This study examined the relationships among demographics, a health-promoting lifestyle, and diabetes knowledge. A descriptive study was conducted in a convenience sample of 40 Hispanic American adults. Participants were recruited from Hispanic churches in the southeastern United States. The Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II and the Diabetes Knowledge Questionnaire were used to assess participants' health-promoting lifestyle and diabetes knowledge. Participants had low levels of a health-promoting lifestyle and a strong deficiency in diabetes knowledge. Income was found to be associated with physical activity lifestyle. Age and education were significantly related to diabetes knowledge. This study suggested that community health nurses should assess and educate Hispanic American adults for a health-promoting lifestyle and diabetes knowledge and use appropriate methods of teaching with low-literacy and audiovisual materials to provide culturally specific care to this vulnerable group.


Trust region methods rigorously enabled reinforcement learning (RL) agents to learn monotonically improving policies, leading to superior performance on a variety of tasks. Unfortunately, when it comes to multi-agent reinforcement learning (MARL), the property of monotonic improvement may not simply apply; this is because agents, even in cooperative games, could have conflicting directions of policy updates. As a result, achieving a guaranteed improvement on the joint policy where each agent acts individually remains an open challenge. In this paper, we extend the theory of trust region learning to MARL. Central to our findings are the multi-agent advantage decomposition lemma and the sequential policy update scheme. Based on these, we develop Heterogeneous-Agent Trust Region Policy Optimisation (HATPRO) and Heterogeneous-Agent Proximal Policy Optimisation (HAPPO) algorithms. Unlike many existing MARL algorithms, HATRPO/HAPPO do not need agents to share parameters, nor do they need any restrictive assumptions on decomposibility of the joint value function. Most importantly, we justify in theory the monotonic improvement property of HATRPO/HAPPO. We evaluate the proposed methods on a series of Multi-Agent MuJoCo and StarCraftII tasks. Results show that HATRPO and HAPPO significantly outperform strong baselines such as IPPO, MAPPO and MADDPG on all tested tasks, therefore establishing a new state of the art.


The application of computer-aided engineering (CAE), design (CAD), and manufacturing (CAM), is essential in modern metal forming technology. Thus, process of modelling for the investigation and understanding of deformation mechanics has become a major concern in recent and advanced research, and the finite element method (FEM) has assumed increased importance, particularly in the modelling of deformation processes. This work is devoted to the development of CAD/CAM system for closed die forging process. The system development consists of three stages: namely, metal flow simulation, die failure analysis and design optimisation, and development and implementation of machining code. In the first stage, the finite element method was used to simulate the axisymmetric closed die forging process of copper material. The method was used to study the metal flow, die filling retaining the non-linearity involved in the large change in the geometry, the continuous change in the contact surface condition and the isotropic material work-hardening characteristics. In the second stage, a finite element analysis and optimisation algorithm was developed to examine the die fatigue life and to optimise the die design. The finite element analysis in the first and second stage was carried out using commercially available finite element software called LUSAS. In the third stage, a machining code for the
optimised die was developed and implemented using CAD/CAM software called UniGraphics and CNC machine. A qualitative comparison between the computational results and experiments ware made. It had been found that the early stage of the metal flow in closed die forging was very similar to a simple upsetting, then the material flows into the die cavity and towards the flash land leading to a very sharp increase in forging load. The die was designed to sustain the forging load and withstand 1000 load cycles.


The Metropolitan Green Belt (henceforth MGB) has been proposed since the late nineteenth century but was first realised in the 1930s, and expanded under Abercrombie's 1944 Greater London Plan. After decades of growth the MGB measures 5,160 square kilometres and covers parts of 68 local districts and London boroughs. Local planning authorities do have the power to modify the MGB through ad hoc reviews, although only in 'exceptional circumstances'. These can include a shortage of housing land (though this alone doesn't guarantee that change will be permitted). An early reason for proposing a MGB was to give access to the countryside but later it was to physically constrain the growth of London. The current aims of the policy are set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which says that "The fundamental aim of Green Belt policy is to prevent urban sprawl by keeping land permanently open". To do this it seeks to check unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas, keep neighbouring towns from merging, safeguard the countryside from encroachment, preserve the setting and special character of historic towns and promote urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land. Despite the name, Green Belt is not an environmental designation — in fact Duncan Sandys, the minister responsible for its expansion in the 1950s, said Green Belt land did not have to be green or even particularly attractive, as its purpose was to stop urban development. However, government guidance suggests that after establishing a Green Belt, the local authority might want to improve public access, provide recreation opportunities or improve the appearance or quality of the land — but actual use or enjoyment of the Green Belt is clearly seen as an incidental benefit of the policy. In the post-war period there was a two-pronged approach to directing development in South East England: the MGB constrained the supply of land, and at the same time New Towns were created to house people dispersed from larger cities including London. This link between state planned constraint and development (and the cross regional approach), although never perfectly realised, has long since been broken.


The south-western part of the NE-SW-trending Nakasib suture in the Red Sea Hills of Sudan is characterized by a distinct lithostratigraphic and geochemical zonation from north to south. The southern part of the suture zone is underlain by the Ariab volcanic arc which is separated from the adjacent Oshib ophiolitic melange to the north by a major NW-verging thrust. Basalts of the Oshib ophiolite complex vary from north to south from typical mid-ocean-ridge (MORB) through oceanic island (OIB) to boninitic lavas. The volcanic sequences of the Ariab island are consist of minor tholeiitic and major calc-alkaline intermediate to felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks. Approximately 810 Ma old, subduction-related calc-alkaline granitoid rocks have been intruded into the northern margin of the 890–840 Ma old Haya terrane along the southern boundary of the Nakasib suture zone. This lithostratigraphic arrangement and the geochemical zonation of the ophiolites indicate that the Nakasib ocean basin was consumed in the Late Proterozoic by a southerly dipping subduction zone.


Available evidence concerning the association between indoor air pollution (IAP) from biomass and solid fuel combustion and preeclampsia/eclampsia is not available in developing countries. We investigated the association between exposure to IAP from biomass and solid fuel combustion and symptoms of preeclampsia/eclampsia in Indian women by analyzing cross-sectional data from India's third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005–2006). Self-reported symptoms of preeclampsia/eclampsia during pregnancy such as convulsions (not from fever), swelling of legs, body or face, excessive fatigue or vision difficulty during daylight, were obtained from 39 657 women aged 15–49 years who had a live birth in the previous 5 years. Effects of exposure to cooking smoke, ascertained by type of fuel used for cooking on preeclampsia/eclampsia risk, were estimated using logistic regression after adjusting for various confounders. Results indicate that women living in households using biomass and solid fuels have two times higher likelihood of reporting preeclampsia/eclampsia symptoms than do those living in households using cleaner fuels (OR = 2.21; 95%: 1.26–3.87; P = 0.006), even after controlling for the effects of a number of potentially confounding factors. This study is the first to empirically estimate the associations of IAP from biomass and solid fuel combustion and reported symptoms suggestive of preeclampsia/eclampsia in a large nationally representative sample of Indian women and we observed increased risk. These findings have important program and policy implications for countries such as India, where large proportions of the population rely on polluting biomass fuels for cooking and space heating. More epidemiological research with detailed exposure assessments and clinical measures of preeclampsia/eclampsia is needed in a developing country setting to validate these findings.


This briefing discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by the artisanal gold mining sector in Zimbabwe. It reflects on the measures needed to promote artisanal miners' contribution to sustainable development, economic growth and poverty alleviation. Current policy approaches, including the criminalisation of artisanal gold mining by the Zimbabwean authorities, have failed to address effectively persisting challenges such as land rights conflict, violence, environmental degradation and smuggling. If the costs of imperfect regulations are to be mitigated, new approaches are required, including improved regulations and interventions to formalise the sector. It is important that the conflict-ridden relationship between artisanal and small-scale miners and large-scale commercial miners be transformed into an inclusive stakeholder arrangement framed by mutual interests and co-operation.


This licentiate thesis on architecture addresses how the state and municipalities use programs that deal with the design process in town planning projects. The author describes the process of creating an aesthetic design program and also studies a completed aesthetic design program. Furthermore, the author combines different findings and presents how programs develop during the planning process. The background of the work with architectural policy programs by the state agencies can be tracked in the program Shape of the Future – Program of Action, Design and Creative Design, 1997. Municipalities have also been influenced by architectural policy programs in their work. Changes in the Plan and Built Act, 1998/1999 that concern aesthetic values have also had effect on their work. The thesis presents four studies that comprise concept analysis, a case study of a municipal planning process, a road movie test and finally a comparison of different methods for evaluation of aesthetic design programs in road design projects. The first study presents a survey of the linguistic usage for programs that concern the design process. Examples from Sweden from the period 1999-2005 have been studied. Also, differences in the usage of the programs between the property developers and the town planning departments have been studied. The study showed that four types of programs were more commonly used: achitectural programs, aesthetic design programs, architectural quality programs and urban design programs. The distinctions in the programs can be used as foundation for more clear and uniform language use among the property developers and town planning departments. The second study follows the planning process of creating an aesthetic design program for the area Kvibergs ang in Gothenburg. An example of city development, the planning process contains both house planning and traffic planning. By the study the author search to increase the comprehension of developing aesthetic design programs and the knowledge of the distribution of power in town planning projects. The case relies on multiple sources of evidence, participant observations have been a main source. The case study consists of two kinds of analysis, a process analysis account of planning process and a discourse analytic interpretation of work of the planning group. The work with the aesthetic design program and the city plan stopped before it was completed. The planning group did not succeed in creating consensus among key actors. The differences in objectives among the architectural discourse, traffic planning discourse and the property developer discourse are some of the reasons why the aesthetic design program has not been completed. There were differences in interests and goals among the participants in the project of city development. The claim made throughout the study is that a common goal for the planning work is significant and it is essential to create consensus among the participants. In addition, the municipalities need guidance for aesthetic design programs to be able to guarantee the architectural quality. The third study describes a full scale experiment "road movie". A film and a questionnaire were tried to evaluate the aesthetic design program for the detour past Solleftea. The question was: Are film and questionnaire more easily available in comparison to traditional evaluation methods? Film was chosen as medium, since while driving on the road the experience is dynamic and similar to watching the movie. The film was shown to three independent groups. A total of 25 persons participated in the test. The informants were all professionals, either students or persons that worked with design tasks. The informants were asked to answer questions that concerned three kinds of evaluation criteria: research criteria, professional criteria and criteria specific for the program. The experiment showed that the informants had a positive attitude to use film for showing completed aesthetic design and evaluating road architecture. Film was a medium that showed critical viewpoints on the aesthetic design program and on completed design measures. In the beginning the method was expensive and took a lot of time, which was compensated by the fact that it was possible to conduct anywhere and anytime. The film also gave a good general impression of the road. The method was good at putting together measures and result when appraising the aesthetic design program. The fourth study shows a comparison of methods for evaluations that were used for completed aesthetic design programs at the Swedish Road Administration. A rich material was available to investigate the difference between film and other methods for evaluation. The evaluations carried out were: Tuning at place with the aesthetic design program, Evaluation at place with criteria and Qualitative evaluation. The issue investigated was: Which one of the methods of evaluation gave the best basis for assessment of the aesthetic design program and the result of the completed design measures. The study showed that used methods were suited in different situations. Tuning at place with the aesthetic design program was the fastest and cheapest method, it was only a local evaluation. With Evaluation at place with criteria more resources were needed, a discussion with informants was added. The method Qualitative evaluation was the only one of the methods that had users in the role as informants. The users provided new information through local knowledge. Film and questionnaire was the only one of the methods that gave critical comments to the aesthetic design program. The method put together program, measures and result. The method Film and questionnaire is based on criteria of research. Method and result become comparable with other evaluations that are built on theory.


In recent years, skin grafting has evolved from the initial autograft and allograft preparations to biosynthetic and tissue-engineered living skin replacements. This review details the pioneering work of numerous investigators that led to the following precursors of tissue-engineered skin replacement: cultured autologous keratinocyte grafts, cultured allogeneic keratinocyte grafts, autologous/allogeneic composites, acellular collagen matrices, and cellular matrices. It also discusses the rationale for the development of the newer products and describes the technical advances leading to the development of Apligraf, a tissue-engineered human skin product.


Organizational socialization is the process by which people learn about, adjust to, and change the knowledge, skills, attitudes, expectations, and behaviors needed for a new or changing organizational role. Thus, organizational socialization focuses on organizational membership, which includes how people move from being outsiders to being insiders and how people move between organizational roles within and across organizations over time. To date, research has focused on how employment organizations encourage newcomers to align with existing role expectations via tactics that encourage assimilation. However, organizational socialization is a dynamic process of mutual influence. Individuals can also influence and shape the organization to align with their desires, via personalization tactics. Thus, organizational socialization describes the process by which an individual assumes a new or changing role in ways that meet organizational and individual needs.
 Most research on organizational socialization focuses on how newcomers enter paid work environments. Researchers often focus on the tactics organizations use to encourage people to assimilate into the organization during the early or entry stage. Less attention has been given to the later stages of organizational socialization (active participation, maintenance, exit, and disengagement), non-work organizations, and transitions between roles within an organization. However, a growing body of research is considering organizational socialization into volunteer roles, new or changing roles, and later stages of socialization such as exit and disengagement. Scholars and practitioners also increasingly recognize how individual, organizational, contextual, and technological factors (e.g., socioeconomic status, race, gender, new information and communication technologies, time, and boundaries) may alter how organizational socialization works and with what effects—thereby offering insight into the underlying processes implicated in organizational socialization. Future areas of research related to context, time, boundaries, communication, and the ethics of organizational socialization are highlighted.


This paper takes a new approach to examine the economic consequences of tax sheltering. Specifically, it investigates whether and how the target's non-sheltering status affects acquisition price and shareholders' wealth in the context of mergers and acquisitions. Using a novel dataset which identifies targets' non-participation in tax shelters, I find that the target's non-sheltering status is associated with a higher takeover premium, indicating that acquirers reward targets for not engaging in tax sheltering. Cross-sectional analysis further reveals that this positive association is stronger for acquirers that are less tax aggressive. Moreover, I find no significant association between the target's non-sheltering status and the acquirer's abnormal return, suggesting that the valuation effect of the target's non-participation in tax shelters is accrued to the target's own shareholders but not to those of the acquirer. These results are robust to alternative specifications that control for the potential endogeneity of the disclosure decision. This paper answers the call for research on the effects of tax avoidance on mergers and acquisitions (Hanlon and Heitzman 2010) and contributes to the literature by developing a more comprehensive understanding of the consequences of tax sheltering.


Novel Coronavirus (nCoV-2019) is a highly infectious viral outbreak that has so far infected more than 110 million people worldwide. Fast viral transmission and high infection rates have severely affected the entire population, especially the old aged and comorbid individuals leaving significantly less time to find some effective treatment strategy. In these challenging times, convalescent plasma (CP) therapy came as a ray of hope to save humankind. It is a form of passive immunization that has been used to treat various infectious diseases since 1890, including the 1918 Spanish flu, 2002/03 SARS-CoV, 2009 H1N1, 2012 MERS-CoV, and 2014 Ebola outbreak. The transfusion includes administration of CP containing a high value of neutralizing antibodies against the virus in hospitalized patients. This chapter summarizes the potential outcome of CP therapy in the treatment of nCoV-2019 patients.


Although the offset-time-based scheme can differentiate loss rates of packets according to their QoS levels in optical burst switching networks, it also increases end-to-end delay of packets with higher QoS level. This is because it increases offset time of bursts in proportional to QoS levels of packets which are included in the bursts. In this paper, we propose a burst assembly method that reduces end-to-end delay. Our proposed method includes packets that arrive during the offset time into the currently assembled bursts while the conventional method includes them into the burst assembled next time. Simulation results show that our method offers 12-23% delay reduction for packets with the highest QoS level.


A method and apparatus are disclosed for the mechanical sorting of mammalian spermatozoa by sex-type, into a fraction enriched in X-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa, and a fraction enriched in Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa. Because of their different DNA content, Y-chromosome spermatozoa are slightly smaller than X-chromosome spermatozoa. A column is packed with two sizes of beads. The size of the smaller beads is chosen such that, on average, Y-chromosome spermatozoa will readily fit into the interstices between the smaller beads, while X-chromosome spermatozoa, on average, will not readily fit into those interstices. The size of the larger beads is chosen such that the smaller beads will not readily fit into the interstices between the larger beads. A liquid sample containing the sperm is run through a column so that the liquid first encounters the larger beads, and then encounters the smaller beads. The beads act as a sieve, creating a fraction in the larger beads enriched in X-chromosome spermatozoa, and a fraction in the smaller beads enriched in Y-chromosome spermatozoa.


This article reports a latent variable study exploring the specific links among executive processes of working memory, phonological short-term memory, phonological awareness, and proficiency in first (L1), second (L2), and third (L3) languages in 8- to 9-year-olds experiencing multilingual education. Children completed multiple L1-measures of complex span, verbal short-term storage, and phonological awareness, and tests of proficiency in a range of linguistic domains (vocabulary, grammar, and literacy) in Luxembourgish (L1), German (familiar L2), and French (unfamiliar L3). Results indicate that executive processing abilities, phonological short-term memory, and phonological awareness operate as distinct but related constructs that manifest differential associations with native and second language proficiency in multilingual children: Phonological short-term memory was uniquely linked to vocabulary in L1 and the structurally similar L2; executive processes were related to grammar across languages, reading comprehension, and spelling; and phonological awareness made specific contributions to word decoding, spelling, and language proficiency in the structurally dissimilar L3. Phonological processing abilities appear to be critical for acquiring the sound structure of a new language, whereas executive processes share more general links with higher order linguistic abilities in second language learners.


DOI: 10.7508/rmm.2015.03.001 Abstract Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system that inflammation, demyelination, oligodendrocyte loss, gliosis, axonal injury and neurodegeneration are the main histopathological hallmarks of the disease. Although MS was classically thought as a demyelinating disease, but axonal injury occurs commonly in acute inflammatory lesions. In MS microglial activation is not only responsible for inflammatory cascade but also creates degenerative cascade. The evidence has shown mitochondrial dysfunction plays an important role in axonal degeneration in all stages of MS due to neuronal cell loss and activation pro-inflammatory cytokines. Neuronal loss occurs as a result of apoptosis and necrosis and mitochondrial pathway is the main important system for apoptosis and this way was involved in neurodegenerative disorders such as MS. Hence in multiple sclerosis, mitochondrial dysfunction causes energy failure and then increases inflammation and demyelination in neurons.


Objective: To examine if the compensation of local public health directors responds to organizational size in the same manner found for other types of for-profit, not-for-profit, and public managers. Design: Panel data ordinary least squares with fixed effects for the local health department and time period. Control variables include median household income, the unemployment rate, and the part-time versus fulltime and independent versus district status of the local public health department. Setting: Sample of Connecticut local health departments over the period from 2001 to 2011. Main Outcome Measures: Annual wage of the local public health director and population in the jurisdiction of the local public health department. Results: The size elasticity of local public health director equals 0.2. Full-time directors are paid more than part-time directors and directors managing district health departments are compensated more than those directing independent health departments. Directors are paid more if they manage health departments in jurisdictions with higher levels of income. Conclusions: The findings for the size elasticity of compensation for local public health directors compares very closely to the size elasticity estimates found for other types of for-profit, not-for-profit, and public managers, perhaps suggesting that local public health directors are similarly motivated.


OBJECTIVE
The single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs11761231 on chromosome 7q has been reported to be sexually dimorphic marker for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) susceptibility in a British population. We sought to replicate this finding and to better characterize susceptibility alleles in the region in a North American population.

METHODS
DNA from 2 North American collections of RA patients and controls (1,605 cases and 2,640 controls) was genotyped for rs11761231 and 16 additional chromosome 7q tag SNPs using Sequenom iPlex assays. Association tests were performed for each collection and also separately, contrasting male cases with male controls and female cases with female controls. Principal components analysis (EigenStrat) was used to determine association with RA before and after adjusting for population stratification in the subset of the samples for which there were whole-genome SNP data (772 cases and 1,213 controls).

RESULTS
We failed to replicate an association of the 7q region with RA. Initially, rs11761231 showed evidence for association with RA in the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium (NARAC) collection (P=0.0073), and rs11765576 showed association with RA in both the NARAC (P=0.038) and RA replication (P = 0.0013) collections. These markers also exhibited sex differentiation. However, in the whole-genome subset, neither SNP showed significant association with RA after correction for population stratification.

CONCLUSION
While 2 SNPs on chromosome 7q appeared to be associated with RA in a North American cohort, the significance of this finding did not withstand correction for population substructure. Our results emphasize the need to carefully account for population structure to avoid false-positive disease associations.


ABSTRACT First in Family (FiF) is an under-recognised equity grouping which may encompass low-SES, mature-aged, regional and remote, and Indigenous students. FiF tertiary students are more likely to be in a position of educational disadvantage over students who have other family members available to share the experience of university life and discuss aspirations. Building on previous research, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 FiF university students from a range of disciplines across three South Australian institutions. We analysed the interview data based on themes derived through readings of FiF literature, adding new ones as they emerged as part of the process of analysis. In this paper, we specifically focus on the interview responses which included metaphors or analogies. Metaphors provide a conceptual framework for thinking about a particular problem and drawing comparisons between unlike situations. Our experience as educators told us that students often subtly and unintentionally utilise metaphors when articulating lived experiences. We both specifically asked the FiF students to identify a metaphor that reflected their experience of being at university and also considered their use of metaphors in response to other questions. In exploring these metaphors, we have gained insight into students' day-to-day experience of attending university and have gained information about their motivations and their struggles. When considered by university staff and policy-makers, this information could be used to guide the development of strategies that may help future FiF students.


The unusual case of Hebrew illustrates the itinerary of the adoption of a language that is both old and new in the 19th century. What psychical processes underlie the adoption of this new language that will become of mother tongue? Between the desire to forget and the desire to reconstruct, with impromptu reminiscences of the past, this process of adoption and subjectivation attests to a new psychical filiation as recounted by the Israeli writer Aharon Appelfeld.


Preface. 1 Characteristic Features of Surfactants. A Conditions Under Which Interfacial Phenomena and Surfactants Become Significant. B General Structural Features and Behavior of Surfactants. 1 General Use of Charge Types. 2 General Effects of the Nature of the Hydrophobic Group. I Characteristic Features and Uses of Commercially Available Surfactants. I.A Anionics. 1 Carboxylic Acid Salts. 2 Sulfonic Acid Salts. 3 Sulfuric Acid Ester Salts. 4 Phosphoric and Polyphosphoric Acid Esters. 5 Fluorinated Anionics. I.B Cationics. 1 Long-Chain Amines and Their Salts. 2 Acylated Diamines and Polyamines and Their Salts. 3 Quaternary Ammonium Salts. 4 Polyoxyethylenated (POE) Long-Chain Amines. 5 Quaternized POE Long-Chain Amines. 6 Amine Oxides. I.C Nonionics. 1 POE Alkylphenols, Alkylphenol "Ethoxylates". 2 POE Straight-Chain Alcohols, Alcohol "Ethoxylates". 3 POE Polyoxypropylene glycols. 4 POE Mercaptans. 5 Long-Chain Carboxylic Acid Esters. 6 Alkanolamine "Condensates," Alkanolamides. 7 Tertiary Acetylenic Glycols and Their "Ethoxylates". 8 POE Silicones. 9 N-Alkylpyrrolidones. 10 Alkylpolyglycosides. I.D Zwitterionics. 1 pH-Sensitive Zwitterionics. 2 pH-Insensitive Zwitterionics. I.E Newer Surfactants Based Upon Renewable Raw Materials. 1 a-Sulfofatty Acid Methyl Esters (SME). 2 Acylated Aminoacids. 3 N-Acyl L-Glutamates (AG). 4 N-Acyl Glycinates. 5 N-Acyl DL-Alaninates. 6 Other Acylated Aminoacids. 7 Nopol Alkoxylates. II Environmental Effects of Surfactants. II.A Surfactant Biodegradability. II.B Surfactant Toxicity To and Bioconcentration in Marine Organisms. III Some Useful Generalizations. References. Problems. 2 Adsorption of Surface-Active Agents at Interfaces: The Electrical Double Layer. I The Electrical Double Layer. II Adsorption at the Solid-Liquid Interface. II.A Mechanisms of Adsorption and Aggregation. II.B Adsorption Isotherms. 1 The Langmuir Adsorption Isotherm. II.C Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Onto Adsorbents with Strongly Charged Sites. 1 Ionic Surfactants. 2 Nonionic Surfactants. 3 pH Change. 4 Ionic Strength. 5 Temperature. II.D Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Onto Nonpolar, Hydrophobic Adsorbents. II.E Adsorption from Aqueous Solution Onto Polar Adsorbents without Strongly Charged Sites. II.F Effects of Adsorption from Aqueous Solution on the Surface Properties of the Solid Adsorbent. 1 Substrates with Strongly Charged Sites. 2 Nonpolar Adsorbents. II.G Adsorption from Nonaqueous Solution. II.H Determination of the Specific Surface Areas of Solids. III Adsorption at the Liquid-Gas (L/G) and Liquid-Liquid (L/L) Interfaces. III.A The Gibbs Adsorption Equation 60 III.B Calculation of Surface Concentrations and Area per Molecule at the Interface By Use of the Gibbs Equation. III.C Effectiveness of Adsorption at the L/G and L/L Interfaces. III.D The Szyszkowski, Langmuir, and Frumkin Equations. III.E Efficiency of Adsorption at the L/G and L/L Interfaces. III.F Calculation of Thermodynamic Parameters of Adsorption at the L/G and L/L Interfaces. III.G Adsorption from Mixtures of Two Surfactants. References. Problems. 3 Micelle Formation by Surfactants. I The Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC). II Micellar Structure and Shape. II.A The Packing Parameter. II.B Surfactant Structure and Micellar Shape. II.C Liquid Crystals. III Micellar Aggregation Numbers. IV Factors Affecting the Value of the CMC in Aqueous Media. IV.A Structure of the Surfactant. 1 The Hydrophobic Group. 2 The Hydrophobic Group. 3 The Counterion in Ionic Surfactants: Degree of Binding to the Micelle 139 4 Empirical Equations. IV.B Electrolyte. IV.C Organic Additives. 1 Class I Materials. 2 Class II Materials. IV.D The Presence of a Second Liquid Phase. IV.E Temperature. V Micellization in Aqueous Solution and Adsorption at the Aqueous Solution-Air or Aqueous Solution-Hydrocarbon Interface. V.A. The CMC/C20 ratio. VI CMCs in Nonaqueous Media. VII Equations for the CMC Based on Theoretical Considerations. VIII Thermodynamic Parameters of Micellization. IX Mixed Micelle Formation in Mixtures of Two Surfactants. References. Problems. 4 Solubilization by Solutions of Surfactants: Micellar Catalysis. I Solubilization in Aqueous Media. I.A Locus of Solubilization. I.B Factors Determining the Extent of Solubilization. 1 Structure of the Surfactant. 2 Structure of the Solubilizate. 3 Effect of Electrolyte. 4 Effect of Monomeric Organic Additives. 5 Effect of Polymeric Organic Additives. 6 Mixed Anionic-Nonionic Micelles. 7 Effect of Temperature. 8 Hydrotropy. I.C Rate of Solubilization. II Solubilization in Nonaqueous Solvents. II.A Secondary Solubilization. III Some Effects of Solubilization. III.A Effect of Solubilization on Micellar Structure. III.B Change in the Cloud Points of Aqueous Solutions of Nonionic Surfactants. III.C Reduction of the CMC. III.D Miscellaneous Effects of Solubilization. IV Micellar Catalysis. References. Problems. 5 Reduction of Surface and Interfacial Tension by Surfactants. I Efficiency in Surface Tension Reduction. II Effectiveness in Surface Tension Reduction. II.A The Krafft Point. II.B Interfacial Parameter and Chemical Structural Effects. III Liquid-Liquid Interfacial Tension Reduction. III.A Ultralow Interfacial Tension. IV Dynamic Surface Tension Reduction. IV.A Dynamic Regions. IV.B Apparent Diffusion Coefficients of Surfactants. References. Problems. 6 Wetting and Its Modification by Surfactants. I Wetting Equilibria. I.A Spreading Wetting. 1 The Contact Angle. 2 Measurement of the Contact Angle. I.B Adhesional Wetting. I.C Immersional Wetting. I.D Adsorption and Wetting. II Modification of Wetting by Surfactants. II.A General Considerations. II.B Hard Surface (Equilibrium) Wetting. II.C Textile (Nonequilibrium) Wetting. II.D Effect of Additives. III Synergy in Wetting by Mixtures of Surfactants. IV Superspreading (Superwetting). References. Problems. 7 Foaming and Antifoaming by Aqueous Solutions of Surfactants. I Theories of Film Elasticity. II Factors Determining Foam Persistence. II.A Drainage of Liquid in the Lamellae. II.B Diffusion of Gas Through the Lamellae. II.C Surface Viscosity. II.D The Existence and Thickness of the Electrical Double Layer. III The Relation of Surfactant Chemical Structure to Foaming in Aqueous Solution. III.A Efficiency as a Foaming Agent. III.B Effectiveness as a Foaming Agent. III.C Low-Foaming Surfactants. IV Foam-Stabilizing Organic Additives. V Antifoaming. VI Foaming of Aqueous Dispersions of Finely Divided Solids. References. Problems. 8 Emulsification by Surfactants. I Macroemulsions. I.A Formation. I.B Factors Determining Stability. 1 Physical Nature of the Interfacial Film. 2 Existence of an Electrical or Steric Barrier to Coalescence on the Dispersed Droplets. 3 Viscosity of the Continuous Phase. 4 Size Distribution of Droplets. 5 Phase Volume Ratio. 6 Temperature. I.C Inversion. I.D Multiple Emulsions. I.E Theories of Emulsion Type. 1 Qualitative Theories. 2 Kinetic Theory of Macroemulsion Type. II Microemulsions. III Nanoemulsions. IV Selection of Surfactants as Emulsifying Agents. IV.A The HLB Method. IV.B The PIT Method. IV.C The HLD Method. V Demulsification. References. Problems. 9 Dispersion and Aggregation of Solids in Liquid Media by Surfactants. I Interparticle Forces. I.A Soft (electrostatic) and van der Waals Forces: DLVO Theory. 1 Limitations of the DLVO Theory. I.B Steric Forces. II Role of the Surfactant in the Dispersion Process. II.A Wetting of the Powder. II.B Deaggregation or Fragmentation of Particle Clusters. II.C Prevention of Reaggregation. III Coagulation or Flocculation of Dispersed Solids by Surfactants. III.A Neutralization or Reduction of the Potential at the Stern Layer of the Dispersed Particles. III.B Bridging. III.C Reversible Flocculation. IV The Relation of Surfactant Chemical Structure to Dispersing Properties. IV.A Aqueous Dispersions. IV.B Nonaqueous Dispersions. References. Problems. 10 Detergency and Its Modification by Surfactants. I Mechanisms of the Cleaning Process. I.A Removal of Soil from Substrate. 1 Removal of Liquid Soil. 2 Removal of Solid Soil. I.B Suspension of the Soil in the Bath and Prevention of Redeposition. 1 Solid Particulate Soils: Formation of Electrical and Steric Barriers Soil Release Agents. 2 Liquid Oily Soil. I.C Skin Irritation. I.D Dry Cleaning. II Effect of Water Hardness. II.A Builders. II.B Lime Soap Dispersing Agents. III Fabric Softeners. IV The Relation of the Chemical Structure of the Surfactant to Its Detergency. IV.A Effect of Soil and Substrate. 1 Oily Soil. 2 Particulate Soil. 3 Mixed Soil. IV.B Effect of the Hydrophobic Group of the Surfactant. IV.C Effect of the Hydrophilic Group of the Surfactant. IV.D Dry Cleaning. References. Problems. 11 Molecular Interactions and Synergism in Mixtures of Two Surfactants. I Evaluation of Molecular Interaction Parameters. I.A Notes on the Use of Equations 11.1-11.4. II Effect of Chemical Structure and Molecular Environment on Molecular Interaction Parameters. III Conditions for the Existence of Synergism. III.A Synergism or Antagonism (Negative Synergism) in Surface or Interfacial Tension Reduction Efficiency. III.B Synergism or Antagonism (Negative Synergism) in Mixed Micelle Formation in Aqueous Medium. III.C Synergism or Antagonism (Negative Synergism) in Surface or Interfacial Tension Reduction Effectiveness. III.D Selection of Surfactants Pairs for Optimal Interfacial Properties. IV The Relation between Synergism in Fundamental Surface Properties and Synergism in Surfactant Applications. References. Problems. 12 Gemini Surfactants. I Fundamental Properties. II Interaction with Other Surfactant. III Performance Properties. References. Problems. Answers to Problems. Index.


Sex work is a subject of significant contestation across academic disciplines, as well as within legal, medical, moral, feminist, political and socio-cultural discourses. A large body of research exists, but much of this focuses on the sale of sex by women to men and ignores other performances, practices, meanings and embodiments in the contemporary sex industry. A queer agenda is important in order to challenge hetero-centric gender norms and to develop new insights into how gender, sex, power, crime, work, migration, space/place, health and intimacy are understood in the context of commercial sexual encounters. Queer Sex Work explores what it might mean to 'be', 'do' and 'think' queer(ly) in the study and practice of commercial sex. It brings together a multiplicity of empirical case studies - including erotic dance venues, online sex working, pornography, grey sexual economies, and BSDM - and offers a variety of perspectives from academic scholars, policy practitioners, activists and sex workers themselves. In so doing, the book advances a queer politics of sex work that aims to disrupt heteronormative logics whilst also making space for different voices in academic and political debates about commercial sex. This unique and multidisciplinary volume will be indispensable for scholars and students of the global sex trade and of gender, sexuality, feminism and queer theory more broadly, as well as policymakers, activists and practitioners interested in the politics and practice of sex work in local, national and international contexts.


We first consider a steady laminar model of salt fingers and show that the latter become unstable with respect to internal gravity waves when the finger Reynolds number exceeds a critical value. The criterion is then used in speculations about the statistically steady state in a fully developed similarity model where horizontally averaged temperature and salinity gradients are constant at all depths. Dimensional reasoning is used to obtain the asymptotic dependence of the turbulent flux on the molecular salt diffusivity. From this and other relationships order-of-magnitude estimates are obtained and compared with laboratory experiments and ocean observations.


The main goal in this thesis was to make people want to rent products instead of buying them, and this meant that I needed to find attractive benefits and gains living up to the losses when choosing to rent instead of buying the products. The biggest findings here were mainly the solutions of home delivery of the products and the package categorization of age. Offering the customers other services in form of expert advises, serving them information about the new life tocome, and developing an app, to followthe trends in society were some ways of making the service more attractive and invite more customers to use it in the future.


Forty-five years since the U.S. Supreme Court first recognized the right to a criminal jury trial as "fundamental to the American scheme of justice," jury trial rates (the prevalence of jury trials relative to bench trials) in American criminal adjudication actually vary dramatically by state. A sizable body of scholarship has generally explored the decrease in criminal trials, but this "Vanishing Trial" literature has largely ignored the notable state-by-state disparities in jury trial rates. After reviewing the historic role the Framers expected the jury trial to play in criminal adjudication, this Comment analyzes the existing data on jury trial rates and identifies surprising disparities from one jurisdiction to the next. The Comment then explores various state practices that may be sources of these variations, often pushing the jury trial to the margins of criminal adjudication and disadvantaging those accused of wrongdoing. The Comment concludes by contrasting the Supreme Court's recent jurisprudence celebrating the centrality of the jury trial with the lived experiences of criminal defendants, and argues for a more substantive understanding of the Sixth Amendment's trial by jury guarantee.


In a careful and well-written analysis, Vogele focuses attention on the question of when towns ceased to be relatively unhealthy compared with rural areas, with useful discussions of disease categories and issues concerning the different structuring of data in the British and German national contexts. Although the focus is on urban health conditions and epidemic control, these are related to a wide range of social factors. The text has valuable comparable insights, for example on urbanisation and professionalisation, and provides a lucid exposition of some major theories concerning the social determinants of diseases. With a sure grasp of mortality trends and associated socio-economic processes, Vogele presents a convincing picture from the early modern period of age-specific mortality trends. This is an important comparative historical study of mortality, in which the author offers an impressive synthesis of complex data and issues concerning rapid urbanisation and social conditions. It will be of great interest to British and German historians as well as to those concerned with economic history, demographic history and the history of medicine and it will be a pivotal reference work for those seeking to apply demographic expertise to the understanding of changing disease patterns.


The current deliverable presents a set of initial specifications of the Go-Lab learning spaces, which is the interface that students see and use when learning with a Go-Lab online lab. These specifications are based on an overview of the literature on the use of cycles in inquiry learning and of the guidance that can be given to students involved in an inquiry process with online labs. The current deliverable is organized as follows: We start with summarizing the main learning goals for learning with laboratories. Then we summarize different inquiry cycles and synthesize a cycle that best fits the Go-Lab project. Next, a literature review of guidance for inquiry learning with online labs is given. We organize this guidance according to the types of support given and the different phases of the selected inquiry cycle. These inventories and choices then result in a set of specifications for the Go-Lab learning spaces and are illustrated with the three anchor labs we chose for the current phase of the project: Aquarium, Faulkes Telescopes, and HYPATIA. These specifications should be read in relation to the full versions of the mock-ups of the Go-Lab learning environments.


NGF, a trophic polypeptide, is necessary for the normal development and survival of certain populations of neurons in the CNS and PNS. In the CNS, cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain magnocellular complex (BFMC) are prominent targets of NGF. During rat development, NGF increases the activity of ChAT in these neurons. In adult rats with experimental injury of axons in the fimbria-fornix, NGF prevents degenerative changes in axotomized cholinergic BFMC neurons in the medial septal nucleus (MSN). Because the amino acid sequences of NGF and its receptor (NGF-R) are highly conserved across species, we hypothesized that mouse NGF would also prevent degeneration of cholinergic BFMC neurons in nonhuman primates. Therefore, the present study was designed to test whether fimbria-fornix lesions result in retrograde degenerative changes in basal forebrain cholinergic neurons in macaques, whether these changes are prevented by mouse NGF, and whether the protective effect of NGF is selective for cholinergic neurons of the basal forebrain. Following unilateral complete transection of the fornix, animals were allowed to survive for 2 weeks, during which time half of the subjects received intraventricular NGF in vehicle and the other half received vehicle alone. In animals receiving vehicle alone, there was a 55% reduction in the number of ChAT- immunoreactive cell bodies within the MSN ipsilateral to the lesion; loss of immunoreactive somata was more severe in caudal planes of the MSN. Remaining immunoreactive neurons appeared smaller than those in control, unoperated animals. In Nissl stains, there was no apparent loss of basophilic profiles in the MSN, but cells showed reduced size and intensity of basophilia. Treatment with NGF almost completely prevented reductions in the number and size of cholinergic neurons and had a significant general effect in preventing atrophy in basophilic magnocellular neurons of the MSN, though some basophilic neurons in the MSN did not appear to respond to NGF. Adjacent 7-microns-thick sections stained with ChAT and NGF-R immunocytochemistry revealed that these markers are strictly colocalized in individual neurons in the MSN in controls and in both groups of experimental animals. Thus, mouse NGF profoundly influences the process of axotomy-induced retrograde degeneration in cholinergic BFMC neurons in primates. The in vivo effectiveness of mouse NGF on primate BFMC neurons suggests that mouse or human recombinant NGF may be useful in ameliorating the ACh- dependent, age-associated memory impairments that occur in nonhuman primates.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


In order to facilitate adaptability of hypermedia documents a distinction is often made between the underlying conceptual structure of a document and the structure of its presentation. This distinction enables greater variety in how a presentation can be adapted to best convey these underlying concepts in a given situation. What is often confusing for those applying this distinction is that although both levels of structure often share similar components: transformation form the storage of a document to its presentation sometimes occurs directly between these similar components and sometimes does not. These similarities typically fall in the categories of space, time and relationships between document portions. This paper identifies some primary similarities between the structure of hypermedia storage and presentation. It also explores how the transformation from storage to presentation often does not follow these similarities. This discussion is illustrated with the Fiets hypermedia application, which addresses the issues of storage, presentation and transformation using public domain formats and tools. The intention is to help authors who separate storage from presentation to better understand this distinction.


The adoption of good practices for the economic valuation of environmental services (ES) has strong implications in the evaluation and design of a Payment for Environmental Services program. People's willingness to pay for an ES is useful to evaluate whether money collected from users will be enough to cover both the providers' opportunity costs and other costs generated by the institutional arrangements required for implementation. In this article, we use a numerical certainty scale to adjust answers to a valuation question aiming to correct for hypothetical bias associated with stated preference methods. Following this approach, the mean willingness to pay decreases by approximately 70%. Values that are more conservative could assure greater political and social support for the program because more ES users would want to participate in the program; simultaneously, however, it might suggest that the project is not completely funded.


Over the past twenty years, a growing number of empirical studies have provided evidence that governance arrangements protecting incumbents from removal promote managerial entrenchment, reducing firm value. As a result of these studies, "good" corporate governance is widely understood today as being about stronger shareholder rights. This Article rebuts this view, presenting new empirical evidence that challenges the results of prior studies and developing a novel theoretical account of what really matters in corporate governance. Employing a unique dataset that spans from 1978 to 2008, we document that protective arrangements that require shareholder approval — such as staggered boards and supermajority requirements to modify the charter — are associated with increased firm value. Conversely, protective arrangements that do not require shareholder approval — such as poison pills and golden parachutes — are associated with decreased firm value. This evidence suggests that limiting shareholder rights serves a constructive governance function as long as the limits are the result of mutual agreement between the board and shareholders. We argue that this function commits shareholders to preserve a board's authority to exploit competitive private information and pursue long-term wealth maximization strategies. By documenting that committing shareholders to the longer-term matters as much as, if not more than, reducing entrenchment for good corporate governance, our analysis sheds much needed light on issues such as the optimal allocation of power between boards and shareholders, managerial accountability, and stakeholder interests. We conclude by outlining the implications of our analysis concerning the direction corporate governance policies ought to take.


Aim The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of aquatic exercise on pain, gait, and balance among elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis. Methods We performed a randomized controlled trial at a university hospital. Overall, 32 men with knee osteoarthritis, aged ≥ 60 years, were included. Pain, balance, and gait were evaluated before and 2 months after interventions. The group control used acetaminophen and followed lifestyle recommendations. The intervention group performed the aquatic exercise three sessions per week for 8 weeks. Results At the end of the study, mean pain scores were significantly different between the groups (p = 0.010). Within-group analyses showed that group intervention experienced significant pain relief (p = 0.019), whereas group control did not show the significant change (p = 0.493). There was significant improvement in favor of aquatic exercise with regard to static (p = 0.001) and dynamic (p = 0.001) balance, step length (p = 0.038), stride length (p < 0.001), and cadence (p < 0.001). However, we did not find a significant difference in step time and width between the two groups. Conclusions Aquatic exercise would be beneficial in decreasing subjective pain of osteoarthritis. There are some recognizable improvements in patients' gait and balance as well.


Background: Detection of alcohol consumption after a longer period can be useful in certain patient groups. To monitor chronic alcohol consumption, a novel analytical method for the quantification of phosphatidylethanols (PEths) was developed and validated using ultra performance convergence chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Methods: The main phosphatidylethanols like palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanol (POPEth), 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanol, and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanol were analyzed using a simple and fast sample preparation protocol followed by chromatographic separation using ultra performance convergence chromatography, a novel kind of supercritical fluid chromatography. Mass spectrometric detection was conducted by applying negative electrospray ionization and multiple reaction monitoring mode. Only 50 &mgr;L of whole blood is needed for the simultaneous quantification of all 3 compounds within 5-minute run-to-run analysis time. POPEth-d5 was applied as internal standard. Results: The method was validated according to the Food and Drug Administration guidelines. Correlation coefficients were higher than 0.995 for all 3 compounds. Intraday and interday inaccuracies were <15% for all analytes in the established linear range. Intraday and interday imprecision were <15% for all analytes. Lower limit of quantification for 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanol, palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanol, and POPEth are, respectively, 3, 6, and 6 mcg/L. Sample stability at −80°C was 1 year. Extracts were stable for 1 day in the autosampler and 2 days at 2–8°C in a closed Eppendorf tube. Samples were tested after 3 freeze–thaw cycles and considered stable. Patient samples have been analyzed with this new method. In a cohort of 248 pregnant women, 17 patients (6.9%) scored positive for PEth. Conclusions: The described method is suitable for the simultaneous quantitative analysis of the most abundant PEth homologues. Major advantages are low LLOQs, minimal sample volume and clean-up, and a short run time. The method is now available to monitor alcohol consumption in patients and has been incorporated in clinical practice and research.


Animals have evolved different defensive strategies to survive predation, among which chemical defences are particularly widespread and diverse. Here we investigate the function of chemical defence diversity, hypothesizing that such diversity has evolved as a response to multiple enemies. The aposematic wood tiger moth (Arctia plantaginis) displays conspicuous hindwing coloration and secretes distinct defensive fluids from its thoracic glands and abdomen. We presented the two defensive fluids from laboratory-reared moths to two biologically relevant predators, birds and ants, and measured their reaction in controlled bioassays (no information on colour was provided). We found that defensive fluids are target-specific: thoracic fluids, and particularly 2-sec-butyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which they contain, deterred birds, but caused no aversive response in ants. By contrast, abdominal fluids were particularly deterrent to ants, while birds did not find them repellent. Our study, to our knowledge, is the first to show evidence of a single species producing separate chemical defences targeted to different predator types, highlighting the importance of taking into account complex predator communities in studies on the evolution of prey defence diversity.


The category of devices of interest in the paper is that of high power semiconductor lasers that also have high brightness. However, to achieve simultaneously high output optical power and a 'good' quality (narrow single-lobed) output beam from semiconductor lasers that can be fabricated relatively simply and cheaply, it is necessary to carefully design the cavity to control the output beam characteristics. The authors present the outcome of a systematic study on compact, index-guided semiconductor lasers of different geometry to show that with suitable design of the laser cavity it is possible to achieve the desired operational characteristics. In particular, the parabolic taper geometry has been found to be well-suited to achieve high brightness. Details of the specially designed high power semiconductor material used to fabricate the devices are also presented. The main advantage of the proposed compact devices is that the narrow output beam is achieved without the use of external lenses, thereby reducing the device cost for applications involving free-space propagation. Output powers in excess of 600 mW per facet have been measured from parabolic lasers (45% wall-plug efficiency) without catastrophic optical damage, at I = 1 A = 20I/sub th/, with a full width at half maximum far field intensity profile of /spl sim/2.5/spl deg/.


The creation of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), seemed to place climate norm front and center in terms of global governance. Yet it was not until Paris in 2015 that 195 countries finally reached an agreement on further cooperation. The Paris Agreement opened a new phase in global climate governance by replacing the top-down manner of centrally imposed targets and timetables of the Kyoto Protocol, with the institutionalization of a voluntary, decentralized bottom-up "Pledge and Review" system. Thus, understanding how each Party state responds to climate norms and why it responds such ways is essential to further facilitate global collective efforts to curb global warming. Furthermore, as states are composed of many different actors with possibly conflicting interests, this requires the investigation of their domestic decision-making processes and the influences of domestic constituencies and politics. In order for the processes initiated by the Paris Agreement to make a further significant difference to global climate change, this paper advocates the application of "socialization processes." It argues that the international community has been socialized into accepting global climate norms, and that facilitating further socialization can help the operation of the pledge and review system by encouraging each Party to comply. It then turns to domestic factors and their impact on the implementation of global norms, further arguing that the socialization of elite bureaucrats is insufficient to deter deviation from the norm; rather, socialization of empowered domestic constituencies is required.


Surfactant administration via thin endotracheal catheter (Tec) seems to be less invasive than InSurE method .We analyzed data obtained from multicenter hospitals. This multi center randomized clinical trial study was conducted concomitant within NICU of three university hospitals of Tabriz, Isfahan and Mashhad for a period of 20 months on neonates with gestational age of 27-32 weeks. All infants received nCPAP before administration of surfactant. If we required fio2>30%to maintain spo2 >85% then surfactant was administered. A 5f vascular catheter was placed through 1 to 2 cm below the vocal cords and surfactant was administrated slowly. Mean gestational age in TEC was 29.6 weeks and in InSurE was the same. Mean weight in TEC was 1339 grams and in InSurE was 1304 gram. Surfactant was administered to 66 preterm via TEC method and to 70 infant via InSurE. Mortality in TEC group was significantly lower than InSurE. P<0.01RR=0.56, CI, 95(0.420.76). NEC reduced in TEC. CPAP duration decreased in two centers, p<.05 but increased in another center. Fio2 decreased rapidly and HCO3 increased 2 hours after surfactant P<0.03 in TEC. The average mean of Oxygen supplementation, BPD, Mechanical ventilation between two groups was not statistically significant. TEC method was effective in treating RDS. Mortality was significantly decreased in TEC group. As TEC procedure is a new method of surfactant administration and there are few studies about it, so it is too early to be certain about all aspects of this procedure.


ST8Sia II (STX) and ST8Sia IV (PST) represent the two human polysialyltransferases (polySTs) that synthesize polysialic acid (polySia) on a limited number of glycoproteins. Substrate polysialylation has been shown to be both beneficial and detrimental, as this process is necessary for proper development of the mammalian nervous system, has roles in memory formation, olfaction, and neuron repair, but also aberrantly occurs in several human tumors where polySia is believed to promote their metastatic potential. Despite this knowledge, the precise mechanism by which the polySTs recognize and polysialylate their substrates remains poorly understood. The aim of this work is to identify sequences within the polySTs that are responsible for effective substrate recognition and subsequent polysialylation, thus contributing to our knowledge of the mechanism of polysialylation. Initially focusing on the polysialylation of neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), the major polysialylated substrate, we determine, through competition and binding analyses utilizing a catalytically inactive full-length PST (PST H331K) and a series of truncated PST mutants, that residues 71-127 of PST contain sequences critical for NCAM recognition. To identify residues necessary for substrate recognition in PST and STX, as well as compare criteria across polysialylated substrates, we examined the role of a polybasic region (PBR, PST residues 71-105 and STX residues 86-120) in the recognition of NCAM, synaptic cell adhesion molecule 1, and neuropilin-2. Focusing specifically on the PBR basic residues, each was mutated individually to alanine in the wild-type PST/STX or catalytically inactive PST H331K/STX H346K background for substrate polysialylation and competition/recognition studies, respectively. We find that in each polyST-substrate pairing examined, basic residues within the polyST PBR are required for effective substrate recognition. Interestingly, we also find that recognition of each substrate by a polyST requires a set of overlapping PBR basic residues unique to the polyST-substrate pairing. Cumulatively, these data provide evidence that the polyST PBR is directly involved in substrate recognition and thus is required for effective substrate polysialylation. Furthermore, these results provide compelling evidence that substrate polysialylation is a highly protein-specific process and suggests that the polyST-substrate interaction may serve as a target for therapeutic interventions.


This article reviews recent scholarship on the urban politics of mega-events.
Mega-events have long been promoted as drivers of urban development, based on their potential to generate beneficial legacies for host cities. Yet the mega-event industry is increasingly struggling to find cities willing to host. Political arguments that promote mega-events to host cities include narratives about mega-event legacy—the potential for events to generate long-term benefits—and mega-event leveraging—the idea that cities can strategically link event planning to other policy agendas. In contrast, the apparent decline in interest among potential host cities stems from two political shifts: skepticism toward the promises made by boosters, and the emergence of new kinds of protest movements. The article analyzes an example of largely successful opposition to mega-events, and evaluates parallels between the politics of mega-events and those of other urban megaprojects.


Al planning systems must be able to update their internal model of the domain in order to determine the effects of a possible action. The most widely used update method is the STRIPS operator. STRIPS operators are extremely efficient. However, the use of STRIPS operators requires that one specify all the consequences of an action beforehand. This becomes almost impossible for complex domains. Work by Pednault (1989) and Wilkins (1988) overcomes the problems associated with ordinary STRIPS operators by enhancing them with context-dependent effects and demons respectively. In this paper we describe a modelling procedure which can incorporate both these features. Moreover, the update method is automatically derived from an axiomatisation of the domain in temporal calculus. This allows the system designer great flexibility in choosing the trade-off point between representational expressivity against computational speed.


We studied the interdependent effects of phosphate, silicate and Ca on the formation of Fe(III)-precipitates by oxidation of 0.5 mM Fe(II) in near-neutral bicarbonate-buffered aqueous solutions at concentrations relevant for natural water resources. Complementary results obtained by a suite of analytical techniques including X-ray absorption spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that the ratio of initially dissolved phosphate over Fe(II) ((P/Fe)init) had a major impact on precipitate formation. At (P/Fe)init above a critical ratio ((P/Fe)crit) of ~0.5 in 8 mM NaHCO3 and ~0.8 in 4 mM Ca(HCO3)2 electrolyte, Fe(II) oxidation led to exclusive formation of amorphous basic Fe(III)-phosphate or Ca-Fe(III)-phosphate ((Ca-)Fe(III)-phosphate) with maximum precipitate P/Fe ratios ((P/Fe)ppt) of ~0.7 in Na and ~1.1 in Ca electrolyte. Enhanced phosphate uptake in the presence of Ca was due to phosphate-Ca interactions coupled to Fe precipitation, mainly formation of mitridatitelike Ca-Fe(III)-phosphate polymers and Ca-phosphate polymers. At (P/Fe)init < (P/Fe)crit, in the absence of silicate, (Ca-)Fe(III)-phosphate precipitation was followed by the formation of poorly crystalline lepidocrocite and concomitant transformation of the (Ca-)Fe(III)-phosphate into a phosphate-rich ferrihydrite-type precipitate with a (P/Fe)ppt of ~0.25. In the presence of 0.5 mM silicate, initially formed (Ca-)Fe(III)-phosphate nanoparticles became coated with silicate-rich ferrihydrite during continuing Fe(II) oxidation and only limited transformation of the (Ca-)Fe(III)-phosphate occurred. The results from this study indicate the complexity of Fe(III)-precipitate formation in the presence of interfering solutes and its consequences for precipitate structure and phosphate sequestration. The findings provide a solid basis for further studies of the reactivity of different Fe(III)-precipitate types and for the systematic assessment of their impact on Fe, phosphate and trace elements dynamics in natural and engineered systems. Composition and structure of Fe(III)-precipitates 21


The Mayo Court's novel test for patent eligibility — whether or not an invention involves "well-understood, routine, conventional activity, previously engaged in by researchers in the field" — focuses on how an invention is accomplished rather than what an invention is. That concern with the method of invention poses several normative, statutory, and administrative difficulties. Taken seriously, the "how" requirement will likely have broad effects across all levels of patent practice.


The short story cycle is a collection of independent yet interrelated stories. This thesis is interested in the potential of the short story cycle form to tell stories about women's ordinary lives and, within such stories, to explore the importance to women of continuing relationships of interdependence and care. This discussion is grounded in feminist critical discourses of relational autonomy.

It rests on the claim that the short story cycle is a particularly productive form for writers interested in stories exploring the complexity of apparently mundane moments in women's relational lives and imagining how particular relationships transform women over the longer course of their lives.

The thesis is the product of a practice- and theory-based approach to research. The first part comprises an original work of fiction, which tells five, interconnected stories about individual women from three generations of one family in Australia, spanning the period between the 1980s and the 2010s. The stories focus on moments that linger, where action is limited, and where change is often nuanced or even imperceptible. The work consciously draws on structural and thematic elements of the short story cycle form uncovered through research into short story cycle theory and existing cycles written about women.

The dissertation comprising the second part of the thesis reflects on the distinguishing features of the short story cycle, its diverse rendering in North America, and its critical treatment by key theorists, highlighting how this mode of storytelling helps make salient women's relational lives. This thesis also aims to increase awareness of the form in Australian literary scholarship. Therefore, the dissertation offers a close reading of one contemporary Australian short story cycle, Purple Threads, by Jeanine Leane, in order to demonstrate the imaginative significance and effects produced in an Aboriginal inflection of the form.


The concept of enhanced recovery after surgery – ERAS – has been in practice in surgical practice in Europe since the 1990s, but its uptake in the United Kingdom has been more recent, and even more so its use in orthopaedic surgery. Encompassing 20 or so specific clinical practices, ERAS aims to reduce length of inpatient stay, minimise costs, and improve patient outcomes after surgery. Based on these same principles, a new model of care delivery has been developed in the United States, with similar aims. Under a multi-professional team, led by the Orthopaedic Surgeon and an Anaesthetist, this expands the provision of care from the moment the decision for surgery is made, to a period of 30 and even 90 days following discharge – what the American Society of Anesthesiologists have defined as the ' Perioperative Surgical Home ' . Preliminary results of the PSH model for patients undergoing arthroplasty surgery in the US have so far been promising. Surgical leadership must be provided to better utilise anaesthetic services in arthroplasty pathways, to reduce length of stay, readmission and move towards a model for care provision that extends to the entire perioperative period. The review aims to compare the perioperative surgical home to current UK practice and provide an evidence based summary of both surgical and non surgical interventions to help achieve a reduction in length of stay, decrease readmissions, and improve functional outcomes as well as a discussion of the potential for integrating some of its elements into current care models.


In this work we report short-term measurements of the thermohaline structure and velocity field inside a narrow submarine canyon by means of a yo-yo–like profiler. An Aqualog profiler was deployed inside the Besos Canyon in the northwestern Mediterranean continental margin, providing a unique data set on the vertical evolution of water column characteristics with unprecedented fine-scale spatial and temporal resolution. The observations reported here show a very dynamic transient short-term response with a complex vertical structure not observed previously in any submarine canyon of this region. The vertical distribution of water masses was characteristic of the western Mediterranean basin with Atlantic waters (AW) at the surface, Western Intermediate waters (WIW) in the middle and Levantine Intermediate (LIW) waters below. Turner angle and empirical orthogonal functions show that double-diffusive and isopycnal mixing are the main dominant processes at small scales. The interfaces of the three layers exhibit highly vertical excursions in relatively short times. At the surface, deepening of AW was observed, associated with flow intensification events. Deeper in the water column, within the submarine canyon confinement, the WIW-LIW interface uplifts about 100-150 m. These motions are associated with relatively up- and down-canyon–enhanced current events (up to 15-20 cm s -1 at 500 and 800 m depths) along the canyon axis. The time scales of the vertical variability were concentrated in a broad band around the semi-diurnal and local inertial frequencies within the WIW and LIW layers.


We report on optically pumped semiconductor disk lasers passively mode locked with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The effect of second- and third-order dispersion and dynamic gain saturation on the pulse formation is studied both experimentally and numerically. Improvement of the pulse quality and duration in the disk laser with resonant periodic gain structure requires accurate control of dispersion by wavelength detuning.


Provisioning scarce resources among competing users and jobs remains one of the primary challenges of operating large-scale, distributed computing environments. Distributed storage systems, in particular, typically rely on hard operator-set quotas to control disk allocation and enforce isolation for space and I/O bandwidth among disparate users. However, users and operators are very poor at predicting future requirements and, as a result, tend to over-provision grossly.
 For three years, we collected detailed usage information for data stored in distributed filesystems in a large private cloud spanning dozens of clusters on multiple continents. Specifically, we measured the disk space usage, I/O rate, and age of stored data for thousands of different engineering users and teams. We find that although the individual time series often have non-stable usage trends, regional aggregations, user classification, and ensemble forecasting methods can be combined to provide a more accurate prediction of future use for the majority of users.
 We applied this methodology for the storage users in one geographic region and back-tested these techniques over the past three years to compare our forecasts against actual usage. We find that by classifying a small subset of users with unforecastable trend changes due to known product launches, we can generate three-month out forecasts with mean absolute errors of less than 12%. This compares favorably to the amount of allocated but unused quota that is generally wasted with manual operator-set quotas.


The rules of thumb offered by financial advisors regarding how much to hold in liquid reserves vary widely and usually imply far greater sums than low-income households save. This paper seeks empirically-grounded insights into the minimum liquidity buffer needed by the average low-income household. First, we document diminishing benefits to liquid savings in terms of the likelihood of experiencing financial hardship. Then, we formalize this relationship with a theory of poverty traps. Finally, to observed data, we fit a regression kink model with an unknown threshold (kink) point that must be estimated. Our key finding is that the threshold point is $2,467 with a 95% confidence interval of $1,814–$3,011 (in 2019 dollars) or roughly 1 month of income for the average low-income household – which is far less than the savings amounts implied by common rules of thumb (typically 3–6 months of income). Theoretical evidence suggests that financial advice based on an empirically-estimated threshold point is welfare enhancing for households with naive perceptions of their probability of experiencing financial problems.


It is a delight for me to be here again on the campus of Calvin College. I first came here more than twenty years ago, not long after my conversion. I was invited by Dr. Carl Henry, and we had a meeting at that time with the undergraduate faculty. I will confess a secret sin that the evangelical world knew nothing about at that time, and one that I hid very carefully—remember, this was just a couple of years after my conversion—I smoked! Honestly, I thought I was alone in this, but, to my great surprise, when I met with the faculty that day I could hardly see across the room because they had all brought out huge pipes and were just puffing away! I told them that if I had known that before I joined the Baptist Church, I might have become a member of the Christian Reformed Church instead! Charles W. Colson, "How Now Shall We Live?" Journal of Markets & Morality 5, no. 1 (Spring 2002): 287-304


In "Uncle Tungsten" Sacks evokes, with warmth and wit, his upbringing in wartime England. He tells of the large science-steeped family who fostered his early fascination with chemistry. There follow his years at boarding school where, though unhappy, he developed the intellectual curiosity that would shape his later life. And we hear of his return to London, an emotionally bereft ten-year-old who found solace in his passion for learning. "Uncle Tungsten" radiates all the delight and wonder of a boy's adventures, and is an unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary young mind. "If you did not think that gallium and iridium could move you, this superb book will change your mind". (The Times). "The amalgamation of personal recollection and scientific history makes a luminous, inspiring book". ("Sunday Telegraph"). ""Uncle Tungsten" is really about the raw joy of scientific understanding; what it is like to be a precocious child discovering the alchemical secrets of reality for the first time; the sheer thrill of finding intelligible patterns in nature". ("Guardian").


Irisin, preptin and adropin are three newly discovered peptides that play critical roles in regulating energy homeostasis in various vertebrates.The purposes of this study were to measure the serum concentrations of preptin, adropin and irisin in the Alburnus tarichi and to investigate the relationship of these peptides to the weight, gender and length of this the fish, which will provide useful information for future biotechnology purposes aimed at improvements in aquaculture production. This study used 12 adult A. tarichi (6 female and 6 male) obtained from Van Lake (Van, Turkey). The serum irisin, preptin and adropin levels were measured using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit to determine correlations between the levels of these three hormones and fish body weight and length.  No statistically significant correlations were detected between the serum irisin, adropin and preptin levels and A. tarichi body weight (p = 0.921, r = -0.031; p = 0.08, r = 0.519; p = 0.461, r = -0.235, respectively) or length (p = 0.901, r = -0.040; p = 0.105, r = 0.490; p = 0.236, r = -0.369, respectively).Thus, serum levels of these hormones are independent of fish gender, body weight and length.


The article engages with debates on the contemporary practice of 'traditional' regional Indian crafts and the disciplinary position of craft at a time when the roles traditionally assigned to academia, patrons (industry and craft non-governmental organizations [NGOs]) and craftspeople are in flux. The author takes the reader through a self-reflexive journey of unlearning based on her experiences as project researcher on an initiative to document traditional crafts in and around the Hampi World Heritage site. What began as an 'objective' attempt to present a comprehensive field-based project to document the living craft traditions of a region transformed into a discussion on the politics of research. The example of the Hampi project made it clear to the author that knowledge production is dialogic. 'Field', 'place' and 'community', whether project committee, general public or craftspeople (so-called objects of enquiry), can and do influence the parameters of research design. And this understanding leads to an acceptance on her part that, in turn, 'researchers' can only impact the field in a limited way. Consequently, a more useful role for herself and other communities, including craft NGOs, might be that of giving voice to the voiceless, in this instance, craftspeople. More significantly that the views and concerns of craftspeople do matter irrespective of whether they are in accord with the views of individuals, groups or communities that seek to support them, whether craft industry, patrons or researchers.


Aims To investigate medical students international elective experience of end of life care. Methods An anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to all final year medical students at University of Bristol. Study was approved by the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry Committee for Ethics. Results 220 students were contacted, 60% responded. 72% students saw a patient die and 24% had witnessed a paediatric death abroad. 77% of students who saw a child die were in Africa; 1/3 resuscitated patients on their own—"the hospital had no doctors". One poignant quote was one student commenting on how many patients had died "I'd never thought I'd say this but I honestly lost count". For half the students it was their first experience of patient's dying. Students reported being out of their depth signing death certificates, performing neonatal resuscitation and intubating children. There was a lack of equipment "nothing available to resuscitate with", "no fluids, oxygen or drugs". Students reported local staff underperforming "neonatal resuscitation was not performed anywhere near correctly, despite a poster with the right procedure on the wall". Many students were angry or frustrated after their patient died: "angry at myself, worried that I didn't do enough"; they also reported feeling patient death was an "injustice". On elective students sought support from friends first, using social network sites and email, looking globally rather than from the local team—"didn't want to burden people". Students needed confirmation that others would have "done the same" helping them cope with the death. Only 13% thought their medical course had prepared them sufficiently to deal with death. Those who felt prepared had often gained this knowledge elsewhere for example, working as healthcare assistant rather than from formal medical teaching. Students commented that they would benefit most from a lecture "dealing with death" before their elective combined with a lecture "medicine in resource poor settings" in order to prepare for scenarios they might experience. Conclusion Students on elective abroad often have to confront patient death. Many feel inadequately prepared or supported. These issues need to be addressed within the university curricula prior to sending students abroad.


Background To promote and maintain health, all adults are recommended to do moderate-intensity aerobic activity a minimum of 30 min on 5 days, or vigorous-intensity activity of 20 min on 3 days, each week. Whether these levels prevent long-term weight gain is uncertain. Objective To assess the relationship between physical activity and long-term weight gain. Study design An observational prospective cohort study. Methods Weight and physical activity were measured in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study in 1984–1986, 1995–1997 and 2006–2008. Participants (n=19 127) were classified based on physical activity into inactive, below recommended level, recommended level or above recommended level. We carried out adjusted mixed model regression analyses with weight as outcome. Results Men maintaining physical activity above the recommendations for 33 years increased 5.6 kg, while inactive men increased 9.1 kg. For women, corresponding numbers were 3.8 kg in those above recommended physical activity levels, and 9.5 kg in inactive. In adjusted analyses, physical activity above the recommendations was associated with 2.1 kg (95% CI 1.8 to 2.4) less weight gain in men over any 11-year period, compared with inactive. Women exceeding the recommendations gained 1.8 kg (CI 1.5 to 2.2) less than inactive. Compared with inactive, the ORs of gaining meaningful weight of ≥2.3 kg were 0.79 (CI 0.69 to 0.91) and 0.70 (CI 0.60 to 0.81) if exceeding the recommendations in men and women, respectively. Conclusions Physical activity above the current recommendations for health benefits was associated with significantly lower risk of weight gain.


STUDY QUESTION
Are intrauterine insemination (IUI) performance characteristics and post-processing total motile sperm count (TMC) related to live birth rate in couples with unexplained infertility?

SUMMARY ANSWER
Patient discomfort with IUI and lower inseminate TMC were associated with a reduced live birth rate, while time from hCG injection to IUI, sperm preparation method and ultrasound guidance for IUI were not associated with live birth success.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN
We previously determined that some baseline characteristics of couples with unexplained infertility, including female age, duration of infertility, history of prior loss and income, were related to live birth rate across a course of ovarian stimulation and IUI treatment. However, the relationship between treatment outcomes and per-cycle characteristics, including ultrasound guidance for IUI, timing of IUI relative to hCG injection, difficult or painful IUI and inseminate TMC, are controversial, and most prior investigations have not evaluated live birth outcome.

STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
This was a secondary analyses of 2462 cycles from the Assessment of Multiple Intrauterine Gestations from Ovarian Stimulation (AMIGOS) clinical trial. This prospective, randomised, multicentre clinical trial determined live birth rates following IUI after ovarian stimulation with clomiphene citrate, letrozole or gonadotropins in 854 couples with unexplained infertility. It was conducted between 2011 and 2014, and couples could undergo up to four consecutive treatment cycles.

PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
AMIGOS was an NIH-sponsored Reproductive Medicine Network trial conducted at 12 clinical sites. Participants were women with unexplained infertility who were between 18 and 40 years of age. Cluster-weighted generalised estimating equations (GEE), which account for informative clustering of multiple IUI treatment cycles within the same patient, were used to determine associations between IUI performance characteristics, including inseminate TMC, and live birth rate. Efficiency curves were also generated to examine the relationship between inseminate TMC and live birth rate.

MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
After adjustment for treatment group and baseline factors previously associated with live birth across a course of OS-IUI treatment, patient discomfort during the IUI procedure was associated with a reduction in live birth rate (aRR 0.40 (0.16-0.96)). Time from hCG trigger injection to IUI was not significantly associated with outcome. Higher TMC was associated with greater live birth rate (TMC 15.1-20.0 million (14.8%) compared to ≤5 million (5.5%)) (aRR 2.09 (1.31-3.33)). However, live births did occur with TMC ≤ 1 million (5.1%).

LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
This investigation is a secondary analysis, and AMIGOS was not designed to address the present question. Since timed intercourse was allowed as part of the AMIGOS trial, we cannot rule out the possibility that any given pregnancy resulted from intercourse rather than IUI.

WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Most factors associated with the performance of IUI were not significantly related to obtaining live birth. Our findings suggest that higher TMC inseminated leads to an increase in live birth rate up to TMC ~20 million. However, there may be no reasonable threshold below which live birth is not possible with IUI.

STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S)
Funding was received through grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): U10 HD077680, U10 HD39005, U10 HD38992, U10 HD27049, U10 HD38998, U10 HD055942, HD055944, U10 HD055936 and U10 HD055925. This research was made possible by funding by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Dr Hansen reports grants from NIH/NICHD and Yale University during the conduct of the study, grants from Roche Diagnostics and grants from Ferring International Pharmascience Center US outside the submitted work. Dr Peck reports support from Ferring Pharmaceuticals outside the submitted work. Dr Coward has nothing to disclose. Dr Wild reports grants from NICHD during the conduct of the study. Dr Trussell has nothing to disclose. Dr Krawetz reports grants from NICHD during the conduct of the study, grants from Merck and support from Taylor and Frances and from Springer, outside the submitted work. Dr Diamond reports grants from NIH/NICHD, Yale University, during the conduct of the study and support from Advanced Reproductive Care AbbVie, Bayer and ObsEva, outside the submitted work. Dr Legro reports support from Bayer, Kindex, Odega, Millendo and AbbVie and grants and support from Ferring, outside the submitted work. Dr Coutifaris reports grants from NICHD/NIH and personal fees from American Society for Reproductive Medicine, outside the submitted work. Dr Alvero has nothing to disclose. Dr Robinson reports grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. Dr Casson has nothing to disclose. Dr Christman reports grants from NICHD during the conduct of the study. Dr Santoro reports grants from NIH during the conduct of the study. Dr Zhang reports grants from NIH during the conduct of the study and support from Shangdong University outside the submitted work.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
n/a.


The use of the Internet as a medium for education has grown exponentially since
the mid-1990s. Institutions of higher education are increasingly offering online
access to distance education programmes, especially at postgraduate level. Some
see e-learning as offering solutions to many problems traditionally associated
with distance education.
Research into e-learning at a distance has largely focussed on the effectiveness of
differing technologies for the delivery of online courses, the emphasis being
upon the technology itself, with few studies examining the student experience of
this new phenomenon. It is therefore argued that a gap exists, as the views of
distance e-learners at postgraduate level have seldom been paid attention, with
their specific and individual needs failing to be addressed. This study aims to
rectify this gap by examining postgraduates' experiences of e-learning at a
distance. The purpose of the study is to inform the future development of elearning
at postgraduate level and help determine how higher education can best
support this rapidly expanding group of learners.
The research presents a qualitative case study of a group of students studying
modules from the University of Salford's MSc/Postgraduate Diploma in
Occupational Safety and Health in a virtual learning environment called
GOLDPhase, which was specifically designed and developed to facilitate the
study.
Issues related to the students' heightened awareness of their peers, their
sensitivity to tutor feedback, and the learning strategies they adopted are
identified and discussed. The findings show that e-learning engendered a range
of barriers and enhancements for this group of distance learners. The
enhancements were largely computer based and barriers were mostly
sociological.
The findings have implications for both online teaching and online learning
strategies. As distance e-learning is in its infancy the study will increase overall
understanding in this area and contribute to the growing body of knowledge.


The fecal bacteria have been taken as the gold standard for water industry. However, the spread of viral gastroenteritis due to drinking water have given a momentum to a recent push by microbiologists to consider viruses as important pollution indicator as fecal bacteria. Therefore, we designed a study to evaluate the efficiency of two types of water purification systems: the traditional water treatment plant and two types compact units. Both systems produced drinking waters free of bacteria, chemical contaminants and mostly viruses free.  However, recent advances in molecular biology techniques, such as RT-PCR have detected Rotaviruses in chlorinated drinking waters resulted from all systems. The frequency of Rotaviruses since October 2010 till September 2012 in Shark El-Mansoura WTP in drinking water samples was 12.5% similar to raw water. While the compact unit at Depo Awam (American design) the frequency of Rotavirus was 16.6% in both raw and drinking water samples.  On the other hand the virus frequency in the raw and drinking water sample in El-Danabik unit (Egyptian design) were 12.5% and 4.16% respectively. Signifying failure of the chlorination process in removing viruses completely.  However, detection of Rotavirus genome in the drinking water samples does not means the presence of its infectivity. The infectious ability of the rotaviruses was confirmed by CC-RT-PCR in all positive samples, where viral RNA was not detected in the collected drinking water samples.  In conclusion RT-PCR and CC-RT-PCR techniques high lightened the need to include viruses as mandatory pollution indicator in water treatment plants.  Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 3(3): 528-536


The paper describes the application of a code based on the surface current method to optimize a magnetic suspension device. The code can handle nonlinear magnetic materials by an iterative adjustment of the values of the magnetic permeability, with a performance estimation which fairly agrees with nonlinear FEM analyses. Thanks to the code flexibility in the input/output management, its application may be more straightforward than in the case of commercial FEM codes, with comparable accuracy and calculation time.


The ever-increasing global warming due to gaseous emissions, the burgeoning fuel costs and their limited availability have escalated the search for viable energy efficient alternatives. During the last two decades, most of the portable electronic devices such as cellular phones, laptops, camcorders and notebooks etc., have been using the Li-ion battery (LIB) technology. Li-ion batteries (LIBs) are considered promising for even powering electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs). However, the current electrode materials are too costly to penetrate into the EV industry, for not only, does it need high performance materials, but at the same time, the materials should be environmentally benign. In terms of performance, nanostructured materials offer many advantages; the large contact area between the electrode and the electrolyte and the short diffusion path lengths due to small sized crystallites, lead to higher charge storage capacity and increased power rate compared to their bulk counterparts. In commercially available LIBs, the anode is, typically, graphite, which, is characterized by a rather low theoretical specific capacity of 374 mAh g-1. The low capacity of the anode material limits the performance of battery. Benefiting from nanotechnology, metal oxides (e.g. MoO2) through conversion and tin based oxides and sulfides through alloy/dealloy mechanisms can offer a large lithium storage capacity i.e., almost two times more than the current graphite anodes. However, despite delivering high energy densities, these materials experience substantial volume variation during Li+ insertion/extraction process, which manifests in the pulverization of the electrode material and rapid decline of capacity. To counter the aforementioned issues, oxides/sulfides in nanostructured forms and their composites with carbonaceous materials such as graphene, multiwalled carbon nanotubes or MWCNTs and conducting polymers are used.


The purpose of this paper is to provide an update and report the current status of the cross-campus University of Colorado Denver program in bioinnovation and entrepreneurship, details of which were first reported in the Journal of Commercial Biotechnology in 2012 5 .  The paper outlines the joys and challenges of implementing an inter-campus program that attempts to marry cutting-edge biotechnology innovation with a solid business foundation.  The tremendous value offered by such a program, particularly to biotechnology and life-science researchers, is outlined. Operationalization and process issues such as differential tuition rates, distance between campuses, and class timing issues are considered, and solutions are offered.   Finally, recommendations are provided for other business schools considering a similar program.