Analyses using amphibian embryos proposed that induction and anteroposterior patterning of the central nervous system is initiated by signals that are produced by the organizer and organizer-derived axial mesoderm. However, we show here that the initial anteroposterior pattern of the zebrafish central nervous system depends on the differential competence of the epiblast and is not imposed by organizer-derived signals. This anteroposterior information is present throughout the epiblast in ectodermal cells that normally give rise both to neural and non-neural derivatives. Because of this information, organizer tissues transplanted to the ventral side of the embryo induce neural tissue but the anteroposterior identity of the induced neural tissue is dependent upon the position of the induced tissue within the epiblast. Thus, otx2, an anterior neural marker, was only ever induced in anterior regions of the embryo, irrespective of the position of the grafts. Similarly, hoxa-1, a posterior neural marker was induced only in the posterior regions. Furthermore, the boundary of each ectopic expression domain on the ventral side was always at an equivalent latitude to that of the endogenous expression of the dorsal side of the embryo. The anteroposterior specification of the epiblast is independent of the dorsoventral specification of the embryo because neural tissues induced in the ventralized embryos also showed anteroposterior polarity. Cell transplantation and RNA injection experiments showed that non-axial marginal mesoderm and FGF signalling is required for anteroposterior specification of the epiblast. However, the requirement for FGF signalling is indirect in that cells with compromised ability to respond to FGF can still respond to anteroposterior positional information.


A six-degree-of-freedom industrial robot to which was added a number of sensors-vision, range, sound, proximity, force/torque, and touch-to enhance its inspection and manipulation capabilities is described. The work falls under the scope of partial autonomy. In teleoperation mode, the human operator prepares the robotic system to perform the desired task. Using its sensory cues, the system maps the workspace and performs its operations in a fully autonomous mode. Finally, the system reports back to the human operator on the success or failure of the task and resumes its teleoperation mode. The feasibility of realistic autonomous robotic inspection and manipulation tasks using multisensory information cues is demonstrated. The focus is on the estimation of the three-dimensional position and orientation of the task panel and the use of other nonvision sensors for valve manipulation. The experiment illustrates the need for multisensory information to accomplish complex, autonomous robotic inspection and manipulation tasks.<<ETX>>


Most proteins and their complexes are flexible and dynamic in solution, occupying several conformations over time. Therefore, complex formation can be thought of as following a trajectory along which a loosely associated, weakly interacting encounter complex acts to pre-orient the binding partners before they proceed to the final stereo-specific state. Encounter complexes often play a large role for complexes that must balance a biological requirement for a high turnover rate with the necessity of forming a specific interaction. This is particularly the case for electron transfer complexes, such as the complex between yeast cytochrome c (Cc) and cytochrome c peroxidase (CcP). The work described in this thesis focuses on the use of paramagnetic nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to study dynamic (transient) protein complexes, using the Cc-CcP complex as a model. Paramagnetic NMR has proven to be an extremely powerful technique for studying lowly populated states such as those of the encounter complex. It relies on the magnetic effects generated by an unpaired electron within a paramagnetic centre that disturb the local magnetic field experienced by nearby nuclei. This results in measureable changes in the NMR signals from which distance and orientation information for protein structure modelling can be extracted.


Abstract We report on the occurrence of peculiar Ba- and Ti-enriched dark mica in metasedimentary rocks that underwent high-pressure metamorphism in the diamond stability field followed by decompression to granulite facies conditions. The mica occurs as well-developed preserved laths in a quartzofeldspathic matrix. The mean concentrations of BaO and TiO2 in the mica are 11.54 and 7.80wt%, respectively. The maximum amounts of these components are 13.38wt% BaO and 8.45wt% TiO2. The mean crystallochemical formula can be expressed as (K0.54Ba0.39Na0.02Ca0.01)Σ0.96(Fe1.37Mg0.85Ti0.50Al0.29Mn0.01Cr0.01)Σ3.03(Si2.59Al1.41)Σ4.00O10(OH1.30O0.66F0.02S0.01)Σ1.99, with oxyannite, oxy-ferrokinoshitalite and siderophyllite as dominating end-members. Based on the petrographical observations, it is proposed that the dark mica was formed at a rather late stage in the evolution of the parental rock, i.e. under granulite facies conditions.


Background and Purpose: Paralysis is a common cause of disability affecting all age groups. There is no definite method for treating these patients in conventional medicine. Methods and Materials: In this study, treatment methods for paralysis based on both Iranian Traditional Medicine and the conventional medicine concepts are reviewed. Results: Iranian traditional medicine represents a variety of treating methods for paralysis. Dr Abdollah Ahmadieh (1886-1959) has reported the use of these methods on his patients with paralysis that has resulted in recovery. Conclusion: The success of paralysis treatment in these case reports is noteworthy since there is no certain method in the conventional medicine in this field. Considering the low sample size and lack of control group in these reports, it is necessary to design clinical trials and assess these techniques in conventional medicine.


Generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by mammalian host cells is a double-edged sword. ROS are clearly beneficial in directly killing pathogens and as a signaling molecule to alert macrophages and neutrophils to the site of infection. However, ROS are also capable of damaging host cells by destroying DNA, oxidizing proteins and lipids, inactivating enzymes, and eliciting apoptosis. Therefore the balance of ROS generation and clearance is essential for homeostasis. Although multiple mechanisms can contribute to the generation of ROS, NADPH oxidase (Nox) is a primary producer. In terms of clearance, several ROS scavenging enzymes are induced by Nrf2, a sensor of excessive ROS. The mechanisms behind the skewing of this balance toward prolonged accumulation of ROS under chronic inflammatory conditions are not well understood. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major component of the Gram-negative bacteria cell wall, is specifically recognized by Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). LPS triggers robust activation of Nox and ROS production through TLR4, while also activating Nrf2 and ROS clearance. Intracellular pathways regulating ROS generation and clearance mediated by TLR4 are not well defined. Since interleukin-1 receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK-1) is a key downstream component of TLR4, we test the hypothesis that IRAK-1 may play a critical role in maintaining the balance of LPS triggered ROS generation and clearance. Using wild type and IRAK-1 deficient murine embryonic fibroblasts, we tested the dynamic induction of Nox1 (a key NADPH oxidase) and Nrf2 by varying dosages of LPS. Our data confirm that high dose LPS (as seen in acute bacterial infection) induced both Nox1 and Nrf2. The generation of Nox1 is IRAK-1 dependent. Low dose LPS (as seen in chronic metabolic endotoxemia) fails to induce Nrf2 and induces mild and prolonged expression of Nox1. Cells pre-challenged with low dose LPS are primed for more robust expression of ROS following a second LPS challenge. The conclusions and implications generated by this study are that chronic low dose endotoxemia (prevalent in adverse health conditions) may skew the balance of ROS generation and clearance to favor prolonged ROS accumulation, and that IRAK-1 represents a potential therapeutic target to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.


This purpose of this study was to explore the grief of daughters on the death of their mothers. I interviewed fifteen women. This study draws on feminist post-structuralist insights into subjectivity as constructed in the interplay, and between socially available discourses. I identified three interrelated and co-existing discourses through which the metadiscourse of grief arose. These discourses were continuity, discontinuity and silencing. Two distinct patternings of the discourses were identified within the corpus of the text, and these seemed to be shaped primarily by the age of the woman when her mother died. These discourses are considered and collated within the social/historical context in which medical and psychological notions of grief have been hegemonic, and other subordinated and lay discourses are emerging. I suggest the understanding of oneself as a daughter in grief changes over time. The women interviewed in this study showed a 'desire' not to 'get over it' and disconnect, but to incorporate a continuing bond with the mother. How this is achieved is explained.


Pre-primary school forms the beginning of formal education in Kenya. Research indicates that children who obtain quality pre-primary education have a headstart in life. It is also evident that early exposure and use of culturally relevant instructional materials prepare children to be well adjusted in life. Children are also equipped with problem solving skills that are important for daily living. A culturally relevant pedagogy provides a way for learners to maintain their cultural identity while succeeding academically. Despite many studies carried out on the use of instructional materials in primary schools, secondary schools and teacher training colleges. not much is known on what happens in pre-primary schools. The purpose of this study was to establish pre-primary school teachers' use of culturally relevant instructional materials in teaching. The study sought to determine the relationship between the use of culturally relevant instructional materials by pre-primary school teachers and the factors which are believed to influence their use. Theory of culturally relevant pedagogy by Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) guided this study. An exploratory descriptive survey design was employed while stratified random sampling technique was used, to select a proportionate number of private and public pre-primary school teachers. A total sample of 98 pre-primary school teachers' was selected for the study drawn from 121 pre-primary schools in the District. Questionnaires and observation schedules were used to collect data. The data collected was coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics computed included frequencies, standard deviation, means and percentages. The inferential statistics used to test null hypotheses were t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient at alpha value 0.05 (p<0.05). Results from data analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in use of culturally relevant instructional materials between public and private pre-primary schools. Most of the instructional materials used in teaching were culturally relevant but inadequate. The relationship between availability of culturally relevant instructional materials, attitudes towards culturally relevant instructional materials and. pre-primary school teachers' use of culturally relevant instructional materials was' significant. However, the relationship between use of culturally relevant instructional materials, teaching experience, and professional qualifications were not significant. To improve the use of culturally relevant instructional materials in pre-primary schools, capacity building and sensitization seminars for pre-primary school teachers and other stakeholders on development and use of culturally relevant materials in teaching should be organized by D1CECE officers at the District level.


What may be a new disease has been afflicting infants and young children in Japan since 1960. It is an acute, febrile, mucocutaneous condition accompanied by swelling of cervical lymph nodes (tentatively called mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome [MLNS]). It may be misdiagnosed as scarlet fever, the Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or infantile periarteritis nodosa. The disease is now known to be widely occurring all over Japan with an increasing incidence each year. More than 6,000 cases have been reported as of 1973. One to two percent of the patients reported have died suddenly of cardiac failure. All the autopsies showed infantile periarteritis nodosa-like arteritis accompanied by coronary thrombosis and aneurysm. Some of the surviving cases have been shown to have similar changes. These findings lead us to believe that this clinical picture is a new clinical entity. Recently, rickettsia-like bodies were found by electron microscopy in biopsy specimens from the skin and lymph nodes of the patients. The bodies were isolated by yolk sac culture and their pathogenicity is now under investigation.


Background Antidepressants are established first-line treatments for anxiety disorders, but it is not clear whether they are equally effective across the severity range. Aims To examine the influence of baseline severity of anxiety on antidepressant efficacy for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and panic disorder. Method Fifty-six trials of second-generation antidepressants for the short-term treatment of an anxiety disorder were included. Baseline and change scores were extracted for placebo and treatment groups in each trial. Mixed effects meta-regression was used to investigate the effects of treatment group, baseline severity and their interaction. Results Increased baseline severity did not predict greater improvement in drug groups compared with placebo groups. Standardised regression coefficients of the interaction term between baseline severity and treatment group were 0.04 (95% CI –0.13 to 0.20, P = 0.65) for GAD, –0.06 (95% CI –0.20 to 0.09, P = 0.43) for SAD, 0.04 (95% CI –0.07 to 0.16, P = 0.46) for OCD, 0.16 (95% CI –0.22 to 0.53, P = 0.37) for PTSD and 0.002 (95% CI –0.10 to 0.10, P = 0.96) for panic disorder. For OCD, baseline severity did predict improvement in both placebo and drug groups equally (β = 0.11, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.17, P = 0.001). Conclusions No relationship between baseline severity and drug–placebo difference was found for anxiety disorders. These results suggest that if the efficacy of antidepressants is considered clinically relevant, they may be prescribed to patients with anxiety regardless of symptom severity.


This book comprises of four chapters demonstrating the studies which involve cell culture with bioinstrumentation experimental work identifying the potential solutions for wound healing applications via exploitation of high voltage electric field or micro second pulse. The high voltage exposure on cells have shown interesting findings which gives us an idea on how to develop a dug free wound healing method in the nearest future.

The book also consists of two chapters that will present about the investigation of bone microstructures acquired from human samples. In this study there will be combination of bone histomorphology, imaging processing and computational method analysis thus also a new biomedical engineering application. Traditionally, the investigation of bone microstructures was performed by forensic officer by looking through microscope and their expert estimation by years of experience.

However, by having the engineers joining this investigation we could help the forensic officer to perform the analysis through computational method and automated analysis. Therefore the accomplishment of the six chapters will give an idea for the reader on what to expert in the field of research the so called "Cell Engineering".


This paper studies the effect of exposure to female and male "high-achievers" in high school on the long-run educational outcomes of their peers. Using data from a recent cohort of students in the United States, we identify a causal effect by exploiting quasi-random variation in the exposure of students to peers with highly- educated parents across cohorts within a school. We find that greater exposure to "high-achieving" boys, as proxied by their parents' education, decreases the likelihood that girls go on to complete a bachelor's degree, substituting the latter with junior college degrees. It also affects negatively their math and science grades and, in the long term, decreases labor force participation and increases fertility. We explore possible mechanisms and find that greater exposure leads to lower self-confidence and aspirations and to more risky behavior (including having a child before age 18). The girls most strongly affected are those in the bottom half of the ability distribution (as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test), those with at least one college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socio- economic distribution. The effects are quantitatively important: an increase of one standard deviation in the percent of "high-achieving" boys decreases the probability of obtaining a bachelor's degree from 2.2-4.5 percentage points, depending on the group. Greater exposure to "high-achieving" girls, on the other hand, increases bachelor's degree attainment for girls in the lower half of the ability distribution, those without a college-educated parent, and those attending a school in the upper half of the socio-economic distribution. The effect of "high-achievers" on male out- comes is markedly different: boys are unaffected by "high-achievers" of either gender.


Over the last half-century, the number of treaties that address issues of human rights has grown from a handful to hundreds. The majority of nations now belongs to a panoply of international agreements - some regional, some universal - that address human rights issues ranging from labor standards to the treatment of prisoners to gender equality. The last decade in particular has witnessed a concerted push from the United Nations to bring nations into the human rights fold through ratification of the six core United Nations human rights treaties. Yet despite the proliferation of treaties and the growing attention to countries' decisions to join them, little attention has been paid to what influences countries' decisions to join these treaties. In this Article, I focus on only a small part of the broader puzzle of human rights treaty membership. Putting to one side, for the moment, the ways in which countries benefit from joining human rights treaties, I seek insight into how the cost of committing to human rights treaties influences countries' decisions to join. I begin by proposing a new way of conceiving of the cost of consenting to be bound by a treaty. I argue that for treaties with minimal enforcement provisions - which includes most human rights treaties - understanding the cost of commitment requires taking into account not only the cost that would be entailed in bringing the country's practices into compliance with the treaty but also the likelihood that those costs will be realized. I then investigate whether countries appear to be influenced by this cost of membership when they decide whether or not to join particular treaties. The Article uses empirical evidence drawn from a database that covers 166 nations over a time span of forty years to shed some light on the decisions of nations to join human rights treaties. Do countries with better human rights practices ratify more readily than those with worse human rights practices? Is the propensity of nations to ratify treaties affected by the enforcement mechanisms used in the treaties? Do democratic nations ratify more readily than nondemocratic nations? Is there a difference in the willingness of democratic and nondemocratic nations to commit to a treaty when their practices are out of step with the treaty's requirements? These are a few of the questions that I ask in this Article. The empirical evidence, while far from conclusive, provides some preliminary answers that I hope will serve as a roadmap to future, more detailed investigation.


In recent years the transformation of legal practice through globalization and shifting demographics in the United States have made the inherent cross-cultural nature of lawyering more apparent. As a result, law schools are being more intentional about the teaching of intercultural legal sensibility as part of the law school curriculum. This increased interest by U.S. law schools to train lawyers in intercultural legal sensibility calls for careful engagement by legal educators to define what intercultural legal sensibility should mean, to develop methodologies in response to the desired outcomes, and to measure their effectiveness. This article offers a reflection on what it might mean to infuse the teaching of intercultural legal sensibility with the necessary lessons to avoid perpetuating cultural dominance and global power imbalances through law. This process necessarily requires transformation on the part of all who engage globally and cross-culturally. This article explains why there may be a need for transformation and defines the type of transformation that law schools might encourage in future lawyers as part of legal education. The article also provides lessons on the methodology this type of transformational learning requires. The focus is principally on summer abroad programs as well as service learning opportunities that include student immersion in rich cross-cultural exchanges. Finally the article identifies ways to measure the effectiveness of law school programs aiming to teach intercultural legal sensibility by drawing lessons from what other disciplines have done in similar programs for at least half a century.


The interactions between insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in follicular growth and ovulation were studied with the use of an isolated perfused rabbit ovary preparation. Ovulation failed to occur in either control ovaries or the experimental ovaries perfused with IGF-I in a concentration of 1, 10, or 100 ng/ml in the absence of gonadotropin. Exposure to IGF-I stimulated the secretion rate of angiotensin II-like immunoreactivity (Ang II-IR) in perfused rabbit ovaries in a dose-dependent manner. The percent increase in follicle diameter in ovaries perfused with IGF-I for 12 h was significantly correlated with the secretion rate of Ang II-IR at 12 h after exposure to IGF-I. The addition of IGFBP-3 to the perfusate did not induce ovulation in the absence of gonadotropin, but exposure to IGFBP-3 inhibited hCG-induced ovulation in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, IGFBP-3 significantly reduced the ovarian secretion rate of Ang II-IR and prostaglandins stimulated by hCG administration. Intrafollicular plasminogen activator (PA) activity significantly increased within 4 h after exposure to 100 ng/ml of IGF-I, compared with that in control ovaries perfused with medium alone. The concomitant addition of IGFBP-3 to the perfusate significantly reduced the IGF-I-stimulated PA activity in the preovulatory follicles at 4, 6, and 8 h after exposure to IGF-I. However, IGFBP-3 alone affected neither the ovarian secretion rate of Ang II-IR nor intrafollicular PA activity. Exposure to streptokinase, an exogenous PA, in vitro stimulated both follicular growth and the intrafollicular Ang II-IR content. In conclusion, IGF-I enhances both ovarian Ang II production and follicular development by stimulating intrafollicular PA activity.


Rapid regional growth and energy demands have driven plans to build numerous dams along the Mekong's mainstem and its tributaries prompting significant concern for potential changes in seasonal flow regimes and subsequent impacts on fisheries and biodiversity. In this paper, we demonstrate how multiple dam development and operation in the Se San and Sre Pok tributaries can affect flows in the mainstem of the Mekong. The Se San and Sre Pok tributaries were chosen because they are undergoing rapid dam development, are close to key wetlands, and because they contribute substantial flows to the Mekong. Dam operations along the Se San and Sre Pok Rivers were modelled with the HEC-HMS (Hydrological Modelling System) and HEC-ResSim (Reservoir Simulation) models. Two levels of dam development and three reservoir operation scenarios were modelled. For all operation scenarios of existing and high priority dams, daily changes in water flows and levels occur, but overall seasonal effects are low. However, substantial changes in discharge flows result when large medium priority dams are included and operated to maximize electricity generation. Dry season flows nearly double and wet season peak flows are significantly reduced, translating to changes in the order of 8% of water flows in the receiving Mekong River at Stung Treng. Changes in flows are clearly dependent on the number, size, and operation of reservoirs in the basin. However, simulation results imply that a coordinated management of dams operated under a wider set of rules to minimize changes to natural flow pulses can be a key to maximize total economic return by including the value of downstream ecosystem services. This analysis provides a methodology and basis for future work on studying changes in water levels from dam operations by which strategic options for dam development in the Mekong can be considered.


Abstract Ophthalmosaurinae is a recently recognized clade of derived ichthyosaurs (marine reptiles) ranging from the Bajocian (Middle Jurassic) to the late Albian (late Early Cretaceous). Whereas the Middle–Late Jurassic ophthalmosaurine Ophthalmosaurus is often regarded as a hyperspecialized deep diver, very little is known about the anatomy, evolutionary history and ecology of Cretaceous ophthalmosaurines because of the scarcity of the fossils and the lack of well-preserved skull material. Here, we describe the skull of a new basal ophthalmosaurine ichthyosaur, Leninia stellans gen. et sp. nov., from the lower Aptian of western Russia, and compare the ocular characteristics of ophthalmosaurids. Leninia is recovered as a basal ophthalmosaurine; it possesses unique traits such as a star-shaped frontal–parietal suture as well as features previously thought to be unique to Ophthalmosaurus such as a supratemporal–stapes contact. A large sclerotic aperture – significantly larger than in platypterygiine ophthalmosaurids and similar to that of the largest-eyed modern animals (giant and colossal squids) – and reduced dentition appear widespread within ophthalmosaurines. This conservatism suggests ophthalmosaurine ophthalmosaurids occupied similar ecological niche(s) throughout their long evolutionary history.


Many public debates about climate change now focus on the economic "costs" of taking action. When called on to advise about these, many leading mainstream economists downplay the need for care and caution on climate issues, forecasting a future with infinitely continued economic growth. This essay highlights the roles of binary metaphors and cultural archetypes in creating the highly gendered, sexist, and age-ist attitudes that underlie this dominant advice. Gung-ho economic growth advocates aspire to the role of The Hero, rejecting the conservatism of The Old Wife. But in a world that is not actually as safe and predictable as they assume, the result is guidance from The Fool. Both intellectual and cultural change are necessary if the voice of The Wise Grandmother (which may come through women or men) is to—alongside The Hero—receive the attention it deserves.


The construction industry is a project-based sector with a myriad of actors such as architects, construction companies, consultants, producers of building materials (Anumba et al., 2005). The interaction between the project partners is often quite limited, which leads to insufficient knowledge sharing during the project and knowledge being unavailable for reuse (Fruchter et al. 2002). The result can be a considerable amount of extra work, delays and cost overruns. Design outcomes that are supposed to function as boundary objects across different disciplines can lead to misinterpretation of requirements, project content and objectives. In this research, knowledge is seen as resulting from social interactions; knowledge resides in communities and it is generated through social relationships (Wenger 1998, Olsson et al. 2008). Knowledge is often tacit, intangible and context-dependent and it is articulated in the changing responsibilities, roles, attitudes and values that are present in the work environment (Bresnen et al., 2003). In a project environment, knowledge enables individuals to solve problems, take decisions, and apply these decisions to actions. In order to achieve a shared understanding and minimize the misunderstanding and misinterpretations among project actors, it is necessary to share knowledge (Fong 2003).

Sharing knowledge is particularly crucial in large complex building projects (LCBPs) in order to accelerate the building process, improve architectural quality and prevent mistakes or undesirable results. However, knowledge sharing is often hampered through professional or organizational boundaries or contractual concerns. When knowledge is seen as an organizational asset, there is little willingness among project organizations to share their knowledge. Individual people may recognize the need to promote knowledge sharing throughout the project, but typically there is no deliberate strategy agreed by all project partners to address knowledge sharing.

In the literature, two main approaches on knowledge sharing can be distinguished, an object or content -oriented perspective and a community-oriented perspective. In the object perspective, technology is seen as a medium to store and share knowledge. The limitations of this perspective are that social processes and tacit knowledge are not adequately supported and there has generally been a slow adoption of such technology in design practices. The community perspective prevents these problems by allowing for the natural and informal formation of communities, however, communities can become largely independent and unconnected, which makes it more difficult to entice them towards a certain strategic direction. Since both approaches have their limitations, this thesis proposes a holistic framework for knowledge sharing in LCBPs drawing on concepts by Mintzberg (1973) and Activity Theory. Mintzberg's concepts are used to discuss the type of implementation (top-down, bottom-up), and the origin of the strategies (deliberate/emergent/(un)realized). For analysing the content and effect of each strategy, concepts from Activity Theory (tools, subject, object, rules, community, and division of labour) are used. The proposed model, the Knowledge Diamond, consists of four dimensions for analysing and designing knowledge sharing strategies for LCBPs.

Three of these were inspired by Activity Theory, namely tools, procedures, and social practices, while a fourth emerged as a crucial dimension in this thesis: physical settings. This framework was used to examine knowledge sharing strategies in a comparative analysis of two large complex building projects. Based on rich data from observations, documents and interview, the origins, the development and the effect of both forms of knowledge sharing environments are investigated. The first part of the analysis sheds new light on the possibilities of knowledge sharing in large complex building project. The unique, temporary, and complex nature of such projects has often been reported as a potential barrier to investing knowledge sharing. However, this analysis highlighted that the while the location is unique, the underlying challenges are typically not, and although projects are per definition temporary, these large, complex projects often last for a decade. Investing in knowledge sharing is therefore possible and worth the effort, and with respect to complexity more needed than those involved are aware of.

In the second part of the empirical data analysis, the knowledge sharing strategies inuse in the two cases were examined. The first case represents a people-oriented approach using collocated open plan offices for the entire design team; the second case represents a tool-oriented approach drawing on a Building Information Model (BIM). The co-located offices provided the physical setting for knowledge sharing, but it not planned as a conscious strategy and so was mainly regarded as sharing the same office floor and was not used to its full potential. Physical boundaries remained between subteams and interaction was restricted to the level of project managers. In the second case, the implementation of a BIM represented a bottom-up and emergent strategy that embraced digital technologies for specific problems. The analysis showed that there was limited understanding about requirements and implication of changes in the design processes. Introduced through a bottom-up emergent strategy without commitment from all project partners, it was not possible to utilize the potential benefits of a BIM system for the overall design team. The analysis also revealed that what practitioners referred to as a BIM, was not a true BIM implementation, thereby indicating that digital concepts are still not completely clear in practice.

This comparative analysis of two cases led to several conclusions:

• Irrespective of whether a tool or people-oriented approach is used, there will be emerging strategies with which people try to address problems caused by limited knowledge sharing.

• The physical setting can play a major role in supporting interaction. Designers and managers will make intentional or spontaneous use of the possibilities that their physical setting affords, even though tools are available that can facilitate distributed work. Thus, tool implementations do not make physical settings obsolete.

• Tools provide a technological infrastructure such as creating virtual proximity, handling design and criteria changes, enhancing design representation, or dealing with changes in personnel. However, there is no magic want that cures all problems and challenges of LCBPs.

• Procedures refer to formal and informal rules about knowledge sharing. Such rules are important means of creating shared expectations and information exchange, however, procedures can only guide but not dictate the actual behaviour of actors in regard to knowledge sharing.

• Social practices form the social infrastructure that enables and facilitates knowledge sharing through the physical setting, tools, and procedures. However, if the project culture has emerged intuitively, these practices may involve rather limited sharing behaviour at various levels (i.e. executive, managerial, and technical).

Through my research and recommendations, I have attempted to offer fresh insights to practitioners about the value and necessity of knowledge sharing in large complex building projects. The framework of the Knowledge Diamond is not intended as a magic cure, but it can serve as a guideline for enhancing knowledge sharing by paying explicit attention to all four dimensions and taking advantages of new technologies such as BIM and 3D models. Although the insights of this research are based on only two cases, the conclusions were confirmed by a panel of experts who confirmed similarities with their own experience.

This study also contributed to the literature on knowledge sharing and project management. The Knowledge Diamond can help to conceptualise knowledge sharing at both the inter-organizational and cross-disciplinary level. It can also form the basis for further theory development about work in project-based settings and help to define new project management methodologies.


PURPOSE
To quantitatively evaluate two Methods: portal dosimetry and MatriXX placed in a dedicated holder, for clinical VMAT patient specific QA using gamma analysis.

METHODS
21 prostate VMAT double-arc plans were generated in Eclipse. We used portal dosimetry and MatriXX to conduct plan verifications. Portal dosimetry, including the absolute dose mode, was commissioned according to Varians guide. The MatriXX was commissioned as per vendor manual. In our study, Matrixx was inserted in a dedicated holder that was mounted on a linac treatment head with 5.0cm effective depth from the surface to the detector plane. In this geometry, the MatriXX detector plane is always facing the source perpendicularly. Thus the angular corrections for MatriXX detectors were not required. Gamma index was calculated using appropriate values of dose difference and distance-to-agreement. The threshold value, used for excluding low dose regions, was set to 5%. In portal dosimetry, calculated dose and measured dose were auto-aligned and gamma index was obtained in the absolute dose mode. Portal dosimetry system was calibrated weekly or as needed to ensure its optimal working conditions.

RESULTS
In the MatriXX measurement, the Bland Altman plot was used to show that, with 95% confidence level, the measured Dmax agreed with the calculated Dmax. Then the dose distributions measured from MatriXX were normalized to Dmax and IBA so±ftware was used for gamma analysis. For gamma index calculated with 3%/3mm, both portal dosimetry (98.6%±1.1%) and MatriXX (97.0%±1.1%) exhibit similar passing rates, with portal doismetry demonstrating slightly higher passing rates than MatriXX.

CONCLUSION
This work indicates that for VMAT patient specific QA, a well calibrated portal dosimetry system can be equivalent to or better than the MatriXX system. Future endeavors may extend to the analysis of VMAT plans for other sites and exploration of the method using the MatriXX inserted in a MultiCube phantom.


American primacy continues to characterise the international system, despite trends toward a diffusion of power. The discussion is too often biased in favour of multipolarity due to imprecise or misleading definitions of US primacy. On the basis of a simple definition of what a "pole" is, combining GDP and defence expenditure, only the US can be considered a global pole. The current economic crisis is not changing this reality. Even considering perceptions, soft power, and the ability to translate power into influence, rising powers like China or an aggregate power like the EU have a long way to go before they can get on an equal footing with the United States.


Background: Orthostatic hypotension is a common finding in elderly patients and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Known risk factors for orthostatic hypotension are age, multiple medications, smoking, low BMI, hypertension and diabetes. Most of the knowledge on orthostatic hypotension and cardiovascular endpoints and mortality comes from prospective cohort data and there are few clinical studies performed in the very elderly.
Methods: From 2014 to May 2017 a team composed of a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist supervised by a medical doctor visited newly hospitalized patients at Lund's University Hospital. The team measured BMI, blood pressure, pulse, saturation and registered the patients' age, sex, number and types of medications and symptoms for admittance. They were also able to register blood tests taken, the patients' final diagnosis, the number of days in hospital, the number of medications at discharge, the number of re-hospitalizations and the number of deaths at follow-up after 6 months. Patients with complete blood pressure measurements both in the lying position and standing position were included in our study (n=210). These patients were divided into two groups, the orthostatic hypotension group (OH-group, n=119) and the normotensive group (NT-group, n=91). The division was made based on the generally accepted definition of orthostatic hypotension. Calculations for comparison in-between the two groups were done using the Student's T-test or Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variables and the Pearsons Chi-square test for dichotomous variables.
Results: During follow-up 14 of 91 patients died in the NT-group compared to 32 of 119 in the OH-group (p<0,05). At discharge 41 of 91 patient had been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease in the NT-group compared to 70 of 119 patients in the OH-group (p<0,05). The patients in the NT-group stayed at the hospital for a mean of 8,38 days compared to the patients from the OH-group whom stayed for a mean of 9,86 days (p<0,05).
Conclusions: This study has shown that there is increased cardiovascular disease, morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with orthostatic hypotension compared to patients without orthostatic hypotension in a hospital setting. The study results indicate the importance of taking orthostatic blood pressure tests in elderly patients.


Conservation is often operationalized as a minimization of human intervention in nature. However, many socialecological systems depend on human interventions to maintain characteristics of biological diversity. Therefore, reduced use or full abandonment of such systems can diminish rather than enhance biological diversity and its related cultural diversity (biocultural diversity). We link the definition of "underuse" with the extinction rate used in the planetary boundaries framework to support a more objective use of the term. We execute a structured cross-continental review of underuse in social-ecological systems of regions that contain more affluent countries to frame a global research agenda on underuse. Our working approach delineates causes, consequences, and strategies concerning underuse. Based on this comparative review, we identify causes of underuse that are similar in different continents, including globalization, and demographic or structural change in Europe, Japan and Oceania. Conservation paradigms emphasizing wilderness ideals in policies are characteristic of underuse in North America, whereas post-socialist transformation processes characterize underuse in Eastern Europe. Land abandonment and de-intensification of use are a common result, particularly in marginal and protected areas. Consequences of the loss of biocultural diversity include the loss of ecosystem services, traditional knowledge, or landscape amenities. We identified a pervasive gap in transcontinental comparative research that stymies the development of effective strategies to reduce underuse of biological diversity and thereby maintain related cultural diversity. We advocate for a global research agenda on governance approaches that address the challenges of underuse. Within this agenda, we emphasize the need for an international cross-case synthesis and a trans-continental mapping of state and civil society-based interventions and co-management approaches to reestablish humans as parts of ecological systems. Such comparative work on best practice cases in a real-world context should enhance adaptive management of biocultural diversity and prevent extinction caused by underuse. Thus, this innovative connection between underuse and the planetary boundary extinction rate, along with our new global research agenda on underuse, should initiate much needed support for policy makers and natural resource managers who must decide on appropriate types and levels of human intervention to implement, both inside and outside of protected areas.


The South Carolina Drought and Water Shortage Tabletop Exercise took place on September 27, 2017, at the South Carolina Emergency Operations Center in West Columbia, SC. The exercise gathered 80 participants, representing federal and state agencies, public water suppliers, county and municipal governments, industry, consulting companies, and nonprofit organizations. The purpose of the exercise was to review plans and procedures that govern state-, basin-, and local-level responses to drought and water shortages. Many of South Carolina's drought response mechanisms were updated by the 2000 Drought Response Act and Regulations, but a systematic effort has not been made to review or assess their effectiveness. Attendees walked through a series of exercise responses to gradually worsening drought scenarios and an activation of the Emergency Operations Plan. The event helped to identify strengths and weak points of the state's drought response and opportunities to proactively prepare for future droughts. The key needs discussed by participants included updated drought response plans and procedures to ensure a coordinated and timely response to droughts; greater educational opportunities to enhance agencies' familiarity with the Drought Response Program and their role in drought response and mitigation; more effective communications before, during, and after drought events, across agencies and with the public; and enhanced data and information products that can be used to build common understanding of drought risks, impacts, and vulnerabilities. Journal of South Carolina Water Resources, Volume 4, Issue 1, Pages 57–62, 2017


The separation performance of a semicontinuous counter-current chromatographic refiner (SCCR7), consisting of twelve 5.4 cm id x 75cm long columns packed with calcium charged cross-linked polysytrene resin (KORELA VO7C), was optimised. An industrial barley syrup was used containing 42% fructose, 52% glucose and 6% maltose and oligosaccharides. The effects of temperature, flow rates and concentration on the distribution coefficients were evaluated and quantified by deriving general relationships. The effects of flow rates, feed composition and concentration on the separation performance of the SCCR7 were identified and general relationships between them and the switch time, which was found to be the controlling parameter, were developed. Fructose rich (FRP) and glucose rich (GRP) product purities of 99.9% were obtained at 18.6% w/v feed concentrations. When a 66% w/v feed concentration was used and product splitting technique was employed, the throughput was 32.1 kg sugar solids/m3 resin/hr. The GRP contained less than 4.5% fructose, the FRP was over 95% pure, and the respective concentrations were 22.56 and 11.29% w/v. Over 94% of the glucose and 95.78% of the fructose in the feed were recovered in the GRP and FRP respectively. By recycling the dilute product split fractions, the GRP and FRP concentrations were increased to 25.4 and 12.96% w/v; the FRP was 90.2% pure and the GRP contained 6.69% w/v fructose. A theoretical link between batch and semicontinuous chromatographic equipments has been determined. A computer simulation was developed predicting successfully the purging concentration profiles at `pseudo-equilibrium', and also certain system design parameters. An important further aspect of the work has been to study the behaviour of chromatographic bioreactor-separators. Such batch systems of 5.4cm id and lengths varying between 30 and 230cm, were used to investigate the effect of scaling up on the conversion of sucrose into dextran and fructose in the presence of the dextransucrase enzyme. Conversions of over 80% were achieved at 4 hr sucrose residence times. The crude dextransucrase was purified using centrifugation, ultrafiltration and cross-flow microfiltration techniques. Better enzyme stability was obtained by first separating the non-solid impurities using cross-flow microfiltration, and then removing the cells from the enzyme immediately before use by continuous centrifugation.


Third-party services form an integral part of the mobile ecosystem: they ease application development and enable features such as analytics, social network integration, and app monetization through ads. However, aided by the general opacity of mobile systems, such services are also largely invisible to users. This has negative consequences for user privacy as third-party services can potentially track users without their consent, even across multiple applications. Using real-world mobile traffic data gathered by the Lumen Privacy Monitor (Lumen), a privacy enhancing app with the ability to analyze network traffic on mobile devices in user space, we present insights into the mobile advertising and tracking ecosystem and its stakeholders. In this study, we develop automated methods to detect third-party advertising and tracking services at the traffic level. Using this technique we identify 2,121 such services, of which 233 were previously unknown to other popular advertising and tracking blacklists. We then uncover the business relationships between the providers of these services and characterize them by their prevalence in the mobile and Web ecosystem. Our analysis of the privacy policies of the largest advertising and tracking service providers shows that sharing harvested data with subsidiaries and third-party affiliates is the norm. Finally, we seek to identify the services likely to be most impacted by privacy regulations such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and ePrivacy directives.


This work aims to determine the response of Hypogymnia physodes (L.) Nyl. (hooded tube lichen) collected in an unpolluted site (Yenice Forest in Karabük, Turkey) to stress conditions. In the present study, the effect of exposure to different heavy metals (Cd, Pb, and Cr) for different durations and UV radiations dosages on lichen was examined at the physiological and molecular levels. The effects of stress conditions were determined in the case of different parameters concerning heavy metal, protein, chlorophyll, and carotenoid contents and changes in the DNA profiles. According to the results obtained that exposure to heavy metals and UV radiations leads to a physiological response in a concentration and dose-dependent manner through differences in chlorophyll, protein content in heavy metals and UV treated lichen specimen. Furthermore, changes in RAPD assay and DNA methylation analysis showed that homologous nucleotide sequences in the genome from untreated and stress conditions treated lichen specimen showed different band patterns and methylation under heavy metals and UV stress. The results determined that lichen specimen suggest as a possible bioindicator able to measure the biological effects of heavy metal pollution and damage to UV radiation.


SETTING
Laboratorio de Investigación de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) and government health centres, Lima, Peru.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the contribution of unselected (courtesy) microscopic observation drug susceptibility (MODS) testing to the diagnosis and/or drug susceptibility testing (DST) of tuberculosis and their subsequent impact upon patient management.

DESIGN
Retrospective database analysis and case note review of MODS culture-positive cases.

RESULTS
Mycobacterium tuberculosis was isolated in 28.9% of 225 samples (209 patients); 22.2% of 63 positive cases were multidrug-resistant. In 58 MODS culture-positive cases with follow-up data available, MODS provided culture confirmation of diagnosis, DST or both in 82.8%, before any standard method. In 41.4%, this result should have prompted a modification in patient management. Delays between laboratory result and initiation or change of treatment, where applicable, took on average 42 and 64 days, respectively, of which a delay of respectively 17 and 48 days occurred after the receipt of results by the health facility.

CONCLUSION
MODS provides important data for clinical management within a meaningful timeframe and should contribute positively to patient outcomes due to earlier initiation of appropriate therapy. Although clinicians may successfully select patients likely to benefit from MODS, ongoing work is required to identify optimal implementation of the assay and to reduce logistical and health system derived delays.


Sometimes the smallest detail reveals the most about a culture. In "The Hitler Salute: The History of a Gesture", sociologist Tilman Allert uses the Nazi transformation of the most mundane human interaction - the greeting - to show how National Socialism brought about the submission and conformity of a whole society. Made compulsory in 1933, the Hitler salute developed into a daily reflex in a matter of mere months, and quickly became the norm in schools, at work, among friends, and even at home. Adults denounced neighbours who refused to raise their arms, and children were given tiny Hitler dolls with movable right arms so they could practice the pernicious salute. The constantly reiterated declaration of loyalty at once controlled public transactions and fractured personal relationships. And always, the greeting sacralised Hitler, investing him and his regime with a divine aura. The first examination of a phenomenon whose significance has long been understimated, "Heil Hitler" offers new insight into how the Third Reich's rituals of consent paved the way for the wholesale erosion of social morality.


This paper looks at the principles and practices of teaching writing in the Writing Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT). It outlines some of the context of higher education in South Africa and how writing centres need to contribute to both access and redress of past inequities. In order to critically engage with writing, the UCT Writing Centre takes an "academic literacies" approach, which focuses on contextualized social practices, rather than decontextualized skills. This practice-based approach helps to explore the interdisciplinary nature of the work, as well as the changing representational landscape in higher education. The paper explores some of the impact the Writing Centre has had on student writing, and argues that the Centre contributes to higher education transformation through the mentoring of postgraduate students as future academics.


Changes in the composition of saliva can be related to different physiological processes and various oral diseases. Examination of saliva as a diagnostic environment for various biomarkers is a modern method that has been used in dental medicine since last century. Aim of the study was in vivo investigation of topical fluorides and prophylactic remineralizing procedures' influence on the end products of fat and protein metabolism in the saliva. The results showed that aggressive carbohydrate attacks or stimulation of carbohydrate cariogenic metabolism in the dental plaque did not affect the metabolic profile of the fatty and amino acids in the saliva. Topical fluoride application during the course of oral prophylactic procedures in children also did not change the concentration of the fatty and amino acids.


Tasman and Abel Mines are underground pillar extraction coal mines located to the west of Newcastle, NSW. Tasman mine extracts coal from the Fassifern Seam in the Upper Newcastle Coal Measures and Abel Mine operates in the Upper Donaldson Seam to the north in the Tomago Coal Measures. Each mine apply a range of partial to total pillar extraction techniques depending on allowable impact limits to a broad range of sensitive surface features such as cliff lines, Schedule 2 creeks, Hunter Water lines, public recreation areas and walking tracks, broadcasting and 132/330 kV transmission towers, highly significant aboriginal heritage sites and an operating cattle agistment business. This paper will discuss the mine management responses required to deal with delayed softening of claystone floors, optic fibre cable relocation, irregular surface cracking and how surface and subsurface monitoring techniques were applied to validate subsidence predictions and modify mine design layouts to meet the required performance measures.


"Purpose" is a key component of modern Establishment Clause jurisprudence. While the Supreme Court has expanded the role purpose plays in various areas of constitutional analysis over the last half-century, the Court seemingly continues to muddy the waters as to purpose's proper place in Establishment Clause cases. This Comment focuses on the function and operation of purpose in Establishment Clause cases in order to probe the complications and obstacles inherent to this area of constitutional law. By constructing and applying an analytical framework that examines modern Establishment Clause cases through the lenses of "conceptions of purpose," "evidence of purpose," and "indicia of impermissible purpose," this Comment provides critical takeaways about the development and current state of the Establishment Clause—as well as potential future outcomes in these cases. Ultimately, the dispositive consideration in Establishment Clause cases is the utilization and weight given by individual Justices in any given case to the factors discussed in this Comment's analytical framework. This conclusion demonstrates the judge-dependent nature of these cases and the value certain Justices place on the institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court and the judicial branch as a whole.


Most flowering plants have been shown to be ancient polyploids that have undergone one or more whole genome duplications early in their evolution. Furthermore, many different plant lineages seem to have experienced an additional, more recent genome duplication. Starting from paralogous genes lying in duplicated segments or identified in large expressed sequence tag collections, we dated these youngest duplication events through penalized likelihood phylogenetic tree inference. We show that a majority of these independent genome duplications are clustered in time and seem to coincide with the Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) boundary. The KT extinction event is the most recent mass extinction caused by one or more catastrophic events such as a massive asteroid impact and/or increased volcanic activity. These events are believed to have generated global wildfires and dust clouds that cut off sunlight during long periods of time resulting in the extinction of ≈60% of plant species, as well as a majority of animals, including dinosaurs. Recent studies suggest that polyploid species can have a higher adaptability and increased tolerance to different environmental conditions. We propose that polyploidization may have contributed to the survival and propagation of several plant lineages during or following the KT extinction event. Due to advantages such as altered gene expression leading to hybrid vigor and an increased set of genes and alleles available for selection, polyploid plants might have been better able to adapt to the drastically changed environment 65 million years ago.


This volume presents Bruce Davidson's personal selections from his lesser-known color archive, from a period of nearly sixty years. Assignments from various magazines including Vogue, National Geographic, Life, as well as commercial projects, led Davidson to photograph subjects as diverse as fashion (in the early 1960s), the Shah of Iran with his family (1964), keepers of French monuments (1988), the supermodel Kylie Bax (1997), and college cheerleaders (1989). He photographed in India and China, but also at home in New York, in Chicago, and along the Pacific Coast Highway. In 1968, Michelangelo Antonioni invited Davidson to document the making of his film Zabriskie Point. Davidson also continued to pursue personal projects, such as photographing the Yiddish writer and Nobel Prize laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer (197275), the New York City subway (1980), and Katzs Delicatessen (2004). Often staying on in a country after an official assignment, Davidson documented Welsh coalfields and family holidays in Marthas Vineyard, and travelled through Patagonia and Mexico.


Biorefinery of sunflower whole plant can be realized using a twin-screw extruder. Thermo-mechanical fractionation and aqueous extraction are conducted simultaneously. A filter section is outfitted along the barrel to collect continuously an extract and a raffinate (cake meal). Oil yield obtained is 53%. Proteins are partly extracted at the same time, just as pectins and hemicelluloses. Protein yield is 46%. Cake meal is relatively moist (66% for the moisture content). It is first dried to make easier its conservation. It is largely composed of lignocellulosic fibres (59% of the dry matter) from depithed stalk. Lipid content is 13% of the dry matter or 35% of the oil in whole plant. Protein content is 7% of the dry matter or 45% of the proteins in whole plant. DSC measurements indicate that denaturation of proteins is almost complete in the cake meal. DMTA spectrum of its milled powder reveals a significant peak at high temperature (between 175 and 200°C). As already observed with industrial sunflower cake meal, it can be associated with the glass transition of proteins. As a mixture of fibres and proteins, the cake meal can be considered as a natural composite. It is successfully processed into biodegradable and value-added agromaterials by thermo-pressing. As for DMTA analysis, the glass transition of proteins in the cake meal is also observed with PVT analysis at around 180°C. It makes easier the choice of the best thermo-pressing conditions to produce panels with higher mechanical properties in bending. These properties increase simultaneously with temperature, pressure and time chosen for molding operation. The highest flexural strength at break (11.5 MPa) and the highest elastic modulus (2.22 GPa) are obtained for the next molding conditions: 200°C and 320 kgf/cm2 during 60 s. Drop angle measurements show that the corresponding panel is also the most resistant to water. No significant transition is observed inside this panel above 0°C and until 200°C with DMTA analysis. Proteins ensure the agromaterial cohesion without any phase change in this temperature range, and fibres entanglement also acts like reinforcement. This panel could be used as inter-layer sheets for pallets or for the manufacturing of biodegradable containers (composters, crates for vegetable gardening) by assembly of panels.


Propagating plasmon modes guided along silver metal nanoridges with triangular and inverted triangular cross sections are investigated in this paper. Mode field profiles, dispersion curves, propagation distances, and figure-of-merits of the plasmon modes are calculated for silver nanoridges with various triangular and inverted triangular waveguide cross sections. It is found that the triangular cross-section nanoridge waveguide, if designed properly, can have longer propagation distance and higher figure-of-merit than the flat-top nanoridge waveguide of the same width. When the triangle height of the nanoridge is high, the mode approaches the small angle wedge mode. An inverted triangular cross-section nanoridge mode can be considered as a hybrid mode of two metal wedge plasmon modes. When inverted triangle depth increases, the propagation distance and the figure-of-merit decrease dramatically, suggesting poorer performance when compared to the flat-top nanoridge plasmon waveguide.


The paper deal with problems of data security in the safety - related transmission systems defined within railway process. In details is analysed possibility od using hash-coding techniques, which are generally defined in norm EN 50159-2. According to specification of transmission in railway applications the type of secure hash keying and nonkeyng techniques are recommended. There are discussed the results of experimental part, which are related to the comparison of time relation of hash code determination.


This thesis presents an investigation into the phenomena of scale effects on cavitation inception and noise of marine propellers. The overall aim is to extend the understanding of these phenomena and improve predicting methods. The investigations, which are largely experimental in nature, are restricted to the tip vortex and sheet types of cavitation. Chapter 1 includes a state-of-the-art review of the scale effect studies based on published papers to form the basis for the main objectives and structure of thesis. The objectives require systematic tests in a cavitation tunnel to explore the viscous scale effects contributing to the phenomena, particularly for the effect of the free-stream turbulence, and to include this effect in extrapolation procedures. Chapter 2 is concerned with the background flow measurements in the cavitation tunnel under the effect of systematically varying levels of the free-stream turbulence generated by using wire meshes. This background information is obtained using a Laser Doppler Anemometry; measurements made with the latter provide a systematic basis on which the analyses of the cavitation inception and noise experiments can be performed. In Chapter 3, a set of cavitation inception tests is described with a NACA66 rectangular foil whose cross-section represents a typical blade section of a marine propeller. The inception measurements for systematically varying levels of the free-stream turbulence and that of the leading edge roughness are presented for different angles of attack and the results are discussed. Chapter 4 includes another set of cavitation inception experiments with a 5-bladed of model propeller of the Meridian Series. The measurements are taken for varying levels of the free-stream turbulence, blade roughness and dissolved gas contents. The results are analysed and discussed with a specific emphasis on the similarities between the effects of the free-stream turbulence and blade roughness. Chapter 5 presents a set of systematic noise measurements, with the same test propeller under the similar effects of the free-stream turbulence, blade roughness and dissolved gas content, using a single external hydrophone. The analyses of these measurements, in terms of the tunnel background noise and net propeller noise, are presented and discussed for two operating conditions representing a typical non-cavitating and cavitating noise spectrum. In Chapter 6, a semi-empirical tool is developed to predict the inception of cavitation including the effect of the free-stream turbulence based on Lighthill's Leading Edge Correction factor (Lighthill, 1951). This tool is correlated with the inception tests results of the model propeller and its potential to be used as an extrapolator for the full-scale prediction is discussed. An attempt is made to establish a correspondence between the level of the free-stream turbulence and that of the blade roughness and its impact on the current test procedures is discussed. This chapter also includes an analysis of the similarity criteria to incorporate the effect of the free-stream turbulence in the inception of cavitation using the Dimensional Analysis procedure. In Chapter 7, a general review of the study together with the main conclusions from the thesis are presented and some recommendations for future work are made.


Representation of generalized additive models (GAM's) using penalized regression splines allows GAM's to be employed in a straightforward manner using penalized regression methods. Not only is inference facilitated by this approach, but it is also possible to integrate model selection in the form of smoothing parameter selection into model fitting in a computationally efficient manner using well founded criteria such as generalized cross-validation. The current fitting and smoothing parameter selection methods for such models are usually effective, but do not provide the level of numerical stability to which users of linear regression packages, for example, are accustomed. In particular the existing methods cannot deal adequately with numerical rank deficiency of the GAM fitting problem, and it is not straightforward to produce methods that can do so, given that the degree of rank deficiency can be smoothing parameter dependent. In addition, models with the potential flexibility of GAM's can also present practical fitting difficulties as a result of indeterminacy in the model likelihood: Data with many zeros fitted by a model with a log link are a good example. In this article it is proposed that GAM's with a ridge penalty provide a practical solution in such circumstances, and a multiple smoothing parameter selection method suitable for use in the presence of such a penalty is developed. The method is based on the pivoted QR decomposition and the singular value decomposition, so that with or without a ridge penalty it has good error propagation properties and is capable of detecting and coping elegantly with numerical rank deficiency. The method also allows mixtures of user specified and estimated smoothing parameters and the setting of lower bounds on smoothing parameters. In terms of computational efficiency, the method compares well with existing methods. A simulation study compares the method to existing methods, including treating GAM's as mixed models.


In order to remember what you had for breakfast today, you must rely on episodic memory, the memory for personal events situated within a spatiotemporal context. In this dissertation, I use electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings to measure the neural correlates of successful episodic memory formation. The recorded EEG signals simultaneously sample local field potentials throughout the brain, and can be analyzed in terms of specific time-varying oscillatory or spectral components of neural activity which are thought to reflect the concerted activity of neuronal populations. I collected EEG recordings while participants engage in free recall, an episodic memory task during which participants must study and then recall a list of items. In the first chapter, I compare the spectral correlates during encoding of items later remembered to those later forgotten using two separate recording modalities, scalp and intracranial EEG. I find that memory formation is characterized by broad low frequency spectral power decreases and high frequency power increases across both datasets, suggesting that scalp EEG can resolve high frequency activity (HFA) and that low frequency decreases in intracranial EEG are unlikely due to pathology. In the next chapter, I connect these HFA increases to memory-specific processes by comparing study items based on how they are recalled, not whether they are recalled. I find increased HFA in left lateral cortex and hippocampus during the encoding of subsequently clustered items, those items recalled consecutively with their study neighbors at test. The precise time course of these results suggests that context updating mechanisms and item-to-context associative mechanisms support successful memory formation. In the third chapter, I measure how the formation of these episodic associations is modulated by pre-existing semantic associations by including a semantic orienting task during the encoding interval. I find that semantic processing interferes with the formation of new, episodic memories. In the final chapter, I show that the memory benefit for emotionally valenced items is better explained by a contextual mechanism than an attentional mechanism. Together, my work supports the theory that contextual encoding associative mechanisms, reflected by HFA increases in the memory network, support memory formation. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Psychology First Advisor Michael J. Kahana


Abstract. We apply a global three-dimensional Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) driven by the NASA/GEOS-4 assimilated meteorological fields to quantify the impacts of the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) on interannual variations of June-July-August (JJA) surface-layer O3 concentrations over China. With anthropogenic emissions fixed at year 2005 levels, the model simulation for years 1986–2006 shows that the changes in meteorological parameters alone lead to interannual variations in JJA surface-layer O3 concentrations by 2–5% over central eastern China, 1–3% in northwestern China, and 5–10% over the Tibetan Plateau as well as the border and coastal areas of southern China, as the interannual variations are relative to the average O3 concentrations over the 21 yr period. Over the years 1986–2006, the O3 concentration averaged over all of China is found to correlate positively with the EASM index with a large correlation coefficient of +0.75, indicating that JJA O3 concentrations are lower (or higher) in weaker (or stronger) EASM years. Relative to JJA surface-layer O3 concentrations in the strongest EASM years (1990, 1994, 1997, 2002, and 2006), O3 levels in the weakest EASM years (1988, 1989, 1996, 1998, and 2003) are lower over almost all of China with a national mean lower O3 concentration by 2.0 ppbv (parts per billion by volume; or 4%). Regionally, the largest percentage differences in O3 concentration between the weakest and strongest EASM years are found to exceed 6% in northeastern China, southwestern China, and over the Tibetan Plateau. Sensitivity studies show that the difference in transboundary transport of O3 is the most dominant factor that leads to lower-O3 concentrations in the weakest EASM years than in the strongest EASM years, which, together with the enhanced vertical convections in the weakest EASM years, explain about 80% of the differences in surface-layer O3 concentrations between the weakest and strongest EASM years. We also find that the impacts the EASM strength on JJA surface-layer O3 can be particularly strong (comparable in magnitude to the impacts on O3 by changes in anthropogenic emissions over years 1986–2006) for certain years. The largest increases in O3 by anthropogenic emissions are simulated over southeastern China, whereas the largest impacts of the EASM on O3 are found over central and western China.


The author examines the historical/theoretical voluntary repatriation framework, which asserts that refugees should only repatriate to their country of origin on a voluntary basis when the socio-political and ethnic situation that initiated their problem comes to an end. This theory articulates durable protection and resettlement initiatives for refugees in general. Also, the above theory is contrasted with the present re-articulated forced repatriation theories, which state that refugees should repatriate to unsafe conditions in their country of origin. Furthermore, the study interrogates the intersectionality of African refugees' dilemma and the apprehensions of refugees' host countries, and conceptualizes the specific ideology that legitimizes the forced repatriation of refugees, and the impacts of accepting the emerging theory using a critical anti-racist framework.


Security for smart industrial systems is prominent due to the proliferation of cyber threats threatening national critical infrastructures. Smart grid comes with intelligent applications that can utilize the bidirectional communication network among its entities. Microgrids are small-scale smart grids that enable machine-to-machine (M2M) communications as they can operate with some degree of independence from the main grid. In addition to protecting critical microgrid applications, an underlying key management scheme is needed to enable secure M2M message transmission and authentication. Existing key management schemes are not adequate due to microgrid special features and requirements. In this article, we propose the Micro sElf-orgaNiSed mAnagement (MENSA), which is the first hybrid key management and authentication scheme that combines public key infrastructure and web-of-trust concepts in microgrids. Our experimental results demonstrate the efficiency of MENSA in terms of scalability and swiftness.


This doctoral thesis is the first comprehensive study of contemporary English translations of French lyric poetry during the Caroline period. While there has been extensive study of translations from French literature of other genres, notably drama, translations of lyric poetry have been largely ignored. The thesis examines the translations within the context of literary and cultural trends in France and England during the seventeenth century. Differing cultural tendencies and reader expectations are evident both in the selection of particular poems for translation, and in the changes translators made to their source texts. Chapter one contains background information on the social and literary relations between France and England during the seventeenth century, and an overview of the social and political conditions in which poetry was written in each country. Chapter two investigates where and how translators obtained the texts of the poems they translated, and in particular the use of the recueils collectifs as sources for translations. Chapters three, four and five provide a thematic overview of the most significant and interesting translations. The themes chosen - eroticism, love and nature - constitute those most popular with translators, and the representation of these themes in both the original poems and the translations is closely connected to wider literary and cultural tendencies in both France and England. Having provided a thematic overview of the translations, chapters 6 and 7 examine some of the more technical and linguistic aspects of the practice of translating from contemporary French poetry in Caroline England. Chapter seven studies the translation of the French lyric voice, and the effects of this on the representation of themes, particularly love and nature. Chapter eight examines the English treatment of some aspects of seventeenth-century French prosody, placing these and the changes made by translators in the context of prosodic developments in both France and England. The conclusion highlights patterns identified in translators' handling of the source texts; these draw attention to the literary and cultural differences between France and England in the seventeenth century, and demonstrate that French poetry is altered in English translation to suit the tastes of translators and their intended English readership.


Striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) are one of the most important reservoirs of wildlife rabies on the Great Plains of North America. During a skunk rabies epizootic in a previously rabiesfree area of northwestern Wyoming , we studied the spread of rabies from the index case occurring in 1988 until the Shoshone River epizootic ended in 1993. All specimens were sent to the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory for Fluorescent Antibody Testing for rabies. The goal of federal , state, county , and local agencies was to address the public's fear about the health and safety of humans and animals. Following several rabid skunk attacks reported to authorities and recounted in local newspapers , a more proactive and responsive approach was sought by the public . As a result , the United States Department of Agriculture ' s Wyoming Wildlife Services program began , in cooperation with other state and local offices , a rabies monitoring and control program in 1990. A scientist from the National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC) in 1991 was the first to employ global positioning satellites (GPS) for identifying rabid skunk capture locations . In 1992, an epidemiologist from NWRC was the first to utili ze a "geograp hic infonnation system" (GIS) using geographic hydrolo gy to analyze the spread of skunk rabies . This paper presents an overview of this first use of GPS /GIS that combined rabid skunk location s, geograp hic hydrology , and time to better under stand the epizootic 's movements along the Shoshone River.


This review focuses on the most remarkable works in contemporary Russian historiography from recent decades on the pre-Petrine seventeenth century. Consciously ignoring the literature dedicated to diplomacy and war because of the sheer size of the available material, the author isolates questions connected with the socio-political and cultural development of the Muscovite state and society. In particular, she examines works looking at the intensity and direction of pre-Petrine Russia's socio-cultural contacts with the West and the Orthodox East and the extent of their influence on the country's historical development. Noting how the exhaustion of Marxist methodology (in its Soviet variant) has led contemporary Russian historiography to revive the opposition of the Slavophiles and Westernisers, the author nevertheless emphasises its new foundations, which are based on different methodological principles. There has been a shift of scholarly interest away from the 'base' to the 'superstructure' (to use the old Soviet terminology): now dominant is the attention placed on the discursive practices of the epoch and on the problems of intellectual history, the history of personhood, the network-actor interactions that created the fabric of social and cultural reality, and the increasing need to study the sources. The article's main conclusion is that the varied (and sometimes mutually exclusive) interpretations of the meaning and significance of the cultural changes in the second half of the seventeenth century can scarcely be reduced to some generalising representation of the epoch. This will require the further accumulation and interpretation of empirical materials in the framework of new research paradigms. It is necessary to understand this period as part of an integral whole with the era of the Petrine reforms.


A new sulfonyl radical-triggered 6-endo-trig cyclization of unactivated 1,5-enynes under catalytic oxidation conditions for flexible synthesis of unprecedented unsymmetrical diaryl sulfones was established. This transformation could also proceed smoothly using 2-arylalkynyl-1,1′-biphenyls, delivering new sulfonylated phenanthrenes. The synthetic utility of these transformations results in subsequent C–S and C–C bond-forming reactions to effectively build up functional sulfones with potential significance.


Major advances characterize the Generation-V dual-Purkinje-image (DPI) eyetracker compared with the Generation-III version previously described. These advances include a large reduction in size, major improvements in frequency response and noise level, automatic alignment to a subject, and automatic adjustment for different separation between the visual and optic axes, which can vary considerably from subject to subject. In a number of applications described in the paper, the eyetracker is coupled with other highly specialized optical devices. These applications include accurately stabilizing an image on a subject's retina; accurately simulating a visually dead retinal region (i.e., a scotoma) of arbitrary shape, size, and position; and, for clinical purposes, stabilizing the position of a laser coagulator beam on a patient's retina so that the point of contact is unaffected by the patient's own eye movements.


BackgroundEthnic Chinese mothers in Malaysia adhere to 30 days of traditional post-partum practices (the "confinement period") aimed at recuperation after delivery. Recently there has been an emergence of confinement centres (CCs), where mothers stay and receive traditional confinement care. Ethnic Chinese mothers have low breastfeeding rates. There are concerns that practices in CCs could contribute to this but no data exists. We describe mother's breastfeeding experience at CCs and identify areas for potential improvement in breastfeeding support.MethodsEthnic Chinese mothers intending to breastfeed their healthy infants were recruited post-delivery, then telephone interviewed about their experience 1 and 6 months later. For every participant going to CCs, another mother going home was recruited. Chi-square test was used to compare groups and multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effect of confinement place on exclusive breastfeeding. Results Of 187 mothers, 88(47%) went to CCs. Significantly more were primigravida and fewer had previous breastfeeding experience. Response rates for one- and 6- month interviews were 87.5% (CC) vs 97% (home); and 77.3% (CC) versus 86.7% (home).Exclusive breastfeeding rates at 1 and 6 months were similar between the groups. Multiple logistic regressiondid not show that CCs were a factor affecting exclusive breastfeeding rates at 1 month (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.66, 95% confidence interval(CI) 0.85 to 3.28) or 6 months (aOR 0.86, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.70). However, significantly more CC participants only fed expressed breastmilk. Despite 66% of CC participants reporting that their centre supported breastfeeding, only 6(8%) CC participants compared to 66(69%) of home participants slept with their baby. The proportion encountering breastfeeding difficulties were similar between groups. CC participants sought help for breastfeeding problems mainly from CC staff and support groups while home participants obtained help from friends and healthcare professionals. ConclusionsContrary to current perceptions, breastfeeding experience and breastfeeding rates were similar at CCs and home but there were gaps in how CCs supported breastfeeding. Targeted training to CC staff to support breastfeeding may result in better outcomes for mothers staying in CCs. Trial registrationNational Medical Research Register NMRR-17-1174-36384S1


Abstract. Aerosol nucleation is an important source of particle number in the atmosphere. However, in order to become cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), freshly nucleated particles must undergo significant condensational growth while avoiding coagulational scavenging. In an effort to quantify the contribution of nucleation to CCN, this work uses the GEOS-Chem-TOMAS global aerosol model to calculate changes in CCN concentrations against a broad range of nucleation rates and mechanisms. We then quantify the factors that control CCN formation from nucleation, including daily nucleation rates, growth rates, coagulation sinks, condensation sinks, survival probabilities, and CCN formation rates, in order to examine feedbacks that may limit growth of nucleated particles to CCN. Nucleation rate parameterizations tested in GEOS-Chem-TOMAS include ternary nucleation (with multiple tuning factors), activation nucleation (with two pre-factors), binary nucleation, and ion-mediated nucleation. We find that nucleation makes a significant contribution to boundary layer CCN(0.2%), but this contribution is only modestly sensitive to the choice of nucleation scheme, ranging from 49 to 78% increase in concentrations over a control simulation with no nucleation. Moreover, a two order-of-magnitude increase in the globally averaged nucleation rate (via changes to tuning factors) results in small changes (less than 10%) to global CCN(0.2%) concentrations. To explain this, we present a simple theory showing that survival probability has an exponentially decreasing dependence on the square of the condensation sink. This functional form stems from a negative correlation between condensation sink and growth rate and a positive correlation between condensation sink and coagulational scavenging. Conceptually, with a fixed condensable vapor budget (sulfuric acid and organics), any increase in CCN concentrations due to higher nucleation rates necessarily entails an increased aerosol surface area in the accumulation mode, resulting in a higher condensation sink, which lowers vapor concentrations and growth rates. As a result, slowly growing nuclei are exposed to a higher frequency of coagulational scavenging for a longer period of time, thus reducing their survival probabilities and closing a negative feedback loop that dampens the impact of nucleation on CCN. We confirm quantitatively that the decreases in survival probability predicted by GEOS-Chem-TOMAS due to higher nucleation rates are in accordance with this simple theory of survival probability.


Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is organized in discrete protein–DNA complexes, nucleoids, that are usually considered to be mitochondrial-inner-membrane associated. Here we addressed the association of replication factors with nucleoids and show that endogenous mtDNA helicase Twinkle and single-stranded DNA-binding protein, mtSSB, co-localize only with a subset of nucleoids. Using nucleotide analogs to identify replicating mtDNA in situ, the fraction of label-positive nucleoids that is Twinkle/mtSSB positive, is highest with the shortest labeling-pulse. In addition, the recruitment of mtSSB is shown to be Twinkle dependent. These proteins thus transiently associate with mtDNA in an ordered manner to facilitate replication. To understand the nature of mtDNA replication complexes, we examined nucleoid protein membrane association and show that endogenous Twinkle is firmly membrane associated even in the absence of mtDNA, whereas mtSSB and other nucleoid-associated proteins are found in both membrane-bound and soluble fractions. Likewise, a substantial amount of mtDNA is found as soluble or loosely membrane bound. We show that, by manipulation of Twinkle levels, mtDNA membrane association is partially dependent on Twinkle. Our results thus show that Twinkle recruits or is assembled with mtDNA at the inner membrane to form a replication platform and amount to the first clear demonstration that nucleoids are dynamic both in composition and concurrent activity.


The bioenergetics efficiency of aerobic respiration of an organism is expressed through P/O ratio, which represents the ATP production per oxygen atom reduced in Electron Transport Chains (ETC). P/O ratio, to date, has not been extensively used in the context of the in silico analysis of metabolic networks, and most of the time it is considered as a fixed and imposed quantity. We studied the interplay between P/O ratio and the physiological states of the organism, using a consistently reduced E. coli core model with thermodynamic constraints which are applied to the model by utilizing an in-built toolbox called AGADOR. Plus, metabolite concentrations that govern the redox state of the cell as well as the media composition are integrated to the model. We determined the optimum in silico P/O ratio by imposing different values for this quantity; and we have found that the highest growth is achieved with a P/O ratio of 1.55, which is in accordance with experimental value as 1.5±0.1. In addition to this, maximum growth and optimum P/O correspond to the lowest heat dissipation for producing 1 Carbon mole of biomass. This result is also in accordance with the experiments that demonstrate the relation between carbon yield and corresponding dissipated heat. Our study demonstrates that P/O is not a fixed quantity, and it has a strong relation with the growth regime of the cell. The accordance of experimental and in silico results shows that the cell optimizes growth with optimum P/O ratio, but it also optimizes the heat disposal per 1 Carbon of biomass produced.


Randall CF. Treatment of musculoskeletal pain with the sting of the stinging nettle: Urtica dioica. Introduction The author's interest in the therapeutic potential of the sting of nettles began with the presentation of two patients in his general practice surgery who were selfprescribing nettle sting for their arthritis pain. The publication of these two case reports produced responses from four other doctors about similar cases. Historical and contemporary research An extensive literature and database review produced few references from the medical literature but numerous anecdotal references from herbal and folklore sources of worldwide internal and external use of nettle since Roman times. The author has been asked to contribute two chapters on the historical and contemporary medicinal use of stinging nettles to a book entitled 'The Urtica Plant'. Scientific background The botany, chemistry and pharmacology of the stinging nettle are reviewed. This is followed by consideration of the structure, chemistry and mechanism of the stinging hairs. The constituents of the nettle sting that are of key interest are the three neurotransmitters acetylcholine, histamine and serotonin, and also three leukotrienes. Pain theory Areas of possible special relevance to nettle analgesia are the known serotonin and histamine involvement in nociceptor activation, capsaicin substance P depletion and thermal hyperalgesia (possibly similar to nettle sting), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) analgesia, and the gate control theory. Osteoarth ritis Its clinical features, pattern and variability of pain, and treatments are considered. Attention is paid especially to non-pharmacological treatment strategies. Qualitative study The author and eo-researchers' qualitative study of self-prescribed users of nettle sting for arthritis is reported in detail. 18 patient in-depth interviews were taped, verbatim transcripts constructed, themes entered on an Access database and analysed into categories and hypotheses. 17 out of 18 patients considered themselves improved or cured by nettle sting treatment. The fmdings of this exploratory study have recently been published. Information regarding mode of use, application and effect of nettle sting was extracted to plan our randomised controlled study. Randomised controlled trial Prior to our randomised controlled study all published evidence ofthe analgesic effect of nettle sting has been anecdotal. This study compared the pain and disability reduction effect of the application of stinging nettle ( Urtica dioica) leaf with that of a placebo, deadnettle (Lamium album) leaf. A statistically significant reduction of pain and disability was observed. In addition all other monitored outcomes of analgesic and anti-inflammatory consumption, sleep, and patient satisfaction produced supporting evidence of a treatment effect. There were no serious side effects and the treatment was acceptable to the majority of patients. Conclusion It is concluded that the sting of the common stinging nettle is a useful and freely available treatment for musculoskeletal pain. These fmdings should encourage further research to determine this therapy's full potential, safety, and mechanism of action. The author plans further collaborative research in this field.


We provide a first look at the results of the Herschel Gould Belt survey toward the IC 5146 molecular cloud and present a preliminary analysis of the filamentary structure in this region. The column density map, derived from our 70–500 μm Herschel data, reveals a complex network of filaments and confirms that these filaments are the main birth sites of prestellar cores. We analyze the column density profiles of 27 filaments and show that the underlying radial density profiles fall off as r-1.5 to r-2.5 at large radii. Our main result is that the filaments seem to be characterized by a narrow distribution of widths with a median value of 0.10 ± 0.03 pc, which is in stark contrast to a much broader distribution of central Jeans lengths. This characteristic width of ~0.1 pc corresponds to within a factor of ~2 to the sonic scale below which interstellar turbulence becomes subsonic in diffuse gas, which supports the argument that the filaments may form as a result of the dissipation of large-scale turbulence.


This study is aimed at examining if the use of mind mapping technique can improve students' writing ability at Secretary Class of LP3I College, Banda Aceh. Writing skill employed in this study is focused on how students are able to generate and organize idea and write well two types of business letters (making inquiry and replying to inquiry letter). Those two types are selected as they are part of the core business letters studied on the subject of Business Correspondence. A classroom action research has been carried out using students' writing tests. Analytical scoring rubric and descriptive qualitative procedures were used for the analysis. The findings of the study proved that the application of mind mapping technique in writing business letters was effective as the students' results of writing from cycle one had improved in cycle two and the students' understanding of the writing concept got improved as well. The results from students' writing tests showed that 78% of students (above the determined criteria of success) improved their writing ability. It obviously means that the application of mind mapping technique has given a significant impact on the improvement of students' writing ability to write business letters.


Introduction: The study aimed to translate two questionnaires on hearing handicap to South Indian language - Kannada. The questionnaires translated were Hearing Handicap Inventory for Adults (HHIA) and Hearing Handicap Inventory for Elderly (HHIE). Materials and Methods: The procedure of translation included forward translation and back translation done by the experts. The translated questionnaires were administered on 40 individuals with hearing impairment ranging from mild to severe degree. The participants were divided into two groups. In the Group I, there were 20 adults and in the Group II, there were 20 elderly participants. The relation between hearing threshold, Speech Identification Scores (SISs), and handicap scores were found in both the groups. Further, to check internal consistency of the questionnaire Chronbach alpha was obtained. Results: In Group II, there was a significant positive correlation between hearing thresholds and handicap score and a significant negative correlation between SISs and handicap score. However, such a correlation was not observed in Group I. The Chronbach alpha value was found to be 0.90 for HHIA and 0.967 for HHIE showing good reliability and internal consistency. Conclusion: The results implied that the degree of hearing impairment and speech perception abilities determines the degree of handicap in elderly. However, in adults, due to high-listening needs and emotional reaction to hearing impairment there was no such trend. Chronbach alpha value inferred that the questionnaire can be used to classify hearing impaired population based on the degree of their handicap.


A range of antimalarial drugs were procured from private pharmacies in urban and peri-urban areas in the major cities of six African countries, situated in the part of that continent and the world that is most highly endemic for malaria. Semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and dissolution testing were used to measure active pharmaceutical ingredient content against internationally acceptable standards. 35% of all samples tested failed either or both tests, and were substandard. Further, 33% of treatments collected were artemisinin monotherapies, most of which (78%) were manufactured in disobservance of an appeal by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to withdraw these clinically inappropriate medicines from the market. The high persistence of substandard drugs and clinically inappropriate artemisinin monotherapies in the private sector risks patient safety and, through drug resistance, places the future of malaria treatment at risk globally.