as I know, it was the first theoretical claim that copying might not hurt copyright holders, and might even benefit them, due to the concept of indirect appropriability. Although some of this material later appeared in articles in the JPE and AER, this is a more complete treatment focused on the copying issue. This report proposes a fairly simple model to explain what happens in markets where copying occurs. The key parameters turn out to be the variability in the number of copies made from each original, the degree of substitutability between the original and the copy, and whether or not the copyright holder can engage in price discrimination. Anyone interested in the issue of copying in the Internet era, or who wants to and be able to analyze behavior such as that associated with Napster, will want to read this.


The CRISPR/Cas9 system provides unprecedented genome editing capabilities; however, several facets of this system are under investigation for further characterization and optimization, including the choice of guide RNA that directs Cas9 to target DNA. In particular, given that one would like to target the protein-coding region of a gene, hundreds of guides satisfy the basic constraints of the CRISPR/Cas9 Protospacer Adjacent Motif sequence (PAM); however, not all of these guides actually generate gene knockouts with equal efficiency. Leveraging a broad set of experimental measurements of guide knockout efficiency, we introduce a state-of-the art in silico modeling approach to identify guides that will lead to more effective gene knockout. We first investigated which guide and gene features are critical for prediction (e.g., single- and di-nucleotide identity of the gene target), which are helpful (e.g., thermodynamics), and which are predictive but redundant (e.g., microhomology). We also investigated evaluation measures for comparing predictive models in the present context, suggesting that Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve is not ideal. Finally, we explored a variety of different model classes and found that use of gradient-boosted regression trees produced the best predictive performance. Pointers to our open-source software, code, and prediction server will be available at http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/azimuth.


While dealing with motor vehicle collision (MVC) victims, the Paramedics on-scene make patient management decisions based on assessment of the physiological parameters, anatomic site of injury, mechanism of injury (MOI), and some special considerations (age and underlying illnesses). In victims with normal physiological and anatomical parameters, and no alarming consideration, the MOI alone is found to be an independent predictor of mortality and functional impairment (2, 3); the Emergency Physician can utilize such information to guide further management of the MVC victims. Information concerning the MOI mostly comes from the Paramedics who retrieved the patient from the crash scene. The purpose of this review is to explore the injury-predictive mechanisms of MVC and to guide the Paramedics in conveying such vital information to the Emergency Physician during handover process. A literature search was made using the online search engine PubMed to identify studies exploring the injury-predictive mechanisms of MVC. Keyword combinations were used that included: Motor/Vehicle/Collision/Road/Traffic/Accidents/Trauma/Mechanism of injury. Auto vs. pedestrian and Motorcycle crashes were excluded. A total of 8 articles were found to be relevant. The mechanisms of MVC which are highly predictive of a significant occult injury include ejection from vehicle (1,4,5), intrusion of the passenger compartment more than 12 inches (1,2,4), prolonged extrication time >20 minutes (4,5), death in the same passenger compartment (1,5), high speed crashes (4), deformity of the steering wheel (2), and rollover causing significant intrusion or ejection of the victim (1). Paramedics reporting the aforementioned crash-specific variables would alert the Emergency Physician and help him better deal with MVC victims who have normal physiological and anatomical parameters, and no alarming considerations. Provision of MVC scene photographs to the emergency physician could be a future research project to assess its impact on altering patient management and outcome. References: 1. Centers for disease control and prevention. (2012). Guidelines for filed triage of injured patient: Recommendations of the national expert panel on filed triage, 2011(MMWR 2012;61). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr6101.pdf 2. Davidson, G.H., Rivara, F.P., Mack, C.D., Kaufman, R., Jurkocivh, G.J., Bufler, E.M. (2014). Validation of prehospital trauma triage criteria for motor vehicle collisions. J Trauma Acute Care Surg, 76(3), 755-61. 3. Haider, A.H., Chang, D.C., Haut, E.R., Cornwell, E.E 3rd., Efron, D.T. (2009). Mechanism of injury predicts patient mortality and impairment after blunt trauma. J Surg Res, 1;153(1), 138-42. 4. Palanca, S., Taylor, D.M., Bailey, M., Cameron, P.A. (2003). Mechanisms of motor vehicle accidents that predict major injury. Emerg Med (Fremantle), 15(5-6), 423-8. 5. Stuke, L.E., Duchesne, J.C., Greiffenstein, P., Mooney, J.L., Marr, A.B., Meade, P.C., McSwain, N.E., Hunt, J.P. (2013). Not all mechanisms are created equal: a single-centre experience with the national guidelines for field triage of injured patients. J Trauma Acute Care Surg, 75(1), 140-5 0 Language: en


Family carers of people with a severe mental illness play a vital, yet often unrecognized and undervalued role in Australian society. Respite care services can assist these family carers in their role; however, little is known about their access to these services. The paper addresses this knowledge gap. An exploratory field study was conducted throughout the eastern suburbs of Sydney, Australia, to identify and examine the factors influencing the use and provision of respite services for older carers of people with a mental illness. Semistructured, in-depth interviews, and structured self-completed questionnaires were conducted with older family carers, mental health care professionals, and respite care service providers. Additionally, relevant documents (local policies, strategic plans and reports on respite care) were reviewed. It was found that current respite services are problematic for older family carers of Australians with a mental illness, signalling the need for concerted efforts by carers, health professionals, and service providers to improve access. Changes to respite provision and utilization are recommended.


Abstract The aim of the present study was to examine the associations of sugary drink consumption and its substitution with alternative beverages with body weight gain among young children predisposed to future weight gain. Secondary analysis of the Healthy Start Study, a 1·5-year randomised controlled trial designed to prevent overweight among Danish children aged 2−6 years (n 366), was carried out. Multivariate linear regression models were used to investigate the associations of beverage consumption with change in body weight (Δweight) or BMI(ΔBMI) z-score. Substitution models were used to extrapolate the influence of replacing sugary drinks with alternative beverages (water, milk and diet drinks) on Δweight or ΔBMI z-score. Sugary drink intake at baseline and substitution of sugary drinks with milk were associated with both Δweight and ΔBMI z-score. Every 100 g/d increase in sugary drink intake was associated with 0·10 kg and 0·06 unit increases in body weight (P=0·048) and BMI z-score (P=0·04), respectively. Substitution of 100 g/d sugary drinks with 100 g/d milk was inversely associated with Δweight (β=−0·16 kg; P=0·045) and ΔBMI z-score (β=−0·07 units; P=0·04). The results of this study suggest that sugary drink consumption was associated with body weight gain among young children with high predisposition for future overweight. In line with the current recommendations, sugary drinks, whether high in added or natural sugar, should be discouraged to help prevent childhood obesity. Milk may be a good alternative to sugary drinks with regard to weight management among young obesity-predisposed children.


Under constant amplitude loading a single variable (ΔK) is required in crack growth relationships. The transferability of fatigue laws, determined under constant amplitude loading, to variable amplitude fatigue requires at least an additional variable, whose evolution with crack length accounts for the interaction effects between cycles of different types. The crack opening level (Kop) is usually employed for this purpose because it can be determined from the experiments and compared with predictions from models or FEM analyses. This paper presents an analysis of fatigue crack growth on M(T) specimens of medium carbon steel specimens and using FEM analyses. The specimens are subjected to repeated blocks of cycles made up of one or several overloads separated by a variable number of baseline cycles. The experiments are simulated by FEM analyses, taking into account the cyclic plastic behavior of the low carbon steel. The main objective of this study is to better understand the mechanisms at the origin of interactions effects due to the presence of overloads (or underloads) at different locations of the block loading. It is concluded that the interaction effects are closely related to the cyclic plastic behavior of the material and namely to the Bauschinger effect.


We have rescued influenza A virus by transfection of 12 plasmids into Vero cells. The eight individual negative-sense genomic viral RNAs were transcribed from plasmids containing human RNA polymerase I promoter and hepatitis delta virus ribozyme sequences. The three influenza virus polymerase proteins and the nucleoprotein were expressed from protein expression plasmids. This plasmid-based reverse genetics technique facilitates the generation of recombinant influenza viruses containing specific mutations in their genes.


Plasma Resource Recovery (PRR) is a revolutionary technology that can treat virtually any type of waste by combining gasification with vitrification. Vitrification produces inert slag that can be used as a construction material. Gasification produces a fuel gas containing carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2 ), used for cogeneration of electricity and steam. The plasma fired eductor which is the core technology of the PRR system is presently being used commercially on a cruise ship at a scale of 5 TPD. The capabilities of the PRR technology have been demonstrated in a pilot plant, at a rate of up to 2 TPD of various types of waste. Because of the high intensity of the plasma flame and the reduced amounts of gases produced in a gasification system, compared to traditional combustion systems, the PRR system is typically very compact. As such, the PRR technology opens the door for a decentralized, small scale approach to waste management.Copyright © 2005 by ASME