A study of the statistics of the polarization properties of one-dimensional randomly rough surfaces is presented. Based on the assumption that the s and p components of the electric-field vector constitute correlated circular complex Gaussian processes, some first-order statistical properties of the polarization of scattered fields are first established. In particular, results are presented for the probability density function of the Stokes parameters and their correlations. For each realization of the surface the random Mueller matrix elements associated with the surface may be determined from measurements of the Stokes parameters of the scattered light. Choosing a +45° linear polarization for the incident field, one is then able to study the statistics of the Mueller matrix elements. Numerical and experimental data on the statistics of the Mueller matrix elements are presented and compared with theoretical results. Finally, the usefulness and the significance of the results are illustrated with some examples.


Background: Evidence has shown that anthocyanins, a subclass of polyphenol, are metabolised in the gut, modulate bacterial species and exert bioactive effects through this interaction. Methods: A systematic literature review was undertaken to determine the level of current evidence for the association between anthocyanin intake and changes in gut microbiota populations. The studies included were also assessed for the different techniques used in microbiota determination. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines, scientific databases, including Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and MEDLINE, were searched up to June 2017. Details on population/ sample, study design, intervention/control, dosage and method of microbiota determination were extracted. Results: Six studies (three in vitro, two animal and one human trials) were included in the review, which showed that anthocyanins induced a significant proliferative effect on Bifidobacterium spp., known for their wide use in probiotics and for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. There was also an observed inhibition of Clostridium histolyticum, which was shown to be pathogenic in humans. The depth of analysis is an important consideration for the choice of microbiota determination technique with respect to a comprehensive, high-resolution microbiota analysis or analysis of the main microbiota taxa. Conclusions: Very limited research has been carried out in the area of anthocyanins and gut microbiota; beneficial effects have generally been observed, and further clinical trials in humans are needed to confirm changes to gut microbes in relation to dietary anthocyanin intake and potential health benefits. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Publication Details Igwe, E. O., Charlton, K. E., Probst, Y. C., Kent, K. & Netzel, M. E. (2019). A systematic literature review of the effect of anthocyanins on gut microbiota populations. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 32 (1), 53-62. This journal article is available at Research Online: https://ro.uow.edu.au/smhpapers1/268


A serial interfacing scheme in which several embedded memories share the built-in, self-test circuit is presented. For external testing, this approach requires only two serial pins for access to the data path. There is considerable savings in routing area, and fewer external pins are needed to test random-access memories with wide words, such as those in application-specific integrated circuits for telecommunications. Even though the method uses serial access to the memory, a test pattern is applied every clock cycle because the memory itself shifts the test data. The method has been adapted to four common algorithms. In implementations of built-in self-test circuitry on several product chips, the area overhead was found to be acceptable.<<ETX>>


By what steps, historically, did morality emerge? Our remote ancestors evolved into social animals. Sociality requires, among other things, restraints on disruptive sexual, hostile, aggressive, vengeful, and acquisitive behavior. Since we are innately social and not social by convention, we can assume the biological evolution of the emotional equipment – numerous predispositions to want, fear, feel anxious or secure – required for social living, just as we can assume cultural evolution of various means to control antisocial behavior and reinforce the prosocial kind. Small clans consisting, say, of several extended families whose members cooperated in hunting, gathering, defense, and child-rearing could not exist without a combination of innate and social restraints on individual behavior. I shall argue for a naturalistic theory of morality, by which I do not mean the definitional claims G.E. Moore sought to refute, but a broader and more complex theory that maintains that a sufficient understanding of human nature, history, and culture can fully explain morality; that nothing is left hanging. A theory that coherently brings together the needed biological, psychological, and cultural facts I shall call a philosophical anthropology; it is a theory that: 1) takes the good for humans – both an ultimate good (if there is any) and other important goods – to depend on human nature; 2) argues that a rudimentary but improving scientific and philosophical theory of human nature now exists, and thus denies that people are "essenceless"; 3) takes this theory to be evolutionary and historical, making the question "How did morality originate?" pivotal for ethical theory, but leaves open the empirical question of the relative importance of biological and cultural evolution; and 4) takes the origin of the moral ideas to be explainable in terms of human nature and history.


The tort law of negligence is one of our principal forms of protection against accidental physical injury. But it is underspecified in one respect and incomplete in another. The common law of negligence is underspecified in that its norm of reasonable care does not register clearly enough the fact that it is reasonable to take greater precautions against some kinds of physical injuries — severe and irreparable ones — than it is against other kinds — mild and fully repairable ones. The common law of negligence is incomplete in that it relies on the award of money damages to induce prospective injurers to exercise reasonable care prospectively, yet does not so much as attempt to fully monetize the harm done by unreasonable risks that result in death.


This paper presents a desk research that analysed available recent studies in the field of Technology Enhanced Learning. The desk research is focused on work produced in the frame of FP6 and FP7 European programs, in the area of Information and Communication Technologies. It concentrates in technologies that support existing forms of learning, and also in technologies that enhance new learning paradigms. This approach includes already adopted and successfully piloted technologies. The elaboration of the desk research had three main parts: firstly, the collection of documents from CORDIS and other institutions related to TEL research; secondly, the identification of relevant terms appearing in those documents and the elaboration of a thesaurus; and thirdly, a quantitative analysis of each term occurrences. Many of the identified technologies belong to the fields of interactive multimedia, Human-computer Interaction and-or related to recommendation and learning analytics. This study becomes a thorough review of the current state of these fields through the actual development of R&D European projects. This research, will be used as a basis to better understand the evolution of the sector, and to focus future research efforts on these sectors and their application to education.


Materials in contact with tissue and biological fluids affect cell reaction that could eventually lead to clinical complications (i.e. thrombosis, restenosis). Improving the biological performances of the materials used for biomedical applications is the main goal of this study. In particular, cardiovascular devices require excellent haemo- and biocompatibility properties. PTFE is currently the main material used for vascular prostheses. After long contact periods with blood, clinical complications leading to thrombosis and restenosis are often reported. Improving the haematological performances of PTFE could significantly increase its life-time and decrease long-term complications. However, inadequately engineered surfaces could trigger the coagulation cascade with the formation of a clot, the first step towards a thrombosis. Plasma carbon-based coatings with varying nitrogen contents deposited on PTFE have been studied as promising coating to improve the haematological performances of PTFE implants. In this work, several techniques were applied to study the viscoelastic properties of blood after contact with virgin and treated PTFE as well as the presence and the clot morphology eventually formed onto the surfaces. The chemical composition of the surfaces was analysed with XPS and FTIR.


Aims: The aim of this study is to evaluate the hardness and degree of conversion (DC) of different bulk-fill materials when cured with the Quartz Tungsten Halogen (QTH) and Light emitting diode (LED) devices using same energy density. Settings and Design: This was in vitro study. Materials and Methods: Three different bulk-fill materials, i.e., Filtek™ [3M ESPE], Tetric® N-Ceram [Ivoclar Vivadent], and SDR (Smart Dentin Replacement) by Dentsply Caulk, were used for making 180 samples (60 samples each) in Teflon mold. Out of these 60 samples, samples of three heights were prepared, i.e., 2 mm, 4 mm, and 6 mm (20 each). All the sample molds were filled in single increment and were exposed to the QTH and LED using the same energy density. Then, these samples were tested for microhardness using the Vickers hardness (VH) testing machine (Mitutoyo, Japan) and DC using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscope (Cary 630 FTIR Agilent Technologies, Germany). Statistical Analysis Used: The statistical analysis was performed on the collected data. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests showed that the data are normally distributed. Since all the variables were continuous and statistically independent, independent t-test was applied to compare mean values of VH and DC of inter groups. Results: The statistical analysis of readings revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean values of microhardness and % DC for both groups cured by QTH and LED. Conclusions: It can be concluded that irrespective of the type of the light cure unit if the energy density applied is same then almost similar performance can be expected from the devices.


The research presented in this thesis models the diffusion-weighted MRI signal within brain white matter
tissue. We are interested in deriving descriptive microstructure indices such as white matter axon
diameter and density from the observed diffusion MRI signal. The motivation is to obtain non-invasive
reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis of brain development and disease. We use both
analytic and numerical models to investigate which properties of the tissue and aspects of the diffusion
process affect the diffusion signal we measure.
First we develop a numerical method to approximate the tissue structure as closely as possible. We
construct three-dimensional meshes, from a stack of confocal microscopy images using the marching
cubes algorithm. The experiment demonstrates the technique using a biological phantom (asparagus).
We devise an MRI protocol to acquire data from the sample. We use the mesh models as substrates in
Monte-Carlo simulations to generate synthetic MRI measurements. To test the feasibility of the method
we compare simulated measurements from the three-dimensional mesh with scanner measurements from
the same sample and simulated measurements from an extruded mesh and much simpler parametric models.
The results show that the three-dimensional mesh model matches the data better than the extruded
mesh and the parametric models revealing the sensitivity of the diffusion signal to the microstructure.
The second study constructs a taxonomy of analytic multi-compartment models of white matter by
combining intra- and extra-axonal compartments from simple models. We devise an imaging protocol
that allows diffusion sensitisation parallel and perpendicular to tissue fibres. We use the protocol to
acquire data from two fixed rat brains, which allows us to fit, study and evaluate the models. We conclude
that models which incorporate non-zero axon radius describe the measurements most accurately. The
key observation is a departure of signals in the parallel direction from the two-compartment models,
suggesting restriction, most likely from glial cells or binding of water molecules to the membranes. The
addition of the third compartment can capture this departure and explain the data.
The final study investigates the estimates using in vivo brain diffusion measurements. We adjust the
imaging protocol to allow an in vivo MRI acquisition of a rat brain and compare and assess the taxonomy
of models. We then select the models that best explain the in vivo data and compare the estimates with
those from the ex vivo measurements to identify any discrepancies. The results support the addition of
the third compartment model as per the ex vivo findings, however the ranking of the models favours the
zero radius intra-axonal compartments.


Volume 6 of the Collected Works of Eric Voegelin offers the first translation of the full German text of Anamnesis published in 1966. The previous English edition, translated by Gerhart Niemeyer, focused largely on the sections of Anamnesis dealing directly with Voegelin's philosophy of consciousness. It omitted some of the extensive historical studies on which the philosophy of consciousness was based. To properly understand Voegelin's work, however, it is essential to give equal weight to the empirical as well as the philosophical aspects. This complete version of Anamnesis captures the full integrity of his vision. It is at once scientific, in the sense of fidelity to the demands of historiographic scholarship, and philosophical, in exploring the significance of the texts for the meaning of human existence in society and history. Anamnesis is a pivotal work within Voegelin's intellectual odyssey. Alone among Voegelin's books, it reveals an author looking back and taking stock of his growth rather than customarily forging ahead into new regions and new problems. This critical work is both a recollection of Voegelin's own development, reaching back even to his infant memories, and a demonstration of the anamnetic method as applied to a wide range of historically remembered materials. Written as more than just a collection of essays, Anamnesis is the volume in which Voegelin works out for himself the reconceptualization of what Order and History, and by definition his central philosophical approach, is going to be. By revisiting his previous work - a departure from Voegelin's usual scholarly habits - he found at last the literary form for the kind of empirical philosophical meditation that had long absorbed his labors. Parts I and III contain two meditative exercises written by Voegelin in 1943 and 1965, respectively. The first exercise was the breakthrough by which Voegelin recovered consciousness from the current theories of consciousness. Part III begins as a rethinking of the Aristotelian exegesis of consciousness, and then expands into new areas of awareness that had not come within the knowledge of classic philosophy. Between the two meditations are eight studies that demonstrate how the historical phenomena of order gave rise to the type of analysis which culminates in the meditative exploration of consciousness.


A comprehensive collection of letters spanning the adult life (1914-1973) of one of the world's most famous storytellers. 'It is not possible even at great length to "pot" The Lord of the Rings in a paragraph or two. It was begun in 1936, and every part has been written many times...the labour has been colossal; and it must stand or fall, practically as it is.' J.R.R. Tolkien was one of the most prolific letter writers of this century. Over the years he wrote to his publishers, his family, to friends (including C.S. Lewis, W.H. Auden and Naomi Mitchison) and to fans of his books. The letters present a fascinating and highly detailed portrait of the man in many of his aspects: as storyteller, scholar, Catholic, parent and observer of the world around him. They also shed much light on his creative genius and grand design for the creation of a whole new world - Middle-earth. This collection will appeal not only to the legions of Tolkien fans, but will entertain anyone who appreciates the art of letter-writing, of which Tolkien was a master. 'I am nearly always written to as Tolkein (not by you): I do not know why, since it is pronounced by me always -keen.'


The activation of defense genes in tomato plants has been shown to be mediated by an octadecanoic acid-based signaling pathway in response to herbivore attack or other mechanical wounding. We report here that a tomato mutant (JL5) deficient in the activation of would-inducible defense genes is also compromised in resistance toward the lepidopteran predator Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm). Thus we propose the name defenseless1 (def1) for the mutation in the JL5 line that mediates this altered defense response. In experiments designed to define the normal function of DEF1, we found that def1 plants are defective in defense gene signaling initiated by prosystemin overexpression in transgenic plants as well as by oligosaccharide (chitosan and polygalacturonide) and polypeptide (systemin) elicitors. Supplementation of plants through their cut stems with intermediates of the octadecanoid pathway indicates that def1 plants are affected in octadecanoid metabolism between the synthesis of hydroperoxylinolenic acid and 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid. Consistent with this defect, def1 plants are also compromised in their ability to accumulate jasmonic acid, the end product of the pathway, in response to wounding and the aforementioned elicitors. Taken together, these results show that octadecanoid metabolism plays an essential role in the transduction of upstream would signals to the activation of antiherbivore plant defenses.


A common problem for taxable investors is how much to diversify either a low cost basis single–asset or concentrated portfolio. While tax–exempt theory is clear on the benefits of diversification, and there are useful industry methods for addressing this, in the presence of taxes there are no standard approaches to arriving at a considered choice. The authors propose an analytic and intuitive framework for addressing the problem, considering only two investment alternatives. By defining a tax–deferred equivalent of the taxable investor, they are able to adapt standard analytical methods and view the diversification decision in the presence of taxes as a conventional risk–return trade–off, provided the appropriate tax–deferred performance measures are used. Greater diversification is needed with greater initial asset volatility, with longer investment horizons, with lower expected return of the initial asset, and with a higher cost basis. Less diversification is needed when the investor receives a step–up in basis at the horizon. The results highlight the substantial risks incurred in concentrated holdings and often support high levels of diversification, even in the face of taxes.


Infants of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive women have a 5% risk of infection and require screening according to the 2008 HCV protocol. Children of drug users have poor health attendance rates. The neonatal abstinence (NAS) follow-up clinic provides a service to infants born to substance and alcohol using mothers. This audit aimed to establish whether children born to HCV infected mothers referred to the NAS clinic from January to December 2007 were screened according to the protocol. Results 83 children were referred to the NAS Clinic, 12 mothers declined or were not offered HCV antenatal screening. 51/71(72%) were HCV antibody negative. 20/71 (28%) were HCV antibody positive of whom 8 were HCV RNA PCR positive. 18/20 (90%) of the infants were screened and all were HCV antibody negative at final testing. One child has not been screened due to persistent non-attendance and liaison by the specialist nurse and social care has enabled the child to be booked for future testing. Conclusion 28% of mothers were HCV antibody. None of the children screened were found to be positive for HCV infection. More than 50% of the children of confirmed HCV positive mothers did not have tests carried out in time strict adherence to protocol was difficult due to chaotic nature of client group and poor clinic attendance. The current infant screening protocol should be reviewed to consider whether screening infants of HCV antibody positive, PCR negative mothers is justified given that this probably reflects past infection and low risk to the infant.


In order to generate an initial reversible/quantum circuit to realize a given Boolean function, one of the major approaches is to find a small Exclusive-or Sum-Of-Products (ESOP) expression for the function; each product term in the ESOP expression naturally corresponds to a single Mixed Polarity Multiple-Control Toffoli (MPMCT) gate. In this paper, we propose a technique to perform pre-optimization before generating an ESOP expression. Our approach is unique in a sense that instead of finding a small ESOP expression for a given function, we try to change it by adding MPMCT gates so that the modified function has a smaller ESOP expression. We expect that our approach can generate a better initial circuit compared to using ESOP minimization techniques only. Indeed our preliminary experiments for small functions confirm this expectation. Thus, we expect that our approach would be a good pre-optimization technique that can be used with most existing reversible circuit synthesis techniques.


Site-specific recombination systems are powerful tools for genetic modification. They have been used to integrate a transgene into a pre-defined locus and to remove marker genes from a transgene locus. Two of the most widely used site-specific recombination systems in plants are the Cre/lox system from the bacteriophage P1 and the FLP/FRT system from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The Cre/lox system is well-characterized and is the first choice in application of site-specific recombination system. However, some applications such as markerfree site-specific gene integration require the use of two recombination systems. In addition, the availability of alternative recombination systems can offer a flexible choice or the opportunity to develop multiple applications in a single platform. Hence, the FLP/FRT system should be evaluated further for its recombination efficiency, particularly in rice, a model crop plant. Some studies using FLP/FRT systems, with the wild type FLP called FLPwt recombinase, reported low efficiency for regular application of the system in removal of transgenic locus. However, two improved versions of FLPwt: FLPe (thermostable version of FLPwt) and FLPo (mouse-codon optimized version of FLPe) are available and have not been carefully tested in plants. To look for the best choice of FLP recombinase variant in the application of the FLP/FRT system in crop genetic engineering, the relative recombination efficiencies of FLPwt, FLPe and FLPo for marker gene excision from the transgene locus in rice were evaluated. FLPwt, FLPe, and FLPo transgenic rice lines were generated and FLP activity in these lines was evaluated. These experiments revealed that FLPe and FLPo had much higher activity than FLPwt in removing FRT-flanked npt segment to fuse GUS gene with the promoter. These experiments also indicated that FLPo is relatively more efficient than FLPe. Thus, based upon results from the present study, I recommend the use of FLPo in plant genetic engineering. This thesis is approved for recommendation to the Graduate Council.


Modern medical imaging techniques provide an increasing amount of high-dimensional and high-resolution image data that need to be visualized, analyzed, and interpreted for diagnostic and treatment planning purposes. As a consequence, efficient ways of exploring these images are needed. In order to work with specific patient cases, it is necessary to be able to work directly with the medical image volumes and to generate the relevant 3D structures directly as they are needed for visualization and analysis. This requires efficient tools for segmentation, i.e., separation of objects from each other and from the background. Segmentation is hard to automate due to, e.g., high shape variability of organs and limited contrast between tissues. Manual segmentation, on the other hand, is tedious and error-prone. An approach combining the merits from automatic and manual methods is semi-automatic segmentation, where the user interactively provides input to the methods. For complex medical image volumes, the interactive part can be highly 3D oriented and is therefore dependent on the user interface. This thesis presents methods for interactive segmentation and visualization where true 3D interaction with haptic feedback and stereo graphics is used. Well-known segmentation methods such as fast marching, fuzzy connectedness, live-wire, and deformable models, have been tailored and extended for implementation in a 3D environment where volume visualization and haptics are used to guide the user. The visualization is accelerated with graphics hardware and therefore allows for volume rendering in stereo at interactive rates. The haptic feedback is rendered with constraint-based direct volume haptics in order to convey information about the data that is hard to visualize and thereby facilitate the interaction. The methods have been applied to real medical images, e.g., 3D liver CT data and 4D breast MR data with good results. To provide a tool for future work in this area, a software toolkit containing the implementations of the developed methods has been made publicly available.


In the first part of this paper the species of a few of the larger genera among Sumatran Carabidae have been tabulated, either because no Keys exist already, or because the old Keys have become obsolete. The four genera included here are Colpodes, Orthogonius, Catascopus, and Dolichoctis, but for various reasons I have not dealt with Clivina, Tachys, Chlaenius, and Perigona. Most of the species of Clivina are included in the Key to the Indian species in my first volume on the Carabidae in the "Fauna of British India" Series, 1929 (p. 353), and nearly all those under Tachys appear in the tables of my "Revision of the Oriental Species" (Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. LI, 1925, pp. 327—502); the "Tableau Synoptique" in Chaudoir's "Monographic des Chleniens" (Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. VIII, 1876, pp. 11—25) still holds good for the great majority of the species in the genus Chlaenius, and I have myself recently published a "Key to the Sumatran species of Perigona" (Tijdsch. v. Ent. LXXII, 1929, p. 326), which includes all but one species more recently described. After the Keys there are described in the second part of the paper one new genus and fourteen new species; a considerable number of these come from the collection of the Buitenzorg Museum, the Director of which has very kindly allowed me to retain the type specimens in my own collection, but there are new species from the Leiden, British, Brussels, Genoa, Stockholm, and Federated Malay States Museums, from the collection of the Lycee at Mulhouse, and from my own collection. Key to the Sumatran species of Colpodes. 1) 1 (34) Prothorax with two lateral setae on each side; elytra with three dorsal pores.


Background: The combined action of androgens and estrogens—specifically their balance—may play a role in prostate carcinogenesis, but existing evidence is sparse and inconsistent. We investigated associations between serum sex steroid hormones, including estrogen metabolites, and risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Methods: In a case–control study nested within the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial cohort, we measured serum estrone, estradiol, and 13 estrogen metabolites, in the 2-, 4-, or 16-hydroxylation pathways, using an LC/MS-MS assay. Cases (n = 195) were non-Hispanic white men ages 55 to 70 years when diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer (stage III or IV and/or Gleason ≥7). Controls (n = 195) were non-Hispanic white men without prostate cancer who were frequency matched to cases by age and year at blood draw, and time since baseline screen. Only men with serum testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin measured previously were eligible. Logistic regression models were used to estimate ORs and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Risk of aggressive prostate cancer was strongly inversely associated with estradiol:testosterone ratio (OR4th quartile vs. 1st = 0.27; 95% CI, 0.12–0.59, Ptrend = 0.003) and positively associated with 2:16α-hydroxyestrone ratio (OR4th quartile vs. 1st = 2.44; 95% CI, 1.34–4.45, Ptrend = 0.001). Individual estrogen metabolites were unrelated to risk. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that sex steroid hormones, specifically the estrogen-androgen balance, may be important in the development of aggressive prostate cancer. Impact: Improved understanding of the hormonal etiology of prostate cancer is critical for prevention and therapeutic interventions. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 23(11); 2374–82. ©2014 AACR.


Comparative Religious Law provides for the first time a study of the regulatory instruments of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious organisations in Britain in light of their historical religious laws. Norman Doe questions assumptions about the pervasiveness, character and scope of religious laws, from the view that they are not or should not be recognised by civil law, to the idea that there may be a fundamental incompatibility between religious and civil law. It proposes that religious laws pervade society, are recognised by civil law, have both a religious and temporal character, and regulate wide areas of believers' lives. Subjects include sources of law, faith leaders, governance, worship and education, rites of passage, divorce and children, and religion-State relations. A Charter of 'the principles of religious law' common to all three Abrahamic faiths is proposed, to stimulate greater mutual understanding between religion and society and between the three faiths themselves.


Batch computing and stream computing are two important forms of big data computing. The research and discussions on batch computing in big data environment are comparatively sufficient. But how to efficiently deal with stream computing to meet many requirements, such as low latency, high throughput and continuously reliable running, and how to build efficient stream big data computing systems, are great challenges in the big data computing research. This paper provides a research of the data computing architecture and the key issues in stream computing in big data environments. Firstly, the research gives a brief summary of three application scenarios of stream computing in business intelligence, marketing and public service. It also shows distinctive features of the stream computing in big data environment, such as real time, volatility, burstiness, irregularity and infinity. A well-designed stream computing system always optimizes in system structure, data transmission, application interfaces, high-availability, and so on. Subsequently, the research offers detailed analyses and comparisons of five typical and open-source stream computing systems in big data environment. Finally, the research specifically addresses some new challenges of the stream big data systems, such as scalability, fault tolerance, consistency, load balancing and throughput.


(a) Marine environment. The term Marine Environment means any or all of the following: the coastal zone, as defined in section 304(1) of the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453(1)); the seabed, subsoil and waters of the territorial sea of the United States, including the Great Lakes; the waters of any zone over which the United States asserts exclusive fishery management authority; the waters of the high seas; and the seabed and subsoil of and beyond the Outer Continental Shelf. (b) Ocean, Great Lakes, and coastal resources. The term ocean, Great Lakes, and coastal resources means any resource (whether living, nonliving, manmade, tangible, intangible, actual, or potential) which is located in, derived from, or traceable to, the marine environment. Such term includes the habitat of any such living resource, the coastal space, the ecosystems, the nutrient-rich areas, and the other components of the marine environment which contribute to or provide (or which are capable of contributing to or providing) recreational, scenic, aesthetic, biological, habitational, commercial, economic, or conservation values. Living resources include natural and cultured plant life, fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and wildlife. Nonliving resources include energy sources, minerals, and chemical substances. (c) Person. The term Person means any public or private corporation, partnership, or other association or entity (including any Sea Grant College, Sea Grant Regional Consortium, institution of higher education, institute, or laboratory); or any State, political subdivision of a State, or agency or officer thereof. (d) Sea Grant College. The term Sea Grant College means any public or private institution of higher education or confederation of such institutions which is designated as such by the Secretary under section 207 of the National Sea Grant Program Act. Included in this term are all campuses (or other administrative entities) of a designated Sea Grant College, working through the established management structure of the Sea Grant College. (e) Sea Grant Program. The term Sea Grant Program means any program which: (1) Is administered by a Sea Grant College, Sea Grant Regional Consortium, institution of higher education, institute, laboratory, or State or local agency; and (2) Includes two or more Sea Grant projects involving one or more of the following activities in fields related to ocean, Great Lakes, and coastal resources: (i) Research, (ii) Education and training, and (iii) Advisory services. (f) Sea Grant project. A Sea Grant project is any separately described activity which has been proposed to the National Sea Grant College Program, and has subsequently been approved. (g) Sea Grant Regional Consortium. The term Sea Grant Regional Consortium means any association or other alliance of two or more persons as defined above (other than individuals) established for the purpose of pursuing programs in marine research education,


An apparatus for emitting and receiving sound signals includes a cylinder into which a sound transducer is mounted. The transducer is mounted to transmit a sound beam normal to the axis of the cylinder. The cylinder is connected to a position detection circuit for determining the angular position of the cylinder about its axis. A system for processing data produced by such a sound transducer apparatus includes circuitry for determining the true position of the cylinder from the position circuit, for alternately causing the transducer to emit and receive sound energy, and for sampling the energy signal received by the transducer when the position detection circuit indicates that the cylinder is at one of several preselected angles. The sampled information is recorded on paper or magnetic media.


This study examines two interrelated but separate issues: cross-sectional predictability of equity returns in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), and transmission of stock market movements. The first essay empirically investigates to what extent the evidence of three major documented stock market anomalies (earnings-price ratio, firm size, and book-to-market ratio) can be generalized across national stock markets. The second essay studies the price and volatility spillover effects from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to the SET. The first essay, using the Fama-Macbeth procedure and the pooled time-series cross-sectional GLS regressions, finds a weak relation between the beta and average stock returns. The adjustment of estimated beta for the effect of thin trading does not change the implications of the results. Of the three anomalies investigated, the size effect has the most prominent and consistent role in explaining average returns. For the earnings-price ratio, the results indicate that the significance of the E/P ratio variable persists only if the nonfinancial firms are considered. In contrast to the previous empirical results for the U.S. and Japanese stock markets, the book-to-market ratio fails to explain the SET equity returns. The second essay employs a generalized autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic (GARCH) model with conditional t-distributed errors to investigate the spillover effects. No evidence of price spillover effects is found for the full sample period. However, the spillover effects are significant during the period in which the Federal Reserve Board raised interest rates. Further examinations reveal that information inferred from price changes in the U.S. market influences only the opening price in the SET, not the open-to-close Thai stock market returns. This implies that price in the SET is informationally efficient with respect to the price determined in the U.S. stock market. The evidence is generally supportive of international financial integration and informational efficiency in the Thai stock market.


Introduction: Unmet need for family planning refers to gap between some women's reproductive intention and their contraceptive behaviour. This poses a challenge to the family planning programme. Objectives: To find out the extent of unmet need, associated socio-demographic factors and possible reasons for unmet need among pregnant women. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 523 pregnant women attending antenatal clinic of Primary health center attached to a medical college in Bangalore for a period of 7 months using pretested semi-structured questionnaire by interview. Descriptive statistics was used for summarization of the data. Statistical association was determined using chi-square test. Results: In the present study the extent of unmet need among pregnant women was 122(23.3%), 99(19.0 %) for spacing the birth and 23(4.3%) for limiting the birth. Unmet need was significantly associated with socio-economic status, number of living children. The main reason for unmet need for family planning was opposition by family members (n=59, 48.3%). Conclusion: The study found that women cited a range of reasons that prevented them from using contraceptives. To address these issues needs various measures like imparting proper family planning education by conducting awareness programmes at the community level, removing misconceptions regarding family planning etc.


Viral activity exerts a particularly important role in the dark ocean across the global tropical and subtropical oceans. Viruses are a key component of marine ecosystems, but the assessment of their global role in regulating microbial communities and the flux of carbon is precluded by a paucity of data, particularly in the deep ocean. We assessed patterns in viral abundance and production and the role of viral lysis as a driver of prokaryote mortality, from surface to bathypelagic layers, across the tropical and subtropical oceans. Viral abundance showed significant differences between oceans in the epipelagic and mesopelagic, but not in the bathypelagic, and decreased with depth, with an average power-law scaling exponent of −1.03 km−1 from an average of 7.76 × 106 viruses ml−1 in the epipelagic to 0.62 × 106 viruses ml−1 in the bathypelagic layer with an average integrated (0 to 4000 m) viral stock of about 0.004 to 0.044 g C m−2, half of which is found below 775 m. Lysogenic viral production was higher than lytic viral production in surface waters, whereas the opposite was found in the bathypelagic, where prokaryotic mortality due to viruses was estimated to be 60 times higher than grazing. Free viruses had turnover times of 0.1 days in the bathypelagic, revealing that viruses in the bathypelagic are highly dynamic. On the basis of the rates of lysed prokaryotic cells, we estimated that viruses release 145 Gt C year−1 in the global tropical and subtropical oceans. The active viral processes reported here demonstrate the importance of viruses in the production of dissolved organic carbon in the dark ocean, a major pathway in carbon cycling.


We report on a newly excavated Spathian (Lower Triassic) bonebed on Marmierfjellet, Central Spitsbergen. The bonebed contains a varied material of bones and teeth from marine vertebrates along with conodont elements. The fauna of the bonebed could prove interesting in a global context of recovery and speciation after the Late Permian mass extinction. For this reason it is important to place the bonebed in a stratigraphic and chronologic framework. The bonebed sits within the Grippia niveau and is likely to be the one first described by Stensiö in 1921. The bonebed and the Grippia niveau are part of the Vendomdalen Member of the Vikinghøgda Formation. Based on the level in the stratigraphy, the bonebed most likely correlates to the Bajarunia euomphala Zone or the Parasibirites grambergi Zone which makes it either early or early/middle Spathian in age. Some conodont elements from the bonebed are reworked from older sediments but the youngest found are supporting a Spathian age. Vanadium data and TOC content from the bonebed indicate that it was formed under increasingly anoxic conditions.


We numerically report super-flat coherent mid-infrared supercontinuum (MIR-SC) generation in a chalcogenide As38.8Se61.2 photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The dispersion and nonlinear parameters of As38.8Se61.2 chalcogenide PCFs by varying the diameter of the air holes are engineered to obtain all-normal dispersion (ANDi) with high nonlinearities. We show that launching low-energy 50 fs optical pulses with 0.88 kW peak power (corresponding to pulse energy of 0.05 nJ) at a central wavelength of 3.7 μm into a 5 cm long ANDi-PCF generates a flat-top coherent MIR-SC spanning from 2900 to 4575 nm with a high spectral flatness of 3 dB. This ultra-wide and flattened spectrum has excellent stability and coherence properties that can be used for MIR applications such as medical diagnosis of diseases, atmospheric pollution monitoring, and drug detection.


The Association Between Articulator Movement and Formant Histories in Diphthongs Across Speaking Contexts Janae Valyn Christensen Department of Communication Disorders, BYU Master of Science This study examined the effect of context on the association between formant trajectories and tongue and lip kinematics in the American English diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/. Seventeen native speakers of American English had electromagnetic sensors placed on their tongue and lips to record kinematic signals that were time-aligned with the corresponding acoustic recording. Speakers produced the diphthongs in isolation, in a single word rVl context, in a phrase hVd context, and in a sentence context. Kinematic data and the F1 and F2 trajectories were extracted from the middle 50% of each diphthong production. To allow direct comparison of signals with different units of measurement, all data were converted to z-scores. The z-score records were plotted together on common axes. For each tracked sensor from each diphthong production, an absolute difference between the kinematic and acoustic variables was calculated. Average zscore difference sums were calculated for each speaker's /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ production in each context, and this measure was called the Acoustic Kinematic Disparity Index (AKDI). A repeated measures ANOVA was used to test for main context effects on the AKDI, with concurrent contrasts to test for differences between the baseline (isolated diphthong) condition and the more complex phonetic contexts. The results revealed that context has a significant impact on acoustic and kinematic relationships. The sentence context resulted in the highest number of significantly different AKDI values when compared to the isolated condition, the single word rVl context resulted in the second highest number, and the phrase level hVd context resulted in the least differences. These findings suggest, therefore, that more complex phonetic contexts have a greater effect on the acoustic and kinematic relationship. These findings imply that caution is warranted in relying on acoustics to draw inferences about articulator movements in complex phonetic contexts. These results further indicate that the investigation of sounds produced in one context does not necessarily allow a straightforward generalization to other contexts.


The canonical problem of surface-wave propagation guided by the interface of two semi-infinite rugate filters made of isotropic dielectric materials was formulated and solved. Numerical studies showed that multiple Tamm waves—with different phase speeds, polarization states, and degrees of localization—can be guided by the interface of a homogeneous dielectric material and a rugate filter. Multiple Tamm waves and optical Tamm states are supported by a phase-defect interface in a rugate filter. A sudden change of either the mean refractive index or the amplitude of the sinusoidal variation of the refractive index also creates an interface that can guide multiple Tamm waves, as can the interface of two distinct rugate filters. Whereas the Tamm waves can be either p or s polarized, all optical Tamm states were found to be p polarized.


Recent years have seen major political crises throughout the world, and foreign policy analysts nearly universally expect to see rising tensions within (and between) countries in the next 5–20 years. Being able to predict future crises and to assess the resilience of different countries to various shocks is of foremost importance in averting the potentially huge human costs of state collapse and civil war. The premise of this paper is that a transdisciplinary approach to forecasting social breakdown, recovery, and resilience is entirely feasible, as a result of recent breakthroughs in statistical analysis of large-scale historical data, the qualitative insights of historical and semiotic investigations, and agent-based models that translate between micro-dynamics of interacting individuals and the collective macro-level events emerging from these interactions. Our goal is to construct a series of probabilistic scenarios of social breakdown and recovery, based on historical crises and outcomes, which can aid the analysis of potential outcomes of future crises. We call this approach—similar in spirit to ensemble forecasting in weather prediction—multipath forecasting (MPF). This paper aims to set out the methodological premises and basic stages envisaged to realize this goal within a transdisciplinary research collaboration: first, the statistical analysis of a massive database of past instances of crisis to determine how actual outcomes (the severity of disruption and violence, the speed of resolution) depend on inputs (economic, political, and cultural factors); second, the encoding of these analytical insights into probabilistic, empirically informed computational models of societal breakdown and recovery—the MPF engine; third, testing the MPF engine to "predict" the trajectories and outcomes of another set of past social upheavals, which were not used in building the model. This "historical retrodiction" is an innovation that will allow us to further refine the MPF technology. Ultimately our vision is to use MPF to help write what we call "a history of possible futures," in which the near- and medium-term paths of societies are probabilistically forecast.


As a relatively new software model, there remain many challenges in realising a true service-oriented vision. The service-oriented systems which underpin modern business processes must be able to react to constantly changing environments and business requirements. The quality of a service-oriented system depends not only on the quality of service (QoS) provided by services, but on the interdependencies between services, resource constraints imposed by the runtime environment, and events such as network outages. It is difficult to anticipate the impact that many of these emergent factors will have on the behaviour of the system. The third-party nature of software services also presents the service consumer with limited control over the quality of a system. Existing quality assurance initiatives for service-oriented systems are currently limited in the service quality control they offer the consumer, provide poor support for expressing quality characteristics, provide poor support for quality assurance at runtime, provide poor support for resource-restricted systems, and offer limited scope for integration and customisation to provide an end-to-end quality assurance solution. To address these issues, this thesis presents the development of an integrated quality assurance framework, which combines quality assurance approaches from the service description and selection, service monitoring, service negotiation, and reputation system domains. The approach is illustrated with a series of service-oriented experiments, which evaluate the role of the framework in the system quality assurance process.


To understand how much of the published medical journal literature is currently openly available from publishers, we studied 174 journal titles in research and clinical medicine from Thomson Scientific's ISI Citation Databases. Nearly one third of the journals studied have some or all of their recent content freely available through the journal's web site. Forty-six journals (26%) offered their most recent content immediately available without charge; an additional 12 journals (7%) make all content available within a specified period after initial publication. We also considered content back to 1992, a file depth approximately twice the cited half-life of the journals in aggregate. Although 93% of the journals have their current issue and one or more back years available electronically, we estimated that less than 60% of article content since 1992 is electronically available and 21% is open access (OA). Considering other paths to OA (partial open access or e-print archives) would increase this percentage.


Objective: In order to analyze the composition and characteristics of pathogens resistance, provide reference for rational use of antibiotics, clinical bacteria isolated from COPD patients in our hospital was investigated.
Methods: The 710 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were collected from August 2010 to February 2014. All patients required to multiple gargle with water or hydrogen peroxide before collecting specimens, ensuring a sterile culture spit sputum specimen box. Susceptibility was determined by the United States Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) developed by KB.
Results: Gram-negative bacteria as the main species which 813 species were isolated from 710 cases of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pseudomonas aeruginosa based. Gram-positive bacilli was in second place, Staphylococcus aureus, fungi ranks No. 3, Gram-negative bacilli species number and composition were significantly higher than that of Gram-positive bacteria and fungi, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii resistant to cefazolin higher rate, the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Gram-negative bacteria are the main pathogens, and resistance was so strong. So we need to constantly monitor the bacteria resistance, and to guide rationally clinical medicine.


The 'eGovernance' hype around the potential of mobile phone and geoweb technologies for enhancing 'good governance' is soaring. In East Africa, the extensive use of mobile telephony adds to the imagined promises of ICT. We reflect on the assumptions made by the proponents of such tools, using our own action research project as an example. We took great care to consider context in the development of software for enhancing empowerment and accountability in rural water supply in Tanzania. However, we found that the rural water supply context in Tanzania is much more complex than the contexts for which successful mApps have been developed previously. Institutional analysis and public administration theory help to understand why. Rural water supply shows institutional hybridity, with water being at the same time a private, public and common-pool good. In addition, in accountability relations, many informal mechanisms prevail where explicit reporting is not relevant. Finally, our proposal sat uneasily with other ongoing iGovernment initiatives. We conclude that we need to consider eGovernance tools as political Apps that can be expected to trigger political responses


This paper is designed to study the perception of the consumer about online shopping, to know the optimistic and pessimistic influence of online shopping on the consumers and to study the consumer behaviour towards online shopping. For the study, the researcher has selected 50 respondents who are familiar with Amazon. It particularly focused on the problems or the benefits availed from online shopping. A common problem faced by the customer while shopping online is quality service .the biggest problem while buying things online is that there is no guarantee of product quality, digital payments failure, unclear returns and guarantee policies, cyber security or more precisely the lack of it is a major problem on the internet today All levels of customers were surveyed by using a questionnaire, and the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction from the online shopping was studied. Finally, the detail information about the benefits they had received was also considered. A small attempt has been made to understand the benefits of online shopping, and also the limitation of online shopping was studied concerning AMAZON. Finally, it attempts to offer suggestions to customers to educate much more about online shopping.


This paper shows that a perturbed form of gradient descent converges to a second-order stationary point in a number iterations which depends only poly-logarithmically on dimension (i.e., it is almost "dimension-free"). The convergence rate of this procedure matches the well-known convergence rate of gradient descent to first-order stationary points, up to log factors. When all saddle points are non-degenerate, all second-order stationary points are local minima, and our result thus shows that perturbed gradient descent can escape saddle points almost for free. Our results can be directly applied to many machine learning applications, including deep learning. As a particular concrete example of such an application, we show that our results can be used directly to establish sharp global convergence rates for matrix factorization. Our results rely on a novel characterization of the geometry around saddle points, which may be of independent interest to the non-convex optimization community.


This popular series, by a distinguished professor of physical medicine, has proved helpful to physicians and therapists all over the world. Each book offers sound, common-sense guidance in diagnosing and treating painful and disabling conditions.In every book, the author's lucid text and instructional drawings provide a strong foundation in the basic and functional anatomy of the pain's region. He discusses various painful conditions and shows how each condition is related to the abnormal mechanism causing the pain or disability. Specific and practical suggestions for treatment help to correct or alter the abnormality discovered from the history and physical examination. Details on the individual books follow.


Despite advances in prostate cancer (PC) treatment and outcomes, it remains one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers and the second leading cause of cancer mortality in men. Furthermore, there exist little data about patient awareness of PC and the frequency of screening. Adult men (470) presenting to the emergency department at a tertiary care center (Stony Brook University) between 2014 and 2015 were surveyed orally for their perceived risk of PC, awareness of PC and screening modalities, and screening history. In a population that mirrors the racial demographics of the United States, it was observed that significant disparities in awareness of PC exist among several populations including those at greatest risk. This study revealed an important opportunity for education on PC and screening modalities among the population of men at risk.


Although the performance of twin screw compressors is heavily dependent on the rotor clearances within them, chamber models, used as design aids, allow for the specification of their magnitude and distribution but do not account for how these may vary during operation, as a result of internal temperature changes caused by the compression process.

A validated procedure has therefore been developed to enable a chamber model to predict compressor performance, while including the effects of rotor and casing distortion resulting from dependant thermal effects. This has been achieved by the use of surface boundary mapping to calculate the rotor and casing temperature exposure within the compression chamber resulting from initial performance estimates. These detailed temperature distributions are processed analytically using appropriate assumptions that allow calculation of component temperatures and thermal growth.

A program for calculation of leakage area curves has been adapted to support locally calculated variations in clearances. These updated area curves can then be fed back into the chamber model in an iterative procedure to simulate performance with thermally distorted clearances.

The inclusion of thermal clearance corrections generally improved the accuracy of the chamber model when predictions from it were compared with test results over a wide range of operating pressures and temperatures.

Furthermore, this work was found to be applicable in the evaluation of the interlobe clearance distribution between the rotors. Predicting clearance distortions and likely areas of rotor to rotor contact at a particular operating duty allows clearances to be optimised for the correct balance between performance and reliability; the results thus obtained were supported by findings from available test and tear down results.


A CMOS SPAD-based QVGA image sensor with 8μm pixel pitch and 26.8% fill factor is presented. The combination of analogue pixel electronics and scalable sharedwell SPAD devices facilitate high resolution, high fill-factor SPAD imaging arrays exhibiting photon shot noise limited statistics. The SPAD has 47CPS dark count rate at 1.5V excess bias (EB), 39.5% photon detection probability at 480nm and minimum 1.1ns dead time at 1V EB. Analogue single photon counting imaging is demonstrated with maximum 14.2mV/SPAD event sensitivity and 0.06eminimum equivalent read noise. Binary Quanta Image Sensor (QIS) 16kFPS real-time oversampling is shown, verifying single photon QIS theory with 4.6x over-exposure latitude and 0.168eread noise.


PURPOSE
To develop a method of verifying delivered dose based on time-varying 3D treatment images estimated from single kV projection images and a 4DCT-based patient-specific motion model.

METHODS
Delivered dose calculation is performed in two steps. In the first step 3D fluoroscopic (time-varying) images are generated from single 2D kV projection images. In the second step a set of 3D fluoroscopic images are used to calculate the delivered dose. 3D fluoroscopic images are estimate by creating a patient-specific lung motion model through deformable registration of 4DCT, and then iteratively optimization the parameters of the motion model. Using a modified digital XCAT phantom, the accuracy of the delivered dose calculated with our method was compared to the dose that would be calculated during routine 4DCT-based treatment planning and to the actual delivered dose. The planning dose was calculated on an average intensity projection (AIP) image. The actual delivered dose is calculated based on the defined motion of the digital XCAT phantom. The same treatment plan was delivered to all three phantoms. The treatment plan was developed from the AIP and designed as a 3×18 Gy SBRT plan.

RESULTS
The dose calculated on 3D fluoroscopic images closely matches to the actual delivered dose. Both the calculated and delivered doses vary from AIP-based planned dose. D95 tumor dose values of planned, delivered and calculated dose are 54.0, 59.0 and 58.4 Gy. Corresponding V20 lung values are 4.5%, 4.8% and 4.8% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
We introduced a novel method for delivered dose calculation. Our algorithm successfully generates a 3D fluoroscopic image from a single kV images and then uses these time-varying 3D images to accurately calculate delivered dose. The project described was supported, in part, by an RSNA Research Scholar Grant and Award Number R21CA156068 from the National Cancer Institute. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the RSNA, National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.


IMPORTANCE
Worse survival among patients with melanoma has been demonstrated in middle-aged and older men compared with women, but few studies have explored survival differences by sex in adolescents and young adults, in whom melanoma is the third most common cancer. Focusing on sex disparities in survival among younger individuals may provide further evidence of biological rather than behavioral factors that affect melanoma outcome.

OBJECTIVE
To determine whether long-term survival varies between white male and female adolescents and young adults with melanoma (15 to 39 years of age at diagnosis) in the United States.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
Population-based cohort with a mean follow-up of 7.5 years of 26,107 non-Hispanic white adolescents and young adults with primary invasive melanoma of the skin diagnosed from January 1, 1989, through December 31, 2009, and reported to the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results network of cancer registries.

MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURE
Melanoma-specific survival.

RESULTS
There were 1561 melanoma-specific deaths in the study population. Although adolescent and young adult males accounted for fewer overall melanoma cases (39.8%) than females, they comprised 63.6% of melanoma-specific deaths. Adolescent and young adult males were 55% more likely to die of melanoma than age-matched females after adjustment for tumor thickness, histologic subtype, presence and extent of metastasis, and anatomical location (hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.39-1.73). Males were also more likely to die within each age range assessed (eg, 15-24, 25-29, 30-34, and 35-39 years), and even those with thin melanomas (≤1.00 mm) were twice as likely to die as age-matched females (hazard ratio, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.57-2.42). Adjustment for health insurance and socioeconomic status in a subanalysis did not significantly alter these results.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Male sex is associated with worse survival among white adolescents and young adults with melanoma after controlling for thickness and other prognostic factors. Continued public health efforts are necessary to raise awareness of the outcome of melanoma in young men. Further investigation of possible biological mechanisms that account for these sex differences is merited.


Researchers using participatory methods that are engaging, purposeful and facilitate social change may need further pragmatic strategies to encourage the required change. Using pencil-and-paper drawings to introduce HIV & AIDS integration in a discipline such as Mathematics Education is an innovative participatory strategy to initiate change. However, following up on such innovations to encourage take-up of HIV & AIDS integration would benefit the initiative. The following research question guides this study: What pragmatic strategy could I use in pre-service Mathematics Education to further take-up of HIV & AIDS education integration in school disciplines? I explore HIV & AIDS integration in a pre-service Primary Mathematics Education module that I taught at a higher education institution in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, by studying the drawings and experiences of eight final-year pre-service teachers. I use a metaphor-drawing activity to disrupt the 'comfort zone' of teaching Mathematics, following up by providing the pre-service teachers with learner activities suitable for primary school classrooms. When asked if they were able to integrate HIV & AIDS in Mathematics classrooms, these generalist pre-service teachers appeared to rely on phase-specific teaching material in order to take up the initiative. There is a need to use innovative participatory methods to initiate change and to provide pragmatic support for this envisaged change.


ENHANCED ELECTROSPRAY IONIZATION FOR MASS SPECTROMETRY AND ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETRY Li Zhou Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Doctor of Philosophy Electrospray ionization (ESI) has become one of the most commonly used ionization techniques for mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), and efforts continue to improve its performance. ESI-MS is most recognized for its wide application to biomacromolecules where high sensitivity is of paramount importance. However, the major limitation in sensitivity with ESI-MS is due to its low ion transmission efficiency from the ESI source into the sampling orifice and through any stages utilized for transfer of ions from atmosphere to vacuum in the MS. A series of atmospheric pressure ion focusing interfaces were designed and implemented to enhance the performance of ESI-MS. The technical objective of this work was to improve sensitivity and detection limits of ESI-MS using a combination of concentric high velocity converging gas flow (aerodynamic focusing) and regulated external electric field (electrostatic focusing) to assist in focusing and transporting ions from the ESI sprayer tip into the sampling nozzle of the MS. The separation time in IMS, based on differing gas phase ion mobilities, ranges from several hundred microseconds to milliseconds. This allows faster analysis than most other conventional separation techniques, such as gas chromatography (GC), liquid chromatography (LC), and capillary electrophoresis (CE). However, the major limitation in ESI-IMS is its low resolution. It is believed that one of the most important contributions to low resolution in ESI-IMS is unwanted ion penetration through the ion gate. In order to solve this ion penetration problem, two mechanical ion gates were designed and optimized to assist in gating sprayed ions from the ESI source into the drift region of the IMS with improved sensitivity and resolution at atmospheric pressure. Applying a voltage to the ion gate and using a high flow drift gas helped to further improve the performance of ESI-IMS. Reduced pressure IMS should help to eliminate clustering and multiple peaks and, hence, improve experimental resolution when using ESI. Therefore, I report the design, construction and evaluation of new IMS systems for reduced pressures. However, the performance of the reduced pressure IMS was not as good as when using atmospheric pressure IMS.


Catechol-containing biomolecules and related synthetic materials are of interest for a broad range of applications. Our group has been interested in the potential of eumelanin, a catechol-containing biomaterial and the black-to-brown pigment in humans, and synthetic eumelanin analogues for water purification applications. In an attempt to apply the strategy of molecular imprinting towards lead-binding synthetic eumelanin coatings, we developed a PbO2-mediated synthesis that was subsequently tested with a number of catechols in addition to the eumelanin and polydopamine monomers l-dopa and dopamine. Although this strategy did not provide significant improvements in affinity or selectivity, we found that the PbO2-mediated oxidative polymerisation of 1,2-dihydroxybenzene generates a coating that darkens visibly upon binding Pb2+ and other metal ions. Oxidative polymerisation of catechol with sodium periodate also yields a coating with this colorimetric response. Of eight metal ions tested, the coatings are most responsive to Pb2+ and Cu2+, as analysed by quantitative colorimetry. With further optimisation, these coatings could prove useful for the colorimetric sensing of metal ions.


Abstract The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic introduced an abrupt change in human behavior globally. Here, we discuss unique insights the pandemic has provided into the eco‐evolutionary role of pathogens in ecosystems and present data that indicates the pandemic may have fundamentally changed our learning choices. COVID‐19 has indirectly affected many organisms and processes by changing the behavior of humans to avoid being infected. The pandemic also changed our learning behavior by affecting the relative importance of information and forcing teaching and learning into a framework that accommodates human behavioral measures to avoid disease transmission. Not only are these indirect effects on the environment occurring through a unique mechanistic pathway in ecology, the pandemic along with its effects on us provides a profound example of the role risk can play in the transmission of information between the at risk. Ultimately, these changes in our learning behavior led to this special issue "Taking learning online in Ecology and Evolution." The special issue was a call to the community to take learning in new directions, including online and distributed experiences. The topics examined include a significant component of DIY ecology and evolution that is experiential but done individually, opportunities to use online tools and apps to be more inclusive, student‐focused strategies for teaching online, how to reinvent conferences, strategies to retain experiential learning safely, emerging forms of teaching such as citizen science, apps and podcasting, and ideas on how to accommodate ever changing constraints in the college classroom, to name a few. The collective consensus in our fields is that these times are challenging but we can continue to improve and innovate on existing developments, and more broadly and importantly, this situation may provide an opportunity to reset some of the existing practices that fail to promote an effective and inclusive learning environment.


Coastal sand dunes represent a richness first of all in terms of defense from the sea storms waves and the saltwater ingression; moreover these morphological elements constitute an unique ecosystem of transition between the sea and the land environment. The research about dune system is a strong part of the coastal sciences, since the last century. Nowadays this branch have assumed even more importance for two reasons: on one side the born of brand new technologies, especially related to the Remote Sensing, have increased the researcher possibilities; on the other side the intense urbanization of these days have strongly limited the dune possibilities of development and fragmented what was remaining from the last century. This is particularly true in the Ravenna area, where the industrialization united to the touristic economy and an intense subsidence, have left only few dune ridges residual still active. In this work three different foredune ridges, along the Ravenna coast, have been studied with Laser Scanner technology. This research didn't limit to analyze volume or spatial difference, but try also to find new ways and new features to monitor this environment. Moreover the author planned a series of test to validate data from Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), with the additional aim of finalize a methodology to test 3D survey accuracy. Data acquired by TLS were then applied on one hand to test some brand new applications, such as Digital Shore Line Analysis System (DSAS) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), to prove their efficacy in this field; on the other hand the author used TLS data to find any correlation with meteorological indexes (Forcing Factors), linked to sea and wind (Fryberger's method) applying statistical tools, such as the Principal Component Analysis (PCA).


Many anthropological and biological studies detail indigenous people's use of stingless bee honey to treat various ailments, such as bacterial infections, sore throats, and digestive diseases. The purpose of this study was to examine the optimum storage method of stingless bee honey produced by Meliponula bocandei and Meliponula ferruginea in Central Ghana, near Kakum National Park. Additionally, another of the study's goals was to determine whether increased shelf-time would affect the honey's antimicrobial properties during a series of bioassays against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an infectious bacterial species showing increasing resistance to man-made antibiotics. Over three weeks, no significant difference was observed between two types of storage—covering the bottle in aluminum foil to prevent sunlight from entering or leaving the honey exposed to the light (p>0.05). There was, however, a significant difference between the two species' honey in terms of pH, moisture content, and antimicrobial efficacy (all p<0.001). Honey produced by M. ferruginea had a significantly higher pH and moisture content than M. bocandei honey and did not have any antimicrobial activity against P. aeruginosa. Additionally, the mean zone of inhibition for the M. bocandei honey significantly increased between the initial and final bioassays (p=0.001). These data indicate that M. bocandei honey contains antimicrobial compounds that can be used against P. aeruginosa to fight bacterial infections as a substitute to man-made antibiotics. Understanding the antimicrobial properties of M. bocandei honey may help in the fight against P. aeruginosa and other common infectious bacteria that are quickly gaining resistance to antibiotics.


This practical, "how-to" book is dedicated to building organizations of integrity. It has been written for college students contemplating careers in public service, elected and appointed officials, administrators, and career public servants in America and abroad. Concise and comprehensive, "Ethics Management for Public Administrators" takes a public management perspective towards constructing ethical organizations. It includes: an introduction to ethics management a discussion of the U.S. Constitutional and administrative environment in which officials carry out their duties descriptions and assessments of the tools available to elected and appointed officials who are committed to building ethical organizations a review of existing ethics management programs in American cities and counties an overview of legislative and administrative measures taken by Congress, presidents, the judiciary, and the fifty states to foster ethical governance unique coverage of ethics management around the world, with a focus on Europe and Asia hands-on skill-building exercises that conclude each chapter with active learning opportunities and, an outline of the challenges confronting citizens and public officials committed to ethical governance.


We introduce a principled approach for unsupervised structure learning of deep neural networks. We propose a new interpretation for depth and inter-layer connectivity where conditional independencies in the input distribution are encoded hierarchically in the network structure. Thus, the depth of the network is determined inherently. The proposed method casts the problem of neural network structure learning as a problem of Bayesian network structure learning. Then, instead of directly learning the discriminative structure, it learns a generative graph, constructs its stochastic inverse, and then constructs a discriminative graph. We prove that conditional-dependency relations among the latent variables in the generative graph are preserved in the class-conditional discriminative graph. We demonstrate on image classification benchmarks that the deepest layers (convolutional and dense) of common networks can be replaced by significantly smaller learned structures, while maintaining classification accuracy---state-of-the-art on tested benchmarks. Our structure learning algorithm requires a small computational cost and runs efficiently on a standard desktop CPU.


In flip-chip package, the mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between the silicon die and packaging substrate induces concentrated stress field around the edges and corners of silicon die during assembly, testing and services. The concentrated stresses result in delamination on many interfaces on several levels of structures, in various length scales from tens of nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. A major challenge to model flip-chip packages is the huge variation of length scales, the complexity of microstructures, and diverse materials properties. In this paper, we simplify the structure to be silicon/substrate with wedge configuration, and neglect the small local features of integrated circuits. This macroscopic analysis on package level is generic with whatever small local features, as long as the physical processes of interest occur in the region where the concentrated stress field due to chip-packaging interaction dominates. Because it is the same driving force that motivates all of the flaws. Therefore, the different interface cracks with same size and same orientation but on different interfaces should have similar energy release rates provided that the cracks are much smaller than the macroscopic length. We calculate the energy release rate and the mode angle of crack on the chip-package interface based on the asymptotic linear elastic stress field. In a large range of crack length, the asymptotic solution agrees with finite element calculation very 4/25/2007 12:54:55 PM 1 well. We discuss the simplified model and results in context of real applications. In addition, we find that the relation of energy release rate G and crack length a is not power-law since local mode mixity η is dependent of crack length a. Therefore, the curve of G~a can be wavy and hardly goes to zero even if crack length a goes to atomically small. The local mode mixity plays an important role in crack behavior. a) email: firstname.lastname@example.com 4/25/2007 12:54:55 PM 2


Knowledge is of crucial, and growing importance in social, political and economic relations in modern society. The range and variety of available knowledge dramatically enlarges the available options of social action. This five volume collection brings together a broad array of contributions from a variety of disciplines. Featuring essays from philosophers who have investigated the foundations of knowledge, and addressing different forms of knowledge in society such as common sense and practical knowledge, this collection also discusses the role of knowledge in economic process and gives attention to the role of expert knowledge in political decision making. Including a collection of articles from the sociology of knowledge and science, the set also provides a new introduction by the editors, making it a unique and invaluable research resource for both student and scholar.


INTRODUCTION
both atrial fibrillation (AF) and frailty are increasingly prevalent with age. Cross-sectional studies have suggested a relationship between AF and frailty, but longitudinal data are lacking. We explored if the presence of AF was associated with accelerated progression of frailty over 8 years in community-dwelling older adults.

METHODS
a longitudinal retrospective case-control study was conducted using data from Waves 1 and 5 of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Participants with electrocardiographically detected AF at Wave 1 were matched to controls without AF (1:2) based on age and gender. Frailty was assessed using both the frailty phenotype (FP) and a 31-item frailty index (FI). Change in cases' and controls' FP and FI scores from Waves 1 to 5 were modelled using repeated measures analysis of variance (RM-ANOVA).

RESULTS
one hundred eighteen TILDA participants with AF at Wave 1 were matched to 236 controls. By FP, participants with AF were not significantly more frail than controls at Wave 1 (P = 0.166) but were at Wave 5 (P = 0.011), and RM-ANOVA suggested that frailty progressed more in participants with AF between Waves 1 and 5 compared with controls (P = 0.033). By FI, participants with AF were significantly more frail at Wave 1 (P < 0.001) and 5 (P = 0.010), and RM-ANOVA did not show a difference in frailty progression between groups (P = 0.955).

CONCLUSION
AF may drive the development of the FP. The FP is a pre-disability syndrome and hence may be better than the FI as a focus for disability prevention in adults with AF.


This book introduces programmers to objects at a gradual pace. The syntax boxes are revised to show typical code examples rather than abstract notation. This includes optional example modules using Alice and Greenfoot. The examples feature annotations with dos and don'ts along with cross references to more detailed explanations in the text. New tables show a large number of typical and cautionary examples. New programming and review problems are also presented that ensure a broad coverage of topics. In addition, Java 7 features are included to provide programmers with the most up-to-date information.


We describe the slow evolution of the wave speed and reaction temperature in a model of filtration combustion. In the counterflow configuration of the process, a porous solid matrix is converted to a porous solid product by injecting an oxidizing gas at high pressure into one end of a fresh sample of the solid while igniting it at the other end. The solid and gas react exothermically at high activation energy and, under favourable conditions, a self-sustaining combustion wave travels along the sample, converting reactants to product. Since the reaction rate depends on the gas pressure p in the pores, small gradients in p cause variations in the conditions of combustion, which, in turn, cause inhomogeneities in the physical properties of the product. We determine the slow evolution of the wave speed, the reaction temperature, and the mass flux of the gas downstream of the reaction zone. In the absence of a pressure gradient, there is a branch of steadily propagating solutions which has a fold. For planar disturbances on the slow time scale, we show that the middle part of the branch is unstable, with the change of stability occurring at the turning points of the branch. When the pressure gradient is nonzero, there are no steadily propagating solutions and the wave continually evolves. Conditions on the state of the gas at the inlet are described such that the variation in the wave speed and reaction temperature throughout the process can be minimized.


The state of Delaware has experienced a continuous increase in its population. As a
result, there has been an upsurge in the demand for public services, including
infrastructure and roadways and new school construction. The Institute for Public
Administration (IPA) at the University of Delaware has been conducting an ongoing
study regarding the process by which schools determine when there is a need for a new
building or major capital improvement, how school sites are selected, what design
standards are in place, and how construction-related issues are addressed.


Oral bioavailability depends on many physiological, physiochemical and formulation factors. Poor oral bioavailability is an important parameter accounting for the failure of the drug candidates. 50% of drug failure is because of unfavorable bioavailability. Two important properties that govern oral absorption are in vitro permeability and solubility, which are commonly used as indicators of Human Intestinal Absorption (HIA) and Colon epithelial cancer cell line (Caco-2) and Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cells (MDCK) for permeability. In silico prediction of oral bioavailability based on physiochemical properties are highly needed. Although many computational models have been developed to predict absorption and permeability, their accuracy remains low with a significant
number of false positives. In this study, we present model based on systems biological approach, using regression analysis of predictions coupled with physiochemical descriptors. A large dataset of HIA, Caco2, MDCK predictions was collated along with physiochemical descriptors for the chosen chemical structures. The descriptors found common in three regression analysis showed
good relation with rule of five descriptors. Nevertheless, the study captures the fundamental molecular descriptors, which can be used as an entity to facilitate increase in oral bioavailability.


Tissue regeneration often requires recruitment of different cell types and rebuilding of two or more tissue layers to restore function. Here we describe the creation of a novel multi-layered scaffold with distinct fiber organizations - aligned to unaligned and dense to porous - to template common architectures found in adjacent tissue layers. Electrospun scaffolds were fabricated using a biodegradable, tyrosine-derived terpolymer, yielding densely-packed, aligned fibers that transition into randomly-oriented fibers of increasing diameter and porosity. We demonstrate that differently-oriented scaffold fibers direct cell and extracellular matrix (ECM) organization, and that scaffold fibers and ECM protein networks are maintained after decellularization. Smooth muscle and connective tissue layers are frequently adjacent in vivo; we show that within a single scaffold, the architecture supports alignment of contractile smooth muscle cells and deposition by fibroblasts of a meshwork of ECM fibrils. We rolled a flat scaffold into a tubular construct and, after culture, showed cell viability, orientation, and tissue-specific protein expression in the tube were similar to the flat-sheet scaffold. This scaffold design not only has translational potential for reparation of flat and tubular tissue layers but can also be customized for alternative applications by introducing two or more cell types in different combinations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.


The authors propose and evaluate the performance of a dynamic bandwidth allocation algorithm, namely burst-by-bUrst dynamic bandwidth allocation (BUDA), which enables the fair and efficient utilisation of the available upstream resources in 10-Gigabit-capable passive optical networks (XG-PONs). The proposed algorithm emulates a bit-by-bit burst multiplexing process based on the fair queuing scheduling principle to fairly allocate the available upstream bandwidth among several end-users with varying traffic demands. The fair queuing approach is well-suited to the strictly synchronous communication model of XG-PONs, where fixed duration downstream and upstream frames are utilised to delineate transmissions, and the authors demonstrate via simulations that BUDA achieves low and bounded latency, as well as resource allocation fairness over a set of different traffic loads. Furthermore, BUDA is compared with well-known bandwidth allocation algorithms and a significant latency and fairness benefit is demonstrated.


Skepticism about the potential of moral appeals relating to tax compliance — for example, as applied to large groups of individual taxpayers outside a wartime context — has resulted in the absence of a theory about how government communication can further tax compliance. This Article fills that gap. It provides a theory of tax compliance and norm formation under high-penalty regimes from the starting point of a noncompliance norm.The theory explains the roles of, and mutually reinforcing relationships between, the compliance mechanisms of deterrence, separation, and reputation signaling. The success of these mechanisms depends on the presence of (i) taxpayer perception of penalty imposition, (ii) taxpayer perception of detection efficacy, and (iii) an absence of close substitutes. Either government enforcement or a reputation market can provide penalty imposition and detection efficacy. This Article offers the U.S. requirement of self-reporting of offshore bank account information as an example of a potentially effective high-penalty regime founded on aggressive and creative government enforcement efforts.The theory also defines an appropriate role for expressive law in advancing tax compliance. This role has relevance, at least, when resources have been committed and government enforcement is not practical. The theory suggests that using law to define good-reputation indicators has particular promise when applied to reputation-sensitive taxpayers such as large intermediaries. This Article identifies four expressive law tax compliance tactics: reputation referencing, salience, management targeting, and incrementalism. It illustrates the expressive law portion of the theory with the example of FATCA, a law passed in 2010 that will require non-U.S. banks to identify U.S. account holders or face withholding on certain U.S. investment returns.


New interest has recently arisen on inductors integrated monolithically together with CMOS electronics. The reason for the current attention lies in the demand for higher level of integration and increased operation frequency. Earlier efforts to make advantage of inductors in addition to other passive elements led to conclusion that the high conductivity of silicon and the large area required for the device would restrict their use. General development of integrated circuit fabrication technology has now made it possible to reappraise the use of integrated inductors. Two important process related aspects which affect the quality factor of inductors are the series resistance and parasitic capacitance of the structure. We have worked on reducing the resistance by using alternative metallization for the inductors and at the same time born in mind the demand for integration. We also have tried different oxide thicknesses between silicon substrate and the device to reduce parasitic capacitance. For alternative metallizations electroplated gold and thick sputter deposited aluminium have been used. Comparison between the quality of inductors as well as manufacturability of each process has been made.


A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence as well as the determinants and clinical features of occupational low back pain among surgeons working at Ministry of Health hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia by exploring its history combined with time of onset after starting the operating room work and self-appraisal of the relationship with the surgical work. Factors and predictors such as professional, socio-demographic and lifestyle factors, medical history, etc. were collected and analyzed. Two hundred and sixteen surgeons (69.9% males, mean age 39.03 years, median work: 5.00 years) responded. Prevalence of occupational low back pain was 55.8% (95% CI: 49.0%, 62.3%); high rates of inadequate management and self-treatment had a notable impact on all 4 domains. Multivariate regression showed two independent protective factors (regular physical exercise [OR = 0.27, P = 0.002] and back health education [OR = 0.41, P = 0.031] and two independent risk factors (high exposure to risky activities [OR = 1.06, P = 0.048] and presence of chronic pain other than back pain [OR = 2.59, P = 0.012]). More than one in two surgeons are likely to suffer from occupational low back pain. The protective roles of regular physical activity and back health education are highlighted


This paper puts forth a straw man proposal for future diverse internets. Guided by a principle that we call Align-and-Decouple (AD), our AD protocol architecture design calls for lightweight transport protocols that allow for decoupled operation of networks that are either owned by different organizations, or are networks of different types/protocols. TCP's fragmentation and congestion control mechanisms modify the original data stream so significantly that all new networks are essentially designed to just carry "TCP transformed" traffic. In contrast, with the AD principle, an AD-API is defined to consist of atomic transfer and pipe communication services, which can be supported by different providers with their own specific networking technologies, and yet allow for internetworking.


Well-being is a state of general "wellness" which can make us lazy in our efforts to improve the world. I have proposed "well-becoming" as a more active, procedural way to conceptualize the quest for well-being. Inspired by a colloquium recently in Finland I wish to explore how we can "well be-love" or do "well be-loving," in a Barbara Frederickson positive psychology way that enhances our health and happiness as she describes in her book Love 2.0 (2013). I believe that one of the ways that this happens in my classes is through singing short songlets, with call and response routines, which begin as speed dictations that students help each other with and then turn into short conversational routines.

I will be singing with the audience several songlets which basically answer some our most enduring questions in our lives and whose answers give us guidance and hope: How are you? How do you have a good life? How do you succeed? What do you like? What do you love? Who do you love? What should we notice? What is good advice? These can then become call and response short conversation with our students. I will have further documentation about the benefits of singing from a variety of disciplines.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To review physician, patient, and contextual factors that affect treatment decision making in older adults diagnosed with cancer, and to relate those factors to theoretical models of decision making.

DATA SOURCES
PubMed (1966 to April 2010), PsycINFO (1967 to April 2010) and CINAHL® (1982 to April 2010) databases were searched to access relevant medical, psychological, and nursing literature.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Physician factors in treatment decisions included physician's personal beliefs and values, medical expertise, practice type, perception of lowered life expectancy, medical factors, power, and communication style. Patient factors included personal beliefs and values, ethnicity, decisional control preferences, previous health-related experience, perception of the decision-making process, and personal factors. Contextual factors included availability of caregiver, insurance, financial status, and geographical barrier.

CONCLUSIONS
A diverse group of factors were identified, which are likely to form a unique framework to understand clinical decision making and plan future investigations in older adult patient populations. Using longitudinal and prospective designs to examine the real-time interplay of patient, physician, and contextual factors will enable a better understanding of how those divergent factors influence actual treatment decisions.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Oncology nurses can advocate autonomous (patient-driven), shared, or family-controlled treatment decisions, depending on an older patient's decisional role preference. Nurses can support patient autonomy during treatment decision making by coaching patients to engage in discussion of various evidence-based treatment options and a comprehensive discussion of the probability of success for each option with specialist providers. Oncology nurses may be able to promote treatment decisions that are consistent with a patient's personal preferences and values, with strong consideration of the patient's personal contexts.


In materials with a strain-softening characteristic behavior, classical continuum mechanics favors uncontrolled strain localization in numerical analyses. Several methods have been proposed to regularize the problem. Two such localization limiters developed to overcome spurious instabilities in computational failure analysis are examined and compared. A disturbance analysis, on both models, around an initially homogeneous state of strain is performed to obtain the closed-form solution of propagating wave velocities as well as the velocities at which the energy travels. It also shows that in spite of forcing the same stress-strain response on both models, the wave equation does not yield similar results. Both propagations of waves are dispersive, but the internal length of each model is different when equivalent behavior is desired. In fact, the previously suggested derivations of gradient models from nonlocal integral models were not completely rigorous. The localization modes and the influence of the internal length should be different in each limiter. The perturbation analysis is pursued in the discrete space where computations are done, and the closed form solutions for the dispersion equations are also obtained. The finite-element discretization introduces an added dispersion: the usual dispersion introduced by elliptic operators and another associated to the regularization technique. Therefore, the influence of the discretization on the localization limiters can be evaluated. The element size must be in the order of, or smaller than, the internal length of the models in order to obtain sufficient accuracy on the phase velocities of the propagating waves in transient analysis.