Introduction: Abdominoplasty is one of the most common plastic surgery procedures used worldwide. It covers the esthetic appearance and reconstruction of the abdominal wall. Many variations of the incisions, musculofascial repair, and remodeling of the navel have been described. In 1965, Callia performed an incision on the pubis with lateral extensions. In 1967, Pitanguy performed a low horizontal incision with the extremities out and down, and promoted the plication of the rectus abdominis muscles without opening the aponeurosis. Besides demonstrating the ease of implementation and safety of the procedure, the objective of this study was to perform classical abdominoplasty in combination with median and external pararectal plications, also referred to as a corset technique, to recover abdominal wall tension and then liposuction at the end of the procedure to improve abdominal body contour. Methods: Sixty-two women with a mean age of 37 years underwent operation between 2011 and 2013. Results: None of the women in the present study had hematoma, infection, necrosis, or epidermolysis. Late encapsulated seroma was observed in one patient. Five patients had a "dog ear," and eight had unsightly scars but no keloid. All the patients were satisfied with the surgical outcome. Conclusion: The technique described in this study adds two more plications to the classic abdominoplasty, which lead to higher tension in the abdominal wall and more satisfactory esthetic results. Besides being easy to implement, the technique enables lower positioning of the suprapubic transverse incision, which can be easily hidden even with short clothing. ■ ABSTRACT


This study aimed to examine thermoregulation in different clothing assemblies during a representative cycling exercise protocol. Six men undertook cycling exercise simulating representative thermal exchange challenges while wearing low (LOW), intermediate (INT1 and INT2), or high (HI) amounts of clothing. Exercise was conducted at 14.5 °C, 46.8% relative humidity and included a "flat" [45 min at 35% peak power output (PPO), wind speed 8.3 m/s], "uphill" (30 min at 55% PPO, wind speed 3.6 m/s), and "downhill" (20 min at 50 W, wind speed 16.7 m/s) stage. Rectal temperature changed with the exercise stage and was independent of clothing assembly. In contrast, an "envelope" was evident for mean body temperature, resulting from differences in mean skin temperature between the LOW and HI conditions. The elevated mean body temperature in HI was associated with increased physiological "cost," in the form of increased sweat production and heart rate. Physiological cost provides a better index of clothing performance than deep body temperature in the "thermoregulatory zone," as a consequence sports clothing should attempt to optimize the balance between comfort and reduced physiological cost.


GPU performance of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) depends heavily on memory access patterns. When LBM is advanced with GPUs on complex computational domains, geometric data is typically accessed indirectly, and lattice data is typically accessed lexicographically in the Structure of Array (SoA) layout. Although there are a variety of existing access patterns beyond the typical choices, no study has yet examined the relative efficacy between them. Here, we compare a suite of memory access schemes via empirical testing and performance modeling. We find strong evidence that semi-direct addressing is the superior addressing scheme for the majority of cases examined: Semi-direct addressing increases computational speed and often reduces memory consumption. For lattice layout, we find that the Collected Structure of Arrays (CSoA) layout outperforms the SoA layout. When compared to state-of-the-art practices, our recommended addressing modifications lead to performance gains between 10-40% across different complex geometries, fluid volume fractions, and resolutions. The modifications also lead to a decrease in memory consumption by as much as 17%. Having discovered these improvements, we examine a highly resolved arterial geometry on a leadership class system. On this system we present the first near-optimal strong results for LBM with arterial geometries run on GPUs. We also demonstrate that the above recommendations remain valid for large scale, many device simulations, which leads to an increased computational speed and average memory usage reductions. To understand these observations, we employ performance modeling which reveals that semi-direct methods outperform indirect methods due to a reduced number of total loads/stores in memory, and that CSoA outperforms SoA and bundling due to improved caching behavior.


Oxidation is a fundamental process in the fabrication of microelectronic devices and in order to promote the incorporation of SiGe into Si technology we have investigated the thermal oxidation of Si1-yGey alloy (ya0.5) at high temperatures (mainly 900°C and 1000°C) using Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy, infrared transmission spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It has been observed that three distinct regions form during oxidation of Si0.5Ge0.5 alloy, which are (I) a mixed oxide layer Si0.5Geg0.5O2, (II) a pure SiO2 layer and (III) a Si1-yGey (y≠0.5) alloy layer. These are formed during both wet and dry oxidation when the sample is not preheated, whilst only two regions (II) and (III) form when the sample is preheated in a non oxygen ambient up to the oxidation temperature prior to oxidation. Enhancement of the rate of wet oxidation of SiGe compared with bulk Si and the accumulation of Ge in region III just below SiO2 layer (region II) has also been observed. This behaviour is in good agreement with other results, however, some abnormal behaviour during wet and dry oxidation has been observed. The rate of oxidation during short wet oxidations (15 minutes) of Si0.5 Ge0.5 decreases as the oxidation temperature increases from 800°C to 1000°C for 15 minutes, which has not been previously reported, A reduced rate of oxidation of Si1-yGey (ya0.5) in a dry environment has been observed and is discussed. In order to investigate the thermodynamics of the oxidation process new experiments have been carried out which involve the synthesis of a buried oxide layer, by O+ implantation followed by a high temperature anneal. The implanted oxygen atoms preferentially bond to silicon atoms and the oxygen atoms are found to bond to germanium atoms only after all of the silicon atoms are fully oxidised. Germanium tends to be rejected from the growing oxide during a subsequent higher temperature (>900°C) anneal. The different behaviour of the Si and Ge atoms during both thermal and internal oxidations is described in terms of the thermodynamics and kinetics of the SiGe alloy system. There are three important conclusions which emerge from these analyses: (i) in order to adequately control the composition of thermal oxides (T>800°C) grown on Si0.5Ge0.5 material it is necessary to preheat the samples in a non oxidising atmosphere prior to oxidation. By so doing the entrapment of Ge in the near surface layer (region I) is inhibited; (ii) during the initial stage of dry oxidation the process is described by the reaction Si+O2?Si2 and we suggest that the rate is controlled by the availability of oxygen atoms and is numerically the same as for bulk Si; (iii) in contrast, during the initial stage of wet oxidation, the process is described by the reaction Si+2OH→SiO2+H2 and the rate is controlled by the areal density of Si atoms, which we propose is high due to the weak Si-Ge binding energy and thus an enhanced oxidation rate occurs.


The culture of Penaeus monodon has explicitly defined the need for diet formulations or supplementary feeds that would promote optimum growth and survival of the animal. A total of 28 feed combinations were developed for P. monodon. Fish meal, shrimp head meal, squid head meal, Ascetes spp. rice bran, and soybean cake were used as primary ingredients in these feeds. The commercial vitamin mix No. 22 was added to the dry ingredients. Gelatinized corn starch and wheat flour were used as binders. The pellets were extruded using a portable kitchen grinder with a diameter of 4 mm. The products were either sun-dried for 8 hours or oven-dried overnight at 50 degree C to stabilize moisture at 8-10%. The pellets were then kept in covered glass bottles and stored in the laboratory at room temperature. The cost of the feeds excluding labour were also computed. The pellets were analyzed for protein, fat, carbohydrate, crude fiber, ash, and moisture contents using standard procedures. They were also analyzed for water stability. To test the stability of pellets in water, 2-g samples were placed in plankton nets (mesh #40) and suspended in water for two, and six hours. The undissolved samples were then vacuum-dried and the moisture determined. Cost of the feeds ranged from P1.10 to P2.60 per kg depending on the feed ingredient. Squid and Ascetes spp. were rather expensive for use as basic ingredients. Proximate analysis of dry weight showed percentage protein content ranged from 20-63 g; fat, 8-20 g; carbohydrate (by difference), 11-36 g; ash, 8-28 g; moisture, 6-11 g; and crude fiber, 5 . 13 g. Stability tests showed that after two hours, 35-88% of solids remained intact and after 6 hours, 20-55% of the pellets remained undissolved. When a pellet disintegrates easily, pollution of the water occurs. Chances for the shrimp to feed on the pellet is minimized when the pellet is unstable. Thus, the search for a more compact feed pellet has to be continued.


Background: Acquisition of family medical history (FMH) is emphasized as a part of obtaining a complete medical history, but whether FMH is consistently documented and utilized in primary care, as well as how it can affect patient care in this context, remains unclear. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine: 1) if FMH is regularly acquired in a representative primary care practice (the Queen's Family Health Team, QFHT); 2) what is included in the FMH obtained; 3) what the utility of FMH is with regards to patient management in primary care; and 4) to utilize healthcare practitioners' perspectives in order to elucidate any findings regarding the acquisition and utility of FMH at the QFHT. Methods: Patients were interviewed in order to obtain their FMH. For each patient, the FMH obtained was compared to the FMH documented in the patient's record to determine the record's completeness. Each patient's FMH was analyzed for significant history of coronary artery disease (CAD), diabetes mellitus type II (DMII), substance abuse (SA) and colorectal cancer (CRC). Participants were patients scheduled for appointments at the QFHT between May and July 2011. Any patient of the QFHT older than 25 years was eligible to participate. Clinical staff of the QFHT completed an online questionnaire to determine healthcare practitioners' perspectives regarding the acquisition and utility of FMH. Results: 83 patients participated in the study. Participants ranged in age from 25 - 86 years (median: 63 years); 69% were female. FMH present in patients' records was often either incomplete (42% of charts reviewed) or not documented at all (51% of charts reviewed). Knowledge of FMH can affect patient management in primary care for the diseases assessed (CAD, DMII, SA and CRC). HCP do consider FMH to be important in clinical practice and 86% of respondents stated that they regularly inquired about patients' FMH. Interpretation: Despite the belief by HCP that FMH is important, there is a disparity between this belief and their practices regarding its documentation and utilization. Finally, analysis of the FMH of the representative population studied shows that information commonly missing in patients' FMH can affect patient management at a primary care level.


The phenomenon of current sheet canting in pulsed electromagnetic accelerators is the departure of the plasma sheet (that carries the current) from a plane that is perpendicular to the electrodes to one that is skewed or tipped. Developing an understanding of current sheet canting is important because it can detract from the propellant sweeping capabilities of current sheets and, hence, negatively impact the overall efficiency. In the present study, photographic, magnetic, and laser-interferometric diagnostics were implemented to study current sheets in an experimental pulsed electromagnetic accelerator, using a variety of propellants and pressure levels. The interferometric measurements were used to quantify the canting angle during the stable phase of propagation. The canting angle was found to increase with the atomic mass of the propellant and the current sheet was always found to tilt such that the anode current attachment leads the cathode attachment.


Local measurements of the dispersed phase properties in air-water bubbly flows are of primary importance to understand the hydrodynamic characteristics of multiphase flows. One of the essential requirements in designing multiphase flow systems is to determine its flow regime since many constitutive models are flow regime dependent. In bubbly multiphase flow, the bubble diameter plays a vital role in hydrodynamics of flow.

In this study, a novel invasive measuring instrumentation system has been designed and developed to determine the bubble size and shape accurately by minimising the effects of the bubble-sensor interactions. This instrumentation system has been used to determine the effects of the bubble size on the volume fraction distribution and the hydrodynamic behaviour of air-water two-phase flow. The novelty of this probe arises from the fact that the data is collected from the first bubble-sensor contact, unlike the previous methods in which the data has been collected from two points namely, first when the sensors' tips immersed a bubble and second when the sensors' tips left the bubble.

The seven-sensor conductivity probe subsequently has been used to determine the dispersed phase local parameters. These parameters include bubble velocity, time-averaged local void fraction and bubble shape and size. The data from this probe has been acquired using National Instruments Data Acquisition (DAQ) and LabVIEW software.

The experiments have comprised of two methods, namely bubble column and flow loop. For the bubble column experiments, a new image processing code has been developed for capturing the dispersed phase properties, including the void fraction from the images that have been captured by the high-speed cameras. From the comparison between both methods, the seven-sensor probe and the high-speed camera measurements, good agreement has been achieved.

In the flow loop experiments, the novel seven-sensor probe system has been used for measuring the dispersed phase properties from the first bubble sensor contact; moreover, the effect of variation of gas superficial velocity, with the values of 0.05, 0.07 and 0.1 m/s, on the dispersed phase properties have been also investigated.


This paper analyzes the determinants of bilingualism (i.e., speaks a language other than English at home) among children age 5 to 18 years in the American Community Survey, 2005-2011. Two groups of children are considered: those born in the US (native born) and foreign-born children who immigrated prior to age 14 (the 1.5 generation). The analyses are conducted overall, within genders, and within racial and ethnic groups. Bilingualism is more prevalent if the parents are foreign born, less proficient in English, of the same ancestry (linguistic) group, and if the child lives in an ethnic (linguistic) concentration area. Although the effects are relatively smaller, a foreign-born grandparent living in the household increases child bilingualism, while a higher level of parental education tends to decrease it. Children of Asian and especially of Hispanic origin are more likely to be bilingual than their white, non-Hispanic counterparts. Native-born Indigenous children are more likely to be bilingual.


There are two perspectives on the relationship between states and multinational corporations (MNCs). One, the "state in command" perspective, sees states as dominant, with globalization only worsening the situation. The other-the "MNCs in command" view-sees MNCs as all-powerful as a result of their assets. Globalization from that perspective is not necessarily bad and may actually empower states against multinational firms. China's dealings with Microsoft Corporation from the early 1990s to the present show that neither perspective is accurate. China got some of what it wanted while Microsoft got some of what it wanted. In lieu of these approaches, a third model is offered here-a modified bargaining power perspective that focuses on the balance of needs, alliances, and the institutional environment as important factors shaping the bargaining dynamic between China and multinational enterprises. A case study of the China-Microsoft model demonstrates the usefulness of the model. Key words: China, globalization, economic development in Asia Introduction Multinational corporations (MNCs) are one of the most visible facets of contemporary globalization. In 1970, there were 7,000 MNCs worldwide. Thirty years later the number had soared to more than 60,000. As of 1999, the 1,000 largest MNCs were responsible for 80 percent of world industrial output while the world's top 100 MNCs accounted for 4.3 percent of world GDP.1 China is no stranger to these trends. Between 2004 and 2006 alone, the number of foreign-funded enterprises in China jumped from almost 470,000 to more than 500,000. Moreover, MNCs have assumed an increasingly prominent role in China's economy. They employ almost 24 million people, represent nearly ninety of China's 200 largest exporters, and dominate numerous market segments such as soft drinks.2 In the view of some, today's MNCs have great power.3 This is because they can use their massive revenues, control over distribution channels, and addictive brands to force countries to open their markets, limit their support for local firms, and embrace international accords they might otherwise reject. According to this school of thought (the "MNCs in command" camp), globalization has only worsened matters by increasing the mobility of MNCs. The "states in command" camp rejects such claims.4 It retorts that states remain quite powerful as a result of their political, military, and economic endowments, their powers as sovereigns, and their influence over international governmental organizations (IGOs). As for globalization, states-in-command adherents argue that it does not prima facie empower MNCs. Indeed, it may actually weaken them, for example by providing governments with alternative sources of capital and technology. The China-Microsoft case from the early 1990s to the present challenges both of these schools of thought. Contrary to what the MNCs-in-command perspective would lead us to expect, China pushed Microsoft, one of the world's most prestigious and successful software companies, into numerous joint ventures (JVs) with Chinese firms as well as several large-scale purchasing deals with Chinese vendors. Moreover, the Chinese government forced Microsoft to make hundreds of millions of "investments" in education, training, and research. As well, China insufficiently responded to Microsoft's desires for much reduced piracy of its products. In opposition to the states-incommand perspective, however, Microsoft struck deals worth billions of dollars with Chinese personal computer (PC) manufacturers and won numerous contracts from Chinese government entities. Beyond this, Microsoft refused to offer discounted versions of its products in China. And the Chinese government failed in its quest to nurture local firms that could offer meaningful alternatives to Microsoft's dominant programs. The two dominant camps fail to illuminate the China- Microsoft case because they excessively stress the endowments of China and Microsoft and ignore the actual need that the two parties have for these resources. …


The paper presents test results for the assessment of the tracer content in a three-component (green peas, sorghum, maize) feed mixture that is based on the fluorescent method. The homogeneity of mixtures was determined on the basis of the maize content (as the key component), which was treated with fluorescent substance: tinopal, rhodamine B, uranine and eosin. The key components were wet-treated with fluorescent substances with different concentrations. Feed components were mixed in a vertical funnel-flow mixer. 10 samples were collected from each mixed batch. Samples were placed in a chamber equipped with UV light and, then, an image recorded as BMP file was generated. The image was analysed by means of the software programme Patan. On the basis of the analyses conducted, data on the maize content marked with a fluorescent marker were obtained. Additionally, the content of the key component was determined in a conventional manner – using an analytical scale. Results indicate the possibility of using this method for homogeneity assessment of the three-component grain mixture. From these tests, fluorescent substances that can be applied in the case of maize as a key component, together with their minimum concentrations, were identified: tinopal 0.3%, rhodamine B 0.001%.


In 2008 a sequence of geomagnetic storms occurred triggered by high‐speed solar wind streams from coronal holes. Improved estimates of precipitating fluxes of energetic electrons are derived from measurements on board the NOAA/POES 18 satellite using a new analysis technique. These fluxes are used to quantify the direct impact of energetic electron precipitation (EEP) during solar minimum on middle atmospheric hydroxyl (OH) measured from the Aura satellite. During winter, localized longitudinal density enhancements in the OH are observed over northern Russia and North America at corrected geomagnetic latitudes poleward of 55°. Although the northern Russia OH enhancement is closely associated with increased EEP at these longitudes, the strength and location of the North America enhancement appear to be unrelated to EEP. This OH density enhancement is likely due to vertical motion induced by atmospheric wave dynamics that transports air rich in atomic oxygen and atomic hydrogen downward into the middle atmosphere, where it plays a role in the formation of OH. In the Southern Hemisphere, localized enhancements of the OH density over West Antarctica can be explained by a combination of enhanced EEP due to the local minimum in Earth's magnetic field strength and atmospheric dynamics. Our findings suggest that even during solar minimum, there is substantial EEP‐driven OH production. However, to quantify this effect, a detailed knowledge of where and when the precipitation occurs is required in the context of the background atmospheric dynamics.


Purpose: To explore the influence of two vibration training methods (static and dynamic vibrations) on proprioception of knee-joint.
Method: Recruiting 12 healthy male students (similar in height, weight, and age) in Southwest University and adopting angular instrument and JVC camcorder to monitor knee-joint proprioception of subjects who have received different vibration trainings, so as to reveal vibration training's change to knee-joints' active and passive proprioception in open and closed-kinetic-chain modes.
Results: According to active and passive angle tests on open-kinematic-chain knee-joint and passive angle test on closed-kinetic-chain knee-joint of legs, error in non-intervention mode is remarkably larger than that in dynamic and static vibration intervention modes when the subjects are tested in these three modes. The comparison among the three intervention modes show that the dynamic vibration training is superior to vibration training whereas the static training is superior to no training according to the error in active and passive angle tests on open-kinematic-chain knee-joint and passive angle test on closed-kinetic-chain of dominant leg.
Conclusion: Vibration training exerts remarkable effect on improvement of proprioception of knee-joint and it is more suitable to adopt dynamic vibration training.


Abstract. Landslides are a major concern in disaster risk reduction and management in Southeast Asia due to the region's geographic location and setting. These are massive downward movement of rock, soil and/or debris under the influence of gravity. Benguet, lying within the Cordilleran mountains of the Philippines, is landslide prone. The increasing demand for sustainable development and expansion of human settlements and infrastructures deems landslides as a problem for the mountainous province. More than half of Benguet's land area is highly susceptible to landslides. Hence, landslide potential identification and assessment, associated with topography, is vital in ensuring efficiency while minimizing collateral damage and unwanted casualties. This study developed a logistic regression model to map susceptibility to rainfall-induced landslides. Causative factors for the analysis in this study include rock types, soil types, land use, elevation, slope, aspect, precipitation, topographic wetness index (TWI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and leaf area index (LAI). These layers were prepared using GIS. Based on the logistic regression, the most statistically significant variables were aspect, elevation, and leaf area index (LAI). The model considered with the combination of the causative variables resulted with an R squared value of 86% which indicates good variability for the conditioning factors used for the mapping procedure. Results indicate that 69% of Benguet is highly susceptible to landslides, 7% area is moderately susceptible to landslides, and 24% area is low susceptible to landslides.


Mechanical pumping was used to break up thermal stratification in four lakes in southern Ohio during the summer of 1964. The lake volumes were 98, 100, 120, and 1260 acre-ft. Each impoundment was thermally and chemically stratified before pumping began. The equipment was a pontoon-mounted, axial-flow pump, 13 acre-ft per day capacity, driven by a gasoline engine. The pump drew water from the bottom and discharged it at the surface. Profiles of temperature, pH, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide were taken before and after pumping. Data presented show that this method was effective in destratifying these lakes. In addition, the data show that water quality was improved by artificial destratification and that an entire impoundment could be mixed with the pump located at a single position. Some data are presented on total work requirements, but these were found to be dependent on the efficiency of the mechanical equipment and the percentage of cold water in the impoundment before pumping.


A use of an electric outlet by a consumer forces the outlet manager to pay for the consumer's power usage in current electrical power systems. Even if a consumer uses an outlet managed by another person, one bill for both indoor and outdoor charging information should be required to the consumer in their contract with the utility company. For this purpose, we define a model for the Smart Grid security and propose a Secure Payment Protocol for Charging Information over Smart grid, SPaCIS for short, as a protocol satisfying the model. Our model provides for the unlinkability of consumers as well as for the undeniability and unforgeability of billing information using digital signatures and identity federations. SPaCIS is also efficient in the sense that time complexity is constant relatively to a trivial use such as an individual verification for each signatures, unless a verification error happens. We furthermore evaluate performance of SPaCIS via cryptographic implementation, and simulate SPaCIS in a case that one thousand users generate thirty signatures. Then, we show that SPaCIS with ECDSA can be executed within 6.30 msec for signing and 21.04 msec for verification of signatures, and conclude that SPaCIS is fairly practical.


We study a dynamic infection spread model, inspired by the discrete time SIR model, where infections are spread via non-isolated infected individuals. While infection keeps spreading over time, a limited capacity testing is performed at each time instance as well. In contrast to the classical, static, group testing problem, the objective in our setup is not to find the minimum number of required tests to identify the infection status of every individual in the population, but to control the infection spread by detecting and isolating the infections over time by using the given, limited number of tests. To analyze the performance of the proposed algorithms, we focus on the mean-sense analysis of the number of individuals that remain non-infected throughout the process of controlling the infection. We propose two dynamic algorithms that both use given limited number of tests to identify and isolate the infections over time, while the infection spreads. While the first algorithm is a dynamic randomized individual testing algorithm, in the second algorithm we employ the group testing approach similar to the original work of Dorfman. By considering weak versions of our algorithms, we obtain lower bounds for the performance of our algorithms. Finally, we implement our algorithms and run simulations to gather numerical results and compare our algorithms and theoretical approximation results under different sets of system parameters.


Neural Processes combine the strengths of neural networks and Gaussian processes to achieve both flexible learning and fast prediction in stochastic processes. However, a large class of problems comprises underlying temporal dependency structures in a sequence of stochastic processes that Neural Processes (NP) do not explicitly consider. In this paper, we propose Sequential Neural Processes (SNP) which incorporates a temporal state-transition model of stochastic processes and thus extends its modeling capabilities to dynamic stochastic processes. In applying SNP to dynamic 3D scene modeling, we introduce the Temporal Generative Query Networks. To our knowledge, this is the first 4D model that can deal with the temporal dynamics of 3D scenes. In experiments, we evaluate the proposed methods in dynamic (non-stationary) regression and 4D scene inference and rendering.


Background Many studies have been developed to characterize the mechanical behavior of the intervertebral disc specifically for the lumbar spine and there have been limited studies done on the cervical spine with the goal to evaluate the strength of the cervical spine under compression without any information on the bulging of the intervertebral discs. The goal of the current study is to examine the deformation response of the cervical intervertebral disc classified with grade III or greater degeneration and analyze the relationship between axial deformation and anterior and posterior bulge under compression up to 550 N. Methods Each specimen was compressed for 3 cycles to a maximum load of 550N in steps of 50 N. The bulge was measured using Linear Variable Differential Transformers (LVDTs on an intact spinal segment, spinal segment with post laminectomy, and spinal segment post facetectomy. Results The anterior budge for an intact spinal segment shows a change of slope at loads of 262N±66N. For a physiological load of 250N the vertical displacement or spine segment height was reduced by 10.1% for an intact segment and 8.78% for the laminectomy and facetectomy configurations with F = 0.159 (Fcrit = 3.89) with no statistical difference observed. For the post laminectomy there was a decrease of 35% in anterior bulge compared to the intact specimen. Conclusions Our results show that for grade III disc degeneration the cervical segments bulging for both the laminectomy and facetectomy procedures are not significantly different. In post laminectomy the average anterior and posterior bulges are similar to the average anterior and posterior bulge post facetectomy.


Basement highs are large structural features, commonly buried in sedimentary basins (Busby & Azor 2012). They are of interest for natural resources exploration and research because of their ability to influence migration and entrapment of petroleum (Trice 2014) and water, and the deposition of metals (Hitzman 2005; Borg et al. 2012). Three-dimensional (3D) reservoir models (e.g. Shepherd 2009) are built to evaluate and model fluid-filled basement reservoirs (Ringrose & Bentley 2015). However, subsurface data are expensive, difficult to obtain and are often widely spaced. Ideally, basement reservoir models would be constrained by rock, fracture and mineral vein data from appropriate outcrop analogues (acknowledging that subaerial basement rocks have, by definition, a different uplift history than subsurface basement). The Liverpool Land Basement High (LLBH) in Greenland is an uplifted and well-exposed basement high located between two sedimentary basins, and thus provides a valuable analogue for fractured basement-hosted mineral, oil and geothermal reservoirs.
The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) conducted reconnaissance work on the LLBH in 2018 to assess the quality of the exposure of basement palaeo-weathering profiles and fault-fracture networks. Here, we introduce the LLBH, the concept of fractured basement reservoir modelling, and how studying the LLBH can help enhance reservoir modelling of fractured basement. We present some of our preliminary observations of LLBH fault-fracture networks and discuss how the exposed sediment-basement features and processes might aid industry and research in their top basement mapping activities. We propose that LLBH provides a particularly suitable analogue for industry and research to analyse: (a) multiscale fracture system connectivity, (b) fluid migration and fluid-rock reaction processes, (c) input parameters for basement reservoir modelling and (d) top basement geomorphologies and processes.


The current scale of offender reentry creates unprecedented challenges for those, including victims, who have an interest in the successful reintegration of offenders into the community. Current problem-solving approaches emphasize the need for continuity between in-custody and postrelease programs and the importance of partnerships and collaborations in supervision and support for offenders. These developments offer increasing opportunities to victims and victims organizations because their experience and knowledge are often directly relevant to reentry issues. Increased victim involvement in the planning, management, and implementation of reentry policies and programs can contribute positively to better informed decisions and the achievement of reentry goals.


Macromolecular interactions play a key role in all life processes. The construction
and annotation of protein interaction networks is pivotal for the
understanding of these processes, and how their perturbation leads to disease.
However the extent of the human interactome and the limitations of
the experimental techniques which can be brought to bear upon it necessitate
theoretical approaches. Presented here are computational investigations
into the interactions between biological macromolecules, focusing on the
structural prediction of interactions, docking, and their kinetic and thermodynamic
characterisation via empirical functions. Firstly, the use of normal
modes in docking is investigated. Vibrational analysis of proteins are shown
to indicate the motions which proteins are intrinsically disposed to undertake,
and the use of this information to model flexible deformations upon
protein-protein binding is evaluated. Subsequently SwarmDock, a docking
algorithm which models flexibility as a linear combination of normal modes,
is presented and benchmarked on a wide variety of test cases. This algorithm
utilises state of the art energy functions and metaheuristics to navigate the
free energy landscape. Information derived from Langevin dynamics simulations
of encounter complex formation in the crowded cytosolic environment
can be incorporated into SwarmDock and enhances its performance.
Finally, a benchmark of binding free energies derived from the literature is
presented. For this benchmark, a large number of molecular descriptors are
derived. Machine learning methods are then applied to these in order to
derive empirical binding free energy, association rate and dissociation rate
functions which take account of the conformational changes which occur
upon complexation.


This article examines a 5-year collaboration between the Stockholm-based video artists Performing Pictures and Talleres Comunitarios, a studio based in the Oaxacan town of Santa Ana Zegache where local artisans employ traditional skills in the restoration of religious artifacts. In images and text, we trace the exchange of skills, knowledge, and aesthetic sensibility that took place as these two groups of artists collaborated in producing a series of video animations of venerative objects, against a backdrop of religious, social, and political tensions that characterize everyday life in Zegache. In the article and the accompanying series of three short films, "Wonder & Veneration 1–3" (http://vimeo.com/album/2682070), we examine how the artists negotiate questions of aesthetics and religious belief as their collaboration unfolds within the context of the Zegache community, where the Talleres contribute skills of carpentry and painting, while Performing Pictures provides skills of film, animation and micro-electronics. The processes and practices involved in creating three works provides the framework for this examination: the first, an animation of the Virgin of Guadalupe as she appears to a simple peasant, and the second, produced 2 years later, an animation of Santa Ana, local patron saint and mother of Maria, as she teaches her daughter to read the scriptures. Whereas both figures are central to the syncretic religious belief of southern Mexico with its challenge to the entrenched authority of the hispanicized clergy, the local figure of Santa Ana carries even more complex meanings for the community of Zegache. These meanings are embodied in the third work we examine, a small solar-powered chapel that the artists built to display the Santa Ana animation. With the mayor's support and located at the entrance to the town, the chapel embodies a shift of power away from the church, standing as an example of indigenous empowerment in civil society.


At any stage of the Cold War, Soviet film culture was inevitably influenced by the political and ideological content of the conflict and by fluctuations in its course. Soviet films represented confrontation with the West with various degrees of directness, dealing with such issues as ideological struggle, espionage, the fear of global hostilities (influenced by traumatic memories of the past world war), and ostentatious or genuine attempts at rapprochement with the other side. Soviet ideologues and commentators from different cultural fields were mobilized to defend Soviet filmmakers and film audiences from possible contamination. Western cinema was condemned as a source and emblem of bourgeois decadence and regarded as a tool of enemy propaganda. Films produced in the United States were the main targets of this condemnation: in stark contrast to the general friendliness which had characterized Soviet attitudes toward American filmmaking during World War II, with the advent of the Cold War they were commonly described as a "filthy torrent of slander against humanity produced by Hollywood's conveyor-belts." (1) Against considerable odds, however, during the Cold War American cinema remained an important presence within Soviet culture and generated a significant effect on its Soviet counterpart even during the conflict's most difficult periods, when most American cultural products were rejected as unfit for Soviet consumption. (2) Even in the conditions of growing ideological repression and thorough filtration of anything that was perceived as a product of American capitalism and a tool of imperialist subversion, American films reached the Soviet intelligentsia, as well as "common" Soviet viewers. The new xenophobic atmosphere (fueled by "anti-cosmopolitan" witch hunts and "courts of honor") did not prevent Soviet filmmakers, who since the earliest days of Soviet cinema had demonstrated enthusiastic interest in American representations of dynamic modernity and American film techniques, from being perceptive observers and processors of America's cinematic achievements. (3) Moreover, in spite of the declared intent to fence out contaminating Western influences, Soviet ideologues paid close attention to the developments in American cinema, sanctioning the use--for very different ideological aims--of stylistic and narrative patterns commonly associated with Hollywood. (4) This article examines certain channels and mechanisms of American cinema's penetration of the Soviet realm at the Cold War's initial and, arguably, most acute stage, the parameters of which were shaped in the last years of Stalin's rule by the most violent official rejection of Western culture. It explores two interrelated issues: patterns of Soviet bureaucratic, intellectual, and popular reception of American films; and U.S. efforts to secure a position in the Soviet film market. The first issue opens another perspective on the two superpowers' ideological and cultural rivalry; the second specifies the problem of cultural influences in a situation when the influencer has to circumvent powerful mechanisms of defense. By demonstrating and explaining diverse responses of Soviet audiences, authorities, and filmmakers to one of the most popular and accomplished products of American culture and one of the most powerful instruments of U.S. cultural policy, I aim to give a more nuanced picture of a period traditionally regarded as one of the lowest points in the relationship between the USSR and the United States. American Films in the USSR during World War II The history of Soviet attitudes toward American cinema in the early course of the Cold War would be incomplete without a look at its reception in the Soviet Union during World War II. (5) First, positive attitudes toward American cinema prevalent at that time provide a dramatic contrast to the mood of the subsequent Cold War. Second, the wartime access to allied countries' films, and the fact that large numbers of foreign movies were obtained as war trophies, profoundly influenced postwar Soviet filmmaking and the general cultural situation in the USSR. …


This paper analyzes the causes, effects and policy alternatives associated with the recent international food price crisis in the Andean region. Additionally, the document makes a first approach to the policy options utilized to confront the crisis, discussing the mix of policies and their potential effectiveness, using a qualitative methodology based in part on schemes proposed in Manzano and Stein (2008), and Malarin (2008). A final section underscores various messages common to the countries of the region. Specifically, the report concludes that this crisis offers a great opportunity for transforming its uncertainties and costs into a stimulus for maturing an infrastructure of prevention and reduction of vulnerabilities in the Andean economies.


The recent mass mortality of Caribbean reef corals dramatically altered reef community structure and begs the question of the past stability and persistence of coral assemblages before human disturbance began. We report within habitat stability in coral community composition in the Pleistocene fossil record of Barbados for at least 95,000 years despite marked variability in global sea level and climate. Results were consistent for surveys of both common and rare taxa. Comparison of Pleistocene and modern community structure shows that Recent human impacts have changed coral community structure in ways not observed in the preceding 220,000 years.


Significance We describe the interaction between an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), NUPR1, and the well-folded C-terminal region of RING1B protein of the Polycomb complex, involving residues Ala33 and Thr68 of the IDP. These observations are significant because they raise the possibility that NUPR1 aids the function of the members of the Polycomb complex, playing an active role in carcinogenesis. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are ubiquitous in eukaryotes, and they are often associated with diseases in humans. The protein NUPR1 is a multifunctional IDP involved in chromatin remodeling and in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer; however, the details of such functions are unknown. Polycomb proteins are involved in specific transcriptional cascades and gene silencing. One of the proteins of the Polycomb complex is the Ring finger protein 1 (RING1). RING1 is related to aggressive tumor features in multiple cancer types. In this work we characterized the interaction between NUPR1 and the paralogue RING1B in vitro, in silico, and in cellulo. The interaction occurred through the C-terminal region of RING1B (C-RING1B), with an affinity in the low micromolar range (∼10 μM). The binding region of NUPR1, mapped by NMR, was a hydrophobic polypeptide patch at the 30s region of its sequence, as pinpointed by computational results and site-directed mutagenesis at Ala33. The association between C-RING1B and wild-type NUPR1 also occurred in cellulo as tested by protein ligation assays; this interaction is inhibited by trifluoperazine, a drug known to hamper binding of wild-type NUPR1 with other proteins. Furthermore, the Thr68Gln and Ala33Gln/Thr68Gln mutants had a reduction in the binding toward C-RING1B as shown by in vitro, in silico, and in cellulo studies. This is an example of a well-folded partner of NUPR1, because its other interacting proteins are also unfolded. We hypothesize that NUPR1 plays an active role in chromatin remodeling and carcinogenesis, together with Polycomb proteins.


Geographic information systems (GIS) have been used for geospatial data management and analysis, map production and spatial modelling. They also have the potential to incorporate climate and satellite data that could provide a spatial perspective on risk of establishment of plant pathogens. In the present case study, the climatic suitability for establishment of dwarf bunt, a disease that can cause market access restrictions, on wheat or other grass hosts in New Zealand was analysed using a GIS approach. Establishment risk for dwarf bunt in New Zealand was found to be very low. GIS was found to be a more versatile tool for modelling potential geographic distribution of organisms than conventional climate matching tools, such as CLIMEX.


In large-scale industrial plants, alarm management system (AMS) has a critical role in safety and efficiency of the plant. High degree of connectivity in large-scale plants results in high degree of dependencies between the generated alarms, and thus in any abnormal condition, a huge number of alarms are presented to the operator. This phenomenon is known as alarm flood, which might lead to a hazardous situation if the operator cannot handle them. Therefore, an efficient alarm analysis system is required to assist the operator by detecting the sequence of alarms and the root-cause analysis between them. In this paper, a data-driven method using the alarm log file is proposed to detect the causal sequence of the alarms. In this method, an efficient alarm clustering based on time distance between the alarms is proposed to keep the timely close alarms in one cluster. This clustering approach can help to preserve the neighboring alarms in one cluster. By similarity analysis between the detected clusters, the similar clusters can form a category of alarms. Each category and the clusters inside them are further analyzed for root-cause detection by means of transfer entropy. Finally, the proposed method is evaluated with an industrial alarm data.


Recently, U.S. activists, scholars, and policy makers have turned their attention to a notable effort to address the large gender gap in top business management: gender quotas for corporate boards of directors. Gender quotas for corporate boards represent an intriguing option, even if the empirical case for quotas is not airtight. Still, gender quotas may seem a cultural and legal oddity in the United States, a European transplant unlikely to take root here. Even if a quota could survive constitutional scrutiny, gender quotas for corporate boards seem to represent the kind of intrusive state regulation of business that our nation's laissez faire ideology seems to reject. American ideals of free markets, investor choice, and employment at will sit uneasily, to put it mildly, with the notion that the state should dictate to investors the gender of the decisionmakers entrusted with the management of their money.But a closer look at U.S. institutions reveals that the cultural and legal mismatch is not as severe as it may first appear. Gender quotas designed with sensitivity to exceptional U.S. institutions could fit comfortably with U.S. legal institutions. For instance, the federal tax code and securities law may offer stronger vehicles for implementation of a mandatory or voluntary effort than state corporate law. To take another example, the prominence of nonprofits in health care and education should prompt us to consider carefully whether some (or all) nonprofits should be subject to quotas as well and how nonprofits might be integrated into tax-based initiatives. Finally, thoughtful transition policies could address concerns about the scarcity of women in the pool of qualified director candidates.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of Veau-Wardill-Kilner (VWK) two-flap palatoplasty and Furlow double-opposing Z-plasty operations on eustachian tube (ET) opening in patients with cleft palate (CP).

DESIGN
Twenty-six patients underwent CP repair between 1993 and 1997. VWK and Furlow operations were used in 13 patients each. All patients were examined by the otorhinolaryngologist before and after the operations; mean follow-up time was 27.3 months. Secretory otitis media (SOM), as identified by tympanograms, was the comparison criterion used.

RESULTS
The prevalence of SOM was 69% (n = 18) in all CP patients preoperatively. Among those with preoperative SOM, we did not find any statistically significant difference in the frequency of postoperative SOM between the two techniques.

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that there is no difference in postoperative ET function between patients undergoing either VWK or Furlow operations, in spite of the differences in muscle positioning in these operations. We discuss the implications of this finding in relation to surgical anatomy and histology of the soft palate muscles.


Background A complex relationship exists between diet and sleep but despite its impact on human health, this relationship remains uncharacterized and poorly understood. Drosophila melanogaster is an important model for the study of metabolism and behaviour, however the effect of diet upon Drosophila sleep remains largely unaddressed. Methodology/Principal Findings Using automated behavioural monitoring, a capillary feeding assay and pharmacological treatments, we examined the effect of dietary yeast and sucrose upon Drosophila sleep-wake behaviour for three consecutive days. We found that dietary yeast deconsolidated the sleep-wake behaviour of flies by promoting arousal from sleep in males and shortening periods of locomotor activity in females. We also demonstrate that arousal from nocturnal sleep exhibits a significant ultradian rhythmicity with a periodicity of 85 minutes. Increasing the dietary sucrose concentration from 5% to 35% had no effect on total sucrose ingestion per day nor any affect on arousal, however it did lengthen the time that males and females remained active. Higher dietary sucrose led to reduced total sleep by male but not female flies. Locomotor activity was reduced by feeding flies Metformin, a drug that inhibits oxidative phosphorylation, however Metformin did not affect any aspects of sleep. Conclusions We conclude that arousal from sleep is under ultradian control and regulated in a sex-dependent manner by dietary yeast and that dietary sucrose regulates the length of time that flies sustain periods of wakefulness. These findings highlight Drosophila as an important model with which to understand how diet impacts upon sleep and wakefulness in mammals and humans.


The variety of Sicilian spoken in Pantelleria has developed a progressive construction which involves pronominal subject clitics. This is striking in many respects. Firstly, on a Romance scale, subject clitics are usually regarded as characteristic for varieties spoken north of Florence. Secondly, in none of the central Romance dialects where subject clitics are known to occur do these convey progressive meaning. The latter seems to be unusual on a larger scale too, as none of the strategies for progressive marking reported in the relevant literature on linguistic typology seems to be directly comparable with the one displayed by Pantiscu. Besides, the results of the present study have some consequences for grammaticalization theory, as they suggest that recent revisions of Hopper & Traugott's 'cline of grammaticalization' are not on the right track and that the cline originally proposed should rather be revised so as to include the distinction between syntactic and phonological cliticization.


We use a contingent claims analysis model to calculate the idiosyncratic risks in Leveraged Buyout transactions. A decisive feature of the model is the consideration of amortization. From the model, asset value volatility and equity value volatility can be derived via a numerical procedure. For a sample of 40 Leveraged Buyout transactions we determine the necessary model parameters and calculate the implied idiosyncratic risks. We verify the expected model sensitivities by varying the input parameters. For the first time, we are able to calculate Sharpe Ratios for individual Leveraged Buyouts, thereby fully incorporating the leverage risks.


Volatiles released by pathogenic and nonpathogenic mycobacteria, as well as by mycobacteria-related Nocardia spp., were analyzed. Bacteria were cultivated on solid and in liquid media, and headspace samples were collected at various times during the bacterial lifecycle to elucidate the conditions giving optimal volatile emission. Emitted volatiles were collected by using closed-loop stripping analysis (CLSA) and were analyzed by gas-chromatography–mass-spectrometry. A wide range of compounds was produced, although the absolute amount was small. Nevertheless, characteristic bouquets of compounds could be identified. Predominantly aromatic compounds and fatty-acid derivatives were released by pathogenic/nonpathogenic mycobacteria, while the two Nocardia spp. (N. asteroides and N. africana) emitted the sesquiterpene aciphyllene. Pathogenic Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains grown on agar plates produced a distinct bouquet with different volatiles, while liquid cultures produce less compounds but sometimes an earlier onset of volatile production because of their steeper growth curves under this conditions. This behavior differentiates M. tuberculosis from other mycobacteria, which generally produced fewer compounds in seemingly lower amounts. Knowledge of the production of volatiles by M. tuberculosis can facilitate the rational design of alternative and faster diagnostic measures for tuberculosis.


A photonic analog-to-digital (A/D) link with third-order distortion suppression is proposed and demonstrated. Experimental results with single-and two-tone analog input signals and a one giga-sample per second (GSPS) photonic A/D system with 500-MHz instantaneous bandwidth are presented. The application of a simple time-domain linearization scheme results in distortion suppression approaching 30 dB and allows optical modulation depths over 80%.


The deployment of wireless networks is in permanent growth. To exploit their intrinsic mobility advantages, collaborative networks such as first responder networks (FRNs) have recently adopted wireless networking technologies, Albiet at a small scale. FRNs require the collaboration of heterogeneous and mobile groups. Impeding the wide-scale use of wireless networking in FRNs are the many security challenges like user authentication, information flow and wireless media management. In this paper, we propose a solution that enables authenticated communication among multiple FRNs which is especially needed during critical events such as intervention in disaster situations. Our solution uses a two-level hierarchical proxy signature to decentralize the authentication process across different administrative networks. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first construction of two-level signature delegation applied to wireless environments. Security and performance analysis and comparison with other works demonstrate the viability and advantages of our solution.


Let $G$ be a simple graph of order $n$. The domination polynomial of $G$ is the polynomial $D(G, x)=\sum_{i=\gamma(G)}^{n} d(G,i) x^{i}$, where $d(G,i)$ is the number of dominating sets of $G$ of size $i$ and $\gamma(G)$ is the domination number of $G$. It is conjectured that the domination polynomial of any graph is unimodal. In this paper we present some families of graphs whose domination polynomials are unimodal.


The study is an exploration of Eastern European animation as it relates to experimental animation practice – in particular as it relates to fine art aesthetics. The research further aims to investigate the validity of this tradition within the context of digital cinema technology. In this regard the investigation focuses on the experimental animated films of Eastern European animators Yuri Norstein and Aleksandr Petrov. The study will importantly also include an analysis of the candidate's practice-based research as it relates to the digital platform, fine art aesthetics and to the candidate's eastern European heritage. As this study is practice-based and comprises a textual and practice component, the research questions relate to both practice and theory. However as both components are related, the research questions relate to both areas of study: As the study considers how digital cinema technology and creative applications can emulate and facilitate the processes and aesthetics of traditional, hand-crafted animation, the research question which arises from the dominance of digital technology within the genre of animation, is whether traditional animation methods have become obsolete. The study aims to address this question through an in-depth exploration of the experimental, hand-crafted animation techniques of Norstein and Petrov. This research question is also a significant aim in the practice-based component of this study and is explored textually and in the candidate's two film projects.


Recreational fisheries management has traditionally been more concerned with quantifiable, catch-centric goals than angler-centric perceptions. However, the attitudes of fishers affect their behavior, which can alter the effort they make towards conservation actions, and ulti- mately, the outcome for exploited or threatened species. We conducted a quantitative human dimensions study into the drivers of conservation attitudes and perceptions of recreational fishers towards sharks. This was accomplished through a targeted online snowball survey on a sample of 158 recreational anglers in the state of Florida, a global hotspot for recreational fishing. Subjective knowledge of shark conservation issues was the most consistent driver for pro-shark conservation attitudes. Anglers ranked the great hammerhead and tiger shark as being the most threatened species, a result that is generally consistent with empirical data. Anglers did not identify species- specific differences in capture stress as an important factor in determining survivability, a result that somewhat contradicts available empirical data. In general, fishers were more supportive of management actions that would be the least restrictive to fishing, except in the case of highly threatened species. Anglers believed commercial fishing had the largest impact on shark popula- tions, and recreational fishing the least, which is largely consistent with empirical information but could also reflect angler bias. Taken together, our findings suggest anglers generally care about shark conservation, but are unaware of some potential angling threats to sharks and possible con- servation solutions. Further, anglers who consider themselves knowledgeable about shark conser- vation will be more sympathetic to shark management and more likely to adopt fishing practices that reduce shark mortality and sub-lethal impacts.


Direct hydrogen peroxide synthesis Hydrogen peroxide is synthesized industrially without direct contact of hydrogen and oxygen in order to achieve high concentrations. For many applications, only dilute aqueous solutions are needed. Freakley et al. report an improvement in the direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide over using palladium-tin alloys. This catalyst still achieves selectivities of >95%, like palladium-gold alloys, but is cheaper and can suppress reactions that decompose the product. Science, this issue p. 965 Non-noble metal alloys with palladium can suppress decomposition reactions in direct hydrogen peroxide synthesis. The direct synthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from H2 and O2 represents a potentially atom-efficient alternative to the current industrial indirect process. We show that the addition of tin to palladium catalysts coupled with an appropriate heat treatment cycle switches off the sequential hydrogenation and decomposition reactions, enabling selectivities of >95% toward H2O2. This effect arises from a tin oxide surface layer that encapsulates small Pd-rich particles while leaving larger Pd-Sn alloy particles exposed. We show that this effect is a general feature for oxide-supported Pd catalysts containing an appropriate second metal oxide component, and we set out the design principles for producing high-selectivity Pd-based catalysts for direct H2O2 production that do not contain gold.


Written nearly a thousand years ago, al-Warraq's cookbook is the most comprehensive work of its kind. This traditional cookbook with more than 600 recipes from the luxurious cuisine of medieval Islam is also a rare guide to the contemporary culinary culture. Its numerous anecdotes and poems unfold the role of food in the politics of Islam's golden era. Introducing this elegant translation is a thorough survey of the period and its food culture. An extensive Glossary, in Arabic and English, of medieval ingredients and dishes, and an Appendix of historical figures provide the necessary reference tools for this work. Making this key resource available in English for the first time to scholars and the general reader fills a gap in the cultural history of medieval Islam. Over 30 color illustrations.


Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) process consists of a biological reactor integrated with membranes that combine clarification and filtration of an activated sludge process into a simplified, single step process. The membrane is an absolute barrier to suspended matter and microorganisms and it offers the possibility of operating the system at high mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration. The implication of maintenance of high MLSS are— requirement of a smaller footprint and operation at high solids retention time (SRT) under low F/M ratio, hence, yielding reduced excess sludge. Operating as an MBR allows conventional activated sludge plants to become single step processes, which produce high quality effluent potentially suitable for reuse. Accordingly, over the past decade, submerged MBR processes have experienced unprecedented growth in domestic and municipal wastewater treatment/reuse. Application of MBR technology for industrial wastewater treatment has also gained attention because of the robustness of the process. Theoretically, maintenance of long SRT in MBR is in favor of the retention and development of special microorganisms, which may lead to better removal of refractory organic matter and make the system more robust to load variations and toxic shocks. Although in general MBR exhibits much improved overall treatment of concentrated industrial wastewater as compared to conventional activated sludge process, literature suggests that the conceptual expectation of enhanced biodegradation of hardly biodegradable compounds in MBR does not often come true. Very often the improved removal has been attributed to the adsorption of target compounds on sludge, which implies that further treatment of the periodically withdrawn, toxic compound-laden sludge would be required. Improved biodegradation to certain extent has been reported in a few studies; however the underlying factors leading to such improvement still remains to be elucidated. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the studies dealing with recalcitrant industrial wastewater treatment by MBR, and casts light on the strategies to achieve enhanced biodegradation of hardly biodegradable industrial pollutants in MBR.


This thesis is concerned with the incorporation of a range of fluorescent ambipolar materials into Organic Light-Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and transistors and the characterisation of their optoelectronic properties.

Initial studies focused on the incorporation of donor-acceptor compounds based on carbazole-fluorene-oxadiazole in OLEDs. Using this approach, a simple, efficient, deep-blue device was realised, with Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage, CIE (x, y) coordinates (0.16, 0.08), very close to the blue standard of (0.14, 0.08) defined by the National Television System Committee. The devices also exhibited one of the highest efficiencies reported for simple deep-blue OLEDs at 4.71%. Further experiments revealed that the efficiency was dependent on the thin film processing technique used in the device fabrication, with thermally evaporated layers of active materials showing enhanced properties, compared to spin-coated films.

The development of OLEDs incorporating structural analogues of the deep-blue emitting carbazole molecule revealed how molecular modification can be used to tune the emission colour of OLEDs, and was found to fit well with the calculated band gap for each molecule. Removing fluorene from the fluorescent materials resulted in a very deep-blue emission, with CIE (x, y) coordinates of (0.16, 0.05), but a simultaneous drop in efficiency. Therefore it was shown that carbazole, not fluorene, was responsible for the deep-blue colour observed during light emission. These experiments revealed that the combination of carbazole separated from oxadiazole (OXD) by the fluorene group is required to achieve high efficiency.

Improvement of efficiency through the chemical addition of OXD groups was also explored as an alternative approach to adding an electron transporting OXD7 layer in the device structure. Addition of two OXD groups was found to result in a complex and more white emission.

Blending of the deep-blue emitting carbazole compound with a yellow-emitting phosphorescent iridium dye produced a single-active-layer white-emitting OLED with CIE (x, y) coordinates (0.30, 0.31), very close to the pure white point of (0.33, 0.33). The efficiency of the device was shown to improve with addition of an OXD7 layer, resulting in simple, white-emitting OLEDs, with an external quantum efficiency of 2.5%. White OLEDs were also tested based on the blending of yellow dye with a carbazole analogue consisting of chemically attached OXD groups, but the efficiency was lower at 0.42%.

Incorporation of the ambipolar donor-acceptor compounds into organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) generally resulted in electrical behaviour that was atypical of a classical transistor, and apparent ambipolar conduction was identified as an artefact due to current from the gate contact leaking to the drain. Further experiments utilised pentacene as a hole transporter to favour ambipolar conduction, but measurements confirmed that the properties of the resulting devices resembled pentacene-only OFETs.

Further study concentrated on devices based on the ambipolar polymer F8BT. The development of in-plane OLEDs was used to characterise the electroluminescent properties of the material. Several contradictions with literature reports were identified during the study of F8BT, including the correct solvent for spin-coating and the effect of annealing temperature. Notably, high temperature annealing was linked to a reduction in F8BT film crystallinity, as identified by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and a resulting instability in electrical characteristics.

Blending of F8BT with an ionic liquid (IL) in a transistor structure produced a device that emitted light, although further study suggested the device in fact behaved as an OLED. However, IL blended with F8BT was successfully used in place of calcium and PEDOT:PSS to produce functioning F8BT OLEDs.


PURPOSE
This prospective, longitudinal study examined the effects of risk-adapted craniospinal irradiation (CSI) dose and the interactions of dose with age and time from diagnosis on intelligence quotient (IQ) and academic achievement (reading, spelling, and math) among patients treated for medulloblastoma (MB).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Patients received serial neurocognitive testing spanning from 0 to 6.03 years after diagnosis (median, 3.14 years). The multi-institutional study included 111 patients, who were 3 to 20 years of age at diagnosis (median age, 7.4 years), treated for MB with risk-adapted CSI followed by four cycles of high-dose chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and vincristine) with stem-cell support. High-risk patients (HR; n = 37) received CSI to 36 to 39.6 Gy and conformal boost treatment of the primary site to 55.8 to 59.4 Gy. Average-risk patients (AR; n = 74) received CSI to 23.4 Gy and conformal boost treatment of the posterior fossa to 36.0 Gy and primary site to 55.8 Gy.

RESULTS
Multivariate modeling revealed statistically significant declines in mean IQ (-1.59 points/yr; P = .006), reading (-2.95 points/yr; P < .0001), spelling (-2.94 points/yr; P < .0001), and math (-1.87 points/yr; P = .003) scores for the entire group. The effects of risk-adapted radiation therapy on IQ, reading, and spelling were moderated by age, with the greatest rates of decline observed for the HR patients who were younger (< 7 years old) at diagnosis.

CONCLUSION
Young age at diagnosis was the most prominent risk factor for neurocognitive deficits among survivors of MB despite reductions in CSI dosing and efforts to limit the boost volume. Younger patients exhibited substantial problems with the development of reading skills.


While parallel corpora are an indispensable resource for data-driven multilingual natural language processing tasks such as machine translation, they are limited in quantity, quality and coverage. As a result, learning translation models from nonparallel corpora has become increasingly important nowadays, especially for low-resource languages. In this work, we propose a joint model for iteratively learning parallel lexicons and phrases from non-parallel corpora. The model is trained using a Viterbi EM algorithm that alternates between constructing parallel phrases using lexicons and updating lexicons based on the constructed parallel phrases. Experiments on Chinese-English datasets show that our approach learns better parallel lexicons and phrases and improves translation performance significantly.


During the past two decades, several atmospheric and oceanic general circulation models (GCMs) have been enhanced by the capability to explicitly simulate the hydrological cycle of the two stable water isotopes H218O and HDO. They have provided a wealth of understanding regarding changes of the water isotope signals in various archives under different past climate conditions. However, so far the number of fully coupled atmosphere-ocean GCMs with explicit water isotope diagnostics is very limited. Such coupled models are required for a more comprehensive simulation of both past climates as well as related isotope changes in the Earth's hydrological cycle.

Here, we report results of idealized North Atlantic freshwater hosing experiments performed with the Earth system model ECHAM5-JSBACH/MPIMOM. Both H218O and HDO and their relevant fractionation processes are included in all compartments and branches of the water cycle within this model. An idealized freshwater hosing experiment has been performed starting from both pre-industrial (PI) and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) background conditions. Characteristics of the hosing experiment (duration: 150 yrs, amount: 0.2 Sv, O-18 composition: -30‰) have been chosen in accordance with previous modelling studies and available paleodata. Simulation results reveal a maximum isotopic enrichment of down to -6‰ in ocean surface waters at the end of the hosing experiment and a full recovering to the surface background state after a few centuries, as well as much longer response times in the deeper ocean. Over terrestrial surfaces, the fresh water hosing results in spatially varying isotope depletion in precipitation between -5‰ and +3‰ in agreement with data from various isotope records and previous modelling studies. In further model analyses we investigate how the relation between water isotopes and key climate variables, e.g. land and ocean surface temperatures, precipitation amounts, and oceanic salinity, might has changed for different regions of the Earth due to assumed intermittent North Atlantic fresh water input.


Molecular data for the mt 16S rDNA gene fragment of a bathynellacean is here presented for the first time and used to analyze the relationship of the group within the crustacean class Malacostraca (Arthropoda, Bathynellacea). Two contrasting views have classified the bathynelids as being cither within the order Syncarida or in a separate super-order Podophallocarida belonging to the infra-class Eonomostraca, a disagreement based mainly on debates over external and internal morphology. The preliminary analyses offered here in question the placement of this Bathynellacea within the Syncarida, and suggest the need for a further study of relationships among the malacostracan groups.


Abstract We studied representative samples from a peridotite body situated NE of Sedlice village within the Central- Carpathian Paleogene sediments in the Central Western Carpathians. The relationship of the peridotite to the surrounding Paleogene sediments is not clear. The fractures of the brecciated peridotite margin are healed with secondary magnesite and calcite. On the basis of the presented bulk-rock and electron microprobe data, the wt. % amounts of mineral phases were calculated. Most of calculated "modal" compositions of this peridotite corresponds to harzburgites composed of olivine (∼70-80 wt. %), orthopyroxene (∼17-24 wt. %), clinopyroxene ( < 5 wt. %) and minor spinel ( < 1 wt. %). Harzburgites could originate from lherzolitic protoliths due to a higher degree of partial melting. Rare lherzolites contain porphyroclastic 1-2 mm across orthopyroxene (up to 25 wt. %), clinopyroxene (∼ 5-8 wt. %) and minor spinel ( < 0.75 wt. %). On the other hand, rare, olivine-rich dunites with scarce orthopyroxene porphyroclasts are associated with harzburgites. Metamorphic mineral assemblage of low-Al clinopyroxene (3), tremolite, chrysotile, andradite, Cr-spinel to chromite and magnetite, and an increase of fayalite component in part of olivine, indicate low-temperature metamorphic overprint. The Primitive Mantle normalized whole-rock REE patterns suggest a depleted mantle rock-suite. An increase in LREE and a positive Eu anomaly may be consequence of interactive metamorphic fluids during serpentinization. Similar rocks have been reported from the Meliatic Bôrka Nappe overlying the Central Western Carpathians orogenic wedge since the Late Cretaceous, and they could be a potential source of these peridotite blocks in the Paleogene sediments.


TED has become a powerful vector for disseminating information and consequently influencing public opinion on a broad range of subjects. While TED talks are immensely popular (Sugimoto et al., 2013), there has not been much scholarly research on this form of public speaking and its impact. This paper seeks to begin to fill this gap by focusing on two areas: the TED talk's ability to translate complex research related to science and technology (ST) projects to a large, non-specialized audience; its influence on traditional institutional structures and functions. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, twofold. On the one hand, we aim to analyze the scope and mechanisms of the TED organization. We argue that TED is a type of public sphere (Breese, 2011; Habermas, 2003) thus creating, through public participation, a new venue for the circulation of public opinion. In order to determine the boundaries of the TED talk sphere, it is necessary to map the organization as a whole. On the other hand, we seek to elucidate how the basic currency of the organization, the TED talk, can be considered to be a valuation device. In this case, our analysis uses the concepts of cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1979) and recognition (Honneth, 2012) as interpretative lenses for analyzing the dynamics enforced by or emerging from the TED organization, questioning their relationship to speaker selection and post-TED talk speaker reputation.


David J. Schonfeld, MD, FAAP, is Thelma and Jack Rubinstein Professor of Pediatrics. He also serves as director for the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, and in a similar capacity for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He responds here to questions about helping children who are grieving for a pet, close friend, or relative. NAJP: Dr. Schonfeld, you recently conducted a free live webcast to help educators understand their role in helping children cope with grief. What brought this about? DJS: The National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, the New York Life Foundation, and Scholastic all share the goal of improving the capacity for school personnel to support children who are grieving. School is an ideal location to provide this ongoing support--children spend nearly half of their waking hours in school, teachers understand child development and are able to support children at times of stress, and teachers and other school personnel establish long-term relationships with children that can serve as a context to provide the needed support over time. In addition, students who are grieving often experience difficulties with attention, concentration, and learning that may impair their academics. NAJP: What do you see as the educator's role in the death of a parent? DJS: Teachers need to approach children who are grieving to acknowledge the loss (and express their sympathy), offer support and assistance, and check in periodically to help promote adjustment. Students may require, for a time period, academic supports (e.g., tutoring) and accommodations (e.g., additional time for tests or assignments). Teachers should anticipate and address grief triggers (e.g., before asking children to prepare a card for Father's Day, they should acknowledge that some children may not have a father who is alive or with whom they regularly communicate and suggest that they select another male role model in their life for the assignment or write a card in honor of their father even if he is no longer alive or reachable) and let students know that they can leave the room if they are feeling overwhelmed (e.g., after something in the lesson or classroom discussion triggers memories or feelings about their loss). Teachers should also reach out to parents and seek their input about how to support their children and offer advice (e.g., around funeral attendance) and resources (e.g., bereavement support groups, referral to a school counselor or other mental health professional). NAJP: Often children are confronted with unexpected death--say a car accident in which a parent is involved. How does that differ from a child who has seen mom or dad attempting to cope with cancer over the course of several years? DJS: Unexpected losses are often associated with a period of initial shock and may be particularly overwhelming. They provide no opportunity for explanation prior to the death, no ability to put into place supports (e.g., when a parent is dying of cancer, hospice services may begin to work with the children to explain what is occurring and provide support), and may be associated with particularly high levels of guilt. Prolonged deaths often provide an opportunity for anticipatory grieving, where the individual can "practice" grieving while the individual is still alive, but then be reassured when feelings become overwhelming by the fact that the person is still alive. There are, though, challenges with prolonged illnesses. They often are particularly taxing to families in terms of money and energy. Individuals who are going through anticipatory grieving proceed at variable rates and the process is not linear--so one person may have reached acceptance and begun to detach personal ties (e.g., an adolescent may start spending more time outside of the home with peers or the surviving parent may spend more time at work) while others in the family become more directly involved with the parent who is dying (and then feel abandoned by the family member who is spending less time at home or with the individual who is dying)--and the same individual will vary in their level of attachment and involvement over time. …


Context-aware computing has been attracting growing attention in recent years. Generally, there are several ways for a context-aware system to select a course of action for a particular change of context. One way is for the system developers to encompass all possible context changes in the domain knowledge. Other methods include system inferences and adaptive learning whereby the system executes one action and evaluates the outcome and self-adapts/self-learns based on that. However, in situations where a system encounters unknown contexts, the iterative approach would become unfeasible when the size of the action space increases. Providing efficient solutions to this problem has been the main goal of this research project.

Based on the developed abstract model, the designed methodology replaces the single action implementation and evaluation by multiple actions implemented and evaluated concurrently. This parallel evaluation of actions speeds up significantly the evolution time taken to select the best action suited to unknown context compared to the iterative approach.

The designed and implemented framework efficiently carries out concurrent multi-action evaluation when an unknown context is encountered and finds the best course of action. Two concrete implementations of the framework were carried out demonstrating the usability and adaptability of the framework across multiple domains.

The first implementation was in the domain of database performance tuning. The concrete implementation of the framework demonstrated the ability of concurrent multi-action evaluation technique to performance tune a database when performance is regressed for an unknown reason.

The second implementation demonstrated the ability of the framework to correctly determine the threshold price to be used in a name-your-own-price channel when an unknown context is encountered.

In conclusion the research introduced a new paradigm of a self-adaptation technique for context-aware application. Among the existing body of work, the concurrent multi-action evaluation is classified under the abstract concept of experiment-based self-adaptation techniques.


The stunning story of one of America s great disasters, a preventable tragedy of Gilded Age America, brilliantly told by master historian David McCullough. At the end of the nineteenth century, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a booming coal-and-steel town filled with hardworking families striving for a piece of the nation s burgeoning industrial prosperity. In the mountains above Johnstown, an old earth dam had been hastily rebuilt to create a lake for an exclusive summer resort patronized by the tycoons of that same industrial prosperity, among them Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Mellon. Despite repeated warnings of possible danger, nothing was done about the dam. Then came May 31, 1889, when the dam burst, sending a wall of water thundering down the mountain, smashing through Johnstown, and killing more than 2,000 people. It was a tragedy that became a national scandal. Graced by David McCullough s remarkable gift for writing richly textured, sympathetic social history, "The Johnstown Flood" is an absorbing, classic portrait of life in nineteenth-century America, of overweening confidence, of energy, and of tragedy. It also offers a powerful historical lesson for our century and all times: the danger of assuming that because people are in positions of responsibility they are necessarily behaving responsibly."


In this thesis the analysis to reconstruct the transverse momentum p_{t} spectra for pions, kaons and protons identified with the TOF detector of the ALICE experiment in pp Minimum Bias collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV was reported.
After a detailed description of all the parameters which influence the TOF PID performance (time resolution, calibration, alignment, matching efficiency, time-zero of the event) the method used to identify the particles, the unfolding procedure, was discussed. With this method, thanks also to the excellent TOF performance, the pion and kaon spectra can be reconstructed in the 0.5<p_{t}<2.5 GeV/c range, while the protons can be measured in the interval 0.8<p_{t}<4.0 GeV/c. To prove the robustness of these results, a comparison with the spectra obtained with a $3\sigma$ cut PID procedure, was reported, showing an agreement within 5%. The estimation of the systematic uncertainties was described.
The reported spectra provide very useful information to tune the Monte Carlo generators that, as was shown, are not able to describe $\pi$, $K$ and $p$ production over the full momentum range.
The same limitation for the theoretical models in describing the data was observed when comparing with the Monte Carlo predictions the $K/\pi$ and $p/\pi$ ratios, as obtained with the TOF analysis.
Finally, the comparison between the TOF results and the spectra obtained with analyses that use other ALICE PID detectors and techniques to extend the identified spectra to a wider $p_{t}$ range was reported, showing an agreement within 6\%.


Objective: This study compared different composites for color stability after exposure to at home and in-office bleaching gels. Material and Methods: Composite resin specimens (6mm diameterx2mm thickness) were manufactured according to the following groups (n=20): RC- Conventional; BF-Bulk Fill; RF-Flow; BFF-Bulk-Fill Flow. The surfaces were stained with coffee solution for 36hrs. A spectrophotometer was used to record the initial color (L*a*b*). Half of the specimens from each group underwent bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide (in-office) in three 45-minute applications. New color measurements were performed after 7, 14 and 21 days. The other half of the specimens underwent bleaching with 22% carbamide peroxide (at home) in 14 1-hour applications. Further color measurements were performed after 7 and 14 hours. For comparison between the color coordinates in different periods, ANOVA for repeated measures was applied (α=5%). The color variation (ΔE) was calculated for each group. Results: For in-office bleaching, there were no significant differences between the periods b* coordinate of the RF group, and for L* and b* coordinates of the BFF group. For at home bleaching the groups BF and BFF showed no differences for the L* coordinate. For the other coordinates, there was difference between the initial periods and after 14 days. The ΔE variation presented higher values for the at home bleaching groups. For both whiteners the bulk-fill resins presented the greatest color variations. Conclusions: Bulk Fill resins do not guarantee greater color stability than the other composite resins tested, including conventional flow resin. The conventional composite resin showed the lower ΔE.


A simplified thermodynamic model is proposed assuming nepheline-like and trydimite-like structural units being major constituents of polymerized aluminosilicate melts. In the frame of the model, dissolution of albite in the melt can be described by the dissociation reaction Ab L = Ne L + Qz L . Static 23 Na NMR spectra recorded on glasses along the binary join Ab-Qz are consistent with the proposed structural units. The NMR spectra can be decomposed into two mixed (Lorentzian + Gaussian) components. The narrow line is comparable in chemical shift and width with the symmetric position of sodium in crystalline nepheline. The second much broader line is assigned to a more asymmetric albite-like environment. The proportions of both sites estimated from static NMR of glasses of the dry Ab-Qz binary are close to the calculated proportion in the melt at the glass transition. Using the new thermodynamic model, the liquidus of silica polymorphs in the system Ab-Qz can be described well by assuming non-ideal mixing of structural units in the melt with small interaction parameters.


Cryopreservation is the process of preserving biological samples indefinitely at subzero temperatures. Successful cooling procedures have been developed for a limited number of cell types through an extensive amount of experimentation. In order to optimize further cooling procedures for a larger range of cells and tissues it is important to develop accurate models utilizing the thermal dynamic properties of cells which can help eliminate further costly experiments. Differential scanning analysis is an effective method for characterizing biological samples. In order to detect a phase change within an oocyte cell (100 μm diameter) the DTA must be on the same order of size or lower as the cell to achieve maximum sensitivity. To achieve minimization of the DTA, a proof-of-concept DTA bridge with crucible has been designed and fabricated using micro-electrical mechanical systems (MEMS) manufacturing techniques. LIGA is one technique that was utilized to create a sacrificial micro-mold to allow growth of copper of the desired geometry using electro-deposition. Utilizing a custom made test section which achieves linear cooling profiles from ambient to -50 C and controlled humidity environment; detection of freezing and thawing temperatures, heat capacity, and enthalpy of unit mass can be detected and calculated from a single oocyte cell.


Author(s): Chardon, NI; Cornwell, WK; Flint, LE; Flint, AL; Ackerly, DD | Abstract: © 2014 The Authors. With changing climate, many species are projected to move poleward or to higher elevations to track suitable climates. The prediction that species will move poleward assumes that geographically marginal populations are at the edge of the species' climatic range. We studied Pinus coulteri from the center to the northern (poleward) edge of its range, and examined three scenarios regarding the relationship between the geographic and climatic margins of a species' range. We used herbarium and iNaturalist.org records to identify P. coulteri sites, generated a species distribution model based on temperature, precipitation, climatic water deficit, and actual evapotranspiration, and projected suitability under future climate scenarios. In fourteen populations from the central to northern portions of the range, we conducted field studies and recorded elevation, slope and aspect (to estimate solar insolation) to examine relationships between local and regional distributions. We found that northern populations of P. coulteri do not occupy the cold or wet edge of the species' climatic range; mid-latitude, high elevation populations occupy the cold margin. Aspect and insolation of P. coulteri populations changed significantly across latitudes and elevations. Unexpectedly, northern, low-elevation stands occupy north-facing aspects and receive low insolation, while central, high-elevation stands grow on more south-facing aspects that receive higher insolation. Modeled future climate suitability is projected to be highest in the central, high elevation portion of the species range, and in low-lying coastal regions under some scenarios, with declining suitability in northern areas under most future scenarios. For P. coulteri, the lack of high elevation habitat combined with a major dispersal barrier may limit northward movement in response to a warming climate. Our analyses demonstrate the importance of distinguishing geographically vs. climatically marginal populations, and the importance of quantitative analysis of the realized climate space to understand species range limits.


An amperometric glucose biosensor was developed using an anionic clay matrix (LDH) as
enzyme support. The enzyme glucose oxidase (GOx) was immobilized on a layered double
hydroxide Ni/Al-NO3 LDH during the electrosynthesis, which was followed by crosslinking
with glutaraldehyde (GA) vapours or with GA and bovine serum albumin (GABSA)
to avoid the enzyme release.
The electrochemical reaction was carried out potentiostatically, at -0.9V vs. SCE, using a
rotating disc Pt electrode to assure homogeneity of the electrodeposition suspension,
containing GOx, Ni(NO3)2 and Al(NO3)3 in 0.3 M KNO3. The mechanism responsible of the
LDH electrodeposition involves the precipitation of the LDH due to the increase of pH at
the surface of the electrode, following the cathodic reduction of nitrates.
The Pt surface modified with the Ni/Al-NO3 LDH shows a much reduced noise, giving rise
to a better signal to noise ratio for the currents relative to H2O2 oxidation, and a linear range
for H2O2 determination wider than the one observed for bare Pt electrodes.
We pointed out the performances of the biosensor in terms of sensitivity to glucose,
calculated from the slope of the linear part of the calibration curve for enzimatically
produced H2O2; the sensitivity was dependent on parameters related to the electrodeposition
in addition to working conditions. In order to optimise the glucose biosensor performances,
with a reduced number of experimental runs, we applied an experimental design.
A first screening was performed considering the following variables: deposition time (30 -
120 s), enzyme concentration (0.5 - 3.0 mg/mL), Ni/Al molar ratio (3:1 or 2:1) of the
electrodeposition solution at a total metals concentration of 0.03 M and pH of the working
buffer solution (5.5-7.0).
On the basis of the results from this screening, a full factorial design was carried out, taking
into account only enzyme concentration and Ni/Al molar ratio of the electrosynthesis
solution.
A full factorial design was performed to study linear interactions between factors and their
quadratic effects and the optimal setup was evaluated by the isoresponse curves. The
significant factors were: enzyme concentration (linear and quadratic terms) and the
interaction between enzyme concentration and Ni/Al molar ratio.
Since the major obstacle for application of amperometric glucose biosensors is the
interference signal resulting from other electro-oxidizable species present in the real
matrices, such as ascorbate (AA), the use of different permselective membranes on Pt-LDHGOx
modified electrode was discussed with the aim of improving biosensor selectivity and
stability.
Conventional membranes obtained using Nafion, glutaraldehyde (GA) vapours, GA-BSA
were tested together with more innovative materials like palladium hexacyanoferrate
(PdHCF) and titania hydrogels.
Particular attention has been devoted to hydrogels, because they possess some attractive
features, which are generally considered to favour biosensor materials biocompatibility and,
consequently, the functional enzyme stability. The Pt-LDH-GOx-PdHCF hydrogel
biosensor presented an anti-interferant ability so that to be applied for an accurate glucose
analysis in blood. To further improve the biosensor selectivity, protective membranes
containing horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were also investigated with the aim of oxidising
the interferants before they reach the electrode surface. In such a case glucose determination
was also accomplished in real matrices with high AA content.
Furthermore, the application of a LDH containing nickel in the oxidised state was
performed not only as a support for the enzyme, but also as anti-interferant sistem.
The result is very promising and it could be the starting point for further applications in the
field of amperometric biosensors; the study could be extended to other oxidase enzymes.


This article assesses train speeds in England and Wales 1843–1912. Trains were fast compared with coaches or walking, and the social saving of time saved grew over time to become over 10 percent of national income in 1912. Including fare savings as well, social savings were 14 percent of national income in 1912, with consumer surplus of 6 percent. Time savings dominated fare savings once railways became a new good: travel for the masses. Using the social savings-total factor productivity identity, we show that railways accounted for around a sixth of economy-wide productivity growth in this era.