Abstract: This essay considers the difficulty of seeing systems of oppression—a challenging first step of writing for social change. I argue that service-learning faculty and public writing scholars have relied on outdated ways of thinking about racism and oppression, treating social issues as isolated instances of discrimination. Instead, by drawing from Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, I argue that we need to recognize that mass incarceration has created a new a racial caste system and is the root cause uniting many social problems. Mass incarceration and neoliberalism work together to exclude millions of people from economic and civic life, stain them with moral condemnation so that they remain invisible to the majority, and divert public attention from the flaws in our political and economic structures. I use examples from a local nonprofit to illustrate how this framework offers a new approach to service-learning and public writing.


GuideKeeper aims at defining the Security Concept of Operation (SECOP) and promoting the deployment in Europe of open architecture platforms for the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for border surveillance. Several UAV system concepts will be considered. Of particular interest to the GuideKeeper project will be a High Altitude Platform Security Surveillance Tower (HAP Tower) with real-time constraints to provide prospective options for independent open architecture system for the operation of unmanned (including UAVs) air-to-ground wide area land and sea border surveillance platforms. The SECOP also includes the methods and the tools to be used at existing security-related sites. Main business objectives are: (a) international leadership in the deployment of new platforms and sensors to comply with the SECOP, (b) experience to be gathered with the applicability of methods and tools resulting from other areas and projects in which the consortium members are involved or have knowledge and (c) as end-product of the project an SSA – Strategic SECOP Agenda for Intelligent and Enhancing Border Security will be proposed to the EC.


In 2011, Google launched the Google Art Project, an ever-growing repository of artworks from Museums around the globe, quickly followed by the expanded Google Cultural Institute. Efforts like these with the cultural sector use a combination of Google technologies and expert information provided by partner institutions to create unique online experiences. Spurred on by our partners, we've been adding features to our platform - content hosting, embeddable image viewers, exhibit creation tools - and making Google technology work for Museums - high-resolution imaging, mobile publishing, and experiments in VR. Building these projects requires a deep understanding of library, archival, and museum practices and standards as well as providing tools that can be used by a wide array of partners at different stages of cataloging and digitization. So, how are we doing? We'll discuss reactions to the work so far, present some of our latest attempts to do more with cultural heritage online, and talk about how Google would like to further engage with cultural partners.


In today's globally integrated food system, events in one part of the world can have multiple and wide-ranging effects, as has been shown by the recent and rapid global rise in food prices. Transnational corporations (TNCs) have been central to the development of this global food system, dominating production, international trade, processing, distribution, and retail sectors. Moreover, these global corporations play a key role in the establishment of rules and regulations by which they themselves are governed. This book examines how TNCs exercise power over global food and agriculture governance and what the consequences are for the sustainability of the global food system. The book defines three aspects of this corporate power: instrumental power, or direct influence; structural power, or the broader influence corporations have over setting agendas and rules; and discursive, or communicative and persuasive, power. The book begins by examining the nature of corporate power in cases ranging from "green" food certification in Southeast Asia and corporate influence on U.S. food aid policy to governance in the seed industry and international food safety standards. Chapters examine such issues as promotion of corporate-defined "environmental sustainability" and "food security," biotechnology firms and intellectual property rights, and consumer resistance to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and other cases of contestation in agrobiology. In a final chapter, the editors raise the crucial question of how to achieve participation, transparency, and accountability in food governance. Contributors include Maarten Arentsen, Jennifer Clapp, Robert Falkner, Doris Fuchs, Agni Kalfagianni, Peter Newell, Steffanie Scott, Susan Sell, Elizabeth Smythe, Peter Vandergeest, Marc Williams, and Mary Young. Food, Health, and the Environment series


Tackling the "darkest question in all of philosophy" with "raffish erudition" (Dwight Garner, New York Times), author Jim Holt explores the greatest metaphysical mystery of all: why is there something rather than nothing? This runaway bestseller, which has captured the imagination of critics and the public alike, traces our latest efforts to grasp the origins of the universe. Holt adopts the role of cosmological detective, traveling the globe to interview a host of celebrated scientists, philosophers, and writers, "testing the contentions of one against the theories of the other" (Jeremy Bernstein, Wall Street Journal). As he interrogates his list of ontological culprits, the brilliant yet slyly humorous Holt contends that we might have been too narrow in limiting our suspects to God versus the Big Bang. This "deft and consuming" (David Ulin, Los Angeles Times) narrative humanizes the profound questions of meaning and existence it confronts.


In Turkey, three large and decades-old public banks control about a third of the banking sector. These banks were functional to capitalist industrialization in the postwar era and have evolved spontaneously in ways supportive of neoliberalism. These same banks played a key role in stabilizing Turkey amidst the 2008–2009 global crisis. This gives rise to the seeming contradiction of public banks supporting otherwise neoliberal development strategies. The literature around banking and development has largely failed to capture this dynamic, being instead focused on the economics of public versus private banks. As such, the debate has difficulty capturing the multifaceted and conflicting functions of specific banking institutions. By contrast, we suggest that neither private nor public banks are innately superior – rather, it depends. We engage this problematic through the special issue's debate on institutional function and credibility and the case study of Turkey. As Miyamura's article in this volume has made an important contribution to the validation of the Credibility Thesis by zooming in on 'labor', so will this paper continue the endogenous analysis of the modes of production by focusing on 'capital', with its particular reference to state-owned banks in Turkey. From a historical materialist framework, therefore, we argue that Turkey's public banks have evolved spontaneously, and often unintentionally so, in ways supportive of capitalist development. Turkey's public banks thus prevail as credible because their institutionalized social content has changed in complex, class-based, and contradictory ways functional to capitalist reproduction. Such credibility is determined not by ownership form nor achieved by intentional, unmediated design, but has evolved historically within different phases of capitalism. Indeed, as financial capitalism intensifies in Turkey, the public banks have become increasingly important to neoliberal reproduction, hence also giving rise to the problem of alternatives.


Natural and vegetable dyeing which has a long tradition in Turkish culture was unable to compete with artificial dyes in time and has come to the point of being almost non-existent in many important weaving center. Fethiye has a distinct place in Anatolian weaving culture with a unique woven carpets and flat woven tradition. Vegetable dyeing is still trying to continue with the traditional recipes in the Fethiye region. In this study, it is aimed to explain traditional dyeing methods with endemic plants used in dyeing of carpets and flat weaving yarns' of Fethiye region. In the area, plants such as walnut leaves and bark, elm bark, thyme, euphorbia, acorns, quince leaves, and also artificial dyestuffs are often used in dyeing of knot yarns of carpet. Widely practiced methods in dyeing as follows: firstly wool carpet yarns dyes with vegetable dyestuffs and then the dyeing process continues with the addition of artificial dyes to colored water. Dyeing of yarns of flat weavings are used some plants such as walnut shells and leaves (Juglans regia L.), vine leaves (Vitis vinifera L.), quince leaves (Cydonia vulgaris Pers.) euphorbia (Euphorbia sp.), onion skins (Allium cepa L.), poplar bark (Populus alba L.), elm bark (Ulmus laevis), thyme (Thymus), fumarium (Fumaria officinalis L.), acorn (Quercus aegilops L.), almond leaf (Amygdalus orientalis Miller), and barberry root (Berberis vulgaris L.). Alum and citrus fruit are frequently used mordants in the region and they are located in many dyeing recipe as natural mordants. Citrus fruits, alum and the salt and sometimes colored water obtained with walnut shell are used as mordants. Preparing to dye of yarns with some of these mordants by pre-processing is called acimiklama. Blue, green, red, yellow and shades of these colors are generally dyed in the region. Recipes concerning these colors were presented in detailed. Keyword: Fethiye, carpet, rug, flat weaving, dyestuff, vegetable dyeing


Business-process-management systems are increasingly used in service-oriented architectures (SOA), coordinating activities of loosely coupled information systems, of web services, and of human actors. This often requires exchanging and processing sensitive, personally-identifiable information, e.g., in e-employability and e-health applications. Supporting security in such a service-oriented environment is challenging. Existing approaches focus on security in service-oriented architectures but neglect business-process specific characteristics. Motivated by a real-world business process from the e-employability domain, in this paper we collect security requirements, exploiting the specific properties and semantics of business processes. We evaluate the requirements with respect to the state of the art of suitable security mechanisms and identify possible solutions as well as remaining gaps. We see this article as an important prerequisite for the design and implementation of advanced security mechanisms for business processes.


Neuropsychological studies indicate that, after brain damage, the ability to imitate meaningful or meaningless actions can be selectively impaired. However, the neural bases supporting the imitation of these two types of action are still poorly understood. Using PET, we investigated in 10 healthy individuals the neural mechanisms of imitating novel, meaningless actions and familiar, meaningful actions. Data were analyzed using SPM99. During imitation, a significant positive correlation (p < .05, corrected) of regional cerebral blood flow with the amount of meaningful actions was observed in the left inferior temporal gyrus only. In contrast, a significant positive correlation (p < .05, corrected) with the amount of meaningless movements was observed in the right parieto-occipital junction. The direct categorical comparison of imitating meaningful (100) relative to meaningless (100) actions showed differential increases in neural activity (p < .001, uncorrected) in the left inferior temporal gyrus, the left parahippocampal gyrus, and the left angular gyrus. The reverse categorical comparison of imitating meaningless (100) relative to meaningful (100) actions revealed differential increases in neural activity (p < .001, uncorrected) in the superior parietal cortex bilaterally, in the right parieto-occipital junction, in the right occipital-temporal junction (MT, V5), and in the left superior temporal gyrus. Increased neural activity common to imitation of meaningless and meaningful actions compared to action observation was observed in a network of areas known to be involved in imitation of actions including the primary sensorimotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, and the ventral premotor cortex. These results are compatible with the two-route model of action imitation which suggests that there are at least two mechanisms involved in imitation of actions: a direct mechanism transforming a novel action into a motor output, and a semantic mechanism, on the basis of stored memories, that allows reproductions of known actions. Our results indicate that, in addition to shared neural processes, the direct and the semantic mechanisms that underlie action imitation also draw upon differential neural mechanisms. The direct mechanism underlying imitation of meaningless actions differentially involves visuospatial transformation processes as evidenced by activation of areas belonging to the dorsal stream. In contrast, imitation of meaningful actions differentially involves semantic processing as evidenced by activation of areas belonging to the ventral stream.


Conventional methods for water disinfection, especially chlorination, have a lot of disadvantages and should be perfected or substituted with safer and more efficient methods. One of the possible solutions to this problem is the application of sorbents with high disinfection efficacy. In this study, the opportunity of producing sorbents with biocidal properties based on non-oxidizing biocides and anion exchange resins (AERs) was investigated. A wide range of different type of AERs were tested for the ability to sorb biocides (dibromonitrilopropionamide (DBNPA) and polyhexamethyleneguanidine (PHMG)) and to exert disinfection activity. Most suitable AERs for production of biocidal sorbents were outlined.


ABSTRACT In this paper, I discuss my personal experience of the issues that can arise when adopting critical realism in academic contexts dominated by irrealist (positivist, phenomenological and post-structuralist) methodological approaches. I draw inspiration for my analysis from the concept of Gramscian hegemony and the concept of 'authenticity'. These concepts are related because hegemonic processes prevent individuals from freely expressing themselves. In my case, academic hegemony has resulted in social pressure to sacrifice my authentic critical realist self in order to achieve academic success. I also discuss groupthink dynamics, suggesting that they are a mechanism by which hegemony – and denial of individual authenticity – can be achieved. This paper is meant to be a theoretical and reflexive discussion, which could be the starting point for empirical studies investigating the situation of a critical realist in a hegemonic academic context.


Earthquakes induced by subsurface industrial activities are a globally emotive issue, with a growing catalogue of induced earthquake sequences. However, attempts at discriminating between natural and induced causes, particularly for anomalously shallow seismicity, can be challenging. An earthquake swarm during 2018–19 in south-east England with a maximum magnitude of M L 3.2 received great public and media attention because of its proximity to operating oilfields. It is therefore vital and timely to provide a detailed characterisation of the earthquake sequence at present, and to decide based on current evidence, whether the earthquakes were likely natural or induced. We detected 168 low-magnitude earthquakes and computed detailed source parameters of these events. Most earthquakes occurred at a shallow depth of 2.3 km, >1 km deeper than the geological formations targeted by the oilfields, and laterally >3 km away from the drill-sites. We combine the east-west trending cluster of the seismicity with 2-D seismic reflection profiles to find the causative fault system for the earthquakes. A b -value close to unity and strike-slip faulting mechanisms are consistent with tectonic reactivation along a pre-existing fault. Overall, we find no indicators in the earthquake parameters that would strongly suggest an induced source. Nor do we find any clear trends between seismicity and drilling activities based on operational logs provided by the operators. Injected volumes are near-zero and monthly production amounts are many orders of magnitude smaller than other reported cases of extraction-induced seismicity. On balance, and based on the available evidence, we find it currently unlikely that nearby industrial activities induced the seismic swarm. Most likely, the Surrey earthquakes offer a uniquely detailed insight into shallow seismicity within sedimentary basins. Nevertheless, self-reporting of injection and production times and volumes by operators, and the lack of easily- and publicly-available oilfield operational data continues to be a point of concern for local residents.


First of all, in this paper, the topology and operation of the three-phase threelevel Z-source inverter based on neutral-point-clamped (Z-NPC) are studied. Moreover, different combinations of permissible switching states and control signals are explained for this inverter. In this paper, the topology of the three-phase three-level Z-NPC inverter is extended for an n-level state. Also, a combination of allowed switching states with relevant mathematical equations is presented for the proposed n-level Z-NPC inverter. In comparison with multilevel voltage-source inverters (only voltage-boost capability), the proposed multilevel Z-NPC inverter is a single-stage converter and it has a buck-boost capability of voltage. On the other hand, the control of two-stage converters compared to single-stage converters can be more difficult because of existing more active and passive components. In this paper, two new PWM control methods are also proposed for various multilevel Z-NPC inverters. One advantage of the proposed PWM control methods in comparison with conventional PWM control methods is maintaining the charge balance of the dc-link capacitors in neutral point. The correct performance of the proposed multilevel Z-NPC topology and PWM control methods are verified by the obtained results of analysis and simulations performed in the PSCAD software.


In How Architecture Got Its Hump, Roger Connah explores the "interference" of other disciplines with and within contemporary architecture. He asks whether photography, film, drawing, philosophy, and language are merely fashionable props for architectural hallucinations or alibis for revisions of history. Or, are they a means for widening the site of architecture? Connah shows how these disciplines have not only contributed to new developments in architectural theory and practice, but have begun to insinuate new possibilities of space. Sometimes seamless, sometimes awkward like the hump acquired by the camel in one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, these disciplines have had their own responsibilities and excesses grafted onto architecture, just as architecture has tried to shake off their limitations. Taking interference a step further, Connah also considers the implications of philosophical incongruity and architectural unrest. He asks how architecture loses its head, transcends the dead language it now entraps, and houses meanings it wants to contest. Hardly bleak questions, suggests Connah, for they point to ways for architecture to rescue itself.


Written when Hemingway was at the height of his creative powers, the stories in Winner Take Nothing glow with the mark of his unique talent. Hunters, wives, old men of wisdom, waiters, fighters, women loved, women lost: they are all here, living on the raw edge, making love, facing the inevitable reality of death. The characters, the dialogue, the settings, the remarkable insight could have come only from Hemingway's imagination. As an introduction to his work, or as an overview of the themes he developed at greater length in his novels, it is a stunningly successful collection. From one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.


Cervical cancer, is a middle age women's disease. Nowadays, because of the postponement of childbearing at older age, women younger than 45 years old who are diagnosed with cervical cancer, have a strong desire for preserving fertility. For this reason, Radical Trachelectomy (Vaginal and Abdominal) is used worldwide.
In this article, we review data on procedures for fertility preservation, namely Radical Trachelectomy, less invasive procedures and Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, based on the literature over the past 12 years. Oncological and Obstetrical outcomes are analyzed.
In conclusion, Radical Trachelectomy, is an oncologically safe procedure for women with early invasive cervical cancer. However, a number of considerations regarding the selection criteria, patient's information and especially the complications and the postoperative quality of life, should be taken into account.


In our daily lives, we often make decisions that require the use of self-control, weighing trade-offs between various attributes: for example, selecting a food based on its health rather than its taste. Previous research suggests that re-weighting attributes may rely on selective attention, associated with decreased neural oscillations over posterior brain regions in the alpha (8-12 Hz) frequency range. Here, we utilized the high temporal resolution and whole-brain coverage of electroencephalography (EEG) to test this hypothesis in data collected from hungry human subjects exercising dietary self-control. Prior analysis of this data has found time-locked neural activity associated with each food's perceived taste and health properties from approximately 400 to 650 ms after stimulus onset (Harris et al., 2013). We conducted time-frequency analyses to examine the role of alpha-band oscillations in this attribute weighting. Specifically, we predicted that there would be decreased alpha power in posterior electrodes beginning approximately 400 ms after stimulus onset for the presentation of healthy food relative to unhealthy food, reflecting shifts in selective attention. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found a significant decrease in alpha power for presentations of healthy relative to unhealthy foods. As predicted, this effect was most pronounced at posterior occipital and parietal electrodes and was significant from approximately 450 to 700 ms post-stimulus onset. Additionally, we found significant alphaband decreases in right temporal electrodes during these times. These results extend previous attention research to multi-attribute choice, suggesting that the re-weighting of attributes can be measured neuro-computationally. NEURAL OSCILLATIONS AND DECISION-MAKING 4


Thermal history of Mimas and Enceladus is investigated from the beginning of accretion to 400 Myr. The numerical model of convection combined with the parameterized theory is used. The following heat sources are included: short lived and long lived radioactive isotopes, accretion, serpentinization, and phase changes. The heat transfer processes are: conduction, solid state convection, and liquid state convection. We find that temperature of Mimas' interior was significantly lower than that of Enceladus. If Mimas accreted 1.8 Myr after CAI then the internal melting and differentiation did not occur at all. Comparison of thermal models of Mimas and Enceladus indicates that conditions favorable for the start of tidal heating lasted for a short time (~107 yr) in Mimas and for ~108 yr in Enceladus. This could explain the Mimas—Enceladus paradox. In fact, in view of the chronology based on cometary impact rate, one cannot discard a possibility that also Mimas was for some time active and it has the interior differentiated on porous core and icy mantle.


Introduction: Epidemiological studies show that consumption of dairy products plays an important role in prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). The objective of this study is to examine the relation between dairy intake with MetS and its components in Tehranian adolescents. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 785 adolescents, aged 10 to 19 years, participants of the fourth phase of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study were selected. Usual dietary intake was assessed using a valid semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Total dairy, low fat and high fat dairy, milk, yoghurt and cheese were and anthropometrics, biochemical measurements and blood pressure were assessed. MetS was defined according to the de Ferranti criteria. Results: Mean age of subjects was 14.8 ± 2.9 years. The prevalence of MetS was 22.2% (girls: 19.5% and boys: 25.2%). The most prevalent component for MetS among boys was high waist circumference (53.4%) and among girls was low HDL-C (53.1%). Energy density and intake of protein, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, calcium and phosphor were higher in the highest quartile of dairy consumption, than in the lowest quartile. After adjustment for confounders, odds ratios with 95% confidence interval for MetS in the highest quartiles of total dairy, low fat dairy, high fat dairy, milk, yoghurt and cheese were 0.97 (0.57-1.66), 1.44 (0.83-2.49), 0.97 (0.56-1.67), 0.70 (0.42-1.18), 1.62 (0.99-2.64), 0.72 (0.44-1.18) respectively, compared to the lowest quartile. Conclusions: Results of this study do not support the hypothesis that consumption of dairy products protects against MetS and its components.


Objective To determine whether the presence of an informal caregiver and the patient's level of social support are associated with better diabetes self-care among adults with poorly controlled diabetes. Methods Cross-sectional study using baseline data from 253 adults of age 30–70 with poorly controlled diabetes. Participants who reported receiving assistance with their diabetes from a friend or family member in the past month were classified as having a caregiver. We used multivariate linear and logistic regression models to evaluate the associations between having a caregiver and level of social support with five self-reported diabetes self-care behaviors: diet, foot checks, blood glucose monitoring, medications, and physical activity. Results Compared to participants with no informal caregiver, those with an informal caregiver were significantly more likely to report moderate or high medication adherence (OR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.07–3.49, p = 0.028). When we included social support in the model, having a caregiver was no longer significantly associated with medication adherence (OR = 1.50, 95% CI: 0.80–2.82), but social support score was (OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.03–1.45, p = 0.023). Discussion Among low-income adults with poorly controlled diabetes, having both an informal caregiver and high social support for diabetes may have a beneficial effect on medication adherence, a key self-care target to improve diabetes control.


Explosive crystallization is a well known phenomenon occurring due to the thermodynamic instability of strongly under-cooled liquids, which is particularly relevant in pulsed laser annealing processes of amorphous semiconductor materials due to the globally exothermic amorphous-to-liquid-to-crystal transition pathway. In spite of the assessed understanding of this phenomenon, quantitative predictions of the material kinetics promoted by explosive crystallization are hardly achieved due to the lack of a consistent model able to simulate the concurrent kinetics of the amorphous-liquid and liquid-crystal interfaces. Here, we propose a multi-well phase-field model specifically suited for the simulation of explosive crystallization induced by pulsed laser irradiation in the nanosecond time scale. The numerical implementation of the model is robust despite the discontinuous jumps of the interface speed induced by the phenomenon. The predictive potential of the simulations is demonstrated by means of comparisons...


BACKGROUND
The treatment of congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia remains difficult and controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term results of a technique consisting of excision of the pseudarthrosis, autologous bone-grafting, and insertion of a Williams intramedullary rod into the tibia.

METHODS
Twenty-one consecutive patients with congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia were managed with this technique between 1978 and 1999, and the results were retrospectively reviewed. The mean age of the patients at the time of the latest follow-up was 17.2 years (range, seven to twenty-five years), and the mean duration of postoperative follow-up was 14.2 years (range, three to twenty years).

RESULTS
Initial consolidation occurred in eighteen of the twenty-one patients. Refracture occurred in twelve patients; five fractures healed with closed treatment, five healed after an additional surgical procedure, and two ultimately required amputation. Ten patients had an ankle valgus deformity after tibial union. Eleven patients had a residual limb-length discrepancy of >2 cm; six required a contralateral distal femoral and/or proximal tibial epiphyseodesis, two had a tibial lengthening, and one used a shoe-lift. Five patients had an amputation: two, because of a recalcitrant fracture; two, because of a limb-length discrepancy (6 and 9 cm); and one, because of a chronic lower-extremity deformity.

CONCLUSIONS
This technique produced a satisfactory long-term functional outcome in sixteen of twenty-one patients and should be considered for the management of congenital pseudarthrosis of the tibia.


Pregnancy is associated with physiological and pathological changes in platelet numbers and function, which can be of clinical concern because of risks for maternal and fetal or neonatal bleeding. Thrombocytopenia in pregnancy is frequently encountered and may be due to increased platelet turnover and plasma dilution, immune-mediated mechanisms, or a complication of a more severe underlying pregnancy-related disorder such as preeclampsia. Inherited defects in platelet function and number may also manifest during pregnancy with the risk of bleeding dependent on the underlying problem. In some women, the diagnosis of thrombocytopenia will precede pregnancy but in others, the problem is first identified when routine pregnancy blood tests are performed. An accurate diagnosis and risk assessment in the antenatal period are essential for developing specific plans for any antenatal interventions and for management of delivery and the postpartum periods, and the neonate. Management of pregnant women with platelet disorders requires a multidisciplinary approach and close collaboration between the obstetric and hematology teams.


Ethanol is being increasingly used as an alternative fuel to petroleum-based gasoline and diesel derivatives. Currently available flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) can operate on a blend of gasoline and ethanol in any concentration of up to 85% ethanol (93% in Brazil) with minimum hardware modifications. This flexibility if partly achieved through the closed-loop air-to-fuel ratio (AFR) control which maintains automatically operation around the stoichiometric ratio. Precise transient AFR control depends however on a feedforward compensator that reduces the transient effects of fuel puddle dynamics. An accurate and tunable model of the fuel puddle dynamics for gasoline-ethanol blends is, thus, necessary for the purpose of air-to-fuel ratio control. In this paper, we propose a physics-based fuel puddle model that may be used for control purposes in FFVs. In particular, the gasoline-ethanol blend is modeled using several chemical compounds and is parameterized by ethanol content. The model consists of a droplet evaporation model and a singlepuddle vaporization model. The droplet evaporation model is simulated off-line to generate port wall-impacting factors of injected fuel to be used in a single-puddle vaporization model. The single-puddle vaporization model is a cycle-based model that may be simulated on-line to characterize fuel puddle dynamics in port fuel injected engines. To verify the validity of the model, simulation results are compared with limited experimental data. A transient fuel compensator based on the proposed model is also formulated.


I realise that to stress the need for thorough site investigation, in your Journal, is preaching to the converted. However, I believe the following quotations on this subject from the essays of an eminent national leader, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, will be of interest to your readers. "You can't solve a problem? Well, get down and investigate the present facts and its past history! When you have investigated the problem thoroughly, you will know how to solve it. Conclusions invariably come after investigation, and not before. Only a block-head cudgels his brains on his own, or together with a group, to "find a solution" or "evolve an idea" without making any investigation. It must be stressed that this cannot possibly lead to any effective solution or any good idea." "Oppose Book Worship" (May 1930), 1st pocket ed., p. 2. "A fact-finding meeting need not be large, from three to five or seven or eight people are enough. Ample time must be allowed and an outline for the investigation must be prepared; furthermore, one must personally ask questions, take notes and have discussions with those at the meeting. Therefore one certainly cannot make an investigation, or do it well, without zeal, a determination to direct one's eyes downward and a thirst for knowledge, and without shedding the ugly mantle of pretentiousness and becoming a willing pupil." "Preface and Postscript to Rural Surveys" (March and April 1941), Selected Works, Vol. Ill, p. 12. "A commander's correct dispositions stem from his correct decisions, his


Canine pancreas was fractionated into free ribosomes and rough microsomes. Detached ribosomes were prepared by treatment of rough microsomes with detergent. Poly(A)-containing mRNA was extracted from rough microsomes. The biosynthesis of canine pancreatic secretory proteins was studied by comparing proteins synthesized in vitro by translation of mRNA or by completion of nascent chains present in free ribosomes, rough microsomes, and detached ribosomes with proteins synthesized in tissue slices using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate and subsequent autoradiography. The banding pattern of authentic secreted proteins synthesized in tissue slices was largely congruent with that obtained from the translation products of rough microsomes indicating that the bulk of the mRNA engaged with rough microsomes codes for secretory proteins. The banding pattern of translation products from mRNA in the absence of microsomal membranes was not congruent with that of authentic secretory proteins. Primary translation products for trypsinogen and the other serine protease zymogens using mRNA appeared to be larger in molecular weight than authentic proteins by 10002000 and are thus designated 'presecretory' proteins. The banding pattern from the translation products of free ribosomes, which are essentially devoid of membranes, was similar to that of 'presecretory' proteins. Translation of mRNA in the presence of microsomal membranes yielded a banding pattern for serine protease zymogens congruent with that of the translation products of rough microsomes, and these products were resistant to posttranslational proteolysis, indicating that segregation and processing of thesc polypeptide chains had taken place during translation in vitro.


Low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles appear very promising for delivering anticancer drugs specifically to tumor or macrophage cells by exploiting the LDL or the scavenger receptor pathway. I have chosen doxorubicin [Dox] to investigate the feasibility of this approach in cancer chemotherapy. Dox could be directly incorporated into LDL particles. A lipophilic cholesteryl ester [CE] analogue, cholesteryl iopanoate [CI] was proposed as a radiotracer to study the in vivo fate of LDL. CI was radioiodinated with ¹²⁵I by a pivalic acid exchange reaction and the radiochemical purity was determined by HPLC in conjunction with γ-counting and was found to be more than 95% pure. -- A new reverse phase HPLC procedure with UV detection was developed for the quantitation of CI. The regression line, and intra- and interday variations for a set of standards were determined and were found to be statistically valid. The minimum detection range was less than 10 ng for the compound. The % recovery from LDL was found to be more than 95%. Plasma protein binding of Dox was studied ex-vivo. Dox was found to be more than 30% lipoprotein bound. The plasma distribution of Dox was refashioned by preincubating plasma with oleic acid. With oleic acid, Dox association with lipoproteins increased from less than 30% to approximately 70%. -- Mainly the contact method or the direct addition method was adapted to incorporate drugs into LDL particles. The loading techniques were optimized in terms of incubation time, temperature, and stoichiometry of LDL-drug conjugates. A four to six hour protocol and 37° incubation temperature were chosen with a drug to protein ratios more than 1. The effect of various wetting agents, such as Tween 20,40, 60 and 80, Span 60, Triton-X, and Celite 545, and ethanol was investigated for LDL-Dox conjugates in the contact method. Tween 20 was chosen for its favorable loading efficiency (more than 5-fold compared to the dry film method). Liposomal Dox was prepared by an extrusion technique with 24% loading efficiency. The liposomal Dox preparation was found to be the most suitable (45 molecules of Dox/LDL particle) compared to other methods such as the dry film method, the contact method with Tween 20, and the direct addition method. -- All these incorporation methods were found to be suitable for generating LDL-drug conjugates without disrupting the native integrity of LDL particles when characterized by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [SDS-PAGE], electron microscopy [EM], and differential scanning calorimetry [DSC]. -- An insect lipid transfer catalyst [LTP] was studied and found to enhance drug loading into LDL particles by at least 2 to 5-fold, depending on the drug molecules and the incubation conditions. The LDL-drug conjugates generated by this transfer particle were characterized by SDS-PAGE and EM and found to be similar to native LDL. The site of drug location in LDL was studied by DSC and UV-visible scanning. The drug was found to be located both in the core and the outer monolayer of LDL for Dox. This kind of enhancement was not observed with human cholesterol ester transfer protein [CETP]. -- Dox interference in bicinchoninic acid [BCA] protein assay method was examined and it was found that Dox interfered [33-fold more sensitive compared to protein] with the protein assay method. A solution to overcome this interference was also suggested using the Bradford method. -- To target macrophages [Mϕ], native LDL was modified by acetylation [acetylated LDL, AcLDL] and Dox was loaded in AcLDL and physico-chemically characterized by SDS-PAGE and EM. The loading efficiency of AcLDL-Dox conjugates was comparable to that of LDL-Dox conjugates. -- Different formulations of Dox were evaluated in cell culture studies using a human tumor cervical cell line, HeLa, and a mouse Mϕ cell line, J774.A1. LDL-Dox conjugates were found to be greater than 18-fold more cytotoxic than the corresponding free drug Dox using the [3-[4,5-dimethylthiazoyl-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide], [MTT] assay in HeLa cells. When the cytotoxicity of AcLDL-Dox conjugates was examined in J774.A1 cells, a more than 7-fold increase in cytotoxic effects was observed in comparison to its free drug counterpart, Dox.


Motivated by recent findings on the probabilistic modeling of acceptability judgments, we propose syntactic log-odds ratio (SLOR), a normalized language model score, as a metric for referenceless fluency evaluation of natural language generation output at the sentence level. We further introduce WPSLOR, a novel WordPiece-based version, which harnesses a more compact language model. Even though word-overlap metrics like ROUGE are computed with the help of hand-written references, our referenceless methods obtain a significantly higher correlation with human fluency scores on a benchmark dataset of compressed sentences. Finally, we present ROUGE-LM, a reference-based metric which is a natural extension of WPSLOR to the case of available references. We show that ROUGE-LM yields a significantly higher correlation with human judgments than all baseline metrics, including WPSLOR on its own.


This article explores the experiences of a sample of residential social care staff working with young people who self injure. Initially, a phone survey was conducted with residential centres caring for young people aged between 12-18 years located in Dublin, to identify centres where self injury had occurred within the twelve months prior to data collection in February 2008. Questionnaires were then sent to the centres where confirmed self injury had occurred and follow up interviews were thereafter conducted with ten residential social care workers. Each of the workers interviewed had been involved in managing the most recent incident of self injury in their centres. The article highlights important issues that are relevant to social care workers and other professionals who work with young people who engage in self injurious behaviour. The study suggests the need for specialised training on self injury to be provided to residential social care workers. The study also highlights the importance of supportive supervision and incident debriefing to reduce the personal and professional impact on workers of managing incidents of self injury in their work. Finally the study indicates that staff with different career experience seem to respond differently in managing incidents of self injury which, in turn, can impact upon how they meet the needs of young people in their care exhibiting self injurious behaviour.


The seismic performances of three retrofitted and one control, half scale, circular, reinforced concrete columns were studied. The columns were 10-ft high, 18-in. diameter cantilevers. The longitudinal flexural steel was spliced to the foundation dowels just above the fixed base. A concentric axial load of .20 f'c Ag was continually applied during testing. The free ends of the cantilevers were translated to produce a maximum displacement of four times that necessary to produce yield in the longitudinal reinforcing steel. This loading was repeated with both positive and negative displacements in a quasi-static manner until the lateral forces required to produce these displacements approached zero. The measure of seismic durability used was the number of such cycles that a column sustained before losing structural integrity. The arrangement was intended to model that of bridge columns constructed during the 1960s. Three columns were retrofitted with prestressed, externally located circular hoops at intervals along the lower 4 ft. The spacing and size of these ties varied from column to column. The control column sustained less than two cycles before losing structural integrity; the retrofitted columns sustained a minimum of twelve cycles.


Intermittent hypoxia (IH) conditioning minimizes neurocognitive impairment and stabilizes brain mitochondrial integrity during ethanol withdrawal (EW) in rats, but the mitoprotective mechanism is unclear. We investigated whether IH conditioning protects a key mitochondrial enzyme, cytochrome c oxidase (COX), from EW stress by inhibiting mitochondrially directed apoptotic pathways involving cytochrome c, Bax, or phosphor-P38 (pP38). Male rats completed two cycles of a 4-wk ethanol diet (6.5%) and 3 wk of EW. An IH program consisting of 5-10 bouts of 5-8 min of mild hypoxia (9.5-10% inspired O(2)) and 4 min of reoxygenation for 20 consecutive days began 3 days before the first EW period. For some animals, vitamin E replaced IH conditioning to test the contributions of antioxidant mechanisms to IH's mitoprotection. During the second EW, cerebellar-related motor function was evaluated by measuring latency of fall from a rotating rod (Rotarod test). After the second EW, COX activity in cerebellar mitochondria was measured by spectrophotometry, and COX, cytochrome c, Bax, and pP38 content were analyzed by immunoblot. Mitochondrial protein oxidation was detected by measuring carbonyl contents and by immunochemistry. Earlier IH conditioning prevented motor impairment, COX inactivation, depletion of COX subunit 4, protein carbonylation, and P38 phosphorylation during EW. IH did not prevent cytochrome c depletion during EW, and Bax content was unaffected by EW ± IH. Vitamin E treatment recapitulated IH protection of COX, and P38 inhibition attenuated protein oxidation during EW. Thus IH protects COX and improves cerebellar function during EW by limiting P38-dependent oxidative damage.


Biological systems are often best explored and explained using the power of maths - from the rate at which enzymes catalyse essential life processes, to the way populations ebb and flow as predators and prey interact. Mathematical tools lie at the heart of understanding biological systems - and mathematical skills are essential for success as a bioscientist. Core Maths for the Biosciences introduces the range of mathematical concepts that bioscience students may encounter - and need to master - during the course of their studies. Starting from fundamental concepts of arithmetic and algebra, the book blends clear explanations and biological examples throughout as it takes the reader towards some of the most sophisticated yet elegant mathematical tools in use by biologists today: differential equations, dynamical systems and chaos theory. Three case studies appear in instalments throughout the text, illustrating the theory: Models of Population Growth, Models of Cancer, and Predator-Prey Relationships. Reflecting the use of maths in modern biology, the book shows how computational approaches are applied to probe biological questions, and makes extensive use of computer support to help readers develop intuitive mathematical skills - both through graph-plotting software, and interactive Excel® workbooks for each chapter. Core Maths for the Biosciences is the ideal course companion as you master the mathematical skills you need to complete your undergraduate studies and will remain a valuable resource at professional and research level.


This article explores the use and added value of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and indicators in the budgeting process. Several countries have announced in their voluntary national reviews (VNRs) their intention to use the SDGs in their budgetary processes, but few have specified why it would be relevant to do so, or how it could be implemented. Based on nine case studies conducted through interviews, we found that SDG budgeting is still in its infancy. We nevertheless identified four ways in which countries are starting to integrate the SDGs into budgeting processes. Most of the countries we studied either map their budgets against the SDGs or include qualitative reporting in their main budget document. Less often, countries use the SDGs to improve their budget performance evaluation system or as a management tool for resource allocation. Most of the countries follow a technical approach. Only rarely are the SDGs used politically or referenced in the budgetary debate.


[1] Uncertainty remains on the origin of distal mass deposition maxima observed in many recent tephra fall deposits. In this study the link between ash aggregation and the formation of distal mass deposition maxima is investigated through reanalysis of tephra fallout from the Mount St. Helens 18 May 1980 (MSH80) eruption. In addition, we collate all the data needed to model distal ash sedimentation from the MSH80 eruption cloud. Four particle size subpopulations were present in distal fallout with modes at 2.2 Φ, 4.2 Φ, 5.9 Φ, and 8.3 Φ. Settling rates of the coarsest subpopulation closely matched predicted single-particle terminal fall velocities. Sedimentation of particles <100 μm was greatly enhanced, predominantly through aggregation of a particle subpopulation with modal diameter 5.9 ± 0.2 Φ (19 ± 3 μm). Mammatus on the MSH80 cloud provided a mechanism to transport very fine ash particles, with predicted atmospheric lifetimes of days to weeks, from the upper troposphere to the surface in a matter of hours. In this mechanism, ash particles initiate ice hydrometeor formation high in the troposphere. Subsequently, the volcanic cloud rapidly subsides as mammatus develop from increased particle loading and cloud base sublimation. Rapid fallout occurs as the cloud passes through the melting level in a process analogous to snowflake aggregation. Aggregates sediment en masse and form the distal mass deposition maxima observed in many recent volcanic ash fall deposits. This work provides a data resource that will facilitate tephra sedimentation modeling and allow model intercomparisons.


I have analyzed and compared the noise property and accuracy of three kinds of Abel inversion technique, i.e., the polynomial interpolation, versatile polynomial fitting (VPF) and modified Fourier-Hankel (MFH) methods. All these techniques will amplify noise due to the intrinsic property of Abel inversion. A technique that is more sensitive to noise also has a higher inversion accuracy for data without noise. Among the techniques without a noise resisting property, the third-degree polynomial interpolation and MFH methods have comparable performance and give higher inversion accuracies than other techniques. The VPF and MFH methods, which can be used without extra filtering of noise, yield markedly better results compared with those obtained by using noise filters in advance of inversion. Both of these two methods can be considered for applying to experimental data if there are no better smoothing techniques available.


Key Points: London local government has taken a 33 per cent real terms cut in service funding from central government between 2009/10 and 2013/14. Councils have been making strenuous efforts to make large savings without cutting front line services, and to protect services for those who need them most. Most savings have come through efficiencies, the sorts of savings which Councils have argued are neither detrimental to, nor noticeable at, the frontline. However, Councils have, reluctantly, had to reduce their own role in the provision of discretionary services. More of these services are being delivered by voluntary and community sector partners, so the landscape of local service provision has seen some change. The need for Councils to pare their own provision back to statutory services, increasingly targeting those most in need, may, ultimately, result in less local variation rather than more. In this the cuts could be running counter to the promotion of the localism agenda. A focus on the most in need, seen in greater targeting of services, could also further fuel rising demand, as lower level need goes unaddressed. Council officers and Members are concerned that the 'limits of efficiency' have been reached, and there is little scope for further large-scale savings without significant effects on frontline services.


Oscillations in the Caspian Sea level represent the result of mutually related hydrometeorological processes, which proceed not only in the sea catchment area but also far beyond it. The change in the tendency of mean sea level variations that occurred in the mid 1970s, when a long-term level fall was replaced by a rapid and significant rise, represents an important indicator of the changes in the natural regime of the Caspian Sea. Therefore, sea level monitoring and long-term forecast of sea level changes represent an extremely important task. The aim of this publication is to show the results of the application of satellite altimetry methods to the investigation of seasonal and interannual variability of the sea level, wind speed and wave height in different parts of the Caspian Sea and Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay, and the Volga River level. The work is based on the 1992-2006 TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1 datasets.


In 1932 Wigner introduced a distribution function in mechanics that permitted a description of mechanical phenomena in a phase space. Such a Wigner distribution was introduced in optics by Dolin and Walther in the sixties, to relate partial coherence to radiometry. A few years later, the Wigner distribution was introduced in optics again (especially in the area of Fourier optics), and since then, a great number of applications of the Wigner distribution have been reported. While the mechanical phase space is connected to classical mechanics, where the movement of particles is studied, the phase space in optics is connected to geometrical optics, where the propagation of optical rays is considered. And where the position and momentum of a particle are the two important quantities in mechanics, in optics we are interested in the position and the direction of an optical ray. We will see that the Wigner distribution represents an optical field in terms of a ray picture, and that this representation is independent of whether the light is partially coherent or completely coherent. We will observe that a Wigner distribution description is in particular useful when the optical signals and systems can be described by quadratic-phase functions, i.e., when we are in the realm of first-order optics: spherical waves, thin lenses, sections of free space in the paraxial approximation, etc. Although formulated in Fourier-optical terms, the Wigner distribution will form a link to such diverse fields as geometrical optics, ray optics, matrix optics, and radiometry. Sections 1.2 through 1.7 will mainly deal with optical signals and systems. We treat the description of completely coherent and partially coherent light fields in Section 1.2. The Wigner distribution is introduced in Section 1.3 and elucidated with some optical examples. Properties of the Wigner distribution are considered in Section 1.4. In Section 1.5 we restrict ourselves to the one-dimensional case and observe the strong connection of the Wigner distribution to the fractional Fourier transformation and rotations in phase space. The propagation of the Wigner distribution through Luneburg's first-order optical systems is the topic of Section 1.6, while the propagation of its moments is discussed in Section 1.7. The final Section 1.8 is devoted to the broad class of bilinear signal representations, known as the Cohen class, of which the Wigner distribution is an important representative.


In a publication by Noy and Ribo, it was shown that recursively constructible families of graphs are recursive.  The authors also conjecture that the converse holds; that is, recursive families are also recursively constructible.  In this paper, we provide two specific counterexamples to this conjecture, which we then extend to an infinite family of counterexamples.


Recent events along the Indo–Myanmar border have proven that India's Narendra Modi government has a different playbook when it comes to pro-active responses against groups that harm Indian national interests.

On 4 June, the Indian Army suffered its worst casualties in almost a decade when 18 soldiers were killed and 14 injured in an attack by insurgents belonging to the National Socialist Council of Nagaland's Khaplang faction (NSCN-K) in Chandel district, Manipur. The Indian government was quick to respond by launching a special forces operation in the early hours of 9 June. Operation Peace led to attacks on insurgent camps belonging to the NSCN-K.


This chapter focuses on the evolution of systems of constitutional justice since 1787. It first provides an overview of key concepts and definitions, such as constitution, constitutionalism, and rights, before presenting a simple theory of delegation and judicial power. In particular, it explains why political elites would delegate power to constitutional judges, and how to measure the extent of power, or discretion, delegated. It then considers different kinds of constitutions, rights, models of constitutional review, and the main precepts of 'the new constitutionalism'. It also traces the evolution of constitutional forms and suggests that as constitutional rights and review has diffused around the world, so has the capacity of constitutional judges to influence, and sometimes determine, policy outcomes.


Extracted from text ... 28 Management Today Yearbook 2007
How boards make
good CEOs better
T
Ram Charan is a celebrated CEO coach.
He will be in South Africa to run a
conference on Boards that Deliver:
Advancing Corporate Governance from
Compliance to Competitive Advantage in
Johannesburg on 30 November. This is
the first in a series on company boards of
directors.
For more information on the conference,
please telephone (011) 792 1522
or e-mail at cathie.fletcher@fyievents.
com.
The best questions are often disarmingly
simple. So simple, in fact, that we often
forget to - or are embarrassed to - ask them.
But ..


Finding subject experts for problem solving is an important issue in e-learning environment. In e-learning environment there is no direct way to find the superior individuals. The current methods like analyzing the discussions or considering the learner actions need a lot of data or have some limitations. In this work, concept maps are utilized to define the experts in an e-learning environment. Concepts maps are graphical explanation of the meaningful relationship among the concepts. 35 M.Sc. and B.Sc. students participated in this work. The test design, implemented software, results and conclusions are described in detail in this article. The novelty of this work is the application of concept maps to find the experts, the combined presented models for concept map construction, and presenting a research methodology in this area.


Present study was aimed at examining the effects of spatial scale, plant identity and management on the relationship between diversity and productivity in an old semi-natural grassland in the Solling uplands, Germany. The study was conducted in the framework of the Grassland Management (GrassMan) experiment which is a part of the Excellence cluster "Functional Biodivesity Research" at the University of Goettingen. The experimental field is a Lolio-cynosuretum semi-natural permanent grassland with more than a hundred-year old history of extensive agricultural use. The three experimental factors (sward composition, fertilization and cutting frequency) results in 12 different treatments and are set in Latin Rectangle, comprising 6 replications of each treatment. Experimental approach that we used, the so called "removal experiment", is aimed at studying the effects of removal itself and recovery of the vegetation after disturbance, as well as the different aspects of ecosystem functioning

In the first chapter we investigate the effects of sampling scale on the relationship between species diversity and productivity. So far, many observational studies, conducted in semi-natural grasslands, explored the relationship between species diversity and productivity at the common size of vegetation surveys of 1 m² or larger, selected according to the species minimum areal. Experimental studies, on the other hand, referred to the small-scale effects of diversity and productivity relationship which often caused the problem of extrapolating and generalizing of their results to more natural plant communities. We studied the effects of spatial scale on the biomass production and diversity relationship by selecting four spatial scales: small (0.04 m² and 0.16 m²), medium (1 m²), large (9 m²), and very large (225 m²) and comparing the power of this relationship, including the effects of agricultural management. We found that the relationship between diversity and productivity of a semi-natural grassland differed across the scales of sampling and that harvesting of the biomass at small spatial scales did not always fully reflect the relationship between the two variables (which often turned into insignificant at larger spatial scales). The most common size of plots for vegetation surveys, being 1 m², in this study showed high variation, both in vegetation composition and harvested biomass. Management system established at the field seemed to play a role in the direction of this relationship (positive or negative). So, plots cut three times a year, becoming more homogeneous (more even) in vegetation composition showed a positive relationship between diversity and productivity. We suggest that selecting an appropriate spatial scale is therefore very important in heterogeneous natural grasslands, also those agriculturally managed. While in more homogeneous environments rather small spatial scale is adequate for describing the composition and many aspects of ecosystem functioning, in more heterogeneous habitats it is important to include this parameter in the analysis.

In the second chapter we present the results of a study on the effects of management intensification in a permanent grassland and the response of overall and dominant species diversity. A removal experiment in the Solling uplands, Germany (three sward types: control, dicot-reduced and monocot-reduced) employed four different levels of management intensity resulting from a combination of two factors: fertilization (no and 180-30-100 kg ha -1 year -1 of N-P-K, respectively) and cutting frequency (cut once and three times a year). This study was conducted over two years (2010, 2011), starting with a third year after introducing the management treatments. We defined species diversity by species number per plot as well as evenness and identified dominant species, making up about 80% share of the yield. We collected information on several plant functional traits for each of the dominant species: plant height, leaf dry matter content, stem dry matter content, leaf specific area, green leaves / total leaves ratio, stem specific density, and calculated additionally the ratio of stem specific density and plant height. Further measures of functional diversity included functional group shares, functional diversity index, defined as the total branch length of the traits-species cluster diagram, and aggregated plant functional traits for each plot. We found that management intensification did not affect the total species number, but affected species evenness and functional diversity of dominant species, including their number and identity. Correlations of above-ground biomass and several dominant species' traits were responsible for fertilization effects on above-ground productivity in this grassland. This indicates the importance of monitoring not only species richness but also other measures of diversity, as well as including management aspects in studies of plant functional traits in grasslands.

In the third chapter of the thesis we present the results from the whole investigation period and summarize the findings of the GrassMan experiment regarding the relationship between species richness and productivity, as well as the changes in species number over time and the main determinants of productivity. We analyzed the overall effects of species diversity expressed in species number, functional group composition and species identity effects on the above-ground biomass production. We found that the effects of species richness on the productivity were rather weak while the functional group diversity was a better predictor of productivity in some years. Intensifying the management, however, caused higher above-ground biomass production. It also affected species composition and evenness: increasing cutting frequency increased the evenness while increasing fertilization decreased it. We suggest that functional group richness might be important for better use of available resources. We conclude that existing species composition under appropriate agricultural management seems to have a potential for sustainable forage production without significant species losses, when not used and fertilized too intensively, and without the need of being converted to arable land or manipulating the species composition. The changes in species diversity should, however, be monitored, including not only species number but also other parameters, such as vegetation composition and functional group shares.

We finally discuss that our findings do not necessarily support the evidence from experimental studies on sown grasslands which often found that species richness had a defining role in biomass production. While overall species richness was of relatively less importance than management in this grassland, species composition was changing beyond just the number of species. We thus underline the importance of bringing biodiversity experiments to the "real-world" ecosystems and suggest that thorough consideration of spatial aspects of the diversity-productivity relationship, as well as incorporating multiple measures of diversity in the experiments, conducted in agricultural grasslands under appropriate management strategies, might give better insights in their functioning and serve as motivation for farmers to conserve existing species diversity. Apart from the number of important ecosystem functions, providing fodder for herbivores and ruminants, conserving natural vegetation composition contributes to delivering further ecosystem services, which could support cultural and biodiversity benefits of the agricultural landscapes.


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
To translate and validate the Nurse Spiritual Therapeutics Scale (NSTS) among cancer patients in Beijing, China.

BACKGROUND
Spirituality is an essential and integrating facet of persons. However, spirituality is a new concept for most people in mainland China.

METHODS
The NSTS was translated, adapted and content-validated. The psychometric evaluation was performed with data collected from cancer patients hospitalised in one of the two academic medical centres. After computing the scale content validity index (S-CVI), exploratory factor analysis was conducted to understand the content validity of the scale. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. GRRAS checklist was used to enhance the quality and transparency of this research.

RESULTS
Participants (N = 153) completed the 18-item C-NSTS. The S-CVI of the C-NSTS was 0.92. Cronbach's alpha of C-NSTS was 0.88. The C-NSTS was observed to include three factors (providing of religious support, listening to one's life perception and finding of one's value) and three additional items that did not adequately load onto a factor, yet were retained given their face value. Together, these factors explained 65.2% of the variance.

CONCLUSION
This initial psychometric evaluation of the 18-item C-NSTS demonstrated it to be a valid and reliable instrument to assess cancer patients' wishes regarding nurse-provided spiritual care in the Chinese culture.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE
These findings could be used for spiritual care, hospice and palliative care, undergraduate or graduate studies.


VOTING IN GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS: THEORY, IMPLEMENTATION, AND RESULTS FROM AN EXPLORATORY STUDY by Kung-E Cheng Group decision making is essential in organizations. Group Support Systems (GSS) can aide groups in making decisions by providing tools and process support. GSS is especially useful for geographically or temporally distributed groups. Researchers of GSS have pointed out that convergence processes are hard to accomplish in GSS. Voting tools in GSS can be a valuable asset in alleviating the difficulty of convergence processes because voting is a concise communication of individual preferences with a well defined procedure that is accepted by group members. In addition, voting results can serve as a group memory of the convergence processes. Field observations by researchers have shown that using voting in GSS can lead to many positive outcomes. Researchers also suggest that rather than using voting blindly, voting should be used properly in GSS to achieve desired results. However, there is an insufficiency of theory and experiments in research of voting in GSS. Voting with the computation power and communication capability in GSS can have a pronounced effect on decision processes and outcomes. In order to gain better understanding of voting in GSS, a framework was developed by expanding existing frameworks of GSS with factors related to voting. These factors were scrutinized for their potential effects on processes and outcomes. Several ways of classifying voting methods were also discussed. The framework can be used as a guiding basis for future research and usage of voting in GSS. Functionalities of sophisticated voting tools to support group decision making were explored based on the proposed GSS voting framework, related theories and studies, and review of existing GSS voting tools and practices. Approaches for integration of sophisticated voting tools with existing GSS were also discussed. Data were collected from an exploratory experiment to examine the effects of bandwidth of voting methods. While there is no significant difference in levels of consensus between the two voting method bandwidth conditions, groups with a high bandwidth voting method use less rounds of voting and posted fewer messages during discussion than groups with low voting bandwidth methods do. Subjective measures such as information use, group cohesiveness, decision confidence, and satisfaction although not significant in statistical tests, did show a trend in the direction as the framework predicted. Factors for effectively utilizing voting tools in group decision processes were also discussed by comparing the interactions of groups reaching a high level or low level of consensus. Using voting for group decisions is a complex issue. Organizations and groups can benefit by using voting for reaching decisions more effectively and efficiently with better understanding of voting in group decision making. Several lines of future researches on voting and GSS were proposed. Possible topics include theory building/validation, tools implementation/application, and organizational impact. The framework presented in this research is only the beginning for better understanding of voting and group decision making. VOTING IN GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS: THEORY, IMPLEMENTATION, AND RESULTS FROM AN EXPLORATORY STUDY


Affect is not an expression of transsexuality but is, rather, the definitive condition of it. --Lucas Cassidy Crawford, "Transgender Without Organs?" Transsexuality offers a dramatic instance of the temporal instability of the flesh. It sets embodiment in motion. --Susan Stryker, "Transsexuality: The Postmodern Body and/as Technology." [1] No body seems to fire the postmodern cultural imaginary quite like the transgender body. As Judith Halberstam has noted, "The body in transition indelibly marks late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century visual fantasy" (76). Transgender bodies and lives are increasingly available for consumption in Western literature, film, televisual media, and in virtual spaces across the internet. We should be careful, however, in assuming that this proliferation of signs indicates a movement toward transgender equality. While transitional and non-conforming bodies may momentarily deconstruct the fiction of static gendered categories, transgender representation may also be manipulated to enforce these categories and to shore up their "ongoing foundational power" (Prosser, Second 11) through a proliferation of what Sara Ahmed has termed "straightening devices" (Queer 92). As bodies commonly imagined to be in migration between discrete and opposing genders, transsexual and transgender bodies "evoke tropes both of boundary crossing and the power of boundaries to (re)inscribe norms" (Alexander 71). The increasing popularity of transgender narrativity indicates the unacknowledged struggle operating at the heart of gender's intelligibility: if most of us struggle to maintain the illusion of a consistent and perceivable gender (Bornstein 65), then trans bodies reveal the social processes that produce gender even as they may reassure us that one can "come home to" or "arrive at" one's true gender in the end. [2] This article seeks to explore the ways in which "transness"--transsexuality and the broader category of "transgender" as a multivalent and politicized term collecting multiple forms of transitional, medically transitioned, and non-conforming genders--is becoming popularly consumed in North American visual culture. In popular visual texts, transgender difference is commonly reduced to an experience of prescribed affect: the trans body is fashioned as one that "feels bad"--a dysphoric body. "Dysphoria" indicates a state of unease or general dissatisfaction, and the term is used to classify anxiety and mood disorders by the American Psychiatric Association, among other organizations. The 2013 revision to the APA's DSM V proposes to reclassify "gender identity disorder" as "gender dysphoria"--a change that increasingly defines trans identification as an emotional disorder, typified by a specific "aversive emotional component" that constitutes a juridical form of stigmatization for transgender people ("Rationale"). In Western culture, explanations for transgender identity increasingly entrench transness as mode of feeling, and "fixing" trans difference is understood as fixing the problem of how trans people feel--and make others feel--about their corporeality. [3] Trans difference has been typified in Western culture as a question of "feeling bad" about one's body or gender, particularly because transness itself has no as-yet discovered biological etiology. In both medical and fictional literature, transgender identity has been sutured to specific forms of negative affect--rage, sorrow, wishfulness, denial--as both "instrument[s] of pathologization" (Butler 76) and expressions of what is imagined to be an inherently dysphoric ontology. The fictional transgender figure has traditionally been marked as vulnerable to or productive of extreme emotional states, portrayed either as the emotive center of a narrative (The Crying Game), as disturbed, erratic, or unstable (Silence of the Lambs, Ticked-Off Trannies with Knives), or psychotically violent (Dressed to Kill, Sleepaway Camp). …


John Walsh, one of the great masters of the subject, has written a superb book on probability at exactly this level. It covers at a leisurely pace all the important topics that students need to know, and provides excellent examples. I regret his book was not available when I taught such a course myself, a few years ago. --Ioannis Karatzas, Columbia University In this wonderful book, John Walsh presents a panoramic view of Probability Theory, starting from basic facts on mean, median and mode, continuing with an excellent account of Markov chains and martingales, and culminating with Brownian motion. Throughout, the author's personal style is apparent; he manages to combine rigor with an emphasis on the key ideas so the reader never loses sight of the forest by being surrounded by too many trees. As noted in the preface, "To teach a course with pleasure, one should learn at the same time." Indeed, almost all instructors will learn something new from the book, (e.g. the potential-theoretic proof of Skorokhod embedding) and at the same time, it is attractive and approachable for students. --Yuval Peres, Microsoft With many examples in each section that enhance the presentation, this book is a welcome addition to the collection of books that serve the needs of advanced undergraduate as well as first year graduate students. The pace is leisurely which makes it more attractive as a text. --Srinivasa Varadhan, Courant Institute, New York This book covers in a leisurely manner all the standard material that one would want in a full year probability course with a slant towards applications in financial analysis at the graduate or senior undergraduate honors level. It contains a fair amount of measure theory and real analysis built in but it introduces sigma-fields, measure theory, and expectation in an especially elementary and intuitive way. A large variety of examples and exercises in each chapter enrich the presentation in the text.


This project is an initial examination of language use in Nunavut with respect to the World Englishes theoretical framework. It explores the characteristics of the Three Concentric Circles as defined by Kachru (1990) to explain English language spread and use, and aims to place indigenous languages in the Inner Circle in this characterization. In particular language use in Canada's newest northern territory, Nunavut, is profiled and the following issues examined: do the Inuit in Nunavut share more with speech communities in the Outer Circle than with the current characterization of language use in the Inner Circle?. Consequently, does the World Englishes framework need to be re-examined to take into account the realities of language use and users in indigenous communities of the Inner Circle? Furthermore, are there current approaches to minority/regional languages in Outer Circle countries (Africa is used as a case study here) that can inform discussion around language maintenance and shift for indigenous speech communities in Canada?


Objective: To describe the histopathologic findings in the temporal bones of a patient with Susac's syndrome (SS). Background: The key clinical features of SS consist of symptoms of encephalopathy, visual defects due to occlusion of branches of the retinal artery, and sensorineural hearing loss. The otopathology in SS has not been described. Materials and Methods: A 51-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe headache, rapidly progressive encephalopathy, and bilateral low-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. Magnetic resonance imaging showed lesions of the corpus callosum. Fluorescein angiography of the eyes showed focal areas of irregular retinal artery caliber and leakage from small vessels. SS was diagnosed. She died of a pulmonary embolus 1 month after onset of symptoms. Both temporal bones were prepared in celloidin and examined using light microscopy. Results: Findings were nearly identical in both temporal bones. The apical halves of both cochleae showed widespread atrophy of structures of the cochlear duct (inner and outer hair cells, tectorial membranes, striae vasculares, spiral ligaments, and spiral limbi). The apical parts of both cochleae also showed apparent occlusion of capillaries within the stria vascularis and related areas of the cochlear duct. Cochlear neurons were present in normal numbers. There was no endolymphatic hydrops. The vestibular sense organs were normal for age. Conclusion: This first reported otopathologic case of SS with hearing loss showed atrophy and degeneration involving the apical halves of the cochlear duct without inflammation or infection. The findings were consistent with capillary occlusion as being responsible for the atrophy.


Title of Document: DENDRITIC INTEGRATION AND RECIPROCAL INHIBITION IN THE RETINA William N. Grimes, Ph.D., 2008 Directed By: Professor Robert Walker, Department of Chemical Physics The mammalian retina is capable of signaling over a vast range of mean light levels (~10 10 ). Such a large dynamic range is achieved by segregating signals into contrasting pathways and utilizing excitatory and inhibitory neural circuits. The goal of this study was to elucidate subcellular mechanisms responsible for shaping dendritic computation and reciprocal inhibition within the retinal circuitry. Amacrine cells make up a unique class of inhibitory interneurons which lack anatomically distinct input and output structures. Although these interneurons clearly play important roles in complex visual processing, there is relatively little known about the ~30 subtypes. A17 amacrine cells have been shown to shape the time course of visual signaling in vivo. Intuition might suggest that a wide field (~400 μm) interneuron, such as A17, would provide long range lateral inhibition or center surround inhibition. However, using multi-disciplinary approaches, we have uncovered multiple mechanisms which underlie dendritic integration and synaptic transmission in A17 that allow it to respond with a high degree of synapse specificity. Additionally, these mechanisms work in concert with post-synaptic mechanisms to extend the dynamic range of reciprocal inhibition in the inner retina.


We examined the inter-tree distribution of first instar gypsy moth larvae under natural dispersal conditions in the field in Michigan in 1991. The study focused on saplings of northern red oak (Quercus rubra), white oak (Q. alba), red maple (Acer rubrum), and witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), which are common understory components of forests in the Great Lakes region. Large-volume trees with foliage that is well-developed early in the spring should provide an excellent surface area for catching newly-hatched gypsy moth larvae, which are randomly dispersed by wind in the spring around the time of leaf flush or shortly thereafter. Comparing across tree species in our study, red maples had the largest crown volumes and well-flushed leaf material, but very few larvae were found on these trees at both sampling times in mid-May. Despite the lack of larvae on red maple, these trees were liberally covered with gypsy moth silk, indicating that many larvae landed on these plants but left rapidly when they apparently found the trees to be an unacceptable food source. Among the other three tree species, patterns of larval distribution reflected levels of host phenological development during both sampling periods, with more insects occurring on tree species that had more advanced leaf development. The highest numbers of larvae were found on northern red oak and witch-hazel. Intermediate numbers of insects were present on white oak. Trends in insect distribution also paralleled patterns seen in tree phenology across slope gradients. Defoliation ratings corresponded well to measures of first instar presence for each tree species. Northern red oak and witch-hazel trees experienced more early defoliation on average than did red maple and white oak. For those tree species that are acceptable hosts of the gypsy moth, average level of phenological development for a given tree, species, or forest stand at the time of larval dispersal can be an important predictor of plant or stand susceptibility to gypsy moth establishment and subsequent defoliation.


Solar thermoelectric generators (STEGs) are solid state heat engines that generate electricity from concentrated sunlight. In this paper, we develop a novel detailed balance model for STEGs and apply this model to both state-of-the-art and idealized materials. This model uses thermoelectric compatibility theory to provide analytic solutions to device efficiency in idealized materials with temperature-dependent properties. The results of this modeling allow us to predict maximum theoretical STEG efficiencies and suggest general design rules for STEGs. With today's materials, a STEG with an incident flux of 100 kW m−2 and a hot side temperature of 1000 °C could achieve 15.9% generator efficiency, making STEGs competitive with concentrated solar power plants. Future developments will depend on materials that can provide higher operating temperatures or higher material efficiency. For example, a STEG with zT = 2 at 1500 °C would have an efficiency of 30.6%.


This retrospective study compared outcomes for 81 chronic myeloid leukemia patients who underwent myeloablative or nonmyeloablative allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Sixty-five patients received myeloablative HSCT, and 16 patients received fludarabine (Fd), low-dose busulfan (Bu), and antithymocyte globulin (ATG) in nonmyeloablative HSCT. We determined overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), as well as the occurrence of acute and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).The incidences of acute GVHD of grades II to IV were 14.0% and 18.7% for the myeloablative and nonmyeloablative groups, respectively. The incidence of chronic GVHD was significantly higher in the nonmyeloablative group (80% versus 66%). Five-year OS and DFS rates were significantly higher in nonmyeloablative group (70% for both), compared with 56% and 54%, respectively, for the myeloablative group. A univariate analysis, however, revealed a strong but statistically insignificant trend for enhanced overall OS and DFS in the nonmyeloablative group (P = .1 and .07, respectively). A multivariate analysis with the factors of treatment, age, sex, acute and chronic GVHD, and disease status at the time of transplantation revealed that both OS and DFS were significantly higher in the nonmyeloablative group than in the myeloablative group. These findings suggest that nonmyeloablative Fd/Bu/ATG treatment is at least not inferior (and quite probably superior) in terms of patient outcome compared with standard myeloablative therapy. Further larger-scale randomized clinical trials are warranted to clarify the efficacy of this treatment regimen.


Creative live streams, where artists or designers demonstrate their creative process, have emerged as a unique and popular genre of live streams due to the real-time interactivity they afford. However, streamer-viewer interactions on most live streaming platforms only enable users to utilize text and emojis to communicate, which limits what viewers can convey and share in real time. To investigate the design space of potential visual and non-textual modalities within creative live streams, we first analyzed existing Twitch extensions and conducted a formative study with streamers who share creative activities to uncover key challenges that these streamers face. We then designed and implemented a prototype system, StreamSketch, which enables viewers and streamers to interact during live streams using multiple modalities, including freeform sketches and text. The prototype was evaluated by two professional artist streamers and their viewers during six streaming sessions. Overall, streamers and viewers found that StreamSketch provided increased engagement and new affordances compared to the traditional text-only modality, and highlighted how efficiency, moderation, and tool integration were continued challenges.


Although global Chinese migration is not a new phenomenon, its nexus with investment and specifically into Europe has had a significant impact on the economic landscape. This is largely a result of the rapid Chinese economic growth of the past thirty years. The impact of this phenomenon, though, is not only felt on an economic level; Chinese migration and investment into Europe have also been shown to have important political, cultural and societal aspects. For decades scholars have largely treated research into migration and investment as two parallel but separate phenomena with virtually no studies investigating the relationship between the two, in particular in relation to Europe. This is partially explained by the speed with which China became an economic powerhouse and the unique relationship between investment and migration. A further layer of complexity is added by China's unique economy as state-owned enterprises (SOE) and their ability to globalise are quite distinct from the normal firm investment scenario. This article outlines and describes the characteristics of Chinese migration into Europe. By separating the discussion into Western and Eastern Europe, the article presents a theoretical explanation of China's approach to European investment and explores the nexus between migration and investment. The article then goes on to identify the drivers, trends, and immigration policies in the relevant geographical areas as well as examining the four major methods used by Chinese migrants as the vehicle for entry into Europe. The article uncovers the special nature of SOEs, which distinguishes investment coming from Chinese public and private sources, concluding with a discussion on the importance of Chinese migration and investment into European firms as well as the implications and impacts of this strategy.


Purpose: To investigate the morphological changes of corneal epithelium and subbasal nerves by in vivo confocal microscopy in patients with ocular surface disease (OSD) treated with cord blood serum (CBS) eye drops. Methods: Twenty patients with OSD (mean age 61.1 ± 12.6 years) were included in this prospective 1-arm study and treated with CBS eye drops for 2 months. Corneal sensitivity, Schirmer test score, breakup time, subjective symptoms [Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)], and corneal staining were evaluated before (T0) and after (T1) treatment. In vivo confocal microscopy analyzed giant epithelial cells, subbasal nerve number and tortuosity, neuromas, beading, and dendritic cells (DCs) in the central cornea. Results: OSDI, Visual Analogue Scale, and Oxford grading values significantly decreased at T1 versus T0 (respectively, 44.1 ± 18.9 vs. 74.2 ± 13.9; 3.7 ± 1.5 vs. 8.9 ± 0.9; and 2.4 ± 1.1 vs. 3.3 ± 1.3; P < 0.0001), whereas corneal sensitivity, Schirmer test score, and breakup time significantly increased (respectively, 49.5 ± 2.6 vs. 47.9 ± 2.9; 3.2 ± 2.0 vs. 2.4 ± 2.2; 4.6 ± 3.1 vs. 3.8 ± 2.1; P < 0.0001). Corneal nerve morphology improved at T1 versus T0 with a higher total nerve number (3.4 ± 1.6 vs. 2.5 ± 1.6 per frame) and lower tortuosity (3.0 ± 0.7 vs. 3.5 ± 0.6) (P < 0.01). The number of patients presenting with giant epithelial cells, beading, and neuromas decreased at T1. DC density did not change after treatment. The detection of neuromas and higher DC density at T0 were associated with greater OSDI reduction at T1 (P < 0.001). Conclusions: CBS eye drops significantly improved corneal nerve morphology and subjective symptoms in patients with severe OSD. The presence of neuromas and higher dendritic cell density at baseline were associated with greater reduction of discomfort symptoms after treatment.


Knowledge of the controlling mechanisms of human osteoprogenitor cell differentiation has important implications for understanding bone turnover. The in vitro differentiation of human bone marrow fibroblasts into adipogenic and osteogenic cells and the interaction of 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) and dexamethasone in this process has been investigated together with the effects of human serum. Marrow fibroblasts cultured in human serum and dexamethasone for 28 days, generated lipid containing cells as confirmed by morphology, Oil red O staining and immunocytochemistry using antiserum to the adipocyte-specific protein, adipocyte P2 (aP2). In cultures containing 1,25(OH)2D3 and dexamethasone, adipogenesis was stimulated within 21 days. Osteocalcin expression, as assessed by in situ hybridization, was dependent on the presence of 1,25(OH)2D3 and was decreased in cultures treated with dexamethasone. Northern analysis confirmed the decrease in osteocalcin expression and increase in lipoprotein lipase expression with the appearance of the adipogenic phenotype in these cultures. Marrow cultures maintained for 14 days in human serum and osteotropic agents before switching to fetal calf serum indicated the continuous requirement of human serum in these cultures for adipogenesis. These results demonstrate that human serum contains factors that exert dramatic effects on human bone marrow cell differentiation to augment the osteogenic and adipogenic activity of 1,25(OH)2D3 and dexamethasone.


This volume explores the lexical influence of English on European languages, a topical theme with linguistic and cultural implications. It provides an extensive introductory background to a cross-national view of English-induced lexical borrowing, posing crucial analytical questions such as what counts as an Anglicism. It also offers a typology of borrowings with examples from the languages represented: Armenian, Danish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Serbian, Spanish, and Swedish. The articles in this volume address general and language-specific issues related to the analysis and collection of Anglicisms, extending the scope to the largely unexplored area of phraseology and bringing new insights into corpus-based and corpus-driven methodologies. This volume fits into a well-established and constantly developing research field and will appeal to scholars interested in the spread of English as an international language, contact and contrastive linguistics, lexicology and lexicography, and computer corpus lexicography.


A specter is haunting America, the specter of agricultural supremacy. Farm advocates have protested the decline of agriculture as an autonomous enterprise. After centuries of producer primacy, the agrarian state is withering away in the face of the reality that putting farmers first puts consumer and environmental interests last. Karl Marx condemned the German Ideology as the fallacy that civilization begins with any step besides the acquisition of food, fiber, and fuel. The American Ideology is the fallacy that civilization ends upon the acquisition of food, fiber, and fuel. Bourgeois yearning to be delivered from necessity into freedom has catapulted America into world dominance. Agrarian discontent amid material abundance proves that American agriculture is not Marxist enough. All hitherto existing law reflects the history of agrarian class struggle. The legislative explosion of 1862 gave farmers direct subsidies and access to the highest levels of government. But this success destroyed farmers' cultural and economic independence. What is true of evolutionary biology is also true of agricultural economics: the same Red Queen that stalks species in an evolving ecosystem pushes farmers first to adapt or die and eventually to adapt and die. Stasis is the agroecological opium of the masses. The only value held dear by the American Ideologue is maximizing the market for the labor of agriculture's entrepreneurial class. Consumer health, social wealth, and environmental integrity are all secondary. Come the revolution, a new bourgeois populism will restore the middle-class masses to their proper supremacy over pampered producers. America should treat agriculture like any other industry, as subject as toilet manufacturers to the fickle fluctuations of consumer demand. Behold the Consumerist Manifesto: Let farmers classes tremble at the feet of competition. Bourgeois consumers have nothing to lose but their bucolic illusions. They have a world to win.


Utilization of bioreactors to regenerate tissues outside the body has been intensely investigated in functional tissue engineering. Various studies have been performed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to understand fluid flow within bioreactors while assuming porous scaffold as a rigid structure. However, the physical and mechanical properties of most tissue engineering scaffolds suggest otherwise. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of fluid-induced stress on scaffold structure and nutrient consumption. The scaffolds were examined in a flowthrough bioreactor configuration. Experiments were performed to evaluate the mechanical properties of chitosan-gelatin and polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds. Poisson's ratio of chitosan-gelation was higher than many isotropic materials and decreased with freezing temperature of the solution. PCL scaffold had a Poisson's ratio of 0.3. Simulations were performed by coupling fluid flow with structural mechanics using a moving mesh in COMSOL Multiphysics version 4.2a. Increasing in flow rate beyond 5 mL/min increased the deformation. The deformed mesh predicted a lowered pressure drop compared to the original mesh at flow rates beyond 5 mL/min. The effect of mechanical properties on pressure drop and deformation was also evaluated. A scaffold with higher Young's modulus and higher Poisson's ratio was recommended. Density of the scaffold did not show a significant influence on pressure drop or deformation. To examine the effects of fluidinduced stress on nutrient consumption, the consumption kinetics of oxygen and glucose were added to the simulation. There was decrease in nutrient consumption with the deformed mesh. A 3D geometry of parallel-flow and axial-flow bioreactors was designed. Free and Porous Media physics, Solid Mechanics physics, and Moving Mesh physics was added to the setup. The physical and mechanical properties, and boundary conditions was setup. The Free and Porous Media physics and Solid Mechanics physics was coupled using the two-way coupling method through Moving Mesh physics. To perform two-way coupling, fluid stress and strain calculated from Free and Porous Media physics was used in Solid Mechanics physics to predict deformation in the mesh, the Moving Mesh physics created a new deformed mesh; this new mesh was used by Free and Porous Media Physics to predict the new pressure drop.


Topics in Early Childhood Special Education (TECSE) is published to communicate information about early intervention. Early intervention is defined broadly and includes services provided to (a) infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who are at risk for or display developmental delays and handicapping conditions and (b) the families of such youngsters. TECSE also includes articles on personnel preparation, policy issues, and operation of intervention programs. The intent of the journal is to publish information that will improve the lives of young children and their families. TECSE is open to manuscripts from (a) diverse theoretical or conceptual perspectives; (b) all disciplines related to early intervention, including multior crossdisciplinary work; and (c) all authors with information of value to the early intervention community.