Three-dimensional (3D) flexible foams consisting of reduced graphene oxides (rGO) and in situ grown SiC nanowires (NWs) were prepared using freeze-drying and carbothermal reduction processes. By means of incorporating SiC nanowires into rGO foams, both the thermostability and electromagnetic absorption of the composites were improved. It was demonstrated that rGO/SiC NW foams were thermostable beyond ∼630 °C (90% weight retention in air atmosphere). As expected, rGO/SiC NW foams in the poly(dimethylsiloxane) matrix achieved effective absorption in the entire X-band (8.2-12.4 GHz) with a thinner thickness (3 mm) in comparison with those of the pure rGO foams. It is revealed that SiC nanowires with abundant stacking faults, twinning interfaces, and bridged junctions play an important role in the enhanced electromagnetic absorption performance, in addition to the contribution of interconnected graphene networks. Hierarchical rGO/SiC NW foams not only are efficient absorbers in the critical environments but also can be applied in photocatalytic and thermal-management fields.


BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Helicobacter pylori (HP) is the important pathogen of chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer. HP infection is closely associated with extragastrointestinal disease of human and animals. This study was designed to investigate the effect of HP on hepatocarcinoma HepG2 cells.

METHODS
HepG2 cells was cocultured with cagA (+) HP and cagA(-) HP at different concentrations. Then the cell morphology, DNA fragments electrophoresis, transmission electron microscopy, MTT method, and enzyme assays were used to observe the effect of HP on the morphology, growth rate, and enzyme change of HepG2 cells.

RESULTS
(1) With the increasing concentrations of cagA (+) HP and prolongation of culture time, the morphology of HepG2 cells was changed from spindle shape to round; the ability of HepG2 cells adhering to wall were decreased; the ability of HepG2 cells in suspension were increased; and debris emitted around the cells; (2) With the increasing concentrations of cagA (+) HP, DNA ladder occurred; (3) With the increasing concentrations of cagA (+) HP and prolongation of culture time, the nuclei of HepG2 cells showed chromatin pyknosis, and clustered on the inner border of karyotheca, condensed cytoplasm with many vacuoles; (4) The MTT values of HepG2 cells were decreased with the increasing concentration of cagA(+) HP (P< 0.01); (5)The values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in coculture supernatants of cagA (+) Hp and HepG2 were increased (P< 0.01); (6) No influence of cagA (-) Hp on HepG2 was found.

CONCLUSIONS
cagA (+) Hp has in vitro cytotoxicity on HepG2 cells, and the cytotoxicity is positively related to the concentration and culture time of cagA(+) HP.


Infection of normal mice by the intestinal protozoan Giardia muris is self-limited and is followed by resistance to subsequent reinfection (1, 2). Similar observations have been made in G. lamblia infection in limited studies in human volunteers (3). The nature and mechanism of this parasite elimination are, however, unclear. Immune mechanisms may be suspected in human infection with G. lamblia because of the high prevalence of chronic giardiasis in persons with variable immune deficiency syndrome (4). Congenitally hypothymic (nude, nu/nu) mice provide a useful model to test the contribution of thymus-dependent immune mechanisms in resolution of this protozoan infection. We have previously described the natural history of G. muris infection in mice (1). The infection can be measured by counting trophozoites in small intestine and cysts in feces; peak fecal cyst excretion occurs 1 to 2 weeks after oral inoculation of cysts in CF-1 outbred mice and in A/J and BALB/c inbred strains followed consistently by resolution of infection in 4 to 7 weeks (1, 2).


Understanding, modeling, and predicting student performance in higher education poses significant challenges concerning the design of accurate and robust diagnostic models. While numerous studies attempted to develop intelligent classifiers for anticipating student achievement, they overlooked the importance of identifying the key factors that lead to the achieved performance. Such identification is essential to empower program leaders to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of their academic programs, and thereby take the necessary corrective interventions to ameliorate student achievements. To this end, our paper contributes, firstly, a hybrid regression model that optimizes the prediction accuracy of student academic performance, measured as future grades in different courses, and, secondly, an optimized multi-label classifier that predicts the qualitative values for the influence of various factors associated with the obtained student performance. The prediction of student performance is produced by combining three dynamically weighted techniques, namely collaborative filtering, fuzzy set rules, and Lasso linear regression. However, the multi-label prediction of the influential factors is generated using an optimized self-organizing map. We empirically investigate and demonstrate the effectiveness of our entire approach on seven publicly available and varying datasets. The experimental results show considerable improvements compared to single baseline models (e.g. linear regression, matrix factorization), demonstrating the practicality of the proposed approach in pinpointing multiple factors impacting student performance. As future works, this research emphasizes the need to predict the student attainment of learning outcomes.


Methoxyfenozide and novaluron was sprayed on Aster scaber during cultivation period. Samples were collected 7 times in 0-10 days after spraying. Both methoxyfenozide and novaluron were extracted with methanol, partitioned with dichloromethane and analyzed by HPLC. At the fortified level of 0.4 and , average recovery of methoxyfenozide were and , and novaluron were and , respectively. Biological half-life of methoxyfenozide was 3.99 days and novaluron which was 3.16 days at recommended spray level on cultivation period of the plant. The major reducing factor of novaluron was the increased weight of the plant. In case of application of methoxyfenozide and novaluron following pesticide guide line for safe use, the final residue level was calculated to lower than maximum residue level (MRL).


Background. Despite the fact that social participation is considered a pivotal outcome of a successful recovery after stroke, there has been little attention on the impact of activities and services on this important domain. Objective. To present a systematic review and meta-analysis from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of rehabilitation interventions on social participation after stroke. Methods. A total of 8 electronic databases were searched for relevant RCTs that evaluated the effects of an intervention on the outcome of social participation after stroke. Reference lists of selected articles were hand searched to identify further relevant studies. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database Scale. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using fixed- and random-effect models. Results. In all, 24 RCTs involving 2042 stroke survivors were identified and reviewed, and 21 were included in the meta-analysis. There was a small beneficial effect of interventions that utilized exercise on social participation (10 studies; SMD = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.09, 0.78; P = .01) immediately after the program ended. Exercise in combination with other interventions (13 studies; SMD = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.10, 0.58; P = .006) also resulted in beneficial effects. No significant effect was observed for interventions that involved support services over 9 studies (SMD = 0.09 [95% CI = −0.04, 0.21]; I2 = 0%; P = .16). Conclusions. The included studies provide evidence that rehabilitation interventions may be effective in improving social participation after stroke, especially if exercise is one of the components.


Climate simulations, using models with different levels of complexity, indicate that the north‐south position of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) responds to changes in interhemispheric temperature contrast. Paleoclimate data on a variety of timescales suggest a similar behavior, with southward displacements of the ITCZ and associated changes in tropical atmospheric circulation during cold periods in the Northern Hemisphere. To identify a mechanism by which ITCZ displacements can be forced from the extratropics, we use a climate model with idealized geography and a simple slab ocean. We cool the northern extratropics and warm the southern extratropics to represent the asymmetric temperature changes associated with glacial‐interglacial and millennial‐scale climate variability. A southward shift in the ITCZ occurs, along with changes in the trade winds and an asymmetric response of the Hadley circulation. Changes in atmospheric heat exchange between the tropics and midlatitudes are the likely cause of this response, suggesting that this mechanism may play an important role in ITCZ displacements on timescales from decadal to glacial‐interglacial.


An advanced scalable Cu damascene process was developed using self-assembled porous silica with tetramethylcyclo-tetrasiloxane (TMCTS) treatment and selective electroless plating of Cu barrier. It is found that the TMCTS vapor treatment could recover process-induced damages after plasma ashing and chemical mechanical polishing, resulting in no line-width dependence of the effective dielectric constant of the porous silica films. Furthermore, the selective electroplating of CoWP on Cu interconnects could suppress Cu drift and improve time-dependent dielectric breakdown of the porous silica film


Standard models of moral hazard predict a negative relationship between risk and incentives; however, empirical studies on mutual funds present mixed results. In this article, we propose a behavioral principal-agent model in the context of professional managers, focusing on active and passive investment strategies. Using this general framework, we evaluate how incentives affect the risk-taking behavior of managers, considering the standard moral hazard model as a special case, and solve the previous contradiction. Empirical evidence, based on a comprehensive world sample of 4584 mutual funds, gives support to our theoretical model.


The mass genetic screening, which is repeatedly suggested for practical use, nowadays can be considered ineffective. The most complicated problem is genetic screening of workers. Low efficiency of such screening and limited possibilities to forecast the health status basing on the screening results are associated with the high probability of discrimination against workers according to their health status. Thus the genetic screening of workers should be forbidden as all employment medical examination except the cases when the diseases influence directly the ability to work.


Since the release of the 2009 and 2012 PISA results, Shanghai has been considered a world giant in education (Tucker, 2011), with countries all over the world engaged in enthusiastic exploration of what they can learn from this 'strong performer and successful reformer' (OECD, 2011). Despite this widespread international interest, however, little is known about the educational changes taking place in mainland China. For example, a search for international journal articles and book chapters specifically on school principalship in China, the focus of the study reported herein, yields just 57 citations over the 16-year span from 1998 to 2013 (e.g. Walker & Qian, in press). Given the paucity of research in this area, the aim of this study was to provide a greater understanding of this important yet underdeveloped topic.


In an optical medium such as a fluorescent multilayer disk (206), both reading speed and storage capacity are increased in various ways. Multiple heads (103) can be provided, in which case one head reads information while another moves from one reading position to the next. An optical head can read from several tracks on a disk simultaneously by focusing the exiting light into a light strip and using a photo-sensor array (210). The information pages in each layer can be staggered from those in adjacent layers. The number of layers in a medium can be selected by maximizing capacity with respect to numerical aperture. To increase exposure time, a reading head can follow the medium for one reading operation and then return to its initial position for the next reading operation.


This policy brief discusses the effects that the COVID-19 crisis could have on the future of science, technology and innovation (STI) and its policies. Factors shaping the future of STI include the unequal effects of the crisis on research and development (R&D) across sectors, the accelerated adoption of digital tools and techniques, and changes in the openness, inclusiveness and agility of research and innovation ecosystems. STI policy could see fundamental changes as resilience, environmental sustainability and inclusiveness become more prominent objectives on policy agendas. The crisis could also spur experimentation with new tools, policy approaches and governance models.


This article argues that the Chinese state has more highly articulated policies to deal with social disturbance than previously recognized by specialists. It does so by highlighting and critically analyzing the policies followed to improve the opportunities for migrant worker representation. The state has adopted a three-pronged policy. It has improved migrant worker rights, encouraged the official unions to help enforce these rights and allowed NGOs to offer certain services. The official unions are encouraged to adopt a legal watchdog role by a combination of legislation and limited external organizational competition. We argue that the dynamic of organizational competition is a previously unrecognized factor in moving China in a 'socialist corporatist' direction.


Abstract 4130 Objective: Therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (tMDS) following treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is one of the most frequently observed secondary malignancies in survivors of childhood cancer. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is the only curative treatment. This analysis was performed to asses the outcome of patients with tMDS following treatment for childhood ALL reported to the EWOG-MDS study group. Patients and Transplant Procedure: Forty-three patients (19 male/24 female) were diagnosed with tMDS between August 1989 and August 2009. The median age at diagnosis was 8.9 yrs (3.4–20.5). The median interval from diagnosis of ALL to the diagnosis of tMDS was 3.3 yrs (1.7–7.0). Five patients did not receive SCT and died due to progressive disease at a median of 5.6 mo after diagnosis. Thirty-eight patients were transplanted. One patient was excluded from the analysis due to insufficient data. In the 37 patients karyotype analysis revealed the following results: normal karyotype (5), abnormalities of chromosome 7 +/− additional aberrations (10), random aberrations (9), structurally complex karyotype (9), failed analysis (4). The highest WHO type was refractory cytopenia (RC) in 4 patients, whereas 33 patients had advanced AML like therapy prior to SCT was employed in 11 patients. Donors were matched siblings (13), matched unrelated volunteers (15), or mismatched or insufficiently typed family or unrelated donors (9). Conditioning consisted of busulfan, cyclophosphamide and melphalan (Bu/Cy/Mel) (23), an alternative busulfan based regimen (6), a radiation based regimen (5) or others (3). Results: After a median follow up of 4.1 (0.5 – 9.4) years, 14 patients are alive in first complete remission (CR). Seventeen patients developed relapse after a median time of 266 days (28 days – 3.4 years). Of these, three patients are alive in CR after a second allograft. Six patients died of transplant-related complications after first (4) or second (2) SCT. In summary, SCT for tMDS following ALL resulted in a probability of event-free and overall survival at 5 years of 0.34 and 0.42, respectively. In univariate analysis, the presence of a structurally complex karyotype, SCT from a mismatched donor and a preparative regimen other than Bu/Cy/Mel were factors predicting a decreased probability of event-free survival. The use of intensive chemotherapy prior to SCT resulted in a trend towards better survival due to a reduction in relapse incidence. In multivariate COX-analysis, a conditioning regimen other than BuCyMel remained the only variable associated with a high risk of treatment failure. Conclusion: Allogeneic SCT with a preparative regimen consisting of Bu/Cy/Mel is feasible and effective in patients developing tMDS following treatment for childhood ALL. Relapse is the main cause of treatment failure and intensive chemotherapy prior SCT may possibly contribute to an improved outcome. Disclosures: Hasle: Pfizer: Research Funding.


Over the last decade, the debate on whether or not children have a right to be loved has generated broad discussion involving different ideas on love and care. The present contribution aims to surpass the polarised debate on the right to love and to enrich it by addressing the question from Martha Nussbaum's version of the Capability Approach. In order to accomplish this, I will start by sketching the central points of Mathew Liao (2006) and Mhairi Cowden (2012). I will suggest that the main challenge lies in the lack of precision regarding the human affective dimension. Secondly, I will defend the Capability Approach as a perspective that, firstly, complements the discourse of rights and, secondly, has already introduced love as a basic human capability. Thus, I will explore what this right may imply towards children. Concretely, I will focus on the so-called emotional capability highlighted by Nussbaum (2011). However, in the interest of a functional theory of social justice, I will claim that a vague formulation of the right to be loved is not enough. In my view, the right to love and be loved can be translated into a right to be well-loved and to love well. Thus, I will focus on how children have a right to be well-loved, meaning they have a right to be provided with healthy secure attachment, positive self-esteem and well-tuned emotional and social competences. Finally, I will advocate the recognition of a right to love well and to be well-loved as a matter of social justice for children. In order to do so, I will try to (i) show how it fulfils the criteria of objectivity and social changeability, and (ii) suggest some cost-effective pathways that would derive from it. keyWords. Children, love, capabilities, justice, rights, attachment


Animal Computer Interaction (ACI) aims to design usercentered interactions between animals and technology. In this regard, a major challenge for researchers is accurately assessing and interpreting animal behavior, in part, due to the invasive nature of data collection techniques and to the individuality of behavior. This paper presents a method that uses tail wagging, a communicative behavior in dogs used in animal behavior and welfare studies, as a non-invasive parameter used to measure canine user experience (UX). We present findings from a study based on an observational analysis of three mobility assistance dogs' tail wagging behaviors and canine personality scores. The findings show tail wagging is a communicative indicator, that the manner in which the tail is wagged correlates to personality, and that tail wagging provides a baseline to assess canine UX. A tail wagging ethogram was used as an evaluative tool for measuring canine UX during task training. Author


The SCA Ortviken mill in Mid Sweden has capacity to produce 2150 adtpd of TMP at CSF=150 ml in 60" double disc refiners in a single stage operation. The objective of this paper is to present models for CSF and long fibre content control in the refining process and to show the results with and without the control system. The control system is model-based. Results showed better CSF control with the application. The variability reduction was 50%.


Objective Democratic governance requires that policy outcomes and public demand for policy be linked. While studies have shown empirical support for such a relationship in various policy domains, empirical evidence also indicates that the public is relatively unaware of policy outputs. This raises a puzzle: Why do policy outputs influence public attitudes if the public knows little about them? Methods This study seeks to address this paradox by examining the conditioning role of media coverage. We rely on data derived from the Policy Agendas Project in the United States, allowing us to analyze the relationship between policy outcomes, public preferences, and newspaper content across a long span of time (1972–2007). Results Our results indicate that public policy preferences respond to policy outputs, and that this relationship is strengthened by greater media attention to a policy area. Importantly, our findings also indicate that without media attention to a policy area, there is no direct effect of policy outputs on public demand for policy. Conclusions Media coverage appears to be a key factor for public responsiveness to occur. In the absence of policy coverage by the media, public responsiveness to policy outputs is greatly reduced.


Development of a 2D metamaterial that preferentially emits broadband circularly-polarized (CP) infrared radiation is hindered by the fact that orthogonal electric-field components are uncorrelated at the surface of the thermal emitter, a consequence of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We achieve broadband CP thermal emission by fabricating a meanderline quarter-wave retarder on a transparent thermal-isolation layer. Behind this isolation layer, in thermal contact with the emitter, is a wire-grid polarizer. Along with an unavoidable linear polarized radiation characteristic from the meanderline, we measured a degree of circular polarization (DOCP) of 28%, averaged over the 8- to 12 μm band.


The parasite fauna of Dissostichus eleginoides was examined from locations around the Falkland Islands. In total, of 11,362 individual parasites of 27 taxa were recovered from 105 fish. Two species, Ceratomyxa dissostichi and Sphaerospora dissostichi, represent new host records. The nematode Ascarophis nototheniae and the larval acanothocephalan Corynosoma bullosum were found to be new locality records and add to the knowledge of the biogeography and host specificity of parasites on the Patagonian Shelf. There were no significant differences in the mean abundance and prevalence of parasites recovered between sexes. Therefore, sex was not considered in further analysis and the data were pooled. Cysts of unknown etiology (CUE), the monogenean Neopavlovskioides georgianus, the larval acanthocephalan Corynosoma bullosum, and the digenean Neolepidapedon magnatestis had significant positive correlations with increasing host length. The larval Trypanorhynch cestode Grillotia erinaceus and the digenean Elytrophalloides oatesi showed significant negative correlations with increasing host length. CUEs, N. georgianus, the digenean Gonocerca physidis and E. oatesi showed statistically significant prevalence between summer, winter, and spring. The effect of depth on parasite communities was also examined, initially using a linear discriminant function analysis. The prevalence of individual parasites was then compared between depth strata using the chi-square test. The parasite communities on the shelf and deep water (>1,000 m) were found to be different, whereas those caught at intermediate depths on the shelf slope were found to have parasite communities that were intermediate, containing a mixture of shelf and deeper-water parasites. The causes of the variations in parasite faunas in association with these intrinsic and extrinsic factors are discussed.


The database creation utilized automated text processing tools that detect if a news article contains a protest event, locate protest information within the article, and extract pieces of information regarding the detected protest events. The basis of training and testing the automated tools is the GLOCON Gold Standard Corpus (GSC), which contains news articles from multiple sources from each focus country. The articles in the GSC were manually coded by skilled annotators in both classification and extraction tasks with the utmost accuracy and consistency that automated tool development demands. In order to assure these, the annotation manuals in this document lay out the rules according to which annotators code the news articles. Annotators refer to the manuals at all times for all annotation tasks and apply the rules that they contain. The content of the annotation manual is built on the general principles and standards of linguistic annotation laid out in other prominent annotation manuals such as ACE, CAMEO, and TimeML. These principles, however, have been adapted or rather modified heavily to accommodate the social scientific concepts and variables employed in the EMW project. The manual has been molded throughout a long trial and error process that accompanied the annotation of the GSC. It owes much of its current shape to the meticulous work and invaluable feedback provided by highly specialized teams of annotators, whose diligence and expertise greatly increased the quality of the corpus.


In this paper, we propose and investigate a new signature sequence scheme for asynchronous direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) communication systems. The new sequence set offers good mean-square cross-correlation (MSCC) properties in both even and odd correlation functions, which are important for system capacity, acquisition and demodulation performance in DS-CDMA systems. A new asynchronous phase-coded DS-CDMA system model is proposed. An analysis of the new system model is presented, and a new aperiodic cross correlation function is derived. The correlation properties of the new sequence set are presented and compared with those of the conventional PN sequence sets. Emphasis is placed on the average rather than the worst case performance. Numerical results show that MSCC value of the new sequence set is only about half of those of the conventional PN sequence sets. This may result in an improvement of 3 dB in the multiple access interference (MAI) performance.


Most normal cells have two centrosomes that form bipolar spindles during mitosis, while cancer cells often contain extra centrosomes. Such cancer cells then achieve bipolar division by clustering centrosomes into two functional poles. Our lab has previously shown that inhibition of Integrin-linked kinase, which is a signaling and scaffold protein in focal adhesion and is also a centrosomal protein, results in scattered centrosomes and multipolar spindles, which leads to cancer specific cell death (Fielding et al., 2011, 30:521-534, Oncogene). A major problem with clinically used anti-mitotic drugs, such as taxol, is their toxicity in normal cells. Our goal is to develop new drugs that act specifically on cancer cells through targeting extra centrosomes without affecting normal cells. To discover new drugs, we established a high-content screen that automatically detects cells with de-clustered centrosomes. BT-549, a breast cancer cell line, was used for the screen, since it is known to effectively cluster centrosomes. The Canadian Chemical Biology Network enabled us to test chemical libraries predicted to have drug-like properties. For screening, cells were grown in 96 well plates, treated with test compounds for 5 hours, and subjected to immunofluorescence to examine centrosome arrangement in mitotic cells. Images were taken and analyzed with an automated fluorescence imager, Cellomics Array Scan VTI. We have thus screened over 6000 compounds from which we identified 18 hits. Fifteen of these were confirmed to inhibit centrosome clustering in the cells cultured under standard conditions, and induce an arrest in mitosis. Three compounds are structurally similar, suggesting a common structural motif as preventing centrosome clustering. To compare the effects of these drugs on normal and cancer cells, the viability of several breast and other cancer cell lines, an immortalized model of normal human mammary epithelial cells (MCF10A), and freshly isolated primary normal human mammary epithelial cells were examined after two days of drug treatment using the MTT assay. These comparisons identified some compounds that selectively reduced the viability of cancer cells, but not normal mammary epithelial cells suggesting their potential for cancer-specific therapy. These small molecules are currently being tested in orthotopic and xenograft models, and will be studied for target identification and mechanism of action for further drug development. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3887. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3887


Boson stars have attracted much attention in recent decades as simple, self-consistent models of compact objects and also as self-gravitating structures formed in some dark-matter scenarios. Direct detection of these hypothetical objects through electromagnetic signatures would be unlikely because their bosonic constituents are not expected to interact significantly with ordinary matter and radiation. However, binary boson stars might form and coalesce emitting a detectable gravitational wave signal which might distinguish them from ordinary compact object binaries containing black holes and neutron stars. We study the merger of two boson stars by numerically evolving the fully relativistic Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations for a complex scalar field with a solitonic potential that generates very compact boson stars. Owing to the steep mass-radius diagram, we can study the dynamics and gravitational radiation from unequal-mass binary boson stars with mass ratios up to $q\approx23$ without the difficulties encountered when evolving binary black holes with large mass ratios. Similar to the previously-studied equal-mass case, our numerical evolutions of the merger produce either a nonspinning boson star or a spinning black hole, depending on the initial masses and on the binary angular momentum. We do not find any evidence of synchronized scalar clouds forming around either the remnant spinning black hole or around the remnant boson stars. Interestingly, in contrast to the equal-mass case, one of the mechanisms to dissipate angular momentum is now asymmetric, and leads to large kick velocities (up to a few $10^4\,{\rm km/s}$) which could produce wandering remnant boson stars. We also compare the gravitational wave signals predicted from boson star binaries with those from black hole binaries, and comment on the detectability of the differences with ground interferometers.


INTRODUCTION Processing grain, oilseed, and fber crops generates byproducts that can be utilized as livestock feeds. These commodities are referred to as byproducts or co-products because they are not the primary product derived from processing. However, byproduct commodities are valuable in livestock nutrition. Byproduct feedstuffs are inexpensive when compared to some traditional feeds, and are often overlooked as an alternative feed source for beef cattle. For many years, cotton byproducts like cottonseed meal, whole cottonseed, and cotton burrs accounted for the majority of byproducts in the Southwest and High Plains. More recently, a number of byproduct commodities have become available. These range from nutrient-dense feedstuffs like canola or soybean meal to fbrous products like cotton burrs or peanut hulls, which have relatively low nutrient values. The value of byproduct feeds for cattle depends not only on the cost of the byproduct, but also on its nutritional value and the production response of the animal to the specifc byproduct fed. Feed manufacturers utilize byproduct commodities purchased at commodity market prices and place them in range supplements and mixed feeds that are marketed commercially at higher prices. Cattle operators can take advantage of byproduct feedstuffs at a lower cost by buying them directly, provided they know both the nutritional benefts and the practical limitations of incorporating potential byproduct feedstuffs into specifc livestock production systems. This publication is scheduled to be updated and reissued 5/12


Introduction and aimsRandomized trials and registries have shown that drug-eluting stents (DES) have an overall better performance than bare-metal stents in patients treated in the setting of both ST-segment and non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes, mainly by reducing restenosis. Whether or not the use of newer second-generation devices (vs. first-generation DES) differs in these high-risk patients remains to be determined. Methods and resultsIn a single-centre prospective registry, 3266 patients underwent a percutaneous coronary intervention with at least one DES from January 2003 to December 2009. Of these, 1423 (43.6%) were treated in the setting of an acute coronary syndrome, using either first-generation-only DES [paclitaxel or sirolimus; n=923 (64.9%)] or second-generation-only [zotarolimus or everolimus; n=500 (35.1%)]. The occurrence of death from any cause, nonfatal myocardial infarction or target vessel failure (composite primary endpoint) was compared between these two groups; repeat revascularization of the index stented lesion and definite stent thrombosis [according to the academic research consortium (ARC) definition] were assessed as isolated secondary outcomes. At a median follow-up of 598 days (interquartile range 453–1206), the incidence of death was 10.7% (152), 136 patients (9.6%) had a new myocardial infarction and target vessel failure events occurred in 147 patients (10.3%). Disparity in the follow-up duration was accounted for by considering only the 1-year major adverse cardiac event rate (n=161; 11.3%). After adjustment for baseline characteristics using a Cox proportional hazard model, we could not find a significant difference in the incidence of the composite primary endpoint at 1-year between first-generation (10.8%) and second-generation DES (12.2%) [hazard ratio (HR): 1.1; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82–1.57, P=0.463], nor in the occurrence of repeat target lesion revascularization (3.6 vs. 4.4%; HR 1.35; 95% CI 0.77–2.34; P=0.293). In a per patient analysis, at 1 year, ARC-definite ST was documented in 1.0% of patients treated with second-generation DES versus 2.8% in those treated with first-generation DES (corrected HR 0.36; 95% CI 0.14–0.94; P=0.037), owing mostly to a higher difference in late ST. ConclusionOur results suggest that both first-generation and second-generation DES seem to be similarly effective in patients undergoing a percutaneous coronary intervention in the setting of acute coronary syndromes. However, newer second-generation devices may offer potential advantages because of a significantly lower incidence of ARC-definite ST.


>40 J.!g/ml have been associated with seizures and death." In contrast, at caffeine levels > 50 J.!g/ml, nervousness has been reported, while levels > 100 J.!g/ml have been associated with tachycardia (200-260beats/min) and mild glycosuria, but no other adverse effects.' Caffeine can be dosed once a day and levels need only be drawn weekly due to its long half-life of 70 to 100hours. Theophylline must be dosed every six to twelve hours and levels need to be drawn once each day or two since its half-life is only 16 to 30 hours. Unfortunately, caffeine is not commercially available as an intravenous or oral solution, but both caffeine powder and tablets are obtainable. The tablet may be either crushed and made into a suspension or the caffeine citrate powder (50 percent caffeine) can be combined with lactose to add to feedings. The caffeine citrate powder has also been used to manufacture an intravenous solution in some hospital pharmacies." Intravenous caffeine sodium benzoate is not recommended because the benzoate may interact competitively with bilirubin.· We believe that it is critical that well-designed trials be done to evaluate better the use of both theophylline and caffeine and determine which agent is the best therapy for neonatal apnea.


Congenital smooth muscle hamartoma usually originates from the arrector pili muscle of the hair and this origin could justify its hypertrichosis. The latter, which is not always visible to the naked eye, but detectable by dermoscopic examination, facilitates as in the present case the differential diagnosis from connective tissue nevus. However, hypertrichosis creates problems of differential diagnosis with the hairy or hypertricotic nevus in which the skin does not appear infiltrated, with plexiform neurofibroma, which however has a different histology and with Becker nevus which appears or becomes more evident at puberty due to the androgenic stimulation. Its muscular nature and its contractility are responsible for another clinical sign, that is the thrill that manifests at palpation. However, the latter is not always noticeable; contractility may instead occur at inspection with narrowing and greater relief of the lesion.


We report a combined Non-Equilibrium Green's Function - Density Functional Theory study of molecular junctions made of photochromic diarylethenes between gold electrodes. The impact of derivatization of the molecule on the transmission spectrum is assessed by introducing: (i) substituents on the diarylethene core; and (ii) linker substituents between the gold surface and the diarylethene. We illustrate that substituents on the core shift considerably the HOMO/LUMO level energies in gas phase but do not change the I-V characteristics of the molecular junctions; this behaviour has been rationalized by establishing links between the transmission spectrum and interfacial electronic reorganization upon chemisorption. In contrast, the different linker substituents under study modulate the conductivity of the junction by changing the degree of orbital hybridization with the metallic electrodes and the degree of orbital polarization.


Section Five of the Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") allows courts to appoint a replacement arbitration forum when the designated arbitration forum is unavailable. However, it is unclear how far the power to replace extends, with the Seventh Circuit in 2013 deepening a current circuit split involving the Section Five replacement power. The Third, Fifth, and Eleventh Circuits recognize the integral part rule, which does not allow a court to appoint a replacement arbitration forum if the designation of the forum in the contract is considered integral. The Seventh Circuit is the lone circuit that has rejected the integral part rule in its entirety, and allows the appointment of a replacement arbitration forum no matter the contract. Furthermore, of the circuits that recognize the integral part rule, only the Fifth Circuit has applied the rule in a way that recognizes an arbitration forum designation as integral. This Note recommends that the Supreme Court adopt the integral part rule, and the application of the rule that finds arbitration forum designations integral to a contract. Such action by the Supreme Court would be justified by traditional contract principles and the congressional intent of the FAA.


AbstractA technique to produce high-water alerts from coinciding high astronomical tide and high mean sea level anomaly is demonstrated for the Pacific Islands region. Low-lying coastal margins are vulnerable to episodic inundation that often coincides with times of higher-than-normal high tides. Prior knowledge of the dates of the highest tides can assist with efforts to minimize the impacts of increased exposure to inundation. It is shown that the climate-driven mean sea level anomaly is an important component of total sea level elevation in the Pacific Islands region, which should be accounted for in medium-term (1–7 months) sea level forecasts. An empirical technique is applied to develop a mean sea level–adjusted high-water alert calendar that accounts for both sea level components and provides a practical tool to assist with coastal inundation hazard planning and management.


Today's roadways are subject to traffic congestion, the deterioration of surface-assets (often due to the overreliance on private vehicle traffic), increasing vehicle-operation and fuel costs, and pollutant emissions. In Abu Dhabi, private car traffic forms the major share on urban highways, as the infrastructure was built to a high quality and the public transport network needs expansion, resulting in traffic congestion on major highways. These issues are arguably addressable by appropriate decisions at the planning stage. Microsimulation modeling of driving behavior in Abu Dhabi is presented for empirical assessment of traffic management scenarios. This paper presents a technique for developing, calibrating, validating, and the scenario analysis of a detailed VISSIM-based microsimulation model of a 3.5 km section of a 5-lane divided highway in Abu Dhabi. Traffic-count data collected from two sources, i.e., the local transport department (year 2007) and municipality (2007 and 2015–2016) were used. Gaps in traffic-counts between ramps and the highway mainline were noted, which is a common occurrence in real-world data situations. A composite dataset for a representative week in 2015 was constructed, and the model was calibrated and validated with a 15% (<100 vehicles per hour) margin of error. Scenario analysis of a potential public bus transport service operating at 15 min headway and 40% capacity was assessed against the base case, for a 2015–2020 projected period. The results showed a significant capacity enhancement and improvement in the traffic flow. A reduction in the variation between vehicle travel times was observed for the bus-based scenario, as less bottlenecking and congestion were noted for automobiles in the mainline segments. The developed model could be used for further scenario analyses, to find optimized traffic management strategies over the highway's lifecycle, whereas it could also be used for similar evaluations of other major roads in Abu Dhabi post-calibration.


After mentioning the lymphangiographical methods for the study of the lower limb channels, the authors illustrate a new technique which allows, in at least 15% of cases, the simultaneous study of both the superficial and deep lymphatic systems.


Hereditary amyloidgenic transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis is caused by a genetic point-mutated transthyretin such as TTR Val30Met (TTR V30M), since it forms protein aggregates called amyloid resulting in the tissue accumulation and functional disorders. In particular, ATTR produced by retinal pigment epithelial cells often causes ATTR ocular amyloidosis, which elicits deterioration of ocular function and ultimately blindness. Therefore, development of novel therapeutic agents is urgently needed. Genome-editing technology using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-CRISPR associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas9) system is expected to be a therapeutic approach to treat genetic diseases, such as ATTR amyloidosis caused by a point mutation in TTR gene. Previously, we reported that glucuronylglucosyl-β-cyclodextrin conjugated with a polyamidoamine dendrimer (CDE) had excellent gene transfer ability and that underlying dendrimer inhibited TTR aggregation. Conversely, folate receptors are known to be highly expressed in retina; thus, folate has potential as a retinal target ligand. In this study, we prepared a novel folate-modified CDE (FP-CDE) and investigated its potential as a carrier for the retinal delivery of TTR-CRISPR plasmid DNA (pDNA). The results suggested that FP-CDE/TTR-CRISPR pDNA could be taken up by retinal pigment epithelial cells via folate receptors, exhibited TTR V30M amyloid inhibitory effect, and suppressed TTR production via the genome editing effect (knockout of TTR gene). Thus, FP-CDE may be useful as a novel therapeutic TTR-CRISPR pDNA carrier in the treatment of ATTR ocular amyloidosis.


The purpose of this work was to investigate by Monte Carlo method the adjustment of photon beams delivered by the medical LINear ACcelerator (LINAC) Elekta Synergy MLCi2. This study presents an optimization of the Gaussian distribution parameters of the accelerated electrons before the target simulated by two Monte Carlo codes and for three beams. The photon (x-ray) beam is produced by the interaction of accelerated electrons with the LINAC target. The electrons are accelerated by a potential difference created between the anode and the cathode of the gun and directed towards the target. In the Monte Carlo simulation, it is necessary to setup the spectrum parameters of the generated electrons to simulate the x-ray dose distribution. In this study, we modeled the LINAC geometry for photon beams 18MV and 6MV in cases Flattened (FF) and Flattening-Filter-Free (FFF). The Monte Carlo simulations are based on G4Linac_MT and GATE codes. The results of the optimized configurations determined after more than 20 tests for each beam energy show a very good agreement with the experimental measurements for different irradiation fields for the depth (PDD) and lateral (Profile) dose distribution. In all Monte Carlo calculations performed in this study, the statistical uncertainty is less than 2%. The results were also in very good agreement in terms of γ-index analysis, for the 3%/3 mm and 2%/2 mm criteria.


Abstract : In 1939, after France and England had declared war on Germany, U.S. newspapers described the period of desultory military activity as the Phony War. In England it was known as the Twilight War, and in Germany, Sitzkrieg. We are today, engaged in just such a phony war. This is an analogy worthy of our consideration, for just as in the early stages of World War II when opportunities were missed that, in the ensuing years, would cost millions of casualties, so to now are we foregoing opportunities that could save American lives in the future. Churchill proposed calling World War II, "The Unnecessary War". And so it was. The Allies could have stopped Hitler from re-arming in 1933-34 - an activity clearly proscribed by the Peace Treaty. They missed another opportunity in 1935 when Hitler re-introduced conscription in violation of the Locarno Pact. Throughout the 1930's, the militaries of France and Britain were vastly superior to Germany's. Ironically, perhaps because of this overwhelming superiority and the hubris it engendered, coupled with the recognition that Germany's military elite itself understood Germany's own deficiencies, the Western democracies failed to act decisively. The threat was sufficiently diffuse, and the necessary remedies too painful to undertake. Unfortunately, this is precisely the state of affairs we are presented with today as we pursue our own phony war. Rational calculations by Western governments and their intellectual elites clearly recognize the tremendous disparities between Western military capabilities and those of our Eastern adversaries. European governments in particular, see no reason to tackle the inconvenient and messy activities necessary to thwart development of weapons of mass effects (WME), despite the fact that these capabilities have the very real potential of blossoming into the essential facilitators for the first World War of this millennium.


Abstract This article analyses the national circumstances and major factors underpinning China's energy demand and supply, energy-related emissions, and consequently China's sustainable development. These factors include the huge, still growing, and aging population, rapid economic growth, ongoing industrialization and urbanization, environmental and health concerns at local, regional and global level. Against such background analysis, the article explores the potential and constraints of non-fossil fuel, fuel-switching to natural gas, economy restructuring and clean coal technology in mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ensuring energy supply in China. The authors reiterate the importance of improving energy efficiency in China and discuss how to integrate renewable energy into rural development. The article concludes with an in-depth discussion about redefining development goals, the equity issue in climate change process, and the linkage with sustainable development.


ABSTRACT Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus [GBS]) is a leading cause of sepsis in neonates. The rate of invasive GBS disease in nonpregnant adults also continues to climb. Aminoglycosides alone have little or no effect on GBS, but synergistic killing with penicillin has been shown in vitro. High-level gentamicin resistance (HLGR) in GBS isolates, however, leads to the loss of a synergistic effect. We therefore performed a multicenter study to determine the frequency of HLGR GBS isolates and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms leading to gentamicin resistance. From eight centers in four countries, 1,128 invasive and colonizing GBS isolates were pooled and investigated for the presence of HLGR. We identified two strains that displayed HLGR (BSU1203 and BSU452), both of which carried the aacA-aphD gene, typically conferring HLGR. However, only one strain (BSU1203) also carried the previously described chromosomal gentamicin resistance transposon designated Tn3706. For the other strain (BSU452), plasmid purification and subsequent DNA sequencing resulted in the detection of plasmid pIP501 carrying a remnant of a Tn3 family transposon. Its ability to confer HLGR was proven by transfer into an Enterococcus faecalis isolate. Conversely, loss of HLGR was documented after curing both GBS BSU452 and the transformed E. faecalis strain from the plasmid. This is the first report showing plasmid-mediated HLGR in GBS. Thus, in our clinical GBS isolates, HLGR is mediated both chromosomally and extrachromosomally.


Abstract : This report documents the investigation of a vibration-based diagnostic approach developed for automotive transmissions. Data was recorded throughout three durability tests that were conducted by the transmission OEM. Rebuilt transmissions were operated around the clock under the most demanding speed and load set-points until critical gear or bearing failures resulted in loss of operability. The analysis results indicate that an embedded diagnostic and predictive capability can be implemented for military ground vehicle transmissions using vibration-based techniques. The results also specifically show an early indication of a fault condition is possible three weeks before failure for the test transmission. A technique for detecting solenoid faults using only the existing control signals rather than response measurements comparison that does not require the installation of additional sensors was also developed through this effort and will be discussed. This paper highlights the diagnostics techniques for the bearing and solenoid faults. On-platform testing is suggested for technique validation and future development of these initial findings.


Direct current (dc) plasma-assisted sintering of metal parts is a promising and relatively new research and development field in powder metallurgy (PM). In the present entry, it is intended to introduce the reader to the main applications of the dc plasma sintering process in PM. To achieve this goal, the present entry is divided in a brief introduction and sections in which the bases of the dc plasma abnormal glow discharge regime and its influence in the sintering process are carefully treated. In this case, a clear language is purposely used to didactically introduce the reader to this "fascinating glow world", the dc plasma-assisted sintering of metal parts, aiming to put in evidence the main points on physicochemical aspects of the plasma environment, basic knowledge of the plasma heating, and surface-related phenomena during dc plasma sintering of parts. All these aspects are treated considering the main techniques of the dc plasma-assisted sintering process applied to PM. Finally, some results on DC plasma heating, sintering and surface modification are presented.


This study examined 3 factors that were hypothesized to increase risk for aggression among urban children: economic disadvantage, stressful events, and individual beliefs. Participants were 1,935 African American, Hispanic, and White elementary-school boys and girls assessed over a 2-year period. The relation between individual poverty and aggression was only significant for the White children, with significant interactions between individual and community poverty for the other 2 ethnic groups. With a linear structural model to predict aggression from the stress and beliefs variables, individual poverty predicted stress for African American children and predicted beliefs supporting aggression for Hispanic children. For all ethnic groups, both stress and beliefs contributed significantly to the synchronous prediction of aggression, and for the Hispanic children, the longitudinal predictions were also significant. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for preventive interventions in multiethnic, inner-city communities.


Previous research has demonstrated associations between stress and physical health conditions, including skin disease. The stress cycle, including its associated hormonal responses and stress behaviors, contributes to more severe skin disease symptoms. Psychological stress and anxiety-disorder symptoms are known to be associated with skin disease severity; however, research has yet to examine the relationships between stress-disorders and skin disease severity. Therefore, stress disorders (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]) are hypothesized to have a similar relationship with skin disease severity, wherein greater severity of PTSD-related symptoms would be positively associated with skin disease severity. Participants from Amazon's Mechanical Turk (N = 450) were screened for the presence of a dermatological condition in the past year. Participants (n = 311) who endorsed skin disease symptoms completed online selfreport measures of skin disease characteristics and symptom severity, exposure to potentially traumatic events, PTSD-related symptoms, perceived stress, and demographic information. The sample was 68.2% white and 59.2% female, with a mean age of 33.9 years (SD = 11.0). Overall, participants reported moderate perceived stress (M = 18.9, SD = 6.6), and subthreshold symptoms of PTSD (M = 30.7, SD = 22). Bivariate correlations indicated significant positive associations between perceived stress and PTSD symptoms (r = .644, p < .01), and PTSD symptom clusters (r = .560-.677, p < .01). Skin disease severity was positively associated with perceived stress (r = .257, p < .01), PTSD symptoms (r = .435, p < .01), and all PTSD symptom clusters, with alterations in arousal and reactivity demonstrating the strongest relationship to skin disease severity (r = .428, p < .01). Consistent with prior work among dermatological samples, findings indicate skin disease severity was positively, significantly correlated with perceived stress, PTSD symptoms, and PTSD symptom clusters. These results contribute to the existing literature on stress and posttraumatic stress in dermatological populations. Future research PTSD & SKIN DISEASE SEVERITY iv directions may include additional dimensions of stress and stressful life events, as well as clinician-rated evaluation of PTSD symptoms and skin conditions. Additionally, longitudinal research examining the temporal relationship between PTSD symptoms, stress, and skin disease


Introduction: Critical Care Continuous EEG (CCEEG) is a common procedure to monitor brain function in patients with altered mental status in intensive care units. There is significant variability in patient populations undergoing CCEEG and in technical specifications for CCEEG performance. Methods: The Critical Care Continuous EEG Task Force of the American Clinical Neurophysiology Society developed expert consensus recommendations on the use of CCEEG in critically ill adults and children. Recommendations: The consensus panel describes the qualifications and responsibilities of CCEEG personnel including neurodiagnostic technologists and interpreting physicians. The panel outlines required equipment for CCEEG, including electrodes, EEG machine and amplifier specifications, equipment for polygraphic data acquisition, EEG and video review machines, central monitoring equipment, and network, remote access, and data storage equipment. The consensus panel also describes how CCEEG should be acquired, reviewed and interpreted. The panel suggests methods for patient selection and triage; initiation of CCEEG; daily maintenance of CCEEG; electrode removal and infection control; quantitative EEG techniques; EEG and behavioral monitoring by non-physician personnel; review, interpretation, and reports; and data storage protocols. Conclusion: Recommended qualifications for CCEEG personnel and CCEEG technical specifications will facilitate standardization of this emerging technology.


Soybean meal (SM) is considered an ideal substitute for fish meal; however, its application is mainly limited because of its antigen proteins, glycinin and β-conglycinin. To improve the value of SM in the aquaculture industry, we employed an aerobic bacterial strain (LX-6) with protease activity of 1,390.6 ± 12.5 U/mL. This strain was isolated from soil samples and identified as Bacillus amyloliquefaciens based on morphological and physiological biochemical characteristics and 16S rDNA gene sequence analyses. Subsequently, we quantified the extent of glycinin and β-conglycinin degradation and the total protein and water-soluble protein content after SM fermentation with B. amyloliquefaciens LX-6. At 24 h of fermentation, the macromolecular antigen proteins of SM were almost completely degraded; the maximum degradation rates of glycinin and β-conglycinin reached 77.9% and 57.1%, respectively. Accordingly, not only did the concentration of water-soluble proteins increase from 5.74% to 44.45% after 48 h of fermentation but so did the concentrations of total protein and amino acids compared to those of unfermented SM. Field emission scanning electron microscopy revealed that the LX-6 strain gradually disrupted the surface structure of SM during the fermentation process. In addition, B. amyloliquefaciens LX-6 exhibited broad-spectrum antagonistic activity and a wide pH tolerance, suggesting its application in SM fermentation for fish meal replacement.


The present stage called an era of production of information, put a number of essentially new tasks before an education system. Inability to perception new, old methods of management lead to gap increase meanwhile that knows and is able and that has to be able and the nobility the graduate from the point of view of modern business. I.e. often before educational process in higher education institution the purposes which aren't coinciding with requirements of the market are set. Problem of management and the faculty of educational institution to understand the nature of these discrepancies and to fi nd ways of their elimination. In the diffi cult and fast-changing environment special relevance is gained by intellectual methods and approaches to an assessment of degree of compliance of development of higher education institution to state and business requirements. In this work attempt of a constructive assessment of activity of higher education institution, its effi ciency with attraction of indistinct criteria and models of management of higher education institution developed by authors becomes. This approach to the analysis of innovation of higher education institution, its effi ciency puts not only down grade (rating), but also allows to explain the nature of current state of higher education institution, and also the possible directions of its development.


Objective. To assess the possibility of preventing consequences of bicycle accidents. Design. Retrospective study. Setting. The Netherlands. Material and method. The data on mortality and hospital admissions of children aged 0-14 years were analysed. The data on traffic accident fatalities were obtained from the Traffic Accidents Registration (for 1991) and those on admissions from the Dutch Centre for Health Care Information (for 1990). Results. In 1991, 82 children (1-14 years) died from the consequences of a traffic accident. Most died after a bicycle accident. The number of hospital admissions because of traffic accidents in the age group 0-14 years in 1990 amounted to 2839, of which 46% were due to a bicycle accident. Most of the children aged 0-14 years admitted because of bicycle accidents had head and skull injuries. In 69% of the bicycle accidents no motor vehicle was involved. Conclusion. Because of the high frequency of head injuries, wearing a bicycle helmet should be promoted strongly, legal obligation giving the fastest and best results. Several prevention strategies are discussed.


This study was carried out at Faculdade de Medicina Veterinaria e Zootecnia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brazil, and evaluated bone quality in broiler breeders. Twenty-three families of Ross broiler breeders were housed in 5.0-m² pens. The families were comprised of 13 females and one male at the onset of the experimental period. The mean number of females per family was 9.34 at the end of the trial. The feeding program and management followed strain guidelines (Agroceres Ross, 2003). Bone analyses were performed in the right tibia and femur using optical radiographic densitometry at 4, 8, 12, 15, 20, 24, 30, 35, 42, 47 and 52 weeks of rearing. Trap nests were used to collect eggs from the breeders two weeks before and after the evaluation weeks. At each evaluation day, five birds were sacrificed after radiographs were taken and the tibias and femurs were collected to perform the following analyses: fatfree dry matter, ash percentage, bone resistance and Seedor index. Therefore, it was possible to establish correlations between bone quality and eggshell quality. Characteristics of bone quality were highly correlated to each other; on the other hand, there were no correlations between bone quality and external egg quality. In conclusion, there was no effect of egg production on egg quality, possibly because there was no reabsorption of bone minerals.


In the next decade, further digitalisation of the entire wind energy project lifecycle is expected to be a major driver for reducing project costs and risks. In this paper, a literature review on the challenges related to implementation of digitalisation in the wind energy industry is first carried out, showing that there is a strong need for new solutions that enable co-innovation within and between organisations. Therefore, a new collaboration method based on a digital ecosystem is developed and demonstrated. The method is centred around specific "challenges", which are defined by "challenge providers" within a topical "space" and made available to participants via a digital platform. The data required in order to solve a particular "challenge" are provided by the "challenge providers" under the confidentiality conditions they specify. The method is demonstrated via a case study, the EDP Wind Turbine Fault Detection Challenge. Six submitted solutions using diverse approaches are evaluated. Two of the solutions perform significantly better than EDP's existing solution in terms of Total Prediction Costs (saving up to €120,000). The digital ecosystem is found to be a promising solution for enabling co-innovation in wind energy in general, providing a number of tangible benefits for both challenge and solution providers.


: The examination of 112 patients with functional cardiopathies demonstrated that bicycle ergometry permits to differentiate them from ischaemic heart disease. These patients exhibit a reduced capacity for physical labour caused by several factors (among them such as lack of habit of physical labour, nervous regulation disorders, latent circulation insufficiency). Ergometry proves to be a good objective test for the efficiency of therapy of functional cardiopathies.


Data marketplaces can fulfil a key role in realizing the data economy by enabling the commercial trading of data between organizations. Although data marketplace research is a quickly evolving domain, there is a lack of understanding about data marketplace business models. As data marketplaces are vastly different, a taxonomy of data marketplace business models is developed in this study. A standard taxonomy development method is followed to develop the taxonomy. The final taxonomy comprises of 4 meta-dimensions, 17 business model dimensions and 59 business model characteristics. The taxonomy can be used to classify data marketplace business models and sheds light on how data marketplaces are a unique type of digital platforms. The results of this research provide a basis for theorizing in this rapidly evolving domain that is quickly becoming important.


Reduced T3 and free T4, elevated thyroid stimulating hormone, and hyporesponsiveness to thyrotropin releasing hormone raise questions about the presence of hypothyroidism in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and raise the possibility of benefit from thyroxine supplementation. A prospective cohort study was conducted on 73 nondiabetic CKD cases. Hypothyroid patients were started on levothyroxine and were reviewed after 3 and 6 months. The mean age of study population was 42.3 ± 16.8 years. Of the total population, 32 (43.8%) cases had hypothyroidism, among whom 2 (2.7%) had overt hypothyroidism and 30 (41.1%) had subclinical hypothyroidism. Prevalence of hypothyroidism increased with increasing severity of CKD. There were 1 (3.1%) case with hypothyroidism in stage 3b, 8 (25%) cases in stage 4, and 23 (71.9%) cases in stage 5. The mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (ml/min/1.73 m2) at baseline was 13.7 ± 8.9 which increased to 17.5 ± 6.8 and 22.4 ± 9.3 after 3 and 6 months of thyroid hormone replacement therapy (THRT), respectively (P < 0.001). Hypothyroidism is commonly associated with nondiabetic CKD and its prevalence increases with declining renal function. THRT significantly improves renal function in nondiabetic CKD with hypothyroidism.


In the midst of intense competition and bad image of futures companies in Indonesia and specifically in Surabaya, one of the achievement of competitive advantage must be the improvement of human resource performance such as the increase of attractiveness of company's salespersons. The objective of this research is to examine the effect of attractiveness of salespersons on communication ability in futures investment company in Surabaya, to examine the effect of the attractiveness of salesperson on the likeability of futures firm in Surabaya, to examine the effect of attractiveness of salesperson on intention to invest in futures company in Surabaya, to examine the effect of attractiveness salesperson on trustworthiness in the futures firm in Surabaya, examines the effect of attractiveness of salesperson on relationship strength in futures companies in Surabaya. Then, to examine the influence of communication ability to intention to invest consumer in futures company in Surabaya, to examine the influence of likability to intention to invest consumer in futures company in Surabaya, to examine the influence trustworthiness to intention to invest consumer at futures company in Surabaya, and test influence relationship strength to intention to invest consumer in futures company in Surabaya. The population of this study are all potential investors of futures companies in Surabaya. The sampling technique used in this research is purposive sampling to 180 prospective investor futures company in Surabaya. To test the research hypothesis, the researcher uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Amos 20 as the analysis tool. The results of this study found that those seven hypotheses which are supported by the Primary data in this study, namely attractiveness have a significant and positive impact on communication ability, likeability, and relationship strength. Then, likeability, communication ability, and relationship strength significantly and positively influence the intention to invest. However, the direct impact of attractiveness on intention to invest, and trustworthiness on intention to invest is not supported by the research data. The theoretical implications of this research are the importance of attractiveness factor for service companies in general, also contributes to science advancement by bringing in attractiveness model related to communication ability, likeability, trustworthiness and relationship strength in influencing intention to invest. Moreover, the implications of the theory prove that above the line marketing strategies can be applied to the under the line service sector so that it can be attributed to the Theory of Reasoned Action. Furthermore, the practical implications of this research are to prioritize the attractiveness of the operational activities of the service starting from the recruitment process of salesperson, providing some rules and policies to beautify themselves, to provide soft-skill sales training and about the physical attractiveness embodied by the monitoring and maximum control of the direct superior of the salespersons of futures companies in Surabaya.


This paper reviews the role of human resource management (HRM) which, today, plays a strategic partnership role in management. The focus of the paper is on HRM in the public sector, where much hope rests on HRM as a means of transforming the public service and achieving much needed service delivery. However, a critical evaluation of HRM practices in the public sector reveals that these services leave much to be desired. The paper suggests the adoption of benchmarking as a process to revamp HRM in the public sector so that it is able to deliver on its promises. It describes the nature and process of benchmarking and highlights the inherent difficulties in applying benchmarking in HRM. It concludes with some suggestions for a plan of action. The process of identifying "best" practices in HRM requires the best collaborative efforts of HRM practitioners and academicians. If used creatively, benchmarking has the potential to bring about radical and positive changes in HRM in the public sector. The adoption of the benchmarking process is, in itself, a litmus test of the extent to which HRM in the public sector has grown professionally


Our last edition of JMO for 2018 rounds off a year of exploration and investigation into the depth and breadth that is management. This saw our fifth issue edited by Jawad Syed and Edwina Pio that challenges a homogenised view to delve into the richness of contextualising diversity within Islam. The theme of challenging though presenting evidence and asking for open and intelligent debate has certainly been a theme of our issue this year. This was reflected in issue 4 curated by Antoine Hermens who presented us with a selection of papers dedicated to creativity and innovation management: The complex dynamics of shaping forces. The notion of rising to challenge was a key theme in issue 3, where Timothy F O'Shannassy and Ard-Pieter de Man presented 'A research agenda for alternative forms of corporate governance' in Journal of Management & Organization. Lastly, I began the year with two issues which laid down the challenge that good management is hard, but someone has to do it (and here are some suggestions), and leadership: What's all the fuss about (and what does all the hype really deliver)? While presenting each of our issues as a coherent and consistent offering has been a key feature of our offerings for 2018, it has led to the potential criticism that we may be missing the incredible depth and breadth that is management. This is not a criticism I would like to see verified. Just as our ANZAM annual conference draws in attendees from all aspects of business and management from around the world, so this last issue presents a collection of papers that I hope will not only showcase some of this diversity but also span the globe in doing so. We begin with Jon L. Pierce, Iiro Jussila and Dahui Li who take us through the fascinating work they have undertaken to develop and validate an instrument for 'For Assessing Collective Psychological Ownership in Organizational Field Settings'. While the idea of a collective psychological ownership is a very new idea in the management space, the authors suggest their measurement tool offers real potential to provide insight and explanation to a range of collective, work-related attitudes and actions. If the readability and calibre of this paper is any guide, this may very well be a tool we see being used in workplaces before too long! The link between theoretical and practical implications for research are very much at the forefront of our second paper. Here Stephen Croucher, Cheng Zeng, Diyako Rahmani and Xuejun Cui examine 'The Relationship between Organizational Dissent and Workplace Freedom of Speech'. The study is based in Singapore. While they find that articulated dissent and latent dissent were positively correlated with workplace freedom of speech, an individuals' nation of birth influenced articulated and latent dissent – but not on workplace freedom of speech. In a world of increasingly global labour mobility, a paper had me questioning how much country of birth may continue to influence an individual's willingness to express dissent. The connection between the wider world and what happens in the workplace takes on a very different perspective in our third paper. Here, author Heejoon Park documents a 'natural experiment' in an examination of the 'Institutionalization of Athletic Conferences for Wage Comparison in Collective Bargaining in High Schools in the US'. While most readers will be well aware of the role that social comparison plays in collective bargaining, and that our own self-


The discovery of compounds with antibacterial activity is crucial in the ongoing battle against antibiotic resistance. We developed two QSAR models to design six novel heteroaryl drug candidates and assessed their antibacterial properties against nine ATCC strains, including Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and also Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli, many of which belong to the ESKAPE group. We combined PB4, a previously tested compound from published studies, with GC-VI-70, a newly discovered compound, with the best cytotoxicity/MIC profile. By testing sub-MIC concentrations of PB4 with five antibiotics (linezolid, gentamycin, ampicillin, erythromycin, rifampin, and imipenem), we evaluated the combination's efficacy against the ATCC strains. To assess the compounds' cytotoxicity, we conducted a 24 h and 48 h 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay on colorectal adenocarcinoma (CaCo-2) cells. We tested the antibiotics alone and in combination with PB4. Encouragingly, PB4 reduced the MIC values for GC-VI-70 and for the various clinically used antibiotics. However, it is essential to note that all the compounds studied in this research exhibited cytotoxic activity against cells. These findings highlight the potential of using these compounds in combination with antibiotics to enhance their effectiveness at lower concentrations while minimizing cytotoxic effects.


Classical and novel protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms are down-regulated as a result of chronic activation by certain tumour promoters and physiological stimuli; however, the mechanisms leading to down-regulation are not fully understood. In the present study, we have studied the PMA ('TPA')-induced degradation of PKCdelta in NIH 3T3 cells under culture conditions where PKCdelta displays cell-cycle-dependent down-regulation. In contrast with previous studies, a hyperphosphorylated form of this PKC isoform, promoted by calyculin A, was rapidly degraded in PMA-treated cells. Similarly, the presence of calyculin A enhanced the down-regulation of PKCdelta observed on G(1)/S-phase progression through the cell cycle. Analysis of phosphorylation-site mutants indicated that the T-loop Thr(505) phosphorylation site was critical for induced degradation.


We examined the behavior of various entrapped guest molecules within silica hydrogel and evaluated the effect of Coulombic interactions and physical confinement on molecular mobility. Although rhodamine 6G (R6G) and fluorescein (FL) share similar size and molecular structure, their behavior in silica hydrogel was found to be dramatically different. A good majority of R6G was immobilized with little to no exchangeable molecules, whereas FL displayed a considerable amount of mobility in silica hydrogel. Moreover, silica hydrogel encapsulated R6G failed to gain mobility even under low pH or high ionic strength conditions to minimize Coulombic interactions, implying that encapsulated R6G molecules were inaccessible and likely trapped deep inside the silica matrix of a hydrogel. On the contrary, FL was relatively free to rotate and translate inside a silica hydrogel, implying that FL remained solvated in the solvent phase and was able to maintain its mobility throughout the hydrogel formation process. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching measurements put the diffusion coefficient of FL in silica hydrogel at ca. 2.1 x 10(-6) cm(2) s(-1), about a factor of 3 slower than that in solution. The substantial difference in mobility between cationic R6G and anionic FL led us to conclude that the effect of Coulombic interactions on mobility is more dominating in hydrogel than in alcogel. Our results also suggest that Coulombic interactions are strong enough to influence the eventual placement of a guest molecule in a silica hydrogel, causing R6G and FL to reside in different microenvironments. This has a profound implication on the use of molecular probes to study silica hydrogel since a slight difference in physical attribute may result in very diverse observations even from identically prepared silica hydrogel samples. As demonstrated, the repulsion between FL and silica renders FL liquid-bound, making FL more suitable for monitoring the change in viscosity and physical confinement during hydrogel formation, whereas other researchers have shown that silica-bound R6G is more suitably used as a reliable probe for monitoring the growth of silica colloids because of its strong attraction toward silica.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) actively evades host interferon (IFN) responses but the mechanisms of how it does so are not completely understood. In this study, we present evidence for an HCV factor that contributes to the suppression of retinoic-acid-inducible gene-I (RIG-I)-mediated IFN induction. Expression of frameshift/alternate reading frame protein (F/ARFP) from HCV -2/+1 frame in Huh7 hepatoma cells suppressed type I IFN responses stimulated by HCV RNA pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) and poly(IC). The suppression occurred independently of other HCV factors; and activation of interferon stimulated genes, TNFα, IFN-λ1, and IFN-λ2/3 was likewise suppressed by HCV F/ARFP. Point mutations in the full-length HCV sequence (JFH1 genotype 2a strain) were made to introduce premature termination codons in the -2/+1 reading frame coding for F/ARFP while preserving the original reading frame, which enhanced IFNα and IFNβ induction by HCV. The potentiation of IFN response by the F/ARFP mutations was diminished in Huh7.5 cells, which already have a defective RIG-I, and by decreasing RIG-I expression in Huh7 cells. Furthermore, adding F/ARFP back via trans-complementation suppressed IFN induction in the F/ARFP mutant. The F/ARFP mutants, on the other hand, were not resistant to exogenous IFNα. Finally, HCV-infected human liver samples showed significant F/ARFP antibody reactivity, compared to HCV-uninfected control livers. Therefore, HCV F/ARFP likely cooperates with other viral factors to suppress type I and III IFN induction occurring through the RIG-I signaling pathway. This study identifies a novel mechanism of pattern recognition receptor modulation by HCV and suggests a biological function of the HCV alternate reading frame in the modulation of host innate immunity.


Thyroid dysfunction plays a role in blood pressure (BP) regulation. However, the associations between thyroid function and BP and arterial stiffness in the general Chinese population without thyroid disease are unknown. This population‐based cross‐sectional study aimed to investigate the association between thyroid function and peripheral and central BP and arterial stiffness in Chinese individuals. After excluding those who had thyroid diseases or incomplete clinical measurements, this study included 691 participants. Of the participants, 444 (64.2%) were women and 215 (31.1%) had hypertension. After adjustment for covariates, serum FT3 was significantly associated with a higher pulse rate in both sexes. In men, each 2.72‐fold increase in serum FT4 levels was associated with higher peripheral systolic BP (+10.82 mmHg, p = .005) and pulse pressure (+5.71 mmHg, p = .03). Each 2.72‐fold increase in serum FT4 levels was associated with higher central systolic BP (+8.03 mmHg, p = .03) and pulse pressure (+3.89 mmHg, p = .05). In women, serum FT4 was only associated with a higher central pulse pressure (+2.96 mmHg, p = .04). After adjustment for covariates, serum FT4 was significantly associated with a faster cfPWV exclusively in men. Our study showed that serum FT4 is associated with higher peripheral and central BP and faster cfPWV in men, whereas serum FT3 is positively associated with a higher pulse rate in both sexes, indicating that the effects of thyroid function on BP and arterial stiffness are more significant in men than in women.


The deformed relativistic Hartree theory (DRH) is solved both in coordinate space (DRH-c) and in harmonic oscillator basis (DRH-o). Results obtained from these two methods are compared in details. The DRH-c and DRH-o calculations give similar total binding energies, deformation, level structures and radii for nitrogen isotopes, while their descriptions on the density distributions for drip-line nuclei are very different. The large spatial distributions of nucleon densities, which is crucial to understand a weakly bound system, can only be obtained by DRH-c calculations. This implies that the DRH theory should be solved in coordinate space in order to describe nuclei close to the drip line.


Dark brown wood color is a current trend and widely appreciated by consumers in the furniture and decoration markets. Heat treatment is one of the most effective methods to darken wood's appearance. The influence of steam-heat treatment on color change of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) was investigated within the temperature range from 170 to 230 °C and time from 1 to 5 hours in an air-tight chamber within an atmosphere comprising less than 2 percent oxygen. Saturated steam was used as a heating medium and a shielding gas. The results showed that the chroma difference (△C*) decreased gradually, while the color difference (△E*) and hue difference (△H*) increased with an increase in temperature and length of time. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a multi-comparison analysis revealed that the treatment temperature plays a more important role in darkening wood color during the process of steam-heat treatment in comparison with the treatment time. The results suggest that a more desirable wood color can be achieved with the technology of steam-heat treatment.


In their previous work, the authors have studied the phasor dynamics of thyristor-controlled series capacitors (TCSCs), and derived associated models for studying power swing oscillations in power systems. This paper presents the use of a dynamic phasor model of the TCSC in studies of subsynchronous resonance (SSR). Their earlier dynamic phasor models of the TCSC are further simplified here, and tested at typical subsynchronous frequencies. The phasor model of the TCSC is directly compatible with the conventional models used for the other system components relevant to SSR. The proposed approach to SSR analysis is an attractive alternative to approaches based on sampled-data models, and to torque-per-unit-velocity methods. The dynamic phasor approach has been tested on the IEEE first benchmark SSR model, showing outstanding agreement with more computationally demanding alternative methods for eigenvalue analysis.


: In this research, the effect of shot-peening treatment on the wear behavior of two types of high manganese austenitic steel (Fe-7Mn-0.6Si- 1.2C and Fe-17Mn-0.6Si-1.2C) was investigated. In this regard, two samples with various manganese contents of 7 and 17 weight percent are cast, respectively. In order to achieve a uniform structure of austenite into all samples, solution-annealing process is performed at temperature of 1100°C during 2h. Micro hardness measurement and tensile testing as well as wear test according to the rubber wheel-dry sand method are conducted on all heat-treated samples. Surfacing hardening treatment by using of shot- peening equipment is done during 15 and 30 mines on all samples. The results showed that when the percentage of manganese increased from 7 to 17% in the heat-treated samples, hardness and tensile strength values are increased and improved about 27% and 10%, respectively. The surface hardness of high manganese austenite steels is increased due to the applying surface work hardening with shot-pinning treatment. Thus, the highest hardness is observed in the shot-peened sample at time of 30 min. however, the highest hardness and wear resistance are determined in the sample containing 7%Mn. The investigation of worn surfaces showed that the wear mechanism was abrasive mechanism. Moreover, the amount of and the depth of grooves are reduced with increasing of hardness values.


An important task for organizations is establishing truthful communication between parties with differing interests. This task is made particularly challenging when the accuracy of the information is poorly observed or not at all. In these settings, incentive contracts based on the accuracy of information will not be very effective. This paper considers an alternative mechanism that does not require any signal of the accuracy of any information communicated to provide incentives for truthful communication. Rather, an expert sacrifices future participation in decision-making to influence the current period's decision in favour of their preferred project. This mechanism captures a notion often described as 'political capital' whereby an individual is able to achieve their own preferred decision in the current period at the expense of being able to exert influence in future decisions ('spending political capital'). When the first-best is not possible in this setting, I show that experts hold more influence than under the first-best and that, in a multi-agent extension, a finite team size is optimal. Together these results suggest that a small number of individuals hold excessive influence in organizations.


A two-dimensional finite difference method is presented to calculate the effective thermal conductivity of sphere-pac fuel in its initial configuration. This method employs an approach using progressive unit cells for the various size fractions of the fuel. The effects of temperature and fill gas pressure are also incorporated into the calculation. Comparison between computed and experimental values indicates that the model agrees with measured data to within 20%. 26 refs.


AIMS
To compare the effectiveness of thoracic manipulations with instructions for physiotherapeutic exercises for the treatment of neck pain in occupational health care.

METHODS
Seventy-five subjects aged 30-55 years from a random sample of 241 employees of the Finnish Broadcasting Company were randomly allocated to treatment in the form of four thoracic manipulations (n = 43), or instructions for physiotherapeutic exercises (n = 32). The subjects reported neck-shoulder pain on a structured pain questionnaire using a visual analogue scale (VAS, 0-10). Muscle tenderness and tender thoracic levels were evaluated by a blinded investigator (A.S.) at 6- and 12 month follow-ups.

RESULTS
A statistically significant difference was found in self-reported worst pain by VAS at the 12 month follow-up in favour of the thoracic manipulation group.

CONCLUSIONS
The natural course of the neck-shoulder pain in this study appears benign; pain was also reduced in the drop-out group. Both treatments were found effective at the 12 month follow-up. The effect of four manipulations was more favourable than the personal exercise program in treating the more intense phase of pain.


Anytime, anyplace application of distributed, multimedia services requires flexible configuration of service quality and coordination of relevant management actions both in mobile terminal and network. This paper presents a new approach for coordinating quality of service (QoS) configuration at multimedia-session establishment and during service adaptations, in accordance with user preferences for service presentation, user contracts with providers, and access/utilization management of the access-provider networks. The general features of an end-to-end negotiation protocol (E2ENP) for multimedia-session management are discussed. E2ENP is designed to minimize signaling load and maximize flexibility of system configuration. The application model of the E2ENP is described and interactions between terminals and access provider are discussed. Some initial measurement results detailing E2ENP performance are presented in consideration with various network configurations.


The exposure of millions of people to unsafe levels of geogenic pollutant arsenic in drinking waters has sounded alarm bells for the development of low-cost methods for on-site continuous monitoring of arsenic in waters. Therefore, herein a new benzothiazole Schiff base colour probe is proposed to detect arsenic selectively in aqueous media. The arsenic probe was developed by simple condensation reaction via microwave method. The well-characterized sensing probe resulted in an instantaneous sharp colour change from light yellow to brown orange with an increase in arsenic concentration. With the colorimetric probe, the limit of detection for arsenic with naked eye speciation test is reported below the World Health Organization guideline of 10 μg L−1 within 10 s. The common coexisting ions in water samples were also scanned for colour response, confirming insignificant interference in arsenic detection. Therefore, this method is efficient for on-site detection of arsenic combined with a high tolerance to common coexisting ions.


In this work, we present the results of a microscale X-ray mapping of a 2 mm thick CZT pixel detector, with pixel pitches of 500 µm and 250 µm, using collimated synchrotron X-ray sources at the Diamond Light source (U. K.). The detector is dc coupled to a fast and low noise ASIC (PIXIE ASIC), characterized only by the preamplifier stage. A custom 16-channel digital readout electronics was used, able to perform online fast pulse shape and height analysis (PSHA), with low dead time and reasonable energy resolution at both low and high fluxes. The detector allows high bias voltage operation (> 5000 V/cm) and good energy resolution at room temperature (5.3 %, 2.3 % and 2.1 % FWHM at 22.1, 59.5 and 122.1 keV, respectively) by using fast pulse shaping with low dead time (300 ns). Charge sharing investigations were performed by using uncollimated and collimated X-ray sources with energies above and below the K-shell absorption energy of the CZT material. Collimated 10 × 10 µm synchrotron X-ray beams were used to study the spatial dependence of the amplitude, the shape and the multiplicity of the detector pulses. Charge losses, after charge sharing addition (CSA), were observed for interactions occurring in the volume of the inter-pixel gap and an original method was proposed to recover these losses and improve the energy resolution.High rate measurements at 550 kcps/pixel were also performed, pointing out the key role of the pulse shape analysis in the detection of both charge sharing and pile-up events.


Tritium accumulation in fusion reactor materials is considered a serious radiological issue, therefore a lot of effort has been concentrated on the development of radiometric techniques. A novel method, based on gradual dissolution, for the determination of the total tritium content and its depth profiles in metallic samples is demonstrated. This method allows for the measurement of tritium in metallic samples after their exposure to a hydrogen and tritium mixture, tritium containing plasma or after irradiation with neutrons resulting in tritium formation. In this method, successive layers of metal are removed using an appropriate etching agent in the controlled regime and the amount of evolved gases are measured by means of chromatography (gas composition and release rate) and a proportional gas flow detector (tritium). Results for the tritium profiles in neutron irradiated, plasma exposed and gas loaded beryllium are reported.


The gemand specimen-bearing, complex granitic pegrnatite and aplite dikes and bodies of Cretaceous age emplaced into the Southern California batholith locally contain fractures and cavities ("pockets") that are usually clay filled. Some pockets, however, contain only a thin coating of cookeite or sericite, deposited as "snow on the roof." Other pockets contain pseudomorphs of lepidolite after elbaite, bavenite after beryl, and clays and micas after spodumene. Pseudomorphism took place under nearly closed system conditions at temperatures similar to those at the time of pocket formation. Most pockets contain fragmented primary minerals enclosed in a matrix of Ca-Na zeolites; white, pink, or red beidellite; Li-tosudite; Ca-Mg montmorillonite; and rare calcite. Paragenetic relationships indicate a decrease in Na relative to Ca during the crystallization of zeolites and a decrease in Li and Al-concomitant with an enrichment of Ca, Mg, and Si-for the layer silicates. The most prevalent minerals found are stilbite, laumontite, cookeite, Li-tosudite, beidellite, Mg-Ca montmorillonite, palygorskite, and calcite. Sparse amounts of nontronite, heulandite, and todorokito have also been identified. Deposition ofzeolites, clays, and carbonates in open pockets took place subsequent to crystallization of the primary pocket minerals, under hydrothermal conditions with temperatures ranging from approximately 400 to 150'C. The major amounts of Ca and Mg, represented by as much as 8.4 wto/o MgO in palygorskite and more than l0 wto/o CaO in minerals such as laumontite and bavenite, were provided by hydrothermal alteration ofgabbro-norite and/ortonalite host rocks. Redbrown (iron-stained) kaolinite is locally present as a final phase of deposition in some pockets and is probably indicative of a transition from an alkaline to an acidic environment.


We introduce SceneNet RGB-D, a dataset providing pixel-perfect ground truth for scene understanding problems such as semantic segmentation, instance segmentation, and object detection. It also provides perfect camera poses and depth data, allowing investigation into geometric computer vision problems such as optical flow, camera pose estimation, and 3D scene labelling tasks. Random sampling permits virtually unlimited scene configurations, and here we provide 5M rendered RGB-D images from 16K randomly generated 3D trajectories in synthetic layouts, with random but physically simulated object configurations. We compare the semantic segmentation performance of network weights produced from pretraining on RGB images from our dataset against generic VGG-16 ImageNet weights. After fine-tuning on the SUN RGB-D and NYUv2 real-world datasets we find in both cases that the synthetically pre-trained network outperforms the VGG-16 weights. When synthetic pre-training includes a depth channel (something ImageNet cannot natively provide) the performance is greater still. This suggests that large-scale high-quality synthetic RGB datasets with task-specific labels can be more useful for pretraining than real-world generic pre-training such as ImageNet. We host the dataset at http://robotvault. bitbucket.io/scenenet-rgbd.html.