Water reservoirs are increasingly recognized as a significant anthropogenic source of methane (CH4) production and emissions, CH4 being the second most prevalent greenhouse gas (GHG) after CO2. The dominant emission pathway for CH4 in lacustrine environments is ebullition (bubbling). A survey of current ebullition measurement methods reveals a technology gap; the ability to measure ebullition rates and CH4 content simultaneously and affordably with high temporal and spatial resolution is not currently available. Characterizing and modeling methane ebullition in water reservoirs is key to quantifying lacustrine methane emissions and providing a basis for potential mitigation efforts. This report documents the development and assessment of a Methane Ebullition Measurement Apparatus (MEMA) designed for in-situ, autonomous, ebullition-rate and methane-concentration measurement in lacustrine environments. MEMA is designed to be affordable and easily replicable in-house by environmental research scientists with limited manufacturing resources, emphasizing low per-unit cost for maximum unit replication and spatial coverage. Documentation of the device's build materials, supplier list, physical design, and control code have all been made publicly available to aid in replication efforts.


We estimate fluid sources around a subducted seamount along the northern Hikurangi subduction margin of New Zealand, using thermomechanical numerical modelling informed by wedge structure and porosities from multichannel seismic data. Calculated fluid sources are input into an independent fluid-flow model to explore the key controls on overpressure generation to depths of 12 km. In the thermomechanical models, sediment transport through and beneath the wedge is calculated assuming a pressure-sensitive frictional rheology. The change in porosity, pressure and temperature with calculated rock advection is used to compute fluid release from compaction and dehydration. Our calculations yield more precise information about source locations in time and space than previous averaged estimates for the Hikurangi margin. The volume of fluid release in the wedge is smaller than previously estimated from margin-averaged calculations (∼14 m3 yr−1 m−1), and is exceeded by fluid release from underlying (subducting) sediment (∼16 m3 yr−1 m−1). Clay dehydration contributes only a small quantity of fluid by volume (∼2 m3 yr−1 m−1 from subducted sediment), but the integrated effect is still significant landward of the seamount. Fluid source terms are used to estimate fluid pressures around a subducting seamount in the fluid-flow models, using subducted sediment permeability derived from porosity, and testing two end-members for decollement permeability. Models in which the decollement acts as a fluid conduit predict only moderate fluid overpressure in the wedge and subducting sediment. However, if the subduction interface becomes impermeable with depth, significant fluid overpressure develops in subducting sediment landward of the seamount. The location of predicted fluid overpressure and associated dehydration reactions is consistent with the idea that short duration, shallow, slow slip events (SSEs) landward of the seamount are caused by anomalous fluid pressures; alternatively, it may result from frictional effects of changing clay content along the subduction interface.


The authors reviewed the admission leukocyte indices of 338 consecutive admissions (203 males, 135 females, mean age of 60.2 +/- 12.9 years) with a primary diagnosis of diabetic foot infection in a multicenter retrospective study. The mean white blood cell count on admission for all subjects studied was calculated at 11.9 +/- 5.4 x 103 cells/mm3. Of all white blood cell counts secured for patients admitted with a diabetic foot infection, 56% (189 out of 338) were within normal limits. The average automated polymorphonuclear leukocyte percentage was calculated at 71.4 +/- 11.1% (normal range 40% to 80%). Normal polymorphonuclear leukocyte values were present in 83.7% of subjects. The authors stress that the diagnosis of a diabetic pedal infection is made primarily on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms, and that a normal white cell count and white cell differential should not deter the physician from taking appropriate action to mitigate the propagation of a potentially limb-threatening pedal infection.


Q: What is a Wireless LAN (WLAN)? Q: What are the benefits of using a WLAN instead of a wired network connection? Q: Are Intel WLAN products interoperable with other product brands? Q: What is Wi-Fi*? Q: What is IEEE 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a? Q: What is the transmission range of WLAN products? Q: What data rates are available with a WLAN network connection? Q: What is an Access Point? Q: When do I need an Access Point? Q: How many simultaneous users can a single access point support? Q: How many users can a WLAN system support? Q: What is a Wireless Gateway? Q: What is the wireless SSID? Q: Why do 802.11b and 802.11g products operate on the 2.4 GHz Frequency range? Q: Why do 802.11a products operate in the 5 GHz Frequency range? Q: What can be done to secure a WLAN? Q: What is WEP? Q: What is WPA? Q: What is 802.1x? Q: What are Power Save Polling and Constant Awake Mode? Q: Is WLAN technology only for notebook computers? Q: Will WLANs receive interference from other wireless devices? From other WLANs? Q: Are all WLAN products (802.11, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a) interoperable? Q: Is a WLAN suitable for home use? Q: What is Authentication and Association? Q: What is a Client Workstation? Q: What is Ethernet? Q: What is a MAC Address? Q: What is a Wireless Ethernet Adapter? Q: Why is a site survey necessary? Info: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g comparison chart.


Abstract Competition studies that focus on antitrust issues (e.g. market definition, market power) are typically conducted in markets where all firms are assumed to operate legally (competitors are tax-abiding entities, pay for all inputs used in their production process, have paid the proper government licenses to do so, etc.). We investigate competition issues in a market characterized by widespread piracy: subscription TV in Peru. Estimates suggest that 50% of subscription TV users in Peru (30% in Latin America) use an illegal provider. We make use of a unique dataset in which households provided crucial information regarding the (il) legality of their paid TV supplier. Using quantitative antitrust tools based on demand estimation techniques, we study the impact that the presence of the 'informal' sector has on competition. Our estimates suggest that the illegal operators constitute a close substitute for (and henceforth significantly constrain the pricing power of) legal operators. This finding can have important antitrust implications: the failure to account for piracy could lead to erroneous conclusions regarding market power measurement and the delineation of the relevant (antitrust) market. This may be particularly important in several industries (especially in the developing world) where the leading operator may be cataloged as "dominant" only in the absence of illegal providers.


The goals of this paper were to evaluate total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), anti-oxidant capacity (AC) and reducing power (RP) of eight dark chocolates that are sold in Peru. Imported and domestic chocolate samples containing between 50% and 74% cacao were defatted. Defatted chocolate (DCh) was separated and treated to extract phenolic compounds. The TPC and AC were determined by using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent and two in vitro models based on the free-radical capturing capacity DPPH and ABTS. The RP was evaluated by using the potassium pherricyanide method; in the TFCs assessments, catechin was used as the standard. Chocolate TPC varied between 1.69 ± 0.02 and 5.39 ± 0.17 mg gallic acid/g chocolate and AC (DPPH-IC50) varied between 52.97 ± 1.77 and 158.67 ± 2.04 μg/ml extract, and by means of ABTS the values were between 12.01 ± 0.18 and 32.74 ± 0.49 μmol TEAC/g chocolate. Chocolates with 71% and 72% cacao showed a greater antioxidant capacity, which was confirmed by the RP test. Chocolates showed different levels of TPC, TFC, AC and RP, depended on a large degree of the cacao percentage. However, in some cases, there was no direct relationship among results, most likely due to different technological and thermal processes as well as different biological nature of cacao beans.


In this paper, we present a contest success function (CSF), which is homogeneous of degree zero and in which the probability of winning the prize depends on the relative difference of efforts. In a simultaneous game with two players, we present a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a pure strategy Nash equilibrium. This equilibrium is unique and interior. This condition does not depend on the size of the valuations as in an absolute difference CSF. We prove that several properties of Nash equilibrium with the Tullock CSF still hold in our framework. Finally, we consider the case of $$n$$n players, generalize the previous condition and show that this condition is sufficient for the existence of a unique interior Nash equilibrium in pure strategies. For some parameter values of our CSF and when all players are identical, equilibrium entails full rent dissipation for any number of players.


We present a new polynomial-time randomized algorithm for discovering affine equalities involving variables in a program. The key idea of the algorithm is to execute a code fragment on a few random inputs, but in such a way that all paths are covered on each run. This makes it possible to rule out invalid relationships even with very few runs.The algorithm is based on two main techniques. First, both branches of a conditional are executed on each run and at joint points we perform an affine combination of the joining states. Secondly, in the branches of an equality conditional we adjust the data values on the fly to reflect the truth value of the guarding boolean expression. This increases the number of affine equalities that the analysis discovers.The algorithm is simpler to implement than alternative deterministic versions, has better computational complexity, and has an extremely small probability of error for even a small number of runs. This algorithm is an example of how randomization can provide a trade-off between the cost and complexity of program analysis, and a small probability of unsoundness.


Objectives To determine the quantitative efficacy of different classes of blood pressure lowering drugs in preventing coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke, and who should receive treatment. Design Meta-analysis. Data source Medline (1966-2007). Study selection Randomised trials of blood pressure lowering drugs recording CHD events and strokes. 108 trials studied differences in blood pressure between study drug and placebo (or control group not receiving the study drug) ("blood pressure difference trials"), and 46 trials compared drugs ("drug comparison trials"). Seven trials with three randomised groups fell into both categories. The results were interpreted in the context of those expected from the largest published meta-analysis of cohort studies, totalling 958 000 people. Participants 464 000 people defined into three mutually exclusive categories: participants with no history of vascular disease, a history of CHD, or a history of stroke. Results In the blood pressure difference trials β blockers had a special effect over and above that due to blood pressure reduction in preventing recurrent CHD events in people with a history of CHD: risk reduction 29% (95% confidence interval 22% to 34%) compared with 15% (11% to 19%) in trials of other drugs. The extra effect was limited to a few years after myocardial infarction, with a risk reduction of 31% compared with 13% in people with CHD with no recent infarct (P=0.04). In the other blood pressure difference trials (excluding CHD events in trials of β blockers in people with CHD), there was a 22% reduction in CHD events (17% to 27%) and a 41% (33% to 48%) reduction in stroke for a blood pressure reduction of 10 mm Hg systolic or 5 mm Hg diastolic, similar to the reductions of 25% (CHD) and 36% (stroke) expected for the same difference in blood pressure from the cohort study meta-analysis, indicating that the benefit is explained by blood pressure reduction itself. The five main classes of blood pressure lowering drugs (thiazides, β blockers, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and calcium channel blockers) were similarly effective (within a few percentage points) in preventing CHD events and strokes, with the exception that calcium channel blockers had a greater preventive effect on stroke (relative risk 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 0.98). The percentage reductions in CHD events and stroke were similar in people with and without cardiovascular disease and regardless of blood pressure before treatment (down to 110 mm Hg systolic and 70 mm Hg diastolic). Combining our results with those from two other studies (the meta-analyses of blood pressure cohort studies and of trials determining the blood pressure lowering effects of drugs according to dose) showed that in people aged 60-69 with a diastolic blood pressure before treatment of 90 mm Hg, three drugs at half standard dose in combination reduced the risk of CHD by an estimated 46% and of stroke by 62%; one drug at standard dose had about half this effect. The present meta-analysis also showed that drugs other than calcium channel blockers (with the exception of non-cardioselective β blockers) reduced the incidence of heart failure by 24% (19% to 28%) and calcium channel blockers by 19% (6% to 31%). Conclusions With the exception of the extra protective effect of β blockers given shortly after a myocardial infarction and the minor additional effect of calcium channel blockers in preventing stroke, all the classes of blood pressure lowering drugs have a similar effect in reducing CHD events and stroke for a given reduction in blood pressure so excluding material pleiotropic effects. The proportional reduction in cardiovascular disease events was the same or similar regardless of pretreatment blood pressure and the presence or absence of existing cardiovascular disease. Guidelines on the use of blood pressure lowering drugs can be simplified so that drugs are offered to people with all levels of blood pressure. Our results indicate the importance of lowering blood pressure in everyone over a certain age, rather than measuring it in everyone and treating it in some.


Boggon was invited to participate in the exhibition 'Il Palazzo delle Liberata' Palazzo delle Papesse, Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena, Italy by the curator Lorenzo Fusi. Artists were initially invited to visit the museum, a former Renaissance Palace, and to submit a proposal.

Of particular interest to Boggon was the discovery that the astronomer Galileo had held secret meetings there. Research included visits to the Galileo Museum in Florence and information gathering about many other Scientists and Astronomers who had faced adversity and persecution in their quest for knowledge and truth. In the development of 'Advesus Solemn ne Loquitor' (made of books, mirror, model figure, marble) Boggon collected relevant second-hand books and created a 'book periscope' by hollowing out the interior of each book and stacking them on top of each other. The books were positioned against a blocked out window on a new marble shelf. When looking through the base of the periscope the interior scene is that of a corridor through the cut pages to a figure at the end and the Sienna sky, with a small hole bored through the artificial wall at the top rear of the periscope.


OBJECTIVES
Neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) are at risk of high mortality and neurodevelopmental morbidity. As an alternative to Norwood-type stage I palliation, the hybrid procedure has been developed. It consists of bilateral pulmonary artery banding, catheter-based stenting of the arterial duct and balloon atrioseptostomy and delays open-heart surgery. Thus, it may be associated with a better outcome. The aim of this study was to determine the mortality and neurodevelopmental outcome in patients with HLHS and other univentricular heart (UVH) defects treated with hybrid or Norwood procedures.

METHODS
Thirty-one children (18 males) with HLHS and other UVH defects undergoing Norwood or hybrid procedure between 2004 and 2008 were consecutively enrolled. Mortality and neurodevelopmental outcome at 1 year of age were determined.

RESULTS
One-year mortality was 36% (31% in the hybrid vs. 39% in the Norwood group, P=0.71). Predictors of mortality were lower birth weight (P=0.02), older age at first procedure (P=0.02) and smaller size of ascending aorta (P=0.05). Overall, median psychomotor development index (PDI) and mental development index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II were lower than the norm of 100 [PDI 57 (49-99), P<0.001; MDI 91 (65-109), P=0.002]. No effect of surgical treatment on neurodevelopmental outcome was found. Predictors of impaired motor outcome were length of hospital stay (LOHS) (P=0.01), lower body weight at second procedure (P=0.004) and female sex (P=0.01). Predictors of impaired cognitive outcome were longer mechanical ventilation time (P=0.03), intensive care unit stay (P=0.04) and LOHS (P<0.001), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
Mortality at 1 year of age is comparable between patients undergoing hybrid and Norwood procedures. Early neurodevelopmental outcome is significantly impaired in patients with both HLHS and other UVH defects. Multicentre randomized studies are needed to determine the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of children treated with the hybrid procedure.


Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) arises mainly as by-products of rapid urbanisation activities. C&DW materials have high potential for recycling and reusing. Despite its potential, landfilling is still the most common disposal method. In Malaysia, C&DW practices are principally guided by economic incentives such as low disposal cost or inexpensive virgin material outweighing recycling cost resulting in low recycling rate. The purpose of this study is to access the environmental impacts caused by landfilling and the alternatives especially in assessing the damages to human health, ecosystems, and to the resources in the future 10 y. It aims to identify the better alternatives in reducing the environmental impacts of landfilling C&DW. Life cycle assessment (LCA) used in this study assessed the environmental impacts associated with all stages, from waste production to end-of-life of waste material. LCA can help to avoid the short-sighted, quick-fix landfilling as the main solution for C&DW by systematically compiling an inventory of energy, fuel, material inputs, and environmental outputs. The environmental impact of landfilling C&DW is estimated to increase 20.2 % if the business as usual (BaU) landfilling continues to the year 2025. Recycling will reduce 46.0 % of total damages and with the shorter travel distance, the environmental damage is further reduced by 82.3 %. Applying industrial building system (IBS) to reduce waste generation at-site reduced 98.1 % impacts as compared to landfilling scenario. The negative impacts derived from landfilling activity is significantly reduced by 99.5 % (scenario 8) through shifting to IBS, recycling, and shorter the travel distance from construction sites to material recycling facilities (MRF). The what-if scenarios illustrated the alternatives future circumstances, the inclusion of the uncertainty concept, and define the future path of C&DW industry outlook. The outcome of this study is informative and useful to policymakers, particularly in defining the way forward of C&DW industry in Malaysia.


With growing water scarcity and increasing competition across water-using sectors, the need for water savings and more efficient water use has increased in importance in water resources management. Improvement in the physical efficiency of water use is related to water conservation through increasing the fraction of water beneficially used over water applied, while enhancing economic efficiency is a broader concept seeking the highest economic value of water use through both physical and managerial measures. Physical and economic efficiency measures are both useful indicators for water management at the irrigation system and river basin level. However, the relationship between physical efficiency and economic efficiency is not always clear and the values of these measures may indicate different directions for water policy and investments in irrigation. Open research questions include, for example: does enhancement of physical water use efficiency always lead to improved economic water use efficiency? How does the change in responsiveness of water allocation and irrigation technology to economic incentives affect physical and economic irrigation efficiency? What is the impact on physical and economic efficiency of various structural and nonstructural improvements? To explore these issues, an integrated economic-hydrologic river basin model is applied to the Maipo River Basin in Chile. A series of modeling scenarios are defined and policy implications from physical and economic efficiencies for basin-wide irrigation water management are analyzed.


Motivation The NHGRI Catalog of Published Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) Catalog has collected, curated, and made available data from over 3 900 studies. The recently developed GWAS Catalog REST API is the only method allowing programmatic access to this resource. Results Here, we describe gwasrapidd, an R package that provides a client interface to the GWAS Catalog REST API, representing an important software counterpart to the server-side component. gwasrapidd enables users to quickly retrieve, filter and integrate data with comprehensive bioinformatics analysis tools, which is particularly critical for those looking into functional characterisation of risk loci. Availability gwasrapidd is freely available under an MIT License, and can be accessed from https://github.com/ramiromagno/gwasrapidd.


Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears as a sensitive method to study Parkinson's disease (PD) pathophysiology and severity. Fractional anisotropy (FA) value is one of the scalar derivatives of DTI used to find out anisotropy within a voxel in a tissue and used for determining white matter integrity in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. We studied DTI derived FA in early PD subjects as their routine MRI scans were normal.
Methods: 40 patients with early PD and 40 healthy controls were employed to evaluate changes in microstructural white and grey matter in the brain's using DTI derived FA values. Comparison of FA values in the brain's white and grey matter of patients with PD and age matched controls at the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale, pons, putamen, caudate nucleus, substantia nigra, cerebral peduncles and cerebellar peduncles, was done using a region of interest (ROI) technique, with b-value 1000s/mm2 and TE=100 milliseconds using 1.5T MRI system.
Results: PD patients showed differences in FA values in both the grey and white matter areas of the brain's compared to healthy controls. Our study revealed the presence of damage in the substantia nigra, corpus callosum, putamen and cerebral peduncles mainly in the PD group.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that DTI and region of interest (ROI) methods can be used in patients with early PD to study microstructural alterations mainly in the substantia nigra, putamen and corpus callosum.


The deep web (DW) is the collective data, forums, and websites on the unindexed internet. The DW provides an online environment that allows users to participate in illicit transactions with greater security and anonymity than that available on the surface web. Multiple DW marketplaces have been established, specializing in black market wares – ranging from drugs and weapons to pornography and forged documents. DW traffickers work to create a reliable, trustworthy persona to establish credibility, and present a professional veneer for engaging with potential and current customers. In this paper, we investigate the mechanisms of anonymity, trust, and traffickers' self-portrayal as reputable and reliable businesspeople on the DW. We show that even though DW traffickers partake in illegal activities, both the trust mechanisms and the strategies deployed for the establishment of seller reputations on the DW are, with a few nuances, similar to those adopted on the 'surface-web' marketplaces.


Installation of sensors networks for continuous in-service monitoring of structures and their efficiency conditions is a current research trend of paramount interest. On-line monitoring systems could be strategically useful for road infrastructures, which are expected to perform efficiently and be self-diagnostic, also in emergency scenarios. This work researches damage detection in composite concrete-steel structures that are typical for highway overpasses and bridges. The techniques herein proposed assume that typical damage in the deck occurs in form of delamination and cracking, and that it affects the peak power spectral density of dynamic curvature. The investigation is performed by combining results of measurements collected by long-gauge fiber optic strain sensors installed on monitored structure and a statistic approach. A finite element model has been also prepared and validated for deepening peculiar aspects of the investigation and the availability of the method. The proposed method for real time applications is able to detect a documented unusual behavior (e.g., damage or deterioration) through long-gauge fiber optic strain sensors measurements and a probabilistic study of the dynamic curvature power spectral density.


Objective To examine sex differences in cerebrovascular pathologies (CVPs) as seen on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI and in cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in a population-based cognitively unimpaired cohort and to examine whether sex is independently associated with FLAIR findings after accounting for differences in important midlife risk factors. Methods We identified 1,301 cognitively normal participants (663 men and 638 women) enrolled in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (age ≥70 years) who had FLAIR MRI and ascertained total burden of white matter (WM) hyperintensities (WMH), subcortical infarctions, and cortical infarctions. We compared CVPs and midlife and late-life vascular risk factors between men and women. We fit regression models with each CVP as an outcome, treating age, sex, and midlife risk factors as predictors. Results Women had significantly greater WMH volume relative to their WM volume compared to men (2.8% vs 2.4% of WM, p < 0.001), while men had a greater frequency of cortical infarctions compared to women (9% vs 4%, p < 0.001). Subcortical infarctions were equally common in men and women (20%). In regression modeling after adjustment for WM volume, the mean WMH volume difference between men and women was of the same magnitude as a 7-year difference in age. In contrast, men had 2.2-greater relative odds of having a cortical infarction compared to women. These sex differences persisted even after adjustment for midlife vascular risk factors. Conclusions There were important sex differences in CVP findings on FLAIR in cognitively unimpaired elderly. Understanding these sex differences could aid in the development of sex-specific preventive strategies.


A lysimeter experiment was carried out to determine the penetration and distribution of a water pulse applied on the soil surface as a tritium labelled simulated precipitation (30-60 mm). Three plots of soil (each 10 m 2 , 1.5 m deep) were used, one filled with gravel, the others with fine sand. In gravel the pulse penetrated ca. 50 cm in the first week, in the fine sand plots less than 15 cm. In gravel the tritium maximum penetrated the lysimeter in 150 days, in fine sand much later. The results were compared with theoretically calculated values.


The practice-dependent approach to justice has received a lot of attention in post-millennium political philosophy. It has been developed in different directions and its normative implications have been criticized, but little attention has been directed to the very distinction between practice-dependence and practice-independence and the question of what theoretically differentiates a practice-dependent account from mainstream practice-independent accounts. The core premises of the practice-dependent approach, proponents argue, are meta-normative and methodological. A key feature is the presumption that a concept of justice is dependent on the function or aim of the social practices to which it is supposed to be applied. Closely related to this meta-normative thesis is an interpretive methodology for deriving principles of justice from facts about existing practices, in particular regarding their point and purpose. These two premises, practice-dependent theorists claim, differentiate their account since (1) they are not accepted by practice-independent accounts and (2) they justify different principles of justice than practice-independent accounts. Our aim in this article is to refute both (1) and (2), demonstrating that practice-independent accounts may indeed accept the meta-normative and methodological premises of the practice-dependent accounts, and that we are given no theoretical reason to think that practice-dependent accounts justify other principles of justice for a practice than do practice-independent accounts. In other words, practice-dependent theorists have not substantiated their claim that practice-dependence is theoretically differentiated from mainstream accounts. When practice-dependent proponents argue for other principles of justice than mainstream theorists, it will be for the usual reason in normative theory: their first-order normative arguments differ.


Many sectors, including biofuels, are targeting degraded lands yet there is no singular definition of what constitutes degraded lands. This publication represents the outcome of a cross-sectoral dialogue and builds on existing experiences both with the agricultural and biofuel sectors, as well as that of landscape restoration more broadly. A tentative, pragmatic framework of considerations is presented that could help decision makers realize the good intention behind investing in biofuel production or other intensive agriculture activities in degraded lands, without the pitfalls of contributing to even greater ecosystem simplification and further marginalising already vulnerable farming communities.


This study investigates the quay crane allocation problem with respect to vessel assigned to a particular discrete berth at a bulk material handling port. In the proposed model,vessels at the anchorage are berthed on a First in, first out (FIFO) basis at the port, and then the quay cranes are assigned to the berth dynamically before berthing and during unloading of the vessel. To solve the model, we used the Block Based Genetic Algorithm (BBGA) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). Computational study is conducted using the real data provided by a port located on theEastern Coast of India.


BACKGROUND
Patients are increasingly seeking Web-based symptom checkers to obtain diagnoses. However, little is known about the characteristics of the patients who use these resources, their rationale for use, and whether they find them accurate and useful.

OBJECTIVE
The study aimed to examine patients' experiences using an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted online symptom checker.

METHODS
An online survey was administered between March 2, 2018, through March 15, 2018, to US users of the Isabel Symptom Checker within 6 months of their use. User characteristics, experiences of symptom checker use, experiences discussing results with physicians, and prior personal history of experiencing a diagnostic error were collected.

RESULTS
A total of 329 usable responses was obtained. The mean respondent age was 48.0 (SD 16.7) years; most were women (230/304, 75.7%) and white (271/304, 89.1%). Patients most commonly used the symptom checker to better understand the causes of their symptoms (232/304, 76.3%), followed by for deciding whether to seek care (101/304, 33.2%) or where (eg, primary or urgent care: 63/304, 20.7%), obtaining medical advice without going to a doctor (48/304, 15.8%), and understanding their diagnoses better (39/304, 12.8%). Most patients reported receiving useful information for their health problems (274/304, 90.1%), with half reporting positive health effects (154/302, 51.0%). Most patients perceived it to be useful as a diagnostic tool (253/301, 84.1%), as a tool providing insights leading them closer to correct diagnoses (231/303, 76.2%), and reported they would use it again (278/304, 91.4%). Patients who discussed findings with their physicians (103/213, 48.4%) more often felt physicians were interested (42/103, 40.8%) than not interested in learning about the tool's results (24/103, 23.3%) and more often felt physicians were open (62/103, 60.2%) than not open (21/103, 20.4%) to discussing the results. Compared with patients who had not previously experienced diagnostic errors (missed or delayed diagnoses: 123/304, 40.5%), patients who had previously experienced diagnostic errors (181/304, 59.5%) were more likely to use the symptom checker to determine where they should seek care (15/123, 12.2% vs 48/181, 26.5%; P=.002), but they less often felt that physicians were interested in discussing the tool's results (20/34, 59% vs 22/69, 32%; P=.04).

CONCLUSIONS
Despite ongoing concerns about symptom checker accuracy, a large patient-user group perceived an AI-assisted symptom checker as useful for diagnosis. Formal validation studies evaluating symptom checker accuracy and effectiveness in real-world practice could provide additional useful information about their benefit.


With the aim to develop simple, programmatically generated, topology-based descriptors of crystal structures for application to mechanical properties prediction methods, we have developed a new geometric analysis protocol using the CSD Python API. By scanning a crystal structure for Miller planes with the least physical impediment to translational slipping, we are able to predict plausible slip planes for a crystal structure – a feature shown to correlate strongly with tabletability. A simple, automatic hydrogen-bond network dimensionality analysis method has also been developed which, when used in conjunction with the slip plane analysis, can detect whether the proposed slip plane is bridged by hydrogen bonding interactions. These methods are combined with other calculated topological features into a set of crystal structure descriptors, which provide a fast, qualitative way to describe the aspect of crystal plasticity that results from packing geometry. While intended for use in conjunction with other methods, these descriptors alone are shown to correctly predict the relative tabletability measured for multiple drug systems.


Cloud computing has emerged as a new and alternative approach for providing computing services. Customers acquire and release resources by requesting and returning virtual machines to the cloud. Different service models and pricing schemes are offered by cloud service providers. This can make it difficult for customers to compare cloud services and select an appropriate solution. Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service vendors offer a t-shirt approach for Virtual Machines (VMs) on demand. Customers can select from a set of fixed size VMs and vary the number of VMs as their demands change. Private clouds often offer another alternative, called time-sharing, where the capacity of each VM is permitted to change dynamically. With this approach each virtual machine is allocated a dynamic amount of CPU and memory resources over time to better utilize available resources. We present a tool that can help customers make informed decisions about which approach works most efficiently for their workloads in aggregate and for each workload separately. A case study using data from an enterprise customer with 312 workloads demonstrates the use of the tool. It shows that for the given set of workloads the t-shirt model requires almost twice the number of physical servers as the time share model. The costs for such infrastructure must ultimately be passed on to the customer in terms of monetary costs or performance risks. We conclude that private and public clouds should consider offering both resource sharing models to meet the needs of customers.


A key challenge in cancer treatment is the wide range of cancer cells' behavior towards chemotherapy and treatment procedures, which makes the outcomes of treatment often unpredictable, accompanied by cancer resistance and recurrence. One underlying reason is that tumor is a heterogeneous tissue. The cells within a tumor are at different metabolic states and hence behave differently from another and towards the chemotherapeutics. Many of the cells in the inner layers of a tumor lack an appropriate growth condition. However, upon tumor shrinkage, they can regrow and finally cause tumor resistance or recurrence. In the current study, for the first time, long term effects of different levels of metabolic stress on human ovary cancer cell line, A2780, is reported. In this in vitro model, the cells exposed to 10% serum were considered as control and metabolic stress was induced at 0.5, 0.25 and 0% serum for 1-6 days. In this 6-day period, cells' morphology changes, size, cell cycle, mitochondrial function and protein content was measured at 24-hour intervals. Also, cells ability to recur was assessed with the above tests in a 24-hour release in 10% serum. The results of this study showed that A2780 cells show resistant features against metabolic stress and this longterm stress does not stop cells recurrence. These results indicate that in order to have a successful tumor treatment, a modified chemotherapy procedures against different types of cells laying within one tumor is required.


The development of applications for advanced Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), is a growing research area, pushed especially by the need to mitigate problems related to transportation inefficiency, overuse and pollution, mainly caused by the increasing of traffic congestions in big cities. Nowadays, traffic related data coming from the road infrastructure, user's cars or mobile phones, is generated in unprecedent volume and speed. Therefore, ITS face new challenges, with respect to growing demand to process large volumes of traffic data in real-time, and extract value that can be immediately used for decision making. The work presented here, proposes a scalable architecture supported by Big Data technologies, capable of processing real-time traffic data captured from 349 inductive loop counters, placed in Slovenian road network. The main goal is to propose an approach which can be adopted by national road operators, capable of monitoring, in real-time, the current status of the road network. Traffic events need to be detected in real-time and require the collection of data from several fixed sensors. To deal with data volume and velocity challenges, a data stream management system was used, able to collect traffic data that arrives and process it on a continuous (24x7) basis. Results achieved, suggest that there's a great advantage in the adoption of a data stream management system, with respect to traditional database management systems, illustrated by practical examples, providing quantitative metrics about data processing performance.


As a result of exposure to radiation free radicals are produced in the body, few environmental pollutants and also as byproducts of metabolism. They can damage components of cell and result in various types diseases because of their highly reactive nature. Free radicals are neutralized by different types of systems in the body which include antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase and also small molecules of nutrient-derived antioxidant (vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin E, carotenes, glutathione, taurine and uric acid). A delicate balance exists between antioxidants and free radicals in healthy individuals. In the present review different methods of antioxidant activity and their role in the management of different diseases have discussed. In some pathologic conditions like cancer and diabetes, the level of antioxidants falls below normal due to oxidative stress. Supplements of antioxidant for such conditions are expected to be beneficial. Regular consumption of antioxidant rich foods is the best preventive measure for certain diseases.


The project started with studying the unique characteristics of the zwitterionic drug (norfloxacin), considered as an example of very slightly water soluble drug. The study focused on the effects of its chemical structure on its interaction with surfactants (PEG200 and Synperonic TM PE/L-61) in liquisolid systems and, consequently, on its release into water dissolution medium.
The next stage was an approach to solve the problems of the dissolution, compressibility and flowability of norfloxacin liquisolid formulations through adding water as a liquid binder to make wet granulated liquisolid formulations. The water in the liquisolid formulations works as a liquid binder to the carrier and coating particles, creating a wider space inside their structure, which allows the amount of the liquid vehicle (PEG200 and Synperonic TM PE/L-61) to increase inside the formulations. This feature reflects positively on the flowability (decreasing the angle of the slide), compressibility (increasing the load factor) and the dissolution behaviour of norfloxacin (increasing drug release to more than 20%).
Another liquid binder (PVP) was used in the wet granulations and a comparison was made between PVP solutions, water and classical liquisolid formulations in terms of dissolutions, flowability, compressibility, DSC thermographs and FTIR spectra.
The successful application of wet granulation techniques with liquisolid formulations was tested with a very hydrophobic drug (cinnarizine). Due to its hydrophobicity, traditional mixing of surfactants and the drug particles did not improve its dissolution in water medium, although the solubility was relatively high.
ii
The methodology was again applied to investigate how the dissolution of cinnarizine altered with several different types of surfactants. The results lead to a change from traditional mixing to a self-nano emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDD). Optimization to select a suitable oil (Capmul® MCM EP), surfactant (Kolliphor® RH40) and co-surfactant (PEG400) was found to depend initially on the solubility of cinnarizine. Further optimisation identified the relative percentages (66.6:16.6:16.6 for oil, surfactant and co-surfactant, respectively) and the drug concentration required for the SNEDD (6.0% w/w) was found to depend on the mixture experimental design, using dissolution trends as an indicator.
Finally, the selected SNEDD system was converted to a liquisolid system using the water granulation technique to make tablets with acceptable compressibility and flowability. Due to the negative effect of coating material (Cab-O-Sil® M-5P) on the dissolution behaviour, a new method was developed to determine the compressibility load factor using a central composite design and response surface methodology. The predicted model was validated and the accuracy was over 95%, allowing it to be used for preparation of the SNEDDs. The new preparations were compared to tablets from the commercial sources. The new formulations show significant enhancement in the percentage of the drug releases in distilled water dissolution medium.


Research Question: The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the number of jobs the Millennial generation intend to change during their career is larger than that of previous generations; to compare the Millennials' intention to leave their current job to the previous generations', and also to examine the relation between the Millennials' turnover intention and their job satisfaction. Motivation: Millennials keep their resumes updated and have a reputation to be job hoppers (Shaw & Fairhurst, 2008; Meier& Crocker, 2010). Moreover, their job hopping has been an unprecedented problem for the employers (Tulgan 2015) and they are reported to have higher turnover intention rate than other generations (Kowske, Rasch & Wiley 2013; Deloitte, 2011; Twenge, 2010; Sujansky & Ferri-Reed, 2009). Additionally, it is generally accepted that job satisfaction and employee turnover intention are negatively related (Mobley 1977; Susskind et al. 2000; Schwepker 2001). Having in mind a lack of relevant literature as well as research in Eastern European countries, our goal was to explore if the same can be concluded for the Millennials in Serbia. Idea: The core idea of this paper was to empirically evaluate the relationship between the stated variables. Data: The analysis was conducted during 2017 in Serbia using a questionnaire which was made in the form of an online survey and distributed by email and posted on social networking websites. A total of 802 valid responses were received. Tools: Statistical analyses of all collected data were used to draw conclusions. Findings: The results of the study confirmed that the intention of the respondents to change a larger number of jobs in their career increases as we move towards the youngest generation in the workplace. Generation Y was found to be the only generation that has a higher percentage of those who think that they will quit the current job in the next two years than those who expect the opposite. The analysis confirmed that turnover intention increases with job dissatisfaction - the greater their job satisfaction is, the less Millennials will want to change their current employer in the next two years. Contribution: This paper expands existing research related to the turnover intentions and job hopping of Millennials and provides recommendations for organizations for retaining the members of Generation Y.


The creation of artifacts is one of the factors that make us human. Artifacts contribute to our continual adaptation to the world by permitting better knowledge and control of it. The focus of this chapter is on the role of one specific kind of artifact: sensors. In contrast to our immediate perception of the world from our senses, sensors provide large amount of reliable measurements of the physical world that enhance human cognitive capacities in overcoming our perceptual limitations. However, "raw" sensor data require interpretation that relies on different types of expertise and knowledge to provide relevant meaning for human (adaptive) purposes. We suggest that a cognitive approach to understanding the differences between the different types of knowledge provided by current sensors as artifacts and the human senses is of interest. This approach questions the conception of human cognition as an analytic system of processing information from the world rather than as one which interprets and gives meanings to the world. We posit that understanding the differences between human and artificial sensors can shape a new era of technological advancement that is uniquely collaborative insofar as it would rely on the partnership of scientists working in the Humanities and in the Natural Sciences. In this article we provide some data from cognitive research that outline the beginnings of a pluridisciplinary endeavor to conceive sensors which integrate performances of artifacts and the diversity and richness of human cognition, with the goal of transforming so-called "intelligent" devices into cognitive sensors.


For those who depend on the bounty of the sea for their livelihoods, climate change and its consequences (warming water, coral bleaching, rising sea levels) could spell disaster. The region comprising the eastern coastline of Africa and the islands of the western Indian Ocean--home to many of the Earth's most impoverished people--is particularly vulnerable to significant climate impacts.

Focusing on coral reef fisheries in these areas, which collectively support millions of people, this book provides a tool box of options for confronting the consequences of climate change through building local-scale adaptive capacity and improving the condition of natural resources. This requires strengthening a society's flexibility, assets, learning, and social organizations, as well as restricting or limiting its resource use. These two broad concepts--building social capacity and limiting certain types of resource use--interact in complicated ways, requiring coordinated actions. The authors argue that adaptation solutions are context dependent, determined in part by local resource conditions, human adaptive capacity, and exposure to climate change impacts, but also by a people's history, culture, and aspirations.

Providing an up-to-date and original synthesis of environmental stress, natural resources, and the socioeconomics of climate change, Adapting to a Changing Environment develops a framework to provide governments, scientists, managers, and donors with critical information about local context, encouraging the implementation of nuanced actions that reflect local conditions.


1 Acute exposure to hypoxia stimulates ventilation and induces hypocapnia. Long‐term exposure to hypoxia generates changes in respiratory control known as ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxia. The object of this study was to investigate the degree to which the hyperventilation and hypocapnia can induce the changes known as ventilatory acclimatization to hypoxia, in the absence of the primary hypoxic stimulus itself. 2 Three 6 h protocols were each performed on twelve healthy volunteers: (1) passive hypocapnic hyperventilation, with end‐tidal CO2 pressure (PET,CO2) held 10 Torr below the eupnoeic value; (2) passive eucapnic hyperventilation, with PET,CO2 maintained eucapnic; (3) control. 3 Ventilatory responses to acute hypercapnia and hypoxia were assessed before and half an hour after each protocol. 4 The presence of prior hypocapnia, but not prior hyperventilation, caused a reduction in air‐breathing PET,CO2 (P < 0·05, ANOVA), and a leftwards shift of the ventilatory response to hypercapnia (P < 0·05). The presence of prior hyperventilation, but not prior hypocapnia, caused an increase in the ventilatory sensitivity to CO2 (P < 0·05). No significant effects of any protocol were detected on the ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia. 5 We conclude that following 6 h of passive hyperventilation: (i) the left shift of the VE‐PET,CO2 relationship is due to alkalosis and not to hyperventilation; (ii) the increase in slope of the VE‐PET,CO2 relationship is due to the hyperventilation and not the alkalosis; and (iii) ventilatory sensitivity to hypoxia is unaltered.


Controversies regarding the pricing of biopharmaceutical products are pervasive. Patients must choose between treatment and rent, prescriptions go unfilled, and health systems are forced to restrict access to life-saving medications—all because of cost. Though there is often consensus that these issues are problematic, there is disagreement as to what are appropriate solutions and who has responsibility to bring about those solutions. Most efforts to address biopharmaceutical pricing concerns focus on governmental regulation. This Article has a different focus. It provides a legal and normative analysis of a form of corporate self-regulation that could help address access and pricing concerns—a moral "corporate duty to rescue" (CDTR). Scholars in health law, business ethics, and bioethics have proposed that a CDTR applies to biopharmaceutical companies regarding access to their products. Rescue efforts are conceived as including product donations, price reductions, or tinkering with intellectual property management. This Article advances three primary arguments. First, analyzing pertinent law, it argues that managers and directors have the legal discretion to discharge a CDTR. Second, while there is legal discretion to discharge a CDTR, this Article argues that it is unclear what this moral duty demands of biopharmaceutical companies. Its application to the drug pricing and access context is not straightforward, morally speaking. Third, this Article argues that focus on a CDTR in the biopharmaceutical context, in some instances, may be misplaced. A duty to rescue allocates responsibility for rescue on the basis of who can help now and not on the basis of who has historically done what. Yet, wronging others generates significant reasons for the mitigation of that wrong to be the wrongdoer's special moral responsibility. If there is culpable conduct, focus on a CDTR will fail to hold companies accountable, thereby obfuscating morally problematic corporate conduct. As access and pricing problems are at root normative, this Article contributes to larger debates both about what drug manufacturers owe patients regarding product access as well as what sorts of self-regulatory changes they justifiably could be urged to implement.


This paper is a short summary of a real world mirroring attack on the Apple iPhone 5c passcode retry counter under iOS 9. This was achieved by desoldering the NAND Flash chip of a sample phone in order to physically access its connection to the SoC and partially reverse engineering its proprietary bus protocol. The process does not require any expensive and sophisticated equipment. All needed parts are low cost and were obtained from local electronics distributors. By using the described and successful hardware mirroring process it was possible to bypass the limit on passcode retry attempts. This is the first public demonstration of the working prototype and the real hardware mirroring process for iPhone 5c. Although the process can be improved, it is still a successful proof-of-concept project. Knowledge of the possibility of mirroring will definitely help in designing systems with better protection. Also some reliability issues related to the NAND memory allocation in iPhone 5c are revealed. Some future research directions are outlined in this paper and several possible countermeasures are suggested. We show that claims that iPhone 5c NAND mirroring was infeasible were ill-advised.


This study aimed to clarify the psychological benefits of brief walks through forest areas. In addition, we aimed to examine the associations between psychological responses and trait anxiety levels. Five-hundred-and-eighty-five participants (mean age, 21.7 ± 1.6 years) were instructed to walk predetermined courses through forest (test) and city (control) areas for 15 min. The Profile of Mood State (POMS) questionnaire and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were used to assess participants' psychological responses and trait anxiety levels, respectively. The results revealed that walking through forest areas decreased the negative moods of "depression-dejection", "tension-anxiety", "anger-hostility", "fatigue", and "confusion" and improved the participants' positive mood of "vigor" compared with walking through city areas. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between participants' trait anxiety levels and their changes in the subscale of "depression-dejection" of POMS after walking through forest areas. A more effective reduction in the feeling of "depression-dejection" after walking through forest areas was observed for participants with high trait anxiety levels than for those with normal and low trait anxiety levels. This study showed the psychological benefits of walking through forest areas and identified a significant correlation between psychological responses to walking through forests and trait anxiety levels.


In the dark narratives that make up "When I Was Mortal" by Javier Marias, winner of the Dublin IMPAC prize and author of the bestselling "A Heart So White", a dapper Paris doctor dispenses a treatment for dissatisfied wives. A mother auditions for her first porn movie. A writer working on a study of pain makes himself the subject of his experiments. A voyeur mistakes a murderer for a fellow peeping tom...these are some of the characters observed by the narrator of these chilling stories. Ironic, unsettling, imbued with dread and with droll humour, Javier Marias' short tales cast a shrewd, sardonic eye on humanity. Javier Marias was born in Madrid in 1951. He has published ten novels, two collections of short stories and several volumes of essays. His work has been translated into thirty-two languages and won a dazzling array of international literary awards, including the prestigious Dublin IMPAC award for "A Heart So White". He is also a highly practised translator into Spanish of English authors, including Joseph Conrad, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Thomas Browne and Laurence Sterne. He has held academic posts in Spain, the United States and in Britain, as Lecturer in Spanish Literature at Oxford University.


This study explores the ways figures of speech such as metaphors, puns and alliteration contribute to the creation of tourism images in print advertising. Extensive research has been conducted within the areas of advertising, tourism and linguistics. However, little has been done to emphasise the importance of textual analysis. The majority of the research used the more common visual semiotics approach in tourism. This study provides a detailed analysis of the figures of speech in tourism advertising. The choice of the above figures of speech was dictated by the previous research indicating the significant use of those devices in advertising. As no similar studies were conducted earlier, it was logical to start with the examination of the most frequently used figures of speech. Qualitative content analysis of 600 advertisements, selected from a range of sources, was carried out. The purpose was to find common patterns between the figures of speech used in the 1970s and 2000-2008, identify the links between advertised products and individual figures of speech and finally to explore how the interpretation process occurs when ambiguity takes place. This would lead to more in-depth understanding of the position of figures of speech in tourism advertising. Pragmatic approach, a branch of linguistics, was also implemented to explain the interpretation process. Textual analysis of puns, metaphors and alliteration reveals some concerns over the use of these devices when addressing potential consumers. Metaphors and puns are able to influence existing textual meanings carrying different degrees of ambiguity. Complex use of language devices might cause difficulties in its comprehension. Consumers require more information about the advertised products as their awareness and competence have increased. Growing legislation, development of new information technology devices, globalisation of the markets and growing consumer competence make the task of advertisers challenging and difficult. Creating new figures of speech, advertisers have to be aware of the consequential issues within their comprehension. Although Relevance Theory, a part of pragmatics, successfully explains the interpretation and derivation of ambiguous meanings, there are still numerous meanings expressed in advertising and advertisers leave the responsibility of correct interpretation for recipients. Low numbers of puns indicate that although tourism activity is associated with an enjoyment and pleasure, the satisfaction from resolving the pun is not always appreciated by readers. From another side, alliteration does not require any interpretation and thus cannot be misled, as no semantic meaning is involved. Hence, alliteration has more potential to succeed in the advertising communication. This thesis contributes to knowledge in theoretical and methodological concepts within tourism advertising depiction via linguistic devices and hopes to generate some further discussion within this area. The major contribution of this research lies in the detailed analysis of figures of speech used in tourism advertising. This work appears to be the first substantial attempt to undertake this linguistic approach.


The literature related to skew–normal distributions has grown rapidly in recent years
but at the moment few applications concern the description of natural phenomena with
this type of probability models, as well as the interpretation of their parameters. The
skew–normal distributions family represents an extension of the normal family to which
a parameter (λ) has been added to regulate the skewness. The development of this theoretical
field has followed the general tendency in Statistics towards more flexible methods
to represent features of the data, as adequately as possible, and to reduce unrealistic
assumptions as the normality that underlies most methods of univariate and multivariate
analysis. In this paper an investigation on the shape of the frequency distribution of the
logratio ln(Cl−/Na+) whose components are related to waters composition for 26 wells,
has been performed. Samples have been collected around the active center of Vulcano
island (Aeolian archipelago, southern Italy) from 1977 up to now at time intervals of
about six months. Data of the logratio have been tentatively modeled by evaluating the
performance of the skew–normal model for each well. Values of the λ parameter have
been compared by considering temperature and spatial position of the sampling points.
Preliminary results indicate that changes in λ values can be related to the nature of
environmental processes affecting the data


Most polydiacetylenes (PDAs) have been studied as chromatic sensors or temperature indicators because of their phase transition that is accompanied by a color change from blue to red. Here, we focus on the structural change based on the polydiacetylene phase transition for a temperature-responsive tensile actuator at low temperature using a copolymer composed of PDA and pluronic in a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) coiled yarn. In this paper, we do not focus on the general color change phenomenon of PDA. We demonstrate that the volume change of PDA in the MWCNT coiled yarn provides ∼180% tensile strain at low temperature (∼53 °C). Insertion of the pluronic copolymer into the coiled yarn composed of PDA and MWCNT caused the tensile actuation temperature to decrease by ∼6 °C (with tensile actuation of ∼230%) compared to an actuator without pluronic copolymer. Furthermore, we could verify that the large tensile actuation was also predominantly affected by the melting of the nonpolymerized diacetylene (DA) monomer and the pluronic copolymer. MWCNT coiled yarn actuators with PDA-pluronic copolymer can be easily prepared, have a large tensile actuation, and are actuated at low temperature. It could be used as temperature indicators in the food, drugs, and medical fields.


BACKGROUND
Lower extremities ulcers (LEU) are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality. With longer life expectancy, the prevalence of LEU in developed countries is assumed to grow, necessitating an increased demand for treatment by specialists.

OBJECTIVES
To compare the effectiveness of a telemedicine video conferencing modality with the conventional face-to-face treatment of LEU.

METHODS
The study was conducted in conjunction with a two-million member healthcare organization in Israel (Maccabi Healthcare Services). Consecutive visits of patients to wound care specialists during a 12-month observation period reviewed in 2015 were valuated. A nurse-assisted setting was implemented during all treatment sessions. The same specialist supervised patients in both modalities.

RESULTS
A sample of 111 patients (n=55 in the telemedicine group; n=56 in the face-to-face group) with 593 visits was analyzed. No significant difference in healing of LEU (78.2% in telemedicine vs. 75.0% in face-to-face) was detected, P = 0.823. A reduced number of visits in telemedicine (4.36 ± 2.36) compared to the face-to-face care (6.32 ± 4.17) was shown, P = 0.003. Non-inferiority of telemedicine demonstrated within the Δ = 15% range limits and 80% statistical power was demonstrated.

CONCLUSIONS
Compared to the usual face-to-face method, synchronous video conferencing-based telemedicine may be a feasible and efficient method for LEU management.


The goal of this study was to provide a theoretical framework for integrating attachment style and hostile attribution concepts into a viable model that may help explain the use of aggression in intimate relationships. A review of the current literature was conducted along with a correlational study to test associations between the constructs. The first hypothesis posits that high attachment anxiety and low attachment avoidance would be significantly related to higher levels of aggression. The second hypothesis predicts that the relationship between attachment and aggression would be moderated by the level of hostile attribution bias. Regression analyses were performed to test for both of these hypotheses. Neither hypothesis was supported by the data. Possible explanations for the outcomes were discussed along with methods used in measuring hostile attribution bias in intimate partner contexts. Limitations and future directions are discussed.


Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of the concepts key to low-oxidation state main-group chemistry. This covers oxidation state and electronic configuration, bonding in the heavier alkenes and alkynes, kinetic stabilisation, and reductive routes to low-oxidation state element complexes. Chapter 2 summarises bulky ligands commonly used in the kinetic stabilisation of low-oxidation state element species, and the synthesis of group 14 element(II) halide complexes, which act as precursors to further low-oxidation state chemistry. Following from this, the synthesis of novel bulky monodentate amide ligands is discussed, as is their utilisation in the synthesis of group 14 element(II) halide precursors. Chapter 3 investigates the use of the aforementioned group 14 element(II) halide precursors in the synthesis of amido-substituted heavier alkyne analogues (i.e. LEEL, E = Ge and Sn), and the reactivity thereof. These reactivity studies cover H₂ activation, CO₂ reduction, and cycloaddition/insertion reactions, involving reversible processes and CH-activation. The activation of H₂ led to the isolation of group 14 element(II) hydride species, which have been shown to be in equilibrium with monomeric hydride species in solution (i.e. hydrido tetrelenes). Further increasing the ligand's bulk led to the solid-state characterisation of two examples of monomeric amido Ge(II) hydride species. Chapter 4 presents the further reactivity of the aforementioned group 14 element(II) hydride species. This culminated in the synthesis of numerous amido alkyl and amido alkoxy germylenes and stannylenes through hydroelementation of aldehydes, ketones, and alkenes. The addition to alkenes was found, in some cases, to be reversible, and led to examples of alkene isomerisation at a Ge(II) centre. Chapter 5 addresses the use of group 14 element(II) species in catalysis, initially through stoichiometric studies involving germylenes and stannylenes discussed in Chapter 4. The efficient hydroboration of aldehydes and ketones is described, catalysed by Ge(II) and Sn(II) hydride complexes (i.e. those described in Chapter 3), with the mechanism of reaction studied through in depth kinetic experiments and DFT analyses. The efficient hydroboration of CO₂ was also achieved, with rates comparable to those achieved for transition-metal systems. The mechanism of this reaction has been elucidated to some degree through stoichiometric reactivity studies. Chapter 6 describes the synthesis of a novel boryl amide ligand, and its use in the stabilisation of low-oxidation state group 14 compounds. This largely acts as a comparison between the electronics and sterics of this ligand and those seen in Chapters 2-5, and as such highlights the importance in understanding how reactivities involved in this thesis can be affected through ligand modification.


This article addresses the importance of cultural capital for realistic educational aspirations of immigrants. We assume that cultural capital leads to higher educational aspirations and accordingly increases students' achievement at school either by reflecting norms on education (self-selection mechanism) or by capturing abilities and knowledge beneficial to academic achievement (resource mechanism). Taking into account divergent effects of cultural capital specific to the country of origin, respectively destination, we compare the relevance of country-specific cultural capital to the level of educational aspirations for immigrants from the former Soviet Union in Germany and Israel.
Using data from the project Immigrants' Children in the German and Israeli Educational Systems, we show that in both countries cultural capital specific to the host country enhances educational aspirations, while possessing only capital related to the heritage culture does not seem to be relevant for educational goals. However, the results reveal that possessing knowledge about both types of cultural capital can be decisive for setting aspirations. Students who are acquainted with the German or Israeli culture, respec-tively, as well as with the culture of their home country have the highest educational aspirations.


Many high throughput sequencing protocols for RNA and DNA require that the
polynucleic acid is fragmented so that the identity of a limited number of nucleic acids of one
or both of the ends of the fragments can be determined by sequencing. The nucleic acid
sequence allows the fragment to be located within the genome, and the fragment distribution
can then be used for a variety of different purposes. In the case of DNA this includes
identifying the locations where specific proteins are bound to the genome. In the case of RNA
this includes quantifying the expression levels of different gene variants or transcripts. If the
locations of the polynucleic acid fragments are partly determined by the underlying nucleic
acid sequence this could bias any results derived from the data. Unfortunately, such sequence
dependencies have already been observed in the distribution of both RNA and DNA
fragments. Previous analyses of such data in order to reduce the bias have examined the role
of regional characteristics such as GC bias, or the bias towards a specific sequence at the start
of the fragments.
This thesis introduces a new method for modelling the bias which considers the degree
to which the nucleotide sequence affects the likelihood of a fragment originating at that
location. This shows that there is often not a single bias characteristic, but multiple,
alternative sequence biases that coexist within a single dataset. This also shows that the
nucleotide sequence immediately proximal to the fragment also has a significant effect on the
fragment likelihood. This new approach highlights characteristics that were previously hidden
and provides a more powerful basis for correcting such bias.
Multiple alternative sequence biases are observed when both RNA and DNA are
fragmented, but the more detailed information provided by the new technique shows in detail
how the characteristics are different for RNA and DNA and indicates that very different
molecular mechanisms are responsible for the biases in the two processes.
This thesis also shows how removing the effect of this bias in ChIP-seq experiments can
reveal more subtle features of the distribution of the fragments. This can provide information
on the nature of the binding between proteins and the DNA with per-nucleotide precision,
revealed through the change in likelihood of the DNA fragmenting at each position in the
binding site.
It is also shown how the model fitting technique developed to analyse sequence bias can
also be used to obtain additional information from the results of ChIP-chip experiments. The
approach is used to find the nucleotide sequence preference of DNA binding proteins, and
also the cooperative effects associated with binding at multiple binding sites in close
proximity.


Payday lending is booming in Australia. The industry has around one million customers and over 1,100 loan providers. ASIC estimates the number of loans more than doubled between 2008 and 2014. But when a small loan of A$1,000 can come at an annualised cost of up to 288%, why are people choosing it? Simply put, people on low incomes lack easily accessible alternatives. Falling short For households living at or below the margin, this isn't just a household budgeting problem. By 2012 there were 2.55 million people living below the poverty line in Australia (13.9%). The cost of living has increased - between 2006 and 2013 the cost of utilities, health, housing and food and non-alcoholic drinks increased well above the 2.8% pa rise in CPI (9.5%, 4.8%, 4.7% and 3% pa respectively). This has left low-income households having to spend a higher proportion of their income on life necessities leaving little to no savings to deal with unexpected expenses. The ABS found around 13% of households could not raise A$2,000 in a week for something important and 17.9% had at least one cash flow problem in the last 12 months. Without savings, what happens when large bills need to be paid? What happens when the fridge, washing machine or car breaks down, or an unexpected health bill arises? The answer is familiar to most of us: people rely on credit. Mainstream forms of credit, like credit cards, are not accessible or available to everyone. Over three million adults in Australia are severely or fully financially excluded; that is, they do not have access to appropriate and affordable financial products and services (most lack access to a moderate amount of credit and basic insurance). Limited options The severely or fully financially excluded are more likely to be unemployed, on low incomes, single parents, receiving social assistance, young and have a lower educational attainment than the financially included. They may have been refused mainstream financial credit because of insufficient identification, ineligibility, low credit scores or poor credit history. They might have also avoided mainstream financial services because of an "unfriendly" or "intimidating" service". The common alternatives to mainstream credit are family and/or friends, layby or not-for-profit loan providers. Layby is generally only an option if someone is buying a product, can afford the deposit and can wait until the item is paid off before they need to use it; generally not the case for the payday lending customer. Poorer households often don't have access to family or friends with ready cash or are unwilling to ask. There are some not-for-profit alternatives, for example, the Good Shepherd Microfinance No Interest Loan Scheme provided almost 27,000 loans in 2014. But these options represent a drop in the ocean; consider, for example, that Cash Converters alone lent 626,555 short-term loans at a value of over A$257 million in 2011, and the total value of its loan receivables increased by 43% in two years since. NILS and other not-for-profit loan options generally come with slower application processes and higher barriers to accessibility than the payday lending market offers. Short-term credit loans, which provide up to $2,000, are readily available, easy and quick to access (they can be obtained online and are often approved in an hour or the same day). Their size, simplicity, speed and repayment periods (16 days to 1 year) make them attractive. They may also help maintain some feelings of dignity because, unlike banks, there is little risk of receiving a "no" and people aren't asking for "handouts". Caught in a cycle For the majority, these high-cost short-term loans are not a one-off issue. A report for the Consumer Law Centre Victoria found 65% of payday lending customers had taken out repeat loans, with an average of six loans over 12 months. The repeat loan cycles are a reflection on need and an inability to obtain credit from elsewhere, but they are also a reflection on the client-focused, relational nature of payday lenders. *The cost of a one-month loan at 24% is equivalent to an interest rate of 288% pa. Author provided. This is a thriving market benefiting from people who can least afford expensive credit. Suppliers typically operate right at the margin – most loans charge the maximum permissible rates under relevant law, and many flirt with the boundaries. ASIC has so far found more than 10,000 people have been overcharged for their payday loans. As Marston and Shevellar claim, "the growth of fringe lenders is a consequence of market supply meeting increased demand, when that demand is not being met by other segments of the financial services industry". Demand is not going to fall when the cost of living exceeds household income, precluding savings, and when bills need to be paid to keep a roof, turn on the lights, provide food and clothe the kids. A supply problem That leaves us with the question of supply. To seriously challenge the market, realistic alternatives must be available to these households; alternatives that match the accessibility and awareness of the payday lending competition. So far "mainstream lenders" have not responded directly to this challenge; arguably, these consumers are not a very attractive future market. It will take a different point of view for mainstream lenders to engage – one that goes beyond simple commercial rates of return. This is an opportunity and a challenge for Australia's mainstream lending market, for-purpose organisations, governments, and potentially social investors to work together to create and market a simple, accessible, affordable product. Leveraging the capabilities of multiple sectors to address a social issue and deliver social impact and financial return has been done before (e.g. Goodstart Early Learning). It is time to create a new market for short-term credit that reduces the cost for Australia's most disadvantaged households, and builds financial resilience for the future. This could be Australia's next great social enterprise. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Photo credit: Shutterstock


Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are often, and incorrectly, believed to be purely crystalline solids. This Feature Article highlights a selection of highly disordered MOF-based materials. This disorder gives rise to numerous possibilities in the fabrication of new MOF materials, and presents an alternative method of novel materials discovery, outside of the synthesis of increasingly complex crystalline structures. The formation of liquid MOFs and resultant melt-quenched glasses is reviewed, along with several categories of novel MOF-based materials including blends, flux melted glasses and crystal-glass composites.


The Australian lamb industry uses Australian Sheep Breeding Values to select for reduced subcutaneous fat depth (PFAT) and increased lean meat yield. Selection for reduced PFAT increases oin muscle weight, with muscularity associated with reduced muscle aerobicity. As isocitrate dehydrogenase activity (ICDH) is a good indicator of oxidative metabolism, we hypothesised that selection for reduced PFAT would decrease ICDH. ICDH was measured within the loin muscle of 13971ambs and data was analysed using a linear mixed effects model (SAS) with fixed effects for site, kill group within site, sex, birth type-rear type, age of dam, sire type and dam breed within sire type, and random terms for sire and dam. Within this model, covariates such as PFAT, intramuscular fat percentage (IMF) and weight of short loin fat and muscle were included individually to assess their phenotypic association with ICDH. Aligning with our hypothesis, selection for reduced PFAT decreased ICDH by 0.52 µmol/min/g tissue over the 4 unit PFAT range. However, neither short loin muscle nor fat weight demonstrated strong associations with ICDH. This contrasts with the premise of our initial hypothesis that selection for negative PFAT would decrease ICDH via its impact on whole body muscularity and the associated effect on muscle aerobicity. Alternatively, ICDH was strongly associated with IMF, with a 4% decrease in IMF aligning with a 0.84 µmol/min/g tissue reduction in ICDH. Selection for negative PFAT strongly reduces IMF, and when both covariates were used concurrently within the ICDH model, PFAT was not significant. This may imply that the impact of PFAT on ICDH is delivered via its negative impact on IMF, and appears to be independent of whole body adiposity or muscularity.


The chlorine chemistry under highly activated polar stratospheric spring conditions is critical to understanding the dramatic ozone losses that lead to the formation of the stratospheric ozone hole'. A particular flight pattern of the Geophysica high altitude aircraft during VINTERSOL-EUPLEX/SOLVE II on the 30th January 2003 in the Arctic was designed to test our theoretical understanding of the ClO/ClOOCl system. The outbound and inbound flight legs followed a calculated pattern such that the same air masses were sampled before and after sunset. During the inbound flight three encounters of the contrail from the outbound flight confirmed the success of the flight planning. In-situ ClO measurements were examined to study the conversion of ClO into its nighttime reservoir during sunset. Applying a trajectory Match technique, traditionally used to examine ozone-sonde concentrations, we examined this 3 hour period of ClO observations. 72 ClO Match pairs were identified with temperatures ranging between 200-206 K and SZAs between 84o and 95o. For a given Match pair the total active chlorine ClOx is assumed to be constant, but allowed to vary between Matches. This allowed the kinetic parameters controlling the ClO concentration - Keq, kf and J with differing SZA and temperatures to be closely examined. Due to the particular design of the flight pattern we are able to retrieve robust values for Keq based on ClO measurements alone. Hence our results for Keq are independent of the more uncertain dimer measurements (ClOOCl). We find values for Keq that are about a factor of 3-4 smaller than current JPL recommendations relatively independent of kf and J, as long as kf is larger than 70% of its recommended value. Derived values for J and ClOx are strongly anticorrelated. Hence, without dimer observations the retrieved J is very sensitive to assumptions about ClOx. However, using total available chlorine as an upper limit for ClOx, we find that the upper limits of the current JPL 2006 recommended range of uncertainty for J are required to explain the data of the self-Match fight. If measured values of ClOOCl are used to better constrain ClOx, even larger values of J are inferred. These results contrast with a recent laboratory measurement of the ClO dimer cross sections (Pope et al. 2007, J. Phys. Chem., in press), which leads to large differences between modeled and measured ClO. We shall explore additional chemical mechanisms that could account for observed ClO and ClOOCl during the self-Match flight, in light of the new laboratory cross section.


In recent years electrical power quality has been an important and growing problem
because of the proliferation of nonlinear loads such as power electronic converters in typical
power distribution systems. Particularly, voltage harmonics and power distribution equipment
problems result from current harmonics produced by nonlinear loads. The electronic
equipments like; computers, battery chargers, electronic ballasts, variable frequency drives,
and switch mode power supplies, generate perilous harmonics and cause enormous economic
loss every year. Problems caused by power quality have great adverse economic impact on
the utilities and customers. Due to that both power suppliers and power consumers are
concerned about the power quality problems and compensation techniques.
Issue of harmonics are of a greater concern to engineers and building designers because
harmonics can do more than distort voltage waveforms, they can overheat the building
wiring, causes nuisance tripping, overheat transformer units, and cause random end-user
equipment failures. Thus power quality (PQ) has become more and more serious with each
passing day. As a result active power filter (APF) gains much more attention due to excellent
harmonic and reactive power compensation in two-wire (single phase), three-wire (threephase
without neutral), and four-wire (three-phase with neutral) ac power networks with
nonlinear loads. The APF technology has been under research and development for providing
compensation for harmonics, reactive power, and/or neutral current in ac networks. Current
harmonics are one of the most common power quality problems and are usually resolved by
the use of shunt active filters.
In this research work, the performance of the shunt active filter control strategies has been
evaluated in terms of harmonic mitigation and DC link voltage regulation. Three-phase
reference current waveforms generated by proposed scheme are tracked by the three-phase
voltage source converter in a hysteresis band control scheme. This research presents different
topologies and controllers with enhanced performance of shunt active filter for power quality
improvement by mitigating the harmonics and maintaining dc link voltage constant.
For extracting the three-phase reference currents for shunt active power filters, we have
developed shunt active filter Instantaneous active and reactive power "p-q" and
Instantaneous active and reactive current "Id-Iq" control strategies. For regulating and
maintaining the DC link capacitor voltage constant, the active power flowing into the active
filter needs to be controlled. In order to maintain DC link voltage constant and to generate the
compensating reference currents, we have developed PI Controller, Type-1 and Type-2 Fuzzy
logic controller with different Fuzzy MFs (Trapezoidal, Triangular and Gaussian). The
proposed APF is verified through MATLAB/SIMULINK. The detailed real-time results using
Real-time digital simulator are presented to support the feasibility of proposed control
strategy.


Luminous patterns of firefly were experimentally investigated to evaluate the healing effect by using an appropriate statistical analysis and image processing. This study is for fabricating a hospice space by which people can be healed from many kinds of stress due to various modern human activities. It is revealed from a series of measurements that a 1/fn fluctuation mode is included in the luminous pattern of firefly and that there is a possibility that the luminescence plays a significant role in healing people. Therefore, we have always been feeling that the luminescence is so attractive from ancient times.


Background: Brain retraction has been shown to cause brain trauma and consequent neurological deficits, as well as closure of blood vessels due to applied pressure from the retractor. Hence it becomes necessary to explore alternative means for intracranial procedures that minimize brain retraction, such as keyhole techniques. Such techniques offer minimally invasive means that reduce brain retraction, effectively reducing the postoperative consequences of intracranial procedures as compared to conventional surgical techniques. The supraorbital Keyhole approach minimizes retraction of the frontal lobe, and is commonly used for the management of anterior circulation aneurysms and other supra- and parasellar pathologies through an incision in the eyebrow, offering cosmetic benefits. Objective: We will analyze the feasibility of a 3D-endoscopic and microscopic transtubular supraorbital approach and assess the capability of this approach for optic nerve decompression and visualization of cranial vasculature. Methods: 3D-endoscopic and microscopic transtubular supraorbital approaches were performed through a tubular retractor system on 5 preserved cadaveric heads. A skin incision was made from the lateral edge of the supraorbital incisura to the frontozygomatic area, and the skin flap was retracted frontally. Frontal and lateral muscles were retracted and a burr hole was placed posterior to the temporal line. A bone flap was consequently created and the dura was detached, incised, and elevated. A ViewSite™ Brain Access System (Vycor Medical, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, USA) of tubular retractors was used to provide retraction of the frontal lobe, and vascular intradular dissection and optic nerve decompression were performed. Results: The supraorbital approaches were successful; the suprasellar and parasellar regions were successfully accessed in all specimens and the tubular retractor allowed visualization of surrounding structures with good surgical maneuverability. The tubular retractors applied adequate and constant pressure on the frontal lobe while minimizing retraction, and both microsurgical and endoscopic instruments were used with the tubular retractor without complications. The minicraniotomy allowed for visualization of the anterior clinoid process and vasculature such as the ICA and Ophthalmic artery, and using a 25° contralateral head rotation, the optic canal was successfully drilled, and the Optic Nerve consequently identified. Drilling with care helped avoid the medially located supraorbital nerve, and the laterally located temporal branches of the facial nerve. Conclusion: The transtubular supraorbital approach is minimally invasive and minimizes retraction of the frontal lobe. The approach facilitates adequate visualization of the anterior fossa, its anatomical structures and neurovasculature. The approach also allows surgical maneuverability while under endoscopic and microsurgical environments. Further clinical studies are warranted to establish the approach's clinical efficacy and potential complications.


The Early Aptian encountered several crises in neritic and pelagic carbonate production, major
perturbations in the carbon cycle, and an oceanic anoxic event (OAE1a). Yet the causal links between
these perturbations and climate changes remain poorly understood, partly because temperature records
spanning the Early Aptian interval are still scant. We present new δ18O data from well-preserved bivalves from
a carbonate platform of the Galve subbasin (Spain) that document a major cooling event postdating most
of OAE1a. Our data show that cooling postdates the global platform demise and cannot have triggered
this event that occurred during the warmest interval. The warmest temperatures coincide with the time
equivalent of OAE1a and with platform biotic assemblages dominated by microbialites at Aliaga as well as on
other Tethyan platforms. Coral-dominated assemblages then replace microbialites during the subsequent
cooling. Nannoconids are absent during most of the time equivalent of the OAE1a, probably related to the
well-known crisis affecting this group. Yet they present a transient recovery in the upper part of this interval
with an increase in both size and abundance during the cool interval portion that postdates OAE1a. An
evolution toward cooler and drier climatic conditions may have induced the regional change from microbial
to coral assemblages as well as nannoconids size and abundance increase by limiting continent-derived
input of nutrients.


Background General obesity has been linked to dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system in humans. However, there is a lack of studies on the relationship between cannabis use and specific abdominal fat phenotypes. The aim was to investigate the associations between cannabis use and magnetic resonance imaging-derived fat phenotypes, as well as indices of insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. Methods In this cross-sectional study, magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify subcutaneous fat volume (SFV), visceral fat volume (VFV), intra-hepatic fat deposition (IHFD), intra-pancreatic fat deposition (IPFD) and skeletal muscle fat deposition (SMFD) by two independent observers. Insulin sensitivity was determined based on HOMA-IS, Raynaud index and Matsuda index, whereas insulin secretion was determined based on HOMA-β, insulinogenic index 30' and insulinogenic index 60'. A validated questionnaire was used to ascertain participants' cannabis use. Linear regression models were constructed, adjusting for demographics, glycated hemoglobin, physical activity, tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. Results A total of 120 individuals were included. Cannabis use explained 9.2% of variance in IHFD, 4.4% in SMFD, 3.4% in VFV, 0.4% in SFV and 0.2% in IPFD. Regular cannabis users had significantly greater IHFD compared with never users, in both the unadjusted (P = 0.002) and all adjusted (P = 0.002; P = 0.008) analyses. The other fat phenotypes did not differ significantly between either regular or non-regular users compared with never users. Regular cannabis users had significantly greater insulin secretion (as defined by the insulinogenic index 60') compared with never users, in both the unadjusted (P = 0.049) and all adjusted (P = 0.003; P = 0.004) analyses. Cannabis use explained 20.3% of variance in the insulinogenic index 60', but was not significantly associated with the other indices of insulin secretion. There were no significant differences in indices of insulin sensitivity in either regular or non-regular cannabis users compared with never users. Conclusion Regular cannabis use may be a risk factor for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (but not IPFD) and may alter the neuromodulation of insulin secretion. Further investigations are now warranted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations.


This paper presents Sora, a fully programmable software radio platform on commodity PC architectures. Sora combines the performance and fidelity of hardware software-defined radio (SDR) platforms with the programmability and flexibility of general-purpose processor (GPP) SDR platforms. Sora uses both hardware and software techniques to address the challenges of using PC architectures for high-speed SDR. The Sora hardware components consist of a radio front-end for reception and transmission, and a radio control board for high-throughput, low-latency data transfer between radio and host memories. Sora makes extensive use of features of contemporary processor architectures to accelerate wireless protocol processing and satisfy protocol timing requirements, including using dedicated CPU cores, large low-latency caches to store lookup tables, and SIMD processor extensions for highly efficient physical layer processing on GPPs. Using the Sora platform, we have developed a few demonstration wireless systems, including SoftWiFi, an 802.11a/b/g implementation that seamlessly interoperates with commercial 802.11 NICs at all modulation rates, and SoftLTE, a 3GPP LTE uplink PHY implementation that supports up to 43.8Mbps data rate.


### Background

Most geophysical processes impart a characteristic thermal signature to the crust that can be preserved in the form of isotopic variations in radiogenic minerals. Reading the record of these events using thermochronology permits unprecedented insights into the timing and rates of key dynamic processes, such as rifting, thrust faulting, tectonic denudation, erosion/incision, and magmatism, that may otherwise go unnoticed (McDougall and Harrison 1999). However, thermal disturbances are often too subtle to be revealed by conventional thermochronometric methods; i.e., interpolation of discrete temperature-time ( T - t ) points from bulk analyses using "nominal" closure temperatures. Rather, the highest resolution thermal histories require harnessing knowledge of the concentration distribution of the daughter product in the mineral of interest.

In previous chapters, the case has been explored in which a mineral cooling within the crust transitions from being open to loss of daughter product to closed system behavior. Assuming a monotonic thermal history of simple form (Dodson 1973), it is then possible to use the balance between radiogenic accumulation and loss to assign a bulk closure temperature, T c, which is given by:

\batchmode \documentclass[fleqn,10pt,legalpaper]{article} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amsmath} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \[\frac{\mathit{E}}{\mathit{RT\_{c}}}\ =\ ln\left(\frac{\mathit{ART\_{c}}^{2}\mathit{D}_{0}/\mathit{r}^{2}}{\mathit{E\ dT/dt}}\right)\] \end{document}(1)

where E is the activation energy, D is the frequency factor, R is the gas constant, T is absolute temperature, A is a geometry factor (sphere = 55, cylinder = 27, and plane sheet = 8.7), r is the effective diffusion length scale (radius or half-width), and dT / dt is cooling rate. When the T c and age of a number of coexisting mineral thermochronometers are correlated, an estimate of the temperature history can be interpolated. This method, termed the bulk closure approach, has been used for nearly 30 years (Purdy and Jager 1976; Mattinson 1978; Berger et al. 1979; Harrison et al. 1979).

However, use of Equation (1) carries several stringent requirements. …


Information systems (IS) research often attempts to examine and explain how technology leads to outcomes through usage of information technology (IT). Although extensive research in this area has resulted in a significant number of theories, limited work has been done on integrating these theories. This paper presents adaptive structuration theory (AST) as a meta-theory for examining IS within a socio-technical systems (STS) context. Two main contributions are: 1) an understanding of meta-theory and how it fits with other meta-studies and 2) applying AST as a meta-theory to: A) achieve deeper domain understanding, B) provide an overarching perspective for reviewing literature and linking existing theories, and C) build and test better domain specific theories of IS within STS. The paper also provides illustrations on reviewing literature using AST in the virtual team domain as well as an illustration of theory development using meta-theory in the domain of technology-mediated learning.