BACKGROUND
Preliminary evidence supports an association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and thoracic aortic dilatation. The mechanisms through which OSA may promote thoracic aortic dilatation are incompletely understood. Therefore, we studied the acute effects of simulated apnea and hypopnea on aortic diameter and BP in humans.

METHODS
The diameter of the aortic root was measured in 20 healthy volunteers by echocardiography, and peripheral BP was continuously recorded prior, during, and immediately after simulated obstructive hypopnea (inspiration through threshold load), simulated obstructive apnea (Müller maneuver), end-expiratory central apnea, and normal breathing in randomized order.

RESULTS
Proximal aortic diameter increased significantly during inspiration through a threshold load (+6.48%; SE, 3.03; P = .007), but not during Müller maneuver (+3.86%; SE, 2.71; P = .336) or end-expiratory central apnea (+0.62%; SE, 2.94; P = .445). Maneuver-induced changes in mean BP were observed during inspiration through a threshold load (-10.5 mm Hg; SE, 2.2; P < .001), the Müller maneuver (-8.8 mm Hg; SE, 2.4; P < .001), and end-expiratory central apnea (-4.2 mm Hg; SE, 1.4; P = .052). There was a significant increase in mean BP on release of threshold load inspiration (+8.1 mm Hg; SE, 2.9 mm Hg; P = .002), Müller maneuver (+10.7 mm Hg; SE, 2.9; P < .001), and end-expiratory central apnea (+10.6 mm Hg; SE, 2.5; P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS
Simulated obstructive hypopnea/apnea and central apnea induced considerable changes in BP, and obstructive hypopnea was associated with an increase in proximal aortic diameter. Further studies are needed to investigate effects of apnea and hypopnea on transmural aortic pressure and aortic diameter to define the role of OSA in the pathogenesis of aortic dilatation.


Fatty acid synthase (FASN) and ATP-citrate lyase, key enzymes of de novo lipogenesis, are significantly upregulated and activated in many cancers and portend poor prognosis. Even though the role of lipogenesis in providing proliferative and survival advantages to cancer cells has been described, the impact of aberrant activation of lipogenic enzymes on cancer progression remains unknown. In this study, we found that elevated expression of FASN is associated with advanced stages of colorectal cancer (CRC) and liver metastasis, suggesting that it may play a role in progression of CRC to metastatic disease. Targeted inhibition of lipogenic enzymes abolished expression of CD44, a transmembrane protein associated with metastases in several cancers including CRC. In addition, inhibition of lipogenic enzymes and reduced expression of CD44 attenuated the activation of MET, Akt, FAK, and paxillin, which are known to regulate adhesion, migration, and invasion. These changes were consistent with an observed decrease in migration and adhesion of CRC cells in functional assays and with reorganization of actin cytoskeleton upon FASN inhibition. Despite the modest effect of FASN inhibition on tumor growth in xenografts, attenuation of lipogenesis completely abolished establishment of hepatic metastasis and formation of secondary metastasis. Together, our findings suggest that targeting de novo lipogenesis may be a potential treatment strategy for advanced CRC. Cancer Res; 72(6); 1504–17. 2012 AACR.


Abstract Although surgery-based comprehensive therapy is becoming the main approach to treat laryngeal cancer, recurrence, metastasis, radiotherapy resistance and chemotherapy tolerance are still the main causes of death in patients. Targeted inhibition of laryngeal cancer stem cells has been considered as the consensus to cure laryngeal cancer. Our previous study has confirmed proto-oncogene Bmi-1 as a key regulator for self-renewal of laryngeal cancer stem cells. Targeted knockdown of Bmi-1 gene effectively inhibited the self-renewal and differentiation of laryngeal cancer stem cells, leading to the promoted sensitivity to chemotherapy including paclitaxel. However, due to off-target effects and quick degradation of the naked Bmi-1-RNAi small RNA oligo by nuclease in body fluids, it is urgently needed to develop a tumor-targeted delivery system with a protective shell. In this study, we designed and synthesized cRGD peptide-modified chitosan-polyethylene glycol slow-release nanoparticles (mPEG-CS-cRGD/Bmi-1RNAi-PTX) containing Bmi-1RNAi siRNA oligo and paclitaxel, which showed spherical in shape, 200 nm diameter in size, low cytotoxicity, strong DNA wrapping, resistance to nuclease degradation and high transfection efficiency to cells. Functional analysis indicated significant suppression of cell proliferation and migration and induction of apoptosis by the nanocomplex in laryngeal cancer cells in vitro. By application to the mouse model with laryngeal cancer, the nanocomplex inhibited tumor growth significantly in vivo. In addition, cRGD peptide, paclitaxel and Bmi-1 siRNA in the nanoparticles showed synergistic effects to suppress laryngeal cancer stem cells. In conclusion, this study not only developed a laryngeal tumor-targeted chemotherapeutic system, but also demonstrated a Bmi-1 RNAi-based chemotherapeutic strategy to inhibit cancer stem cells, having strong potential to treat laryngeal cancer patients suffering therapy resistance and/or tumor recurrence.


Maize ( Zea mays L.) and tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) are two important crops in Mediterranean countries. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the differences and similarities in energy flow between conventional and organic tomato and maize crops. Our results indicated that the total energy input in the conventional system was higher than in organic system and for individual crops was 25.90 and 29.34% higher for tomato and maize, respectively, than the organic system. Of the inputs for the different operations, fertilizers consumed the bulk of the energy for all crops. In maize crop, human labour had little impact on total energy use both in organic and conventional system. In addition, seed inputs in maize production had corresponded to 11.44% of the total energy requirement. Concerning the pesticides inputs, there were significant differences between organic and conventional systems. In both crops, the pesticides energy input was higher in conventional production compared to organic system. Moreover, irrigation inputs were 13-23% of the total energy use in the organic system and 12-20% in the conventional system. In both crops, the energy output and energy productivity were also higher in conventional production compared to organic system. Our study shows that the adoption of organic cultural system could reduce energy inputs.


A novel hybrid fitting energy-based active contour model in the level set framework is proposed. The method fuses the region and boundary information of the target to achieve accurate and robust detection performance. A special extra term that penalizes the deviation of the level set function from a signed distance function is also included in our method. This term allows the time-consuming redistancing operation to be removed completely. Moreover, a fast unconditionally stable numerical scheme is introduced to solve the problem. Experimental results on real infrared images show that our method can improve target detection performance efficiently in terms of the number of iterations and the wasted central processing unit (CPU) time.


An O-POS (oxygen-doped polysilicon) film, deposited directly on silicon, is oxidized locally to create an active gate area. The electrical properties for the active gate area are the same as conventional p- and n-channel MOS devices, but the field area has an extremely high threshold voltage for both p- and n-type silicon substrates. The electrical properties in metal/oxidized O-POS/silicon and metal/oxide/O-POS/silicon structures have been investigated while varying the O-POS film thickness, oxygen concentration, local oxidation time, and silicon substrate resistivity. According to these basic studies, it is proposed that the high density of trapping centers existing in O-POS film is responsible for the high field threshold voltage. A applications of this process technology, a silicon-gate CMOS integrated circuit, and a high voltage n-channel MOS device are discussed.


XVII Abstract It is vital for the survival of an organism that it can repair damage to its DNA. Exogenous and endogenous sources of damage are dealt with by a variety of repair pathways that have evolved to repair specific types of damage. Organisms in the archaeal domain, the third domain of life, contain homologues of many of the eukaryotic repair proteins, however little is known about how damage is detected in the archaeal domain. Microarray studies in the archaeal species Sulfolobus solfataricus determined a number of genes whose expression was effected by UV radiation (work by Dr D Götz). The change in expression of nine of these genes was confirmed by RT real time PCR. The expression of these genes was then investigated after exposure to different damaging agents, Mitomycin C, Methyl methane sulfonate, Phleomycin and Hydrogen peroxide. The expression of two genes, transcription factor tfb-3 and cell division control gene cdc6-2, was up regulated in all damage conditions. There was a huge induction of the dps-like gene (sso2079) after hydrogen peroxide damage. Transcription from this genes promoter was shown to be strong in vitro (work by Dr S Paytubi) suggesting a repressor was controlling the gene in vivo. A palindromic repeat in the promoter of the dps-like gene was used to 'fish' for a transcriptional repressor and the Sso2273 protein, a homologue of the diphtheria toxin repressor (DtxR) from Corynebacterium diphtheria, was identified as a possible repressor. Sso2273 was expressed and purified, and its crystal structure solved, its paralogue, Sso0669, was also expressed and purified. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that the Sso2273 protein does not bind DNA, and had no effect on transcription from any promoter used in in vitro transcription assays. However Sso0669 appeared to inhibit transcription, although the inhibition was not sequence specific. A knockout strain of S. solfataricus PBL2025 missing the sso2273 gene was produced and used in microarray experiments in an attempt to determine the role of Sso2273 within the cell. The absence of Sso2273 appeared to have no effect on the expression of the dps-like gene, however strong repression of an operon containing genes involved in Sulphur assimilation was observed.


This study investigates how a group of Indonesian lecturers of English at the Universitas Sumikola in Manado perceived and adapted the content of English Language Teaching (ELT) materials and how their students' ethnic backgrounds and the lecturers' ethnicity-based teaching styles, preferences, professional experiences, qualifications and job circumstances influenced such practices. This research attempts to establish an understanding of the relationships among teachers' pedagogy in the selection and adaptation of materials, the ethnic diversity of learners of English and the content of teaching materials. To achieve this aim, the study poses the following research questions: 1. What do teachers know about students' backgrounds and needs and what role does this knowledge play in the adaptation process? 2. What expectations do teachers develop towards students that seem to influence their adaptation practices? 3. What teacher factors influence ELT materials adaptation in the classroom and how are these factors negotiated in light of students' needs in relation to their ethnic backgrounds? 4. How do teachers bridge the gap between the existing materials and students' ethnic cultural background through their everyday teaching practices? In addressing these questions, the case study, which is qualitative and constructive, draws on concepts of materials adaptation highlighted by a host of researchers in the field of materials development, such as Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004), McDonough and Shaw (1993), McGrath (2002), and Richards (2007), who have pointed out the importance of considering students' backgrounds and needs in their choice of teaching materials. In particular, Gray (2000), Hill (2005), Bao (2003), Zakaria and Hashim (2010) believe that the appropriateness of course materials can be promoted through the inclusion of relevant cultural topics. The data were collected from English lecturers with Minahasan ethnic backgrounds but with a variety of professional and academic qualifications, who taught in Universitas Sumikola. Through observations in their classrooms, semi-structured interview sessions with them, and supporting materials evaluations conducted by them, the teaching materials adaptation practices in their multiethnic classroom settings were examined. The findings elucidate lecturers' practical understandings on teaching material selection and adaptation, which was constructed through the negotiation of lecturers' factors, students' ethnic backgrounds and sociocultural contents. A variety of teaching strategies were also applied to overcome the challenges which emerged in teaching and teaching materials adaptation. This negotiation is reflected in a new adaptation framework which illustrates the teachers' optimised understandings of how students' multiethnic backgrounds can be better acknowledged in English teaching practices.


In  Watering the Revolution  Mikael D. Wolfe transforms our understanding of Mexican agrarian reform through an environmental and technological history of water management in the emblematic Laguna region. Drawing on extensive archival research in Mexico and the United States, Wolfe shows how during the long Mexican Revolution (1910-1940) engineers' distribution of water paradoxically undermined land distribution. In so doing, he highlights the intrinsic tension engineers faced between the urgent need for water conservation and the imperative for development during the contentious modernization of the Laguna's existing flood irrigation method into one regulated by high dams, concrete-lined canals, and motorized groundwater pumps. This tension generally resolved in favor of development, which unintentionally diminished and contaminated the water supply while deepening existing rural social inequalities by dividing people into water haves and have-nots, regardless of their access to land. By uncovering the varied motivations behind the Mexican government's decision to use invasive and damaging technologies despite knowing they were ecologically unsustainable, Wolfe tells a cautionary tale of the long-term consequences of short-sighted development policies.


Professor David Ball ( Figure 1 ) is the Director of the multi-disciplinary Lung Service at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He has published over 200 book chapters and papers in the peer reviewed literature. He is one of three editors of the textbook "The IASLC Multidisciplinary Approach to Thoracic Oncology", 2nd edition 2017. Professor Ball is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology and is on the editorial boards of Nature Clinical Practice Oncology and Clinical Lung Cancer. He is currently Chair of the Australian Lung Cancer Guidelines Working Party and a member of the Mesothelioma Guidelines Working Group. Professor Ball recently stepped down as Chair of Cancer Australia's Lung Cancer Advisory Group. He has been a member of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer TNM staging committee, which updated the staging of lung cancer for the 8th edition. He is a Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne.


Inthisresearchphotoniccrystalfibresweredevelopedforthepurposeofgeneratingcoherent supercontinua. Two photonic crystal fibres were fabricated with all-normal group velocity dispersionprofiles, withlow dispersion atpump wavelengths 800 nm and 1064 nm. Supercontinua generatedusing these fibreswereshowntohavesuperiorstability and coherencecompared with supercontinua generated in fibres with anomalous dispersion at the pump wavelength. Using a short piece of photonic crystal fibre with all-normal group velocity dispersion, pumped at 1064 nm, a self phase modulation spectrum spanning 200 nm was generated. The supercontinuum was re-compressed using linear chirp compensation to 26 fs, which was within a factor of two of the theoretical transform limit. This demonstrates the high spectral coherence, stability, and almost-linear chirp of the supercontinuum. Simulations showed that pulse compressionusing asupercontinuumgeneratedinaphotoniccrystal fibrewith anomalousdispersion at the pump wavelength would be limited by shot-to-shot fluctuations in the spectral intensity and phase, and the nonlinear chirp. Using alongerpieceof all-normaldispersionphotoniccrystal fibre,supercontinuumisgenerated by self phase modulation, and optical wave breaking. A broad flat supercontinuum spanning 700 nm, centred at 1064 nm was generated. This supercontinuum was spectrally filtered, and the pulses obtained analysed in the temporal domain. Clean, stable sub-picosecond pulses were achieved, demonstrating the applicability of such a supercontinuum as part of a compact, tunable laser source. The same experiment was carried out using a photonic crystal fibre with anomalous dispersion at the pump wavelength, resulting in pulses with a large portion of energy contained in broad shoulders, and higher order modes. Interferometric coherence measurements were carried out at 800 nm using a Ti:Sapphire laser. A supercontinuum was generated in all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fibre with low dispersion at 800 nm, spanning 400 nm. Supercontinuum pulses generated by consecutive laser pulses were brought together in time using an interferometer. The interference between consecutive pulses was viewed spectrally, and the interference fringes had high visibility across the whole supercontinuumbandwidth. Thisdemonstrateshighspectral coherence. Asupercontinuum generated in photonic crystal fibre with anomalous dispersion at 800 nm was tested in the same way, and the interference fringes obtained had lower visibility, indicating low spectral coherence. Theresearchpresenteddemonstratesthatphotoniccrystal fibreswith all-normaldispersion profiles can be used togenerate supercontinua withhigh coherence and intensity stability. This type of supercontinuum is applicable to ultra-short pulse compression, and can be spectrally filtered to create a broadband tunable ultra-short laser source.


We propose and analyze a scheme for creation of coherent superposition of metastable states in a tripod-structured atom using frequency-chirped laser pulses with negligible excitation of the atoms. The underlying physics of the scheme is explained using the formalism of adiabatic states. We show that the proposed scheme may be equally efficient in homogeneously and Doppler-broadened media. By numerically solving the master equation for the density matrix operator, we analyze the influence of relaxation processes on the efficiency of the creation of superposition states. We show that the proposed scheme is robust against small-to-medium variations of the laser field's parameters.


Studies have shown that increase in health care expenditure is related to the income level and economic growth of a country. But a theoretically optimal level of health expense and an optimal growth rate are rarely investigated. This paper assumes that health expenditure is a gross investment in human capital and follows the usual characteristics of investment in the Solow growth model. Based on Solow, a theoretical model is developed to discuss the role of health capital in economic growth. The model shows that convergence is present between poorer and wealthier countries when both physical and health capitals are considered. In the empirical analyses, this paper first estimates the optimal steady state product level based on the method of Mankiw, Romer and Weil (1992). Secondly, the optimal steady state health expenditure amounts are projected assuming that the steady state situation automatically achieves the Golden Rule consumption maximization result driven by the free market force. The results show that most of the studied 15 OECD countries have excessive health expenditure for approximately the past two decades. Some of the countries show a decreasing pattern of overspending and finally reach the optimal level. But a few of them do not show a format of cost containment for controlling health expenditure.


Our ability to estimate the changes in carbon (C) pools and fluxes due to forest conversion is hampered by a lack of comparative studies. We measured above- and belowground C pools and soil respiration flux at four forested and four pasture sites in the southern Appalachian Mountains. Above- and belowground C pools were significantly larger (P < 0.01, t-test) at forested sites relative to pasture sites. The largest differences were in aboveground live biomass, which averaged 152 Mg ha-' C at the forested sites and 1.9 Mg ha-' at the pasture sites. Coarse root and stump C and surface detritus were also substantially different, averaging 41.3 and 32.6 Mg ha-' C, respectively, at the forested sites, and less than 1 Mg ha-' at the pasture sites. Fine root C was higher and mineral soil C lower at pasture sites relative to comparable forested sites, but neither difference was statistically significant. Soil respiration at a given temperature was generally lower at pasture sites relative to forest sites. However, soil temperatures at pastures were consistently higher than at forest sites. Estimated annual soil respiration flux averaged 10.9 Mg C ha- ' at the pasture sites and 12.6 Mg C ha-' at the forested sites. FOR. SCI. 51(4):372-383.


Blackfoot Ways of Knowing:The Worldview of the Siksikaitsitapi is a journey into the heart and soul of Blackfoot culture. In sharing her personal story of "coming home" to reclaim her identity within that culture, Betty Bastien offers us a gateway into traditional Blackfoot ways of understanding and experiencing the world. As a scholar and researcher, Bastien is also able to place Blackfoot tradition within the context of knowledge building among indigenous peoples generally, and within a historical context of precarious survival amid colonial displacement and cultural genocide. In mapping her own process of coming to know, Bastien stresses the recovery of the Blackfoot language and of the Blackfoot notions of reciprocal responsibilities and interdependence. For the Siksikaitsitapi, knowledge is experiential, participatory, and ultimately sacred, rather than objective and inert. Rekindling traditional ways of knowing is essential if First Nations people in Canada are to heal and rebuild their communities and cultures. By sharing what she has learned, Betty Bastien hopes to ensure that the next generation of First Nations people will enjoy a future of hope and peace.


When St. Domingue declared its independence it was renamed Haiti, an Amerindian name. Author explores what the founding fathers of Haitian independence might have known about the Amerindian past in the Caribbean and in South America. He also raises questions about ethnicity and identity in 19th-c. Haiti.


ABSTRACT We describe a new species of the genus Gekko from Phitsanulok Province, central Thailand. Gekko flavimaritus sp. nov. can be distinguished from its congeners by a combination of morphological characters: medium size for Gekko (snout–vent length 76.0–84.5 mm in six adult males, 67.5–78.3 mm in 11 adult females); nares in contact with rostral; two enlarged postmentals; 12–16 dorsal tubercle rows; 27–35 ventral scale rows; 10–15 subdigital lamellae on first toe, 15–18 on fourth toe; finger and toe webbing weakly developed; tubercle absent on dorsal surface of forelimbs and hindlimbs; adult male with 7–8 precloacal pores, in continuous row; precloacal pores absent in females; single postcloacal tubercle on each side; tubercles present on dorsal surface of tail base; subcaudals enlarged; sexual dimorphism present (colouration on dorsum in life — yellow in adult males and brownish grey in adult females); dorsum with whitish vertebral blotches between nape and base of tail. Genetically, the new species is nested within the G. petricolus group and is closely related to G. boehmei and G. petricolus. The new species has uncorrected pairwise divergences of ≥ 18.57% of the ND2 gene from other species of G. petricolus group. Additionally, we present the first genetic data for G. lauhachindai, and verify its morphological assignment to the G. petricolus group. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:06420ACC-2A05-4CE5-AF94-86B5D550E907


The model legume Lotus japonicus was demonstrated to be amenable to classical and molecular genetic analysis, providing the basis for the genetic dissection of the plant processes underlying nodulation and nitrogen fixation. We have developed an efficient method for the sexual hybridization of L. japonicus and obtained F1 progeny derived from a cross of L. japonicus B-129-S9 Gifu x B-581 Funakura. Over half of the cross-pollinations resulted in fertile hybrid seed, which were confirmed morphologically and by single arbitrary primer DNA amplification polymorphisms using the DAF technique. Molecular and morphological markers segregated in true Mendelian fashion in a F2 population of 100 plants. Several DAF loci were linked using the MAPMAKER software to create the first molecular linkage groups of this model legume. The mapping population was advanced to generate a set of immortal recombinant inbred lines (F6; RILs), useful for sharing plant material fixed genetically at most genomic regions. Morphological loci for waved stem shape (Ssh), dark leaf color (Lco), and short flowering period (Fpe) were inherited as single dominant Mendelian loci. DAF markers were dominant and were detected between Gifu and Funakura at about one per primer, suggesting that the parents are closely related. One polymorphism (270G generated by single octomer primer 8.6m) was linked to a morphological locus controlling leaf coloration. The results demonstrate that (i) Lotus japonicus is amenable to diploid genetic analysis, (ii) morphological and molecular markers segregate in true diploid fashion, (iii) molecular polymorphisms can be obtained at a reasonable frequency between the related Gifu and Funakura lines, and iv) the possibility exists for map-based cloning, marker assisted selection and mapping of symbiotic mutations through a genetic and molecular map.


The prevalence of undernourishment in India – the percent of people consuming insufficient calories to meet their energy requirements – has been rising steadily since the mid 1980s. Paradoxically, this period has been one of robust poverty reduction and rapid economic growth. The reasons for the apparent reductions in calorie consumption underlying increased undernourishment have been the subject of intense debate both within India and internationally. This paper critically reviews this debate, finding that is has taken place outside of the context of India's recent nutrition and epidemiological transitions, which appear to have brought with them increased, not decreased, food consumption. The debate has also taken place under the unchallenged assumption that the data on which the conflicting trends are based, collected as part of the country's Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCESs), are reliable. The paper provides supporting literature and empirical evidence that a probable key source of the calorie decline is incomplete collection of data on food consumed away from peoples' homes, which is widespread and rapidly increasing. Complete measurement of this food source in the HCESs of all developing countries is vital for accurate measurement of both undernourishment and poverty – and for resolving the Indian calorie debate.


Abstract. This paper discusses the monthly and seasonal variation of the total electron content (TEC) and the improvement of performance of the IRI model in estimating TEC over Ethiopia during the solar maximum (2013–2016) phase employing GPS TEC data inferred from the GPS receivers installed at different regions of Ethiopia. The results reveal that both the measured and modeled seasonal diurnal VTEC values start increasing at 03:00 UT (06:00 LT) and attain their peak values (mostly in the time interval of 09:00–13:00 UT or 12:00–16:00 LT). Moreover, both the arithmetic mean measured and modeled VTEC values, generally, show maximum and minimum values in the equinoctial and June solstice months, respectively. The results also show that, even though overestimation of the modeled VTEC has been observed on most of the hours, the model is generally good to estimate both the monthly and seasonal diurnal hourly VTEC values, especially in the early morning hours (00:00–03:00 UT or 03:00–06:00 LT). Moreover, the overall results show that using NeQuick option for the topside electron density is the best option in estimating the TEC variation. It has also been shown that the model does not show a good improvement on its performance in estimating both the monthly and seasonal hourly and arithmetic mean VTEC values. Moreover, the model does not respond to the effects resulting from storm.


The ecological dynamics of microplastic (<5 mm) are well documented in marine ecosystems, but the sources, abundance, and ecological role of microplastic in rivers are unknown and likely to be substantial. Microplastic fibers (e.g., synthetic fabrics) and pellets (e.g., abrasives in personal care products) are abundant in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent, and can serve as a point source of microplastic in rivers. The buoyancy, hydrophobic surface, and long transport distance of microplastic make it a novel substrate for the selection and dispersal of unique microbial assemblages. We measured microplastic concentration and bacterial assemblage composition on microplastic and natural surfaces upstream and downstream of WWTP effluent sites at nine rivers in Illinois, United States. Microplastic concentration was higher downstream of WWTP effluent outfall sites in all but two rivers. Pellets, fibers, and fragments were the dominant microplastic types, and polymers were identified as polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Mean microplastic flux was 1,338,757 pieces per day, although the flux was highly variable among nine sites (min = 15,520 per day, max = 4,721,709 per day). High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA genes showed bacterial assemblage composition was significantly different among microplastic, seston, and water column substrates. Microplastic bacterial assemblages had lower taxon richness, diversity, and evenness than those on other substrates, and microplastic selected for taxa that may degrade plastic polymers (e.g., Pseudomonas) and those representing common human intestinal pathogens (e.g., Arcobacter). Effluent from WWTPs in rivers is an important component of the global plastic "life cycle," and microplastic serves as a novel substrate that selects and transports distinct bacterial assemblages in urban rivers. Rates of microplastic deposition, consumption by stream biota, and the metabolic capacity of microplastic biofilms in rivers are unknown and merit further research.


The transmission of digital colour images is rapidly becoming popular on mobile telephones, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) technology and other wireless based image services. However, transmitting digital colour images via mobile devices is badly affected by low air bandwidth. Advances in communications Channels (example 3G communication network) go some way to addressing this problem but the rapid increase in traffic and demand for ever better quality images, means that effective data compression techniques are essential for transmitting and storing digital images. The main objective of this thesis is to offer a novel image compression technique that can help to overcome the bandwidth problem. This thesis has investigated and implemented three different wavelet-based compression schemes with a focus on a suitable compression method for mobile applications.

The first described algorithm is a dual wavelet compression algorithm, which is a modified conventional wavelet compression method. The algorithm uses different wavelet filters to decompose the luminance and chrominance components separately. In addition, different levels of decomposition can also be applied to each component separately. The second algorithm is segmented wavelet-based, which segments an image into its smooth and nonsmooth
parts. Different wavelet filters are then applied to the segmented parts of the image. Finally, the third algorithm is the hybrid wavelet-based compression System (HWCS), where
the subject of interest is cropped and is then compressed using a wavelet-based method. The details of the background are reduced by averaging it and sending the background separately from the compressed subject of interest. The final image is reconstructed by replacing the averaged background image pixels with the compressed cropped image.

For each algorithm the experimental results presented in this thesis clearly demonstrated that encoder output can be effectively reduced while maintaining an acceptable image visual quality particularly when compared to a conventional wavelet-based compression scheme.


The investigation of solvent and anion influences on the self-assembly of copper(I) coordination solids are presented. As these extended solids vary in structural design as reactions conditions are varied, both those particular structural variances and the reaction conditions involved will be discussed. This presentation will be divided into four major sections. The first section covers an in-depth look at those structural variances found among the copper(I) coordination solids synthesized using 4,4 ́-bipyridine with refined synthesis and related structures. This entire system is thoroughly examined in order to identify all possible structural variances resulting from the implementation of a specific set of reaction variables, specifically the identity of both anion and reaction solvent used. The second and third parts will look closer at the self-assembly reaction mechanism as synthetic intermediate structures are presented and analyzed in relation to the abovementioned structures. Each structure presented offers information in regards to the role the anion or solvent play in the self-assembly reactions The final section deals with similar reactions using the pyrimidine ligand. Several structures presented here suggests that anion templation plays a major role in the extended solids formation. This section concludes with a practical application of these materials as a study of selective anion exchange with a large cavity Cu(I) coordination solid is presented.


This thesis describes a novel technique for learning predictive models from nondeterministic spatio-temporal data. The prediction models are represented as a production system, which requires two parts: a set of production rules, and a conflict resolver. The production rules model different, typically independent, aspects of the spatio-temporal data. The conflict resolver is used to decide which sub-set of enabled production rules should be fired to produce a prediction. The conflict resolver in this thesis can probabilistically decide which set of production rules to fire, and allows the system to predict in non-deterministic situations. The predictive models are learnt by a novel technique called Spatio-Temporal Genetic Programming (STGP). STGP has been compared against the following methods: an Inductive Logic Programming system (Progol), Stochastic Logic Programs, Neural Networks, Bayesian Networks and C4.5, on learning the rules of card games, and predicting a person's course through a network of CCTV cameras.

This thesis also describes the incorporation of qualitative temporal relations within these methods. Allen's intervals [1], plus a set of four novel temporal state relations, which relate temporal intervals to the current time are used. The methods are evaluated on the card game Uno, and predicting a person's course through a network of CCTV cameras. This work is then extended to allow the methods to use qualitative spatial relations. The methods are evaluated on predicting a person's course through a network of CCTV cameras, aircraft turnarounds, and the game of Tic Tac Toe.

Finally, an adaptive bloat control method is shown. This looks at adapting the amount of bloat control used during a run of STGP, based on the ratio of the fitness of the current best predictive model to the initial fitness of the best predictive model.


Desirable properties like efficient cover factor, heat resistance, suitable moisture absorption and handle have made the natural staple fibers the most applicable fibers in the textile industry especially in clothing products. However, apart from limited resources they have revealed some undesirable properties such as high hairiness, low abrasion resistance and tensile strength. To overcome these limitations mingling and blending of these fibers with synthetic fibers in both staple and filament form have been mostly considered. In order to achieve this goal, several new technologies have been developed including intermingling. This method gives the yarns enough strength by joining continues filaments to each other. This system has some advantages, e. g., high speed production and no environmental pollution in comparison to sizing etc. In this study, using intermingling jet, the effect of the most important parameters, including air-jet pressure, yarn take-up speed and spun yarn twist factor, on the physical and mechanical properties of final intermingled yarn were investigated. The results showed a direct linear regression between the air-jet pressure and stress and strain at breaking point. An inverse linear regression was also observed between the air-jet pressure and the work of rupture and modulus. The yarn take-up speed showed a direct linear regression with stress and work of rupture and an inverse linear regression with breaking strain, modulus. Spun yarn twist factor has a direct effect on stress and work of rupture but inverse effect on breaking strain and modulus. Duration of abrasion to rapture in intermingled yarns is more than sized, single and twoply yarns with the same wittiness.


Neurons in the medial superior olive (MSO) are thought to encode interaural time differences (ITDs), the main binaural cues used for localizing low-frequency sounds in the horizontal plane. The underlying mechanism is supposed to rely on a coincidence of excitatory inputs from the two ears that are phase-locked to either the stimulus frequency or the stimulus envelope. Extracellular recordings from MSO neurons in several mammals conform with this theory. However, there are two aspects that remain puzzling. The first concerns the role of the MSO in small mammals that have relatively poor low-frequency hearing and whose heads generate only very small ITDs. The second puzzling aspect of the scenario concerns the role of the prominent binaural inhibitory inputs to MSO neurons. We examined these two unresolved issues by recording from MSO cells in the Mexican free-tailed bat. Using sinusoidally amplitude-modulated tones, we found that the ITD sensitivities of many MSO cells in the bat were remarkably similar to those reported for larger mammals. Our data also indicate an important role for inhibition in sharpening ITD sensitivity and increasing the dynamic range of ITD functions. A simple model of ITD coding based on the timing of multiple inputs is proposed. Additionally, our data suggest that ITD coding is a by-product of a neuronal circuit that processes the temporal structure of sounds. Because of the free-tailed bat's small head size, ITD coding is most likely not the major function of the MSO in this small mammal and probably other small mammals.


We use proprietary transactional data to examine the determinants of liquidity in the UK government bond (gilt) market, over a rich sample period that covers both the financial crisis of 2008–09 as well as the onset of the subsequent euro-zone sovereign debt crisis. During this period, gilt market liquidity fluctuates significantly with execution costs almost doubling at the peak of the crisis. Consistent with theory, dealer balance sheet constraints and increased funding costs are significant determinants of illiquidity. However, we document that increased funding costs also negatively impact the inter-dealer segment of the market which leads to a further reduction in liquidity. This is consistent with the notion that the inter-dealer segment enables dealers to share risk and manage their inventories. Additionally, gilt market illiquidity is also influenced by instances of reduced competition among dealers. Both of these effects are more pronounced at the peak of the financial crisis and economically significant: a one standard deviation decrease in the fraction of inter-dealer trading leads to an increase in trading costs of about $700K–$1.5 million daily for non-dealers, and a one standard deviation increase in dealer activity concentration leads to an incremental cost of about $270K–$1 million daily.


The ∼1.4-Ga Mount Ethel pluton is a northeast-trending elliptical body of granodiorite to quartz monzonite surrounded by Lower Proterozoic (1.8–1.7 Ga) rocks in the Park Range, northeast of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The contact along the northern and southern margins of the pluton is concordant with the northeast-striking regional foliation, whereas the western margin is discordant to the regional foliation. The southern margin of the pluton is adjacent to the subvertical, northeast-striking, northwest-dipping Soda Creek–Fish Creek shear zone, which is located entirely within metasedimentary and metavolcanic country rocks. Kinematic indicators within the shear zone yield a north-side-down sense of shear with a left-lateral component. In contrast to several other well-studied ∼1.4-Ga plutons associated with shear zones in the western U.S., penetrative strain related to the shear zone does not appear to extend into the pluton. Late dikes, which appear to be genetically related to the Mount Ethel pluton, cut the main penetrative fabric of the shear zone but are also offset by narrow, discontinuous mylonites of the shear zone. Scarce discontinuous mylonites are also present along the southern margin of the pluton. The pluton contains magmatic fabrics that parallel the strike of the shear zone along the north and south margins of the pluton, but are at a high angle to it along the western margin. These data suggest that early deformation associated with the Soda Creek-Fish Creek shear zone occurred prior to pluton emplacement, that the Mount Ethel pluton was emplaced along a northeast-striking zone of anisotropy, and that some shearing also took place after crystallization and cooling of the pluton. Country rocks in the vicinity of the Mount Ethel pluton with garnet-biotite-plagioclasemuscovite ± sillimanite have two generations of garnet: one that is syntectonic and another that is post-tectonic relative to the northeast-striking foliation. Core compositions of pre/syntectonic garnet paired with matrix biotite compositions yield temperatures of > 600°C at ∼5 kbar that are associated with early (pre-Mount Ethel) deformation within the Soda Creek-Fish Creek shear zone. Core compositions of post-tectonic garnet paired with matrix biotite compositions reveal a temperature gradient on the south side of the pluton that increases from ∼540°C 5 km away to > ∼630°C within 1 km of the Mount Ethel pluton. This may represent the thermal aureole around the intrusion, or it may represent a gradient that pre-dated the pluton. Garnet-rim compositions from both syntectonic and post-tectonic garnet, paired with compositions of biotite near garnet, yield consistent temperatures of ∼550 ± 50°C that are spatially unrelated to the Mount Ethel pluton. These rim temperatures may be related to a third thermal event; or alternatively, they may represent partial re-equilibration of garnet rims with nearby biotite during cooling following the last metamorphism.


Background The human condition known as Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) is characterized by loss of ovarian function before the age of 40. A majority of POF cases are sporadic, but 10–15% are familial, suggesting a genetic origin of the disease. Although several causal mutations have been identified, the etiology of POF is still unknown for about 90% of the patients. Methodology/Principal Findings We report a genome-wide linkage and homozygosity analysis in one large consanguineous Middle-Eastern POF-affected family presenting an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. We identified two regions with a LODmax of 3.26 on chromosome 7p21.1-15.3 and 7q21.3-22.2, which are supported as candidate regions by homozygosity mapping. Sequencing of the coding exons and known regulatory sequences of three candidate genes (DLX5, DLX6 and DSS1) included within the largest region did not reveal any causal mutations. Conclusions/Significance We detect two novel POF-associated loci on human chromosome 7, opening the way to the identification of new genes involved in the control of ovarian development and function.


Patients who use nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) before highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) have an increased rate of virus rebound. Study of rebound according to specific NRTIs used might inform which NRTIs retain activity once others have failed. We focused on 2280 patients who had received zidovudine and either didanosine or lamivudine before starting HAART, started HAART that included zidovudine with didanosine or lamivudine or stavudine with didanosine or lamivudine, and had virus loads <500 copies/mL within 24 weeks. In a Cox model, the relative hazard (RH) of virus rebound for having switched from zidovudine to stavudine (vs. retaining zidovudine) was 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77-1.15), which suggests little or no benefit in terms of reduced rebound rate. Having switched from didanosine to lamivudine, or vice versa, was associated with a reduced rebound rate (RH, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.48-0.73]), which suggests that these drugs retain appreciable activity after use of the other and of zidovudine.


A STUDY AND SOME EXPERIMENTAL WORK OF DIGITAL IMAGE AND VIDEO WATERMARKING by Tsui-Feng Liu The rapid growth of digitized media and the emergence of digital networks have created a pressing need for copyright protection and anonymous communications schemes. Digital watermarking (or data hiding in a more general term) is a kind of steganography technique by adding information into a digital data stream. Several most important watermarking schemes applied to multilevel and binary still images and digital videos were studied. They include schemes based on DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform), DWT (Discrete Wavelet Transform), and fractal transforms. The question whether these invisible watermarking techniques can resolve the issue of rightful ownership of intellectual properties was discussed. The watermarking schemes were further studied from malicious attack point of view, which is considered an effective way to advance the watermarking techniques. In particular, the StirMark robustness tests based on geometrical distortion were carried out. A binary watermarking scheme applied in the DCT domain is presented in this research project. The effect of the binarization procedure necessarily encountered in dealing with binary document images is found so strong that most of conventional embedding schemes fail in dealing with watermarking of binary document images. Some particular measures have to be taken. The initial simulation results indicate that the proposed technique is promising though further efforts need to be made. A STUDY AND SOME EXPERIMENTAL WORK OF DIGITAL IMAGE AND VIDEO WATERMARKING


This paper describes research in progress that aims to explore the role that open design could play in the
development of medical products. Including people in the development process of medical products has
been shown to have benefits to both producers and users but is not universally applied. There are multiple
factors from a producer's point of view as to why a collaborative development process is not used, but
similarly there are some medical conditions that preclude a person's involvement in collaborative group
work. For example, people who have the chronic condition Cystic Fibrosis are excluded from traditional
collaborative design sessions due to susceptibility to certain communicable diseases.
Open design offers the opportunity for people normally excluded in collaborative design processes to not
only be included, but also shape the direction of the enquiry. Through the use of social media, and other
collaborative internet-enabled tools the dissemination and development of ideas can occur. This goes
beyond the fundamental moral and pragmatic arguments for collaborative working, since the knowledge
and experience of the people participating is harnessed and available to all. This process therefore bears the
hallmarks of a truly emancipatory technique, compatible with the notion of human flourishing and that the
concept of a person's 'health' extends beyond a mere absence of illness.
The research is based around a series of practical case studies within an Action Research framework, the first
of which is outlined here, where artefacts will be produced using open design; drawing upon established
methods using prototypes as research and trialing the combination of physical tools (e.g. 3D printing) and
virtual meeting spaces to facilitate the design activity.


Background: Northern Ontario, Canada has a larger elder population, more resource-based employment, and limited access to physicians and specialists compared to southern Ontario. Given these important differences, it is possible that work disability rates will vary between the two Ontario jurisdictions. Objective: To determine the association between time lost due to workplace injuries and illnesses occurring in northern vs southern Ontario and work disability duration from 2006– 2011. Methods: The study base included all lost-time claims approved by the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in Ontario, Canada for workplace injury or illness compensation occurring between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2011. All eligible participants had to be 18 years of age or older at the time of making the claim and participants were excluded if one of the three variables used to determine location (claimant home postal code, workplace geographical code, and WSIB firm location) were missing. Multivariable proportional hazards regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals adjusted for sex, age, occupation, part of body, and nature of injury relating Ontario geographical location to compensated time off work. Results: A total of 156 453 lost-time claims were approved over the study period. Injured and ill workers from northern Ontario were 16% less likely to return to work than those from southern Ontario. Adjustment for potential confounding factors had no effect. Conclusion: The disability duration in northern Ontario is longer than that in southern Ontario. Future research should focus on assessing the relevant factors associated with this observation to identify opportunities for intervention.


The purpose of this paper is to highlight the mobile services developed by the Rector Gabriel Ferrate Library (BRGF) of the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC-Barcelona Tech) in Barcelona, Spain. We hope this paper will be of use to other libraries exploring new technologies for communicating and delivering their services to users at a time when mobile services are an emerging topic in librarianship and information science literature. By setting out the successive steps involved in the as yet unfinished process of building our mobile services portfolio, we aim to offer a detailed picture of the mobile services and features offered by a university library from a case study perspective. The main topics to be discussed include: The BRGF's mobile website, including the information available, its interactive capabilities and the services it provides to its users. The mobile-friendly version of UP Commons(the UPC Library Service's institutional repositories). The UPC Library Service's mobile OPAC. The mobile version of u-win(BRGF's videogame service). The use of QR codes to deliver information to mobile devices. Text message notifications. Additional topics for discussion include: The library's organisation and the organisational concepts that underpin and make possible its technological developments (including mobile). BRGF's concern regarding the reduction of investment in the development of mobile services. The criteria and tools used to guide the library's decisions regarding the design and orientation of current and future mobile services. How mobile services can help to improve the image of the library as a leading technology site. Selected mobile features that BRGF plans to offer in the near future. Ultimately, this paper aims to delineate the effectiveness and potential of delivering library services by the preferred means of communication of a new generation of students and teachers.


The sensitivity of the posterior crossvein in the pupal wing of Drosophila to reductions in the levels and range of BMP signaling has been used to isolate and characterize novel regulators of this pathway. We show here that crossveinless d (cv-d) mutations, which disrupt BMP signaling during the development of the posterior crossvein, mutate a lipoprotein that is similar to the vitellogenins that comprise the major constituents of yolk in animal embryos. Cv-d is made in the liver-like fat body and other tissues, and can diffuse into the pupal wing via the hemolymph. Cv-d binds to the BMPs Dpp and Gbb through its Vg domain, and to heparan sulfate proteoglycans, which are well-known for their role in BMP movement and accumulation in the wing. Cv-d acts over a long range in vivo, and does not have BMP co-receptor-like activity in vitro. We suggest that, instead, it affects the range of BMP movement in the pupal wing, probably as part of a lipid-BMP-lipoprotein complex, similar to the role proposed for the apolipophorin lipid transport proteins in Hedgehog and Wnt movement.


Reliable predictive models for hydrocarbon production in the high cost Norwegian Offshore have required the development and application to full field simulation of a range of improved 3D geological reservoir modelling techniques. The authors' philosophy for reservoir modelling is outlined and attention focused on the acquisition of the correct type of data, understanding their frequently large inherent uncertainties, and the use of stochastic geological modelling, which, if handling advanced geological concepts and analogue data, enable a proper investigation of the effects of reservoir heterogeneity on fluid flow. Quicker and more trustworthy history matching and 'repairs' of models are made possible. There are challenges to be faced within areas such as geological concepts, estimation of Sw, Sor, and permeability, upscaling, ranking of realizations, the use of 3D seismic to determine lithological and fluid compositions and the conditioning of stochastic models using seismic attributes, well test and production data.


The knowledge and understanding of the mechanism as well as the rate constant of the solvent exchange reactions are fundamental, since these reactions represent an important step in complex formation reactions on metal ions. Solvent exchange reactions in aqueous or non-aqueous solutions are the simplest chemical reactions on metal cations: a solvent molecule situated in the first coordination sphere of the ion is replaced by another one, generally entering from the bulk. In this work acetonitrile was chosen as non-aqueous solvent medium. For lanthanides, CH3CN is a weakly coordinating, labile, uncharged ligand; therefore homoleptic acetonitrile lanthanide complexes could be used as essential synthetic precursors to produce a wide range of compounds under non-aqueous conditions. The presence of the anion in the first coordination sphere of the metal ion can considerably change the solvent exchange rate; therefore it is imperative that solvent exchange reactions to be studied on homoleptic metal complexes. This study has been devoted to the synthesis of homoleptic acetonitrile lanthanide complexes like [Ln(CH3CN)n][Al(OC(CF3)3)4]3 (n = 9, Ln3+ = Nd, Eu, Gd, Dy; n = 8, Ln3+ = Tm); and to the understanding of the acetonitrile exchange reaction on the lanthanide series. It has been found that in anhydrous acetonitrile nine-coordinated species are characteristic for lanthanides from the middle (Eu, Gd, Dy) and the beginning (Nd) of the Ln series, while for those from the end (Tm) eight-coordinated species are representatives. For the synthesized complexes, evidences that both in the solid state and in acetonitrile solution there is no direct metal–anion interaction are provided by: X-Ray diffraction, IR and Raman spectroscopy, conductivity and NMR techniques. The rate constants of the acetonitrile exchange reaction as well as the rotational dynamics of the homoleptic acetonitrile Nd(III), Gd(III), Dy(III), Tm(III) and Eu(II) complexes have been achieved by variable temperature and multiple field 14N NMR, 1H NMRD or EPR measurements. It has been observed that the overall labilities of the CH3CN ligands are the highest ones measured so far in non-aqueous solvents on lanthanides. It is most likely that the mechanistic pathway for the acetonitrile exchange reaction on the homoleptic nine-coordinated lanthanide ions follows a dissociative activation mode and an associative one for the eight-coordinated species.


Acoustic telemetry was used to identify the short-term horizontal and vertical movement patterns of the bigeye thresher shark Alopias superciliosus in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean dur- ing the summer of 1996. Two immature female sharks, 175 and 124 cm PCL (precaudal length), were tracked for 96 and 70 h, respectively, demonstrating very distinct crepuscular vertical migrations sim- ilar to those reported for the megamouth shark. The bigeye threshers stayed at 200 to 500 m depth during the day and at 80 to 130 m at night. The deepest dive extends the known depth distribution of the species to 723 m. No 'fly-glide' behavior (rapid ascents followed by slower acute-angled descents) was observed for the 2 sharks. However, the opposite behavioral pattern of slow ascents and rela- tively rapid descents during the night was observed. Since bigeye threshers have large eyes extend- ing upwards onto the dorsal surface of the cranium, it may be more efficient for them to hunt prey which are highlighted against the sea surface from below. Estimated mean swimming speed over the ground ranged from 1.32 to 2.02 km h -1 , similar to swordfish and megamouth sharks, and slower than that reported for tunas, billfishes, and other pelagic sharks.


After several years of research, the fundamental semantic web technologies have reached a high maturity level. Nevertheless, the average web user has not yet taken advantage of their full potential. In this paper, we introduce the semantic web bottleneck, analyse the main problems that preserve it and suggest ways to overcome it. In particular, we discuss the issues involved in deploying, maintaining and using semantically rich web applications, decomposing this process into two primal ones: publishing and exploiting semantic content. We analyse the role of key players such as the web industry, the search engines, the academia, the web user, and the web engineers that essentially materialise and use these technologies. A roadmap is provided in order for the semantic web to gain further acceptance, based on three major axes: simplicity, mainly entailed by automation, integration with the existing technologies and practices, and adoption by the web industry driving forces.


The ethanolic extract of the plant Pistia stratiotes (Araceae) was investigated for activity against Indian earthworms Pheretima posthuma and nematode Ascardi galli. Various concentrations (10, 20, 50 mg/ml) of ethanolic extract were tested, which involved determination of time of paralysis and time of death of the worms. It was compared with Piperazine citrate (15 mg/ml) and Albendazole (20 mg/ml) as standard reference and normal saline as control. The study indicated the potential usefulness of Pistia stratiotes against earthworm infections.


This study presents results of a high-resolution topographic survey of the proglacial area of Austre Lovenbreen, Svalbard.
Structure-from-Motion (SfM) was used to generate a digital elevation model (DEM) of the proglacial zone from aerial imagery.
This DEM is used to explore the topography of a zone of hummocky moraine within the glacier's Neoglacial limit. The origin
of hummocky moraine has proven controversial, but detailed morphological studies can contribute to a better understanding
of how these features form, and the extent to which they may be preserved in the palaeo-glaciological record, including
within northwest Britain. In cross-profile, hummocky moraine is characterised by a sequence of asymmetrical ridges, with
longer, low angle up-glacier faces, and shorter, steeper down-glacier faces. This profile is interpreted to represent a sequence of
ridges stacked-up against a bedrock riegel and reverse bedslope. Whilst the origin of these features is uncertain, the enhanced
compression associated with glacier flow against a bedrock riegel, possibly during a glacier surge, may have been sufficient
to have generated debris-rich englacial thrusts that subsequently melted-out to form the observed hummocky moraine. The
significance of this research highlights ongoing studies aimed at understanding the origin and palaeo-glaciological significance
of hummocky moraine in northwest Britain.


Interactions between meteorological and hydrodynamic processes are poorly understood, and may result in large uncertainties when assessing the performance of sea defences in extreme conditions. This study integrates numerical weather prediction models with models of wave generation and propagation, and surge and tide propagation. By using an ensemble methodology, the uncertainty at each stage of the model cascade may be quantified. Subsequently, this information, either as a proxy or appropriately transformed into predictive uncertainty, will be valuable in calculating the likelihood of hydraulic and structural failure in extreme storms. This paper describes results for a domain centred on one of the locations for the proposed Severn Barrage. This barrage will be the focus for the world's largest marine renewable energy scheme and will potentially have a significant impact on the coastal flooding response of this part of the Severn Estuary. Dynamically downscaled, high resolution wind and pressure fields of historic extreme storms are generated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modelling system. The state of the art tide and surge model, POLCOMS, in conjunction with a third generation wave model (ProWAM), utilises the meteorological data, producing hydrodynamic parameters such as surge and wave heights at a proposed location for the Severn Barrage. European Centre for Medium range Forecasting (ECMWF) Ensemble Prediction System data are used for boundary conditions in WRF, producing a 50-member ensemble. The variation in storm track and intensity between members allows the uncertainty in the model system to be quantified in terms of wave and surge heights. This work is part of the NERC funded EPIRUS consortium research but is closely allied to the interests of the EPSRC FRMRC project and the HEPEX international network focused on ensemble prediction in the context of hydrological prediction systems.


Abstract By defining a "bomb" as an extratropical surface cyclone whose central pressure fall averages at least 1 mb h−1 for 24 h, we have studied this explosive cyclogenesis in the Northern Hemisphere during the period September 1976–May 1979. This predominantly maritime, cold-season event is usually found ∼400 n mi downstream from a mobile 500 mb trough, within or poleward of the maximum westerlies, and within or ahead of the planetary-scale troughs. A more detailed examination of bombs (using a 12 h development criterion) was performed during the 1978–79 season. A survey of sea surface temperatures (SST's) in and around the cyclone center indicates explosive development occurs over a wide range of SST's, but, preferentially, near the strongest gradients. A quasi-geostrophic diagnosis of a composite incipient bomb indicates instantaneous pressure falls far short of observed rates. A test of current National Meteorological Center models shows these products also fall far short in attempting to capture ob...


Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive malignancies with a dismal prognosis. The incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer in China has been increasing dramatically during the past several decades. With the development of surgery, chemotherapy drugs and radiotherapy technologies, the prognosis of pancreatic cancer has changed greatly in recent years in China, especially in our cancer center, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital. First, we will make a precise pre-surgery diagnosis in our center involves computerized tomography (CT) images, circulating tumor cell (CTC) measure and KRAS sequence. Second, according to the pre-surgery diagnosis, we will perform the en bloc resection and standard lymphadenectomy for pancreatic cancer patient. Third, multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a feature in our cancer center that choose the best therapy for different stage patients with individualized treatment. Finally, clinical trial is important characteristic in our cancer center because the new drug and target drug can be used to treat pancreatic cancer in time. This article reviews the development of pancreatic cancer diagnosis and therapy, highlights the hallmarks of management in our cancer center and discusses the future necessary efforts to improve the quality of life and prognosis for Chinese patients.


This paper is divided into three parts. Each part is devoted to four issues, which are always the same: the definition of conflict of interests; the scope of its regulation; the remedies for such situations; and the control and punishment mechanisms. In the first part of the paper, these issues are addressed in general terms. In the second part, they are considered in a comparative perspective. The third part focuses on the Italian legislation and particularly on the cabinet members. The relative statute contains a very unusual definition of conflict of interests. It uses only one of the possible remedies, the disqualification, but under its provisions establishing the grounds for disqualification and proving a violation is practically impossible. The main provision of the statute, in fact, is a fake one.


Current scholarship treats organizational and issue identity as a fluid, discursively constructed concept, inextricably bound to the negotiation and maintenance of power structures. The interactive nature of identity construction emphasizes the importance of communicative interactions between stakeholders and organizations in shaping identities. Little exploration has been done to link efforts by organizations to construct their own socially mediated identity and those influencing the identities of issues and publics. This paper uses social and semantic network plus qualitative analysis to investigate the social media strategies adopted by the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA constitutes its identities and power through a complex network of relationships, and seeks to personalize the issue to constituent groups through differentiated use of digital media. The analysis conducted offers insights into the ways in which complex organizations may structure their social media presence to construct their identity and influence aggregation patterns among stakeholders.


An isolated tooth from the Tecovas Formation of the Chinle Group, Crosby County, West Texas, represents the oldest definitive record of a prosauropod dinosaur from North America. Its age is Adamanian (latest Carnian, approximately 225 Ma) based on vertebrate biostratigraphy,
palynostratigraphy and other data. It is clearly distinguished from isolated ornithischian teeth by a combination of prosauropod dental synapomorphies. The addition of this tooth to other recent discoveries of late Carnian prosauropod material from Brazil and Madagascar, as well as the Moroccan Azendohsaurus, indicates a Pangea-wide distribution for prosauropods near their oldest occurrences.


As an extension of the immersed boundary method with unified interpolation stencil (Kor, Badri Ghomizad, and Fukagata, J. Fluid Sci. Technol. , Vol. 12, 2017, JFST0011), we propose an immersed boundary method that can handle moving boundary problems with a lower level of spurious force oscillation. The key modification to the previously proposed method, which was validated for fixed boundary problems, is to adopt the reconstruction method, in which the velocities outside the body are reconstructed, instead of the ghost-cell method, in which the velocities inside the body are set to satisfy the boundary conditions. From the comparison between the ghost-cell and reconstruction methods, both methods work equally well for a fixed boundary problem, but the reconstruction method is found to be e ff ective in suppressing the spurious force oscillations that appear in moving boundary problems. The capability of the proposed method is demonstrated by numerical investigations of some typical problems. Both predefined motions, such an oscillating cylinder and a hovering flat plate, and interacting motions of rigid bodies are simulated to validate the method. For the latter, sedimentation of a single cylinder as well as a group of interacting cylinders under the gravitational force is examined to demonstrate the capability of the present method for fluid-structure interaction problems. The results show that the proposed method can properly handle the moving boundary problems, while preserving the simplicity of the unified interpolation stencil.


Abstract

To the everyday man or woman on the street, the term 'vacant possession' raises its head most noticeably in the residential sphere, with many everyday people buying and selling property and being obliged to give, or entitled to receive, vacant possession. Furthermore, the term is by no means limited to a 'lay' usage: a wide range of business and professional people use the expression 'vacant possession' on a daily basis, and the term is in the lexicography of judges, conveyancers, litigators, surveyors, estate agents, commentators and others connected to property, including property owning landlords and tenants. All these stakeholders make use of the term in a formal and professional sense, and with reference to legal transactions for which vacant possession is an essential element.

Although it is an everyday term that is used by many, a common feature of these usages of the term is a lack of attention to what it actually means. For example, estate agents, who invariably use the term in their advertising particulars, seem able to distinguish between 'full vacant possession', 'immediate vacant possession' or 'complete vacant possession', with ostensibly no real justification as to how the prefacing adjective in each case adds anything to the message that they are seeking to convey to prospective purchasers, as to what they can expect to obtain on completion. Lawyers talk about 'giving VP on completion', but few documents ever actually define what vacant possession means with a capitalised 'V' and 'P'. Furthermore, the courts have made decisions as to whether vacant possession was or was not given in a particular instance, but rarely found it necessary to explain what the term actually meant, or sought to explicitly apply an understanding of the concept to the facts of any particular case.

Indeed, behind the familiarity of this common expression, lie years of uncertainty, misunderstanding and general neglect of the development of a sound and coherent theoretical model of vacant possession. There is very little case law and even less judicial guidance available. In 1988, and in two editions of the Conveyancer and Property Lawyer, Charles Harpum wrote what probably remains the most insightful learned article on the subject, but since then the concept appears to have warranted very little scholarly or practitioner attention.

This thesis explores the concept of vacant possession and its meaning. Expounding the inconsistent evolution and development of the concept, the thesis explains the constituent elements of the concept of vacant possession, along with the practical manifestation of the term in everyday property cases. In doing so, it highlights the difficulties that lawyers, surveyors, judges and other third parties face on a day-to-day basis when seeking to interpret the nature, scope and extent of the obligation. Further, to link this work to wider theoretical debate in literature pertaining to possession, the thesis draws on other common property law concepts, those of actual occupation and adverse possession; such a discussion helps to explain why the inherently infra-jural concept of vacant possession cannot be 'tied down' to a precise legal definition or formulation.

In conclusion, and to facilitate understanding and usage of the term, the thesis draws on the analysis undertaken to promulgate a working articulation of the concept, and considers other provisions that can ameliorate the remedial entitlements for an injured party in the event of a breach of the obligation. These may go some way to assist all those who will encounter the concept in future legal transactions.


Since Apple and Google launched their mobile app stores in 2008, the market for mobile apps has experienced rapid growth. Given the existence of multiple app platforms, fundamental questions in the app industry are how app developers choose which app platform to enter and which market designs benefit the platform expansion.
This paper studies these questions using a unique daily-level panel data set that contains information on every app in the two leading app stores, Apple and Google, over a 2-year period. Combining machine learning techniques for big data problems and computationally efficient econometric approaches, I construct and estimate a structural model for heterogeneous app developers' platform choice decisions within an incomplete-information game framework. I find that in general low-quality apps make the platform less favorable for high-quality entrants. In Google app store, the presence of low-quality apps induces more low-quality apps to enter, while Apple app store exhibits strong competitive effects among high-quality apps. Increasing smartphone user base and improving user engagement could accelerate the platform expansion, but also encourage many low-quality apps to enter. Regulations on low-quality apps and attenuating competition are more effective attracting high-quality apps. Platforms can bundle these policies to achieve better marketing evolution.


The purpose of this study was to determine if the dimensions of workaholism (i.e., compulsive tendencies, control, and impaired communication/self-absorption), as measured by Robinson's (1996) Work Addiction Risk Test, and work-life imbalance were related to health variables such as BMI, weekly exercise, and the existence of health issues (e.g., self-report and/or family history of Type II diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol). The dimensions of the WART and work-life imbalance were used as predictors and the health variables were used as the criteria. Personal demographic variables (e.g., age, gender, race, marital status) served as the control. The results indicated that there were numerous relationships between the workaholism and work-life imbalance variables and the health variables. The compulsive tendencies dimension, control dimension, and total WART score were significantly positively related to family history of heart disease and family history of high cholesterol. Work-life imbalance was significantly positively related to high cholesterol. Study limitations, directions for future research, and practical implications are discussed.


The authors analyze gender differences in fairness perceptions of own wages and subsequent wage growth. The main finding is that women perceive their wage more often as fair if controls for hourly wage rates, individual and job-related characteristics are taken into account. Furthermore, the gender difference is more pronounced for married than for single women. This points to the fact that social norms, gender roles, and gender identity are at least partly responsible for the gap in fairness perceptions. Further analysis shows that individuals, who perceive their wage as unfair, experience larger wage growth in subsequent years. An explanation would be that a wage perceived as unfair triggers negotiations for a better wage or induces individuals to search for better paid work. Thus, differences in wage perceptions can contribute to explain the nowadays still persistent gender wage gap.


Abstract. Water-soluble inorganic components in rain deposited at the Maldives Climate Observatory Hanimaadhoo (MCOH) were examined to determine seasonality and possible source regions. The study, which is part of the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) project, covers the period June 2005 to December 2007. Air mass trajectories were used to separate the data into situations with transport of air from India and adjacent parts of the Asian continent during the months December and January (Indian group) and those with southerly flow from the Indian Ocean during the summer monsoon season June to September (Marine group). A third trajectory group was identified with transport from the northern parts of the Arabian Sea and adjacent land areas during the months March, April and October (Arabian Sea group). The concentrations of nss-SO 4 2− , NH 4 + and NO 3 − were more than a factor of 4 higher in the Indian group than in the Marine group. The average rainwater pH was significantly lower in the Indian group (4.7) than in the Marine group (6.0). This shows a pronounced influence of continental pollutants during December and January. The origin of the very high concentration of nss-Ca 2+ found in the Marine group – a factor of 7 higher than in the Indian group – is unclear. We discuss various possibilities including long-range transport from the African or Australian continents, local dust from nearby islands and calcareous plankton debris and exopolymer gels emitted from the ocean surface. The occurrence of NO 3 − and NH 4 + in the Marine group suggests emissions from the ocean surface. Part of the NO 3 − could also be associated with lightning over the ocean. Despite the fact that the concentrations of nss-SO 4 2− , NO 3 − , and NH 4 + were highest in the Indian group the wet deposition was at least as big in the Marine group reflecting the larger amount of rainfall during the monsoon season. The annual wet deposition of NO 3 − , NH 4 + and nss-SO 4 2− at MCOH is about a factor of three lower than observed at rural sites in India.


»Empirische Zugänge zur Raumwahrnehmung – Kombination von visuellen und verbalen Daten und reaktiven und nichtreaktiven Methoden in Studien zu Seniorenresidenzen und Bibliotheken«. Space is characterised by both its material and its social aspects. To examine space perceptions in this holistic understanding it is crucial to combine verbal with visual data and reactive with non-reactive methods, because not every perception is verbally expressible. The article starts illustrating a socio-spatial-material concept of space. Based on this it will be displayed how a triangulative research design with visual interview stimuli, participant observation, mental maps, photo documentation, and architectural analysis can enable to get new insights into spatial perceptions. This will be shown by outlining two specific research projects, the first focuses on the space experience and imaginations of elderly people, the second on space perceptions of library users. The projects with their approaches and results clarify the impact of the triangulation of visual data and non-reactive methods in the exploration of spatial perception. Furthermore, the contribution of every kind of method will be shown in the discussion of the results and unexpected findings. Finally, the article reveals in a broader context that it is important to combine text-based and visual methods, not only for the collection of data but for the presentation of research results as well.


In the international research project DE-MONTES , which is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7), a fully-automated high-resolution measurement and analysis system for geo-monitoring is being developed. The system is implemented and tested by the use of concrete applications posed by four partic-ipating small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Thus, a subsequent integration into existing industrial systems is ensured. The development is realised primarily by three re-search institutions operating in the fields of geodesy, photogrammetry, computer vision and software development. The paper describes the main strategies followed during the project, technical implications over various fields of expertise, an overview on the scientific and technical approach, as well as the results achieved so far.


BACKGROUND
The 75+ health assessment has been identified as a suitable trigger to introduce advance care planning (ACP) to general practice patients. Australian general practitioners (GPs) were surveyed to explore their perceptions, attitudes and practices in introducing ACP during 75+ health assessments.

METHODS
A cross-sectional postal survey of Australian GPs covering their personal, professional and workplace characteristics, their current practice regarding ACP within a 75+ health assessment, and their attitude towards ACP. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse the factors associated with routinely discussing ACP as part of the 75+ health assessment.

RESULTS
A total of 185 (19.2%) out of 964 eligible GPs returned a completed survey. Most GPs reported that patients interested in ACP were supported by the GPs or the practice nurse. Two factors, (1) attitude that ACP is an essential component of the 75+ health assessment, and (2) regional or rural location of the practice, had a statistically and clinically significant association with the GP's self-reported discussion of ACP during 75+ health assessments.

CONCLUSIONS
GPs showed a high level of support and involvement in discussing ACP during 75+ health assessments. ACP support during 75+ health assessments was often provided directly by the GP or via the practice nurse. Given the international evidence that ACP training programs improve skills and knowledge, and foster positive attitudes towards ACP, there is an important need to continue funding ACP training programs for GPs and practice nurses.


Like Ben Witherington's previous commentary"Conflict and Community in Corinth," this commentary breaks fresh ground in providing a detailed social and rhetorical analysis of the book of Acts. Written in a readable style, with more detailed interaction with scholarly discussion found in the various excursuses, this commentary draws on the best new insights from a number of disciplines (narratological studies of Luke-Acts, archaeological and social scientific study of the New Testament, rhetorical analysis of Acts, comparative studies in ancient historiography) to provide the reader with the benefits of recent innovative ways of analyzing the text of Acts. In addition there is detailed attention to major theological and historical issues, including the question of the relationship of Acts to the Pauline letters, the question of early Christian history and how the church grew and developed, the relationship between early Judaism and early Christianity, and the relationship between Christianity and the officials of the Roman Empire. Acts is seen as a historical monograph with affinities with the approaches of serious Greek historians such as Thucydides and Polybius in terms of methodology, and affinities with some forms of Jewish historiography (including Old Testament history) in terms of content or subject matter. The book is illustrated with various pictures and charts, which help to bring to light the character and setting of these narratives."


"You may well Suppose that I was the Focus of all Eyes," John Adams wrote on 2 June 1785 of his first audience with George III, which formally inaugurated the post of American minister to Great Britain. Eager to restore "the old good Nature and the old good Humour" between the two nations, Adams spent the following months establishing the U.S. legation at No. 8 Grosvenor Square. For Adams, it was a period of multiple responsibilities and mixed success. He remained minister to the Netherlands and one of the joint commissioners charged with negotiating commercial treaties with the nations of Europe and North Africa--sensitive duties that occasionally called for Adams to encode his correspondence with the aid of his new secretary and future son-in-law, Col. William Stephens Smith.Rebuffed by the British ministry in his mission to enforce the peace treaty of 1783 and renew Anglo-American commerce, Adams identified and achieved other goals. He preserved American credit despite the bankruptcy of a Dutch banking house that handled U.S. loans, petitioned for the release of impressed sailors, marked the ratification of the Prussian-American treaty, championed the needs of the American Episcopal Church, and laid the groundwork for negotiations with the Barbary States. His attention was not confined solely to foreign affairs. John Adams's letters from London, laced with his trademark candor, demonstrate his ripening Federalist view of the new American government's vulnerability and promise.


Want to find every pizza place within a 15-mile radius? Where the dog parks are in a new town? The most central meeting place for your class, club or group of friends? The cheapest gas stations on a day-to-day basis? The location of convicted sex offenders in an area to which you may be considering moving? The applications, serendipitous and serious, seem to be infinite, as developers find ever more creative ways to add to and customize the satellite images and underlying API of Google Maps. Written by Schuyler Erle and Rich Gibson, authors of the popular Mapping Hacks, Google Maps Hacks shares dozens of tricks for combining the capabilities of Google Maps with your own datasets. Such diverse information as apartment listings, crime reporting or flight routes can be integrated with Google's satellite imagery in creative ways, to yield new and useful applications.The authors begin with a complete introduction to the "standard" features of Google Maps. The adventure continues with 60 useful and interesting mapping projects that demonstrate ways developers have added their own features to the maps. After that's given you ideas of your own, you learn to apply the techniques and tools to add your own data to customize and manipulate Google Maps. Even Google seems to be tacitly blessing what might be seen as unauthorized use, but maybe they just know a good thing when they see one.With the tricks and techniques you'll learn from Google Maps Hacks, you'll be able to adapt Google's satellite map feature to create interactive maps for personal and commercial applications for businesses ranging from real estate to package delivery to home services, transportation and more. Includes a foreword by Google Maps tech leads, Jens and Lars Rasmussen.


Swarming, schooling, flocking and herding are all names given to the wide variety of collective behaviours exhibited by groups of animals, bacteria and even individual cells. More generally, the term swarming describes the behaviour of an aggregate of agents (not necessarily biological) of similar size and shape which exhibit some emergent property such as directed migration or group cohesion. In this paper we review various individual-based models of collective behaviour and discuss their merits and drawbacks. We further analyse some one-dimensional models in the context of locust swarming. In specific models, in both one and two dimensions, we demonstrate how varying the parameters relating to how much attention individuals pay to their neighbours can dramatically change the behaviour of the group. We also introduce leader individuals to these models with the ability to guide the swarm to a greater or lesser degree as we vary the parameters of the model. We consider evolutionary scenarios for models with leaders in which individuals are allowed to evolve the degree of influence neighbouring individuals have on their subsequent motion.


A series of 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylgermoles with different 1,1-substituents have been prepared, and their UV–vis absorption and fluorescence spectral profiles in solution were determined. A thin-layer chromatography based method was used to measure their solid-state luminescence. Nine of the 11 new germoles have been characterized crystallographically. The aggregation-induced emission effect in these germoles was studied, and significant enhancement of the photoluminescence and quantum yield in mixed solvent–water systems was determined. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed the formation of nanocrystalline aggregates in the mixed solvent–water systems and after exposure of the germoles to acetone, a volatile organic chemical.


This study suggests that, against the background of early modern views of sexuality, the castrato appears not as the asexual creature sometimes implied today, but as a super-natural manifestation of a widely-held erotic ideal. Recent work in the history of sexuality has shown the prevalence in the early modern period of the "one-sex" model, in which the distinction between male and female is quantitative (with respect to "vital heat") rather than qualitative. This model provides for a large middle ground, encompassing prepubescent children, castrati, and other unusual figures. And that middle ground, in fact, seems to have been a prime locus of sexual desire: the art, literature, and historical accounts of the period argue that boys especially were often viewed -perhaps by both sexes-as erotic objects. Further evidence suggests that this sexual charge also applied to castrati. The plausibility of such an erotic image is strengthened by investigation into the actual sexual function of these singers, which seems to have fallen somewhere between historical legend and modern skepticism. Finally, a survey of castrato roles in opera, from Monteverdi to Handel, shows how these singers were deployed and suggests that their popularity could not have depended entirely on vocal skills. Instead, I argue that castrati were prized at least in part for their unique physicality, their spectacularly exaggerated embodiment of the ideal lover.


We present UBVRIz' optical images taken with MOSAIC on the CTIO 4 m telescope of the 0.32 deg2 Extended Hubble Deep Field-South. This is one of four fields comprising the MUSYC survey, which is optimized for the study of galaxies at z = 3, active galactic nucleus (AGN) demographics, and Galactic structure. Our methods used for astrometric calibration, weighted image combination, and photometric calibration in AB magnitudes are described. We calculate corrected aperture photometry and its uncertainties and find through tests that these provide a significant improvement upon standard techniques. Our photometric catalog of 62,968 objects is complete to a total magnitude of RAB = 25, with R-band counts consistent with results from the literature. We select z ≃ 3 Lyman break galaxy (LBG) candidates from their UVR colors and find a sky surface density of 1.4 arcmin-2 and an angular correlation function w(θ) = (2.3 ± 1.0)θ-0.8, consistent with previous findings that high-redshift Lyman break galaxies reside in massive dark matter halos. Our images and catalogs are available online.


Abstract Brown and Levinson (1987 [1978]) has remained the most seminal and influential starting point for studying cross-cultural and interlinguistic politeness. Yet it has also provoked countervailing arguments (e. g., Ide 1989; 1993; Matsumoto 1989; Gu 1990; Mao 1994), claiming a Western bias in Brown and Levinson's model, particularly in their construal of the concept of 'face', in their overemphasis on face-threat and their assumption of individualistic and egalitarian motivations, as opposed to the more group-centred hierarchy-based ethos of Eastern societies. This leads to the question: Is there an East-West divide in politeness? This article presents a pragmatic framework for studying linguistic politeness phenomena in communication: a common principle of politeness (Leech, 1983; 2005) and a Grand Strategy of Politeness (GSP), which is exemplified in common linguistic behaviour patterns in the performance of polite speech acts such as requests, offers, compliments, apologies, thanks, and responses to these. The GSP says simply: In order to be polite, a speaker communicates meanings which place (a) a high value on what relates to the other person (typically the addressee), and (b) a low value on what relates to the speaker. It is clear from many observations that constraint (a) is more powerful than constraint (b). The following hypothesis will be put forward, and supported by evidence from four languages: that the GSP provides a very general explanation for communicative politeness phenomena in Eastern languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as well as in Western languages such as English. Since politeness deals with scalar phenomena, this is not to deny the importance of quantitative and qualitative differences in the settings of social parameters and linguistic parameters of politeness in such languages. A framework such as the GSP provides the parameters of variation within which such differences can be studied. Hence this article argues in favour of the conclusion that, despite manifest differences, there is no East-West divide in politeness.


Public managers and elected officials are generally restricted from supporting election campaigns with public resources. In the case of legislative referenda, the public stakeholders responsible for putting a policy question on the ballot must play a neutral role when acting in their official capacity. A system where private money supports public goals has emerged as regulatory provisions simultaneously restrict direct private giving to elected officials and public support for election campaigns. Using campaign finance disclosures, election results, and municipal bond issuance data, we find that post-election fees paid to firms making political contributions are significantly higher than for non-contributors. The finding improves the understanding of how private dollars support public policy outcomes, raises questions about the circumvention of laws restricting the use of public resources in election campaigns, and informs ongoing consideration of the need for additional regulatory action and disclosure requirements to address issue committee campaign contributions.


Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of life skills training on decreasing social phobia (SP) disorder in students with hearing impairment. Methods: The sample included 30 male students, age range from 8 to 18 years with hearing impairment recruited from exceptional schools. Their age and IQ were matched. They were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups (15 students in each group). The participants were assessed by social phobia inventory scale (SPIN). Independent t-test and analysis of covariance were applied for analyzing the data. Results: The experimental group had better results in decreasing their social phobia than the control group (P<0.001). The results showed that training life skills to students with hearing impairment can decrease the severity of social phobia. Conclusion: The life skill training is effective in decreasing the intensity of SP in students with hearing impairment. A B S T R A C T Article info:


The purpose of this LibGuide is to provide users with access to international and federal organizations, their policies, and resources on foreign and domestic terrorism available online and at FIU's Green Library.


The ability of a swimming robot to extract information from a vortex field in the ambient fluid flow has immense practical applications. Such capabilities perhaps augmented with other sensors are useful to detect and avoid obstacles or potential adversaries in the fluid. This has led many researchers to attempt to sample the pressure field on the surface of a swimmer and thus extract information about the fluid flow such as the flow velocity and angle of attack. In contrast in this paper, we show through simulations, that the kinematic information of a swimmer, specifically its angular velocity, can be used to train a neural network, that can classify the vortex wake in the surrounding fluid. In effect, this classifies the type of body (or its motion) that generates the ambient wake. In practice, the angular velocity of a body can be measured with much greater accuracy than the pressure distribution on the body. We further show that a swimmer with a passive tail-like appendage can classify the vortex field with greater accuracy than a swimmer without such an appendage. Thus the results demonstrated in this paper can be of significant use in designing aquatic robots with passive appendages with improved capabilities of sensing and classifying the ambient flow.