In this thesis, brackish and freshwater littoral model communities (microcosms) of varying size and complexity were used to study the effects of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and pesticides. The brackish water microcosms consisted of natural water, sediment and associated organisms, while the larger freshwater microcosms also contained submersed macrophytes (Elodea canadensis). Both the BFR hexabromocyclododecane (HBCDD) (Paper II) and the strobilurin fungicide azoxystrobin (Paper III) were found to dramatically reduce the abundance of the dominating crustacean zooplankton, calanoid copepods, in brackish water microcosms. For the fungicide, these effects were observed at concentrations more than an order of magnitude lower than reported no-effect concentrations for crustaceans in standard toxicity tests. The direct toxic effects on the copepods reduced their grazing pressure on phytoplankton. Indirect effects on the phytoplankton community were observed as increased abundance and biomass and altered community structure. Heterotrophic flagellates (Paper II) and rotifers (Paper III) increased in exposed microcosms, apparently also an indirect response to the reduced copepod grazing. In Papers IV-V, indoor freshwater microcosms dominated by the vascular macrophyte Elodea canadensis, were monitored following exposure to the sulfonylurea herbicide metsulfuron-methyl. The macrophytes were directly susceptible to the substance, and growth and biomass declined. The reduced competition from the macrophytes induced secondary indirect effects on the algal community, for example an increased phytoplankton primary production and altered community structure. The zooplankton community was also indirectly affected by the herbicide treatment. The community structure was altered and the total zooplankton biomass increased in exposed microcosms towards the end of the study. The need for increased knowledge on the uptake and bioaccumulation potential of chemical compounds in biota is often stressed. In one of the studies (Paper I) we investigated the uptake and bioaccumulation of BFR polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in blue mussels. High bioaccumulation but also high depuration rates were found, especially for the tetra- and penta-BDE congeners. These results indicate that blue mussel may provide a source of PBDEs for other organisms in the Baltic Sea. It can be concluded from the effect studies that apart from direct toxic effects on sensitive organisms, the tested substances induced secondary, indirect effects on organisms not themselves susceptible to the toxicants. These indirect effects resulted from changes in interactions between organisms, and would not have been detected in single species test systems where no inter-specific interactions take place. Unanticipated community level responses can occur at considerably lower concentrations than the direct toxicity suggested from existing single species toxicity data, and in natural shallow aquatic ecosystems, the ecological consequences might be severe.


Inhibition of protein synthesis serves as a general measure of cellular consequences of chemical stress. A few proteins are translated selectively and influence cell fate. How these proteins can bypass the general control of translation remains unknown. We found that low to mild doses of oxidants induce de novo translation of the NRF2 protein. Here we demonstrate the presence of a G-quadruplex structure in the 5= untranslated region (UTR) of NRF2 mRNA, as measured by circular dichroism, nuclear magnetic resonance, and dimethylsulfate footprinting analyses. Such a structure is important for 5=-UTR activity, since its removal by sequence mutation eliminated H2O2-induced activation of the NRF2 5= UTR. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)-based proteomics revealed elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1a) as a protein binding to the G-quadruplex sequence. Cells responded to H2O2 treatment by increasing the EF1a protein association with NRF2 mRNA, as measured by RNA-protein interaction assays. The EF1a interaction with small and large subunits of ribosomes did not appear to change due to H2O2 treatment, nor did posttranslational modifications, as measured by two-dimensional (2-D) Western blot analysis. Since NRF2 encodes a transcription factor essential for protection against tissue injury, our data have revealed a novel mechanism of cellular defense involving de novo NRF2 protein translation governed by the EF1a interaction with the G-quadruplex in the NRF2 5= UTR during oxidative stress.


Multicasting is an important interprocessor communication pattern existing in various parallel application algorithms. Mesh-connected topology is one of the most thoroughly investigated network topologies for parallel processing. The torus network has been proposed for metropolitan area networks (MAN). It can be divided into several mesh problems. Time and traffic are the main parameters considered in the multicasting communication environment. It is NP-complete in general to find an optimal multicasting algorithm which minimizes both time and traffic. This thesis proposes two kind of multicasting algorithms for torus/mesh networks, the VH algorithm with a time complexity of O(kD), and the DIST algorithm with a time complexity of O(kDN), where k is the number of destination nodes. D is the maximum distance, and N is the total number of nodes in the network. The VH algorithm guarantee that every destination node can receive the message from the source in a minimum multicasting time. The DIST algorithm generates less traffic compared to the VH algorithm, but at the price of an increased multicasting time.


A parallel-plate optical rheometer in a magnetic-disc drive configuration has been designed and constructed of optically transparent materials and operating with a very small gap to obtain rheological and structural measurements at very high shear rates. The friction force at the disk-slider interface has been measured as a function of sliding speed while the film thickness was monitored in situ using a capacitance technique. The shear rate is calculated from the film thickness and the sliding speed. A thin film can be applied on the disk, which allows very high-shear-rate measurements at low sliding speeds with negligible viscous heating. Both disk and slider have been made of optically transparent material to allow optical measurements simultaneously with the rheological measurements. In the present mode the apparatus is set up for simultaneous rheometery and birefringence measurements on a thin film of polymer lubricant. Rheology and birefringence measurements were made on a perfluoropolyether lubricant over a range of strain rate from 10 s to greater than 10 s with different film thicknesses. The rheological results of PFPE Fomblin YR under steady-state shear conditions reveal a shear-thinning transition at shear rate about 10s. The rheological results were in agreement with the flow-induced birefringence. The birefringence measurements where first time that results have been carried out at high shear rate.


Washington - Attempts to explain the aging process at the cellular level have identified two main culprits - intrinsic aging and photoaging. "When referring to the skin," said Mina Yaar, M.D., "it's important to differentiate between intrinsic or chronologic aging that comprises the clinical, histologic, and physiologic changes in sun-protected skin, and photoaging, defined as the clinical, histologic, and physiologic changes in habitually sun-exposed skin." She is professor of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Yaar will speak on molecular mechanisms in aging and photoaging at the AAD meeting scheduled here February 6-11.


CONTEXT
Low back pain is extremely common. Early identification of patients more likely to develop persistent disabling symptoms could help guide decisions regarding follow-up and management.

OBJECTIVE
To systematically review the usefulness of individual risk factors or risk prediction instruments for identifying patients more likely to develop persistent disabling low back pain.

DATA SOURCES
Electronic searches of MEDLINE (1966-January 2010) and EMBASE (1974-February 2010) and review of the bibliographies of retrieved articles.

STUDY SELECTION
Prospective studies of patients with fewer than 8 weeks of low back pain from which likelihood ratios (LRs) were calculated for prediction of persistent disabling low back pain for findings attainable during the clinical evaluation.

DATA EXTRACTION
Two authors independently assessed studies and extracted data to estimate LRs.

DATA SYNTHESIS
A total of 20 studies evaluating 10,842 patients were identified. Presence of nonorganic signs (median [range] LR, 3.0 [1.7-4.6]), high levels of maladaptive pain coping behaviors (median [range] LR, 2.5 [2.2-2.8]), high baseline functional impairment (median [range] LR, 2.1 [1.2-2.7]), presence of psychiatric comorbidities (median [range] LR, 2.2 [1.9-2.3]), and low general health status (median [range] LR, 1.8 [1.1-2.0]) were the most useful predictors of worse outcomes at 1 year. Low levels of fear avoidance (median [range] LR, 0.39 [0.38-0.40]) and low baseline functional impairment (median [range] LR, 0.40 [0.10-0.52]) were the most useful items for predicting recovery at 1 year. Results were similar for outcomes at 3 to 6 months. Variables related to the work environment, baseline pain, and presence of radiculopathy were less useful for predicting worse outcomes (median LRs approximately 1.5), and a history of prior low back pain episodes and demographic variables were not useful (median LRs approximately 1.0). Several risk prediction instruments were useful for predicting outcomes, but none were extensively validated, and some validation studies showed LRs similar to estimates for individual risk factors.

CONCLUSION
The most helpful components for predicting persistent disabling low back pain were maladaptive pain coping behaviors, nonorganic signs, functional impairment, general health status, and presence of psychiatric comorbidities.


This is the second of three volumes of posthumously collected writings of G. A. Cohen, who was one of the leading, and most progressive, figures in contemporary political philosophy. This volume brings together some of Cohen's most personal philosophical and nonphilosophical essays, many of them previously unpublished. Rich in first-person narration, insight, and humor, these pieces vividly demonstrate why Thomas Nagel described Cohen as a "wonderful raconteur." The nonphilosophical highlight of the book is Cohen's remarkable account of his first trip to India, which includes unforgettable vignettes of encounters with strangers and reflections on poverty and begging. Other biographical pieces include his valedictory lecture at Oxford, in which he describes his philosophical development and offers his impressions of other philosophers, and "Isaiah's Marx, and Mine," a tribute to his mentor Isaiah Berlin. Other essays address such topics as the truth in "small-c conservatism," who can and can't condemn terrorists, and the essence of bullshit. A recurring theme is finding completion in relation to the world of other human beings. Engaging, perceptive, and empathetic, these writings reveal a more personal side of one of the most influential philosophers of our time.


Discrete choice experiments (DCE) and conjoint analysis (CA) are increasingly used to address health policy issues. This is because the DCE and CA approaches have theoretical foundations in the characteristics theory of demand, which assumes goods, services, or healthcare provision, can be valued in terms of their characteristics (or attributes). As a result, such analysis is grounded in economic theory, lending theoretical validity to this approach.

With DCEs, respondents are also assumed to act in a utility-maximising manner and make choices contingent upon the levels of attributes in DCE scenarios. Therefore, choice data can be analysed using econometric methods compatible with random utility theory (RUT) or random regret minimisation (RRM) theory. This means they have additional foundations in economic theory. In contrast, analyses described as CAs are sometimes compatible with RUT or RRM, but by definition they do not have to be.

In this paper we review the CA/DCE evidence relating to nephrology. The CA/DCE approach is then compared with other approaches used to provide either quality of life information or preference information relating to nephrology. We conclude by providing an assessment of the value of undertaking CA or DCE analysis in nephrology, comparing the application of CA/DCEs in nephrology with other methodological approaches.


The citrulline-nitric oxide (NO) cycle, comprised of the enzymes argininosuccinate synthase (AS), argininosuccinate lyase (AL) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), is responsible for the regulated production of endothelial NO. Although most studies have focused on eNOS to uncover important regulatory mechanisms, we and others have determined that AS is an essential and regulated step in endothelial NO production. AS is rate limiting for endothelial NO production and is the primary source of arginine, the substrate for eNOS-mediated NO production, despite saturating intracellular levels of arginine and available arginine transport systems. AS is essential for endothelial cell viability and its expression is regulated coordinately with eNOS by TNFα and thiazolidenediones with concomitant effects on NO production. Given the importance of AS for endothelial health, we explored three independent regulatory mechanisms. In Chapter One, the functional consequences of altered AS expression due to overexpression, insulin, VEGF and ceramide were studied. We xii demonstrated that overexpression of AS leads to enhanced NO production and that insulin, VEGF and ceramide coordinately regulate the expression of AS and eNOS. In Chapter Two, the first post-translational modifications of AS in the endothelium were characterized. We determined that AS is an endogenous phosphoprotein in the endothelium, described several levels of biological significance of AS phosphorylation, identified 7 sites of AS phosphorylation and began to uncover the direct impact of phosphorylation on AS function. Finally, in Chapter Three, endothelial AS subcellular localization was defined and important protein interactions were identified including caveolin-1 and HSP90. The work presented in this dissertation demonstrates that multiple mechanisms regulate the function of AS, often coordinately with eNOS, and have a direct impact on nitric oxide production. Our findings suggest that the global understanding of the citrulline-NO cycle as a metabolic unit will unravel new paradigms that will re-define our understanding of the regulation of vascular function by NO.


The recent wave of randomized trials in development economics has provoked criticisms regarding external validity. We investigate two concerns—heterogeneity across beneficiaries and implementers—in a randomized trial of contract teachers in Kenyan schools. The intervention, previously shown to raise test scores in NGO-led trials in Western Kenya and parts of India, was replicated across all Kenyan provinces by an NGO and the government. Strong effects of shortterm contracts produced in controlled experimental settings are lost in weak public institutions: NGO implementation produces a positive effect on test scores across diverse contexts, while government implementation yields zero effect. The data suggests that the stark contrast in success between the government and NGO arm can be traced back to implementation constraints and political economy forces put in motion as the program went to scale.


Quadrotor helicopters are drawing considerable attention both for their mobility and their potential to perform multiple tasks in complete autonomy. Moreover, the numerous limitations characterizing these aircraft, such as their underactuation, make quadrotors ideal testbeds for innovative theoretical approaches to the problem of controlling autonomous mechanical systems. In this chapter, we propose a robust model reference adaptive control architecture and design an autopilot for quadrotors, which guarantees satisfactory output tracking despite uncertainties in the vehicle's mass, matrix of inertia, and location of the center of mass. The feasibility of our results is supported by a detailed analysis of the quadrotor's equations of motion. Specifically, considering the vehicle's equations of motion as a time-varying nonlinear dynamical system and avoiding the common assumption that the vehicle's Euler angles are small at all times, we prove that the proposed autopilot guarantees satisfactory output tracking and verifies sufficient conditions for a weak form of controllability of the closed-loop system known as strong accessibility. A numerical example illustrates the applicability of the theoretical results presented and clearly shows how the proposed autopilot outperforms in strong wind conditions autopilots designed using a commonly employed proportional-derivative control law and a conventional model reference adaptive control law.


Application marketplaces are the main software distribution mechanism for modern mobile devices but are also emerging as a viable alternative to brick-and-mortar stores for personal computers. While most application marketplaces require applications to be cryptographically signed by their developers, in Android marketplaces, self-signed certificates are common, thereby offering very limited authentication properties. As a result, there have been reports of malware being distributed through application "repackaging." We provide a quantitative assessment of this phenomenon by collecting 41,057 applications from 194 alternative Android application markets in October 2011, in addition to a sample of 35,423 applications from the official Google Android Market. We observe that certain alternative markets almost exclusively distribute repackaged applications containing malware. To remedy this situation we propose a simple verification protocol, and discuss a proof-of-concept implementation, AppIntegrity. AppIntegrity strengthens the authentication properties offered in application marketplaces, thereby making it more difficult for miscreants to repackage apps, while presenting very little computational or communication overhead, and being deployable without requiring significant changes to the Android platform.


Recent sequential pattern mining methods have used the minimum description length (MDL) principle to define an encoding scheme which describes an algorithm for mining the most compressing patterns in a database. We present a novel subsequence interleaving model based on a probabilistic model of the sequence database, which allows us to search for the most compressing set of patterns without designing a specific encoding scheme. Our proposed algorithm is able to efficiently mine the most relevant sequential patterns and rank them using an associated measure of interestingness. The efficient inference in our model is a direct result of our use of a structural expectation-maximization framework, in which the expectation-step takes the form of a submodular optimization problem subject to a coverage constraint. We show on both synthetic and real world datasets that our model mines a set of sequential patterns with low spuriousness and redundancy, high interpretability and usefulness in real-world applications. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the quality of the patterns from our approach is comparable to, if not better than, existing state of the art sequential pattern mining algorithms.


Much of the public discourse and media analysis of the surprise outcome of the 2016 US presidential election has emphasized the role of manufacturing workers. This paper examines the importance of manufacturing jobs and job loss as determinants of voting patterns using county-level voting data from recent presidential elections. The share of employment in the manufacturing sector and long-run manufacturing job loss at the county level are not statistically significant in explaining the change in Republican vote shares from 2012 to 2016, when controlling for standard voting determinants. However, the change in the Republican vote share is positively correlated with manufacturing in predominantly white counties and negatively correlated with manufacturing in ethnically diverse counties, with these effects roughly offsetting each other. The paper further shows that this polarization between white and nonwhite manufacturing counties is more closely associated with polarizing candidates than a polarized electorate.


MapReduce has emerged as a popular tool for distributed and scalable processing of massive data sets and is being used increasingly in e-science applications. Unfortunately, the performance of MapReduce systems strongly depends on an even data distribution while scientific data sets are often highly skewed. The resulting load imbalance, which raises the processing time, is even amplified by high runtime complexity of the reducer tasks. An adaptive load balancing strategy is required for appropriate skew handling. In this paper, we address the problem of estimating the cost of the tasks that are distributed to the reducers based on a given cost model. An accurate cost estimation is the basis for adaptive load balancing algorithms and requires to gather statistics from the mappers. This is challenging: (a) Since the statistics from all mappers must be integrated, the mapper statistics must be small. (b) Although each mapper sees only a small fraction of the data, the integrated statistics must capture the global data distribution. (c) The mappers terminate after sending the statistics to the controller, and no second round is possible. Our solution to these challenges consists of two components. First, a monitoring component executed on every mapper captures the local data distribution and identifies its most relevant subset for cost estimation. Second, an integration component aggregates these subsets approximating the global data distribution.


True power in this world comes from economic independence, but too many people have too much month left at the end of their money. John Hope Bryant, founder and CEO of Operation HOPE, illuminates the path toward liberation that is hiding in plain sight. His message is simple: the supermajority of people who live in poverty, whom Bryant calls the invisible class, as well as millions in the struggling middle class, haven't gotten "the memo"—until now.

 Building on his personal experience of rising up from economically disadvantaged circumstances and his work with Operation HOPE, Bryant teaches readers five rules that lay the foundation for achieving financial freedom. He emphasizes the inseparable connection between "inner capital" (mindset, relationships, knowledge, and spirit) and "outer capital" (financial wealth and property). "If you have inner capital," Bryant writes, "you can never be truly poor. If you lack inner capital, all the money in the world cannot set you free."

 Bryant gives readers tools for empowerment by covering everything from achieving basic financial literacy to investing in positive relationships and approaching wealth with a completely new attitude. He makes this bold and controversial claim: "Once you have satisfied your basic sustenance needs—food, water, health, and a roof over your head—poverty has more to do with your head than your wallet."

 Bryant wants to restore readers' "silver rights," giving them the ability to succeed and prosper no matter what very real roadblocks society puts in their way. We have more power than we realize, if only we can recognize and claim it. "We are our first capital," Bryant writes. "We are the CEOs of our own lives."


This article best described learning vocabulary as an initial step to learn any foreign language. The authors showed an attempt to explore the effectiveness and nature of vocabulary acquisition through two techniques in English called picture flashcards and wordlists. The pedagogy discussed involved as a combination of two techniques concerned showing the efficacy of using these techniques i.e., picture flashcards versus wordlists in EFL classes on students' English vocabulary learning with a quasi-experimental research design participating thirty six students studying in an English institute in north western of Iran. The subjects were instructed to try to learn new words through two precise vocabulary techniques. Their gains in the knowledge of 60 potentially words were then measured. The authors presented a straightforward procedure to scrutinize the efficacy of teaching vocabulary throughout flashcards and wordlists. The results denoted that, using flashcard as a vocabulary learning tool was much more helpful than wordlist. Meanwhile, the results revealed that picture flashcards looked as if to be very supportive tools than wordlists in presenting forms of new words, since they draw learners' awareness.


This article examines the formulation and implementation of Indonesian Army policy regarding the detention of communists and other leftists in Indonesia from 1965 to 1968. The article highlights the relationship between the two primary forms of violence—killings and detentions—in the aftermath of the failed September 30th Movement. Placing detentions at the center of analysis changes our understanding of the mass violence in several ways. First, it demonstrates that the policy to detain and "classify" large numbers of suspected communists helped to fuel the attack on the political Left. Second, it shifts the locus of analysis away from identification of the perpetrators and victims and instead seeks to highlight the processes that enabled and shaped the violence. Third, by examining the ratio between the estimated number of individuals killed and the number of individuals who remained alive in detention at a particular point in time, the article proposes a new explanation for variation in the scale and intensity of mass violence across Indonesia. This analysis encourages comparison across a much wider range of cases within Indonesia than has previously been attempted and provides a framework for future work on the mass violence in Indonesia as well as in other cases in which mass detentions or forced relocations preceded mass killings.


Conquer Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010from the inside out! You're beyond the basicsso dive right in and really support collaboration. This supremely organized reference packs hundreds of timesaving solutions, troubleshooting tips, and workarounds. It's all muscle and no fluff. Discover how the experts tackle SharePoint Foundation 2010and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery!Build team sites with non-code solutions using SharePoint Designer 2010 Modify and share content with SharePoint lists and librariesonline and offline Implement governance policies to plan site structure and manage content Create Web Parts to customize and display SharePoint site content Interact with SharePoint content using Microsoft Office applications Generate reusable workflows and apply them to multiple SharePoint lists Use Business Connectivity Services to access your companys business intelligence Design custom SharePoint solutions using Microsoft .NET and Visual Studio


Background: Tuberculosis progresses despite potent Thl responses. A putative explanation is the presence of a subversive Th2 response. However interpretation is confounded by a novel cytokine, IL-452, a splice variant and inhibitor of IL-4. Methods: The expression of Thl cytokines (IFN-y), IL-452, Th2 cytokines (IL-4) and sCD30 was investigated in whole blood, lung lavage and mononuclear cell cultures from donors with TB, TB-HIV co-infection, and matched controls. Results: After validation of a fluorogenic real-time RT-PCR assay, the half-life of IL- 4 mRNA, but not IL-452, was found to be prolonged in TB vs controls (P<0.002). mRNAs for IL-4 and IL-452 were elevated in unstimulated cells from blood and lung lavage of patients vs controls (p<0.005). Patients with TB expressed significantly greater mRNA levels of both cytokines in T-cells (p<0.05 compared to controls where expression was predominantly in non-T cells). Radiological disease correlated with the IL-4/IFN-y ratio and sCD30 (p<0.005). Tuberculosis antigen upregulated expression of IL-4 relative to IL-462 in mononuclear cell cultures from tuberculosis patients (P<0.05). By contrast, though HIV-TB co-infected donors had increased IL-4 in blood and lung lavage, in lung the predominant form was IL-452. After chemotherapy, in tuberculosis and in HIV-TB co-infection, IL-4 mRNA levels remained unchanged whilst IL-462 increased (p<0.05). Conclusions: A Th2-like response, prominent in T cells, and driven by TB antigen, is present in TB and is modulated by treatment suggesting a role for IL-4 and its antagonist, IL-452 in the pathogenesis of TB and their ratio as a possible marker of disease activity. Furthermore, enhancement of IL-4 mRNA stability, a hitherto undescribed regulatory mechanism in human TB, may facilitate the immunopathological effect of IL-4. The specific antigens inducing the IL-4 response require identification to facilitate future vaccine development strategies. Further studies are required to determine whether IL-4 facilitates systemic HIV progression in co-infected patients.


The paper describes findings from a practice-based research project exploring cross-cultural influences between the West and the East by recreating the concept of Shan-Shui-Hua – the traditional Eastern landscape painting within the new genre of "Video-Painting" as wall-mounted flat screen video installa-tion. It uses concepts of Art Appropriation, Remedia-tion and Remix to re-investigate relationships of man and nature in Eastern traditional landscape art and philosophy and transposes the content to contempo-rary global environmental issues and digital visualiza-tion technology. Using the "other" or the "unfamiliar" allows a fresh access and new interpretation of well-known territory. As such cultural heritage is seen as an opportunity to explore new artistic boundaries and styles of representation within set commodities of contemporary (digital) image creation. Translating and adapting subtle aesthetics, rich metaphor and philosophy of Eastern traditions creates a powerful, subversive tool to address pressing ecological issues differently and allows alternative ways of seeing and thinking thereby detecting Western preoccupations.


During leaf senescence, chlorophyll is removed from thylakoid membranes and converted in a multistep pathway to colorless breakdown products that are stored in vacuoles. Dephytylation, an early step of this pathway, increases water solubility of the breakdown products. It is widely accepted that chlorophyll is converted into pheophorbide via chlorophyllide. However, chlorophyllase, which converts chlorophyll to chlorophyllide, was found not to be essential for dephytylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Here, we identify pheophytinase (PPH), a chloroplast-located and senescence-induced hydrolase widely distributed in algae and land plants. In vitro, Arabidopsis PPH specifically dephytylates the Mg-free chlorophyll pigment, pheophytin (phein), yielding pheophorbide. An Arabidopsis mutant deficient in PPH (pph-1) is unable to degrade chlorophyll during senescence and therefore exhibits a stay-green phenotype. Furthermore, pph-1 accumulates phein during senescence. Therefore, PPH is an important component of the chlorophyll breakdown machinery of senescent leaves, and we propose that the sequence of early chlorophyll catabolic reactions be revised. Removal of Mg most likely precedes dephytylation, resulting in the following order of early breakdown intermediates: chlorophyll → pheophytin → pheophorbide. Chlorophyllide, the last precursor of chlorophyll biosynthesis, is most likely not an intermediate of breakdown. Thus, chlorophyll anabolic and catabolic reactions are metabolically separated.


In one sense of the term current among analytical philosophers, the quietist lacks skeptical doubts about the metaphysical or epistemological status of ethical judgments as a class of judgment. He may still have doubts about, say, the current state of morality.  There are criteria of courage by which, though they are open-ended, a man may count as acting bravely. It need not follow that he has adopted the best tactics. Yet he must have responded fittingly to danger. But how is that to be identified?  "Ought"-judgments are to be understood contextually, with an implicit relativity to certain ends or quasi-ends, and—when the "ought" is only pro tanto—to certain aspects of, or opportunities within, a situation. These judgments are often intuitive in that they do not derive from the application of a principle. Fittingness is an anthropocentric relation that holds within some human perspective; we should not think of it as a feature purportedly inherent in the very nature of things.  It is salutary to remember cases where the "ought" is so relativized, say to an undesirable end, that it identifies no reason for action. The nature of the relation does not change when it is relativized to an end that the agent has reason to achieve. "Ought"-judgments should not be interpreted in ambitious ways that make them generally problematic.


Functionally Graded materials (FGM) are multifunctional materials which are used to produce components that require functional performance which is variable within the component and this functional performance is achieved bymanipulating the composition either atmicrometer level or at nanolevel. This is basically termed as engineering the transition inmicro/nanostructure. This in fact enhances the overall performance of the component. These materials are currently in the forefront of material research. Numerous techniques have been proposed in the last two decades and practically exercised for manufacturing of FGMs. This article presents a comprehensive deliberation of powder based manufacturing techniques which have been employed by the researchers throughout the globe for successful fabrication of an FGM. Attempt is made to throw light on practical applications of FGMand on fewimportant issueswhile attempting for FGM synthesis. The work reviewed in this paper is mostly confined to the significant powder based manufacturing techniques, application areas and elementary issues, addressed with regard to FGM synthesis in the last ten years. Earlier articles are omitted unless their inclusion is necessary for the understanding of the subject. Effort is made to discuss various significant metal/ceramic combinations used for FGM synthesis.


An increasing number of other games are taking advantage of changes in computer architecture and the growth in processing power to become smarter than ever before. Although most of these games use relatively unsubtle AI techniques, a few pioneers are even showing the academic AI community a trick or two. While AI originated in the laboratory, it has now been coopted by designers of video games, and work is under way on increasing the learning powers of a video games cast of characters and refining their social interactions with one another and with human players, too. At this point, even cinematographers and the military are showing interest in possible applications. To beat the competition, video games are getting smarter. Game AIs have two big advantages over their academic counterparts-they can cheat, and they can get a lot of help from the world they find themselves in.


When the British gained sovereignty over Mauritius in 1810 they promised to leave the customs and laws of the people untouched, l but as time went by the English presence inevitably altered not only the methods of administration of the Island, but, naturally enough, the private law as well. Today the law is basically that of Napoleonic France with a strong overlay of English law, particularly in the commercial law field. The persons who make this interesting amalgam an operative reality are the barristers, solicitors, notaries, and judges of the Island.


Any biomaterial implanted into a living body elicits a distinct local reaction. This reaction depends on the physical, physico-chemical and chemical properties of the material. The obvious term to designate this inherent property of a biomaterial to induce a local reaction is reactogenicity. Reactogenicity of a biomaterial is one of the main factors determining (together with other properties of the implanted device) the bio(non)compatibility of the implant. Such amplification of terminology which establishes differences between biocompatibility as a generalized characteristic of biomaterials in all their interrelations with the host's organism and the influences on local processes around implants, makes the biocompatibility concept more precise from a logical and semantic point of view. The principal phase of the local reaction to an implant is inflammation. Reactogenicity manifests itself mainly in determining peculiarities of this phase, and these peculiarities can be modulated by modifying properties of the material. The practical heuristic advantages of the reactogenicity concept are associated with its quantitative character and with turning attention to the possibility of regulating the local reaction without crossing limits of biocompatibility.


In order to obtain the optimal aerodynamic shape parameters of long-range guided rockets (LGR), an optimization model of LGRs' aerodynamic shape is established. To design a guided rocket for the maximum range and best-hit accuracy, a shape optimization system is combined with an exterior ballistic analysis and optimization technique. In the flight section, the aerodynamic coefficients are calculated in every time step with a semi-empirical method and connected to the motion equation of the guided rockets. Monte Carlo method was applied to simulate the disturbance in flight to obtain the average range and CEP. In the optimization section, a real-coding genetic algorithm was adopted to find out an optimum shape of the multi-objective: best lift-drag ratio, maneuverability and stability. The shape optimization system of a long-range guided rockets can maximize the range under certain hit precision and provide the optimum shape and installation location of canards, tailfins and nose. The analysis results confirmed that the optimum shapes extended the range of the basic shape by 9%, and increase the circular error probable (CEP) by 14.8%.


Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between fluorescent proteins (FPs) is widely used to construct fluorescent sensor proteins, to study intracellular protein-protein interactions and to monitor conformational changes in multidomain proteins. Although FRET depends strongly on the orientation of the transition dipole moments (TDMs) of the donor and acceptor fluorophores, this orientation dependence is currently not taken into account in FRET sensor design. Similarly, studies that use FRET to derive structural constrains typically assume a κ(2) of 2/3 or use the TDM of green fluorescent protein, as this is the only FP for which the TDM has been determined experimentally. Here we used time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) methods to calculate the TDM for a comprehensive list of commonly used fluorescent proteins. The method was validated against higher levels of calculation. Validation with model compounds and the experimentally determined TDM of GFP shows that the TDM is mostly determined by the structure of the π-conjugated fluorophore and is insensitive to non-conjugated side chains or the protein surrounding. Our calculations not only provide TDM for most of the currently used FPs, but also suggest an empirical rule that can be used to obtain the TDMs for newly developed fluorescent proteins in the future.


The Art Book is the first ever fully-illustrated art dictionary. It presents an abundance of famous, varied and colourful images by 500 of the greatest artists from the Middle Ages to the present day. Arranged in alphabetical order by artist, it is amazingly easy to use. With one full page, representative image per artist and an informative text that discusses the work in detail as well as offering information about its creator, The Art Book is both educational and fun. Presenting an entirely fresh way of looking at art, this book is an invaluable resource for reference and inspiration in every home, school, library or studio. Ideal for anyone new to art, it also serves as a visual sourcebook for teachers and designers, and will be a constant source of stimulus and delight for anyone wishing to look at art in a new light. Winner of the Illustrated Book of the Year award in 1994, The Art Book has been an outstanding success and become a universally acclaimed landmark in the world of art. Now published in over 20 different languages and also in mini, midi and hardback formats, it has received rave reviews from countless newspapers and magazines and has made many appearances on the bestseller lists. Complemented by The 20th Century Art Book and The American Art Book, its unique approach brings art to life, in all its magnificent diversity. An A-Z guide to 500 great painters and sculptors from medieval to modern times, it debunks art-historical classifications by throwing together brilliant examples of all periods, schools, visions and techniques.


Results published previously [ J. Opt. Soc. Am.57, 610 ( 1967)] concerning the focusing properties of Fresnel zone plates were obtained by implicitly invoking the Fraunhofer approximation. A comparison of these results with those derived from Fresnel diffraction theory shows that the focusing properties of Fresnel zone plates predicted by Fraunhofer diffraction theory are incorrect except for resolution defined by the Rayleigh criterion.


The sequence of Permian volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks (up to 2 km thick) in the Sirinia Basin (SvinițaSvinecea Mare sedimentary zone) of the Upper Danubian Units, South Carpathians, is considered to be the product of subaqueous volcanism passing into a subaerial volcanism and subsequent deposition by debris flow. The investigated volcano-sedimentary rocks are composed of a rhyolitic clastic framework embedded within a fine-grained matrix. The electron probe microanalyses of monazites in the rhyolite clasts and in the volcaniclastic matrix yielded a U–Th– total Pb mean age of 296±3.2 Ma. This result is the first to constrain the age of the volcanic activity event recorded in the volcaniclastic rocks of the Sirinia Basin. The monazite age also estimates the maximum depositional age of the volcano-sedimentary rocks as not older than early Permian (middle Asselian).


This study analyzed food security status among farming households in Jere local government area (LGA) of Borno state in north-eastern Nigeria. Primary data were collected from 120 households selected through multi-stage sampling procedure. The data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, he ad count method, food security gap and squared food security gap. The result of analysis indicated that 45% of the respondents fell within the active age bracket of 40 – 49 years, more than half (52%) had only primary/Quranic education with a high proportion (57%) engaged in farming as a primary occupation. The family size of 40% of the respondents was between 7–9 persons, with estimated annual income of the majority (87%) less than or equal to N 135, 000 ($100) per annum. The incidence of food insecurity was high among the age bracket of 40-49 years (27.5%) but the depth and severity was higher (0.24 and 0.41 respectively) among the age group of 50 years and above. Also, households with large family size, low income level and low level of education were mostly affected by food insecurity condition. Eating once a day, allowing children to eat first and buying food on credit were among the coping strategies adopted by the respondents. Based on the result, the study recommended that: farmers be provided with informal education through extension service, improve nutritional awareness in the study area, non-farm income earning opportunities for the households and improved access to extension be generated.


Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology is a widely practiced technique in the diagnosis of parotid lump. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a simple, quick, inexpensive and minimally invasive technique used to diagnose different types of masses. In otolaryngology, FNAC's greatest utility is in the diagnosis of neck masses. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the sensitivity and specificity of FNAC in the diagnosis of parotid mass. Parotid gland lesions form about 2-6.5% of all head and neck neoplasms in adults. They are easily accessible by FNAC, also cytology can provide a distinction between parotid and non-parotid lesion, benign and malignant lesions, and specific and non specific inflammation. Methods: 50 patients were studied prospectively over 2 years. FNAC was done using 10 cc syringes and 20-22 G. needle and stained with papanicular stain. Histopathology was assessed on routine H & E (haematoxylin and eosin) stained paraffin sections. Results: Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing malignant and benign tumours were 75%, 95.2%, and 92.5%, 80%, respectively, and 90% of benign tumours were accurately typed on fine-needle aspiration cytology compared with 92% in the malignant group. Conclusion: Fine-needle aspiration cytology is useful in the preoperative assessment of parotid tumours as it is more reliable than clinical examination to diagnose malignant parotid tumours. FNA cytology is useful in avoiding surgery (inflammatory lesions) or limiting surgical procedures (benign tumours). Key words: Parotid gland tumour; Fine needle cytology DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bsmmuj.v4i2.8632 BSMMU J 2011; 4(2):65-69


Abstract. Several studies in upwelling regions have suggested that mesoscale structures, such as eddies and filaments, contribute substantially to the long-range transport of the organic carbon from the nearshore region of production to the offshore region of remineralization. Yet a comprehensive analysis of this mesoscale flux and of its impact across the Canary Upwelling System (CanUS) has not been provided. Here, we fill this gap using simulations with the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) coupled to a Nutrient, Phytoplankton, Zooplankton and Detritus (NPZD) ecosystem model. We run climatological simulations on an Atlantic telescopic grid with an eddy-resolving resolution in the CanUS. Using both a Reynolds flux decomposition and structure-identification algorithms, we quantify and characterize the organic carbon fluxes driven by filaments and eddies within the upper 100 m and put them in relationship to the total offshore transport. Our analysis reveals that both coastal filaments and eddies enhance the offshore flux of organic carbon, but that their contribution is very different. Upwelling filaments, with their high speeds and high concentrations, transport the organic carbon offshore in a very intense, but coastally confined manner, contributing nearly 80 % to the total flux of organic carbon at 100 km offshore. The filament contribution tapers off quickly to near zero values at 1000 km off the coast, leading to a strong offshore flux divergence that is the main lateral source of organic carbon in the coastal waters up to 1000 km offshore. Some of this divergence is also due to the filaments inducing a substantial vertical subduction of the organic carbon below 100 m. Owing to the temporal persistence and spatial recurrence of filaments, the filament transport largely constitutes a time-mean flux, while the time-varying component, i.e., the turbulent flux, is comparatively small. At distances beyond 500 km from the coast, eddies dominate the mesoscale offshore transport. Although their contribution represents only 20 % of the total offshore flux and its divergence, eddies, especially cyclones, transport organic carbon offshore to distances as great as 2000 km from the coast. The eddy transport largely represents a turbulent flux, but striations in this transport highlight the existence of typical formation spots and recurrent offshore propagation pathways. While they propagate slowly, eddies are an important organic carbon reservoir for the open waters, as they contain, on average, a third of the organic carbon in this region, two thirds of which is found in cyclones. Our analysis confirms the importance of mesoscale processes for the offshore organic carbon transport and the fueling of the heterotrophic activity in the eastern subtropical North Atlantic, and highlights the need to consider the mesoscale flux in order to fully resolve the three-dimensionality of the marine organic carbon cycle.


Abstract At the end of the nineteenth century, China found itself torn between its imperial past and its nation-state future. By the time it became a Republic in 1911, China had to redefine its territory in new national sovereign terms. Until then its territory had been inscribed in more malleable frontiers and boundaries within the normative framework of the so-called 'tribute system'. The article shows how, applying the new legal techniques of empire learned from the West, the Chinese central government, wherever possible, attempted to expand its new sovereign domain in territories like Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia, where, according to international law, all the prerequisites existed for national self-determination and independence. In the context of opposing British and Tibetan claims, the Chinese appropriation of international law in the Republican period (1911–1949) helped China not only to assert itself in the international domain as a sovereign state, defending itself against Western imperialism, but also to pursue its own fictional imperial claims over Tibet, without which the Communists' 'liberation' of Tibet would have not been possible. The paper highlights the interplay of imperial techniques based on international law, the relativity of this legal language, and how the strategies of empire are not only a prerogative of the West, but can be quickly adopted by those who have been subjected to them, resulting in a vicious circle.


This paper defines a framework for anticommons analysis based on the fragmentation of property rights. In differentiating between sequential and simultaneous cases of property fragmentation, we describe and assess the equilibria obtained under each scenario. Our model reveals how the private incentives of excluders do not capture the external effects of their decisions. Moreover, our model suggests that the result of underutilization of joint property increases monotonically in both (a) the extent of fragmentation; and (b) the foregone synergies and complementarities between the property fragments. Within this context, we can therefore explore important implications for possible institutional responses to a range of issues raised by the concept of property fragmentation.


Boron and boron rich solids are known to have a high concentration on intrinsic structural imperfections. From known structure data of real crystals and known band structure calculations of perfect ideal crystals a correlation between intrinsic structure defect concentration and electron deficit in the valence band is concluded. This correlation forms the basis for the following theses: 1. The electron deficit in the valence band of a perfect crystal is the driving force for the intrinsic structure defects in a real crystal. 2. The small electron deficit becomes compensated by the structure defects - this explains the semiconducting behavior. 3. The structure defects are the reason for the high density of localized electronic states in the band gap. The photoluminescence of beta-rhombohedral boron in the range 0.75eV to 1.4eV under interband excitation was investigated systematically and was interpreted using the one-dimensional Franck-Conden-Model. The only partially occupied B13-position in beta-rhombohedra l boron is suggested to be the reason for the localized electronic state, which is involved in the photoluminescence process. Together with an investigation of the time-depending photoconductivity under interband excitation the energy band schema of beta-rhombohedral boron is improved. The improved energy band schema is able to explain all known experimental data including the fatiguing of photoluminescence. An investigation of FIR-spectra of boron carbide and metal doped beta-rhombohedral boron by Kramers-Kronig-Analysis gives information on the main transport processes. Beside hopping conduction of localized electrons, band conduction of delocalized electrons were found. While holes in the valence band are the delocalized charge carriers in boron carbide, in vanadium doped beta-rhombohedral boron delocalized electrons in an extrinsic impurity band are suggested


OBJECTIVE
Of particular public health concern to the Jamaican authorities is the consistently high numbers of new HIV infections among adolescents and young adults. The thrust in HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns has largely been toward an increase in knowledge and attitudes as opposed to personality variables. However, it is widely believed that persons with high interpersonal skills may be less likely to engage in sex risk behaviours. This study investigated interpersonal competence as a personality characteristic associated with sexual risk-taking among Jamaican adolescents.

METHODS
A cross-sectional survey of 500 adolescents, ages 13-18 years (250 males and 250 females) from nine randomly selected secondary government schools within Kingston and St Andrew was used. The sample ensured maximum variation in age groups. The BarOn EQ-i:YV(S) was utilized to provide a measure of interpersonal competence and the Sex Risk Scale from the Adolescent Risk Inventory acted as a measure of sex risk behaviours. The Spearman's rho correlational statistic was used to investigate the hypothesis.

RESULTS
Of the students surveyed, 58.6% reported that they were sexually active; 31.8% reported having multiple sexual partners and 28.2% reporting inconsistent condom use. A significant, inverse relationship was observed between interpersonal competence and sex risk behaviours (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION
This research provided evidence that adolescents with high interpersonal skills are less likely to participate in risky sexual behaviours. Therefore, interventions aimed at reducing risky adolescent sexual practices might benefit from the inclusion of strategies to build interpersonal skills.


Article History: Received: 28 Jun. 2017 Accepted: 26 Aug. 2017 Existing methods presented in references and standards for calculation of berth occupancy ratio, are more concentrated on container terminals. However, some empirical formulas can be found to predict the berth occupancy, but these methods are neither accurate enough nor economically wise to be employed for the prediction of berth occupancy ratio in large and complex bulk liquid terminals. Therefore, it is attempted in this paper to introduce a method for more precise prediction of berth occupancy ratio for bulk liquid terminals. In the proposed method for calculation of berth occupancy ratio in bulk liquid terminals, times which is not used for loading/unloading operation is investigated. The loading/unloading lost factor is considered in calculations in order to calculate the operational value for loading/unloading rate. Next, practical values for these items are given based on previous authors' experiences. Finally, a case study is performed for a liquid bulk petrochemical terminal to specify the presented method. Results show 24% difference between new method and old empirical formulas.


Background Survival after post-transplant recurrence of HCC is dismal, and almost all treatments for recurrent HCC are off-labeled, without an extensive large-scale analysis. We aimed to delineate their post-recurrence courses and define benchmarks for comparing future treatment effectiveness. Methods Three national databases, including health insurance, catastrophic illness, and the cause of death, were linked for cohort establishment and data collection during the period from 2005 to 2016. Patients with HCC recurrence ≥6 months after transplant surgery and under treatment were recruited for survival analysis. Selection of treatment strategies for HCC recurrence after liver transplant was based on the same criteria for those without liver transplant. Results Of 2,123 liver transplant recipients, 349 developed HCC recurrence ≥6 months after liver transplant, and the median recurrence time was 17.8 months post-transplant. Within 2 years of treatment, 61% patients showed recurrence (early recurrence group), and survival in these patients was poorer than in the late recurrence group. According to a multivariable analysis, the transplant era before 2008 and radiofrequency ablation were associated with good prognosis, whereas receiving sorafenib and radiotherapy was associated with poor prognosis. The effect of transplant era became insignificant after stratification by recently receiving pretransplant transarterial chemoembolization. Conclusion Timing of recurrence and interventions used were associated with the outcomes of patients with post-transplant HCC recurrence. These data provide the benchmark and indicate the critical period and high-risk factors for further therapeutic trial consideration.


We provide the first attempt to understand how differences in households' socio-demographic and economic characteristics account for disparities in wealth inequality between five post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. We use 2013/2014 data from the second wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) and the reweighted Oaxaca-Blinder-like decompositions based on recentered influence function (RIF) regressions. Our results show that the differences in homeownership rates account for up to 42% of the difference in wealth inequality measured with the Gini index and for as much as 63-109% in case of the P50/P25 percentile ratio. Differences in homeownership rates are related to alternative designs of housing tax policies but could be also driven by other factors. We correct for the problem of the 'missing rich' in household surveys by calibrating the HFCS survey weights to top wealth shares adjusted using wealth data from national rich lists. Empirically, the correction procedure strengthens the importance of homeownership rates in accounting for cross-country wealth inequality differences, which suggests that our results are not sensitive to the significant underestimation of top wealth observations in the HFCS.


Management practices that alter plant residue production and distribution influence SOC (soil organic carbon) dynamics. The objectives of this study were to investigate the impacts of tillage, cropping system, and N fertilization on SOC and soil N pools through physical fractionation of a central Texas soil after 20 yr. Nitrogen fertilization and no-tillage (NT) significantly increased wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw yield. Compared with conventional tillage (CT), SOC under NT in surface (0-5-cm) samples was 38, 69, and 68% greater for continuous wheat (CW), wheat-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]-sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] rotation (SWS), and double-cropped wheat-soybean (WS), respectively. The greatest SOC was observed in WS under NT with N fertilization, and the lowest occurred in CW under CT without N. Increased cropping intensity increased SOC compared with monoculture. Nitrogen fertilization only significantly increased SOC sequestration under NT. No-tillage increased SOC concentration in all physical size fractions compared with CT. Increased cropping intensity and N fertilization significantly increased SOC sequestration in most size fractions only under NT. Intraparticulate organic matter C (IPOM-C) was proportionally more affected by tillage than total SOC, indicating that this fraction was more sensitive to management. Carbon concentrations in all size fractions were significantly correlated with each other as well as SOC. Our results indicated that NT associated with enhanced cropping intensity and N fertilization sequestered greater SOC and soil total N.


Climate change and armed civil conflict are both linked to socioeconomic development, although conditions that facilitate peace may not necessarily facilitate mitigation and adaptation to climate change. While economic growth lowers the risk of conflict, it is generally associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions and costs of climate mitigation policies. This study investigates the links between growth, climate change, and conflict by simulating future civil conflict using new scenario data for five alternative socioeconomic pathways with different mitigation and adaptation assumptions, known as the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs). We develop a statistical model of the historical effect of key socioeconomic variables on country-specific conflict incidence, 1960–2013. We then forecast the annual incidence of conflict, 2014–2100, along the five SSPs. We find that SSPs with high investments in broad societal development are associated with the largest reduction in conflict risk. This is most pronounced for the least developed countries—poverty alleviation and human capital investments in poor countries are much more effective instruments to attain global peace and stability than further improvements to wealthier economies. Moreover, the SSP that describes a sustainability pathway, which poses the lowest climate change challenges, is as conducive to global peace as the conventional development pathway.


Precast concrete technology has become an emerging trend in Malaysian
Construction Industry. Hence, there is a niche in developing a set of standardised
and optimised precast concrete elements as well as connections for a speedy,
affordably and better quality residential building.
By studying the preferred sizes of the structural members in the existing and
combined with the standards of Modular Coordination System; the
standardization of precast concrete elements for skeletal framing type of structure
can be achieved.
This thesis had also covered the economy part of the elements by comparing the
costs of producing these elements for different sets of dimension and reinforcement combinations until deriving to a most cost effective section with
the respective span.
Nearly 300 types of precast concrete elements and connections that have been
standardised and optimised through the above mentioned process for skeletal
framing residential structures. This is to streamline the precast concrete industry
towards proper metrication and cost efficiency in planning, design, construction,
assembly and manufacturing of these elements and joints.
Case study on application of standardised precast elements and connections of a
residential building - Putra Apartment has proven the practicability of these
elements and connections in the building.


This paper examines the use of exclusive dealing agreements to prevent the entry of rival firms. An exclusive dealing agreement is a contract between a buyer and a seller where the buyer commits to buy a good exclusively from the seller. One main concern of the literature is to explain how an incumbent seller is able to persuade the buyers to sign an exclusive dealing agreement that deters the entry of a more efficient rival seller. We propose a new explanation when the buyers are downstream firms and both the seller and the buyers face the threat of entry. In this case, the entry of more efficient upstream seller, by decreasing the market power of the upstream firms, can make entry in the downstream market more attractive. This can lead to further entry in the downstream market and to an increase in the competition faced by the downstream firms. Since part of the bigger surplus created by the entry of a more efficient seller is now captured by the downstream entrant firms, entry in the upstream market does not necessarily benefit the incumbent downstream firms.


Purpose – Progress in retrofitting the UK's commercial properties continues to be slow and fragmented. New research from the UK and USA suggests that radical changes are needed to drive large-scale retrofitting, and that new and innovative models of financing can create new opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to offer insights into the terminology of retrofit and the changes in UK policy and practice that are needed to scale up activity in the sector.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews and synthesises key published research into commercial property retrofitting in the UK and USA and also draws on policy and practice from the EU and Australia.

Findings – The paper provides a definition of "retrofit", and compares and contrasts this with "refurbishment" and "renovation" in an international context. The paper summarises key findings from recent research and suggests that there are a number of policy and practice measures which need to be implemented in the UK for commercial retrofitting to succeed at scale. These include improved funding vehicles for retrofit; better transparency in actual energy performance; and consistency in measurement, verification and assessment standards.

Practical implications – Policy and practice in the UK needs to change if large-scale commercial property retrofit is to be rolled out successfully. This requires mandatory legislation underpinned by incentives and penalties for non-compliance.

Originality/value – This paper synthesises recent research to provide a set of policy and practice recommendations which draw on international experience, and can assist on implementation in the UK.


The composition of ice from four case studies based on the facies, solute, stable isotope, and debris content reveals compositional differences reflective of different modes of ice formation. In Southern McMurdo Sound, there is a distinctive geochemical signature that differentiates between meteoric-origin and marine-origin ice. Analysis of the basal ice of three glaciers from the McMurdo Dry Valleys shows that liquid water does contribute to its formation. The basal ice sequences are structurally and compositionally different and are reflective of different modes of formation or entrainment active at the glacier margins. In the cases of the Rhone and Wright Lower glaciers marginal sediments and liquid water are key to understanding the accretion of debris-rich ice and both have basal facies consistent with refreezing in subzero conditions. The liquid water is formed by ephemeral melt during the summer. In the Rhone Glacier, melt water refreezes on the apron and is entrained into the advancing glacier. By contrast, by the Wright Lower Glacier adjacent streams or ponds saturate unconsolidated sediments which are entrained during ice advance. In the Taylor Glacier, the basal ice is comprised of a thick sequence of intercalated layers of clean clear ice and fine-grained debris layers. These laminated facies have a solute composition consistent with evaporites formed from a relict seawater intrusion. The combination of entrained debris, high solutes and laminations is consistent with interaction at the glacier bed and regelation. Interpreting empirically derived co-isotopic slopes is problematic, as highlighted in the case study of the Taylor Glacier where laminated facies have all the hallmarks of refrozen ice, yet plot on a co-isotopic slope that is typically interpreted as meteoric. Similarly, ice from the McMurdo Ice Shelf shows a clear difference in absolute isotope values which is interpreted as being refrozen from seawater, yet its co-isotopic plot is statistically indistinguishable from the meteoric water line. The ice compositional approach has highlighted several shortcomings. Firstly, solutes deposited in inland areas have limited solute pathways and do not distinguish between different types of ice but are useful in distinguishing between marine and continental salts. Secondly, co-isotopic analysis to reconstruct freezing history is dependent on statistically-derived interpretations which do not explain slopes that lie between physically-based models of meteoric and freezing slopes. In empirical studies, slopes between 5 and 8 are common, and are probably cosmopolitan samples. Finally, ice composition is inconsistent between similar ice types in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, as similar facies have different ice compositions, and origins. This underlines the problem with the premise that structurally similar ice facies are formed by the same process.


THE EFFECT OF OPERATIONAL SEX RATIO ON THE REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY OF TWO SEX-CHANGING FISH (RHINOGOBIOPS NICHOLSII AND LYTHRYPNUS DALLI) by Stephen Pang Master of Science in Marine Science California State University Monterey Bay, 2019 By targeting the largest individuals in a population, size-selective fisheries can influence the life history traits and population parameters of exploited fish stocks. For protogynous (female-to-male) hermaphrodites, this type of harvest is also sex-selective since it preferentially removes males from the population. These differences in sex-specific survival can lead to populations that are heavily female-biased. While males historically have not been considered a limiting factor when assessing the health of gonochoristic populations, modeling work suggests that reduced male abundance and skewed sex ratios could cause a concomitant decline in the reproductive output of protogynous hermaphrodite populations. This study used two nestbrooding sex-changers, Lythrypnus dalli and Rhinogobiops nicholsii, to examine the effect of operational sex ratio on reproductive and nesting success, growth, and rates of sex change. Fish were outplanted on artificial patch reefs at varying sex ratios and their reproductive output was monitored by photographing eggs laid in artificial nests. Sex ratios ranged from 1:1 to 1:19 male:female. Fish were tagged so that growth and sex change could be determined upon recollection from the artificial reefs. For both L. dalli and R. nicholsii, total egg production, female per capita production, average production per nest, and the number of nests per reef were not affected by sex ratio. By contrast, male per capita production and the percentage of males that nested significantly increased as sex ratios became more female-biased. For R. nicholsii, growth rates were highest for individuals that completed sex change during the experimental period. During the breeding season, the frequency of sex change for R. nicholsii was highest on reefs that were strongly female-biased; there was no effect of sex ratio on the frequency of sex change during the non-breeding season. In L. dalli and R. nicholsii, it appears that males do not limit the reproductive output of heavily female-biased populations as had been predicted by previous modeling work. Instead, for species that defend demersal nests, intrasexual competition between males (i.e., territory and mate monopolization) or females (i.e. competition for nest space) may limit total production when operational sex ratios are more balanced or more femalebiased, respectively. As sex ratios became skewed in favor of females, male-male competition was relaxed and individual males became more reproductively successful; the discrepancy in per capita production between males and females at skewed sex ratios indicates that some females would increase their reproductive success by undergoing sex reversal (as demonstrated by R. nicholsii during the breeding season). It is possible that some of the results on reproductive success from this study are specific to nest-brooding or pair spawning species.


Understanding the seasonal phenology of an insect pest in a specific geographic region is essential for optimizing the timing of management actions or research activities. We examined the phenology of hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand, near the southern limit of the range of eastern hemlock, Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carriere, in the Appalachians of northern Georgia, where adelgid phenology has not been previously reported. Adelges tsugae- infested hemlock trees were visited at various sites from 2004 - 2007. Two hemlock twigs were collected from each of 3 hemlock trees per site, except during the final 3 months of sampling when 1 twig was collected from each of 3 trees per site. Progrediens adults initiated oviposition by midMay, 2 - 4 weeks earlier than has been reported for more northern parts of the adelgid range. Sistens eggs were present until late-June (2006) or early-July (2004 - 2005). After aestivation, sistens nymphs resumed development by early October. Sistens adults were first found in early January and were present until midMay. Progrediens eggs were noted as early as February (2005 - 2007), were abundant in March and April, and persisted until midMay. Progrediens crawlers were present by early March and occurred throughout the next 2 - 3 months. Progrediens adults were found between midMay and late June. This information may be used to help optimize release of biological control agents to insure proper synchronization with adelgid life stages and to aid in collection of food for predator rearing facilities.


The Pacific is historically an area of enormous linguistic diversity, where talk figures as a central component of social life. Pacific communities also represent diverse contact zones, where between indigenous and introduced institutions and ideas; between local actors and outsiders; and involving different lingua franca, colonial, and local language varieties. Contact between colonial and post-colonial governments, religious institutions, and indigenous communities has spurred profound social change, irrevocably transforming linguistic ideologies and practices. Drawing on ethnographic and linguistic analyses, this edited volume examines situations of intertwined linguistic and cultural change unfolding in specific Pacific locations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Its overarching concern is with the multiple ways that processes of historical change have shaped and been shaped by linguistic ideologies - reflexive sensibilities about languages and language use - held by Pacific peoples and other agents of change. The essays demonstrate that language and linguistic practices are linked to changing consciousness of self and community through notions of agency, morality, affect, authority, and authenticity. In times of cultural contact, communities often experience language change at an accelerated rate. This is particularly so in small-scale communities where innovations and continuity routinely depend on the imagination, creativity, and charisma of fewer individuals. The essays in this volume provide evidence of this potential and a record of their voices, as they document new types of local actors, e.g., pastors, Bible translators, teachers, political activists, spirit mediums, and tour guides, some of whom introduce, innovate, legitimate, or resist new ideas and ways to express them through language. Drawing on and transforming metalinguistic concepts, local actors (re)shape language, reproducing and changing the communicative economy. In the process, they cultivate new cultural conceptions of language, for example, as a medium for communicating religious knowledge and political authority, and for constructing social boundaries and transforming relationships of domination.


The observation and analysis of current land-use practices in Sardinia, Italy, reveals a myriad of informal arrangements that reflect property relationships through which land use is organized in the interest of local economic development. These informal arrangements, and the different ways they have been incorporated into formal land-use regulations, are the focus of this study of two Sardinian provinces. Drawing on the author's participant observation, the paper looks at how common and private property types coexist with private and public property, in hybrid systems that are not transitional arrangements in an evolution toward private property. They result from engaged local involvement in setting the terms for property use, and can be efficient and sustainable. The author's research also aims to contribute to the debate on property, with specific reference to the presence of hybrid property regimes in Europe, as well as other world regions. The paper's conclusions reflect on the lessons that could be taken from the study, with particular reference to next European Union budget cycle of 2014-2020.


This international volume offers new perspectives on social and psychological aspects of the complex dynamic of depression. The twenty-one contributors from thirteen countries - Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Haiti, India, Israel, Nepal, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and the United States - represent contexts with very different histories, political and economic structures, and gender role disparities. Authors rely on Silencing the Self theory, which details the negative psychological effects when individuals silence themselves in close relationships and the importance of the social context in precipitating depression. Specific patterns of thought about how to achieve closeness in relationships (self-silencing schema) are known to predict depression. This book breaks new ground by demonstrating that the linkage of depressive symptoms with self-silencing occurs across a range of cultures. We offer a new view of gender differences in depression situated in the formation and consequences of self-silencing, including differing motivational aims, norms of masculinity and femininity, and the broader social context of gender inequality. The book offers evidence regarding why women's depression is more wide-spread than men's and why the treatment of depression lies in understanding that a person's individual psychology is inextricably related to the social world and close relationships. Authors examine not only gender differences in depression but also related aspects of mental and physical illness, including treatments specific to women. Several chapters describe the transformative possibilities of community-driven movements for disadvantaged women that support healing through a recovery of voice, and describe the need for systemic and structural changes to counter violations of human rights as a means of reducing women's risk of depression. Bringing the work of these researchers together in one collection furthers international dialogue about critical social factors that affect the rising rates of depression around the globe.


Since the adoption of the U.N. Charter, the international community has worked tirelessly to prevent conflict through the prohibition on the use of force and the principle of nonintervention. However, the doctrine of intervention by invitation stands in stark contrast to this goal, especially its most recent iteration in Syria. The doctrine relies on the consent of states to determine the lawfulness of intervention. But consent is simply not sufficient to guarantee that the use of force does not transgress self-determination, popular government, human rights, and other international legal values. This Note proposes that a rebuttable presumption against intervention should be imposed against nondemocratic States. Unless a nondemocratic State can affirmatively demonstrate the intervention's compliance with a State's other international legal commitments, the intervention should be presumed unlawful. The rebuttable presumption would serve to discourage use of force, but respect a people's nondemocratic expression of sovereign government. In light of all the alternatives, no rule offers the same inclusivity and flexibility required for action on the international plane. This is demonstrated most clearly by Russia's intervention in Syria, whereby a rebuttable presumption could have prevented this additional military force or induced Syria to better comply with its international responsibilities.


Kink has become a more widely discussed sexual practice over time. Recent pop culture releases like the publication of Fifty Shades of Grey have increased this discussion. Cosmopolitan magazine (Cosmo) is one of the most well-known women's magazines in the world and its sexual advice is one of its defining characteristics. Using both quantitative and qualitative approaches, I examine Cosmo's depictions of kink from 1996 to 2014. Cosmo was more likely to mention kink in later years than in earlier ones, and its mentions of kink in later years were more likely to be positive. These mentions were most common the year after Fifty Shades of Grey was published. However, though the magazine bills itself as edgy and boundary pushing, Cosmo's sexual advice over the study period tended to reinforce the existing status quo that prioritizes male sexuality and tasked women with fulfilling their partner's sexual needs. INDEX WORDS: Kink, BDSM, Content analysis, Lifestyle magazine, Popular media, Gender SHOULD GOOD GIRLS LIKE BAD SEX?: REPRESENTATIONS OF KINK IN COSMO


From clinical history 58 children were diagnosed as having reflex anoxic seizures secondary to provoked cardioinhibition (also known as white breath-holding attacks). Before referral, these seizures were commonly misdiagnosed as epileptic either because the provocation was ignored, not recognised, or was a febrile illness, or because there was no crying, no obvious breath-holding, little cyanosis, and often no pallor to suggest syncope and cerebral ischaemia. The duration of cardiac asystole after ocular compression was measured in these children and in 60 additional children with other paroxysmal disorders. In 45 (78%) of the 58 with reflex anoxic seizures asystole was 2 seconds or over, and in 32 (55%) it was 4 seconds or greater, an abnormal response. Review of the literature supports the concept that these seizures result from vagal-mediated reflex cardiac arrest which can if necessary be prevented by atropine. The simple name 'vagal attack' is proposed. Ocular compression under EEG and ECG control supports the clinical diagnosis if asystole and/or an anoxic seizure is induced; the procedure described is safe and should be routine in seizure or syncope evaluation, when a meticulous history still leaves room for doubt.


We develop a new operator splitting formulation for the simulation of corotated linearly elastic solids with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH). Based on the technique of Kugelstadt et al. [2018] originally developed for the Finite Element Method (FEM), we split the elastic energy into two separate terms corresponding to stretching and volume conservation, and based on this principle, we design a splitting scheme compatible with SPH. The operator splitting scheme enables us to treat the two terms separately, and because the stretching forces lead to a stiffness matrix that is constant in time, we are able to prefactor the system matrix for the implicit integration step. Solid-solid contact and fluid-solid interaction is achieved through a unified pressure solve. We demonstrate more than an order of magnitude improvement in computation time compared to a state-of-the-art SPH simulator for elastic solids. We further improve the stability and reliability of the simulation through several additional contributions. We introduce a new implicit penalty mechanism that suppresses zero-energy modes inherent in the SPH formulation for elastic solids, and present a new, physics-inspired sampling algorithm for generating high-quality particle distributions for the rest shape of an elastic solid. We finally also devise an efficient method for interpolating vertex positions of a high-resolution surface mesh based on the SPH particle positions for use in high-fidelity visualization.


Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is a marine macroalgae that contains a rich source of fibers, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. However, systematic studies on the effects of dehydration and drying on the kelp composition and quality attributes are limited. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of process parameters of a convective air-oven on the quality and nutritional attributes of dried sugar kelp. The study evaluated the effects of hot air drying temperature, humidity and time on the physicochemical properties (water activity, moisture content, pH, color, water holding capacity, oil holding capacity, ash content, fat content and vitamin C) of sugar kelp during drying. The ash content of the samples was found to be in the range of 23.32% 33.05% (dry basis) and is inversely correlated with the water holding capacity (r = -0.84) and oil holding capacity (r = -0.84), which suggest that the textural properties in kelp are highly dependent on the ash content irrespective of the drying temperature and humidity conditions. Further, the results indicated that the moisture content was dependent on the humidity and decreased with an increase of drying temperature. The water activity of dried kelp was below 0.66 for all samples, which was expected due to the free and bound water taken out during the drying process. Heat sensitive nutrients such as vitamin C showed a positive correlation with respect to the drying temperature (30°C to 70°C), which indicates that the drying time has a significant effect (p<0.05) on vitamin C.


Abstract.
 The middle part of the Santa Rosita Formation (Tremadocian) is well exposed in the Iruya area, northwestern Argentina. At the Pantipampa and Rodeo Colorado localities, it is composed of shale and sandstone representing a wave-dominated shelf with influence of storm activity. Twenty-two trilobite species are described from these localities. Low-diversity assemblages from the lower part of the succession (Kainella meridionalis Kobayashi, Asaphellus catamarcensis Kobayashi, Leptoplastides marianus [Hoek]) are diagnostic of the early Tremadocian Kainella meridionalis Zone. Trilobites from the middle part of the sequence are much more diverse. Kainella teiichii Vaccari and Waisfeld, Gymnagnostus kobayashii n. sp., Conophrys sp. indet., Asaphellus clarksoni n. sp., A. stenorhachis (Harrington), A. isabelae Meroi Arcerito, Waisfeld and Balseiro, Ogygiocaris? iruyensis n. sp., Niobe (Niobella) inflecta (Harrington and Leanza) n. comb., Metayuepingia riccardii n. sp., Pseudokainella keideli Harrington, Apatokephalus rugosus n. sp., Onychopyge acenolazai n. sp., O. gonzalezae n. sp., Nileus cingolanii n. sp., N. erici n. sp., Leptoplastides marianus, Parabolinella sp. indet., Hapalopleura sp. indet., and Ceratopygidae gen. et sp. indet., occur at different levels of the Kainella teiichii Zone. This biostratigraphic unit includes the oldest records of Nileus Dalman and Ogygiocaris? Angelin; Metayuepingia Liu, Niobe (Niobella) Reed, and Onychopyge Harrington are here first reported from the Tremadocian of southwest Gondwana. Finally, the uppermost part of the succession is characterized by the absence of the genus Kainella Walcott and the occurrence of Bienvillia tetragonalis (Harrington), Asaphellus stenorhachis, Pseudokainella keideli and Leptoplastides sp. indet., which are indicative of the middle Tremadocian Bienvillia tetragonalis Zone. The trilobites described in this paper provide a basis for the refinement of correlations with other Lower Ordovician sections of the Cordillera Oriental. The genera recognized have their closest affinities with faunas from Scandinavia, Great Britain, and China.


A large number of micropropagated plantlets of banana, Musa acuminata var. Nanjanagudu Rasabale (NR), that were developed from axillary shoot bud explants over 10 years ago were screened for genetic variation, if any, using RAPD (Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA) and ISSR (Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats) markers. Of the 4000 in vitro plantlets, 11 were used for screening that involved shoot cultures with distinct variation in morphological characteristics (morphotypes). Similarly, the mother maintained in the field was also subjected for genetic analysis. Out of the 50 RAPD and 25 ISSR primers screened, 30 RAPD and 5 ISSR primers produced totally 424 clear, distinct and reproducible band classes resulting in a total of 5088 bands where the banding patterns for each primer was highly uniform and comparable to the field-grown mother clone from which the cultures had been established. These results indicate that the micropropagation protocol developed by us for rapid in vitro multiplication is appropriate and applicable for clonal propagation of banana var. NR over a long period. This is the first report on the use of genetic markers to establish genetic fidelity of long-term micropropagated banana using RAPD and ISSR.


This article explores the scientific and literary work of William Rowan Hamilton (1805-1865). Hamilton was recognised as one of the finest scientists of his generation, and he made lasting contributions to the discipline that eventually became known as 'physics'. In addition, though, he was fascinated by the relationship between mathematics and poetry. He wrote extensively about this subject, and, from 1827 onwards, he sustained a close friendship with Wordsworth who provided detailed critical analyses of Hamilton's own poems. Influenced by these revealing exchanges, Hamilton identified poetical qualities in physical and mathematical treatises, and this article probes his views concerning these perceived interconnections with reference to other 'Romantic' scientists such as Humphry Davy. In particular, Hamilton's striking claim that a text such as Joseph-Louis Lagrange's Mecanique Analytique (1788) can be viewed as 'a kind of scientific poem' is assessed.


Gustave Flaubert, one of the key figures in literary modernism, is famous for his determined pursuit of stylistic perfection. This notably involved the attempt to eliminate from his prose all sorts of assonances, consonances, and repetitions, in large measure by reading his sentences in a loud voice-the test of what he called the gueuloir (from gueuler, to yell). And yet when one examines closely the prose in his first novel, Madame Bovary, one becomes aware of a host of repetitions that appear to go directly against his stylistic ideal, revealing a level of "resistance" to that ideal at the very heart of his writing process. In this book Michael Fried presents two long essays: the first on Madame Bovary, in which the problem of critical understanding posed by this discovery is explored in depth; and the second on Flaubert's remarkable second novel, Salammbo, in which the conflict between the drive for perfection and certain automatistic tendencies in Madame Bovary is replaced by a determination to extend the rule of authorial will throughout every aspect and level of the text. Furthermore, drawing on his wide knowledge of nineteenth-century French painting and criticism, Fried suggests that there exist strong analogies between what goes on in Flaubert's writing and what can be seen to take place in the art of Courbet, Manet, and Legros.


This briefing paper provides a synthesis of and introduction to key lessons from evaluations of relief and recovery/humanitarian response to flooding in the last 20 years from Africa, Asia and the Americas. The paper is intended for people working in relief and recovery operations for floods – those who have to decide if, when and how to intervene. Selected reading references are mentioned after each of the issues discussed and a listing of key resources and a bibliography of the evaluations used are included at the end of the paper.


We designed a survey on software engineering excellence (SEE) and administered it in 2005, 2006 and 2007 with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to better understand the mechanism of how software engineering capabilities relate to IT vendors' business performance and business environment. We measured the SEE survey results with regard to seven factors: deliverables, project management, quality assurance, process improvement, research and development, human development, and contact with customers. In this paper, we integrated 233 valid responses to the SEE surveys received over three years into a new database and identified 151 unique IT firms. We conducted panel analyses of the seven SEE factors using the three years of data to clarify what influence SEE factors have within a year, year-toyear, and mid-term. Based on the results of the panel analysis, our first observation is that most SEE factors for a year had significant positive influences on the same factors the next year. Second, there were three paths to improving the level of deliverables through project management, quality assurance and research and development in a year. Third, some SEE factors had significant positive influence on different SEE factors in the following year. Fourth, there were some negative paths, implying that effort put toward a particular factor did not pay off during the duration of our research. These efforts, however, might be expected to have longer-term effects on other SEE factors.


ABSTRACT Proposed depositional models for Miocene Amazon foreland basin strata (Pebas Formation, Peru) are controversial. Recent depositional models include lacustrine and tidally influenced, brackish-water embayment. This paper presents data that support tidally influenced, brackish-water deposition for at least part of Pebas time (10-14 Ma). Two parasequences are presented (Santa Julia and Tamshiyacu). Both crop out along the Amazon River in Upper Amazonia near Iquitos, Peru. At these locations, abundant evidence of brackish-water, tidally influenced deposition is documented, including marginal marine bioturbation, sedimentary couplets, semidiurnal couplets (preserved in burrows), and pinstripe lamination. The deposits are locally highly bioturbated. At both locations ichnogenera normally associated with marine to brackish-water depositional environments are common. Three normally marginal-marine ichnofabrics are reported: (1) a Chondrites-reburrowed, Planolites ichnofabric resident only in massive-appearing muds; (2) a Scolicia (Laminites), Thalassinoides, Ophiomorpha ichnofabric that is manifested as intensely bioturbated silty sands; and (3) a Thalassinoides-generated ichnofabric that is interpreted to have descended into consolidated substrates and is thus representative of the Glossifungites Ichnofacies. Several trace fossils contain laminated infills organized into distinct sedimentary couplets that are best interpreted as resulting from semidiurnal processes. Six conclusions are arrived at: (1) sedimentological and ichnological data consistently indicate that sediment accumulation dominantly occurred in sporadically dysaerobic, marine to brackish water, under a tidal influence; (2) sediment accumulation occurred in bay-margin environments that prograded into a shallow, quiescent bay; (3) a stratified water column is indicated by the ichnofauna; (4) low accommodation space, repetitive and rapid adjustments of relative sea level, shallow wave base, and a stratified water column combined to generate an atypical parasequence architecture; (5) previously published isotopic data are consistent with sediment accumulation in brackish to marine water; and (6) marine incursion into Amazonia occurred during the Middle Miocene.


BACKGROUND: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy is used for patients with respiratory failure. Recently, HFNC therapy with very high gas flows (ie, gas flows of 60–100 L/min) was reported to generate higher positive airway pressure and an associated decrease in breathing frequency. However, the humidification of HFNC therapy with very high gas flow remains to be clarified. METHODS: We evaluated 3 heated humidifier systems: a single MR850, the Hummax2, and parallel MR850s. The MR850 is a pass-over humidifier system, and the Hummax2 works with a porous hollow polyethylene fiber membrane. The parallel MR850 system included 2 MR850s connected in parallel to the lung with a 22 mm Y-piece. Gas flow was set at 40–90 L/min in increments of 10 L/min, and FIO2 was set at 0.21. Heated humidifiers in the MR850 systems were set in invasive mode (40°C/−3), and with the Hummax2 the vapor temperature was set at 39°C. The simulated external nares were connected to a test lung via a standard ventilator circuit. One-way valves prevented mixing of inspired and expired gases. Compliance of the test lung was 0.05 L/cm H2O and resistance 5 cm H2O/L/s. Simulated tidal volumes (VT) were 300, 500, and 700 mL, with a breathing frequency of 10 or 20 breaths/min and an inspiratory time of 1.0 s. Temperature, relative humidity, and absolute humidity (AH) of inspired gas downstream of the external nares were measured using a hygrometer for 1 min, and results for the last 3 breaths were extracted. RESULTS: With the single MR850, when gas flow was > 80 L/min, AH decreased as gas flow increased (P < .001). With the Hummax2, as gas flow increased, AH decreased (P < .001). With the parallel MR850s, regardless of gas flow, AH was constant. As breathing frequency increased, AH increased in all systems. CONCLUSIONS: During HFNC therapy with very high gas flows in this bench study, conventional heated humidifiers did not provide adequate humidification. Caution is advised when using HFNC therapy with very high gas flows with conventional heated humidifiers.


Life history traits of lizard species, including agamid species, generally involve male-larger body size, but age of these species has not adequately been examined in each cohort. We thus conducted a skeletochronological study using 16 preserved specimens of Paralaudakia caucasia (8 males, 6 females, and 2 juveniles) captured from Elmadag, Igdir, Turkey. Mean snout-vent length was slightly but insignificantly larger in males (120.2 mm) than in females (115.9 mm). Maximum longevity was 10 years in males and 6 years in females. No significant difference in age structure was found between the sexes. Juveniles were 2-year old young. Mean age was 7.12 years for males and 5.33 years for females. Sexually matured individuals were found at the end of the second or third years (i.e., first reproduction occurred at 3 – 4 years). A positive correlation was detected in age and body size in both sexes, as has previously been shown in other lizard species. Our finding of age structure in P. caucasia would contribute to our understanding of life-history trait variations among lizard species.