pRb and its family members p130 and p107 regulate cell cycle progression and direct G1/S transition in mammalian cells through interaction with the transcription factor E2F. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) is an essential component of growth factor-regulated pathways and plays a crucial role in the regulation of cellular proliferation and differentiation. It has been demonstrated that PI3K can regulate cell cycle progression via Akt-mediated pathway. However, the possible interactions between PI3K and Rb pathways remain to be defined. It was reported that the unique 24-amino-acid N-terminal end of the p55 regulatory subunits of PI3K is an Rb-binding domain and affects Rb action or Rb-E2F interaction. The 24 N-terminal amino acids of p55gamma encoded by a cDNA construct could compete with the endogenous p55gamma for binding to Rb, which influences Rb-mediated signaling and blocks cell cycle progression. In the current study, we investigated the effects of this 24-peptide on cell proliferation in human gastric carcinoma MKN-28 cells by means of cell cycle analysis, BrdU incorporation, and determining the levels of cell cycle regulatory molecule expression. Our results showed that p55gammaPI3K and the Rb family members p130 and p107 exist in MKN-28 cells, while the p110PI3K was not detected. Moreover, p55gammaPI3K was found binding to p130/p107 in these cells. We demonstrated that the introduction of the plasmid N24p55-GFP (harboring the cDNA for the 24 N-terminal amino acids of p55gamma) into MKN-28 cells caused cell cycle arrest at G1. Furthermore, we showed that the over-expression of the 24-peptide in MKN-28 cells decreased the population of cells incorporating BrdU and reduced the levels of cyclin D1 and cyclin A. These observations suggest that PI3K can regulate cell cycle progression and cell proliferation in human gastric tumor cells via Rb-mediated pathway, and that this effect of PI3K is mediated through a direct association with Rb via the N-terminal end of its p55 kDa regulatory subunits and modulating Rb-E2F interactions. Taken together with previous studies, our data provide a new therapeutic target in human stomach cancer. Strategies targeting PI3K signal transduction or the association of PI3K with Rb, or regulating PI3K-Rb interactions could be employed for gene therapy or chemotherapy of gastric cancer and other tumors.


Device-to-Device (D2D) communications have been already playing a relevant role in 3GPP for several releases of the LTE standard. This paper first shortly introduces how D2D was brought into 3GPP standards and how it evolved, starting from direct discovery and communication between devices being specified in Release 12, through UE-to-Network relaying feature introduction in Release 13, up to vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications support in Release 14. Currently, the versatility of D2D communications has led to consideration of its inherent advantages also in the context of IoT and wearable devices, where the priority is to provide low power connectivity via short-range communications. In this context, there are use cases that can take advantage of UE-relayed communication that capitalizes on the LTE QoS framework. After highlighting the limitations of the currently standardized UE-to-Network relay feature and introducing the enhanced relay architecture being developed in Release 15, the paper discusses the challenges related to end-to-end QoS support in UE-relayed communications, and presents an enhancement to the current standard for dynamic split and allocation of packet delay budget in each hop of the relayed connection. Afterwards, the focus moves to QoS support in mobility scenarios, where path switch between relayed and non-relayed communication might be required while ensuring service continuity, which proves to be a challenging task. Several solutions that trade-off signaling overhead, buffer size requirements and suitability to high-mobility scenarios are presented and explained in detail.


BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare entity that can be difficult to manage. Intrasinus thrombolysis is an increasingly applied intervention, but this modality carries an increased risk of hemorrhage. We describe for the first time an option with a potentially lower incidence of intracranial bleeding, the combination of the AngioJet rheolytic thrombectomy catheter with intra-arterial thrombolysis, in 2 patients with extensive dural sinus thromboses, preexisting intracranial hemorrhage, and severe progressive neurological deficits despite heparin therapy.

METHODS
Four procedures were performed in 2 patients with thromboses in the superior sagittal and transverse sinuses (right in 1 patient and bilateral in 1 patient) and cortical veins. Rheolytic thrombectomy was performed in the sigmoid, transverse, straight, and superior sagittal sinuses; this technique involves the use of the Bernoulli effect to create a vacuum that fragments and aspirates thrombus. For associated persistent cortical vein thromboses, low-dose intra-arterial thrombolysis was used.

RESULTS
Both patients had excellent angiographic results with sinus reopening after rheolytic thrombectomy and cortical vein reopening after intra-arterial thrombolysis. Follow-up CT showed no change in 1 patient and increased preexisting intracranial hemorrhage in the other. One patient had a negative hypercoagulable workup, and the other patient had probable anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome. At 6 months, both patients had excellent clinical outcome with no neurological deficits except mild short-term memory loss in 1 patient.

CONCLUSIONS
The combination of rheolytic thrombectomy with intra-arterial thrombolysis is a treatment modality that allows accelerated recanalization of occluded dural sinuses and cerebral veins with lower doses of thrombolytic agents.


Abstract:Until recently, the very idea of an Islamist political party would have appeared a contradiction in terms. Hassan al-Banna, founder of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and one of the forebears of Islamism, was cautious to refer to his group as movement rather not a party; for him, political parties and even nation-states were Western inventions that could have no place in the global Islamic polity (the umma). But how much does the modern Islamist party represent a departure from traditional Islamism versus a tactical retreat in the face of powerful secularist regimes? Whether Islamists will accept an authority separate from shari'a and how they will define the minimum qualifications of candidates for public office promise to be decisive issues.


Microwave pyrolysis is a modern technology to produce a good quality biochar. Gives best products, utilization and most important, process is environment friendly. In Microwave, radiation use for pyrolysis and process is: fast, specific heat area. But in conventional pyrolysis heat cannot be controlled for specific area. Microwave pyrolysis depends on the parameters: temperature, reaction time, feedstock type and Microwave Absorbers (MWAs). Production depends on the types of pyrolysis (slow, fast and flash). In the previous work focused on bio-oil and gases. But the biochar is storing source of energy and utilization. This review paper provides information about biochar obtained from microwave-assisted pyrolysis in all aspects and its utilization. It is concluded that microwave-assisted technology is an efficient technique to decrease the reaction time and increases the quality of products. In calculation, this method can overcome the requirements of feedstock destroying and improves the quality of heating. Keywords—Biomass; Biochar; Pyrolysis Parameters; Microwave assisted pyrolysis.


Empirical research has confirmed that a positive relationship exists between the implementation of innovation activities and the future performance of organizations. Firms utilize resources and capabilities to develop innovations in the form of new products, services or processes. Some firms prove to be better at reproducing innovation success than others, and the capacity to do so is referred to as innovation capability. However, the term innovation capability is ambiguously treated in extant literature. There are several different definitions of the concept and the distinction between innovation capabilities and other types of capabilities, such as dynamic capabilities, is neither explicitly stated, nor is the relationship between the concept and other resource- and capability-based concepts within strategy theory established. Although innovation is increasingly identified as crucial for a firm's sustainable competitiveness in contemporary volatile and complex markets, the strategy-innovation link is underdeveloped in extant research. To overcome this challenge this paper raises the following research question: What type of innovation capabilities are required to innovate successfully? Due to the status of the extant research, we chose a conceptual research design to answer our research question and the paper contributes with a conceptual framework to discuss what innovation capabilities firms need to reproduce innovation success. Based on careful examination of current literature on innovation capability specifically, and the strategy-innovation link in general, we suggest that innovation capability must be viewed along two dimensions – innovation novelty and market characteristics. This framework enables the identification of four different contexts for innovation capabilities in a two-bytwo matrix. We discuss the types of innovation capabilities necessary within the four different contexts. This novel framework contributes to the understanding of the strategy-innovation link as well as clarifies the conceptual understanding of capabilities within the strategy literature and establishes the relationship between these structures and innovation management theory.


The article presents a novel impedance spectroscopy based technique designed to characterise organic light emitting diodes (OLED) during operation. A number of devices based on NPB (N,N′-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine) and TPBi (2,2′,2′′-(1,3,5-benzinetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole)) conducting layers, CBP (4,4′-bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1′-biphenyl) as a host and BPTZ-DBTO2 (3,6-bis(10H-phenothiazine-10-yl)-9H-fluorene-[dibenzothiophene-S,S-dioxide]) as an emitter were taken as an example to validate the method. Using equivalent electrical circuits, values of capacitance and conductivity of both hole- (HTL) and electron-transport (ETL) layers were determined and analysed separately. Those parameters, as well as current–voltage characteristics, were used to calculate (i) mobility (μ, cm2 V−1 s−1) of both types of charge carriers, (ii) charge density (n, cm−3) of the charge carriers, and (iii) electric field intensity (E, V m−1) in both transport layers as functions of the applied voltage.


This article provides an introduction to four studies on local level security governance in the urban areas of four East African countries: Nairobi in Kenya, Kigali in Rwanda, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Kampala in Uganda. The studies are principally concerned with community-led, multiactor, and networked governance of security in poor urban neighbourhoods using the analytical framework of nodal governance theory. This framework suggests that the pre-eminent position of the state in security has changed and security is now produced, managed and governed through a network of actors or nodes. In this form of governance, the line between the public and private police and security actors is blurred with each of the actors influencing and shaping each other to produce security outcomes.  The studies in this special issue present four cases of such local level governance of security as way of contributing to better theoretical understanding of security governance as well as policy conversations. *Director, Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, E-mail: email@example.com


Diabetes is a chronic decease which affect the body's ability to regulate the blood glucose level(BGL). Not being able to maintain a steady BGL can lead to many severe complications. There is done much effort in order to develop a artificial pancreas. In healthy humans the BGL is regulated mainly trough insulin, which is secreted in pulses by the beta cells. This is believed to have greater hypoglycemic effect than normal continuous infusion. In this thesis a method for controlling the BGL by pulsatile infusion, both with intravenously and intraperitoneal approach was described. The pulsatile infusion showed good performance in closed loop simulations. However the effect of giving insulin in a pulsatile manner was little, giving no oscillation i BGL. In order to draw further conclusions about the controller, this effect must be included into the model. An recursive least square scheme was implemented in order to test the possibility for adaptive control. Both the pulsatile and the normal controller gave about equal performance regarding online parameter estimation. When there was small fluctuations present, the online estimation worked in both case. Therefore it is likely that pulsatile control is more suitable for adaptive control because of the possibility for oscillations in BGL. In addition a model extension for physical activity is included into the glucose insulin model.


This book explores the impact of railways on colonial Indian society from the commencement of railway operations in the mid-nineteenth to the early decades of the twentieth century. The book represents a historiographical departure. Using new archival evidence as well as travelogues written by Indian railway travellers in Bengali and Hindi, this book suggests that the impact of railways on colonial Indian society were more heterogeneous and complex than anticipated either by India's colonial railway builders or currently assumed by post-colonial scholars. At a related level, the book argues that this complex outcome of the impact of railways on colonial Indian society was a product of the interaction between the colonial context of technology transfer and the Indian railway passengers who mediated this process at an everyday level. In other words, this book claims that the colonised 'natives' were not bystanders in this process of imposition of an imperial technology from above. On the contrary, Indians, both as railway passengers and otherwise influenced the nature and the direction of the impact of an oft-celebrated 'tool of Empire'. The historiographical departures suggested in the book are based on examining railway spaces as social spaces – a methodological index influenced by Henri Lefebvre's idea of social spaces as means of control, domination and power.


Space agencies are now realizing that much of what has previously been achieved using hugely complex and costly single platform projects-large unmanned and manned satellites (including the present International Space Station)-can be replaced by a number of smaller satellites networked together. The key challenge of this approach, namely ensuring the proper formation flying of multiple craft, is the topic of this second volume in Elsevier's "Astrodynamics Series", "Spacecraft Formation Flying: Dynamics, Control and Navigation". In this unique text, authors Alfriend et al. provide a coherent discussion of spacecraft relative motion, both in the unperturbed and perturbed settings, explain the main control approaches for regulating relative satellite dynamics, using both impulsive and continuous maneuvers, and present the main constituents required for relative navigation. The early chapters provide a foundation upon which later discussions are built, making this a complete, standalone offering. Intended for graduate students, professors and academic researchers in the fields of aerospace and mechanical engineering, mathematics, astronomy and astrophysics, "Spacecraft Formation Flying" is a technical yet accessible, forward-thinking guide to this critical area of astrodynamics. This is the first book dedicated to spacecraft formation flying, written by leading researchers and professors in the field. This title develops the theory from an astrodynamical viewpoint, emphasizing modeling, control and navigation of formation flying satellites on Earth orbits. It provides examples that are used to illustrate the main developments, with a sample simulation of a formation flying mission included to illustrate high fidelity modeling, control and relative navigation.


In this study, we explored second and fifth graders' noticing of negative signs and incorporation of them into their strategies when solving integer addition problems. Fifty-one out of 102 second graders and 90 out of 102 fifth graders read or used negative signs at least once across the 11 problems. Among second graders, one of their most common strategies was subtracting numbers using their absolute values, which aligned with students' whole number knowledge-pieces and knowledge-structure. They sometimes preserved the order of numbers and changed the placement of the negative sign (e.g., −9 + 2 as 9 – 2) and sometimes did the opposite (e.g., −1 + 8 as 8 – 1). Among fifth graders, one of the most common strategies reflected use of integer knowledge-pieces within a whole-number knowledge-structure, as they added numbers' absolute values using whole number addition and appended the negative sign to their total. For both grade levels, the order of the numerals, the location of the negative signs, and also the numbers' absolute values in the problems played a role in students' strategies used. Fifth graders' greater strategy variability often reflected strategic use of the meanings of the minus sign. Our findings provide insights into students' problem interpretation and solution strategies for integer addition problems and supports a blended theory of conceptual change. Adding to prior findings, we found that entrenchment of previously learned patterns can be useful in unlikely ways, which should be taken up in instruction.


It is widely discussed that the pandemic has impacted on educational inequalities across the world. However, in contrast to data on health or unemployment, data on education outcomes are not timely. Hence, we have extremely limited knowledge about the actual impact of the pandemic on learning outcomes at the national and the cross-national level. As it might take years to get new comparative evidence on the actual extent of the problem, this paper uses the latest large scale international student assessment data from before the pandemic, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 and applies simple descriptive analysis, regressions and logical deductions to map potential consequences of the Covid-19 crisis across Europe. We obtain the relative trajectories of children's learning loss and its unequal distribution from information on home and school resources, the importance of these resources for learning outcomes and countries' school closure duration policies and compare Covid-19 related risk of learning loss between European countries. Results based on 4th graders' school achievements indicate that throughout Europe educational inequalities between and within countries are likely to increase substantially. Some European countries are highly likely to face already an education crisis.


Ground-penetrating radar is a non-destructive tool widely used in many fields of application including pavement engineering surveys. Over the last decade, the need for further breakthroughs capable to assist end-users and practitioners as decision-support systems in more effective road asset management is increasing. In more details and despite the high potential and the consolidated results obtained over years by this non-destructive tool, pavement distress manuals are still based on visual inspections, so that only the effects and not the causes of faults are generally taken into account. In this framework, the use of simulation can represent an effective solution for supporting engineers and decision-makers in understanding the deep responses of both revealed and unrevealed damages. In this study, the potential of using finite-difference time-domain simulation of the ground-penetrating radar signal is analyzed by simulating several types of flexible pavement at different center frequencies of investigation typically used for road surveys. For these purposes, the numerical simulator GprMax2D, implementing the finite-difference time-domain method, was used, proving to be a highly effective tool for detecting road faults. In more details, comparisons with simplified undisturbed modelled pavement sections were carried out showing promising agreements with theoretical expectations, and good chances for detecting the shape of damages are demonstrated. Therefore, electromagnetic modelling has proved to represent a valuable support system in diagnosing the causes of damages, even for early or unrevealed faults. Further perspectives of this research will be focused on the modelling of more complex scenarios capable to represent more accurately the real boundary conditions of road cross-sections.
Acknowledgements - This work has benefited from networking activities carried out within the EU funded COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar".


Installation of deep water Xmas trees for subsea oil production is sometimes done by lowering the tree using one wire. Xmas trees are interfacing with other equip- ment on the seafloor and will therefore need to be positioned, and oriented correct. Today aligning the Xmas tree to existing interfacing structures on the seabed dur- ing installation is done by manual control of an ROV. In this thesis it is proposed to automate this process. The benefits of doing this is to gain a faster and more precise control of the position of the tree, as well as being less prone to human errors. This will make the operation faster, safer and less expensive. This thesis is a feasibility study of this new solution for aligning the Xmas tree in the installation process. In order to investigate the feasibility of the solution a mathematical model of an ROV and a Xmas tree that is hanging in a wire has been developed. Interaction forces between these objects are then defined. A model of the environment and sensor output from the ROV is also developed. A controller algorithm has been defined that uses the position of the Xmas tree to calculate the control forces the ROV need to control the motions of the Xmas tree. This controller algorithm is a nonlinear PID-controller where the output is translated from the body-centre of the Xmas tree to the body centre of the ROV in order to use some of the existing control system in the ROV. In addition to the controller an extended kalman filter has been implemented in order to handle the sensor feedback, and a reference model has been made to generate smooth and feasible trajectories as input to the control system. The mathematical model is used to simulate the behavior of the system, when the control system is connected. The simulations shows very promising results. An experimental setup has been made in order to test the control system in real life. The experimental setup consists of a downscaled Xmas tree model, a docking frame, and a small scale ROV. This setup was used to test the control system in the Trondheim fjord using R/V Gunnerus. Due to an error in the programming the testing was not able to fully verify the simulation results. The results obtained during the test did however seem promising when this error is taken into account, and thus proof of concept was established.


At present, agroecology can be interpreted as a scientific discipline, as a movement or as a practice. In this paper we analyse the historical evolution of the scientific discipline of agroecology with a quantitative bibliometric analysis of 711 publications using the term agroecology and the derived term agroecological, as well as a qualitative analysis of definitions, topics and scales, where we also include further important works on agroecology. Agroecology emerged in the 1930s and the period up until the 1960s was the initial phase of agroecology. During the 1970s and 1980s, agroecology as a science expanded, and in the 1990s became institutionalized and consolidated. Since the 2000s, broader definitions have provided the basis for new dimensions in agroecology. During the last two decades the range of topics treated within agroecology grew enormously; also the publication rate has exploded within the last 10 years. The scale and dimension of scientific research in agroecology has changed over the past 80 years from the plot or field scale to the farm or agroecosystem scale and finally to the food system. Currently, three approaches persist: (1) the plot/field scale; (2) the agroecosystem/farm scale; and (3) the food system approach. In spite of a vague utilization of the term agroecology through its different meanings and definitions, the new views and dimensions brought to agroecology as a scientific discipline will probably facilitate efforts to respond to actual important questions on sustainable agriculture, global land use and climate change, or food security, due to increasingly applied systems thinking and interdisciplinary research approaches.


Leaders and members of parliament serve as a political party's public face. Their image casts a shadow in which observers interpret policy statements. It is hypothesized in this article that media cover and voters understand policy messages through the lens of prominent party members' characteristics. Easy‐to‐observe descriptive traits, such as gender or ethnicity, cue parties' policy priorities. Media are more likely to emphasise party messages on issues historically related to these groups when they are visible in the party's public image. Hypotheses from this theory are tested using data on prominent party members' descriptive characteristics, policy statements and media coverage of statements from the European Election Studies. Data from the 1999, 2004 and 2009 European elections evidence support for the theory. Parties with more female representatives signal stronger emphasis on gendered issues in media reports. The results hold implications for understanding the ways in which parties deliver and voters receive campaign messages. This research offers an explanation for voters' limited knowledge of parties' policy positions; media reinforce existing gender stereotypes and voters' predispositions by selectively reporting policy statements.


Nurses are more accountable than ever to the public, patients, their employers and the profession and it is vital that they have a clear understanding of the legal, ethical and professional dilemmas they will face in the course of their professional career. This book is an essential resource for student nurses as they begin to develop their knowledge and understanding of the requirements for safe practice in healthcare. This new edition includes increased coverage of protection of vulnerable adults and ethics and principled decision making.


Linear systems occur throughout engineering and the sciences, most notably as differential equations. In many cases the forcing function for the system is unknown, and interest lies in using noisy observations of the system to infer the forcing, as well as other unknown parameters. In differential equations, the forcing function is an unknown function of the independent variables (typically time and space), and can be modelled as a Gaussian process (GP). In this paper we show how the adjoint of a linear system can be used to efficiently infer forcing functions modelled as GPs, using a truncated basis expansion of the GP kernel. We show how exact conjugate Bayesian inference for the truncated GP can be achieved, in many cases with substantially lower computation than would be required using MCMC methods. We demonstrate the approach on systems of both ordinary and partial differential equations, and show that the basis expansion approach approximates well the true forcing with a modest number of basis vectors. Finally, we show how to infer point estimates for the non-linear model parameters, such as the kernel length-scales, using Bayesian optimisation.


The school-to-prison pipeline is one of our nation's most formidable challenges. It refers to the trend of directly referring students to law enforcement for committing certain offenses at school or creating conditions under which students are more likely to become involved in the criminal justice system, such as excluding them from school. This article analyzes the school-to-prison pipeline's devastating consequences on students, its causes, and its disproportionate impact on students of color. But most importantly, this article comprehensively identifies and describes specific, evidence-based tools to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline that lawmakers, school administrators, and teachers in all areas can immediately support and implement. Further, it suggests initial strategies aimed at addressing implicit racial bias, which appears to be one of the primary causes of the racial disparities relating to the school-to-prison pipeline. The implementation of these tools will create more equitable and safe learning environments that will help more students become productive citizens and avoid becoming involved in the justice system


A pilot study of the optical properties of graptolite skeletal materials shows progressive changes of reflectance, bireflectance, refractive index and absorptive index, produced by temperature changes related to depth of burial. Samples of Lower Ordovician to Upper Silurian graptolites were selected from across Canada, from locations where the conodont alteration indices of adjacent conodont collections provide a control index of temperature. The reaction to temperature of graptolite skeletal material appears to be similar to that of bitumen, but somewhat different to that of the vitrinite and liptinite maceral components of coal. Maximum reflectance in oil and bireflectance appear to be the characteristics most diagnostic of maximum temperature, and both show progressively higher rates of increase at higher temperatures. These factors show potential for more sensitive discrimination of temperatures at high levels of conodont alteration indices. The optical properties of graptolites may perhaps provide a useful tool for unravelling the post-depositional histories of Lower Palaeozoic rocks in deformed belts.


To optimize cropping system benefits from pulse crops, it is important to understand their effects on subsequent crops. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), lentil (Lensculinaris Medik.), and pea (Pisam sativum L.) stubbles on yield and quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), mustard (Brassica juncea L.) or canola (B. napus L.), and lentil or pea when grown on soils with clay and loam textures. This study was conducted between 1996 and 1999 in southwestern Saskatchewan. Rotational benefits of pulse crops (chickpea, lentil, and pea) to wheat appeared more consistent on the clay than the silt loam soil. Adjusting fertilizer N rates to account for estimated total N contribution from the previous pulse crop effectively neutralized the benefits on wheat yield and protein compared with the effects following mustard. Canola or mustard productivity was occasionally greater when grown on pea or lentil stubbles compared with mustard and wheat stubbles. The yield increase was attributed to increased available water. Under drier-than-normal conditions, pea yields were highest when grown on wheat stubble. Wheat productivity was least when grown on its own stubble. Pea and lentil provided rotational benefits to wheat, mustard, and canola and benefitted most from being grown in wheat stubble, indicating a strong fit for diversified cropping systems on the semiarid northern Great Plains.


Go beyond spreadsheets and tables and design a data presentation that really makes an impact. This practical guide shows you how to use Tableau Software to convert raw data into compelling data visualizations that provide insight or allow viewers to explore the data for themselves. Ideal for analysts, engineers, marketers, journalists, and researchers, this book describes the principles of communicating data and takes you on an in-depth tour of common visualization methods. You'll learn how to craft articulate and creative data visualizations with Tableau Desktop 8.1 and Tableau Public 8.1. Present comparisons of how much and how many Use blended data sources to create ratios and rates Create charts to depict proportions and percentages Visualize measures of mean, median, and mode Lean how to deal with variation and uncertainty Communicate multiple quantities in the same view Show how quantities and events change over time Use maps to communicate positional data Build dashboards to combine several visualizations


Lateral transport of waterborne contaminants is generally assumed to occur below the water table (WT), but recent laboratory studies have suggested that subsurface lateral solute transport could occur above the WT through the capillary fringe (CF). The objective of this study was to evaluate the horizontal transport of solutes in the CF and shallow groundwater (SGW). Two consecutive field experiments were conducted in a Leon sand (Aeric Alaquod) at a site with a shallow WT. In both experiments, a bromide (Br−) solution was applied to the bottom of an auger hole dug to within 10 cm above the projected CF. Movement of Br− in the subsurface was monitored by collecting CF and SGW samples using nests of tension samplers installed at radial distances of 60, 120, 220, and 320 cm from the application spot. Each nest of samplers contained a tension sampler at 45, 60, 75, 90, and 105 cm depth. Bromide transport was monitored for 58 d in the first experiment while the more detailed second experiment was conducted for 84 d. Peak Br− concentration generally occurred in the upper 60 cm of the soil where the CF was located for most of the experiment. The Br− plume that entered the CF moved horizontally in it until Br− was partially moved into the SGW by the fluctuating WT. In the second experiment, approximately 48% of the Br− detected in the CF at a distance of 320 cm from the application spot was still in the CF after 15 cm of rain through 59 d.


Ectopic bone formation is a unique biologic entity--distinct from other areas of skeletal biology. Animal research models of ectopic bone formation most often employ rodent models and have unique advantages over orthotopic (bone) environments, including a relative lack of bone cytokine stimulation and cell-to-cell interaction with endogenous (host) bone-forming cells. This allows for relatively controlled in vivo experimental bone formation. A wide variety of ectopic locations have been used for experimentation, including subcutaneous, intramuscular, and kidney capsule transplantation. The method, benefits and detractions of each method are summarized in the following review. Briefly, subcutaneous implantation is the simplest method. However, the most pertinent concern is the relative paucity of bone formation in comparison to other models. Intramuscular implantation is also widely used and relatively simple, however intramuscular implants are exposed to skeletal muscle satellite progenitor cells. Thus, distinguishing host from donor osteogenesis becomes challenging without cell-tracking studies. The kidney capsule (perirenal or renal capsule) method is less widely used and more technically challenging. It allows for supraphysiologic blood and nutrient resource, promoting robust bone growth. In summary, ectopic bone models are extremely useful in the evaluation of bone-forming stem cells, new osteoinductive biomaterials, and growth factors; an appropriate choice of model, however, will greatly increase experimental success.


The present papcr is a continuation of a theoretical investigation of the stability of the laminar boundary layer in a compressible fluid. An approximate estimate for the minimum critical Reynolds number Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min, or stability limit, is obtained in terms of the distribution of the kinematic viscosity and the product of the mean density [rho][super][bar]* and mean vorticity [formula] across the
boundary layer. With the help of this estimate for Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min it is shown that withdrawing heat from the fluid through the solid surface increases RRe[sub]cr[sub-sub]min and stabilizes the flow, as compared with the flow over an insulated surface at the same Mach number. Conduction of heat to the fluid through the solid surface has exactly the opposite effect. The value of Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min for the insulated surface decreases as the Mach number increases for the case of a uniform free-stream velocity. These general conclusions are supplemented by detailed calculations of the curves of wave number (inverse wave length) against Reynolds number for the neutral disturbances for 10 representative cases of insulated and noninsulated surfaces.

So far as laminar stability is concerned, an important difference exists between the case of a subsonic and supersonic free-stream velocity outside the boundary layer. The neutral boundary-layer disturbances that are significant for laminar stability die out exponentially with distance from the solid surface; therefore, the phase velocity c* of these disturbances is subsonic relative to the free-stream velocity [symbol] or [symbol], [symbol] where is the local sonic velocity. When [symbol]<1, (where M[sub]0 is free-stream Mach number), it follows that [inequalities] and any laminar boundary-1ayer flow is ultimately unstable at sufficiently high Reynolds numbers because of the destabilizing action of viscosity near the solid surface, as
explained by Prandtl for the incompressible fluid. When M[sub]0 >1, however, [inequalities]. If the quantity [forumla] is large enough negatively, the rate at which energy passes from the disturbance to the mean flow, which is proportional to [formula], can always be large enough to counterbalance the rate at which energy passes from the mean flow to the disturbance because of the destabilizing action of viscosity near the solid surface. In that case only damped disturbances exist and the laminar boundary layer is completely stable at all Reynolds numbers. This condition occurs when the rate at which heat is withdrawn from the fluid through the solid surface reaches or exceeds a critical value that depends only on the Mach number and the properties of the gas. Calculations show that for M[sub]0 > 3 (approx.) the laminar boundary-layer flow for thermal equilibrium -- where the heat conduction through the solid surface balances the heat radiated from the surface -- is completely stable at all Reynolds numbers under free-flight
conditions if the free-stream velocity is uniform.

The results of the analysis of the stability of the laminar boundary layer must be applied with care to discussions of transition; however, withdrawing heat from the fluid through the solid surface, for example, not only increases Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min but also decreases the initial rate of amplification of the self-excited disturbances, which is roughly proportional fo 1/[sqrt]Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min. Thus, the effect of the thermal conditions at the solid sufice on the transition Reynolds number Re[sub]tt, is similar to the effect on Re[sub]cr[sub-sub]min. A comparison between this conclusion and experimental investigations of the effect of surface heating on transition at low speeds shows that the results of the present paper give the proper direction of this effect.

The extension of the results of the stability analysis to laminar boundary-layer gas flows with a pressure gradient in the direction of the free stream is discussed.


AimThe aim of this study was to compare the reliability and describe the concurrent validity of two methods of measuring leg power; the use of a force plate only and the combination of force plate and motion analysis data.MethodsEight female second division volleyball players (Mean±SD: Age: 26.5±3.93 years, height: 1.70±0.053m, weight: 65.9±11.1kg) participated in two testing sessions, separated by one to six weeks. In each testing session participants performed three squat jumps (SJ) and three countermovement jumps (CMJ), with leg power for all jumps calculated both from force plate data only, and using force plate data combined with displacement data from motion analysis. Statistics calculated were t-test, intra-class correlation (ICC), and Bland-Atman plots.ResultsWhile the ICC of the calculated peak power using the two methods was moderate to high (ranging 0.715-0.847) for all jumps, the peak power was always significantly lower using the combined method indicating poor concurrent validity. Leg power decreased from test to retest in both CMJ and SJ, using both methods of calculation, although this decrease was only significant in the SJ using the combined method. The force plate only method showed no significant difference between test and retest, with a small bias (indicating a small systematic error) and a strong test retest correlation in both SJ and CMJ. However, both of these jumps also had quite a large range in the limits of agreements in the Bland-Altman plots. Peak power calculated using the combined method of force plate and motion analysis data showed a greater difference between test and retest values, significant in SJ and tending towards significance in CMJ. This indicates a greater systematic error than in the force plate only method. However, it still had a strong correlation and the range of the limits of agreement was slightly smaller than it was when using the force plate only, indicating a smaller random error.ConclusionsThe systematic differences between test and retest for the two tests indicates that the true peak power achieved by the subjects of the subjects in this study was lower in the retest. The ICC values still indicate results from this study suggest that reliability is acceptable for both methods. Limits of agreement and CI of the mean differences are presented to guide interpretation of individual and group data respectively. Either method could be used to test leg power, but the results from different methods should not be used interchangeably.


Excerpt] This paper begins by reviewing trends in occupational segregation during the past several decades, showing that after significant change during the 1980s and early 1990s, further progress in occupational integration has stalled across the board during the last decade for women and men with different levels of education, in different race/ethnic groups, and in different age cohorts. Just as there has been no progress in occupational integration during the 2000s, there has been no further progress towards equal pay, with the two trends showing an inverse relationship over time (as job segregation declined, equal pay increased). While this paper finds a clear wage penalty for work in predominantly female occupations, for both women and men, it also finds that this earnings penalty differs significantly between highly skilled and other occupations. The paper ends with a discussion of possible explanations of these findings and recommendations for policy change.


Communication and promotion decisions form the heart of retailer customer experience management strategy. In this review paper, we address two key questions from a retailer's perspective: (1) what have we learned from prior research about promotion, advertising, and other forms of communication and (2) what major issues should future research in this area address. In addressing these questions, we propose and follow a framework that captures the interrelationships among manufacturer and retailer communication and promotion decisions and retailer performance. We examine these questions under four major topics: determination and allocation of promotion budget, trade promotions, consumer promotions and communication and promotion through the new media. Our review offers several useful insights and identifies many fruitful topics and questions for future research.


Evolutionary algorithms mimic evolutionary behaviors in order to solve problems. They have been successfully applied in many areas and appear to have a special relationship with creative problems; such a relationship, over the last two decades, has resulted in a long list of applications, including several in the field of music. In this article, we provide an evolutionary algorithm able to compose music. More specifically we consider the following 4-voice harmonization problem: one of the 4 voices (which are bass, tenor, alto, and soprano) is given as input and the composer has to write the other 3 voices in order to have a complete 4-voice piece of music with a 4-note chord for each input note. Solving such a problem means finding appropriate chords to use for each input note and also finding a placement of the notes within each chord so that melodic concerns are addressed. Such a problem is known as the unfigured harmonization problem. The proposed algorithm for the unfigured harmonization problem, named EvoComposer, uses a novel representation of the solutions in terms of chromosomes (that allows to handle both harmonic and nonharmonic tones), specialized operators (that exploit musical information to improve the quality of the produced individuals), and a novel hybrid multiobjective evaluation function (based on an original statistical analysis of a large corpus of Bach's music). Moreover EvoComposer is the first evolutionary algorithm for this specific problem. EvoComposer is a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm, based on the well-known NSGA-II strategy, and takes into consideration two objectives: the harmonic objective, that is finding appropriate chords, and the melodic objective, that is finding appropriate melodic lines. The composing process is totally automatic, without any human intervention. We also provide an evaluation study showing that EvoComposer outperforms other metaheuristics by producing better solutions in terms of both well-known measures of performance, such as hypervolume, Δ index, coverage of two sets, and standard measures of music creativity. We conjecture that a similar approach can be useful also for similar musical problems.


This article shows that the refugee burdens among Western states are also very unequally distributed and that this constitutes a problem not only for individual states, but also for the EU as whole. It argues that despite many obstacles, the development of regional or international burdensharing regimes is indeed desirable. Attempts to explain or justify steps towards such a system do not have to rely solely on notions of solidarity but can be justified by more traditional interest-based motivations. However, it suggests that the EU's main burden-sharing initiatives which rely largely on policy harmonisation will not achieve the Union's objectives in this area. It will be argued that market-based burden-sharing mechanisms need to be explored further and that such market driven policies when combined with policy harmonisation and quota-based initiatives are likely to contribute to a more equitable, efficient and effective refugee burden-sharing system.


By 2020 mental illness will be one of the 5 most common illnesses causing morbidity, mortality and disability among youth. At least 20% of Canadian youth have a psychiatric disorder the impact of which can dramatically alter their life trajectory. Focus on the factors contributing to this problem is crucial. Lack of coordination between child and adolescent mental health systems (CAMHS) and adult mental health systems (AMHS) and consequent disruption of care during this vulnerable time of transition is one such factor. Reasons for and the impact of this divide are multilayered, many of which are embedded in outdated, poorly informed approaches to care for this population in transition. This paper considers the etiology behind these reasons as potential foci for change. The paper also briefly outlines recent initiatives ongoing in Canada and internationally that reflect appreciation of these factors in the attempt to minimize the gap in service provision for youth in transition. The need to continue with research and program development endeavours for youth with mental illness whereby access to services and readiness for transition is no longer determined by age is strongly supported.


Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the theoretical understanding and practical application of lead benchmarking and performance measurement as a way to achieve organisational change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines a theory building/theory testing approach. Based on literary findings a conceptual model has been postulated to identify constructs associated with upstream performance measurement and lead benchmarking. A selection of research questions are posed and tested via empirical study. The survey instrument was distributed to 800 UK organisations which resulted in 157 responses. Findings – Results from the empirical research indicate that new lead, forward looking, predictive benchmarks need to be developed to support lead benchmarking and performance measurement activities. Furthermore, it was found that currently larger organisations are more likely to adopt these practices, with considerable variation across organisational sectors. Research limitations/implications – The empirical research achieved a 19.6 per cent response rate. While this is adequate to report statistical representation, further data collection would be beneficial for industry generalisations. Practical implications – Many organisations struggle to grasp metric measurement for lead benchmarking. This paper may provide insight into key factors to be considered for lead benchmarking uptake. Originality/value – This paper builds on current literature and develops a conceptual model which is then tested via empirical research. This is a novel approach in the area of lead benchmarking.


Despite the vast research devoted to the shifting focus of the defense strategy toward irregular operations and developing a counterinsurgency doctrine since September 11, 2001, little is known about the driving political forces behind the process. Most assume that the strategy has shifted because after ten years embroiled in two wars—Iraq and Afghanistan—the United States has learned that conventional operations do not work against unconventional enemies. While this is true, how and why the strategy is integrated at the policy level is less well understood. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to fill in this void. An examination of the Quadrennial Defense Reviews (QDR) from 2001, 2006, and 2010 provides solid evidence of the evolution of the defense strategy since 9/11. This study includes an overview of two major theories explaining decision-making in security studies—national interest and bureaucratic politics—which will then act as the lenses through which the doctrinal changes are investigated. Articles written on the respective QDRs coupled with an interview with Dr. Steven Metz, a leading expert in the field of national defense, round out the discussion of the driving forces behind the strategic shift to irregular warfare. This study concludes that both national interest and bureaucratic politics influenced the strategic shift since 9/11, albeit to varying degrees—national interest had the strongest effect in 2001, and then different components of the bureaucratic politics model intertwined with the national interest motivation as new "players" entered the "game" along the way. This investigation demonstrates that political prowess is just as important as the security environment when it comes to transforming the United States defense strategy.


In recent years, lake eutrophication caused a large of Cyanobacteria bloom which not only brought serious ecological disaster but also restricted the sustainable development of regional economy in our country. Chlorophyll-a is a very important environmental factor to monitor water quality, especially for lake eutrophication. Remote sensed technique has been widely utilized in estimating the concentration of chlorophyll-a by different kind of vegetation indices and monitoring its distribution in lakes, rivers or along coastline. For each vegetation index, its quantitative estimation accuracy for different satellite data might change since there might be a discrepancy of spectral resolution and channel center between different satellites. The purpose this paper is to analyze the spectral feature of chlorophyll-a with hyperspectral data (totally 651 bands) and use the result to choose the optimal band combination for different satellites. The analysis method developed here in this study could be useful to recognize and monitor cyanobacteria bloom automatically and accrately. In our experiment, the reflectance (from 350nm to 1000nm) of wild cyanobacteria in different consistency (from 0 to 1362.11ug/L) and the corresponding chlorophyll-a concentration were measured simultaneously. Two kinds of hyperspectral vegetation indices were applied in this study: simple ratio (SR) and narrow band normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), both of which consists of any two bands in the entire 651 narrow bands. Then multivariate statistical analysis was used to construct the linear, power and exponential models. After analyzing the correlation between chlorophyll-a and single band reflectance, SR, NDVI respetively, the optimal spectral index for quantitative estimation of cyanobacteria chlorophyll-a , as well corresponding central wavelength and band width were extracted. Results show that: Under the condition of water disturbance, SR and NDVI are both suitable for quantitative estimation of chlorophyll-a , and more effective than the traditional single band model; the best regression models for SR, NDVI with chlorophyll-a are linear and power, respectively. Under the condition without water disturbance, the single band model works the best. For the SR index, there are two optimal band combinations, which is comprised of infrared (700nm-900nm) and blue-green range (450nm-550nm), infrared and red range (600nm-650nm) respectively, with band width between 45nm to 125nm. For NDVI, the optimal band combination includes the range from 750nm to 900nm and 700nm to 750nm, with band width less than 30nm. For single band model, band center located between 733nm-935nm, and its width mustn't exceed the interval where band center located in. This study proved , as for SR or NDVI, the centers and widths are crucial factors for quantitative estimating chlorophyll-a . As for remote sensor, proper spectrum channel could not only improve the accuracy of recognizing cyanobacteria bloom, but reduce the redundancy of hyperspectral data. Those results will provide better reference for designing the suitable spectrum channel of customized sensors for cyanobacteria bloom monitoring at a low altitude. In other words, this study is also the basic research for developing the real-time remote sensing monitoring system with high time and high spatial resolution.


In the process of post-colonial nation-building, the State often attempts to impose its own discourse as the sole source of national identity in order to homogenize the nation. In his influential work Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Benedict Anderson notes the discrepancy between 'official' discourse, which supports the conception of a unified State, and the reality of a diverse people artificially grouped within the same political entity. To account for their disparity, Anderson argues that the nation is primarily a discursive phenomenon, i.e. a fiction supported by narratives. Based on his concept of imagined communities, literary works come to light as essential tools for nation-building, and writers emerge as key figures called upon to embrace the official model of the nationalist narrative. A new nation's literary production can rely on heavily codified structures of the novel to promote and preserve the fiction of a homogeneous national identity, defined here as an imagined community that shares the same collective values, a common understanding of History, and a profound commitment to the State. Such a propaganda-oriented mindset led Rachid Mimouni to challenge nationalist narrative in his first novel, Le printemps n'en sera que plus beau. This text, all too often disregarded as an early work that shows less aesthetic maturity than Mimouni's later writing, merits further analysis as an initial attempt to challenge national narrative. In its closing lines, Mimouni contests not only the attempt to fix literary boundaries, but also the official discourse used in nationalist texts... This working paper is available in Working Papers in Romance Languages: http://repository.upenn.edu/wproml/vol1/iss1/3 The story never ends: Rachid Mimouni's Le Printemps n'en sera que plus beau and the production of counterdiscourse in Algerian state-sponsored literature


This paper develops a novel modelling approach for ventilation flow in tunnels at ambient conditions (i.e. cold flow). The complexity of full CFD models of low in tunnels or the inaccuracies of simplistic assumptions are avoided by efficiently combining a simple, mono-dimensional approach to model tunnel regions where the flow is fully developed, with detailed CFD solutions where flow conditions require 3D resolution. This multiscale method has not previously been applied to tunnel flows. The low computational cost of this method is of great value when hundreds of possible ventilation scenarios need to be studied. The multi-scale approach is able to provide detailed local flow conditions, where required, with a significant reduction in the overall computational time. The coupling procedures and the numerical error induced by this new approach are studied and discussed. The paper describes a comparison between numerical results and experimental data recorded within a real tunnel underlining how the developed methodology can be used as a valid design tool for any tunnel ventilation system. This work sets the foundations for the coupling of fire-induced flows and ventilation systems where further complexities are introduced by the hot gas plume and smoke stratification.


Transcripts Visualized in Situ Despite advances, current methods for single-cell sequencing are unable to resolve transcript location within the cell, so Lee et al. (p. 1360, published online 27 February) developed a method of fluorescent in situ RNA sequencing (FISSEQ) that works in vivo to show messenger RNA localization within cells. The method amplifies complementary DNA targets by rolling circle amplification, and then in situ cross-linking locks amplicons to produce ample, highly localized templates for three-dimensional sequencing. The technique was tested in fibroblasts to reveal the differences between individual cells during wound repair. Reads of cellular RNA transcripts demonstrate spatial expression differences during simulated wound healing. Understanding the spatial organization of gene expression with single-nucleotide resolution requires localizing the sequences of expressed RNA transcripts within a cell in situ. Here, we describe fluorescent in situ RNA sequencing (FISSEQ), in which stably cross-linked complementary DNA (cDNA) amplicons are sequenced within a biological sample. Using 30-base reads from 8102 genes in situ, we examined RNA expression and localization in human primary fibroblasts with a simulated wound-healing assay. FISSEQ is compatible with tissue sections and whole-mount embryos and reduces the limitations of optical resolution and noisy signals on single-molecule detection. Our platform enables massively parallel detection of genetic elements, including gene transcripts and molecular barcodes, and can be used to investigate cellular phenotype, gene regulation, and environment in situ.


Accurate timber assortment information is required before cuttings to optimize wood allocation and logging activities. Timber assortments can be derived from diameter-height distribution that is most often predicted from the stand characteristics provided by forest inventory. The aim of this study was to assess and compare the accuracy of three different pre-harvest inventory methods in predicting the structure of mainly Scots pine-dominated, clear-cut stands. The investigated methods were an area-based approach (ABA) based on airborne laser scanning data, the smartphone-based forest inventory Trestima app and the more conventional pre-harvest inventory method called EMO. The estimates of diameter-height distributions based on each method were compared to accurate tree taper data measured and registered by the harvester's measurement systems during the final cut. According to our results, grid-level ABA and Trestima were generally the most accurate methods for predicting diameter-height distribution. ABA provides predictions for systematic 16 m × 16 m grids from which stand-wise characteristics are aggregated. In order to enable multimodal stand-wise distributions, distributions must be predicted for each grid cell and then aggregated for the stand level, instead of predicting a distribution from the aggregated stand-level characteristics. Trestima required a sufficient sample for reliable results. EMO provided accurate results for the dominating Scots pine but, it could not capture minor admixtures. ABA seemed rather trustworthy in predicting stand characteristics and diameter distribution of standing trees prior to harvesting. Therefore, if up-to-date ABA information is available, only limited benefits can be obtained from stand-specific inventory using Trestima or EMO in mature pine or spruce-dominated forests.


We propose a procedure for analyzing financial interdependencies within an area of interest, interpreting a negative daily return in an Originator market as a VaR (i.e. the product of a volatility level and the corresponding α-quantile of a time independent probability distribution), and measuring the Median Response in the Destination market through its volatility associated with the one in the Originator and the reconstruction of the correlation structure between the two (through copula functions). We apply our methodology to nine Asian markets, varying the choice of the Originator and deriving a number of indicators which represent the importance of each market as a provider or a receiver of turbulence. Over a 1996-2015 period we confirm the role of traditionally important markets (e.g. Hong Kong or Singapore), while over a rolling three--year estimation period, we can detect rises and declines, the explosion of turbulence in the occasion of the Great Recession and the magnified role of China in the recent years.


What authoring possibilities arise by blending machine and human control of live embodied character experiences? This paper explores two different "behind-the-scenes" roles for human operators during a three-month gallery installation of an embodied character experience. In the Transcription role, human operators type players' spoken utterances; then, algorithms interpret the player's intention, choose from pre-authored dialogue based on local and global narrative contexts, and procedurally animate two embodied characters. In the Discourse role, human operators select from semantic categories to interpret player intention; algorithms use this "discourse act" to automate character dialogue and animation. We compare these two methods of blending control using game logs and interviews, and document how the amateur operators initially resisted having to learn the Discourse version, but eventually preferred having the authorial control it afforded. This paper also outlines a design space for blending machine and human control in live character experiences.


A 3D-QSAR study using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) was carried out on anti-tubulin agents with indole as a nucleus core. The structures of the compounds were obtained using docking calculations, and were then subjected to alignment procedures. CoMFA calculations for the 42 ligands that were examined as the training set gave a q2 value of 0.623 in correlation with experimental IC50 values for the inhibition of MKN-45 gastric cancer cells. Calculation for the test set of 17 ligands resulted in an r2 value of 0.714. The calculated results suggest that the R3 functional group site (see structure in Fig. 1) favored bulky groups while R1, R2, and R4 sites favored the opposite. At the R5 and R6 sites, parts of the region favored bulky groups while other parts favored the opposite. As for the electrostatic aspect, the R3 site was found to favor groups with a negative partial charge. At the R2 site, part of the region favored the group with a negative partial charge while other regions favored groups with a positive partial charge. The R4 and R5 sites favored groups with negative and positive partial charges, respectively, with a less favorable magnitude when compared with the R2 and R3 sites. The R1 and R6 sites did not exhibit significant electrostatic favor. Correlation of the results with IC50 values of ligands were analyzed and discussed.


Abstract The grain size of raw materials influences their behaviour during the technological process and affects many properties of building clay products. Over the last few years, brickworks have been technologically updated and grain size requirements have been modified to ensure good behaviour during shaping and drying. Therefore, the reference schemes used to assess the suitability of clays, such as the classic Winkler diagram, should be updated. For this purpose, the grain-size distribution of 350 clays currently used in ~240 Italian plants was determined by X-ray monitoring of gravity sedimentation. Raw materials are basically represented by silty clays and clayey silts, while bodies present a narrower grain-size range. With reference to the Winkler diagram, most of the Italian bodies fall within the field of 'thin-walled hollow bricks', with no significant differentiation among the various product types. In order to improve the grain-size characterization of bodies, a new classification scheme for Italian raw materials is proposed, based on three ranges: >10 μm, 2-10 μm and <2 μm, respectively. It allows distinction of specific grain-size features of bodies for (a) facing bricks; (b) roofing tiles; and (c) lightweight blocks, paving bricks and hollow slabs.


Studies investigating the regulation of force of motor actions are scarce, and particularly so in the area of sports. This is surprising, considering that in most sports precise force is of great importance. The current study demonstrates how a psychophysical scale, the Borg CR100 scale® (Borg and Borg, 2001), can be used to assess subjective force as well as regulate force in putting. Psychophysical functions were calculated on the relationships between judgments of force using the CR100 scale and the length of putting shots, examined in a laboratory setting, where 44 amateur golfers played on both flat and uphill surfaces. High agreement and consistency between CR 100 ratings and distances putted was demonstrated. No significant differences in handling the scale were observed between younger (mean age ≈37 years) and older (mean age ≈69 years) players or between players of different skill level. This study provides a new innovative use of an existing instrument, the Borg CR 100 scale®, in order to understand the regulation of force needed for putts of various lengths and surfaces. These results and the potential future benefits of the psychophysical approach in golf are discussed.


Postsynaptic inhibition can operate by two distinct mechanisms: (1) membrane hyperpolarization and (2) shunting of excitatory postsynaptic currents. The arithmetic operations--either addition or multiplication-- that synapses are able to perform during neuronal computations are determined by which of these two inhibitory mechanisms predominates. Hyperpolarizing IPSPs interact linearly with EPSPs; their negative and positive synaptic currents sum to produce a net change in membrane potential (Eccles, 1961). Shunting synapses interact nonlinearly with EPSPs; the shunt-induced increase in membrane conductance directly reduces the amplitude of EPSPs by a constant multiplicative factor (Fatt and Katz, 1953; Blomfield, 1974). This property of shunting inhibition has provided the basis for models of synaptic interaction in which shunting inhibition acts as an AND-NOT gate for excitatory inputs (Torre and Poggio, 1978; Koch et al., 1983). Using an in vivo variant of the whole-cell patch technique (Blanton et al., 1989), we have examined the effect of visually evoked inhibition on the size of EPSPs in cortical simple cells and found that the predominant inhibitory mechanism is hyperpolarization. We conclude that these inhibitory synapses operate primarily in the linear mode.


A global increase in the incidence of subfertility is observed, and research suggests strong genetic influences that might restrict fertility directly or indirectly. It therefore becomes important to rule out the existence of genetic causes and counsel infertile couples before offering "Advanced Infertility Treatment Techniques." This cross‐sectional study aimed to explore the association of KCNQ1 (rs2237895) and Renalase (rs2576178 and rs10887800) single nucleotide polymorphisms with different causes of infertility by analysing 508 fertile and 164 infertile women. Gene variant (AC/CC) of KCNQ1 rs2237895 showed a slight difference in the endometriosis group compared to the fertile group (p = .049), with the C allele showing a significant association with infertility overall (OR = 1.42 [1.100–1.833]; p < .0069). The variant AG/GG of Renalase rs2576178 was significantly associated with overall infertility (OR = 2.266; p < .001), with a strong G allele association with unexplained infertility OR = 2.796 (p = .002) that remained significant after adjusting for age and body mass index. Similarly, Renalase rs10887800 AG/GG and G allele showed significant association with both infertility due to polycystic ovarian syndrome and unexplained infertility. Expression of single nucleotide polymorphism rs2237895 and rs2576178 in both KCNQ1 and Renalase genes might be responsible for altering reproductive potential, hence leading to infertility in women.


AIM
to determine the differences of ADMA level between stages 3, 4, and 5 non-dialysis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients at Outpatient Nephrology Clinic, Dr. Soetomo Hospital.

METHODS
a cross-sectional study was conducted on stage 3, 4, and 5 non-dialysis CKD patients at Outpatient Nephrology Clinic, Dr. Soetomo Hospital, Surabaya from January to February 2015. Stages of CKD were determined based on GFR estimation according to 4-variable MDRD formula. Statistical analysis of differences in the levels of ADMA in three subject groups use one-way ANOVA test.

RESULTS
seventy-five patients were included in the study. Each group consisted of 25 patients stage 3, 4, and, 5 non-dialysis patients. Mean age of stage 3, stage 4, and stage 5 non-dialysis CKD patients were respectively 57.12 years, 54.80 years and 53.68 years. The mean levels of ADMA in stage 3, stage 4, and 5 were 0.62 (0.11) IU/mL, 0.72 (0.16) IU/mL, and 0.73 (0.18) IU/mL respectively. Analysis of the differences between the groups showed significant differences in ADMA levels (p=0.04), with the highest difference between stage 3 and stage 5.

CONCLUSION
comparison of ADMA levels showed significant differences between CKD stages and the level tends to be higher along with increase severity of CKD stages.


Few celebrities have captivated the sport's world for as long, or with such depth, as Joe DiMaggio. Here, for the first time, is the definitive story of his life, as told by the award-winning journalist Richard Ben Cramer. In Cramer's hands, DiMaggio's complicated life, from the first game with the Yankees in the 1930's, his marriage to Marilyn Monroe and his rise to hero status, becomes a story of the media, the invention of a national celebrity in America, and the ways in which fame can both build and destroy. Using his renowned investigative skills, Cramer has uncovered startling, even shocking, information about DiMaggio's life and presents them with his trademark combination of 'jarring, unsentimental prose' (THE NEW YORK TIMES).


Unified Modeling Language (UML) provides various diagram types for describing a system from different perspectives or abstraction levels. Hence, various UML models of the same system are dependent and strongly overlapping. This paper discusses various general approaches and viewpoints of model transformations in UML. The possible source and target diagram types are analyzed and categories are given for different transformations. It is argued that such transformations should be defined in terms of the UML metamodel, rather than on the level of the actual diagrams. A detailed example of a transformation operation from sequence diagrams into class diagrams is presented to illustrate such operations. It is concluded that the transformation operations can automate a substantial part in both forward and reverse engineering. These operations can be used, for example, for model checking, merging, slicing and synthesis.


The global economy is changing rapidly and multinational corporations (MNCs) are at the forefront of this transformation. This book provides novel and profound analyses of how MNCs and emerging economies are related, and how this relationship affects the dynamics of the global economy. In particular, the authors deal with the nexus between multinationals, emerging economies and innovation from a variety of different perspectives. Innovation is regarded as a core driving force in the global economy but the authors show how it can impede as well as encourage sustainability. The book brings together insights from business studies and economics, and combines concise theoretical discussion with empirical analyses of unique data.


A spontaneous point mutation in the coding region of the carboxypeptidase E (CPE) gene in Cpe(fat)/Cpe(fat) mice affects proinsulin processing. Cell lines derived from the pancreatic beta-cells of Cpe(fat)/Cpe(fat) mice were generated by crossing C57BLKS/J-Cpe(fat)/+ mice with NOD mice expressing the simian virus 40 large T oncogene under the control of the rat insulin II promoter. Two cell lines, designated NIT-2 and NIT-3, were cultured from adenomatous islets obtained from F2 littermates and were compared with the NIT-1 cell line previously developed from mice with wild-type CPE. Electron microscopy of the cultured NIT-2 and -3 cells showed increased numbers of enlarged and electron-lucent granules compared with NIT-1 cells. Pro-CPE, but not the mature form of CPE, is present in NIT-2 and -3 cells, and neither pro-CPE nor CPE are secreted into the medium. Immunocytochemistry shows the pro-CPE to be localized to an endoplasmic reticulum-like structure in NIT-3 cells. Proinsulin is less extensively processed in NIT-2 and -3 cells than in NIT-1 cells, indicating that the Cpe(fat) mutation affects both the endopeptidase and carboxypeptidase reactions. The secretion of insulin/proinsulin from NIT-2 and -3 cells is significantly elevated by secretagogues, indicating that CPE is not required for sorting proinsulin into the regulated pathway.


This Article addresses the increasing formal legal nature of restorative justice in the United States. Over the last three decades, a substantial body of research has demonstrated the ways in which restorative justice offers an alternative societal response to crime and harm. It has also examined how restorative justice empowers individuals and groups to address violence, respond to social, political and economic injustice, and engage in resistance to existing structural inequities. Yet a prominent gap in the field exists: a comprehensive theoretical and empirical examination of the codification of restorative justice in state law. Studies of this nature are essential given restorative justice's proliferation in formal law, as well as operationalization within multiple public systems. Drawing on data from an original 50-state analysis, this Article argues that the current degree of legal internalization of restorative justice indicates the emergence of a new legal norm. These findings call for a critical reexamination of current perceptions of restorative justice normatively and empirically. Beyond provoking new directions in research, these findings should be of significant interest to reformists seeking to advance laws, policies, and systems that promote fairness, equity, and justice and to practitioners who increasingly interact with formal restorative processes. The internalization and diffusion of restorative justice in state law has heightened the need for judges, attorneys, and advocates to not only understand restorative justice theoretically, but pragmatically as they must now make decisions regarding the use of restorative justice at different stages of legal processes.


In interference-rich and noisy environment, wireless communication is often hampered by unreliable communication links. Recently, there has been active research on cooperative communication that improves the communication reliability by having a collection of radio terminals transmit signals in a cooperative way. This paper proposes a medium access control (MAC) algorithm, called Cooperative Diversity MAC (CD-MAC), which exploits the cooperative communication capability of the physical (PHY) layer to improve robustness in wireless ad hoc networks. In CD-MAC, each terminal proactively selects a partner for cooperation and lets it transmit simultaneously so that this mitigates interference from nearby terminals, and thus, improves the network performance. For practicability, CD-MAC is designed based on the widely adopted IEEE 802.11 MAC. For accurate evaluation, this study presents and uses a realistic reception model by taking bit error rate (BER), derived from Intersil HFA3861B radio hardware, and the corresponding frame error rate (FER) into consideration. System-level simulation study shows that CD-MAC significantly outperforms the original IEEE 802.11 MAC in terms of packet delivery ratio and end-to-end delay.


nearshore temperate reefs are highly diverse and productive habitats that provide structure and shelter for a wide variety of fishes and invertebrates. Recreational and commercial fisheries depend on nearshore reefs, which also provide opportunities for non-extractive recreational activities such as diving. many inhabitants of nearshore temperate reefs on the west coast of north America have very limited home ranges as adults, and recent genetic evidence indicates that the dispersion of the larval stages is often restricted to tens of kilometers. management of temperate reef resources must be organized on very small spatial scales in order to be effective, offering unique technical challenges in terms of assessment and monitoring. new enabling legislation could assist in specifying mandates and adjusting institutional design to allow stakeholders and concerned citizens to formulate management policies at local levels, and to aid in implementing and enforcing these policies.


In this contribution we show, using several examples, that Raman spectroscopy is a very important qualitative and quantitative analytical tool in geochemical research, particularly in the field of melt and fluid inclusions. Due to the high lateral and depth resolution of 1 μm and 2 μm, respectively, volumes with dimensions in the order of 1 μm3 and masses of 1 pg can be studied rapidly, with high resolution, with minimal, and in some case with no sample preparation. Examples of the detection of small known or unknown mineral phases (graphite, diamond, ramanite-[Cs] and others) are given.
Because water does not cause interference, aqueous solutions can be advantageously studied with Raman spectroscopy. Moreover, one can use the OH-bands of the inclusion water as an internal standard for the quantitative determination of numerous dissolved species such as H3BO3, CO32-, HCO3-, and SO42- in a single measuring run.
The development of Raman spectroscopy for the determination of water concentrations in natural melt systems (melt inclusion, glasses) opened a new chapter in the petrology. We can now determine water concentrations in glasses, from basaltic to granitic composition, in small samples down to diameters of about 5 μm from the ppm level to over 40 % (g/g) non-destructively, and critically, in unexposed inclusions in a mineral matrix. For the granite-pegmatite system results of water determinations are shown by examples.


What do Google, Snapchat, Tinder, Amazon, and Uber have in common, besides soaring market share? They're platforms - a new business model that has quietly become the only game in town, creating vast fortunes for its founders while dominating everyone's daily life. A platform, by definition, creates value by facilitating an exchange between two or more interdependent groups. So, rather that making things, they simply connect people. The Internet today is awash in platforms - Facebook is responsible for nearly 25 percent of total Web visits, and the Google platform crash in 2013 took about 40 percent of Internet traffic with it. Representing the ten most trafficked sites in the U.S., platforms are also prominent over the globe; in China, they hold the top eight spots in web traffic rankings. The advent of mobile computing and its ubiquitous connectivity have forever altered how we interact with each other, melding the digital and physical worlds and blurring distinctions between "offline" and "online." These platform giants are expanding their influence from the digital world to the whole economy. Yet, few people truly grasp the radical structural shifts of the last ten years. In Modern Monopolies, Alex Moazed and Nicholas L. Johnson tell the definitive story of what has changed, what it means for businesses today, and how managers, entrepreneurs, and business owners can adapt and thrive in this new era.


Introduction: The new ferrous bisglycinate effervescent formulation is a combination of iron and ascorbic acid where iron is in complex form with glycine. No analytical method was reported so far for the analysis of iron and ascorbic acid in effervescent tablets. Hence, an attempt was made to develop and validate the colorimetric and RP-HPLC method. Objective: To develop and validate a colorimetric and RP-HPLC analytical method for ascorbic acid and iron by optimizing the concentration of sulphuric acid and volume of sodium acetate to breakdown ferrous bisglycinate complex. Methods: Colorimetric method for estimation of total iron: The wave length used was 510 nm with diluent-1 as 0.5 M sulfuric acid and 1.2 M sodium acetate 5 mL. The diluent-2 was Milli Q-water. 10 mL of 1,10 phenanthroline (1 mg/mL) used as complexing agent Analytical method development for ascorbic acid using HPLC: A reversed phase-high-performance liquid chromatography method was developed for ascorbic acid employing Inertsil octadecylsilyl column (250 mm ×4.6 mm; 5 μm) 20 mM potassium dihydrogen phosphate (pH - 2.5) and methanol (97:03) was used as mobile phase. An isocratic program was followed using 0.3 M hydrochloric acid with 5% ortho phosphoric acid as diluents with 1 ml/min flowrate. Results: The validated data of colorimetric method showed that the method was linear over a range of 0.625-3.75 μg/mL (r2 = 0.999) ,accurate and precise.Validated data showed that the method was linear over a range of 4.0-60.0 μg/mL (r2 = 0.999). The accuracy of the method ranged from 100% to 102%. The relative standard deviation value for method precision was 0.8%. Conclusion: The proposed method is simple and more economical in comparison with other reported methods discussed in literature and it has all the potential for routine quality control analysis.


A longitudinal study conducted with the aim to study the effects of
certain ergonomic programs on the prevention and reduction of the
risks of musculoskeletal disorders in primary-school-age children rests
on a sample of 76 examinees, pupils from Nis primary schools, aged 10
(±6 months). The basic sample was divided into three subsamples. The
first subsample, EG1, comprising 28 pupils of both genders,
represented the first experimental group. The second subsample, EG2,
consisting of 22 pupils of both genders, represented the second
experimental group, and the third subsample, KG, which consisted of
26 pupils of both genders, represented the control group. Both
experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) underwent special four-month
programs based on the education of children regarding ergonomic risks
and their prevention, while the control group KG, attended only regular
physical education classes. In addition, all three groups were subjected
to a survey based on the Nordic questionnaire and body map, in order
to determine the level of discomfort and pain when sitting or being in
certain positions. Furthermore, all three groups were subjected to
anthropometric measurements, and their postural status was established
by an ultrasonic device (Spinal mouse). This was followed by taking
anthropo-technical measurements of the school chairs and benches
from the classrooms in which the pupils resided. Two measurements of
the examinees were conducted -one at the beginning and the other at
the end of the experimental period. The examinees from the
experimental groups EG1 and EG2 underwent a special training
program on ergonomic risks after which they were distributed a number
of posters, leaflets and pamphlets on proper body posture and proper
way of sitting. These groups had a chance to see a special cartoon on
ergonomic risks and proper body posture, which was followed by an
ergonomic quiz they were asked to do. The difference between the
experimental groups EG1 and EG2 was reflected in the way of
implementation of the two programs. Among other exercises, the
experimental group EG1, had exercises with stability (pilates) balls
during their physical education classes, while the experimental group
EG2 practiced the program "School on the Move" (during the classes,
the children could, when and if they would feel like it, move freely or
do stretching or any other exercises). Group EG1 was shown the
practical application of the ergonomic backpack which was
complemented by weighing the school bags they carry every day. The
obtained data were statistically analyzed and presented in several
tables. Following the set objectives, tasks and research hypotheses, the
conclusions were drawn which indicate the positive effects of the
experimental programs and the negative impact of school furniture on
the postural status of the examinees. A proposal was made to change
the size and shape of school furniture, which should be adjusted to the
examinees' anthropometric measures. According to the obtained
results, the experimental group EG1, working with stability balls, had
statistically more significant results than the experimental group EG2
and the control group KG. The experimental group EG2, which applied
the concept of "School on the move", had statistically more significant
results in comparison to the control group KG. As for the children's
postural status, the different programs and approaches applied with
experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) and the control group KG point to
the fact that there were statistically significant effects with the
examinees of the experimental groups in terms of body posture. The
Nordic test, used in the final measurement with the experimental group
EG1 revealed good statistical significance in reducing discomfort and
pain in the neck area, while the experimental group EG2 confirmed
statistical significance in reducing pain and discomfort during
prolonged sitting. This research has its practical and theoretical value.
First of all, there is a great need to pay attention to children in growth,
because there is a high risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders in
the spine region, as well as of other hypertension diseases, hypokinesia,
obesity, cardiac and vascular disorders. This study could serve as a
pilot research for a larger and more complex scientific research in the
field of prevention of musculoskeletal and other changes.


BACKGROUND
The Australian HIV and sexually transmissible infection (STI) behavioural surveillance system (the repeated cross-sectional Gay Community Periodic Surveys, GCPS) has been conducted since 1998 and covers six main Australian jurisdictions. In this paper, we review its history and methodology, and the available indicators, their trends and their use.

METHODS
We describe the design and history of GCPS. For analyses of indicators, we use Pearson's χ²-test and test for trend where appropriate.

RESULTS
About 90% of gay men in Australia have been tested for HIV (60% to 70% of men who were not HIV-positive) have been tested as recommended in the preceding 12 months. STI testing levels (≈ 70% in the preceding 12 months) are high, but remain insufficient for STI prevention. In general, unprotected anal intercourse with regular (UAIR) and casual (UAIC) sex partners has increased over time. The prevalence and increasing trends in UAIR were similar across jurisdictions (P-trend <0.01), while trends in UAIC differed across the states: during 2001-08, UAIC declined in NSW (P-trend <0.01) and increased elsewhere (P-trend <0.01). Trends in UAIC were associated with HIV diagnoses.

CONCLUSION
This review of the design, implementation and findings of the Australian HIV/STI behavioural surveillance highlights important lessons for HIV/STI behavioural surveillance among homosexual men, particularly the need for consistent data collection over time and across jurisdictions. Investment in systematic behavioural surveillance appears to result in a better understanding of the HIV epidemic, the availability of a warning system and a better targeted HIV prevention strategy.


In most cases, empirical analyses of environmental innovations based on firm-level data relied on survey data for one point in time. These surveys, especially designed for the analysis of environmental innovations, are useful because they allow for the inclusion of many explanatory variables such as different policy instruments or the influence of stake-holders and pressure groups. On the other hand, it is not possible to address the dynamic character of the environmental innovation process. This paper uses two German panel data bases, the establishment panel of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the Mannheim Innovation Panel (MIP) of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), to explore the determinants of environmental innovations. These data bases were not specifically collected to analyze environmental issues, but they contain questions that allow the identification of environmental innovations. We use discrete choice models for each of the data bases to analyze hypotheses derived from the theoretical (environmental) innovation literature. The econometric estimations show that the improvement of the technological capabilities ("knowledge capital") by R&D or further education measures triggers environmental innovations – this result is confirmed by both data bases and both methods to measure environmental innovation. The hypothesis that "Innovation breeds innovation" is confirmed by the analysis of the MIP data. General and environmental innovative firms in the past are more likely to innovate in the present. Environmental regulation, environmental management tools and general organizational changes and improvements trigger environmental innovation, a result that has also been postulated by the famous Porter-hypothesis. Environmental management tools especially help to detect cost-savings (specifically material and energy savings). Following our econometric results, cost-savings are an important driving force of environmental innovation.


Governments all over the world need to target investments in health to generate jobs and promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth as they implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This report reviews a well-established methodology of health economy reporting that quantifies and analyses the health sector's economic impact on growth and employment based on national accounts. The report concludes that the methodology enables evidence-based health policy to steer and guide investments for health, employment and inclusive and sustainable growth. Valueand evidence-based public health investment provides effective and efficient, inclusive and innovative solutions that can drive social, economic and environmental sustainability. Investing for health and well-being is a driver and enabler of sustainable development and empowers people to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for all.


Prediction of current flow across single molecules requires ab initio electronic structure calculations along with their associated high computational demand, and a means for incorporating open system boundary conditions to describe the voltage sources driving the current. To date, first principle predictions of electron transport across single molecules have not fully achieved a predictive capability. The situation for molecular electronics may be compared to conventional technology computer-aided design (TCAD), whereby various approximations to the Boltzmann transport equation are solved to predict electronic device behavior, but in practice are too time consuming for most circuit design applications. To simplify device models for circuit design, analytical but physically motivated models are introduced to capture the behavior of active and passive devices; however, similar models do not yet exist for molecular electronics. We follow a similar approach by evaluating an analytical model achieved by combining a mesoscopic transport model with parameterizations taken from quantum chemical calculations of the electronic structure of single molecule bonded between two metal contacts. Using the model to describe electron transport across benzene-1,4-dithiol and by comparing to experiment, we are able to extract the coupling strength of the molecule attached to two infinite metal electrodes. The resulting procedure allows for accurate and computationally efficient modeling of the static (dc) characteristics of a single molecule, with the added capability of being able to study the physical model parameter variations across a range of experiments. Such simple physical models are also an important step towards developing a design methodology for molecular electronics


The COVID-19 outbreak has generated significant uncertainty about the future, especially for young adults. Health and economic threats, as well as more diffuse concerns about the consequences of COVID-19, can trigger feelings of anxiety, leading individuals to adopt uncertainty-reducing behaviours. We tested whether anxiety was associated with an increase in willingness to be exposed to the risk of COVID-19 infection (WiRE) using an online survey administered to 3,110 French individuals aged between 18 and 35 years old during the lockdown period (April 2020). Overall, 56.5% of the sample declared a positive WiRE. Unemployment was associated with a higher WiRE (+8.2 percentage points (pp); 95% CI +0.9-15.4 pp). One standard deviation increases in income (+1160€) and psychological state anxiety raised the WiRE by +2.7 pp (95% CI: +1.1-4.4 pp) and +3.9 pp (95% CI: +1.6-6.2 pp), respectively. A one standard deviation increase in perceived hospitalisation risk was associated with a -4.1 pp (95% CI: -6.2-2.1 pp) decrease in the WiRE. Overall, our results suggest that both the prospect of economic losses and psychological anxiety can undermine young adults' adherence to physical distancing recommendations. Public policies targeting young adults must consider both their economic situation and their mental health, and they must use uncertainty-reducing communication strategies.