In view of the growing industrial use of Bacterial cellulose (BC), and taking into account that it might become airborne and be inhaled after industrial processing, assessing its potential pulmonary toxic effects assumes high relevance. In this work, the murine model was used to assess the effects of exposure to respirable BC nanofibrils (nBC), obtained by disintegration of BC produced by Komagataeibacter hansenii . Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMMΦ) were treated with different doses of nBC (0.02 and 0.2 mg/mL, respectively 1 and 10 μg of fibrils) in absence or presence of 0.2% Carboxymethyl Cellulose (nBCMC). Furthermore, mice were instilled intratracheally with nBC or nBCMC at different concentrations and at different time-points and analyzed up to 6 months after treatments. Microcrystaline Avicel-plus® CM 2159, a plant-derived cellulose, was used for comparison. Markers of cellular damage (lactate dehydrogenase release and total protein) and oxidative stress (hydrogen peroxidase, reduced glutathione, lipid peroxidation and glutathione peroxidase activity) as well presence of inflammatory cells were evaluated in brochoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluids. Histological analysis of lungs, heart and liver tissues was also performed. BAL analysis showed that exposure to nBCMC or CMC did not induce major alterations in the assessed markers of cell damage, oxidative stress or inflammatory cell numbers in BAL fluid over time, even following cumulative treatments. Avicel-plus® CM 2159 significantly increased LDH release, detected 3 months after 4 weekly administrations. However, histological results revealed a chronic inflammatory response and tissue alterations, being hypertrophy of pulmonary arteries (observed 3 months after nBCMC treatment) of particular concern. These histological alterations remained after 6 months in animals treated with nBC, possibly due to foreign body reaction and the organism's inability to remove the fibers. Overall, despite being a safe and biocompatible biomaterial, BC-derived nanofibrils inhalation may lead to lung pathology and pose significant health risks.


This paper proposes data-driven queuing models and solutions to reduce arrival time delays originating from aircraft arrival processing bottlenecks at Tokyo International Airport. A data-driven analysis was conducted using two years of radar tracks and flight plans from 2016 and 2017. This analysis helps not only to understand the bottlenecks and operational strategies of air traffic controllers, but also to develop mathematical models to predict arrival delays resulting from increased, future aircraft traffic. The queue-based modeling approach suggests that one potential solution is to expand the realization of time-based operations, efficiently shifting from traffic flow control to time-based arrival management. Furthermore, the proposed approach estimates the most effective range of transition points, which is a key requirement for designing extended arrival management systems while offering automation support to air traffic controllers.


We investigate the shape of critical points for a free energy consisting of a nonlocal perimeter plus a nonlocal repulsive term. In particular, we prove that a volume-constrained critical point is necessarily a ball if its volume is sufficiently small with respect to its isodiametric ratio, thus extending a result previously known only for global minimizers. We also show that, at least in one-dimension, there exist critical points with arbitrarily small volume and large isodiametric ratio. This example shows that a constraint on the diameter is, in general, necessary to establish the radial symmetry of the critical points.


Over the years, Noam Chomsky has constructed a historiographic narrative according to which Generative Grammar is the outcome of a mix comprising the early awareness of creativity by Galileo, the Cartesians, and Humboldt, the formalization of recursive functions by computational theorists, and an incipient internalist 'language' concept notably foreshadowed by Otto Jespersen. This paper tries to show that the latter ingredient is to be removed from the historical recipe for Chomskyan linguistics. More specifically, the paper claims that the almost ritual repetition of the name of the Danish linguist belongs to a component of the generativist rhetoric that is 'non-rational'. Such a component is part and parcel of most ground-breaking theories.


Model Predictive Control (MPC) is a process control algorithm based on optimization, in which long, variable optimization time is a major drawback when used in fast dynamic safety-critical systems. In safety-critical systems, timing is vital for the operation of MPC. In this paper, timing, safety and plant performance aspects of a proposed multi-core MPC architecture are investigated in a case study combining simulation and experiment. The proposed architecture performs "safe" and "(high) performance" optimization in parallel, preferring high performance results, but falling back on safe results. We show that safe optimization, based on Hildreth's algorithm and a minimal set of safety-critical constraints, always meets a deadline, but almost always its result can be subsumed by a high performance result.


This article studies a system that experiences two dependent competing failure processes, in which shocks are categorized into different shock zones. These two failure processes, a stochastic degradation process and a random shock process, are dependent because arriving shocks can cause instantaneous damage on the degradation process. In existing studies, every shock causes an abrupt damage on degradation. However, this may not be the case when shock loads are small and within the tolerance of system resistance. In the proposed model, only shock loads that are larger than a certain level are considered to cause abrupt damage on degradation, which makes this new model realistic and challenging. Shocks are divided into three zones based on their magnitudes: safety zone, damage zone, and fatal zone. The abrupt damage is modeled using an explicit function of shock load exceedances (differences between load magnitudes and a given threshold). Due to the complexity in modeling these two dependent stochastic failure processes, no closed form of the reliability function can be derived. Monte Carlo importance sampling is used to estimate the system reliability. Finally, two application examples with sensitivity analyses are presented to demonstrate the models.


We develop the Randomized Neural Networks with Petrov-Galerkin Methods (RNN-PG methods) to solve linear elasticity problems. RNN-PG methods use Petrov-Galerkin variational framework, where the solution is approximated by randomized neural networks and the test functions are piecewise polynomials. Unlike conventional neural networks, the parameters of the hidden layers of the randomized neural networks are fixed randomly, while the parameters of the output layer are determined by the least square method, which can effectively approximate the solution. We also develop mixed RNN-PG methods for linear elasticity problems, which ensure the symmetry of the stress tensor and avoid locking effects. We compare RNN-PG methods with the finite element method, the mixed discontinuous Galerkin method, and the physics-informed neural network on several examples, and the numerical results demonstrate that RNN-PG methods achieve higher accuracy and efficiency.


A public health approach to preventing interpersonal violence involving perpetrators and victims is laudable, but fraught with social and political pitfalls. The concept of "race" is little understood and is being exploited by both academics and the media, putting racial minorities—particularly blacks, who tend to be overrepresented in data on reported violence—at further risk. Though race is acknowledged as an ambiguous concept, some dangers nonetheless persist in linking racial minorities to dysfunctional and antisocial behavior within both cultural and biological constructs. Recommendations are given to help ameliorate the effects of such contextual linking, particularly given the present mood of U.S. political conservatism.


This article presents crime survey data from the state of West Virginia in the United States showing that, controlling for structural conditions, community atmosphere is significantly related to crime, violence and many other social problems in rural places. These results help identify measurable and achievable progressive desired ends in rural policing, replacing law enforcement outputs (for example, arrests, gun and drug seizures) with safe, strong community outcomes as the summum bonum (i.e, ultimate outcome) of policing. Findings show that interdependent communities where police are partners with residents are the safest, while conflict communities where the police are viewed as adversaries are least safe. These results suggest a left realist consequentialist approach to police ethics to dismantle the hegemony of draconian policies and practices.


This study examined the help-seeking behaviors of depressed, African American adolescents. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 urban, African American boys, ages 14 to 18, who were recruited from community-based mental health centers and after-school programs for youths. Interviews covered sociodemographic information, questions regarding depressive symptomotology, and open-ended questions derived from the Network-Episode Model--including knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to problem recognition, help seeking, and perceptions of mental health services. Most often adolescents discussed their problems with their family and often received divergent messages about problem resolution; absent informal network resolution of their problems, professional help would be sought, and those receiving treatment were more likely to get support from friends but were less likely to tell friends that they were actually receiving care. Implications for social work research and practice are discussed.


Tomato crops are one of the most important agricultural products at economic level in the world. However, the quality of the tomato fruits is highly dependent to the growing conditions such as the nutrients. One of consequences of the latter during tomato harvesting is nutrient deficiency. Manually, it is possible to anticipate the lack of primary nutrients (i.e. nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) by looking the appearance of the leaves in tomato plants. Thus, this paper presents a supervised vision-based monitoring system for detecting nutrients deficiencies in tomato crops by taking images from the leaves of the plants. It uses a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to recognize and classify the type of nutrient that is deficient in the plants. First, we created a data set of images of leaves of tomato plants showing different symptoms due to the nutrient deficiency. Then, we trained a suitable CNN-model with our images and other augmented data. Experimental results showed that our CNN-model can achieve 86.57% of accuracy. We anticipate the implementation of our proposal for future precision agriculture applications such as automated nutrient level monitoring and control in tomato crops.


Higher traffic capacities require smaller intervehicular spacings. At such intervehicular separations, aerodynamic drag force changes significantly with the distance to be maintained. The mass of the vehicle varies with the number of passengers. In this paper, we present a Lyapunov-based decentralised adaptive control algorithm to compensate for such parametric variations. We examine this direct adaptive control algorithm for platoon performance and parameter convergence. We present the simulation and experimental results to demonstrate the effectiveness of the adaptive controller.<<ETX>>


Nurse managers involved in the planning for two new EDs in the Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Broward Health system provided invaluable input to the design team which should enhance patient safety by ensuring efficient and speedy care. Here are their suggestions for other nurse managers who are planning similar projects: Ensure that supplies and equipment are readily accessible to the providers who will use them. If you allow family members in patients' rooms, be sure to leave enough space for a stretcher and for family. Make sure storage space is ample and that there are an adequate number of electrical outlets.


Background: The past few decades have witnessed a shift in the rate of incidence of cervical squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and endocervical adenocarcinoma because there has been an increase in the prevalence of the endocervical adenocarcinoma and a reduction in the SCC in countries with effective screening programs in place. Although our knowledge about the underlying reasons for this shift remains deficient, it seems that the prevalence of endocervical adenocarcinoma is on the rise partly because of greater exposure to human papillomavirus (HPV), screening delays, and more importantly, technical limitations faced in diagnosing endocervical carcinoma. Objectives: This study aims to systematically review certain diagnostic methods that detect HPV which will facilitate the early diagnosis of endocervical adenocarcinoma because adjuvant therapy has proven to be inefficient for later stages of the disease. Methodology: The relevant articles were researched online using databases such as Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, SpringerLink, and Web of Science. The databases were electronically searched. The keywords used in the search included "human papillomavirus (HPV)," "diagnosis of endocervical adenocarcinoma," "polymerase chain reaction (PCR)," "in situ hybridization (ISH)," and "immunohistochemistry (IHC)." The search was refined to include only those articles that were nonreviewed studies and recently published, covering the period from 2010 to the present. Results: Eight articles from different parts of the world were selected for the study and were categorized into three groups depending on the diagnostic technique used in them, which included PCR, ISH, and IHC. PCR has proven to be an efficient noninvasive method that detects HPV DNA in the early stages. ISH demonstrates high specificity and sensitivity for the detection, of which genotypes of HPVs are present in endocervical adenocarcinoma lesions. Immunohistochemical staining is a simple tool for detecting HPV, but it has limited efficiency. Conclusion: A number of diagnostic tools are available to detect HPV infection for the early diagnosis of endocervical adenocarcinoma. HPV detection tests can be used in combination with the Pap test to ensure that any abnormality is not missed during diagnosis. Nonetheless, further studies should be performed to develop novel techniques or improve existing ones, so that endocervical adenocarcinomas can be detected on time and with high accuracy, and to overcome the problems faced in the cytologic diagnosis of cervical adenocarcinomas lesions.


GaAs/Ga{sub 1{minus}x}In{sub x}As strained layer superlattices with well-widths of 7nm, barrier widths of 14nm and periods of 10 to 30 have been examined by HREM both in plan view and cross section. Strain release occurs mostly by dislocation generation but twins are also observed, especially at the substrate interface. High resolution images of dislocations, twins and interfaces are analyzed to elucidate mechanisms of strain release. 5 refs., 7 figs.


This paper studies and proposes methods for providing recommendations on composite bundles of products and services that are dynamically defined using database views extended with decision optimization based on mathematical programming. A framework is proposed for finding a diverse recommendation set when no prior knowledge on user preference is given. To support this framework, a method is developed for utility function elicitation, which is based on iteratively refining a set of axes in the n-dimensional utility space. The notion of a diverse recommendation set is refined and formalized by partitioning the recommendation space into layers that correspond to their distance to the maximal utility. In each layer, the method selects recommendations that maximize each dimension of the utility space. A preliminary experimental study is conducted, which shows that the proposed framework significantly outperforms a popular commercial system in terms of precision and recall.


Morphometric and morphological observations on B. mariae in an experimentally infected fish (using the leech vector Batracobdeloides tricarinata for the first time) revealed that three successive types of merogonic cycles occurred within the fish erythrocytes. The third cycle produced merozoites destined to become gamonts. The gamonts were somewhat larger than merogonic stages and comprised the majority of the parasitic stages during parasitaemia for up to 7 months. In the leech crop gamonts released from the fish blood became associated in syzygy and fused. The formed zygote underwent sporogony within the gut tissues and up to 8 sporozoites budded simultaneously from the periphery of an irregularly shaped oocyst. The sporozoites underwent merogony typical as that of erythrocytic merogony mainly in the salivary tissues. The merozoites either initiated a further cycle of merogony or moved towards the proboscis. The babesiosomes survived in the leech over a period of 9 months involving 7 meals after the initial meal provided the fasting period did not exceed 60-90 days. Survival was attributed to residual stages in the salivary glands. Cross transmission experiments between fishes via B. tricarinata revealed that the fish babesiosomes were not host specific. Previously described African fresh water fish dactylosomatids were indistinguishable from each other and on the basis of the current results, they are regarded as a single species Babesiosoma mariae.


Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a severe though transient form of ocular allergy, predominant in young males, which requires careful management. Corticosteroids are effective but also cause serious topical side‐effects in the eye, such as glaucoma and cataracts. The safer, mast cell stabilizing anti‐inflammatories (commonly sodium cromoglycate) therefore have an important role. This parallel group study compared efficacy, tolerability and safety of sodium cromoglycate 2% with nedocromil sodium 2%, administered as one drop per eye four times daily for a period of 5 months.


Background: Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) as a tissue-specific isozyme of alkaline phosphatases is predominantly produced by enterocytes in the proximal small intestine. In recent years, an increasing number of pathologies have been identified to be associated with an IAP deficiency, making it very worthwhile to review the various roles, biological functions, and potential therapeutic aspects of IAP. Summary: IAP primarily originates and acts in the intestinal tract but affects other organs through specific biological axes related to its fundamental roles such as promoting gut barrier function, dephosphorylation/detoxification of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), and regulation of gut microbiota. Key Messages: Numerous studies reporting on the different roles and the potential therapeutic value of IAP across species have been published during the last decade. While IAP deficiency is linked to varying degrees of physiological dysfunctions across multiple organ systems, the supplementation of IAP has been proven to be beneficial in several translational and clinical studies. The increasing evidence of the salutary functions of IAP underlines the significance of the naturally occurring brush border enzyme.


When studying natural disasters, it is necessary to analyze the circumstances with a comprehensive approach that focuses on relief and moving the affected area from development to sustainability. Thus, it is imperative to consider all social, environmental, and psychological factors when addressing the complex needs of disaster response from a social work perspective. To establish immediate and long-term support networks, it is also necessary to bring together interdisciplinary teams to assist in disaster relief efforts. In the past decade, a number of devastating natural disasters have managed to cause death, destruction, and disease within the populations of a vast number of countries. This paper examines global disaster relief efforts for three major natural disasters of the past decade through a review of the literature and from observations made in the field.


The global chocolate value chain is based exclusively on cacao beans (CBs). With few exceptions, most CBs traded worldwide are produced under a linear economy model, where only 8 to 10% of the biomass ends up in chocolate-related products. This contribution reports the mass balance and composition dynamics of cacao fruit biomass outputs throughout one full year of the crop cycle. This information is relevant because future biorefinery developments and the efficient use of cacao fruits will depend on reliable, robust, and time-dependent compositional and mass balance data. Cacao husk (CH), beans (CBs), and placenta (CP) constitute, as dry weight, 8.92 ± 0.90 wt %, 8.87 ± 0.52 wt %, and 0.57 ± 0.05 wt % of the cacao fruit, respectively, while moisture makes up most of the biomass weight (71.6 ± 2.29 wt %). CH and CP are solid lignocellulosic outputs. Interestingly, the highest cellulose and lignin contents in CH coincide with cacao's primary harvest season (October to January). CB contains carbohydrates, fats, protein, ash, and phenolic compounds. The total polyphenol content in CBs is time-dependent, reaching maxima values during the harvest seasons. In addition, the fruit contains 4.13 ± 0.80 wt % of CME, a sugar- and nutrient-rich liquid output, with an average of 20 wt % of simple sugars (glucose, fructose, and sucrose), in addition to minerals (mainly K and Ca) and proteins. The total carbohydrate content in CME changes dramatically throughout the year, with a minimum of 10 wt % from August to January and a maximum of 29 wt % in March.


Background and Aims: The lungs participate in the modulation of the circulating inflammatory factors induced by coronary artery bypass grafting. We investigated whether aprotinin—which has been suggested to interact with inflammation—influences lung passage of key inflammatory factors after coronary artery bypass grafting. Material and Methods: A total of 40 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting were randomized into four groups according to aprotinin dose: (1) high dose, (2) early low dose, (3) late low dose, and (4) without aprotinin. Pulmonary artery and radial artery blood samples were collected for the evaluation of calculated lung passage (pulmonary artery/radial artery) of the pro-inflammatory factors interleukin 6 and interleukin 8, 8-isoprostane, myeloperoxidase and the anti-inflammatory interleukin 10 immediately after induction of anesthesia (T1), 1 min after releasing aortic cross clamp (T2), 15 min after releasing aortic cross clamp (T3), 1 h after releasing aortic cross clamp (T4), and 20 h after releasing aortic cross clamp (T5). Results: Pulmonary artery/radial artery 8-isoprostane increased in patients with high aprotinin dose as compared with lower doses (1.1 range 0.97 vs 0.9 range 1.39, p = 0.001). The main effect comparing high aprotinin dose with lower doses was significant (F(1, 38) = 7.338, p = 0.01, partial eta squared = 0.16) further supporting difference in the effectiveness of high aprotinin dose for pulmonary artery/radial artery 8-isoprostane. Conclusion: According to the pulmonary artery/radial artery equation, the impact of aprotinin on 8-isoprostane after coronary artery bypass grafting is dose dependent. Aprotinin may aid the lung passage of circulating factors toward a beneficial anti-inflammatory milieu.


In the last years, increasing attention is being spent towards the applications of solar energy to electric and also to hybrid cars. But, while cars only fed by sun do not represent a practical alternative to cars for normal use, the concept of a hybrid electric car assisted by solar panels appears more realistic (Letendre et al., 2003; Fisher, 2009). The reasons for studying and developing a Hybrid Solar Vehicle can be summarized as follows: • fossil fuels, largely used for car propulsion, are doomed to depletion; their price tends to increase, and is subject to large and unpredictable fluctuations; • the CO2 generated by the combustion processes occurring in conventional thermal engines contributes to the greenhouse effects, with dangerous and maybe dramatic effects on global warming and climatic changes; • the worldwide demand for personal mobility is rapidly growing, especially in China and India; as a consequence, energy consumption and CO2 emissions related to cars and transportation are increasing; • solar energy is renewable, free and largely diffused, and Photovoltaic Panels are subject to continuous technological advances in terms of cell efficiency; their diffusion is rapidly growing, while their cost, after a continuous decrease and an inversion of the trend occurred in 2004, is continuing to decrease (Fig. 1);


We have cloned a receptor tyrosine kinase cDNA, designated fetal liver kinase 1 (Flk-1), from mouse cell populations enriched for hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Sequence analysis of this clone reveals strong homology to the c-Kit subfamily of receptor kinases, and in particular to the Flt gene product. Chromosomal mapping shows that the Flk-1, Kit, and Pdgfra genes are closely linked. Flk-1 mRNA is expressed in primitive and more mature hematopoietic cells as well as in a wide variety of nonhematopoietic tissues.


Population size doubled over the period 1947-81 and continues to grow. Such a rapid increase in population size has serious repercussions upon socioeconomic development. Population growth threatens to nullify efforts to improve the condition of the poor. Indeed all gains in the field of agriculture industry and national income look marginal when measured in per capita terms. The family welfare program seeks to promote on a voluntary basis responsible and planned parenthood of a two-child norm devoid of any bias for or against the sex of a given child. Use of the mass media and interpersonal communication to explain various methods of contraception and remove sociocultural barriers has led to an increase in the number of family planning acceptors in recent years. However despite the family welfare program being in operation for four decades population continues to grow at an alarming rate. It is clear that program strategy and mode of implementation must be reviewed. The state government of West Bengal is determined to implement the family welfare program effectively through the motivation and education of married couples while making various types of contraceptive services available to the people.


What are the spontaneous stereotypes that U.S. citizens hold about the U.S. states? We complemented insights from theory-driven approaches to this question with insights from a novel data-driven approach. Based on pile sorting and spatial arrangement similarity ratings for the states, we computed two cognitive maps of the states. Based on ratings for the states on ∼20 candidate dimensions, we interpreted the dimensions that spanned the two maps (Studies 1 and 2). Consistent with the agency/socioeconomic success, conservative-progressive beliefs, and communion (ABC) model of spontaneous stereotypes, these dimensions that participants spontaneously used to rate the states' similarity included prosperity (A) and ideology (B) stereotypes (states seen as more liberal and atheist were seen as more educated and wealthy). Study 3 showed that states seen as more average on A and B were stereotyped as more likable. Additionally, Study 3 showed that interstate similarity in stereotypic ideology and prosperity mattered, as it predicted interstate prejudice.


Starting from the advantages of using Feature-Oriented Programming (FOP) and program families to support software evolution, this paper discusses the drawbacks of current FOP techniques. In particular we address the insufficient crosscutting modularity that complicates software evolution. To overcome this tension we propose the integration of concepts of Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) into existing FOP solutions. As study object we utilize FeatureC++, a proprietary extension to C++ that supports FOP. After a short introduction to basic language features of FeatureC++, we summarize the problems regarding the crosscutting modularity. In doing so, we point to the strengths of AOP that can help. Thereupon, we introduce three approaches that combine FOP and AOP concepts: Multi Mixins, Aspectual Mixins, and Aspectual Mixin Layers. Furthermore, we discuss their benefits for software evolution.


Software Defined Networks simplify network programmability by detaching the control plane from forwarding devices and deploying it into a logically centralized controller. While this allows a clearer separation of concerns, it also creates a dependency between them. Failures in the control plane break the controller view of the network state and could render the network unusable if forwarding devices cannot be reached. The relevance of this problem has led to a range of proposals, including physical distribution of controller instances and delegation of concerns to forwarding devices. In this paper, we propose and evaluate an architecture that leverages cellular data networks (4G) as control plane backup links. No previous work has explored this idea, despite the recent research intersecting SDN and wireless networks. Our experiments answer three research questions: (i) How is the behavior of control plane traffic affected by the characteristics of cellular links, (ii) how quickly is the control plane handed over to the backup link when a failure occurs and (iii) how well do network functions that rely on a snapshot of the network state behave on such an architecture. Our evaluation shows that, despite the expected higher latency of cellular links, this architecture maintains partial functionality of tasks that depend on global network awareness when failures occur in primary links in a simple, affordable fashion.


In the course of evolutionary changes pathogens have developed many invasion strategies, to which the host organisms responded with a broad range of defense reactions involving endogenous signaling molecules, such as nitric oxide (NO). There is evidence that pathogenic microorganisms, including two most important groups of eukaryotic plant pathogens, also acquired the ability to synthesize NO via non-unequivocally defined oxidative and/or reductive routes. Although the both kingdoms Chromista and Fungi are remarkably diverse, the experimental data clearly indicate that pathogen-derived NO is an important regulatory molecule controlling not only developmental processes, but also pathogen virulence and its survival in the host. An active control of mitigation or aggravation of nitrosative stress within host cells seems to be a key determinant for the successful invasion of plant pathogens representing different lifestyles and an effective mode of dispersion in various environmental niches.


The dynamics of electron injection has been investigated in DNA hairpins possessing a stilbenediether electron donor linker by means of femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Ultrafast electron injection and charge recombination are observed with neighboring cytosine or thymine bases; however, guanine-guanine base pairs are not reduced, permitting the investigation of the distance dependence of charge injection.


Virtual field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is an emerging technology to put multiple users in the same FPGA fabric with logical isolation. Security researchers have studied new threats in virtual FPGA and proposed attacks on the logical isolation by exploiting analogue natures of FPGA. These attacks use an oscillator comprising a combinatorial loop to have access to the analogue domain using digital components only. Interestingly, the system in the field prohibits a combinatorial loop by a design rule check. In this Letter, the authors study if prohibiting a combinatorial loop is sufficient to thwart the conventional attacks. They negatively answer the question by showing oscillators without a combinatorial loop. They also show how to detect and reject the proposed oscillators by a design rule check.


BACKGROUND
Intravenous oxygen infusions have been introduced in complementary medicine for treatment of atherosclerosis and inflammatory diseases. As atherosclerosis and inflammation are causally related to oxidative stress and as intravenous supply with oxygen causes oxidative stress, it was suggested that the clinical success of intravenous oxygen therapy is biochemically based on an enhancement of endogenous antioxidative mechanisms. The anti-atherogenic enzyme paraoxonase-1 (PON1) is is part of this system.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of repeated intravenous oxygen infusions on serum PON1 activity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 45 patients were treated with intravenous oxygen. During treatment oxygen dosage was increased from 15 to 50 ml (1-2 ml/min). Before treatments 1 and 10 blood was obtained for measurement of PON1 activities. From 20 patients blood was additionally obtained after 20 days of treatment and 2 weeks post treatment. Serum PON1 activity was measured spectrophotometrically using the synthetic substrates paraoxon, phenylacetate, and p-nitrophenyl-acetate.

RESULTS
Using the substrate paraoxon PON1 activity significantly increased by 38% above basal levels 24 hours after intravenous oxygen infusion 9 (p < 0.001). Adverse effects were not observed.

CONCLUSION
Treatments with intravenous oxygen infusions evoke an adaptation to oxidative stress by an increase of serum PON1 activity. In this regard, a potential molecular mechanism has been found, that explains the protecting effects of intravenous oxygen therapy against oxidative stress and its consequences. PON1 activity is proposed to be an appropriate parameter for monitoring the success of this kind of oxygen therapy.


Biological control activities on 18 (groups of) Caribbean islands are summarized. Many natural enemies were introduced to these islands through Trinidad and Tobago up to 1980. Also, inter-island exchange of biocontrol agents took place. The majority of projects concerned classical biocontrol, while in some cases natural, conservation and augmentation biocontrol were used. Successes were obtained with biocontrol of pests in crops such as arrowroot, citrus, coconut, cotton and sugarcane and of weeds like prickly pear and puncture vine. After 1980, the number of natural enemy introductions decreased, though the region was faced with many invasions by exotic pests, including the citrus leaf miner, citrus blackfly, papaya mealybug, giant African snail, coconut whitefly and pink hibiscus mealybug. Two large region-wide programmes resulted in successful biocontrol of the pink hibiscus mealybug and the papaya mealybug. In addition, biocontrol by a native natural enemy complex was demonstrated for the coconut whitefly and the passion vine mealybug. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Code of Conduct for the Import and Release of Exotic Biological Control Agents has recently been applied in the region. Farmers Field Schools, with the aim to enable farmers to use IPM and become less dependent on chemical pesticides, are being implemented.


A system used to control skin temperature in human subjects wearing water-perfused garments is described, It supplies 8 l/min at 10 psi with water temperature controlled within +/-0.1 degree C. Temperature control is facilitated by a low circulating thermal mass and a fast responding heater based on a commercially available quartz heat lamp. The system is open so that hot or cold water can be added from the building mains to produce rates of change or water temperature exceeding 5 degrees C/min. These capabilities allow semiautomatic control of skin temperature within +/-1 degree C of desired wave forms. Potential hazards and associated safety devices are described.


Differential cross sections for alpha-particle elastic and inelastic scattering on 6Li have been measured in the angular range from 9 degrees to 165 degrees . The elastic differential cross section has been analysed with various models including a phenomenological parametrisation of the nuclear amplitude with its zeros.


Besides well‐known effects of climate and parent material on silicate weathering the role of land use change as a driver in the global silicon cycle is not well known. Changes in vegetation cover have altered reservoirs of silicon and carbon in plants and soils. This has potential consequences for plant‐Si availability, agricultural yields, and coastal eutrophication, as Si is a beneficial element for many crop plants and an essential nutrient for diatom growth. We here examined the role of sustained and intensive land use and human disturbance on silicon (Si) pool distribution in soils with similar climatological and bulk mineralogical characteristics. We show that land use impacts both biogenic and nonbiogenic Si pools. While biogenic Si strongly decreases along the land use change gradient (from forest to croplands), pedogenic silica fractions (e.g. pedogenic clays) increase in topsoils with a long duration of cultivation and soil disturbance. Our results suggest that nonbiogenic Si pools might compensate for the loss of reactive biogenic silicon in temperate zones.


Software engineering (SE) students not only need sufficient technical knowledge and problem solving ability but also social and interpersonal skills in order to be industry ready. To prepare the students for the 'real world' the SE educators frequently use 'Authentic Assessment' and 'Project Based Learning (PBL)' approaches in their curricula. However, the level of 'authenticity' should vary within PBL courses offered in different years of a degree program. In this paper, we present and discuss the results of the data collected and analyzed from the first SE course offered to the students. The aim of our research is to explore how much authenticity can be achieved in the first SE course. Our study was conducted at the University of Calgary with 64 software development project teams, totaling 229 undergraduate students. The data is collected from three semesters (2016-2018) in order to assess and monitor students performance. The course design used seven authentic assessments that focused on students skills while covering a complete software development lifecycle. The results from data analysis show that students made progress in some areas of problem solving skills, however, they struggled in their social skills (e.g. people handling skills, negotiations skills and organizational skills), understanding software quality and adaptability.


This article describes and proposes a model of the force versus elongation behaviour of asymmetrical connections prone to bolt failure when subjected to quasi-static axial load. 14 connections were assembled with one bolt varying the distance from the bolt to the edge of the clamped zone, and 14 connections were assembled with two bolts varying the distance between bolts. Results show that the axial force versus elongation behaviour of the connection is approximately trilinear, that while the connection stiffness is not sensitive to the bolt location in the clamped zone, the plastic elongation of the connection is. The model shows that the stiffness of the asymmetrical connection can be predicted from the stiffness of the connection components assessed by means of spring elements or beam elements, and that the load capacity of the connection can be predicted using the dry friction theory of Coulomb and the shear bolt capacity.


Background Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder characterised by difficulties in social communication, interaction, restrictive/repetitive behaviours, and sensory processing. Co-morbid neurodevelopmental and psychiatric difficulties are common but can be difficult to identify in young people with ASD. Comorbidities have a significant impact on functioning; the importance of identification and treatment cannot be underestimated. One example is conduct problems (CP), which may be linked to underlying callous-unemotional (CU) traits, conceptualised as atypical emotional processing leading to indifference to the suffering of others. CP observed in children can include behaviour dysregulation and violation of the rights of others and social norms. Only one study has explored the link between CU-traits and ASD, finding a positive correlation in an adolescent-only sample. This study looks at children and adolescents with ASD and utilises specific measures of CP to explore the prevalence of CU-traits and their association with identified CP. Methods Questionnaire measures of CU-traits and CP were given to the parents and teachers of 73 children meeting diagnostic criteria for ASD on clinical assessments. These assessments include the Developmental, Dimensional and Diagnostic Interview (3Di) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). Intelligent Quotient (IQ) was also measured. Measures of CU-traits and CP were the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Conduct Disorder Questionnaire, and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Results CU-traits scores were common, normally distributed and unrelated to autism symptom severity and IQ. They were strongly and significantly predictive of CP; a more severe CP indicative of a conduct disorder. These associations between CU-traits and CP persisted when we controlled for confounding variables. Conclusions CU-traits appear to represent a key dimension of variability amongst people with autism, and are highly predictive of CP. Young people with autism, and especially those with co-occurring CP should be assessed for CU-traits in order to enhance clinical formulation.


Objective : The objective of the present study was to evaluate the mechanism of action of the active fraction of Stereospermum tetragonum . Methods: An active fraction was isolated from the water extract (active extract by GTT) using ethanol precipitation. To get insight to the mechanism of action of the active fraction, glucose uptake by isolated rat diaphragm was performed. Further the effect of active fraction on glucose tolerance in fed rats was compared with that of fasted rats. Besides, effect of oral administration of the active fraction was compared with that of intra peritonial administration. The effect of active fraction on serum glucose levels in orally glucose loaded rats was compared with that of intra peritoneal glucose loaded rats. Results: Glucose uptake in the isolated rat hemi-diaphragm, were increased by the active fraction at 40 µg/ml concentrations, the active fraction showed promising anti hyper glycemic activity in fed rats when compared with fasted rats. The active fraction was found to be effective in orally glucose loaded in contrast to intra peritonial route. The result shows that glucose absorbtion from an intestinal tract is inhibited by the active fraction. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that this plant is promising for further studies leading to the development of valuable medicine for diabetes.


AbstractCairo-Paris: The Urban Imaginary of the SelfByMona A. Selim El-SherifDoctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern StudiesProfessor Margaret Larkin, Chair My dissertation Cairo- Paris: the urban imaginary of the Self, examines expressions of Egyptian modernity through the use of the urban experience as a paradigm for it. The dissertation uses the three different genres of the essay, the novel, and film, in order to examine expressions of Egyptian modernity in its urban context. The dissertation is divided into two distinctive parts; part one examines representations of nineteenth century urban culture by focusing on the city imaginary in the works of two major Egyptian intellectuals, while part two examines expressions of urban culture in two recent film productions that focus on Cairo and Paris as terrains for the experience of modernity. Part one traces the emergence of the theme of al- tamaddun; urbanity, in the canon of Arabic literature and explains how it bound modern literary writing to modern citizenship. In analyzing the legacy of the nineteenth century literary expressions of al- tamaddun I aim to explain to the reader a multi- layered, multi-vocal reading of the nineteenth century texts focusing on the intricate relationship between these literary texts and the urban space which inspired them. Both Cairo and Paris appear as real and imaginary terrains around which new cultural aesthetics for modernity were weaved. To analyze expressions of urban culture of the nineteenth century I focus on the two genres of the essay and the novel I explain how urban factors such as circulation of commodities and texts, encounters, and the new culture of time and space which resulted from industrial modernity found expression in the literary works of nineteenth- century Egyptian authors. Whereas the canon of urban literature has been focused on familiar figures such as the flâneur, the gambler, and the blase, such urban types are too Eurocentric in their connotations and occlude essential qualities of the global nature of nineteenth century Paris which became the Mecca of modernity for modernizers from different parts of the world. In the context of Arabic literature the figure of the sheikh emerges as a central narrator of the global space of nineteenth- century Paris. By making use of Benjamin's methodological use of the figures of urban culture, I use the figure of the sheikh to elucidate the most salient cultural themes that resulted from Muhammad Ali's modernization program, which contributed to the Arab cultural renaissance known as al- nahda. Part one concludes by showing how the urban narratives of the modernizing sheikh raised a number of themes that bound discourses of Egyptian modernity to the rhetoric of citizenship in a new urban landscape that is predicated on a new sense of time and space that resulted from the use of technology. The use of technology in media productions has led to significant cultural changes. Whereas in the nineteenth century essays, and novels appeared to be revolutionary media through which modernizers have explicated the experience of modernity, by the end of the nineteenth century film was introduced to Egypt only to become the most popular artistic form of expression. It was film that came to play a central role in articulating the aesthetics of the experience of modernity as it was conceived by the Egyptian modernizers. In part two, I examine the role of Egyptian cinema in performing the intellectual flânerie that began in the nineteenth century and how the recent depictions of Cairo and Paris act as commentaries on the nahda discourse of al-tamaddun.


Recently there have been discussions about which complex metrics should be allowable in quantum gravity. These discussions assumed that the matter fields were real valued. We make the observation that for compactified solutions it makes sense to demand convergence of the theory's path integral in the higher-dimensional parent theory. Upon compactification this allows for more general matter configurations in the lower-dimensional theory, in particular it allows for complex scalar fields, with a bound on their imaginary parts. Similar considerations apply to metric rescalings in the presence of higher curvature corrections. We illustrate this effect with the example of the no--boundary proposal, in which scalar fields are typically required to take complex values. We find that complex no-boundary solutions exist, and satisfy the derived bound, if the potential is sufficiently flat. For instance, for a compactification from $D$ dimensions, the bound on the imaginary part $\textrm{Im}\,(\phi)$ of the internal volume modulus reads $V_{,\phi}/V<\sqrt{\frac{D-4}{D-2}}/3\sqrt{2}.$ This leads to a mild tension with swampland conjectures.


Diel movements of Orange–Vaal smallmouth yellowfish Labeobarbus aeneus (Burchell, 1822) in the Vaal River, South Africa, were determined by externally attaching radio transmitters to 11 adult fish and manually tracking them between March and May 2012. Twenty-four radio telemetry monitoring surveys produced 2 304 diel tracks. At night, yellowfish displayed a preference for slow shallow (<0.3 m s−1, <0.5 m) and fast shallow habitats (>0.3 m s−1, <0.3 m), whereas by day they avoided these habitats, preferring fast deep areas (>0.3 m s−1, >0.3 m). The average total distance of 272 m moved per 24-hour period was three times greater than the diel range, and the average maximum displacement per minute was significantly higher in daytime (4 m) than at night (1.5 m). These findings suggest that L. aeneus is active primarily during the day in fast-flowing, deeper waters, and relatively inactive at night, when it occupies shallower habitats. This behaviour should be further explored to identify causal mechanisms underlying the diel habitat shifts in this species such as water temperature, foraging tactics and/or predator avoidance.


Coalitions among individuals and between groups, which have had critical evolutionary benefits for humans, play an important role in contemporary life. One key element of the processes of assessing potential allies is how they may contribute to the perceived physical formidability - fighting ability or the capacity to inflict costs on others - of the alliance. In three studies, focused for the first time on intergroup coalitions, we investigated how qualities of the groups such as status (social prestige) and the relationship between them influence the perceived physical formidability of a coalition (i.e., European Union, EU). Study 1 found that the inclusion of a group with higher or similar (but not lower) status increased the perceived formidability of the EU. Studies 2 and 3 showed that learning that ingroup members recategorized a low-status group within a common-group identity increased the perceived formidability of the EU including that group, compared with the conditions in which either outgroup members recategorized or no information was provided. Study 3 also revealed mediation by fusion - a visceral connection - with outgroup members, which has been relatively unexplored. Taken together, these studies reveal that both, status and social identity processes, may significantly affect the estimations of coalitional formidability.


Granular computing is an emerging conceptual and computing paradigm of information processing. The basic idea of granular computing is the using of granulars during problem solving. A Tolerance Granular Space Model (TGSM) is proposed by Intelligence Science Laboratory. From the perspective of philosophy, the basic idea of the model is based on the human ability, that is, people can abstract or synthetize the knowledge and data relating with special tasks to different degrees or sizes granules, and accomplish the tasks with the helps of the granules and relations among them. From the perspective of technology and theory, TGSM written as 4-tuple (aS, TR, FG, NTC), consists of four parts: object set system as, tolerance relation system TR, transformation function FG and nested tolerance covering system NTC. The main features of the model focus on the defmition of granules and the problem solving methods with the help of the hierachical and nested structure of tolerance granular spaces. Nonstructured Information comes from audio, video, image which no inherent segmentation in basic semantic units, such as characters, words, and sentences. The information retrieval should make the automatic semantic generation through feature binding. We have proposed a novel computational model, Bayesian Linking Field Model, for feature binding in human perception, by combining the idea of noisy neuron model, Bayesian method, Linking Field Network and competitive mechanism. In this talk we will explore how to apply Tolerance Granular Space Model for nonstructured multimedia information extraction and retrieval, particular focussing on video strams.


Aims: Bagolini striated lenses are a useful test of binocular vision, but the variations in the striations (frequency and thickness) can impact on the perceived image. Also, responses can be difficult to interpret in young children. Therefore, the aims of this project were to evaluate the impact of striation frequency and the addition of coloured filters on subjective responses. Methods: Three sets of striated lenses were made (small, medium and large striations), each produced in two forms (both lenses clear, or with a red and blue lens). Also, Bagolini glasses (Optiker Ryser) were used, with and without the addition of red and blue filters. Subjects were asked to report what they perceived, with subsequent questions regarding the number and length of lines. Results: Forty-two adult subjects were tested, with uniocular VA ranging from –0.18 to 1.10 logMAR (mean 0.08 ± 0.25). The number of lines seen when varying the line thickness did not vary between coloured and clear lenses (post-hoc analysis following ANOVA, p > 0.1 in all comparisons). Adding red/blue filters to the original Bagolini glasses did not alter the rates of subjects perceiving a cross (Chi-square, p = 0.8). However, the laser-cut lenses produced a significantly shorter light streak than the original lenses (One-way ANOVA, p < 0.001), but the colour of the filters made no difference to the length of streak perceived (Tukey's Test, p = 0.20). Conclusions: The addition of coloured filters did not impact on the responses given to the original or laser-cut lenses, suggesting this modification may aid responses in children. However, further evaluation is required with finer striations and thinner lenses to improve the visibility of the lines.


The German Society for Geomorphology (GSG) (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Geomorphologie: DGGM) evolved out of the German Working Group for Geomorphology in 2021, reflecting the widened scope of relevant topics and involved disciplines, the increasing importance for the professional job market and society in general, as well as the increasing importance of international cooperation and global challenges. In this special issue of the GSG we attempt to visualize the breadth in relevant methods and geomorphological subdisciplines, the wide scope of investigated temporal and spatial scales, but also the diversification in terms of career levels and gender equality. The special issue contains 25 research papers and one commentary, incorporating more than 30 German, Austrian, Swiss and other geomorphology groups, all active in the GSG, with co‐authors from virtually all continents. This editorial provides a short historical overview of the GSG's evolution, short paper summaries, a tabular paper overview and a graphical representation of contributing groups and networking, the career level and gender of all authors, relevant topics, methods, as well as temporal and spatial scales.


Essential oil (EO) was extracted using hydrodistillation from samples of Origanum vulgare subspecies hirtum (Link) Ietswaart, gathered from the wild in various parts of Sicily, Italy; GC-FID and GC-MS analyses were subsequently performed. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between essential oil yields and the geographical distribution of oregano wild populations based on variations in environmental factors as collection sites. Moreover, the purpose was to group Origanum vulgare subspecies hirtum biotypes according to the chemical composition of the EO. The seven principal components in the EO was thymol (24.0–54.4%), γ-terpinene (9.8–30.5%), ρ-cymene (5.2–18.7%), α-terpinene (2.7–5.7%), carvacrol (0.3–8.3%), terpinen-4-ol (0.5–9.4%) and trans-sabinene hydrate (0.0–12.8%). All the biotypes analyzed were identified as thymol-chemotype. Statistical analysis shows that essential oil yields are mostly affected by weather/climate and topographic characteristics of the collection sites.


Congenital melanocytic nevi (CMN) are cutaneous malformations whose prevalence is inversely correlated with projected adult size. CMN are caused by somatic mutations, but epidemiological studies suggest that germline genetic factors may influence CMN development. In CMN patients from the U.K., genetic variants in the MC1R gene, such as p.V92M and loss-of-function variants, have been previously associated with larger CMN. We analyzed the association of MC1R variants with CMN characteristics in 113 medium-to-giant CMN patients from Spain and from a distinct cohort of 53 patients from France, Norway, Canada and the U.S. These cohorts were similar at the clinical and phenotypical level, except for the number of nevi per patient. We found that the p.V92M or loss-of-function MC1R variants either alone or in combination did not correlate with CMN size, in contrast to the U.K. CMN patients. An additional case-control analysis with 259 unaffected Spanish individuals, showed a higher frequency of MC1R compound heterozygous or homozygous variant genotypes in Spanish CMN patients compared to the control population (15.9% vs. 9.3%; P=0.075). Altogether, this study suggests that MC1R variants are not associated with CMN size in these non-U.K. cohorts. Additional studies are required to define the potential role of MC1R as a risk factor in CMN development.


National Simultaneous Storytime 2015 is nearly upon us. On 27 May, ALIA estimates around half a million children will be settling down to a good read with this year's book, 'The Brothers Quibble' by Aaron Blabey. In preparation for the big read, INCITE spoke with Aaron about the books and libraries in his life.


&NA; In this article, the authors discuss the rationale for the use of computerized medication algorithms and decision support systems in the treatment of major psychiatric disorders. The field of psychopharmacology has advanced tremendously in the last two decades, with the resulting vast array of new information yielding a marked disparity between actual practice and what is commonly called "best practice." As a remedy, clinical practice guidelines and algorithms have been widely developed. These algorithms are used to disseminate up‐to‐date information, effect change in physician behavior, and reduce untoward variation in care. Review of the literature reveals advantages and limitations in trying to implement these paper and pencil guidelines and algorithms. Available research also suggests that computerized decision support systems have the potential to overcome such limitations, increase the use of treatment guidelines and algorithms, and improve physician adherence to recommended practices. The advantages of computerized medication algorithms and decision support systems are discussed. Finally, the computer platform elements that are necessary to make such systems effective and user‐friendly are described.


Two-dimensional river flow patterns have been measured using a pair of RiverSondes in two experiments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta system of central California during April and October 2007. An experiment was conducted at Walnut Grove, California in order to explore the use of dual RiverSondes to measure flow patterns at a location which is important in the study of juvenile fish migration. The data available during the first experiment were limited by low wind, so a second experiment was conducted at Threemile Slough where wind conditions and surface turbulence historically have resulted in abundant data. Both experiments included ADCP near-surface velocity measurements from either manned or unmanned boats. Both experiments showed good comparisons between the RiverSonde and ADCP measurements. The flow conditions at both locations are dominated by tidal effects, with partial flow reversal at Walnut Grove and complete flow reversal at Threemile Slough. Both systems showed complex flow patterns during the flow reversals. Quantitative comparisons between the RiverSondes and an ADCP on a manned boat at Walnut Grove showed mean differences of 4.5 cm/s in the u (eastward) and 7.6 cm/s in the v (northward) components, and RMS differences of 14.7 cm/s in the u component and 21.0 cm/s in the v component. Quantitative comparisons between the RiverSondes and ADCPs on autonomous survey vessels at Threemile Slough showed mean differences of 0.007 cm/s in the u component and 0.5 cm/s in the v component, and RMS differences of 7.9 cm/s in the u component and 13.5 cm/s in the v component after obvious outliers were removed.


With the increasing use of small, lightweight, powerful and multi-radio devices, and the omnipresence of wireless networks such as WiFi, the pave to ubiquitous computing is gradually emerged and realized. Ubiquitous computing allows users to access their services using any device, anytime, anywhere in a very flexible manner based on the current context. In particularly, services could be started on one device that attaches to one network and later be easily switched to another device connected to another network, commonly known as session mobility. In this paper, we describe our concept of seamless session transfer for real-time application such as VoIP and IPTV, and our prototype implementation of such concept using both WiFi and Bluetooth approaches, with qualitative and quantitative performance comparison.


Plasma gonadotropins were measured in 126 postmenopausal women (age range 69-90 years) admitted to a geriatric ward. After clinical examination, patients were classified as 'acutely or severely ill' or as 'not ill'. Plasma gonadotropins were compared between both groups. Logistic regression was used to select clinical and/or biochemical parameters which differentiated patients with abnormal, low gonadotropins from patients with high gonadotropin concentrations. Plasma gonadotropins were significantly lower in the 'acutely or severely ill' than in the 'healthy' patient group. By logistic regression, blood sedimentation rate, total protein concentration, and serum thyrotropin concentration were significantly correlated with low gonadotropins. Linear regression analysis showed a significant linear relationship between plasma gonadotropins and age (at least for ages over 80 years), blood sedimentation rate (at values more than 65 mm) and total protein concentration. Marked suppression of plasma gonadotropins was frequently found to occur in acutely ill postmenopausal women, in relation to biochemical parameters of acute illness such as blood sedimentation rate, total protein concentration, and serum thyrotropin. In addition, ageing per se seems characterized by a progressive attenuation of the high postmenopausal gonadotropin levels.


Abstract. Annually laminated speleothems allow the reconstruction of paleoclimate down to a seasonal scale. In this study, an annually laminated stalagmite from the Han-sur-Lesse Cave (Belgium) is used to study the expression of the seasonal cycle in northwestern Europe during the Little Ice Age. More specifically, two historical 12-year-long growth periods (ca. 1593–1605 CE and 1635–1646 CE) and one modern growth period (1960–2010 CE) are analysed on a sub-annual scale for their stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) and trace element (Mg, Sr, Ba, Zn, Y, Pb, U) content. Seasonal variability in the proxies is confirmed with frequency analysis. Zn, Y and Pb show distinct annual peaks in all three investigated periods related to annual flushing of the soil during winter. A strong seasonal in phase relationship between Mg, Sr and Ba in the modern growth period reflects a substantial influence of prior calcite precipitation (PCP). In particular, PCP occurs during summers when recharge of the epikarst is low. This is also evidenced by earlier observations of increased δ13C values during summer. In the 17th century intervals, there is a distinct antiphase relationship between Mg, Sr and Ba, suggesting that varying degrees of incongruent dissolution of dolomite control the observed seasonal variations. The processes controlling seasonal variations in Mg, Sr and Ba in the speleothem appear to change between the 17th century and 1960–2010 CE. The Zn, Y, Pb and U concentration profiles, stable isotope ratios and morphology of the speleothem laminae all point towards increased seasonal amplitude in cave hydrology and higher drip water discharge during the 17th century. These observations reflect an increase in water excess above the cave and recharge of the epikarst, due to a combination of lower summer temperatures and increased winter precipitation during the 17th century. This study indicates that the transfer function controlling Mg, Sr and Ba seasonal variability varies over time. Which process is dominant, either PCP or dolomite dissolution, is clearly climate-driven and can thus be used as a paleoclimate proxy itself.


Microalgae contain a variety of bioactive lipids with potential applications in aquaculture feed, biofuel, food and pharmaceutical industries. While microalgae-derived polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and their roles in promoting human health have been extensively studied, other lipid types from this resource, such as phytosterols, have been poorly explored. Phytosterols have been used as additives in many food products such as spread, dairy products and salad dressing. This review focuses on the recent advances in microalgae-derived phytosterols with functional bioactivities and their potential applications in functional food and pharmaceutical industries. It highlights the importance of microalgae-derived lipids other than PUFA for the development of an advanced microalgae industry.


Balanced and coordinated antioxidant defence enzyme activities are of utmost importance for correct physiological function and for shielding against unwelcome pathological conditions. We determined the activities of copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), catalase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in erythrocytes isolated from patients receiving different therapy (streptokinase alone or in combination with metoprolol or with carvedilol) for up to 168 hr after starting treatment for acute myocardial infarction. We observed increased CuZnSOD activity in erythrocytes isolated from patients treated with streptokinase-carvedilol (after 6, 24 and 168 hr) and in erythrocytes isolated from patients treated with streptokinase-metoprolol (after 24 hr). In addition, positive correlation between CuZnSOD and catalase activities was found in erythrocytes isolated from patients that received streptokinase-carvedilol after 168 hr. As metoprolol does not react directly with hydrogen peroxide, it would appear that combined streptokinase-metoprolol therapy exerted its effects primarily via by beta-blockade whereas combined streptokinase-carvedilol therapy appeared to function via both beta-blockade and direct antioxidant mechanisms.


Background The goal of this observational study was to examine the effect of common chronic medical conditions (CMCs) on long-term disability (activity limitation) in veterans already diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Material/Methods We retrospectively reviewed the electronic charts of 124 veterans with MS who have been regularly followed in our MS clinic for 10 or more years. General linear model analysis examined whether MS-related severity as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the presence of CMCs affected long-term disability as measured by the total score on the Functional Independence Measure (TFIM). Results Commonly encountered CMCs were increased BMI (61%), hyperlipidemia (78%), hypertension (65%), current smokers (47%), and arthritis/arthralgia (24%). Results suggest that the number of CMCs was not predictive of final TFIM scores; of the variables examined, only initial EDSS score was predictive of final TFIM scores. Conclusions The presence of CMCs did not affect the long-term disability in veterans diagnosed with MS, this was due mainly to CMCs being closely monitored and co-treated with other medical specialties.


By solving a self-consistent equation for the d-wave superconducting gap and the magnetization, and applying an extended Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk approach, we study the spin-polarized quasiparticle transport coefficients and the differential conductance in ferromagnetic semiconductor/ferromagnetic d-wave superconductor junction. It is shown that (1) the exchange energy h 0 in the ferromagnetic d-wave superconductor may make the zero-bias conductance peak and energy gap peak split into two peaks, and the energy difference between the two splitting peaks is equal to 2 h 0 ; (2) the exchange energy  h FS in the ferromagnetic semiconductor can decrease the height of the two peaks resulting from splitting of the zero-bias conductance peak. For the splitting of the energy gap conductance peak, however, with h FS increased the left-hand peak is lowered and the right-hand peak is raised in the parallel configuration, but the left-hand peak is raised and the right-hand peak is lowered in the antiparallel configuration.


In this Academy of Management Collections essay, we curate a set of articles from the Academy of Management family of journals that showcase the evolution of creativity research within organizational scholarship. The articles reveal a shift from the study of creativity exclusively as an outcome to the broader study of the dynamics of "creative work"—efforts to achieve creativity, whether successful or not. The former—creativity as an outcome—represents the critical early, foundational work that legitimized the study of creativity in organizations, brought needed methodological innovations, and established definitional anchors. Our collection provides evidence of an expansion toward the latter—the dynamics of creative work—in recent years. Over time, researchers have focused more on process and relationships, discovering a dynamic interplay. The collected articles are selected not to be exhaustive but to provoke further theoretical and empirical scholarship on creative work as an inclusive umbrella, ideally leading to a broader, more nuanced understanding of the conditions under which varied creative work processes and the outcomes of those processes emerge.


This work deals with the homogenization of heat transfer nonlinear parabolic problem in a periodic composite medium consisting in two-component (fluid/solid). This problem presents some difficulties due to the presence of a nonlinear Neumann condition modeling a radiative heat transfer on the interface between the two parts of the medium and to the fact that the problem is strongly coupled. In order to justify rigorously the homogenization process, we use two scale convergence. For this, we show first the existence and uniqueness of the homogenization problem by topological degree of Leray-Schauder, Then we establish the two scale convergence, and identify the limit problems.


The recent development of wireless communications has prompted many diversified applications in both industrial and medical sectors. Zigbee is a short-range wireless communication standard that is based on IEEE 802.15.4 and is vastly used in both indoor and outdoor applications. Its performance depends on networking parameters, such as baud rates, transmission power, data encryption, hopping, deployment environment, and transmission distances. For optimized network deployment, an extensive performance analysis is necessary. This would facilitate a clear understanding of the trade-offs of the network performance metrics, such as the packet delivery ratio (PDR), power consumption, network life, link quality, latency, and throughput. This work presents an extensive performance analysis of both the encrypted and unencrypted Zigbee with the stated metrics in a real-world testbed, deployed in both indoor and outdoor scenarios. The major contributions of this work include (i) evaluating the most optimized transmission power level of Zigbee, considering packet delivery ratio and network lifetime; (ii) formulating an algorithm to find the network lifetime from the measured current consumption of packet transmission; and (iii) identifying and quantizing the trade-offs of the multi-hop communication and data encryption with latency, transmission range, and throughput.


Mice deficient in the runt homology domain transcription factor Runx1/AML1 fail to generate functional clonogenic hematopoietic cells and die in utero by embryonic day 12.5. We previously generated Runx1 reversible knockout mice, in which the Runx1 locus can be restored by Cre‐mediated recombination. We show here that selective restoration of the Runx1 locus in the Tie2 cell compartment rescues clonogenic hematopoietic progenitors in early Runx1‐null embryos and rescues lymphoid and myeloid lineages during fetal development. Furthermore, fetal liver cells isolated from reactivated Runx1 embryos are capable of long‐term multilineage lymphomyeloid reconstitution of adult irradiated recipients, demonstrating the rescue of definitive hematopoietic stem cells. However, this rescue of the definitive hematopoietic hierarchy is not sufficient to rescue the viability of animals beyond birth, pointing to an essential role for Runx1 in other vital developmental processes. STEM CELLS 2009;27:1616–1624


Conventional wisdom might lead us to conclude that the various disciplines involved in product development and management are often at cross-purposes. For example, practitioners from R&D and engineering have been known to suggest that marketing fails to understand the technical trade-offs involved in product management decisions. Conversely, marketing professionals sometimes complain that their technology-oriented colleagues pursue product development initiatives without adequate market awareness. And practitioners from both sides of this debate have asserted that research on new product development tends to be of the ivory tower variety, with little or no relevance for industry. Are such complaints valid? Perhaps it is time for a reality check. By searching academic literature on product development, Roger J. Calantone, C. Anthony Di Benedetto, and Ted Haggblom have compiled a list of 40 fundamental principles of new product development. This list forms the basis for a survey of new product practitioners from marketing and technical disciplines. The study provides a means for assessing whether practitioners agree with the fundamental principles of new product development that are identified in current academic literature. By obtaining responses from both marketing and technical professionals, the survey also sheds light on whether those two groups hold fundamentally different beliefs regarding new product development. The survey results reveal strong overall agreement among practitioners regarding these fundamental principles of new product management. Managers believe that 80% of the principles are either usually or almost always true. In other words, the survey results support the idea that the academic community is pursuing research issues that are relevant to practitioners, and that they are reaching valid conclusions. There are only a few cases in which the responses from the technical and marketing practitioners differ. Those disagreements probably result from differences in the basic orientations of the two groups. For example, it is not surprising that marketing managers would be more likely to agree that product users and the marketplace form the most important source for new product ideas, while technical managers more strongly support the idea that radically new technologies constitute an important source of new product ideas. The respondents noted overall disagreement with only a few of the 40 principles. In many of these cases, the academic literature has reached mixed conclusions. In other words, these principles might actually be oversimplifications, and further research is probably needed before we can fully understand the issues involved.


This research reviews the factors affecting the pricing or rate schedules of home health care agencies. A large number of factors affect costs and thus rate structures. The major factors include reimbursement structures with accompanying discount structures, administrative burdens, and risks. Channel issues include bargaining power, competition, and size. Staffing issues affect pricing and product through the provider level, productivity, and quality outcomes. Physician and patient issues include quality concerns and choices. These factors are discussed in light of overall marketing strategy and the interaction of pricing with other marketing controllables such as product, place/distribution, and promotion. Economic and accounting principles are also reviewed with consideration to understanding direct and indirect costs in order to enable negotiators to effectively price health care services.


The authors propose a Cholesky factorization scheme based on a static task and communication schedule generated by symbolic preprocessing of the intercolumn dependencies. This information is used to reduce the overheads of maintaining data structures and the communication costs incurred in message passing during the numerical factorization step. The authors introduce three primitives which encapsulate these optimizations and alleviate the user's programming effort. Performance results obtained on the iPSC/860 show that an implementation using these primitives results in 30% to 40% savings over one that does not use any static communication structure information.<<ETX>>


Tanjung Anom District of Mauk is a coastal area in the south of Banten whose location is classified as vulnerable to natural disasters requiring tsunami disaster mitigation efforts from the local community. This does not conform with the reality on the ground. The public has not been aware of the importance of disaster mitigation in the area. Based on data from the local region, the majority of the population is children attending school, but the school in the village of Tanjung Anom, District of Mauk has not received any disaster education program. The majority of young children do not understand what to perform in case of disaster due to the lack of education on disaster mitigation in which it should be a particular concern both for the agency and the government. Based on the importance of improving understanding of the disaster and Disaster Mitigation Education, it is implied that those should be taught to children from an early age. Community service through the action of "Disaster Preparedness Education" was done to the students at SDN Tanjung Anom, amounting to 180 students. The program provided to include the provision of materials relating to the disaster, disaster mitigation, field or simulations as well as to facilitate collaboration among stakeholders to introduce the students in order to be aware and understand about the potential of natural disasters that may occur and the occurrence of natural disasters and obtain the knowledge in relation to the action during Pre-disaster, emergency responses and post-disaster. Disaster preparedness educational materials and a small simulation have been completed so as to improve student preparedness in the event of the disaster from the practice to overcome disasters.


We report a rare case of a bilaterally blind, 33-year-old male, who presented with rapidly progressive, painless swelling in the right orbit for two months, in the absence of ocular trauma. Suspecting an intraocular neoplasm, a contrast-enhanced MRI (CE-MRI) orbit was performed, which was suggestive of a right-sided superomedial eccentric soft-tissue lesion with bilateral rudimentary globes associated with cyst, hypoplastic optic nerves, and focal areas of calcification. Diffusion-weighted MRI demonstrated diffusion restriction and yielded an indeterminate value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). A right enucleation with excision of the cyst was performed. Histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a right-sided massive retinal gliosis (MRG) with bilateral microphthalmia with cyst. This case demonstrates the role of a detailed histopathological analysis along with immunohistochemistry (IHC) in differentiating MRG from a neoplasm.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the different fractions of the time used in on-demand medical consultations and their possible association with certain indicators of attendance.

DESIGN
A descriptive, observational study.

SETTING
An urban health centre.

PARTICIPANTS
Patients who attended with a prior appointment for on-demand consultations with one of the Health Centre's family doctors between 27th September and 29th November, 1993.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS
An observer with a chronometer measured the different fractions of time in 263 interviews. The 50% of the interview time was taken up by bureaucratic and recording activities; and the other 50% by doctor-patient communication and investigation. Bureaucratic recording time (prescriptions, sick-notes...) makes up 72% of total recording time, while the remaining 28% is for the writing-up of the clinical notes. Times for initial listening (23%), questioning (23%), investigation (21%) and information-education (26%) correlate positively among themselves. The average time dedicated to writing the clinical notes was significantly greater when the total consulting time was 3 to 4 hours than when it was 2 to 3 hours (p = 0.04). The average time dedicated to writing prescriptions was greater when the total number of patients per day was over 20 (p = 0.005); while the average time spent listening to the patient was greater when 21 to 25 patients per day were seen than when the figure was 10 to 20 or 26 to 29 patients per day.

CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for certain organisational changes in consultations or some kind of bureaucratic-administrative support, if the fraction of interview time dedicated to doctor-patient communication is to be increased.


Objective To explore the feasibility of myomectomy during cesarean section in pregnancy complicated with hysteromyoma.Methods 78 pregnancies complicated with hysteromyoma were selected as observation group.96 pregnancies receiving cesarean section were selected as control group.The average blood loss,incidences of postpartum infection,postpartum hemorrhage and hosp italization time were compared.Results There was no difference in the average blood loss,incidences of postpartum infection and postpartum hemorrhage,hospitalization time between two groups(P0.05),but there was significant difference average operation time between two groups(P0.05).Conclusion Myomectomy during cesarean section is safe and feasible in the premise of appropriate cases and proper surgical approach.The obstetrician should according to patients with specific situations choose profile palace art also do myomectomy.


This paper offers a new consideration of the "body domestic" and the "body politic" in educational issues. It proposes that these entities be developed as complementary, rather than oppositional, theoretical categories to explain the historical development of, and contemporary issues in, family and consumer sciences (home economics). The text claims that the familial and the political can be conceptualized as systems that maintain a constant interdependent relationship to each other, thus opening up possibilities for consistent comparisons. It draws on Greek mythology to elaborate these possibilities. Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, is used as a feminist paradigm to examine how best to frame education for the familial/domestic sphere, whereas Hermes represents the male-dominated public space and thus signifies the political/civic sphere. The hestian/hermean paradigm describes two spatially differentiated and psycho-socially construdted domains that support dual systems of action that serve different purposes. The dual mythogems personify enduring aspects of the human condition and avoid such usages as "women's work" and "men's work," or describing caring tasks as feminine and controlling tactics as masculine. The mythogem also resolves the inherent tension in home economics that is due to it being a male-driven social science that centers on domestic life and the rubric of caring. (Contains 84 references.) (RJM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY


. The paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marketing. The main purpose of the research is to analyze how COVID-19 has affected the critical messaging strategies in the Saudi food industry. Systematization of scientific background on the investigated issue indicated that pandemics and epidemics significantly impact business processes, including marketing activities. The motivation behind this study is derived from several observations on how companies have adapted their business goals to contribute to tackling the impact of COVID-19. With changes in consumers' behavior, companies had to readjust their strategies to address the anticipated short- and long-term changes in market dynamics. The research aims to reveal trends in marketing communication in the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 eras. Therefore, the process of investigation of the topic in the paper is carried out using quantitative approaches. The article specifically focuses on the objectives such as 1) establishing how Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation interacted with their customer before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; 2) uncovering changes in social media messaging strategies used by Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation. Specifically, online survey on three major companies in Saudi Arabia, Shawarmer SA, Maestro Pizza, and Hungerstation. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of data from each of the above company's Twitter pages, which showed that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed how companies interact with their customers. Therefore, the author sought to identify the appropriate strategies adopted by the three major players in the Saudi food industry, Maestro Pizza, Hunger Station, and Shawarmer, to interact with customers. The research empirically confirmed and theoretically proved that messaging is a crucial aspect of marketing. The results of the study can be helpful in the development of customer-oriented marketing strategies.


Replacing fossil jet fuel with biojet fuel is an important step towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from aviation. To this end, Sweden has adopted a GHG mandate on jet fuel, complementing those on petrol and diesel. The GHG mandate on jet fuel requires a gradual reduction in the fuel's GHG emissions to up to 27% by 2030. This paper estimates the potential production of biojet fuel in Sweden for six integrated production pathways and analyzes what they entail with regard to net biomass input and the amount of hydrogen required for upgrading to fuel quality. Integrated production of biofuel intermediates from forestry residues and by-products at combined heat and power plants as well as at the forest industry, followed by upgrading to biojet fuel and other transportation fuels at a petroleum refinery, was assumed in all the pathways. The potential output of bio-based transportation fuels was estimated to 90 PJ/y, including 22 PJ/y of biojet fuel. The results indicate that it will be possible to meet the Swedish GHG mandate for jet fuel for 2030, although it will be difficult to simultaneously achieve the GHG mandates for road transportation fuels. This highlights the importance of pursuing complementary strategies for bio-based fuels.


Background: Covid-19 disease is a Wuhan, China originated acute viral respiratory illness. Even though the development of numerous vaccines, the threat of the Covid-19 virus endures nearly two years after the outbreak. The new mutant strain omicron has now spread to several countries. As a result, newer antiviral therapy is required to overcome this scenario. Objective: This study is aimed at phytocomponents in the Siddha formulation, Vishasura Kudineer (VSK), it is widely used to manage fever and respiratory ailments and may be effective in combating the ongoing pandemic of novel coronavirus disease. Methodology: The principal protease 3CLpro of this new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is a possible focus for therapeutic development since it plays a major part in disease transmission. Molecular docking investigation for all active Phytocomponents found in the Siddha formulation Vishasura Kudineer with possible targets was carried in the major Protease of SARS-CoV-2 (PDB ID:6LU7). AutoDockTools was used to design and optimize the ligand structures. Results: Molecular docking of the 9 bioactive phytocomponents as Santalic acids (-6.39), Nimbolide (-6.38), Rutin, Aristolochic acid (-6.95), Glabridin (-7.53), Indirubin (-7.23), Sabinene (-5.36), β-vetivenene (-6.79), and Zingiberene (-6.47) from in the Siddha sastric formulation, Vishasura Kudineer performed on the SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease protein's active site (PDB ID: 6LU7). These phytochemicals had significant molecular interaction with the active residues, indicating their distinct inhibitory potencies. Conclusion: Whether this Siddha formulation could be used to effectively treat and manage COVID-19 and its variants, further research and clinical studies need to be done.


The late Miocene is marked by pronounced environmental changes and the appearance of strong temperature and precipitation seasonality. Although environmental heterogeneity is to be expected during this time, it is challenging to reconstruct palaeoenvironments using plant fossils. We investigated leaves and dispersed spores/pollen from 6.4–6 Ma strata in the intermontane Florina-Ptolemais-Servia Basin (FPS) of NW Greece. To assess how well plant fossils reflect the actual vegetation of the FPS, we assigned fossil-taxa to biomes providing a measure for environmental heterogeneity. Additionally, the palynological assemblage was compared to pollen spectra from modern lake sediments to assess biases in spore/pollen representation in the pollen record. We found a close match of the Vegora assemblage with modern Fagus–Abies forests of Turkey. Using taxonomic affinities of leaf fossils, we further established close similarities of the Vegora assemblage with modern laurophyllous oak forests of Afghanistan. Finally, using information from sedimentary environment and taphonomy, we distinguished local and distantly growing vegetation types. We then subjected the plant assemblage of Vegora to different methods of climate reconstruction and discussed their potentials and limitations. Leaf and spore/pollen records allow accurate reconstructions of palaeoenvironments in the FPS, whereas extra-regional vegetation from coastal lowlands is likely not captured.


Protoplasts were isolated from embryogenic calluses of Muscari armeniacum 'Blue Pearl', which had been subcultured for 3 years. Protoplasts started to divide after 5–7 days of culture, and colonies consisting of 50–100 cells were produced after one month. The highest plating efficiency (10.9%) was obtained by using a medium containing 5.4 mM NAA and 4.4 mM BA, 0.5 M glucose and 2 g l 1 gellan gum. Protoplast-derived calluses produced somatic embryos at frequencies of 4.3–89.6% on media containing 0 or 0.54 mM NAA in combination with 0, 4.4, 22 or 44 mM BA, but few embryos converted into plantlets. On the other hand, over 35% of the calluses produced adventitious shoots on media containing 4.4 mM BA or 0.54 mM NAA in combination with 44 mM BA, and some of these shoots developed into plantlets following transfer to a medium without PGRs.


Abstract This paper presents a multi-degrees-of-freedom non-linear multibody dynamic model of a three-axle heavy commercial vehicle tractor unit, comprising a subchassis, front and rear leaf spring suspensions, steering system, and ten wheels/tyres, with a semi-trailer comprising two axles and eight wheels/tyres. The investigation is mainly concerned with the rollover stability of the articulated vehicle. The models incorporate all sources of compliance, stiffness, and damping, all with non-linear characteristics, and are constructed and simulated using automatic dynamic analysis of mechanical systems formulation. A constant radius turn test and a single lane change test (according to the ISO Standard) are simulated. The constant radius turn test shows the understeer behaviour of the vehicle, and the single lane change manoeuvre was conducted to show the transient behaviour of the vehicle. Non-stable roll and yaw behaviour of the vehicle is predicted at test speeds >90 km/h. Rollover stability of the vehicle is also investigated using a constant radius turn test with increasing speed. The articulated laden vehicle model predicted increased understeer behaviour, due to higher load acting on the wheels of the middle and rear axles of the tractor and the influence of the semi-trailer, as shown by the reduced yaw rate and the steering angle variation during the constant radius turn. The rollover test predicted a critical lateral acceleration value where complete rollover occurs. Unstable behaviour of the articulated vehicle is also predicted in the single lane change manoeuvre.


Type 1 disordered eating (T1DE), also referred to as diabulimia, is a serious eating disorder that can occur in children and young people with type 1 diabetes when they deliberately reduce or restrict their insulin doses to lose weight. It is highly dangerous and can cause serious short-term conditions such as diabetic ketoacidosis, as well as various long-term comorbidities. T1DE is challenging to identify, and diagnosis is based on a range of emotional, behavioural and physical signs and symptoms. There is also a lack of research on how to support children and young people with the condition. This article aims to increase awareness of T1DE among children's nurses and to explain the role of the multidisciplinary team in diagnosis and treatment. It outlines the pathophysiology and signs and symptoms of T1DE and discusses how healthcare professionals, including nurses, can support children and young people with the condition.


Zhang Y J et al. [Zhang Y J, Zhang Z D, Zhu L Z and Xuan L 2011 Liquid Cryst. 38 355] investigated the effects of finite polar anchoring on the azimuthal anchoring energy at a grooved interface, in which polar anchoring was isotropic in the local tangent plane of the surface. In this paper, we investigate the effects of both isotropic and anisotropic polar anchoring on the surface anchoring energy in the frame of Fukuda et al.'s theory. The results show that anisotropic polar anchoring strengthens the azimuthal anchoring of grooved surfaces. In the one-elastic-constant approximation (K11 = K22 = K33 = K), the surface-groove-induced azimuthal anchoring energy is entirely consistent with the result of Faetti, and it reduces to the original result of Berreman with an increase in polar anchoring. Moreover, the contribution of the surface-like elastic term to the Rapini-Papoular anchoring energy is zero.


Although almost every discussion of state responsibility begins with its talismanic invocation, time has not been kind to the Trail Smelter arbitration. Its primary contributions to international law have been the statement that: no State has the right to use or permit the use of its territory in such a manner as to cause [environmental] injury . . . in or to the territory of another, and its requirement that Canada pay the United States compensation for damages. While these Trail Smelter principles have become customary international environmental law, the arbitration itself is often viewed as a quaint remnant of a bygone world. Many scholars view Trail Smelter's marginalization as inevitable in light of international law's evolution from a state-to-state realm to one of multi-lateral, consensus-based actions. Others have suggested that the arbitration's impact is blunted by the fact that harm was not contested before the Arbitral Tribunal. This unique combination of characteristics leads many to conclude that Trail Smelter has little relevance for resolving the thorny transboundary environmental challenges that beset our ever-globalizing world. I think the case has much to teach modern international environmental law, but for somewhat unconventional reasons. This chapter explores one of the arbitration's least considered facets - the decisional process itself. Hampered by a lack of scientific evidence, the Trail Smelter Tribunal crafted an adaptive decisional structure in order to fulfill its charge to be just to all parties while resolving a conflict over pollution flowing across the Canadian border and causing harm in Washington State. The Tribunal's innovative and far-reaching solution, which I am calling (semi)precautionary, was to craft an interim regime from the available but incomplete information, with a clear understanding that the interim period would be used to develop more information. The newly-developed information was then used to create a permanent regime designed to minimize harms while permitting the smelter to continue operations. This structure - using preliminary measures to prevent harm while information sufficient to create a permanent regime fair to all parties is developed - is the Trail Smelter arbitration's (semi)precautionary legacy. Regardless of the critiques of the arbitration's holdings or its normative relevance, this (semi)precautionary legacy resonates profoundly in modern international environmental law. For example, this early case presaged much of the contemporary debate about appropriate regulation, like that surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Viewing this controversy through Trail Smelter's (semi)precautionary lens might reveal an appropriate middle ground between the competing claims for regulatory legitimacy made by advocates and opponents of the precautionary principle.


[formula: see text] A chiral pyridine-bis(oxazoline) ligand, functionalized with a vinyl group in the pyridine ring, can be polymerized with styrene and divinylbenzene to obtain supported chiral ligands. As proof of the usefulness of this supported ligands, the corresponding ruthenium complexes are catalysts for the cyclopropanation reaction of styrene with ethyl diazoacetate with up to 85% ee.