Two low-cost methods of estimating the road surface condition are presented in the paper, the first one based on the use of accelerometers and the other on the analysis of images acquired from cameras installed in a vehicle. In the first method, miniature positioning and accelerometer sensors are used for evaluation of the road surface roughness. The device designed for installation in vehicles is composed of a GPS receiver and a multi-axis accelerometer. The measurement data were collected from recorded ride sessions taken place on diversified road surface roughness conditions and at varied vehicle speeds on each of examined road sections. The data were gathered for various vehicle body types and afterwards successful attempts were made in constructing the road surface classification employing the created algorithm. In turn, in the video method, a set of algorithms processing images from a depth camera and RGB cameras were created. A representative sample of the material to be analysed was obtained and a neural network model for classification of road defects was trained. The research has shown high effectiveness of applying the digital image processing to rejection of images of undamaged surface, exceeding 80%. Average effectiveness of identification of road defects amounted to 70%. The paper presents the methods of collecting and processing the data related to surface damage as well as the results of analyses and conclusions.


This paper proposes an understanding of system dynamics models using concepts from Newtonian mechanics. By considering the second derivative form of a model, and extending the concept of feedback loop impact, it is shown that Newton's three laws of motion have their equivalent in system dynamics, and that the impacts of the forces on the stocks are the measure of the force that determines stock behaviour. The concepts of mass, inertia, momentum, and friction are explored as to their usefulness in understanding model behaviour. The Newtonian understanding is applied to two standard system dynamics models, inventoryworkforce and economic long-wave, where their behaviour is analysed using force dominance on the stocks and the laws of motion. The method, and conceptual understanding, is commended for further exploration.


PURPOSE: to investigate the relation between time and type of feeding with chewing, swallowing and breathing functions. METHOD: the sample consisted of 52 children of both genders, aged between 5 and 8 year-old. Through a questionnaire, we collected data regarding type and duration of children's breastfeeding and breathing. The children were submitted to clinical evaluation of functions, based on the Orofacial Myofunctional Assessment Protocol with Expanded Scores (AMIOFE-E). Data were descriptively and statistically analyzed. For testing the normality of the quantitative variable, we used the Lilliefors test. All relations among the variables were checked through Chi-square test, considering a 5% significance level. RESULTS: there was no statistically significant relation between duration and type of feeding and breathing and swallowing variables. There was a statistical significance between feeding type and chewing, but not between feeding duration and this variable. Furthermore, the significant relation failed to follow the expected pattern. CONCLUSION: it was possible to conclude that, generally, there was no significant relation between time and type of feeding and the investigated functions, except for the significance between type of feeding and chewing. Probably, the lack of significance is due to the fact that the development of all the stomatognathic system has multifactorial sources. The statistical significance found as for the chewing function, since it showed an unexpected pattern, may have occurred because of the restricted number of subjects in each subgroup.


Introduction: Stem cells with potential to transform into healthy cells and repair damaged cells may prove beneficial in various congenital malformations. Aim: To explore the use of stem cells in liver cirrhosis and meningomyelocele. Materials and Methods: During July 2005 to July 2006, stem cells were used in 27 patients; 12 with liver cirrhosis and 15 with meningomyelocele. Autologous stem cells were injected during definite surgery into hepatic artery and portal vein or hepatobiliary radicles for liver cirrhosis or spinal cord and caudal space for meningomyelocele. The pre-operative status of the patient served as control for that patient. Results: The patients with liver cirrhosis were between 1.5 and 9 months (mean 4.12 months). Liver cirrhosis was due to extra hepatic biliary atresia (EHBA); neonatal hepatitis and choledochal cyst in 8; 2 and 2 patients, respectively. About five patients expired due to late presentation and ongoing cirrhosis. Follow up results evaluated at 3-12 months (n=7) showed absence of cholangitis (4/7); yellow stools (5/7); decreased liver firmness (3/7); improved liver functions (6/7) and improved appetite (6/7). Hepatobiliary scan was excretory in 6/7 with improved uptake in 4/7. Histopathology repeated after stem cells demonstrated comparative improvement in fibrosis in three. The meningomyelocele patients were between 0 and 1 month; 1-5 months, and 1-4 years in 5; 8 and 2 cases, respectively. 5 had history of rupture. 3 had undergone meningocele repair in past with neurological deficits. Redo surgery for tethered cord was done in 1. Follow up (3-11 months) in 14 cases showed improved power in 4 (28%), dramatic recovery in 3 (22%), and status quo in 7 (50%). One patient is still under observation. Conclusion: Initial use of stem cells in EHBA and meningomyelocele has shown beneficial results. However, long-term evaluation with randomized-controlled trials is essential to draw further conclusions.


A new type of tripod, INSSECT (IN situ Size and SEttling Column Tripod), designed for floc measurements in the shallow parts of the continental shelf, is described. INSSECT orientates itself into the current so that instrumentation on it faces upstream, thereby minimizing flow disturbance. The instrumentation includes a digital floc camera, a video settling column, a unique sediment trap designed for capturing flocs intact, a laser sizer, an optical backscatterance sensor, a compass and tilt meter, and a current meter. It is designed for relatively short deployments of up to 2 weeks and can be recovered, turned around, and redeployed rapidly. It was designed for use in semi‐synoptic surveys of the spatial variation in floc properties such as size and settling velocity and the factors that influence them. The paper describes the various components of the INSSECT and presents selected results from the first deployments, demonstrating its ability to turn in the current and capture single flocs intact. Contrary to recent findings on the influence on settling columns on floc size, intercomparison between the video settling column and the digital floc camera reveals that the sizes are similar.


Background The value of obstetric ultrasound in high-income countries has been extensively explored but evidence is still lacking regarding the role of obstetric ultrasound in low-income countries. Objective We aimed to explore experiences and views among physicians working in obstetric care in Tanzania, on the role of obstetric ultrasound in relation to clinical management. Design A qualitative study design was applied. Data were collected in 2015, through 16 individual interviews with physicians practicing in obstetric care at hospitals in an urban setting in Tanzania. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Use of obstetric ultrasound in the management of complicated pregnancy was much appreciated by participating physicians, although they expressed considerable concern about the lack of ultrasound equipment and staff able to conduct the examinations. These limitations were recognized as restricting physicians' ability to manage complications adequately during pregnancy and birth. Better availability of ultrasound was requested to improve obstetric management. Concerns were also raised regarding pregnant women's lack of knowledge and understanding of medical issues which could make counseling in relation to obstetric ultrasound difficult. Although the physicians perceived a positive attitude toward ultrasound among most pregnant women, occasionally they came across women who feared that ultrasound might harm the fetus. Conclusions There seems to be a need to provide more physicians in antenatal care in Tanzania with ultrasound training to enable them to conduct obstetric ultrasound examinations and interpret the results themselves. Physicians also need to acquire adequate counseling skills as counseling can be especially challenging in this setting where many expectant parents have low levels of education. Providers of obstetric care and policy makers in Tanzania will need to take measures to ensure appropriate use of the scarce resources in the Tanzanian health care system and prevent the potential risk of overuse of ultrasound in pregnancy.


The United States Refugee Resettlement Program has seen many changes over the last twenty years. However, the election of President Trump and the subsequent policy distortions to the program have caused the most dramatic changes. The almost weekly pronouncements coming out of the White House related to immigration, refugees, and international politics have left the program in disarray. Refugee arrivals to the United States have almost come to a standstill and the entire program has begun to unravel (Amos, 2018). The State Department's bureau responsible for the US refugee resettlement program, Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), released its annual report to Congress on October 4, 2017, announcing the Presidential Determination of 45,000 total refugee arrivals for federal fiscal year (FY) 2018. This is the lowest number of arrivals coming to the U.S. since 2001, and less than half of the two previous fiscal years: 110,000 in 2017, and 85,000 in 2016. [1] The following paper focuses on this earlier time period under the Obama Administration, and specifically the summer of 2016 when I spent ten weeks completing a graduate student internship with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in PRM. This experience combined with my eight plus years working directly with refugees in Greensboro, NC, has helped me bring a variety of perspectives to the topic of refugee resettlement. A lot can and should be written on the Trump administration's response to the global refugee crisis and his policies toward resettlement. However, refugee resettlement advocates need to look at both the strengths and weaknesses of the program at its height of arrivals, FY 2016, in order to push for a stronger program when the opportunity comes. [2] [1] The federal fiscal year runs October 1, to September 30 of the following calendar year. [2] Unless otherwise noted, the numbers and information are reflective of the USRAP during the months of June, July, August, and September 2016.


H.W. Scharpenseel

Land restoration: a neglected task

There is much talk of the ecological disasters which result from clearing land by slash and burn: lowering of the water table, spreading savannah colonized by Imperata cylindrica, and desertification. To date, however, few determined efforts have been made to restore degraded soils so that they can be used for sustained agriculture, thereby preserving forest reserves which would otherwise have to be cleared. Of the remaining one billion or so hectares of tropical rainforest, land clearing operations consume from 7 to 15 million ha per year.

The burning of woodland for shifting cultivation and land rotation annually adds about 1.5 billion t of carbon to the total atmospheric carbon pool of 700 billion t. Combined with the 5.5 billion tonnes released annually from burning fossil fuels, this amounts to 1% of the total carbon pool. After a 50 year period of mixing in the sea, this has led to an increase of nearly 20% in atmospheric CO2 content from pre-industrial times to the present. This is another reason why clearing land by slash and burn is ecologically unsound.

Avoiding degradation

Every year about 115 billion t of carbon are converted by photosynthesis. Most of this carbon is absorbed by the 4 billion ha of woodland, with proportionally less by the 1.5 billion ha of agricultural land. Of the total carbon converted annually, less than 2 billion t are required for human nutrition. At present, most of the land used for agriculture has only moderate yields and human nutritional needs are not being met. At great expense, a maximum of nearly 4 billion ha could be made available for food production but this would mean sacrificing much of the 4 billion ha of woodland. A better alternative would be to increase the yield of existing agricultural land. This can only be done if further land degradation can be avoided and already degraded land restored

If slash and burn is an ecologically unsound way of clearing land, what are the alternatives? The mechanized clearing of land by crawler tractors, bulldozers and tree pushers is particularly destructive. It promotes erosion, causes extreme soil compaction, and reduces the value of the topsoil and nutrient resources by digging up subsoil and raw sediments. This in turn leads to further nutrient losses, especially in the acidic low activity clay soils of tropical rain forests. Such soils then need medium inputs of nutrients, and after a few years settlers often leave the land in desperation because of the dwindling crop returns. A few years later the conversion of this land into wasteland, such as Imperata cylindrica savanna, is complete.

Manual land clearing with motor saws is slower but is less harmful ecologically. No raw sediment is brought to the surface and soil compaction is minimal. If immediately after clearing a mulch is applied, or a cover of Puearia legumes (tropical kudzu) is sown, erosion will be low and the chances for an ecologically sustainable crop culture are good. Ideally, tree crops like coconut, rubber, oil palm, cocoa, etc. are planted in small areas where the kudzu is removed. Strip culture can also be successful. The soil is enriched with nitrogen by the diazotrophic system of the kudzu but often requires some rough phosphate to sustain good yields. With this type of clearing, as opposed to mechanical clearing, land restoration is rarely required.

Clearing land among the approximately 50 million ha of tropical swamps, mainly for rice production, is a special case. Most pilot projects have not lived up to expectations and the feasibility of clearing tropical swamps remains questionable.

On the one hand, there are secondary problems such as acid sulphate capacity and, on the other hand, opposition from the general ecological movement towards the preservation of the remaining wetland ecosystems.

One of our highest priorities must therefore be the restoration of land and the development of technologies better able to exploit fragile soil conditions. The International Board of Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM) is a young institution engaged in organizing networks to develop suitable management technologies, especially for problem soils (estimated to cover about 0.7 billion ha), and has made this a priority in order to promote soil restoration through its cooperative networks. Other organizations for development or technical cooperation have to make their own contributions to the restoration of degraded soils so that they can be returned to sustainable agricultural productinn

Prof. Dr. H.W. Scharpenseel of the Universitv of Hamburg is a member of the German Council for Tropical and Sub-tropical Agricultural Research as well as the Hamburg State Council for the Environment.


In this article, a few of the elements and dynamics of social movements will be explored. It will be argued that the traditional institutional church is in a critical period in the cycle of movements, where the need for the (re)discovery of our missional-incarnational ethos and the theology of restoration might energise the church to (re)activate the dynamics of movements. The narrative of Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John 4 will be investigated as an example of Jesus's missionalincarnational ethos and of the relation to a theology of restoration. Finally, some challenges for the church with regard to ecclesiology, spirituality and leadership will be proposed.


Governments have become more and more interested in embracing Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and have made a remarkable progress over the last few years. Electronic Government (e-government) - described as the strategic use of ICT to transform the public sector - is presently recognised as a driver and a key enabler of citizen-centric, cooperative, and seamless modern governance. E-government implementation implies not only a profound transformation in the way government interacts with the governed, but also a reinvention of its internal processes and how public organisations carry their business both internally as well as externally while interacting with the other segments of the community. Based on the literature, it is frequently claimed that the availability of an effective E-Government Readiness (EGR) assessment framework is a necessary condition for advancing e-government proper implementation. Most e-government appraisal models address the Electronic Service (e-service) dimension of e-government that focuses on the services provided by the government to the citizens on the Internet. This gives a very narrow perspective to e-government ignoring a key dimension: the Electronic Administration (e-administration), that highlights the importance of modernising the public sector, increasing government productivity, and transforming its internal processes. Furthermore, developed models assess E-Government Readiness (EGR) on a country as a whole without conducting an in-depth assessment on a public organisation scale. In addition, the majority of these models do not take into consideration the opinion of the civil servants involved in such e-government programs, a key stakeholder that affects their success. The objective of this thesis is to develop a framework that assesses EGR focusing on e-administration within public organisations through obtaining its employees" feedback. The suggested framework investigated the internal factors affecting EGR categorised into four dimensions: (i) strategy, (ii) people, (iii) technology, and (iv) processes. A number of measuring constructs are identified under each dimension. The framework components, relationships, and hypotheses were derived from the literature on Electronic Readiness (e-readiness), EGR, Information Systems (IS) and Electronic Commerce (e-commerce) success. In order to test the proposed framework, the thesis examined the relations and interactions of these components in an emerging e-government environment using four case studies of different characteristics to represent public organisations in Egypt. These organisations cover municipalities, investment, tax payment, and health sectors.
Quantitative data collection method was through distributing a questionnaire to a sample of employees in each organisation. Data obtained from the questionnaire in each organisation was triangulated with data gathered from other sources of evidence: (i) interviews with top management, (ii) documentations, (iii) archival records, and (iv) observations. Findings of the empirical research were evaluated against the framework suggested in the beginning leading to a final framework that assesses EGR of public organisations. Findings revealed that framework's hypotheses were all confirmed. Concerning Egypt's EGR assessment, results proved that processes, technology, and people have a high effect on EGR, whereas strategy has a modest impact on it. This reflects that strategy is not given a high value in terms of e-government and that top management need to further promote e-government within public Egyptian organisations. Findings revealed also the modest impact of strategy on the two dimensions: technology and processes compared with its high effect on people. The research highlighted also the different measuring constructs that have the highest weights in each of the four dimensions. This helps in understanding e-government environment of public organisations in Egypt, showing the main components that affect EGR. The thesis though provides a rich insight into investigating e-administration within public organisations especially in a developing country such as Egypt, and presents a systematic approach to assess EGR of public organisations based on the four e-government building blocks: (i) strategy, (ii) people, (iii) technology, and (iv) processes. Therefore the thesis contributes to research areas in the literature related to assessments of information systems, e-commerce, e-readiness, and e-government readiness.


Policy gradient methods have achieved remarkable successes in solving challenging reinforcement learning problems. However, it still often suffers from the large variance issue on policy gradient estimation, which leads to poor sample efficiency during training. In this work, we propose a control variate method to effectively reduce variance for policy gradient methods. Motivated by the Stein's identity, our method extends the previous control variate methods used in REINFORCE and advantage actor-critic by introducing more general action-dependent baseline functions. Empirical studies show that our method significantly improves the sample efficiency of the state-of-the-art policy gradient approaches.


Abstract Recently, efficient reachability algorithms for hybrid systems with piecewise affine dynamics have been developed. They achieve good scalability and precision by using support functions to represent continuous sets. In this paper, we propose an improvement of these algorithms that reduces the overapproximation error of the image computation of discrete transitions (jumps). The critical operation of this image computation is the intersection of the flowpipe with the guard sets of the transitions, since intersection is in general a difficult operation when using support functions. We propose an approach for computing the intersection of the flowpipe with polyhedral guards up to arbitrary accuracy. We reduce computing the support function of the intersection of a single convex set with a guard to a convex minimization problem. To solve it, we present a custom-tailored sandwich algorithm. The intersection of a flowpipe (a sequence of convex sets) with a guard reduces to a set of such minimization problems. Where possible, we use branch-and-bound techniques and solve these minimization problems simultaneously to avoid redundant computations. Experimental results illustrate the gain in accuracy and the performance of the algorithms.


Neuroscience![Figure][1]

CREDIT: J. GLASCHER ET AL., PROC. NATL. ACAD. SCI. U.S.A. 109 , 36 (4 SEPTEMBER 2012), REPRODUCED WITH PERMISSION FROM PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES U.S.A.

Although the human brain's prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been studied for decades, theories about a valuation network and a cognitive control network—both hypothesized to reside in the PFC—have only recently emerged, and their precise distinction is still unclear. Furthermore, cognitive control, once considered a unitary construct, is now thought to fractionate into distinct executive functions whose neural correlates remain elusive. It is thus still an unanswered question how these processes map onto distinct or possibly overlapping sectors of the PFC. Glaescher et al. applied several new statistical mapping approaches to a sample of 344 lesion patients that had received an array of neuropsychological tests of executive functions and value-based decision-making. Background data regarding IQ, memory, and other cognitive functions within individual subjects were also analyzed. The authors described detailed maps of PFC regions that are essential for different executive functions. One set involving the dorsolateral PFC and the anterior cingulate cortex is associated with a common performance factor related to flexibly switching between task and response sets, a hallmark of cognitive control. Another set involving the orbitofrontal cortex, ventromedial PFC, and frontopolar cortex is involved in value-based decision-making. This study details the essential neuroanatomical substrates of some of the highest brain functions and provides insights about the extent to which they are distinct or overlap.

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 109 , 14681 (2012).

 [1]: pending:yes


An essential guide to safe and responsible four-wheel driving.

Modern four-wheel drive vehicles are powerful and sophisticated machines, able to travel almost anywhere. Given their growing popularity with recreational drivers, there is an even more pressing need for adequate training. Even on sealed roads these vehicles require a different set of driving skills; off-road, the demands are many times greater.

This second edition of the bestselling 4WD Driving Skills complements nationally recognised training courses and has been fully revised to include updated vehicle terminology, technology and recovery techniques. It explains the essential skills of four-wheel driving for every type of on- and off-road terrain, how to approach challenging situations, and shows what to do if things go wrong. It is a valuable reference for all four-wheel drive enthusiasts.


Speeding is considered to be a major contributing cause of road fatalities in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa in particular. The minibus taxi industry is a vibrant yet partly informal sector of public transport in South Africa, which has been associated with speed-related road fatalities. Although countermeasures have been implemented to address speeding, they have not led to significant reduction in road fatalities and adherence to legal speed limits. Among the countermeasures deployed on some highways is the Average Speed Over Distance (ASOD) system which uses cameras to enforce speed limits. In this paper, historical probe data is used to evaluate the impact of the ASOD system on speed profiles of passenger vehicles. The data also consists of speed, time and location information gathered by navigation and fleet management devices that were installed in minibus taxis. The evaluation is based on spatial differentiation (the impact on the enforcement site with ASOD versus the control site without ASOD) and time differentiation (the impact before and during ASOD enforcement). For passenger vehicles, the results show that the presence of ASOD systems caused a reduction in mean speeds and ensured compliance with speed limits at enforcement and control sites. On the other hand, the system appears to have no influence on minibus taxis, with high, yet similar average speeds measured in the enforcement and control sites during ASOD enforcement.


One of the main issues accompanied with the high penetration of PV distributed generation (DG) systems in low voltage (LV) networks is the overvoltage challenge. The amount of injected power to the grid is directly related to the voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC), which necessitates limiting the amount of injected power to the grid to conservative values compared to the available capacity from the PV panels particularly at light loading. In order to mitigate the tradeoff between injecting the maximum amount of electrical power and voltage rise phenomena, many control schemes were suggested in order to optimize the operation of PV DG energy sources as well as maintaining safe voltage levels. Unlike these conventional methods, this paper proposes a combined PV inverter-based distributed generation and flywheel energy storage system to ensure improved voltage regulation as well as making use of the maximum available power from the PV source at any instant, decoupling its relation with the terminal voltage. The concluded assumptions were simulated through Matlab/Simulink and verified experimentally.


AIM
Short-term and long-term evaluation of the effect of whole human blood or serum contamination on the surface microhardness value and microstructure of white and grey mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA).

METHODOLOGY
Three groups of 10 samples for each type of MTA were prepared. The first group was mixed with and exposed to fresh whole human blood. The second and third groups were mixed with distilled water and exposed to fresh whole human blood or human serum, respectively. The control group samples were mixed with and exposed to distilled water. During preparation, 1 g of MTA was triturated with 0.33 g of the selected liquid using an amalgamator and placed inside borosilicate cylindrical moulds. The samples were treated with ultrasonic energy. Vickers surface microhardness values were compared after 4 and 180 days. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was performed after 4 days.

RESULTS
White MTA had a greater microhardness value than grey MTA in all groups. There was a significant difference between the control and the experimental groups (P < 0.00001). There was no significant difference between the microhardness values obtained after 4 and 180 days, apart from grey MTA mixed with blood or exposed to serum (P < 0.00001). SEM analysis showed the contaminated samples were devoid of acicular crystals that were prominent in the control groups.

CONCLUSION
Blood contamination had a detrimental effect on the surface microhardness of MTA in the short and long term. If blood or serum contamination is unavoidable under clinical conditions, it might be preferable to use white MTA.


The purpose of this study is to determine what relationship, if any, exists between the verbs of motion and emotion and the language of death in the Psalms. Such motionemotion verbal pair we describe as motion-emotion axis. This will endorse that motion vocabulary in the Psalter is often found in the vicinity of emotion words.

The principal premise of this thesis is that death is one of the chief motifs in the Psalter, while we distinguish between the idea of motif and that of a theme. Subsequently we maintain that death motif is underlined by thanatophobic emotional predicaments of the psalmist.

The following questions and issues arise in the examinations of this work. One of the important investigations is exploring some of the key issues in psalmodic studies, particularly in relation to the inquiries of the identity of the psalmist as a private individual; and that in the context of his personal experience of distress, in face of death threats. This will be some kind of referential points, as we develop our central thesis objectives. Secondly, we will investigate questions and issues of religious language and prayer as one of the focal points in expressions of the psalmist's experience and emotions. Thirdly, an ever-present and an intriguing question of the psalmist's sudden mood changes, which often appear within a single Psalm, can hardly be avoid, and this issue will be followed up throughout the dissertation. Fourthly and finally, the central subject we examine here is motion as a concept relative to motional vocabulary and how it relates to the psalmist's experiential and emotional dimension. The end of the thesis is broader examination of the realms of death and incorporates four aspects of death in biblical context (grave, silence, name, dust and depths).

The plan of investigation begins with describing the thesis objectives with the scope of psalmodic texts; giving an overview of previous studies, particularly of Form-critical traditions. This follows with surveying relevant psalmodic texts, in accordance to the following general criteria we ought to: (1) pay attention to thanatophobic motifs in the Psalter, observing the fact that death motif in the Psalter is associated with not only the lamental and complaint Psalms, as one might expect, (2) examine the relationship in the motion-emotion axis in the psalmist's experience of the spatial dimension (motion in conceptual space, heaven-Sheol).

The following general conclusions and contributions are indicated. The verbs of motion in general, are very sparsely investigated in the biblical literature, hardly at all in the context of the Psalms; and not at all as the motion-emotion axis in the thanatophobic experiences of the psalmist. The work has shown that in literary and linguistic terms (grammar of death) there is an exceptional presence of motional vocabulary and phraseology associated with the Psalmist's emotional turmoils in thanatophobic situations. The last chapter is assigned to examine five suggested realms of death in bibliucal texts which are most commonly found (grave, silence, name, dust and depths).


Background Carcinoid of the lung is considered to be a low-grade malignancy. A subgroup presents as an endobronchial tumour. Surgical resection is considered the standard approach because of its metastatic potential and the possibility of an iceberg phenomenon for the endobronchial subgroup. Advances in non-invasive and minimally invasive technologies seem to justify a more lung parenchyma-sparing approach. Methods In patients presenting with bronchial carcinoids, initial bronchoscopic treatment (IBT) is first attempted for complete tumour eradication and sufficient tissue sampling for the proper differentiation of typical (TC) versus atypical (AC) histological type. Furthermore in cases with postobstruction problems the desobstruction is aimed at improving the patient's condition and by that alleviate surgery if that is needed. High resolution CT is performed 6 weeks post IBT to determine local tumour growth. Surgical resection follows in case of extraluminal disease, residual carcinoid inaccessible for IBT, or late recurrences not salvaged by repeat IBT. Results Minimum follow-up was 5 years from start of treatment for 112 patients (65 women, 47 men), with a median age of 47 years (range 16–77 years). Eighty-three patients (74%) had TC, and 29 (26%) AC. IBT only was ultimately curative in 42% of the cases (47/112): 42 TC, 5 AC. Disease-specific mortality including surgical mortality has been 2.6% (3/112) in patients with extraluminal carcinoids (3 AC). Conclusions IBT, if with unsuccessful rescue surgery, is justifiable with excellent long-term outcome. IBT made surgery unnecessary in 42% of the cases. Iceberg phenomenon and metastatic potential in this group of patients with bronchial carcinoids are clinically insignificant.


Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consists of spatially distributed autonomous devices that cooperatively sense physical or environmental conditions. Due to the non-uniform node deployment, the energy consumption among nodes are more imbalanced in cluster-based wireless sensor networks this factor will affect the network life time. Cluster-based routing and EADC algorithm through an efficient energy aware clustering algorithm is employed to avoid imbalance network distribution. Our proposed protocol EADC aims at minimizing the overall network overhead and energy expenditure associated with the multi hop data retrieval process while also ensuring balanced energy consumption among SNs and prolonged network life time .A optimal one-hop based selective node in building cluster structures consisted of member nodes that route their measured data to their assigned cluster head is identified to ensure efficient communication. The proposed routing algorithm increases forwarding tasks of the nodes in scarcely covered areas by forcing cluster heads to choose nodes with higher energy and fewer member nodes and finally, achieves imbalanced among cluster head and improve the network life time.


Assuring voter confidence is important for the legitimacy of democratic elections. In this paper we take advantage of a large online survey of registered voters in a single election jurisdiction, Orange County (CA), that was implemented immediately after the November 2018 midterm elections, to test four hypotheses about the correlates of voter confidence. Voters who cast mail ballots are less confident about their own votes being counted correctly than in-person voters. For both types of voters, those who have poor experiences with the voting process are much less likely to report confidence in the election. Also voters who have strong concerns about election fraud are less likely to report being confident in the election. Our last result indicates that information from news and social media is associated with a decline in voter confidence in election administration at the national level.


Objectives To conduct a pilot randomised controlled trial to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a larger trial to evaluate the difference in Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) scores at six months between patients with Achilles tendinopathy treated with a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection compared with an eccentric loading programme. Methods Two groups of patients with mid-substance Achilles tendinopathy were randomised to receive a PRP injection or an eccentric loading programme. A total of 20 patients were randomised, with a mean age of 49 years (35 to 66). All outcome measures were recorded at baseline, six weeks, three months and six months. Results The mean VISA-A score for the injection group at the primary endpoint of six months was 76.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 58.3 to 93.7) and for the exercise group was 57.4 (95% CI 38.1 to 76.7). There was no statistically significant difference between these scores (p = 0.171), which was expected from such a pilot study. Conclusions This pilot study has been key to providing data to inform a larger study and shows that the methodology is feasible. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2013;2:227–32.


The critical points of generic paraxial ellipse fields consist of singular points of circular polarization, called C -points, and azimuthal stationary points, i.e., maxima, minima, and saddle points. We define these stationary points here and review their properties. The sign rule for ellipse fields requires that the sign of the singularity indices I(C)=+/-1/2 of the C -points on non-self-intersecting lines of constant azimuthal ellipse orientation (modulo pi/2), i.e., a -lines, alternate along the line. We verify this rule experimentally, using a newly developed interferometric technique to measure C -points and a -lines in an elliptically polarized random optical field.


In FY 2004, monitoring of the prototype Hanford barrier focused on barrier stability, vegetative cover, evidence of plant and animal intrusion, and the main components of the water balance. Monitored water-balance components included precipitation, runoff, storage, drainage, and deep percolation. Precipitation in FY 2004 was 26 percent less than in FY 2003 but was still higher than normal. The seasonal distribution in precipitation was also different from the previous year with a 43 percent reduction in spring precipitation and a 46 percent increase in summer precipitation. The cumulative amount of water received from October 1994, through September 2004, was 2,559.58 mm on the northern half of the barrier, which is the formerly irrigated treatment, and 1,886.71 mm on the southern non-irrigated treatments. Water storage continued to show a cyclic pattern, increasing in the winter and declining in the spring and summer to a lower limit of about 100 mm in response to evapotranspiration. The 600-mm design storage has never been exceeded. Total drainage from the soil-covered plots range from 2.9E-4 mm to 0.22 mm or 0.003 6 0.004 percent of precipitation. Side-slope drainage was much higher at 20.9 6 2.3 percent of precipitation from the gravel and 18.6 6 5.1more » percent from the riprap. There was no runoff from the barrier, but runoff from the BY tank farm following a thunderstorm in May eroded a 45-inch-deep channel into the structural fill at the toe of the riprap slope. Above-asphalt and below-asphalt moisture measurements show no evidence of deep percolation of water. Topographic surveys were conducted on the barrier surface, including the two settlement gauges and 12 creep gauges on the riprap slope using aerial photogrammetry (AP) and a global positioning system (GPS). Comparing the aerial photogrammetry (AP) and global positioning system (GPS) surveys with the traditional survey shows the barrier and side slopes to be stable. Both AP and GPS show potential for considerable cost savings without any loss in accuracy. A relatively high coverage of native plants still persists after the initial revegetation in 1994. The formerly irrigated treatments continue to show greater cover of grasses and litter than the non-irrigated treatments. On the formerly irrigated treatments, the mean cover class was 25 to 50 percent for both grasses and shrubs. On the non-irrigated treatments, the mean cover class was 5 to 25 percent from grasses and 25 to 50 percent for shrubs. Species diversity of the vegetative community appears to have stabilized over the past several years. In addition to 12 of 17 species present in 2003 being present in 2004, two additional species were encountered. Sagebrush continues to flourish with shrubs along the perimeter showing higher biomass yield than the interior shrubs. There is evidence of sagebrush seedlings recruitment but not of rabbitbrush; the presence of gray rabbitbrush appears is declining as the barrier surface continues to stabilize. Use of the barrier surface by insects and small mammals is also evident. Small mammal burrowing on the barrier surface has become more prevalent in recent years, suggesting that the restored barrier surface is beginning to function as a recovering ecosystem. Small-mammal burrowing on the top and sides of the barrier is most prevalent on the finer-grained and disturbed soils while active ant mounds were observed on the northern and western slopes.« less


This paper presents a study of the pollen grains of three species of Besleria L. (B. longimucronata Hoehne, B. selloana Klotzsch & Hanst., B. umbrosa Mart.) and one of Napeanthus (Napeanthus primulifolius (Raddi) Sandw.) from Sao Paulo state and Napeanthus reitzii (L. B. Sm.) B. L. Burtt ex Leeuwenb. occurring in southern Brazil. The pollen material was acetolysed, measured, described and illustrated using light microscopy. For further details of pollen surface and exine, non-acetolysed pollen grains were analyzed by means of scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The pollen grains of Besleria and Napeanthus are small to medium size, isopolar, oblate spheroidal, 3-colporate, endoaperture lolongate, psilate-perforate (B. longimucronata), rugulate (B. umbrosa) and microreticulate (B. selloana, N. primulifolius e N. reitzii). The results demonstrated the taxonomic importance of pollen morphology studies corroborating with the subdivision of the taxa in these tribes.


Chlorinated solvents are among the most prevalent contaminants at Superfund sites. Perchloroethylene (PCE) and its degradative byproducts pose a particular problem because of their persistence in the subsurface and their threat to ecological health. In this study, microcosms were used to test the viability of bioaugmentation as a possible remediation strategy at a PCE contaminated site at the Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. All microcosms were created in duplicate using spatially diverse soils and the bioaugmented series innoculated with a mixed microbial culture provided by the Dr. Frank Loffler. This culture has been found to be capable of completely degrading PCE to ethene. The aqueous ethene concentration was monitored over time. It is clear from the results that bioaugmentation successfully increased the degree of reductive dechlorination over their static counterpart. Without innoculation, shallow static microcosms showed an accumulation of cis-DCE, while deep soils never showed conversion beyond TCE. Shallow bioaugmented microcosms showed the production and loss of vinyl chloride indicated probable complete conversion of PCE to ethene while deep soils showed the production of cis-DCE. These differences in dechlorination between shallow and deep soils indicate a possible disparity in reduction capacity. At day 78, microcosms were spiked with higher concentrations of PCE resulting in a reduction in dechlorination activity. Static microcosms exhibited similar degradative trends but bioaugmented batches experienced dramatic reductions in dechlorination activity indicating possible inhibition effects of native organisms due to concentration or potential toxic shock. It appears that bioaugmentation is a remediation alternative worthy of further study including possible delivery methods, toxicity or inhibition effects of concentration, and fate/transport studies.


The knee joint plays an essential role in the human musculoskeletal system. It has evolved to withstand extreme loading conditions, while providing almost frictionless joint movement. However, its performance may be disrupted by disease, anatomical deformities, soft tissue imbalance or injury. Knee disorders are often puzzling, and accurate diagnosis may be challenging. Current evaluation approach is usually limited to a detailed interview with the patient, careful physical examination and radiographic imaging. The X-ray screening may reveal bone degeneration, but does not carry sufficient information of the soft tissue conditions. More advanced imaging tools such as MRI or CT are available, but expensive, time consuming and can be used only under static conditions. Moreover, due to limited resolution the radiographic techniques cannot reveal early stage arthritis. The arthroscopy is often the only reliable option, however due to its semi-invasive nature, it cannot be considered as a practical diagnostic tool. Therefore, the motivation for this work was to combine three scientific methods to provide a comprehensive, non-invasive evaluation tool bringing insight into the in vivo, dynamic conditions of the knee joint and articular cartilage degeneration. Electromyography and inverse dynamics were employed to independently determine the forces present in several muscles spanning the knee joint. Though both methods have certain limitations, the current work demonstrates how the use of these two methods concurrently enhances the biomechanical analysis of the knee joint conditions, especially the performance of the extensor mechanism. The kinetic analysis was performed for 12 TKA, 4 healthy individuals in advanced age and 4 young subjects. Several differences in the knee biomechanics were found between the three groups, identifying age-related and post-operative decrease in the extensor mechanism efficiency, explaining the increased effort of performing everyday activities experienced by the elderly and TKA subjects. The concept of using accelerometers to assess the cartilage degeneration has been proven based on a group of 23 subjects with non-symptomatic knees and 52 patients suffering from knee arthritis. Very high success (96.2%) of pattern classification obtained in this work clearly demonstrates that vibroarthrography is a promising, non-invasive and low-cost technique offering screening capabilities.


When expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda cells using recombinant baculoviruses, the HIV - 1 gag gene product, p55, self assembles to form immature HIV core like particles that are secreted into the culture medium. Using this system, the gag open reading frame was progressively truncated from the carboxy terminus, and each deleted Gag protein examined for its ability to produce core like particles. Deletions that removed the distal region of the Gag nucleocapsid domain, including both Cys - His motifs thought to function as RNA capture signals, did not disrupt particle formation. Analysis of the truncation mutants by north - western blot with a radiolabelled HIV - 1 RNA encapsidation signal, confirmed that only precursors with the Cys - His motif present were able to bind the probe. It was concluded that HIV - 1 Gag particle formation per se does not require RNA encapsidation. This finding clarifies uncertainties proposed previously regarding the role of RNA encapsidation in particle assembly. Further deletion mutants led to the delineation of the carboxy terminal boundary of a Gag assembly domain. Properties of the SIV env encoded TM glycoprotein were also explored. Previous reports have found that the cytoplasmic tail of this membrane spanning protein was preferentially deleted in vivo when SIV was grown in a variety of cultured human cells. However, when propagated in cells of simian origin, the TM glycoprotein cytoplasmic tail was retained. Analysis of the function of this domain was addressed by expression of both the truncated and the full length proteins in insect cells using recombinant baculoviruses, coupled with a study of their biochemical characteristics. A role for the cytoplasmic tail was identified in the post - translational modification and localization of the glycoprotein. The use of the Gag particles in designing vaccines was investigated. Acting as non - infectious carriers of immunogenic antigens, the particles represent a safe and efficient means for presentation of epitopes for eliciting a protective immune response. Two possible approaches for loading the particles with foreign antigen were examined. In the first, the deleted portion of Gag was replaced with a sequence encoding the foreign antigen. The second method involved co - expression of Gag with another recombinant virus that expressed a foreign antigen on the surface of the cell. Both methods were found to be feasible, although limitations were identified when addition of the fusion protein promoted excess degradation of the Gag precursor.


America has a love-hate relationship with individualism. In Reconstructing Individualism, James Albrecht argues that our conceptions of individualism have remained trapped within the assumptions of classic liberalism. He traces an alternative genealogy of individualist ethics in four major American thinkers-Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, John Dewey, and Ralph Ellison. These writers' shared commitments to pluralism (metaphysical and cultural), experimentalism, and a melioristic stance toward value and reform led them to describe the self as inherently relational. Accordingly, they articulate models of selfhood that are socially engaged and ethically responsible, and they argue that a reconceived-or, in Dewey's term, "reconstructed"-individualism is not merely compatible with but necessary to democratic community. Conceiving selfhood and community as interrelated processes, they call for an ongoing reform of social conditions so as to educate and liberate individuality, and, conversely, they affirm the essential role individuality plays in vitalizing communal efforts at reform.


RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) facilitate post-transcriptional control of eukaryotic gene expression at multiple levels. The RBP tristetraprolin (TTP/Zfp36) is a signal-induced phosphorylated anti-inflammatory protein guiding unstable mRNAs of pro-inflammatory proteins for degradation and preventing translation. Using iCLIP, we have identified numerous mRNA targets bound by wild-type TTP and by a non-MK2-phosphorylatable TTP mutant (TTP-AA) in 1 h LPS-stimulated macrophages and correlated their interaction with TTP to changes at the level of mRNA abundance and translation in a transcriptome-wide manner. The close similarity of the transcriptomes of TTP-deficient and TTP-expressing macrophages upon short LPS stimulation suggested an effective inactivation of TTP by MK2, whereas retained RNA-binding capacity of TTP-AA to 3′UTRs caused profound changes in the transcriptome and translatome, altered NF-κB-activation and induced cell death. Increased TTP binding to the 3′UTR of feedback inhibitor mRNAs, such as Ier3, Dusp1 or Tnfaip3, in the absence of MK2-dependent TTP neutralization resulted in a strong reduction of their protein synthesis contributing to the deregulation of the NF-κB-signaling pathway. Taken together, our study uncovers a role of TTP as a suppressor of feedback inhibitors of inflammation and highlights the importance of fine-tuned TTP activity-regulation by MK2 in order to control the pro-inflammatory response.


During learning teaching program, teacher or lecturer has the important role and being the part that determining the succeed of this program. Besides, a good application of learning styles is one of the aspect that directly correlate to student's creativity and learning styles. Hence, teacher or lecturer have to apply a learning method during this program that rise learning motivation of the students. This study used 76 respondents of Nursing D-III Department Program Unipdu students. In addition, this also applied total sampling from given questionare and would be tabulated to investigate D-III nursing student learning styles.

 The result reveals that 64,5% students used visual learning styles, which mean that students of Nursing Diploma Program apply visual learning method during their study.


Coffee consumption is highly prevalent worldwide, and many studies have reported positive and inverse associations of coffee with many diseases. However, factors associated with coffee consumption remain poorly characterized in some populations, such as the elderly. This study aimed to assess the factors associated with total, caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption in an elderly population in Spain. Data were analyzed from 903 participants, aged 65 years and above, from two population-based studies carried out in the Valencia region in Spain (Valencia Nutritional Survey (VNS) and European Eye Study (EUREYE-Study). Total, caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption was assessed through two specific questions using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Information on personal characteristics, anthropometry and lifestyles was collected in personal interviews. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the adjusted relative risk ratios (RRR) and confidence intervals (95% CI). The prevalence of total, caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption was 70%, 38% and 32%, respectively. The consumption of caffeinated coffee was positively associated with: Educational level, RRR = 1.63 (1.09–2.44); body mass index (≥30), RRR = 2.03 (1.05–3.95); tobacco smoking, RRR = 1.96 (1.13–3.39); alcohol intake [≥12 g/day category intake vs. no-alcohol intake, RRR = 6.25 (3.56–10.95)]; and energy intake (p < 0.05). Consumption of caffeinated coffee was negatively associated with: Age (≥75 years), RRR = 0.64 (0.43–0.94); and pre-existing hypertension, RRR = 0.67 (0.45–0.98). The consumption of decaffeinated coffee was positively associated with: Alcohol intake, RRR = 2.63 (1.19–4.64); pre-existing diabetes, RRR = 1.67 (1.06–2.62); and energy intake (p < 0.01). The consumption of coffee is high among elderly people in Spain. It is a novelty in this study with elderly population that tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking were the two main factors associated with higher coffee consumption. Self-reported hypertension was associated with a lower consumption of caffeinated coffee, and pre-existing diabetes was associated with a higher consumption of decaffeinated coffee. These associations should be taken into account when the health effects of coffee consumption are investigated.


The use of didactical laboratories is a common necessity both for distance and traditional universities. If in the first case institutions have to invest money not only in the creation but also in the maintenance of the structures, for distance learning there is an always under discussion problem related to how laboratory activities can be offered to students. In this context, smartphone applications can help both cases offering simple, low cost and didactical effective laboratories. In this paper, a review of the state of art is presented together with a case study realized during the annual internships organized by INFN-Frascati for secondary school students.


Video conferencing commonly employs a video portal metaphor to connect individuals from remote spaces. In this work, we explore an alternate metaphor, a shared depth-mirror, where video images of two spaces are fused into a single shared, depth-corrected video space. We realize this metaphor in OneSpace, where the space respects virtual spatial relationships between people and objects as if all parties were looking at a mirror together. We report preliminary observations of OneSpace's use, noting that it encourages cross-site, full-body interactions, and that participants employed the depth cues in their interactions. Based on these observations, we argue that the depth mirror offers new opportunities for shared video interaction.


The Lao government has a policy of promoting Laos to become a leading rubber exporter in the world market by the year 2020. However, the implementation showed serious problems in terms of land allocation. Land leased to investors overlapped with farmlands of local people, creating conflicts between local people and investors, as well as between local people and local government authorities. In addition, the concession of areas without previous forestry survey has led to massive deforestations. These problems demonstrated that the local government needs to plan for and implement good land use management strategies. The aim of this study is not only to identify suitable areas for rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) plantation (SARTP) but also areas for forest and agriculture to model sustainable land use management in local areas. The study area conducted in Pakxong District, southern part of Laos, which total area covers approximately 345,545 ha, with forest covering about 232,721 ha. The geography database such as land use type; forest types; digital elevation model (DEM) resolution with 50m and soil characteristic were used integrate geographic information system (GIS) technique. Multi‐Criteria Evaluation (MCE) and restriction for producing suitable maps based on geographic data was defined. These information combines with overlay tools and weight overlay processing identify a land and forest allocation map, which includes SARTP, as well as a forest functions and agriculture area map.


Description: This topical and exciting textbook describes fisheries exploitation, biology, conservation and management, and reflects many recent and important changes in fisheries science. These include growing concerns about the environmental impacts of fisheries, the role of ecological interactions in determining population dynamics, and the incorporation of uncertainty and precautionary principles into management advice. The book draws upon examples from tropical, temperate and polar environments, and provides readers with a broad understanding of the biological, economic and social aspects of fisheries ecology and the interplay between them. As well as covering 'classical' fisheries science, the book focuses on contemporary issues such as industrial fishing, poverty and conflict in fishing communities, marine reserves, the effects of fishing on coral reefs and by–catches of mammals, seabirds and reptiles. The book is primarily written for students of fisheries science and marine ecology, but should also appeal to practising fisheries scientists and those interested in conservation and the impacts of humans on the marine environment.


Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the ability of 7% maleic acid, 0.5% peracetic acid (PAA), and 17% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in removing smear layer from root canal system of human teeth using scanning electron microscopic analysis (SEM). Materials and Methods: Thirty-five non-carious human anterior teeth with single roots were selected for the study. Chemo-mechanical preparation was done using crown down technique with irrigation of 2.5% NaOCl after every instrument use. Depending on the final irrigation solution, the samples were divided randomly into three experimental groups and one control group: (1) The maleic acid group: 07% (n = 10), (2) the PAA group: 0.5% (n = 10), (3) the EDTA group: 17% (n = 10), and (4) the control group: 0.9% saline (n = 5). These teeth were then evaluated using SEM analysis for the absence or presence of smear layer, thereby analyzing their cleaning effectiveness in the coronal, middle, and apical thirds of the root canal system. The inter examiner's reliability was verified with the use of Kappa test. The data of the score for intragroup comparison and intergroup comparison for evaluation of the presence or absence of smear layer were statistically analyzed by Pearson Chi-square test. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: In the coronal thirds of the root canal, there was no statistically significant difference between the EDTA and the maleic acid groups when evaluated for their efficacy at smear layer removal. Whereas, maleic acid performed significantly better than PAA and EDTA in removing smear layer from middle and apical thirds of the root canal system. Conclusion: A final irrigation with 7% maleic acid is more efficacious than 17% EDTA and 0.5% PAA when used as a smear layer removal agent in the apical third of the root canal system.


Highly localized plasmons can be excited at atomically smooth metal surfaces by using a sphere-plane type plasmonic cavity. This plasmonic structure can be optimized for use in well-organized self-assembled monolayers formed on various single crystalline metal substrates including highly damping platinum-group catalytic metals, and is therefore useful in the fields of molecular science, catalytic science, and surface science. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) observation at well-defined molecule-metal interfaces revealed crystallographic orientation dependence not only in adsorption geometry of the molecules but also in the signal enhancement, suggesting a contribution of interfacial charge transfer resonances between metal states and molecular affinity levels. Moreover, this method enables us to increase efficiency of various photochemical processes such as photo-energy conversion when photo-sensitive molecular layers are formed on a substrate. The use of well-defined metal-organic system in plasmonic cavities opens up a new possibility of spectroscopy and photochemistry.


Resource augmentation is a well-established model for analyzing algorithms, particularly in the online setting. It has been successfully used for providing theoretical evidence for several heuris-tics in scheduling with good performance in practice. According to this model, the algorithm is applied to a more powerful environment than that of the adversary. Several types of resource augmentation for scheduling problems have been proposed up to now, including speed augmentation , machine augmentation and more recently rejection. In this paper, we present a framework that unifies the various types of resource augmentation. Moreover, it allows generalize the notion of resource augmentation for other types of resources. Our framework is based on mathematical programming and it consists of extending the domain of feasible solutions for the algorithm with respect to the domain of the adversary. This, in turn allows the natural concept of duality for mathematical programming to be used as a tool for the analysis of the algorithm's performance. As an illustration of the above ideas, we apply this framework and we propose a primal-dual algorithm for the online scheduling problem of minimizing the total weighted flow time of jobs on unrelated machines when the preemption of jobs is not allowed. This is a well representative problem for which no online algorithm with performance guarantee is known. Specifically, a strong lower bound of Ω(√ n) exists even for the offline unweighted version of the problem on a single machine. In this paper, we first show a strong negative result even when speed augmentation is used in the online setting. Then, using the generalized framework for resource augmentation and by combining speed augmentation and rejection, we present an (1+ s)-speed O(


U.S. sports operations have been described as newsroom "toy departments," at least partly because of their deviation from journalistic norms. Recently, however, more attention has focused on issues of ethics and professionalism; the failure of sports journalists to adequately cover steroid use in Major League Baseball has also directed critical attention to their roles and motives. This study, through a telephone survey of journalists in U.S. newsrooms, examines sports reporters' practices, beliefs, and attitudes in regard to ethics and professionalism and how their ethics and practice relate. Results indicate that reporters' attitudes toward issues such as voting in polls, taking free tickets, gambling, and becoming friends with sources are related to their views of public-service or investigative journalism. In addition, friendships with sources are linked to values stereotypically associated with sports as a toy-department occupation. These results suggest that adherence to ethical standards is linked ...


This collection of twelve essays discusses the principles and practices of women's autobiographical writing in the United States, England, and France from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Employing feminist and poststructuralist methodologies, the essays examine a wide range of private life writings -- letters, journals, diaries, memoirs, pedagogical texts, and fictional and factual autobiographies. The concepts of theory and practice -- as opposing and mutually exclusive methodologies, as focal points for conflicting interpretations, and finally as complementary approaches to the study of literature -- are central to this collection. The Private Self explores the links between the historical devaluation of women's writings and the cultural definitions of women that have constrained their writing practices and excluded them from the canon of traditional autobiographical texts. Collectively, these essays expose the cultural biases that derive from notions of selfhood defined by a white, masculine, and Christian experience. In an effort to revise our prevailing concept of autobiography, these essays deal with differences of race, class, religion, sexual orientation, and gender. Discussed here are writings by more than two dozen women including Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, Alice James, Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Forten Grimke, Zora Neale Hurston, Maya Angelou, Sophie Kovalevsky, Anais Nin, Hilda Doolittle, and Simone de Beauvoir. The work of these writers reveals a split between public and private self-representations, and it is the notion of a private self expressed through women's autobiographical writings that forms the link among all the essays.


We have previously suggested that neural flow parsing mechanisms, which subtract global optic flow consistent with observer movement, play a role in recovery of scene-relative object movement. In this study, we investigate how the quality (noise) and amount (density) of information in the optic flow field (OFF) affect flow parsing. We predict that since flow parsing involves global motion processing it should be relatively robust to noise and density manipulations. Participants fixated at the centre of a radial flow field of limited lifetime dots, and were asked to judge the direction of motion of a laterally displaced probe moving vertically upwards. To limit the contribution of local motion processing mechanisms, no flow field dots were presented in a patch of radius 3 deg centred on the probe. The 2D motion directions of the dots were subject to three levels of zero mean additive Gaussian noise (s.d. = 0, 7.5, or 15 degrees). We also varied the density of the OFF by changing the instantaneous number of dots on screen (5, 50, 100, 200 dots). We measured the relative tilt of the probe (the angular difference between the physical probe direction and the perceived direction). Analyses revealed a relatively small (although significant) decrease in the magnitude of the realative tilt effect with the increased noise (on the order of 10-20%). With respect to the density manipulation, although the relative tilt effect was significantly reduced in the lowest density condition, it was stable over all other dot densities. These data suggest that, as anticipated, flow parsing is relatively robust to variations in noise and density. The data are broadly in line with results for heading recovery when noise and density are manipulated. This provides some evidence that flow parsing and heading recovery share common mechanisms.


Models of agricultural economics typically operate at an annual basis or in a static equilibrium framework where inputs, outputs and their prices may change considerably. Production dynamics, however, imply that models relying on spatial and temporal aggregation do not capture the effects of biological constraints in the short run. This paper examines short and long-term impacts of demand and production cost shocks in the pig sector. The analysis is carried out with a dynamic programming model which takes into account changes in export and domestic demand and market clearing price. It optimizes the supply of piglets on a monthly basis. Econometric techniques are used to estimate demand functions. Short-term negative market shocks can already have significant income effects to agricultural producers. We simulated effects of pig meat export bans of different degrees due to livestock epidemics. Full closure of export markets for six months cost pig sector €21 million.


Romanian collective nouns do not allow plural agreement on the verb, unlike in British English. But when a collective noun is used with a partitive quantifier (e.g. o parte din guvern "part of the government"), plural agreement is possible. We propose an analysis for partitive quantification, which can account for plural agreement with partitive collectives, as well as with partitive plural DPs ( o parte dintre studenţi "part of the students"). Our analysis is based on Higginbotham's (1994) analysis of mass and plural D-quantifiers. Quantification is construed in terms of amounts of minimal parts; the minimal parts in the denotation of collective nouns are atomic entities. The partitive quantifiers transform a group denoting entity into a sum denoting entity.


This article proposes an original analysis of the international debate on climate change through the use of digital methods. Its originality is twofold. First, it examines a corpus of reports covering 18 years of international climate negotiations, a dataset never explored before through digital techniques. This corpus is particularly interesting because it provides the most consistent and detailed reporting of the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Second, in this paper we test an original approach to text analysis that combines automatic extractions and manual selection of the key issue-terms. Through this mixed approach, we tried to obtain relevant findings without imposing them on our corpus. The originality of our corpus and of our approach encouraged us to question some of the habits of digital research and confront three common misunderstandings about digital methods that we discuss in the first part of the article (section 'Three misunderstandings on digital methods in social sciences'). In addition to reflecting on methodology, however, we also wanted to offer some substantial contribution to the understanding of UN-framed climate diplomacy. In the second part of the article (section 'Three maps on climate negotiations') we will therefore introduce some of the preliminary results of our analysis. By discussing three visualizations, we will analyze the thematic articulation of the climatic negotiations, the rise and fall of these themes over time and the visibility of different countries in the debate.


One of the hottest debates in conservation biology these days is to what extent scientists should help embattled species cope with climate change. All life forms, including our own, must adapt to climate change or dwindle and possibly perish. Scientists generally agree that first they should protect or shore up ecosystems, especially fragile ones such as cloud forests and coral reefs. Consensus breaks down, however, on what to do when a species can9t keep pace with a changing world. One camp insists that desperate times call for desperate measures. Habitat fragmentation caused by human activity has made it difficult or impossible for many species to migrate on their own to more suitable environments. Thus, a growing number of researchers argue that assisted colonization, also called managed relocation, is a vital conservation tool. Other scientists worry that momentum for translocations is building too fast.


We present the first systematic study on child labour in China. Child labour is not a negligible social phenomenon in China; about 7.74% of children aged from 10 to 15 were working in 2010, and they worked for 6.75 hours per day on average, and spent 6.42 hours less per day on study than other children. About 90% of child labourers were still in school and combined economic activity with schooling. Our results show that child labour participation is positively associated with school dropout rate. A child living in a rural area is more likely to work. Compared with place of residence, the gender of a child is less important. The educational level of the household head and its interaction with the gender of the household head seem to be unimportant. However, household assets per capita and household involvement in non-agricultural activities are negatively related to the incidence of child labour. A child from a household with more adults is less likely to work. The prevalence of child labour in China exhibits significant regional variations. The child labour incidence is correlated with the development level of each region: the Western region has the highest percentage of child labour, followed by the Eastern and Central region.


The introduction of traffic calming in city centre areas is one of the measures aimed at implementing the transport policy which is based on the principles of sustainable development. Traffic calming refers to a combination of road network planning and engineering measures to reduce negative effects of motor vehicle use and improve conditions for non-motorized street users. However, it should not be seen exclusively as a means of introducing traffic restrictions or reducing the speed limit. Comprehensive schemes of area-wide traffic calming result in a synergy effect improving not only traffic conditions but also liveability, environment, safety and the urban landscape. However, one has to emphasize that what is crucial for making use of the capabilities of a comprehensive traffic calming scheme is the proper preparation of the investment. Implementing the ideas of traffic calming should bring the best results in enhancing sustainable safety of drivers and pedestrians, improving the quality of urban life and reducing traffic flows and undesirable effects, such as traffic noise and pollutant emissions. The paper contains a literature review on impacts and effectiveness of area-wide traffic calming solutions. An exemplary approach illustrating how to include traffic calming zones in simulation modelling is also presented. The suggested approach involves the use of simulation tools in both micro and macro scale and tests with a driving simulator to assess the influence of traffic calming measures on speeds, travel times, route choices, modal split and therefore on the level of road safety, traffic noise and air pollution. The influence of individual measures examined at a microscopic level allows one to assess the functioning of the whole transport system at the macro level. This makes it possible to plan the transport service of the area, to reduce congestion and migration of disruptions onto other network links as well as to prepare a proper assessment of functional effectiveness of implemented solutions.


BackgroundCSR is a highly relevant subject for corporations today, since there is an increased stakeholder demand to report corporate social, economic and environmental performance. CSR may convey numerous benefits for a firm, such as a competitive advantage, increased trust and improved corporate image, as well as many outcomes related to the employee. The automotive industry is facing high external pressures to lower their carbon footprint, and to become more sustainable, consequently, this industry is a suitable context for CSR research. PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate different characteristics of employee's and their perceptions and expectations of CSR, to find the most important aspects of the phenomena from an employee's perspective, and thereby, engaging them in a company's CSR initiatives. By investigating this field, it will be possible for companies to improve their CSR communication and meet the employee's expectations. An effort will be made to distinguish different types of employees, to find out their main differences in terms of preferences and willingness to engage, and by that, find the most efficient ways to get them involved in CSR activities. These insights could help companies to successfully implement CSR programmes internally throughout their organization. MethodA mixed method was used to fulfil the purpose of the study. A quantitative online survey was conducted and provided responses from 350 employees at a single automotive company. To acquire deeper insights, qualitative interviews with ten employees and observations as complete observers were used in a complementary manner at the same company. Results and ConclusionThe main conclusions from the empirical results and theoretical background showed that the willingness to engage in CSR activities might diverge depending on the location and the functional area of the employee. The CSR aspect that the employees perceived as most important was an economic aspect "maintaining a solid financial performance", followed by "providing product innovations that get ahead of market and customer needs", and "satisfying customer needs in a measurable way". The most efficient ways to engage the employees appeared to be mainly through training, community engagement, and accurate communication. Practical ImplicationsThe findings from this study provides implications and recommendations to both managers and marketers on how to market the CSR programme internally, which aspects of CSR to emphasise and how to get the employees involved. This will consequently strengthen corporation's CSR programme and thus, benefit the society.


Background OX40 is a costimulatory receptor upregulated on antigen-activated T cells and constitutively expressed on regulatory T cells (Tregs). INCAGN01949, a fully human immunoglobulin G1κ anti-OX40 agonist monoclonal antibody, was designed to promote tumor-specific immunity by effector T-cell activation and Fcγ receptor-mediated Treg depletion. This first-in-human study was conducted to determine the safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of INCAGN01949. Methods Phase I/II, open-label, non-randomized, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study conducted in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. Patients received INCAGN01949 monotherapy (7–1400 mg) in 14-day cycles while deriving benefit. Safety measures, clinical activity, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamic effects were assessed and summarized with descriptive statistics. Results Eighty-seven patients were enrolled; most common tumor types were colorectal (17.2%), ovarian (8.0%), and non-small cell lung (6.9%) cancers. Patients received a median three (range 1–9) prior therapies, including immunotherapy in 24 patients (27.6%). Maximum tolerated dose was not reached; one patient (1.1%) receiving 350 mg dose reported dose-limiting toxicity of grade 3 colitis. Treatment-related adverse events were reported in 45 patients (51.7%), with fatigue (16 (18.4%)), rash (6 (6.9%)), and diarrhea (6 (6.9%)) being most frequent. One patient (1.1%) with metastatic gallbladder cancer achieved a partial response (duration of 6.3 months), and 23 patients (26.4%) achieved stable disease (lasting >6 months in one patient). OX40 receptor occupancy was maintained over 90% among all patients receiving doses of ≥200 mg, while no treatment-emergent antidrug antibodies were detected across all dose levels. Pharmacodynamic results demonstrated that treatment with INCAGN01949 did not enhance proliferation or activation of T cells in peripheral blood or reduce circulating Tregs, and analyses of tumor biopsies did not demonstrate any consistent increase in effector T-cell infiltration or function, or decrease in infiltrating Tregs. Conclusion No safety concerns were observed with INCAGN01949 monotherapy in patients with metastatic or advanced solid tumors. However, tumor responses and pharmacodynamic effects on T cells in peripheral blood and post-therapy tumor biopsies were limited. Studies evaluating INCAGN01949 in combination with other therapies are needed to further evaluate the potential of OX40 agonism as a therapeutic approach in patients with advanced solid tumors. Trial registration number NCT02923349.


Summary A 53-year-old man who used growth hormone (GH), anabolic steroids and testosterone (T) for over 20 years presented with severe constipation and hypercalcaemia. He had benign prostatic hyperplasia and renal stones but no significant family history. Investigations showed – (1) corrected calcium (reference range) 3.66 mmol/L (2.2–2.6), phosphate 1.39 mmol/L (0.80–1.50), and PTH 2 pmol/L (1.6–7.2); (2) urea 21.9 mmol/L (2.5–7.8), creatinine 319 mmol/L (58–110), eGFR 18 mL/min (>90), and urine analysis (protein 4+, glucose 4+, red cells 2+); (3) creatine kinase 7952 U/L (40–320), positive anti Jo-1, and Ro-52 antibodies; (4) vitamin D 46 nmol/L (30–50), vitamin D3 29 pmol/L (55–139), vitamin A 4.65 mmol/L (1.10–2.60), and normal protein electrophoresis; (5) normal CT thorax, abdomen and pelvis and MRI of muscles showed 'inflammation', myositis and calcification; (6) biopsy of thigh muscles showed active myositis, chronic myopathic changes and mineral deposition and of the kidneys showed positive CD3 and CD45, focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and hypercalcaemic tubular changes; and (7) echocardiography showed left ventricular hypertrophy (likely medications and myositis contributing), aortic stenosis and an ejection fraction of 44%, and MRI confirmed these with possible right coronary artery disease. Hypercalcaemia was possibly multifactorial – (1) calcium release following myositis, rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury; (2) possible primary hyperparathyroidism (a low but detectable PTH); and (3) hypervitaminosis A. He was hydrated and given pamidronate, mycophenolate and prednisolone. Following initial biochemical and clinical improvement, he had multiple subsequent admissions for hypercalcaemia and renal deterioration. He continued taking GH and T despite counselling but died suddenly of a myocardial infarction. Learning points: The differential diagnosis of hypercalcaemia is sometimes a challenge. Diagnosis may require multidisciplinary expertise and multiple and invasive investigations. There may be several disparate causes for hypercalcaemia, although one usually predominates. Maintaining 'body image' even with the use of harmful drugs may be an overpowering emotion despite counselling about their dangers.


Citizen participation on any level of government is timeless. The dynamics and the relationships of citizen participation on all levels are unique, due to the fact that many problems and solutions have their roots in the activities of local government and its administration. Furthermore the extension of democracy to all spheres of society and to all tiers of the administrative hierarchy, have been a central theme of the democratisation process in South Africa. The notion of "bringing the government to the people" is important, not only in strengthening civil society, but also in mobilising the population to implement the programmes of reconstruction and development necessary to transfonn the civil society. JEL H 11


Mutations targeting as few as four residues lining the access
tunnel extended enzyme's half-life in 40% dimethyl sulfoxide
from minutes to weeks (4,000-fold) and increased its melting
temperature by 19 Grades C. Protein crystallography and
molecular dynamics revealed that the tunnel residue packing is
a key determinant of protein stability and the active-site
accessibility for co-solvent molecules (red dots). The broad
applicability of this concept was verified by analyzing twenty
six proteins with buried active sites from all six enzyme
classes.


It is shown that multilevel SAL 110 resist kinoforms can be developed stepwise. Measurements of the kinoform diffraction pattern, performed between the development steps, permitted correct final developments to be made. No significant relief shape degradation was observed for development times as high as 25 min. The results imply that the electron-beam exposure doses, and hence the exposure time, can be reduced by a factor of 3 compared with doses used currently.


Professor Elyn Saks is a well-recognized expert in mental health law, and is training to become a psychoanalyst. Her latest book reflects her continued interest in mental health issues, but this book differs from her previous works because it is written in the voice of someone who has a personal stake in the topic.In The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness, Saks recounts her own experience of schizophrenia, the most serious of all mental illnesses. Beginning with some "little quirks" in childhood and progressing to full-fledged psychosis by her first year at Yale Law School, Sak's illness caused her doctors to predict early on that she would be unable to complete law school and that over the course of her life she would require extended hospitalizations. But not only did Saks finish law school, she has fashioned both a successful academic career and a fulfilling personal life.In Sak's book there is a great deal to admire and only a little to regret. The book will undoubtedly change the way that people think about schizophrenia, diminishing the fear and stigma that surround this disorder. Additionally, that psychoanalysis was part of Sak's story might well contribute to a reevaluation of that particular therapy's effectiveness in the long-term treatment of schizophrenia. However, whatever else psychoanalysis might be able to do over the course of many years, it is not an efficient weapon against the acute symptoms of psychosis — the demons, the voices, the fog of confusion and disorganization. Antipsychotic medication is far from a panacea, but to someone who is in the firm grip of schizophrenia's most terrifying symptoms, it offers the best hope. It would be regrettable if the criticisms Saks makes of forced medication made it harder to provide this therapy to others who are journeying through their own madness.


A traditional yet fresh approach to grasping the power of Morrison's writing With essays by Yvonne Atkinson, Marc C. Conner, Susan Corey, Maria DiBattista, Barbara Johnson, Cheryl Lester, Katherine Stern, and Michael Wood Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's novels have almost exclusively been examined as sagas illuminating history, race, culture, and gender politics. This gathering of eight essays by top scholars probes Morrison's novels and her growing body of nonfiction and critical work for the complex and potent aesthetic elements that have made her a major American novelist of the twentieth century. Through traditional aesthetic concepts such as the sublime, the beautiful, and the grotesque, through issues of form, narrative, and language, and through questions of affect and reader response, the nine essays in this volume bring into relief the dynamic and often overlooked range within Morrison's writing. Employing aesthetic ideas that range from the ancient Greeks to contemporary research in the black English oral tradition, The Aesthetics of Toni Morrison shows the potency of these ideas for interpreting Morrison's writing. This is a force Morrison herself has often suggested in her claims that Greek tragedy bears a striking similarity to "Afro-American communal structures." At the same time each essay attends to the ways in which Morrison also challenges traditional aesthetic concepts, establishing the African American and female voices that are essential to her sensibility. The result is a series of readings that simultaneously expands our understanding of Morrison's work and also provokes new thinking about an aesthetic tradition that is nearly 2,500 years old. These essays offer a rich complement to the dominant approaches in Morrison scholarship by revealing aspects of her work that purely ideological approaches have obscured or about which they have remained oddly silent. Each essay focuses particularly on the relations between the aesthetic and the ethical in Morrison's writing and between the artistic production and its role in the world at large. These relations show the rich political implications that aesthetic analysis engenders. By treating both Morrison's fiction and her nonfiction, the essays reveal a mind and imagination that have long been intimately engaged with the questions and traditions of the aesthetic domain. The result is a provocative and original contribution to Morrison scholarship, and to scholarship in American letters generally. Marc C. Conner is an assistant professor of English at Washington and Lee University. He has published articles in Studies in American Fiction and Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction.


Background: Acute midsubstance Achilles tendon ruptures are a common orthopaedic problem for which the optimal repair technique and suture type remain controversial. Head-to-head comparisons of current fixation constructs are needed to establish which stitch/suture combination is most biomechanically favorable. Hypothesis: Of the tested fixation constructs, Giftbox repairs with Fiberwire will exhibit superior stiffness and strength during biomechanical testing. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: Two biomechanical trials were performed, isolating stitch technique and suture type, respectively. In trial 1, 12 transected fresh-frozen cadaveric Achilles tendon pairs were randomized to receive either the Giftbox-modified Krackow or the Bunnell stitch with No. 2 Fiberwire suture. Each repair underwent cyclic loading, oscillating between 10 and 100 N at 2 Hz for 1000 cycles, with repair gapping measured at 500 and 1000 cycles. Load-to-failure testing was then performed, and clinical and catastrophic failure values were recorded. In trial 2, 10 additional paired cadaveric Achilles tendons were randomized to receive a Giftbox repair with either No. 2 Fiberwire or No. 2 Ultrabraid. Testing and data collections protocols in trial 2 replicated those used in trial 1. Results: In trial 1, the Bunnell group had 2 failures during cyclic loading while the Giftbox had no failures. The mean tendon gapping after cyclic loading was significantly lower in the Giftbox repairs (0.13 vs 2.29 mm, P = .02). Giftbox repairs were significantly stiffer than Bunnell (47.5 vs 38.7 N/mm, P = .019) and showed more tendon elongation (5.9 ± 0.8 vs 4.5 ± 1.0 mm, P = .012) after 1000 cycles. Mean clinical load to failure was significantly higher for Giftbox repairs (373 vs 285 N, P = .02), while no significant difference in catastrophic load to failure was observed (mean, 379 vs 336 N; P = .61). In trial 2, there were no failures during cyclic loading. The Giftbox + Fiberwire repairs recorded higher clinical load-to-failure values compared with Giftbox + Ultrabraid (mean, 361 vs 239 N; P = .005). No other biomechanical differences were observed in trial 2. Conclusion: Simulated early rehabilitation biomechanical testing showed that Giftbox-modified Krackow Achilles repair technique with Fiberwire suture was stronger and more resistant to gap formation at the repair site than combinations that incorporated the Bunnell stitch or Ultrabraid suture. Clinical Relevance: A more in-depth understanding of the biomechanical properties of the Giftbox repair will help inform surgical decision making because stronger repairs are less likely to fail during accelerated postoperative rehabilitation.


The newly synthesized Zn(4)O-based MOF (3)(∞)[Zn(4)(μ(4)-O){(Metrz-pba)(2)mPh}(3)]·8 DMF (1·8 DMF) of rare tungsten carbide (acs) topology exhibits a porosity of 43% and remarkably high thermal stability up to 430 °C. Single crystal X-ray structure analyses could be performed using as-synthesized as well as desolvated crystals. Besides the solvothermal synthesis of single crystals a scalable synthesis of microcrystalline material of the MOF is reported. Combined TG-MS and solid state NMR measurements reveal the presence of mobile DMF molecules in the pore system of the framework. Adsorption measurements confirm that the pore structure is fully accessible for nitrogen molecules at 77 K. The adsorptive pore volume of 0.41 cm(3) g(-1) correlates well with the pore volume of 0.43 cm(3) g(-1) estimated from the single crystal structure.


AIMS
To elicit acceptability of HIV screening during pregnancy in women of reproductive age in Christchurch.

METHODS
In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with women of reproductive age recruited from seven different service sites in Christchurch.

RESULTS
Women wanted to know about treatment that significantly reduces the risk of mother-to-child transmission. They wanted to know about other antenatal screening and were prepared to provide general consent, rather than specific consent for HIV testing. All study participants favoured routine offer of HIV testing during pregnancy for all women and most would agree to be tested, if the test was offered and recommended.

CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate the need to develop and test a user-friendly approach for offering routine HIV testing during standard antenatal care in New Zealand.


Failure analysis is an essential element of all engineered products. The goal of failure analysis is the understanding of the root causes of any undesirable effects. Microfocus X-ray imaging (radioscopy and computed tomography) offers detailed information on the internal assembly and material condition of objects under failure analysis investigation. Using advanced systems for the acquisition of radioscopic and computed tomography (CT) images, failure analysis investigations are improved in technical accuracy at a reduced flow time and cost over alternative approaches. A versatile microfocus radioscopic system with CT capability has been implemented successfully as a standard tool in the Boeing Phantom Works Failure Analysis Laboratory. Using this tool, studies of electronic, electromechanical, and composite material items have been performed. Such a system can pay for itself within two years through higher productivity of the laboratory, increased laboratory value to the company, and resolution of critical problems whose worth far exceeds the value of the equipment.


Two interactions involving tyrosines have been implicated in the communication pathway that links ligand binding to quaternary state changes in hemoglobin. Tyr alpha(1)42 stabilizes the alpha1beta2 T state interface through the formation of a hydrogen bond to Asp beta(2)99. The side chains of the penultimate Tyr residues (alpha140 and beta145) occupy the pockets made by helicies F and H in the deoxy form with the phenolic hydroxyl hydrogen bonded to the carbonyl group of Val FG5. Early crystallographic studies indicated that in the R form the penultimate Tyr is expelled out of the pocket, thus eliminating the hydrogen bond. This hydrogen bond has been considered to play an important role in maintaining the low-oxygen-affinity state (T state) in deoxy HbA, but a later higher resolution crystallographic study (Shannon, 1983) failed to reveal such movement of this Tyr during the R --> T transition. Nevertheless, conversion of this Tyr to Phe increases oxygen affinity considerably, suggesting that hydrogen bonding is involved in oxygen affinity modulation. Earlier ultraviolet resonance Raman results reported by Spiro and co-workers [Rodgers et al. (1992) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 114, 3697-3709] were used to conclude that the significant quaternary structure dependent changes observed in tyrosine Raman bands are due to the formation of the T state hydrogen bond with Tyr alpha42 acting as a proton acceptor rather than being the anticipated proton donor, as would be expected if Asp beta99 were ionized. This surprising result rests on the assumption that changes in the environment of Tyr alpha42 are the overwhelming contributor to the R - T UV Raman difference spectrum. In this study, a cooperative double mutant lacking Tyr alpha42, [rHb (Asp beta99 --> Asn, Tyr alpha42 --> Asp)], is used to determine the relative contributions of Tyr alpha42 and the penultimate tyrosines to the R - T UV resonance Raman difference spectrum. The results both directly support the claim that Tyr alpha42 is the proton acceptor in the T state and expose the potential role of the penultimate tyrosines in coupling the quaternary state to the ligand reactivity.