One of the objectives of this research was to develop mathematical models for transient flow in a gas transmission system. Models were developed from the continuity and the momentum equations. Different approximations in the equations result in the formulation of two different sets of partial differential equations, and these are the hyperbolic and the parabolic models.
The Partial Differential Equations were numerically solved by an implicit finite difference technique. A Four Point Scheme was use to approximate the pressures, flows and their partial derivatives. With this scheme a second order accuracy for both spatial and time variables was achieved for both hyperbolic and parabolic models.

The nonlinear equation sets from the finite differences discretization process are solved by using a Newton-Raphson iterative procedure. This procedure resulted in the formation of a sparse Jacobian Matrix. This large matrix was then compacted algebraically to reduce the time of the numerical solution.

Although an implicit finite difference approximation was used in simulating the models, the important of the correct choice of the magnitude of the temporal and spatial steps should not be overlooked, particularly for high frequency disturbances 'Aliasing' problems will occur if temporal or spatial steps which are too large relative to the frequency of disturbance are used.

Comparisons between the response of the hyperbolic and the parabolic models with different input boundary conditions were performed. As a result, recommendations are made on how the different models should be used in simulating real pipeline systems.


Patricia Highsmith's first novel, Strangers on a Train (1950), is part of a lineage of American novels that depict the perils of aestheticizing class difference, interclass contact and social mobility. Highsmith's protagonist, idealistic architect Guy Haines, is, like Dreiser's Carrie Meeber, a rural naïf who imagines entering a world of beauty that transcends labor and exchange; he is also, like Nathanael West's Tod Hackett, a creative artist with a highly-developed feeling of disgust for mass culture and its admirers. But Guy is a product of post-World War II pressures on the professional-managerial class, pressures that tied that class's self-image to U.S. policy goals and severed its connection to the popular and proletarian. Guy's commitment to social climbing is sublimated into his beliefs in his classlessness and his investment in aesthetic purity. But the conviction with which he adheres to those beliefs makes him easy for a sociopathic killer to manipulate.


The Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site represents a unique hydrographical
oceanic environment to study the factors controlling bacterial growth dynamics. The region
was sampled at monthly intervals from 1991 to 1996. A typical annual cycle was defined by a
deep winter mixing, followed by an increasing stratification of the mixed layer through
summer and fall. There were striking seasonal patterns in phytoplankton productivity with a
strong maximum immediately following the deep winter mixing and the intrusion of inorganic
nutrients. Bacterial growth rates showed a similar pattern but had a secondary peak in late
summer/fall of the same magnitude as the spring bloom. Bacterial abundance showed only
slightly elevated concentrations in spring.
A number of time course storage experiments showed that bacterial abundance decreased by
24-50 % within 7-29 days in samples preserved with 2.5 % glutaraldehyde. By adding a
protease inhibitor prior to the addition of glutaraldehyde, the loss of bacterial cells was reduced
to 17-18 % over a 30 day period. These findings lead to the recommendation that samples for
bacterial abundance should be processed immediately for epifluorescence enumeration.
An average of 47 % of all bacterial cells passed the pore size of a Whatman GF/F filter and
these viable cells should be included in biomass estimates. An annual average of 26 % of
estimated C settled below the spigot of a Niskin water sampler. Consequently, C measurements
made on GF/F filters must account for the particles settling below the spigot of a water sampler
as well as the number of bacteria lost during the process of filtration.
This study is the first to present single cell elemental C, N and P measurements from natural
bacteria in the Sargasso Sea. A wide range in elemental content was found between single cells
and this could be expressed as a function of the cell size. By applying an average cell volume,
an annual average of 10 fg C, 1.9 fg N and 0.28 fg P was calculated per bacterial cell.
The average percentage integrated stocks of C in the upper 250 m of the water column, was
20 (phytoplankton), 18 (microheterotrophs) and 62 (other non-living detrital matter). Bacterial
biomass was higher than phytoplankton outside the spring bloom period, but non-living carbon
showed an overall dominance through out the year.
Phytoplankton generation time was relatively constant over the season. Bacterial generation
time was ten times longer and showed a greater seasonal variation, but largely followed the
changes in primary production. Assuming that 50-70 % of the bacterial cells were non-living,
the mean bacterial generation time was estimated to be 7 times (0-60 m) and 1.4 times (80-140
m) longer than phytoplankton generation time. During the spring bloom event, an average of
85 % of the bacterial growth rate was removed by grazing and viral lysis. This was the only
noted decoupling between growth and removal of bacteria at BATS. During the remainder of
the year bacterial growth was balanced by the loss rate, due to grazing and viral lysis.
A linear relationship was found between net DOC accumulation and primary production in
natural surface waters at BATS. Phytoplankton net DOC excretion constituted 42 % of the
primary production rate, while Trichodesmium colonies only excreted 12 % (puffs) and 23 %
(tufts). By using a conservative estimate of the bacterial growth efficiency (14 %) and the net
DOC accumulation rate from this study, gross DOC excretion was equivalent to the rate of
primary particulate C production. Results from this study suggests that bacteria at the BATS site
are using the majority of the DOC generated by primary production.
Prior to the spring bloom and the associated increase in DOC excretion, bacteria appeared to
be C limited in the surface waters at BATS. Following the peak in primary production and
coinciding with the depletion of inorganic nutrients in the euphotic zone, the bacterial cells
became less C starved, but never reached a true N or P limitation. Regenerated nutrients from
grazing and viral lysis of bacteria and new production by diazotrophic Trichodesmium colonies
and trichomes, may support the bacteria with N and P in the euphotic zone in summer and fall.
The substrate dependent growth and increase in biomass of bacteria exhibited at BATS in
spring, is indicative of a bottom-up controlled system, whereas the bacteria appeared to be topdown
controlled by grazing and viral lysis for the remainder of the year.


Mobile devices have become increasingly ubiquitous in the contemporary communication landscape. Riding this trend, educational apps have proliferated the market, with many which claim to support and improve children ' s learning and literacy development. Caregivers are often faced with the challenge of discerning the value of these educational apps and in choosing the appropriate apps for their children. In this paper, we discuss the development of a set of considerations to support caregivers in their curation of educational apps. This is done by performing a review of 28 past studies done on educational apps and synthesizing their findings to draw out common themes from the literature. These themes are then categorized into nine considerations in the form of guiding questions that caregivers can use to curate educational apps for their children ' s digital play and learning. In the final part of our paper, we apply the set of considerations to three educational apps to demonstrate its utility.


Part 1 Concept and elements of food security: The concept of food security - why food insecurity?, famines and relief what about the future? - elements of food security. Part 2 Production and supply: food staple and cereal production consumption self-sufficiency ratios adequacy of consumption food security status filling the consumption gap variability of food prices. Part 3 Factors contributing to domestic production: sources of growth and variability of production - an overview the regional setting resource base and environmental concerns input supply credit research and extension marketing pricing and distribution manpower women and household food security traditional crop development. Part 4 Entitlement: distribution of landholdings landlessness and near-landlessness land reform - an answer to access and landlessness? poverty, employment and real wages household coping strategies emergency food relief emergency production support for rehabilitation general and targetted approaches to food assistance evolution of food aid by use stabilization of prices and income micro-enterprises livestock and fisheries production participation - a key to entitlement food entitlement and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Part 5 The macro-economic environment and food security: internal macro-economic environment external macro-economic environment internal and international structural adjustments and food security the world beyond - North South and South-South relations. Part 6 Options for the future: general policies targetted policies at the international level regional policies. Part 7 A final word. Annexes: country groups growth rates food security index (food supply status, food supply trends, food production trend) internal balance status of developing countries nominal and real agricultural interest rates external balance status of developing countries export prices of cereals and soybeans export prices of selected food commodities, 1985-88 long-term net aggregate flows and net transfers to developing countries employment.


"Shades of Earth" is the final novel in the teenage romantic science fiction trilogy, from "New York Times" bestseller Beth Revis, author of "Across the Universe" and "A Million Suns". Perfect for all fans of "The Hunger Games". Across the Universe was longlisted for the prestigous Carnegie Medal. Amy and Elder have finally left the oppressive walls of the spaceship Godspeed behind. They're ready to start life afresh - to build a home - on Centauri-Earth, the planet that Amy has traveled 25 trillion miles across the universe to experience. But this new Earth isn't the paradise that Amy had been hoping for. Amy and Elder must race to uncover who - or what - else is out there if they are to have any hope of saving their struggling colony and building a future together. But each new discovery brings more danger. And if their colony collapses then everything they have sacrificed - friends, family, life on Earth - will have been meaningless...Praise for the "Across the Universe" trilogy: "A murder mystery, a budding romance and a dystopian world gracefully integrated into a sci-fi novel that blows away all expectation". (Melissa Marr, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Wicked Lovely"). "Entirely original, deeply compelling and totally unputdownable - I've found a new favourite!". (Carrie Ryan, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Forest of Hands and Feet"). "Revis has penned a fast-paced, action-packed follow-up with her dystopian, sci-fi thriller, "A Million Suns", that explores not only the nature of authority and loyalty but fear of the unknown and fulfilling one's personal destiny". ("LA Times"). "A riveting thriller about space travel, secrets, murder, and Realpolitik". (Kirkus, "Kirkus" starred review). Beth Revis, the "New York Times" bestselling US author of teenage novels "Across the Universe" and "A Million Suns". She wrote her first books whilst still at university, where she secretly jotted down stories instead of taking notes. Beth lives in rural North Carolina with her husband and her dog, where she splits her time between writing lesson plans, writing stories, and writing up plans to travel somewhere new.


The content of heavy metals in sediment and the aquatic plant Phragmites australis (roots and leaves), collected from six different stations along the Nil river, were determined providing information about heavy metals pollution status of this aquatic ecosystem. The results showed that the abundance of heavy metals measured in the sediments decreased in the order: Fe>Zn>Pb>Cr>Cd. Apart from Cr and Fe, the concentration of heavy metals exceeded the background values. Metals concentrations were found decreasing with the increasing distance from the river mouth, suggesting that anthropogenic inputs, related to agricultural and domestic discharge into the river, are the major sources of heavy metals in the river sediments and aquatic plants. The assessment of heavy metals pollution was carried out using geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and enrichment factor (EF). According to the mean values of Igeo, the sediment of Nil river is considered as moderately polluted with Pb and Cd, unpolluted to moderately polluted with Zn and unpolluted with Cr and Fe. The mean values of enrichment factor indicate that all stations presented moderate enrichment with Zn, minor enrichment with Cr and moderately to severe enrichment with pb and Cd in three stations. Regarding the plant samples, the results showed that the concentration of the elements analyzed in Phragmites australis did not exceed the threshold of phytotoxicity. Mean concentrations of all elements were less in the plants organs compared to the concentrations of the same elements in the corresponding sediment sample. Metals accumulated by P. australis were mostly distributed in root tissues, as shown by the values of translocation factors (TF) which were <1. A positive association between the metal concentrations in P. australis organs and its environment was also found; this suggests that this plant can be used as biological indicator in biomonitoring studies.


Quickly learn to program in C# programming with this unique book and video package C# 24-Hour Trainer, 2nd Edition is your quick and easy guide to programming in C#, even if you have no programming experience at all. Updated to align with the latest C# standard, this book is your comprehensive beginner's guide, with each lesson supplemented by a video, for over ten hours of video training. Each chapter focuses on a specific concept or technique, with detailed, easy-to-follow explanation followed by a hands-on exercise. The goals of each exercise are outlined in advance to help you understand what you're working toward, and step-by-step instructions walk you through the operation from start to finish. Complex areas are clarified with specifically highlighted pointers that head off confusion, and additional exercises are provided so you can practice your new skills. Full instructor ancillaries are included to make this guide classroom ready, and the author's own website offers ongoing support. C# has become one of the most popular programming languages in the world, with millions of lines of code used in businesses and applications of all types and sizes. This book helps you dive right in so you can start programming right away. Start right in with the latest C# standard Learn at your own pace, with hands-on practice Clear up confusion and work around common obstacles Build your own Windows, .NET, and mobile applications C# has become a increasingly popular and in-demand programming skillsets. If you've decided to learn C#, this 24-Hour Trainer is your ultimate guide.


We propose a novel hybrid multicore photonic crystal fiber in which the air holes between the cores are replaced with high-index rods. Using coupled mode theory and finite element method, we demonstrate that a spatially flat in-phase supermode can be achieved at the resonant wavelengths without mode shaping. Such a design is more robust to perturbations.


The objective of this research study was to develop a revised post section for the non-proprietary high-tension cable median barrier that improved the safety and function of the post by lowering strong-axis forces. A total of twenty dynamic component tests were performed, along with one cable pull test – ten tests with the 7-gauge C-section post, eight with the 10-gauge C-Section posts, and three with the Midwest Weak Post (MWP). The tests were conducted with the posts installed in either a compacted, crushed limestone soil or a rigid sleeve in order to determine the force vs. deflection and energy vs. deflection characteristics of the various post configurations. Although the C-section posts were found to provide up to 58.7 percent and 70 percent reductions in strong-axis forces through 10 in. (254 mm) and 15 in. (381 mm) to that of the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) posts, the C-section hinged at the location of the keyway when a keyway was punched in the posts and left a 15-in. (381-mm) stub sticking out of the ground. This behavior caused concerns for occupant compartment intrusions. Subsequently, the MWP was designed to bend over at the groundline while maintaining the desired strong- and weak-axis post forces. In dynamic tests, the MWP was found to provide up to 54.3 percent and 64 percent reductions in strong-axis forces through 10 in. (254 mm) and 15 in. (381 mm), as compared to the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) posts. The weak-axis forces were found to be up to 14.3 percent and 6.7 percent greater than the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) post through 10 in. (254 mm) and 15 in. (381 mm). These comparisons indicated that the MWP section had significantly reduced strong-axis capacity as compared to the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) post while maintaining similar weak-axis capacity to the S3x5.7 (S76x8.5) post, as intended.


Most of the improvements being discussed for investor-State dispute settlement involve proposals of ever more lengthy and intricate rules. This article proposes a different, perhaps complementary approach by looking at the ability and duty of arbitrators to preserve trust in the investor-State arbitration system. Indeed, arbitrators are uniquely positioned to act as the principal guardians of the system by conducting each proceeding in accordance with fundamental rules of due process and procedural fairness based on the agreed procedures and the rule of law. In so doing, arbitrators alone have the inherent authority and the opportunity, but also the duty to the parties appearing before them, to build and preserve trust from the ground up.


The growing literature on environmental migration presents conflicting results. While some find that natural disasters induce international migration, others discover a dampening effect. We aim to reconcile these differences by using a comprehensive list of weather shocks from the Philippines, a country prone to natural disasters and a major exporter of labor. We constructed a longitudinal provincial dataset (2005–2015) from an assemblage of administrative and survey datasets and tested linear, quadratic, and lagged models. Our fixed-effects results are consistent with both strands in the literature with caveats. First, Filipinos are more likely to work abroad when they experience less-intense tropical cyclones and storm warning signal but are more likely to stay with a more damaging storm warning signal. Second, differential effects of weather shocks on international migration contingent on agriculture exists. Third, non-environmental factors such as economic (unemployment rate) and infrastructure (number of high schools) also push Filipinos abroad.


GPU and other SIMD stream architecture have been used for accelerating packet processing applications. This paper explores the design space on GPU for sketch-based network traffic change detection application by using OpenCL parallel programming framework. Due to the parallel nature of sketch data structure, the computations can be mapped to OpenCL execution model on GPU efficiently. The sketch data structure is mapped to buffer object in device's global memory, and work-items are executed on the sketch in parallel. Compared to the sequential CPU implementation, the experiment results on Radeon HD 5870 GPU show that the hash computation and ESTIMATE operation achieved about 15 times and 9 times speedup, respectively.


Vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) have a potential to promote vehicular telematics and infotainment applications, where a key and challenging issue is the design of robust and efficient vehicular content transmissions to combat the lossy inter-vehicle links. In this paper, we focus on the robust optimization of content transmissions over cooperative VANETs. We first derive a stochastic model for estimation of time-varying inter-vehicle distance, which is dependent of the vehicle real-time kinematics and the distribution of the initial space headway. With this model, we analytically formulate the transient inter-vehicle connectivity assuming Nakagami fading channels for the physical (PHY) layer. We also model the contention nature of the medium access control (MAC) layer, on which we are based to evaluate the throughput achieved by each vehicle equipped with dedicated short-range communication (DSRC). Combining these models, we derive a closed-formed expression for the upper bound of the probability of failure in intact-content transmissions. Based upon this theoretical bound, we develop a robust optimization model for assigning content data traffic among different cooperative transmission paths, where the objective is to minimize the maximum likelihood of unsuccessful content transmissions over the cooperative VANET. We mathematically transform the optimization model to another equivalent form, such that it can be practically deployed. Finally, we validate our theoretical development with extensive simulations. Numerical results are also provided to confirm the power of cooperation in boosting the VANET performance as well as demonstrate the advantage of the proposed robust optimization in terms of content data reception reliability.


Is antitrust law up to the task of addressing the "New Economy"?That is the question many have asked in recent years. And that is one of the key questions addressed by the Antitrust Modernization Commission ("AMC"), a commission that Congress established in 2002 "to examine whether the need exists to modernize the antitrust laws."Because antitrust in fact is able to address the new economy, the AMC got the big picture right.The related middle picture is whether the antitrust laws - primarily sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and section 7 of the Clayton Act - can take into account innovation and intellectual property ("IP"). Because they can, the AMC also was right in concluding that the statutes do not need to be revised.The little picture involves more specific issues that the AMC did not address. One neglected issue, which the AMC had promised to review, involved "innovation markets," or markets for research and development. The Commission also sidestepped the most contentious issue in the IP-antitrust intersection today: patent settlement agreements between brand-name pharmaceutical firms and generic drug manufacturers.The wrong picture is composed of patents. The AMC, made up of antitrust attorneys and economists, offered no particular expertise in addressing the complicated topic of patent reform. But the Commission tiptoed into the area to offer one substantive recommendation. Given that it considered nine patent reforms, the AMC's sole focus on the "nonobviousness" doctrine demonstrates that it included a wrong picture in the new economy exhibition.


Abstract. Various studies indicate that high-resolution oxygen A-band spectrum has the capability to retrieve the vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud properties. To improve the understanding of oxygen A-band inversions and utility, we developed a high-resolution oxygen A-band spectrometer (HABS), and deployed it at Howard University Beltsville site during the NASA Discover Air-Quality Field Campaign in July, 2011. By using a single telescope, the HABS instrument measures the direct solar and the zenith diffuse radiation subsequently. HABS exhibits excellent performance: stable spectral response ratio, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), high-spectrum resolution (0.016 nm), and high out-of-band rejection (10−5). For the spectral retrievals of HABS measurements, a simulator is developed by combining a discrete ordinates radiative transfer code (DISORT) with the High Resolution Transmission (HITRAN) database HITRAN2008. The simulator uses a double-k approach to reduce the computational cost. The HABS-measured spectra are consistent with the related simulated spectra. For direct-beam spectra, the discrepancies between measurements and simulations, indicated by confidence intervals (95%) of relative difference, are (−0.06, 0.05) and (−0.08, 0.09) for solar zenith angles of 27 and 72°, respectively. For zenith diffuse spectra, the related discrepancies between measurements and simulations are (−0.06, 0.05) and (−0.08, 0.07) for solar zenith angles of 27 and 72°, respectively. The main discrepancies between measurements and simulations occur at or near the strong oxygen absorption line centers. They are mainly due to two kinds of causes: (1) measurement errors associated with the noise/spikes of HABS-measured spectra, as a result of combined effects of weak signal, low SNR, and errors in wavelength registration; (2) modeling errors in the simulation, including the error of model parameters setting (e.g., oxygen absorption line parameters, vertical profiles of temperature and pressure) and the lack of treatment of the rotational Raman scattering. The high-resolution oxygen A-band measurements from HABS can constrain the active radar retrievals for more accurate cloud optical properties (e.g., cloud optical depth, effective radius), particularly for multi-layer clouds and for mixed-phase clouds.


This research examines the economic origins of Islam and uncovers two empirical regularities. First, Muslim countries, virtual countries and ethnic groups, exhibit highly unequal regional agricultural endowments. Second, Muslim adherence is systematically larger along the pre-Islamic trade routes in the Old World. The theory argues that this particular type of geography (i) determined the economic aspects of the religious doctrine upon which Islam was formed, and (ii) shaped its subsequent economic performance. It suggests that the unequal distribution of land endowments conferred differential gains from trade across regions, fostering predatory behavior from the poorly endowed ones. In such an environment it was mutually beneficial to institute a system of income redistribution. However, a higher propensity to save by the rich would exacerbate wealth inequality rendering redistribution unsustainable, leading to the demise of the Islamic unity. Consequently, income inequality had to remain within limits for Islam to persist. This was instituted via restrictions on physical capital accumulation. Such rules rendered the investments on public goods, through religious endowments, increasingly attractive. As a result, capital accumulation remained low and wealth inequality bounded. Geography and trade shaped the set of economically relevant religious principles of Islam affecting its economic trajectory in the preindustrial world.


Small molecules have provided means to combat many diseases caused by pathogens. In the last six decades, advances in the structural and biological understanding of nucleic acid functions have led to rational drug design programs in order to solve current therapeutic challenges. The work described in this dissertation addresses discovery of aminoglycosides as novel binders to G-quadruplex nucleic acids. Understanding of effect of linker length on the B-DNA binding of a series of Hoechst 33258 derivatives have been provided. Novel Hoechst 33258 based monobenzimidazoles have been synthesized and their biological properties have been compared with the bisbenzimidazoles. The bisbenzimidazoles have been designed to be useful towards click chemistry applications. These clickable Hoechst 33258 derivatives were then used to prepare neomycin-Hoechst 33258 conjugates with varied linker spacing between them. The binding studies of these novel neomycinHoechst 33258 conjugates show intercalative binding of bisbenzimidazole moiety of the ligand to an RNA duplex. Finally, the novel neomycin-Hoechst 33258 conjugates have been screened against G-quadruplex forming promoter sequences and biophysical characterization to its binding has been provided. Overall, these studies have led to synthesis of novel small molecules that bind to various nucleic acids and their new binding modes have been discovered. The studies presented here are expected to help in the design of novel therapeutics.


Abstract. The record sea ice minimum (SIM) extents observed during the summers of 2007 and 2012 in the Arctic are stark evidence of accelerated sea ice loss during the last decade. Improving our understanding of the Arctic atmosphere and accurate quantification of its characteristics becomes ever more crucial, not least to improve predictions of such extreme events in the future. In this context, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite provides crucial insights due to its ability to provide 3-D information on atmospheric thermodynamics. Here, we facilitate comparisons in the evolution of the thermodynamic state of the Arctic atmosphere during these two SIM events using a decade-long AIRS observational record (2003–2012). It is shown that the meteorological conditions during 2012 were not extreme, but three factors of preconditioning from winter through early summer played an important role in accelerating sea ice melt. First, the marginal sea ice zones along the central Eurasian and North Atlantic sectors remained warm throughout winter and early spring in 2012 preventing thicker ice build-up. Second, the circulation pattern favoured efficient sea ice transport out of the Arctic in the Atlantic sector during late spring and early summer in 2012 compared to 2007. Third, additional warming over the Canadian archipelago and southeast Beaufort Sea from May onward further contributed to accelerated sea ice melt. All these factors may have lead the already thin and declining sea ice cover to pass below the previous sea ice extent minimum of 2007. In sharp contrast to 2007, negative surface temperature anomalies and increased cloudiness were observed over the East Siberian and Chukchi seas in the summer of 2012. The results suggest that satellite-based monitoring of atmospheric preconditioning could be a critical source of information in predicting extreme sea ice melting events in the Arctic.


Ruby on Rails is the super-productive new way to develop full-featured web applications. With Ruby on Rails, powerful web applications that once took weeks or months to develop can now be produced in a matter of days. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn't. If you're like a lot of web developers, you've probably considered kicking the tires on Rails - the framework of choice for the new generation of Web 2.0 developers. Ruby on Rails: Up and Running takes you out for a test drive and shows you just how fast Ruby on Rails can go.This compact guide teaches you the basics of installing and using both the Ruby scripting language and the Rails framework for the quick development of web applications. Ruby on Rails: Up and Running covers just about everything you need - from making a simple database-backed application to adding elaborate Ajaxian features and all the juicy bits in between. While Rails is praised for its simplicity and speed of development, there are still a few steps to master on the way. More advanced material helps you map data to an imperfect table, traverse complex relationships, and build custom finders. A section on working with Ajax and REST shows you how to exploit the Rails service frameworks to send emails, implement web services, and create dynamic user-centric web pages. The book also explains the essentials of logging to find performance problems and delves into other performance-optimizing techniques.As new web development frameworks go, Ruby on Rails is the talk of the town. And Ruby on Rails: Up and Running can make sure you're in on the discussion.


Although entrepreneurial activity is an important part of a capitalist economy, data about U.S. businesses in their early years of operation have been extremely limited. Only recently has it become apparent what important contributions new and young businesses make to job creation and innovation activities. As part of an effort to understand the dynamics of new businesses in the United States, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (the Foundation) sponsored the Kauffman Firm Survey (KFS), a panel study of new businesses founded in 2004 that are being tracked annually over their first eight years of operation. Tracking businesses over time allows us to follow business evolutions that would not be apparent in cross-sectional snapshots, the more typical collection method. The KFS dataset provides researchers with a unique opportunity to study a panel of new businesses from startup to sustainability (or exit), with longitudinal data centering on topics such as how businesses are financed; the products, services, and innovations these businesses possess and develop in their early years of existence; and the characteristics of those who own and operate them. The data collection has been completed, and data are available through calendar year 2011, the eighth year of operations for continuing businesses. Additionally, since our panel came into existence before the most recent recession, following these businesses allows us to get a picture of how young businesses in the United States have recovered or been affected. A series of tables give a broad overview of the 4,928 businesses included in the Kauffman Firm Survey that are nationally representative of startups from 2004.


Background In low-income countries, most infants are given cereal-based complementary foods prepared at the household level. Such foods are high in phytate, which limits the bioavailability of nutrients, including iron, calcium, zinc, and in some cases proteins, which are crucial to the development of infants. Objective To compare the levels of macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrate), gross energy, and fructose in sweet potato-based (denoted ComFa) formulations and enriched Weanimix (dehulled maize–dehulled soybean–groundnut blend with fish powder and sugar incorporated). The phytate level was also compared. Methods A composite flour of sweet potato and soybeans containing fish powder was processed by oven toasting as a home-based complementary food. Another blend containing skim milk powder was processed by extrusion cooking or roller drying as industrial-based prototypes. The macronutrient composition and the levels of fructose and phytate were determined in the ComFa formulations and enriched Weanimix. Results The ComFa formulations and the enriched Weanimix met the stipulated values in the Codex Alimentarius Commission standard for energy (400 kcal/100 g), protein (15 g/100 g), and fat (10 to 25 g/100 g) for complementary food, with the exception of the industrial-based ComFa formulations, which satisfied 83% of the protein requirement (15 g/100 g). The ComFa formulations had a quarter of the phytate level of enriched Weanimix. The fructose level in the sweet potato-based complementary foods was more than five times that in enriched Weanimix. Conclusions The sweet potato-based formulations were superior to enriched Weanimix as complementary foods for infants in low-income countries, based on the fructose (which makes the porridge naturally sweet) and phytate levels.


PREMISE OF THE STUDY
Autopolyploidy, or whole-genome duplication within a species, leads to closely related cytotypes in one geographic location. One hypothesized mechanism by which autopolyploids become established is climatic niche divergence from their diploid progenitor. Here we tested this hypothesis in diploid, triploid, and tetraploid Galax urceolata (Diapensiaceae) and predicted the effects of climate change on the relative distributions of these cytotypes.

METHODS
We investigated whether climatic niche divergence has shaped the current distributions of Galax urceolata cytotypes in eastern North America using climatic niche modeling, multivariate analyses of environmental space, and geographic range analyses. We then projected the models of the three cytotypes onto an ensemble of future climate maps to determine how the distributions might be altered over time.

KEY RESULTS
All cytotypes are geographically sympatric; however, climatic niche contraction and a slight niche shift of the tetraploids was observed relative to that of the diploids. Climate projections for all diploid and tetraploid cytotypes showed substantial range contraction without much, or any, range shift, suggesting that Galax urceolata will likely go extinct in nature as mountain refugia become warmer.

CONCLUSIONS
Galax urceolata tetraploids occupy a slightly wetter habitat than that of their diploid progenitors. While we cannot take into account future adaptation, our models suggest extensive decreases in range distributions for both diploid and tetraploid G. urceolata based on climate change projections. Galax urceolata may therefore be under extreme threat due to loss of suitable habitat, and conservation efforts will be needed.


We simultaneously identify two government spending shocks: military spending shocks as defined by Ramey (2011) and federal spending shocks as defined by Perotti (2008). We analyze the effect of these shocks on state-level personal income and employment. We find regional patterns in the manner in which both shocks affect state-level variables. Moreover, we find differences in the propagation mechanisms for military versus non-military spending shocks. The former benefits economies with larger manufacturing and retail sectors and states that receive military contracts. While non-military shocks also benefit states with the proper industrial mix, they appear to stimulate economic activity in lower-income states.


This paper imagines a world in which countries are on the Bitcoin standard, a monetary system in which all media of exchange are Bitcoin or are backed by it. The paper explores the similarities and differences between the Bitcoin standard and the gold standard and describes the media of exchange that would exist under the Bitcoin standard. Because the Bitcoin standard would closely resemble the gold standard, the paper explores the lessons about how it would perform by examining the classical gold standard period, specifically 1880–1913. The paper argues that because there would be virtually no arbitrage costs for international transactions, countries could not follow independent interest rate policies under the Bitcoin standard. However, central banks would still have some limited ability to act as lenders of last resort. Based on the experience during the classical gold standard period, the paper conjectures that there would be mild deflation and constant exchange rates under the Bitcoin standard. The paper also conjectures how long the Bitcoin standard might last if it were to come into existence.


The following information is supplemental to the Concur Reconciling Travel SkillSoft course and may be helpful as you reconcile employee travel expenses in the Concur Travel & Expense System (Concur). Note The information on this page relates to reimbursing employees. To reimburse nonemployees, see Reconciling Non-Employee Travel [2]. PSC Website Visit the PSC website [3] to learn more about procurement policies, procedures, and step-bystep instructions. The Travel page [4] offers information about the university's managed travel program and top travel links. Expense Delegates Expense delegates can help process expense reports in Concur on behalf of another person. Learn how to identify a delegate [5] Learn how to act as a delegate [6] Concur Travel & Expense Learning Resources When creating an expense report to process employee reimbursements (travel and nontravel) and Travel Card expenses, select the Travel Reconciliation policy. How-to videos and instructions [7] are available online. PSC COMMUNICATOR Newsletter The PSC newsletter [8] frequently includes information on travel. To receive the newsletter, email uis.cu.edu and ask to be added to the User Alert List.


Improving farmers' access to markets is widely recognized as a major development challenge. A review of the literature suggests that indicators of market access may bear little relationship to the specific processes of interest and hence provide misguided evidence of the impacts of improved market access. This paper attempts to "unpack" the dimensions of market access and, in the process, uses farm survey data from Kenya to investigate changes in multiple indicators during the post-liberalization period. Findings show that market access conditions experienced by rural Kenyans exhibit considerable variation across time, space, and indicator type. We suggest ways in which structured hypothesizing and sensitivity analysis may strengthen empirical treatments of market access issues in applied research.


The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the ensuing political firestorm brought to the fore some longstanding problems associated with the regulation of commercial activities of all kinds on federal lands. Unfortunately, those problems are not resolvable as long as the lands are governed by federal agents. Populist outcries against the "giveaway" of oil on public lands and the industry's refusal to drill even when leases are granted demonstrate the difficulty economists face when trying to construct a rational public lands management regime. The only promising avenue of reform is to privatize commercially attractive federal lands and institute a strict liability regime for damage to third parties in lieu of regulatory oversight. If privatization is too politically difficult to achieve, a second-best remedy would be to replace royalty payments for production with a one-time fee for use. Unfortunately, the Democratic reform proposals fail to address the underlying problems that have contributed to regulatory dysfunction. Worse, they veer off into tangential campaigns against foreign oil imports, oil consumption, and climate change. Examination of both President Obama's reform proposals and the main piece of Democratic legislation designed to address the spill — the American Clean Energy and Security Act (the so-called Waxman–Markey Bill) — suggest that the spill is being used as a pretext to advance dubious policy agendas that have little to do with the spill itself.


Abstract. In this paper we use the total columns of nitrous oxide (N2O) as retrieved from the radiance spectra as measured by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instrument aboard the MetOp-A platform and distributed by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) during the March–May (MAM) 2008 period. Since the total column of N2O reflects concentrations in the middle troposphere, cloud-free columnar N2O measurements are used to assess transport processes in the equatorial band (10° S–10° N). We compare the measured data set with the outputs produced by the 3-D chemical-transport model MOCAGE during the period MAM 2002–2004. To reflect MAM 2008 concentrations, MOCAGE results have been scaled by a factor 1.0125 in order to represent the change in concentration of N2O since 2004. IASI N2O equatorial measurements show a maximum over Africa (4.96×10−3 kg m−2) and a minimum over South America (4.86×10−3 kg m−2) in reasonable agreement with the outputs from MOCAGE despite the fact that emissions of N2O are more intense over America than over Africa. The amplitude of the longitudinal variation of total column N2O along the equatorial band is twice as intense in the measurements (~1.6%) than as in the model calculations (~0.8%), and much greater than the IASI mean random error (0.16–0.33%). A difference between the two data sets is observed above the Western Pacific (110° E–150° E) with a marked minimum in IASI compared to MOCAGE. Recent theoretical studies (Ricaud et al., 2007 and 2009) have shown the potentially important effect of the Walker and the Hadley cells on the tropospheric distribution of N2O in producing a local maximum in N2O above Africa. Based on equatorial total columns of N2O retrieved from IASI, our results are consistent with the fact that Africa is a zone of convergence of airmasses coming from different convective regions whilst Western Pacific behaves more like a divergence zone.


We report the synthesis of Zn(C6H4N5)N3, a new three-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF) that exhibits strong energetic properties with high thermostability. The compound is synthesized by the hydrothermal method with in situ ligand formation under controlled pH. Structural characterization is carried out by single-crystal XRD, elemental analysis and FTIR. Energetic properties are obtained from TGA and DSC measurements. This novel MOF structure is thermally stable up to 345 C and its heat of detonation is -400$ kJ/g. The measured velocity and pressure of detonation are 4.66 km/s and 9.99 GPa, respectively.


Objectives: To study the correlations of CT scan with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and D-dimer in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019). Methods: From January to March 2020, COVID-19 patients were divided into two groups according to the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (trial version 7), with mild and ordinary cases as Group-1 and critical and severe cases as Group-2. The chest CT scan results, hs-CRP, D-dimmer levels of the two groups from admission to discharge were compared by the χ2 test or Fisher's exact test. The quantitative data were represented as mean ± standard deviation ( x ± s). Intergroup comparisons were performed by the independent samples t test, and the ineligible data were subjected to the nonparametric rank sum test. Binary logistic regression model was used for multivariate correlation analysis, using independent variables that were significant in univariate analysis. The correlations between the above indices were analyzed. Results: In Group-1, there were two cases of normal chest CT scan results, one case of fibrosis, and 25 cases of abnormalities during the first diagnosis, mainly manifested as single or scattered ground-glass shadows. After treatment, the CT scan results became normal. The chest CT scan of Group-2 showed abnormalities, including 21 cases of multiple ground-glass shadows, and six cases of multiple consolidations accompanied by ground-glass shadows, who were critically ill and died. In addition, there were 16 cases of multiple ground glass shadows with partial consolidation, and the CRP and D-dimer levels of Group-2 were significantly higher than those of Group-1. Chest CT scan results were significantly positively correlated with CRP and D-dimer levels (P<0.05). Conclusion: The chest CT scan results of COVID-19 patients are characteristic, being correlated with CRP and D-dimer levels. D-dimer and CRP levels significantly increase in most severe and critical patients, which are closely related to their prognosis. The indices may play predictive roles in clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation.


The short book of Nahum has posed many questions to the scholarly community. For many the book represents an unacceptable display of nationalism and for others the violence in Nahum is too much to bear. The book also stirs emotions with its humiliating references to women to depict weakness and rejection. The book of Nahum also raises the question of YHWH as the aggressor committing acts of violence. These issues are all valid concerns that need to be entertained by scholars. However, the poetic nature of the Nahum text cannot go unnoticed. The view taken is that Nahum should be read as "resistance poetry" similar to struggle poems and songs that function in oppressive contexts. The argument promoted in this article is that the rhetoric of the book serves the purpose of enticing the Judean people to imagine victory in spite of their oppression and victimisation by the Assyrian forces. The text of Nahum is an excellent display of power battles with the sovereign power YHWH overpowering the Assyrian powers with Nineveh and the Assyrian king as symbols of power. YHWH acts on behalf of the Judean people, who feel powerless in their confrontation with the Assyrians. With this in mind, it will be illustrated that some metaphors in Nahum are used as a means to undermine the power of the enemy. A case will be put forward that the metaphor of the lion, which represents power par excellence, is used in Nah 2:12-14 in a taunt song to subvert the idea of power inherent in this very image. The idea is to illustrate how a metaphor depicting power is used creatively to achieve the exact opposite by subverting that power.


A low GWP refrigerant R1234ze(E) is focused as a candidate of next-generation refrigerant though it has some defects which are low operating pressure and low latent heat. Mixing R32 into R1234ze(E) expects to reduce the defects because R32 has high operating pressure, large latent heat and high thermal conductivity. In order to prove the possibility, heat transfer coefficients during condensation and evaporation were obtained experimentally and cycle simulations were carried out where heat transfer degradation of refrigerant mixture was estimated with the experimental data. An equivalent performance with conventional refrigerant was obtained by the simulation.


The RiHN White Paper is the first serious attempt to gather expertise and to explore applications in promising areas of healthcare that could benefit from RDM and covers early-stage user needs, challenges and priorities. The UK has an opportunity to lead in this area and RiHN has identified an extensive number of areas for fruitful R&D, crossing production technology, infrastructure, business and organisations. The paper serves as a foundation for discussing future technological roadmaps and engaging the wider community and stakeholders, as well as policy makers, in addressing the potential impact of RDM.
The RiHN White Paper is of particular value to policy makers and funders seeking to specify action and to direct attention where it is needed. The White Paper is also useful for the research community, to support their proposals with credible research propositions and to show where collaboration with industry and the public sector will deliver the most benefits.
In order to seize the opportunities presented by RDM RiHN proposes a bold new agenda that incorporates a whole healthcare system view of future implementation pathways and wider transformation implications. The priority areas for Future R&D can be summarised as follows: through
Automated production platform technologies and supporting manufacturing infrastructures
Advances in analytics and metrology
New regulatory frameworks and governance pathways
New frameworks for business model and organisational transformation
The time to take action is now. Technologies are developing that have the potential to disrupt traditional healthcare pathways and offer therapies tailored to individual needs and physiological characteristics. The challenge is seizing this opportunity and make the UK a world leader in RDM.


The rapid growth of computational power demand from scientific, business, and Web applications has led to the emergence of cloud-oriented data centers. These centers use pay-as-you-go execution environments that scale transparently to the user. Load prediction is a significant cost-optimal resource allocation and energy saving approach for a cloud computing environment. Traditional linear or nonlinear prediction models that forecast future load directly from historical information appear less effective. Load classification before prediction is necessary to improve prediction accuracy. In this paper, a novel approach is proposed to forecast the future load for cloud-oriented data centers. First, a hidden Markov model (HMM) based data clustering method is adopted to classify the cloud load. The Bayesian information criterion and Akaike information criterion are employed to automatically determine the optimal HMM model size and cluster numbers. Trained HMMs are then used to identify the most appropriate cluster that possesses the maximum likelihood for current load. With the data from this cluster, a genetic algorithm optimized Elman network is used to forecast future load. Experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms other approaches reported in previous works.


The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county's UF/IFAS Extension office. U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension. Introduction


The energy difference between the high spin and the low spin state of the model compound [Fe(NCH)6](2+) is investigated by means of Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), where special attention is dedicated to analyzing the effect of the fix node approximation on the accuracy of the results. For this purpose, we compare several Slater-Jastrow and multireference Slater-Jastrow trial wave functions. We found that a Slater-Jastrow trial wave function constructed with the generalized Kohn-Sham orbitals from hybrid DFT represents the optimal choice. This is understood by observing that hybrid functionals account for the subtle balance between exchange and correlation effects and the respective orbitals accurately describe the ligand-metal hybridization as well as the charge reorganization accompanying the spin transition. Finally the DMC results are compared with those obtained by Hartree-Fock, DFT, CASSCF, and CASPT2. While there is no clear reference value for the high spin-low spin energy difference, DMC and high level CCSD(T) calculations agree within around 0.3 eV.


This is the first study to provide conclusive evidence that the way the American news and broadcast media currently cover political issues and events directly causes increased voter cynicism and non-participation. In a path-breaking study, Jamieson and Cappella examine how the media cover both political campaigns and significant legislation (the passage of health care reform). The focus on the game of politics, rather than its substance, fuels a cycle of cynicism, trapping media, politicians and voters. Giving reason to hope, the authors provide detailed discussion of what the media could do to halt the current cycle of cynicism.


SWCA Environmental Consultants (SWCA) conducted an intensive cultural resources survey on behalf of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), of the proposed Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project in San Antonio, Texas. TxDOT proposes to extend the existing Wurzbach Parkway approximately 5.3 miles between Farm-to-Market Road (FM) 2696 (Blanco Road) and Wetmore Road. The undertaking involves the new construction of a four-lane divided roadway within an approximately 250-foot right-of-way (ROW) that is state-owned property. Overall, the Area of Potential Effects (APE) is 27,984 feet long, 250 feet wide, and maximally 10 feet deep. Additionally, the APE covers roughly 51.77 acres of permanent and temporary easements. SWCA's investigations of the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE included a background review, and an intensive pedestrian survey with shovel testing and backhoe trenching of selected areas within the APE. The background literature review determined that 21 surveys of varying magnitude have been conducted within or adjacent to the APE. These surveys are related to roadway construction or expansion, as well as park development. Fourteen archaeological sites have been documented within or adjacent to the APE and 44 additional archaeological sites have been previously recorded within 1 mile of it. The APE traverses a portion of the Walker Ranch National Register District, but the undertaking does not affect any contributing resources besides those that were previously mitigated by TxDOT in the 1990s. SWCA archaeologists conducted field investigations within the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE between May 1 and June 21, 2007. The pedestrian survey established that the majority of the APE has been disturbed by previous residential, commercial, and dam construction. Of the 14 previously recorded sites within or immediately adjacent to the APE, seven were determined during the current survey not to extend into the APE (41BX181, 41BX183, 41BX194, 41BX203, 41BX209, 41BX222, and 41BX223). Two of the seven sites within the APE had been successfully mitigated through prior data recovery efforts (41BX184 and 41BX228), while landforms associated with site 41BX202 were found to have been completely destroyed. Current investigations included a reconnaissance survey of site 41BX949, shovel testing at site 41BX948, and backhoe trenching at site 41BX947. Right of entry was denied at two properties, including the Coker United Methodist Church, which precluded a revisit to 41BX1062. The portions of sites 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, and 41BX949 that remain in the Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE are not considered eligible for inclusion to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or for designation as a State Archeological Landmark (SAL); therefore, SWCA recommends no further work at these sites. Survey-level excavations at 41BX947 and 41BX948 revealed no cultural materials, temporally diagnostic artifacts, features, or intact buried deposits. Thus, 41BX947 and 41BX948 have little to no research value. As such, neither 41BX947 nor 41BX948 is considered significant or eligible for inclusion in the NRHP or for designation as an SAL. Based on the extent of previous investigations and the results of the current survey, SWCA recommends no additional archaeological investigations for 41BX184, 4BX202, 41BX228, 41BX947, 41BX948, 41BX949, and 41BX1062. Subsequent to the SWCA survey, TxDOT conducted an impact evaluation of the additional 51.77 acres of easements associated with the project. No cultural resources were documented as part of this effort. This TxDOT work was submitted with the SWCA draft report to the Texas Historical Commission (THC) who concurred with the findings in both reports. This report combines the results of both investigations into a final report to satisfy the Texas Antiquities Code (TAC) permit requirements. In accordance with Section 106, 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 800.4, SWCA and TxDOT have made a reasonable and good faith effort to identify archaeological historic properties within the APE. As no properties were identified that meet the criteria for listing on the NRHP according to 36 CFR 60.4 or for designation as an SAL according to 13 TAC 26.12, no archeological historic properties are affected and SWCA recommends no further work for the 5.3-mile Wurzbach Parkway Extension Project APE. Artifacts were collected as part of the undertaking and will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory.


The article presents a new recursive least squares (RLS) adaptive nonlinear filter, based on the Volterra series expansion. The main approach is to transform the nonlinear filtering problem into an equivalent multichannel, but linear, filtering problem. Then, the multichannel input signal is completely orthogonalized using sequential processing multichannel lattice stages. With the complete orthogonalization of the input signal, only scalar operations are required, instability problems due to matrix inversion are avoided and good numerical properties are achieved. The avoidance of matrix inversion and vector operations reduce the complexity considerably, making the filter simple, highly modular and suitable for VLSI implementations. Several experiments demonstrating the fast convergence properties of the filter are also included.


Abstract A multidisciplinary mineralogical, geochemical and biomarker study of Indus Fan sediments cored during International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 355 to the Laxmi Basin was carried out to define the different compositional signatures of sand, silt and clay. Upper Pliocene – lower Pleistocene turbidites from sites U1456 and U1457 were selected as the best candidates for this study. The integrated dataset presented here was obtained by coupling traditional and innovative bulk-sediment and single-mineral techniques on the same samples. Turbiditic deposits mostly consist of medium to fine silt, including rich and diverse heavy-mineral assemblages. Such a fine grain size forced us to push the limits of high-resolution quantitative heavy-mineral analysis down to as low as 5 μm. Heavy-mineral analysis allowed us to establish a Himalayan origin of the detritus in the studied turbidites. Heavy-mineral concentrations are higher in channel-fill than in overbank deposits. Mineralogical and geochemical data concur in revealing that fast-settling ultradense minerals such as zircon are preferentially concentrated in channel-fill deposits, whereas the top of overbank deposits are notably enriched with slow-settling platy phyllosilicates. Biomarker analysis represents a most suitable complementary technique that is able to investigate the provenance signature of the finer sediment fraction, largely consisting of clay. This technique allowed us to identify a largely terrigenous origin of organic matter at Site U1456 and an open marine origin at Site U1457. The latter site lies closer to the Laxmi Ridge, where thermal maturity increases with depth to reach the early oil window (127°C at c. 320 m below the seafloor).


This study determines, explores and examines the factors affecting the job satisfaction of teacher educators of the universities of Sindh. A qualitative research design was employed to collect data from teacher educators (n = 40) through in-depth semi-structured interviews. For the validity and reliability of the tool, the interview protocol was checked, discussed, refined and finalized. It was then piloted after incorporating the main factors affecting an increasing job dissatisfaction were found to be an autocratic and vertical style of management; a poor administration system; mistrust; job insecurity; weak social interaction and lack of appreciation for work done. This can lead teacher educators to face psychosocial issues in their professional and personal life. The factors were inductively explored through thematic analysis, the qualitative technique of data analysis


To accelerate progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal on clean water and sanitation, the focus of WASH programming in developing countries has shifted from a traditional infrastructure approach to a more systems-based approach. Greater emphasis on a systems approach has also drawn attention to the significant role played by local leadership in developing sustainable WASH systems. Building on the evidence of the effectiveness of leaders trained through the Civic Champions Program, an innovative leadership development program in Cambodia, this article examines leaders' characteristics and explores how participating in the program affected their capacity, skills, and perceptions of leadership. Crucially, it seeks to understand the extent to which participants in the Civic Champions Program differ from comparable local leaders along these dimensions. By combining survey data with qualitative analysis, the paper identifies how localization enhances the effectiveness of leaders in promoting sanitation, including working through and strengthening pre-existing institutional arrangements and adapting promotion strategies to different audiences. In this way, the article demonstrates how non-prescriptive programs that tap into the legitimizing potential of local leaders may contribute to addressing sanitation challenges and ultimately to WASH system strengthening.


Ben Jonson's contemporaries admired him above all other playwrights and poets of the English Renaissance. He was the great refiner who alchemized the bleakest aspects of everyday life into brilliant images of folly and deceit. He was also a celebrated reprobate and an ambitious entrepreneur. David Riggs illuminates every facet of this extraordinary career, giving us the first major biography of Jonson in over sixty years.The story of Jonson's life provides a broad view of the literary procession in early modern England and the milieu in which Elizabethan drama was produced. Beginning as a journeyman actor, Jonson was soon a novice playwright; his first important play was staged in 1598, with Shakespeare in the cast. He was by turns the self-styled leader of a literary elite, a writer of court masques, the first dramatist to publish his own "Works," a royal pensioner, and a genteel poet. As Jonson transformed himself from an artisan into a gentleman, his need to transcend his class origins led him to murder, to his notorious quarrels with Thomas Dekker, John Marston, and Inigo Jones, and to his lifelong rivalry with Shakespeare. Riggs traces the roots of Jonson's aggressiveness back to the turmoil of his childhood and adolescence. He offers new and convincing accounts of Jonson's latent hostility toward his bricklayer stepfather, his reckless marriage to Anne Lewis, and his conflicted relationships with his children.This vivid portrait synthesizes six decades of scholarship and new historical evidence. Sixty halftones beautifully illustrate the story and capture the spirit of the age. With Riggs' original interpretations of Jonson's masterpieces and lesser known works, "Ben Jonson: A Life" will prove the standard account of this complex man's life and works for many years to come."


Three Normal and three Reversed palaeomagnetic polarity zones were identified in the exposed 67 m section of Mercia Mudstone at St Audrie's Bay, Somerset, which has been regarded as being of Norian age on limited biostratigraphic evidence. The polarity sequence is correlated with magnetozones E15 to E17 in the Newark Basin, New Jersey, further supporting the inferred Norian age and tentatively placing it in the mid-Norian. Correlations with the northern North Sea and the Alps are also suggested. Results from Doniford Bay, where tectonic dips are steeper but which cannot be correlated precisely with the St Audrie's section, are incorporated for the calculation of the mean direction of Characteristic Remanent Magnetization which has declination 30.8° and inclination +34.3° (N=27 horizons, α95 = 5.1°). The corresponding palaeomagnetic pole is 49.6°N, 128.4°E (dp = 3.3°, dm = 5.8°), which also correlates with the Norian of the Newark Basin, while possibly indicating that small adjustments should be made to the orientation of all or part of Britain within the 1965 Bullard et al. configuration as a representation of Late Triassic geography.


&NA; Amount of semi‐natural habitats (permanent grasslands, woodlands and hedgerows) and their level of fragmentation are among the main determinants of wild bee diversity in agricultural landscapes. However, their impact on the distribution of bee ecological traits has received little attention. In this study, we aimed to explore whether changes in the distribution of bee ecological traits along gradients of habitat amount and fragmentation were due to a direct effect of landscape context on multiple traits ('response traits') or to a correlation of response traits with other ecological traits not involved in the response of bee species to landscape context. In two study regions in southwest France and southeast Australia, we used a RLQ analysis (three‐table ordination method) to link bee traits with habitat amount and fragment isolation measured at the landscape scale. We found that bee ecological traits shifted at the community‐level in association with landscape gradients, whereas species‐level associations among bee traits and phylogenetic clustering in bee communities were of only minor importance in determining such shifts. We found that traits such as body size and nest location were closely linked to habitat amount and fragmentation. We also observed regionally‐specific relationships among ecological traits, suggesting that the regional species pool can play an important role in determining the response of bee communities to habitat amount and fragmentation. Our findings suggest that improved knowledge about how trait‐based responses mediate the impact of landscapes on wild bee communities will allow better prediction and understanding of subsequent effects on ecosystem functioning.


Representation of shallow cumulus is a challenge for mesoscale numerical weather prediction models. These cloud fields have important effects on temperature, solar irradiance, convective initiation, and pollutant transport, among other processes. Recent improvements to physics schemes available in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model aim to improve representation of shallow cumulus, in particular over land. The DOE LES ARM Symbiotic Simulation and Observation Workflow (LASSO) project provides several cases that we use here to test the new physics improvements. The LASSO cases use multiple large-scale forcings to drive large-eddy simulations (LES), and the LES output is easily compared to output from WRF single-column simulations driven with the same initial conditions and forcings. The new Mellor–Yamada–Nakanishi–Niino (MYNN) eddy diffusivity mass-flux (EDMF) boundary layer and shallow cloud scheme produces clouds with timing, liquid water path (LWP), and cloud fraction that agree well with LES over a wide range of those variables. Here we examine those variables and test the scheme's sensitivity to perturbations of a few key parameters. We also discuss the challenges and uncertainties of single-column tests. The older, simpler total energy mass-flux (TEMF) scheme is included for comparison, and its tuning is improved. This is the first published use of the LASSO cases for parameterization development, and the first published study to use such a large number of cases with varying cloud amount. This is also the first study to use a more precise combined infrared and microwave retrieval of LWP to evaluate modeled clouds.


A seborrhoeic rabbit is a common diagnostic challenge, and differential diagnoses include malnutrition, ectoparasites, dermatophytosis, yeast dermatitis (White and others 2003), sebaceous adenitis (Jassies-van der Lee and others 2009, White and others 2000b), cutaneous lymphoma (White and others 2000a), autoimmune hepatitis-associated (Florizoone and others 2007) and thymoma-associated exfoliative dermatitis (Florizoone 2005). The clinical observation of exfoliative dermatitis and histologic changes of lymphocytic mural and interface dermatitis and absence of sebaceous glands should prompt the clinician to search for a systemic cause with thymic neoplasia representing one of the top differentials. Our goal was to report on the historical and clinical progression, as well as the diagnostic and therapeutic alternatives used in four rabbits with exfoliative dermatitis associated with a mediastinal tumour.

### Case 1

A seven-and-a-half-year-old male castrated rabbit, 1.4 kg, was presented with a history of non-pruritic progressive hair loss, scaling, depression and weight loss over the previous 1.5 months. Dermatologic examination revealed multifocal alopecia and hypotrichosis, erythema, severe scaling and follicular casts. Multiple deep and superficial skin scrapings, acetate tape impression smears, trichograms and a fungal culture were negative for parasites, bacteria and fungi. Dermatopathological examination revealed severe epidermal orthokeratosis and mild, multifocal, lymphocytic exocytosis and a severe lymphocytic mural and interface folliculitis with absent sebaceous glands (Fig 1). Radiographs and ultrasound revealed a large mass in the cranial thorax cranial to the heart base, respectively. Cytology of fine needle aspirates showed them to contain predominantly lymphoblasts suggestive of …


The discovery of the de novo formation of a tracheal structure, air sac primordium (ASP), in the second thoracic tracheal metamere (Tr2) during the 3rd instar larval stage (L3), challenged the assumption that the tracheal system established during embryogenesis would remain more or less unchanged until the onset of metamorphosis. ASP formation has since provided a novel system for studying cell behaviors such as cell migration. For ASP to form properly, it was then discovered, a process called "repopulation", during which the composition of Tr2 changes dramatically, from the initial 20 or so cells containing bigger nuclei at early L3 to about 500 cells containing smaller nuclei at late L3, had to take place. Two models were proposed to explain how repopulation could happen. In the "replacement" model, larval tracheal cells, presumed to be terminally differentiated, endo-replicated, and incapable of dividing, would get replaced by a distinct population of mitotically active cells, the so-called "tracheoblasts". In the "de-differentiation" model, these presumably polyploid larval tracheal cells would somehow manage to re-enter mitosis, reduce their ploidy, and produce mitotically active offspring. Using ASP morphogenesis as a model system, we performed a clonal screen to find genes important for FGF-mediated cell migration. This screen identified two major groups of genes. One group is important for cell migration, such as myosin heavy chain (mhc) and signal transducing adaptor molecule (stam); the other group is necessary for cell division. To uncover the origin of mitotic cells repopulating Tr2 during L3, we designed an in vivo clonal analysis for cell-tracking. It turned out that the "de-differentiation" model contained more grains of truth. Tr2 larval cells, possibly arrested in cell cycle prior to L3, resume cell cycle progression during L3 and give rise to mitotically competent progenies. To understand how mitotic behaviors of Tr2 cells are regulated during L3, a clonal analysis using flip-out clones was performed, which resulted in a descriptive report of the mitotic behaviors of Tr2 tracheal cells during L3. Although signals releasing Tr2 cells from cell cycle arrest and/or maintaining their proliferative state remain currently elusive, our analysis provides an assay for testing candidates likely involved. Some other interesting findings have also been revealed by this analysis, such as the existence of "regionalization" between different Tr2 branches and "cell replenishment" during ASP growth. It has gradually become clear that Drosophila tracheal system, an old model for studying tubulogenesis, proves to be a new tool for generating insights into fundamental questions such as how hox genes function, how cell cycles are developmentally controlled, how signaling pathways can be functionally dissected, and how variegated behaviors cells employ for the purpose of constructing a functional organ.


This thesis is the product of ethnographic research conducted over a period of eighteen months on a council estate, located on the outskirts of a city in Britain. The research explores how the everyday lives of people on The Estate are shaped by their being there. It also examines the material and social conditions, which produce and legitimate knowledges of these people and this place.
A central concern of the research is the exploration of classed identity formations. Conducted in 'austerity Britain' it traces the material and social constitution of the council estate at a moment of heightened interest (popular, political and academic) as 'other'. The thesis aims to develop a theorisation of being placed on the council estate, which maintains sensitivity to the objectifying processes of claiming to know: specifically, a political commitment to representations of ideas of difference and dissensus (Ranciere, 1998; 2006).
This work is produced in conversation with class theory; inspired by Bourdieu's linking of objective structures to subjective experience (Bourdieu, 1977; 1980; 1983) and feminist reflexive writings of the affective in classed beings (Hey, 2006; Walkerdine, 2010; Lucey, 2010). However, crucially, it does not produce a new categorisation of class. Rather I begin from a premise that 'identity categories are never merely descriptive, but always normative, and as such, exclusionary' (Butler, 1992: 15-16). In this thesis, I work through a deconstruction of the concepts of class in order to 'continue to use them, repeat them, to repeat them subversively, and to displace them from the contexts in which they have been deployed as instruments of oppressive power' (1992: 17).
This work is located within academic debates around identity. Thinking with post-structural conceptualisations of gender (Butler, 1990) and race (Nayak, 1977), I develop these as a way to think class. I build upon conceptualisations of habitus (Bourdieu, 2005) as a starting point for exploring subjectivities. Drawing upon work foregrounding the affective consequences of shifts in circumstances resulting in a habitus 'out of place' (Reay, 2007); I explore the moments of negotiation that occur when one is 'in place'.
Furthering a theorisation of class as a social placing, I bring in conceptual developments within social geography to explore the social constitution of classed places (Massey, 2005; Featherstone, 2013). Through my conceptualisation of 'being place(d)' I posit identity formation and place making as intertwined processes. Consequently, identity formation through processes of being place(d) on The Estate is not a simple process of socialisation where one learns to be through being of a particular place; rather it is the positioning in place through being in moments of difference.
Through my analysis, I theorise identity as moments of identification (Hall, 1996), within which aspects of self are formed in proximity and/or distanced with others. This conceptualisation of relational identity construction is heavily influenced by Bourdieu's thinking, yet moves beyond habitus as 'forgotten history' (Bourdieu, 1990: 56) to habitus as 'foregrounded history'.
Finally, I bring my range of theoretical resources together in my analysis of a Community Centre as a 'contact zone' - a social space where 'cultures meet, clash, and grapple with each other, often in contexts of highly asymmetrical relations of power' (Pratt, 1991: 34). These momentary exposures do not occur in isolation and are entangled within histories and processes of domination that reach far beyond the moment of contact. Consequently, analysis of this interaction requires bifocality - at once interested in the moment of construction, whilst exploring the contexts within which this moment is located and thus interpreted. In so doing, I highlight the importance of power in the maintenance of structures, whilst allowing the possibility of subversion and resistance within moments of contact.


The appointment of academics in the field of Management and Business Management in Higher Education has become virtually impossible and the problem is exacerbated by the quest for appointments from the designated groups. This problem was identified over a period and at various universities with universities head hunting scarce academic staff from each other and with some attempts at the private sector, usually to no avail.
The aim of the research was to determine the reasons for and possible solutions to the difficulty in attracting and retaining academics, with specific reference to academics from designated groups, with management qualifications to Higher Education.
The results indicate that there are a major scarcity in the field of management and business management not only in Higher Education but in the public- and private sectors as well. The numbers of vacancies and scarcity in the private- and public sectors are extremely high whereas the major problem in Higher Education seems to be attracting candidates at significantly lower salaries compared to the private- and public sectors and even compared to non-academic managerial positions in universities. In addition the required qualifications and other requirements are much higher in Higher Education than that in the private- and public sectors.


There is probably no aspect of the work versus welfare debate that is more contested than the effects of welfare use on child development outcomes. Liberals tend to emphasize the detrimental effects of poverty and welfare stigma on children, while conservatives cite the negative socialization that occurs regarding the value of work within welfare dependent families. However, large scale longitudinal studies that have been used to address this question only indirectly measure critical influences on child development such as maternal mental health and do not consider the effect that a range of economic strategies that low-income mothers might undertake may have on their children. In this analysis, we employ data from a longitudinal study of 173 teen-mothers to assess the relative effects of maternal characteristics and economic strategies on the developmental outcomes of their children at time of school entry. Two principal findings emerge. First, over the period from their first teen birth to the reference child's entry into school, the sample subjects used a variety of household economic strategies aside from the simple welfare versus work dichotomy that is commonly used to depict the choices of teen-mothers. Second, while maternal depression appears linked to the prevalence of problem behaviors in early childhood, the particular economic strategies used by the mothers in the sample do not explain any variation in either the prevalence of problem behaviors or in children's learning preparation for school entry. These findings support the perspective that the influence of teen mothers' parenting qualities on child development cannot be assessed through an analysis of their labor force participation, use of welfare, or other strategies of household subsistence. ********** In Making Ends Meet (1996), Edin and Lein's widely read ethnography of low income single mothers, a very different and compelling portrait emerges of poor women and their families from those imageries commonly employed by proponents of both sides in the national debate on welfare policy. The women described in the book are neither "welfare queens" nor the perpetual victims of an indifferent society, but rather pragmatic actors living in difficult circumstances who engage in a variety of material strategies to minimize economic risks and maximize the survival and well-being of their children. Although a rich and refreshing departure from the often murky quantitative studies of work and welfare among poor families that dominate the welfare policy literature, the conclusions derived from Edin and Lein's study may be unconvincing to many because they are not based on the positivist conventions of probability sampling and multivariate analysis. Additionally, Edin and Lein focus on the motivations and intentions of low-income mothers, rather than the impact of household-level decisions on specific child development outcomes. In this paper, we seek to test the conceptions that emerged in Making Ends Meet by examining the economic activities and choices of a cohort of teenage mothers followed since 1988 by researchers at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington. We also examine whether particular income maintenance strategies appear to influence key developmental outcomes in the first-born children of teen mothers, independently of other maternal characteristics. Before describing the details of our analysis and our findings, we provide a brief review of the welfare versus work literature that frames the context for our study. Work, Welfare, and the Economic Bases of Low Income Single Parent Families We chose a cohort of teen-mothers to examine the economic strategies of the working poor because as a group teen-mothers are at highest risk for long term welfare dependence. In perhaps the most precise categorization of individual household heads at risk of long-term welfare receipt, Duncan et. …


Infrastructure management, especially in case of highway bridges, need a realistic and effective deterioration model in order to provide information on the present and future condition of the bridge. This paper reviews and evaluates efforts made to date to develop suitable models. A major shortcoming identified is the unrealistic assumptions of some existing models, not portraying the actual nature of bridge deterioration. Using available bridge data, statistical regression analyses, simple probability analyses, and expert opinions may be used to formulate preliminary models of bridge deterioration process suggests stochastic modeling as a more realistic approach. In a stochastic model, these uncertainties can be adequately quantified or at least to some extent, taken into account in a bridge related decision making process. Existing bridge deterioration model (stochastic) based on the simple Markov chain model is evaluated and its shortcomings presented in terms of first-order assumptions of dependence among the states or bridge condition over time, and also the sojourn times (time spent by a bridge in a particular state.) A higher-order Markov chain model or a lumpable Markov chain model is discussed as a more realistic alternative. Also presented, is the feasibility of stochastic modeling of bridge deterioration through semi-Markov and simulation models.


In this work, a molecular dynamics simulation study of the collagen/apatite composite system is presented. The system is an important example of natural biomineralization, which has become the subject of extensive research in the past years. The results are important steps toward the simulation of biomineralization. The structure of the N-terminal telopeptide, which was unknown, or discussed controversially, respectively, could be solved and described in the simulations. At their connection to the triple helix, the individual strands of the telopeptide are in a loose association, but toward the chain ends they become highly flexible. For the measurement of mobility, a new quantity was defined for which a grid-based analysis was developed. The movements of an atom are monitored on a grid and distilled into a single number measuring the degree of distribution of an atom in space. The approach has the advantage of not relying on a reference structure that has no physical connection to the mobility, like in the often used RMSF value. Calculations on a triple helical molecule explained the experimentally observed high flexibility in the middle of a short triple helix molecule. A kink was observed in the molecule where secondary and tertiary structure disappeared and the whole triple helix exhibited a kink. With potential of mean force (PMF) calculations, the binding reactions of single apatite ions (calcium, hydrogen phosphate, fluoride) to model proteins were energetically characterized. Numerous stable binding sites were found in the telopeptide. The telopeptide did not show structural changes upon binding of single ions. The binding of multiple ions however led to rearrangements which resulted in an agglomeration of the occupied binding sites and formation of new favorable ionic interactions and hydrogen bonds. The possibility of the stabilization of ionic clusters by the telopeptide could thus be confirmed. The results of the PMF calculations can serve as a basis for the development of coarse models designed for the simulations of whole collagen molecules, or fibrils, respectively.


Taiwan is an economy that is highly dependent on energy imports. Changes in oil price affect not only the cost of production but also economic growth. Since 2000, the crude oil price has risen and become an unstable factor for economic development. Due to the rapid rise of emerging economies and the competitive international economic environment, Taiwan is facing a moment of industrial restructuring. Energy-saving technologies and improved efficiency may play an important role. Taiwan must improve its industrial productivity and production technology to contribute to the alleviation of the global warming problem. From the crude oil intensity and the change in spillover effects of the crude oil price, we may detect whether industrial production efficiency and adaptability to energy and production technology improves or not. Based on the input-output table during the period of 1981 to 2016, the present study employs the industry-related price model and factor decomposition model to investigate the change in Taiwan's reliance on crude oil through the oil intensity index. Although efforts have been made to advance technology and improve energy dependence, the results of this study indicate that imported crude oil intensity and price responsiveness have actually increased and that the negative effects of the structural efficiency of production and domestic market demand have substantially increased imported crude oil intensity and price responsiveness, again emphasizing the vulnerability of Taiwan's production. Thus, the speed of improvement in energy technology is insufficient to keep up with economic growth.


Often seen as the host nation's largest ever logistical undertaking, accommodating the Olympics and its attendant security infrastructure brings seismic changes to both the physical and social geography of its destination. Since 1976, the defence of the spectacle has become the central feature of its planning, one that has assumed even greater prominence following the bombing of the 1996 Atlanta Games and, most importantly, 9/11. Indeed, the quintupled cost of securing the first post-9/11 summer Games in Athens demonstrates the considerable scale and complexity currently implicated in these operations. Such costs are not only fiscal. The Games stimulate a tidal wave of redevelopment ushering in new gentrified urban settings and an associated investment that may or may not soak through to the incumbent community. Given the unusual step of developing London's Olympic Park in the heart of an existing urban milieu and the stated commitments to 'community development' and 'legacy', these constitute particularly acute issues for the 2012 Games. In addition to sealing the Olympic Park from perceived threats, 2012 security operations have also harnessed the administrative criminological staples of community safety and crime reduction to generate an ordered space in the surrounding areas. Of central importance here are the issues of citizenship, engagement and access in urban spaces redeveloped upon the themes of security and commerce. Through analyzing the social and community impact of the 2012 Games and its security operation on East London, this book concludes by considering the key debates as to whether utopian visions of legacy can be sustained given the demands of providing a global securitized event of the magnitude of the modern Olympics. © Pete Fussey, Jon Coaffee, Gary Armstrong and Dick Hobbs 2011. All rights reserved.


Foreword Current state of stem cell field: Overview (Mahendra S. Rao). Chapter 1: Derivation methods for human embryonic stem cells: Past, present & future Necati Findikli. Mohan Vemuri. Chapter 2: Isolation of human ESCs from various stages of the human embryo (Yuri Verlinsky, N. Strelchenko, V. Kukharenko, A. Shkumatov, S. Rechitsky, O. Verlinsky, and A. Kuliev). Chapter 3: Derivation of stem cells from epiblasts (Michal Amit). Chapter 4: Derivation of Embryonic Stem Cells from Parthenogenetic Eggs (Jose Cibelli). Chapter 5: Reprogramming Developmental Potential (Costas A. Lyssiotis Cradley D. Charette, and Luke L. Lairson). Chapter 6: Adult stem cells and their role in endogenous tissue repair (N. Sachewsky and Cindi Morshead). Chapter 7: Greater differentiation potential of adult stem cells (Carlos Clavel and Catherine Verfaillie). Chapter 8: Cancer stem cells (Scott Dylla, In-Kyung Park and Austin L. Gurney). Chapter 9: Large scale production of adult stem cells for clinical use (Kristin Goltry, Brian Hampson, Naia Venturi and Ronnda Bartel). Chapter 10: Genetic and epigenetic features of stem cells (Jonathan Auerbach and Richard Josephson). Chapter 11: Directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells (Marjorie Pick). Chapter 12: Identification of signaling pathways involved during differentiation Takumi Miura. Chapter 13 Media and extracellular matrix requirements for large scale ESC growth (Allan J. Robins and Tom Schultz). Chapter 14: Automated method for culturing ES cells (S. Terstegge and Oliver Brustle). Chapter 15: Quantitative 2D Imaging of Human Embryonic Stem Cells (Steven K.W. Oh, Allen K. Chen, Andre B.H. Choo and Ivan Reading). Chapter 16: Nanobiotechonology for stem cell culture and Maintenance (Minseok S. Kim, Wonhye Lee and Je-Kyun Park). Chapter 17: Engineering Microenvironments to Control Stem Cell Functions (Anielle An-Chi Tsou and Song Li). Chapter 18: Improved lentiviral gene delivery tools for stem cells (Sanjay Vasu, Jian-Ping Yang and Wieslaw Kudlicki). Chapter 19: Sleeping Beauty-mediated Transposition in Stem Cells (Andrew Wilbur, Jakub Tolar, Bruce R Blazar, Catherine M Verfaillie, Uma Lakshmipathy, Dan S Kaufman and Scott McIvor). Chapter 20: PhiC31 Integrase for Modification of Stem Cells (W. Edward Jung and Michelle Calos). Chapter 21: Cell Engineering using Integrase and Recombinase systems (Takefumi Sone, Fumiko Nishi, Kazuhide Yahata, Yukari Sasaki, Hiroe Kishine, Taichi Andoh, Ken Inoue, Bhaskar Thyagarajan, Jonathan D. Chesnut and Fumio Imamoto). Chapter 22: hESC derived cardiomyocytes for cell therapy and drug discovery (William Sun and Robert Zweigerdt). Chapter 23: hESC in Drug discovery (Catharina Ellerstrom, Petter Bjorquist, Peter Sartipy, Johan Hyllner and Raimund Strehl). Chapter 24: Characterization and Culturing of Adipose-Derived Precursor Cells (Dietmar Hutmacher, Joanna Olkowska-Truchanowicz, David Leong, Johannes Reichert and Thiam Chye Lim). Chapter 25: Bringing Mesenchymal stem cells to clinic (Robert Deans).


The use of stream surfaces and streamlines is well established in vector visualization. However, the proper placement of starting points is critical for these constructs to clearly illustrate the flow topology. In this paper, we present the principal stream surface algorithm, which automatically generates stream surfaces that properly depict the topology of an irrotational flow. For each velocity point in the fluid field, we construct the normal to the principal stream surface through the point. The set of all such normal vectors is used to construct the principal stream function, which is a scalar field describing the direction of velocity in the fluid field. Volume rendering can then be used to visualize the principal stream function, which is directly related to the flow topology. Thus, topology in a fluid field can be easily modeled and rendered.


A new and efficient one-pot synthesis of dihydropyridone and pyridone derivatives by four-component reaction between cyanoacetamide, aryl aldehydes and ethyl acetoacetate with ammonium in green solvents is described. The reaction was performed in water solvent under reflux conditions and afforded good yields of products.


Background Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized, in part, by an excessive inflammatory response. Evidence from animal and human studies suggests that vagus nerve stimulation can lead to reduced levels of various biomarkers of inflammation. We conducted a prospective randomized controlled study (SAVIOR-I) to assess the feasibility, efficacy, and safety of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) for the treatment of respiratory symptoms and inflammatory markers among patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04368156). Methods Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 allocation to receive either the standard of care (SoC) alone or nVNS therapy plus the SoC. The nVNS group received 2 consecutive 2-min doses of nVNS 3 times daily as prophylaxis. Efficacy and safety were evaluated via the incidence of specific clinical events, inflammatory biomarker levels, and the occurrence of adverse events. Results Of the 110 participants who were enrolled and randomly assigned, 97 (nVNS, n = 47; SoC, n = 50) had sufficient available data and comprised the evaluable population. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels decreased from baseline to a significantly greater degree in the nVNS group than in the SoC group at day 5 and overall (i.e., all postbaseline data points collected through day 5, combined). Procalcitonin level also showed significantly greater decreases from baseline to day 5 in the nVNS group than in the SoC group. D-dimer levels were decreased from baseline for the nVNS group and increased from baseline for the SoC group at day 5 and overall, although the difference between the treatment groups did not reach statistical significance. No significant treatment differences were seen for clinical respiratory outcomes or any of the other biochemical markers evaluated. No serious nVNS-related adverse events occurred during the study. Conclusions nVNS therapy led to significant reductions in levels of inflammatory markers, specifically CRP and procalcitonin. Because nVNS has multiple mechanisms of action that may be relevant to COVID-19, additional research into its potential use earlier in the course of COVID-19 and its potential to mitigate some of the symptoms associated with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 is warranted.