A series of novel polysiloxanes is presented, the glass transition temperatures and dielectric properties of which are systematically fine-tuned by utilizing thiol-ene post-polymerization reactions. The pendant vinyl groups of a high molecular weight polymethylvinylsiloxane P1 were exhaustively reacted with the thiol compounds 1-butanethiol (2) and 3-mercaptopropionitrile 3 both separately to give polymers P2 and P3, respectively, as well as in various ratios x, y so as to create materials P2xP3y with greatly differing contents of the polar nitrile group (y). All modifications proceeded quantitatively as was confirmed by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Because of the presence of the polarizable thioether and nitrile groups, the resulting siloxane polymers exhibit permittivity ranging from e′ = 4.7 to 18.4 for P2 and P3, respectively. The e′ values of all polymers P2xP3y carrying more than one kind of thiolether group lie within this range. Additionally, broadband dielectric spectroscopy measurements of P2, P21P31 and P3 have been conducted in the temperature range from −150 °C to 60 °C and the frequency range from 0.1 Hz to 1 MHz. Due to their high permittivity, polymers P2, P2xP3y and P3 are attractive candidates for dielectric elastomer actuators and flexible electronics.


The "processed book" is about content, not technology, and contrasts with the "primal book"; the latter is the book we all know and revere: written by a single author and viewed as the embodiment of the thought of a single individual. The processed book, on the other hand, is what happens to the book when it is put into a computerized, networked environment. To process a book is more than simply building links to it; it also includes a modification of the act of creation, which tends to encourage the absorption of the book into a network of applications, including but not restricted to commentary. Such a book typically has at least five aspects: as self-referencing text; as portal; as platform; as machine component; and, as network node. An interesting aspect of such processing is that the author's relationship to his or her work may be undermined or compromised; indeed, it is possible that author attribution in the networked world may go the way of copyright. The processed book, in other words, is the response to romantic notions of authorship and books. It is not a matter of choice (as one can still write an imitation, for example, of a Victorian novel today) but an inevitable outcome of inherent characteristics of digital media.


The Canadian Regional Climate Model has recently been coupled with an advanced, second generation land surface model - the Canadian Land Surface Scheme. In addition, high resolution land cover and soils data sets have been assembled on a 1 km horizontal resolution grid over North America. These data sets, along with the coupled model, provide a powerful tool for the examination of regional climate processes in complex, heterogeneous terrain. In a first application of the new modelling system, simulations of progressively higher horizontal resolution are performed over the Mackenzie Basin for the spring of 1995 in order to determine if turbulent fluxes associated with a heterogeneous land surface can generate mesoscale atmospheric circulations of relevance to the surface energy budget during the critical snow melt period. We have found that shallow, diurnally forced mesoscale circulations associated with surface flux heterogeneity developed regularly throughout the snow melt period in the higher resolution experiments. In one case, a localized down-draft associated with a low level isothermal layer was found to enhance turbulent heat exchange with the underlying snow. The net importance of this process to the overall energy balance of the snowpack did increase with resolution, but remained relatively small for the resolutions considered here.


Our genomes encode a wealth of transcription initiation regions (TIRs) that can be identified by their distinctive patterns of actively elongating RNA polymerase. We previously introduced dREG to identify TIRs using PRO-seq data. Here we introduce an efficient new implementation of dREG that uses PRO-seq data to identify both uni- and bidirectionally transcribed TIRs with 70% improvements in accuracy, 3-4-fold higher resolution, and >100-fold increases in computational efficiency. Using a novel strategy to identify TIRs based on their statistical confidence reveals extensive overlap with orthogonal assays, yet also reveals thousands of additional weakly-transcribed TIRs that were not identified by H3K27ac ChIP-seq or DNase-I-hypersensitivity. Novel TIRs discovered by dREG were often associated with RNA polymerase III initiation, bound by pioneer transcription factors, or located in broad domains marked by repressive chromatin modifications. We provide a web interface to dREG that can be used by the scientific community (http://dREG.DNASequence.org).


The Greek Banking System, in its effort to prepare itself for the changeover to the EURO, will face some initial costs. Being the basic institution of money distribution, this changeover will impose a heavy burden on banks. In addition to the costs that banks will sustain, they will derive new benefits. The impact of the EURO on Greek Banks is explained through a cost-benefit analysis, by providing a perspective of the anticipated costs, benefits and outcome. The primary objective of this paper is to examine the costs that will arise from this changeover and the benefits that will be produced, as explained by the change in the bank profits. The study results consider the existence of two projects: one without the introduction to EURO and one with the introduction to EURO. We proceed through an incremental method to determine when profits will be produced. To further demonstrate this, we have calculated the NPV of the introduction to the EURO by considering the year 2002 as the basic year. The analysis shows that during the period 2002 - 2007 banks will face a loss in their bank profits. Further analysis indicates that profits will rapidly show increases in the long-term period. Therefore, the changeover to the EURO will probably be very lucrative for the banking system of Greece and the economy in general over the long-term.


INTRODUCTION For the moral judge each day is a good day to live as well as--in the words of the Plains Indian warriors--"a good day to die." (1) That is to say, the judge embraces his professional life most fully when he is prepared to fight--and be criticized or reversed--in striving for justice. In a democratic republic such as ours, the role of judges is severely circumscribed. They must apply the constitution and laws as adopted by the founders, legislature, and executive--with the interstitial play provided by our common law system. Some discretion to interpret and obtain a reasonable result is afforded. Even in a hierarchical judicial system that provides room for review and correction on appeal, any more unstructured freedom of judges to ignore or apply rules as their personal predilections suggested could lead to a chaotic, arbitrary, and unpredictable system of jurisprudence, impossible for citizens to comply with in their real worlds because they could not foresee when their conduct was in accord with society's not yet delineated demands. When judges can cut themselves free of the law's dictates, it is not a foregone conclusion that all will see fairness the same way. Some German judges were Nazis; some post-Brown judges were segregationists. So, the conclusion is clear: judges must follow the law to avoid a kritarchy (2)--except, it is submitted, when that law requires the violation of the essence of mankind's sense of justice. The incongruity between the law and demands of a core right (call it natural justice if you will) must be absolutely clear if a judge is to rely on this fallback duty to the heart of fairness. In this country, the crisis of conscience was reached most clearly in the contradiction between, on one side, Calhoun and Chief Justice Taney who predicated their views on the assumption that Negroes were inferior to whites and, on the other, Lincoln's and Jefferson's (in his better self) that the Declaration of Independence was decisive in holding that all men are created equal. (3) A subsidiary aspect of that great battle over "race," which dominates our history, was resolved fifty years ago when Brown v. Board of Education (4) overruled Plessy v. Ferguson. (5) The reverberations of that Brown struggle are still being played out. (6) The judge must decide: does this law violate the essence of my duty to self and humanity. The process is gut wrenching. To society it is often confounding. The battle against fundamental injustice is now being waged in trial courtrooms in the confrontation between Federal Sentencing Guidelines (7) designed to punish by those afar without understanding the unnecessary cruelties that result when real human beings before the court are treated as cyphers rather than individuals. That struggle is not yet resolved, though unrelenting pressure by trial judges and others for rationality and justice may be having some effect. (8) This Article discusses the exercise of judicial independence by judges who have opposed racism and other legally-sanctioned injustices, as well as judicial failures to oppose injustice. In illustrating the range of options available to judges faced with the prospect of enforcing unjust laws, only one is ruled out: silent acquiescence. In Germany, the Nazi judges' silence, compliance, and active participation in the gravest crimes against humanity serves as a reminder that the duty to decide cases in accordance with statutes, precedent, or regulations cannot be absolute. (9) As Professor Maria Marcus's article Austria's Pre-War Brown v. Board of Education (10) shows, the Austrian Constitutional Court chose to nullify a 1931 Nazi-inspired effort to separate Jewish and Christian students in Universities rather than to adopt a readily available basis for refusing the case. (11) This judicial choice, made despite pressure and peril, warded off legally imposed university segregation until the Anschluss of Germany and Austria seven years later. …


Hypervigilance to threat and difficulty disengaging attention from threat are features of attentional biases in anxiety. However, research has not investigated both of these biases in specific fear. This study investigated attentional biases in 13 females with high spider fear and 10 low-fear controls aged between 18-30 years. Participants completed a spatial cueing task with spider and cow images as cues appearing in either the same location (valid) or in the opposite location (invalid) as the following target requiring a button-press response. The hypotheses that high-fear participants would display hypervigilance through shorter reaction times and greater P1 amplitude to targets with valid-spider cues, and disengagement difficulties through greater reaction times and decreased P1 amplitude to targets with invalid-spider cues were not supported. Greater reaction times for all cues in high-fear participants were observed. High fear participants displayed similar P1 amplitude to all targets regardless of cue whereas low-fear controls displayed increased P1 amplitude to spider-cued targets. Findings were interpreted as two processes in high-fear participants; general hypervigilance, suggested by generally increased P1 amplitude, followed by interference in reactions to targets. The P1 amplitude displayed in the low-fear group may suggest an evolutionary mechanism. These results may suggest a focus on general hypervigilance in spider-fear treatment.


Background: Computed tomography (CT) guided biopsies have long been the standard technique to obtain tissue from the thoracic cavity and is traditionally performed by interventional radiologists. Ultrasound (US) guided biopsy of pleural-based lesions, performed by pulmonologists is gaining popularity and has the advantage of multi-planar imaging, real-time technique, and the absence of radiation exposure to patients. In this study, we aim to determine the diagnostic accuracy, the time to diagnosis after the initial consult placement, and the complications rates between the two different modalities. Methods: A retrospective study of electronic medical records was done of patients who underwent CT-guided biopsies and US-guided biopsies for pleural-based lesions between 2005 and 2014 and the data collected were analyzed for comparing the two groups. Results: A total of 158 patients underwent 162 procedures during the study period. 86 patients underwent 89 procedures in the US group, and 72 patients underwent 73 procedures in the CT group. The overall yield in the US group was 82/89 (92.1%) versus 67/73 (91.8%) in the CT group (P = 1.0). Average days to the procedure was 7.2 versus 17.5 (P = 0.00001) in the US and CT group, respectively. Complication rate was higher in CT group 17/73 (23.3%) versus 1/89 (1.1%) in the US group (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: For pleural-based lesions the diagnostic accuracy of US guided biopsy is similar to that of CT-guided biopsy, with a lower complication rate and a significantly reduced time to the procedure.


Increasingly businesses are requiring or encouraging employees to maintain a presence on social media either through personal media use or control of a corporate account. This paper defines this kind of social media use as Bring Your Own Persona, as corporations are using the social media popularity of their employees for potential economic gain. But issues surrounding employee use and control of social media are emerging, causing businesses to go to court to assert social media account ownership, or to defend against claims of unauthorized access. This paper examines the court cases that have arisen connected to BYOP.


The value–added of a new partnership with Africa lies precisely in the opportunity to manage and to give impetus to relations and negotiations across a whole range of issues—conflict management, trade, debt relief, and aid—taken together rather than separately. Partnership, however, is not a new concept, in general or in development, and there are different models on offer. This article reviews these and sets out the choices facing new African partnerships with respect to a) participation b) coverage c) the form of partnership, and d) the structure of partnership. The article argues: against selectivity and in favour of building partnerships even with difficult cases; in favour of deploying all possible instruments, including economic, political and military; in favour of the principles of reciprocity and mutual accountability; in favour of institutionalizing mutual accountability through contractual or quasi–contractual forms. The characteristics of one particular, and far from easy case, Rwanda, reinforce these conclusions.

There are also implications for the G8 engagement with NEPAD. The article recommends a broad–based partnership, managed on the developed country side by the OECD, and that proposed monitoring by peer review be reinforced by joint parliamentary scrutiny.


2-(N- Methylanilino )naphthalene-6-sulfonyl chloride (Mns-Cl) was used to label up to eight sites, presumed to be lysine residues, on rabbit skeletal muscle actin. The resultant Mns-actin was highly fluorescent, displaying emission bands near 445 and 480 nm. Incorporation of three Mns groups per actin resulted in impairment of the ability of actin to polymerize. Final relative viscosities attained for salt-induced polymers of actin having no bound Mns groups and three bound Mns groups per actin, respectively, were 1.9 and 1.4. More extensive modification further lowered the ability of actin to polymerize, but the changes were less dramatic. The fluorescence properties of Mns-actin samples that contained up to eight Mns groups per actin were not affected significantly by the addition of salt to the samples. It seems that the modified lysines either lie outside a region of direct intersubunit contact in F-actin or that the modification of a particular lysine residue or residues on a particular actin prevents that actin unit from adding on to a growing F-actin chain. Modification of actin with Mns-Cl does not affect its ability to bind and to inhibit DNase I until more than three Mns groups have been incorporated into each actin. The loss of DNase I inhibitory power only becomes apparent after the ability of actin to polymerize has been reduced substantially.


There is an abundance of research on the aetiology and maintenance of child
sexual offending and many factors have been proposed as being influential,
including distorted cognitions. These are the focus of this study, in particular, the
underlying implicit theories thought to generate them. Ward and Keenan (1999)
hypothesised that child sexual offenders hold five distinct implicit theories which
account for the majority of their cognitive distortions, and which they use to make
predictions about the meaning of children's behaviour and underlying desires and
intentions. These include Children as Sexual Beings, Nature of Harm,
Uncontrollability, Dangerous World and Entitlement. However, it is unclear at the
present time whether child sexual offenders with a mental disorder have similar or
different cognitions which may have influenced their offending. This aim of the
current study was to explore this.
Semi structured interviews eliciting cognitions were carried out with 12 adult male
high secure child sexual offenders. Content analysis indicated that the majority of
the cognitive distortions exhibited by this sample of men could be categorized
within Ward and Keenan's (1999) five implicit theories. Evidence of a possible new
implicit theory representing deviant sexual interest in children, Children as Sexually
Attractive, was also found. Additionally, child sexual offenders whose offending
appeared to be associated with intimacy deficits were not felt to be adequately
captured under the Dangerous World implicit theory, and the theme of 'Lonely
World' was felt to be more suitable to represent this group of men. Diagnosis did
not impact upon the presence of implicit theories although content differences were
found. Participants with a diagnosis of personality disorder (n = 5; 100%) more
commonly articulated cognitions associated with the Children as Sexual Beings
implicit theory and reported deviant sexual interest in children. In comparison,
participants with a diagnosis of mental illness reported beliefs associated with the
Uncontrollability implicit theory (n = 5; 100%), and only two men made reference to
symptoms of their mental illness.
2
These preliminary findings appear to support previous studies identifying cognitions
and personality as risk factors to sexual offending in men, irrespective of diagnosis.
It can be concluded from this that psychosis alone is not a sufficient motivator for
sexual offending and cognition appears to play an influential role. This is
particularly relevant to those with a mental illness as the majority of research into
their sexual offending up to now has mostly focused on the role of psychosis. In
terms of assessment and treatment, these findings primarily suggest that implicit
theories should be addressed in therapy rather than focusing solely on their surface
level cognitive distortions, regardless of diagnosis. Further research is necessary in
order to advance understanding of implicit theories in child sexual offenders with a
mental disorder before any treatment and assessment tools can be adequately
developed. Additionally, future research will build on the limited theories and
typologies, particularly for those with a mental illness, which in turn should help to
advance the assessment, formulation and treatment of these offenders.


EVALUATING CONTINUITY AND CHANGE The long-run fate of political parties competing for office can be explained through a diverse range of organizational theories that locate them in the interplay between the universal and contending social forces of continuity and change (Clemens and Cook 1999). How these social forces play out is affected by three factors shaping all organizations. One is the institu-tionalization of practices and beliefs within parties, manifested in their structure (Scott 2001). Second is the environment that provides resources for sustaining parties and the milieu in which they compete with rivals (Pfeffer and Salancik 1978). And third are actions by party participants themselves (Donaldson 1996). Here I adapt the perspective of organizational coevolutionists (March 1991; Lewin et al. 1999; Rodrigues and Child 2008) to treat continuity and change in party organizations through the interaction between environmental and institutional factors with strategic actions. Continuity is a general concept I use to cover the ways in which ongoing regularities in parties' existence over time may be explained. According to population ecology theory, (1) the normal state of organizations is inertia (Hannan and Freeman 1984). Organizations tend to resist change because of factors like sunk costs in existing practices, internal coalitions, and ties with other organizations. In other words, inertia is the result of both environmental and institutional factors with little weight given to the actions of individuals. The argument for downplaying the significance of those actions is tied to the complex world in which organizations exist, making it difficult, in a timely manner, for even prominent actors to assimilate and make use of all the information that affects their organization or to overcome the resistance of others. Although working with different assumptions, neo-institutional theorists argue that constraints from the institutional environment promote organizational isomorphism that comes to convey legitimacy, manifested as inertia (DiMaggio and Powell 1991a: 12; b: 65). Continuity can also stem from deliberate actions rooted in loyalty, the honoring of tradition, and preferences for the status quo. Change, as well, is explained through a number of theoretical perspectives. For population ecologists, change is the result of adaptation to environmental pressures, mediated by institutional characteristics. Just as with their predictions of inertia, little credence is placed in what individual actors can accomplish. Among neo-institutionalists, change occurs through processes that lead organizations to imitate the forms and practices of those most successful in their field (DiMaggio and Powell 1991b: 64). Change, like continuity, is tied to the power and the interests of key participants (DiMaggio and Powell 1991a: 30-1). A new emphasis is added by those who recognize change in creative innovations (Bolton 1993; Cummings and O'Connell 1978). According to structural contingency theorists, change comes about through the actions of those who respond to altered conditions by adopting strategies to reshape their organization in ways that produce a better fit with the environment (Lawrence and Lorsch 1967; Donaldson 1996). By recognizing that continuity and change do not exclude each other and are both affected by the same kind of social mechanisms, a number of important questions arise with specific relevance to the organization of political parties in general and Canadian and U.S. ones in particular. I use the organizational literature for guidance about what needs to be asked and here I restrict myself to three representative questions. The first question asks, under what circumstances does innovation overwhelm the customary inertia? Organizational theorists see this happening when actors are stimulated by their organizations' poor performance to search for new and different approaches (Cyert and March 1963; Zaltman et al. …


Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) represent a unique source of information that might help clarifying numerous aspects of metastasis biology and finding new clinically relevant biomarkers. On the hypothesis that CTCs possess a distinct profile compared to solid primary and secondary lesions, the transcriptome of experimentally-derived CTCs was compared with those of the primary tumor (PT) and metastases at lymph-nodes (LNs) and lung, in order to identify CTC specific signatures involved in hematogenous dissemination and which might represent possible prognostic biomarkers.

PTs, CTCs, LNs and lungs were collected from the breast cancer (BC) MDA MB 231 xenograft model and characterized in two independent experiments using a microarray platform. CTCs were distinguishable from solid lesions by a set of 474 significantly differentially expressed genes. Among genes up-regulated in CTCs, the trefoil factor 3 secreted peptide (TFF3) was selected to evaluate its role in CTC biology. TFF3 down-modulation or knock-out (KO) significantly impaired MDA MB 231 cell migratory and invasive properties, but not their proliferation rate or vascular mimicry ability, in in vitro assays. Xenograft experiments with MDA MB 231 TFF3KO clones did not allow drawing conclusions on the involvement of TFF3 in dissemination and metastasis as the interpretation of results was hampered by the biological heterogeneity observed among clones. Interestingly, the expression status of TFF3 and some other CTC/metastasis-specific genes assessed in CTCs isolated from peripheral blood of BC patients, but not CTC status alone defined using standard markers, allowed identifying a group at higher risk of relapse or progression. Indeed, patients with TFF3+ CTCs had a significantly shorter progression-free survival compared to those with TFF3- CTCs. On the contrary, TFF3 expression level assessed in publicly available primary BC datasets did not correlate with tumor relapse.

The study of biologically relevant CTC-specific genes may allow deciphering the molecular mechanisms which orchestrate dissemination and real-time monitoring tumor evolution.


Directive 2014/26/EC foresees that EU member States shall ensure that disputes between collective management societies and users concerning, in particular, existing and proposed licensing conditions or a breach of contract can be submitted to a court, or if appropriate, to another independent and impartial dispute resolution body where that body has expertise in copyright law. The Spanish Copyright Commission (Section I) aims to be that body in Spain. In order to reach this objective, the Commission has been empowered with new functions that will probably reduce the existing conflicts related to copyright licensing.


CMOS technology scaling has reached a point where the circuit's static power is as high as the dynamic power. While further process scaling will only worsen leakage in transistors, it will benefit NEM relay technology. As asynchronous circuit design helps with dynamic power and NEM relays with static power, the use of NEM relays in asynchronous VLSI is ideal for low-power applications. In this paper, we present ways of combining both asynchronous and NEMS technologies and compare them with their CMOS counterpart. NEM relays can effectively implement not only QDI designs, but also bundled-data and power-gated circuits. We show in simulation that a 64-bit C-element, 32-bit PCHB AND and 8-bit PCHB adder implemented with NEM relays can achieve over 16X, 25X and 1.7X better energy-efficiency respectively compared to CMOS in a 90nm technology.


In 2010, University of Tennessee Extension conducted a strategic planning effort focused on the subsequent 10 years. The process involved approximately 3,000 Tennesseans in online surveys, area meetings, opinion polling, and focus group sessions. This article describes the process, tools, and outcomes—which included a comprehensive strategic plan. Yet the strategic planning process itself produced unintended outcomes, specifically professional development opportunities, greater awareness of Extension among state government stakeholders, and continuity in the pursuit of strategic goals despite administrative change. The major implication for Cooperative Extension organizations is that attention to the potential of these unintended outcomes can enhance strategic planning.


jQuery: Novice to Ninja is a compilation of best-practice jQuery solutions to meet the most challenging JavaScript problems. In this question-and-answer book on jQuery, you'll find a cookbook of ready-to-go solutions to help breathe life into your web page. Topics covered include: - Scrolling, Resizing and Animating Webpage elements - Backgrounds, Slideshows, and Crossfaders - Menus, Tabs, and Panels - Buttons, Fields, and Controls - Lists, Trees, and Tables - Frames, Windows, and Dialogs - Adding interactivity with Ajax - Using the jQuery User Interface Themeroller - Writing your own jQuery plug-ins All code used to create each solution is available for download and guaranteed to be simple, efficient and cross-browser compatible.


We study the demand response to non-linear price schedules using data on insurance contacts and prescription drug claims in Medicare Part D. Consistent with static response of drug use to price, we document significant bunching of annual drug spending as individuals enter the famous "donut hole,"where insurance becomes discontinuously much less generous on the margin. Consistent with a dynamic response to price, we document a response of drug use to the future out-of-pocket price by using variation in beneficiary birth month which generates variation in contract duration during the first year of eligibility. Motivated by these two facts, we develop and estimate a dynamic model of drug use during the coverage year that allows us to explore and quantify the effects of alternative contract designs on drug expenditures. For example, our estimates suggest that "filling" the donut hole, as required under the Affordable Care Act, will increase average total drug spending by about $170 per beneficiary, or about 10%, and average Medicare drug spending by about $270 per beneficiary, or almost 30%. We describe the nature of the utilization response and its heterogeneity across individuals and


We present a general perturbative method for correcting a singles and doubles coupled-cluster energy. The coupled-cluster wave function is used to define a similarity-transformed Hamiltonian, which is partitioned into a zeroth-order part that the reference problem solves exactly plus a first-order perturbation. Standard perturbation theory through second-order provides the leading correction. Applied to the valence optimized doubles ~VOD! approximation to the full-valence complete active space self-consistent field method, the second-order correction, which we call ~2!, captures dynamical correlation effects through external single, double, and semi-internal triple and quadruple substitutions. A factorization approximation reduces the cost of the quadruple substitutions to only sixth order in the size of the molecule. A series of numerical tests are presented showing that VOD~2! is stable and well-behaved provided that the VOD reference is also stable. The second-order correction is also general to standard unwindowed coupled-cluster energies such as the coupled-cluster singles and doubles ~CCSD! method itself, and the equations presented here fully define the corresponding CCSD~2! energy. © 2000 American Institute of Physics. @S0021-9606~00!30130-1#


Background: In most of the past decades, mosquito control has been done by the use of indoor residual spray and insecticides-treated bed nets. The control of mosquitoes by targeting the breeding sites (larval habitat) has not been given priority. Disrupting the oviposition sensory detection of mosquitoes by introducing deterrents of plant origin, which are cheap resources, might be add value to integrated vector control. Such knowledge is required in order to successfully manipulate the behavior of mosquitoes for monitoring or control. Materials and Methods: Twenty gravid mosquitoes were placed in a cage measuring 30 × 30 × 30 cm for oviposition. The oviposition media were made of different materials. Experiments were set up at 6:00 pm, and eggs were collected for counting at 7:30 am. Mosquitoes were observed until they died. The comparisons of the number of eggs were made between the different treatments. Results: There was significant difference in the number of eggs found in control cups when compared with the number of eggs found in water treated with Ocimum kilimandscharicum (OK) (P=0.02) or Ocimum suave (OS) (P=0.000) and that found in water with debris treated with OK (P=0.011) or OS (P=0.002). There was no significant difference in the number of eggs laid in treated water and the number of eggs laid in water with debris treated either with OK (P=0.105) or OS (P=0.176). Oviposition activity index for both OS and OK experiments lay in a negative side and ranged from -0.19% to -1%. The results show that OS and OK deter oviposition in An.gambiae s.s. Conclusions: Further research needs to be done on the effect of secondary metabolites of these plant extracts as they decompose in the breeding sites. In the event of favorable results, the potential of these plant extracts can be harnessed on a larger scale.


Microbes establish very diverse but still poorly understood associations with other microscopic or macroscopic organisms that do not follow the more conventional modes of competition or mutualism. Phaffia rhodozyma, an orange‐coloured yeast that produces the biotechnologically relevant carotenoid astaxanthin, exhibits a Holarctic association with birch trees in temperate forests that contrasts with the more recent finding of a South American population associated with Nothofagus (southern beech) and with stromata of its biotrophic fungal parasite Cyttaria spp. We investigated whether the association of Phaffia with Nothofagus–Cyttaria could be expanded to Australasia, the other region of the world where Nothofagus are endemic, studied the genetic structure of populations representing the known worldwide distribution of Phaffia and analysed the evolution of the association with tree hosts. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that Phaffia diversity in Australasia is much higher than in other regions of the globe and that two endemic and markedly divergent lineages seem to represent new species. The observed genetic diversity correlates with host tree genera rather than with geography, which suggests that adaptation to the different niches is driving population structure in this yeast. The high genetic diversity and endemism in Australasia indicate that the genus evolved in this region and that the association with Nothofagus is the ancestral tree association. Estimates of the divergence times of Phaffia lineages point to splits that are much more recent than the break‐up of Gondwana, supporting that long‐distance dispersal rather than vicariance is responsible for observed distribution of P. rhodozyma.


Born in Bradford is one of the worlds largest birth cohort studies into why children become ill. There are 13,500 children in the study including 170 twins and 3 triplets. twins are of particular interest to researchers by comparing pairs of identical and non identical twins it is possible to tease out the influences of genes and environment. Twins, particularly identical ones, have always fascinated artists, writers and photographers; it is not just the similarities and the subtle differences that fascinate, but also the challenge of to the notion of individual identity.


Objective: This randomised trial tested (i) whether a home-based expressive writing (EW) intervention improves quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and (ii) whether the intervention is more beneficial for men or for people who feel constrained in disclosing cancer-related concerns and feelings. Design: Patients treated for CRC were randomised to an EW (n = 101) or control writing (CW; n = 92) group. Assessments were completed at 1 month pre- and post-intervention. Sex and perceived social constraints on disclosure were evaluated as moderators. Main outcome measures: Primary outcomes were depressive symptoms, sleep problems and quality of life indicators. Results: Eighty-one per cent of participants completed all writing assignments. Consistent with hypotheses, relative to the CW group, participants in the EW group expressed more negative emotion in writing and rated their writings as more meaningful, personal and emotionally revealing. There were no significant main effects of EW or moderating effects of sex or social constraints on outcomes. Conclusions: Although EW is feasible to use with persons who have CRC, it was not effective as a stand-alone psychotherapeutic intervention. Neither was it more effective for men nor for people who felt they could not freely disclose cancer-related concerns and feelings.


Key agreement allows multi-parties exchanging public information to create a common secret key that is known only to those entities over an insecure network. In recent years, several identity-based authenticated key agreement protocols have been proposed. In this study, we analyze three identity-based tripartite authenticated key agreement protocols. After the analysis, we found that these protocols do not possess the desirable security attributes.


This paper explores the role of classroom management in the online learning environment of a community college history course. It is posed that despite the unique nature of the online learning environment, many of the same features that are essential to the success of a traditional classroom management plan also apply in the online classroom. However, the instructor must be aware of potential stumbling blocks such as complacency of rules, the needs of non-traditional students, and feelings of isolation that may be exaggerated in an online environment and plan preventive classroom management accordingly. This paper demonstrates that when appropriate preventive management strategies are applied, the online learning environment can be as rich and productive as the traditional classroom.


In many real-world planning scenarios, the users are interested in optimizing multiple objectives (such as makespan and execution cost), but are unable to express their exact tradeoff between those objectives. When a planner encounters such partial preference models, rather than look for a single optimal plan, it needs to present the pareto set of plans and let the user choose from them. This idea of presenting the full pareto set is fraught with both computational and user-interface challenges. To make it practical, we propose the approach of finding a representative subset of the pareto set. We measure the quality of this representative set using the Integrated Convex Preference (ICP) model, originally developed in the OR community. We implement several heuristic approaches based on the Metric-LPG planner to find a good solution set according to this measure. We present empirical results demonstrating the promise of our approach.


Abstract Parapharyngeal space tumors are very rarely seen, and surgical approach to these tumors has not been well established. Most of these tumors are benign and originated from salivary glands and neurogenic in nature. In this case, we report a patient who has a trigeminal schwannoma extending into the deep parapharyngeal space and explain our surgical approach.


Abrasive waterjet (AWJ) technology is used in a routine manner in manufacturing industry to cut materials that are difficult to cut by other methods. Whilst the technology for through cutting of materials is mature, the process is also being developed for controlled depth milling (CDM) of materials.

The aerospace industry have a requirement to remove redundant material from components manufactured from difficult to machine Ti6Al4V and titanium aluminide alloys and thus reduce component weight. The two main processes available to facilitate this are chemical milling and AWJ-CDM. The two processes have the advantage that they impose negligible forces, thus allowing flexible structures to be processed. However, the process of chemical milling is under threat due to the high costs associated with the disposal of the spent acids. Thus, this research seeks to evaluate the A WJ-CDM process as a replacement for chemical milling for Ti6A14V and titanium aluminide alloys. The magnitude and effect of the process characteristics of chemical milling on fatigue life are well established; however, this is not the case for AJW-CDM. The aerospace industry considers the characteristics of surface roughness, grit embedment and surface morphology to be significant parameters in determining the fatigue life of components manufactured using AJW-CDM. Therefore, before AJW-CDM can be considered a viable alternative, the effect of the process variables on the workpiece characteristics have first to be established.

The current research has determined the role of a number of process parameters on the material removal rate, roughness and waviness, grit embedment and surface morphology in the AJW-CDM of Ti6AI4V and titanium aluminide. Nozzle traverse speed and jet impingement angle are shown to govern the operative mechanism of material removal and thus the material removal rate. It is also shown that the surface waviness can be reduced as the traverse speed is increased and as the jet impingement angle is decreased, but it should be noted that waviness increases with number of passes of the jet over the workpiece. The surface roughness is not strongly dependent on traverse speed. Surface waviness and roughness are strongly dependent on jet impingement angle; significant reductions are possible by employing low angle milling techniques. Smaller sized grit leads to a reduction in material removal rate but also to a decrease in both waviness and roughness.

It has been demonstrated that grit embedment can be minimised either by milling with a high jet traverse speed at low impingement angles or by low speed milling at jet impingement angles up to 45°in the backward direction only. However, even in the best cases, 5% of the area of a milled surface comprised of embedded grit. Surface morphology can either exhibit directional grooving or cratering, depending upon complex interactions of the various processing parameters.

The understanding of the role of various process parameters on the workpiece characteristics will allow the process parameters to be optimised for given requirements. Future work needs to examine the fatigue performance of the AJW-CDM structures, and again optimisation of the processing parameters to maximise fatigue life can be performed. Masking has been employed to provide an economic manufacturing solution for the AJW-CDM process for a specific component. Thus, AJW-CDM has been established as a potential replacement process for chemical milling.


Apple juice, known as a good antioxidant source, may partially protect the body from oxidative stress. In this report, the effect of apple juice reconstituted with alkaline electrolyzed water (EO-apple juice) on HT-29 cells was investigated. Specifically, the total antioxidant capacity (ORAC and TEAC) of EO-apple juice, and the effects this EO-apple juice on cell proliferation (MTT assay), DNA fragmentation, and oxidative DNA damage (comet assay) of HT-29 cells were evaluated. The TEAC value of EO-apple juice was higher (2773 μM TE vs. 1739 μM TE) than apple juice reconstituted with ultra pure water (Water-apple juice). EO-apple juice also had a higher ORAC value (15446 μM TE) than that Water-apple juice (13908 μM TE). After 72 h cell incubation, HT-29 cell proliferation was more effectively reduced by the EO-apple juice than the Water-apple juice. Induction of apoptosis was determined using a DNA fragmentation method, and apoptotic cells increased in a dose-dependent manner after treatment with both reconstituted apple juices. In conclusion, EO-apple juice had a stronger antioxidant effect than water-apple juice and can inhibit HT-29 cell proliferation plus induce apoptosis.


This paper discusses the use of a hybrid simulation in the investigation of a specific synthesis procedure. Its content is divided between two subjects: a time domain synthesis procedure based on Gaussian wave functions and a hybrid computer realization of the required operations. These topics are discussed adequately enough to serve as an introduction to the material; but insufficient data are presented to determine how the procedure will compare with other analysis-synthesis systems, such as the vocoder. To determine the practicality of an approach, both a synthesis and an analysis procedure must be described, realized, and used to process significant amounts of speech. This paper discusses in detail only the realization of the synthesis procedure and thus an evaluation of the approach cannot be made at present.


Abstract:  The Philippines possess a remarkable species diversity of amphibians and reptiles, much of which is endemic to this Southeast Asia island nation. Lizard diversity in the family Gekkonidae is no exception, with more than 80% of the country's gecko species endemic to the archipelago, including the entire genus of False Geckos (Pseudogekko). This small radiation of diminutive, slender, arboreal forest species has been the focus of several recent phylogenetic and systematic studies that have highlighted the prevalence of undocumented species concentrated in several geographical regions within the archipelago. Newly available genetic data have led to the revision of two species complexes in the genus Pseudogekko, one of which is the focus of this study. We describe a new member of the Pseudogekko brevipes complex, which represents the first population from this species group discovered in the Luzon Faunal Region. Because of the species' secretive nature, rarity, or restricted geographic range, it has gone undetected despite recent biodiversity surveys targeting the central and northern portions of the Bicol Peninsula. We evaluate both morphological and genetic data to support the recognition of the new species. All three members of the P. brevipes complex have allopatric distributions situated within three of the archipelago's distinct faunal regions. The recognition of the new species increases the total number of taxa in the genus Pseudogekko to nine species.


Background Fatigue, pain, stiffness, impaired muscle function and impaired physical function are some of the most pronounced symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and these may be related to lifestyle habits such as physical activity, diet, smoking and alcohol. There is limited knowledge about how patient with longstanding RA understand their lifestyles habits in relation to their disease and quality of life. Objectives To describe experiences of how lifestyle habits relate to quality of life in patients with longstanding RA. Methods A qualitative study with a deductive content analysis design, including 17 patients from the Swedish BARFOT (Better Anti-Rheumatic FarmacoTherapy) cohort. BARFOT is a long time follow up study of early RA. Informants were strategically selected by gender (ten women and seven men), age (range 30-84 years), disease duration (8-23 years), function as measured by HAQ, and quality of life as measured by EQ5D. Semi-structured interviews focused on four lifestyle habits (main categories); Physical activity, Diet, Smoking, and Alcohol. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and coded into subcategories within each of the four main categories. Results In patients with longstanding RA quality of life was related to the four given main categories (lifestyle habits). Each main category included two to three subcategories; (1) Physical activity means barrier, opportunities and well-being, (2) Diet means shame, well-being and social relationship, (3) Smoking means reward and fear, and (4) Alcohol means ambivalence and social relationship. Conclusions In longstanding RA, lifestyle habits relates to quality of life through both positive and negative experiences. This has to be taken into account in clinical care for a better understanding of how patients conceive and adherer to advice on lifestyle. References Scott DL, Wolfe F, Huizinga TW. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 2010;376(9746):1094-108. Hsieh HF, Shannon SE. Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative health research. 2005;15(9):1277-88. Acknowledgements Disclosure of Interest None declared


A study was conducted at the Research Farms of Biofuel Alternate and Renewable Energy Ltd, Edidi, Kwara State, Nigeria. Zero tillage, ploughing once and ploughing + harrowing and three rates of nitrogen fertilizer (0, 30, 60 Kg ha-1 Urea) were evaluated to assess their effect on soil physical and chemical properties and performance of Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) Schum.). The experiment, designed as 3 x 3 factorial and fitted into randomized complete block design (RCBD) was laid out in split-plots and replicated four times. Ploughing once as against zero tillage and ploughing + harrowing produced higher values for plant height, number of primary branches, kernel number, kernel weight, N, P, K, Ca and Mg. The performance of ploughing once treatment was related to higher soil nutrient. Nitrogen fertilizer improved significantly the growth and yield of Thevetia when compared with the control. There were no significant difference in number and weight of kernel at 30 kg N ha-1 and 60 kg N ha-1. Due to the rising cost of fertilizer, ploughing once and application of 30 kg N ha-1 is recommended for Thevetia production in Nigerian southern guinea savanna.


In this study, we investigated the formation of a Si1−xGex fin structure in SiO2 trench arrays via an ultra-high-vacuum chemical-vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) selective epitaxial growth (SEG) process. Defect generation and microstructures of Si1−xGex fin structures with different Ge concentrations (x = 0.2, 0.3 and 0.45) were examined. In addition, the strain evolution of a Si1−xGex fin structure was analyzed by using reciprocal space mapping (RSM). An (111) facet was formed from the Si1−xGex epi-layer and SiO2 trench wall interface to minimize the interface and the surface energy. The Si1−xGex fin structures were fully relaxed along the direction perpendicular to the trenches regardless of the Ge concentration. On the other hand, the fin structures were fully or partially strained along the direction parallel to the trenches depending on the Ge concentration: fully strained Si0.8Ge0.2 and Si0.7Ge0.3, and a Si0.55Ge0.45 strain-relaxed buffer. We further confirmed that the strain on the Si1−xGex fin structures remained stable after oxide removal and H2/N2 post-annealing.


The Mäkärä Au-rare earth element (REE) prospect area is located in the Tana Belt, south of the 1.9 Ga Lapland Granulite Belt, in northern Finland. The Belt has prominent lanthanum (La) and yttrium (Y) anomalies in regional till and bedrock geochemical data. High Y indicates enrichment of heavy REE in the bedrock. At Mäkärä, promising narrow Au-hematite-quartz veins occur in connection with tensional fractures in the great shear zone. Under the latest ice divide of the last glaciation, subglacial erosion was weak and glacial transport distance short. High Au contents in saprolite and till together with deep weathering have a strong positive correlation with the positive electromagnetic anomalies caused by the sulphidic gneisses. The highest La and Y contents in till correlate well with the Th maxima of airborne-radiometric datasets. Locally, the <0.06 mm till size fraction contains up to 0.4% REE. A recent exploration project in Mäkärä revealed a 13 m wide Au-hematite-quartz vein with a mean of 3 ppm Au and 0.04–0.1% REE in kaolinitic saprolite derived from arkosic gneiss. The elevated REE content resembles that of ionic adsorption clays in China. Typical REE-rich minerals are monazite, rhabdophane, xenotime and kaolinite. Till geochemistry proved useful in REE exploration.


Soon after this edition of TJA appears online, the 2010 Australian federal election (21 August) will have been decided, and we will know if the outgoing government's $43bn National Broadband Network is to continue to be rolled out over Australia, or whether it will be ingloriously 'scrapped'. In an election in which the major political parties have adopted me-too policies on most issues likely to influence swinging voters in the marginal seats, it is conspicuous that one of the few areas of major differentiation between their policies lies in telecommunications. On 10 August, the Opposition Coalition parties finally revealed their policy on what they plan to do in replacing the NBN they have long proposed to scrap. Their policy is amazingly inadequate and backward looking. It is inadequate not just in infrastructure terms, where it will replace a 30-year future-proof national optical fibre access network (to 93% of premises) with a patchwork of largely fixed wireless access networks which will provide only second-rate Internet access speeds – even by our current, internationally uncompetitive standards – to regional and outer-metropolitan premises only. But structurally worse than that, while proclaiming that 'competition is better than monopoly', their policy would directly subvert competition with the dominant carrier. Telstra would retain its monopoly ownership of the current fixed access network, and would no longer be structurally separated into arms-length wholesale and retail network businesses as per the agreement Telstra signed with the Government in June – to the relief of virtually the whole telecommunications industry. By not addressing Telstra's access monopoly, the Coalition's policy would push the industry back to the previous regulatory era, in which a ten-year 'capital strike' on competitive broadband infrastructure investment was the direct consequence of a regime that allowed the vertically integrated Telstra to leverage its wholesale fixed network to significantly inhibit competition at the retail service level. The Internet Industry Association, representing Australia's Internet Service Providers, strongly advocates


Aims. Our aim is to study the photospheric flux distribution of a twisted flux tube that emerges from the solar interior. We also report on the eruption of a new flux rope when the emerging tube rises into a pre-existing magnetic field in the corona. Methods. To study the evolution, we use 3D numerical simulations by solving the time-dependent and resistive MHD equations. We qualitatively compare our numerical results with MDI magnetograms of emerging flux at the solar surface. Results. We find that the photospheric magnetic flux distribution consists of two regions of opposite polarities and elongated magnetic tails on the two sides of the polarity inversion line (PIL), depending on the azimuthal nature of the emerging field lines and the initial field strength of the rising tube. Their shape is progressively deformed due to plasma motions towards the PIL. Our results are in qualitative agreement with observational studies of magnetic flux emergence in active regions (ARs). Moreover, if the initial twist of the emerging tube is small, the photospheric magnetic field develops an undulating shape and does not possess tails. In all cases, we find that a new flux rope is formed above the original axis of the emerging tube that may erupt into the corona, depending on the strength of the ambient field.


This article considers the strategic choices that radical activists face when a cycle of contention ends. It investigates the reorientation of the autonomous anarchists or left-libertarian activist milieu in Sweden after the riots at the Gothenburg summit in 2001, which ended a cycle of anti-globalization protests in Sweden. The article identifies five strategies by which this activist milieu attempted to reconstruct collective agency, build a new alliance structure, and renew the repertoire of contention: (1) rescaling and targeting of micro-politics; (2) moving from secluded to open communities; (3) rethinking collective agency with the help of a new movement theory; (4) reversing dominant discourses and opening up discursive space; and (5) redefining militancy and shelving of violent confrontation. The study builds on activist interviews and ethnographic research in Stockholm and Malmö.


Vegetable oils with a high relative amount of unsaturated fatty acids are of great significance for human health. Hence, in a 2-year factorial split plot experiment, the effects of different sowing date (optimum (October 17) and late (October 27)), vermicompost (0 and 20 ton ha-1) and genotypes (BAL104, DIE710.08, BAL102, FJL330, FJL290 and Okapi) on the fatty acid composition of rapeseed were evaluated. Rapeseed genotypes and the combination of sowing date and vermicompost application were randomized to sub and main-plots, respectively. The present results revealed that yield, oil percentage and fatty acids composition is affected by sowing dates along with genotypes. However, the unsaturated fatty acid, eicosanoic acid was not affected by interaction sowing date and genotype. Vermicomposting increased the yield, oil percentage, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids and decrease erucic unsaturated fatty acid. The FJL290 and BAL102 genotypes produced the highest values of grain yield (5,853 and 5,763 kg ha , respectively), oil percentage (43.98% and 43.85%, respectively), linoleic % acid (20.51 and 20.37% respectively), oleic % acid (65.23 and 64.93% respectively) and linolenic % acid (7.20 and 7.09% respectively) in comparison to the other genotypes, when they were sown at the optimum sowing date. The FJL290 and BAL102 also accelerated their growth period at the late sowing date. Consequently, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids had the highest direct and indirect effect influence on grain oil percentage indicating their importance as selection criteria to improve yield and oil quality of rapeseed. Concluding the combination of sowing date, vermicompost and FJL290 and BAL102 lines may be the most favourable cropping strategy for rapeseed production in Iran.


Recent neuroscience research emphasizes the embodied origins of the experience of the self. This chapter shows that further advances in the understanding of the phenomenon of VR-induced presence might be achieved in connection with advances in the understanding of the brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness. By reviewing the neural mechanisms that make the virtual reality experience possible and the neurocognitive models of bodily self-consciousness, we highlight how the development of applied human computer confluence technologies and the fundamental scientific investigation of bodily self-consciousness benefit from each other in a symbiotic manner.


A key constraint on software development is reliance on tools, which we define as COTS products, software services, languages, frameworks and platforms. These tools may have significant architectural impacts that are not obvious when the requirements are elicited, tools selected, and architecture sketched out. In this paper, we report on a case study we conducted to identify architecturally significant requirements (ASRs) that were impacted by tool selection. We identified ASRs in an existing health IT project, CONNECT, and also identified the constraints on the project that were tool-related. We produce a mapping showing how the architectural risks identified in the initial architectural analysis were impacted by the tool choices made. We produce metrics showing how much time has been consumed when implementing ASRs that involve working around/with these constraints and the risks associated with them.


Protein A, G and L are immunoglobulin binding proteins isolated from the cell wall of certain gram positive bacteria. The interaction between the binding domain of these proteins and the immunoglobulin molecule occur without affecting the functional Fc region of the antibody, thus making them an ideal tool for antibody purification. The capacity of protein A to bind IgG with such high affinity is the driving motivation for its industrial scale use for immunoglobulin purification such as in chromatography resins. A major disadvantage however, is the inability of protein A to bind certain subclasses of IgG as well as IgG from certain species; a pitfall that can be overcome with the display of either protein G in combination with protein A, or with protein L which binds a range of immunoglobulin based on light chain interactions. Here we display both the binding domain of protein A with the binding domain of protein G on a single platform; the surface of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolyester granules. We also produce a PHA granule displaying the binding domain of protein L. This was achieved via fusion and expression of the genes for these immunoglobulin binding bacterial proteins and the phaC gene on a single plasmid construct. The phaC gene codes for polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (PhaC), a critical enzyme involved in PHA granule production in the bacterial host and which remains covalently attached to the surface of the PHA granule. When transformed into an E.coli strain engineered for polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bead production, the functional PhaC allows for the selfassembly of intracellular PHA beads with the immunoglobulin binding proteins expressed on their surface. Based on the results of this study, these novel beads provide us with added functionalities and significantly increased immunoglobulin binding efficiency when compared to commercial standards, which could lead to an up-scaled production of novel bio polyester beads to serve as an ideal tool for immunoglobulin purification.


The modes of propagation in optical systems which do not possess meridional planes of symmetry (nonorthogonal systems) are investigated in the case where the effect of apertures and losses can be neglected. The fundamental mode of propagation is obtained with the help of a complex ray pencil concept. An integral transformation of the field, based on a quasi-geometrical optics approximation and a first-order expansion of the point characteristic of the optical system, is given; it shows that the complex (three-dimensional) wavefront of the fundamental mode is transformed according to a generalized "ABCD law." A simple expression is also obtained for the phase-shift experienced by the beam. The higher order modes of propagation are obtained from a power series expansion of the fundamental mode. These higher order modes are expressed, in oblique coordinates, as the product of the fundamental solution and finite series of Hermite polynomials with real arguments. In the special case of systems with rotational symmetry, these series reduce to the well-known generalized Laguerre polynomials. The theory is applicable to media such as helical gas lenses and optical waveguides suffering from slowly varying deformations in three dimensions. Nonorthogonal resonant systems are also investigated. An expression for the resonant frequencies, applicable to any three-dimensional resonator, is derived. Numerical results are given for the resonant frequencies and the resonant field of a twisted path cavity which exhibits interesting properties: the usual polarization degeneracy is lifted and the intensity pattern of all of the modes possesses a rotational symmetry.


Many growing plant cells undergo rapid axial elongation with negligible radial expansion. Growth is driven by high internal turgor pressure causing viscous stretching of the cell wall, with embedded cellulose microfibrils providing the wall with strongly anisotropic properties. We present a theoretical model of a growing cell, representing the primary cell wall as a thin axisymmetric fibre-reinforced viscous sheet supported between rigid end plates. Asymptotic reduction of the governing equations, under simple sets of assumptions about the fibre and wall properties, yields variants of the traditional Lockhart equation, which relates the axial cell growth rate to the internal pressure. The model provides insights into the geometric and biomechanical parameters underlying bulk quantities such as wall extensibility, and shows how either dynamical changes in wall material properties or passive fibre reorientation may suppress cell elongation.


A novel fault approximation tool (FAT) is presented for use in distribution networks with a high penetration of inverter-interfaced distributed generation. The FAT does not rely on balanced operation nor an absolute reference point for voltage calculations, both of which are required for Newton-Raphson load flow calculations. Simulations show that the FAT provides an accurate representation of the transient and steadystate fault response for unbalanced faults when juxtaposed with a detailed small-signal model. The `subtransient' response of the inverter-interfaced distributed generation is omitted to remove data considered extraneous from the perspective of distribution line protection analysis. The FAT is not appropriate for analysing the efficacy of distributed generation local protection and is inappropriate for islanded applications. The FAT is designed explicitly for the purpose of utility line protection design and analysis.


Abstract. This study investigated the food security status of female-headed households (FHHs) in Mubi north local government area (LGA) of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Specifically, the socio economic characteristics and determinants of household food security status of respondents were tested. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 80 female headed households using simple random sampling technique from five districts of Mubi north LGA. Analytical tools used were the food security index (FSI) and Binary Logit Regression Analysis. The results showed that majority (57.9%) of the respondents were middle aged, having 1-5 persons in their household and cultivating about 1-3 hectares of land. It further showed that most of the respondents (63.8%) were food insecure. The result further showed that age, household size, educational status, and access to input were significant and therefore regarded as the major determinants of food security in the study area. It also showed that extension service was not significant and thus not a determinant of food security among the respondents. The study concluded that female headed households in the study area were food insecure; it was thus recommended that NGOs, CSOs and other actors should focus more on agricultural activities by providing inputs so as to improve food production and household food security index, furthermore, the result showed that extension service did not influence food security status of respondents, thus, private extension service providers should be established to assist the government in the provision of intensive extension contact/services, this can help to improve food production and subsequent food security status of respondents.


The American economy suffers from the domination of corporations by chief executive officers who exercise control for their own benefit, at considerable cost to shareholders and to efficiency. The costs of this defect are rising as capital flees the United States for a growing number of countries that treat investors better. America's corporate governance problem began and persists because corporations are franchised by the states, and it is in the economic interest of the states (especially Delaware) to cater to CEOS because they control the choice of state of incorporation. To break this destructive arrangement I propose optional federal incorporation with the choice of jurisdiction to be made by shareholders alone. Shareholders are the only constituency whose goal is to maximize share value, and this goal coincides with society's interest in economic efficiency. Shareholders also have the sophistication to decide major corporate questions wisely. The institution of optional federal incorporation and shareholder choice of jurisdiction of incorporation would trigger a true "race to the top," a competition to offer the most efficient corporation law.


Objective and Background:We examined sleep-related problems in adolescents and young adults after a mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) or orthopedic injury. We extended the analysis of data from a study of early emotional and neuropsychological sequelae in these populations (McCauley et al. 2014. J Neurotrauma. 31:914). Methods:We gave the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to 77 participants with MTBI, 71 with orthopedic injury, and 43 non-injured controls. The age range was 12 to 30 years. We tested sleep quality within 96 hours of injury and at 1- and 3-month follow-up. Participants also completed measures of pain and fatigue, drug and alcohol use, and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Results:Older participants (mean age=25 years) in the MTBI group exhibited a sharp increase in sleep-related symptoms between the baseline assessment and 1 month, and still had difficulties at 3 months. Younger participants with MTBI (mean age=15 years) and older participants with an orthopedic injury had modest increases in sleep difficulties between baseline and 1 month. The participants with MTBI also had more clinically significant sleep difficulties at all 3 assessments. At 3 months, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores in younger participants with MTBI and all participants with orthopedic injury did not differ significantly from the non-injured controls'. The controls had no significant change in their sleep symptoms during the 3 months. Conclusions:Sleep difficulties in young adults may persist for ⩽3 months after MTBI and exceed those after orthopedic injury. Clinicians should seek and treat sleep-related problems after MTBI.


Spot laser welding is largely used in industrial manufacturing, especially in the case of small penetration depth. Unfortunately, welded joins are often polluted by porosities. The formation of porosities depends on complex thermo-hydraulic phenomena. During the interaction, a deep and narrow cavity called the keyhole is formed. At the end of the interaction, surface tension forces provoke the collapse of the keyhole, and gas bubble can then be trapped into the melting pool. These bubbles can bring about residual porosities according to the solidification time. In order to determine the operating parameters leading to defect free joins, a model has been developed to simulate both the interaction and the cooling stages. The model is based on the Phase Field method in order to apprehend the evolution of the liquid-gas interface shape. The numerical results have been compared to experimental characterizations for different materials (tantalum and Ti6Al4V). The beneficial effect of the laser power control (pulse shaping) has been demonstrated.


BACKGROUND
Three main problems hamper the identification of wheat food allergens: (1) lack of a standardized procedure for extracting all of the wheat protein fractions; (2) absence of double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge studies that compare the allergenic profile of Osborne's three protein fractions in subjects with real wheat allergy, and (3) lack of data on the differences in IgE-binding capacity between raw and cooked wheat.

METHODS
Sera of 16 wheat-challenge-positive patients and 6 patients with wheat anaphylaxis, recruited from Italy, Denmark and Switzerland, were used for sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis/immunoblotting of the three Osborne's protein fractions (albumin/globulin, gliadins and glutenins) of raw and cooked wheat. Thermal sensitivity of wheat lipid transfer protein (LTP) was investigated by spectroscopic approaches. IgE cross-reactivity between wheat and grass pollen was studied by blot inhibition.

RESULTS
The most important wheat allergens were the alpha-amylase/trypsin inhibitor subunits, which were present in all three protein fractions of raw and cooked wheat. Other important allergens were a 9-kDa LTP in the albumin/globulin fraction and several low-molecular-weight (LMW) glutenin subunits in the gluten fraction. All these allergens showed heat resistance and lack of cross-reactivity to grass pollen allergens. LTP was a major allergen only in Italian patients.

CONCLUSIONS
The alpha-amylase inhibitor was confirmed to be the most important wheat allergen in food allergy and to play a role in wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis, too. Other important allergens were LTP and the LMW glutenin subunits.


Article type: Original Article Received: Mar. 2017 Accepted: May 2017 e-Published: 18 Jun. 2017 Corresponding author: Nasrin Rezaee e-mail: nasrin_rezaee2005@ yahoo.com Background & Aim: Improving the mental health of mothers of children with thalassemia major who experience great caregiving burden, requires an efficient supportive training to be developed and implemented. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact of a group supportive training on caregiving burden in the mothers of children with thalassemia major. Methods & Materials: A quasi-experimental study (IRCT2016122731612N1) was conducted on 80 mothers of children with thalassemia, referred to Aliasghar hospital in Zahedan in summer 2016. The mothers were selected through convenience sampling method and divided into two intervention and control groups of 40 each. The intervention group received four sessions of supportive training during four weeks. Data were collected by the Caregiver Burden Inventory. SPSS version 21 and independent t test, paired t-test and the analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. Results: The mean score of caregiving burden before training in the intervention and control groups were respectively, 86.60±13.55 and 92.37±8.54 and declined to 59.62±9.90 and 89.57±5.83 after the intervention. Furthermore, The caregiving burden score in five dimensions including temporal, developmental, physical, social and emotional was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: The findings showed that collective supportive training leads to a decrease in caregiving burden in the mothers of children with thalassemia. Thus, this training could be an effective method in reducing the mothers' caregiving burden. This program could be used in health centers in order to maintain and improve the mental health of mothers.


Despite an abundance of older and more recent retrospective and considerably fewer prospective-longitudinal studies in bipolar disorders I and II, there are still remarkable deficits with regard to our knowledge about the natural course and burden. The considerable general and diagnosis-specific challenges posed by the nature of bipolar disorders are specified, highlighting in particular problems in diagnostic and symptom assessment, shifts in diagnostic conventions and the broadening of the diagnostic concept by including bipolar spectrum disorders. As a consequence it still remains difficult to agree on several core features of bipolar disorders, such as when they begin, how many remit spontaneously and how many take a chronic course. On the basis of clinical and epidemiological findings this paper summarizes (i) a significant need to extend the study of the natural course of bipolar disorder in clinical samples beyond the snapshot of acute episodes to the study of the mid-term and long-term symptom course, associated comorbidities and the associated burden of the disease. (ii) In terms of epidemiological studies, that are also of key importance for resolving the critical issues of threshold definitions in the context of the bipolar spectrum concept, there is a clear need for identifying the most relevant risk factors for the first onset and those for the further illness progression in early stages. Since there are some indications that these critical processes might start as early as adolescence, such studies might concentrate on young cohorts and clearly before these prospective patients come to clinical attention. (iii) The value of both types of studies might be enhanced, if beyond the use of standardized diagnostic interview, special attempts are made to use prospective life- and episode-charting methods for bipolar illnesses.


This study contains a variety of oral traditional formulae found in various
places in KwaZulu-Natal which are used in the imbeleko ceremony and these
formulae are analyzed in their traditional form and in a number of new
formulations. The imbeleko ceremony is a celebration to introduce and
welcome a newborn child, but occasionally even an adult newcomer may
be introduced to both the living and the ancestral spirits. A full description of the imbeleko ceremony, the reasons for performing it,
the procedures followed, an analysis and comparison of mnemotechnics
used in the formulae and finally the application of orality-literacy theories to
the rites and the text are provided. Variations observed in my research in
the manner in which this rite is celebrated from family to family are pointed
out. Zulus regard it as a must to perform the imbeleko ceremony for every child
in the family. The reasons for this ceremony vary from (a) thanksgiving
ceremony, (b) the official introduction of the child to ancestors, (c) the rite
performed late to protect the child from misfortunes, (d) and to provide an
opportunity for naming the child. There is also the imbeleko ceremony that
may be performed in the life of the child when there are indicators that there
is a need for it to be done i.e. when there is illness that seems incurable,
and psychological crisis which occur even though the imbeleko had been
performed. There is also a type of imbeleko ceremony for the first child that
combines the child's maternal and paternal families. This dissertation concludes by comparing and contrasting the imbeleko and
the Christian baptism. It is possible changes have taken place in the
imbeleko ceremony as a result of external influences of the western
Christian life. (NB This dissertation is accompanied by a video)


The research described in this thesis mainly dealt with methodology development, design and synthesis, as well as the study of the physical properties of new xanthones and xanthone-based molecules. An offshoot of this work was concerned with the development of a synthetic approach to novel cyclic oligophenylenes. The inverse electron demand Diels-Alder (IEDDA)-based methodology was employed in all of the projects. -- The first objective was to employ the IEDDA reaction in a new approach to xanthones. Specifically, nine new 2-substituted-4-methoxyxanthones 1.228a-i and eight new 2-substituted-3,4-dimethoxyxanthones 1.229a-h were synthesized using IEDDA-driven domino reactions between chromone-fused dienes 1.15 and the corresponding electron-rich dienophiles 1.225 and 1.226, respectively. This work is described in Chapter 2. This methodology was also employed for the synthesis of arylxanthones in Chapter 3. A series of 2-aryl-4-methoxyxanthones 3.9a-c and 2-substituted-4-phenylxanthone, such as 3.18, was obtained from the reactions of the corresponding dienes 3.8a-c or 1.15b with dienophile 1.227. However, the desired 2,4-diarylxanthones 3.10 could not be synthesized by this method. -- The second objective was to synthesize two different types of hetero[5]acenes from appropriate xanthone frameworks, i.e. 3,4-dimethoxyxanthones and 4-methoxyxanthones, which were successfully obtained by the established IEDDA methodology. For example, Chapter 4 describes the synthesis of xanthonoid hetero[5]acenes 4.22 and 4.12-4.14 from the key intermediate 3,4-dimethoxyxanthone 4.23 via a selective demethylation, followed by an intramolecular nucleophilic aromatic substitution. Among these newly-synthesized compounds, hetero[5]acene-based crown ether 4.14 was designed for future complexation studies with ions toward chemosensor applications. The attempted synthesis of hetero[n]acenes (n = 5, 9) using double IEDDA reactions suffered from difficulties in the isolation of bis(diene) intermediate 4.26. At best, trace amounts only of hetero[5]acene 4.25b (mass spectroscopic analysis) were obtained. -- In Chapter 5, another class of hetero[5]acenes, referred to as iwdonor-acceptor xanthone-carbazole hybrid systems, was constructed from key intermediate 2-o-nitrophenyl-4-methoxyxanthones 5.31a-f and 5.38, via microwave-assisted Cadogan reactions, followed by zV-alkylation. A series of xanthone-carbazoles with or without substituents (OMe, Br) was synthesized, in which the "angular" isomers are the major product and the "linear" isomers are the minor ones in all cases. Suzuki couplings were effective in the synthesis of aryl-substituted xanthone-carbazole compounds. Physical studies on newly-synthesized xanthone-carbazoles showed some interesting features. For instance, the angular isomers show green fluorescence and quasi-reversible redox behaviour, while the linear ones show blue fluorescence in most cases and irreversible redox behaviour. Most of the xanthone-carbazoles exhibit moderate fluorescence quantum yields, narrow HOMO-LUMO energy gaps, low HOMO energies, and some of them have close interplanar distances in solid-state packing (X-ray analysis), which make them very promising candidates in OLED or OFET applications. -- Finally, in Chapter 6, the synthesis of a cyclic oligophenylene was attempted using a six-fold IEDDA reaction. Although this project was unsuccessful, investigations aimed at the improvement of the reaction conditions as well as the design of a more reactive bis(diene) should be informative to future work.


Matthew Lewis' Gothic masterpiece, depicting a holy man slowly becoming entangled in a web of sin, "The Monk" is edited with an introduction by Christopher MacLachlan in "Penguin Classics". Savaged by critics for its blasphemy and obscenity, particularly since the author was a Member of Parliament, "The Monk" soon attracted thousands of readers keen to see if this "Gothic" novel lived up to its lurid reputation. With acute psychological insight, Lewis shows the diabolical decline of Ambrosio, a worthy superior of the Capuchins of Madrid who is tempted by Matilda, a young girl who has entered his monastery disguised as a boy. Descending into a hell of his own creation, Ambrosio is driven to magic and murder in an attempt to conceal his crimes from the Inquisition. "The Monk" was greatly admired by the Marquis de Sade, who saw it as a response to the upheavals of the French Revolution, yet it also reveals something more universal: the way violent and erotic impulses lurking within us all can break through every barrier of social restraint. Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) was educated at Oxford after which he held a position in the British Embassy at The Hague. It was there in 1794, that he wrote the racy novel "The Monk", under the influence of the early German romantics. Its controversial publication in 1796, due to Lewis' new status as MP, earned him fame and the book a great deal of popularity. If you enjoyed "The Monk", you might like Horace Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto", also available in "Penguin Classics".


Task scheduling is important for the proper functioning of parallel processor systems. The static scheduling of tasks onto networks of parallel processors is well-defined and documented in the literature. However, in many practical situations a priori information about the tasks that need to be scheduled is not available. In such situations, tasks usually arrive dynamically and the scheduling should be performed on-line or "on the fly". In this paper, we present a framework based on stochastic reinforcement learning, which is usually used to solve optimization problems in a simple and efficient way. The use of reinforcement learning reduces the dynamic scheduling problem to that of learning a stochastic approximation of an unknown average error surface. The main advantage of the proposed approach is that no prior information is required about the parallel processor system under consideration. The learning system develops an association between the best action (schedule) and the current state of the environment (parallel system). The performance of reinforcement learning is demonstrated by solving several dynamic scheduling problems. The conditions under which reinforcement learning can used to efficiently solve the dynamic scheduling problem are highlighted.


According to Professor Lucke, Goodhart's 'material facts' theory of precedent is the best explanation of ratio decidendi yet proposed. However, 'material' and 'facts', as used by Goodhart, are fundamentally ambiguous. 'Facts' should be taken to mean the actual facts of the precedent, to be applied to other cases by analogical reasoning (not 'classes of facts', to be applied deductively), Professor Lucke argues. 'Material' should be taken to mean 'important for the purpose of justifying the decision' (not 'important for prescriptive purposes'). So clarified (or, perhaps, modified) Goodhart's theory yields a realistic and adequate explanation of the binding force of precedent.


Purpose: As patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) age, they encounter age associated comorbidities, congruous with the general population. At their ACHD appointments, they present with untreated medical problems associated with asthma, diabetes, contraception, and respiratory infections. This project seeks to identify barriers associated with establishing care in patient-centered medical home (PCMH); understand current primary care utilization and identify patient perceptions contributing to lack of follow up in primary care. Methods: An 84-question validated survey completed electronically by patients (> 18 years) presenting at the outpatient congenital cardiac clinic between September 12, 2019 to November 15, 2019 was used to evaluate barriers to care, patient perceptions on healthcare and healthcare utilization patterns. Results: Survey responses filled out by 30 participants with a mean age 44 ±16.9 years were used to evaluate barriers to care. 80% (n=24) were not aware of a PCMH model; but 77% (n=23) were willing to drive 1-50 miles to access a primary care physician. All participants had access to PCMH within 20 miles of their residence. In a multivariate model, BCQ scores were not statistically significant when accounting for insurance status, CHD severity, or having regular primary care. 93% felt their ACHD cardiologist would inform them if they needed to see someone else. 43% expressed distrust for providers not trained in their heart condition. The largest barriers to care were taking time off work (24%), healthcare costs (23%), getting a thorough exam (23%), meeting the needs of other family members (20%), reaching the office by phone (17%), appointment lag time (17%), long waiting room time (17%), lack of communication within the healthcare system (17%), and getting questions answered (17%). Conclusions: This project illustrated a lack of awareness of PCMHs in ACHD patients. Health insurance status, having a primary care provider, ethnicity and education level did not have a statistically significant effect on BCQ scores. However, responses to the survey yielded valuable information for improving care for this population. BARRIERS TO PATIENT-CENTERED MEDICAL HOMES IN ACHD 3


Although systematic measurements of the Sun's polar magnetic field exist only from mid-1970s, other proxies can be used to infer the polar field at earlier times. The observational data indicate a strong correlation between the polar field at a sunspot minimum and the strength of the next cycle, although the strength of the cycle is not correlated well with the polar field produced at its end. This suggests that the Babcock–Leighton mechanism of poloidal field generation from decaying sunspots involves randomness, whereas the other aspects of the dynamo process must be reasonably ordered and deterministic. Only if the magnetic diffusivity within the convection zone is assumed to be high (of order 10 12 cm 2 s 1 ), we can explain the correlation between the polar field at a minimum and the next cycle. We give several independent arguments that the diffusivity must be of this order. In a dynamo model with diffusivity like this, the poloidal field generated at the mid-latitudes is advected toward the poles by the meridional circulation and simultaneously diffuses towards the tachocline, where the toroidal field for the next cycle is produced. To model actual solar cycles with a dynamo model having such high diffusivity, we have to feed the observational data of the poloidal field at the minimum into the theoretical model. We develop a method of doing this in a systematic way. Our model predicts that cycle 24 will be a very weak cycle. Hemispheric asymmetry of solar activity is also calculated with our model and compared with observational data.


Traditionally, the term 'distance learner' specified the distinct category of students who studied at a distance from the university or college at which they were registered. Enrolled on designated distance learning courses, and identified as distance learners on the student records system, they were entitled to specialist services such as postal loans. Today, however, the student learning experience is changing. Remote access to information and communication across geographical boundaries enables institutions of higher education to offer flexible modes of study by means of online and independent learning. Thus they are able to include in their increasing and diverse student population many non-traditional learners of different backgrounds and personal circumstances, including part-timers, mature entrants, international students and learners 'studying at a distance'. For a variety of reasons, whether family obligations, work commitments, time constraints or geographical location, many of our learners may rarely be present on campus. They may have little or no in-person contact with staff and may never attend formal classes, or visit the library, making the concept of the traditional 'campus-based student' less relevant to higher education institutions. As the proportion of students not physically present on campuses increases, the balance between 'off-' and 'on-campus' students also changes. Consequently, it becomes necessary to redefine what we mean by the term 'distance learner', so that library services, and the manner in which we provide them, offer the same benefits to all learners. These services must meet – and exceed –the information needs of all our learners, whether they are on- or off-campus.


University of Toronto Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize Winner (1st place winner, Category Year 3/4). The University of Toronto Libraries Undergraduate Research Prize awards undergraduate students in any first-entry faculty across the University of Toronto's three campuses based on their effective and innovative use of information sources. This prize provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their information-seeking experience, showcase their research to an audience beyond the classroom, and promote scholarship excellence at the undergraduate level at University of Toronto.
Please visit the Undergraduate Research Prize website https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/undergrad-research-prize/criteria for more information about the award, including submission guidelines.


The products we purchase and use are assembled from a wide range of naturally occurring and manufactured materials. But too often we create hazards for the ecosystem and human health as we mine, process, distribute, use, and dispose of these materials. Until recently, most research has focused on the waste end of material cycles. This book argues that the safest and least costly point at which to avoid environmental damage is when materials are first designed and selected for use in industrial production.Materials Matter presents convincing evidence that we can use fewer materials and eliminate the use of many toxic chemicals by focusing directly on material (chemical) use when products are designed. It also shows how manufacturers can save money by increasing the effectiveness of material use and reducing the use of toxic chemicals. It advocates new directions for the material sciences and government policies on materials. And it argues that manufacturers, suppliers, and customers need to set more socially responsible policies for products and services to achieve higher environmental and health goals.


Abstract The significance of the criteria for assessing the quality of the urban passenger transport is investigated in the article. The results of the processing of field studies have identified factors that can be used for the assessment of the quality of the projects of urban passenger transport. The method of estimation of indicators of quality for the passengers during the trip is given and the values of weighting coefficients of individual quality indicators for the elements of the trip are determined. The method of determining the complex quality indicator during the performance of the trips in the projects of public transport is developed. It is shown that the trip components influence the quality of passenger trips in the following order: waiting time at the stop, time of the pedestrian part of the trip, travel time, dynamic coefficient of capacity utilization.


An ad hoc data source is any semistructured data source for which useful data analysis and transformation tools are not readily available. Such data must be queried, transformed and displayed by systems administrators, computational biologists, financial analysts and hosts of others on a regular basis. In this paper, we demonstrate that it is possible to generate a suite of useful data processing tools, including a semi-structured query engine, several format converters, a statistical analyzer and data visualization routines directly from the ad hoc data itself, without any human intervention. The key technical contribution of the work is a multi-phase algorithm that automatically infers the structure of an ad hoc data source and produces a format specification in the PADS data description language. Programmers wishing to implement custom data analysis tools can use such descriptions to generate printing and parsing libraries for the data. Alternatively, our software infrastructure will push these descriptions through the PADS compiler, creating format-dependent modules that, when linked with format-independent algorithms for analysis and transformation, result infully functional tools. We evaluate the performance of our inference algorithm, showing it scales linearlyin the size of the training data - completing in seconds, as opposed to the hours or days it takes to write a description by hand. We also evaluate the correctness of the algorithm, demonstrating that generating accurate descriptions often requires less than 5% of theavailable data.


Farmers and rural communities in developing countries
encounter a broad range of challenges, including poverty, hunger, poor health
and well-being, and climate change. In relation to sustainable agricultural
development, farmers need to apply appropriate farming techniques and
agricultural technologies that require a high level of investments. In Libya,
the Agricultural Bank was founded to promote agricultural development that is
both sustainable and improves the living standard of rural communities and farmers'
welfare. The present study is focused on the role of the Agricultural Bank in
the Jafara region to the South-west of Tripoli City in addressing the
challenges of poverty, hunger, poor health and well-being, and climate change
or not. Based on a mixed method approach, including 83 surveys and 26
interviews with farmers in the region, the study reveals that the Agricultural
Bank has inadequate financial resources to improve the infrastructure,
production and level of prosperity among farmers in the agricultural sector of
the region. The paper concludes with some practical recommendations regarding
how government and the Agricultural Bank can more effectively support
sustainable agricultural development in the Jafara region and other rural area
of Libya.


To understand the mechanisms of snoring and sleep apnea a first-principles biomechanical analysis was done for airflow through branched parallel channels, separated by a freely movable soft palate, and converging to a common channel at the base of the tongue in a "Y-shaped" configuration. Branches of the Y describe slit-like passages on the nasal and oral sides of the soft palate, when the palate is pushed by backward movement of the tongue to form a wedge between the tongue surface and the posterior pharyngeal wall. The common channel of the Y describes the oropharyngeal passage between the base of the tongue and posterior pharyngeal wall. Channel resistances are characterized by a generalized Poiseuille Law for laminar flow. Pressure changes from flow through channel resistances and also from the Venturi effect are specified quantitatively. The resulting equations are solved both algebraically and numerically to describe motion of the soft palate and tongue during snoring and sleep apnea. Soft tissue motions are produced by counterbalanced Venturi pressures on opposite sides of the soft palate and by counterbalanced Venturi pressure and elastic recoil at the base of the tongue. Multiple physical mechanisms were discovered that can produce tissue motion at typical snoring frequencies in this system, some with the mouth open and some with the mouth closed. These palatal and tongue movements resemble motions of pendulums that oscillate in potential energy wells. Specific physical conditions leading to sleep apnea are identified, in which narrow gaps and unbalanced Venturi pressures lead to stable and effort-independent airway occlusion. The present analysis shows how the phenomena of both snoring and sleep apnea are fundamentally related and are governed by the same equations.


According to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST, 2012), there is a need to produce one million more STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates in the U.S. over the next decade. Thus, more students must be recruited into and retained in STEM degrees of study. Because faculty are considered influential in students' choices to pursue and remain in STEM disciplines, we interviewed university STEM faculty in order to identify their perceptions of student recruitment and retention in STEM fields. Our data indicate that faculty are generally unaware of or not worried about the need to produce additional STEM graduates. Additionally, faculty seem to be unaware of the actions they might take to positively influence STEM recruitment and retention at the post-secondary level. Here, we specifically discuss faculty perceptions of (1) the gap between the number of STEM graduates and the number of STEM workers available for STEM-related jobs, (2) why students may not be going into or remaining in STEM fields, and (3) their own roles in recruiting and retaining students in STEM fields.