The metal-insulator-metal (MIM) diodes have high speed and compatibility with integrated circuits (IC's) making MIM diodes very attractive to detect and harvest energy for infrared (IR) regime of the electromagnetic spectrum. Due to the fact that small size of the MIM diodes, it is possible to obtain large volume of devices in same unit area. Hence, MIM diodes offer a feasible solution for nanorectennas (nano rectifiying antenna) in IR regime. The aim of this study is to design and develop MIM diodes as array format coupled with antennas for energy harvesting and IR detection. Moreover, varying number of elements which are 4x4, and 40x30 has been fabricated in parallel having 0.040, 0.065 and 0.080 μm2 diode area. For this work we have studied given type of material; Ti-HfO2-Ni, is used for fabricating MIM diodes as a part of rectenna. The effect of the diode array size is investigated. Furthermore, the effect of the array size is also investigated for larger arrays by applying given type of material set; Cr-HfO2-Ni. The fabrication processes in physical vapor deposition (PVD) systems for the MIM diodes resulted in the devices having high non-linearity and responsivity. Also, to achieve uniform and very thin insulator layer atomic layer deposition (ALD) was used. The nonlinearity 1.5 mA/V2 and responsivity 3 A/W are achieved for Ti-HfO2-Ni MIM diodes under low applied bias of 400 mV. The responsivity and nonlinearity of Cr-HfO2-Ni are found to be 5 A/W and 65 μA/V2, respectively. The current level of Cr-HfO2-Ni and Ti-HfO2-Ni is around μA range therefore corresponding resistance values are in 1-10 kΩ range. The comparison of single and 4x4 elements revealed that 4x4 elements have higher current level hence lower resistance value is obtained for 4x4 elements. The array size is 40x30 elements for Cr-HfO2-Ni type of MIM diodes with 40, 65 nm2 diode areas. By increasing the diode area, the current level increases for same size of array. The current level is increased from10 μA to100 μA with increasing the diode area. Therefore resistance decreased in the range of 10 kΩ and nonlinearity is increased from 58 μA/V2 to 65 μA/V2.


SUMMARY: Achatina fulica's secretion has been recently related to antibacterial, antifungal, and cicatricial properties, and it is influenced by the kind of food offered. Therefore, this study investigated the healing potential of dressing films based on muc ous secretion of Achatina fulica. Thus, surgical wounds performed in black wistar rats were dressed with films based on collagen, and on mucous secretion of A. fulica fed with Lactuca sativa; undresses worked as wounds control. After 3, 7, 14 and 21 days the animals were euthanized, and the wounds were microscopically evaluated. On the 3rd and 7th days dressing films based on mucus provided accel eration of the formation maturation of granulation tissue, better epithelization rates, and more rapid replacement of type III for type I collagen fibers. On the 14th and 21st days, these dressings induced more intense deposition and better architectural disposition of type I collagen fibers, and hastened the regeneration of cutaneous phaneros. Dressings obtained from A. fulica fed with Lactuca sativa provided the most expressive results. This study suggests that films produced with mucous secretion of A. fulica can be successfully employed as wound dressing, particularly if snails are fed with Lactuca sativa.


Dear Editor, Maternal and perinatal mortality have appeared a huge challenge in the health care setting of developing countries.1 Considering the importance of this issue, in 1987 maternal and perinatal health is considered a priority in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Regrettably, Pakistan is still struggling to meet to the MDGs goal of maternal and child health by 2015. A target goal of minimizing the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) to 100 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015 was set by Pakistan's Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Program.2 Despite significant improvements over the past 20 years, Pakistan's ranking for MMR had dropped from 147th last year to 149 and infant and neonatal mortality is towards the bottom as per UNICEF.3 To achieve the target of 100 MMR and below Pakistan have a long way to go. Lower spending on health care, lack of maternal care facilities in rural area, early marriages, multiple gestations, malnutrition, lack of standard or appropriate maternal/ antenatal care services and low birth weight are some of the main factors contributing to higher maternal and neonatal mortality. Pakistan has the third highest rate of infant mortality in the world. In 2013, The perinatal mortality rate (PMR) per 1000 births was estimated to be 75.4 Read more. . .


Brain metastases are a very frequent and life-limiting complication in cancer patients and are associated with serious neurological and neurocognitive symptoms (1). It is estimated that up to 30% of cancer patients develop brain metastases during their disease course, with lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma and renal cell cancer carrying the highest risk of central nervous system (CNS) spread. Paradoxically, despite the fact that brain metastases are a common and serious clinical problem in the everyday setting of clinical oncology, relatively little research has been conducted on this issue in the past decades. It is interesting to note that although gliomas are approximately 10-fold less common than brain metastases, the number of papers published on gliomas was around 4-time higher than the number of papers published on brain metastases in the time period 1967 to 2013 ( Figure 1 ). Furthermore, the methodology of research on gliomas has in general been far more sophisticated, be it in basic, translational or clinical science. The glioma literature features plenty of papers describing advanced research projects utilizing animal models, molecular biological techniques, next-generation gene sequencing approaches, large multinational randomized clinical trials and other cutting edge methods. In contrast, many brain metastasis papers have major methodological limitations. Only few well established experimental models are available and unfortunately brain metastasis patients have been systematically excluded from most clinical trials of novel agents for patients with solid tumors. Most of the few available clinical trials on brain metastasis patients have included heterogeneous and small patient populations that limit the conclusions that can be drawn. Consequently, there is a lack of understanding many aspects of brain metastasis pathobiology and only very few adequately powered and well-performed clinical studies are available to guide patient management on a high level of evidence. However, in the past few years, there is an increasing interest in brain metastasis research, partly motivated by increasing incidences of brain metastases that come along with increased survival times of cancer patients due to novel and effective oncological therapeutics. Emerging studies are providing novel knowledge on biological processes of brain metastasis formation and clinical investigations are focusing on specific questions in cohorts of patients with CNS metastases (2,3). It is expected that these activities will lead to improved understanding and clinical management strategies.


The concept of Network Real Time Kinematic observations was introduced in the mid-1990s. It has been progressively developed into the commercially viable systems available now. Conventional single-base RTK is limited to distances of 10-20 kilometres from the base station. Long-range RTK made it possible to observe baselines of up to about 50 kilometres. However, by using the information from a network of continuously operating reference stations, highly accurate positioning is now achievable over distances of several tens of kilometres. This article compares the two most prevalent methods, the Virtual Reference Station (VRS) approach and the Master- Auxiliary Concept (MAC).


nvironmental criteria can be part of global energy policies for the establishment of support and development actions for different technologies. Minimization of greenhouse gas emissions is a benefit to all citizens of the world, as these emissions have global scope. The objective of this study was to determine the best option for hand drying in a university campus building, from economic and environmental viewpoints, for a range of commercially available equipment. For the economic analysis, the capital and operation costs were considered along with the lifetime of the equipment. For the environmental analysis, the Life Cycle Assessment methodology was utilized. Eight options for hand drying were considered on an annual basis: five electric hand dryers and three types of paper towels. Electric hand dryers presented lower annual environmental impacts and lower annual economic costs. It is discussed that environmental impacts can and must be an active factor for the selection of one technology or another. The novelty of this study was the application of the LCA methodology to compare the carbon footprint associated with different commercially available options for hand drying in public restrooms, providing information to the consumer on which alternative is more environmentally-friendly. Keywords— Sustainable development, Life Cycle Assessment, Hand dryer, Paper towels, Green campus.


We present the discovery and characterization of WASP-148, a new extrasolar system that includes at least two giant planets. The host star is a slowly rotating inactive late-G dwarf with a V = 12 magnitude. The planet WASP-148b is a hot Jupiter of 0.72 RJup and 0.29 MJup that transits its host with an orbital period of 8.80 days. We found the planetary candidate with the SuperWASP photometric survey, then characterized it with the SOPHIE spectrograph. Our radial velocity measurements subsequently revealed a second planet in the system, WASP-148c, with an orbital period of 34.5 days and a minimum mass of 0.40 MJup. No transits of this outer planet were detected. The orbits of both planets are eccentric and fall near the 4:1 mean-motion resonances. This configuration is stable on long timescales, but induces dynamical interactions so that the orbits differ slightly from purely Keplerian orbits. In particular, WASP-148b shows transit-timing variations of typically 15 min, making it the first interacting system with transit-timing variations that is detected on ground-based light curves. We establish that the mutual inclination of the orbital plane of the two planets cannot be higher than 35°, and the true mass of WASP-148c is below 0.60 MJup. We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of this system that cover a time span of ten years. We also provide their Keplerian and Newtonian analyses; these analyses should be significantly improved through future TESS observations.


In addition to a conventional cytochrome pathway, plant mitochondria contain a second, nonprotonmotive route of electron
transfer, comprised of a single ubiquinol:oxygen oxidoreductase, the alternative oxidase (AOX). This enzyme is regulated by
two interrelated posttranslational mechanisms. Firstly, reduction of an intermolecular disulphide bond results in an 'activated'
noncovalently linked dimer. Secondly, the reduced protein is further stimulated by a-keto acids, most notably pyruvate. This is
thought to occur via a-keto acid interaction with a well-conserved cysteine residue. Previously, we have established a system to
functionally express the Sauromatum guttatum alternative oxidase (Sg-AOX) in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
Interestingly, the resulting antimycin-resistant respiratory activity in isolated yeast mitochondria, does not appear to be
stimulated by pyruvate.
Here, we report on the expression of both Sg-AOX as well as a second plant isozyme, the Arabidopsis thaliana AOX1a
protein (At-AOX1a), in the same yeast system. In contrast to Sg-AOX, At-AOX1a-dependent activity can be stimulated by
pyruvate f1.4-fold in isolated yeast mitochondria and f4.5-fold in isolated mitochondrial membranes depleted of
endogenous pyruvate. Whilst Sg AOX activity is confirmed to be completely independent of pyruvate, its dependence upon
the Q-redox poise would suggest that it is in a constitutively active state, comparable to the 'pyruvate-activated' kinetic
dependence of At AOX1a. These data indicate that Sg AOX is the first example of a plant enzyme that appears to function
without a dependence on organic acids for full activity. This finding is of particular interest, given that both Sg AOX and At
AOX1a conserve the cysteine residue believed to interact directly with pyruvate. As both proteins exhibit a very similar
primary structure, we have been able to identify structural components, additional to the regulatory cysteine, that may account
for the differences in the regulatory behaviour reported here. The implications of such findings are discussed in terms of the
proposed structure of AOX.


Nine metric parameters were taken on 16 mandibles from adult horses belonging to the Cavall Pirinenc Catala breed. Based on these parameters, we develop a descriptive and normality statistics and we obtain correlation coefficients for all the parameters. Thereafter we apply the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett's tests and we carry out a Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The PCA selection as the extraction method turns out to be the right one. The use of 8 metric parameters involves a minimal loss of information, and it is possible to exclude the parameter "maximum mandibular length". The parameters related with the branch and angular section appear sensibly differentiated from


Since the year 2000, Enterprise Architecture has been the object of focus as a method for promoting an IT architecture that establishes consistency between corporate business and IT strategies, and it has been applied mostly in global corporations. On the other hand, with the recent progress in Mobile IT technology and Cloud computing, in the IT systems of global corporations, the shift from conventional on premise server-based IT systems to Cloud computing, such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Hybrid Cloud, and connected Mobile IT systems, has become more pronounced. In promoting Enterprise Architecture, EA based upon an approach compatible to the cutting-edge IT technologies of Mobile IT/Cloud computing will be required by global corporations. This paper elucidates key points for EA methods to respond to the cutting-edge IT technology that will be required in the future by conducting a comparative analysis of the support environments of Mobile IT elements and related Cloud computing technology in each EA framework currently used widely in many global corporations.


Sex allocation is a crucial life-history parameter in all sexual organisms. Over the last decades a body of evolutionary theory, sex allocation theory, was developed, which has yielded capital insight into the evolution of optimal sex allocation patterns and adaptive evolution in general. Most empirical work, however, has focused on species with separate sexes. Here I review sex allocation theory for simultaneous hermaphrodites and summarize over 50 empirical studies, which have aimed at evaluating this theory in a diversity of simultaneous hermaphrodites spanning nine animal phyla. These studies have yielded considerable qualitative support for several predictions of sex allocation theory, such as a female-biased sex allocation when the number of mates is limited, and a shift toward a more male-biased sex allocation with increasing numbers of mates. In contrast, many fundamental assumptions, such as the trade-off between male and female allocation, and numerous predictions, such as brooding limiting the returns from female allocation, are still poorly supported. Measuring sex allocation in simultaneously hermaphroditic animals remains experimentally demanding, which renders evaluation of more quantitative predictions a challenging task. I identify the main questions that need to be addressed and point to promising avenues for future research.


Numerical simulation of combustion around a strut in supersonic airflow at Mach 1.5 was conducted. In previous papers, experimental results on flame-holding characteristics have been shown for the strut divided into two parts, indicating the effectiveness of the flame-holding characteristics of this strut. Stable flame-holding is due to a comparatively long residence time in the subsonic flow region between the two parts of the strut. The present study is analytical evidence of the stable flame-holding of this strut. The Stahl and Warnatz's detailed chemistry of hydrogen/oxygen reactions and the Baldwin Lomax turbulence algebraic model were employed to simulate the chemical reaction and turbulent flow, respectively. Flame structures such as distributions of chemical species and temperature were obtained. For example, the predicted density distributions explicitly showed an attached shock wave, expansion fans and shear layers, and had good agreement with the shadowgraph of the experiment. The overall equivalence ratio in the space between two strut parts was calculated to evaluate the reaction time in the space between the struts and a particle trace analysis was performed to evaluate the residence time in the space. By obtaining the Damkohler number from two characteristic times, two flame-holding limits, namely the chemical kinetic limit at small interval between two struts and the dynamic limit at large interval, were discussed. The numerical results were qualitatively consistent with the previous experimental results.


The second chapter of book three of the De anima marks the end of Aristotle's discussion of sense-perception. The chapter is a long one and apparently rambling in subject matter. It begins with a passage that is usually taken as a discussion of some sort of self-awareness, particularly awareness that one is perceiving, although such an interpretation raises some difficulties. This paper reconsiders the problems raised by supposing that the question discussed in the first paragraph is 'how do we perceive that we perceive?', and suggests an alternative interpretation which would solve many of the difficulties and have the additional merit of restoring unity to the sequence of notes which go to make up the whole chapter.


We propose to use high-level visual information to improve illuminant estimation. Several illuminant estimation approaches are applied to compute a set of possible illuminants. For each of them an illuminant color corrected image is evaluated on the likelihood of its semantic content: is the grass green, the road grey, and the sky blue, in correspondence with our prior knowledge of the world. The illuminant resulting in the most likely semantic composition of the image is selected as the illuminant color. To evaluate the likelihood of the semantic content, we apply probabilistic latent semantic analysis. The image is modelled as a mixture of semantic classes, such as sky, grass, road, and building. The class description is based on texture, position and color information. Experiments show that the use of high-level information improves illuminant estimation over a purely bottom-up approach. Furthermore, the proposed method is shown to significantly improve semantic class recognition performance.


This dissertation explores the types of professional communities that are built when teachers work in initiatives that, in various forms, link them to teachers from other countries. In doing so it explores the types of knowledge that may be exchanged by the building of these communities and the value that teachers put upon these different forms of knowledge. Therefore, this study is situated in the broad theoretical context of discussions related to the building of professional communities but explores this within a specifically international context. The most significant findings that this dissertation identifies are: that the teachers involved built the professional communities that are most important to them in more exploratory ways and with more agency than is suggested by other related research, and in connection to this that those professional communities that the participants attached most significance to were consistently alternative to the immediate workplace. It was also found that whilst the teachers involved in this study problematised the possibility of directly transferring specific classroom strategies, stories about teaching were seen by all to be useful vehicles for exchanging other forms of knowledge, for enabling affirmation and for co-constructing moral purpose. These findings have potential implications for policy and practice as they indicate that structures that focus exclusively on developing communities within schools may need to be enriched by those that provide teachers with the flexibility to discover and build communities in alternative ways too. The primary data collection method used when conducting this research was interview. The participants who were interviewed came from two countries, namely England and Macedonia. This entirely qualitative approach is positioned within an interpretivist paradigm. However, it is argued that contributions to theoretical debates regarding the nature of professional communities can still be made.


Abstract. Previous in situ measurements have indicated a slight mass gain at Muztagh Ata in the eastern Pamir, contrary to the global trend. We extend these measurements both in space and time by using remote sensing data and present four decades of glacier variations in the entire mountain massif. Geodetic mass balances and area changes were determined at glacier scale from stereo satellite imagery and derived digital elevation models (DEMs). This includes Hexagon KH-9 (year 1973), ALOS-PRISM~(2009), Pleiades (2013) and Landsat 7 ETM+ data in conjunction with the SRTM-3 DEM (2000). In addition, surface velocities of Kekesayi Glacier, the largest glacier at Muztagh Ata, were derived from amplitude tracking of TerraSAR-X images (2011). Locally, we observed strong spatial and temporal glacier variations during the last four decades, which were, however, on average not significant for the entire massif. Some south-west-exposed glaciers fluctuated or advanced, while glaciers with other aspects rather experienced continuous shrinkage. Several glaciers such as Kekesayi indicate no measurable change at their frontal position, but clear down-wasting despite mostly thick debris coverage at low altitudes. The surface velocity of this debris-covered glacier reach up to 20 cm per day, but the lowest part of the tongue appears to be stagnant. The low velocity or even stagnancy at the tongue is likely one reason for the down-wasting. On average, the glaciers showed a small, insignificant shrinkage from 274.3 ± 10.6 km2 in 1973 to 272.7 ± 1.0 km2 in 2013 (−0.02 ± 0.1 % a−1). Average mass changes in the range of −0.03 ± 0.33 m w.e. a−1 (1973–2009) to −0.01 ± 0.30 m w.e. a−1 (1973–2013) reveal nearly balanced budgets for the last 40 years. Indications of slightly positive rates after 1999 (+0.04 ± 0.27 m w.e. a−1) are not significant, but confirmed by measurements in the field.


Historic preservation is commonly used to protect old buildings and neighborhoods from deterioration. In 1981, the City of Milwaukee established a historic preservation commission to develop and maintain a local register of places with historical importance to the area. The commission also reviews all applications for historic status as well as any requests for exterior alterations. As such, there are numerous rules and restrictions that are imposed on property owners once it has been declared a historic site. Thus, while historic designation can serve to internalize the externalities in neighborhoods with historic buildings, it also imposes costs on homeowners who wish to make improvements to their homes. This paper uses a hedonic model to estimate the impact of historic preservation on the sale price of a single family home in the Milwaukee area. Preliminary results show that the impact of historic preservation is positive when it is significant, with the average impact at 26.6%. However, there was significant variation between districts, with the impact significantly positive in 13 of 22 districts used in the sample. Specifically, the positive impact ranged between 11% and 65%, holding other factors constant. None of the 22 districts had a negative and significant impact. An evaluation of spillover effects reveal that just over one third of them displayed positive and significant spillover effects, whereas 21% had negative and significant spillover effects. The remainder were insignificant. An important question is what factors influence this variability in historic preservation effects. The eventual goal of this research is to extend our preliminary analysis to two stages using a recently developed method that employs spatial econometric methods to solve the unique identification problems inherent in hedonic models (Carruthers and Clark, forthcoming in Journal of Regional Science). This will permit us to determine the specific factors that influence these premiums. While the spatial estimates presented in this preliminary work do not permit a two-stage model, we did explore whether implicit prices appear to be correlated with the household income and racial makeup of the neighborhoods in which they are located. The findings show little evidence that the implicit values of historic districts are correlated, but the implicit price associated with historic district spillovers was positively correlated with both neighborhood measures.


This paper reviews the literature on distributional effects of energy and carbon taxation with focus on microsimulation models. Most studies find that direct energy and carbon taxation tends to be regressive. Regressive effects occur mostly with respect to taxation of electricity or space heating. Taxation of transportation fuels show less regressive, neutral, or even progressive effects. Adequate revenue recycling often allows for neutralisation or full elimination of regressive effects so that energy and carbon tax reforms can be progressive. Some studies find evidence for the existence of a double dividend. There seems to be an efficiency-equity trade-off in revenue recycling, i.e. whether to foster growth or to assist low-income households. While a large number of studies on advanced economies are available, there clearly is a gap with regard to evidence for developing countries. Another gap relates to the lack of documentation on the challenges of incorporating macroeconomic models and long-term modelling perspectives in microsimulation. Both aspects can be of great importance with respect to the design of green growth policies. Thoughtful incorporation of social considerations, including aspects of poverty in modelling approaches could enhance the existing instruments of exante policy assessments since poverty is a tangible concept which is well-known, understandable, and openly observable for citizens and policy makers.


Adding features and fixing bugs often require systematic edits that make similar, but not identical, changes to many code locations. Finding all the relevant locations and making the correct edits is a tedious and error-prone process for developers. This paper addresses both problems using edit scripts learned from multiple examples. We design and implement a tool called LASE that (1) creates a context-aware edit script from two or more examples, and uses the script to (2) automatically identify edit locations and to (3) transform the code. We evaluate LASE on an oracle test suite of systematic edits from Eclipse JDT and SWT. LASE finds edit locations with 99% precision and 89% recall, and transforms them with 91% accuracy. We also evaluate LASE on 37 example systematic edits from other open source programs and find LASE is accurate and effective. Furthermore, we confirmed with developers that LASE found edit locations which they missed. Our novel algorithm that learns from multiple examples is critical to achieving high precision and recall; edit scripts created from only one example produce too many false positives, false negatives, or both. Our results indicate that LASE should help developers in automating systematic editing. Whereas most prior work either suggests edit locations or performs simple edits, LASE is the first to do both for nontrivial program edits.


Abstract Lower eyelid blepharoplasty is one of the most common procedures in aesthetic plastic surgery. Although patients desiring lower eyelid blepharoplasty typically describe their problem as "bags in the lower eyelids," there are many anatomical imperfections that should be assessed. With aging, the youthful single convexity of the lower lid separates into a double convexity with a valley at the intersection of the lower lid and midface. Midface descent further drags this intersection inferiorly, leading to a vertically lengthened lower eyelid. This article discusses how to clinically evaluate lower lid deformities, how to formulate a surgical plan, the preoperative assessment, and surgical markings. The rationale and anesthetic technique for outpatient versus in-office surgery is reviewed, and a detailed step-by-step approach with accompanying figures for lower lid blepharoplasty via a transconjunctival or transcutaneous incision is given. An approach to vertically supporting the lower eyelid is presented.


Abstract. During the last decade, the number of applications of UAVs has continuously increased, making the global UAV market one of those with the highest rate of growth. The worldwide increasing usage of UAVs is causing an ever-growing demand for efficient solutions in order to make them usable in every kind of working condition. In fact, nowadays the main restriction to the usage of UAVs is probably the need of reliable position estimates provided by using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS): since UAVs mostly rely on the integration of GNSS/Inertial Navigation System (INS) to properly fulfil their tasks, they face a major challenge while navigating in GNSS denied environments. The goal of this paper is that of investigating possible strategies to reduce such main restriction to UAV usage, i.e. enabling flights in GNSS denied environment by providing position estimates with accuracy quite comparable to that of standard GNSS receivers currently mounted on commercialized drones. To be more specific, this paper proposes the combined use of a novel Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) Radar, a set of Ultra-Wideband (UWB) devices, and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) measurements in order to compensate for the unavailability of the GNSS signal units. A 24-GHz micro FMCW radar and a UWB device have been attached to a quadcopter during the flight. The radar receives the reflections from ground scatterers, whereas the UWB system provides range measurements between a UWB rover mounted on the UAV and a set of UWB anchors distributed along the flying area.


The article systematically analyses the Ukrainian behaviour within the EU-Ukraine-Russia triangle during the presidency of Leonid Kuchma (1994-2004). As it is shown, this was a period to which the origins of many recent, and tumultuous, developments can be traced. We utilise an interdisciplinary Foreign Policy Analysis role theoretical framework, and through the means of triangulated content analysis apply it to the empirical material containing, inter alia, primary data in the Ukrainian language. As we demonstrate empirically, Ukraine followed a certain behavioural pattern of roles based on its national characteristics, collective cognition, discursive uses of historical developments, and specific internal political, economic and social considerations. An extensive analysis of presidential speeches reveals that the prominent role of 'Internal Development' had fluctuating levels of intensity and multiple manifestations. Taking advantages of conceptual vocabulary and theoretical subtleties associated with role theory, we conclude that the performed research of these sets of behavioural norms and their dynamics allows for better understanding of Ukrainian collective identity and behaviour within this strategic complex.


Genome-scale metabolic reconstructions (GEMs) are valuable resources for understanding and redesigning cellular networks as they encapsulate all the known biochemistry of the organisms from genes to proteins to their functions. Complexity of these large metabolic networks often hinders their utility in various practical applications. This difficulty sparked intensive efforts to generate models of reduced sizes that are consistent with the genome-scale models. Currently available core models are reduced ad hoc with different aims and criteria. Up to date, there are no systematic reduction methods in the literature. In this work, we have developed redGEM, a systematic model reduction method for constructing core metabolic models from GEMs that is applicable to any genome-scale model. In redGEM, we use as inputs: (i) definition of the metabolic subsystems that are of interest for a physiology under study; (ii) information about utilized carbon source; and optionally (iii) physiological data. Next, we employ a directed graph search method to find the connections between the selected subsystems, and we then formulate a MILP problem to construct lumped reactions between the biomass building blocks and those subsystems. The stoichiometry of the lumped reactions is dependent on the studied physiology. The result of this procedure is a reduced model that is consistent with the original GEM in terms of flux profiles and essential reactions. We applied the method to generate reduced models for the physiology of E. coli and S. cerevisiae aerobic/anaerobic growth with biomass as the target product.


The myosin myo1c dynamically localizes to cellular membranes through high affinity phosphoinositide binding and links them to the actin cytoskeleton. Determining the kinetics of membrane attachment will provide insight into the relationship between membrane-attachment and actin-attachment lifetimes, and will also provide details about the regulation of membrane attachment. Stopped-flow spectroscopy was used to measure the binding and dissociation of a recombinant myo1c construct containing the tail and regulatory domains (myo1cIQ-tail) to and from 100 nm diameter large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). The apparent secondorder rate constant for association of myo1cIQ-tail with LUVs containing 2% phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P2) was approximately diffusion-limited. Myo1cIQ-tail dissociated from PtdIns(4,5)P2 at a slower rate (2.0 s-1) than the pleckstrin homology domain of phospholipase C-δ (PLCδPH) (13 s-1). The presence of additional anionic phospholipid reduced the myo1cIQ-tail dissociation rate constant > 50-fold, but marginally changed the dissociation rate of PLCδ-PH, suggesting that additional electrostatic interactions in myo1cIQ-tail help to stabilize binding. Remarkably, high concentrations of soluble inositol phosphates induce dissociation of myo1cIQ-tail from LUVs, suggesting that phosphoinositides are able to bind and dissociate from myo1cIQ-tail as it remains bound to the membrane. In adipocytes, vesicles containing glucose transporter-4 (GLUT4) redistribute from intracellular stores to the cell periphery in response to insulin. Vesicles then fuse with the plasma membrane, facilitating glucose transport into the cell. To gain insight into the molecular role of microtubules, we examined the spatial organization and dynamics of microtubules in relation to GLUT4 vesicle trafficking in living 3T3-L1 adipocytes using total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. Insulin stimulated an increase in microtubule density and curvature within the TIRF-illuminated region of the cell. The time course of the density increase precedes that of the increase in intensity of HA-GLUT4-eGFP in this same region. Microtubule disruption delayed and modestly reduced the accumulation of GLUT4 at the plasma membrane. Interestingly, fusion of GLUT4-containing vesicles with the plasma membrane preferentially occur near microtubules, and long-distance vesicle movement along microtubules visible at the cell surface prior to fusion does not appear to account for this proximity. We conclude that microtubules may be important in providing spatial information for fusion events. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/501 First Advisor E. M. Ostap Subject Categories Biochemistry | Cell Biology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/501 INVESTIGATING THE ROLE OF MICROTUBULES IN GLUT4 VESICLE TRAFFICKING


ABSTRACT Computer-assisted surgery (CAS) plays a prominent role in certain surgical disciplines. We investigated the current perceptions and use of this technology for orbital surgery. An online survey was emailed to members of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Canadian Society of Oculoplastic Surgery, and British Oculoplastic Surgery Society. Respondents were asked to describe their practice type and seniority, their frequency of orbital surgery, experience, use, and accessibility of CAS, and their opinion on the technology. There were a total of 151 responses across the societies. 105 respondents (69.5%) had been in attending/consultant practice for over 10 years, with over half (54.7%) working in academic/teaching hospitals. The majority (66.7%) had superficial or no experience with CAS. In total, 84.8% of respondents rarely or never use CAS for orbital surgery (n = 128). Posterior orbital surgery (64.2%) and orbital decompression (49.0%) were the two most useful reasons to implement CAS. Longer operating time (58.3%) and cost (54.8%) were the two most selected weaknesses for CAS, whereas improved accuracy in attaining surgical end point(s) (80.8%) and patient safety (63.6%) were the principal advantages. Type of practice was significantly associated with CAS availability/accessibility (p < 0.05). Proportion of orbital surgery performed in practice was significantly associated with both CAS experience and use (p < 0.05). Our study confirms an expected variation in the perception and use of CAS for orbital surgery. Demonstrated patient benefit and integration of refined and cost-effective CAS systems into operating room environments may influence its future role.


Abstract The load deformation of ballasted rail tracks subjected to cyclic loading is investigated experimentally using a large-scale track process simulation apparatus and numerically through a combined discrete element-finite-difference approach. Laboratory tests were performed to examine the deformation and degradation of ballast subjected to cyclic loading at 15 Hz and a lateral confinement of 10 kPa 10 kPa. The laboratory results reveal that ballast undergoes significant deformation during the initial load cycles, followed by gradually increasing deformation attaining a steady value toward the end of testing. A numerical model based on a combined discrete element method (DEM) and finite-difference method (FDM) is introduced to study the load-deformation response of the ballast assembly while considering interaction between the ballast aggregates and the subgrade layer. In this coupled model, the discrete ballast grains are modeled by DEM, and the subgrade domain is modeled as a continuum by FDM. Interface elements are introduced to transmit the interacting forces and displacements between adjoining material domains in which the DEM transfers contact forces to the FDM, and then the FDM updates the displacements, which provides subsequent input into the DEM. This computational cycle continues with the increasing number of loading cycles. The numerical model is validated by comparing the predicted cyclic load-deformation response with the laboratory measurements. Contact force distributions and stress contours in the assembly are analyzed and presented graphically to interpret the behavior of the model track, and the effects that subgrade stiffness have on the axial strain and bond breakage of the ballast are investigated. This combined DEM-FDM analysis is also used to analyze the load deformation of an instrumented track in the town of Singleton, Australia, and the numerical predictions are compared with the field data. ABSTRACT The load-deformation of ballasted rail tracks subjected to cyclic loading is investigated 58 experimentally using a large-scale track process simulation apparatus, and numerically through a 59 combined discrete element-finite difference approach. Laboratory tests were carried out to examine the deformation and degradation of ballast subjected to cyclic loading at 15 Hz and a lateral 61 confinement of 10 kPa . The laboratory results reveal that ballast undergoes significant deformation 62 during the initial load cycles, followed by gradually increasing deformation attaining a steady value 63 towards the end of testing. A numerical model based on combined discrete element method (DEM) 64 and finite difference method (FDM) is introduced to study the load-deformation response of the 65 ballast assembly while considering interaction between the ballast aggregates and the subgrade 66 layer. In this coupled model,


Genetic algorithm (GA), a promising optimization process in Heuristics, has proven to be a powerful tool in controlling the nanostructure of low-temperature processable photoanodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). For photoanodes that are composed of various sizes of TiO₂ nanoparticles and multiwalled carbon nanotubes in a double-layer configuration, the best composition was determined based on the objective functions of cell efficiency (η) and its variance. The latter function was chosen since TiO₂ dispersions with no organic binders often aggravated the efficiency of reproducibility. From a total of 64,536 cases, 24 different cases (6 samples prepared for each composition) per generation were selected, and their objective functions were compared. GA was effective in the optimization of photoanodes, and resulted in a cell efficiency of 7.3 ± 0.2% with a short circuit current of 13.8 ± 0.4 mA cm(-2), an open circuit voltage of 0.737 ± 0.006 V, and a fill factor of 71.8 ± 0.6% after 3 generations. The η of 7.3 ± 0.2% is the highest value for low-temperature processable dye-sensitized solar cells prepared without further treatment of TiO₂ films to enhance interparticle connections.


A bottlenose porpoise was trained to dive untethered in the open ocean and to exhale into an underwater collecting funnel before surfacing from prescribed depths down to 300 meters. The animal was also taught to hold its breath for periods up to 4 minutes at the surface and then blow in the funnel. Alveolar collapse is probably complete at around 100 meters, and little pulmonary respiratory exchange occurs below that depth. Thoracic collapse was observ visually at 10 to 50 meters and by underwater television to 300 meters.


Stamatopoulou-Robbins's essay begins with an unlikely meeting between two groups—Israeli settlers and Palestinian village residents—who together opposed construction of a Palestinian Authority–run landfill in the central West Bank. Attention to this 2013 moment of infrastructure- in- the- making sheds light on another, conceptual alliance. On one end, "thing theorists" argue for an understanding of infrastructures' nonhuman, agentive capacity to assemble disparate people, things, and institutions. On the other end, political commentators propose, as many did, that meetings like this one index "environmental citizenship" premised on the recognition of common responsibility for a vulnerable environment. Both suggest nature's physical properties—e.g., aquifers' vulnerability to toxic wastes—seemed to have brought sworn enemies together, thereby exceeding or bypassing politics. Instead, Stamatopoulou- Robbins's essay analyzes objections in light of the bureaucratic, calculative devices that shaped them. These devices structure the terms according to which "environmental impacts" have been evaluated in the Occupied Territories since Oslo (ca. 1995). They reveal how entrenched forms of technocratic authority produced the effect of the environment as both an abstract "good" to be protected and as ontologically "insistent" on protection. While nature seemed to demand the need for infrastructural standards (with which the occupation authorities and objectors attempted to comply), it was the standards imposed by the military occupation's bureaucratic apparatus that reproduced the appearance of the environment as distinct from, and vulnerable to, human practice. Among some objectors, this catalyzed a need to perform what Stamatopoulou-Robbins calls "sincere environmentalism." Doing so was aimed at avoiding accusations of "greenwashing," which sees "false" environmentalisms as covers for politics.


We introduce a new transit search and vetting pipeline for observations from the K2 mission, and present the candidate transiting planets identified by this pipeline out of the targets in Campaigns 5 and 6. Our pipeline uses the Gaussian Process-based K2SC code to correct for the K2 pointing systematics and simultaneously model stellar variability. The systematics-corrected, variability-detrended light curves are searched for transits with the Box Least Squares method, and a period-dependent detection threshold is used to generate a preliminary candidate list. Two or three individuals vet each candidate manually to produce the final candidate list, using a set of automatically-generated transit fits and assorted diagnostic tests to inform the vetting. We detect 147 single-planet system candidates and 5 multi-planet systems, independently recovering the previously-published hot~Jupiters EPIC 212110888b, WASP-55b (EPIC 212300977b) and Qatar-2b (EPIC 212756297b). We also report the outcome of reconnaissance spectroscopy carried out for all candidates with Kepler magnitude Kp < 13, identifying 12 targets as likely false positives. We compare our results to those of other K2 transit search pipelines, noting that ours performs particularly well for variable and/or active stars, but that the results are very similar overall. All the light curves and code used in the transit search and vetting process are publicly available, as are the follow-up spectra.


On-line hybrid tests couple virtual structures under dynamic loading with physical sub-structures or devices in a dynamic test rig. The use of sensors and actuators in a closed-loop feedback system maintains the dynamic equilibrium of the overall system comprising the physical test article and virtual modelled structure. This research presents simple, cost-effective and robust hybrid test system by cleverly melding the sensors and actuators with virtual model. It outlines solutions to the major issues faced in developing any hybrid system. The overall approach is centred on the dSpaceTM real-time control system development tool.


The movement from a defined benefit to a defined contribution pension system has important implications in the area of portfolio allocation. While the focus of defined benefit pension funds is essentially in the long term, some defined contribution funds might have incentives to invest with shorter-term horizons. The case of open pension funds, such as the ones in several countries in Latin America and Central and Eastern European countries, shows that competition on short-term returns may bring pension funds into suboptimal portfolio strategies. As policy makers become increasingly interested in finding long-term sources of financing for infrastructure and other long-term projects, it becomes essential to upgrade the regulatory framework of open pension funds. This paper contributes to the literature by proposing an investment regulatory framework based on strategic asset allocation that can be applicable to open pension funds. Based on the use of lifecycle investment strategies, the paper proposes the implementation of common portfolio benchmarks for pension funds. Three elements are emphasized for implementation of strategic asset allocation: (a) a well-defined pension objective, (b) sound governance of the portfolio benchmark, and (c) a methodology for developing the benchmark. The paper proposes the use of the approximation methodology as a starting point for designing portfolio benchmarks, and illustrates step-by-step how to build these long-term portfolios in a didactical way.


Like many other feminist intellectuals I know, I found myself weeping in the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. In those sad and sensational days following her death, many of "us"--that is to say, women (for it was primarily women who flocked to the floral shrine at Kensington Palace)--were surprised by our unaccountably emotional responses to the death of a woman whose only claim to fame was that she had given birth to the future King of England. Many well-known feminists published sympathetic elegies mourning the "People's Princess." Carol Gilligan, for example, meditated in the New York Times on why she felt "such a raw edge of grief for this woman I did not know." (1) In many cases, the tears were understood through an intense identification that women, including feminists, felt for Diana. Do you remember hearing, or perhaps even uttering, the oft repeated remark that Diana was "one of us"? Women could understand and identify with the tragedies of Princess Di's life: she was imprisoned in a loveless marriage with a cheating husband and a evil mother-in-law; she, too, suffered from body image problems which had led to bulimia; and she, too, struggled against the social stigma of single motherhood. Her bad marriage and bulimia, her victimization at the hands of patriarchal femininity, made her like "us." This woman who lived in a palace, had a chauffeur-driven Mercedes-Benz, and wore a different designer dress every day became, in those first heady weeks after her death, the figure of Everywoman. She, too, was a woman. "One of us." It would be preposterous to venture that Marie Antoinette could be considered the "People's Queen." She certainly was not popular with her subjects at the time of her death and Versailles witnessed no scenes comparable to those at Kensington. Across the channel in Britain, however, popular public sentiment following the guillotining of the Queen in Paris on October 16, 1793, was often reverential. (2) Like Princess Di, Marie Antoinette was a woman in her mid-30s, also a young mother who died of unnatural causes, and in both cases, commentators evoked sympathy through turning a powerful royal figure into a symbol of sacrificed and victimized womanhood. How does the identification of one very unique woman--a queen or a princess--come to stand in for all women, all mothers, all wives? This essay probes various representations of Marie Antoinette--some constructing her as wicked, others as the martyred royal--with the intent of unpacking how the category "woman" operates in the moment of the royal woman's death. For some British writers and feminists, Marie Antoinette was "one of us," a woman like "us" whose essential femininity was the basis for sympathetic mourning. For others, she was "one of them," a woman whose essential femininity aligned her, instead, with a corrupt female sexual power. The first half of the essay takes a broad survey approach to Marie Antoinette and cursorily discusses how a wide variety of writers (French feminists, Edmund Burke, pornographers, journalists) figure her relation to "woman" through invocations of sexual difference (that is, the difference of "woman" from "man"); in the second half, I turn to the responses of 1790s British feminists to this image of public womanhood with the interest of unraveling the tensions within feminism between how the singular woman is included in the larger political category of women. My curiosity about Marie Antoinette in Britain began when I encountered two radically different accounts of her within 1790s feminism. While Mary Robinson reveres Marie Antoinette as a symbol of victimized womanhood, Mary Wollstonecraft, even as late as 1794, was decrying the Queen as a sexual and political abomination who was the corrupt head of an oppressive political state. Why the difference in views? And what does this say about their own understandings of feminism, "woman," and sexual difference? Feminists have long posited the difference between Woman (the patriarchal ideal of what a woman is, a constraining symbol of femininity) and women (the commonality of real embodied beings who are sexed female). …


This paper introduces a new transmission system—"Cloud Transmission (Cloud Txn)" for terrestrial broadcasting or point-to-multipoint multimedia services. The system is based on the concept of increasing the reception robustness, and using the spectrum more efficiently. As such, the system is designed to be robust to co-channel interference, immune to multipath distortion, and is highly spectrum reuse friendly. It can increase the spectrum utilization significantly (3 to 4 times) by making all terrestrial RF channels in a city/market available for broadcast service. The system has the robustness required for providing mobile, pedestrian and indoor reception. It can be used for both small and large cell applications. The receiver is simple and energy efficient. The proposed system is scalable and can be implemented progressively, i.e., providing an easy transition from the traditional systems to the new Cloud Txn system. It can also coexist with the existing DTV systems and their newer versions, such as DVB-T2 or Super Hi-Vision systems.


Spore-forming gut microbes produce metabolites that stimulate serotonin production by enterochromaffin cells. The microbes that live in our guts are important for promoting health. Germ-free mice have reduced gastrointestinal (GI) motility and reduced amounts of the hormone and neurotransmitter serotonin, which promotes GI motility and is important for platelet activation and aggregation (see Ridaura and Belkaid). Yano et al. found that the colons of germ-free mice had less expression of TPH1 (encoding the rate-limiting enzyme in serotonin synthesis in the periphery), decreased amount of serotonin in enterochromaffin cells, and increased amount of the transcript for the serotonin uptake transporter SLC6A4. Germ-free mice also had increased amounts of the serotonin precursor tryptophan in feces and circulation. Supplementing the diet of the germ-free mice with the product of Tph increased serotonin in the colon and circulation, as did reconstituting the gut flora with spore-forming microbes (SPF mice). Compared with germ-free mice, SPF mice had increased expression of TPH1, reduced expression of SLC6A4, and increased amount of serotonin in the enterochromaffin cells, effects that were blocked by intrarectal administration of an inhibitor of Tph activity. Compared with germ-free mice, SPF mice exhibited increased GI motility (indicated by reduced transit time and increased fecal output), increased activity of the serotonin receptor 5HT4 in the colon (indicated by increased expression of a 5HT4-responsive gene), and increased platelet activation and aggregation. Metabolomic profiling identified α-tocopheral, several short chain fatty acids, doxycholate, p-aminobenzoate, and tyramine as candidates responsible for the differences in the SPF and germ-free mice. Addition of any of these molecules to the medium stimulated TPH1 expression and the amount of serotonin in an enterochromaffin cell line and, when introduced into the colon, also increased serotonin abundance in the colon and serum in mice. Thus, spore-forming microbes produce metabolites that stimulate serotonin production by enterochromaffin cells that contribute to the peripheral effects of this hormone and neurotransmitter. J. M. Yano, K. Yu, G. P. Donaldson, G. G. Shastri, P. Ann, L. Ma, C. R. Nagler, R. F. Ismagilov, S. K. Mazmanian, E. Y. Hsiao, Indigenous bacteria from the gut microbiota regulate host serotonin biosynthesis. Cell 161, 264–276 (2015). [PubMed] V. Ridaura, Y. Belkaid, Gut microbiota: The link to your second brain. Cell 161, 193–194 (2015). [PubMed]


Warnings can help prevent damage and harm if they are issued timely and provide information that help responders and population to adequately prepare for the disaster to come. Today, there are many indicator and sensor systems that are designed to reduce disaster risks, or issue early warnings. In this paper we analyze the different systems in the light of the initial decisions that need to be made in the response to sudden onset disasters. We outline challenges of current practices and methods, and provide an agenda for future research.To illustrate our approach, we present a case study of Typhoon Haiyan. Although meteorological services had issued warnings; relief goods were prepositioned; and responders predeployed, the delivery of aid was delayed in some of the worst hit regions. We argue for an integrated consideration of preparedness and response to provide adequate thresholds for early warning systems that focus on decision-makers needs.


A Functional Competition Policy for India comes at a time when the country is poised to implement a new Competition Law, whilst there is a lack of understanding of the nature, and extent of prevalence, of different types of anti-competitive practices. The study helps in getting a better understanding of the competition and economic regulation scenario in India.

Contrary to popular perception, the study does not treat Competition Policy as just adoption and implementation of a competition law, but looks at it as a broader policy framework where competition is encouraged as a market process to generate competitive outcomes. Accordingly, the report comprises 22 chapters, giving comprehensive treatment to competition policy in India, covering both systemic as well as sectoral issues.

The study tracks the evolution of Competition Policy and Law in India; discusses the interface of Competition Policy with Government Policies (at the Federal as well as State level), and Consumer Welfare; and identifies competition and economic regulation issues in agriculture, manufacturing, and services.

The present volume is the result of the effort put in by top experts in the country. The study will be useful to all those who are interested in economic policies, in general, and competition policy, in particular.

The report itself is published as two separate volumes. An earlier published volume forms the Overview, which carries all papers in a precis form, so that a busy reader can go through them easily and get a flavour of what the issues are. The second one is the present volume — a more detailed report, carrying all chapters in greater depth, and is meant for the policy community, particularly those involved in research. The report (in either format) will serve as a curtain raiser and as a road map for future work in still greater depth.


Mexico, with the commissioning of the "National Crusade Against Hunger Program" in 2013, aimed at serving the population that presents both extreme poverty and food deprivation. The article aims to analyze whether the criterion of the selection of the municipalities of the State of Veracruz incorporated in the National Crusade Against Hunger Program (PNCH) show complementarity with the efforts in the fight against poverty in the social expenditure strategy applied in the Priority Attention Zones Program (ZAP) and the Priority Areas Development Program (PDZP) and, particularly, the indigenous municipalities that have a greater degree of social exclusion. The adjustment of a binary logistic regression model is presented, in order to assess the incidence of contextual factors to interpret the scope of the strategy adopted by the federal government in the fight against poverty and hunger. As a result, it is evident that there is no continuity in the fight against poverty, since the municipalities included in the strategy Priority Areas of Attention and Program of Development of Priority Zones are not considered in the selection of municipalities incorporated in the National Program of Crusade Against Hunger, a situation that identifies the relationship between programs is not complementary.


How did electricity enter everyday life in America? Using Muncie, Indiana -- the Lynds' now iconic Middletown -- as a touchstone, David Nye explores how electricity seeped into and redefined American culture. With an eye for telling details from archival sources and a broad understanding of cultural and social history, he creates a thought-provoking panorama of a technology fundamental to modern life. Emphasizing the experiences of ordinary men and women rather than the lives of inventors and entrepreneurs, Nye treats electrification as a set of technical possibilities that were selectively adopted to create the streetcar suburb, the amusement park, the "Great White Way," the assembly line, the electrified home, and the industrialized farm. He shows how electricity touched every part of American life, how it became an extension of political ideologies, how it virtually created the image of the modern city, and how it even pervaded colloquial speech, confirming the values of high energy and speed that have become hallmarks of the twentieth century. He also pursues the social meaning of electrification as expressed in utopian ideas and exhibits at world's fairs, and explores the evocation of electrical landscapes in painting, literature, and photography. Electrifying America combines chronology and topicality to examine the major forms of light and power as they came into general use. It shows that in the city electrification promoted a more varied landscape and made possible new art forms and new consumption environments. In the factory, electricity permitted a complete redesign of the size and scale of operations, shifting power away from the shop floor to managers. Electrical appliances redefined domestic work and transformed the landscape of the home, while on the farm electricity laid the foundation for today's agribusiness.


In black-box optimization, an agent repeatedly chooses a configuration to test, so as to find an optimal configuration. In many practical problems of interest, one would like to optimize several systems, or ``tasks'', simultaneously; however, in most of these scenarios the current task is determined by nature. In this work, we explore the ``offline'' case in which one is able to bypass nature and choose the next task to evaluate (e.g. via a simulator). Because some tasks may be easier to optimize and others may be more critical, it is crucial to leverage algorithms that not only consider which configurations to try next, but also which tasks to make evaluations for. In this work, we describe a theoretically grounded Bayesian optimization method to tackle this problem. We also demonstrate that if the model of the reward structure does a poor job of capturing variation in difficulty between tasks, then algorithms that actively pick tasks for evaluation may end up doing more harm than good. Following this, we show how our approach can be used for real world applications in science and engineering, including optimizing tokamak controls for nuclear fusion.


Ultrasonic imaging uses higher ultrasound frequencies and power levels to achieve better spacial resolution and image quality. Potential hazard for patients have to be evaluated on the basis of relevant acoustic parameters. Measurements of the acoustic pressure with piezoelectric hydrophones is only reliable up to 40 MHz because of minimum sensor size. This work improves a pizooptical measurement method for acoustic pressure. Acoustic pressure changes the refractive index of water. This is determined by measuring laser power, reflected at a fiber/water interface. To improve calibration uncertainty for that kind of measurement to the level of piezoelectric hydrophones (11% - 14%) was the primary goal. Therefore a piezooptic fiber hydrophone with single mode fiber and single mode light source (laser diode) is developed. The active area of the used single mode fiber type has a diameter of 5 µm. Since the fiber influences sound field propagation due to reflection and diffraction, sensitivity of the device is frequency dependent. These effects are compensated by mathmatic modelling. By calculaing the exact curve progression of the factor of reflection depending on the refractive index gradient at the fiber/water interface, calibration uncertainty is improved from 18% to below 11%. Results are validated by intercomparison with several calibarted piezoelectric hydrophones. Measurements are carried out on different ultrasound imagaing systems.


Background: Connections between mature trees and seedlings via ectomycorrhizal (EcM) hyphal networks existing in dipterocarp-dominated tropical rain forests of South-east Asia could have strong implications for seedling growth and survival and the maintenance of high diversity in such forests. Aim: To test whether EcM hyphal network connections are important for the growth and survival of dipterocarp seedlings. Methods: We conducted four independent experiments that prevented contact of experimental seedlings with an EcM network by using a series of fine meshes and/or plastic barriers. We measured the growth and survival (and foliar δ13C in one experiment) of seedlings of six dipterocarp species over intervals ranging from 11 to 29 months. Results: Seedling growth (diameter, height or leaf number) was unaffected by exclusion from the EcM network in three experiments and there were no differences in foliar δ13C values in the fourth. Seedling survival was reduced following exclusion from the EcM network in one experiment. Our results give little support to the hypothesis that dipterocarp seedlings growing in the shaded forest understorey benefit from being connected, through a common EcM network, to surrounding trees. Conclusions: We suggest that our negative results, in contrast to studies conducted in low diversity boreo-temperate or tropical forests, are due to these high diversity forests lacking host species-specific EcM fungi and therefore providing little opportunity for adaptive support of seedlings via hyphal networks.


Modern business cycle theory and growth theory uses stochastic dynamic general equilibrium models. In order to solve these models, economists need to use many mathematical tools. This book presents various methods in order to compute the dynamics of general equilibrium models. In part I, the representative-agent stochastic growth model is solved with the help of value function iteration, linear and linear quadratic approximation methods, parameterised expectations and projection methods. In order to apply these methods, fundamentals from numerical analysis are reviewed in detail. In particular, the book discusses issues that are often neglected in existing work on computational methods, e.g. how to find a good initial value. In part II, the authors discuss methods in order to solve heterogeneous-agent economies. In such economies, the distribution of the individual state variables is endogenous. This part of the book also serves as an introduction to the modern theory of distribution economics. Applications include the dynamics of the income distribution over the business cycle or the overlapping-generations model. In an accompanying home page to this book, computer codes to all applications can be downloaded.


Spectroscopic techniques including absorption, fluorescence excitation and emission spectra, fluorescence decay profiles (determined by single photon counting techniques), and electric linear dichroism are applied to a study of the conformation of covalent adducts derived from a reaction of 9,10-dihydroxy-11,12-epoxy-9,10,11,12-tetrahydro[e]pyrene (B[e]PDE) with DNA. The characteristics of non-covalent adducts obtained from the intercalative binding of 9,10,11,12-tetrahydroxytetrahydrobenzo[e]pyrene (B[e]PT) (derived from the hydrolysis of B[e]PDE) with DNA are compared to those of the covalent B[e]PDE--DNA adducts. It is shown that there are two types of binding sites in B[e]PDE--DNA adducts: (1) an exterior binding site similar to the one observed with the isomeric 7,8-dihydroxy-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (B[a]PDE)--DNA adducts, and (2) a quasi-intercalative type of binding site in which the properties of the pyrene chromophore are similar to those of an intercalated pyrene moiety, but in which the red shift in the absorption maximum, and fluorescence quenching are less pronounced. This latter conformation is not observed in covalent B[a]PDE--DNA adducts. It is shown that the DNA concentration is an important parameter in determining the relative number of pyrene chromophores at these two binding sites. The extent of covalent binding of B[e]PDE is 4-8 times less than the binding of B[a]PDE to DNA under the same experimental conditions. The reduced reactivity of B[e]PDE is tentatively attributed to steric hindrance due to quasi-diaxial conformations of the two hydroxyl groups in one of the two bay-regions of B[e]PDE.


The Semantic Web is envisioned as a next-generation WWW environment in which information is given well-defined meaning. Although the standards for the Semantic Web are being established, it is as yet unclear how the Semantic Web will allow information resources to be effectively organized and discovered in an automated fashion. This dissertation research explores the organization and discovery of resources for the Semantic Web. It assumes that resources on the Semantic Web will be retrieved based on metadata and ontologies that will provide an effective basis for automated deduction. An integrated deduction system based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF), the DARPA Agent Markup Language (DAML) and description logic (DL) was built. A case study was conducted to study the system effectiveness in retrieving resources in a large Web resource collection. The results showed that deduction has an overall positive impact on the retrieval of the collection over the defined queries. The greatest positive impact occurred when precision was perfect with no decrease in recall. The sensitivity analysis was conducted over properties of resources, subject categories, query expressions and relevance judgment in observing their relationships with the retrieval performance. The results highlight both the potentials and various issues in applying deduction over metadata and ontologies. Further investigation will be required for additional improvement. The factors that can contribute to degraded performance were identified and addressed. Some guidelines were developed based on the lessons learned from the case study for the development of Semantic Web data and systems.


Objectives To study the prevention effects of cordyceps sinensison contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) in stable angina pectoris patients. Methods One hundred and threestable angina pectoris inpatients were randomly divided into two groups, basic treatment group (n = 51) and cordycepssinensis treatment group (n = 52, corbrin capsule 3g, 3 times/d were used three days before angioplasty and three days after angioplasty). Serum creatinine (Scr) was assessed at the time of hospital admission and on days 1, 2, and 3 after angioplasty. The values of urine kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil-gelatinase-associate-lipocalin (NGAL) andinterleukin-18 (IL-18) were detected before angioplasty and one day after angioplasty in patients of two groups. Then contrast the incidence of CIN between two groups. Results CIN occurred in 9 (8.74%) of the 103 patients. The incidence of CIN in cordyceps sinensis treatment group was slightly lower compared with basic treatment group (5.77% vs 11.76%) but without significant difference (P > 0.05). The post procedure mean peak ofScr, the post procedure increasing Scr from baseline and urine KIM-1, NGAL, IL-18 levels after procedure in cordyceps sinensis treatment group were significantly lower than those in basic treatment group (P < 0.05). Conclusions Prophylactic treatment with cordyceps sinensis in stable angina pectoris patients who undergo coronary angiography or intervention could effectively prevent contrast-induced renal impairment. It is worth further studies.


Meta-learning algorithms are widely used for few-shot learning. For example, image recognition systems that readily adapt to unseen classes after seeing only a few labeled examples. Despite their success, we show that modern meta-learning algorithms are extremely sensitive to the data used for adaptation, i.e. support data. In particular, we demonstrate the existence of (unaltered, in-distribution, natural) images that, when used for adaptation, yield accuracy as low as 4\% or as high as 95\% on standard few-shot image classification benchmarks. We explain our empirical findings in terms of class margins, which in turn suggests that robust and safe meta-learning requires larger margins than supervised learning.


We present an approach to synthesize whisper by applying a handcrafted signal processing recipe and Voice Conversion (VC) techniques to convert normally phonated speech to whispered speech. We investigate using Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) and Deep Neural Networks (DNN) to model the mapping between acoustic features of normal speech and those of whispered speech. We evaluate naturalness and speaker similarity of the converted whisper on an internal corpus and on the publicly available wTIMIT corpus. We show that applying VC techniques is significantly better than using rule-based signal processing methods and it achieves results that are indistinguishable from copy-synthesis of natural whisper recordings. We investigate the ability of the DNN model to generalize on unseen speakers, when trained with data from multiple speakers. We show that excluding the target speaker from the training set has little or no impact on the perceived naturalness and speaker similarity of the converted whisper. The proposed DNN method is used in the newly released Whisper Mode of Amazon Alexa.


Management of ecosystem services (ES) is vital to maintain and improve the productivity of agricultural systems in order to meet the food demands of a growing human population. However, some land management practices can severely reduce the ecological and financial contribution of some of these services to agriculture, which in the longer term can offset the ability of farming to produce large amounts of food and fibre. Therefore, to improve the understanding and enhancement of these services, it is crucial to know the opinions of farmers who manage ES on their land. Being in close contact with the land provides them with an opportunity to understand its natural processes and functions as well as to act as its stewards. This paper describes ES associated with arable farming in Canterbury, New Zealand and analyses the results of a survey of farmers' perceptions of these services. There was no difference between the measured perceptions of these services by organic and conventional farmers except in the case of biological control. However, organic farmers gave a higher score to 16 individual services compared with conventional farmers. Also, for organic farmers, the importance of some of these services increased significantly with the number of years the farmers had been operating under an organic regime.


J. K. Gibson-Graham's postcapitalist approach to diverse economies has unleashed a flourishing of research and activism for other worlds. One reason for its successes is found in the intricate links between a feminist and antiessentialist critique of political economy and an experimental, enabling, and affirmative practice of economy. While initially powered by explicitly critical and negating energies, diverse-economies scholars have increasingly accentuated an affirmative, "post/critical" register. This essay explores what has happened to "capitalocentrism" in this process. Initially an invitation to consider our performative complicity with the seeming inescapability of capitalism, capitalocentrism has lately been positioned as an already established theoretical object and a problem already settled. Returning to Gibson-Graham's affinities with deconstruction, this essay seeks to reproblematize capitalocentrism through a thinking strategy called "reading for trouble." Insisting on the theoretical and political potentials that capitalocentrism opens for critical and deconstructive practice, the notion becomes a key word for troublesome work ahead.


Abstract: This paper relates firm size and opportunism by showing that, given certain behavioural dispositions of humans, the size of a profit-maximizing firm can be determined by cognitive aspects underlying firm-internal cultural transmission processes. We argue that what firms do better than markets – besides economizing on transaction costs – is to establish a cooperative regime among its employees that keeps in check opportunism. A model depicts the outstanding role of the entrepreneur or business leader in firm-internal socialization processes and the evolution of corporate cultures. We show that high opportunism-related costs are a reason for keeping firms' size small.


New results in signal representation and reconstruction from partial Fourier information are introduced. In particular, necessary and sufficient conditions for unique representation of two-dimensional signals (images) by spectral amplitude are introduced. It is shown that under mild conditions, only half of the spatial information is required compared to the one-dimensional case. An algorithm for image reconstruction from spectral amplitude is described and examples of reconstructed image are presented, Based on the analysis of the reconstruction algorithm, a theorem on optimal reconstruction from Fourier amplitude is introduced, and it is proven that images of geometric form are best reconstructed by the algorithm. The results are compared to the dual case of image representation by spectral phase and conclusions are presented and discussed.


This thesis documents and discusses the life and work of 137 Lithuanian artists
in Australia from 1950 to 1990. In order to provide a context for doing this, a
panoramic view of the organizational and cultural activities of the general
Lithuanian community in Australia is included. The thesis then attempts to give
an account of the contributions made by Lithuanian artists to Australian visual art
in graphic art, oil and watercolour painting, sculpture, portraiture, photography,
ceramics and theatrical stage desi go.
There have been no previous studies of Lithuanian art in Australia and
this material has been collected directly from the artists during interviews, by
researching the Lithuanian and Australian press and catalogues and, in the case
of deceased artists, by interviewing their relatives and friends. Many works in
private Lithuanian collections around Australia have been photographed.
The thesis has seven chapters. The first gives an outline of Lithuanian
history from the thirteenth century until World War II. The second chapter is
concerned with Lithuanian cultural history and includes information about
Lithuanian mythology, language and literature and the development of
Lithuanian art. The third chapter describes the organization and development of
cultural activities of Lithuanian communities in Australia. A comparison is made
with longer-established Lithuanian communities in the USA. The final four
chapters are concerned with the artistic activities of individual artists.
For ease of organization and comprehension, the thesis divides artists
according to whether they are first- or second-generation Lithuanians in
Australia. First-generation artists are subdivided into five groups with the terms
'Vanguard', 'Delayed', 'Latecomers', 'Folk Artists' and 'CommunitySupporting
Artists' used to distinguish among them. Second-generation artists
are subdivided into two groups, 'Young Arrivals' and 'Australian-born'.
Some of the terms used require a brief explanation. 'Vanguard' are those
first-generation artists who, when they arrived in Australia had already
undergone extensive artistic training in Europe. In some cases, they were
established artists. They generally began to pursue artistic activity almost
immediately, even while carrying out re-settlement contractual obligations. Most
were also active Lithuanian community members and the term 'Vanguard' seems
a particularly apt title for this group of artists. 'Delayed' artists are those who,
for various reasons, found it necessary to postpone artistic activity after their
migration to Australia. Most had had professional art training in Europe but were not able to engage in artistic activity to any degree for a considerable time after
coming here.
Those classified as 'Latecomers' have generally taken up art at a later
stage of their lives. Although art was often an interest from childhood, for most
the opportunity to study and pursue art did not come until many years after their
arrival in Australia.
The thesis further divides the artists and the Lithuaruan communities on a
geographic regional basis. Chapter 4 deals with Sydney, the largest Lithuanian
population centre in Australia; subsequent chapters focus on Melbourne and
Adelaide, while Chapter 7 describes a number of smaller Lithuanian
communities and the Lithuanian artists who work there.
A number of distinctive Lithuanian characteristics and concerns are
addressed as well as ways in which Lithuanian artists have spread their influence
beyond the Lithuanian community.


Over the last decade, the field of cancer metabolism has mainly focused on studying the role of tumorigenic metabolic rewiring in supporting cancer proliferation. Here, we perform the first genome‐scale computational study of the metabolic underpinnings of cancer migration. We build genome‐scale metabolic models of the NCI‐60 cell lines that capture the Warburg effect (aerobic glycolysis) typically occurring in cancer cells. The extent of the Warburg effect in each of these cell line models is quantified by the ratio of glycolytic to oxidative ATP flux (AFR), which is found to be highly positively associated with cancer cell migration. We hence predicted that targeting genes that mitigate the Warburg effect by reducing the AFR may specifically inhibit cancer migration. By testing the anti‐migratory effects of silencing such 17 top predicted genes in four breast and lung cancer cell lines, we find that up to 13 of these novel predictions significantly attenuate cell migration either in all or one cell line only, while having almost no effect on cell proliferation. Furthermore, in accordance with the predictions, a significant reduction is observed in the ratio between experimentally measured ECAR and OCR levels following these perturbations. Inhibiting anti‐migratory targets is a promising future avenue in treating cancer since it may decrease cytotoxic‐related side effects that plague current anti‐proliferative treatments. Furthermore, it may reduce cytotoxic‐related clonal selection of more aggressive cancer cells and the likelihood of emerging resistance.


Purpose: To investigate the computed non‐tumor integral dose (NTID) delivered during treatment of prostate cancer with intensity modulated radiotherapy(IMRT) compared to three‐dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3DCRT). Low and high‐energy photontreatments were also evaluated in this study, as was helical tomotherapy for IMRTdelivery versus a conventional linac.Method and Materials: Five patients with localized prostate cancer were selected. Five treatment plans were generated for each, including: IMRT with both 6 and 20 MV photons using a conventional linac (6MV‐IMRT, 20MV‐IMRT respectively), 3DCRT with both 6 and 20 MV photons (6MV‐3DCRT, 20MV‐3DCRT respectively), and IMRT with 6 MV photonsdelivered using helical tomotherapy (Tomo‐IMRT). For each plan, a total of 70 Gy was prescribed to 95% of the PTV and the integral dose was calculated from dose‐volume histograms for non‐tumor tissue as well as surrounding critical structures. Results: The NTID with conventional IMRT was 3.9–5.2% less than with 3DCRT, and the use of 20 MV photons resulted in 6.7–8.0% less NTID than treatments using 6 MV. Tomo‐IMRT treatments were comparable to those delivered with a conventional linac. Examination of the integral dose given to surrounding critical structures showed that, compared with 6MV‐3DCRT, 6MV‐IMRT reduced the integral doses to the rectal wall and penile bulb by 2.8% and 6.3% respectively. Tomo‐IMRT further reduced the integral doses to these structures by 12.6% and 18.0% respectively. No reductions were seen using 20 MV. Conclusion: The differences in NTID calculated from different treatment plans are relatively small and might be negligible after accounting for leakage and neutron production at higher energies. The advantage of helical tomotherapy in the treatment of localized prostate cancer was demonstrated through the greater sparing of critical structures with no significant increase in NTID. Conflict of Interest: This work was partially supported by TomoTherapy Inc. and PO1 Grant CA88960‐01‐05.


Abstract : In March 2005, the NATO Panel VII Subgroup on Sampling and Identification of Biological and Chemical Agents (SIBCA) conducted the sixth international training exercise on identification of biological agents. Fifteen biological sample unknowns, diluted in PBS, were sent to each laboratory and participants were advised that biological agents could consist of varying concentrations of any of the following three gamma-irradiated organisms: Bacillus anthracis, Yersinia pestis, or vaccinia virus. The object of the exercise was to assess each nation's current capabilities in assay sensitivity for these agents. An immunological-based technology, the enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), was used at DRDC Suffield for screening of sample unknowns. Antigen capture ELISAs for each of the three possible biological agents were used to screen the samples. In addition, a fluorescent hand-held assay, the Rapid Analyte Measurement Platform (RAMP[trademark]), manufactured by Response Biomedical Corp., was used to analyze the samples for the presence of Bacillus anthracis and vaccinia virus. Five biological agent unknowns were identified by ELISA in the SIBCA samples, three samples containing B. anthracis and two samples containing Y. pestis. Two biological agent unknowns were identified by RAMP in the SIBCA samples, both containing B. anthracis. No agents were identified in 11 of the SIBCA sample unknowns. A comparison of the immunoassay results with the identity of organisms in SIBCA sample unknowns, as revealed by Dugway Proving Ground following the exercise, indicated confirmed identification of five agents and the sample blank, and 12 false negative identifications.


Alkyl nitrates (RONO2) are important components of tropospheric reactive nitrogen that serve as reservoirs for nitrogen oxides (NOx≡ NO + NO2). Here we implement a new simulation of atmospheric methyl, ethyl, and propyl nitrate chemistry in a global chemical transport model (GEOS‐Chem). We show that the model can reproduce the spatial and seasonal variability seen in a 20‐year ensemble of airborne observations. Methyl nitrate accounts for 17 Gg N globally, with maxima over the tropical Pacific and Southern Ocean. Propyl nitrate is enhanced in continental boundary layers, but its global impact (6 Gg N) is limited by a short lifetime (8 days vs. 26 days for methyl nitrate and 14 days for ethyl nitrate) that inhibits long‐range transport. Ethyl nitrate has the smallest impact of the three species (4 Gg N). We find that methyl nitrate is the dominant form of reactive nitrogen (NOy) in the Southern Ocean marine boundary layer, where its addition to the model corrects a large NOy underestimate in austral winter relative to recent aircraft data. RONO2 serve as a small net NOx source to the marine troposphere, except in the northern midlatitudes where the continental outflow is enriched in precursors that promote NOx loss via RONO2 formation. Recent growth in NOx emissions from East Asia has enhanced the role of RONO2 as a source of NOx to the remote free troposphere. This relationship implies projected future NOx emissions growth across the southern hemisphere may further enhance the importance of RONO2 as a NOx reservoir.


Aspergillus is described as mould characterised by septate hyphae about 2-4μ in diameter, it is ubiquitous in nature and spreads by inhalation of spores. It causes opportunistic infections in almost six forms namely Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, Aspergillus sinusitis, Cutaneous aspergillosis, Aspergilloma, Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis, Invasive aspergillosis. Invasive aspergillosis of mediastinum in an immunocompetent patient has rarely been reported. We present a case of a young male who had presented with chest pain, cough and breathleness was later diagnosed as fulminant mediastinal aspergillosis. Incisional biopsy with histology report and endotracheal cultures helped in diagnosing mediastinal aspergillosis. Despite initiation of the right antifungal therapy and best supportive measures, patient died of septic shock and multiorgan dysfunction. This case report highlights the need for higher suspicion in such cases of mediastinal masses and early tissue biopsy which can help in reducing mortality.


Introduction: The periareolar dermal release maneuver in mammoplasty promotes better mobility of the nipple-areola complex. However, there are doubts on possible nerve damages in this kind of topography. This quantitative analysis compared the nerve branches density from the medial, lateral and caudal side-flow of the nipple-areola complex (NAC). Methods: This was a prospective study. The study included 26 women who have undergone a mammaplasty reduction using the Pitanguy's classic technique. The dermis fragments collected from the medial, lateral and caudal sides were properly prepared and subjected to a histological study in order to determine the nerve branches density in each studied sides. Results: Of 26 studied patients, 42.3% had a higher nerve branches density in the lateral side; 38.5%, on the medial side and 19.2% on the caudal side. The statistical analysis used to evaluate whether there was a predominance of one side where the dermis has been sectioned showed that the proportion comparison test was not significant (p = 0.304). Conclusion: The comparative analysis has shown that there is no preponderance of nerve density in any periareolar dermis side. ■ ABSTRACT


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To determine the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention with targeted cultural and health belief messages to increase rates of mammography among Vietnamese American (VA) immigrant women.
.

DESIGN
One-group, pre-/post-test, pilot, quasiexperimental design.
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SETTING
Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area.
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SAMPLE
40 VA immigrant women aged 50 years or older.
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METHODS
Participants who had not had a mammogram within the past 12 months were recruited. The intervention consisted of one interactive group teaching session, followed by individual counseling delivered about 10 days later to overcome barriers to screening. Participants completed a baseline survey prior to the group teaching and again at 12 weeks after the session.
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MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
The intervention, guided by the Transtheoretical Model of Change and the Health Belief Model, involved movement in stage of change based on women's readiness, as well as perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, perceived common barriers, and perceived cultural barriers. Mammogram completion and knowledge of breast cancer and mammography were examined.
.

FINDINGS
The recruitment response rate was 58%. Knowledge about breast cancer, breast cancer susceptibility, and the benefits of mammography as related to breast cancer significantly increased following the intervention.
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CONCLUSIONS
Acceptability of the targeted program, good feasibility, and very low attrition was achieved.
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IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
This intervention can be adapted for other populations, including other Asian groups, and other cancer screenings.


The incentive for this work was to determine when and how the information in a nonlinear signal disappears when propagating. This may be done by backpropagating the evolution and comparing the back‐traced signal with the original one. The Burgers equation is investigated for both the nondissipative and dissipative cases. For a nondissipative evolution the wave completely coincides with the original one when shocks have not formed, while only part of it coincides after shock formation. Although the wave no longer contains the original information, except for the original signals with all derivatives continuous, parts of the wave theoretically carry all the information. These parts grow smaller and smaller, and thus a problem lies in the numerical accuracy which sometimes causes several different signals conform, and in that way the wave in practice has lost information. A semi‐analytical model has been developed which automatically determines the distance to be backpropagated for modulated waves and gives one or more alternatives for the original signal. This may be used as a signal processing tool. [Work supported by TFR, the Swedish Research Council for Engineering Sciences.]


Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) are used extensively within higher education, primarily as an educational tool, but can also have additional functionality. There has been considerable debate, both internal to the university and in the external academic community about the value of a VLE. An in depth evaluation of how students use an institutional VLE revealed the predominant model students encounter is a transmissive one, i.e. staff provide online learning content with little evidence of student collaboration. However, students in the study expressed a desire that teaching staff facilitate the potential for student collaboration. This suggests that current dissemination activity on the use of collaborative learning within a VLE or other online setting reflects an approach used by a relatively small number of champions and that the main use of institutional VLEs continues to be based upon a transmissive, i.e. teacher to student approach, which is also teacher controlled. Yet, there is a belief that collaborative models facilitate a greater depth of student learning than can be possible using a transmissive approach. The workshop aims to explore how greater adoption of collaborative approaches to using a VLE can be achieved by considering: • Factors facilitating use of a collaborative educational methodology • Factors preventing use of a collaborative educational methodology • Strategies to promote use of a collaborative educational methodology


This book deals with human factors research directed towards realizing and assessing sustainability in the built environment. It reports on advanced engineering methods for sustainable infrastructure design, as well as on assessments of the efficient methods and the social, environmental, and economic impact of various designs and projects. The book covers a range of topics, including the use of recycled materials in architecture, ergonomics in buildings and public design, sustainable design for smart cities, design for the aging population, industrial design, human scale in architecture, and many more. Based on the AHFE 2016 International Conference on Human Factors and Sustainable Infrastructure, held on July 27-31, 2016, in Walt Disney World, Florida, USA, this book, by showing different perspectives on sustainability and ergonomics, represents a useful source of information for designers in general, urban engineers, architects, infrastructure professionals, practitioners, public infrastructure owners, policy makers, government engineers and planners, as well as operations managers, and academics active in applied research.


Abstract Mineralogical studies of a silicified serpentinite from the United Arab Emirates throw light on the formative processes. The silicified serpentinite is a residuum of a palaeo-weathering surface that probably developed in a temperate climate with alternating wet and dry periods during middle Eocene to late Miocene times. The rock textures indicate that silicification occurred in a fluid-saturated zone. Silica precipitation is favoured at near-neutral pH. In this study we infer that these pH conditions of the mineralizing fluids could arise in a near-surface mixing zone where acidic meteoric and hyperalkaline groundwater fluids are mingled. This mingling is believed to have resulted from alternating processes of evaporation and precipitation that prevailed during dry and wet seasons, respectively. The silicified serpentinite is composed of > 95% quartz and exhibits a ghost texture of the protolith serpentinite. Preservation of the textures indicates an iso-volumetric grain-by-grain replacement by dissolution of Mg-silicate and simultaneous precipitation of either opal or microquartz as siliceous seeds. These were subsequently overgrown by silica that was probably remobilized from deeply weathered regolith elsewhere.


The materials used and the systematic formulation procedure followed in making the Uniform Color Scales Committee samples were chosen to fulfill the requirements of permanence, compatibility with normal industrial practices, and visual uniformity in different light sources. These materials and procedures are described and the degree to which the requirements have been met is evaluated.


This book explains concepts of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and x-ray diffractometry (XRD) that are important for the characterization of materials. The third edition has been updated to cover important technical developments, including the remarkable recent improvement in resolution of the TEM. This edition is not substantially longer than the second, but all chapters have been updated and revised for clarity. A new chapter on high resolution STEM methods has been added. The book explains the fundamentals of how waves and wavefunctions interact with atoms in solids, and the similarities and differences of using x-rays, electrons, or neutrons for diffraction measurements. Diffraction effects of crystalline order, defects, and disorder in materials are explained in detail. Both practical and theoretical issues are covered. The book can be used in an introductory-level or advanced-level course, since sections are identified by difficulty. Each chapter includes a set of problems to illustrate principles, and the extensive Appendix includes laboratory exercises.