BACKGROUND
In most pregnancies that miscarry, arrest of embryonic or fetal development occurs some time (often weeks) before the miscarriage occurs. Ultrasound examination can reveal abnormal findings during this phase by demonstrating anembryonic pregnancies or embryonic or fetal death. Treatment has traditionally been surgical but medical treatments may be effective, safe, and acceptable, as may be waiting for spontaneous miscarriage. This is an update of a review first published in 2006.

OBJECTIVES
To assess, from clinical trials, the effectiveness and safety of different medical treatments for the termination of non-viable pregnancies.

SEARCH METHODS
For this update, we searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register, ClinicalTrials.gov, the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (24 October 2018) and reference lists of retrieved studies.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised trials comparing medical treatment with another treatment (e.g. surgical evacuation), or placebo, or no treatment for early pregnancy failure. Quasi-randomised studies were excluded. Cluster-randomised trials were eligible for inclusion, as were studies reported in abstract form, if sufficient information was available to assess eligibility.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and risk of bias, extracted data and checked them for accuracy. We assessed the quality of the evidence using the GRADE approach.

MAIN RESULTS
Forty-three studies (4966 women) were included. The main interventions examined were vaginal, sublingual, oral and buccal misoprostol, mifepristone and vaginal gemeprost. These were compared with surgical management, expectant management, placebo, or different types of medical interventions were compared with each other. The review includes a wide variety of different interventions which have been analysed across 23 different comparisons. Many of the comparisons consist of single studies. We limited the grading of the quality of evidence to two main comparisons: vaginal misoprostol versus placebo and vaginal misoprostol versus surgical evacuation of the uterus. Risk of bias varied widely among the included trials. The quality of the evidence varied between the different comparisons, but was mainly found to be very-low or low quality.Vaginal misoprostol versus placeboVaginal misoprostol may hasten miscarriage when compared with placebo: e.g. complete miscarriage (5 trials, 305 women, risk ratio (RR) 4.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.01 to 5.94; low-quality evidence). No trial reported on pelvic infection rate for this comparison. Vaginal misoprostol made little difference to rates of nausea (2 trials, 88 women, RR 1.38, 95% CI 0.43 to 4.40; low-quality evidence), diarrhoea (2 trials, 88 women, RR 2.21, 95% CI 0.35 to 14.06; low-quality evidence) or to whether women were satisfied with the acceptability of the method (1 trial, 32 women, RR 1.17, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.64; low-quality evidence). It is uncertain whether vaginal misoprostol reduces blood loss (haemoglobin difference > 10 g/L) (1 trial, 50 women, RR 1.25, 95% CI 0.38 to 4.12; very-low quality) or pain (opiate use) (1 trial, 84 women, RR 5.00, 95% CI 0.25 to 101.11; very-low quality), because the quality of the evidence for these outcomes was found to be very low.Vaginal misoprostol versus surgical evacuation Vaginal misoprostol may be less effective in accomplishing a complete miscarriage compared to surgical management (6 trials, 943 women, average RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.50; Heterogeneity: Tau² = 0.03, I² = 46%; low-quality evidence) and may be associated with more nausea (1 trial, 154 women, RR 21.85, 95% CI 1.31 to 364.37; low-quality evidence) and diarrhoea (1 trial, 154 women, RR 40.85, 95% CI 2.52 to 662.57; low-quality evidence). There may be little or no difference between vaginal misoprostol and surgical evacuation for pelvic infection (1 trial, 618 women, RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.37; low-quality evidence), blood loss (post-treatment haematocrit (%) (1 trial, 50 women, mean difference (MD) 1.40%, 95% CI -3.51 to 0.71; low-quality evidence), pain relief (1 trial, 154 women, RR 1.42, 95% CI 0.82 to 2.46; low-quality evidence) or women's satisfaction/acceptability of method (1 trial, 45 women, RR 0.67, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.11; low-quality evidence).Other comparisonsBased on findings from a single trial, vaginal misoprostol was more effective at accomplishing complete miscarriage than expectant management (614 women, RR 1.25, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.45). There was little difference between vaginal misoprostol and sublingual misoprostol (5 trials, 513 women, average RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.16; Heterogeneity: Tau² = 0.10, I² = 871%; or between oral and vaginal misoprostol in terms of complete miscarriage at less than 13 weeks (4 trials, 418 women), average RR 0.68, 95% CI 0.45 to 1.03; Heterogeneity: Tau² = 0.13, I² = 90%). However, there was less abdominal pain with vaginal misoprostol in comparison to sublingual (3 trials, 392 women, RR 0.58, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.74). A single study (46 women) found mifepristone to be more effective than placebo: miscarriage complete by day five after treatment (46 women, RR 9.50, 95% CI 2.49 to 36.19). However the quality of this evidence is very low: there is a very serious risk of bias with signs of incomplete data and no proper intention-to-treat analysis in the included study; and serious imprecision with wide confidence intervals. Mifepristone did not appear to further hasten miscarriage when added to a misoprostol regimen (3 trials, 447 women, RR 1.18, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.47).

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Available evidence from randomised trials suggests that medical treatment with vaginal misoprostol may be an acceptable alternative to surgical evacuation or expectant management. In general, side effects of medical treatment were minor, consisting mainly of nausea and diarrhoea. There were no major differences in effectiveness between different routes of administration. Treatment satisfaction was addressed in only a few studies, in which the majority of women were satisfied with the received intervention. Since the quality of evidence is low or very low for several comparisons, mainly because they included only one or two (small) trials; further research is necessary to assess the effectiveness, safety and side effects, optimal route of administration and dose of different medical treatments for early fetal death.


Liquid crystals are a unique and complicated class of phases of matter, also called "mesophases", which exhibit properties such as solid-like elasticity and anisotropy, and liquid-like flow. The industrial application of liquid crystals in display technology has revolutionized our lives. Most notably, it has enabled the development of thin light displays presently found in many portable devices such as digital watches (and smartwatches), cellphones, laptops, desktop computer monitors and large screen televisions. With the recent advances in nanotechnology, liquid crystals have attracted much interest as a medium for dispersing and organizing nanoparticles, the presence of which also alters the properties of the liquid crystal host and gives rise to new composite materials. The possible applications of these new materials reach far beyond displays. However, in order to understand how to design devices based on liquid crystal-nanoparticle mixtures, it is first essential to understand the structure of the latter at molecular resolution. To this end, computer simulation can provide invaluable insights. This thesis presents a study using a pairwise intermolecular potential capable of describing interactions between liquid crystal molecules and nanoparticles in a liquid crystalnanoparticle mixture. The so-called Zewdie-Corner potential is a Lennard-Jones type anisotropic pairwise potential where strength (energy scale) and range (length scale) parameters are expanded in terms of an orthogonal basis set of functions with respect to relative orientation and separation distance. This molecular coarse-grained methodology has been employed to represent liquid crystal molecules with cylinder-like shapes and nanoparticles with spherical shapes. Equilibrium structures of domains comprised exclusively of liquid crystal molecules, as well as domains with varying number fractions of liquid crystal molecules and nanoparticles, have been investigated using the Monte Carlo simulation technique in the isobaric-isothermal ensemble. Thermodynamic observables have been calculated and used to draw conclusions as to the molecular-scale structure and thermodynamics of the simulated liquid crystal-nanoparticle mixtures.


Despite the absence of a final peace settlement, a dramatic improvement in security in war-ravaged northern Uganda is allowing displaced civilians to return home and has transformed the humanitarian operating environment. A transition is now under way from a relief effort led by international agencies to government-driven recovery. But that shift is generating new challenges for northern Ugandans and institutional confusion among the actors working to help them rebuild their lives. After decades of conflict and marginalisation, it is critical that the government of Uganda and its international partners bring a peace dividend to the North through an inclusive and co-ordinated recovery process.


Reliability in optical access networks is becoming a crucial issue for both operators and users due to the enormous increase of capacity and the importance of uninterrupted access to network services. Consequently, the growing number of users requesting penalties for connection interruptions is motivating for investing in protection mechanisms in fiber access networks. The investments involved depend on several aspects such as technology and covered area (population density, distance, type of users, etc.). Moreover, the passive optical network is considered one of the most beneficial fiber access solutions from the capital expenditures point of view; in particular, we are witnessing a wide deployment of TDM PONs. Keeping in mind that cost is a major issue in the access part of the network, in this article we propose a cost-efficient way to provide protection in a TDM PON considering different deployment scenarios in respect to population density in the access network area. The cost efficiency is obtained by taking advantage of investment cost reduction caused by sharing the same duct by both working and protection fibers. In order to evaluate the investment associated with the deployment of the proposed protection schemes, we take into account three different approaches: provide protection in the access network from the beginning, invest initially on an unprotected architecture keeping in mind a future upgrade with protection resources, and roll out an unprotected access network and, if needed in the future, invest in deployment of protection resources. The cost parameters considered in this article include investment in the infrastructure and installation, as well as the operational expenditures associated with failure reparation and service interruption penalties. Our results confirm that the proposed reliable PON architectures can achieve significant reduction of service interruption at very low increase in investment cost, leading to a great decrease of the total cost of ownership. Finally, some useful guidance for cost-efficient deployment of protection in fiber access networks is provided along with a sensitivity study to point out the key cost factors.


E-books have been around for more than 10 years but are still a relatively new phenomenon to many librarians and publishers. With the introduction of e-book readers, the e-book has become mainstream, with recent triple-digit annual increases in sales. But what place do they have in the library? In this volume, Sue Polanka brings together a variety of professionals to share their expertise about e-books with librarians and publishers. Providing forward-thinking ideas while remaining grounded in practical information that can be implemented in all kinds of libraries, the topics explored include .An introduction to e-books, the different types, and an overview of their history and development.E-book technology: general features of interfaces and e-book readers, best practices for acquisition, data standards, and how to track usage.Why e-books are good for learning, and how librarians can market them to a wide range of users, as illustrated by case studies and examples.This crucial collection is a must-read for librarians who wish to understand how e-books fit into today's library.


This paper presents results from a preliminary study of the effectiveness of using inquiry-guided learning instructional strategiesboth in chemical engineering classrooms and laboratories. For readers unfamiliar with the instructional strategy, the paperdescribes the general approach and then reports on results of its application for the fluid mechanics course taken by undergraduatestudents in the Chemical Engineering Department at Qatar University. Inquiry-guided activities were developed after a series ofinterviews with recent chemical engineering graduates and employers to gather data on difficulties of chemical engineeringgraduates during the transition period from the university to industry. Some common daily problems were gathered, discussed,listed and used to formulate in an inquiry guided activity structure. Students were asked to participate in a role-play approach inwhich client-contractor relationship and rules of engagements were simulated. Both laboratory projects and in-class inquiry guidedapproach were conducted. Student performance and ability to approach conceptual problems and design-related issues weremonitored and graded. Assessments were done after initial coverage of fundamentals of fluid mechanics (8 weeks into the course).Activities promoted in-class engagement and student performance was observed to enhance student performance and engagementto subject when compared to years at which the inquiry teaching methods were not used. This observation is observed to be validfor both with respect to conceptual approaches as well as design-related issues in the early stages of chemical engineeringeducation.


Gender inequality is costing sub-Saharan Africa on average $US95 billion a year, peaking at US$105 billion in 2014– or six percent of the region's GDP – jeopardising the continent's efforts for inclusive human development and economic growth, according to the Africa Human Development Report 2016. The report analyses the political, economic and social drivers that hamper African women's advancement and proposes policies and concrete actions to close the gender gap. These include addressing the contradiction between legal provisions and practice in gender laws; breaking down harmful social norms and transforming discriminatory institutional settings; and securing women's economic, social and political participation. Deeply-rooted structural obstacles such as unequal distribution of resources, power and wealth, combined with social institutions and norms that sustain inequality are holding African women, and the rest of the continent, back. The report estimates that a 1 percent increase in gender inequality reduces a country's human development index by 0.75 percent.


The field of robotics has advanced to the point where robots are being developed for use in fire environments to perform firefighting tasks. These environments contain varying levels of fire and smoke, both of which obstruct robotic perception sensors. In order to effectively use robots in fire environments, the issue of perception in the presence of smoke and fire needs to be addressed. The goal of this research was to address the problem of perception, specifically rangefinding, in fire smoke environments. A series of tests were performed in fire smoke filled environments to evaluate the performance of different commercial rangefinders and cameras as well as a longwavelength infrared (LWIR) stereo vision system developed in this research. The smoke was varied from dense, low temperature smoke to light, high temperature smoke for evaluation in a range of conditions. Through small-scale experiments on eleven different sensors, radar and LWIR cameras outperformed other perception sensors within both smoke environments. A LWIR stereo vision system was developed for rangefinding and compared to radar, LIDAR, and visual stereo vision in large-scale testing, demonstrating the ability of LWIR stereo vision to rangefind in dense smoke when LIDAR and visual stereo vision fail. LWIR stereo vision was further developed for improved rangefinding in fire environments. Intensity misalignment between cameras and stereo image filtering were addressed quantitatively. Tests were performed with approximately isothermal scenes and thermally diverse scenes to select subsystem methods. In addition, the effects of image filtering on feature distortion were assessed. Rangefinding improvements were quantified with comparisons to ground truth data. Improved perception in varying levels of clear and smoke conditions was developed through sensor fusion of LWIR stereo vision and a spinning LIDAR. The data were fused in a multi-resolution 3D voxel domain using evidential theory to model occupied


After 20 years of transition from an economy integrated in an exchange scheme of planned economies towards an open market economy based on the ideas of competition, we ask whether East German firms succeeded in finding their place in the international division of labour. We concentrate on the question, to what extent they have caught up with the productivity level of their Western counterparts of similar size and sector and how this productivity difference is related to changes in their product policy. We analyse these questions with a unique data set provided by Statistics Germany that contains both product policy and productivity information for individual manufacturers from both parts of the country. Using a decomposition approach suggested by Nopo (2008) as a nonparametric extension of the widely-used Oaxaca-Blinder methodology (Blinder 1973; Oaxaca 1973) we find that the time span from 1995 - 2004 has two component periods: a period of adaptation from 1995 to 2001and a period of branding from 2002 to 2004. The initial period is characterized by a smaller share of Eastern firms that modify their product range and by a large productivity gap of Eastern Non-Modifiers if compared to Western Non-Modifiers of comparable size and sector. The evidence for the second period, however, points to a more active and established role of East German manufacturers: more of them alter their product range and step up their productivity performance.


There has been a long debate on the extent to which precipitation relies on terrestrial evaporation (moisture recycling). In the past, most research focused on moisture recycling within a certain region only. This study makes use of new definitions of moisture recycling to study the complete process of continental moisture feedback. Global maps are presented identifying regions that rely heavily on recycled moisture as well as those that are supplying the moisture. An accounting procedure based on ERA‐Interim reanalysis data is used to calculate moisture recycling ratios. It is computed that, on average, 40% of the terrestrial precipitation originates from land evaporation and that 57% of all terrestrial evaporation returns as precipitation over land. Moisture evaporating from the Eurasian continent is responsible for 80% of China's water resources. In South America, the Río de la Plata basin depends on evaporation from the Amazon forest for 70% of its water resources. The main source of rainfall in the Congo basin is moisture evaporated over East Africa, particularly the Great Lakes region. The Congo basin in its turn is a major source of moisture for rainfall in the Sahel. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that due to the local orography, local moisture recycling is a key process near the Andes and the Tibetan Plateau. Overall, this paper demonstrates the important role of global wind patterns, topography and land cover in continental moisture recycling patterns and the distribution of global water resources.


Party competition is largely about making policy promises to voters. We argue that the clarity of the expressed policy position may be equally important. If blurred messages toward different audiences and therefore ambiguous positions can attract votes from different groups, parties have incentives to present ambiguous rather than clear-cut policy platforms. We present a formal model of multi-party competition with stochastic voting where party leaders make strategic choices on both the position and the level of ambiguity of their platforms. Leaders respond to the demands of two principals, the general public and party core constituencies. We derive two hypothesis on the location and ambiguity of party platforms and provide initial tests of these hypotheses in a comparative setting in 14 Western European democracies gathering data on voter and party left-right positions from Eurobarometer surveys and electoral manifestos. Ambiguity of party profiles is estimated using a variant of Wordscores on a newly established data set of electoral manifestos. We find that platforms become more ambiguous as the preferences of the two principals diverge. Our findings imply that ambiguity can be a winning strategy for parties, especially in settings with strong partisan lines.


In Cameroon, common bean is produced and highly consumed as a source of protein and means of generating income by small farm holders. However, diseases like angular leaf spot caused by Phaeoisariopsis griseola (Sacc), poor agronomic practices and low soil fertility are negatively impacting the production of the crop. A field experiment was conducted under natural conditions in the University of Dschang during the 2017 main cropping season. The experiment was laid out in a RCBD in a splitsplit plot arrangement with three replications: Fungicide application (sprayed and unsprayed); Fertilizer level: F1 (Control), F2 (10 t/ha Tithonia), F3 (3.5 t/ha poultry manure) and F4 (0.4 t/ha 14.24.14 NPK fertilizer). Bean varieties that occupied each experimental unit were V1 (GLP-190 S), V2 (PH201) and V3 (PNG). There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between sprayed and unsprayed plots with respect to disease severity. The highest number of pods was obtained from the Tithonia treatment (F2) while the lowest was gotten from the mineral fertilizer treatment (F4). As concerns the interactions, fertilization and variety, spray and variety, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) among the various components. In all varieties, sprayed plots had more pods, seed weight, 100-seed weight compared to unsprayed plots. From the study, it shows that fungicide treatment reduced disease severity and the different nitrogen fertilizers greatly improved yield components of the crop.


Metal oxide coatings are used on the surface of electronic components to improve heat dissipation through emission of infrared radiation. The physical properties of these films, e.g., composition and thickness, affect the spectral distribution of the emission. In addition, in the spectral region of the characteristic oxide vibrational modes, infrared emission is substantially reduced. In this paper, the infrared emissions for oxides on iron and Invar (36% Ni-Fe alloy) are compared. These metals are used in TV manufacture (shadow mask), and their oxide film properties are important to the operation of TV kinescopes.


This is a timely article focusing on the conflicting duties owed to preferred and common stockholders. Delaware is the leading corporate law jurisdiction in the United States. Preferred stock is a key component in angel and venture capital transactions. Historically the Delaware courts have accepted as a general principle the proposition that since the preferred rights are contractual in nature, they must be expressly defined in the preferred stock contract in order for the preferred to successfully assert those rights. Accordingly, the directors owe correlative duties to the preferred to the extent that the rights are articulated in the contract. The Delaware courts maintained such position for many decades. In contrast, the Jedwab decision rendered in 1986 stated that the application of the general rule is confined to the situation where the matters relate to the preferences themselves. The Jedwab court then held that where the right asserted by the preferred does not relate to a preference as against the common stockholders, but rather the rights shared equally with the common, then fiduciary, rather than contractual, principles apply. Controversy ensued as to whether the Jedwab decision was an exception to, or a violation of, the general rule.In connection with the proposition that the directors' duties to the preferred are limited to the extent that the preferred rights are defined in the contract, the recently decided Trados case added another layer to the ongoing debate. In 2009, the Trados court addressed the issue of whether directors breached their duty of loyalty to the common stockholders by improperly favoring the interests of the preferred stockholders. In that case, the court determined that it is possible a director could breach her duty by improperly favoring the interests of the preferred over those of the common. The court examined the role of directors who were affiliated with preferred stock investors, which is not an uncommon situation in venture and start-up capital situations. As a consequence, this case will likely have a significant impact on corporate lawyers and their clients.The Trados decision has been discussed both in the press and at major continuing legal education conferences. In March of 2010, the Delaware Court, in the LC Capital case , attempted to reconcile the Trados decision with the Jedwab decision. In examining the above cases, along with other recent cases, developments concerning preferred stockholder rights under Delaware law are analyzed.


South Africa is currently proclaiming a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of its sub-Antarctic Prince Edward Islands. The objectives of the MPA are to: 1) contribute to a national and global representative system of MPAs, 2) serve as a scientific reference point to inform future management, 3) contribute to the recovery of the Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides), and 4) reduce the bird bycatch of the toothfish fishery, particularly of albatrosses and petrels. This study employs systematic conservation planning methods to delineate a MPA within the EEZ that will conserve biodiversity patterns and processes within sensible management boundaries, while minimizing conflict with the legal toothfish fishery. After collating all available distributional data on species, benthic habitats and ecosystem processes, we used C-Plan software to delineate a MPA with three management zones: four IUCN Category Ia reserves (13% of EEZ); two Conservation Zones (21% of EEZ); and three Category IV reserves (remainder of EEZ). Compromises between conservation target achievement and the area required by the MPA are apparent in the final reserve design. The proposed MPA boundaries are expected to change over time as new data become available and as impacts of climate change become more evident.


The Information and Communications Technologies of the last three decades have revolutionized the way in which societies and economies interact on both a global and a domestic scale, with concomitant impacts on the ways in which business is conducted and people and communities interact. A series of studies undertaken by the World Bank from 1997 to the present suggest that those countries which do not take up to the fullest possible extent the technologies now available and enter what has been termed the 'Knowledge Economy' will be 'left behind' in the same way as the Third World which did not experience the industrial revolution. Two of the distinguishing characteristics of the Knowledge Economy however are that first, unlike the industrial revolution it does not require the same massive injections of capital into physical plant and R&D, and second, that countries may 'leapfrog' into the Knowledge Economy without having gone through industrialization. Many such developing countries (Mauritius is a prime example) have taken that leap and are now functioning effectively in and with cyberspace. However, not all countries are participating equally in this interconnected world and this paper examines one country which has not taken up the challenge of the Knowledge Economy -the Republic of Kiribati which straddles the equator in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Kiribati is an island nation, and its people are of the sea, with fishing as the mainstay of their subsistence lifestyle. Nets are part of every-day life - but the Net is outside their world. It is suggested that the combination of a conservative culture and a paternalistic form of government -itself a reflection of Micronesian cultural values -combine to create an environment where ITC is not pursued actively - or indeed at all. There are significant cultural and socio-political barriers that inhibit the uptake of ITC and some of these factors are explored in this paper.


The two principal roles of niobium in cast and wrought austenitic stainless steels are as a stabilising agent to reduce the risk of intergranular corrosion and as a strengthening agent. To date there appears to be no parallel roles in the duplex, austenitic-ferritic stainless steels. The principles for designing an austenitic steel composition are outlined and the effects of niobium as an alloying element summarised. The characteristics of the principal precipitate phases and their occurrence are reviewed in the context of service requirements, to illustrate how compositions have evolved. Metallurgical developments covered include the benefits derived from a balanced reduction in the levels of niobium and carbon in the 347 composition. Application of controlled heat treatments combined with cold working has allowed optimisation of both steam-side oxidation and creep strength for this widely used grade. The combination of low levels of niobium with enhanced nitrogen additions has led to alternative stabilisation mechanisms. Enhanced precipitation strengthening for high temperature applications derives from multiple microalloying additions of, principally, niobium, titanium and vanadium and recognition of the role of the chromium-niobium nitride. Families of high strength creep resisting steels have been developed for both fossil and nuclear power generation applications, based on the synergistic effects of multiple alloying additions of molybdenum, niobium, titanium, nitrogen, copper and tungsten. These steels exploit knowledge of alloy design to combine effective solid solution and precipitation strengthening with optimum grain boundary precipitation.


The 2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggested that Texas is likely to see a warmer climate, a decrease in mean annual runoff, an increase in flow seasonality, and an increase in the number of extreme drought events. All of these are likely to affect the water resources of Texas, including the groundwater resources. In our assessment of the susceptibility of Texas's aquifers to climate change, how quickly an aquifer recharges, the geologic setting, and land and water use will dictate how climate change may affect any given aquifer. Groundwater resources with high recharge rates, such as karstic aquifers like the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) Aquifer, and highly permeable clastic aquifers, like the Lipan Aquifer, are very susceptible to changes in climate while others with much slower recharge rates would not show effects for decades if not centuries. The groundwater resources in dipping clastic aquifers—aquifers with an unconfined recharge zone updip and a confined zone downdip, such as the Trinity Aquifer north of the Colorado River, the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer, and the Gulf Coast Aquifer—are unlikely to be affected by climate change influenced recharge as long as the flux of water moving downdip remains less than the total recharge rate. General municipal and agricultural water use is expected to increase due to changes in climate; however, increases in water use due to expected increases in population in Texas are expected to be far greater. Nonetheless, climate change could induce greater reliance on groundwater if surface water resources become less reliable, and increases in agricultural usage would increase the depletion rate of the Ogallala Aquifer and lower water levels in other aquifers. More research is needed to better understand what the climate models suggest for Texas and recharge processes.


NEPAD is a work in progress and recent developments have proved confusing to many. This paper explains the recent compromise regarding political and economic review by the African Peer Review Mechanism. As a background to this, the NEPAD structure is outlined and the development of the APRM is discussed. The harmonizing of the AU and NEPAD peer review processes, an inevitable and politically necessary step, forms the last section.


Christopher Paul Curtis's first book The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 (Delacorte 1995) took the world of Young Adult fiction by storm. Named to the American Library Association's list of Best Books for Young Adults, The Watsons swept more than twenty-five major awards and honors, including the prestigious Newberry Honor Book Award and the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Award for African American Writers. His second novel Bud, Not Buddy (Delacorte 1999) seems set to follow the same path. Having also won the Newberry Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award, it continues to receive widespread critical and popular acclaim. Peter E. Morgan: Christopher, your second book, Bud, Not Buddy, has achieved considerable success since its publication. Like The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, it has won almost every award a young adult book can win, and it has been widely reviewed not only by The Horn Book Magazine and professional publications that one would expect but also in the mainstream adult media like U.S. News and World Report. What does it mean to you to receive this kind of recognition? Christopher Paul Curtis: It's absolutely wonderful, and it's wonderful for a lot of reasons. It's wonderful to get recognition. It's a sort of validation, too, because people figure that if a book wins the Newberry or Coretta Scott King honors, then it's a good book. Writing is such a solitary pursuit--you do it by yourself, and you sometimes think in the back of your mind, Maybe I'm crazy. Sometimes I think, This is a really good story, and other times I read what I have written and think, Oh my God, how could I send this out to anybody? So, you're battling back and forth. And then, when you get recognition like that, it really validates your work. It's a really good feeling. It's great. PEM: It must be good for sales, too. Do you have any idea how many copies of The Watsons have been sold? CPC: Actually, The Watsons has sold over three hundred thousand copies--one-eighty in hardback and one-twenty in paperback. It's been translated into eleven different languages now. The real surprise for me was that the last language of the eleven was Spanish--I would have thought Spanish would have been one of the first. PEM: Do you get international fan mail? CPC: No. I've never gotten a letter from overseas. Most of my letters come from America. It's funny, too, that in Canada, where I live, the book has sold no more than about a thousand copies. It does much better in Germany than in Canada--more than twenty-five hundred copies so far. The translation was up for an award in Germany, the equivalent of the Newberry, and I think that helped it a lot. PEM: Are most of your letters from young readers? CPC: Yes. Young readers and teachers. PEM: How do you respond to them? CPC: You know, at first you are so grateful that somebody is writing to you, that you write long letters back, but after a while there are just so many letters. You want to respond to every single one of them, but, you know, it's impossible. Once I got a letter from a girl who put her picture in with it, and I thought, Oh, that's so sweet, so I wrote back a long letter, and I sent a picture of my family. Well, two days later, letters and pictures from her whole class arrived--for some reason, hers had just arrived first. I couldn't write to every single one of them and send them all pictures, so, I wrote a letter to the teacher and asked her to share that letter with all the other kids. PEM: The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 was the book which allowed you to say good-bye forever to your job as an auto worker at Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan. Would you say briefly what the story is about? CPC: It's the story of a family in Michigan in 1963. The narrator is Kenny Watson, who is ten years old, and he's got a thirteen-year-old brother who's really hard to live with. …


In this short essay, I express skepticism about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in United States v. Windsor, and especially the vision of equality articulated by it. Kennedy's vision of equality is one endorsed by many mainstream American LGB organizations as well. Yet, as this article explores, queer theorists, activists, and citizens have many reasons to be concerned by this articulation of equality, as well as the plaintiffs who instigate its expression. In this essay, then, after first problematizing the conceptions of equality circulating in the Windsor litigation, I try to conjure a queer politics of marriage and, simultaneously, a queer Edith Windsor. The hope is that by imagining this kind of plaintiff, a more queer — and more human(e) — articulation of equality might emerge from American courts and their resolutions of various same-sex marriage controversies.


Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are exposed to large quantities of self and nonself antigens. It is not known what fraction of MHC molecules needs to be occupied by antigen to induce a T cell response. A quantitative study of naturally processed antigen indicated that T cells could be activated when only 0.03 percent of the total I-Ed purified from antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was occupied with antigen. B cells and macrophages processed hen egg lysozyme (HEL) with different efficiencies, but similar degrees of occupancy were required for T cell stimulation. Higher occupancy was needed for I-Ed-transfected L cells, possibly reflecting the requirement for other accessory molecules for efficient APC-T cell interaction.


Two types of modification of the hydrological system are present in the same regulated segment of the Lima River (NW Portugal): (a) a reduced and constant flow from hypolimnetic release; (b) an intense irregular flow (daily and seasonal). Using multivariate techniques it was possible to compare the effects of these two kinds of disturbance on the macroinvertebrate communities. The communities colonizing both sites exhibited a higher variation in composition and diversity when compared to undisturbed sites. However, such variability was even more evident in the first case, in spite of the stability of the environmental conditions. Such temporal replacement of species is linked to the dominance of tolerant taxa with short life cycles. In the regulated segment the poor water quality and the lack of litter input impacted mainly on the shredders group. This work shows the failure of the practice of releasing constant flows as an attempt to mitigate regulation impacts. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The timeless and unique Japanese garden, with its spiritual and philosophical dimensions, has for centuries appealed to those who wish to create a outdoor space with meaning and a sense of purpose. The aesthetic simplicity of the Japanese garden style is also of particular relevance to today's gardener who is looking for a minimalist, pared-down, low-maintenance garden. Charles Chesshire, a leading garden designer and enthusiast of Japanese gardening, shares his passion and knowledge in this beautifully illustrated book. He explores the fascinating history of the Japanese garden as well as today's modern and western interpretations, and looks at the influence of Shinto and the natural landscape, painting and Chinese art, and of Zen Buddhism on the development of this distinctive garden style. The Japanese garden can be broadly divided into five garden styles, including pond and stream gardens, rock and dry gardens, tea gardens, stroll gardens, and courtyard gardens. The book presents a selection of beautiful images of each style, and accompanies each with a relevant case study, composed of an illustrated garden plan, identifying key features, and an at-a-glance plant list. The main building blocks in the design of a Japanese garden - rocks, sand and gravel, ponds, waterfalls and streams, islands and water edges, and classic Japanese plants - are all fully explored. The purpose-made elements typical of a Japanese garden are also described, with useful advice on construction techniques, including boundaries and enclosures, paths, bridges and stepping stones, lanterns and water basins, shelters and arbours, and pagodas, stupas and buddhas. Finally, a gorgeously illustrated plant directory shows how the right choice of plants can enhance the authenticity of a Japanese-style garden, and includes useful advice of the best seasonal plants to choose as well as helpful horticultural information. With over 260 beautiful specially commissioned colour photographs, including stunning Japanese temple gardens and some of the best Western examples, this book is both a sumptuous inspiration and an invaluable expert reference.


Clinical Psychology Clinical psychologists deal with a wide range of mental and physical health problems including addiction, anxiety, depression, learning difficulties and relationship issues. They may undertake a clinical assessment to investigate a clients' situation. There are a variety of methods available including psychometric tests, interviews and direct observation of behaviour. Assessment may lead to advice, counselling or therapy.


As simultaneously "queer" and "unoriginal," the Gothic is an ideal site for investigating alternatives to the still potent Romantic construction of the author as masculine, heterosexual, and autonomous. One of the best examples of this Gothic alternative is the original queer Gothic plagiarist, Matthew Lewis. Drawing on Judith Butler's insight that drag—and by implication gender—is a form of imitation that calls into question the "originality" of any normatively delineated gender identity, this essay examines the authorship of The Monk by way of a usually overlooked episode in which Lewis situates himself in a classical, imitative, and homoerotic literary tradition and echoes his famous avowal of the romance's "plagiarisms." Like the crafty cross-dresser Rosario/Matilda, Lewis's authorship lacks stable ground. More important, by circumventing the primacy of origins, he claims a legacy that queers the history of the sexuality of authorship.


Data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT), combined with the nine-year data release from the WMAP satellite, provide very precise measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) angular anisotropies down to very small angular scales. Augmented with measurements from Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations surveys and determinations of the Hubble constant, we investigate whether there are indications for new physics beyond a Harrison-Zel'dovich model for primordial perturbations and the standard number of relativistic degrees of freedom at primordial recombination. All combinations of datasets point to physics beyond the minimal Harrison-Zel'dovich model in the form of either a scalar spectral index different from unity or additional relativistic degrees of freedom at recombination (e.g., additional light neutrinos). Beyond that, the extended datasets including either ACT or SPT provide very different indications: while the extended-ACT (eACT) dataset is perfectly consistent with the predictions of standard slow-roll inflation, the extended-SPT (eSPT) dataset prefers a non-power-law scalar spectral index with a very large variation with scale of the spectral index. Both eACT and eSPT favor additional light degrees of freedom. eACT is consistent with zero neutrino masses, while eSPT favors nonzero neutrino masses at more than 95% confidence.


The design of steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) structures is evolving towards a new approach that uses correction factors to consider differences between the small-scale characterization specimens and the realscale elements. Recently, the Model Code 2010 proposed an orientation factor (K) that accounts for the effects of the orientation in the structural response of elements. The present study focuses on the identification of this factor in SFRC slabs with different dimensions. For that, flexural tests on real-scale slabs were conducted and the fibre orientation was assessed with an inductive method. A finite element analysis showed the differences between the experimental curves and the prediction of the Model Code without considering K. Based on the results obtained, a range of values is proposed for K and validated. This study sheds light on possible modifications that this philosophy of design might require to better reproduce the behaviour of slabs.


This dissertation deals with the numerical investigation of the physics of sprays autoigniting at diesel engine conditions using Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS), and with the modelling of droplet related effects within the Conditional Moment Closure (CMC) method for turbulent non-premixed combustion. The dissertation can be split in four different sections, with the content of each being summarized below. The first part of the dissertation introduces the equations that govern the temporal and spatial evolution of a turbulent reacting flow, and provides an extensive review of the CMC method for both single and two-phase flows. The problem of modelling droplet related effects in the CMC transport equations is discussed in detail, and physicallysound models for the unclosed terms that appear in these equations and that are affected by the droplet presence are derived. The second part of the dissertation deals with the application of the CMC method to the numerical simulation of several n-heptane sprays igniting at conditions relevant to diesel engine combustion. Dropletrelated terms in the CMC equations were closed with the models developed in the first part of the dissertation. For all conditions investigated, CMC could correctly capture the ignition, propagation and anchoring phases of the spray flame. Inclusion of droplet terms in the CMC equations had little influence on the numerical predictions, in line with the findings of other authors. The third part of the dissertation presents a DNS study on the autoignition of n-heptane sprays at high pressure / low temperature conditions. The analysis revealed that spray ignition occurs first in well-mixed locations with a specific value of the mixture fraction. Changes in the operating conditions (initial turbulence intensity of the background gas, global equivalence ratio in the spray region, initial droplet size distribution) affected spray ignition through changes in the mixture formation process. For each spray, a characteristic ignition delay time and a characteristic droplet evaporation time could be defined. The ratio between these time scales was suggested as a key parameter for controlling the ignition delay of the spray. The last part of the dissertation exploits the DNS simulations to perform an a priori analysis of the applicability of the CMC method to autoigniting sprays. The study revealed that standard models for the mixing quantities used in CMC provide poor approximations in twophase flows, and are partially responsible for the poor prediction of the ignition delay time. It was also observed that first-order closure of the chemical source terms performs poorly during the onset of ignition, suggesting that second-order closures may be more appropriate for studying spray autoignition problems. The contribution of the work presented in this dissertation is to provides a detailed insight into the physics of spray autoignition at diesel engine conditions, to propose and derive original methods for incorporating droplet evaporation effects within CMC in a physically-sound manner, and to assess the applicability and shortcomings of the CMC method to autoigniting sprays.


Hepatocellular carcinoma (hepatocarcinoma) is a major type of primary liver cancer and one of the most frequent human malignant neoplasms. Aflatoxins are I-type chemical carcinogen for hepatocarcinoma. Increasing evidence has shown that hepatocarcinoma induced by aflatoxins is the result of interaction between aflatoxins and hereditary factor. Aflatoxins can induce DNA damage including DNA strand break, adducts formation, oxidative DNA damage, and gene mutation and determine which susceptible individuals feature cancer. Inheritance such as alterations may result in the activation of protooncogenes and the inactivation of tumor suppressor genes and determine individual susceptibility to cancer. Interaction between aflatoxins and genetic susceptible factors commonly involve in almost all pathologic sequence of hepatocarcinoma: chronic liver injury, cirrhosis, atypical hyperplastic nodules, and hepatocarcinoma of early stages. In this review, we discuss the biogenesis, toxification, and epidemiology of aflatoxins and signal pathways of aflatoxin-induced hepatocarcinoma. We also discuss the roles of some important genes related to cell apoptosis, DNA repair, drug metabolism, and tumor metastasis in hepatocarcinogenesis related to aflatoxins.


This article combines theories of liberal governance, material life, and popular politics to examine the unruly force of fire in state-citizen struggles. Tracking interactions between state agents and activist networks during South Africa's celebrated democratic transition, I analyze how the urban poor leverage the material properties of fire to secure techno-institutional claims to energy infrastructure, and more broadly to political inclusion and economic redistribution. I highlight how fire, as a social and historical as well as a chemical process, becomes a staging ground for the promise and endangerment of infrastructure. Approaching fire as intertwined with power, I argue, illuminates how those living on the margins of the city come to inhabit political roles that transform economic relationships in the context of liberalism.


Recent work on comorbidity finds evidence for hierarchical structure of mood and anxiety disorders and symptoms. This study tests whether a higher-order internalizing factor accounts for variation in depression and anxiety symptom severity and change over time in a sample experiencing a period of major life stress. Data on symptoms of depression, chronic worry, and social anxiety were collected five times across seven months from 426 individuals who had recently lost jobs. Growth models for each type of symptom found significant variation in individual trajectories. Slopes were highly correlated across symptom type, as were intercepts. Multilevel confirmatory factor analyses found evidence for a higher-order internalizing factor for both slopes and intercepts, reflective of comorbidity of depression and anxiety, with the internalizing factor accounting for 54% to 91% of the variance in slopes and intercepts of specific symptom sets, providing evidence for both a general common factor and domain-specific factors characterizing level and change in symptoms. Loadings on the higher order factors differed modestly for men and women, and when comparing African American and White participants, but did not differ by age, education, or history of depression. More distal factors including gender and history of depression were strongly associated with internalizing in the early weeks after job loss, but rates of change in internalizing were associated most strongly with reemployment. Findings suggest that stressors may contribute in different ways to the common internalizing factor as compared to variance in anxiety and depression that is independent of that factor.


From the Publisher:
Introducing a cast of known and unknown characters, George B. Dyson traces the course of the information revolution, illuminating the lives and work of visionaries - from the time of Thomas Hobbes to the time of John von Neumann - who foresaw the development of artificial intelligence, artificial life, and artificial mind. This book derives both its title and its outlook from Samuel Butler's 1863 essay "Darwin Among the Machines." Observing the beginnings of miniaturization, self-reproduction, and telecommunication among machines, Butler predicted that nature's intelligence, only temporarily subservient to technology, would resurface to claim our creations as her own. Weaving a cohesive narrative among his brilliant predecessors, Dyson constructs a straightforward, convincing, and occasionally frightening view of the evolution of mind in the global network, on a level transcending our own. Dyson concludes that we are in the midst of an experiment that echoes the prehistory of human intelligence and the origins of life. Just as the exchange of coded molecular instructions brought life as we know it to the early earth's primordial soup, and as language and mind combined to form the culture in which we live, so, in the digital universe, are computer programs and worldwide networks combining to produce an evolutionary theater in which the distinctions between nature and technology are increasingly obscured. Nature, believes Dyson, is on the side of the machines.


The structure and electronic properties of gold nanoparticles (Au 12, Au 13, Au 14, Au 15, Au 20, Au 34, and Au 55) have been investigated using Born-Oppenheimer ab initio molecular dynamic simulations of 50 to 80 ps in order to have an insight in the recently proposed fluxional character of nanosized gold. The dynamic changes in shape, symmetry, and atomic coordination of atoms within clusters, occurring in the time scale of picoseconds, which are characteristic of fluxionality, have been investigated for all the above systems at 300 K. Except for Au 20, all systems have been found to have fluxional properties. The extent and the type of fluxional behavior changed according to the number of atoms constituting the particle. At 300 K Au 12 and Au 13 rapidly generate several different topologies which cyclically interconvert. Au 14 shows a rotation of 8 external gold atoms around a core of six atoms. Au 15 is more rigid, but interestingly shows the interconversion between enantiomeric structures within the time scale of the simulation. Au 20 shows a high stability of the pyramidal topology and is the only one of the investigated systems not to show fluxionality within the assigned temperature and time scale. Au 34 and Au 55 show fluxionality of the outer shell and within the sampled time scale are able to change coordination of the outer shell atoms and thus open and close surface holes. For all the particles in study the structures forming the local minima were isolated and separately optimized, and the electronic properties of the thus obtained structures were analyzed.


Changing regional and global trends in climate and discharge, such as global warming-related declines in annual rainfall in south-eastern Africa, are likely to have a strong influence on water resource availability, and to increase livelihood risk. It is therefore important to characterise such trends. Information can be obtained by examining and comparing the rainfall and runoff records at different locations within a basin. In this study, trends in various parameters of temperature (4 stations), rainfall (10 stations) and discharge (16 stations) from the northern part of the Limpopo Basin, Zimbabwe, were statistically analysed, using the Spearman rank test, the Mann-Kendall test and the Pettitt test. It was determined that rainfall and dis- charge in the study area have undergone a notable decline since 1980, both in terms of total annual water resources (declines in annual rainfall, annual unit runoff) and in terms of the temporal availability of water (declines in number of rainy days, increases in dry spells, increases in days without flow). Annual rainfall is negatively correlated to an index of the El Nino - Southern Oscillation phenomenon. The main areas of rising risk are an increasing number of dry spells, which is likely to decrease crop yields, and an increasing probability of annual discharge below the long-term average, which could limit blue-water availability. As rainfall continues to decline, it is likely that a multiplier effect will be felt on discharge. Increasing food shortages are a likely consequence of the impact of this declining water resource availability on rain-fed and irrigated agriculture. Declining water resource availability will also further stress urban water supplies, notably those of Zimbabwe's second-largest city of Bulawayo, which depends to a large extent from these water resources and already experiences chronic water shortages.


"Suspend® Polyzone® (deltamethrin) and Bifen Insecticide/Termiticide (bifenthrin) were evaluated in two eastern North Carolina neighborhoods from May 18 – Oct 19, 2015 (23 weeks). Lots were sprayed every 21 days. At 17 fixed locations (13 treatment, four control), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) CO2-baited traps were deployed overnight, once/week. Oviposition traps were also deployed weekly and remained for seven days to measure Aedes albopictus abundance. Mosquitoes were identified to species and tabulated by location and week. Adult and egg abundance was generally significantly higher in control versus treatment traps. The abundance of Psorophora columbiae and Ae. vexans was significantly higher in control versus treatment traps. Bifenthrin and deltamethrin showed differences in efficacy (e.g. Ae. vexans, An. punctipennis, and Ps. ferox abundance was higher in bifenthrin traps compared to deltamethrin and control traps), but this varied across neighborhoods and species.; Presented for World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2016 in Greenville, North Carolina."


In recent years, infrastructure promoters have become interested in translating the Toyota lean management paradigm into new infrastructure development projects. This approach assumes client and project suppliers are willing to work cooperatively. To enable this prerequisite, clients have started to experiment with relational contracts. An empirical study on the use of a relational contract in the £4.2bn extension of Heathrow airport in London confirms, however, the old adage that the devil is in the details. Unarguably, relational contracts enable the project client and suppliers to work together for a common purpose. However, the interwoven ways in which the client implements the contract—writing up the commercial details, as well as adjusting and interpreting these details throughout the project—are critical to encourage the suppliers to work cooperatively and meet the expectations of the client. This study unpacks five factors for making relational contracts work in projects: suppliers are keen to reap reputation benefits from project participation; suppliers have flexibility in their production processes; client and suppliers choose the right people for the jobs; client learns to relationally contract in response to supplier feedback; and client aligns its practices to control and improve performance with the suppliers' skills.


The rate of meiotic crossing over (CO) varies considerably along chromosomes, leading to marked distortions between physical and genetic distances. The causes underlying this variation are being unraveled, and DNA sequence and chromatin states have emerged as key factors. However, the extent to which the suppression of COs within the repeat-rich pericentromeric regions of plant and mammalian chromosomes results from their high level of DNA polymorphisms and from their heterochromatic state, notably their dense DNA methylation, remains unknown. Here, we test the combined effect of removing sequence polymorphisms and repeat-associated DNA methylation on the meiotic recombination landscape of an Arabidopsis mapping population. To do so, we use genome-wide DNA methylation data from a large panel of isogenic epigenetic recombinant inbred lines (epiRILs) to derive a recombination map based on 126 meiotically stable, differentially methylated regions covering 81.9% of the genome. We demonstrate that the suppression of COs within pericentromeric regions of chromosomes persists in this experimental setting. Moreover, suppression is reinforced within 3-Mb regions flanking pericentromeric boundaries, and this effect appears to be compensated by increased recombination activity in chromosome arms. A direct comparison with 17 classical Arabidopsis crosses shows that these recombination changes place the epiRILs at the boundary of the range of natural variation but are not severe enough to transgress that boundary significantly. This level of robustness is remarkable, considering that this population represents an extreme with key recombination barriers having been forced to a minimum.


Once fuel failures occur in a reactor core, the fission gas will release from the UO2 pellet to the fuel-to-sheath gap and eventually enter the primary coolant through the cladding wall breach. The crew of nuclear power plant regularly sample the primary coolant and characterize the fuel integrity based on the fission gases release model. If the activity of the primary coolant is too high and exceeds a certain limit, the degassing operation will be performed by the crew, causing a significant variation of primary coolant activity. As a result, the influence of degassing on the fission gases release should be taken into consideration in such situation. In this work, a modified model of fission gases release considering the degassing effect was established based on the fission product release mechanism and the authentic degassing processes of a nuclear power plant. The modified fission gases release model with degassing consideration was then validated by the measured primary coolant activity in a nuclear power plant. Finally, the model was applied on characterizing the fuel integrity of a fuel cycle with defective rods and frequent strong degassing operation. The dependence of release-to-birth ratio on decay constant of fission gases was determined using the modified model and the defect size was predicted. The predicted defect size was in good agreement with the sipping test result.


Abstract. To support the transition from traditional flood defence strategies to a flood risk management approach at the basin scale in Europe, the EU has adopted a new Directive (2007/60/EC) at the end of 2007. One of the major tasks which member states must carry out in order to comply with this Directive is to map flood hazards and risks in their territory, which will form the basis of future flood risk management plans. This paper gives an overview of existing flood mapping practices in 29 countries in Europe and shows what maps are already available and how such maps are used. Roughly half of the countries considered have maps covering as good as their entire territory, and another third have maps covering significant parts of their territory. Only five countries have very limited or no flood maps available yet. Of the different flood maps distinguished, it appears that flood extent maps are the most commonly produced floods maps (in 23 countries), but flood depth maps are also regularly created (in seven countries). Very few countries have developed flood risk maps that include information on the consequences of flooding. The available flood maps are mostly developed by governmental organizations and primarily used for emergency planning, spatial planning, and awareness raising. In spatial planning, flood zones delimited on flood maps mainly serve as guidelines and are not binding. Even in the few countries (e.g. France, Poland) where there is a legal basis to regulate floodplain developments using flood zones, practical problems are often faced which reduce the mitigating effect of such binding legislation. Flood maps, also mainly extent maps, are also created by the insurance industry in Europe and used to determine insurability, differentiate premiums, or to assess long-term financial solvency. Finally, flood maps are also produced by international river commissions. With respect to the EU Flood Directive, many countries already have a good starting point to map their flood hazards. A flood risk based map that includes consequences, however, has yet to be developed by most countries.


Injection of the wind power into an electric grid affects the power quality. The performance of the wind turbine and thereby power quality are determined on the basis of measurements and the norms followed according to the guideline specified in International Electro-technical Commission standard, IEC-61400. The influence of the wind turbine in the grid system concerning the power quality measurements are-the active power, reactive power, variation of voltage, flicker, harmonics, and electrical behavior of switching operation and these are measured according to national/international guidelines. The paper study demonstrates the power quality problem due to installation of wind turbine with the grid. In this proposed scheme STATic COMpensator (STATCOM) is connected at a point of common coupling with a battery energy storage system (BESS) to mitigate the power quality issues. The battery energy storage is integrated to sustain the real power source under fluctuating wind power. The STATCOM control scheme for the grid connected wind energy generation system for power quality improvement is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK in power system block set. The effectiveness of the proposed scheme relives the main supply source from the reactive power demand of the load and the induction generator. The development of the grid co-ordination rule and the scheme for improvement in power quality norms as per IEC-standard on the grid has been presented.


We propose a general and practical framework to design certifiable algorithms for robust geometric perception in the presence of a large amount of outliers. We investigate the use of a truncated least squares (TLS) cost function, which is known to be robust to outliers, but leads to hard, nonconvex, and nonsmooth optimization problems. Our first contribution is to show that -for a broad class of geometric perception problems- TLS estimation can be reformulated as an optimization over the ring of polynomials and Lasserre's hierarchy of convex moment relaxations is empirically tight at the minimum relaxation order (i.e., certifiably obtains the global minimum of the nonconvex TLS problem). Our second contribution is to exploit the structural sparsity of the objective and constraint polynomials and leverage basis reduction to significantly reduce the size of the semidefinite program (SDP) resulting from the moment relaxation, without compromising its tightness. Our third contribution is to develop scalable dual optimality certifiers from the lens of sums-of-squares (SOS) relaxation, that can compute the suboptimality gap and possibly certify global optimality of any candidate solution (e.g., returned by fast heuristics such as RANSAC or graduated non-convexity). Our dual certifiers leverage Douglas-Rachford Splitting to solve a convex feasibility SDP. Numerical experiments across different perception problems, including high-integrity satellite pose estimation, demonstrate the tightness of our relaxations, the correctness of the certification, and the scalability of the proposed dual certifiers to large problems, beyond the reach of current SDP solvers.


Background: hemophilia is the most common hereditary bleeding disorder in children, and can create  challenges in the treatment of complicated bleeding episode. Circumcision and other surgical procedures in persons with hemophilia require anticipatory management plan to prevent and treat bleeding prior to, during and following surgery. Prolonged bleeding can be managed by supplement therapy with Factor VIII, administered intravenously by either bolus (BI) or continuous infusion (CI) to achieve hemostatic plasma Factor VIII levels. Objectives: the aim of this study was to compare plasma activity level of factor VIII in relation to the method of intravenous administration. Methods: commencing 4 days post circumcision, five sequential measurements of plasma Factor VIII levels were done at 6 hourly intervals in 4 boys with hemophilia A who received intravenous Factor Vill, either by 81 or Cl. Result: four patients given continuous infusion showed lower level of Factor VIII compared to bolus therapy. Conclusion: bolus therapy has more increased level of Factor VIII compared to continuous infusion. Bleeding was not found in both therapies (Cl or BI). Key words: AHF - continuous infusion - bolus - plasma level


Aims :evaluate the effect of abutment angulation on fracture strength of pre-fabricated zircon implant abutment supported CAD\CAM zircon crown. Material and methods : Ten analog with 3.75×14mm were placed into resin blocks divided in to 2 groups: group A (n=5) parallel to long axis and group B (n= 5) fixed at angulation (17°) to long axis. Then ten abutments were tightened to 25 N/cm2. Ten full anatomic zircon (CAD/CAM) crowns constructed as upper right central incisor: 5 on each group. After luting all crowns with dual cure resin-based luting, all samples passed to artificial aging using thermocycling machine, 500 cycles at (5 to 55 C°±2) degree. Then the load was applied by universal testing machine at 30 degree to the long axis until fracture occurred. Results : Statistical analysis showed that the implant abutment angulations significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the fracture resistance of zircon implant abutment. Conclusions : Within the limitation of this in vitro study it may be concluded that: the fracture strength of zircon implant abutment supported CAD\CAM zircon crown is significantly reduced in respect to the angulation fromstraight to angulated (17°) zircon abutment. Assessment of the fracture strength of straight and pre-angled (17°) zircon implant abutments supported CAD\CAM zerconium restoration: An in(vitro study)..