Since the early 1980s, globalisation has deeply affected the way in which corporations typically conduct their affairs. This is true not only for business organisations that are active in the OECD countries but also for those operating in the emerging markets of the less affluent parts of the world. New social and ethical perspectives have become relevant for management strategy and have highlighted the need to acknowledge the existence of stakeholders—old and new—in a way that may benefit the interests of firms as well as those of local communities and society at large. In this chapter we argue that of all possible stakeholders the ones beyond the present periphery of the firm have the most potential for its long-term survival. Responsive corporate governance, therefore, will seek to engage with stakeholders from beyond.


This essay analyzes the aesthetics of capitalist economics at the threshold of the transition from fordist to postfordist modes of production. The essay organizes this analysis around a close reading of Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film North by Northwest. At stake is the relation between aesthetic productions which engage the economic base and thematize this engagement. In making this claim, the notion of capital's "axiomatic"--a concept by which Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari designate the relative autonomy of the economic base--is employed to examine the way that, from as early as the 1950s, U. S. capitalism's prodigious industries of entertainment and popular culture began to change to ungrounded, flexible, representational economies. An instance of this shift is the emerging pre-eminence of advertising, which the essay finds signaled in the "value" attributed to Cary Grant's Roger O. Thornhill in the farcical spy plot. This value is referred to as "advertising agency," and signals the collapse of such discrete spheres as the economy and state, as well as of production and consumption. Because of its historical position and its content, North by Northwest is a remarkable text for investigating the transformation of twentieth-century economic modes to a dereferentialized form which we continue to inhabit.


Early intervention in the regulation of new technologies is highly controversial. In this Article, I seek to depolarize the early intervention debate and examine where timing becomes of the essence in the shaping of new technologies. At the outset, I reframe the debate in terms of social shaping in lieu of intervention. I focus the social shaping inquiry on the development of non-privacy norms among the Internet's commercial users in order to shed light on the timing quandary. Currently, over a decade after commercial entities started collecting personal information on the Internet, the law has not restricted these collection practices. Efforts at self-regulation have failed and Internet users overall have not adopted technological measures to protect their privacy. Empirical data shows an increase in the use of privacy threatening devices, such as cookies and spyware. The data shows that commercial non-privacy norms on the Internet have become entrenched among the Internet's commercial users. Three technological characteristics of the Internet appear to be at the crux of the fast diffusion of commercial non-privacy norms. These characteristics are: the Internet's critical mass point quality (and related network effects); its decentralized diffusion process; and the enablement of concealed monitoring. I suggest that where a technology's characteristics are likely to cause fast entrenchment, timing may become of the essence. Insights from several fields support this conclusion. The theory of path dependence shows that where costs are sunk into one option, an alternative option even if preferable is less likely to be adopted. Further, the theory of closure demonstrates that after an initial period where a technology's design and function evolves it tends to stabilize, reaching closure - from that moment onwards change is less likely. Finally, law and social norms theory shows that laws are less effective where they contradict social norms. Finally, I posit that the lessons learnt from the case of Internet privacy could be instrumental to the resolution of other technological controversies. Specifically, I propose that where a technology's qualities show that timing may be of the essence for privacy protection, both legal and technological modes of social shaping should be adjusted to reflect sensitivity to timing. Technological shaping is more likely to be effective through proactive concerted design at the outset. For legal decision-makers the technology's sensitivity to timing points to the need to consider timing as an important factor in the decision-making process, accounting for potentially more limited options at a later stage.


This study aims to provide an empirical analysis of the return-volume and volatility-volume linkages, using both market- and sector-level data from the emerging equity market of Qatar. The OLS and VAR modelling approaches are employed to explore the contemporaneous and dynamic relations, respectively, between index returns and trading volume, while the volatility-volume relation is examined using an EGARCH-X(1,1) model. The results suggest a positive contemporaneous return-volume relation across almost all sectors, and this relation is found to be asymmetric. Absence of a dynamic relation between returns and volume is detected for the aggregate market and for the majority of sectors. Further, most of the index series exhibit evidence of asymmetry and clustering in return volatility. Finally, lagged values of trading volume appear to supply information useful in forecasting the future dynamics of price variability in all sectors, with the transportation sector representing the sole exception. These results hold practical implications for investors trading on the Qatari market.


In December 1991, 30 conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) stations to 1000 dbar were obtained from the R/V Baruna Jaya I in the Flores Sea, Banda Sea, and Alor-Wetar passage of the Indonesian sea. A salinity maximum within the interval 100–150 dbar and a salinity minimum within the interval 300–350 dbar mark water mass core layers derived from the North Pacific. They are drawn into the Flores Sea from the Makassar Strait, with subsequent flow into the Banda Sea, and are weakened en route by strong vertical mixing characteristic of the Indonesian seas. In the Flores Sea, water below 300 dbar becomes saltier with increased distance from the Makassar Strait, suggesting that an advective process may be drawing relatively salty water into the Flores Sea lower thermocline from the Banda Sea. The Banda-to-Flores Sea flow may be a consequence of vertical transfer of horizontal momentum produced by the same turbulent processes that are responsible for enhanced vertical mixing. The interocean transport profile may not correspond exactly with the Pacific-to-Indian Ocean pressure gradient profile, as deeper water is carried along with the through flow by the effects of eddy viscosity. The 550-m sill at the southern end of the Makassar Strait creates a situation where downward flux of momentum entrains deeper water that must be compensated by lower thermocline water drawn from the Banda Sea. Geostrophic transport relative to 1000 dbar in the Banda Sea shows not only a strong through flow transport in the upper 300 dbar (6.3×106 m3 s−1) but also a deeper flow toward the Flores Sea (1.5×106 m3 s−1 from 300 to 500 dbar and an additional 2.4×106 m3 s−1 from 500 to 1000 dbar). A simple model suggests that the magnitude of the deeper westward flow is proportional to the vertical eddy viscosity coefficient. Water mass analysis shows that either the South Pacific or Indian Ocean can provide the lower thermocline Banda Sea water.


The relationship between the cell wall ultrastructure of waterlogged wooden archeological artifacts and the state of water bound to cell walls and free in voids is fundamental to develop consolidating and drying technologies. Herein, a lacquer-wooden ware and a boat-coffin dating 4th century BC were selected as representative artifacts to study. Wood anatomy results indicated that they belonged to Idesia sp. and Machilus sp., respectively. They exhibited a typical spongy texture, as revealed by SEM observations, and their water contents had increased significantly. Solid state NMR, Py-GC/MS, imaging FTIR microscopy and 2D-XRD results demonstrated that the deterioration resulted from the partial cleavages of both polysaccharide backbones and cellulose hydrogen-bonding networks, almost complete elimination of acetyl side chains of hemicellulose, the partial depletion of β-O-4 interlinks, as well as oxidation and demethylation/demethoxylation of lignin. These further caused the disoriented arrangement of crystalline cellulose, and the decrease in cellulose crystallite dimensions and crystallinity. In consequence, mesopores and macropores formed, and the number of moisture-adsorbed sites and their accessibility increased. Moreover, results on free water deduced by the changes of pore structure and the maximum monolayer water capacity achieved by the GAB model indicated that water in waterlogged archeological wooden artifacts was mainly free water in mesopores.


Carbon Tracker Institute http://www.carbontracker.org/carbon-bubble-interactive The Guardian excellent summary of climate information http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/19/carbon-bubble-financial-crash-crisis Climate Factsheets http://350.org/en/factsheets and videos http://350.org/en/videos Union of Concerned Scientists http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/science_and_impacts/science/ Guardian slideshow with good summary http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2 013/may/10/climate-warming-gas-carbon-dioxide-levels-interactive EPA http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/causes.html


The tolerances of semi-continuously cast products of aluminium alloys are very critical if the scalping of the ingot faces is to be minimised before rolling. In the steady state regime of casting, the dimensions of the section of the solidified ingot are lower than those of the mould in the Direct Chill Casting (DCC) or of the inductor in the Electromagnetic Casting (EMC). The contraction of the section, several percents, is larger than the value associated with the thermal contraction of the solid and is also inhomogeneous: the short sides of the ingot contract less than the centre of the rolling faces. In order to study and to understand the mechanisms responsible for such deformation, insitu measurements and laboratory investigations have been performed whereas a thermomechanical model has been developed. The specific points of this study are as follows: measurements of the distortions undergone by the ingot during casting and after complete cooling, determination of the thermal boundary conditions corresponding to the primary cooling (contact in between the metal and the mould) and secondary cooling (water jet), using in-situ temperature measurements and inverse modelling, measurements of the thermal conductivity of two industrial alloys using inverse modelling and one dimensional casting experiments, measurements of the thermomechanical behaviour of two industrial alloys, specifically the elastic modulus by ultrasonic method, the thermal expansion coefficient by dilatometry and the creep behaviour in the solid and mushy state using tensile and indentation tests, study of the solidification path of the AA1201 alloy using a finite difference microsegregation model coupled with the Al-Fe-Si phase diagram data; the results have been validated against DTA measurements and extended to situations encountered in the DC/EM casting process, computation of the temperature, stress and strain fields in DC and EM-cast ingots with the help of the 2D and 3D thermomechanical finite element code Abaqus; the final ingot cross section for a given mould/inductor design has been calculated, comparison of the simulation results with the experiments. The mechanisms responsible for the main ingot distortions undergone during casting and subsequent cooling, notably the non-uniform contraction of the ingot cross section, have been identified. Finally, an inverse thermomechanical method for the optimisation of the mould/inductor design is proposed based upon a criterion of maximum flatness of the final ingot. Such a method should allow a reduction in the costs associated with the definition of the mould/inductor designs for new casting conditions. The present work will be extended to more complicated geometries in the BriteEuram project EMPACT (European Modelling Programme on Aluminium Casting Technology).


ABSTRACT Trichophyton rubrum is a pathogenic filamentous fungus of increasing medical concern. Two antifungal agents, ketoconazole (KTC) and amphotericin B (AMB), have specific activity against dermatophytes. To identify the mechanisms of action of KTC and AMB against T. rubrum, a cDNA microarray was constructed from the expressed sequence tags of the cDNA library from different developmental stages, and transcriptional profiles of the responses to KTC and AMB were determined. T. rubrum was exposed to subinhibitory concentrations of KTC and AMB for 12 h, and microarray analysis was used to examine gene transcription. KTC exposure induced transcription of genes involved in lipid, fatty acid, and sterol metabolism, including ERG11, ERG3, ERG25, ERG6, ERG26, ERG24, ERG4, CPO, INO1, DW700960, CPR, DW696584, DW406350, and ATG15. KTC also increased transcription of the multidrug resistance gene ABC1. AMB exposure increased transcription of genes involved in lipid, fatty acid, and sterol metabolism (DW696584, EB801458, IVD, DW694010, DW688343, DW684992), membrane transport (Git1, DW706156, DW684040, DMT, DW406136, CCH1, DW710650), and stress-related responses (HSP70, HSP104, GSS, AOX, EB801455, EB801702, TDH1, UBI4) but reduced transcription of genes involved in maintenance of cell wall integrity and signal transduction pathways (FKS1, SUN4, DW699324, GAS1, DW681613, SPS1, DW703091, STE7, DW703091, DW695308) and some ribosomal proteins. This is the first report of the use of microarray analysis to determine the effects of drug action in T. rubrum.


The present work investigates numerically the performance of a fin and tube type heat exchanger using the finite volume method. The effect of different winglet geometries viz. straight profile, concave profile, convex profile and their combinations are extensively examined under turbulent flow conditions to evaluate the pressure drop and heat transfer performance. These winglets are also tested for smaller leading edge and larger trailing edge, and vice versa – it has been observed that the former winglet configuration outperforms the latter ones. The convex profiled winglets yield the highest heat transfer performance as well as pressure drops, whereas the winglet with a concave profile has the lowest heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop values. The enhancement factor – defined as the ratio of enhancement in heat transfer to the enhancement in pressure drop penalty – has also been calculated for all models. Conclusive results indicate that the convex profile, and the concave-convex (a hybrid winglet) configuration, with a smaller leading edge, deliver the highest enhancement factor compared to other profiles. Following this, the study is further elaborated to find the optimum height for the convex winglet profile. General correlations have also been developed to estimate the Colburn factor, friction factor and enhancement factor for variations in the leading edge of the convex profile.


This thesis investigates the dynamics of lump-like objects in non-integrable field theories, whose stability is due to topological considerations. The work concerns three different low dimensional ((1 + 1)- and (2 + l)-dimensional) systems and addresses the questions of how the topology and metric structure of physical space, the quantum mechanics of the basic field quanta and intersoliton interactions affect soliton dynamics. In chapter 2 a sine-Gordon system in discrete space, but with continuous time, is presented. This has some novel features, namely a topological lower bound on the energy of a kink and an explicit static kink which saturates this bound. Kink dynamics in this model is studied using a geodesic approximation which, on comparison with numerical simulations, is found to work well for moderately low kink speeds. At higher speeds the dynamics becomes significantly dissipative, and the approximation fails. Some of the dissipative phenomena observed are explained by means of a dispersion relation for phonons on the spatial lattice. Chapter 3 goes on to quantize the kink sector of this model. A quantum induced potential called the kink Casimir energy is computed numerically in the weak coupling approximation by quantizing the lattice phonons. The effect of this potential on classical kink dynamics is discussed. Chapter 4 presents a study of the low-energy dynamics of a CP(^1) lump on the two-sphere in the geodesic approximation. By considering the isometry group inherited from globalsymmetries of the model, the structure of the induced metric on the unit-charge moduli space is so restricted that the metric can be calculated explicitly. Some totally geodesic submanifolds are found, and the qualitative features of motion on these described. The moduli space is found to be geodesically incomplete. Finally, chapter 5 contains an analysis of long range intervortex forces in the abelian Higgs model, a massive field theory, extending a point source. approximation previously only used in massless theories. The static intervortex potential is rederived from a new viewpoint and used to model type II vortex scattering. Velocity dependent forces are then calculated, providing a model of critical vortex scattering, and leading to a conjecture for the analytic asymptotic form of the metric on the two-vortex moduli space.


Camera-based simultaneous localization and mapping or visual SLAM has received much attention recently. Typically single cameras, multiple cameras in a stereo setup or omni-directional cameras are used. We propose a different approach, where multiple cameras can be mounted on a robot in an arbitrary configuration. Allowing the cameras to face in different directions yields better constraints than single cameras or stereo setups can provide, simplifying the reconstruction of large-scale environments. And in contrast to omni-directional sensors, the available resolution can be focused on areas of interest depending on the application. We describe a sparse SLAM approach that is suitable for real-time reconstruction from such multi-camera configurations. We have implemented the system and show experimental results in a large-scale environment, using a custom made eight-camera rig.


In recent days many web applications tend to collect product reviews from customers to ascertain the satisfaction level on specific products. Big Data analysis can go hand in hand with product reviews in order to bring about useful information that can assist executives and managers in making high end decisions. Big Data analysis not only enables executives to get relevant data in less time but also enables them to carry forward fraudulent analysis, customer segmentation and product recommendations. The proposed system is a web application that takes product reviews from customers as input and performs Enhanced Classification Analysis (ECA) on the reviews using Hadoop to categorize reviews as positive and negative feedbacks. The categorized and segregated positive reviews of products with better comments will be displayed to incoming customers as reports while marketing products. This analysis enables both manufacturers to predict public opinion of their product and also customers to make better decisions and incorporate improved services.


Handheld technology devices allow users to be mobile and access the Internet, personal data, and third-party content applications in many different environments at the users' convenience. The explosion of these mobile learning devices around the globe has led adults to value them for communication, productivity, and learning. Outside of the school setting, many adolescents and children have access to, or own mobile devices. The use of these individual devices by children on a daily basis in schools is a relatively new phenomenon, with just four percent of elementary students doing so in classrooms in 2010(Gray, Thomas & Lewis, 2010). This mixed methods study researched a one-to-one implementation of percent devices in fourth- and fifth-grade elementary classrooms. The focus was to explore the mobile learning device's relationship to English language learners' reading achievement, to English language learners' self-efficacy in reading, and to explore the benefits and limitations of the device's daily use, as perceived by the students. The hypothesis was that the practice of reading and related literacy activities with mobile learning devices would augment English learners' vicarious learning experiences, and thereby effect student cognitive engagement, reading self-efficacy, and reading academic achievement. This study used validated surveys and assessments to measure students' beliefs about reading and their knowledge of reading. Additionally, English language learner interview data were also collected and analyzed to uncover perceived benefits and limitations of utilizing 1:1 mobile learning devices daily for literacy activities. Analysis of the data revealed significantly elevated levels of self-efficacy in reading for the experimental group with 1:1 handheld technology, while academic gains in reading for the experimental and control groups were statistically similar. Students in the experimental group described a virtually-enhanced socio-cultural context for communicating and learning with the handheld technology. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed


The Generic Security Services API (GSS-API) provides a naming
architecture that supports name-based authorization. GSS-API
authenticates two named parties to each other. Names can be stored on
access control lists (ACLs) to make authorization decisions. Advances
in security mechanisms and the way implementers wish to use GSS-API
require this model to be extended for the next version of GSS-API. As
people move within an organization or change their names, the name
authenticated by GSS-API may change. Using some sort of constant
identifier would make ACLs more stable. Some mechanisms, such as
public-key mechanisms, do not have a single name to be used across all
environments. Other mechanisms, such as Kerberos, may include group
membership or role information as part of authentication. This
document motivates extensions to GSS-API naming and describes the
extensions under discussion. This memo provides information for the
Internet community.


We study the problem of handling the inter-turn pauses in a human-robot dialogue. In order to reduce the impression of elapsed time while the robot transcribes, understands and starts uttering a response we propose to automatically generate conversational fillers, to fill the silences. These fillers combine verbal utterances with body movements. We propose a Bayesian model that samples filler whose production duration time is close to the expected computational time needed by the robot. To increase the sensation of engagement, the fillers also include contextual information gathered during the dialogue (such as the name of the interlocutor), if this information is present with high confidence. We evaluate this approach with an indirect user study measuring time perception, comparing three different strategies to overcome the inter-turn time (silence, static filler and our approach). The results show that users prefer the dynamic fillers, even when the conversation is objectively shorter with one of the other strategies.


Immunocompromised patients are a vulnerable group to develop opportunistic infections. Transplant patients are always immunocompromised either because of their illness or immune-modulatory drugs that they receive. Strongyloidiasis is one of the opportunistic infections that increasingly attack transplant patients. We report this case of strongyloides hyperinfection in post-kidney transplant patient with respiratory failure and Gram-negative sepsis. Clinician should put strongyloidiasis in the differential diagnosis list while dealing with critically ill post-transplant patients and add it to the pre-transplant checkup. J Med Cases. 2014;5(8):449-451 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc1848w


Abstract Ventral masses of the craniocervical junction threaten the medulla and upper spinal cord leading to lower cranial nerve dysfunction and myelopathy. Traditional transoral and newer endonasal approaches can access ventral pathology in this region, though both remain challenging due to the competing goals of achieving sufficient decompression, yet mitigating risk to nearby critical neurovascular structures. Transoral approaches have traditionally been avoided for degenerative pseudotumor which generally slowly regresses following posterior fixation. Here, we present two cases of patients with significant retroodontoid degenerative pseudotumor and pannus causing dysphagia and myelopathy. The first patient was found with a large broad pannus requiring a wide decompression extending from lower clivus to inferior aspect of the C1 arch and odontoid process. The second patient had a more focal mass effect due to pannus and synovial cyst at the level of the inferior half of C1 and midodontoid. Both patients underwent an endoscopic endonasal transodontoid approach for immediate decompression followed by a posterior C1–C2 fusion. In these surgical videos, we highlight anatomic considerations in this critical area, demonstrate nuances of technique, and outline strategies to avoid complications and maximize exposure. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/19I-GQYGIr4.


The programmed cell death that occurs as part of normal mammalian development was first observed nearly a century ago (Collin 1906). It has since been established that approximately half of all neurons in the neuroaxis and >99.9% of the total number of cells generated during the course of a human lifetime go on to die through a process of apoptosis (for review, see Datta and Greenberg 1998; Vaux and Korsmeyer 1999). The induction of developmental cell death is a highly regulated process and can be suppressed by a variety of extracellular stimuli. The purification in the 1950s of the nerve growth factor (NGF), which promotes the survival of sympathetic neurons, set the stage for the discovery that peptide trophic factors promote the survival of a wide variety of cell types in vitro and in vivo (Levi-Montalcini 1987). The profound biological consequences of growth factor (GF) suppression of apoptosis are exemplified by the critical role of target-derived neurotrophins in the survival of neurons and the maintenance of functional neuronal circuits. (Pettmann and Henderson 1998). Recently, the ability of trophic factors to promote survival have been attributed, at least in part, to the phosphatidylinositide 38-OH kinase (PI3K)/c-Akt kinase cascade. Several targets of the PI3K/c-Akt signaling pathway have been recently identified that may underlie the ability of this regulatory cascade to promote survival. These substrates include two components of the intrinsic cell death machinery, BAD and caspase 9, transcription factors of the forkhead family, and a kinase, IKK, that regulates the NF-kB transcription factor. This article reviews the mechanisms by which survival factors regulate the PI3K/c-Akt cascade, the evidence that activation of the PI3K/c-Akt pathway promotes cell survival, and the current spectrum of c-Akt targets and their roles in mediating c-Akt-dependent cell survival.


The realization that signed languages are true languages is one of the great discoveries of the last 30 years of linguistic research. The work of many sign language researchers has revealed deep similarities between signed and spoken languages in their structure, acquisition, and processing, as well as differences, arising from the differing articulatory and perceptual constraints under which signed languages are used and learned. This book provides a crosslinguistic examination of the properties of many signed languages, including detailed case studies of Hong Kong, British, Mexican, and German sign languages. The contributions to this volume, by some of the most prominent researchers in the field, focus on a single question: to what extent is linguistic structure influenced by the modality of language? Their answers offer particular insights into the factors that shape the nature of language and contribute to our understanding of why languages are organized as they are.


There is a belief that Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM) is a unique aspect of medical practice because sports physicians care for elite athletes, and athletes are different. This situation can result in the use of unproven therapies which are then justified on the basis that elite athletes need to be at the "cutting edge" of medical treatment in order to return to play as rapidly as possible. In more established fields of medicine, the use of such unproven therapy would lead to considerable professional criticism.1

The concept that "cutting edge" treatment means the integration of anecdotal treatments into conventional sports medicine needs to be addressed urgently. We argue that not only is this approach flawed but that it will limit the development of an evidence base in SEM, is ethically questionable and will ultimately undermine the credibility of the specialty.2 3

Evidence-based medicine, with all its limitations, is a vital component of good clinical practice and enhances patient confidence in medicine. Good clinical practice demands that we search for, and develop, evidence for benefit and safety and then select treatment options according to the best evidence available. For the speciality of SEM, to ignore established evidence-based approaches to medical practice is simply unacceptable in the modern era.

A recent editorial in the Journal by a group of experienced clinicians argued that an unproven injection therapy for acute muscle strains should be considered "an important …


First published in 1548, On the Beauty of Women purports to record two conversations shared by a young gentleman, Celso, and four ladies of the upper bourgeoisie in the vicinity of Florence. One afternoon Celso and the ladies consider universal beauty. On a subsequent evening, they attempt to fashion a composite picture of perfect beauty by combining the beautiful features of women they know. The standards of beauty established in the garden give way to the artistic, creative imagination of the human spirit, and the group's movement from garden to hall seems to echo the dialogue's movement from Nature to Art, from divinely to humanly created beauty. Konrad Eisenbichler and Jacqueline Murray have provided the first translation into English of Firenzuola's dialogue since the nineteenth century. In their introduction, they argue that Firenzuola's work presents a useful point of entry into the society and values of the mid-sixteenth century. In its discussion of beauty, the dialogue reveals the intersection of Neoplantonic philosophy and mathematically based artistic theory, both inherited from classical antiquity. Indeed, Firenzuola's treatise has been assessed as one of the most significant expositions of Renaissance aesthetics.


OF DISSERTATION STEROID-DEPENDENT REGULATION OF THE OVIDUCT: A CROSS-SPECIES TRANSCRIPTOMAL ANALYSIS Reproductive success depends on a functional oviduct for gamete storage, maturation, fertilization, and early-conceptus development. The ovarian-derived sex steroids estradiol and progesterone are known to affect functionality of the oviduct. Advances in microarray and NanoString technology allow for gene expression analysis to increase understanding of processes critical for fertility. Studies were conducted to investigate mechanisms regulating oviductal function in cattle and mice by using the Bovine Gene 1.0 ST array and the Mouse Gene 430-2.0 arrays (Affymetrix Inc., CA), respectively. For the first study, oviducts were collected from heifers assigned to luteal or follicular phase groups. In the second study oviducts were collected from immature mice with a global deletion of estrogen receptor-1 (ESR1) and their wild-type littermates at 23 days of age or 48 hr after treatment with 5 IU of PMSG. Following microarray hybridization, the resulting datasets were analyzed using Partek Genomics Suite 6.6 (Partek Inc., MO). The results of the first two studies illustrated a dynamic hormonal regulation of the oviductal epithelium and revealed the identity of novel genes affecting fertility in cattle and gave us insights into the genes regulated by estrogen and ESR1 in mice. Many genes identified as differentially regulated are believed to play an integral role in the regulation of oviductal inflammation. Therefore, the objective of the third study was to test the hypothesis that intraperitoneal administration of E. Coli-derived lipopolysaccharide induces the expression of inflammatory mRNAs in the mouse oviduct. Mice were treated with 0, 2 μg or 10 μg of LPS from E. Coli. and killed 24 h later. Oviducts were collected for determination of inflammatory gene expression by a targeted NanoString approach using the nCounter GX Mouse Inflammation Kit (NanoString Technologies, Wa). Results indicate that systemic treatment with LPS induces inflammation in the oviducts of mice and provides evidence of a repeatable animal model of oviductal inflammation. Overall, data from these studies extends our knowledge of the mechanisms regulating oviductal functions and immune response, as well as identified target molecules and processes to improve production animal and human fertility.


BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS
Crops with reduced requirement for nitrogen (N) fertilizer would have substantial benefits in developed nations, while improving food security in developing nations. This study employs the functional structural plant model SimRoot to test the hypothesis that variation in the growth angles of axial roots of maize (Zea mays L.) is an important determinant of N capture.

METHODS
Six phenotypes contrasting in axial root growth angles were modelled for 42 d at seven soil nitrate levels from 10 to 250 kg ha(-1) in a sand and a silt loam, and five precipitation regimes ranging from 0·5× to 1·5× of an ambient rainfall pattern. Model results were compared with soil N measurements of field sites with silt loam and loamy sand textures.

KEY RESULTS
For optimal nitrate uptake, root foraging must coincide with nitrate availability in the soil profile, which depends on soil type and precipitation regime. The benefit of specific root architectures for efficient N uptake increases with decreasing soil N content, while the effect of soil type increases with increasing soil N level. Extreme root architectures are beneficial under extreme environmental conditions. Extremely shallow root systems perform well under reduced precipitation, but perform poorly with ambient and greater precipitation. Dimorphic phenotypes with normal or shallow seminal and very steep nodal roots performed well in all scenarios, and consistently outperformed the steep phenotypes. Nitrate uptake increased under reduced leaching conditions in the silt loam and with low precipitation.

CONCLUSIONS
Results support the hypothesis that root growth angles are primary determinants of N acquisition in maize. With decreasing soil N status, optimal angles resulted in 15-50 % greater N acquisition over 42 d. Optimal root phenotypes for N capture varied with soil and precipitation regimes, suggesting that genetic selection for root phenotypes could be tailored to specific environments.


To determine the effect of feeding formula containing long-chain PUFA (LCP) on immune function, healthy term infants were randomised at age 2 weeks to either a standard term formula (Formula; n 14) or the same formula supplemented with the LCP 20 : 4n-6 and 22 : 6n-3 (Formula+LCP; n 16). Peripheral blood was collected at 2 and 6 weeks to measure immune cell response (the rate of [3H]thymidine uptake and cytokine production after stimulation with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)). Compared with cells from infants receiving only human milk (HM), the rate of [3H]thymidine uptake in response to PHA, but not IL-2 production, was lower for Formula+LCP infants (P < 0·05). Compared with HM-fed infants, Formula-fed infants (but not Formula+LCP infants) produced more TNF-α (unstimulated) and had a fewer CD3+CD44+ cells before stimulation and fewer CD11c+ cells post-stimulation (P < 0·05). However, compared with Formula-fed infants, the Formula+LCP infants had an immune cell distribution (higher percentage CD3+CD44+ and CD4+CD28+ cells) and cytokine profile (lower production of TNF-α post-stimulation) that did not differ from HM infants. Additionally, it was found that feeding infants formula during the first 10 d of life influenced immune function. These infants had a higher percentage of CD3+, CD4+CD28+, and lower percentage of CD14+ cells and produced more TNF-α and interferon-γ after PHA stimulation than HM-fed infants (P < 0·05). These results demonstrate that early diet influences both the presence of specific cell types and function of infant blood immune cells. Since many diseases have a strong immunological component, these immune changes may be of physiological importance to the developing infant.


This paper reports on an experimental investigation supported by basic modeling in to the performance of an integral suppressor on a low power firearm. A model was developed to determine the pressure within a suppressor chamber using iterative empirical calculations of the gas properties and flow within the system. The design of a reconfigurable suppressor chamber has been undertaken allowing suppressor chamber volume to be varied through the use of baffles. Pressure transducers were used to determine the pressure within the suppressor chamber for a series of firings. The results of the firings with different configurations within the suppressor are presented allowing trends to be established. The modeling and experimental results show an increase in suppressor chamber volume results in a reduction of recorded pressure within the suppressor chamber.


Conventional propulsion technology (chemical and electric) currently limits the possibilities for human space exploration to the neighborhood of the Earth. If farther destinations (such as Mars) are to be reached with humans on board, a more capable interplanetary transfer engine featuring high thrust, high specific impulse is required. The source of energy which could in principle best meet these engine requirements is nuclear thermal. However, the nuclear thermal rocket technology is not yet ready for flight application. The development of new materials which is necessary for the nuclear core will require further testing on ground of full-scale nuclear rocket engines. Such testing is a powerful inhibitor to the nuclear rocket development, as the risks of nuclear contamination of the environment cannot be entirely avoided with current concepts. Alongside already further matured activities in the field of space nuclear power sources for generating on-board power, a low level investigation on nuclear propulsion has been running since long within ESA, and innovative concepts have already been proposed at an IAF conference in 1999 [1, 2]. Following a slow maturation process, a new concept was defined which was submitted to a concurrent design exercise in ESTEC in 2007. Great care was taken in the selection of the design parameters to ensure that this quite innovative concept would in all respects likely be feasible with margins. However, a thorough feasibility demonstration will require a more detailed design including the selection of appropriate materials and the verification that these can withstand the expected mechanical, thermal, and chemical environment. So far, the predefinition work made clear that, based on conservative technology assumptions, a specific impulse of 920 s could be obtained with a thrust of 110 kN. Despite the heavy engine dry mass, a preliminary mission analysis using conservative assumptions showed that the concept was reducing the required Initial Mass in Low Earth Orbit compared to conventional nuclear thermal rockets for a human mission to Mars. Of course, the realization of this concept still requires proper engineering and the dimensioning of quite unconventional machinery. A patent was filed on the concept. Because of the operating parameters of the nuclear core, which are very specific to this type of concept, it seems possible to test on ground this kind of engine at full scale in close loop using a reasonable size test facility with safe and clean conditions. Such tests can be conducted within fully confined enclosure, which would substantially increase the associated inherent nuclear safety levels. This breakthrough removes a showstopper for nuclear rocket engines development. The present paper will disclose the NTER (Nuclear Thermal Electric Rocket) engine concept, will present some of the results of the ESTEC concurrent engineering exercise, and will explain the concept for the NTER on-ground testing facility. Regulations and safety issues related to the development and implementation of the NTER concept will be addressed as well.


We propose a Solid-State Disk (SSD) with a Double Data Rate (DDR) DRAM interface for high-performance PCs. Traditional SSDs simply inherit the interface protocol of Hard Disk Drives (HDD) such as Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial-ATA (SATA) for maintaining the compatibility. However, SSD itself provides much higher performance than HDD, hence the interface also needs to be enhanced. Unlike the traditional SSDs, the proposed SSD with DDR DRAM interface is placed in the North Bridge which provides two or more DDR DRAM interface ports in high-performance PCs. The novelty of our work is on DQS signaling scheme which allows arbitrary Column Address Strobe (CAS) latency unlike typical DDR DRAM interface scheme. The experimental results show that the proposed SSD maximally outperforms the traditional SSD by 8.7 times in read mode, by 1.5 times in write mode. Also, for synthetic workloads, the proposed scheme shows performance improvement over the conventional architecture by a factor of 1.6 times.


The recently discovered unique optoelectronic properties and chemical robustness of mono- or few-layer two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) such as MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, and WSe2 have opened new possibilities for solar energy conversion devices. However, solar energy conversion on a globally relevant scale with TMDs requires the ability to fabricate high-performance large-area thin films of these materials using scalable, low-cost techniques, which remains an ongoing challenge. In this Perspective, the classic properties as well as the new opportunities afforded by the 2D nature of TMDs for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications are presented. State-of-the-art methods for preparing TMD thin films and devices over large areas are compared and scrutinized. The need for increased fundamental understanding of defect states, grain boundaries, interfacial effects, photogenerated charge carrier dynamics, and improved control over thin film morphology/quality are ide...


Peter Onwundijo's poetry collection, De Wahala for Wazobia (2007), comments on the contemporary Nigeria's pitiable social problems. The poet employs Nigerian Pidgin English, not only as a dialectal tool to examine the issue of Nigeria's amalgamation, but also as a lingua franca, which aptly describes the polity of multilingual Nigeria. It addresses the myriad hydra-headed issues like corruption, educational decay, election malpractices, neocolonialism, and insecurity among other forms of vices plaguing the nation which continue to militate against her development. The poems were analysed using sociolinguistics and semiotic theories as frameworks. The result of the analyses showed that the poet's ability to effectively use the Nigerian Pidgin English to address such important issues does not make the language inferior when compared to the other established languages of the world. Rather, it should be seen as a language (second) that reflects creativity, productivity, simplicity, acceptability and understanding among the Nigerians. Indeed, it makes for a wider understanding of the poet's major concern, as the pidgin, in Nigeria, is often being described as "the language of the people" The study appraised the collection as an attempt at demystifying the Nigerian Pidgin English as well as evaluating its relevance for modern Nigerian poetry in its quest to radicalize the political and economic situation in Nigeria.


ABSTRACT Petrographic evidence of thin sheet-like or platelet-shaped quartz cement parallel to bedding is documented in deeply buried, originally smectite-rich, Late Cretaceous mudstones from well 6505/10-1 in the Vøring Basin, offshore Norway. The platelets are mainly built up of areas of patchy continuous quartz cement with various amounts of earlier-formed interlocking microquartz crystals. Cathode luminescence (CL) spectra confirm an authigenic origin for the quartz cement. The quartz platelets may originate as flakes (at c. 90–100 °C) that may evolve into well-developed near-continuous patchy quartz cement identified at 4300 m/150 °C. The quartz cement is probably sourced from silica released by the clay dissolution-precipitation processes (smectite and smectite/illite to illite and kaolinite to illite). At temperatures above about 90–100 °C, the continuous supply of silica from these clay mineral reactions results in precipitation of quartz flakes and sheet-like quartz cement. The quartz sheets may act as a mudrock stiffening agent, reinforcing and further cementing together the microquartz networks and aggregates and possibly also enhancing the schistosity and anisotropy of these mudstones during increasing burial. The quartz sheets may also act as vertical permeability barriers in the sediment possibly contributing to overpressure formation during chemical compaction.


Abstract Background: The use of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is standard medical practice; however, significant heterogeneity in practice exists. We hypothesized that formal OPAT programs are associated with increased physician participation in patient safety activities. Methods: United States Infectious Disease (ID) physicians were contacted and asked to participate in an electronic survey from April through June 2012. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: In all, 3718 physicians were contacted and 316 (8.5%) responded. Respondents practice in 47 states; the majority (79%) practice adult ID, 11% pediatric ID, 10% a combination of the two. Sixty percent reported that ID consultation was not mandatory before OPAT, and 75% of these respondents thought it should be compulsory. The most common indications were osteomyelitis, prosthetic joint infections, and endocarditis, and the most common antibiotics were vancomycin, ceftriaxone, and ertapenem. Most respondents (59%) discharge patients with OPAT weekly, and have a median number of 11 OPAT patients (95% confidence interval (CI) 8.5–13.4). Half of respondents have a formal OPAT program. Fifty-two percent report no systematic method of communication between inpatient and outpatient physicians when patients are discharged with OPAT, 49% have no systematic method of lab tracking, and 34% have no method of ensuring patient adherence to clinic visits. All of these patient safety measures were more likely to be present in practice sites with formal OPAT programs (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Opportunities exist for improving OPAT monitoring and patient safety. Formal OPAT programs provide the framework for safe and effective care and are to be encouraged.


The current work describes the design, development and testing of a miniature fast response aerodynamic probe (FRAP) with 4 sensors (4S), able to perform measurements in unsteady three-dimensional flow field. Moreover, the calibration and first results with the newly developed probe is also provided. The miniature FRAP-4S demonstrates a 3 mm tip diameter, which represents a 25% reduction in diameter size, in comparison to a first generation FRAP-4S, without any loss in terms of measurement bandwidth. The 3 mm outer casing of the probe is additively manufactured with a high-precision binder jetting technique. In terms of aerodynamic performance, the probe demonstrates high angular sensitivity up to at least ± 18° incidence angle in both directions.
 To evaluate the measurement accuracy of the newly developed FRAP-4S, measurements are performed at the Laboratory for Energy Conversion (LEC) in both a round axisymmetric jet and an one-and-a-half stage, unshrouded and highly-loaded axial turbine configuration. Turbulence measurements performed with the miniature FRAP-4S are compared against hot-wire studies in round free-jets found in the literature. Good agreement in both trends but also absolute values is demonstrated. Moreover, the performance of the probe is compared against traditional instrumentation developed at LEC, namely miniature pneumatic and FRAP-2S probes. The results indicate that the FRAP-4S, despite its larger size in comparison to the other probes tested, can resolve the main flow patterns, while the highest deviations occur in the presence of highly skewed and sheared flows. Furthermore, the additively manufactured probe was proven to be robust after more than 50 hours of testing in representative turbine environment configuration. Finally, it should be highlighted that the newly developed FRAP reduces measurement time by a factor of three in comparison to FRAP-2S, which directly translates to reduced development time and thus cost, during turbomachinery development phase.


Adequate calcium intake during pregnancy is important in the prevention of pre-eclampsia. A substantial proportion of pregnant women do not meet the recommended daily calcium intake, even in developed countries. Nonetheless, calcium supplementation is not routinely advised to pregnant women in most countries. We aimed to predict the impact of advising pregnant women to use calcium supplements (1,000 mg/day) on the number of cases of pre-eclampsia prevented and related health care costs. By use of a decision-analytic model, we assessed the expected impact of advising calcium supplementation to either (1) all pregnant women, (2) women at high risk of developing pre-eclampsia, or (3) women with a low dietary calcium intake compared with current care. Calculations were performed for a hypothetical cohort of 100,000 pregnant women living in a high-income country, although input parameters of the model can be adjusted so as to fit other settings. The incidence of pre-eclampsia could be reduced by 25%, 8%, or 13% when advising calcium supplementation to all pregnant women, women at high risk of pre-eclampsia, or women with a low dietary calcium intake, respectively. Expected net financial benefits of the three scenarios were of €4,621,465, €2,059,165, or €2,822,115 per 100,000 pregnant women, respectively. Advising pregnant women to use calcium supplements can be expected to cause substantial reductions in the incidence of pre-eclampsia as well as related health care costs. It appears most efficient to advise calcium supplementation to all pregnant women, not subgroups only.


Background. Problem solving and critical thinking are top future skills. High-fidelity simulations improve critical thinking, but also increase students' cognitive load, possibly limiting their learning. Educators should therefore consider learning outcomes, problems that require critical thinking, the relationship between working and long-term memory, and intrinsic and extraneous cognitive loads when developing simulation scenarios. Objective. To report on the application of cognitive load theory (CLT) and students' responses in terms of problem solving and new insights during and after a simulation experience. Methods. A high-fidelity simulation, targeting multilevel communication, teamwork and prioritisation of learning outcomes, was designed according to CLT. Eighty students participated in presimulation knowledge, skills and attitudes acquisition and 10 participated in the simulation. A qualitative descriptive design was followed and data were collected through video/audio recordings of the simulation and reflection session, supported by educator and critical observer notes. Qualitative content analysis allowed comprehensive summarisation of students' problem-solving abilities and emerging new insights. Results. Eighty second-year radiography students formed the target population, with 10 simulation participants comprising the sample. Communication with health professionals was good, but lacking towards patients. Intraprofessional team collaboration was suboptimal, but interprofessional team collaboration was good. Students were mostly unfamiliar with the prioritisation responsibility. Upon reflection, students came to new insights regarding teamwork and prioritisation. Conclusion. After application of CLT, critical thinking to facilitate problem solving during simulation was suggested and post-simulation reflection facilitated new insights. The exposure of large groups to the benefits of simulation validates further investigation.


This chapter focuses on the pervasive phenomenon of metadiscourse, or reflexivity in language, looking at argumentative essay writing by university students. It presents a study of three varieties of English, using two corpora of native-speaker writing (British and American) and one corpus of advanced learner writing (L1 Swedish). Considerable differences are shown to exist in the use of metadiscourse, not just between the learners and the native speakers, but also between the British and American writers. The differences are evident both in general frequencies across corpora and in the functions the metadiscourse serves. Four factors are identified as potentially accounting for the variation found: genre comparability, cultural conventions, register awareness and general learner strategies.


Firstly, this paper presents an overview of DoD code [1] against progressive collapse and points out the shortcomings of the current design approaches. After that, seven experimental tests of common types of bolted steel beam-column joints under a middle-column removal scenario are presented. This study provides the behaviour and failure modes of different types of connections, including their resistances and rotational capacities in catenary action. The test results indicate that the web cleat connection has the best performance in the development of catenary action. The flush end plate, fin plate and top and seat with web angle (TSWA) connections could also deform in a ductile manner and develop catenary action prior to failure. Numerical simulations have also been conducted. Both static and explicit dynamic solvers were employed to overcome problems of non-convergence, contact, large deformation and fracture simulations. It is demonstrated that the finite element analyses give reasonable accuracy compared to the test results. In addition, an extensive parametric study was undertaken using these validated models to obtain the rotation capacities of various types of connections under catenary action. Finally, some practical design implications have been drawn up from the experimental tests and the parametric study. A new tying resistance expression is proposed to consider the effect of large rotation. If large rotation capacity is not considered in the design stage, the joints with poor rotation capacities would fail to achieve the design tying resistances. In addition, four new connection acceptance criteria of rotation capacities have been proposed to incorporate catenary action under a middle column removal scenario. The work shows that current acceptance criteria of rotation capacities for steel joints such as web cleat, fin plate, flush end plate and TSWA connections, are probably too conservative as they only consider pure flexural resistance.


In patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), sensory disturbances commonly spread outside the affected limb, in particular hemilaterally. Hyperalgesia to pressure-pain was, for instance, documented in the forehead ipsilateral to the affected limb [7]. The aim of this thesis was to investigate potential mechanisms involved in this spread. Firstly, the effect of experimental limb pain (the cold pressor test) on sensory changes to pressure-pain and sharpness outside the immersed limb was investigated on each side of the forehead in samples of 45 and 32 healthy volunteers. Prior to pain induction, differences in pressure-pain or sharpness sensitivity between the left and right side of the forehead were generally small or non-existent. The induction of severe limb pain in healthy volunteers produced a bilateral reduction in forehead sensations to pressure-pain and sharpness with greater analgesia to pressure in the ipsilateral forehead. Central inhibitory pain control mechanisms may have mediated this effect.
The second study attempted to disrupt inhibitory pain control prior to cold-induced limb pain (cold pressor test) in 85 healthy volunteers and investigated the effect of these procedures on sensitivity to pressure-pain and sharpness on each side of the forehead. Optokinetic stimulation was employed to disrupt inhibitory pain control as increased forehead sensitivity was reported following this form of motion sickness-producing stimulation [4; 6]. Sensitivity to pressure-pain and sharpness increased in the forehead after optokinetic stimulation. However, during the subsequent cold pressor test, forehead sensitivity to these stimuli decreased in the most pain sensitive participants, suggesting that inhibitory pain control mechanisms remained intact.
The finding of a previous study that unilateral carageenan-induced hindpaw inflammation in the rat produces thermal hyperalgesia both in the inflamed hindpaw and the non-inflamed forepaw, but not in the contralateral paws [16] prompted us to investigate a link between limbinflammation and hemilateral hyperalgesia. Pressure-pain and sharpness sensations were assessed on each side of the forehead in 17 healthy volunteers during 48 hours of topical treatment of the forearm with the inflammatory agent, capsaicin. Capsaicin-treatment evoked a bilateral reduction in forehead sensitivity to sharpness and an ipsilateral reduction in forehead sensitivity to pressure-pain. Differences in the tissue affected (muscle in the rat study and skin in the human study) may explain the differing results from the rat study.
The issue of inflammation-induced hemilateral sensory disturbances was explored further in patients with CRPS. NMDA-receptors are p-regulated in inflamed human skin [15] and appear to be involved in sensitizing primary afferent nociceptors during inflammation and tissue injury [2; 8; 10]. In a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, the NMDA antagonist, topical ketamine, was applied to the affected or unaffected limb of 20 patients with CRPS and the effect on sensitivity to a range of sensory stimuli (touch, pinprick, thermal, pressure, brushing) was investigated in the affected and unaffected limb and on each side of the forehead. Hyperalgesia to sharpness, pressure, cold and heat, and allodynia to brushing, were detected in the ipsilateral forehead before treatment. This was generally associated with heightened sensitivity in the affected limb. The topical application of ketamine reduced allodynia and sharpness hyperalgesia in the affected limb. As allodynia to brushing the skin and sharpness hyperalgesia are mediated by sensitized spinal nociceptive and wide dynamic range neurons that receive input from nociceptive Adelta fibers and non-nociceptive A-beta fibers [12; 13], peripheral NMDA-receptors may play a role in the sensitization of central neurons in CRPS. In some patients with allodynia in the forehead, forehead allodynia was reduced following treatment of the affected limb with ketamine, suggesting that a similar mechanism may contribute to the heightened sensitivity in the forehead.
Prior to this thesis, a small number of studies suggested that central inhibitory pain control is disrupted in patients with CRPS [3; 5; 14]. The laterality of such mechanisms, and their potential contribution to hemilateral hyperalgesia, was explored. CRPS pain increases during startle with a loud tone [3; 5]. Whether this increase in pain to acoustic startle differs between startle in the ipsilateral and contralateral ear was investigated in 28 CRPS patients. Acoustic startle in the ear ipsilateral to the affected limb induced greater limb pain than startle in the contralateral ear. In addition, auditory discomfort was greater to ipsilateral than contralateral ear stimulation and in patients with increased pain to startle than in a small group of non-responders, suggesting not only that inhibitory pain control is disrupted in CRPS but that central neurons both in the somatosensory and auditory systems are facilitated, in particular to stimulation on the ipsilateral side of the body.
The laterality of a dysfunction in inhibitory pain control was explored further by investigating pressure-pain and sharpness sensations on each side of the forehead in 22 CRPS patients during noxious cold stimulation of the affected limb versus noxious cold stimulation of the contralateral unaffected limb. Cold water immersion of the healthy limb decreased forehead sensitivity to pressure-pain bilaterally and decreased clinical pain in the affected limb. In contrast, immersion of the symptomatic limb increased pressure-pain sensitivity on both sides of the forehead. Sharpness ratings in the forehead remained unchanged to immersion of either limb. Nociceptive afferent input from the CRPS affected limb may thus either fail to evoke inhibitory processes or simultaneously evoke a pain facilitatory mechanism that masks inhibitory influences.
Finally, pressure-pain and sharpness sensations were investigated on each side of the forehead in 35 chronic pain patients without CRPS (neuropathic or nociceptive limb pain, back pain or acute herpes zoster/postherpetic neuralgia) and were compared to similar measurements obtained in 34 patients with CRPS. Ipsilateral forehead hyperalgesia to pressure-pain was more common in CRPS patients (59%) than patients without CRPS (14%). Non-CRPS patients mainly reported symmetrical (within normal range) forehead sensations. Ipsilateral forehead hyperalgesia to sharpness occurred in 38% of CRPS patients which was similar to that in patients without CRPS. Nonetheless, symmetrical sharpness sensations dominated in both groups. In general, heightened sensitivity to pressure and sharpness in the ipsilateral forehead was present in patients with greater pain, sharpness hyperalgesia and swelling at the pain site.
In sum, the results of this thesis indicate that ipsilateral forehead hyperalgesia, in particular to pressure-pain, may be specific to CRPS. Nociceptive input from the inflamed CRPS limb may sensitize neurons in the dorsal horn and neurons at supraspinal sites that receive input from the affected limb such as the contralateral thalamus. Hyperexcitability in thalamic nuclei contralateral to the affected limb which receive convergent input from hemilateral body sites could not only explain the presence of hemilateral hyperalgesia but could also explain heightened sensitivity to other forms of sensory input (e.g., auditory input). Failure of inhibitory pain control, in particular to stimulation on the symptomatic side of the body, or a shift toward facilitatory control in mechanisms with a bidirectional role in pain modulation such as the noradrenergic actions from the locus coeruleus, the serotonergic actions from the raphe nuclei or diffuse noxious facilitatory versus inhibitory controls [1; 9; 11; 17; 18] may further promote the transfer of nociceptive messages to higher brain sites. The ipsilateral noradrenergic actions from the locus coeruleus is a particular candidate for the hemilateral facilitation of nociception in CRPS.


The Speaker had to be compelled by the High Court to convene the meeting as required in terms of the Municipal Structures Act. The Court ordered the Speaker to pay personally for the costs of this application. However, when the meeting eventually took place, there was a dispute as to who were the legitimate representatives of the Saldanha Bay Local Municipality. At the meeting, the Speaker of the district council made a ruling on the composition of the delegation. The ruling was politically expedient and contrary to the Municipal Structures Act. It was, in the words of the Court, "misguided and illadvised". Nevertheless, the meeting continued.


Abstract. High resolution benthic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotopes (δ18O, δ13C) from core EUGC-3B are used here to infer rapid climatic changes for the last 8500 yr in the Ria de Muros (NW Iberian Margin). Benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C potentially register migrations in the position of the hydrographic front formed between two different intermediate water masses: Eastern North Atlantic Central Water of subpolar origin (ENACWsp), and subtropical origin (ENACWsp). The isotopic records have been compared with two well established North Atlantic marine Holocene paleoceanographic records from low (Sea Surface Temperatures anomalies off Cape Blanc, NW Africa) and high latitudes (Hematite Stained Grains percentage, subpolar North Atlantic). This comparison clearly demonstrates that there is a strong link between high- and low-latitude climatic perturbations at centennial-millennial time scales during the Holocene. Spectral analyses also points at a pole-to-equator propagation of the so-called 1500 yr cycles. Our results demonstrate that during the Holocene, the NW Iberian Margin has undergone a series of cold episodes which are likely triggered at high latitudes in the North Atlantic and are rapidly propagated towards lower latitudes. Conceivably, the propagation of these rapid climatic changes involves a shift of atmospheric and oceanic circulatory systems and so a migration of the hydrographical fronts and water masses all along the North Atlantic area.


This study aimed at exploring the role of task-based listening activities in augmenting EFL learners' listening self-efficacy. To this end, 70 male and female Iranian EFL learners in Kish Air English Institute, Mashhad, Iran, participated in the study. To homogenize the participants' level of proficiency, the Interchange/Passages Objective Placement Test was employed and the participants with the intermediate level of proficiency were selected. Accordingly, the number of the participants was reduced to 50. To measure the participants' level of listening self-efficacy at the pre- and post-tests, a listening self-efficacy questionnaire (20 items) was applied. Then, the participants were randomly divided into two groups: experimental (N=26) and control (N=24). The experimental group received task-based listening activities during the 19 sessions (30 minutes) of instructions, and the control group received the traditional practices (a question-and-answer approach). The results of independent t-test revealed that the participants' levels of listening self-efficacy in the experimental group was significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.05).


Consider two pill mill doctors who flooded the streets with oxycodone and other dangerous opioids. The evidence against both doctors was overwhelming. They each sold millions of opioid pills. Both doctors charged addicted patients hundreds of dollars in cash for office visits that involved no physical examinations and no diagnostic tests. Instead, the doctors simply handed the patients opioids in exchange for cash. To maximize their income, both doctors conspired with street dealers to import fake patients – many of them homeless – so that the doctors could write even more prescriptions. Both doctors made millions of dollars profiting off the misery of people addicted to opioids. Even though juries convicted both doctors of similar criminal charges, they received drastically different sentences. The first doctor was sentenced to 5 years, while the second doctor received a 35-year-sentence.

This article reviews 25 of the worst opioid pill mill doctors to be sentenced in the last five years, and it details drastic sentencing disparities in the federal system. In more than half the cases, judges departed well below the Federal Sentencing Guidelines to impose sentences that were decades less than would be expected.

The sentencing variations in pill mill cases are not driven by traditional explanations such as the trial penalty or the defendant's criminal history. Instead, the sentencing variations are explained primarily by the age of the doctors. Many pill mill doctors are in their 60s and 70s, and judges appear to be tailoring their sentencing decisions to ensure that older doctors will not spend the rest of their lives in prison. Additionally, prosecutors face an uphill battle in proving the drug quantity against white-collar doctors (rather than street dealers) who can claim that some of their prescriptions were legitimate. This article documents the difficulty of equitably punishing pill mill doctors, as well as the significance of age in sentencing older, white-collar offenders.


Abstract. Research on urban inequality has a long tradition in human geography as well as sociology. This special issue seeks to amplify the discussion by introducing some new theoretical approaches to the analysis. The first is to open up a research setting for comparative urbanism. By looking at urban life-worlds of marginalized neighbourhoods in the two Americas, the contributors do not want to search for similarities or disparities between different countries, but try to shed light on societal contexts and their spatial settings. The idea is to develop a reconstructive perspective to understand the uneven place-making within cities. With this, a second task is circumscribed: by describing and interpreting every-day life practices in Brazilian favelas and US ghettos, we want to contribute to a better understanding of patterns and spaces of urban inequality. Despite the wide array of (mostly quantitative) studies on urban inequality and segregation we declare a lack of understanding how these marginalized localities are experienced and reproduced. How do unprivileged inhabitants cope with everyday negligence and discrimination? Further concepts of urban citizenship, governmentality and the role of the penal state are introduced to enhance the conceptual as well as empirical analysis of inequality in cities.


When plants do not receive sufficient water they are subjected to a stress called water deficit. Water deficit in the plant disrupts many cellular and whole plant functions, having a negative impact on plant growth and reproduction. Plants have evolved many different mechanisms to deal with the occurrence of this stress as it occurs in their environments. Availability of water is the most important factor in the environment that reduces the production of our crops.

Keywords:

water-deficit stress;
water relations;
gene regulation;
biotechnology


Ventilation control efficiency of air pollutant emitted from a type P5000 metal etcher (Applied Materials, Inc.) during preventive maintenance was investigated in this study. Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas of 1000 ppm was released at different flow rates at the bottom of the chamber to simulate the emission. When a large flow rate of 3130 L/min was vented from the venting port near the top of the chamber, the control efficiency of air pollutant is nearly 100%, whether the top of the chamber was open or enclosed with a specially-designed cover. The SF6 concentration at the breathing zone was found to be lower than the detection limit of the FTIR spectrometer. Numerical simulation of the flow and pollutant concentration fields yielded control efficiencies in good agreement with the experimental data. When the chamber was open, the control efficiency remained at 100% if the venting flow rate was greater than 1200 L/min; while the control efficiency decreased with decreasing flow rate. In comparison, the control efficiency with the specially-designed cover, which had a much smaller opening, was 100% for venting flow rates as low as 31.3 L/min..


The Ming Qing dynastic transition in seventeenth-century China was an epochal event that reverberated in Qing writings and beyond; political disorder was bound up with vibrant literary and cultural production. "Women and National Trauma in Late Imperial Chinese Literature" focuses on the discursive and imaginative space commanded by women. Encompassing writings by women and by men writing in a feminine voice or assuming a female identity, as well as writings that turn women into a signifier through which authors convey their lamentation, nostalgia, or moral questions for the fallen Ming, the book delves into the mentality of those who remembered or reflected on the dynastic transition, as well as those who reinvented its significance in later periods. It shows how history and literature intersect, how conceptions of gender mediate the experience and expression of political disorder.Why and how are variations on themes related to gender boundaries, female virtues, vices, agency, and ethical dilemmas used to allegorize national destiny? In pursuing answers to these questions, Wai-yee Li explores how this multivalent presence of women in different genres provides a window into the emotional and psychological turmoil of the Ming Qing transition and of subsequent moments of national trauma."


I suggest that the (absent) nipple in the breast cancer discourse provides a powerful lens magnifying the social construction of the erotic breast based on the commodification of breasts as mens objects of sexual pleasure. The world of cosmetic surgery has turned more and more attention to nipple loss as the primary factor affecting breast cancer patients feeling less sexually attractive, very much like biomedicine emphazing the severe impact of breast loss on womens sexuality. Indeed, the banner look good, feel better has been heavily marketed to promote enhancing technologies (i.e. breast and nipple reconstruction) as a panacea for womens (mental) sexual problems. However, little attention has been given to the breasts and nipples focusing on womens erotic and sexual embodied experiences. The focus of this paper will be on the erotic lived nipple as a source of incommensurable pleasure, sexual excitement, joy and even orgasm for women, but also pain, alienation, disappointment and sadness when mastectomy removes them, and the promise of magical cosmetic surgery cannot restore their erotic experience. This paper is based on a case study of an informant during my PhD fieldwork in Spain during 2007-2008. Federico, partner of a breast cancer patient, takes up the idea of the lived breasts to give an alternative understanding of the erotic breast. He depicts his partner as a woman who delighted herself in the pleasure of her nipples being rubbed, caressed, squeezed and sucked to the point of orgasm. Thus, the lost of the lived breast will be emphatically mourned as a castration of his partners key sexual and erotic body part. Federicos account further raises the questions as to who defines eroticism and for whom breasts should be erotic.


Calcium sulphate scaling can give rise to operating problems and additional costs in industrial systems and desalination units. In order to control scale formation it is desirable to understand the mechanisms of its inception and growth. The present study focuses on understanding how process variables such as fluid velocity and temperature affect the initial fouling rate and delay time. For initial fouling rate, previous studies of calcium sulphate scaling have demonstrated conflicting behaviour with respect to fluid velocity: some investigations report an increase, others a decrease, and still others no change of initial fouling rate with increasing fluid velocity. For the delay time, most researchers have focused on bulk precipitation rather than on wall surface crystallization. For wall surface crystallization, no values have been reported for calcium sulphate delay time activation energies. In this work a theoretical model for initial crystallization fouling rate in turbulent flow, where attachment is treated as a physico-chemical rate process in series with mass transfer (Epstein, 1994), was examined. According to the model, mass transfer is directly proportional to the friction velocity, and attachment is inversely proportional to the square of this velocity. Therefore, at a given wall temperature, it follows that if the initial fouling rate is mass transfer controlled (low fluid velocity), the deposition flux increases as the fluid velocity increases. If, however, the initial fouling rate is attachment controlled (high fluid velocity), the deposition flux will decrease as the fluid velocity increases. Therefore as the fluid velocity is lowered the initial fouling rate goes through a maximum at a given wall temperature. In addition, this maximum initial fouling rate can be expected to increase and move towards higher critical velocities as the wall temperature increases. Fouling experiments were performed in a Tube Fouling Unit (TFU) (Wilson and Watkinson, 1996; Rose et al., 2000) using aqueous calcium sulphate solutions as recirculating fluid. To meet the required operating conditions, some modifications were made on the TFU. Mainly two different sets of experiments were performed, one using a concentration of 3400 ppm of calcium sulphate in solution, and the other in which a range of concentrations from 3100 to 3600 ppm was covered. The first set of experiments was performed over film Reynolds numbers of 2100 - 36000, clean inside wall temperatures of 66 - 87°C and bulk temperatures of 50°C, to observe the effect of velocity on both initial fouling rate and delay time. In the second set, performed to extract crystal surface energies, the Reynolds number and bulk temperature were kept constant at 20000 and 50°C, respectively. Also, some extra experiments were performed to investigate deposit removal occurrence and the filter pore size effect on the fouling behaviour. All the experiments were performed in a 9.02 mm i.d. electrically heated, stainless steel tube. The main features of the model were qualitatively demonstrated with calcium sulphate solutions, i.e. a maximum in experimental initial fouling rate at a given wall temperature over a range of fluid velocities, and an increase in the maximum rate and in the corresponding critical velocity as the wall temperature was increased. Calcium sulphate scaling results showed that as the velocity increased from 0.1 to 1.6 m/s, the fouling activation energy, ΔE[sub f], increased from 66 to 620 kJ/mol. This observation was consistent with the model, but the maximum fouling activation energy was significantly larger than the kinetic activation energy, ΔE, reported by other investigators. Modeling results showed an optimal solution, with an average absolute percent deviation in initial fouling rates of 67.4 % from the fit of the model. ΔE was evaluated as 262.5 kJ/mol. To reduce the deviations between the model predictions and experimental results, the model was refined by nominally taking the number of nucleation sites into account. This was done by inserting a simple function of wall temperature in the surface integration term. The results of the refined model indicated a substantial reduction in the average absolute percent deviation. From classical nucleation theory and delay time measurements the effective surface energy values were determined as 7.5 to 9.9 mJ/m² over a range of wall temperatures from 73 to 82°C. These values are close to the values of 7.9 and 14.6 mJ/m² that have been reported by Linnikov (1999) for surface nucleation on a metal surface and by Hasson et al. (2003) on a polymeric membrane surface under laminar flow conditions, respectively. Also, from delay time measurements it was possible to use Branch's (1991) approach, applied by him to black liquor fouling, for generating delay time activation energies. Calcium sulphate delay time activation energies for wall surface crystallization were determined for the first time over a range of fluid velocities. It was shown that as the velocity increased, delay time activation energies increased and approached a value around 172 kJ/mol. In order to separate the contribution of surface reaction (integration) from that of mass transfer, purely chemical activation energy values were generated through kinetic studies of calcium sulphate precipitation in a jacketed-glass reactor. The activation energies were determined as 210 and 254 kJ/mol for initial concentrations of 3400 and 3100 ppm, respectively. These values were smaller than the maximum fouling activation energy of 620 kJ/mol extracted from fouling experiments. This observation again suggested that the number of surface nucleation sites plays an important role in the wall surface crystallization process. Removal effects were studied by increasing the fluid velocity while simultaneously eliminating the concentration driving force. No continuous deposit removal was detected at a velocity of 0.7 m/s. Finally, at higher wall temperatures filter pore size had no impact on the delay time and the initial fouling rate. However, at lower wall temperatures the initial fouling rate increased with filter pore size, indicating the occurrence of bulk precipitation and particulate fouling at these temperatures.


Basal stem rot (BSR) disease caused by Ganoderma spp.. The most of solution is using chemical pesticides and it was hazardous to environment and human health. The other way is using biological agent Trichoderma spp. in the form of biofungicide pellet. The aims of this research was to know the best influence of biofungicide pellet in controlling pathogen G. boninense of oil palm plant by in vitro. This research was done at Plant Pathology Laboratory of Agriculture Faculty and Nanotechnology Material Laboratory of Mathematics and Natural Science Faculty, University of Riau from May until July 2013. Experimental study was conducted using completly randomized design with 5 treatment and 4 replications. The treatment were application of biofungicide pellet is T0= Without isolate Trichoderma spp., T1= biofungicide pellet T. pseudokoningii , T2= biofungicide pellet T. koningii , T3= biofungicide pellet T. h arzianum , T4= biofungicide pellet T. viride ). Data obtained from the observations were statistically analyzed using analysis of variance, followed by Duncan's New Multiple Range Test ( DNMRT ). The result showed that biofungicide pellet containing isolate of Trichoderma spp. showing the different of patogen G. boninense by in vitro . Biofungicide pellet of T. harzianum has the higher result arround 58,84% and spores arround 16,47 x 10 6 than T. pseudokoningii, T. koningii and T. viride . Keyword: Palm Midrib , Isolat Trichoderma Spp, Mushrooms


The title of this volume embraces the idea of 'new soundings' in its double meanings: 'soundings' in the sense of exploratory fathoming and plumbing of the ocean depths, and 'soundings' in the contemporary sense of sonar registrations of the seabed, made in order to hear and notate the invisible, inaudible life and activity below the surface. The metaphoric connotations of depth charges in the former usage point to the various forms of mapping, of the discoveries and expansions associated with the opening up of what were once conceived as distant lands, as well as the hazards and betrayals entailed in such colonizing. 'Soundings', when used in the sense of registering sound shapes and effects, implies metaphorically those acts of communication, whereby the newly charted, discovered worlds transmit their cultures, heritage and voices, receiving in return the mixed messages of those who discover and colonise. For such processes of settlement and entrenchment are fraught with contestation, involving new contact zones, encounters with Indigenous peoples, recognition of racial and ethnic differences and ideological reassessment of the nature of civilisation. The subtitle's reference to 'contours' invokes the new cultural frames that emerge from such forms of contact, and the organising, reshaping and syncretising of what Homi Bhabha has called the 'spaces between' cultures that contact/collision provokes. Such new cultural landscaping can be found in the critical and creative writing of the last half century that embodies as well as engages with issues of the postcolonial. The subtitle also refers to the critical essays, poems and stories collected in this volume, all of which are associated with the discipline of postcolonial studies, and might be seen as products of this broad field. Just as the critical contours seek to debate and give wider visibility to postcolonialism's major contestations, so the book's creative contours showcase some of the movement's significant themes and imaginative configurations.


PRE-20TH CENTURY HISTORY Britain and the Opening Up of South-West Persia 1880-1914: A Study in Imperialism and Economic Dependence, Shahbaz Shahnavaz. London, UK and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005. 187 pages. Appends, to p. 224. Notes to p. 263. Bibl. to p. 284. Index to p. 290. GBP65. In eight chapters, the author analyzes British imperialism in Khuzestan and the latter's subsequent economic "dependence." Chapter 1 provides historical background on the province, in particular about the ethnic composition of its population, the rise of the Shaykh of Mohammarah and the Iranian refusal of foreign nations' use of the Karun. Chapter 2 details British policy as represente by Ambassador Henry Drummond-Wolff, who tried to open up Iran for more British investment and influence by having the Shah agree to provide nominally better protection for property rights and to allow modern banking to be established. Chapter 3 describes how Drummond-Wolff coerced the Shah to agree to the opening of the Karan River and Russia's negative reaction, which was only assuaged by granting it the exclusive right to build railways in Iran. Drummond-Wolff was also able to get royal agreement to the establishment of the Imperial Bank of Persia (now HSBC). Chapter 4 assesses the extreme poverty of the population of Khuzestan and the nature of its trade prior to 1890, which was limited and mainly barter, and the Ottoman reaction to try and have merchants favor the Basra-Baghdad over the MohammarahKarun route. Further, the limited agricultural development of Khuzestan and the barriers constraining its extension (land tenure, taxation, share-cropping, water, insecurity, manpower) is discussed. Chapter 5 focuses on the patterns of trade in Southern Persia up to 1889 and shows an almost 20-fold increase in trade between India and the Persian Gulf since 1800. Chapter 6 discusses the development of trade in Khuzestan after 1890. Chapter 7 outlines the structural changes that took place in Khuzestan, such as: an increase of its population by 150% (1880-1920), increased sedentarization, growth of large settled communities, major investments in public works, greater access to modern (banking, postal) services, establishment of the oil industry resulting in major capital investment and an influx of foreign skilled labor, all of which had an upward effect of wages and prices. The last chapter discusses the consolidation of British power in Khuzestan followed by the book's conclusions. There are two problems with this otherwise interesting study. …


An experiment was conducted to study injection of pregnant mare serum gonadotrophin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) as superovulation agent in gilts to improve thyroid hormone and blood metabolites concentraton. In this experiment, 48 gilts were assigned into four groups of twelve gilts injected with PMSG dan hCG dose levels of 0, 600, 1200 and 1800 IU/gilt. Injections were conducted three days before estrus. During  gestation, gilts were placed in colony pigpen. On days 15, 35, and 70 of gestation blood collected to determine triiodothyronine, tetraiodothyronine, tryglicerides, glucose, protein and bood nitrogen urea concentration. The resuts showed that superovulation dose levels of 600 to 1200 IU/gilt increased concentration of thyroid hormone (triiodothyronine and tetraiodothyronine/thyroxin) and blood metabolite (triglycerides, glucose, and protein), but decreased blood urea nitrogen in gestation ages 15, 35, and 70 days.  It is concluded that superovulation with dose of 600 to 1200 IU can improve of gilts metabolite hormone and blood metabolites. (Animal Production 11(2): 88-95 (2009) Key Words:  gilts, superovulation,  metabolite hormone, blood metabolites


Management Control Systems (MCS) have been intensively studied in organizational research in the past five decades. Most of existing studies, however, dominantly focus on the traditional control role of MCS. Recently, adequate attentions have been paid to the role MCS for innovation.
By recognizing the importance of both control and innovative role of MCS, the MCS researchers have argued that the control and innovative roles of MCS are incompatible with each other. Dynamic tensions exist between them, and how to balance the dynamic tensions of these two contradict roles has emerged as an interesting topic in MCS research, especially in the context of Asian culture.

Given the growth in interest of balancing traditional control role and innovative role of MCS, this study aims to explore 'How do managers attempt to implement and balance the traditional control and innovative roles of MCS in a Chinese organization?' Coherent with this research question, the main objectives of this study are to discover what kinds of tensions exist between control and innovative roles; how these tensions can be balanced. In addition, influencing factors and organizational capabilities in relation to balancing different tensions are explored.

Taking social constructionism philosophical paradigm, an in-depth single case study is conducted by sampling a Chinese joint-stock commercial bank in China. Due to heavy regulations, the Chinese government imposed on banking industry, Chinese state-owned banks often over emphasize the control role. Chinese commercial banks, differently, have more freedom to introduce and implement MCS for innovation. To gain a deeper understanding of the phenomenon, a set of
data, including semi-structured interviews with senior and middle level managers, observations of management meetings and secondary data including organizational internal and government reports, are collected. Template analysis is employed as the main data analysis technique with the assistant of Nvivo 8 qualitative data analysis software.

The findings reveal that the Chinese managers use a wider range of MCS frameworks, including formal accounting and performance controls, as well as strong culture and social controls. In drawing upon these sources, three levels of tensions between control and innovative roles of MCS
have been emerged: 1) MCS for controlling strategy implementation VS. renewing strategy; 2) MCS for controlling risks VS. exploring new business; 3) MCS for controlling employees' behavior VS. enabling employees' behaviour. Moreover, by discovering external environment and internal demand factors, this research identifies certain levels of organizational capabilities that are in relation to balancing different levels of tensions, including abilities of designing and implementing suitable MCS package, appropriate organizational structure, effective communication channels and information systems, positive organizational culture and leadership.

This research presents a holistic picture of balancing the control and innovative roles in a Chinese organization in the context of banking industry. Proactively, this study provides Chinese organizations valuable information when designing their organizational MCS package as a whole.
Furthermore, it offers valuable insights to the Chinese bank managers and guides them to balance the different tensions between control and innovative roles of MCS. By highlighting the cultural role in balancing the three levels of tensions, it is hoped that this research offers an alternative way
to inspire Chinese banking institutions and individual managers to develop and use a suitable MCS package that can balance the dynamic tensions between the control and innovative roles of MCS.


The High Temperature engineering Test Reactor (HTTR) is an experimental High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) built by the Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) to facilitate tests of HTGR technology. One of these test activities involves the validation and verification of thermo-hydraulic codes used in the design of similar HTGR plants. This report details the benchmarking of the Flownex simulation package as used by PBMR (Fly.) Ltd., a South African company developing another type of HTGR known as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor. The benchmark is of a loss-of-off-site-power event that was tested at the HTTR facility. The event involves a cut of the electric power supply to the circulators, a reactor SCRAM and the activation of the Auxiliary Cooling system to remove decay heat. The need for verification of thermodynamic software is very important in modem nuclear power plant designs, as so much depends on the results produced. Any errors in these results can have serious economic and safety consequences. This report firstly discusses the background of the study, elaborating on the need for the work and the benefit that can be derived from it. Thereafter the process of software verification and validation (V&V) is discussed so that the need for V&V may be clearly understood. Various modelling and simulation methods are then compared, to provide an idea of the work already done in this field. Following this more detail is given on the HTTR test plant and how it is modelled in Flownex. This model is then used for both steady-state and transient simulations, the results of which are then compared with test data. With some exceptions, the study shows that the simulation results are very close to the measured data. Differences are of such a magnitude that they may be attributed to instnunentation inaccuracies. The study contributes to the field in that the methodology of analysing thermo-hydraulic systems is further broadened. The conclusions drawn from this study are aimed at the simulation design engineer, to help him or her understand similar problems and to find solutions faster.


Abstract A compilation and reevaluation of data from the 1950s and 1970s from three forced convective heat transfer experiments using the ternary fluoride salt FLiNaK (46.5 LiF–11.5 NaF–42 KF mol%) using presently known thermophysical properties of this salt has been performed. The previous experiments each analyzed their data using different values for the properties of the liquid salt, thus leading to differences in the reported heat transfer coefficients. For turbulent flow in experiments conducted in chambers constructed of Inconel® alloys (as used in these three previous experiments), it was determined that FLiNaK salt behaves as a "normal" fluid and can be modeled using the Dittus-Boelter (DB) correlation within ±15% accuracy. The DB correlation can thus be used for preliminary calculations of salt heat transfer. Despite the success of the DB correlation for tests conducted in Inconel® chambers, forced convective data on heat transfer in nickel and Type 316 stainless steel produced different results. The physical effects contributing to the difference in the data measured in different container materials are not understood. The concentration of Cr (the main corrosion product added to the salt during a test) is similar between Inconel® alloys and Type 316 stainless steel and should affect each test similarly. Nickel is a relatively inert container material to fluoride salts and should not affect the heat transfer. To reconcile the experiments, a simplified approach was undertaken to determine if the radiant heat transfer to the FLiNaK salt could account for the differences. It was found that under the experimental conditions used by previous investigators, the radiant heat transfer from container to salt was <2%. However, the amount of energy transferred by radiation can be significant in applications involving high temperatures (T = 1123 K) and laminar flow conditions (Re < 500) in pipes with a diameter of 1 cm or greater.


The incentives for domestic investment in debtor countries are influenced by the terms of their external obligations and by the system of taxation utilized to provide government revenue for debt payments. It is well known that existing debt contracts could be altered to improve the incentives for investment but this has proven difficult to accomplish, perhaps because individual creditors have incentives not to agree to such changes. In this paper we show that a simple tax credit scheme that can be implemented unilaterally by the debtor government can overcome at least some of the inefficiencies caused by existing debt contracts.