Abstract Insular populations are particularly vulnerable to the effects of stochastic events, epidemics, and loss of genetic diversity due to inbreeding and genetic drift. The development of successful management options will require accurate baseline data, establishment of clear objectives, and finally monitoring and implementation of corrective measures, if and when required. This study assessed management options for the genetic rehabilitation of highly inbred woylies obtained from wildlife rehabilitation centers. The study generated genetic data for the woylie Bettongia penicillata from a conservation reserve and calculated measures of genetic diversity and individual relatedness. These data were fed into a population viability analysis (PVA) to test genetic outcomes in relation to different management actions. We demonstrated that a careful selection of the founder cohort produced a population with an expected heterozygosity of ∼70% for a window of approximately 10 years. A proposal to increase the size of the reserve available to the colony was shown to almost double the time at which the colony would retain heterozygosity levels of ≥ 70%. Additionally, developing a regular program of supplementation of unrelated woylies would result in a further improvement in their genetic value. This study demonstrated how the application of molecular techniques in combination with PVA can be beneficial for the management of rehabilitated wildlife otherwise considered of little conservation value. This approach can be applied to the management of breeding programs, but also to small, closed populations such as those found on islands, fenced enclosures, insurance populations, and in zoological collections.


Host recognition and disposal of LPS, an important Gram-negative bacterial signal molecule, may involve intracellular processes. We have therefore analyzed the initial pathways by which LPS, a natural ligand of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored CD14 (CD14-GPI), enters CD14-expressing THP-1 cells and normal human monocytes. Exposure of the cells to hypertonic medium obliterated coated pits and blocked 125I-labeled transferrin internalization, but failed to inhibit CD14-mediated internalization of [3H]LPS monomers or aggregates. Immunogold electron microscope analysis found that CD14-bound LPS moved principally into noncoated structures (mostly tubular invaginations, intracellular tubules, and vacuoles), whereas relatively little moved into coated pits and vesicles. When studied using two-color laser confocal microscopy, internalized Texas Red-LPS and BODIPY-transferrin were found in different locations and failed to overlap completely even after extended incubation. In contrast, in THP-1 cells that expressed CD14 fused to the transmembrane and cytosolic domains of the low-density lipoprotein receptor, a much larger fraction of the cell-associated LPS moved into coated pits and colocalized with intracellular transferrin. These results suggest that CD14 (GPI)-dependent internalization of LPS occurs predominantly via noncoated plasma membrane invaginations that direct LPS into vesicles that are distinct from transferrin-containing early endosomes. A smaller fraction of the LPS enters via coated pits. Aggregation, which greatly increases LPS internalization, accelerates its entry into the nonclathrin-mediated pathway.


Smart antenna systems have been proposed and demonstrated at both the transmitter and receiver of wireless communication systems, so that the quality of service improves at both ends. We propose multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) beamforming for frequency-selective fading channels to maximize the signal-to-noise-and-interference ratio (SINR) based on an iterative update algorithm of transmit and receive weight vectors with prior knowledge of the channel state information (CSI) at both the transmitter and receiver. We derive the necessary conditions for an optimum weight vector solution and propose an iterative weight update algorithm for an optimal SINR reception. The maximum signal-to-noise (MSN) method, where noise includes the additive Gaussian noise and interference signal, is used as a criterion. The proposed MIMO with M/spl times/N arrays allows the cancellation of M+N-2 delayed channels. Computer simulations are presented to verify our analysis. The results show that significant improvement in performance is possible in wireless communication systems.


The decreasing cost and increasing availability of new technologies capable of improving household energy efficiency, generating and storing renewable energy, and decarbonizing major end use appliances have begun to significantly transform many residential communities across the U.S. Despite these positive developments however, the degree to which disadvantaged communities (DACs) have been able to participate in and benefit from these transformations remains far from equal. Using historical time series data at the zipcode level within Los Angeles County, we document the scale and extent to which DACs continue to be left behind. These data show per-capita levels of electricity and natural gas consumption within DACs that are, on average, about half of those seen within their more affluent counterparts. We argue that the magnitude of these differences reflect a fundamental departure in the use of energy from purposes of sufficiency to those of excess. We introduce a set of forecasts that show the extent to which current inequities in per-capita energy consumption, rates of vehicle electrification, and adoption of rooftop solar PV are likely to persist under the status quo. In conclusion, we suggest that the redistributive investment of public funds for the purpose of accelerating DAC participation in energy system transformations constitutes a socially optimal investment strategy – one which reflects the dramatically higher marginal utility of units of energy consumed at levels of sufficiency rather than excess.


Nationally and internationally, higher education institutions offer teaching practice as one of the teacher training support strategies to develop pre-service teachers' pedagogical knowledge and skills. The University of South Africa is one of the higher education institutions that offer open and distance learning and has a high number of pre-service teachers. The University's teaching practice is supervised by experts and culminates in a conferencing session in which the supervisor provides feedback on various aspects of the teaching practice. This study explored the teaching practice supervisors' reflections on post-conference feedback as a developmental approach towards reinforcing assessment for learning. The qualitative approach was used as the researchers interpreted these supervisors' reflections on post-conference feedback as a developmental approach. Through purposive sampling, supervisors who had supervised pre-service teachers for three or more years were selected. The findings of this study showed that post-conference feedback was developmental to pre-service teachers and supervisors. The findings further illuminated the way in which supervisors had assessed pre-service teachers' teaching skills to understand their strengths and weaknesses. In addition, the study identified pitfalls such as time and the supervisor-to-pre-service-teacher ratio as 1:10 per week, which was unsustainable. The study suggests that there is a need to set clear and specific outcomes for assessment, to provide a self-assessment rubric for pre-service teachers to avoid conflicts during the post-conference feedback, and to arrange professional development workshops to be conducted with the supervisors.


A study has been, conducted at Ahmedabad during 1957 and 1958 of the time variations of meson intensity incident from east and west at 45° to the vertical. A characteristic difference of about 6 h in the diurnal time of maximum for the east and west directions is observed to occur on many days and this has been interpreted as signifying an anisotropy of primary radiation caused by a source outside the influence of the geomagnetic field. However, there are many days on which the daily variation has a maximum near noon for both directions. On such days the predominant influence is that of a local source situated within the influence of the geomagnetic field. The local source is associated with geomagnetically disturbed days. Long-term changes in the daily variation are found to be similar for the east, vertical and west directions.


This paper is based on two studies conducted in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2008 and in Kampala, Uganda, in 2014. The basic research question addressed in both studies was: "What are the experiences in the lives of upper elementary-aged children that foster an intrinsic motivation to seek information?" The secondary question was: "How do the experiences of students from a collectivist culture (Kampala, Uganda) who are intrinsically motivated to seek information compare and contrast with the experiences of similarly aged students from an individualistic culture (Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.A.)?" The focus of this paper is to explore the dispositions of both sets of informants using a theoretical framework consisting of the educative dispositions of an Effective Learner—independence, creativity, self-motivation, and resilience (Bertram and Pascal 2002)—as correlated with the dispositions listed in the American Association of School Librarians' Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (2007). The findings were that both sets of informants exhibited an affinity for play and a tendency toward creativity, and that the Ugandan students were more inclined toward competence-building activities than their Colorado Springs counterparts, who generally exhibited noncompetitive dispositions. Furthermore, resilience was a disposition revealed by students in the Ugandan study.


Treatment of the new methanediide–methanide complex [Dy(SCS)(SCSH)(THF)] (1Dy, SCS = {C(PPh2S)2}2−) with alkali metal alkyls and auxillary ethers produces the bis-methanediide complexes [Dy(SCS)2][Dy(SCS)2(K(DME)2)2] (2Dy), [Dy(SCS)2][Na(DME)3] (3Dy) and [Dy(SCS)2][K(2,2,2-cryptand)] (4Dy). For further comparisons, the bis-methanediide complex [Dy(NCN)2][K(DB18C6)(THF)(toluene)] (5Dy, NCN = {C(PPh2NSiMe3)2}2−, DB18C6 = dibenzo-18-crown-6 ether) was prepared. Magnetic susceptibility experiments reveal slow relaxation of the magnetisation for 2Dy–5Dy, with open magnetic hysteresis up to 14, 12, 15, and 12 K, respectively (∼14 Oe s−1). Fitting the alternating current magnetic susceptibility data for 2Dy–5Dy gives energy barriers to magnetic relaxation (Ueff) of 1069(129)/1160(21), 1015(32), 1109(70), and 757(39) K, respectively, thus 2Dy–4Dy join a privileged group of SMMs with Ueff values of ∼1000 K and greater with magnetic hysteresis at temperatures >10 K. These structurally similar Dy-components permit systematic correlation of the effects of axial and equatorial ligand fields on single-molecule magnet performance. For 2Dy–4Dy, the Dy-components can be grouped into 2Dy–cation/4Dy and 2Dy–anion/3Dy, where the former have almost linear C
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 DyC units with short average DyC distances, and the latter have more bent CDyC units with longer average DyC bonds. Both Ueff and hysteresis temperature are superior for the former pair compared to the latter pair as predicted, supporting the hypothesis that a more linear axial ligand field with shorter M–L distances produces enhanced SMM properties. Comparison with 5Dy demonstrates unusually clear-cut examples of: (i) weakening the equatorial ligand field results in enhancement of the SMM performance of a monometallic system; (ii) a positive correlation between Ueff barrier and axial linearity in structurally comparable systems.


The present study investigated the effect of dietary carbohydrates on metabolism, with special focus on fatty acid bioconversion and flesh lipid composition in two rainbow trout lines divergently selected for muscle lipid content and fed with vegetable oils. These lines were chosen based on previously demonstrated potential differences in LC-PUFA synthesis and carbohydrate utilization. Applying a factorial study design, juvenile trout from the lean (L) and the fat (F) line were fed vegetable oil based diets with or without gelatinised starch (17.1%) for 12 weeks. Blood, liver, muscle, intestine and adipose tissue were sampled after the last meal. Feed intake and growth was higher in the L line than the F line, irrespective of the diet. Moderate postprandial hyperglycemia, strong induction of hepatic glucokinase and repressed glucose-6-phosphatase transcripts confirmed the metabolic response of both lines to carbohydrate intake. Further at the transcriptional level, dietary carbohydrate in the presence of n-3 LC-PUFA deficient vegetable oils enhanced intestinal chylomicron assembly, disturbed hepatic lipid metabolism and importantly elicited a higher response of key desaturase and elongase enzymes in the liver and intestine that endorsed our hypothesis. PPARγ was identified as the factor mediating this dietary regulation of fatty acid bioconversion enzymes in the liver. However, these molecular changes were not sufficient to modify the fatty acid composition of muscle or liver. Concerning the genotype effect, there was no evidence of substantial genotypic difference in lipid metabolism, LC-PUFA synthesis and flesh fatty acid profile when fed with vegetable oils. The minor reduction in plasma glucose and triglyceride levels in the F line was linked to potentially higher glucose and lipid uptake in the muscle. Overall, these data emphasize the importance of dietary macro-nutrient interface in evolving fish nutrition strategies.


Background In the UK, National Health Service Direct Wales (NHSDW) uses computerised decision support software to advise patients on appropriate care. However, the effect of deprivation on the advice given is not known. We aimed to estimate the effect of deprivation on advice given by nurses in NHSDW adjusting for confounding variables. Methods We included 400 000 calls to NHSDW between January 2002 and June 2004. We used logistic regression to model the effect of deprivation on advice given by nurses in response to calls seeking advice or information. We analysed two outcomes: receiving advice to phone 999 emergency care rather than to seek other care and receiving advice to seek care face to face rather than self-care. Results After adjustment for covariates, an increase in deprivation from one-fifth of the distribution to the next fifth increased by 13% the probability that those calling for advice rather than information received advice to phone 999 (OR 1.127; 95% CI from 1.113 to 1.143). Deprivation increased the corresponding probability of being advised to seek care face to face rather than self-care by 5% (OR 1.049; 95% CI from 1.041 to 1.058) within advice calls and by 3% (OR 1.034; 95% CI from 1.022 to 1.047) within information calls. Conclusions Deprivation increased the chance of receiving more urgent advice, particularly advice to call 999. While our dataset may underestimate the 'need' of deprived patients, it yields no evidence of major inequity in advice given to these patients.


A new type of molecular fragmentation induced by femtosecond intense laser at the intensity of 2 x 10(14) W/cm2 is reported. For the parent molecule of methane, ethylene, n-butane, and 1-butene, fluorescence from H (n = 3-->2), CH (A 2Delta, B 2Sigma-, and C 2Sigma+-->X 2Pi), or C2 (d 3Pi g-->a 3Pi u) is observed in the spectrum. It shows that the fragmentation is a universal property of neutral molecule in the intense laser field. Unlike breaking only one or two chemical bonds in conventional UV photodissociation, the fragmentation caused by the intense laser undergoes vigorous changes, breaking most of the bonds in the molecule, like an explosion. The fragments are neutral species and cannot be produced through Coulomb explosion of multiply charged ion. The laser power dependence of CH (A-->X) emission of methane on a log-log scale has a slope of 10 +/- 1. The fragmentation is thus explained as multiple channel dissociation of the superexcited state of parent molecule, which is created by multiphoton excitation.


A novel self-isolated low-voltage smart power technology, based on a conventional polysilicon-gate VDMOS process, has been developed for applications where cost is a crucial factor. The low mask count (eight) and the optimization of the VDMOS power device are the main process characteristics. Besides, different devices (high-voltage PMOS, low-voltage CMOS, vertical and lateral n-p-n bipolar transistors, diodes, Zeners, and high-value isolated capacitors) are also fabricated, all MOS transistors being self-aligned to the gate.<<ETX>>


We thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (for Accelerator and Discovery grants to L.B.) and the University of Ottawa (for a University Research Chair to L.B.) for support of this research. We also thank Prof. Derek Pratt (University of Ottawa) for insightful discussions


BACKGROUND
Ultrasonography-assessed hyomental distance (HMD) ratio has been found to discriminate between obese patients with Cormack-Lehane grades 1 or 2 vs. those with grades 3 or 4. The aim of our study is to evaluate the performance of the HMD evaluated ultrasonographically in neutral, ramped, and maximum hyperextended positions, as well as for the ratios obtained by dividing the HMD in the ramped position to that in the neutral position (HMDR1) and by dividing the HMD in maximum hyperextension to that in the neutral position (HMDR2), in order to predict the occurrence of Cormack-Lehane grades 3 or 4 during direct laryngoscopy.

METHODS
Ultrasound measurements were performed preoperatively in 25 patients with morbid obesity, measuring the HMD in the neutral, ramped, and maximum hyperextended positions. Pre-epyglotic soft tissue thickness, Mallampati and upper lip bite test scores were recorded. Cormack-Lehane grading was considered as an outcome variable in the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve analysis.

RESULTS
HMD in the neutral, ramped and maximum hyperextended positions presented similar sensitivities, 100% [39.8-100.0]. For HMD, specificity was 42.86% [21.8-66.0] in the neutral position, 61.9% [38.4-81.9] in the ramped postion, and 71.4% [47.8-88.7] in the maximum hyperextended position. For HMDR1, the cut-off value was 1.12. This threshold provides 75% [19.4-99.4] sensitivity and 76.2% [52.8-91.8] specificity. For HMDR2, a cut-off value of 1.23 provides 100% [39.8-100.0] sensitivity and 90.5% [69.6-98.8] specificity.

CONCLUSION
HMDR2 seems to have superior diagnostic accuracy in predicting difficult laryngoscopy in the obese population compared to HMDR1, as well as compared to the HMD in the neutral, ramped, and maximum hyperextended positions.


Fasting during the lunar month of Ramadan is a religious obligation for all adult Moslems.  Under certain circumstances, a few groups are exempt from fasting such as being "sick" as judged by an experienced doctor.  Recent collaboration between the International Islamic Fiqh Academy and The Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences produced  a comprehensive guidance based on extensive review of the evidence of possible risk to diabetic patients if they observe fasting.  The new guidance categorized people with diabetes into 4 groups according to their risk.  Group 1 and 2 are exempted from fasting as they have risk from fasting. These included patients with poor glycemic control or with complications and serious coexisting illnesses in addition to type 1 patients and pregnant women with diabetes. Whereas patients in groups 3 and 4 were those with moderate to low risk from fasting. These are exemplified by uncomplicated patients with stable control on oral drugs not associated with excess risk of hypoglycemia.  These groups of patients have no harm from fasting and they may even benefit from fasting.  Doctors and religious scholars have a joint responsibility to properly assess and advise patients to choose to fast or not to fast in line with these recommendations. The advice should be given with no complacency with the potential health risks but with great sensitivity to the patients religious feelings.


The capacity and feature of a large-sized low-voltage switchgear laboratory are presented in this paper. A monitoring and control system is designed for the laboratory with industrial PC as upper computer and PLC as lower computer. The testing process and programming philosophy of switchgear testing are discussed in detail. WinCC configuration software with a human-machine interface (HMI) is used to configure the testing circuit and acting switches of switch apparatus flexibly, and monitor the dynamical testing process. Considering interlock and test circuit condition and fault protect etc., the PLC program has the capability in carrying out the three normal testing duties of closing tests, opening tests and closing-opening tests repeatedly for switchgear, the two special testing duties. The software of PLC is modularized and programmed as test duties of switch apparatus, so it is easy to be modified. The test result is also presented in this paper. It shows that the monitoring control system has high reliability, simple operation, friendly interface and stronger flexibility by running successfully in the field.


The year 2020 is plagued with unprecedented problems that challenged the current global and national socio-political, economic, and educational landscapes. In the time of COVID-19 pandemic, the global education system is in the process of transforming and adapting to new and challenging situations which test the conventional learning process of classroom human interaction and capitalize in virtual and online education. This paper tries to elucidate how the higher education system of the Philippines experienced and responded to the challenge of providing alternative education and learning services in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. This case study is divided into three parts. The first part provides an analysis on the policies and guidelines implemented by the country's Commission on Higher Education. The second part interrogates and reflects on the responses, challenges, and best practices employed by universities in implementing these guidelines. The last part provides general recommendations and argues that Philippine higher education institutions should form an Education Continuity Plan that outlines the procedures and instructions that should be followed in the face of a pandemic.


A new concept under development at NASA, called Regenerative Aerobraking, attempts to harvest a portion of the power lost during planetary entry. One approach under investigation is magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation that may possibly capitalize on the ionization created during atmospheric entry. To better study the potential of that approach, a new analysis capability was developed that combines the computational capabilities of hypersonic aerodynamics and MHD physics to model the processes in the ionized shock and boundary layers in magnetic field. This paper highlights the new analysis capability by presenting some results for a ballute geometry during hypersonic entry into the Martian atmosphere. The results show that with 1% potassium seed injected into the shock layer, MHD power generation at a level of at least several hundred kilowatts per meter of ballute circumference can be extended to flight velocities as low as 3.5 km/s (or even lower). If the total time of deceleration to 3.5 km/s is 30-40 seconds, then at least several gigajoules of energy can be generated during the ballute descent. The total amount of potassium seed required is about 50-100 kg. These findings are very encouraging for the Regenerative Aerobraking concept.


The article is dedicated to recent domestic political transformations in Slovakia and their possible impact on Russian-Slovak relations. The paper studies the main aspects of the current political and economic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Slovak Republic; it is indicated that economic cooperation with Russia remains a relatively significant foreign policy aspect for Slovakia, primarily due to energy supplies. Nevertheless, the gradual decrease in the intensity of bilateral interaction is highlighted. According to the authors, the "anti-Russian pivot" of Slovakia in 2020 can contribute to a further reduction in the scale of Russian-Slovak cooperation; the Slovak elections radically altered the configuration of political forces within the country, the republic's parliament is led by the opposition forces with clear anti-Russian rhetoric.Considering possible variations of Russian-Slovak political and economic cooperation in the foreseeable future, authors propose moderately optimistic, neutral and pessimistic scenarios. It is underlined that the damage from the predicted deterioration in relations for Russia due to the current trends in bilateral cooperation between the countries is assessed as rather insignificant.


Although born on the Vigil of the Feast of Saint Martin of Tours and given that saint's name at baptism, Luther had very little truck with his name-saint, whether during his early career as monk and theologian or in his years as the vanguard of the Reformation. Indeed, it would seem he honored Saint George more than Saint Martin. The power of Martin's name and of the iconic image of his sharing his mantle with a beggar, however, would not be ignored by Luther's followers or by his opponents. This paper examines the intersection of the image of Saint Martin with the career of the great Reformer focusing on such events as the Leipzig Debate of 1519 and examples from the polemical literature, such as Thomas Murner's The Great Lutheran Fool. Moreover, in the development of anecdotal "Luther lore" after his death we find a general rapprochement of Luther commemorations with the traditional German celebration of a carnivalesque Martinmas. If Luther largely ignored his name-saint, present day Lutheranism embraces the Bishop of Tours, as evidenced by its numerous church dedications and images of Saint Martin's Charity.


Aim: To examine the effect of erythropoetin on renal function and histological findings in experimental septic shock model, 24 Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Material and Methods: Rats were divided into control, septic shock, and erythropoetin-treated septic shock groups. Femoral vein and artery catheterization were performed on all rats. Rats in the control group underwent laparotomy and catheterization; in the test groups, cecal ligation-perforation and bladder cannulation were added. Rats in the treatment group received a single intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 250 mg/kg erythropoetin 60 minutes after cecal ligation perforation. Rats were monitored for blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature to assess the postoperative septic response. The body fluids were replaced as necessary. At the end of 24 hours, rats were sacrificed and renal samples were collected. Results: In our study, although there were lessstudies about septic shock model with erythropoietin, we have achieved similar results as the data in the available literatures. WBC, fever, urinary volume, urinary creatinin, BUN, blood creatinin values were significantly better in sepsis treated by erythropoietin group than non-treated sepsis group (p<0,001, table 1)Significant improvements were observed in histological findings in rats treated with erythropoetin, compared to rats with untreated. Discussion: Our findings demonstrate that erythropoetin has antioxidant effects of sepsis as seen in other studies. We conclude that erythropoetin may be an effective treatment for oxidative damage due to renal tissue perfusion defects in cases of septic shock.


This paper proposes a cost-effective architecture of fuzzy logic controller (FLC) that works in an accurate and fast manner. The accuracy of the proposed FLC is obtained by using the center of gravity (COG) defuzzifier that considers both membership values and spans of membership functions in calculating a crisp value. The cost effectiveness of the proposed FLC is obtained by restructuring the conventionally simplified FLC in the following ways. Firstly, the MAX-MIN inference is replaced by a read-modify-write operation that can be implemented economically in the structure of register files. Secondly, the division in the COG defuzzifier is avoided by finding the moment equilibrium point. The proposed COG defuzzifier has two disadvantages, in that it requires additional multipliers and it takes a lot of computation time to find the moment equilibrium point. The first disadvantage is overcome by replacing the multipliers with stochastic AND operations and the second disadvantage is alleviated by using a coarse-to-fine searching algorithm. The hardware complexity of the proposed FLC is analyzed in terms of the number of building blocks. Simulation of the proposed FLC to the truck backer-upper control problem is performed in VHDL, and the control performance of the proposed FLC is compared with that of the conventionally simplified FLC in terms of average tracing distance.


Abstract : War with Iraq will signal the beginning of a new era in American national security policy and alter strategic balances and relationships around the world. The specific effects of the war, though, will vary from region to region. In some, America's position will be strengthened. In others, it may degrade without serious and sustained efforts. To assess this dynamic, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) has developed a special series of monographs entitled Strategic Effects of the Conflict with Iraq. In each, the author has been asked to analyze four issues: the position that key states in their region are taking on U.S. military action against Iraq; the role of America in the region after the war with Iraq; the nature of security partnerships in the region after the war with Iraq; and the effect that war with Iraq will have on the war on terrorism in the region. This study considers the strategic consequences of U.S. and allied military action against Iraq for the countries of Australia and New Zealand and provides some policy recommendations. The prospect of imminent U.S. military action against Iraq is of enormous interest to both Australia and New Zealand.


The TUC is opposed to the decision by the British Government to abolish wages councils, which if successful will worsen the pay and conditions of the 2.6 million workers covered by them, and many other low paid workers who use the rates set as reference points. Drawing on theoretical literature and empirical research, explores the arguments for and against abolition and discusses the case for a statutory national minimum wage. Concludes by arguing that the case for abolition is far from proven on economic and social grounds, and that the introduction of a statutory national minimum wage, combined with other active labour market intervention by the Government, is needed to overcome the problem of low pay.


We have previously concluded that the use of the Antonovsky sense of coherence (SOC) scale was unable to document a predicted strong association between SOC and physical health. By way of statistical methods, numerous studies have investigated the validity, reliability and applicability of the SOC scale with positive results. However, this paper analyses whether the questions in the SOC scale actually represent the universe of factors necessary to describe the phenomenon of SOC, which we believe is an important supplement to the statistically means of investigating validity and reliability. In this paper we explore the idea, the concepts, the theory and the operationalisation behind the SOC Scale. The conclusions are: 1) it seems that Antonovsky's basic idea of coherence, for which he coined the term sense of coherence, as the basis for the highly popular salutogenic orientation is outstandingly good, in spite of the lack of statistical evidence; 2) the chosen key explanatory concepts of comprehensibility, manageability, and meaning, seems to be a fair, although mental, conceptualisation of this idea; 3) Antonovsky's theory was unfortunately much less clear, as Antonovsky assumed predictability to be very important for the sense of coherence, especially for comprehensibility and manageability. This notion of predictability leaves its footprints in his operationalization of SOC into the SOC Scale. Our analysis convinced us that the SOC scale is unlikely to be a fair materialization of the idea of coherence and thus unlikely to measure SOC correctly.


The use of polyethersulfone (PES), an excellent but highly hydrophobic thermoplastic, as a matrix material for ionexchange membranes was investigated. To make PES ion-exchangeable, sulfonate groups were introduced to the polymer chains by sulfonation reaction with chlorosulfonic acid. The degree of sulfonation of sPES was estimated to be 21%. Preliminary experiments investigated the effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Pluronic F127 as fillers to improve the hydrophilicity of the membranes. Moreover, a lab scale electrodialysis cell has been designed and set up to evaluate the performance of these novel membranes compared to the benchmark of commercial membranes. The results show promising properties of ion-exchange capacity, water uptake, conductivity and hydophilicity from blended membranes, comparable to commercial membranes, though the performance of the prepared membranes did not exceed the commercial one. Further characterization of the transport properties of ion-exchange membranes need to be investigated to be able to understand the effects of the fillers on the performance of the membranes in ED application.


Therapeutic applications of nanoparticles (NPs) are rapidly increasing for their utility in medicine, especially cancer therapy. The present study investigated the green synthesis of silver NPs (Ag NPs) of 10 nm size using Sargassum vulgare and its preferential ability to kill cancerous human myeloblastic leukemic cells HL60 and cervical cancer cells HeLa as compared with normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. DNA fragmentation study and annexin V marker fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis revealed the Ag NP-induced cell death is through apoptosis. Transmission electron micrographs have showed the endocytosis of Ag NPs into the nucleus. Ag NPs inhibited the lipid peroxidation-induced reactive oxygen species generation, thus preventing the irradiation-related carcinogenesis. This study suggested that a mechanism underlying the toxicity of Ag NPs towards cancer cells is due to DNA damage and apoptosis. The authors' findings revealed the potential utility of as-prepared Ag NPs in the treatment of cancer as prophylactic agent with antioxidant property and chemotherapeutic agent for their selective toxicity to cancer cells.


Background: Workplace trust is considered one of the most important factors for organizational success;trust can be achieved by authentic leaders when they are transparent and consistent toward their followers. Authentic leaders could make suitable work environment, where bullying doesn't occur. Aim: Examine workplace trust and authentic leadership as predictors of work-related bullying among staff nurses. This study was carried out at Zagazig University hospitals, Egypt. For this research, a descriptive research design was used. Method: A stratified random sample of 403 staff nurses were selected from the aforementioned setting. Three tools were utilized for data collection: Authentic leadership questionnaire, workplace trust survey and negative acts questionnaire. Results: Proved highly statistically significant positive correlation between workplace trust and authentic leadership (r=0.853, p <0.001). Otherwise, workplace trust and authentic leadership were negatively and significantly correlated with workplace bullying (r=-0.473 & -0.519, respectively, p <0.001). Conclusion: authentic leadership and workplace trust are negative predictors of work-related bullying. Therefore, it is recommended to develop and implement authentic leadership practices a strategy for eliminating work-related bullying.


The Eurasian wigeon (Mareca penelope) is one of the most numerous migrant species of waterfowl in the Palearctic. Annually, significant part of the world's wigeon population makes seasonal flights over distances from tens to thousands or more kilometers. According to different estimates based on banding data, five geographic populations of the species were described in the Palearctic. However, distinct borders between the populations have not been identified. At the same time, no phylogeographic studies have been carried out for the complete native range of wigeon so far. In addition to the fundamental importance of such a study, knowledge of the genetic structure of populations is necessary for the development of measures to increase the number of and preserve this valuable game species. The aim of our work was a phylogeographic analysis of the wigeon across its vast native range in the Palearctic including ducks wintering in North America. We examined genetic diversity and differentiation of wigeon populations identified with banding data, phylogenetic relationships of mtDNA haplotypes and demographic history of populations and species as a whole by sequencing a 661 base-pair 5'-fragment of the mitochondrial control region from 195 individual ducks collected throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic. Genetic diversity was high in all studied populations. A reconstruction of haplotypes phylogeny revealed the absence of geographic structure in the data. Nonetheless, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) identified two groups of populations: EuropeanSiberian and East Asian. The former included wigeons from Europe, Siberia and the Atlantic coast of North America, and the latter comprised ducks from Russian Far East, Kamchatka Peninsula, Chukotka Autonomous District, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and the Pacific coast of North America.


In summary, we have shown that MA is toxic to both 5-HT and DA cells and we have proposed a mechanism that would account for this response, namely, the conversion of the transmitters to neurotoxins. In addition, brain depletions of DA seem regionally specific with larger depletions occurring in some areas than in others. The depletions, however, do not seem to depend entirely on the nuclei of origin, that is, substantia nigra versus VTA. 5-HT was depleted by different amounts in the various regions examined and the 5-HT depletions, although proportional to the DA depletions, were consistently greater. The reasons for this differential sensitivity of the 5-HT and DA systems to the toxic effect of MA is speculative, but may be related to the differential formation of toxins due to the differing availability of oxygen and superoxides at serotonergic and dopaminergic synapses.


ABSTRACT We report here the complete genome sequence of Escherichia coli strain ML35. We assembled PacBio reads into a single closed contig with 169× mean coverage and then polished this contig using Illumina MiSeq reads, yielding a 4,918,774-bp sequence with 50.8% GC content.


Comprehensive investigations of groundwater were performed in a sedimentary aquifer of Permo-Carboniferous, Intra-Sudetic Synclinorium, in SWPoland. The investigation included aqueous chemical and isotopic composition, chemistry of mineral phases, geochemical modelling, and tritium and radiocarbon groundwater dating. Chemical diversity in the groundwater system is created by the mixing of modern fresh water and older sulphate water with higher dissolved solids. The system is treated as a system of flows of two end-member water types. Geochemical modelling is used for: (1) explaining the origin of the chemistry of both water components, (2) quantifying the groundwater mixing, (3) correcting the radiocarbon age of the groundwater for the effects of chemical water-rock interactions, and (4) calculating reaction rates. Study of stable (C, S, O, H) and unstable ( 3 H, 14 C) isotopes allowed the inverse mass balance geochemical models to be verified and specified, and the groundwater to be dated. The chemistry of the modern, tritium-bearing, fresh water is a result of dissolution of limestones, dolomites and gypsum. The mean tritium-age of this water, based on the lumped-parameter approach, varies between 10 and 200 years. The sulphate mineral water owes its chemistry to the process of dedolomitization driven by gypsum dissolution. Its radiocarbon age is about 5.9 ka BP, i.e., during the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. Rates of chemical reactions responsible for the formation of sulphate type water are estimated to be: dissolution of gypsum (2.85 μmol/L/year) and dolomite (0.21 μmol/L/year), calcite precipitation (0.20 μmol/L/year), organic matter decomposition (0.08 μmol/L/year).


Attempts were made to break the tolerance of lymph node B cells to deaggregated human gamma globulin. Using allotype-congenic mice, lymph node cells from virgin or tolerant (5 mg) CBA/Igb donors were transferred tonormal CBA/Iga recipients and the proportion of responding donor B cells estimated 1 and 13 days later. The response of the non-tolerant virgin cells diminished with time but was still detectable at 13 days whereas the response of the tolerant cells was tenfold lower than normal cells at day 1 and was not detectable at 13 days. This functional deletion of tolerant cells was not reversed by enzymatic stripping of the immuno-globulin receptors before transfer, nor by removing T cells-which might have had a suppressor action. In other experiments Igb mice were thymectomized or left as controls at various times before tolerance induction. Lymph node cells from these mice were transferred, together with non-tolerant Iga cells, to irradiated recipients. The cell from tolerant thymectomized donors strongly suppressed the response of non-tolerant cells, whereas the tolerant control cells showed no suppressor activity. It is considered that B-cell tolerance can be maintained by something other than receptor blockade, or active suppression-although the latter can arise in some circumstances.


Results of experiments on the generation of picosecond runaway electron (RE) beams in air gaps with a strongly nonuniform electric field distribution are discussed. The mechanism and conditions for the field emission initiation of beams of this type and possible reasons for the limitation of the beam duration are considered. REs are supposed to be the dominant factor in the development of an ionization wave in the gap. Estimates of the mean velocity of propagation of the ionization wave are given.


The present investigation mainly focuses on to overcome the limitations of gasoline fumigation in diesel engine by adding up of nanofuel additives. Experiments were conducted to ascertain the engine working characteristics in a single cylinder, four stroke, multi fuel, variable compression ratio engine using (Al2O3) aluminium oxide nano additives blended diesel as a main injection fuel along with gasoline fumigation as an inducted fuel. Gasoline fumigation was achieved by controlling the electronic injector fitted at the intake manifold using open ECU software. Fuel map for gasoline fumigation was determined based on experiments with three divergent fumigation rates of 10%, 20% and 30% based on energy consumption and optimized using design of experiments. The optimization showed 10% fumigation resulted in better performance and emission characteristics and it was selected for this present investigation. Fumigation results showed decrease in brake thermal efficiency at low and medium loads; increase in brake thermal efficiency at high loads. The two different mass fractions of 25 ppm and 50 ppm Al2O3 nano liquid was blended with diesel. From the results, it was observed that Al2O3 nano additive blended diesel along with gasoline fumigation showed better performance and decreased emission characteristics. Compared to gasoline fumigation with diesel, gasoline fumigation along with 25 and 50ppm Al2O3 nanoadditives blended diesel showed that the brake thermal efficiency was enhanced about 1.95% and 3.97%, CO emission was reduced about 12.59% and 23.63%, unburned HC emission was reduced about 25.04% and 35.06%, smoke opacity was reduced about 18.74% and 31.43% maximum in-cylinder pressure was increased about 2.12% and 3.17% and cumulative heat release was increased about 0.21% and 0.92% for 25 and 50ppm Al2O3 nanoadditives blended diesel along with gasoline fumigation respectively at overall operating conditions.  As the dosage level of Al2O3 increases from 25ppm to 50 ppm results in further enhancement of all working parameters except NOx emission. Finally, the addition Al2O3 nano additive was suitable solution to overcome the limitations of gasoline fumigation.


The popularity of using NMR Spectroscopy in elucidation of organic compounds, medical pharmacology and natural products has driven development of an array of NMR Spectral analysis of tools and databases. NMR Spectroscopy determines the physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained. It relies on the nuclear magnetic resonance and can provide detailed information about the structure, dynamics, reaction state, and chemical environment of molecules. The physical and chemical properties can be determined through NMR spectra. NMR Spectra is the set of characteristic peaks of a compound which are unique, well-resolved, and analytically track able. The paper outlines the development of simulation tool to obtain the NMR Spectra of the compound resulted after a reaction is performed. The position of the peaks is obtained through chemical shift of that compound. We compare this resultant NMR Spectra with theoretical characteristic peaks of that compound to determine the presence of impurities.


Not every patient is fit for open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) repair, nor is every TAAA or juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm suitable for branched or fenestrated endovascular exclusion. The hybrid procedure consists of debranching of the renal and visceral arteries followed by endovascular exclusion of the aneurysm and might be an alternative in these patients. Between May 2004 and March 2006, 16 patients were treated with a hybrid procedure. The indications were recurrent suprarenal or thoracoabdominal aneurysms after previous abdominal and/or thoracic aortic surgery (n = 8), type I to III TAAAs (n = 3), proximal type I endoleak after endovascular repair (n = 2), penetrating ulcer of the juxtarenal aorta (n = 1), visceral patch aneurysm after type IV open repair (n = 1), and primary suprarenal aneurysm (n = 1). Eight (50%) of 16 patients were judged to be unfit for open TAAA repair. The hospital mortality rate was 31% (5 of 16). Four of five deceased patients were unfit for thoracophrenic laparotomy. Two patients died from cardiac complications and three from visceral ischemia. No spinal cord ischemia was detected, and temporary renal failure occurred in four patients (25%). The mean follow-up was 13 months (range 6–28 months). During follow-up, no additional grafts occluded and no patients died. Hybrid procedures are technically feasible but have substantial mortality (31%), especially in patients unfit for open repair (80%). They might be indicated when urgent TAAA surgery is required or when vascular anatomy is unfavorable for fenestrated endografts in patients with extensive previous open aortic surgery.


MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs that regulate the expression of protein-coding genes by partially binding to specific target sites of mRNAs. miRNAs perform important functions in complicated cellular biological processes and their abnormal expression is involved in various disorders, including cancer. Among the miRNAs, differential expression of miR-139-5p serves a significant role in tumorigenesis, metastasis and recurrence, thus suggesting that it may potentially be used as a promising biomarker for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. miR-139-5p is expected to serve as a biomarker to eventually be implemented in a clinical setting. In the present review, we focus on the importance of miR-139-5p in cancer, summarize the association between miR-139-5p expression level and diagnosis and prognosis, and discuss the potential therapeutic implications for the future.


: Among 5338 infants in a DFG (German Research Association) priority program for prospective examination of pregnant women and neonates, asymmetry of the gluteal folds was found in approx. 12%. However this is of little diagnostic value for early diagnosis of hip dysplasia/luxation. The number of cases of restricted abduction found was even lower: in the period following birth it was 3.4%, from the 3rd to the 14th week. 12.7%. Ortolani's sign, including slightly positive and uncertain findings, was positive in 3.0% of the neonates; a hip dysplasia/luxation was diagnosed in 2.4% of the infants. The high percentage of suspected cases diagnosed, at 12.6%, is indicative of excessive diagnosis, even though this figure may already contain some oblique-presentation hips. Moreover, all the data are rendered relative by the differences in emphasis made by the 20 clinics taking part in the study; as a result the actual state and hence the uncertainty of early diagnosis of a hip dysplasia in practice are faithfully reflected. The results are compared with corresponding figures published by Barlow from a study of 9289 children.


It is expected that the available spectrum for the proposed personal communication networks will soon be at a premium as the user population increases, and using multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM), an bandwidth efficient transmission method for digital signals, may significantly ease the problem. A new lattice polynomial perceptron (LPP), with faster and less input signal-dependent convergence behavior, is presented and applied to frequency-selective slow fading channel equalization and adjacent-channel interference (ACI) suppression in a 16-QAM system. Computer simulation results are given, which shows that, in a 16-QAM system, the performance of LPP is clearly superior to that of the other structures.


Aortic occlusion usually occurs in the infrarenal abdominal aorta while occlusion of the suprarenal aorta is much less common. The clinical presentation may vary from limb ischemia, neurologic symptoms of the lower extremities, abdominal symptoms, renal failure, and resistant hypertension (HTN). We present a case of suprarenal aortic occlusion presenting with renal failure and resistant HTN but without lower limb ischemia.


Congratulations on the new Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine . I like the layout and the format, but it seems you have so many articles of rare and esoteric problems that you are forgetting us old-time frontline family pediatricians. Please keep a section on the more common problems we see each day in general pediatrics. As I read the contribution by Andrews 1 in the March issue of theArchives, I was struck by the name Warren Wheeler, MD. I was one of three residents at Columbus (Ohio) Children's Hospital in 1944, when he came there as the hospital's first full-time pediatrician. We three residents learned a lot from him. For instance, Wheeler said that when you could get a smile from an infant or a child with meningitis, he or she would always recover. Back then, many did die of the disease, so when a patient with meningitis smiled


Sweden has claimed that it wants to have a fossil-free vehicle fleet in 2030 as a milestone of its ambitious goal for 2050 to be a country with a sustainable and resource-efficient energy supply without any net GHG emissions. Production of bioethanol from plant materials is one potential method of meeting this goal. A large amount of research has been devoted toward the development of sustainable and cost-efficient processes for biofuel production from second-generation (2G) lignocellulosic material. Ethanol production from first-generation (1G) feedstock, such as sugar- and starch-based material, is a well-established concept that has been implemented in many countries. Techno-economic analysis has a significant function in evaluating the process development and the targeting of technical and economic bottlenecks that can arise.
This thesis performed techno-economic evaluations for various process designs, including ethanol production from 2G lignocellulosic materials. The starting point for the process design was based on Swedish conditions using raw materials that can be found in Sweden—ie, straw and forest logging residues. However, these materials are also common in other parts of the world. The models can thus be used as foundations for other scenarios. The technical evaluations can largely be transferred to other situations, whereas the economic evaluations require some changes in the economic assumptions.
First- and second-generation (1G+2G) ethanol production was also integrated for grain and straw to facilitate the introduction of 2G ethanol production by a consolidated 1G ethanol process and supply the 1G process with heat. Co-products of the process, such as biogas, dry solids for heat generation, electricity, heat for district heating, and distiller's dried grains with solubles, were considered in the process design. To maximize the production of co-products and decrease the energy demand in the process, heat integration was implemented for all configurations. In addition, the potential biomass availability and integration with district-heating systems and pulp and paper mills were examined to maintain a sustainable forestry practices and energy-efficient use of raw materials.
The process models were based largely on experimental results from lab-scale and process development unit trials that were performed in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Lund University. The results were implemented in the flowsheeting program Aspen Plus, in which overall process material and energy balances could be calculated. Moreover, heat integration by pinch analysis was performed in Aspen Energy Analyzer. The results from the material and energy balances analyses could then be used to size process equipment, and the process cost was estimated using Aspen Process Economic Analyzer with quotations from vendors.
The process heating and cooling requirements from primary steam and cooling water, respectively, could be substantially decreased by implementing heat exchanger networks, which were more cost-efficient than utilities use only. The biomass availability of forest logging residues is highest in the northern and central parts of Sweden, where a biorefinery that uses 150 to 250 tonne dry forest logging residues per year can be located. Integration with district-heating systems was more important for small-scale versus large-scale plants, wherein the increased ethanol production outpaced the income from heat generation. Moreover, the feasibility of ethanol production from straw depends significantly on high xylose utilization due to the large amount of hemicelluloses in this type of raw material. A study of process improvement by higher water-insoluble solids content in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of glucose sugar for ethanol production from straw showed that further improvements are likely necessary to increase the economic feasibility, which will, however, also depend on the assumptions. The economic feasibility also increased with xylose fermentation and upgrade of the biogas that was produced in the process to vehicle fuel quality. Integration of 1G+2G ethanol production from straw and grain was also an economically feasible concept.


Benefit sharing to the local community in buffer zone (BZ), one of The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Protected Area Categories, could be an effective tool in bringing local people to the mainstream of biodiversity conservation. However, low level of awareness towards conservation which is second priority of the local dwellers in lack of alternate economic opportunities induces park-people conflict issues undermining conservation goal especially in the developing countries like Nepal. The detailed ground information about the complex interaction of socioeconomic structure and natural resource use in the area recognizing main stakeholders is a basic step necessary to carry out before BZ delineation. For the same, this research conducted in middle mountain National Park in Nepal, emphasizes on socioeconomic dynamism and its linkage and/or dependency to natural resource. It is aimed to identify the concerned groups, major stakeholders and areas that should be considered particularly. This book is useful for multidisciplinary bodies such as economists, administrators, social working groups, policy makers, conservationists and researchers.


The article reports results of clinical studies aimed to elucidate the influence of medicines on the size and density of atherosclerotic plaques in the walls of coronary and cerebral arteries. The phenomenon of regression of atherosclerotic lesions in the survivors of Leningrad siege during a long period of starvation is analyzed. The influence of inhibitors of angiotensin-converting enzyme on apoptosis of smooth muscle and foam cells of atherosclerotic plaques in the sanological mechanisms of atherosclerosis is discussed. The concept of natural regression of atherosclerosis is formulated and the necessity of development of the methods for is pharmacological activation are formulated.


The hot wire (HW) cell method has been newly developed and successfully applied to grow polycrystalline silicon films at low temperatures with a relatively high growth rate of 0.9–1.1 nm/s. In the HW cell method, mono silane (SiH4) is decomposed by reacting with a heated tungsten wire placed near the substrate. It is found that polycrystalline silicon films can be obtained at substrate temperatures of 175–400°C without hydrogen dilution when the deposition pressure is 0.1 Torr.


This contribution reviews the introduction of old and new information communication technologies in Ghanaian education. It points out how the recent proliferation of multi-media technologies in the country has ultimately encouraged the introduction of ICTs in education. However, the author argues that much of the move to introduce these new technologies into schools and colleges has not reflected the need to re-conceptualise teacher education curriculum practices to base its foundations on constructivist ideas about knowledge and its production. Without this, reforms to introduce new information communication technologies in classrooms risk becoming tools that are again used to reinforce old traditions of teaching and learning based on uncritical transmission of knowledge. Finally, the author argues that changes to the teacher education curriculum in Ghana, and elsewhere in Africa, should also reflect the new professional learning identities and learning experiences that ICT and other media communication tools are meant to foster in the classroom.


ZnO is a very important material for excitonic ultraviolet optoelectronic devices operating above room temperature due to its wide band gap and high exciton binding energy. In this paper, the influences of different degrees of the localized state on the photoluminescence and electroluminescence properties of the ZnO/ZnS core–shell nanowires–GaN heterojunction are systematically discussed. The physical model for radiative recombination of localized carriers was proposed to explain these phenomena. Our results indicate that surface-coating of ZnS nanoparticles on ZnO nanowires (NWs) is one of the effective ways to manipulate the localized states, and only the appropriate localized state will result in the optimal optoelectronic properties.


The rapid growth of today's emerging high speed networks has made currently implemented transport layer flow control techniques inadequate for the performance levels required now and in the future. Throughput at the upper layers is throttled due to architectural designs tailored to "last-generation" technologies. We define and analyze a transport layer flow control algorithm featuring hybrid open-loop/feedback-based rate control with burst detection for a connection-oriented transport layer protocol. TARC can be used alone or in conjunction with a window flow control mechanism. It can provide support for QoS guarantees, and can take advantage of lower layer congestion control or bandwidth under-utilization information. We analyze our model under multiple transport connections with bursty traffic and present an iterative method for computing the system state distributions and performance measures. Using this iterative analysis, we explore the behavior of TARC and compare its performance to other transport layer flow control algorithms.


Experiments were performed on 20 Sprague-Dawley white rats. In 10 rats a simple neurotomy was performed in the sciatic nerve in the region between the superior gluteus branch and the division into peroneal and anterior tibial nerves. In the second group of 10 rats a 1cm segment of sciatic nerve was excised bilaterally. This segment was then reversed end-to-end and interposed into the defect. The neurotomy and the nerve graft were repaired on one side by microsurgical 10-0 nylon suture technique. The opposite side was repaired using two component fibrin adhesive. The results of the repair were assesed at 12 weeks after the operation. By inspection the success rate was 100% for the neurotomy repaires in both the nylon suture and fibrin adhesive repaires. For the nerve graft groups the repair was successful in 100% of nylon suture repairs and in 80% of the fibrin adhesive repairs. Functional assessment of nerve regeneration was performed in those rats with intact repair sites. Assessments consisted of measurement of nerve muscle twitch strength (NMTS) and compound action potential (CAP) parameters measured proximal and distal to the repair site. NMTSs were not significantly different (p>.05) between nerves repaired using nylon suture and fibrin adhesive. CAP parameters were significantly better (p<.05) in nerve grafts repaired using suture technique. The current animal model for fibrin adhesive repair is no better than nylon suture repair and may lead less effective nerve regeneration as determined by CAP parameter.


To evaluate characteristics of water quality in Jeju, a study was implemented for Han stream and retention ponds. Inflow water quality of retention ponds was heavily dependent on precedent rainfall, and no pesticide was detected due to the little artificial pollution sources. A smooth settling efficiency curve was noticed because heavy particles were already settled down in front of the retention pond. There were weak relationships between retention time and water quality, and this can be attributable to high concentration of pollutants influx at peak inflow. In addition, as Han stream retention pond has a role of groundwater recharge, inflow control based on water quality as well as quantity is needed to maximize pollutant removal at the retention ponds.


The dynamic bandwidth re-allocation (DBR) technique balances traffic by re-allocating bandwidth from under-utilized links to over-utilized links in a network. In this letter, we propose a nonblocking, fast, low-power, and integratable optical switch that enables DBR. The basic building blocks of the proposed switch are silicon-on-insulator-based microring resonators. Analytical and numerical studies show that the active switch design gives similar performance in throughput and latency, while reducing cost (number of lasers) and area significantly when compared to implementation of DBR with only passive components. There is a slight increase in power (~0.4% for worst-case traffic pattern) using the active switch implementation.


Aquinas argues that an agent's act may be voluntary, involuntary, or even non-voluntary. An agent performs a non-voluntary act on these conditions: (a) the agent does not know the act falls under a certain description D, (b) the act under D is not contrary to the agent's will, and (c) if the agent had known that the act fell under D, the agent would still have performed it. Aquinas's full account of non-voluntary acts is terse and ambiguous and seems to contradict his fuller, more articulate, and philosophically rich views on voluntary and involuntary acts. The appearance of inconsistency, however, is illusory. Once understood, his account of non-voluntary acts clarifies various aspects of his theory of responsibility that are hard to glean from other discussions and reveals just how strongly Aquinas is inclined to Augustinian internalism.


The molecular events leading to the development of the bat wing remain largely unknown, and are thought to be caused, in part, by changes in gene expression during limb development. These expression changes could be instigated by variations in gene regulatory enhancers. Here, we used a comparative genomics approach to identify regions that evolved rapidly in the bat ancestor but are highly conserved in other vertebrates. We discovered 166 bat accelerated regions (BARs) that overlap H3K27ac and p300 ChIP-seq peaks in developing mouse limbs. Using a mouse enhancer assay, we show that five Myotis lucifugus BARs drive gene expression in the developing mouse limb, with the majority showing differential enhancer activity compared to the mouse orthologous BAR sequences. These include BAR116, which is located telomeric to the HoxD cluster and had robust forelimb expression for the M. lucifugus sequence and no activity for the mouse sequence at embryonic day 12.5. Developing limb expression analysis of Hoxd10-Hoxd13 in Miniopterus natalensis bats showed a high-forelimb weak-hindlimb expression for Hoxd10-Hoxd11, similar to the expression trend observed for M. lucifugus BAR116 in mice, suggesting that it could be involved in the regulation of the bat HoxD complex. Combined, our results highlight novel regulatory regions that could be instrumental for the morphological differences leading to the development of the bat wing. Author Summary The limb is a classic example of vertebrate homology and is represented by a large range of morphological structures such as fins, legs and wings. The evolution of these structures could be driven by alterations in gene regulatory elements that have critical roles during development. To identify elements that may contribute to bat wing development, we characterized sequences that are conserved between vertebrates, but changed significantly in the bat lineage. We then overlapped these sequences with predicted developing limb enhancers as determined by ChIP-seq, finding 166 bat accelerated sequences (BARs). Five BARs that were tested for enhancer activity in mice all drove expression in the limb. Testing the mouse orthologous sequence showed that three had differences in their limb enhancer activity as compared to the bat sequence. Of these, BAR116 was of particular interest as it is located near the HoxD locus, an essential gene complex required for proper spatiotemporal patterning of the developing limb. The bat BAR116 sequence drove robust forelimb expression but the mouse BAR116 sequence did not show enhancer activity. These experiments correspond to analyses of HoxD gene expressions in developing bat limbs, which had strong forelimb versus weak hindlimb expression for Hoxd10-11. Combined, our studies highlight specific genomic regions that could be important in shaping the morphological differences that led to the development of the bat wing.


Spectral curvature destroys the co-registration of the spectra measured by dispersion imaging spectrometer. Using interpolation to re-sample the measured spectra at the non-offset mid-wavelengths can mitigate the spectral misregistration. It is very important to select an optimum interpolation method. The performances of six common interpolation methods are evaluated by comparing the residual errors in the corrected spectral radiance. The results indicate that, four-point cubic Lagrange interpolation and cubic spline interpolation are better than other four interpolation methods (linear Interpolation, three points quadratic polynomial interpolation, five points four-order Lagrange interpolation and cubic Hermite interpolation). For spectral offset of 10% deltalambda (deltalambda = 5 nm), the normalized errors in measured spectral radiance is PV = 0.06, that is reduced to PV < 0.022 after interpolation with cubic Lagrange interpolation or cubic spline interpolation, but for other four methods they are PV > 0.035. Furthermore, for lower spectral resolution (deltalambda > 5 nm), cubic Lagrange interpolation is a little better than cubic spline interpolation; while for higher spectral resolution (deltalambda < 5 nm), cubic spline interpolation is a little better.


The objective of this work was to evaluate selection indexes to identify parents to be used in the recurrent selection of yellow passion fruit. Forty-three germplasm accessions were evaluated for 18 agronomic traits, from which productivity, fruit mass, total soluble solids, pulp yield and resistance to diseases were considered as the primary ones. Direct selection, genotype-ideotype distance index, Smith & Hazel index and the sum of ranks of Mulamba & Mock were the selection strategies evaluated. The means for most of the main traits, and their heritability and amplitude values indicated the possibility to obtain genetic gains by selection. High genetic gains were achieved by direct selection, but with undesirable losses in other important traits. Using the genetic standard deviation as economic weight, the sum of ranks selection index made possible balanced predicted gains for the 18 traits. The genetic gains ranged from 2.47 to 10.33%, for productivity and pulp yield, respectively, and there was a severity reduction in most of the evaluated diseases. The utilization of selection indexes for choosing parentals with wide genetic basis to be used in recurrent selection programs of yellow passion fruit is a viable alternative, even when undesirable correlations are present.


Since entering the global agenda in the mid-1990s, adaptation to climate change has moved from being considered a largely technical and environmental issue to one rooted in more social and economic circumstances of vulnerable populations. However, research into adaptation has been scarce in terms of analysing power and the politics that in conjunction with socio-economic factors often determine how people in local communities in the Global South respond to climate change. In light of these considerations, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the wider effort to politicize adaptation to climate change research and, as a result, democratize adaptation policy and practice. It is argued that any kind of social vulnerability to climate change is, in essence, political. Once understood as a political process, adaptation should be studied critically by interrogating the local power structures and the resulting political inequalities that determine people's ability to benefit from programmes and projects that aim to facilitate local adaptation. This is necessary if such interventions are to avoid benefitting some while leaving others, and particularly the poor and marginalized, behind. Democratization is seen as a process that must occur (1) between communities and interventions, and (2) within local communities, themselves. The paper concludes with reflections on how democratizing adaptation could function in theory and practice.


N-((4-chlorophenyl)(morpholino)methyl)urea (CPMU) was synthesized and their influence on the inhibition of corrosion on mild steel in 1.0 M hydrochloric acid solution has been investigated by weight loss measurements, potentiodynamic polarization and scanning electron microscopic techniques (SEM). The result of weight loss studies show that the corrosion inhibition efficiency is directly proportional to the concentration of the inhibitor and inversely proportional to the temperature. Potentiodynamic polarization study proved that the inhibitor act as a mixed type. SEM images show the formation of a protective film of the inhibitor on the mild steel surface. The adsorption process of CPMU at the mild steel/hydrochloric acid solution interface is described by Temkin's adsorption isotherm model. The negative value of standard free energy of adsorption in the presence of inhibitor suggests spontaneous adsorption of CPMU molecule on the mild steel surface


In recent years, multilevel technology has become an effective and practical solution in the field of moderate and high voltage applications. This paper discusses an APF with a three-level NPC inverter. Obviously, the application of such converter to APFs is hindered by the problem of the voltage unbalance of DC capacitors, which leads to system instability. This paper comprehensively analyzes the theoretical limitations of the neutral-point voltage balancing problem for tracking different harmonic currents utilizing current switching functions from the space vector PWM(SVPWM)point of view. The fluctuation of the neutral point caused by the load currents of certain order harmonic frequency is reported and quantified. Furthermore, this paper presents a close-loop digital control algorithm of the DC voltage for this APF. A PI controller regulates the DC voltage in the outer-loop controller. In the current-loop controller, this paper proposes a simple neutral-point voltage control method. The neutral-point voltage imbalance is restrained by selecting small vectors that will move the neutral-point voltage in the direction opposite the direction of the unbalance. The experiment results illustrate that the performance of the proposed approach is satisfactory.


Eleven kinds of powdered milk were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The main nutritious components had distinct fingerprint characteristics in the IR spectra of milk powder. For samples from the same factory but of different brands, there was some dissimilarities in the relative intensities of infrared absorption peaks due to the difference in fat, protein and carbohydrate as well. For the samples of the same sort, but from different factories, there were certain similarities in the IR spectra. The spectra of milk powders with high level of fat, protein, and carbohydrates have their own characteristic absorption prak in the FTIR. Three kinds of commonly used excipients: maltodextrin, sucrose and lactose, all have specific fingerprint features, which change as their amounts alter. The present research provides a fast and direct method for evaluating the quality of powdered milk.


To identify non-cell-autonomous effectors of cardiomyocyte mitosis, we analyzed a transcriptomic screen of regenerating and non-regenerating neonatal hearts for differentially-expressed secreted proteins – which we hypothesized could include candidate mitogens. We identified and validated IGFBP3, which has a Janus-like stabilizing and sequestering effect on IGF growth factors, as a neonatal injury-associated secreted protein. IGFBP3 is expressed by and secreted from vascular cells in the neonatal heart after cardiac injury, notably in the infarct border zone. We found that global deletion of IGFBP3 blunted neonatal regeneration, while gain-of-function experiments using recombinant IGFBP3 and a transgenic mouse model uncovered a pro-mitotic effect of IGFBP3 on cardiomyocytes in vitro and in the adult heart. We show that site-specific expression of an IGFBP3 protease (PAPP-A2) and its inhibitor (STC2) coordinate the spatial release of IGF2 in the infarct zone to regio-selectively activate the INSR-ERK-AKT cell growth pathways in cardiomyocytes. Collectively, our work highlights the spatiotemporal orchestration of endothelial-cardiomyocyte interactions that are required for neonatal cardiac regeneration.


Principal component analysis (PCA) is fundamental in many pattern recognition applications. Much research has been performed to minimize the reconstruction error in L1-norm based reconstruction error minimization (L1-PCA-REM) since conventional L2-norm based PCA (L2-PCA) is sensitive to outliers. Recently, the variance maximization formulation of PCA with L1-norm (L1-PCA-VM) has been proposed, where new greedy and nongreedy solutions are developed. Armed with the gradient ascent perspective for optimization, we show that the L1-PCA-VM formulation is problematic in learning principal components and that only a greedy solution can achieve robustness motivation, which are verified by experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets.


Nowadays, more and more datasets are published towards research and development of systems and models, enabling direct comparisons, continuous improvement of solutions, and researchers engagement with experimental, real life data. However, especially in the Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) domain, there are plenty of cases where new research projects have a unique combination of structure design and implementation, sensor selection and technological enablers that does not fit with the configuration of relevant individual studies in the literature. Thus, we share the data from our case study to the research community as we did not find any relevant repository available. More specifically, in this paper, we present a novel time-series dataset for impact detection and localization on a plastic thin-plate, towards Structural Health Monitoring applications, using ceramic piezoelectric transducers (PZTs) connected to an Internet of Things (IoT) device. The dataset was collected from an experimental procedure of low-velocity, low-energy impact events that includes at least 3 repetitions for each unique experiment, while the input measurements come from 4 PZT sensors placed at the corners of the plate. For each repetition and sensor, 5000 values are stored with 100 KHz sampling rate. The system is excited with a steel ball, and the height from which it is released varies from 10 cm to 20 cm. The dataset is available in GitHub (https://github.com/Smart-Objects/Impact-Events-Dataset).


Background: As the population ages, the number of patients reporting a complaint of joint pain is set to expand rapidly, greatly increasing the burden on the healthcare system in the United States. At present, however, the st line of patient contact—primary care—is ill-equipped to deal with this growing crisis. Here we report the results of a 6-month, site-based combined Performance/Quality Improvement and continuing medical education (CME) activity designed to demonstrate improved healthcare provider performance at the primary care level. Methods: This activity was cfor continuing education credit for physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assis-tants. The activity followed the Plan-Do-Study-Act process, and was based on the American Medical Association's 3-stage methodology for performance improvement coupled with CME. Performance change was measured by comparing prospec-tive joint pain patient and practice ww data before and after implementation of evidence-based tools and resources into participant practices. Data obtained were subsequently assigned as level 5, according to Moore's expanded outcomes framework, 2009. Results: A total of 78 healthcare providers in 49 sites took part in this activity, and 1070 joint pain patients were reviewed. After the tools and resources had been implemented, statistically ant improvement was obtained in the management of these patients using clinically objective measurements with regards to provider diagnostic skills and the overall speed of the diagnostic process. Communication between the provider and the patient was noted to improve, and some evidence of an improvement in the referral process was observed. In addition, providers that chose to re-evaluate their entire practice ww self-reported improvease in patient volume. Conclusion: This initiative's positive impact on provider performance successfully demonstrates how Performance/Qual-ity Improvement methodology may be coupled with CME to improve primary care performance for a burdensome chronic complaint. The inference that outcomes for patients with a complaint of joint pain will be concomitantly improved by this activity is discussed.


The number of polytrauma patient with associated brain injury or commonly referred as 'head injury' has increased tremendously in recent times courtesy to road traffic accident or other causes. This prospective observational study was conducted in patients of head injury admitted through emergency in the department of general surgery in NRS Medical College, Kolkata during the year 2011 to determine the pattern of head injury patients admitted and nature of intervention. A total number of 3861 patients were admitted in a single year. Obviously this represents the tip of the iceburg. Traumatic brain injury was the highest in the age group of 31-40 years (33.5%) followed by 21-30 years (29.1%) in the most fruitful phase of life. The traumatic brain injury death was more common in males. The maximum number of cases was from rural areas ie, farmers and labours. To minimise the morbidity and mortality resulting from head injury there is need for better maintenance of roads, improvement of road visibility and lighting, rigid enforcement of traffic rules and imparting road safety education to school children. Despite valiant efforts and advancement in medical sciences and infrastructure in the form of neurosurgery departments and trauma care units to cope with the changing world of trauma, there still remains a huge responsibility and a definite part to be played by the general surgeons to manage head injury patient even in tertiary hospitals.


With technology scaling, process constraints and imperfections result in significant variation of post-Si performance and stability of SRAM from designed/target pre-Si parameters. Modification/ re-optimization of SRAM cell and/or tuning of process parameters to meet target performance and stability are limited by area constraints and involve several technology ramp-up cycles. For reducing access failures, if process is not fine tuned, memory access clock cycle period may need to be increased thereby compromising performance. We propose a design methodology to meet the target performance and reduce access failures by tuning the SRAM array peripherals instead of tuning the SRAM cell and process parameters. Proposed design methodology is supported by numerical framework and validated by simulation results on 45 nm PDSOI technology. We further show that our methodology does not impact the READ stability of a cell.


AimTo assess the value of 99mTc-MDP bone scintigraphy in the staging of primary bone lymphoma. Materials and methodsThirteen staging scintigrams of patients with biopsy proven primary bone lymphoma were reviewed. The number and location of involved sites of disease were documented in each case. ResultsSeven out of 13 scintigrams (54%) demonstrated a single site of bone involvement. Six cases (46%) showed multifocal disease, including clinically silent weight-bearing sites. ConclusionsBone scintigraphy is a valuable tool in the staging of primary bone lymphoma. It detects multifocal involvement which alters prognosis and possibly treatment. Clinically silent involvement of weight-bearing sites may be detected allowing prophylactic treatment if required.


"A Penchant for Prejudice" combines a detailed empirical study of the decision-making practices of judges with a sophisticated theoretical argument which exposes contemporary myths about judging and suggests methods of incorporating the inevitable bias that is detected in this and other studies. Based on a unique study of the decisions of Social Security judges, the book challenges the meaning of judicial impartiality. Linda G. Mills finds that, in practice, bias is a consistent dimension of what is considered "impartial" decision-making. The results reveal that impartiality as the legal system now defines it, is itself a form of bias, and that a historically and contextually sensitive definition of bias, one which takes account of the communities and cultures that come to be judged in the legal system, must overcome the modern dualistic notion of imparitality as the exclusion of bias in order to respond to needs of the diversity of applicants and the judges who adjudicate their claims. According to Mills, the judicial bias she found reflected in her study seems not only to essentialize and stereotype applicants but also prevents judges from engaging vulnerable claimants in a way that the legal process positively demands."A Penchant for Prejudice" will be of interest to students and scholars of law, judicial decisionmaking, and discrimination.Linda G. Mills is Assistant Professor of Social Welfare and Law, University of California, Los Angeles.


Water-soluble amphiphilic random copolymers composed of tri(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (TEGMA) or poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) and perfluorohexylethyl acrylate (FA) were synthesized by ARGET-ATRP, and their self-assembling and thermoresponsive behavior in water was studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The copolymer ability to self-fold in single-chain nano-sized structures (unimer micelles) in aqueous solutions was exploited to encapsulate Combretastatin A-4 (CA-4), which is a very hydrophobic anticancer drug. The cloud point temperature (Tcp) was found to linearly decrease with increasing drug concentration in the drug/copolymer system. Moreover, while CA-4 was preferentially incorporated into the unimer micelles of TEGMA-ran-FA, the drug was found to induce multi-chain, submicro-sized aggregation of PEGMA-ran-FA. Anyway, the encapsulation efficiency was very high (≥81%) for both copolymers. The drug release was evaluated in PBS aqueous solutions both below and above Tcp for TEGMA-ran-FA copolymer and below Tcp, but at two different drug loadings, for PEGMA-ran-FA copolymer. In any case, the release kinetics presented similar profiles, characterized by linear trends up to ≈10–13 h and ≈7 h for TEGMA-ran-FA and PEGMA-ran-FA, respectively. Then, the release rate decreased, reaching a plateau. The release from TEGMA-ran-FA was moderately faster above Tcp than below Tcp, suggesting that copolymer thermoresponsiveness increased the release rate, which occurred anyway by diffusion below Tcp. Cytotoxicity tests were carried out on copolymer solutions in a wide concentration range (5–60 mg/mL) at 37 °C by using Balb/3T3 clone A31 cells. Interestingly, it was found that the concentration-dependent micro-sized aggregation of the amphiphilic random copolymers above Tcp caused a sort of "cellular asphyxiation" with a loss of cell viability clearly visible for TEGMA-ran-FA solutions (Tcp below 37 °C) with higher copolymer concentrations. On the other hand, cells in contact with the analogous PEGMA-ran-FA (Tcp above 37 °C) presented a very good viability (≥75%) with respect to the control at any given concentration.


Over exploitation of soil and absence of fallow system expose soil to degradation. In addition climate variability is another threat. Under such conditions use of copping innovation may be the alternative. However in contact with other continents and regions, farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly in WCA use almost no production input. All this results in low yield a consequence of many years of mining agriculture to get good sustainable yield input must be used that would replace nutrient exported by crops. In addition soil organic pool build up is necessary to sustain soil quality and productivity.Poor plant stand is among the cause of low yield therefore optimal plant density is required which may be reached with adequate seed treatment.The combination of appropriate nutrient input, seed treatment and genotype will yield good and sustainable yield. Experimental location on Google Maps - Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso Experimental location on Google Maps - Maradi, Niger


We propose a method for analyzing the hierarchical coordinate structure of Japanese statutory sentences using neural language models (NLMs). Our method deterministically identifies hierarchical coordinate structures according to their rigorously defined descriptive rules. In addition, our method identifies all conjuncts in each coordinate structure using NLM-based scoring. Furthermore, it does not rely on any training data labeled with coordinate structures. An experiment demonstrates that our method drastically outperforms an existing method for Japanese statutory sentences.


During the past decades considerable progress has been made in developing research methods that are particularly suited to examining network relations in the Internet and their consequences for outcomes such as the diffusion of applications and services, the winner-take-all dynamics of digital markets, and the spread of malware. Social scientists have long recognized the importance of interdependencies among agents in social systems and the need for coordination in an economy with division of labor. Network science provides powerful tools to analyze both topics in innovative ways. It needs to be distinguished from two other emerging fields – Internet science and web science – which share common interests but do not primarily use network science tools. This chapter provides an overview of network science methods and their potential to study the Internet and its economic effects.


The low lying electronic states of the FeSi molecule have been investigated by performing complete active space self-consistent field (CASSCF) and multireference single and double excitation configuration interaction (MRSDCI) calculations. Although the classification of the ground state was not established, the results of the MRSDCI calculations suggest that the ground state of FeSi is 3Δ, and the lowest excited state is 5Π whose transition energy is 0.36 eV including the Davidson-type Q correction. The R e given by MRSDCI with Q correction is 2.23 Å for 3Δ and 2.19 Å for 5Π. The spectroscopic constants and dipole moments of the low lying 5Δ and 3Π states as well as the 3Δ and 5Π states are also evaluated. The bonding nature of FeSi in the 3Δ state is discussed in comparison with the FeC molecule.


Nanotapes are formed by the co-assembly of triblock peptide copolymers with an amino acid-substituted polythiophene derivative (PTT). The driving force for the assembly is ionic interaction (complex coacervation). These nanotapes were visualized by atomic force microscopy and confocal laser scanning microscopy. The interactions between the triblock peptide copolymers and the PTT are also expressed in the steady state and time resolved fluorescence spectra. The steady-state spectra indicate that upon interaction with the peptide copolymer, the backbone of the PTT adopts a rather twisted, and definitely less, aggregated conformation. The time-resolved fluorescence decay studies further confirm this interpretation. The structure of these nanotapes at the mesoscopic scale depends, among other physical chemical parameters, on the concentrations of its constituents.


Serum levels of prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), gamma-seminoprotein (gamma-Sm) and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) were determined simultaneously in 57 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and in 50 untreated patients with prostatic cancer (adenocarcinoma, N = 47 and non-adenocarcinoma, N = 3). The correlations between the serum levels of gamma-Sm and PSA in these patients were assessed by linear regression analysis. Some fundamental studies were added for explaining the causes of discrepancy between the serum levels of gamma-Sm and PSA. All of BPH group underwent transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and the sera were obtained for measurements before, immediately after and 18 hours after TURP. The gamma-Sm correlated well with the PSA in the sera obtained before (r = 0.76) and 18 hours after (r = 0.73) TURP. However, there was no correlation (r = 0.26) between them in the sera obtained immediately after TURP. In 47 untreated patients with adenocarcinoma of the prostate, no significant correlation (r = 0.19) between serum levels of gamma-Sm and PSA was observed, although there was correlation (r = 0.51) between those of PAP and PSA. When these patients were classified into two groups, M0 (stage A-C; N = 26) and M1 (stage D; N = 21), however, the serum gamma-Sm correlated with the serum PSA in M0 group (r = 0.57), but didn't in M1 group (r = 0.11). Furthermore, the differences in the means of PAP (p less than 0.05) and PSA (p less than 0.001) between M0 group and M1 group were statistically significant, although the serum gamma-Sm failed to distinguish M0 from M1. The anti-PSA antibody of "PSA Kit" reacted against the standard gamma-Sm adopted from "gamma-Sm Kit". Surprisingly, the anti-gamma-Sm antibody of "gamma-Sm Kit" also reacted against the standard PSA adopted from "PSA Kit". The gamma-Sm and PSA apparently cross-reacted each other. The quantitative analyses with serial dilution of the sera were done by using each assay in 3 patients whose serum levels of gamma-Sm were markedly different from those of PSA. The dilution curve for PAP appeared to be rectilineal, and that for PSA also appeared to be approximately rectilineal. However, the gamma-Sm assay failed to be proportional. In conclusion, the correlation between serum levels of gamma-Sm and PSA was absent in certain circumstances, when the true values of them were expected to be much higher than those determined.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


This paper investigates the shared emotional responses of Twitter users in the aftermath of a massive data breach, a crisis event known as the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach of 2015. This breach impacted the lives of several million individuals due to the exposure of sensitive and personally identifying information. We take a data exploration approach to analyzing over 18,000 tweet messages of the ensuing discussion that took place after public notification that the breach had occurred. The resulting analysis reveals that although the emotions of anxiety, anger, and sadness may initially appear erratic, at an aggregate level, the public display of these emotions corresponds to the situational awareness of the breach event. Further, our analysis finds that this relationship extends to the sharing of emotions, indicating that those participating in the conversation congregate around a sense of shared emotional experience. Finally, an in-depth analysis of the ensuing dialogue identifies the most salient conversational drivers of these emotions, revealing breach concepts most significantly related to each emotion. Based on the results, we present propositions that draw from this analysis to inform emotional response characteristics that emerge over the duration of such crisis events. The results of this study can inform organizational practices and policy making in the context of response to crisis events such as data breaches.


XN 1662, the fourteen-year-old Marie Morin travelled from her native Quebec to enter the Sisterhood of Saint Joseph at Montreal's Hbtel-Dieu. The fifth Canadian girl to enter a convent, she was the first to enter the Hbtel-Dieu, and the first who was not a daughter of the colonial noblesse. Before her death at the age of eightyone in 1730, she had served as Mistress of Novices, and twice as Superior of her order. Most important of all for the historian she had begun in 1697 her famous Annales de l'Hdtel-Dieu de Montreal, relating the story of her Institute from its beginnings in 1659 until 1725. Thus she qualified as the "premier historien canadien de Villemarie."


Between 1961 and 1996 civil war in Guatemala claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 people, over 80% of whom (according to a United Nations Truth Commission) were Maya Indians. The experience of one Maya family, whose story is narrated, raises questions pertaining to continued insecurity, lack of justice, and uninvestigated crimes, the combined effects of which still haunt and charge community life throughout the countryside. Telling about the experience of one family also raises issues concerning the vicissitudes of representation and how fieldwork can, on occasion, yield unanticipated but rewarding returns.


A two finger interdigitated metal-semiconductor-metal detector has been made using high-resistance Fe-implanted In0.53Ga0.47As material grown on InP:Fe. The fingers are 30μm long with 1μm width and 1.5μm separation. The breakdown voltage of the device is 5V. At 2V bias, the device has a dark current of 250 nA and a DC responsivity of 0.375 A/W at 13μm. The full width at half maximum of the response of the detector at 1.3μm is 260 ps.