Studies of new product development (NPD) have identified a variety of factors that influence cycle time, but most of these findings are based on case studies of individual firms. The few empirical studies that have attempted to examine the generalizability of these findings have tended to focus on one set of decisions (e.g., product strategy decisions) without considering the impact of organizational variables. To address this gap in the literature, this paper examines the impact on perceived cycle time of six variables that reflect a business unit's NPD strategy, NPD environment, product strategy, and NPD processes. The study also examines whether the impact of each of these antecedent variables is independent of the remaining variables. Contingency theory implies that cycle time performance will reflect the internal consistency of multiple contingencies and multiple structural characteristics. This implication is tested by evaluating the incremental explanatory power of two distance variables: one based on a theoretically defined ideal profile; and a second based on an empirically defined ideal profile. This analysis is important, because it permits a test of the proposition that understanding the pattern of contextual and structural variables adds additional insight to the understanding of cycle time performance. The analysis, based on data collected from 164 firms, indicates that the development of a formal NPD strategy, the creation of an appropriate climate for innovation, and the use of cross-functional teams all contributed to improved perceptions of satisfactory cycle times. It was also found that executives in business units with broad product lines were less likely to perceive their cycle times as satisfactory. Contrary to expectations, an increasing emphasis on products involving breakthrough core processes was found to increase perceptions of satisfactory cycle times. Moreover, the use of heavyweight project managers had no significant impact on cycle time perceptions. The study also found no evidence to indicate that deviations from either a theoretically or an empirically defined ideal profile lengthen perceived cycle time.


Abstract The Early Permian (Asselian) Euramerican plant Padgettia readi Mamay is reassigned to Odontopteris Brongniart, as O. readi (Mamay) Stull et al. n. comb. Distinctive elongate structures on neuropteroid pinnules of this plant, previously interpreted as fructifications, are herein reinterpreted as foliar histoid galls, structurally analogous to blister or vein galls, and probably induced by an early lineage of hemipterans or mites. These distinctive features are assigned to the new gall ichnogenus Ovofoligallites Labandeira, n. ichnogen. n. ichnosp, as O. padgetti Labandeira. The Early Permian association between an Odontopteris host and Ovofoligallites gallers probably originated during the Middle Pennsylvanian as a similar, antecedent association between Macroneuropteris scheuchzeri (Hoffmann) Cleal, Shute, and Zodrow and the maker of U-shaped surface features long known as a distinctive, unattributed damage type, but now recognizable as a likely gall. The persistence of this association between the galler and certain medullosan pteridosperms into the Permian adds to the morphological richness of the Permian galler insect fauna. The Permian ecological expansion of galling insects resulted in colonization of new host plants, primarily through a shift from the consumption of entire, mostly pteridophyte axial organs during the Pennsylvanian to the partitioning of seed plant tissues in leaves and small branches in the Permian. The Ovofoligallites galler was part of a diverse Permian galler guild involving a variety of plant taxa, organs and tissues that overwhelmingly targeted multiple lineages of seed plants.


Large fluctuations in the sediment transport rate are observed in rivers, particularly in mountain streams at intermediate flow rates. These fluctuations seem to be, to some degree, correlated to the formation and migration of bedforms. Today the central question is still how to understand and account for the strong bedload variability. Recent experimental studies shed new light on the processes. The objective of this presentation is to show some of our results. To understand the behavior and the origins of sediment transport rate fluctuations in the case of steep-slope streams, we conducted laboratory experiments in a 3-m long, 8-cm wide, transparent flume. The experimental parameters are the flume inclination, flow rate and sediment input rate. Well-sorted natural gravel (8.5 mm mean diameter) were used. We focused on two-dimensional flows and incipient bedforms (i.e. for flow rates just above the threshold of incipient motion). A technique based on accelerometers was developed to record every particle passing through the flume outlet (more specifically, we measured the vibrations of a metallic slab, which was impacted by the falling particles). Analysis of bedload transport rates was then possible on all time scales. Moreover, the bed and flow were monitored using 2 cameras.We computed bed elevation, water depth and erosion/deposition at high temporal and spatial rates from camera shots (one image per second during several hours or days). In our laboratory experiments, the fluctuations of the sediment rate were large even for steady flow conditions involving well-sorted particles. Time series exhibited fluctuations at all scales and displayed long range correlations with a Hurst exponent close to 0.8. The results were compared for different input solid discharges. The main bedforms observed in our flume were anti-dunes migrating upstream. Bedform formation and propagation showed intermittency with pulses (high activity) followed by long sequences of low activity. We tried to interpret our results (bedform behavior, bed scouring) in terms of sediment outflow rate.


This is the first in a series of papers describing the recently completed all-sky redshift-distance survey of Early-type NEARby galaxies (ENEAR) carried out for peculiar velocity analysis. The sample is divided into two parts and consists of 1607 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with cz ≤ 7000 km s-1 and with blue magnitudes brighter than mB = 14.5 (ENEARm) and of galaxies in clusters (ENEARc). Galaxy distances based on the Dn-σ and fundamental plane (FP) relations are now available for 1359 and 1107 ENEARm galaxies, respectively, with roughly 80% based on new data gathered by our group. The Dn-σ and FP template distance relations are derived by combining 569 and 431 galaxies in 28 clusters, respectively, of which about 60% are based on our new measurements. To date the ENEAR survey has accumulated 2200 R-band images yielding photometric parameters for 1398 galaxies and 2300 spectra yielding 1745 measurements of central velocity dispersions and spectral line indices for 1210 galaxies. In addition, there are some 1834 spectra of early-type galaxies available in the Southern Sky Redshift Survey (SSRS+SSRS2) database, out of which roughly 800 galaxies yield high-quality measurements of velocity dispersions and spectral line indices, bringing the total number of galaxies with available spectral information to about 2000. Combined with measurements publicly available, a catalog has been assembled comprising ∼4500 measurements of central velocity dispersions for about 2800 galaxies, ∼3700 measurements of photometric parameters for about 2000 galaxies, and distances for about 1900 galaxies. This extensive database provides information on galaxies with multiple observations from different telescope/instrument configurations and from different authors. These overlapping data are used to derive relations to transform all available measurements into a common system, thereby ensuring the homogeneity of the database. The ENEARm redshift-distance survey extends the earlier work of the 7S and the recent Tully-Fisher surveys sampling a comparable volume. In subsequent papers of this series we intend to use the ENEAR sample by itself or in combination with the I-band field spiral (SFI) Tully-Fisher survey to analyze the properties of the local peculiar velocity field and to test how sensitive the results are to the different sampling of the galaxy distribution and to the distance relation used. We also anticipate that the homogeneous database assembled will be used for a variety of other applications and serve as a benchmark for similar studies at high redshift.


This paper describes 45 brachiopod species (including 15 undetermined species) in 23 genera belonging to seven orders (Productida, Spiriferida, Athyridida, Orthida, Orthotetida, Rhynchonellida and Lingulida) from the Talung Formation (Changhsingian, latest Permian) of the marine deep-water facies of South China. Two new genera are proposed: Chaohochonetes and Parapygmochonetes; along with nine new species: Tethyochonetes rectangularis, Tethyochonetes? sinuata, Chaohochonetes triangusinuata, Neochonetes (Zhongyingia?) liaoi, Neochonetes (Huangichonetes?) wufengensis, Paryphella majiashanensis, Paryphella minuta, Parapygmochonetes parvulus and Meekella sparsiplicata. The taxonomic composition, significant morphological features and palaeoecological implications of this deep-water brachiopod fauna are summarized, and the fauna is compared with the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) mixed brachiopod fauna of South China. The Changhsingian (latest Permian) deep-water brachiopod fauna of South China shares some common features with the PTB mixed brachiopod fauna, especially in terms of taxonomic composition and certain apparent morphological adaptations. This commonality is interpreted to indicate a time and a broad marine environment of widespread low oxygen supply and/or reduced trophic resources during the end-Permian life crisis in South China. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:744771BB-7377-4239-8A29-89183ECEBE09


In Australia, 86 "rescuers" have drowned over 15 years (1992-2007). Many victims have needlessly drowned simply because of bystander unfamiliarity with the simple skill of throwing a lifeline or lifebuoy. The basic paradigm of aquatic lifesaving is to affect a rescue, without placing oneself at risk. Twenty-five fit, untrained adults were recruited to assess their lifeline throwing abilities. Results from 190 competitors as participants in the Line Throw events at the National Australian Pool Lifesaving Competition 2009 were analyzed for speed, efficacy, and accuracy. It takes a medium time of 35 s for an untrained bystander to throw a lifeline. Only 20% can throw a line within 2 m of the target at a first attempt. In the heat of the moment, 20% do not secure the end of the flung rope. Trained children can affect a 10 m accurate throw and pull a potential victim to safety with a medium elapsed time of 23 s. The Australian national record for trained lifesavers (adult, 12 meter), is 10.08 s-world record 9.06 s. This simple lifesaving technique, with training in improvisation (e.g., garden hoses), will undoubtedly save lives.


BACKGROUND
Propranolol hydrochloride has been prescribed for decades in the pediatric population for a variety of disorders, but its effectiveness in the treatment of infantile hemangiomas (IHs) was only recently discovered. Since then, the use of propranolol for IHs has exploded because it is viewed as a safer alternative to traditional therapy.

OBSERVATIONS
We report the cases of 3 patients who developed symptomatic hypoglycemia during treatment with propranolol for their IHs and review the literature to identify other reports of propranolol-associated hypoglycemia in children to highlight this rare adverse effect.

CONCLUSIONS
Although propranolol has a long history of safe and effective use in infants and children, understanding and recognition of deleterious adverse effects is critical for physicians and caregivers. This is especially important when new medical indications evolve as physicians who may not be as familiar with propranolol and its adverse effects begin to recommend it as therapy.


We report new experimental results on the hydrogenation of 5-ethoxymethylfurfural, an important intermediate in the conversion of sugars to industrial chemicals, using eight different M/Al2O3 catalysts (M = Au, Cu, Ni, Ir, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ru) under various conditions. These data are then compared with the results for 48 bimetallic supported catalysts. The results are explained using a simple and effective model, applying catalyst descriptors based on Slater type orbitals (STOs). Each metal is described using four parameters: the height of the orbital peak, the distance of the peak from the metal atom centre, the peak width at half height, and the peak skewness. Importantly, all these parameters are derived from one simple equation, so the calculation is fast and robust. We then apply these descriptors for modeling the hydrogenation data using multivariate methods. Despite the inherent complexity of the reaction network, these simple models describe the catalysts' performance well. The general application of such descriptor models to in silico design and performance prediction of solid catalysts is discussed.


This paper undertakes a critical case analysis of the process and outcomes of the Competition Commission (CCSA) Fast Track Construction Settlement Project relative to the mandates of the CCSA and the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). The study reviews the information from the CCSA's settlements, analysing the breakdown by private and public projects, type of project and the nature of bid-rigging. It provides an assessment of the practices involved and considers the cooperation that is required for the successful implementation of large infrastructure projects and how these can be organized in a way that ensures rivalry while enabling co-operation. The paper further reviews the barriers to entry, and the complementary measures that can be taken to ensure greater effective rivalry and participation. Interventions that could be necessary at the regulatory, procurement and firm level to ensure that the construction sector charts a new sustainable competitive path are highlighted.


English in Print from Caxton to Shakespeare to Milton examines the history of early English books, exploring the concept of putting the English language into print with close study of the texts, the formats, the audiences, and the functions of English books. Lavishly illustrated with more than 130 full-color images of stunning rare books, this volume investigates a full range of issues regarding the dissemination of English language and culture through printed works, including the standardization of typography, grammar, and spelling; the appearance of popular literature; and the development of school grammars and dictionaries. Valerie Hotchkiss and Fred C. Robinson provide engaging descriptions of more than a hundred early English books drawn from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and the Elizabethan Club of Yale University. The study nearly mirrors the chronological coverage of Pollard and Redgrave's famous Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), beginning with William Caxton, England's first printer, and ending with John Milton, the English language's most eloquent defender of the freedom of the press in his Areopagitica of 1644. William Shakespeare, neither a printer nor a writer much concerned with publishing his own plays, nonetheless deserves his central place in this study because Shakespeare imprints, and Renaissance drama in general, provide a fascinating window on the world of English printing in the period between Caxton and Milton.


Rescued in 1972 from a storeroom in which rats and seeping water had severely damaged the fifty-year-old manuscript, this text is the earliest major work (1919-1921) of the great Russian philosopher M. M. Bakhtin. Toward a Philosophy of the Act contains the first occurrences of themes that occupied Bakhtin throughout his long career. The topics of authoring, responsibility, self and other, the moral significance of "outsideness," participatory thinking, the implications for the individual subject of having "no-alibi in existence," the difference between the world as experienced in actions and the world as represented in discourse--all are broached here in the heat of discovery. This is the "heart of the heart" of Bakhtin, the center of the dialogue between being and language, the world and mind, "the given" and "the created" that forms the core of Bakhtin's distinctive dialogism. A special feature of this work is Bakhtin's struggle with the philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Put very simply, this text is an attempt to go beyond Kant's formulation of the ethical imperative. Toward a Philosophy of the Act will be important for scholars across the humanities as they grapple with the increasingly vexed relationship between aesthetics and ethics.


Abstract:The need for African American male teachers is clear; however their pathway to teaching is in disrepair. This article shares research findings and a description of a pre-collegiate course designed to encourage high school students of color, including African American males, to explore teaching More specifically, drawing from survey and interview data, the researchers examine factors that influence 11th and 12th grade African American males' (N = 5) consideration of a teaching career and explore the impact of a pre-collegiate pathway to teaching program. The results of this mixed methods study expose the complexity of effective recruitment while also demonstrating how a successful program has the capacity to encourage young African American males to reframe their thinking and see themselves as potential future teachers.


Palic and Ludas lakes are shallow Pannonian lakes, which have undergone rapid eutro- phication. High concentrations of nutrients, along with significantly high values of fecal indicators in water samples, indicate that the Palic-Ludas canal, which connects them, contributes to the pollution of the recipient Lake Ludas, a central part of a special nature reserve. In order to improve water quality in the canal and decrease nutrient load of Lake Ludas, it is suggested to use environmentally friendly solutions, so-called bio-barriers (bio-bridges and biobanks), which will contribute to self-purification efficiency. The given model assumes 10 zones with bio-bridges and 0.4 ha covered by biobanks, using plants common in the area, e.g. Typha spp., Phragmites spp., Juncus spp., Scirpus spp. and Carex spp. The main disadvantage of this technology is occupation of large area; thus, the solution seems to be undersized. It removes 4% TN/year and 8% TP/year of the total amount necessary to achieve good ecological status. Nevertheless, the role of bio-bridges in permanent nutrient removal, through preventing the deposition of organic matter at the bottom sediment and later return of nutrients in water, together with indirect influ ence through enhancement of biodiversity should not be underestimated.


This article examines the political, social and psychological experiences of a group of young working-class men who in the early-to-mid 1960s became active members in branches of the Labour Party Young Socialists. Concentrated in London's East End, these branches had become increasingly open to the politics of International Socialism, a tiny libertarian Trotskyist group that provided these young men with a political education and a social circle, and propelled them into a bourgeoning activist network. Activism in their groups occurred at a crucial moment of personal and political transition – social maturation from child to adult intersected with the formation of a new and distinctive extra-parliamentary culture on the British left that came to full fruition around Britain's anti-war movement, the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. The formation of this collection of inner lives occurred simultaneously in the context of real social and economic shifts in the men's local landscapes as well as the wider international Cold War climate. Drawing upon oral history interviews with former Young Socialist members, this article explores the cultural and social expression of these working-class men, looking at subjectivity and gender to understand how their sub-culture provided for childhood structures of feeling and early class identity and to consider what meaning they derived from active socialist involvement. Against the historiography of sixties youthful protest politics, the men's testimonies show that experiences of inner transformation were not exclusive to enclaves of Britain's university students. The oral history interview provided a route through which to open up the subjective experience of early Trotskyist involvement and for the men to claim a valid space in the individual and collective memories of sixties political activism.


Background and Problem Discussion: One of the widespread conclusions in supply chain management research is that huge benefits can be achieved if suppliers are involved in the OEM's product development process as early as possible, since suppliers often possess vital product and process technology leading to significant improvements in product design and new product development process. The issue is a need for a model of supplier selection to support the contribution of suppliers in product development processes; whilst supplier attributes or performance metrics for traditional supplier selection do not seem to include specifications that are usually required in close relationships. What practitioners need in practice, is a simple-to-use methodology with producing logically precise results. Purpose: The purpose of this study is developing a model of supplier selection to support the contribution of suppliers in product development processes, and eventually, developing a strategically integrated supply base for Volvo Powertrain Corporation (VPT). Among the first part of this study, a model of supplier evaluation and selection has been developed, considering attributes and success factors for integration with suppliers, and also examined in VPT with the aims of achieving mutual success in both products and commerce for VPT, as the focal company, and its supply chain members. The second part of this study presents a model to boosting the integrated partnership established on the basis of the first part endeavour. Theory: The first part covers the theories emerges from a large number of stochastic studies concerning hypotheses proofing of relations between diverse aspects of hypothetical influential characteristics of partnerships and its performance. And the second part deals with theory of suppliers association. Analysis: Collected data from suppliers of VPT as well as practitioners is analysed and compared with the academic studies in the first part. Second part, however, deals only with theory since it needs more time and effort which is proposed as prospect studies. Conclusion: The conducted survey shows that two-way communication (or multi-way in more developed situations) and mutual trust are the most vital elements to partnership survival. It has been presented in this effort, and suggested to VPT, that the best practice in this respect is developing the supplier association in a framework of Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle (PDCA) constituted of key suppliers for a particular system and /or subsystem.


After 10 years under the director generalship of Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, the World Health Organisation is to have a new leader. For the first time in the organisation's 50 year history there are more than four nominees for the post and also a strong chance that the new director general will come from outside the organisation. Both these firsts reflect more openness in the selection procedure and could presage a change in the WHO's fortunes. On p 11 five of the seven nominees answer questions about the WHO's future, and on the BMJ 's website we invite you to cast your vote in advance of the decision by the WHO's executive board on 27 January (http://www.bmj.com/).

So what sort of organisation will the successful nominee take on, and what attributes should he …


This paper reports on hydrogen pressures measured during the longterm immersion (~19 000 hours) of copper in oxygen-free distilled water. Hydrogen gas evolution is from copper corrosion and similar pressures (in the mbar range) are measured for copper contained in either a 316 stainless steel or titanium system. Copper corrosion products have been examined ex-situ by SEM and characterized by Xray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). XPS strongly indicates a corrosion product containing both hydroxide and oxide. SIMS shows that oxygen is mainly present in the outer 0.3 um surface region and that hydrogen penetrates to depths in the substrate well below the corrosion product.


Conventional treatment of advanced colorectal cancer is associated with tumor resistance and toxicity towards normal tissues. Therefore, development of effective anticancer therapeutic alternatives is still urgently required. Nowadays, marine secondary metabolites have been extensively investigated due to the fact that they frequently exhibit anti-tumor properties. However, little attention has been given to terpenoids isolated from seaweeds. In this study, we isolated the halogenated monoterpene mertensene from the red alga Pterocladiella capillacea (S.G. Gmelin) Santelices and Hommersand and we highlight its inhibitory effect on the viability of two human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines HT29 and LS174. Interestingly, exposure of HT29 cells to different concentrations of mertensene correlated with the activation of MAPK ERK-1/-2, Akt and NF-κB pathways. Moreover, mertensene-induced G2/M cell cycle arrest was associated with a decrease in the phosphorylated forms of the anti-tumor transcription factor p53, retinoblastoma protein (Rb), cdc2 and chkp2. Indeed, a reduction of the cellular level of cyclin-dependent kinases CDK2 and CDK4 was observed in mertensene-treated cells. We also demonstrated that mertensene triggers a caspase-dependent apoptosis in HT29 cancer cells characterized by the activation of caspase-3 and the cleavage of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP). Besides, the level of death receptor-associated protein TRADD increased significantly in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential of mertensene as a drug candidate for the treatment of colon cancer.


Bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer with significant morbidity and mortality. Recently, numerous studies demonstrated that microRNAs are emerging as diagnostic biomarkers for bladder cancer. Specific miRNA profiles have been identified for several samples from patients with bladder cancer. MicroRNAs are noncoding RNA molecules of approximately 23 nucleotides that play important roles in multiple steps during the progression of bladder cancer. Here, we review the expression profiles of miRNAs and their biological functions, regulation, and clinical implications in bladder cancer. Either downregulation or upregulation of miRNAs occurs in bladder cancer through epigenetic changes or defects of the biogenesis apparatus. Deregulation of miRNAs is involved in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, proliferation, metastasis, drug resistance, and other functions in bladder cancer. A number of miRNAs, have been associated with tumor type, stage, or patient survival, and miRNAs might be developed as diagnostic or prognostic markers. A better understanding of the roles of miRNAs in bladder cancer will shed light on the molecular mechanisms of bladder cancer.


This paper addresses the identification and correction of amplitude and offset errors in the sinusoidal outputs from incremental position encoders. Precise angular position measurement is of high importance in many position control applications. Manufacturing tolerances and noise from thermal and electromagnetic interference sources introduce systematic and random errors in the orthogonal sine cosine output line signals. Evaluation of these signals reproduces deviations in the measured angular position. This paper proposes two methods to identify and compensate for the influence of the systematic errors online without the necessity of a reference measurement during identification. The key component of the methods is a nonlinear estimator that exploits the orthogonality property of harmonic functions. The first method explains the basic idea with a scalar error model and operates continuously but exhibits an angular shift in direction of rotation during transients of the parameters, whereas the second method assumes an error model with error parameters as a function over one full revolution of the encoder. The latter updates the error function iteratively in subsequent revolutions.


The present study was undertaken to assess the phenomenon of child abuse and neglect as prevailing in the society and kind of abuse mainly inflicted by the parents to their children. The study also focused on the relationship of child abuse and neglect with the patterns of parental acceptance--rejection towards their children and the role these patterns played in child abuse, To explore the role of family environment in child abuse was, another objective of the study. Furthermore, the role of paternal personality characteristic of authoritarianism in child abuse and neglect was also investigated with special reference to Pakistani cultural context. 'The research was carried out in two parts i.e., pilot study, and main study. In the pilot study an indigenous Child Abuse Scale(CAS) comprising of 34 items was developed for the children of age raging from 8-12 years to identify abuse and the type of abuse. Urdu version of index of Family Relations (Shah & Aziz. 1993) was adapted to measure intra-familial interaction within the family. In addition, a Paternal Authoritarian Scale (PAS) consisting of 42 items was prepared to the asses fathers authoritarian attitude towards their children. The results of the pilot study revealed a considerably high reliability and validity for all t the three scales i.e., CAS. PAS and IFR with coeficient alpha of. 92, 86, and ,95 respectively. The main study was carried out with a randomly selected sample of 200 children boys 100 and 100 girls) and 200 fathers of the same children. The age range of the children was 8-12 years and for fathers it was 25-50 years. Children were administered four scales including Child Abuse Scale, Index of Family Relations and Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire, separate forms for father and mother, whereas, the sample of fathers was administered Paternal Authoritarian Scale. The data were collected from six cities of Punjab including. Lahore, Multan, Mian Chanu, Sahiwal, Gujrat and Rawalpindi-Islamabad. The results indicated that children were more emotionally or psychologically abused by the parents as compared to physical abuse. Boys and girls showed no difference with reference to level of abuse and type of abuse to which they are exposed. Severely abused children perceived their parents. both father and mother as more rejecting as compared to mildly abused children. Severely abused children also perceived their intra-familial environment as more problematic and disturbing as compared to mildly abused children. Child abuse and neglect was found to be prevalent in all socio-economic classes, while it found to be more prevalent in larger families as compared to smaller families. Moreover, parental education especially of mothers seemed to be an important contributing factor as children of highly educated mothers reported less abuse. Furthermore, the results revealed that fathers of children included in the sample had. Overall, authoritarian attitude depicting very important finding peculiar to Pakistani cultural context. The results also suggested that fathers with high educational levels might show a difference in their authoritarian attitude towards their children as compared to illiterate and less educated fathers. Fathers belonging to all levels of socio-economic. status, family size and family type were found to be equally authoritarian and it was also true for the age their level.


This study was carried out to examine treatment of repeat breeder (RB) dairy cows with diluted Povidone iodine (2%). Sixty cross-bred dairy cows suffer repeat breeding were used to investigate the efficacy of intra-uterine infusion of diluted Pvidone iodine for treatment of repeat breeding in dairy cows. Uterine swabs were collected from uteri of the candidate cows prior treatment. After bacterial culture the uteri of the selected cows were found mildly infected (subclinical endometritis). They were then divided randomly into three equal groups. Group A (n = 20 cows) was intra-uterine infused with 2% Povidone iodine 6 hours pre-insemination. Group B (n = 20 cows) was infused with the same solution 6 hours post-insemination. Group C (n = 20 cows) was left without treatment to serve as control. The potency and efficacy of diluted Povidone iodine to cure repeat breeding in dairy cows was evaluated by studying three parameters, the days open (DO), rate of service per conception and the calving interval (CI). The results of this study revealed that, the DO, rate of service per conception and CI were significantly (P<0.001) reduced by intra-uterine infusion of diluted Povidone solution 6 hours pre and post insemination as compared to the control.
It is concluded that, the repeat breeding (RB) syndrome in cross-bred dairy cows is most likely to be due to sub-clinical endometritis of the reproductive tract as well as deficiency of Iodine. Furthermore, intra-uterine infusion of 2% Povidone iodine can be used successfully to improve the reproductive efficiency of RB dairy cows.


Abstract Recent trends promote a "barefoot" running style to reduce injury. "Minimalist" shoes are designed to mimic the barefoot running with some foot protection. However, it is unknown how "minimalist" shoes alter plantar loading. Our purpose was to compare plantar loads between rearfoot strikers and non-rearfoot strikers after 4 weeks of running in minimalist footwear. 30 females were provided Vibram® Bikila shoes and instructed to gradually transition to running in these shoes. Plantar loading was measured using an in-shoe pressure sensor after the 4 weeks. Multivariate analysis was performed to detect differences in loading between rearfoot and non-rearfoot strikers in different plantar regions. Differences in plantar loading occurred between foot strike patterns running in minimalist footwear. Pressure and force variables were greater in the metatarsals and lower in the heel region in non-rearfoot strikers. Peak pressure for the whole foot was greater in non-rearfoot strikers while no difference was observed in maximum force or contact time for the whole foot between strike types. Allowing time for accommodation and adaptation to different stresses on the foot may be warranted when using minimalist footwear depending on foot strike pattern of the runner.


Abstract A computer-based (digital) approach is used by the New Jersey Geological Survey for analyzing and characterizing the geological framework of fractured bedrock aquifers using outcrop data. The structural geologic data are managed and analyzed using custom personal-computer software. Outcrop locations are built as ARC/INFO Geographic Information Systems point coverages that are used to plot geo-referenced fracture orientations and fracture-spacing symbols. Fracture analysis is based on designating structural domains for faulted, folded, and regionally oriented panels of bedrock and conducting domain-overlap analysis. The regional fracture coverages are made available to the public in digital form to facilitate the evaluation of groundwater pollution sites using geographic information systems. The study area covers parts of two tectonic fault blocks in the central part of the Mesozoic Newark basin in New Jersey. Fractures are grouped into bed-parallel and other (nonbedding) fracture sets for analyzing their distribution, orientation, spacing, and spatial variability relative to mapped faults and folds. Bed-parallel fractures are most frequently aligned subparallel to the faults bordering the basin on its northwestern margin. Nonmineralized nonbedding fractures display more variability and are frequently aligned subparallel to intrabasin faults. The strike of nonbedding fractures systematically varies across the region to reflect the strike of nearby faults; the fractures are less commonly oriented across bedding strike or at moderate angles to fault strike. Nonbedding fractures display the most variability in strike where bedding is gently warped and folded. Fold traces are frequently aligned approximately normal to fault strike. The most frequently mapped nonbedding fracture sets in the central part of the Newark basin have interfracture spacing from 4 to 20 cm. The distance between nonbedding fractures oriented subparallel to a major fault generally decreases toward the fault. A fracture density of > 50 nonbedding, subparallel fractures/meter is usually restricted to within 2 km of a major intrabasin fault in the Newark basin.


Outstanding issues in the neighbourhood research agenda

Although multilevel studies help to tease apart contextual from compositional influences on health, they do not in themselves consider other threats to causal inference, particularly selection and endogeneity.1 Endogeneity occurs when people choose to move to a particular neighbourhood—for example, one with cleaner air or medical amenities—because of an existing health problem (reverse causation). Endogeneity can also occur because of the presence of unobserved common prior causes of neighbourhood-level exposures and health outcomes (confounding)—for example, it is commonly supposed that the presence of fast-food outlets in a neighbourhood increases the risk of obesity for local residents. However, it is equally plausible that the decision of fast food franchises to open their businesses in particular locations occurs in response to the tastes of local residents. In this instance, taste for fatty food is an unobserved variable that is related to both the location of outlets as well as the risk of obesity. Generally speaking, epidemiological studies to date have seldom attempted to deal with these threats to causal inference.

Arguably, the problems we have described could be overcome by collecting data on a comprehensive range of unobserved variables and controlling for them. Alternatively, analysts could overcome some of the limitations of observational data by importing methods developed in other social sciences, such as instrumental variable estimation.2 Instrumental variable estimation has long been used in economics. The goal is to manipulate the exposure of interest (eg, neighbourhood poverty) by identifying variables (instruments) that cause exogenous …


Variational data assimilation and deep learning share many algorithmic aspects in common. While the former focuses on system state estimation, the latter provides great inductive biases to learn complex relationships. We here design a hybrid architecture learning the assimilation task directly from partial and noisy observations, using the mechanistic constraint of the 4DVAR algorithm. Finally, we show in an experiment that the proposed method was able to learn the desired inversion with interesting regularizing properties and that it also has computational interests.


Bede's Historia ecclesiastica contains unnoticed evidence for the processes of transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon toponymy in early Anglo-Saxon England. Bede uses two different formulas to specify that place-names are English: a gente Anglorum appellatur ('called by the people of the English') and lingua Anglorum ('in the language of the English'). The first phrase is used exclusively of places whose English names show phonetic continuity with Roman ones; the second with a more heterogeneous group which mostly does not show phonetic continuity. This demands explanation. The explanation suggested here is that major places (likely to be spoken of throughout a whole gens) enjoyed greater stability of nomenclature than minor ones.


The falling use of cash and the advent of digital technologies support the possibility of reconfiguration of monetary transactions without any intermediation of physical monetary tokens. The introduction of electronic money, especially in the guise card-based technologies but also as pre-charged software enhanced the optimism for a quick passage to a cashless, even a moneyless society. Nonetheless the prognoses for the elimination of cash have proved wrong so far and it is rather electronic money that struggles for survival. This paper explains why the initial enthusiasm about electronic money is running of steam. After defining what electronic money is and analyzing the data about its penetration in different countries a series of reasons for its failure are offered; even in the case where e-money is considered a success, the success story is contested. The small importance of e-money in retail payments today suggests the possibility of a society with minimal use of cash but without e-money. This is a more appropriate context for engaging with the projects of Singapore's Electronic Legal Tender and of the Single Euro Payment Area.


Abstract To evaluate the frequency and stability of the occurrence of P. infestans races and mating types in the Czech Republic, 338 monosporic isolates were collected from 31 sites in different potato-growing areas from 2012 to 2014 and in 2016. In total, 142 isolates were evaluated for virulence and race structure using the detached leaflet assay on Black's differential set, supplemented with cultivar Sarpo Mira and somatic hybrid REG 46F. With the exception of virulence for resistance genes R9 and Rpi-blb-1, all virulence genes were detected among isolates, with a predominance of genes R1, R3, R7, R10, and R11. Most isolates were virulent to five or more R-genes, with a mean virulence complexity of 7.1. Among the 38 races detected, the most commonly occurring races were 184.108.40.206.220.127.116.11 and 188.8.131.52.7.10.11. Of the 338 isolates tested by the pairing test and the cleaved amplified polymorphism sequence (CAPS) marker, 40% were of the A1 mating type and 60% were of the A2 mating type, with an A1 : A2 isolate ratio demonstrating the predominance of the A2 mating type each year of the survey.


oth-Abstract Heat shock proteins play an important regulatory role in the cellular defence. Oxidative stress is one of the factors inducing heat shock protein expression. This study tested the effects of 4 weeks of immobilization and subsequent remobilization on heat shock protein expression and oxidative stress in the lateral gastrocnemius and plantaris muscles of the rat. Active mobilization or free mobilization protocols were used for remobilization. In active mobilization, strenuous uphill treadmill running, twice a day, was started immediately after the immobilization and lasted for six days. Rats in the free mobilization group moved freely in their cages immediately after the immobilization. Expression of heat shock proteins was upregulated during the recovery from immobilization, especially in the lateral gastrocnemius muscle in the active mobilization group. However, markers of oxidative stress, such as protein carbonyls and 4-hydroxynonenal protein adducts, or activities of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase, did not change after the immobilization and subsequent recovery. In summary, following immobilization, both intensive and spontaneous exercise upregulated the heat shock protein expressions in the lateral gastrocnemius muscle and partly in the plantaris muscle, which may contribute to the recovery from immobilization atrophy.


As our reliance on software has increased, robustness has become an important subject. Software that is not robust enough may lead to frustration, or loss of time or value. Software architecture forms the main structures of applications. Having focus on the quality of an applications architecture may increase the robustness of the application. This thesis tries to find a suitable architectural process for achieving robustness. I report on the findings from ten interviews with software architects from the software industry, around the theme robustness. Interview results are used in order to form a definition of robustness which is wider than the definitions I found in literature. The thesis's main contribution is a proposed process for designing and analyzing robust software architectures that make use of elements from existing methods. The proposed process is grounded on results from interviews, personal experience, and evaluation of existing methods in literature.


Aims: To examine the influence of country-level characteristics and individual socio-economic status (SES) on individ- ual alcohol-related consequences. Methods: Data from 42,655 men and women collected by cross-sectional surveys in 25 countries of the Gender, Alcohol and Culture: An International Study study were used. The individual SES was measured by the highest attained educational level. Alcohol-related consequences were defined as the self-report of at least one internal or one external consequence in the last year. The relationship between individuals' education and alcohol-related consequences was examined by meta-analysis. In a second step, the individual level data and country data were combined in multilevel models. As country-level indicators, we used the purchasing power parity of the gross national income (GNI), the Gini coefficient and the Gender Gap Index. Results: Lower educated men and women were more likely to report consequences than higher educated men and women even after controlling for drinking patterns. For men, this relation was significant for both internal and external problems. For women, it was only significant for external problems. The GNI was significantly associated with reporting external consequences for men such that in lower income countries men were more likely to report social problems. Conclusion: The fact that problems accrue more quickly for lower educated persons even if they drink in the same manner can be linked to the social or environmental dimension surround- ing problems. That is, those of fewer resources are less protected from the experience of a problem or the impact of a stressful life event.


While the remote collaboration services at CERN slowly aggregate around the Indico event management software, its new version which is the result of a careful maturation process includes improvements which will set a new reference in its domain. The presentation will focus on the description of the new features of the tool, the user feedback process which resulted in a new record of usability. We will also describe the interactions with the worldwide community of users and server administrators and the impact this has had on our development process, as well as the tools set in place to streamline the work between the different collaborating sites. A last part will be dedicated to the use of Indico as a central hub for operating other local services around the event organisation (registration epayment, audiovisual recording, webcast, room booking, and videoconference support)


Even though many firms conduct most of their business domestically, international management research has remained remarkably silent on the role of a firm's domestic footprint in its internationalization strategy. We shed light on that role by exploring how the size of a firm's domestic footprint influences the cultural distance that the firm adds to its country portfolio when expanding internationally. Integrating resource dependence theory and the attention‐based view, we hypothesize that a firm's domestic footprint has a negative relationship with added cultural distance (ACD), and that domestic policy uncertainty strengthens this relationship whereas domestic demand uncertainty weakens it. We find robust support for our hypotheses in a sample of the world's largest retailers covering the period 2000–07, indicating that a firm's domestic footprint and domestic environmental uncertainties jointly shape cross‐cultural expansion strategies. Our findings suggest that ACDs reflect headquarters executives' desire to avoid ineffective foreign expansions, hinting at possible biases in studies of the performance effects of distance.


Side-chain engineering is crucial to improve the performance of solution-processed organic solar cells. However, the correlation between side-chain structures and photovoltaic properties is still unclear. Here, we have investigated the local interface morphologies of PC71BM blended with two donors, DR3TBDT and DR3TSBDT with alkyloxy and alkylthio side chains on the BDT core, by means of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Compared with alkyloxy, alkylthio exhibits larger steric hindrance after changing the side-chain anchoring atom from oxygen to sulfur, leading to an obvious reduction of the PC71BM–BDT face-on orientations in which charge recombination is demonstrated to be the most severe by quantum-chemical calculations. This suggests that the performance of DR3TBDT/PC71BM solar cells is likely to be more affected by charge recombination than that of DR3TSBDT/PC71BM-based devices. For the first time, our work unravels the important role of side-chain anchoring atoms in tuning the donor/fullerene interfacial arrangements toward high-performance organic solar cells.


Existence of the plug potential (PP) bounce ion is quite essential for effective improvement of axial confinement in the tandem mirror, which is bounced by the confining potential hill. We paid attention to the neutral particles changed from the bounce ions through the charge exchange process and measured simultaneously both energy and emergence angle of the neutral particles by use of a charge exchange neutral particle analyzer for measuring bounce ions located near the inner mirror throat (IMT) of the plug barrier cell. We detected successfully the bounce ions during confining potential formation and assigned the bounce ions to the PP bounce ion and the OMT bounce ion which is bounced near the outer mirror throat (OMT) of the plug/barrier cell. The trajectories of the PP bounce ion were calculated, and it was found that the confinement of the PP bounce ion was sensitive to the radial profile of the confining potential in relation to the radial transport.


A conserved domain in the extracellular region of the 60- and 80-kilodalton tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFRs) was identified that mediates specific ligand-independent assembly of receptor trimers. This pre-ligand-binding assembly domain (PLAD) is physically distinct from the domain that forms the major contacts with ligand, but is necessary and sufficient for the assembly of TNFR complexes that bind TNF-alpha and mediate signaling. Other members of the TNFR superfamily, including TRAIL receptor 1 and CD40, show similar homotypic association. Thus, TNFRs and related receptors appear to function as preformed complexes rather than as individual receptor subunits that oligomerize after ligand binding.


Managing a construction project supply chain effectively and efficiently is extremely difficult due to involvement of numerous sectors that are supported by ineffective communication system. An efficient construction supply chain system ensures the delivery of materials and other services to construction site while minimising costs and rewarding all sectors based on value added to the supply chain. The advancement of information, communication and wireless technologies is driving construction companies to deploy supply chain management strategies to seek better outputs. As part of the emerging wireless technologies, context-aware computing capability represents the next generation of ICT to the construction services. Conceptually, context-awareness could be integrated with Web Services in order to ensure the delivery of pertinent information to construction site and enhance construction supply chain collaboration. An initial study has indicated that this integrated system has the potential of serving and improving the construction services delivery through access to context-specific data, information and services on as-needed basis.


Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibits unique optical properties often found in the visible spectrum of light. The key point of interest is the so-called Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) effect, that arises within particles exposed to electromagnetic radiation. An increase in scattering and absorption of light can be seen for specific wavelengths of incident electromagnetic radiation due to the LSPR effect. Through tuning of the nanoparticle size, shape, interparticle distance and metal, the LSPR wavelength and absorption spectra for the MNPs can be manipulated. However, a solar absorber purely based on MNPs and their LSPR has not been designed yet. In this work a suitable basis is shown for making solar absorbers solely based on individual MNPs and a design for the solar absorber is presented. The LSPR wavelengths dependency on particle size, shape and metal were confirmed through a series of experiments. Gold and aluminium MNP arrays consisting of decoupled particles with diameters in the range of 40 nm 200 nm were fabricated by the means of electron beam lithography. In addition mixed arrays consisting of particles with varying sizes and metals were fabricated. The extinction and absorption spectra measured from the MNP arrays were found to match published literature. The optical analyses of the arrays revealed that the maximum extinction is highly dependent on surface coverage. In addition to the fact that the peak position can be fine-tuned by changing the particle diameter. It was also found that aluminium has a broader extinction peak than gold, making it an ideal candidate for broad band light absorption. Our results demonstrate how MNPs can be used to design a solar absorber, which could absorb over a larger spectrum than conventional solar energy converters. The work done in this thesis provides a foundation for further research and optimization of MNPs in solar absorbers.


Policies to reduce air pollution caused by transport have been practiced in many countries for decades. Maritime transport and seaport areas have been included since the 1990s, with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and the MARPOL treaty (1997–ongoing) gradually leading the way to cleaner shipping. Political interest is rising, because maritime and seaport emissions negatively affect the lives of millions of people. Environmental policy may stimulate technical fixes, both end-of-pipe and at the source. Seaport terminal operators may buy more energy efficient equipment, replace diesel by electricity and optimize operations. Ship owners may adapt their fleet to reduce fuel consumption. Less fuel consumed means lower (local) emissions (of SO2, NOx, PM10, CO2) to the air; interesting options, which are increasingly put to good service. A critical assessment of their real impact in a longer timeframe is warranted. In a desk-research study, an input-output model was used to determine the impact of these technical fixes on (local) air pollution. It turns out that their impact can be substantial: reductions in air pollution of 70% and beyond by ships and terminal equipment. Cleaner air goes in parallel with lower operational costs as well. A green company image also attracts customers. A caveat is that the environmental impact of cleaner fuels is partially compensated by the growth in container transport. Transport is a consequence of logistic choices. Replacing global- by regional or local sourcing/sales and transport optimisation (optimised use of containers) is a worthwhile alternative, which also makes macro-economic sense.


This research aims to offer a fuzzy approach for calculating Tehran's air pollution index. The method is based on fuzzy analysis model, and uses the information about air quality index (AQI), included on the website of Tehran's Air Quality Monitoring And Supervision Bureau. The contrived fuzzy logic is considered a powerful tool for demonstrating the information associated with uncertainty. In the end, several graphs visualize this inferential system in various levels of pollution.


This study examines whether in-course test components requiring more critical thinking skills can help explain final examination performance in an advanced undergraduate financial accounting course, conducted in 2003 and 2004 over three continuous semesters at a metropolitan Australian university. It proposes and validates two levels of dimensions affecting final examination performance: in-course test components and previous university academic performance of students. Analysis of a database of 1,816 students using standardised multiple regression over three continuous semesters suggests that while Grade Point Advantage (GPA) is the single best predictor of final examination performance, in-course test components with more critical thinking are better predictors than others, except for the in-course ethics essay test. Length of stay also had some predictive ability. This study suggests that academics should pay attention to monitoring and providing feedback to students on their in-course performance in tests that examine critical skills covering a wide range of topics. Such monitoring and feedback may assist in improving the final examination performance of students in this course.


Transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in gene promoter regions are often predicted by using position specific scoring matrices (PSSMs), which summarize sequence patterns of experimentally determined TF binding sites. Although PSSMs are more reliable than simple consensus string matching in predicting a true binding site, they generally result in high numbers of false positive hits. This study attempts to reduce the number of false positive matches and generate new predictions by integrating various types of genomic data by two methods: a Bayesian allocation procedure, and support vector machine classification. Several methods will be explored to strengthen the prediction of a true TFBS in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome: binding site degeneracy, binding site conservation, phylogenetic profiling, TF binding site clustering, gene expression profiles, GO functional annotation, and k-mer counts in promoter regions. Binding site degeneracy (or redundancy) refers to the number of times a particular transcription factor's binding motif is discovered in the upstream region of a gene. Phylogenetic conservation takes into account the number of orthologous upstream regions in other genomes that contain a particular binding site. Phylogenetic profiling refers to the presence or absence of a gene across a large set of genomes. Binding site clusters are statistically significant clusters of TF binding sites detected by the algorithm ClusterBuster. Gene expression takes into account the idea that when the gene expression profiles of a transcription factor and a potential target gene are correlated, then it is more likely that the gene is a genuine target. Also, genes with highly correlated expression profiles are often regulated by the same TF(s). The GO annotation data takes advantage of the idea that common transcription targets often have related function. Finally, the distribution of the counts of all k-mers of length 4, 5, and 6 in gene's promoter region were examined as means to predict TF binding. In each case the data are compared to known true positives taken from ChIP-chip data, Transfac, and the Saccharomyces Genome Database. First, degeneracy, conservation, expression, and binding site clusters were examined independently and in combination via Bayesian allocation. Then, binding sites were predicted with a support vector machine (SVM) using all methods alone and in combination. The SVM works best when all genomic data are combined, but can also identify which methods contribute the most to accurate classification. On average, a support vector machine can classify binding sites with high sensitivity and an accuracy of almost 80%.


Abstract We investigated emerald, the bright-green gem variety of beryl, from a new locality at Kruta Balka, Ukraine, and compare its chemical characteristics with those of emeralds from selected occurrences worldwide (Austria, Australia, Colombia, South Africa, Russia) to clarify the types and amounts of substitutions as well as the factors controlling such substitutions. For selected crystals, Be and Li were determined by secondary ion mass spectrometry, which showed that the generally assumed value of 3 Be atoms per formula unit (apfu) is valid; only some samples such as the emerald from Kruta Balka deviate from this value (2.944 Be apfu). An important substitution in emerald (expressed as an exchange vector with the additive component Al2Be3Si6O18) is (Mg,Fe2+)NaAl–1□–1, leading to a hypothetical end-member NaAl(Mg,Fe2+)[Be3Si6O18] called femag-beryl with Na occupying a vacancy position (□) in the structural channels of beryl. Based on both our results and data from the literature, emeralds worldwide can be characterized based on the amount of femag-substitution. Other minor substitutions in Li-bearing emerald include the exchange vectors LiNa2Al–1□–2 and LiNaBe–1□–1, where the former is unique to the Kruta Balka emeralds. Rarely, some Li can also be situated at a channel site, based on stoichiometric considerations. Both Cr- and V-distribution can be very heterogeneous in individual crystals, as shown in the samples from Kruta Balka, Madagascar, and Zimbabwe. Nevertheless, taking average values available for emerald occurrences, the Cr/(Cr+V) ratio (Cr#) in combination with the Mg/(Mg+Fe) ratio (Mg#) and the amount of femag-substitution allows emerald occurrences to be characterized. The "ultramafic" schist-type emeralds with high Cr# and Mg# come from occurrences where the Fe-Mg-Cr-V component is controlled by the presence of ultramafic meta-igneous rocks. Emeralds with highly variable Mg# come from "sedimentary" localities, where the Fe-Mg-Cr-V component is controlled by metamorphosed sediments such as black shales and carbonates. A "transitional" group has both metasediments and ultramafic rocks as country rocks. Most "ultramafic" schist type occurrences are characterized by a high amount of femag-component, whereas those from the "sedimentary" and "transitional" groups have low femag contents. Growth conditions derived from the zoning pattern—combined replacement, sector, and oscillatory zoning—in the Kruta Balka emeralds indicate disequilibrium growth from a fluid along with late-stage Na-infiltration. Inclusions in Kruta Balka emeralds (zircon with up to 11 wt% Hf, tourmaline, albite, Sc-bearing apatite) point to a pegmatitic origin.


The aquifers in the lower Mesilla Valley of Texas and New Mexico provide water for irrigation, industrial use, and municipal supply. At present (1984), the shallow aquifer is used principally for irrigation. The medium-depth aquifer (the top of which is about 160 to 260 feet below land surface) and deep aquifer (about 460 to 680 feet below land surface) are used almost exclusively by the city of El Paso to provide about 28 percent of the city's ground-water withdrawal of about 82,000 acre-feet in 1980; however, a small percentage of the pumpage is from the shallow aquifer. The potential use of the medium-depth and deep aquifers for irrigation, together with a planned increase in pumping by the city, is causing concern on the part of El Paso water planners over the impact of this development on the limited supply from the two aquifers. A three-dimensional digital model of the aquifers was developed to evaluate the responses of water levels to various plans of development, with particular emphasis on the medium-depth and deep aquifers in and near the Canutillo well field. Simulations also were made to show the effect of eliminating seepage from the Rio Grande to the aquifer system. The model simulations indicate that if pumpage by the city of El Paso during 1^76-80 increases to 10,000 acre-feet, per year from the medium-depth aquifer and to 20,000 acre-feet per year from the deep aquifer, and elsewhere in the study area pumping was held constant at the 1975 rate, then additional lowering of water levels in representative observation wells would be as much as 24 feet in the medium-depth aquifer and as much as 52 feet in the deep aquifer. The water levels would decline sharply during the first few months, after which the levels would become nearly stable because the leakage between the aquifers probably is enough to balance the increased pumpage. The model also indicated that lining of the channel of the Rio Grande would result in an additional lowering of water levels in representative observation wells by 10 feet in the medium-depth aquifer and 8 feet in the deep aquifer. The accuracy of water levels simulated by a model is dependent on the accuracy and distribution of input data and how well model boundary conditions approximate actual boundary conditions. Because of a lack of hydro!ogic data (especial ly water-1 evel information) everywhere except the Canutillo wellfield area, because the simulated cone of depression reached two boundaries, and because the model contained an error and several deficiencies as explained in the "Discussion" section, the simulated results need to be interpreted carefully. The authors believe that the simulated results could be used best as a preliminary and conceptual evaluation of the pumping effects at the Canutillo well field, not as a quantitative interpretation. Although the patterns of simulated hydrographs of water-level change in observation wells in the Canutillo field generally may be correct, the amount of change simulated probably is not correct. Because the salinity of water in all three aquifers south of Canutillo is greater than elsewhere in the study area, there is potential for movement of this water northward toward the Canutillo well field if the cone of depression reaches that part of the aquifer system. This potential should be evaluated in future geohydrologic studies of the lower Mesilla Valley.


Ash's article, 'The untruthful source: Prisoner's writings, official and reform documentation, 1900–1930', published following her 2009 book on prison dress, questions how myths arose about the history of prisoners' clothing in Britain in the first half of the 20th century.

Ash shows that, although there was little critical writing about prisoners' clothing in this period, the inmates' own writing and archival documentation provide us with the means to achieve a new understanding of the political encounters played out in courtrooms. Ash's research material included interwar Home Office circulars that announced the abolition of 'broad arrow' prison uniforms in 1920 and responses of prison governors that reveal their continuance after this date. Other key reform documents consulted by the author included those of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Fenner Brockway's 1922 Prison System Enquiry Committee Report, later published as English Prisons Under Local Government, which proposed radical prison reforms including the abolition of prison dress as criminal stigmatisation, and inmate testimonials of the continuance of the broad arrow uniform.

The article demonstrates the difficulty for design historians investigating prison dress in establishing the truth about specific penal reform dates and practices on the basis of official government documents alone. Ash argues that the publications of penal reformers and the prison writings of inmates at the time also need to be read, in order to establish the clothing prisoners actually wore in confinement.

Ash first presented this research as a paper to the 2009 Design History Society annual conference hosted by the theorising Visual Art and Design (tVAD) Research Group, School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire. It was then selected to be peer reviewed and published in the University of Hertfordshire Working Papers on Design web-based journal.


Transformational leadership helps school principals' to frame their attitudes to move their schools forward. It has four major characteristics. Of these, idealized influence is defined as leader's behavior and the follower's attributions about the leader. Inspirational motivation refers to the ways by which transformational leaders motivate and inspire those around them. Individualized consideration represents the leader's continuing effort to treat each individual as a special person and act as a mentor who attempts to develop their potential. Finally, intellectual stimulation represents the leader's effort to stimulate followers to be innovative and creative to define problems and approach them in new ways. It is considered that principals who demonstrate these major characteristics of transformational leadership have effects on satisfaction among teachers and better performance at school. Therefore, this study purposes to discover the level of transformational leadership behaviors that school principals demonstrate at schools during their administrative practices on daily basis. Results reveal that school principals demonstrate high level of characteristics of transformational leadership in terms of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation behaviors. © 2012 IOJES. All rights reserved


The effects of genomic medicine on child health promise to be profound. Medical applications will eventually include characterizing patients' genomes to detect predictive mutations for pre-symptomatic counseling where treatment exists; to search for causes of diseases of unknown etiology, and to detect carriers for prenatal counseling; to define cancer and other disease-based genomes to design individualized therapy; and to understand our microbiomes to modify these in health and disease. Rapid advances in technology and bioinformatics have reduced the cost and the time and increased the accuracy necessary to sequence whole genomes or whole exomes. However, complete understanding of disease will also require correlation of genomic information with high-quality phenotypic data. In addition, several critical ethical, psycho-social, and public policy issues will require clarity in the coming years. Ultimately these advances will improve the effectiveness of health care for children and for society.


The collapse of a compressed elastic tube conveying a flow occurs in several physiological applications and has become a problem of considerable interest. Laboratory experiments on a finite length of collapsible tube reveal a rich variety of self-excited oscillations, indicating that the system is a complex, nonlinear dynamical system. Following our previous study on steady flow in a two-dimensional model of the collapsible tube problem (Luo & Pedley 1995), we here investigate the instability of the steady solution, and details of the resulting oscillations when it is unstable, by studying the timedependent problem. For this purpose, we have developed a time-dependent simulation of the coupled flow-membrane problem, using the Spine method to treat the moving boundary and a second-order time integration scheme with variable time increments. It is found that the steady solutions become unstable as tension falls below a certain value, say T,, which decreases as the Reynolds number increases. As a consequence, steady flow gives way to self-excited oscillations, which become increasingly complicated as tension is decreased from T,. A sequence of bifurcations going through regular oscillations to irregular oscillations is found, showing some interesting dynamic features similar to those observed in experiments. In addition, vorticity waves are found downstream of the elastic section, with associated recirculating eddies which sometimes split into two. These are similar to the vorticity waves found previously for flow past prescribed, time-dependent indentations. It is speculated that the mechanism of the oscillation is crucially dependent on the details of energy dissipation and flow separation at the indentation. As tension is reduced even further, the membrane is sucked underneath the downstream rigid wall and, although this causes the numerical scheme to break down, it in fact agrees with another experimental observation for flow in thin tubes.


The dominant view regards weakness of will an anomaly facing the standard theory of rationality. The paper argues the opposite: What is anomalous is that weakness of will is not pervasive enough. In a simple model, the paper shows that weakness of will is the dominant strategy in a game between current self and future self. This leads to the motivating question of the paper: Why is weakness of will is not pervasive—given that precommitment and punishment are not sufficiently pervasive to remedy the weakness of will? The paper argues that the answer lies in what Adam Smith calls the "propriety" mechanism: Humans demand self-respect and, hence, exercise self-command over appetites and emotions.


Background The population with multiple chronic conditions is growing. Prior studies indicate that patients with comorbidities are frequently excluded from trials but do not address whether information is available in trials to draw conclusions about treatment effects for these patients. Methods and Findings We conducted a literature survey of trials from 11 Cochrane Reviews for four chronic diseases (diabetes, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and stroke). The Cochrane Reviews systematically identified and summarized trials on the effectiveness of diuretics, metformin, anticoagulants, longacting beta-agonists alone or in combination with inhaled corticosteroids, lipid lowering agents, exercise and diet. Eligible studies were reports of trials included in the Cochrane reviews and additional papers that described the methods of these trials. We assessed the exclusion and inclusion of people with comorbidities, the reporting of comorbidities, and whether comorbidities were considered as potential modifiers of treatment effects. Overall, the replicability of both the inclusion criteria (mean [standard deviation (SD)]: 6.0 (2.1), range (min-max): 1–9.5) and exclusion criteria(mean(SD): 5.3 (2.1), range: 1–9.5) was only moderate. Trials excluded patients with many common comorbidities. The proportion of exclusions for comorbidities ranged from 0–42 percent for heart failure, 0–55 percent for COPD, 0–44 percent for diabetes, and 0–39 percent for stroke. Seventy of the 161 trials (43.5%) described the prevalence of any comorbidity among participants with the index disease. The reporting of comorbidities in trials was very limited, in terms of reporting an operational definition and method of ascertainment for the presence of comorbidity and treatments for the comorbidity. It was even less common that the trials assessed whether comorbidities were potential modifiers of treatment effects. Conclusions Comorbidities receive little attention in chronic disease trials. Given the public health importance of people with multiple chronic conditions, trials should better report on comorbidities and assess the effect comorbidities have on treatment outcomes.


The commemorations of the Great War have come to and end. 2019 will see the centenary of the peace treaties that concluded the war, starting with Versailles, and of the founding of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. These failed to establish a stable rules-based world order, but they deserve to be commemorated nonetheless, as well as analysed, for we might learn something from them. This policy brief offers four insights from the Interbellum to help us avoid a collapse of the world order today: (1) A world order that is created for the express purpose of keeping one of the great powers outside the system, is bound to fail. (2) If breaking the rules carries no consequences, the world order will be hollowed out and, eventually, collapse. (3) A great power who refuses to invest in the world order, cannot expect the others to do so. (4) No state voluntarily submits to another: a world order that is only imposed and not accepted, will not last long.


The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) applies two Hamiltonians to a quantum system in alternation. The original goal of the algorithm was to drive the system close to the ground state of one of the Hamiltonians. This paper shows that the same alternating procedure can be used to perform universal quantum computation: the times for which the Hamiltonians are applied can be programmed to give a computationally universal dynamics. The Hamiltonians required can be as simple as homogeneous sums of single-qubit Pauli X's and two-local ZZ Hamiltonians on a one-dimensional line of qubits.


While bandwidth for previous IP backbone networks deployed by Internet Service Providers typically has been limited to 34 Mbps, current and future IP networks provide bandwidth ranging from 155 Mbps to 2.4 Gbps. Thus, it is important to investigate the impact of emerging network technologies on the performance of cooperative Web caching protocols. In this paper, we present a comprehensive performance study of four cooperative Web caching protocols. We consider the Internet cache protocol ICP, Cache Digests, the cache array routing protocol, CARP, and the Web cache coordination protocol, WCCP. The performance of these protocols is evaluated using tracedriven simulation with measured Web traffic from NLANR. The goal of this performance study lies in understanding the behavior and limiting factors of the considered protocols for cooperative Web caching under measured traffic conditions. Based on this understanding, we give recommendations for Internet Service Providers, Web clients, and Application Service Providers.


Abstract. The future evolution of tropical ozone in a changing climate is investigated by analysing time slice simulations made with the chemistry–climate model EMAC. Between the present and the end of the 21st century a significant increase in ozone is found globally for the upper stratosphere and the extratropical lower stratosphere, while in the tropical lower stratosphere ozone decreases significantly by up to 30%. Previous studies have shown that this decrease is connected to changes in tropical upwelling. Here the dominant role of transport for the future ozone decrease is confirmed, but it is found that in addition changes in chemical ozone production and destruction do contribute to the ozone changes in the tropical lower stratosphere. Between 50 and 30 hPa the dynamically induced ozone decrease of up to 22% is amplified by 11–19% due to a reduced ozone production. This is counteracted by a decrease in the ozone loss causing an ozone increase by 15–28%. At 70 hPa the large ozone decrease due to transport (−52%) is reduced by an enhanced photochemical ozone production (+28%) but slightly increased (−5%) due to an enhanced ozone loss. It is found that the increase in the ozone production in the lowermost stratosphere is mainly due to a transport induced decrease in the overlying ozone column while at higher altitudes the ozone production decreases as a consequence of a chemically induced increase in the overlying ozone column. The ozone increase that is attributed to changes in ozone loss between 50 and 30 hPa is mainly caused by a slowing of the ClOx and NOx loss cycles. The enhanced ozone destruction below 70 hPa can be attributed to an increased efficiency of the HOx loss cycle. The role of ozone transport in determining the ozone trend in this region is found to depend on the changes in the net production as a reduced net production also reduces the amount of ozone that can be transported within an air parcel.


When wholesale prices are high and/or when the electricity system reliability is jeopardized, utilities have programs that encourage their customers to shed loads; these programs are called demand response (DR). Most large energy consumers, for example the buildings comprising Google's Mountain View, CA campus, have some ability to control, and therefore reduce, their demand, and in this way contribute to stabilizing the grid. In this paper, we present a novel risk-aware nomination strategy in DR programs where the capacity commitments are made one month-ahead. The proposed methodology gives special treatment to the variability in load response to DR signals, variability that stems from the uncertainty in month-ahead weather forecasts and the inherent unpredictability in load profiles. The framework incorporates an efficient procedure for statistically characterizing the drop in demand associated with thermostatically controlled, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) loads in commercial buildings, as well as applying the derived models to nominate revenue-optimal bids. The methodology is reasonably generic and adaptable to different kinds of DR markets and customer demand profiles. By way of example, we work out the capacity nomination for the Capacity Bidding Program (CBP) offered by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) that Google participated in with a fraction of its buildings.


Many variations of algorithms for finding the shortest path in a large graph have been introduced recently due to the needs of applications like the Geographic Information System (GIS) or Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). The primary subjects of those algorithms are materialization and hierarchical path views. Some studies focus on the materialization and sacrifice the pre-computational costs and storage costs for faster computation of a query. Other studies focus on the shortest-path algorithm, which has less pre-computation and storage but takes more time to compute the shortest path. The main objective of this thesis is to accelerate the computation time for the shortest-path queries while keeping the degree of materialization as low as possible. This thesis explores two different categories: 1) the reduction of the I/O-costs for multiple queries, and 2) the reduction of search spaces in a graph. The thesis proposes two simple algorithms to reduce the I/O-costs, especially for multiple queries. To tackle the problem of reducing search spaces, we give two different levels of materializations, namely, the boundary set distance matrix and x-Hop sketch graph, both of which materialize the shortest-path view of the boundary nodes in a partitioned graph. Our experiments show that a combination of the suggested solutions for 1) and 2) performs better than the original Disk-based SP algorithm [7], on which our work is based, and requires much less storage than HEPV [3].


Introduction: Regenerative treatment aimed to restore tooth supporting structure and its functional attachment through regeneration of cementum, periodontal ligaments and surrounding alveolar bone. Diode laser 940 nm wavelength has the potential to act as antibacterial and enhances wound healing. Material and methods: Case one; 30 years old male having infra bony pocket about (10-13 mm depth) at 16, 17, 26, 27, 36, 37, 46 and 37. The treatment was done by using 940 nm wavelength diode lasers; the output power was 800 mw, 50% Duty cycle in pulsed mode. Energy was delivered through optical fibre 300 um in diameter for 20s exposure time at each site of the pocket. The treatment period was three months' time with weekly recall. Case two; 39 year old male with tilted 36, 37 (a pocket depth of 13 mm at tooth number 36-37) was treated by the same previously method and dose parameter for one month weekly recall.
Results: Restoring the periodontal support of teeth was clear with the stimulation of bone formation surrounding each affected tooth clinically through the absence of the pain and bleeding on probing symptoms. Moreover there was decreasing of the pocket depth which was measured by pocket measuring probe, intraoral X-ray and Orthopantamogram was used pre and post treatment.
Conclusion: 940 nm wavelength diode lasers is an efficient tool to treat periodontal pocket and stimulates bone growth, and cementum formation when right parameters were applied.


The effect of a continuous infusion of a soybean oil emulsion on immune function was evaluated in 40 malnourished patients who were randomized to receive preoperatively either a 25% glucose-5% amino acid solution (group G) or a 15% glucose-3.3% Intralipid-5% amino acid solution (group G-F). Average length of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) was 10.3 +/- 0.9 days for group G and 9.0 +/- 0.8 days for group G-F. Initial nutritional status and response to TPN were similar for both groups. Immune function was assessed before TPN and after nutritional repletion prior to surgery for each patient. The levels of immunoglobulins, C3, C4, circulating B lymphocytes and T lymphocytes, suppressor T lymphocytes, natural killer cell activity, and monocytes were normal before TPN and after nutritional therapy. However, the total number of T cells and helper T cells were low before TPN and remained so after TPN. In addition, lymphocyte function measured by the lymphocyte blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen was depressed prior to TPN and was not improved by either regimen. Neutrophil chemotaxis and bactericidal activity were not affected by either nutritional regimen while neutrophil phagocytosis was enhanced before TPN and remained elevated throughout TPN with either regimen. There were no differences in infection rates during TPN. The addition of Intralipid to the TPN regimen did not alter immune function in these patients who showed depressed cell-mediated immunity before TPN compared with the standard glucose TPN regimen.


This Comment will briefly discuss California's community property system, and the standards traditionally required by the Supreme Court for federal pre-emption of state property law. It will also examine the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Railroad Retirement Act which led the Court to conclude that the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution demanded federal pre-emption in this case. It will discuss the Hisquierdo test for federal pre-emption, which the Supreme Court has since used to override state community property systems. Finally, it will evaluate whether the case was correctly decided.


Pro-cyclicality in Irish fiscal policy has contributed to macroeconomic volatility over recent decades. Accordingly, this paper seeks to identify institutional mechanisms that can improve the performance of fiscal policy in macroeconomic stabilisation in Ireland. We propose a new fiscal framework for Ireland that combines the adoption of a rules-based approach to budgetary policy with the appointment of an independent fiscal policy council that will be formally involved in the fiscal process. Finally, we also advocate a set of ancillary reforms that will further improve the coherence of Irish fiscal policy with membership of European Monetary Union.


Primary care physicians (PCPs) are increasing their role in the fight against the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). Approximately 3.5 million Americans currently live with chronic HCV with rising incidence among young persons, especially those affected by the opioid epidemic. Online guidelines and drug interaction checkers streamline treatment and increase accessibility for both patients and providers. Although treatment with new Direct Acting Antiviral agents ensure cure rates that routinely exceed 95%, as well as cause fewer adverse effects than previously available interferon-based regimens, some states still restrict access to HCV treatment, including by mandating which providers can prescribe and treat HCV. This special communication reviews HCV treatment resources, discusses data demonstrating similar cure rates between PCPs and specialists, and argues that capacity-building among PCPs will be necessary to control the HCV epidemic.


This study correlates the main chemical variations of zircon with its morphological evolution within a suite of coeval rocks (monzonite, syenite and granite from the Tertiary Valle del Cervo Pluton, Western Alps), by coupling microprobe analyses and the study of crystal typology. Zircon concentrates from 8 different rock samples were first studied with the typology method; then, crystals for microprobe analysis (SiO 2 , ZrO 2 , HfO 2 , Y 2 O 3 , P 2 O 5 , ThO 2 , UO 2 ) were hand-picked from 4 selected rock samples. The typologic characters of the studied populations are typical of zircons from shoshonitic rocks. Monzonite and granite zircons are characterized by dominant {100} and {101} forms; the development of the {110} prism slightly increases in the granite samples. Microprobe data evidence that the bulk composition of the studied zircons corresponds to the composition of the main magmatic growth stage in zircons from calkalkaline and K-calkalkaline rocks from literature. All the zircons of the Valle del Cervo pluton exhibit large scale chemical zoning from the inner to the outer portion within single crystals, as well as chemical variations within each rock type. However, from the least to the most differentiated rock types the evolution trends are not continuous. The monzonite zircons mainly show HfO 2 enrichments; the syenite zircons do not show any particular trend, whereas the granite crystals show a late enrichment in UO 2 and, to a lesser extent, in Y 2 O 3 and ThO 2 . These different behaviours, together with typology data, support the hypothesis that syenite and granite are genetically linked, but they are not produced by fractionation of the same magma that generated the monzonite. The higher HfO 2 contents in the monzonite crystals with respect to the syenite and granite ones suggest a larger crustal contribution in the genesis of the monzonite, as suggested by the published isotopic data. Furthermore, in the monzonite crystals the wide variation range in HfO 2 contents and the occurrence of oscillatory zoning (observed in BSE images) could be due to changes in Hf concentration in the magma during zircon crystallization (assimilation or mixing processes). The different patterns of chemical variations in the studied crystals may be explained with the influence of many interacting factors: occurrence of other minerals, which compete with zircon for the same trace elements, and time of their crystallization with respect to zircon; chemical evolution of the magma (through FC, AFC or mixing processes) during zircon crystallization; local disequilibrium phenomena at the crystal surface during zircon growth. As a consequence, the influence of zircon fractionation on the geochemical evolution of magmas cannot be simply modelled by using an "ideal" zircon composition.


Evidence-based, user-tested design guide to improve the health and wellbeing of people in prisons.
Matter's research team used environmental psychology to determine design measures that will improve the prison environment for staff, visitors and prisoners alike. User focus groups, walking studies and survey responses from 305 prisoners in Britain's newest prison HMP Berwyn helped prioritise the measures. To achieve this the team designed and implemented what is believed to be the world's first electronic survey of the effects of prison architecture completed by a large group of residents within a prison.

The design guide serves a number of related purposes: to establish a method for connecting evidence with specific design measures; to set a baseline for the demonstration of benefits arising from design improvements; and to make specific proposals for how prison design should be improved. These have contributed to the Ministry of Justice's baseline model for commissioning the new wave of modern prisons, focused on rehabilitation. As a series of semi-autonomous chapters the report sets out the methodology, environmental psychology evidence, findings from the user surveys and a design guide, all cross-referenced as an evidence chain. This methodology is equally applicable to other institutional building types such as schools, hospitals, care homes.


Purpose. According to the concept presented in the previous part of this paper, the social psychological model of cognitive social capital consists of the informative components, forming factors, and objectification of social capital. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the oretical under pinningof the informative components, forming factors, and objectivation of cognitive social capital with in organization. Methodology. The authors used a complex approach to analyze a phenomenon of organizational cognitive social capital. Findings. This systematic analysis reveals that the organizational cognitive social capital is formed by both positive and negative factors. Positive factors are related to a good working atmosphere which leads to development, extension, and maintenance of social capital. Negative factors impede the growth of social capital and result in its destruction and loss. The key positive factors are leadership, coaching, and staff rewards including tangible and intangible incentives. The negative factors include conflicts, mobbing, professional burnout, and occupational deformation of a personality. The objectivation is the influence and effects of social capital on organizational performance at the individual level, social-psychological level, and managerial level. Perspective promotion of employee within a company is the objectivation at the individual level. A good working atmosphere and positive morale are the key elements of the objectivation at the social-psychological level. Organizational culture is an effective precursor of the objectivation at the managerial level. Implications for practice. The model of organizational cognitive social capital can be merely presented as a social-psychological phenomenon which joins various social-psychological activities with in organization into one whole system. Originality. The concept of organizational cognitive social capitalis introduced.


INTROduCTION: Tuberculosis remains a serious threat to public health and one of the leading causes of death among infectious diseases. Monitoring treatment outcome is necessary in order to assess the effectiveness of the therapeutic intervention and to identify possible obstacles to disease control. In that setting outcome is an important indicator of the effectiveness of TB control programs. mATERIAL ANd mETHOdS: This is a retrospective study of TB patients registered at the Department of Pulmonary Medicine Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), in the period from January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2014. RESuLTS: 89 patients aged 49.5±19.20 years were recorded. 67.5 % were men. 68.5% of patients were of Greek origin and 91% suffered from pulmonary TB. In 78.7% of patients the diagnosis was confirmed microbiologically. 11.2% presented with monoresistance or polydrug resistance to anti-TB drugs. The positive outcome rate of the TB treatment was 67.5%, of which 38.2% were cured and 29.3% completed the treatment. The outc ome was negative in 32.5% of patients and rates that corresponded specifically to death, treatment failure, loss to follow-up and lack of evaluation were 4.5%, 1.1%, 2.2% and 24.7% respectively. CONCLuSION: The positive outcome rate of TB among patients was lower than the wHO global target of 85%. There is a clear need for a comprehensive management of problems in TB monitoring in Greece, both in terms of its impact and its outcome. Pneumon 2017, 30(3):141-150. Elena Papakala, Katerina Manika, Kalliopi Lagoudi, Eleni Papadaki, Panagiota Kyreltsi, Soultana Kostanta, Ioannis Kioumis


New Road Construction Concepts (NR2C) is a project of FEHRL supported by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme. This project aims at developing perspectives and specific innovations in different transport areas. One of the ideas concerns the development of high performance underlayers with high percentage of reclaimed asphalt. Three different mixes were designed, optimized and compared, namely with 0 %, 25 % and 40 % reclaimed asphalt. After an extensive laboratory study in BRRC, the selected mixes have been further studied in a full-scale ALT facility in LAVOC. During these tests, resistance to fatigue at 15 °C and also low temperature behavior with cycles between 2 °C and -7 °C have been investigated by applying 12 tons axle loads. In addition to the ALT, wheel tracking tests, tests on cores as well as on big slabs with a controlled temperature gradient have been performed on material taken from the ALT tracks. Moreover, a specific binder analysis has been carried out in order to analyse the evolution of the binder and mix properties. The most important conclusion from this work is that no negative effect, due to the use of a high percentage of reclaimed asphalt, has been observed in this study. However, key parameters such as the RA properties and mix design as function of the RA properties require special attention.


Th- and U-bearing minerals serve as natural analogs for high-level waste disposal material and provide information on the response of mineral phases to long-term irradiation. Prolonged α-irradiation has the potential to affect the oxidation state of minerals and may alter the minerals' ability to react with radionuclides. In this study, allanite mineral from Ombo, Palawan was analyzed for Fe oxidation states using X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy at BL5.2 SUT-NANOTEC-SLRI XAS Beamline of SLRI, Thailand. The result of this study was in congruence with and even extended the lower dose end of the results of Malczewski and Grabias (2008) that Fe²⁺ contribution in allanite decreases with absorbed α-dose. The results however, are in contrast with the expected wherein radiation damage process causes reduction of some Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ due to radiolysis. Further studies are recommended to explain the contradicting observations.