In 2008, Jamil Ragep assumed that less than 5% of the available  scientific writings in Arabic and Persian had been studied so far. According to Sheldon Pollock, there are some 30 million Indian language manuscripts scattered around the world that "represent the merest fraction of what must have been once produced." Hence, at present, it is obviously impossible to draw a comprehensive picture of the state of middle modern (c. 1500-1800)3 Central, West and South Asian, as well as North African, scientific, technological and intellectual developments. Nonetheless, enough evidence has been assembled so far to declare that the culture, science, technology and history of ideas of these areas were far from being stagnant.


Building on principles from prior work on procedural texture synthesis (K. Perlin, 1985), we are able to create remarkably lifelike, responsively animated characters in real time. Rhythmic and stochastic noise functions are used to define time varying parameters that drive computer generated puppets. Because we are conveying just the "texture" of motion, we are able to avoid computation of dynamics and constraint solvers. The subjective impression of dynamics and other subtle influences on motion can be conveyed with great visual realism by properly tuned expressions containing pseudo random noise functions. For example, we can make a character appear to be dynamically balancing herself, to appear nervous, or to be gesturing in a particular way. Each move has an internal rhythm, and transitions between moves are temporally constrained so that "impossible" transitions are precluded. For example, if while the character is walking we specify a dance turn, the character will always step into the turn onto the correct weight bearing foot. An operator can make a character perform a properly connected sequence of actions, while conveying particular moods and attitudes, merely by pushing buttons at a high level. Potential uses of such high level "textural" approaches to computer graphic simulation include role playing games, simulated conferences, "clip animation", graphical front ends for MUDs, and synthetic performances. >


B ACKGROUND - The transmission of leprosy has issues not understood due to the long incubation period and the fact that only a few of the exposed subjects get sick. Besides the exposure to the M. leprae, genetic susceptibility is an important risk fact for the disease. O BJECTIVE - To study the transmission of leprosy in family clusters in an endemic urban area in the second district of Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. METHODS - Twenty families, who presented more than one case of the disease in a period of ten years, were studied, starting from 20 index cases. The patients were visited in their houses, for dermatologic and peri- pheric nerves examination. R ESULTS - There was a predominance of the disease among consanguineous contacts (69/75). The risk of getting leprosy among those who were consanguineous was 2.8 times higher than among those who were not consan- guineous. Only 3 partners were sick among the 6 non-consanguineous, although only 14 offsprings were affected. In two families the disease was restricted to one generation, in five the disease was present in three generations and in thirteen there were two generations of persons with leprosy. C ONCLUSIONS - Although other risk factors, not focused in this paper, are involved in the transmission of leprosy, consanguinity shows a positive association and confirms the need of the epidemilogic surveillence of the relatives that are close to the leprosy patients. These are preliminary outcomes of a 70 families study. The inclusion of more families and the study of the genetic polymorphism will provide a better approach in this complex issue.


The paper summarises the current state of knowledge of the distribution and ecology of Xerocomus chrysonemus in the Czech Republic. The authors present information on newly discovered localities in the Czech Republic and a yet unobserved feature of the species – bluing of the context. A distribution map based on the collections from the Czech Republic is presented and features suitable for field identification are summarised, especially with regard to X. subtomentosus, which frequently occurs together with the species in question.


Research in the field of random access protocols for narrow-band systems started as early as the 1970s with the introduction of the ALOHA protocol. From the research done in slotted narrow-band systems, it is well known that contention results in all the packets involved in the contention being unsuccessful. However, it has been shown that in the presence of unequal power levels, ore of the contending packets may be successful. Ibis is a phenomenon called capture. Packet capture has been shown to improve the performance of slotted narrow-band systems. Recently, much work has been done in the analysis of spread-spectrum ALOHA type code-division multiple access (CDMA) protocols. The issue of designing power control techniques to improve the performance of CDMA systems by reducing multiple access interference (MAl) has been a subject of much research. It has been shown that in the presence of power control schemes, the performance of spread-ALOHA CDMA systems is improved. However, it is also widely documented that the design of power control schemes capable of the ideal of compensation of radio propagation techniques is not possible for various reasons, and hence the imperfections in power control. None of the research known to the author has looked at capture in spread-ALOHA systems, and to a greater extent, looked at expressions for the performance of spreadALOHA systems in the presence ofcapture.


This inspired collection offers a new paradigm for moving the world beyond violence as the first, and often only, response to violence. Through essays and poetry, prayers and meditations, "Transforming Terror" powerfully demonstrates that terrorist violence - defined here as any attack on unarmed civilians - can never be stopped by a return to the thinking that created it. A diverse array of contributors - writers, healers, spiritual and political leaders, scientists, and activists, including Desmond Tutu, Huston Smith, Riane Eisler, Daniel Ellsberg, Amos Oz, Fatema Mernissi, Fritjof Capra, George Lakoff, Mahmoud Darwish, Terry Tempest Williams, and Jack Kornfield - considers how we might transform the conditions that produce terrorist acts and bring true healing to the victims of these acts. Broadly encompassing both the Islamic and Western worlds, the book explores the nature of consciousness and offers a blueprint for change that makes peace possible. From unforgettable firsthand accounts of terrorism, the book draws us into awareness of our ecological and economic interdependence, the need for connectedness, and the innate human capacity for compassion.


A new dynamic tire model for estimating the longitudinal/lateral road-tire friction force was derived in this paper. The model was based on the previous Dugoff tire model, in consideration of its drawback that it does not reflect the actual change trend that the tire friction force decreases with the increment of wheel slip ratio when it enters into the nonlinear region. The Dugoff model was modified by fitting a series of tire force data and compared with the commonly used Magic Formula model. This new dynamic friction model is able to capture accurately the transient behavior of the friction force observed during pure longitudinal wheel slip, lateral sideslip and combined slip situation. Simulation has been done under different situations, while the results validate the accuracy of the new tire friction model in predicting tire/road friction force during transient vehicle motion.


In order to better evaluate the lifetime performance of glass panel facade systems, this study firstly proposes to conduct a full-scale wind resistance, air/water infiltration, and seismic resistance tests. Two specimens were designed, constructed, and tested for this purpose. A fatigue process is also applied to one of the manufactured systems in addition to a standard test procedure. Secondly, data acquired from the experimental part of this work have been used in a multi-criteria performance evaluation process to determine the performance levels of each of the specimens. In the evaluation process, a total of 10 different criteria and 2 alternatives are identified for decision making. Performance indicator data obtained from the detailed calculations using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), COPRAS (Complex Proportional Assessment) and TOPSIS (The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods are then utilized during the numerical assessment process. The 'criticality level' is defined within the evaluation process and it indicates the percent (%) values of the obtained performance indicators. As a result of the performance evaluations, the AHP and TOPSIS methods gave similar results and could be selected as the preferred methods for the evaluation of such experimental data. Results obtained from the AHP and TOPSIS methods are consistent and easy to interpret when compared to the COPRAS method. Furthermore, in this work, the most critical criterion is found to be the frontal deflections.


The main aim of the present study is to study the Impact of Anthropogenic Activities on the Surface Water Resource in Assiut Governorate, and detecting the source and contamination level and evaluating for different purposes. To achieve this goal, collect 30 surface water samples from surface water resources (main irrigation, drainage canals and River Nile) in Assiut Governorate during autumn season 2013. Chemical analysis cared out at Geology Department - Faculty of Science - Minia University and Environmental Affairs Agency. The resulted data revealed that the worst samples are the samples No. 6, 10, 14, 15, 18, 20, 29 and 30 especially simple No. 18. Ni and As showing relatively high values in the most of the surface water samples in study area. Most surface water resources receive large amounts of wastewater, presence of pollution especially organic pollution. Also, it refers to high concentrations of some heavy metals. The source of these pollutants is wastewater from sewage, industrial and agricultures activates. Most surface water samples are unsuitable for human drinking without treatment because it's higher content of trace elements (Fe, Mn, NH4, B, Cd, Ni, and Pb) According to permissible limits for drinking water quality. Only 10% of surface water samples are suitable for laundry purposes (range of moderate hardness) and the rest are hard or very hard. All surface water samples are suitable (Excellent) for livestock and poultry. The recommends of this study are the management of pollution sources, application of Agrochemicals and controlling the seepage of wastewater from rural, protecting the area around the outlet of drinking water treatment plants. Continuous monitoring of water resources using for different purposes.


Abstract:The neo-Pentecostal movement emphasizes the promises of "breakthroughs"—financial and other—as a key point of appeal. At the same time, it offers a wide range of possibilities for self-made professionalization, giving rise to a caste of religious entrepreneurs whom Paul Gifford refers to as "founders-owners-leaders" Drawing on research on self-accomplishment and "waithood," we show how the church-founding avenue becomes a path for personal breakthroughs by meeting social and economic criteria for success. We draw on ethnographic research and several contemporary examples, notably that of Margaret Wanjiru, a successful female bishop. At the same time, we offer a retrospective examination of the career of an earlier Christian entrepreneur, Nganga wa Kago, with the purpose of asking just how new such professionalization actually is.


Subsistence farming in southern Africa is vulnerable to extreme weather conditions. The yield of rain-fed agriculture depends largely on rainfall-related factors such as total seasonal rainfall, anomalous onsets and lengths of the rainy season and the frequency of occurrence of dry spells. Livestock, in turn, may be seriously impacted by climatic stress with, for example, exceptionally hot days, affecting condition, reproduction, vulnerability to pests and pathogens and, ultimately, morbidity and mortality. Climate change may affect the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions, impacting on the success of subsistence farming. A potentially interesting adaptation measure comprises the timely forecasting and warning of such extreme events, combined with mitigation measures that allow farmers to prepare for the event occurring. This paper investigates how the frequency of extreme events may change in the future due to climate change over southern Africa and, in more detail, the Limpopo Basin using a set of climate change projections from several regional climate model downscalings based on an extreme climate scenario. Furthermore, the paper assesses the predictability of these indicators by seasonal meteorological forecasts of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) seasonal forecasting system. The focus is on the frequency of dry spells as well as the frequency of heat stress conditions expressed in the temperature heat index. In areas where their frequency of occurrence increases in the future and predictability is found, seasonal forecasts will gain importance in the future, as they can more often lead to informed decision-making to implement mitigation measures. The multi-model climate projections suggest that the frequency of dry spells is not likely to increase substantially, whereas there is a clear and coherent signal among the models of an increase in the frequency of heat stress conditions by the end of the century. The skill analysis of the seasonal forecast system demonstrates that there is a potential to adapt to this change by utilizing the weather forecasts, given that both indicators can be skilfully predicted for the December–February season, at least 2 months ahead of the wet season. This is particularly the case for predicting above-normal and below-normal conditions. The frequency of heat stress conditions shows better predictability than the frequency of dry spells. Although results are promising for end users on the ground, forecasts alone are insufficient to ensure appropriate response. Sufficient support for appropriate measures must be in place, and forecasts must be communicated in a context-specific, accessible and understandable format.


The goal of an ad hoc network is to create a wireless connection when needed between nodes. Regarding Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1) the so-called state machine based on the selection box is responsible for the Frequency Hopping (FH). In this state machine a particular sub-state (random backoff) is heavily involved in the time-to-connect between two devices.


Young adulthood is a time of transition which poses particular challenges for youth who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including those exiting foster care. The instability of being homeless puts youth at greater risk of many poor outcomes. Connection to relevant housing resources and services are critical to ensure that young adults have the opportunity to succeed. Better aligning youths' needs with relevant housing resources can help young adults become and remain stably housed, leading to better lifetime outcomes. This study presents a typology of young adults who exit foster care and residential programs for homeless young adults, including emergency shelters and transitional living programs. The study uses administrative data to follow a cohort of 8,795 young adults, including young parents and unaccompanied young adults from ages 18 through 21, who exited foster care or homeless services. Using sequence analysis, subsequent service use after exit, including utilization of homeless services, hospitals, jail, subsidized housing, and supportive housing,  was used to build three-year trajectories of service use patterns of youth. These patterns were then grouped together based on similarity using cluster analysis to form six distinct groups of youth: (1) Minimal Service Use, (2) Later Homeless Experience, (3) Earlier Homeless Experience, (4) Consistent Subsidized Housing, (5) Consistent Supportive Housing, and (6) Frequent Jail Stays. Profiles were developed for each typology to comprehensively, but concisely, describe differences in the characteristics of each group of youth. Models were also developed to determine factors that were predictive of each typology. This typology is being used to inform prioritization processes for housing resources and to better understand how to target programs based on potential pathways of youth.


The population of Iceland is becoming more culturally and linguistically diverse, and Poles constitute the largest of the national minorities in the country. The goal of this study was to examine the patterns of language use of Poles in Iceland, and how much English and/or Icelandic they speak including whether this usage varies by gender, age, education and an individuals ́ intended length of residence in Iceland. The data was gathered by the means of 33 surveys (conducted in the form of an interview) of 17 women and 16 men. The findings indicated that English is used more often than Icelandic by Polish residents of Iceland, and that the English language is also believed to be more useful than Icelandic. The results also suggest that the English language is more prevalent than Icelandic in terms of its daily use for many Poles in Iceland for activities such as working, shopping or socializing, and at also that the English language is being acquired by many Poles prior to Icelandic because of its regular use and high exposure in Iceland.


The ICT industry has struggled with performance in the last 10 years. Tools, processes, and techniques have been developed in attempts to improve performance. Three of the most recent proposed solutions which have shown previous results of success include decreasing the size of projects, using agile project management, and using the best value approach. This paper will focus on differentiating between the three approaches and introduces the latest solution, the best value approach. After analyzing the three approaches, the paper proposes that the best value approach is the only one that requires the utilization of expertise. Using a case study of Schuberg Philis, the paper proposes that the Schuberg Philis model uses the agile approach but has most of the characteristics of the best value approach. In the course of the study and analysis, the Schuberg Philis company has moved from the agile approach to the Best Value approach.


Abstract. This study examines the complexity of various processes influencing summertime ozone levels in the southern Great Lakes region of North America. Results from the Border Air Quality and Meteorology (BAQS-Met) field campaign in the summer of 2007 are examined with respect to land-lake differences and local meteorology using a large array of ground-based measurements, aircraft data, and simulation results from a high resolution (2.5 km) regional air-quality model, AURAMS. Analyses of average ozone mixing ratio from the entire BAQS-Met intensive campaign period support previous findings that ozone levels are higher over the southern Great Lakes than over the adjacent land. However, there is great heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of surface ozone over the lakes, particularly over Lake Erie during the day, with higher levels located over the southwestern end of the lake. Model results suggest that some of these increased ozone levels are due to local emission sources in large nearby urban centers. While an ozone reservoir layer is predicted by the AURAMS model over Lake Erie at night, the land-lake differences in ozone mixing ratios are most pronounced during the night in a shallow inversion layer of about 200 m above the surface. After sunrise, these differences have a limited effect on the total mass of ozone over the lakes and land during the day, though they do cause elevated ozone levels in the lake-breeze air in some locations. The model also predicts a mean vertical circulation during the day with an updraft over Detroit-Windsor and downdraft over Lake St. Clair, which transports ozone up to 1500 m above ground and results in high ozone over the lake. Oscillations in ground-level ozone mixing ratios were observed on several nights and at several ground monitoring sites, with amplitudes of up to 40 ppbv and time periods of 15–40 min. Several possible mechanisms for these oscillations are discussed, but a complete understanding of their causes is not possible given current data and knowledge.


This paper proposes a food image classification method using local textural patterns and their global structure to describe the food image. In this paper, a visual codebook of local textural patterns is created by employing Scale Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT) interest point detector with the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) feature. In addition to describing the food image using local texture, the global structure of the food object is represented as the spatial distribution of the local textural structures and encoded using shape context. We evaluated the proposed method on the Pittsburgh Fast-Food Image (PFI) dataset. Experimental results showed that the proposed method could obtain better performance than the baseline experiment on the PFI dataset.


Abstract. Continuous carbon monoxide (CO) total column densities above the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) campus in Mexico City have been derived from solar absorption infrared spectroscopic measurements since October 2007. Its diurnal evolution is used in the present study in conjunction with other ground-based and satellite data to develop a top-down emission estimate of the annual CO emission of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). The growth-rate of the total column around noon under low ventilation conditions is calculated and allows us to derive the average surface emission-flux at UNAM, while similar measurements taken at the edge of the MCMA in Tecamac provide information on background CO levels in the Mexico basin. Based on 3 yr of measurements, CO column measurements from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) satellite instrument are used to reconstruct the spatial distribution of this anthropogenic pollutant over the MCMA. The agreement between the measured columns of the satellite and ground-based measurements is excellent, particularly when a comparison strategy based on time-displaced air masses is used. The annual emission of the Mexico Megacity is estimated to be (2.15 ± 0.5) Tg yr −1 for the year 2008, while the official inventory for that year reported 1.6 Tg yr −1 . The difference is slightly higher than the conservative uncertainty estimated in this work suggesting that the emission might be underestimated by the conventional bottom-up method. A larger discrepancy is found in the spatial distribution of the emissions, when comparing the emission flux over UNAM (derived from the ground-based measurement) with that of the inventory integrated over a representative area. The methodology presented here represents a new and useful strategy to evaluate the contribution of megacities to the global anthropogenic gas emissions. Additionally, three different strategies to compare ground and space-based measurements above an inhomogeneous and strongly contaminated area like Mexico City are presented and discussed.


Abstract The end-Guadalupian extinction, at the end of the Middle Permian, is thought to have been one of the largest biotic crises in the Phanerozoic. Previous estimates suggest that the crisis eliminated 58% of marine invertebrate genera during the Capitanian stage and that its selectivity helped the Modern evolutionary fauna become more diverse than the Paleozoic fauna before the end-Permian mass extinction. However, a new sampling-standardized analysis of Permian diversity trends, based on 53731 marine invertebrate fossil occurrences from 9790 collections, indicates that the end-Guadalupian "extinction" was actually a prolonged but gradual decrease in diversity from the Wordian to the end of the Permian. There was no peak in extinction rates; reduced genus richness exhibited by all studied invertebrate groups and ecological guilds, and in different latitudinal belts, was instead driven by a sharp decrease in origination rates during the Capitanian and Wuchiapingian. The global diversity decrease was exacerbated by changes in beta diversity, most notably a reduction in provinciality due to the loss of marine habitat area and a pronounced decrease in geographic disparity over small distances. Disparity over moderate to large distances was unchanged, suggesting that small-scale beta diversity changes may have resulted from compression of bathymetric ranges and homogenization of onshore-offshore faunal gradients stemming from the spread of deep-water anoxia around the Guadalupian/Lopingian boundary. Although tropical invertebrate genera were no more likely than extratropical ones to become extinct, the marked reduction in origination rates during the Capitanian and Wuchiapingian is consistent with the effects of global cooling (the Kamura Event), but may also be consistent with other environmental stresses such as anoxia. However, a gradual reduction in diversity, rather than a sharp end-Guadalupian extinction, precludes the need to invoke drastic extinction mechanisms and indicates that taxonomic loss at the end of the Paleozoic was concentrated in the traditional end-Permian (end-Changhsingian) extinction, which eliminated 78% of all marine invertebrate genera.


Background and Purpose— Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) designates patients with nonlacunar cryptogenic ischemic strokes in whom embolism is the likely stroke mechanism. It has been hypothesized that anticoagulation is more efficacious than antiplatelet therapy for secondary stroke prevention in ESUS patients. We review available information about ESUS. Methods— Systematic literature review to assess the frequency of ESUS, patient features, and prognosis using PubMed from 2014 to present, unrestricted by language. Results— On the basis of 9 studies, the reported frequency of ESUS ranged from 9% to 25% of ischemic strokes, averaging 17%. From 8 studies involving 2045 ESUS patients, the mean age was 65 years and 42% were women; the mean NIH stroke score was 5 at stroke onset (4 studies, 1772 ESUS patients). Most (86%) ESUS patients were treated with antiplatelet therapy during follow-up, with the annualized recurrent stroke rate averaging 4.5% per year during a mean follow-up of 2.7 years (5 studies, 1605 ESUS patients). Conclusions— ESUS comprises about 1 ischemic stroke in 6. Patients with ischemic stroke meeting criteria for ESUS were relatively young compared with other ischemic stroke subtypes and had, on average, minor strokes, consistent with small emboli. Retrospective methods of available studies limit confidence in stroke recurrence rates but support a substantial (>4% per year) rate of stroke recurrence during (mostly) antiplatelet therapy. There is an important need to define better antithrombotic prophylaxis for this frequently occurring subtype of ischemic stroke.


This paper analyzes how development cooperation can actively support democratic governance through cooperation in the water sector. To answer this question, we develop an analytical approach based on democratization research and on water governance research. We tested the approach in three donor-supported water projects in Morocco and carried out over seventy interviews with key stakeholders.
Our findings show (a) key factors influencing the scope for external support for democratic governance in the water sector, (b) potential negative effects of the support when local elites grasp new resources, and (c) unintended positive spill-over effects of water projects on democratic governance within and beyond the sector (for instance, strengthening formerly marginalized groups). As these empirical findings suggest, there is a potentially large scope of action for supporting democratic governance through water sector cooperation. We therefore highlight the need for more analytical and empirical research on causal interlinkages between these two fields of intervention.


BACKGROUND
Hemodialysis patients (HD) display high rates of cardiac disease and mortality. The cardiovascular morbidity and mortality of HD patients is attributable in a significant proportion to endothelial dysfunction, arterial stiffness, and vascular calcifications.

AIM
To measure vascular reactivity in HD subjects and compare them with healthy volunteers.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Forty eight non diabetic patients aged 58 ± 4.6 years (29 males) on hemodialysis for a mean lapse of 4.8 years were studied. Arterial stiffness was measured in the radial artery. Pulse wave velocity was measured by noninvasive peripheral arterial tonometry in carotid and femoral arteries. Endothelial function was assessed, measuring reactive hyperemia response after a 5 min period of ischemia. As a control, all values were also measured in age and gender-matched healthy volunteers.

RESULTS
Arterial stiffness was significantly higher in HD patients than controls (23.9 ± 3.3 and 18.4 ± 3.4% respectively, p < 0.05). HD subjects had an increased pulse wave velocity (10.0 ± 0.8 and 7.6 ± 0.9 m/s respectively, p < 0.05). A reduction in the change in pulse amplitude pressure, as a measure of arterial dysfunction, was only observed in male patients (1.7 ± 0.4 and 2.7 ± 0.4 respectively p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS
Noninvasive assessment of peripheral vascular function may be useful for the identification of patients at risk for late cardiac events.


The pancake puzzle is a standard benchmark domain used to test search algorithms, and the gap heuristic is the state-of-the-art heuristic function most often used in such tests. In this work, we analyze the accuracy of this heuristic and identify ways to enhance it. We begin by showing that in the worst-case, the amount that the gap heuristic underestimates the optimal cost of a pancake puzzle state can be linear in the number of pancakes in the stack. However, empirical analysis suggests that it is extremely rare that the gap heuristic underestimates the optimal cost by more than two. We then identify several simple methods that can be used to generate large sets of problems on which the gap heuristic underestimates the optimal cost by a larger amount than it typically does on random permutations. In doing so, we provide new pancake puzzle test sets that can be used to evaluate how search algorithms behave when the heuristic is inaccurate. We also formally characterize states according to the size of the heuristic plateaus around them. This characterization allows us to efficiently compute a two-step look ahead of the gap heuristic on any state, which we can use alongside a state's dual to further improve heuristic accuracy. These enhancements substantially improve the performance of an IDA*-based pancake problem solver on both the existing benchmarks and the new ones proposed in this paper.


Increasingly, public transit authorities are harnessing advances in sensor, payment, and enforcement technologies to operate parking facilities more efficiently. In the short term, these innovations promise to enhance customer parking experiences, increase the effective supply of existing parking with minimal investment, and increase ridership and overall revenue. Over the longer term, these systems could further expand ridership by generating revenue to add parking capacity and improve access. This paper reports on the Smart Parking Pilot Project on the COASTER commuter rail line in San Diego (California, USA), which builds on the transit-based smart parking field test research conducted at the Rockridge San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) District station. The paper begins with a literature review of related parking technology, management and pricing strategies, and the optimization of parking resources at transit facilities. Next, the authors describe results of an initial pilot feasibility study. Finally, the phased smart parking implementation plan, carefully tailored to address key transit-related parking problems at the station and corridor levels, is described along with the pilot project's evaluation criteria.


The ability of 10 yeasts, isolated from the waste treatment system at a commercial rendering operation, to utilise tallow (20 g L"1) as a sole carbon source was investigated. One isolate, identified as Yarrowia lipolytica , demonstrated superior fat removal ability and consequently was chosen for further studies in the development of a microbial-based fat removal system. Initially, the influence of temperature, medium pH, agitation and nitrogen source was assessed in shake flask studies. Maximum tallow removal of 75% in 168 hours was achieved under the optimal conditions of 25°C, pH 7.0, 130 rpm and 0.4 g N L'1, irrespective of whether ammonium sulphate, urea or peptone was employed as the nitrogen source. Medium pH was controlled using 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer. Addition of glucose (1.0 and 10.0 g L'1) to the medium under optimal environmental conditions did not inhibit tallow removal and there was a concomitant use of both substrates. Acclimation of the yeast inoculum to lipids did not influence fat removal. The fat removal system was scaled-up to 2 L and 10 L fermentation. Under optimum aeration of 1 VVM and agitation of 500 rpm and 1000 rpm, the time required to achieve maximum tallow removal was significantly reduced from 168 to 65 hours in the 2 L and 10 L fermenters, respectively. Potassium was key to optimal fat removal with the requirement of greater than 60 mM K+ in the medium by the yeast. Cellular potassium levels of 80 nmol K+ (106 cell) ' 1 corresponded with maximum growth and fat removal. Extracellular biosurfactant production was detected under optimal growth conditions, which corresponded with emulsification of the tallow in the growth vessel. Y. lipolytica is a dimorphic yeast however, mycelial growth was not considered to play an important role in fat removal by the yeast.


Unsupervised learning of latent variable models (LVMs) is widely used to represent data in machine learning. When such models reflect the ground truth factors and the mechanisms mapping them to observations, there is reason to expect that they allow generalization in downstream tasks. It is however well known that such identifiability guaranties are typically not achievable without putting constraints on the model class. This is notably the case for nonlinear Independent Component Analysis, in which the LVM maps statistically independent variables to observations via a deterministic nonlinear function. Several families of spurious solutions fitting perfectly the data, but that do not correspond to the ground truth factors can be constructed in generic settings. However, recent work suggests that constraining the function class of such models may promote identifiability. Specifically, function classes with constraints on their partial derivatives, gathered in the Jacobian matrix, have been proposed, such as orthogonal coordinate transformations (OCT), which impose orthogonality of the Jacobian columns. In the present work, we prove that a subclass of these transformations, conformal maps, is identifiable and provide novel theoretical results suggesting that OCTs have properties that prevent families of spurious solutions to spoil identifiability in a generic setting.


Balachaturbhadra churna (BCBC) is an extensively used poly-herbal formulation of Ayurveda for pediatrics disorders.It is indicated for respiratory disorders, fever, diarrhoea, and vomiting. It is practiced as a potent immune enhancer in children. The present study was undertaken to evaluate immunomodulatory activity of BCBC to validate the classical claims of therapeutic efficacy made on it. The cell-mediated immune response was evaluated against triple antigen induced immunological paw edema in pre-sensitized rats. The humoral immune response against cyclophosphamide induced immunosuppression in sheep red blood cells (SRBC) pre-sensitized rats was evaluated by hemagglutination titer, ponderal changes, and histopathological studies. BCBC produced significant increase (P<0.05) in immunological paw edema in triple antigen pre-sensitized rats and significant increase (P<0.05) in hemagglutination titer value in humoral immune response compared to control and vehicle control groups. The drug had significant effect in reversal of cyclophosphamide induced immune suppression in thymus, spleen, and lymph nodes. The results indicate a significant effect of the BCBC on cell-mediated immune response and humoral immune response. The reversal of cyclophosphamide induced immune suppression of organs indicates cytoprotective activity of BCBC in rats.


Emotions are expressed more clearly on the left side of the face than the right: an asymmetry that probably stems from right hemisphere dominance for emotional expression (right hemisphere model). More controversially, it has been suggested that the left hemiface bias is stronger for negative emotions and weaker or reversed for positive emotions (valence model). We examined the veracity of the right hemisphere and valence models by measuring asymmetries in: (i) movement of the face; and (ii) observer's rating of emotionality. The study uses a precise three–dimensional (3D) imaging technique to measure facial movement and to provide images that simultaneously capture the left or right hemifaces. Models (n = 16) with happy, sad and neutral expressions were digitally captured and manipulated. Comparison of the neutral and happy or sad images revealed greater movement of the left hemiface, regardless of the valence of the emotion, supporting the right hemisphere model. There was a trend, however, for left–sided movement to be more pronounced for negative than positive emotions. Participants (n = 357) reported that portraits rotated so that the left hemiface was featured, were more expressive of negative emotions whereas right hemiface portraits were more expressive for positive emotions, supporting the valence model. The effect of valence was moderated when the images were mirror–reversed. The data demonstrate that relatively small rotations of the head have a dramatic effect on the expression of positive and negative emotions. The fact that the effect of valence was not captured by the movement analysis demonstrates that subtle movements can have a strong effect on the expression of emotion.


The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is often portrayed as a major source of instability and crisis in river basins of the U. S. West, where the needs of listed fish species frequently clash with agriculture dependent on federal irrigation projects subject to ESA Section 7 prohibitions on federal agency actions likely to jeopardize listed species or adversely modify critical habitat. Scholarship on Section 7 characterizes the process as unwaveringly rigid, the legal "hammer" forcing federal agencies to consider endangered species' needs when proposing operations and management plans for federally funded irrigation. In this paper, we identify barriers to an integrated approach to Section 7 implementation and characterize a set of strategies for overcoming its rigidity that may have broader applicability. We draw on lessons derived from the Klamath Basin along the Oregon-California border, where cross-scale processes and venues involving interagency collaboration among leaders in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation supported efforts to replace an ecologically and socially fragmented Upper Basin/Lower Basin approach to ESA implementation fraught with conflict. The result was the nation's first joint biological opinion (BiOp), which effectively institutionalized an adaptive, flexible, integrated approach to water sharing among competing interests. Keys to success included existing collaborative capacity related to shifting stakeholder networks, trust, and relationships and a shift in local agency culture facilitated by empathic leadership leading to a greater sense of shared responsibility for Section 7 compliance. A collaborative hydrologic modeling process enhanced participatory capacity, facilitated transformative social and technical learning, and cultivated greater understanding of the social-ecological system among key stakeholders. The 2013 joint BiOp exemplifies both governmental capacity for flexibility and evolution within the constraints of formal law and the potential for greater integration among federal agencies and between federal agencies and stakeholders involved in ESA implementation.


Medvedev, I. N., 2017. Vascular-platelet interaction in pregnant cows. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (2): 310–314 Balance of components' activity of thrombocyte-vessel hemostasis is the basis of the whole hemostasis process functioning in conditions of 'in vivo' and, thus, optimum of fl uidic blood features and adequacy of blood supply of all the tissues of an animal during whole its life. The aim is – to fi nd out physiological peculiarities of thrombocyte-vessel hemostasis of healthy cows during the normal process of pregnancy. The investigation was fulfi lled with the help of 47 healthy cows of black-variegated breed which were examined and investigated 7 times during pregnancy: on the day of insemination, on the 45th, 90th, 135th, 180th, 230th and 280th day of pregnancy. The received results of state evaluation of thrombocyte-vessel hemostasis of cows after successful insemination testify to the existence of physiological regularity in the dynamics of its separate components' activity. It was found that during pregnancy the cows were noted to have weakening of thrombocyte hemostasis component's activity and strengthening of vessel hemostasis component. It provides them with necessary hemostatic and fl uidic blood features, thus promoting the formation of optimal conditions for placenta blood supply and anabolism in fetus' tissues.


Security is vital for many multicast-based application and services. Secure group key management is on of the challenging problems for multicast communication with large number of members. Where for each membership variation the group key must be updated and redistributed to all currently active members only. This causes a higher communication overhead in large size multicast group with high number of users joining or leaving the group. Logical Key Hierarchy which uses the key tree structure is proposed to reduce the communication cost of rekeying procedure and reduces the required number of rekeying messages. Furthermore, batch rekeying is proposed to reduce the rekeying cost by preform rekeying in predefined intervals instead of updating the keys after each join or leave. In this paper, a new scheme based on multiple key trees is proposed. Instead of using only a single key tree multiple key trees are used and at the end of each batch time the algorithm decides which tree will be used to update the keys. This paper shows that utilizing multiple key trees can efficiently decrease the rekeying communication overhead using batch rekeying scheme in tree-based architecture.


Compared to previous research, present work extends existing literature by considering if market performance, in Athens Stock Exchange, alternates the mean-reverting properties of Closed-end Funds' discount and as a result affects potential realization of abnormal returns. Employing cointegration analysis, reported results indicate that, examining an equally weighted portfolio of funds, when market performance characterized as moderate, there is evidence suggesting market inefficiency while; during the recent turmoil period due to the credit crisis evidences do not indicate potential realization of abnormal returns. However, individual data examination gives mixed results.


In manufacturing companies, productivity and efficiency are the main priorities, besides an emphasis on quality issues. The outcome of this research contributes to increasing production quality and efficiency in manufacturing. The article deals with indoor manufacturing environments and the transportation processes of production assets—referred to as smart transportation. The authors modelled the objects present in the indoor manufacturing environment with ontologies including their affordances and spatial suitability. To support flexible production and dynamic transportation processes have to be tailored towards the 'needs' of the production asset. Hence, the authors propose an approach utilizing an ad-hoc suitability network to support the "optimal" path computation for transportation processes. The objective is to generate a graph for routing purposes for each individual production asset, with respect to the affordances of the indoor space for each production asset, and measurements of a sensor network. The generation of the graph follows an ad-hoc strategy, in two ways. First, the indoor navigation graph is created exactly when a path needs to be found—when a production asset shall be transported to the next manufacturing step. Secondly, the transportation necessities of each production asset, as well as any disturbances present in the environment, are taken into account at the time of the path calculation. The novelty of this approach is that the development of the navigation graph—including the weights—is done with affordances, which are based on an ontology. To realize the approach, the authors developed a linked data approach based on manufacturing data and on an application ontology, linking the indoor manufacturing environment and a graph-based network. The linked data approach is finally implemented as a spatial graph database containing walkable corridors, production equipment, assets and a sensor network. The results show the optimal path for transportation processes with respect to affordances of the indoor manufacturing environments. An evaluation of the computational complexity shows that the affordance-based ad-hoc graphs are thinner and thus reduce the computational complexity of shortest path calculations. Hence, we conclude that an affordance-based approach can help to decrease computational efforts for calculating "optimal" paths for transportation purposes.


Recently, neural networks based purely on self-attention, such as the Vision Transformer (ViT), have been shown to outperform deep learning models constructed with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on various vision tasks, thus extending the success of Transformers, which were originally developed for language processing, to the vision domain. A recent study showed that a similar methodology can also be applied to the audio domain. Specifically, the Audio Spectrogram Transformer (AST) achieves state-of-the-art results on various audio classification benchmarks. However, pure Transformer models tend to require more training data compared to CNNs, and the success of the AST relies on supervised pretraining that requires a large amount of labeled data and a complex training pipeline, thus limiting the practical usage of AST. This paper focuses on audio and speech classification, and aims to reduce the need for large amounts of labeled data for the AST by leveraging self-supervised learning using unlabeled data. Specifically, we propose to pretrain the AST model with joint discriminative and generative masked spectrogram patch modeling (MSPM) using unlabeled audio from AudioSet and Librispeech. We evaluate our pretrained models on both audio and speech classification tasks including audio event classification, keyword spotting, emotion recognition, and speaker identification. The proposed self-supervised framework significantly boosts AST performance on all tasks, with an average improvement of 60.9%, leading to similar or even better results than a supervised pretrained AST. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first patch-based self-supervised learning framework in the audio and speech domain, and also the first self-supervised learning framework for AST.


Case-based reasoning (CBR), as one of the problem solving paradigms in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), is an approach to the re-use of experience to solve problem. The aim of this research was to identify and evaluate existing and new approaches to elicit and formalise knowledge for context-aware systems as well as systems that are able to perform explanation-aware computing.
The research was centred on systems that employ the specific AI approach of CBR. The research identified positive and negative effects of knowledge formalisation as well as synergies of knowledge formalisation for context-awareness and explanation-aware computing. The research focused on a set of specific knowledge sources such as sensors, human experts, online sources such as web communities and social media as well as a combination of these sources. A set of knowledge formalisation approaches was evaluated during the implementation of six prototype systems, representing a series of product- and work-flow recommender systems. Example domains for the systems developed include CBR-based recommendation in audio mastering, gold ore refinement and travel medicine. Test data gathered from real-world use of the prototypes formed the basis for a quantitative and qualitative analysis to establish the performance and quality of the knowledge formalisation approaches used within the prototypes development. The outcome of this research work consists of new approaches to knowledge elicitation and formalisation for expert work-flow recommender systems, new approaches to context- and explanatory-knowledge formalisation in combination with software engineering techniques, new approaches to knowledge extraction and formalisation from web sources and contributions to the further development of the myCBR 3 software, an open source software for the rapid prototyping of CBR systems.


This article examines the interaction between school accountability and local control over revenue raising and resource allocation. In particular, it asks whether accountability policies are more or less effective at improving student outcomes in states with stronger local control. Local control is operationalized with multiple measures, including the percentage of education funding from categorical grants, state supreme court rulings overturning school finance systems, local entities' taxing authority, and principals' self-assessments of their ability to control school resources. Using the National Center for Education Statistics' Schools and Staffing Survey and National Assessment of Educational Progress, the article finds that accountability policies are more effective when there is greater local control.


Abstract Several enigmatic sedimentary structures are present in Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian terrestrial rocks of south Wales. These are millimetre ripples, wrinkle structures, 'cauliflower' and 'molehill' structures, calcretized matgrounds, 'pepper-pots' and 'fairy rings'. Most of the structures occur on fine-grained sandstone bedding surfaces in both inclined and non-inclined red heterolithic deposits that form a large part of the Lower Old Red Sandstone in south Wales. These deposits consist of conspicuous units up to 3 m thick, comprising millimetre- to centimetre-scale laminasets of alternating mudstone and fine-grained sandstone, interpreted as muddy point bars on ephemeral channel margins, crevasse-splay lobes or distal flood-out deposits from ephemeral flow. They are rich in trace fossils reflecting animal locomotion, burrowing, foraging, ploughing and resting. Millimetre ripples and wrinkle structures are related to rapid growth of cyanobacterial mats on wet sediment surfaces, especially in films of standing water, that may have been a critical constituent of the food chain for terrestrial communities. Pustular 'cauliflower' and 'molehill' structures are preserved on tuffs and have been linked to algal blooms formed following an increase in nutrients due to ashfall into floodplain ponds. The tuffs are associated with a diverse ichnofauna indicating that opportunist colonizers took advantage of an abundant food source.


Phthiriasis palpebrarum is a rare cause of eyelid infestation caused by phthiriasis pubis (crab louse) that mainly infests the hair of pubis and inguinal regions, but rarely eyelashes and eyelid. It is an uncommon condition of pruritus still seen in developing countries with poor personal hygiene. These conditions may have unusual presentations which may be misdiagnosed as conjunctivitis, blepharoconjunctivitis, dermatitis, or blepharitis due to similarities in the signs and symptoms. We report a case of a young male with unilateral pruritus and irritation which showed numerous nits adherent to the eyelashes and multiple lice at the base of eyelashes at the upper lid on examination. The patient was successfully treated with mechanical removal of lice and nits, and pilocarpine 2% drop were applied locally. A typical case of unilateral phthiriasis palpebrarum infestation, which is an unusual case of pruritus, is highlighted. Meticulous examination with suspicion is essential for the prompt diagnosis and treatment.


This brief paper will discuss the harmonizing role of technology and interaction in a qualitative study on blended problem-based learning (PBL) within the context of academic development in higher education. Within academic development, and as both designers and tutors in blended PBL, it is important to seek best practices for how to combine instructional strategies in face-to-face and computer-mediated environments that take advantage of the strengths of each and avoid their weaknesses. A qualitative study of the lived experiences of 17 academic staff participants in a blended problem-based learning module was considered likely to provide a much-needed analysis of current thinking and practice on the potential of interaction in this form of professional academic development in higher education. Specific aspects of interaction (technical, peer, content and the learning experience) within blended problem-based learning tutorials are analysed to provides research-based information about the realities of delivering a PBL programme using technology. The study will argue that the intersection of PBL and learning technologies can offer different ways of teaching and learning that require exploration and reflection of pedagogy and technology as in integrated approach that must work effectively together. The synergy from the collaborative blended PBL approach in this module could result in the coherent and comprehensive provision of training, support and research work throughout higher education institutions.


Code smells are symptoms of poor design and implementation choices that may hinder code comprehension and possibly increase change- and fault-proneness of source code. Several techniques have been proposed in the literature for detecting code smells. These techniques are generally evaluated by comparing their accuracy on a set of detected candidate code smells against a manually-produced oracle. Unfortunately, such comprehensive sets of annotated code smells are not available in the literature with only few exceptions. In this paper we contribute (i) a dataset of 243 instances of five types of code smells identified from 20 open source software projects, (ii) a systematic procedure for validating code smell datasets, (iii) LANDFILL, a Web-based platform for sharing code smell datasets, and (iv) a set of APIs for programmatically accessing LANDFILL's contents. Anyone can contribute to Landfill by (i) improving existing datasets (e.g., Adding missing instances of code smells, flagging possibly incorrectly classified instances), and (ii) sharing and posting new datasets. Landfill is available at www.sesa.unisa.it/landfill/, while the video demonstrating its features in action is available at http://www.sesa.unisa.it/tools/landfill.jsp.


Scion wood of 'Caddo' and 'Desirable' pecan (Carya illinoinensis) was grafted onto the epicotyl of 1-month-old, open-pollinated 'Shaoxing' pecan seedlings for evaluation as a grafting technique to reduce the time to produce grafted trees. The results showed that seedlings grafted with ''base scions'' had higher survival than those grafted with ''terminal scions'' for both 'Caddo' and 'Desirable'. Also, grafting with paraffinic tape could achieve greater success rate than that with medical tape. The most ideal time to perform this grafting was late April in Nanjing, China, when pecan seedlings were about 35 days old. This study demonstrated that the technique yielded successful epicotyl grafting of >70%, and it could thus be applied in practice.


Transrectal real-time ultrasonography has proved to be a rapid and reliable technique for studying reproductive functions in cattle. Through ultrasonography it is now established that follicular growth occurs in wave-like patterns during each estrous cycle. It has been shown that follicular growth and regression continue during early pregnancy, as well as in the postpartum anestrous period. Ultrasound has also helped us to understand the influence of dominant follicles on medium and small follicles. Among the numerous demonstrated applications of ultrasonography, early pregnancy diagnosis, fetal sexing, and postpartum reproductive management appear to be promising areas for immediate application. The new information that has been generated through ultrasound has thrown light on hitherto poorly understood areas of ovarian follicular dynamics, corpus luteum function, pregnancy establishment, and embryonic development in cattle, thereby opening newer areas for research. Still there is great potential for the continued application of this technology to further our understanding of the reproductive processes and to maximize reproductive efficiency of the bovine species. The significant contributions of real-time ultrasonography to the study of bovine reproduction in general and its practical applications in particular are discussed in this paper. The need for taking up technology assessment studies and for the introduction of low-cost portable equipment are stressed. Literature search for this review was done by scanning Current Contents Series 1991-92, AGRICOLA 1980-92, and MEDLINE 1990-92.


For composite systems with a coarse decomposition it is usually more difficult to find a suitable Lyapunov function for the sub-systems that may no longer be of low order, and provides computational and analytical difficulties. In this paper, we present a constructive methodology of Lyapunov function in the case of coarse decomposition to analyze stability of the origin for a general class of nonlinear composite systems expressed in state variables as n first-order nonlinear differential equations. We need to find a storage function to be used as Lyapunov function. A family of this design can be constructed by recursive procedure of a different version of the same basic step: the augmentation by one equation at each step. The present results make use of graph-theoretic decomposition techniques in which the composite systems lead to a sequence of coarser subsystems. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the constructive methodology proposed.


Seshadri's claim [J. Opt. Soc. A23, 3238 (2006)] that the singularity in the simple complex-source point model is not nonphysical is disputed. The branch cut behavior is further discussed. Two different forms for the complex-source point model for a Gaussian beam are identified, corresponding to different choices for the sign of a square root or in terms of oblate spheroidal coordinates to two different branch cuts. One of these solutions corresponds to a beamlike solution, while the second gives a wave that radiates outward from the source. Both exhibit nonphysical singularities. These singularities are avoided by using a complex-source/sink model. The choice of branch cut is also important in defining the oblate spheroidal beams, based on spheroidal harmonics.


While Americans are arguably more committed than ever to the ideal of universal education, the drug war has effectively withdrawn this commitment to many children who are most at risk. It has done so in several related ways that we explore in this article. First, the drug war has combined with public school zero-tolerance policies to remove tens of thousands of adolescents from their public schools. Eighty-eight percent of public schools have zero-tolerance policies for drugs, and according to one recent study approximately eighty percent of students charged with drug or alcohol infractions are suspended or expelled from school. Second, denial of higher education has been adopted as an additional punishment for drug offenders. Under the Drug Free Student Loans Act of 1998, students who have ever been convicted of a drug offense are either temporarily or permanently ineligible for federal college loans and grants. This law has led to the withdrawal from school of thousands of college students who have no alternative means of paying for their education. As to drug offenders in prison, their access to higher education had already effectively been terminated by a 1994 law that excluded all prisoners from Pell Grants, the federal college aid program that had engendered numerous college programs in prison. Finally, the war on drugs has targeted mssive numbers of drug users - addicts, serious abusers, and casual users alike - and siphoned them out of society and into prison. Whether wittingly or not, Americans have fully embraced that tradeoff for many years now: we are more interested in segregating and punishing drug offenders than educating them. The war on drugs has spawned a second front - a war on education. The casualties of this war are all poor or lower-income people who cannot afford to buy a private education. This article details the consequences of this other war, and explores some legislative and litigation strategies for reclaiming educational opportunity for all Americans.


The conventional wisdom is that in the fight against doping, the government is in the best position to clean up sport and protect the integrity of competition. The premise underlying this assumption is that in the United States, sport is private, so that the government typically has no role in its regulation. It is now, advocates suggest, with the integrity of sport on the line, the government should move off the sidelines and take action. This essay challenges that premise by arguing that with respect to doping in sports the government has not merely been a sidelines observer, but was actively reaping the benefits that performance-enhanced victories produced. Accordingly, this essay aims to examine the issue of doping in sports, particularly in the American Olympic Movement, in a new light. Our current focus has been on individual athletes making misguided choices in an attempt to short-cut the usual path to athletic success. This essay seeks to expand that view, by arguing that the individual stories of cheating through doping have taken place in a win-at-all-costs sports paradigm that was fully supported by the government, which for decades did little to address the issue. Now, with the United States' international image on the line, the government is tackling the issue seemingly with full force, using its power and influence to clean up sport. Examining more fully the government relationship to sports doping, and now its response, is important, because it can illuminate ways that the government's anti-doping initiatives can threaten athletes' rights and ultimately undermine the movement to eradicate doping in sport.


Oil reservoirs constitute deep geological environments with diverse physicochemical in situ conditions where indigenous microbial communities are supposed to grow or survive, if these conditions are not too drastic for life (e.g., extreme temperatures or salinity). Nevertheless, although the existence of indigenous populations in oil fields has been widely admitted, direct proofs of their existence are scarce in the literature. This chapter discusses about the main reasons of this lack of information, together with the data in favor of the existence of indigenous bacterial communities in oil fields. The term indigenous is used in its narrowest sense, i.e., to designate those bacteria that are not supposed to have been introduced into the environment during reservoir development. In oil reservoirs where the metabolic activity may be controlled by the supply of limiting nutrients and electron acceptors, the high metabolic rates required to repair the rapidly degrading cell components are unlikely to be sustainable. Altogether, these considerations indicate that heterotrophic life ceases at approximately 80°C in petroleum reservoirs.


We introduce banks, modeled as in Diamond and Rajan (JoF 2000 or JPE 2001), into a standard DSGE model and use this framework to study the role of banks in the transmission of shocks, the effects of monetary policy when banks are exposed to runs, and the interplay between monetary policy and Basel-like capital ratios. In equilibrium, bank leverage depends positively on the uncertainty of projects and on the bank's "relationship lender" skills, and negatively on short term interest rates. A monetary restriction reduces leverage, while a productivity or asset price boom increases it. Procyclical capital ratios are destabilising; monetary policy can only partly offset this effect. The best policy combination includes mildly anticyclical capital ratios and a response of monetary policy to asset prices or leverage.


Decellularization and Recellularization Processes for Whole Porcine Kidneys Nafiseh Poornejad Department of Chemical Engineering, BYU Doctor of Philosophy Concern over kidney disease has increased dramatically in recent years within the medical community. It is estimated that approximately one in fifteen Americans, nearly 20 million people, experience chronic kidney disease with most of those diagnosed progressing to kidney failure. The ultimate treatment available for end stage renal failure is whole kidney transplantation. However, there are very few kidneys available for patients to receive and those patients who are fortunate enough to receive an organ must remain on immunosuppressive medication for the remainder of their lives. The United States Department of Health & Human Services have reported that 18 people die every day while on the waiting list for organ donations. The treatment is fairly successful as 69% of patients who receive a kidney transplant are still alive 5 years after the transplant. Tissue engineered organs could be a promising alternative for whole organ transplantation. The overall objective is to repopulate appropriate decellularized scaffolds from pigs, which are not immunogenic, with a patient's own cells to achieve a functional organ. Therefore, there would be an inexhaustible source of organs ready for transplantation without the risk of immune rejection. The naturally obtained scaffolds devoid of immunogens are a potential matrix to create artificial kidneys. Repopulation of decellularized rat kidneys with renal progenitor cells has been reported in previous studies. This dissertation reports the scale-up of the previous technology and building of partially functional human-sized kidneys. In the first step, we investigated various cell lysing agents and developed an automated decellularization procedure for whole porcine kidney decellularization. We also developed a preservation method for native and decellularized kidneys to avoid spoilage before and after decellularization. We also developed a decontamination procedure for whole porcine kidneys. Finally, we recellularized whole porcine kidney scaffolds with renal epithelial cells and achieved partial repopulation of the renal structure.


AbstractThe Top Khuff is a major regional seismic marker in Saudi Arabia with an apparent strong and consistent amplitude interpreted as a large impedance contrast between the Khuff carbonate and the overlying Sudair shale. However, the effective Top Khuff response is, in fact, a complex reflection of a stack of thin beds of highly contrasting impedance with significant lateral variations in reflectivity and thickness. Interference among these reflected waves disturbs the amplitude strength and effective reflection time of the Top Khuff and alters the phase and frequency bandwidth of the reflection wavelet. Variations in the Top Khuff amplitude and reflection wavelet were quantified using a Ricker wavelet and solved as an inverse problem with four model parameters: reflection coefficient, reflection time, phase, and frequency. These model parameters are interrelated, and the effective seismic response in a complex situation is a compromise among them. The fit of the Ricker wavelet with the Top Khuff ampli...


This article tries to address some of the challenges of public administration in Bangladesh. By ensuring effective implementation of some in-built mechanism of bureaucracy and making provision of devolution type decentralization system, independent judiciary, ombudsman, ensuring effective role of participatory management, parliamentary committees, political pluralism, vibrant civil society, responsible media etc. bureaucracy can be made accountable. Openness and free flow of information regarding government policies, programs and projects can help in ensuring transparency. Powerful and effective anti-corruption commission by which misappropriation, defalcation of public fund or any kind of corrupt practices can be treated quickly with necessary punitive actions, measures for checking political corruption in public-sector can reduce corruption in public administration. Effective personnel management i.e. recruitment, training, promotion, transfer policy, result oriented performance evaluation system, rationalization of pay structure, modernization of office equipment, standardization of services, fruitful monitoring system, system of reward and punishment, modern budgetary and tax system, capacity building of personnel of legislative, judicial and executive branches etc. can help in overcoming the hurdles and challenges of public administration in Bangladesh.


Optical devices are necessary to meet the anticipated future requirements for ultrafast and ultrahigh bandwidth communication and computing. All optical information processing can overcome optoelectronic conversions that limit both the speed and bandwidth and are also power consuming. The building block of an optical device/circuit is the optical waveguide, which enables low-loss light propagation and is thereby used to connect components and devices. This chapter reviews optical waveguides and their classification on the basis of geometry (Non-Planar (Slab/Optical Fiber)/Planar (Buried Channel, Strip- Loaded, Wire, Rib, Diffused, Slot, etc.)), refractive index (Step/Gradient Index), mode propagation (Single/Multimode), and material platform (Glass/Polymer/Semiconductor, etc.). A comparative analysis of waveguides realized in different material platforms along with the propagation loss is also presented.


This study investigates the effect of ozone (O 3) deposition on ground level O 3 concentrations and subsequent human health and ecosystem risk under hot summer "heat wave" type meteorological events. Under such conditions, extended drought can effectively "turn off" the O 3 vegetation sink leading to a substantial increase in ground level O 3 concentrations. Two models that have been used for human health (the CMAQ chemical transport model) and ecosystem (the DO3SE O3 deposition model) risk assessment are combined to provide a powerful policy tool capable of novel integrated assessments of O 3 risk using methods endorsed by the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. This study investigates 2006, a particularly hot and dry year during which a heat wave occurred over the summer across much of the UK and Europe. To understand the influence of variable O3 dry deposition three different simulations were investigated during June and July: (i) actual conditions in 2006, (ii) conditions that assume a perfect vegetation sink for O3 deposition and (iii) conditions that assume an extended drought period that reduces the vegetation sink to a minimum. The risks of O 3 to human health, assessed by estimating the number of days during which running 8 h mean O3 concentrations exceeded 100 μg m −3, show that on average across the UK, there is a difference of 16 days exceedance of the threshold between the perfect sink and drought conditions. These average results hide local variation with exceedances between these two scenarios reaching as high as 20 days in the East Midlands and eastern UK. Estimates of acute exposure effects show that O 3 removed from the atmosphere through dry deposition during the June and July period would have been responsible for approximately 460 premature deaths. Conversely, reduced O 3 dry deposition will decrease the amount of O 3 taken up by vegetation and, according to flux-based assess ents of vegetation damage, will lead to a reduction in the impact of O 3 on vegetation across the UK. The new CMAQ-DO 3SE model was evaluated by comparing observation vs. modelled estimates of various health related metrics with data from both urban and rural sites across the UK; although these comparisons showed reasonable agreement ther were some biases in the model predictions with attributable deaths at urban sites being over predicted by a small margin, the converse was true for rural sites. The study emphasises the importance of accurate estimates of O3 deposition both for human health and ecosystem risk assessments. Extended periods of drought and heat wave type conditions are likely to occur with more frequency in coming decades, therefore understanding the importance of these effects will be crucial to inform the development of appropriate national and international policy to mitigate against the worst consequences of this air pollutant.


INTRODUCTION
Tuberculosis is one of the leading infectious diseases with high morbidity and mortality in the developing countries. Tuberculosis is also rarely associated with hypercoagulable state and very limited literature is available on this association.

AIM
To study the haematological and haemostasis laboratory parameters, to correlate the abnormalities for a hypercoagulable state and to study the outcome with anti-tubercular therapy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study population included 128 patients with newly diagnosed tuberculosis. Anti-tubercular therapy naïve patients were studied for haemostasis parameters like Prothrombin time, Activated Partial Thromboplastin time, Factor VIII, Fibrinogen and D-dimer and haematological parameters like Haemoglobin, White Blood Cells, Platelet count, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), Lactate Dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein and albumin. At the end of the second month of anti-tubercular therapy, results were compared and analysed using statistical package for the social sciences software (SPSS).

RESULTS
Prothrombin levels were deranged in 50%. Activated Partial Thromboplastin time levels were deranged in 18%. Deranged Factor VIII levels were found in 35.15%. Fibrinogen levels were deranged in 57%. D-Dimer positivity was found in 57.8% patients. Anaemia was found in 75.78%, Leukocytosis in 49.21%, Thrombocytopenia in 37.5% and Hypoalbuminaemia in 75%. ESR levels were raised in 98.43%. Follow up comparison analysis revealed significant p-value for all the parameters except Factor VIII and Activated Partial Thromboplastin time. Similar trend was also observed within different groups of Tuberculosis patients.

CONCLUSION
Tuberculosis does favour a hypercoagulable state with increased risk of developing thrombosis and significant improvement with the anti-tubercular treatment alone.


BACKGROUND
Necrotizing external otitis (NEO) is a severe infection of the skull base that occurs generally in the elderly and/or in diabetic recipients. There are few data in the literature about the therapeutic management of this complex bone infection.

OBJECTIVES
To analyse relapses after NEO treatment completion, and to describe the clinical features of NEO.

METHODS
We performed a retrospective cohort study in the Lyon regional reference centre for the management of complex bone and joint infections. Consecutive cases of NEO from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2018 were included. The primary outcome was the relapse of NEO. Variables were analysed using Cox regression survival analysis with adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) and Kaplan-Meier curve.

RESULTS
Sixty-six patients were included. Median age was 75 (IQR 69-81) years and 46 (70%) patients were diabetic. Eleven patients (17%) had temporomandibular arthritis, 10 (15%) cranial nerve paralysis, 2 (3%) cerebral thrombophlebitis, and 2 (3%) contiguous abscess. Microbiological documentation was obtained in 56 patients and revealed Pseudomonas aeruginosa in 44/56 patients (79%). Nine (14%) cases had no microbiological documentation. Antibiotic therapy was dual for 63 (95%) patients. During a median follow-up of 27 (IQR 12-40) months, 16 out of 63 (25%) patients experienced a relapse. Fungal infection was significantly associated with relapse [aHR 4.1 (95% CI 1.1-15); P = 0.03].

CONCLUSIONS
NEO is a severe bone infection, mainly (but not exclusively) caused by P. aeruginosa, which occurs in elderly and diabetic recipients. Fungal infections at baseline significantly impact the outcome.


We present the first [C II] 158 μm luminosity function (LF) at z ∼ 5 from a sample of serendipitous lines detected in the ALMA Large Program to INvestigate [C II] at Early times (ALPINE). A study of the 118 ALPINE pointings revealed several serendipitous lines. Based on their fidelity, we selected 14 lines for the final catalog. According to the redshift of their counterparts, we identified eight out of 14 detections as [C II] lines at z ∼ 5, along with two as CO transitions at lower redshifts. The remaining four lines have an elusive identification in the available catalogs and we considered them as [C II] candidates. We used the eight confirmed [C II] and the four [C II] candidates to build one of the first [C II] LFs at z ∼ 5. We found that 11 out of these 12 sources have a redshift very similar to that of the ALPINE target in the same pointing, suggesting the presence of overdensities around the targets. Therefore, we split the sample in two (a "clustered" and "field" subsample) according to their redshift separation and built two separate LFs. Our estimates suggest that there could be an evolution of the [C II] LF between z ∼ 5 and z ∼ 0. By converting the [C II] luminosity to the star-formation rate, we evaluated the cosmic star-formation rate density (SFRD) at z ∼ 5. The clustered sample results in a SFRD ∼10 times higher than previous measurements from UV–selected galaxies. On the other hand, from the field sample (likely representing the average galaxy population), we derived a SFRD ∼1.6 higher compared to current estimates from UV surveys but compatible within the errors. Because of the large uncertainties, observations of larger samples will be necessary to better constrain the SFRD at z ∼ 5. This study represents one of the first efforts aimed at characterizing the demography of [C II] emitters at z ∼ 5 using a mm selection of galaxies.


This research is descriptive research at Local Government of Sub-Province Bojonegoro with title " Performance Measurement of Finance of Sub-Province Bojonegoro with method Value For Money". Purpose of this research is to explain finance performance of government Kabupaten Bojonegoro during period 2003-2006. Data analytical technique applied to explain finance performance of government Kabupaten Bojonegoro tesebut is do calculation to activity ratio, growth ratio, economics ratio, effectivity ratio, efficiency ratio from the year 2003-2006. Result of calculation financial ratios indicates that first of activity ratio in the year 2003 to 2006 indicating that usage of aloksi surplus funds many applied for public shopping meaned public shopping percentage applied to provide ever greater public economics facilities and basic facilities. Both growth ratioes of PAD shows number which are positive in the year 2004 and 2006, while the year 2005 showing negative number. This thing is because of amounts PAD obtained by pemeintah area lower than year before all. While earnings growth ratio in the year 2003 to 2006 showing positive number of waulaupun its(the percentage fluctuates. With knowing of growth for each component source of earnings and expenditure, can be applied with evaluating which potencys need to be paid attention and developed. Third economic ratio indicates that the year 2003 to 2006 in general can be told is economic because less than 100 % although tends to fluctuating. Fourth of effectivity ratio shows the year 2003 to 2005 in general is told have been effective because more than 100 % and the year 2006 not effective because less than 100 %. Fifth of efficiency ratio the year 2003 to 2006 showing kineja finance of government Bojonegoro efficient sedah because less than 100 %.


Electrodeposition has recently been shown to successfully create three dimensional micro- or nanostructures. Here we demonstrate that highly faceted metallic architectures are readily achieved by appropriate electrodeposition conditions. Three dimensional silver and copper mes-ocrystals with different shapes and size are potentiostatically electrodeposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite(HOPG)from simple sulfate and nitrate baths, respectively. The electrodeposition potential plays the most important role in determining the shape and size orf mesocrystals. For silver mesocrystals, individual crystals with a range of shapes and sizes are observed which are not influenced by steps in the HOPG substrate. However, when copper is electrodeposited at one distinct potential it tends to form either wires on step edges or particles on terraces. Upon application of a dual pulse potential technique, well defined highly faceted copper mesocrystals are produced.


Assigning an economic value to a given environmental asset has helped conservation proposals, and valuing these assets at levels comparable to market rates facilitates the establishment of environmental policies. Thus, this research aimed to assess the value of the species Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemao, using the method of contingent valuation to determine the maximum willingness to pay of frequent visitors to the Caruaru Fair, located in northeastern Brazil. Our results show that most interviewees agreed to participate in proposals to support species conservation, although the average willingness to pay (WTP) was relatively low compared to other surveys conducted in Brazil. However, a significant number of the interviewees had exceptionally low monthly incomes. Another relevant aspect of this research was the high number of people (98.5% of the informants) who were concerned about biodiversity conservation; many interviewees stated that the preservation of biodiversity is not a duty exclusive to the government or the people but rather a collective responsibility. Therefore, these findings may encourage the provision of public proposals for environmental conservation, along with other surveys or government actions funded by a society that has the willingness to pay for them. This study is the first economic valuation of a caatinga species, many of which are under threat of extinction.


An increased prevalence of hypertension in groups with high alcohol consumption has been recognized for a number of years. More recently, several studies have suggested an independent association between alcohol consumption and blood pressure levels in samples from general populations. Of 30 cross-sectional population studies reviewed, the majority reported small but significant elevations in blood pressure in those consuming three drinks or more per day in comparison with nondrinkers. In 25% of studies, elevations in blood pressure were also reported at lower levels of consumption; in about 40%, the blood pressure of nondrinkers was greater than that of those consuming one to two drinks per day. In two studies, one from the United States and one from Australia, the maximum contribution to the prevalence of hypertension of alcohol consumption greater than two drinks per day was estimated to be 5 to 7%; the contribution in men (11%) was greater than that in women because of their greater alcohol consumption. A prospective association of alcohol consumption with change in blood pressure was observed in five studies. In a small number of experimental studies, short-term falls in blood pressure accompanied alcohol restriction in both normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Uncontrolled observations in heavy drinking populations suggest that the effect on blood pressure of alcohol withdrawal may be lasting. However, firm conclusions about the long-term effects of alcohol restriction, particularly in moderate consumers who represent a large proportion in many populations, must await long-term controlled trials.


Corn prices have made a modest recovery following the sharp declines stemming from the USDA reports released on June 30. The recovery has reflected a combination of continued strong corn demand and a few concerns about yield potential. July 2011 corn futures reached a high just below $8.00 on June 10 and declined to a low of $6.15 on June 30. The price of that contract moved about $.55 higher in the first week of July. Similarly, December 2011 futures reached a high near $7.23 on June 9, declined to $5.75 on July 1, and then moved about $.60 higher by the close on July 8. Corn prices continue to react to a number of factors, including general economic and financial developments. Much of the price strength in July, however, has been associated with indications of continued strong demand and some ongoing concerns about potential yield and production. Based on weekly estimates of ethanol production, it appears that ethanol production in June 2011 was 4.7 percent larger than in June 2010. To reach the level of production for the 2010-11 marketing year implied by the USDA's projection of 5 billion bushels of corn used for ethanol and by-product production, ethanol production in July and August needs to be only 0.3 percent larger than production of a year ago. While there is some threat that the tax credit for blending ethanol could be eliminated at the end of July, current blending economics suggests that ethanol production would not be immediately reduced in the absence of the tax credit. There is some ongoing disagreement above the amount of corn used for ethanol production. For the 2009-10 marketing year, USDA estimates of corn use imply a conversion rate of 2.74 gallons of ethanol per bushel of corn. Trade associations indicate that the correct conversion rate is 2.8 gallons per bushel and suggest that less corn has been used for ethanol production than implied by the USDA. The USDA's Feed Outlook report to be released on July 14 will contain an estimate of corn used for ethanol production during the third quarter of the 2010-11 marketing year. That estimate will indicate if any change has been made in the estimate of the conversion rate.


Traditional top-down conceptions of language policy and planning have been questioned by recent perspectives that advocate more localized accounts of language policy concerns in real-life social contexts. Schiffman's (1996) conception of linguistic culture is one of these bottom-up approaches, which focuses on covert language policies. This study investigates some aspects of such covert orientations of speakers of the Mazandarani language towards their local vernacular in the bilingual Mazandarani–Farsi context of northern Iran. It specifically attempts to explore the current linguistic culture atmosphere in terms of assumptions, prejudices, attitudes, and stereotypes with regard to Mazandarani. These aspects of public belief are particularly investigated as referring to language use in 'social situations', 'professional contexts', 'education', and 'media'. A group of 106 participants responded to a questionnaire that was aimed at eliciting their views on these linguistic culture domains as well as their 'attitude' towards Mazandarani. The study indicates that although the participants show very positive emotional attitudes towards their local language, their actual linguistic culture appears to be strongly in favor of the official national language, i.e. Farsi. Some concerns are raised as to the implications of such a loving-but-not-living linguistic culture for a more realistic understanding of language policy and planning.


The Lower Cretaceous presalt section in the Kwanza Basin contains an excellent petroleum system that includes "synrift" strata (Barremian) overlain by a "sag" interval (Aptian) and capped by the Loeme Salt. The upper synrift is generally limestone with widespread mollusk packstones and grainstones (coquinas) deposited in a fresh-to–moderately saline (alkaline) lake. The sag interval is characterized by carbonate platforms and silica-rich isolated buildups formed in highly evaporated, highly alkaline lakes. Shrubby (dendritic), microbially influenced boundstones and intraclast–spherulite grainstones accumulated in shallow water on platform tops. Microbial cherts were deposited as organic buildups on large, isolated structural highs basinward (west) of platforms, and they apparently formed at low temperatures in very alkaline lake water. Shrubby boundstones and microbial cherts have vuggy pores that are primary and result in high permeability. Wackestones and packstones with calcitic grains (mainly spherulites) in dolomite or argillaceous dolomite were deposited in slightly deeper, low-energy sag environments. In addition, clays (especially stevensite) precipitated out of the silica-rich, highly alkaline lake waters. During sag deposition, calcite precipitated on the shallow lake floor with morphologies that ranged from spherulites to shrubs and included a continuum of intermediate forms. Spherulites probably precipitated just below the sediment–water interface. Spherulites and shrubby calcites are commonly recrystallized. Spherulites floating in stevensite probably formed in deeper lacustrine environments. Organic-rich mudstones were deposited in even deeper lacustrine environments in synrift and sag intervals, and they are likely the source of most hydrocarbons in this system. These interpretations are supported by seismic, core, petrographic, and stable isotope data.


Great sturgeon (Huso huso) is one of the highly valuable commercial fish species and the major economic resources of Northern Iran. Currently limited data are available on the immunophysiological responses of this valuable species. Unfortunately, within the last decade the average annual sturgeon harvest including great sturgeon from the South Caspian Sea has drastically reduced due to increase pollution problem. Diazinon is one of the most important organophosphorus pesticide groups commonly used in Iranian agriculture, including northern Iran in which both are the natural habitat and aquaculture sites of great sturgeon. In addition also, previous studies had shown that motile Aeromonas septicemia disease is one of the main factors in high mortality outbreaks in the sturgeon farming, particularly whenever the fish immune system is suppressed by some toxicants. Thus, the main objectives of this study were: (i) purification and characterization of great sturgeon immunoglobulin (IgM); (ii) determination of 96-hour LC50 diazinon in great sturgeon; (iii) assessment of some immunophysiological variables of fish following exposure to diazinon; and (iv) assessment of some immunoresponses of fish following treatment with some immunostimulators i.e. glucan and Aeromonas hydrophila antigen. In the immune response assessment, the IgM purified by affinity chromatography under non-reduced condition was found to be 870 kDa, as estimated by SDS-PAGE, while the MWt of the heavy and light chains under reduced condition were estimated at 77-84 and 28-30 kDa, respectively. In the diazinon toxicity study, the LC50 value at 96-hour in fish weighing ca. 14 g under static water quality condition at 22°C was calculated as at 5.63 mg/L. Examination of haematological indices and tissue lysozyme of kidney, liver and spleen showed that exposure to diazinon at sublethal concentration of 1.5 mg/mL as long-term bath caused an effect similar to anaemia. Also, there were significant and insignificant changes in some blood parameters including immunocompetent cell populations, AST, ALP, ALT and LDH enzymes as well as chemiluminescence response of leucocytes at different days post-exposure to diazinon. An almost similar finding was observed when the glucan-injected fish (0.3 mg/kg bwt.) and fish immunized intraperitoneally with a single dose of formalin-killed A.hydrophila (5x107 cells/fish) were exposed to long-term, sublethal concentration of diazinon. However, some of these immunophysiological responses including respiratory burst, immunocompetent cell counts and lysozyme content were enhanced in both glucan-injected fish and immunized fish without diazinon bath. Also, the microagglutination antibody titer in immunized fish was higher than unimmunized fish.In light microscope examinations there were congestion, haemorrhages, focal and generalized necrosis, cellular infiltration, hyperplasia and lamellae fusion as major histopathological changes in the tissues of liver, kidney, spleen and gills of the fish exposed to sublethal dose of diazinon. Also, there were an increase in droplet materials blocking of club cell surfaces in nostrils and barbels tissues; a reduction in excretion of amorphous proteinaceous materials, increase in vesicle numbers and blockage of nostrils epithelial cell surfaces in diazinon exposed fish under scanning electron microscope examination.
In conclusion, short and long-term exposure of great sturgeon to diazinon at acute and chronic concentrations changes the basic blood cells constituents causing leucopenia, lymphopenia, neutrophila, erythropenia, hyperglycemia,hypoproteinemia and decreased in both specific antibody production and leucocytes respiratory burst. Thus, avoiding the exposure of endangered juvenile fish to this pollutant is highly recommended.
Key words: great sturgeon, Huso huso, diazinon, glucan, A. hydrophila, lysozyme, chemiluminescence response, antibody, immunocompent cells, immunoglobulin, LC50 96-hour.


This paper combines Audio Signal Processing and Virtual Reality (VR) content to create novel immersive experiences for orchestral music audiences. In VR, the auralization of sound sources of recorded live content remains still a rather unexplored topic. We aim to build a multimodal experience, where visual and audio cues bring a sonic augmentation of the real scene. In the particular scenario of orchestral music content, our goal is to acoustically zoom on a particular instrument when the VR user stares at it. This work aims to improve the learning aspects of music listening, either for education or for personal enrichment. We use audio signal processing to separate different sound sources (instruments) in a acoustic scene (orchestral music recording). Given the signals captured by multiple microphones and the musical score of the piece, our system is able to isolate the different instruments. From the processed separated tracks, we use a binaural rendering technique to emphasize a give instrument. For these experiments we used original content from top European orchestras.


The fifth Welfare and Safety of the Racehorse Summit was held 8–9 July 2014 in Lexington, Kentucky. Like previous summits, it was underwritten by the Jockey Club and Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation and hosted by the Keeneland Association. This summit has evolved from an identification of problems to being a good example of what the combination of data collection and analysis can accomplish with Thoroughbred horse racing. The programme was divided into various themes with several presentations and discussion following the presentations. The Chairman of the Summit was Mr Ed Bowen, President of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation.


This chapter provides an overview of Mancunian English, focusing on consonantal changes in progress in the dialect. It begins with a description of the most distinctive features of Manchester's vowels and consonants. This is followed by a quantitative exploration of the linguistic and social constraints on variation in T-glottalling, TH-fronting, and H-dropping, on the basis of a sample of 86 speakers stratified by age, gender and socio-economic status. H-dropping is a case of stable sociolinguistic variation, with working-class males showing the highest rates; there is a strong effect of grammatical category, with preceding and following segments also playing a role. T-glottalling in word-final position is a change nearing completion, initially led by working class males, with the youngest generation of Mancunians in all social groups showing high and comparable rates. Intervocalic T-glottalling is less advanced and shows more social differentiation; working class males are still leading it, but other social groups are catching up in the youngest generation. Both T-glottalling and TH-fronting appear to be male-led changes in Manchester. Internal factors, such as position in the word, following segment, and voicing, are shown to play a role as well.