ABSTRACT During the last two years of the Great War the British government undertook a global propaganda campaign to generate support for the military advance into the Near East, British post-war domination of the region, and the war effort in general. The objective was to transform how the West and the peoples of the Ottoman empire perceived the Orient, its future, and the British empire. To fit with the international demand that the war should be fought for the cause of national self-determination, the Orient was re-defined as the Middle East: a region of oppressed nations that required liberation and tutelage by Britain and the entente. Great Britain was portrayed as the pre-eminent champion of the principle of nationality, which was behind its move into the Middle East. It is argued in this article that these narratives constituted a significant change in Western representations of the Orient and the British empire.


The variant terminal trunk of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) could be confused with the ileocolic artery (ICA) as it runs on the right side of the superior mesenteric vein. If the variant ileal branch of SMA is mistaken for the ICA, unintentional ligation could cause long-segment ischemia in the ileum. We encountered a rare case of ileal ischemia caused by unintentional ligation of the variant ileal branch of the SMA during laparoscopic right hemicolectomy, which was confirmed by indocyanine green (ICG) angiography and hyperspectral imaging (HSI). Intraoperative real-time perfusion monitoring using ICG angiography and tissue oxygen saturation monitoring using HSI could help detect segments of hypoperfusion and prevent hypoperfusion-related anastomotic complications.


Standards are important to synthetic biology because they enable exchange and reproducibility of genetic designs. This paper describes a procedure for converting between two standards: the Systems Biology Markup Language (SBML) and the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL). SBML is a standard for behavioral models of biological systems at the molecular level. SBOL describes structural and basic qualitative behavioral aspects of a biological design. Converting SBML to SBOL enables a consistent connection between behavioral and structural information for a biological design. The conversion process described in this paper leverages Systems Biology Ontology (SBO) annotations to enable inference of a designs qualitative function.


In common with many emerging market countries, South Africa's government does not publish balance sheet wealth estimates on a market value basis, as produced in the U.S., U.K., Japan, and elsewhere. Yet without information on the market values of liquid and illiquid personal sector wealth, it is difficult to explain aggregate consumer spending and saving, consumers' demand for credit, and the broad money holdings of households. Behavioural equations for these variables are key components of central banks' macro-econometric models, used in forecasting and policy-making. Understanding the domestic asset value channel of the monetary policy transmission mechanism is especially important for inflation targeting countries. We construct the first coherent set of aggregate, personal sector wealth estimates at market value for South Africa. Our quarterly estimates derive from published data on financial flows, and various other capital market data, often at book value. Our methods rely, where relevant, on accumulating flow of funds data using appropriate benchmarks, and, where necessary, converting book to market values using appropriate asset price indices. Relating asset to income ratios for various asset classes to asset price movements and rates of return, throws light on the changing composition of personal sector wealth. Most striking are the rise in pension wealth - overtaking gross housing assets in the late 1980s; the rise in household debt; and the relative decline of liquid and housing assets, from the early and mid-1980s, respectively.


Studies of monolingual narrative production have revealed interacting paths in the development of coherence and cohesion across languages but less is known about bilingual narratives, where a gap may exist between socio-cognitive and linguistic abilities. The present longitudinal study explores the relations between measures of coherence and cohesion in the picture-based oral narratives elicited from 23 sequential bilinguals at two times — 2nd and 4th years of exposure to Hebrew as L2 (ages 6 and 8, respectively), compared to those produced by age-matched Hebrew speaking monolinguals. Measures of coherence included reference to story components, and to four types of causal relations: psychological, motivational, enabling and physical. These analyses served as a basis to explore cohesion in terms of (1) inter-clausal connectivity, and (2) the linguistic encoding of the causal chain, which in this context demanded reference to a complex motion event. We found that reference to narrative components and causal relations improved with age in both L1 and L2, but were largely delayed among bilinguals at age 6, particularly regarding the most complex scenes. While coherence measures reached to a parallel level among the 8 year-old children, measures of cohesion showed a different path of development in L1 and L2. Thus, the constraints imposed by language use in organizing the discourse resulted in a poorer connectivity between the clauses, and in less accurate lexico-grammatical encoding of the events in the bilingual narratives. The study underscores the mutual attraction between local and global principles of narrative construction, which may become dissociated in a bilingual situation, and pinpoints to vulnerable domains of L2 discourse-embedded acquisition.


Perception verbs prototypically occur with a grammatical subject NP referring to a person. However, see and
 witness also license an inanimate grammatical subject, more precisely a spatial or temporal setting, in a
 "setting-subject construction" (Langacker 1991, 2008). The present study addresses this kind of variation, and demonstrates how the two
 alternate constructions reveal shifts from an egocentric perspective to an anthropocentric perspective. It sets out to accomplish
 three main goals: first, to establish whether each construction aligns perfectly with one particular perspective; second, to
 identify the semantic and syntactic characteristics of setting-subject constructions and explain how an inanimate subject NP can
 be favored over a human subject NP; third, to determine what can motivate speakers' choices between the two alternate
 constructions licensed by see and witness. To achieve this, a qualitative, corpus-based analysis
 is carried out, which helps to understand to what extent the grammatical coding embodies a specific way of viewing the scene.
 First, the cognitive theoretical concepts (e.g., the Extended Animacy Hierarchy (Croft,
 2003), egocentric and canonical viewing arrangements, cognitive schemas and models) that are helpful for the proper
 characterization of the two structures are presented, as well as the methodology employed to collect data for the present study. I
 then focus on prototypical, human subject NP constructions which reveal either an egocentric or an anthropocentric point of view
 of the scene. Finally, setting-subject constructions are addressed: not only are the characteristics of such structures
 highlighted but also the parameters and factors that contribute to their occurrence are identified. The study shows that such
 constructions convey the conceptualizer's assessment of a situation, as the viewing relationship is construed subjectively. A
 setting-subject construction thus reveals a perspective that indirectly turns out to be more anthropocentric than
 'setting-centric', as the inanimate locative subject, ranking at the bottom of the Animacy hierarchy, winds up alluding to any
 possible human being, including the speaker, the addressee and the Other.


In this paper, the water level control problem of U-Tube Steam Generators (UTSG) of Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) is addressed through the design of an innovative set-point function; hence, the original architecture of the controller is retained for easy industry acceptance. The set-point function is synthesized based on the inverse-control theory, which is able to improve the transient performance of the UTSG level subject to power adjustments. Based on the lead time between the power adjustment decision and the actual initiation of the adjustment, the proposed set-point function can apply appropriate control on the feed-water flow rate preemptively. This preemptive control action allows the steam generator to prepare itself for the upcoming power change, i.e., steam flow-rate change, to minimize the transient effects. Detailed design and simulation processes are described based on Irving UTSG model under the entire operating power range. The simulation studies have shown that the proposed scheme is capable of keeping the water level within the admissible range effectively. When compared with a swell-based set-point function, the proposed scheme can reduce the percentage overshoot and undershoot by as much as 35.4% and 69.7%, respectively.


The style and mechanisms by which a foreland region is incorporated into an orogen depends on the tectonic style, effectiveness of uplift, and dynamic subsidence. Classical foreland-basin models reflect a self-similar propagation of deformation into the foreland in a thin-skinned thrust-belt setting governed by wedge mechanics. Thick-skinned foreland regions, which are characterized by high-angle reverse-fault–bounded basement uplifts and intervening basins, however, do not fit this idealized model. Unlike thin-skinned tectonic provinces, deformation and uplift in these regions may be highly variable in time and space. Furthermore, deformation patterns may be complicated by the presence of preexisting structures, particularly those which lie at orientations that enable them to be reactivated and utilized to accommodated deformation under compression. The Neogene El Cajon–Campo del Are-nal basin is one of a series of basins located along the eastern margin of the Puna Plateau within the Sierras Pampeanas, a region that is composed of a thick-skinned foreland fragmented by reverse-fault–bounded basement uplifts that regionally characterize an eastward-younging trend. This region is superimposed onto the Cretaceous Salta Rift province, which provides a series of pre-existing structures that may potentially be reactivated. The basin is located along the eastern margin of the Puna Plateau, an integral component of the Andean orogen, which includes several filled, uplifted, and internally drained Cenozoic intraplateau basins. Structural and sedimentological similarities exist between basins along the margin of the Puna and those within it. Understanding the evolution of foreland basins, such as the El Cajon–Campo del Arenal basin, provides possible mechanisms for the development and incorporation of marginal basins into orogenic belts, and in the case of the Andean orogen, the potential for these basins to be incorporated into the plateau. Our analysis, which integrates seismic, sedimentary, and thermochronological data, characterizes the evolution of this basin and surrounding ranges. The appearance in the sedimentary section of a distinct grain-age population derived from the basement erosion surface constrains the uplift and erosion of an out-of-sequence intrabasin high to ca. 6 Ma. The basin fill, therefore, records an evolution from an undeformed foreland to one that is compartmentalized by basement uplifts and that is incorporated into the greater orogenic structure. The data reveal the importance of the reactivation of preexisting structures along the basin margin in creating east-dipping structures in a generally west-dipping domain. These opposing faults on the basin margin consequently caused the out-of-sequence uplift of the intrabasin range, the Sierra de Quilmes. The Sierra de Quilmes fragments the foreland and, because its position is locked by loads to the west and east, creates increased deformation within the basin, basin fill, uplift, and incorporation into the orogen. Unlike basins within the plateau, however, the El Cajon–Campo del Arenal basin has been re-excavated and integrated once more into the foreland drainage network.


Rwanda is the country with the highest enrolment in health insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Pivotal in setting Rwanda on the path to universal health coverage is the community-based health insurance (CBHI), which covers three-quarters of the population. Despite the importance of the Rwandan case, analyses of the history and politics behind the scheme are largely absent. This article fills this gap by identifying the political drivers behind its development. It engages in process-tracing of the critical policy choices regarding the CBHI: the design of the first pilot, the decision to make enrolment mandatory, the policies to ensure its adequate funding, and the strategy of day-to-day implementation. It argues that the commitment to expanding health coverage is part of the broader efforts of the ruling coalition to foster its legitimacy based on rapid socio-economic development in a context of a dominant political settlement. The paper also argues that CBHI was chosen as a solution to expand access to healthcare over other approaches because it was the policy option that was the most compatible with the ruling coalition core paradigmatic ideas of popular participation, individual and national self-reliance.


The newly recognized Markagunt gravity slide (MGS) represents gravitationally induced, catastrophic collapse, ca. 21–22 Ma, of the southwest sector of the Oligocene to Miocene Marysvale volcanic field in southwest Utah (USA). The ∼90-km-long slide mass consists of ∼1700–2000 km 3 of andesitic volcanic mudflow breccias and subordinate lava flows, sandstones, and intertongued regional ash-flow tuffs. The MGS extends over an area of >3400 km 2 and advanced >30 km to the south over the Miocene land surface. The low-angle basal slip surface is in Eocene–Oligocene Brian Head Formation, a weak, clay-rich, tuffaceous sedimentary unit at the base of the volcanic section. The presence of a basal zone of cataclastic and sheared breccia with associated clastic dikes, and pseudotachylyte along secondary shear planes, provides strong evidence of catastrophic emplacement. The uniformity of directional indicators, stratigraphy, and overall geometry of the MGS suggests that it represents a single-emplacement event coeval with late-stage magmatic doming of the volcanic field. The MGS thus represents one of the largest subaerial volcanic landslides on Earth, and along with the comparable Heart Mountain gravity slide in northwest Wyoming, constitutes a class of catastrophic collapse hazard not widely recognized within modern volcanic fields.


The prevailing model for olfaction is that individual neurons express only one odorant receptor (OR). Goldman et al. challenge this view by finding that one olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) in Drosophila sensilla in the maxillary palp (a fly olfaction organ) expresses two highly divergent Or genes. Expression analysis indicated that seven Or genes were expressed in the six types of neurons found in maxillary palp sensilla. The authors constructed a receptor-to-neuron map of the ORNs in the maxillary palp and found that three Or genes were expressed in the pb2 class of sensilla (each class of sensilla consists of an A and a B type neuron). To determine whether the genes were expressed in the A or B neuron, the Or-specific promoters were used to express the proapoptotic protein Reaper, causing selective cell death in only one of the two neurons. When Or33c or Or85e promoters were used, the surviving neuron was pb2B. Thus, both Or33c and Or85e appear to be expressed in the pb2A neuron. In situ hybridization confirmed that Or85e and Or33c transcripts were present in the same ORN in three different species of fly; thus, this is an evolutionarily conserved pattern. Or85e and Or33c produced functional odorant receptors in an in vivo expression system. Coexpression of the two ORs in this system did not result in altered odorant perception compared with that of Or85e alone. However, the combined receptors may be specific for unidentified odorants. These results change the prevailing dogma and allow for a potential increase in complexity and specificity to odorant perception. A. L. Goldman, W. Van der Goes van Naters, D. Lessing, C. G. Warr, J. R. Carlson, Coexpression of two functional odor receptors in one neuron. Neuron 45, 661-666 (2005). [PubMed]


How do historians represent the past? How do theatre historians represent performance events? The fifteen challenging essays in "Representing the Past: Essays in Performance Historiography "focus on the fundamental epistemological conditions and procedures that serve as the foundational ideas that guide all historians in their endeavors. Unified by their investigations into how best to understand and then represent the past, this diverse group of scholars in the field of theatre history and performance studies offers insights into the abiding issues that all historians face in the task of representing human events and actions. Five primary ideas provide the topics as well as the intellectual parameters for this book: archive, time, space, identity, and narrative. Taking these as the conceptual framework for historical research and analysis, the essayists cover an expansive range of case studies and problems in the historical study of performance from the Americas to Africa and from Europe to India and China. Considering not only how historians think" about" these concepts in their research and writing but more pointedly and historiographically how they think" with" them, the essayists demonstrate the power and centrality of each of these five ideas in historical scholarship from initial research to the writing of essays and books. Performance history has a diversity of identities, locations, sources, and narratives. This compelling engagement with the concepts essential to historical understanding is a valuable contribution to the historiography of performance for students, teachers, and the future of the discipline itself. Expanding upon its classic predecessor, "Interpreting the Theatrical Past: Essays in the Historiography of Performance," this exciting new collection illustrates the contemporary richness of historical thinking and writing in the field of performance history.


The Science, Technology, Engineering Preview Summer Program (STEPS) at the University of Wisconsin-Stout is a one-week experience initiated in 1997 that will celebrate its 16 th anniversary during the summer of 2012. The main purpose of STEPS is to introduce girls and young women to the excitement of careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related fields through manufacturing experiences. A fundamental component of that goal is to inspire them to select the appropriate math and science courses in middle and high school prepare for these majors and these careers. A project-based experiential learning curriculum is used for the program which focuses on the manufacture and assembly of a radio-controlled device. For the first ten years of the program it was a model airplane, and the last five years a model boat. To date, approximately 2,400 girls have participated in STEPS for Girls at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and the program has also been replicated at other institutions. Survey data from these STEPS participants and alumnae have revealed that the program has had a significant impact on their perception of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as their career pursuits. This paper will present the experiential learning curriculum and projects that have been developed, and proven successful, for use in this program.


As part of our program on the synthesis of new psychotropic agents, the parent rings of two diazaphenox-azines are described. The reaction of 2-aminophenol and 2,3-dichloropyrazine in alkaline media gave good yields of 1,4-diazaphenoxazine. Replacement of 2,3-dichloropyrazine with 2,3-dichloroquinoxaline gave on the other hand the heterocycle, 1,4-diazabenzo[b]phenoxazine. Nitration and S-oxide formation were achieved by reaction with mixed nitric and sulfuric acids. Mechanistic pathways to these compounds were also discussed.


Over a fourth of India's population suffers acute poverty and deprivation. A critical part of concern must go to the process of extending welfare benefits to the poor, as public service delivery of these programs frequently suffers from technical flaws and administrative inefficiencies. Whereas India's major programme for food security– the Public Distribution System – is largely criticised for erroneous inclusion and exclusion of beneficiaries, and diversion of food subsidies that accentuate the inability of people to access food, Cash Transfer as an alternative service delivery mechanism seeks to eliminate inefficiency and corruption by giving money directly to the poor. This paper compares the implementation of PDS and Cash Transfer in Delhi to look into the necessity of formulating public policy that defines appropriate and effective mechanisms to ensure food security. The objective of the study is to evaluate the possible outcome of CT as a dependable solution for ensuring food security while drawing attention to the implementation of the most popular in-kind transfer program in the country, that is, PDS, to attain food security. An empirical investigation using questionnaires-based survey covering 80 households and eight Focus Groups Discussions with beneficiaries, and interviews with concerned implementing agencies showed that both schemes formed an important basis in sustaining households' basic needs, and had spill over effect on gender equation at the household level. Yet, exclusion and corruption continued to a larger extent in PDS compared to CT, and both lacked effective responsiveness and accountability in governance mechanisms.


Background: Brainstem evoked response audiotry (BERA) is an objective, noninvasive, electrodiagnostic test that not only evaluates the functional integrity of the subcortical auditory pathway but also provides topodiagnosis of hearing loss. Diabetes mellitus (DM) causes pathophysiological changes in multiple organ systems. The brainstem auditory response represents a simple procedure to detect both acoustic nerve and central nervous system pathway damage. The objective of this study was to find the evidence of central neuropathy in diabetes patients by analyzing brainstem audiometry electric response obtained by auditory evoked potentials, quantify the characteristic of auditory brain response in long standing diabetes, and to study the utility of auditory evoked potential in detecting the type, site, and nature of lesions. Aims and Objectives: To compare the auditory brainstem responses (ABRs) of diabetic patients to those of age and sex-matched controls with respect to absolute latencies of waves I, III, and V. Materials and Methods: This study included 30 diabetic patients who were symptomatic for more than 2 years and 30 age and sex-matched control participants. The waveforms in ABRs were recorded and analyzed in each diabetic patient and control participant. Results: The mean absolute latency of wave I was found to be significantly increased in both ears at 90, 70, and 50 dB in diabetic patients compared to the control group, whereas the mean absolute latencies of wave III was significantly increased at 50 dB in both ears and at 70 dB in the right ear. In diabetic patients, the mean absolute latencies of wave V were significantly increased compared to control participants at 90 dB in both ears and at 70 and 50 dB in the left ear.


In line with the rights and incentives provided by the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, U.S. universities have increased their involvement in patenting and licensing activities through their own technology transfer offices. Only a few U.S. universities are obtaining large returns, however, whereas others are continuing with these activities despite negligible or negative returns. We assess the U.S. universities' potential to generate returns from licensing activities by modeling and estimating quantiles of the distribution of net licensing returns conditional on some of their structural characteristics. We find limited prospects for public universities without a medical school everywhere in their distribution. Other groups of universities (private, and public with a medical school) can expect significant but still fairly modest returns only beyond the 0.9th quantile. These findings call into question the appropriateness of the revenue-generating motive for the aggressive rate of patenting and licensing by U.S. universities.


Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a web-based interactive learning object (ILO) of introductory Computer Science (CS) concept on recursion and compare two feedback methods in the learning assessment part.

Design/methodology/approach

Test driven development (TDD) approach was used to develop ILO. The authors adapted Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) standard instrument to evaluate ILO's effectiveness as an e-learning tool. Three respondents, from a list of pre-identified prospective evaluators, were randomly chosen and served as raters for MERLOT, while 32 student-respondents coming from first-year Math and CS undergraduate majors were randomly assigned to each ILO version implementing either one of the two feedback methods.

Findings

ILO obtained mean ratings above 4 (in scale 1-5) in three MERLOT criteria, namely, potential effectiveness as teaching tool, ease of use, and quality of content, which is rated highest (mean=4.40, SD=0.53). The study also revealed that immediate feedback increases retention while delayed feedback improves generating new knowledge. Respondents who viewed the ILO implementing immediate feedback in their first session had statistically significantly higher scores (mean=8.25, SD=0.80) than those who viewed with delayed feedback (mean=7.63, SD=0.89). In their second session, the same observation was noted although with higher mean scores. These results give evidence that the developed ILO met standards in e-learning material and showed evidence of its effectiveness with preferably implementing immediate feedback.

Research limitations/implications

Although the developed ILO can now be used in school as supplementary learning material in teaching the concept of recursion in an introductory CS subject, a pilot testing of the web-based ILO using a larger sample of respondents to validate its effectiveness for online distance learning educational material can be pursued. Furthermore, in designing and creating an ILO, the provision of feedback during the assessment stage is necessary for effecting learning.

Originality/value

The study was a first to develop ILO for CS topic on recursion. The paper also compared which of two known feedback methods is best to implement in an ILO.


CONTEXT
Communities indigenous to the Amazon are among the few remaining worldwide still practicing near-natural fertility, without the use of modern contraceptives. Given the large proportion of women desiring no more births, information on the challenges women there face in limiting fertility would be useful.

METHODS
Samples of women of reproductive age from five indigenous ethnic groups in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon were surveyed in 2001 and 2012. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses examined married women's desire for another child at both times and modern contraceptive use in 2012, as well as determinants of a change in women's desire to have more children and of the number of children born during the study period.

RESULTS
In 2001, 48% of married women desired another child, 2% used a modern contraceptive and 50% had an unmet need for limiting; in 2012, the proportions were 40%, 19% and 47%, respectively. The total fertility rate was 7.9 births per woman in 2001 and 7.0 births per woman in 2012. Characteristics associated with wanting another child in 2001 and 2012 included parity (odds ratios, 0.6 and 0.4, respectively) and experience of a child death (2.0 each); characteristics associated with contraceptive use in 2012 included desire for another child, experience of a child death and presence of a community health worker (0.3-0.5). Number of children born was positively associated, and the square of the term negatively associated, with no longer wanting more children in 2012 among women who wanted more in 2001 (2.1 and 0.9, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS
Indigenous women in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon appear to be making the transition to lower fertility. Insufficient access to credible information about the safety and efficacy of modern contraceptives, however, may slow the transition.


The paper presents a model of a monetary union designed to illuminate monetary and exchange rate policy in the West African Monetary Union (UMOA). Emphasis is placed on the interaction of the members of UMOA with each other, through the common central bank, and on their interaction with France and the rest of the world. As a consequence, the structure of the national economies depends essentially on their size.The relative size of the partners is reflected in the source and type of disturbances as well as in the trade pattern: large countries are not affected by disturbances originating in small countries. Small countries are affected by all external disturbances. The collective nature of the pegging becomes important because the small countries are taken to be of equal size.Using a four-country, two-tier macroeconomic model, it is shown that the pseudo-exchange rate union with the large partner has no effect on the real exchange rates of the small countries but affect their price levels, whereas a full monetary union requires in principle a transfer whose allocation between the two small countries by their common central bank may have real effects. This transfer is precisely provided by the large country, as guarantor of the fixed exchange rate arrangement. When both small countries are in surplus, there is a reverse transfer to the large country, with no monetary consequences. In line with the findings of the model, evidence is provided on monetary allocations in UMOA and on the real exchange rates of its major members, as compared to ot her African countries.


Even though language proficiency in children is strongly related to success in almost all domains, neurocognitive studies of L2 processing are typically limited to adults with several years of exposure, who may use general cognitive mechanisms to compensate for any difficulties in L2 processing. For example, whereas previous studies of adult bilinguals have reported differences in the anterior negativity elicited by syntactic violations with delays in exposure to English of less than 3 years (Weber-Fox & Neville, 1996) a precursor to the anterior negativity has been reported in monolingual children as young as 2.5 years of age (Oberecker, et al., 2005). In the current ERP study, processing of English phrase structure was explored in 6- to 8-year old monolingual and bilingual children who acquired English as a second language around 4 years of age. Monolingual children of higher proficiency displayed relatively mature processing of phrase structure violations as indicated by a left anterior negativity over lateral sites and a posterior positivity. High-proficiency bilingual children tended to display a medial anterior negativity and a posterior positivity. The difference in distribution of the anterior effect across groups could only be explained by AoA. However, lower proficiency affected the posterior ERP effect and amplitude of the anterior effects in response to syntactic violations. These results suggest that the more automatic syntactic processing in children is affected by AoA while more controlled, metalinguistic processing may be related to language proficiency. (Less)


The coordination of the functional activities of intestinal CYP3A4 and P-gp in limiting the absorption of xenobiotics in Caco-2 cells was investigated. Growing Caco-2 cells were exposed to increasing concentrations of doxorubicin (1-2 microM) in plastic flasks to encourage a subpopulation of cells, that displayed an intrinsically higher multidrug resistance (mdr) phenotype than the parent cells, to survive and grow. Doxorubicin-exposed (hereinafter referred to as type I cells) and nonexposed Caco-2 cells (parent cells) on collagen-coated inserts were also treated with either 0 (control) or 0.25 microM 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) to promote cellular CYP3A4 expression. Increased P-gp protein expression, as detected by Western blotting, was noted in type I cells (213 +/- 54.35%) compared to that of parent cells (100 +/- 6.05%). Furthermore, they retained significantly less [(3)H]vincristine sulphate (p < 0.05), a P-gp substrate, after efflux (272.89 +/- 11.86 fmol/mg protein) than the parent cells (381.39 +/- 61.82 fmol/mg protein). The expression of CYP3A4 in parental cells after 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) treatment was quantified to be 76.2 +/- 7.6 pmol/mg protein and comparable with that found in human jejunal enterocytes (70.0 +/- 20.0 pmol/mg protein). Type I cells, however, expressed a very low quantity of CYP3A4 both before and after the treatment that was beyond the minimum detection limit of Western blotting. Functionally, the rates of 1-hydroxylation of midazolam by CYP3A for both cell types ranged from 257.0 +/- 20.0 to 1057.0 +/- 46.0 pmol/min/mg protein. Type I cells, although having a higher P-gp expression and activity comparatively, metabolized midazolam less extensively than the parent cells. The results suggested that there were noncoordinated functional activities of intestinal CYP3A4 and P-gp in Caco-2 cells, although they both functioned independently to minimize intestinal epithelial absorption of xenobiotics.


In microwave heating applications, the energy is introduced directly into the volume of the material and as consequence the quality of the process is highly dependent on the uniformity of the electromagnetic field distribution along it. That is, the non uniformity of the heating is a potential problem with serious consequences. Thermal runaway is the most critical, in materials with temperature dependent dielectric properties. As the material absorbs electromagnetic energy, the temperature increases as does its ability to absorb more energy. To understand this phenomenon, a perceptive of how electromagnetic field propagates and how is absorbed by materials is essential, and then, we carried out the 3D electromagnetic field simulation in a microwave oven loaded with a ceramic sample, changing several parameters, as the dielectric properties of the load and the magnetron frequency, using COMSOL software.


Low levels of physical activity in youth are an issue internationally, with the age related decline in levels over the adolescent period of particular concern. This study evaluated a multi-component school-based intervention (Y-PATH: Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health), focused on halting the age-related decline in physical activity of youth in early adolescence. A cluster randomized controlled trial in 20 post primary schools (10 control, 10 intervention) was conducted. Data were collected from all 20 schools at baseline (2013), and 12 months (2014), and from 10 of these schools (5 intervention) at 24 months (2015). The setting was mixed gender post primary schools residing in the greater area of Dublin, Ireland. Principals from each school were asked to nominate one first year class group attending their school in September 2013 to participate in the study (N = 564). Intervention schools implemented the Y-PATH whole school intervention, comprising teacher component, parent component, and PE component; while control schools continued with usual care. The main outcome measure was accelerometer derived average minutes of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Data were analysed from October 2015 –November 2017. At baseline 490 participants were assessed (mean age 12.78y ± .42). Results of the multilevel regression analysis confirmed that there was a significant time intervention effect, and this was predominantly contributed by the difference between control and intervention groups within females. Findings support the case for national dissemination of the Y-PATH intervention so that the knowledge learned can be translated to routine practice in schools.


This article addresses a longstanding concern in American criminal justice: the risk that law enforcement agents of different governments will work together to evade a legal limit imposed by one of the governments. In the past, with the U.S. Supreme Court in the lead, courts were prone to closely scrutinize intergovernmental investigative efforts, on vigilant guard against what the Court called improper "working arrangements." Judicial vigilance, however, has long since waned, a problematic development assuming added significance over time as investigations have become increasingly multijurisdictional and technologically sophisticated in nature. Dirty Silver Platters offers the first comprehensive examination of this phenomenon and its many negative consequences, highlighting the need for more exacting judicial scrutiny of intergovernmental investigations. Without such scrutiny, modern silver platter doctrine, which allows admission of evidence illegally secured by non-forum agents found to be acting independently of agents of the forum court, is permitted to reign supreme. The article therefore seeks to pick up where mid-twentieth century courts left off, providing a reinvigorated framework to smoke out forum government agent involvement in investigations and condemn the legal evasion that it allows. In doing so, the article shines a spotlight on a critically important matter, implicating core rule of law and governmental transparency values, which will assume ever-greater importance in coming years as governments accelerate their combined investigative efforts in the battle against crime and domestic terrorism.


Sir Gareth Roberts made a stunning impact on the UK science scene, and his influence and reports brought optimism back into the university sector at a time when morale was low. He will be most remembered for his term as Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) in 1995, when the UK government announced savage cuts in university funding, and the CVCP responded by a threat to impose a levy on all first-year students. This led to the 1997 Dearing inquiry into higher education, which recommended many of the points made by Roberts, including fees on a loan basis, access for disadvantaged groups, and support for the vital role of university teaching. The Labour government accepted most of the recommendations, and large increases in university funding followed. In 2001 Roberts was asked to review the problem of the growing shortage of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, and his report, SET for success, was specifically commended by the Prime Minister. Additional funds were provided to raise the stipend of research students, to bring forward measures to recruit and retain science and engineering teachers, to modernize school and university science laboratories, and to create a new national centre for science teaching. He was primarily responsible, as Chairman of the Research Careers Initiative, for implementation of the Concordat, which set out clearly for the first time the need for a career structure for research students, and the way forward to achieve this. His prominence in the national scene might easily cause his earlier scientific achievements to be overlooked, although they were most significant. He first concentrated on the physics governing the injection of electrons into insulators and wide-gap semiconductors, and the laws governing their transit. This led to an interest in organic semiconductors, and his was the first publication on an efficient low-voltage organic light-emitting diode (LED). Concerned that evaporation harmed the properties of organic thin films, he improved the design of the Langmuir–Blodgett trough and developed their technique into a reliable method for the preparation and study of organics. He used the trough for research on a variety of materials, and many groups around the world followed his leadership, gaining much knowledge on the optical and electronic properties of organic conductors and insulators.


The goal of video understanding is to develop algorithms that enable machines understand videos at the level of human experts. Researchers have tackled various domains including video classification, search, personalized recommendation, and more. However, there is a research gap in combining these domains in one unified learning framework. Towards that, we propose a deep network that embeds videos using their audio-visual content, onto a metric space which preserves video-to-video relationships. Then, we use the trained embedding network to tackle various domains including video classification and recommendation, showing significant improvements over state-of-the-art baselines. The proposed approach is highly scalable to deploy on large-scale video sharing platforms like YouTube.


Sympathetic ophthalmia is a bilateral uveitis that develops after penetrating injury to one eye. This study aimed to identify the inflammatory cellular sub-phenotypes and expression of pertinent inflammatory cytokines/chemokines in sympathetic ophthalmia (SO). Dalen-Fuchs nodules (DFN), granulomas, and non-granulomatous foci of inflammation were micro-dissected from 15 cases. RNA was extracted, and quantitative PCR was performed to measure IL-17, IL-18, IL-23, IFN-γ, CCL19, CXCL11, CCL17, and CCL22 transcripts. Immunohistochemical methods were used to characterize CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD68, and CD163 expression. Non-granulomatous lymphocytes were predominantly CD3-positive and expressed more IFN-γ than cells within granulomas, consistent with Th1 cells. In contrast, granulomas and DFN contained mainly CD68+, CD163+/- and expressed more IL-17, IL-18, IL-23, CCL19, and CXCL11 than non-granulomatous cells. Our data indicate for the first time that M1 macrophages are the predominant inflammatory cells within granulomas and DFN of SO. We further observed high levels of IL-17 within granulomas and the presence of Th1 and M1 cells.


The Beatles came up in the rock-and-roll era, when Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley defined cool. Their early shows were big beat bacchanals, the Brit interpretation of that crazy American sound. But it wasn't long before they were absorbing and creating more and more music - from folk to experimental, to psychedelia and hard rock, quite literally changing music forever and influencing hundreds of great bands in the process. This is the first book for music lovers that begins with the simple premise, "If you like the Beatles...", and takes off from there, digging into their influences and everything that came after them, opening up new doors for listeners looking for no-risk discs to expand their collection. Beginning with the Beatles' lesser-known roots in rockabilly and Tin Pan Alley, and working through American R and B, the British Invasion, California folk, and the Summer of Love, and to the great pop and rock bands of the '80s, '90s, and the 21st century, this is a must-have for anyone who likes the Beatles, which is...everyone.


Objectives After bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) repair, annular dilatation can cause recurrent valve dysfunction. This video illustrates a patient undergoing BAV re-repair using ring annuloplasty for progressive annular dilatation and recurrent aortic insufficiency (AI) after a prior BAV reconstruction. Case Video A 36-year-old man had BAV repair and remodeling root replacement four years prior for severe AI and bicuspid root aneurysm. He developed recurrent grade 4 AI, a dilating left ventricle, and a mean systolic gradient of 22 mm Hg. On echocardiography, he had recurrent bileaflet prolapse, a posterior AI jet, and annular dilatation at 27 mm. Surgery was performed through the established remodeling root graft, and major annular remodeling was accomplished with a 21 mm internal bicuspid annuloplasty ring, sutured beneath the leaflets. The Dacron-covered titanium ring had circular base geometry and two outwardly-flaring subcommissural posts, positioned 180° on the circumference. A previous commissural closure was reopened, and after ring annuloplasty, both leaflets were plicated to equivalent effective heights of >8 mm. Good leaflet coaptation was achieved. The patient recovered uneventfully with no complications. After re-repair, AI was reduced to grade 0, and the mean systolic gradient fell to 17 mm Hg. The patient remains asymptomatic late postoperatively, with good echocardiographic parameters and full work activity. Conclusions Adequacy and stability of annuloplasty have been problems after BAV repair. Geometric ring annuloplasty seems effective in remodeling the dilated bicuspid annulus and also could enhance long-term repair stability. Applications such as reoperative root grafts seem especially appealing. Suggested Reading Mazzitelli D, Pfeiffer S, Rankin JS, et al. A regulated trial of bicuspid aortic valve repair supported by geometric ring annuloplasty. Ann Thorac Surg. 2015;99(6):2010-2016 .Mazzitelli D, Nobauer C, Rankin JS, et al. Early results after implantation of a new geometric annuloplasty ring for aortic valve repair. Ann Thorac Surg. 2013;95(1):94-97 .Mazzitelli D, Stamm C, Rankin JS, et al. Hemodynamic outcomes of geometric ring annuloplasty for aortic valve repair: a 4-center pilot trial. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2014;148(1):168-175 .Mazzitelli D, Nobauer C, Rankin JS, et al. Early results of a novel technique for ring-reinforced aortic valve and root restoration. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2014;45(3):426-430 .Mazzitelli D, Fischlein T, Rankin JS, et al. Geometric ring annuloplasty as an adjunct to aortic valve repair: clinical investigation of the HAART 300 device. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2016;49(3):987-993 .Mazzitelli D, Stamm C, Rankin JS, et al. Leaflet reconstructive techniques for aortic valve repair. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014;98(6):2053-2060 .This video was presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the Eastern Cardiothoracic Surgery Society in Amelia Island, Florida, on October 19th, 2017. Disclosure Dr Rankin is a consultant for BioStable Science and Engineering in Austin, Texas.


From the Publisher:
The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) provides a universal open standard for bringing Internet content and advanced services to mobile phones and other wireless devices. Designed from the start to take account of the limitations of today's devices - small screen, low power and low bandwidth - WAP is the platform for the new generation of "media phones".
Professional WAP gives a broad overview of WAP and associated technologies - what it is, why it's useful and how to take the best advantage of it. It covers the WAP architecture and protocols, what WAP tools and servers are available for developers today and how to WAP-enable your web server. Practical examples will show you how to make content and services available over WAP using WML Decks and WMLScript. More advanced topics include administration, transactions, security, and integration of telephony with internet services (WTA).
The book is principally aimed at web developers who are experienced in HTML, scripting, probably some server-side technology, and who now want to find out how to apply their skills in the WAP world. It will also appeal to project managers, application architects or other professionals who want to gain an understanding of WAP technologies and how businesses could benefit from them.


type="main"> We study markets in which consumers prefer green products but cannot determine the environmental quality of any given firm's product on their own. A nongovernmental organization (NGO) can establish a voluntary standard and label products that comply with it. Alternatively, industry can create its own standard and label. We compare the stringency of these two types of labels, and study their strategic interaction when they coexist. We find that even with error-free labels, environmental benefits may be smaller with two labels than with the NGO label alone, and we characterize when label competition is more likely to be environmentally beneficial.


Pre-service teachers may leave their graduate programs with strong social justice leanings, yet most begin teaching struggling to integrate their visions into a context constrained by accountability demands. Pressures and constraints, such as high-stakes testing and mandated curriculum, may require teachers committed to social justice to negotiate what they want to teach and what they are able to teach. This piece highlights the daunting journey of one beginning teacher and her struggle to uphold her commitment to teach for social justice while still meeting administrative expectations. The study's findings point to the myriad complexities surrounding teaching social studies for social justice, especially regarding integrating social justice content into the general curriculum. As a result of these findings, several questions have been formulated for further research surrounding the education of teachers for social justice.


Applicatives of unaccusatives provide a crucial test case for the inherent-case view of ergativity. If ergative is assigned only to external arguments, in their θ-positions, there can be no "raising to ergative" in applicative unaccusatives; an internal argument subject can never receive ergative case. In this article, I present evidence from Nez Perce (Sahaptian) that this prediction is false. In Nez Perce applicative unaccusatives, the theme argument raises over the applicative argument and is accordingly marked with ergative case. Nez Perce thus demonstrates raising to ergative. Departing from Baker's (2014) conclusions for similar phenomena in Shipibo (Panoan), I argue that apparently nonlocal movement of the theme in the raising-to-ergative pattern involves not a covert adpositional structure, but rather a response to independently motivated constraints on antilocal movement and remnant movement.


We report on the observation of two neutrino-induced events which have an estimated deposited energy in the IceCube detector of 1.04±0.16 and 1.14±0.17 PeV, respectively, the highest neutrino energies observed so far. These events are consistent with fully contained particle showers induced by neutral-current ν(e,μ,τ) (ν(e,μ,τ)) or charged-current ν(e) (ν(e)) interactions within the IceCube detector. The events were discovered in a search for ultrahigh energy neutrinos using data corresponding to 615.9 days effective live time. The expected number of atmospheric background is 0.082±0.004(stat)(-0.057)(+0.041)(syst). The probability of observing two or more candidate events under the atmospheric background-only hypothesis is 2.9×10(-3) (2.8σ) taking into account the uncertainty on the expected number of background events. These two events could be a first indication of an astrophysical neutrino flux; the moderate significance, however, does not permit a definitive conclusion at this time.


Hydrocephalus with hop gait (hyh) is a recessive inheritable disease that arose spontaneously in a mouse strain. A missense mutation in the Napa gene that results in the substitution of a methionine for isoleucine at position 105 (M105I) of αSNAP has been detected in these animals. αSNAP is a ubiquitous protein that plays a key role in membrane fusion and exocytosis. In this study, we found that male hyh mice with a mild phenotype produced morphologically normal and motile sperm, but had a strongly reduced fertility. When stimulated with progesterone or A23187 (a calcium ionophore), sperm from these animals had a defective acrosome reaction. It has been reported that the M105I mutation affects the expression but not the function of the protein. Consistent with an hypomorphic phenotype, the testes and epididymides of hyh mice had low amounts of the mutated protein. In contrast, sperm had αSNAP levels indistinguishable from those found in wild type cells, suggesting that the mutated protein is not fully functional for acrosomal exocytosis. Corroborating this possibility, addition of recombinant wild type αSNAP rescued exocytosis in streptolysin O-permeabilized sperm, while the mutant protein was ineffective. Moreover, addition of recombinant αSNAP. M105I inhibited acrosomal exocytosis in permeabilized human and wild type mouse sperm. We conclude that the M105I mutation affects the expression and also the function of αSNAP, and that a fully functional αSNAP is necessary for acrosomal exocytosis, a key event in fertilization.


Background Shift work has been proposed as a risk factor for a number of diseases including cancer and the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified shift work that involves circadian disruption as probably carcinogenic. A number of mechanisms may underlie these associations, including those related to suppressed melatonin production, sleep disturbance and confounding by other behavioural or lifestyle factors. I will review the epidemiological evidence on shift work and cancer, and will present data from the Million Women Study on the characteristics of shift workers and from the Guernsey Study on the relationship between melatonin and breast cancer risk. Methods We compared the characteristics of British women from the Million Women Study who had and had not worked at night in terms of their risk factors for common disease using data from 41,652 women who reported their history of night work in 2009–2010. We also examined the association between nocturnal melatonin and breast cancer risk in a case-control study nested within the Guernsey III Study, a British prospective cohort study. We measured concentrations of 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in prediagnostic first-morning urine samples from 251 breast cancer cases and 727 matched controls and used conditional logistic regression models to calculate odds ratios for breast cancer in relation to 6-sulfatoxymelatonin level. Results The published epidemiological evidence is suggestive but not conclusive for an adverse association between shift work, particularly long-term night work, and breast cancer risk, while the data are more limited and inconsistent for cancers at other sites and all cancers combined. Results from the Million Women Study, however, showed that women who reported ever having worked at night were substantially different from those who reporting never having worked at night and many of the differences would put "ever night workers" at increased risks of cancer. For melatonin, while there was no evidence for an association with breast cancer risk among British women, overall the published data suggest a modest inverse association between melatonin levels and breast cancer risk (for highest fourth versus lowest, odds ratio = 0.81, 95% confidence interval: 0.66, 0.99). Conclusion Published data are suggestive but not conclusive for an adverse association between night work and breast cancer and, correspondingly, for a protective association between melatonin and risk for the disease. However, there are several limitations of the epidemiological evidence including the relatively limited data from large prospective population-based investigations and inconsistent consideration of the role of potential confounders.


ABSTRACT Recent studies suggest that certain viral proteins co-opt endoplasmic reticulum (ER) degradation pathways to prevent the surface display of major histocompatibility complex class I molecules to the immune system. A novel example of such a molecule is the mK3 protein of gammaherpesvirus 68. mK3 belongs to an extensive family of structurally similar viral and cellular proteins that function as ubiquitin ligases using a conserved RING-CH domain. In the specific case of mK3, it selectively targets the rapid degradation of nascent class I heavy chains in the ER while they are associated with the class I peptide-loading complex (PLC). We present here evidence that the PLC imposes a relative proximity and/or orientation on the RING-CH domain of mK3 that is required for it to specifically target class I molecules for degradation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that full assembly of class I molecules with peptide is not a prerequisite for mK3-mediated degradation. Surprisingly, although the cytosolic tail of class I is required for rapid mK3-mediated degradation, we observed that a class I mutant lacking lysine residues in its cytosolic tail was ubiquitinated and degraded in the presence of mK3 in a manner indistinguishable from wild-type class I molecules. These findings are consistent with a "partial dislocation" model for turnover of ER proteins and define some common features of ER degradation pathways initiated by structurally distinct herpesvirus proteins.


The nominal risk coefficients for radiation induced cancer are largely based on the follow-up of the mortality
from solid cancers among the atomic bomb survivors. For those who have been exposed as adults, the observations
are essentially complete, and the risk estimates are, therefore, firmly based on observations. Those who
have been exposed as children, have still not reached the age of high cancer incidence. Their observation is,
therefore, still incomplete, and the risk estimates are correspondingly uncertain.
The modelling of risk has predominantly been based on the postulate, that the relative risk (i.e. the actual
cancer rate divided by the age specific normal rate) depend on dose and on age at exposure, and that it does
not decline with time since exposure. The high relative risks observed at young ages lead, therefore, with this
type of model, to high estimates of life time attributable risk. The ICRP recommendations contain these high
risk estimates for young ages at exposure; the high sensitivity of children and juveniles has, indeed, become one
of the basic tenets of radiation protection.
It is here shown that these conclusions are still hypothetical, because they are merely a matter of the choice
of the model. An alternative model assumes a dependence of the excess relative risk on age attained, rather than
age at exposure. This model fits the data equally well, and predicts no increased risk for young ages at
exposure. A decision between the two models is not possible at present, it will have to await the continued follow-
up of those who survived the atomic bombs as children.
The ICRP has been criticised for postulating a dose reduction factor (DDREF) in their nominal risk
coefficients. If they abandoned this factor, and used the age attained model, rather than their present model,
their numerical risk coefficients would remain unchanged.


The Lightning Network is a second layer technology running on top of Bitcoin and other Blockchains. It is composed of a peer-to-peer network, used to transfer raw information data. Some of the links in the peer-to-peer network are identified as payment channels, used to conduct payments between two Lightning Network clients (i.e., the two nodes of the channel). Payment channels are created with a fixed credit amount, the channel capacity. The channel capacity, together with the IP address of the nodes, is published to allow a routing algorithm to find an existing path between two nodes that do not have a direct payment channel. However, to preserve users' privacy, the precise balance of the pair of nodes of a given channel (i.e. the bandwidth of the channel in each direction), is kept secret. Since balances are not announced, second-layer nodes probe routes iteratively, until they find a successful route to the destination for the amount required, if any. This feature makes the routing discovery protocol less efficient but preserves the privacy of channel balances. In this paper, we present an attack to disclose the balance of a channel in the Lightning Network. Our attack is based on performing multiple payments ensuring that none of them is finalized, minimizing the economical cost of the attack. We present experimental results that validate our claims, and countermeasures to handle the attack.


In recent object/scene recognition research images or large image regions are often represented as disorganized "bags" of image features. This representation allows direct application of models of word counts in text. However, the image feature counts are likely to be constrained in different ways than word counts in text. As a camera pans upwards from a building entrance over its first few floors and then above the penthouse to the backdrop formed by the mountains, and then further up into the sky, some feature counts in the image drop while others rise–only to drop again giving way to features found more often at higher elevations (Fig. 1). The space of all possible feature count combinations is constrained by the properties of the larger scene as well as the size and the location of the window into it. Accordingly, our model is based on a grid of feature counts, considerably larger than any of the modeled images, and considerably smaller than the real estate needed to tile the images next to each other tightly. Each modeled image is assumed to have a representative window in the grid in which the sum of feature counts mimics the distribution in the image. We provide learning procedures that jointly map all images in the training set to the counting grid and estimate the appropriate local counts in it. Experimentally, we demonstrate that the resulting representation captures the space of feature count combinations more accurately than the traditional models, such as latent Dirichlet allocation, even when modeling images of different scenes from the same category.


'Green' is the word that both individuals and groups in the world focus. Green ICTs is also now stated to be one of strategic technologies because of their benefits in terms of decreasing expenses, creating good corporate image, and mitigating climate change from greenhouse gas emissions. However, the acceptance and use of green ICTs are still not prevalent, especially in the developing countries where poverty and growth problems have to be remedied first. Cooperation among all countries is important to perfectly solve the problems. Young generations in particular are important forces to cope these problems. Therefore, by using the case of university freshmen in Thailand, the study's objectives are to investigate the awareness and the acceptance of children on green ICTs, to explore the knowledge that they have regarding to the green ICTs, and, to search causes of green ICTs' acceptance or rejection. The results from the study are expected to support building the green ICTs usage in youths.


The difficult problem of parameterizing tropical convection in large-scale models of the atmosphere led to the Global Atmospheric Research Program's Atlantic Tropical Experiment (GATE), whose goal was to improve basic understanding of tropical convection and its role in the global atmospheric circulation. A dense network of instrumented ships equipped with upper air sounding equipment and quantitative weather radars were located over the Atlantic Ocean, in the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), just west of equatorial Africa. The ship network was supplemented by a fleet of research aircraft and a geosynchronous meteorological satellite. The data obtained show that the deep convection in the ITCZ was concentrated in two types of 'cloud clusters,' rapidly moving squall clusters, and slowly moving nonsquail clusters. The clusters were characterized by large mid-to-upper level cloud shields, or 'anvil clouds,' that emanated from penetrative cumulonimbus convection. Accompanying the deep cumulonimbus in each cluster was a log normal spectrum of smaller convective features ranging from moderate cumulonimbus down to tiny nonprecipitating cumulus. The large cumulonimbus were typically grouped within a cluster into one or more mesoscale precipitation features (or MPF's), which were apparently triggered in mesoscale regions of intensified low-level convergence. As an MPF matured it developed a region of stratiform precipitation adjacent to its active deep convective cells. The stratiform precipitation fell from the anvil cloud. Associated with the stratiform precipitation were a mesoscale downdraft below the anvil cloud and an apparent mesoscale updraft within the anvil cloud itself, above the mesoscale downdraft. These mesoscale drafts were distinct from the convective-scale updrafts and downdrafts of the cumulus and cumulonimbus cells of the cluster. Downdrafts, both convective scale and mesoscale, filled the planetary boundary layer in the vicinity of cumulonimbus with stable air of low moist static energy. These wakes of downdraft air exerted a strong control on where future convection broke out. The results of GATE show that to simulate the effects of tropical convection in large-scale numerical models of the atmosphere a variety of phenomena must be accounted for, including not only convective-scale updrafts and downdrafts but anvil clouds with mesoscale updrafts and downdrafts, downdraft-induced boundary layer transformations, and mesoscale convergence patterns. Experimentation with ways of including some of these features of tropical convection in large-scale diagnostic and prognostic studies is under way, but much work remains to be done.


OF THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Earth and Planetary Sciences The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico July 2011 vi Geochemical Characteristics and Microbial diversity of CO2-rich mounds springs of the Tierra Amarilla anticline, New Mexico by Brandi Cron M.S., Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, 2011 ABSTRACT This interdisciplinary research explores the water geochemistry, microbial heterogeneity, geochemical cycling, and paleohydrological longevity of a unique set of desert springs in north-central New Mexico. This series of travertine-depositing CO2-rich springs is located along the boundary zone between the Colorado Plateau and Rio Grande rift, on the southern extension of the Nacimiento fault at the Tierra Amarilla anticline (TA). Geochemical data on the spring waters show He/He ratio of 0.17-0.20 RA which indicates the presence of mantle-derived helium in the groundwater. Carbon isotope values range from -4.6 to -8.1 per mil, suggesting that some of the CO2 is also deeply derived (endogenic). Based on an average of 8 samples, water chemistry modeling indicates CO2 is 5.49 ± 8 % from dissolved carbonate in the aquifer (Ccarb), 4.77 ± 9.16 % from organic derivation (Corg), and 89.74 ± 11.22 % from deep sources (Cendo). Stable isotope analysis of the waters suggests that these warm springs have a component perhaps related to distal effects of the Valles Caldera hydrothermal system with fluid transport up and along extensional faults networks near the boundary of the Rio Grande rift. Microbiological techniques were employed to investigate these waters and determine species diversity and groundwater microbiology. Microbiological species vii identified include Zetaproteobacteria, Vibrio diaztrophicus, and Algoriphagus sp. LYX05, and Candidatus 'Nitrotoga.' The Zetaproteobacteria are also found in submarine seamount communities and Vibrio diaztrophicus are also found in other subsurface environments. 454-sequence analyses of Archaeal species determined that the phylotype Methanosarcinales (which is the dominate single phylotype found in Lost City hydrothermal field) is also found in the TA system. The presence of similar terrestrial communities in TA warm springs is interpreted to reflect endemic ecosystems that have evolved in ambient-temperature terrestrial springs because metabolic processes are similar to chemolithotrophs found in deep-sea vents. In order to link the metabolic environment of these springs to the geochemistry we calculated the chemical affinity for metabolically favorable reactions. Results show that oxidation of hydrogen, manganese, and hydrogen sulfide which are all metabolic reactions similar to those utilized by the Lost City Hydrothermal field communities are thermodynamically favorable in the springs at TA. Longevity of this spring system was investigated using U-series dating. The highest elevation extinct mounds ranges in age from 270 to 210 ka; lower elevation mound systems range in age from 105-70 ka; travertines around the active springs return ages of about 600 years. These data demonstrate that the microbial communities have evolved due to persistent flux of deeply sourced, warm, anoxic fluids through the neotectonically active Tierra Amarilla fault system over the last hundreds of thousands of years, with water flux (and episodic deposition of travertine) likely mediated by changing climate. Existing dates highlight travertine deposition during climate transitions from OIS 8-to-7 and 6-to-5, as well as Holocene changes. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER


Does your organization want to achieve success in prioritizing projects systematically, deliberately, and logically? Project Portfolio Management Tools and Techniques is written to demonstrate how to elevate your organizations project management thinking to the level beyond managing individual projects in a standalone fashion. This book is for those executives and other project professionals who strive to have a formalized system of authorizing the right projects and abandoning the wrong projects, who desire to spend resources in the most efficient manner, and who want to have an actionable strategic plan for improving organizational project management sophistication. Project Portfolio Management Tools and Techniques deals with the full spectrum of project portfolio management (PPM) functions, from selecting projects through formalized portfolio management processes to facilitating the successful execution of projects through creating a formalized, project-friendly environment. This book will aid you in the implementation of a PPM system, assist in gaining the necessary commitment from executive management, and provide guidelines for the modification of operational practices. Get ahead of the game by seeing a comprehensive project portfolio management model that can help you establish yours successfully!


Rice grain for feed has been used for chicken feed as a substitute for corn, since the nutritive values of corn and rice are similar. However, it is unclear whether rice grain for feed should be available for young chicks from the early stages of ages. It was reported that the preference for unpolished rice was low, but no information was available for paddy rice (PR) which is low in digestibility. In the present study, therefore, preference for PR and the passage of feed through the gastrointestinal tract were investigated. In order to improve this preference, the effect of mixing PR with a practical diet was compared with early learning for adapting to PR. In addition, it was confirmed that the passage rate of PR is improved by the addition of grit, an enzyme or lysine. As a result, replacing 60% of a practical diet with PR was found to significantly increase intake of feed in comparison with the practical diet alone. The preference for PR was very clear irrespective of whether early learning for adapting to PR occurred just after hatching or not. The addition of an enzyme improved the passage of feed through the whole gastrointestinal tract, although the addition of grit and lysine did not affect it. On the other hand, the passage of feed from the crop was not improved by any treatments. In conclusion, mixing PR and the practical diet improved feed intake and the passage of feed through the gastrointestinal tract was improved by adding enzymes in young chicks.


Researchers and practitioners of precision agricultural technology have worked to overcome adoption, cost, and environmental obstacles since its introduction. The next gap in the adoption continuum of profitable precision agricultural technologies is data and data use, the so-called Big Data. Broadband connectivity could be the next hurdle affecting the precision agricultural technology chain and the employment of 'big data' and telematics services. Without adequate connectivity the transferring of 'big data' from machine-to-machine or to the cloud, inefficiencies are created. These inefficiencies come in the forms of machine downtime, increased human error, and lack of real-time information. We have addressed this issue in a conceptual framework by proposing a non-parametric data envelopment analysis. Simulation and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are utilized to evaluate differing levels of data utilization made possible by broadband internet connectivity. The DEA methodology is useful to estimate the foregone societal value and farm-level profitability due to lack of broadband connectivity. In addition to constraining the profitability of agricultural firms; lack of broadband connectivity limits the adoption of precision agricultural technologies that make use of or relies upon near real time connectivity. The expected results are that producers that have adequate connectivity to employ 'big data' and telematics will be more efficient than producers without. Thus, the importance of adequate connectivity can be evaluated.


This study examined predictors of students' intentions to access face-to-face (f2f) or online options for lectures and tutorials in a buffet-style blended learning 2nd-year psychology statistics course (N = 113; 84% female). Students were aged 18 to 51 years (M = 23.16; SD = 6.80). Practical and technological predictors, along with attitudinal and motivational factors drawn from the expectancy value model, were tested. Higher work commitments, greater reliance on rehearsal, higher self-regulation, and higher critical thinking were the most important predictors of intentions to use online lectures. Almost 40% of the variance in those intentions was explained. Having the required computer software was the only independent predictor of intentions to attend synchronous online tutorials. Overall, 10% of the variance in those intentions was explained. Intentions to access asynchronous (archived) online tutorials were uniquely predicted by lower ability and higher extrinsic motivation. Overall, 26% of the variance in those intentions was explained. The predictors did not explain significant variance in intentions to attend f2f lectures or tutorials. These findings contribute to understanding how students go about making choices when faced with buffet style blended learning courses. Motivational and practical factors both influence the choices students make.


Genomic Biomarkers for Pharmaceutical Development: Advancing Personalized Health Care provides an in-depth review of the state of translational science across all stages of pharmaceutical development with a special focus on personalized health care. This book provides a complete picture of biomarker development and validation in a pharmaceutical setting while addressing the inherent challenges of targeting the appropriate indications, biomarker robustness, regulatory hurdles, commercialization and much more. It features case studies devoted to the applications of pharmacogenomics, toxicogenomics, and other genetic technologies as they support drug discovery and development. With chapters written by international authorities in industry and academia, this work is a truly unique presentation of the thoughts and approaches that lead to the development of personalized medicine. Intended for all those involved in clinical translational research, this book is the ideal resource for scientists searching for the applications, strategies and successful approaches of translational science in pharmaceutical development. It provides case studies in applications of pharmacodynamic and predictive markers in drug development in oncology, autoimmunity, respiratory diseases and infectious diseases. It shows how to identify potential new therapeutic targets in different diseases and provides examples of potential new disease indications for life cycle management of drugs. It is authored by leading international experts from industry and academia.


This book explores the dynamic intersection of three cutting-edge technologies-Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and Cloud Computing-and their profound impact on diverse domains. Beginning with an introduction to AI and its challenges, it delves into IoT applications in fields like transportation, industry 4.0, healthcare, and agriculture. The subsequent chapter explores AI in the cloud, covering areas such as banking, e-commerce, smart cities, healthcare, and robotics. Another section investigates the integration of AI and IoT-Cloud, discussing applications like smart meters, smart cities, smart agriculture, smart healthcare, and smart industry. Challenges like data privacy and security are examined, and the future direction of these technologies, including fog computing and quantum computing, is explored. The book concludes with use cases that highlight the real-world applications of these transformative technologies across various sectors. Each chapter is also supplemented with a list of scholarly references for advanced readers.

The book is intended primarily as a resource for students in information technology and technology courses. And as a secondary resource for industry professionals who want to learn about these technologies in the context of digital transformation.


Regulation of ion channels by heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases), activated by heptathelical membrane receptors, has been the focus of several recent reviews. In comparison, regulation of ion channels by small monomeric G proteins, activated by cytoplasmic guanine nucleotide exchange factors, has been less well reviewed. Small G proteins, molecular switches that control the activity of cellular and membrane proteins, regulate a wide variety of cell functions. Many upstream regulators and downstream effectors of small G proteins now have been isolated. Their modes of activation and action are understood. Recently, ion channels were recognized as physiologically important effectors of small GTPases. Recent advances in understanding how small G proteins regulate the intracellular trafficking and activity of ion channels are discussed here. We aim to provide critical insight into physiological control of ion channel function and the biological consequences of regulation of these important proteins by small, monomeric G proteins.


A cost-effective technique for in-service chromatic dispersion monitoring in a 40-Gb/s optical communication system is proposed. Microwave devices are adopted to detect the electrical power of a specific frequency band. A simplified theoretical model is proposed and discussed focusing on the relationship between electrical power and chromatic dispersion at different frequency bands. The dynamic monitoring of chromatic dispersion is achieved using devices such as PIN detector, microwave amplifier, narrow-band microwave filter, and electrical power detector. The maximum detectable chromatic dispersion is 130 ps/nm and a resolution of 5.2 ps/nm/dB has been achieved in the frequency band centered at 12 GHz.


There is a seemingly widespread view that inequality should not be a concern in countries striving to fight absolute poverty. Although inequality may well be high or rising in some developing countries, this increase is seen as the unavoidable by-product of the economic growth needed to reduce poverty. The message for policy is that poor countries—including their poor—need not worry too much about inequality. Does the evidence from countries' experience support this view? This chapter first looks at the relationship between economic growth on the one hand and poverty and inequality on the other. It then examines how inequality influences the relationship between growth and poverty and distinguishes between different types of inequality. Finally, some thoughts are offered on appropriate policies.


This study provides a survey of research that uses cross-country comparisons to examine how economic regulation affects growth. Studies in the peer-reviewed literature tend to rely on either World Bank or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development measures of regulation. Those studies seem to reflect a consensus that entry regulation and anticompetitive product and labor market regulations are generally harmful to growth. The results from this cross-country research, taken in conjunction with economic theory as well as other country specific studies of economic regulation, support the hypothesis that economic regulation tends to reduce welfare in competitive markets. Given the continued use of certain types of economic regulation, the findings may offer important lessons for policymakers.


Korzun L. P., Érard C., Gasc J.-P. & Dzerzhinsky F. J. 2009. — Adaptation of seedsnipes (Aves, Charadriiformes, Thinocoridae) to browsing: a study of their feeding apparatus. Zoosystema 31 (2): 347-368. ABSTRACT The present study describes in detail for the first time the skeleto-muscular system of the jaw and hyoid apparatus (i.e. feeding apparatus) of seedsnipes (Thinocoridae), a small (two genera, four species) South-American bird family the biology and particularly the diet of which are still barely known. Morpho-functional analyses interpreted in the light of presently available behavioural and diet data show a strongly developed adaptation to the removal of attached plant items based on the acquisition of the separate control of jaws. In order to acquire this mechanism and because they are separated in two very different size-classes, large Attagis and small Thinocorus species did not modify the same osteo-muscular structures. Attagis species expanded m. pseudotemporalis superficialis of which they increased the intricacy of the internal aponeurotic system. Thinocorus species evolved a specific orbito-zygomatic process (mainly by expansion and fusion of postorbital and zygomatic processes by ossification of aponeuroses), expanded the medial portion of the external adductor of the mandible and increased the complexity of the aponeuroses of this medial portion. Seedsnipes appear to be well specialized in the continuous removal of small plant fragments thanks to a tongue raising mechanism joint to enlarged salivary glands and crenate areas in the buccal cavity. Thinocoridae seem to have followed a morpho-functional evolutionary pathway similar to that followed by sandgrouse (Pteroclididae) in the course of the adaptation of their bill and hyoid apparatus to a vegetarian diet essentially based on the removal of small attached plant fragments in rather similar habitat conditions.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate biochemical markers of neurotoxicity following subchronic manganese sulfate (MnSO(4)) inhalation. Juvenile rhesus monkeys were exposed to MnSO(4) at 0, 0.06, 0.3, or 1.5 mg Mn/m(3) for 65 days. Glutamine synthetase (GS), glutamate transporters (glutamate transporter-1 [GLT-1] and glutamate/aspartate transporter [GLAST]) and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) protein levels, metallothionein (MT), GLT-1, GLAST, TH and GS mRNA levels, and total glutathione (GSH) levels were assessed in known targets (caudate, globus pallidus, putamen) as well as the cerebellum, frontal cortex, and olfactory cortex. All MnSO(4)-exposed monkeys had decreased pallidal GS protein, decreased caudate GLT-1 mRNA, decreased pallidal GLAST protein, and increased olfactory cortical TH mRNA levels. Monkeys exposed to MnSO(4) at 0.06 or 0.3 mg Mn/m(3) had significantly increased pallidal mRNA levels for GLT-1, GLAST, and TH. Monkeys exposed to MnSO(4) at > or = 0.3 mg Mn/m(3) had several alterations including decreased frontal cortical MT mRNA, decreased caudate, globus pallidus, olfactory cortex, and cerebellum GLT-1 protein, decreased olfactory cortex and cerebellum GLAST protein, increased cerebellar GLAST mRNA, and decreased pallidal TH protein levels. Lastly, GSH levels were significantly increased in the frontal cortex and decreased in the caudate of monkeys exposed to the 1.5-mg Mn/m(3) compared to the controls. Overall, as in our previous studies, we observed that increased Mn concentrations due to airborne Mn exposure differentially affects biomarkers in each brain region (e.g., GSH was increased in the frontal cortex and decreased in the caudate despite two- to threefold increases in Mn concentrations in these regions).


Many people routinely criticise themselves. While self-criticism is largely unproblematic for most individuals, depressed patients exhibit excessive self-critical thinking, which leads to strong negative affects. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy subjects (N = 20) to investigate neural correlates and possible psychological moderators of self-critical processing. Stimuli consisted of individually selected adjectives of personally negative content and were contrasted with neutral and negative non-self-referential adjectives. We found that confrontation with self-critical material yielded neural activity in regions involved in emotions (anterior insula/hippocampus-amygdala formation) and in anterior and posterior cortical midline structures, which are associated with self-referential and autobiographical memory processing. Furthermore, contrasts revealed an extended network of bilateral frontal brain areas. We suggest that the co-activation of superior and inferior lateral frontal brain regions reflects the recruitment of a frontal top-down pathway, representing cognitive reappraisal strategies for dealing with evoked negative affects. In addition, activation of right superior frontal areas was positively associated with neuroticism and negatively associated with cognitive reappraisal. Although these findings may not be specific to negative stimuli, they support a role for clinically relevant personality traits in successful regulation of emotion during confrontation with self-critical material.


Aside from providing income support to individuals in dire situations, social welfare benefits may unintentionally influence labour decisions, such as whether or not to take up a job, how many hours to work and which type of work to opt for. This paper investigates the relationship between social welfare benefits and labour market outcomes, measured by labour market participation and work intensity for women and men in Mongolia. Mongolia has an extensive system of social welfare benefits, which are mainly allocated based on categorical criteria, and the country suffers from relatively low labour market participation. The empirical analysis uses data from the 2012 Mongolian Household Socio-economic Survey and applies standard regression analysis and quasi-experimental methods. The paper pays particular attention to women since - in spite of the fact that their level of education is similar to that of men - their labour market participation is considerably lower compared to men. The results of the analysis indicate that social welfare receipt does not affect the labour market participation of men, but it has a negative impact on women. In terms of hours worked, men in beneficiary households tend to work more hours, while women work fewer hours if they are social welfare recipients.


In a firearm the firing cycle is a high-speed dynamic event, of short duration (a few milliseconds) and highly non-linear large displacements, plasticity, contact during which its components are subjected to pulse loads high-pressure and temperature gas and impact between moving parts. In the design of any firearm choosing the locking (breech) system is the fundamental starting point as this will guarantee that the cartridge case is adequately supported to withstand the tremendous rearward thrust exerted by the powder gases. The breech system consists of a group of high strength components – barrel, bolt, receiver, locking devices, etc. – the task of which is to keep the rear portion of the barrel closed for a certain time period, until the pressure of the powder gases has dropped to an operating limit at which the breech may be opened safely for completing the firing cycle. After this time period an automatic firearm performs the other functions unlocking of the bolt, extraction and ejection of the spent cartridge case, loading of a fresh cartridge and locking of the bolt utilizing the impulse of gas pressure to impart a velocity to the movable parts. It is the purpose of the present work to illustrate, through some practical applications, the integration of Test and ABAQUS as a convenient approach for the rational and conscious (numerical) design of the locking system, while indicating the potential and also the limitations both from the mechanical strength and the movable part dynamics points of view.


Agricultural R&D investment is becoming an increasingly important policy issue as food prices push upwards and food security problems emerge. An important source of agricultural R&D funding is from producer check-offs, which are increasingly being used to fund applied agricultural research. Existing studies of producer-funded agricultural R&D indicate that there are high private and social rates of return to agricultural R&D investment by farmers, and thus that farmers are under investing in R&D. An important reason for underinvestment of producer-funded R&D is the spillovers across levy programs – the research benefits of one particular crop can flow to other crops via spillovers. The spillovers across levy programs are particularly important in jurisdictions, such as Canada, where agricultural R&D activity has been organized on a commodity-by-commodity basis. This study developed a theoretical model to capture farmers R&D investment decisions by explicitly specifying spillovers across levy programs.


Fruit ripening represents a complex system of genetic and hormonal regulation of eukaryotic development unique to plants. We are using tomato ripening mutants as tools to elucidate genetic components of ripening regulation and have recently demonstrated that the Never-ripe (Nr) mutant is insensitive to the plant growth regulator ethylene (M.B. Lanahan, H.-C. Yen, J.J. Giovannoni, H.J. Klee [1994] Plant Cell 6: 521–530). We report here ethylene sensitivity over a range of concentrations in normal and Nr tomato seedlings and show that the Nr mutant retains residual sensitivity to as little as 1 part per million of ethylene. Analysis of ripening-related gene expression in normal and mutant ethylene-treated fruit demonstrates that Nr exerts its influence on development at least in part at the level of ethylene-inducible gene expression. We have additionally used cloned tomato and Arabidopsis sequences known to influence ethylene perception as restriction fragment length polymorphism probes, and have identified a tomato locus linked to Nr that hybridizes to the Arabidopsis ETR1 gene at low stringency, suggesting the possibility that Nr may be homologous to ETR1.


It is well established that diffusion approximation is valid for light propagation in highly scattering media, but it breaks down in nonscattering regions. The previous methods that manipulate nonscattering regions are essentially boundary-to-boundary coupling (BBC) methods through a nonscattering void region based on the radiosity theory. We present a boundary-to-interior coupling (BIC) method. BIC is based on the fact that the collimated pencil beam incident on the medium can be replaced by an isotropic point source positioned at one reduced scattering length inside the medium from an illuminated point. A similar replacement is possible for the nondiffuse lights that enter the diffuse medium through the void, and it is formulated as the BIC method. We implemented both coupling methods using the finite element method (FEM) and tested for the circle with a void gap and for a four-layer adult head model. For mean time of flight, the BIC shows better agreement with Monte Carlo (MC) simulation results than BBC. For intensity, BIC shows a comparable match with MC data compared with that of BBC. The effect of absorption of the clear layer in the adult head model was investigated. Both mean time and intensity decrease as absorption of the clear layer increases.


Strontium ferrites powders were obtained by high energy milling process after calcinations of iron oxide and barium carbonate. Phase formations and crystallite size was determined using X-ray diffraction. Morphology, particle size and agglomeration stages were analyzed using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Results show particles in the range of 14 to 40 nanometers, large agglomerates and crystalline phases formation.


Ultrasonic cutting technology has been introduced for surgical applications since the 1950s. Ultrasonic bone cutting applies high frequency mechanical vibration of a blade tuned at a specific frequency to make incision on human hard tissues. It offers advantages such as improved safety, smooth and precise cutting. To facilitate the design of high performance surgical ultrasonic bone cutting blades, this thesis is devoted to the modelling and designing of ultrasonic blades with an attempt to better understand the dynamic characteristics of blade and improve the conventional design method.
A non-coupled vibration analytical model which deals with four modes of vibration, including longitudinal oscillation, flexural bending, lateral bending, and torsional vibration of ultrasonic blades, was proposed based on one-dimensional theories. The model allows the estimation of the modal parameters of a blade without establishing a 3D model. The experimental study of this model using a uniform beam and a sectional ultrasonic blade showed that the model predicted the modal frequencies of these structures with satisfactory accuracy. This suggested that the analytical model can be used as an alternative method to FEA in the characterisation of ultrasonic blades.
Two coupled models, a parametric vibration model and a longitudinal-bending coupled vibration model, were proposed to study the coupled vibration of ultrasonic blades. The parametric vibration model formulated the coupled vibration using a lumped mass beam. This enabled the investigation of interaction between the vibration modes based on a simple one-dimensional structure. However, this model resulted in governing equations of considerable complexity, which were considered to be more suitable for the purpose of theoretical study instead of performance prediction. In addition, a longitudinal-bending coupled model was proposed in this study with an attempt to understand a type of coupled vibration that is commonly observed in ultrasonic blades of beam-like profile. The model was established by introducing an extra rotation moment in the one-dimensional bending equation. Two numerical iteration approaches, with their implementation and error analysis detailed, were proposed to solve this model.
An optimal design method was proposed in this study with an aim to improve the conventional design process of ultrasonic blades by applying mathematical algorithms instead of the designers' experience and intuition to optimise the design. The method was introduced based on the concept of performance indicators that measure specific physical characteristics of a blade using mathematical functions. Four kinds of indicators, the frequency based, gain based, displacement based and stress based indicators, which evaluate the main dynamic characteristics of ultrasonic blades, were detailed in this study. The process of the optimal design method consists of three major stages: formulation, optimisation and verification. The concept of the proposed method is to maximise the blade performance through the optimisation of the performance indicators. This can improve the quality of design by making sure the most desired characteristics are achieved in the blade. A software toolkit was developed using the Abaqus script interface and Python language in order to apply this method in the design of ultrasonic blades.
Five ultrasonic bone cutting blades with different types of cutting edges were designed using either the conventional or the optimal design method. These blades were subjected to ultrasonic cutting tests under various cutting conditions. Ultrasonic cutting performed on biomechanical samples, ovine femur and rat bones showed that the blades were capable of making incisions on bones without the requirement of large applied force. Positive linear correlation between the applied force and the cutting speed was found in the ultrasonic cutting carried out under static applied force, and positive linear relationship between the applied force and the surface temperature was observed in the ultrasonic cutting carried out under sliding motion. The presence of elevated temperatures in the cutting tests suggested that the blades require the application of cooling in ultrasonic bone cutting. The study confirmed that the proposed optimal design method was an effective design approach. The blades were designed with expected vibration characteristics and satisfactory cutting performance.