This thesis explores emergent formations of Indian cinema in Dublin with a particular focus on globalising Bollywood film culture, offering a timely analysis of how Indian cinema circulates in the Irish capital in terms of consumption, exhibition, production and identity negotiation. The enhanced visibility of South Asian culture in the Irish context is testimony to on the one hand, the global expansion of Hindi cinema, and on the other, to the demographic expansion of the South Asian community in Ireland during the last decade. Through varying degrees of participant observation in and across sites of film production and consumption, alongside interviews with South Asian and western social actors with an interest in Indian cinema, this thesis critically frames manifestations of Indian film culture in Dublin; crucially, it does so via my dual positionality as a fan of Bollywood cinema and a researcher, embedded in new formations of Indian cinema in the Irish capital. Drawing on existing literature surrounding the globalisation and circulation of Hindi cinema outside the Indian subcontinent (Rajadhyaksha 2003; Desai 2004; Athique 2005, 2008b; Dudrah 2012) and fan studies (Jenkins 1992, 2006b; Monaco 2010; Duffett 2013), this thesis endeavours to explore the circulation and the social dynamics of Indian cinema, with particular attention to its impact on Irish urban spaces and in constituting subjectivities in the context of the social and economic changes occurring in Ireland since the last decade. Conducted through the lens of fandom, this study foregrounds the relevance of fan studies in promoting a richer understanding of a globalised and transnational cultural product such as Indian film in its multiple manifestations across the Irish capital, contextualising the complexity of the cultural practices and social environments involved. Significantly, my passionate interest in Bollywood cinema led me on a journey through various sites where Indian films are produced, consumed and exhibited, foregrounding the sheer diversity of modes of circulation and engagement that characterises the emergence of Indian film culture in Dublin. Immersive participant observation as a Hindi film fan thus represented an innovative approach to the exploration of the presence of Indian film in transnational contexts, which further contributes to Indian film studies and to the growing field of transnational cinema.


Abstract Many medical image segmentation methods require the selection of seed points inside the target structure. Often times, the location of these seed points determines the accuracy of the resulting target structure delineation and may lead to undesirably high delineation variability. We present Robust-Seed, a new method for automatically reducing the variability of manual and semi-automatic seed-based segmentation methods with respect to the seed point location without compromising the target structure segmentation accuracy. The inputs are a volumetric image, a seed point inside the target structure, and a seed-based segmentation method. The output is a new seed point that optimises the target structure segmentation result. The algorithm iteratively computes a new seed point location that improves the expected target structure segmentation for the given method. Experimental evaluation of seed-based fast-marching level-set and adaptive region growing segmentation of the kidney and the liver on 32 CT scans with ground-truth delineations shows that Robust-Seed yields a perfect robustness score with no significant compromise on the segmentation quality (paired t-test, p < 0.05). The key advantages of Robust-Seed are that it is automatic, that it is independent of target structure and segmentation method used, and that it applies to a wide class of anatomical structures and clinical tasks.


Objective: to evaluate the nutritional status of assisted children in municipal public daycare centers. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study, carried out with 137 children between zero and 24 months old., The anthropometric measures recommended by the Ministry of Health were used for data collection, including height, weight, and body mass index, and, descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis. Results: more than half of the children were eutrophic (70.7%), but 24.1% were overweight, most of them were male. Pictures of thinness (5.2%) were also identified in children between six and 24 months old. Conclusion: the results of the nutritional evaluation indicate a trend towards reduction of malnutrition rates and elevation of overweight in childhood, which reinforces the importance of anthropometric evaluation in the identification of nutritional alterations in children using daycare centers.


Chemical synthesis is an attractive approach allows for the assembly of homogeneous complex N-linked glycopeptides and glycoproteins, but the limited coupling efficiency between glycans and peptides hampered the synthesis and research in the related field. Herein we developed an alternative glycosylation to construct N-linked glycopeptide via efficient selenoester-assisted aminolysis, which employs the peptidyl ω-asparagine selenoester and unprotected glycosylamine to perform rapid amide-bond ligation. This glycosylation strategy is highly compatible with the free carboxylic acids and hydroxyl groups of peptides and carbohydrates, and readily available for the assembly of structure-defined homogeneous N-linked glycopeptides, such as segments derived from glycoprotein EPO and IL-5.


Women play an important role in societies especially in education. However, in many Kenyan's communities' traditional perspective of women is seen as inferior to men continue to prevail as many people invoke the preservation of African culture to justify the subordination of women. This research paper is basically conducted to find out the role of women participation in university management in Kenya. Secondary data was collected from one public university and one private university randomly selected. The study talks about ten (10) male managers (heads of department's deans, two D/V/C, and two (V/C) six (6) women managers (deans, heads of department). The sample was selected through the random sample method for both women and male managers. The percentage ratios show the picture of the role of women in higher education in the selected universities in Kenya. The finding from study reveals that the women participation in university management is below the recommended thirty percent (30%) of gender representation in Kenyan constitution.


In auctions with private information acquisition costs, we completely characterize efficient and optimal two-stage selling procedures, with the first stage being the prescreening or entry right allocation mechanism, and the second stage being the traditional private good provision mechanism. Both efficiency and optimality require the second stage mechanism to be ex post efficient. For the first stage of entry allocation, both efficient and optimal mechanisms admit the most efficient bidders (the bidders with the least information acquisition costs), while the optimal mechanism admits fewer entrants. The efficient entry right allocation rule maximizes the expected total surplus, while the optimal entry right allocation rule maximizes the expected "virtual" total surplus, which is the total surplus adjusted for the information rent. We show that both efficient and optimal entry right allocation rules can be truthfully implemented in dominant strategies. We also demonstrate that the optimal entry right allocation mechanism can be implemented through an all-pay auction.


Information-theoretic lower bounds are often encountered in several branches of computer science, including learning theory and cryptography. In the quantum setting, Holevo's and Nayak's bounds give an estimate of the amount of classical information that can be stored in a quantum state. Previous works have shown how to combine information-theoretic tools with a counting argument to lower bound the sample complexity of distribution-free quantum probably approximately correct (PAC) learning. In our work, we establish the notion of Probably Approximately Correct Source Coding and we show two novel applications in quantum learning theory and delegated quantum computation with a purely classical client. In particular, we provide a lower bound of the sample complexity of a quantum learner for arbitrary functions under the Zipf distribution, and we improve the security guarantees of a classically-driven delegation protocol for measurement-based quantum computation (MBQC).


The present magnetoencephalography study investigated whether the brain states of early syntactic and auditory‐perceptual processes can be decoded from single‐trial recordings with a multivariate pattern classification approach. In particular, it was investigated whether the early neural activation patterns in response to rule violations in basic auditory perception and in high cognitive processes (syntax) reflect a functional organization that largely generalizes across individuals or is subject‐specific. On this account, subjects were auditorily presented with correct sentences, syntactically incorrect sentences, correct sentences including an interaural time difference change, and sentences containing both violations. For the analysis, brain state decoding was carried out within and across subjects with three pairwise classifications. Neural patterns elicited by each of the violation sentences were separately classified with the patterns elicited by the correct sentences. The results revealed the highest decoding accuracies over temporal cortex areas for all three classification types. Importantly, both the magnitude and the spatial distribution of decoding accuracies for the early neural patterns were very similar for within‐subject and across‐subject decoding. At the same time, across‐subject decoding suggested a hemispheric bias, with the most consistent patterns in the left hemisphere. Thus, the present data show that not only auditory‐perceptual processing brain states but also cognitive brain states of syntactic rule processing can be decoded from single‐trial brain activations. Moreover, the findings indicate that the neural patterns in response to syntactic cognition and auditory perception reflect a functional organization that is highly consistent across individuals.


Dynamic PET (Positron Emission Tomography) involving a number of radiotracers is an established technique for in vivo estimation of biochemical parameters in human brain, such as the overall metabolic rate and certain receptor concentrations or enzyme activities. 11C labeled methyl-4-piperidyl acetate (MP4A) and -propionate (MP4P) are established radiotracers for measuring activity of acetylcholine esterase (AChE), which relates to functionality of the cholinergic system. MP4A kinetic analysis without arterial blood sampling employs a reference tissue based "irreversible tracer model". Implementations can be region or voxel based, in the second case providing parametric images of k3 which is an indicator of AChE activity. This work introduces an implementation of voxel based kinetic analysis using weighted Nonlinear Least Squares fitting (NLS), which is fast enough for standard PCs. The entire workflow leading from reconstructed PET scans to parametric images of k3, including normalization and correction for patient movement, has been automatized. Image preprocessing has been redefined and fixed masks are no longer required. A focus of this work is error estimation of k3 at the voxel and regional level. A formula is derived for voxel based estimation of random error, it is based on residual weighted squared differences and has been successfully validated against simulated data. The reference curves turned out to be the main source of errors in regional mean values of k3. Major improvements were reached in this area by switching from fixed to adaptive Putamen masks and raising their volume from 5.4 to 12.5 or 16 ml. Also, a method for correcting reference curves obtained from nonideal reference tissues is presented. For the improved implementation, random error of the mean k3 of a number of cerebral regions has been assessed based on PET studies of 12 human subjects, by splitting them in two independent data sets at the sinogram level. According to this sample, absolute standard errors of 0.0012 in most cortex regions and 0.0053 in Hippocampus are induced by noise of voxel based activity curves, while errors of approximately 0.0025 and 0.0050 are induced by noise of the reference curves. Different types of systematic as well as noise-induced bias have been investigated by simulations; their combined effect on the computed k3 was found below 3 percent. The implementation is available as a modul of the VINCI software package and has been used in clinical studies on Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer Dementia.


Childhood socioeconomic status (SES) is strongly predictive of math achievement in early childhood and beyond. In this study, we aimed to further our understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the SES-achievement gap by examining whether two aspects of self-regulation—executive functions (EF) and behavioral self-regulation (BSR)—mediate between SES and math achievement. Using data from a longitudinal study in Singapore (n = 1,257, 49% males), we examined the predictive link from SES to math achievement at entry to formal education (age 7), and the role of EF (child-assessed) and BSR (child-assessed and teacher-rated) as mediators of the SES-math achievement relationship. After accounting for children's non-verbal reasoning and prior math achievement, EF and BSR (both child-assessed) emerged as significant partial mediators between SES and math. A key contribution of our study is in demonstrating that both components of self-regulation play a small role in explaining SES disparities in math achievement. Our findings further suggest that a balanced focus on enhancing EF and BSR skills of children from low-SES families may help to attenuate the SES-math achievement gap. More generally, our research contributes new insights to the ongoing debate about the theoretical distinctions between EF and BSR.


The metabolic syndrome is a growing epidemic; it increases the risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatty liver, and several cancers. Several reports have indicated a link between hormonal imbalances and insulin resistance or obesity. Transgenic (TG) female mice overexpressing the human chorionic gonadotropin β-subunit (hCGβ+ mice) exhibit constitutively elevated levels of hCG, increased production of testosterone, progesterone and prolactin, and obesity. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of hCG hypersecretion on possible alterations in the glucose and lipid metabolism of adult TG females. We evaluated fasting serum insulin, glucose, and triglyceride levels in adult hCGβ+ females and conducted intraperitoneal glucose and insulin tolerance tests at different ages. TG female mice showed hyperinsulinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, and dyslipidemia, as well as glucose intolerance and insulin resistance at 6 months of age. A 1-week treatment with the dopamine agonist cabergoline applied on 5-week-old hCGβ+ mice, which corrected hyperprolactinemia, hyperandrogenism, and hyperprogesteronemia, effectively prevented the metabolic alterations. These data indicate a key role of the hyperprolactinemia-induced gonadal dysfunction in the metabolic disturbances of hCGβ+ female mice. The findings prompt further studies on the involvement of gonadotropins and prolactin on metabolic disorders and might pave the way for the development of new therapeutic strategies.


This paper presents an introduction in selfoptimization processes and algorithms that will be applied especially in LTE (Long Term Evolution or E-UTRAN) mobile networks. As a particular example, we will be looking at the optimization of the handover procedure, which is a vital part for any mobile network. High peak data rates, low latency, seamless mobility are just a few of the ingredients needed for delivering high quality services to the end user. This forces the industry to be constantly searching for newer and better ways of and demands. LTE is the new 3GPP standard [1] that rises to the challenge.


ABSTRACT Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP or Gunther disease) is a very rare subtype of porphyria with a prevalence of <0.9 per 1 000 000. A 13-year-old female patient came to our hospital complaining of a severe cutaneous ulceration and scarring. The symptoms began in her first year of life as urine discoloration and skin blistering in sun-exposed areas. The family had been trapped in a high-risk conflict zone in Syria for many years, which precipitated the aggravation of symptoms. Based on clinical examination and laboratory tests, we diagnosed the patient with CEP and treated her with vitamin D supplementation alongside chronic blood transfusions, strict photoprotection and psychotherapy. After 7 months, there were no longer active ulcers or novel complications. Psychotherapy and patient education were important for her psychological development at this age. This treatment limited the deterioration of the symptoms and made the patient more committed to the periodic examinations.


Objective: The aim of this paper is to report on the experience of racial discrimination by black sub-Saharan overseas qualified nurses working in rural Australia. Background: The arrival of black African people as skilled professional migrants is relatively new in rural Australia. The presence of black sub-Saharan African nurses in Australian healthcare facilities is changing the face of the Australian nurse. Australia, like other developed countries, has been receiving migrant nurses from the African continent in a bid to reverse its critical nurse shortage. Literature has shown that globally, overseas qualified nurses of colour have encountered work challenges that have included racial discrimination. Study design and methods: A qualitative hermeneutical phenomenological approach was used. Eighteen nurses were purposively selected using personal invite and a snowballing technique. Data collection involved individual face to face interviews and a focus group discussion. Results: The exploration of experiences revealed issues of race and colour among colleagues and between patients and overseas qualified nurses. Overseas qualified nurses experienced incidents of discrimination based on race and skin colour from their colleagues and patients. They felt unwelcome, not trusted and undervalued. They adopted various coping strategies to adjust to being seen differently. Discussion: The literature suggests that overseas qualified nurses tend to be discriminated against in their destination countries. In this paper the migration experience of black sub-Saharan African overseas qualified nurses has shown the power of welcoming people to their new country, the existence of discrimination by race at their healthcare facilities as well as showing the importance of trust and teamwork at the workplace. The study has also shown the resilience of black sub-Saharan African overseas qualified nurses in their time of adversity. Conclusion: There are pockets of racial discrimination that need to be checked within the Australian healthcare system. These undermine the confidence of overseas qualified nurses in their professional practice. Implications for research, policy and practice: The results provided insight into the existence of racism within the workplace. Black African nurses need to feel safe in their workplace and need more support to facilitate their integration. Nurse managers need to be more vigilant in monitoring staff interactions in their Units. Understanding and support for diversity at the workplace by all nurses will improve patient and staff safety.
What is already known about the topic?

There is a global shortage of nurses. Nurse migration between countries has been taking place for a long time, and the trend will continue.
Discrimination against migrant nurses of colour has been identified in various destination countries.

What this paper adds:

Findings from this study suggest existence of racism against black sub-Saharan African nurses in rural Australian workplaces.
Black sub-Saharan African nurses need more support from nurse managers. They may get this through close monitoring of staff interactions in the workplace and intervention when racism is noted.
Black sub-Saharan African nurses showed resilience in overcoming adversity in their workplace.


Upon reductive cyclization cyano esters 2, 3, and 9 yielded piperidones and perhydropyrrolo[3,4-c]pyridine lactams, generally as a mixture of diasteromeric cis-trans forms. X-ray crystallographic analyses were carried out on bicyclic dilactam derivatives 6 and 10, and a cis configuration at the ring junction was determined in both cases. A series of neuropsychopharmacological tests performed on the title compounds indicated that they are generally nontoxic even at high doses (up to 1000 mg/kg ip). The cognition activating properties of lactams 4, 5, 6, and 10 were evaluated in enhancing retention for passive avoidance learning in rats without and after electroconvulsive shock (ECS); compounds 5 and 10 were found to be more potent than piracetam in the amnesia-reversal testing.


Two Nissen fundoplications were performed by a minimally invasive robotic technique on May 19, 1998. The Mona robot, was placed to the left of the patient. It held and activated surgical tools. The surgeon was placed some 3 meters from the patient and was seated at a console. He was not scrubbed. He commanded the 3 robotic arms by manipulating two handles, while observing a 3 dimensional picture recreated by a binocular system. Manipulations of the handles were translated into digital information by a computer. This information was modified by the computer with downscaling of the amplitude of motion by a factor 1 to 3 or 1 to 5. Physiologic tremor was eliminated. The computer delivered an impulse in command of the articulated robot arms via a 5 m long cable. Operating time was 4.30 hours, and 1.30 hours respectively. Blood loss was estimated at 20 and 30 ml. The two patients were discharged on the first postoperative day after a gastrograffin swallow had been performed in order to check the position of the wrap and its patency. Our experience with the Mona device may suggest that surgical robotics could have an increasingly important role in tomorrow's operating theatres. It should allow for more precise procedures, performed under better circumstances.


OBJECTIVE
Recently, a new sonic power toothbrush has been marketed. The purpose of this study was to compare the plaque removal efficacy of a control rotation-oscillation power toothbrush (Oral-B Triumph) to this new sonic-powered toothbrush (Sonicare FlexCare) following a single brushing.

METHODS
This study was a randomized, controlled, examiner-blind, two-treatment, four-period crossover design, which examined plaque removal with the two toothbrushes following replicate single uses in 48 subjects. Plaque was scored before and after brushing using the Turesky Modification of the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (TMQHPI).

RESULTS
Baseline plaque scores were 2.87 for the sonic toothbrush and 2.85 for the rotation-oscillation toothbrush treatment groups. With respect to all surfaces examined, the sonic toothbrush delivered an adjusted (via Analysis of Covariance) mean difference between baseline and post-brushing plaque scores of 0.95, while the rotation-oscillation toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference of 1.06. The difference between treatment groups was statistically significant (p = 0.003).

CONCLUSION
The rotation-oscillation toothbrush delivered superior plaque removal by reducing plaque scores, on average, 12.1% more than the new sonic toothbrush.


We study risk pooling via unidirectional lateral transshipments between two locations under local decision-making. Unidirectional transshipments can be applicable when cost structures and/or capabilities differ between locations, and it is also a common practice in dual channel supply chains with online and offline sales channels. We show that such a system cannot be coordinated only with varying transshipment prices. The transshipment receiver orders more and the transshipment giver orders less than the respective optimal centralised order quantities. In order to remove this discrepancy, we suggest horizontal coordination mechanisms by introducing a leftover subsidy for the location providing the transshipments or a shortage subsidy for the location receiving transshipments as well as a combination of shortage and leftover subsidy. Further, we evaluate the impact of network structure by comparing the equilibrium order quantities and profits under the uni- and bidirectional systems as well as a system without transshipments. Since demand correlation is a critical aspect in risk pooling we provide a detailed numerical study to discuss its impact on our findings.


Goal-directed behaviors involve distributed brain networks. The small size of the mouse brain makes it amenable to manipulations of neural activity dispersed across brain areas, but existing optogenetic methods serially test a few brain regions at a time, which slows comprehensive mapping of distributed networks. Laborious operant conditioning training required for most experimental paradigms exacerbates this bottleneck. We present an autonomous workflow to survey the involvement of brain regions at scale during operant behaviors in mice. Naïve mice living in a home-cage system learned voluntary head-fixation (>1 hour/day) and performed difficult decision-making tasks, including contingency reversals, for 2 months without human supervision. We incorporated an optogenetic approach to manipulate activity in deep brain regions through intact skull during home-cage behavior. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we tested dozens of mice in parallel unsupervised optogenetic experiments, revealing multiple regions in cortex, striatum, and superior colliculus involved in tactile decision-making.


The technique of vehicle-borne navigation system develops rapidly. Map matching is one of the key techniques of the vehicle-borne navigation. General map matching method is based on simple point projection. It often appears matching errors in the face of complicated roadways. The article aims at the shortcoming of general map matching, and designs a forecast map matching model based on roadway topology and geometry characteristic. What's more, the model is validated by practical running tests. Forecast map matching model brings new idea in order to resolve the difficult problem of matching on complicated roadways.


Poster Division 1: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)


In this article we present the results of a recent survey of economics professors in Australia. We found that there is a comfortable measure of consensus in many areas of economic science, including several contentious issues which currently worry policymakers and the general public alike. We show that there is good evidence to suggest that Australian academic economists share a world economic culture with their western European and (to an even greater extent) their American colleagues. We also asked the professors to share their thoughts on university economics education. There was good consensus that the professors wanted a rigorous classical economics education for their students, but they were not willing to sacrifice breadth: the ideal student, it appears, is one technically competent in economics with a head for the social and political dimensions of the profession. Overwhelmingly, the professors voted the economics department of the Australian National University as the best place for such an education, with those of Melbourne, the University of New South Wales, and Monash, close behind. Finally, the professors gave their opinions on the understanding of economics by government agencies, business and community groups.


In multi-talker scenarios such as meetings and conversations, speech processing systems are usually required to segment the audio and then transcribe each segmentation. These two stages are addressed separately by speaker change detection (SCD) and automatic speech recognition (ASR). Most previous SCD systems rely solely on speaker information and ignore the importance of speech content. In this paper, we propose a novel SCD system that considers both cues of speaker difference and speech content. These two cues are converted into token-level representations by the continuous integrate-and-fire (CIF) mechanism and then combined for detecting speaker changes on the token acoustic boundaries. We evaluate the performance of our approach on a public real-recorded meeting dataset, AISHELL-4. The experiment results show that our method outperforms a competitive frame-level baseline system by 2.45% equal coverage-purity (ECP). In addition, we demonstrate the importance of speech content and speaker difference to the SCD task, and the advantages of conducting SCD on the token acoustic boundaries compared with conducting SCD frame by frame.


Elimination of most granule, basket, and stellate interneurons in the rat cerebellum was achieved by repeated doses of low level x-irradiation applied during the first two weeks of postnatal life. Electrical stimulation of the brain stem and peripheral limbs was employed to investigate the properties of afferent cerebellar pathways and the nature of the reorganized neuronal synaptic circuitry in the degranulated cerebellum of the adult. Direct contacts of mossy fibers on Purkinje cells were indicated by short latency, single spike responses: 1.9 msec from the lateral reticular nucleus of brain stem and 5.4 msec from ipsilpateral forelimb. These were shorter than in normal rats by 0.9 and 2.1 msec, respectively. The topography of projections from peripheral stimulation was approximately normal. Mossy fiber responses followed stimulation at up to 20/sec, whereas climbing fiber pathways fatigued at 10/sec. The latency of climbing fiber input to peripheral limb stimulation in x-irradiated cerebellum was 23 +/- 8 (SD) msec. In x-irradiated rats, the climbing fiber pathways evoked highly variable extracellular burst responses and intracellular EPSPs of different, discrete sizes. These variable responses suggest that multiple climbing fibers contact single Purkinje cells. We conclude that each type of afferent retains identifying characteristics of transmission. However, rules for synaptic specification appear to break down so that: (1) abnormal classes of neurons develop synaptic connections, i.e., mossy fibers to Purkinje cells; (2) incorrect numbers of neurons share postsynaptic targets, i.e., more than one climbing fiber to a Purkinje cell; and (3) inhibitory synaptic actions may be carried out in the absence of the major inhibitory interneurons, i.e., Purkinje cell collaterals may be effective in lieu of basket and stellate cells.


Once all the sleptons as well as the Bino are observed at the ILC, the Bino contribution to the muon anomalous magnetic dipole moment (muon $g-2$) in supersymmetric (SUSY) models can be reconstructed. Motivated by the recently confirmed muon $g-2$ anomaly, we examine the reconstruction accuracy at the ILC with $\sqrt{s}$ = 500 GeV. For this purpose, measurements of stau parameters are important. We quantitatively study the determination of the mass and mixing parameters of the staus at the ILC. Furthermore, we discuss the implication of the stau study to the reconstruction of the SUSY contribution to the muon $g-2$. At the benchmark point of our choice, we find that the SUSY contribution to the muon $g-2$ can be determined with a precision of $\sim 1\%$ at the ILC.


When a PTFE sheet was rubbed lightly and unidirectionally over a smooth surface of stainless steel an essentially monomolecular transfer film was formed. By special ellipsometric and emission infrared spectroscopic techniques it was possible to show that the film was 10–15 A thick and birefringent. From the intensity differences of infrared bands obtained with a polarizer passing radiation polarized in mutually perpendicular planes, it was possible to deduce transfer film orientation with the direction of rubbing. After standing in air for several weeks the transfer film increased in thickness by as much as threefold. At the same time both the index of refraction and the absorption index decreased. Examination of the surfaces by optical and electron microscopies showed that the films had become porous and flaky. These observations were consistent with previous tribological measurements. The coefficients of friction and were decreased with the formation of the transfer film but increased again as the film ...


Using an elegant mathematical method advanced by us, we calculate the orbital precession effect in the gravitational field of the centre mass with electric charge and a global monopole. Analysing the results, we obtain that the orbital precession effect increases on account of the global symmetry breaking, but the orbital precession effect aroused by the electric charge of the field source reduces the orbital precession effect aroused by the mass of the field source. Generalizing the effect in the Schwarzschild field, we obtain interesting results by discussing the parameters of the celestial body, which provide a feasible experimental verification of the general relativity.


In order to discuss how to handle the contralateral effect (cross-talk) when taking an electrooculogram (EOG) with two or more electrodes, a forced duction test was used to detect cross-talk potentials. The cross-talk potentials originating from the left eye were measured at the right eye for 5 subjects when the left eye was adducted and abducted alternately with a suction contact lens while the right eye was kept fixed. The cross-talk potentials detected at the right eye did not depend on the electrode position, but the contralateral EOG potentials depended on the electrode position around the left eye. The cross-talk value is calculated as the gain, 20.log [(cross-talk potential)/(contralateral EOG potential)]. The denominator of this expression considerably affects the gain since the contralateral potential depends on the position of the electrode. We propose that the effect of the cross-talk on the potential between a pair of electrodes can be cancelled with the gain value (-15.0dB: the mean value for the 5 subjects) when the contralateral electrode is set 20 mm from the outer canthus.


&NA; This study compared the neurobehavioral performance of hypertensive and normotensive men and women using neuropsychological, information‐processing, and psychometric assessments. One hundred subjects, including 68 hypertensive and 32 normotensive individuals, completed a test battery that yielded scores on measures of speed of information processing, verbal and figural memory, psychosocial functioning, Type A behavior, and locus of control. Results showed that, compared with the normotensive individuals, the hypertensives performed more poorly on a set of tasks that measure speed of information processing and short‐term memory (Digit Symbol, Digit Span (Backwards), and Reaction Time (slope)). The hypertensives also reported higher levels of state anxiety relative to their normotensive counterparts. The effects of hypertension on neurobehavioral functioning could not be accounted for on the basis of age or education.


Intraperitoneal injection of BUdR on day 11 or 12 of rat gestation produced preaxial polydactyly of the hindlimb. The pathogenesis of this deformity differed from that of other polydactyly regimes in that drug-induced mesenchymal necrosis was not an essential feature. Likewise an altered pattern of physiological necrosis was not an essential feature. Likewise an altered pattern of physiological necrosis in the apical ectodermal ridge (AER) was not evident in hindlimbs of BUdR-treated embryos. In keeping with earlier studies, a zone of physiological necrosis within the preaxial mesoderm thought to be instrumental in controlling preaxial digitation was abolished. Speculation has focused on the incorporation of BUdR into these prospectively necrotic cells as the means by which they survive. Support for this idea is gained from the protective effect of concomitant thymidine administration, which presumably prevents BUdR incorporation.


Background & Purpose. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading and fastest rising cause of cancer death worldwide. HCC is often diagnosed when it is not curable. Thus, there are many challenges associated with the treatment of HCC. Until now there is no simple and robust system for reliable pre-treatment screening of approved drugs. Methods. We developed a simple and robust patient-derived multicellular cell clustering model from 18 liver resections. We applied this technology on 9 HCC liver tissues and assessed FDA-approved drug responses.Results. The success rate of our model is 100% independently from the type of liver underlying disease. The model shows differential responses to HCC targeted- and immune-based treatments with a high reproducibility. Our work highlights that preserving the integrity of the primary liver architecture permits to perpetuate the physiopathology. Conclusion. This model system will help to understand the biological role of the tumor microenvironment and to accelerate the clinical research program for personalized liver cancer treatment based on functional screening.


[The history of Australian company law has attracted remarkably little attention in academic literature, perhaps because it has mainly been seen as a copy of English law with few, if any, noteworthy features. This article points out several interesting and significant aspects of the evolution of Australian company law and considers this evolution in the context of the economic development of colonial Australia. Australian company law is an example of the transplantation of English law, raising the question of whether this transplant was successful. The central contention of this article is that although a substantial part of Australia's company law was transplanted from England, its evolution was innovative and responsive to the economic needs of Australian society at the time. In particular, Australia's company law was instrumental in financing the development of the mining industry, which played an important role in the economic success of colonial Australia.]


By use of synchrotron radiation the powder x-ray diffraction of lanthanide monoarsenides LnAs (Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy and Ho) with a NaCl-type structure has been studied up to 60 GPa at room temperature. First-order phase transitions with crystallographic change were found at around 27.1 GPa for PrAs, 24.2 GPa for NdAs and 32.1 GPa for SmAs. The high-pressure form of the lighter LnAs (Ln = Pr, Nd and Sm) is a tetragonal structure and can be viewed as a distorted CsCl-type structure. The atoms in the tetragonal structure are located at Ln: 0,0,0; As: 1/2,1/2,1/2. The space group is P4/mmm. Pressure-induced phase transitions of the heavier LnAs (Ln = Gd, Dy and Ho) with many f electrons occur at around 36 GPa for GdAs, 44 GPa for DyAs and 46 GPa for HoAs. The structure of these high-pressure phases is unknown. The high-pressure structural behaviour of LnAs (Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm, Gd, Dy and Ho) with the NaCl-type structure is discussed.


In France, no other specialist business function is so predominantly marked by culture as HRM. In France, Cartesian patterns of analytical thinking, the passion for anti‐authoritarian individualism, and the reduction of disorder through legislation and bureaucracy influence the company′s sociocultural environments, in particular through the education system, the status of executives, and the role of trade unionism. Emphasis is put on the concept of ubiquity in HRM; it is at the intersection of all the other corporate functions and its role is shared with the line managers at the technical, relational and strategic level. Future perspectives, like the introduction of new technologies, may impose a new ethical dimension for HRM against the "gospel of efficiency".


Abstract Abnormalities of one carbon, glutathione and sulfide metabolisms have recently emerged as novel pathomechanisms in diseases with mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the mechanisms underlying these abnormalities are not clear. Also, we recently showed that sulfide oxidation is impaired in Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) deficiency. This finding leads us to hypothesize that the therapeutic effects of CoQ10, frequently administered to patients with primary or secondary mitochondrial dysfunction, might be due to its function as cofactor for sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase (SQOR), the first enzyme in the sulfide oxidation pathway. Here, using biased and unbiased approaches, we show that supraphysiological levels of CoQ10 induces an increase in the expression of SQOR in skin fibroblasts from control subjects and patients with mutations in Complex I subunits genes or CoQ biosynthetic genes. This increase of SQOR induces the downregulation of the cystathionine β-synthase and cystathionine γ-lyase, two enzymes of the transsulfuration pathway, the subsequent downregulation of serine biosynthesis and the adaptation of other sulfide linked pathways, such as folate cycle, nucleotides metabolism and glutathione system. These metabolic changes are independent of the presence of sulfur aminoacids, are confirmed in mouse models, and are recapitulated by overexpression of SQOR, further proving that the metabolic effects of CoQ10 supplementation are mediated by the overexpression of SQOR. Our results contribute to a better understanding of how sulfide metabolism is integrated in one carbon metabolism and may explain some of the benefits of CoQ10 supplementation observed in mitochondrial diseases.


The development of automatic segmentation techniques for medical imaging tasks requires assessment metrics to fairly judge and rank such approaches on benchmarks. The Dice Similarity Coefficient (DSC) is a popular choice for comparing the agreement between the predicted segmentation against a ground-truth mask. However, the DSC metric has been shown to be biased to the occurrence rate of the positive class in the ground-truth, and hence should be considered in combination with other metrics. This work describes a detailed analysis of the recently proposed normalised Dice Similarity Coefficient (nDSC) for binary segmentation tasks as an adaptation of DSC which scales the precision at a fixed recall rate to tackle this bias. White matter lesion segmentation on magnetic resonance images of multiple sclerosis patients is selected as a case study task to empirically assess the suitability of nDSC. We validate the normalised DSC using two different models across 59 subject scans with a wide range of lesion loads. It is found that the nDSC is less biased than DSC with lesion load on standard white matter lesion segmentation benchmarks measured using standard rank correlation coefficients. An implementation of nDSC is made available at: https://github.com/NataliiaMolch/nDSC.


Gastric cancer (GC) represents the fourth most common malignant neoplasm and the second leading cause of cancer death. Despite therapeutic advances in recent decades, the clinical outcome remains dismal owing to the fact that most patients with GC show advanced disease at diagnosis and current chemotherapy only confers a modest survival advantage. Identification of key molecular signaling pathways involved in gastric carcinogenesis and progression would aid in early diagnosis and provide a rational design for targeted therapies in selected patients with advanced GC, to improve their outcome. Dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 (DDAH1) is the main enzyme that can degrade asymmetric dimethylarginine, an endogenous nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor. Increased DDAH1 expression and NO production have been linked to multiple pathological conditions including cancer. However, the prognostic significance of DDAH1 in patients with GC and its function in GC progression remain undefined. In this study, we found that downregulation of DDAH1 was frequently detected in GC tissues and strongly correlated with more aggressive phenotypes and poor prognosis. Functional assays confirmed that forced expression of DDAH1 in the GC cells suppressed cell migration and invasion in vitro, as well as metastatic potential in vivo. DDAH1 overexpression inhibited the epithelial–mesenchymal transition process by increasing β‐catenin degradation through the attenuation of Wnt/GSK‐3β signaling. In contrast, knockdown of DDAH1 produced the opposite effect. These findings suggest that DDAH1 functions as a tumor suppressor in GC and may be exploited as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for GC.


This global survey of 203 B2B E-Commerce auditors examined a model of E-Commerce audit effectiveness using confirmatory factor analysis and structural regression analysis. The findings support the theorized relationship of information technology audit expertise and information and communication technology expertise on E-Commerce audit judgment while the theorized system change management impact was indirect via information technology audit expertise. The results of this empirical study furthers understanding of the importance of auditor expertise in systems and network change management which has been an under researched area in E-Commerce auditing. The highly technology-centric nature of E-Commerce requires various expertise areas for the E-Commerce auditor to develop a higher level of audit judgment expertise. The most significant contribution made by this study to the accounting literature lies in the empirical validation of the E-Commerce audit judgment expertise model which uses global sampling of forty six countries with 203 auditor respondents. Further, this study provides measurement scales for future empirical studies to not only validate these scales on independent samples but also to extend the theory developed and tested in this paper. It is hoped that the results of this study can provide a sound theoretical and operational basis for research focused on differentiating the efficacy of varying E-Commerce audit judgment expertise configurations and for future accounting studies that determine the paths of audit expertise system design and redesign for our fast changing technological milieu.


The main purposes of neuroimaging in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been moved from diagnosis of advanced AD to diagnosis of very early AD at a prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment, prediction of conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD, and differential diagnosis from other diseases causing dementia. Structural MRI studies and functional studies using F‐18 fluorodeoxyglucose‐positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) and brain perfusion single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are widely used in diagnosis of AD. Outstanding progress in diagnostic accuracy of these neuroimaging modalities has been obtained using statistical analysis on a voxel‐by‐voxel basis after spatial normalization of individual scans to a standardized brain‐volume template instead of visual inspection or a conventional region of interest technique. In a very early stage of AD, this statistical approach revealed gray matter loss in the entorhinal and hippocampal areas and hypometabolism or hypoperfusion in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus. These two findings might be related in view of anatomical knowledge that the regions are linked through the circuit of Papez. This statistical approach also offers prediction of conversion from MCI to AD. Presence of hypometabolism or hypoperfusion in parietal association areas and entorhinal atrophy at the MCI stage has been reported to predict rapid conversion to AD.


ABSTRACT Establishment and maintenance of chronic lung infections with mucoid Pseudomonas aeruginosa in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) require that the bacteria avoid host defenses. Elaboration of the extracellular, O-acetylated mucoid exopolysaccharide, or alginate, is a major microbial factor in resistance to immune effectors. Here we show that O acetylation of alginate maximizes the resistance of mucoid P. aeruginosa to antibody-independent opsonic killing and is the molecular basis for the resistance of mucoid P. aeruginosa to normally nonopsonic but alginate-specific antibodies found in normal human sera and sera of infected CF patients. O acetylation of alginate appears to be critical for P. aeruginosa resistance to host immune effectors in CF patients.


Current differencing transconductance amplifier (CDTA) is a very useful alternative building block of current mode operational amplifiers. The analog filter types designed with CDTAs can be implemented by using only capacitors. A new reconfigurable filter employing CDTAs structure for analog signal processing is proposed in this paper. The filter structure consists of CDTAs and only two capacitors as passive element. The proposed filter structure is a part of different positioning protocols to implement on the same chip. The filter is designed with AMS 0.18μm technology. The filter performance is tested and verified by simulations with Cadence environment.


Correlation coefficient analysis conducted on 22 triticale x bread wheat derivatives along with six checks to select true- breeding derivative(s) for future hybridization programme with tolerance to drought and cold stress conditions as well as better quality traits revealed significant correlation of grain yield with spikelets per spike, biological yield, harvest index, leaf area index. Interestingly, the grain yield and drought susceptibility index showed no association. However, with cold tolerance it showed significant positive correlation indicating the desirability of certain plant traits under cold stress. The grain yield exhibited no association with quality traits which might assist in the predictability of high yielding varieties with high protein, total sugars, reducing sugars and non-reducing sugars. Path coefficient analysis revealed that biological yield had the highest positive direct effect on grain yield followed by harvest index, specific leaf weight, stomatal number, 1000 grain weight, stomatal size, spikelets per spike and days to heading. Therefore, indirect selection for these plant traits in order should be exercised in selecting drought tolerant genotypes. Two genotypes (RL-124-2P2 and RL 111P2) were found to be drought and cold tolerant with high grain yield, spikes per plant, spikelets per spike and leaf area index.


. Within the unified model of chemical bonding and methods of quantitative assessment of components of mixed chemical interaction between the elements in compounds, developed by the authors, a new approach was developed to assess the structural and energy characteristics of substances and fuels. It comprises establishing a correlation between the difference of bonds' chemical components of reactants and end products. Changes in the chemical bond components affect such characteristics of chemical reactions as the heat of formation of the reaction products, their redox properties, whether reaction is endo- or exothermic, as well as the heat of fuel combustion reactions. This approach is an additional reserve for improving the methods for assessing the energy characteristics of fuels and increasing the efficiency of energy production technologies.


ABSTRACT Although human rhinoviruses (HRVs) are common causes of respiratory illness, their molecular epidemiology has been poorly investigated. Despite the recent findings of new HRV genotypes, their clinical disease spectrum and phylogenetic positions were not fully understood. In this study, 203 prospectively collected nasopharyngeal aspirates (NPAs), negative for common respiratory viruses (83 were human bocavirus [HBoV] positive and 120 HBoV negative), from hospitalized children during a 1-year period were subjected to reverse transcription-PCR for HRV. HRV was detected in 14 NPAs positive and 12 NPAs negative for HBoV. Upon VP4 gene analysis, 5 of these 26 HRV strains were found to belong to HRV-A while 21 belonged to a genetic clade probably representing a previously undetected HRV species, HRV-C, that is phylogenetically distinct from the two known HRV species, HRV-A and HRV-B. The VP4 sequences of these HRV-C strains were closely related to the newly identified HRV strains from the United States and Australia. Febrile wheeze or asthma was the most common presentation (76%) of HRV-C infection, which peaked in fall and winter. Complete genome sequencing of three HRV-C strains revealed that HRV-C represents an additional HRV species, with features distinct from HRV-A and HRV-B. Analysis of VP1 of HRV-C revealed major deletions in regions important for neutralization in other HRVs, which may be signs of a distinct species, while within-clade amino acid variation in potentially antigenic regions may indicate the existence of different serotypes among HRV-C strains. A newly identified HRV species, HRV-C, is circulating worldwide and is an important cause of febrile wheeze and asthmatic exacerbations in children requiring hospitalization.


Summary
• Uptake of glycine, a simple organic nitrogen (N) source, directly from the soil is shown here in a conventionally cropped wheat ( Triticum aestivum ) field.
• Wheat plants were harvested after tracer injections into the soil of two forms of dual-labelled amino acid; [ 13C2], [15N]-glycine and 2-[13C], [15N]-glycine. Uptake of intact amino acid was analysed by stable isotope–, and gas chromatography–, mass spectrometry.
• Significant increases in 13 C were found in root extracts for all glycine-treated plants. Regression analysis of excess 13 C vs excess 15 N for the two glycine forms showed that at least 20% of absorbed glycine-N was derived from uptake of intact glycine. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was used to verify the presence of intact dual-labelled glycine in wheat roots. Results also indicated that glycine decarboxylase had a minor role in metabolism of absorbed glycine in wheat roots. Microbial metabolism in the soil did, however, result in rapid decarboxylation of added glycine.
• Field-grown wheat takes up glycine directly from the soil; the dependence of agricultural plants on nitrate and ammonium as the only forms of available N is therefore questionable.


The purpose of this project is to design a system for wound irrigation during trauma situations. The wound irrigation system is designed to interface with standard irrigation solution containers. An irrigation system is needed in order to prevent the risk of infection by driving bacteria out of the wound. The design will be verified and validated once manufactured. The major requirement is that the irrigation system can be used to irrigate several types of wounds and generates a pressure of 8 to 12 psi.


Hydrogenosomes, membrane-bounded organelles that compartmentalize the terminal reactions of cellular energy metabolism, were first described in the parabasalid flagellate Tritrichomonas foetus as subcellular compartments that produce hydrogen and ATP (adenosine triphosphate). Since then, these organelles have been described in a number of different unicellular eukaryotes adapted to microaerobic or anoxic environments. Recent studies have led researchers to consider hydrogenosomes as variations of mitochondria adapted to anaerobic environments, a concept that is supported by the finding of rudimentary mitochondrial-remnant organelles in organisms previously considered devoid of energy-generating organelles (the Archezoa). The relationship of these energy-generating organelles to each other and to the mitochondrion has been examined by many researchers, and several theories have been put forward to explain their origins. In this article, we hope to correct some misconceptions concerning the relationships of the hydrogenosomes so far described, and to put forward an argument that supports the concept that hydrogenosomes evolved repeatedly, either from a protomitochondrion or from differentiated mitochondria.


The appearance of Fasciola cercariae in aquatic rice fields of fluky areas was investigated by using a metacercaria-detecting buoy. The buoy consisted mainly of a foam styrol disk 10 cm in diameter and 3 cm in thickness, and a polyethylene sheet 16 cm in diameter covering the bottom and side of the disk. Each buoy was floated at each corner of a section of rice fields. To determine the serial appearance of Fasciola cercariae, the polyethylene sheet was renewed at intervals of a week over a period of rice cultivation and the number of metacercariae was counted on each sheet. In most rice fields an evident peak of metacercarial detection was observed between the middle of July and the end of August. The time of the first detection of cysts in a small number varied from one section to another of the same field or from one area to another. Metacercariae decreased in number in accordance with drying up the fields. The metacercaria-detecting buoy method was applied to rice fields fertilized with cattle manure for 7 days in mid-summer, as well as to fields located closely to cattle pens, but not fertilized. Many cysts were detected from both groups of fields. The results obtained from weekly observation on the population of snails, particularly infected snails in their habitats, and those from the cercarial appearance detected by means of the buoy method were essentially the same.


The torsion of carbon nanotubes is studied by molecular dynamics simulations. The torsional behavior of a chiral single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) is dependent on the loading directions due to its structural asymmetry. The critical buckling shear strain of a SWCNT in one direction may be 1.8 times higher than that in the opposite direction. This means that one can choose the most appropriate SWCNT for his special purpose in designing a torsional component (e.g., oscillators and springs) of nanomechanical devices using carbon nanotubes. Meanwhile, the finding indicates that a simple thin shell model is not suitable for predicting torsional behavior of small SWCNTs at large strains.


SUMMARY — This article, one of a series, approaches the topics of marriage and kinship through a revitalized kinetic structural approach that shifts the primary focus from abstract models of rules, terminologies, attitudes and norms to exploration of concrete relations in a population, analyzed graph-theoretically in their full complexity as networks. Network representation using the graphe de parente (see below) serves as the basis for examining marriage alliance theory, population structure (such as endogamy and exogamy, inbreeding, subgroups), as well as other possible concepts of general sociological interest, including social formations such as classes, strata, ethnicity, and elites (Schweizer and White 1997). This type of potentially multi-layered structural approach extends to the study of structures and processes of actual marriage and kinship practices and other forms of social linkage that build off of them. Identification of structure and processes which occur in such networks is enhanced by mapping attributes or dynamic variables onto the armature of the kinship graph. Any number of theoretical questions concerning kinship and marriage may be posed or restated to address questions of the structure of kinship networks, and thus depend upon such analysis for deeper critical insights. The focus in this discussion is specifically on the connections between graph-theoretic analysis and various substantive theoretical questions concerning kinship and marriage networks.


Purpose To generate a signature based on anoikis-related genes (ARGs) for endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients and elucidate the molecular mechanisms in EC. Methods On the basis of TCGA-UCEC dataset, we identified specific anoikis-related genes (ARGs) in EC. Cox-relative regression methods were used to generate an anoikis-related signature (ARS). The possible biological pathways of ARS-related genes were analyzed by GSEA. The clinical potency and immune status of ARS were analyzed by CIBERSORT method, ssGSEA algorithm, Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) analysis. Moreover, the expression patterns of ARS genes were verified by HPA database. Results Seven anoikis genes (CDKN2A, E2F1, ENDOG, EZH2, HMGA1, PLK1, and SLC2A1) were determined to develop a prognostic ARS. Both genes of ARS were closely bound up with the prognosis of EC patients. The ARS could accurately classify EC cases with different clinical outcome and mirror the specific immune status of EC. We observed that ARS-high patients could not benefit from immunotherapy. Finally, all the hub genes of ARS were proved to be upregulated in EC tissues by immunohistology. Conclusion ARS can be used to stratify the risk and forecast the survival outcome of EC patients and provide prominent reference for individualized treatment in EC.


The purpose of the paper is to introduce a mechanism for excitation and monitoring of those dynamical modes characterizing the occurrence and the type of bifurcation in nonlinear dynamical systems. The main approach here is based on a definition of participation factors to conveniently address the participation of mode in a state, specified as the output, when the excitation signal is injected into another element of the vector field representing the dynamic of system. AWGN is used as the excitation signal and an algorithm based on the input-output cross correlation functions is used as a method for generation of the precursors corresponding to the complex modes of interest. Numerical simulations on a nonlinear model undergoing Hopf bifurcation prove the effectiveness of the idea.


This study focused on an investigation of a high drug-loaded solid dispersion system consisting of drug, carrier, and surfactant. Solid dispersions of a water-insoluble ofloxacin (OFX) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weights, namely binary solid dispersion systems, were prepared at drug to carrier not less than 5∶5. Polysorbate 80, a nonionic surfactant, was incorporated into the binary solid dispersion systems as the third component to obtain the ternary solid dispersion systems. The powder x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetric studies indicated that crystalline OFX existed in the solid dispersions with high drug loading. However, a decreased crystallinity of the solid dispersions obtained revealed that a portion of OFX was in an amorphous state. The results indicated a remarkably improved dissolution of drug from the ternary solid dispersion systems when compared with the binary solid dispersion systems. This was because of polysorbate 80, which improved wettability and solubilized the non-molecularly dispersed or crystalline fraction of OFX.


This paper assesses and quantifies the consequences of world trade liberalization in agriculture on trade and food security of Sudan. Sudan, with the agricultural sector as the main sector of economy, is characterized by its small open economy, and is classified as one of the least developed countries. Thus, Sudan becomes more vulnerable to any changes in international agricultural markets. The liberalization of international agricultural trade has a great influence on Sudan's food security and on the whole economy. An extended form of a multi-market model for Sudan is developed and used for the analysis. The model embodies important characteristics of agriculture in Sudan like substitution effects and stages of production. As agriculture is the main sector of Sudan's economy, the model is extended to explicitly integrate some of the key important macroeconomic linkages, and to establish certain feedback effects between agriculture and the macro-economy. The model simulations reveal that a higher world market price would overall lead to measurable gains in food security and agricultural trade of the country. However, when the effect of a higher cost of production is considered, the positive results are reversed. Furthermore, the results of the model simulations show that the domestic policy environment matters very much with respect to the potential impact of world trade liberalization of agriculture. The paper concludes that Sudan should reorient its national policies towards export promotion in order to benefit from the new emerging trading opportunities in world markets. However, to capture a greater benefit from the new environment in the international markets, Sudan should consider and manage carefully all factors, domestically or internationally - e.g. quality standard, loss of preference, dumping effects - that hinder its economic and trade growth.


As it is difficult to solve a large number of rate equations including doubly excited states of various ions, block matrix method is expected to dramatically reduce the machine time by dividing the large number of equations into pieces of small units, and solving them one by one, on condition that the ionization and recombination between excited states of ions can be ignored. In this paper, the influence of ionization and recombination between excited states on plasma status was studied, and detailed analysis of its mechanism was made. The effect on gain of Ne-like Ge 19.6nm X-ray laser respectively driven by 1.0ns pulse, 100ps pulse and 5ps pre-pulse and main pulse was studied. The simulation shows that for the 5ps driving pulse case, the ionization and recombination between excited states has relatively large influence, and it can not be ignored and that for the two quasi-stable state cases, in the gain region with electron density less than 5×10 20 cm -3 , the FWHM temporal width of gain increases by~10%, and the FWHM spatial width of gain increases respectively by~13% and ~-23%, and the time the peak gain appears is delayed respectively by~1.4% and ~6.9%, which is tolerable, implying that the block matrix method could be applied in the qualitative modeling of QSS scheme X-ray laser. However, for accurate study, the ionization between the excited states could not be neglected.


Coaching is becoming a common professional development support in early childhood settings. Effective distance coaching may provide more efficient or cost-effective methods of coaching and opportunities for practitioners unable to access in vivo coaching (e.g., rural programs). To determine the current evidence-base for distance coaching, a thorough search of the literature was conducted to identify experimental studies of coaching practitioners via distance methods. Twenty-seven studies were identified and coded for participant, intervention, and design variables. Results include information on how observations were conducted (e.g., video live and video recorded), how feedback was provided (e.g., video conferencing, email, and text), the characteristics of coaches and coaches participating in distance coaching, the rigor of studies included in the review, and the outcomes of distance coaching. Future directions for research on effective distance coaching are discussed.


Abstract. We present a numerical analysis of the average intercore crosstalk (IC-XT) of wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical channels in a homogeneous two-core fiber system. This analysis is performed considering cores with zero-dispersion wavelengths at 1550 nm. In the analysis, we consider 11 WDM channels spaced 100 GHz apart transmitted in three different schemes, one centered at 1510 nm with negative dispersion D  =    −  3.5  ps  /  nm  ·  km, one centered at 1550 nm with D  =  0, and one centered at 1590 nm with D  =    +  3.5  ps  /  nm  ·  km. This selection allows for the observation of how the IC-XT of WDM channels is modified using positive, zero, and negative dispersion parameters. To analyze more realistic scenarios of IC-XT in multicore fibers, we considered random bending and twisting perturbations along the fiber. In addition, we considered fiber nonlinearities such as four-wave mixing (FWM) among WDM channels. The results show that FWM produces a power transfer among the transmitted WDM channels that depends on the dispersion parameter D at core 1, and this effect is transferred to the average crosstalk of the WDM channels at core 2. Therefore, the average IC-XT of WDM channels can be modified in a controlled way by selecting an adequate dispersion parameter D in combination with FWM nonlinearity. These results provide valuable information for understanding the wavelength dependence of the average IC-XT of homogeneous multichannel MCF systems working around a zero-dispersion wavelength.


Male pattern hair loss is a major cosmetic concern affecting both genders with a preference for men. Major causes of hair loss in genetically predisposed individuals include hormonal dysfunction, loss of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in the follicular bed, and localized microinflammation. Few options are yet available to correct the problem. For this purpose, a cosmetic active ingredient was developed by combining a Trifolium pratense flower extract and a biomimetic peptide and tested clinically for the prevention of hair loss. Thirty volunteers with recessing hair were recruited for this randomized, placebo-controlled study. Clinical efficacy, following daily topical application of the mixture to the scalp, was checked using TrichoScan™ for the measurement of human hair. Within 4 months of application, anagen hair increased at an average by +13%, telogen hair density decreased by -29%, and the anagen/telogen (A/T) ratio increased by +46% over baseline in the treated group. Results strongly differed from those of the placebo group (anagen, -2%; telogen, +23%; A/T ratio, -33%). Investigation of the potential mechanisms involved in the positive effects of the test product on hair growth pointed at inhibition of 5-α-reductase activity, reduction of inflammatory reactions, and stimulation of ECM protein synthesis in the vicinity of the hair follicle.


– Synanthropic primary hosts carrying viruses may burden new dangers for humanity. The SARS-CoV-2 virus causing the COVID-19 pandemic presently infected near 2.1 million humans. Virus characteristics resulted in a successful outbreak due to various reasons: ( i ) patient are infectious before experiencing symptoms; ( ii ) carrying hosts might be symptomless, disease outcome in ill patients depends on underlying conditions, age and sex; ( iii ) intermediate hosts, acting as reservoirs living close contact with humans (e.g., livestock, pets); ( iv ) possible virus mutations from animal/person to person/person transmission; ( v ) the virus can spread through the air; ( vi ) the half-life of the virus is long, reaching some days, thus feces and street dust increase the hazard, and contact spread is also turned into critical.


THE MISMATCH BETWEEN US HEALTH EXPENDITURES AND the resources devoted to learning which health interventions are most effective is both striking and unwise. Each year US individuals spend more than $2 trillion on health care. More than $100 billion is spent for research and development and for regulatory approval of new technologies. Yet total spending on technology assessment almost certainly falls short of $1 billion per year— 0.05% of all US health care spending. Some of the $2 trillion in health care expenditures buys services of little or no value. This waste has been attributed to misleading advertisements, media hype, misguided state and federal mandates, fear of malpractice litigation, misaligned reimbursement incentives, and generous insurance that encourages patients to ignore the cost of services. Efforts to curb the inappropriate use of medical technologies, however, can have only limited success unless they address the paucity of reliable information about their benefits, cost, and value. For decades, calls for more systematic assessment of medical technologies and outcomes have gone unheeded. Recently, however, federal legislators and officials have recognized that better information is imperative. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 mandated research on "outcomes, comparative clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of health care." The former Medicare administrator, Gail Wilensky, has described alternative structures for a technology assessment organization. Representatives, senators, and presidential candidates have supported legislation to fund comparative effectiveness initiatives. Renewed interest in technology and outcomes assessment efforts can be traced to several factors: disillusionment with traditional cost-containment approaches, deepening anxiety about the safety and effectiveness of drugs and medical care, recognition that little is known about the optimal use of existing diagnostic procedures and treatments, and the explosion in health care expenditures anticipated as baby boomers age. By 2015, the number of US individuals in their 60s—a decade of heavy use of medical care— will increase by nearly 50%. Simultaneously, because of scientific advances, many new technologies will enter clinical practice. The combination of new technologies and greater use of older medical interventions are the fundamental drivers of increasing health care costs. Increasing health care costs have induced employers and insurance companies to shift more financial responsibility onto individuals through "consumer-directed" health plans and health savings accounts. In addition, private health plans, Medicare, and Medicaid are likely to urge hospitals and clinicians to become agents of cost control. Essential to these efforts to enhance quality and lower costs is comprehensive, objective information about the absolute and relative costs and benefits of medical interventions. Technology assessment in the United States has been hampered by pressure and limited resources. In the early 1990s, key federal agencies dedicated to technology assessment, such as the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, were eliminated. Efforts by other federal agencies are fragmented and underfunded. The Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have little money for technology assessment. The mission of the Agency for Healthcare Policy and Research (AHCPR) was technology and outcomes evaluation. But, in 1994, when the AHCPR sponsored research showing that there was inadequate evidence to support commonly performed back operations, its funding was almost eliminated at the behest of disgruntled orthopedic and neurosurgeons and congressional critics of the Clinton health plan. While AHCPR survived, it was chastened. Its name was changed to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and it has generally avoided controversial issues. Most importantly, little of its small budget—$320 million—is dedicated to evaluative research. State and private technology evaluation activities supplement federal efforts. In 1985, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association established the Technology Evaluation Center "for assessing medical technologies through comprehen-


Neuropore closure was studied in chick embryos by light and electron microscopy. Surface ectoderm reflects over the crests of the neural folds at all craniocaudal levels, merging with the neural ectoderm lining the neural groove. Apices of surface ectodermal cells have an essentially identical morphology prior to approximation of folds, both within the presumptive fusion sites and more laterally. Cells of these areas have slightly convex profiles exhibiting few cellular protrusions. Each neural fold contains a superficial half, composed of neural ectoderm covered by surface ectoderm, and a deep half consisting entirely of neural ectoderm. Initial contact between folds usually occurs near the junction between these halves in cranial regions, but is restricted primarily to surface ectoderm at caudal levels. Subsequent fusion of folds at all levels involves both ectodermal layers. Cellular protrusions and small, morphologically unspecialized intercellular junctions often interconnect cells of apposed folds in areas undergoing fusion. The anterior neuropore closes at stages 10-11, but fusion of folds in this region is not completed until stages 13-14. Fusion occurs dorsoventrally in this area and is more advanced internally than externally. Numerous pleomorphic inclusions and a few apparently necrotic cells are present in areas bordering the anterior neuropore. The posterior neuropore closes at stages 12-13 and fusion is completed in this region during stages 13-14. The caudal end of the posterior neuropore closes dorsal to the developing tail bud. Several morphological features of this closure may at least partially account for the high susceptibility to myeloschisis localized specifically at caudal spinal cord levels.


The Burst Observer and Optical Transient Exploring System (BOOTES), is a global robotic observatory network, which started in 1998 with Spanish leadership devoted to study optical emissions from gamma ray bursts (GRBs) that occur in the Universe. We present shot history and current status of BOOTES network. The Network philosophy, science and some details of 117 GRBs followed-up are discussed.


The literature on welfare states or, more modestly, systems of social protection, has expanded rapidly over the past few decades. Since the publication of the first edition of this Handbook, major progress has been made in three research areas: the relationship between welfare states and production regimes, gendered determinants and outcomes of welfare state regimes, and the distributive outcomes of welfare states. Esping-Andersen ended his chapter in the first edition with a call for an embedded approach to the study of welfare states, for a relational analysis of the welfare state – economy nexus. Two developments have contributed to the advancement of such an approach: progress in research on production regimes in advanced industrial societies, and the dramatic impact of economic transformations on the systems of social protection in ex-communist countries and in Latin America. Progress in research on the gender dimension of the welfare stateeconomy nexus has been spurred by changes in demographic structures, particularly falling fertility rates and the decline of the traditional male breadwinner family that had been at the center of many welfare state programs. Finally, progress in research on distributive outcomes has been heavily driven by the greater availability of reliable and comparable data and new statistical techniques, specifically the Luxembourg Income Surveys and techniques for the analysis of unbalanced panel data.


Background Health literacy has critical health implications. Health literacy in young people is a pressing matter as it determines their current and future health. Although health literacy research is increasing, there are limited health literacy studies from Africa. The aim of this study was to provide a coherent summary and synthesis of the available health literacy studies among young people in Africa. Methods A systematic scoping review was chosen to attain the aim of this study. PubMed, CINAHL, AJOL, JBI EBP, EBSCO, and Google Scholar were searched for evidence. Based on JBI's methodology for reviews, a three-step search strategy was employed. The search was conducted up to April 20, 2022. The PRISMA flow diagram guideline was used to ensure a transparent reporting of the review process. Results The search for evidence identified 386 records, of which 53 were selected and their full texts were assessed for eligibility. Nine studies matched the eligibility criteria. The main findings of the eligible studies are: health literacy levels, association between health literacy and health outcomes, and predictors of health literacy among young people. Low health literacy was common among young people, and there was a significant association between low health literacy and negative health outcomes among this group. Health literacy among young people was impacted by a wide range of socio-demographic factors. Conclusion Health literacy studies among young people in Africa were rare. Although the reviewed studies shed some light on health literacy levels, the association between health literacy and health outcomes, and the predictors of health literacy among young people, they may not give an accurate picture of health literacy among young people, for several reasons. Both primary and secondary health literacy studies are needed to fully understand the issue, and to develop and guide policies and interventions in Africa.


Measurements of 1- to 5-m shear and strain from a neutrally buoyant float are used to examine the statistics and causes of shear instability in a 9-day record. "Unstable" conditions (defined as VZ/N > 2 where Vz = |Vz|) are due to higher-than-average shear rather than lower-than-average buoyancy frequency and there are no instances of unstable buoyancy frequency, or overturns, on the ≥0.5-m spacing of the thermistors. Shear is dominated by upward propagating near-inertial motions. Unstable events were more frequent when a near-inertial wave packet occupied the water parcel tracked by the float. Groups of unstable events occur roughly every 5–7 hours at scales <2.5 m and much less often at larger scales. Events typically last 10 min (one buoyancy period) or longer. These time scales appear to be controlled by vertical advection of ∼1-m fine structure past the float sensors so do not represent the intrinsic time scales of instability. Turbulent and mixing quantities are estimated from these fine-scale measurements, giving a dissipation rate of e ∼ (2.3–16) × 10−10 W/kg and an eddy diffusivity of Kρ ∼ 3 × 10−6 m2/s, in agreement with direct microstructure estimates. Therefore the float adequately resolves those quantities needed to estimate turbulent dissipation and could be used to monitor turbulent mixing in the ocean.


We present an experimental investigation on temperature, excitation intensity and spectral dependence of persistent photoconductivity (PPC) in GaN. A grain boundary induced potential barrier is predicted to be responsible for PPC. The non-exponential nature of the PPC decay has been explained by a Gaussian distribution of capture barriers, arising from the trapped charges at the grain boundary interface. The spectral dependence of the PPC suggests the origin of PPC and the yellow luminescence band may arise from the same intrinsic defect.


Four listeriosis incidences/outbreaks, spanning 19 months, have been linked to Listeria monocytogenes serotype 4b variant (4bV) strains. Three of these incidents can be linked to a defined geographical region, while the fourth is likely to be linked. In this study, whole genome sequencing (WGS) of strains from these incidents was used for genomic comparisons using two approached. The first was JSpecies tetramer, which analyzed tetranucleotide frequency to assess relatedness. The second, the CFSAN SNP Pipeline, was used to perform WGS SNP analyses against three different reference genomes to evaluate relatedness by SNP distances. In each case, unrelated strains were included as controls. The analyses showed that strains from these incidents form a highly related clade with SNP differences of ≤101 within the clade and >9000 against other strains. Multi-Virulence-Locus Sequence Typing, a third standardized approach for evaluation relatedness, was used to assess the genetic drift in six conserved, known virulence loci and showed a different clustering pattern indicating possible differences in selection pressure experienced by these genes. These data suggest a high degree of relatedness among these 4bV strains linked to a defined geographic region and also highlight the possibility of alterations related to adaptation and virulence.


This article aims to examine strategies for improving pedagogical competence through in service training that is more focused on the empowerment of teachers in accordance with the capacity and the problems faced by teachers in the classroom, to improve the quality of teacher learning through lesson study. lesson study is a model of professional development of educators through collaborative learning and continuous assessment based on collegiality and mutual learning. to build a learning community. lesson study selected and implemented in order to improve the pedagogical competence as an effective way to improve the quality of learning and teaching in class. Lesson study carried out in the form of a cycle plan-do-see. through lesson study expected to increase pedagogical competence and increase the quality of learning.


The DLR Center for Lightweight-Production-Technology (ZLP) is doing research on production technology for CFRP parts. The EVo research production line examines technologies for the CFRP high rate production. Part of EVo is an innovative technology used for the inline quality assurance of dry carbon fiber preforms: eddy current inspection. It enables to detect defects and fiber angle of up to 7 layers in depth. The analysis of the fiber angle is performed by 2D Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). Because of the complex preform produced by EVo, the eddy current measurement needs to be carried out in 3D with robotic assistance. The techniques to analyze the 3D measurement data and technological limits are described.


Rhabdias anolis n. sp. from the lungs of Anolis frenatus collected in Panama is described and illustrated. Rhabdias anolis n. sp. represents the 45th species assigned to the genus and the ninth from the Neotropical Realm. It is distinguished from all other Neotropical species by the presence of a pair of sessile lateral papillae on its tail.


The purpose of this communication is to study the metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene by alveolar macrophages from guinea pigs. A column chromatographic technique using a gradient elution (fig. 1) followed by thin layer chromatography has been employed to separate the metabolites. Alveolar macrophages in culture produce metabolites (fig. 2), which remain predominantly in the cells (tab. 1). The presence of serum in the medium modifies the kind of metabolites formed (fig. 3,4). In order to identify the metabolites, the products formed by liver microsomes from benzo(a)pyrene have been separated (fig. 5), and spectroscopically characterised. Unknown substances have been detected by thin layer chromatography (fig. 6,8). The spectra of 3-OH-benzo(a)pyrene 4,5-dihydro-4,5-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene, 9,10-dihydro-9, 10-dihydroxybenzo(a)pyrene could be identified (fig. 7, 9, 10, 11). The characterisation of labelled metabolites formed by alveolar macrophages in culture has been achieved by comparison of their chromatographic behaviour with that of the reference metabolites obtained from liver microsomes (fig. 12). With the exception of the 4,5-diol all metabolites were present in extracts from alveolar macrophages. The results are discussed and compared with published data (tab. 2). The present knowledge about the pathways of metabolism of benzo(a)pyrene is summarized in a scheme (fig. 13).


We present a method that alleviates some of the sensitivity to the inclusion of diffuse basis functions when calculating partial atomic charges from a Lowdin population analysis. This new method locally redistributes that part of the Lowdin population that comes from diffuse basis functions so that the final charges closely resemble those calculated without diffuse functions. We call this method the redistributed Lowdin population analysis (RLPA). The method contains one parameter for each atomic number, and we optimized the parameter for the 6-31+G(d) basis set. The method has been tested on compounds that contain H, Li, C, N, O, F, Si, P, S, Cl, and Br. For a test set of 398 compounds with experimental and high-level theoretical dipole moments, the dipole moments derived from the charges obtained by standard Lowdin population analysis have errors 35% larger than those obtained by the corresponding RLPA using the same basis set. In judging the quality of the RLPA with respect to the test set of dipole moments, we have also found that dipole moments derived from Mulliken population analysis have errors 120% larger than those derived from RLPA for the same basis set. The new method is particularly successful for the 207 systems containing only first row atoms (H, C, N, O, F) for which the errors in the dipole moments computed from the partial atomic charges obtained by standard Lowdin and Mulliken analysis are respectively 115 and 419% larger than those obtained by RLPA.


Laboratory measurements of electrical properties of soils were conducted using coaxial, waveguide, and free-space techniques. Results demonstrate that sample preparation can be a significant factor, and that extrapolation of data collected over a limited frequency range should be undertaken cautiously. The importance of both volumetric moisture and soil density in determining soil electrical properties is discussed. Further research is indicated to ascertain the mechanisms relating soil density and its electromagnetic response.


This article is a discussion of the current dominant theoretical paradigms being used by scholars to delineate the processes of revival in Japanese "folk performing arts". Law identifies a theoretical debate, often cast as an either/or proposition, between a critical assessment of the nativist claims being made by scholars in the folklore movement in Japan, and the naiVe historicism of the folklorists, who have, nevertheless, accurately identified the fragile nature of many of Japan's performing arts traditions. Law argues that people involved in "reclaiming" performing arts traditions are far from the mindlessly loyal national patriots of a larger nativist discourse we read about in the minzokugaku (folklore) scholars. Nor are they the nostalgiC subject, finding their sense of identity through a desperate appeal to a vanished, fragmented past remembered through a tumultuous and shifting present, suggested by the critical theorists. They have a considerably greater degree of agency than current available theoretical paradigms give them credit for. There is a ludic quality to their performing the past in the present, crafting what is meaningful, and what is now local. It is attention to this quality of agency in how people understand dislocations of the local, its reconstitution in their new communities, and the inclusion of reflections on the past and the meaning of their lives in the continuum of time beyond our own significations of these processes as folklorists (popular religion scholars) or Critical scholars of religion that informs this article. The article presents the assumptions of each of these basic paradigms, and then moves to a discussion of four interlocking themes upon which each of these paradigms is dependent: 1) the idea of the local; 2) the category of the authentic; 3) nationalism and 4) nostalgia. Law suggests that while both theoretical tendencies, the critical and the historicist/preservationist are out of touch with what is happening in communities in Japan where "local" performing arts are being revived and reenacted. The article suggests that we need to shift our theoretical attentions from discussions of authenticity, nostalgia, localism and nationalism and begin to explore how people are actively adapting to a more global reality in rural Japan.


abstract:In this article, I explore how US writers and intellectuals in the years following World War II responded aesthetically to the questions of complicity raised by anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. I discuss two short stories in particular: Vladimir Nabokov's "Double Talk" (1945) and Mary McCarthy's "Artists in Uniform" (1953). These form part of a group of literary works that share a striking and singular theme: the nightmare of the liberal intellectual finding herself or himself complicit with anti-Semitism in the confined space of a social encounter, and unable to escape. In reading these stories for their points of contact and shared concerns, we can begin to build an account of how complicity was addressed by members of a particular cultural formation in the early cold war, that of an East Coast intelligentsia characterized by its rejection of Stalinism, adherence to classically liberal political values and commitment to the aesthetic values of European modernism. More specifically, we gain an insight into why the aesthetics of complicity should be understood as a necessary and constitutive element of this group's intellectual ethos.


This contribution aims to elucidate the connection between ion-ion-solvent interactions in the bulk of aqueous electrolyte solutions and the properties of their liquid-air interface. In particular, we were interested in the conditions under which ion pairs form at the surface and whether this is linked to ion pairing in the bulk. For this reason different combinations of hard (Cl(-), Li(+)) and soft ions (I(-), Cs(+)) were investigated. Ion hydration and possible ion association in the bulk was probed with dielectric relaxation spectroscopy. This technique monitors the cooperative reorientation of the dipolar solvent molecules and detects all ion-pair species possibly present in the solution. At the interface, the formation of contact ion pairs was investigated by infrared-visible-sum frequency spectroscopy (SFG). This nonlinear optical technique possesses an inherent surface specificity and can be used for the characterization of interfacial water. The intensity of the SFG-active vibrational stretching modes depends on the number of oriented water molecules. The electric field at the surface of a charged aqueous interface aligns the water dipoles, which in turn increases the SFG response. Hence, the enhancement of the oscillator strengths of the water vibrational modes can be used to draw some conclusions on the strengths and geometrical extension of the electric field. The formation of ion pairs at the interface reduces the intensity of the band associated with hydrogen-bonded water. The underlying theory is presented. The combined data show that there are no contact ion pairs in the bulk of the fluid and--at best--only small amounts of solvent shared ion pairs. On the other hand, the combination of hard/hard or soft/soft ions leads to the formation of ion pairs at the liquid-air interface.


This paper examines two manuscript ritual manuals titled Hwaǒm yemun (華嚴禮文) from the late Chosǒn period preserved in the Old Books Collection of the Dongguk University Library. The first is dated to 1767 with the name Pak Chinhae 朴震海 on the cover, and the second was assembled by an unknown hand in 1891. The differences between the texts suggest the evolution and amplification of Hwaǒm-oriented liturgy in late premodern Korea. By examining the structures of and the ritual procedures delineated in these two documents, scholars gain a clearer picture of how the Avataṃsaka-sūtra was worshipped in Korean Buddhism as the capstone or culmination of the monastic curriculum for Sǒn monks. In addition, these texts further our understanding of how ritual functioned as a means of articulating doctrinal and devotional classifications, as a procedure for reinforcing mainstream Mahāyāna doctrines and aspirations, and as a malleable framework for making of vows and invocations, performing penance, and chanting efficacious spells.


The thesis research field determines the main parameters, of the conductive phase structure formation in polymer nanocomposites filled with conductive fillers such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or combined nanofillers. The influence of the morphology of the heterogeneous structure of the composite and interaction of nanofillers on the electrical, thermophysical and mechanical properties of the composites was studied. The three types of polymer systems filled with carbon nanotubes have been investigated, namely: 1) segregated systems with ordered distribution of the nanofiller; 2) conductive polymer blends; 3) composites with binary fillers in which carbon nanotubes have been combined with organo-modified clay (OMC) in one case and with metal nanoparticles in another case. The investigation of the segregated polymer composites filled with CNTs has shown that the conducting filler creates continuous conductive framework inside the polymer matrix. This provides the presence of ultralow percolation threshold with the value of φc~0.045vol.%. Conductive polymer blends have demonstrated a lower percolation threshold in comparison with individually filled polymers due to a double percolation effect. It has been found that the simultaneous introduction of OMC and CNTs into thermoplastic matrix provides a better distribution of carbon nanotubes, preventing their aggregation and decreasing the percolation threshold. It has been shown that the formation of the conducting phase is more effective in the polymeric matrix with combined nanofillers CNT/nanometal in comparison with individual fillers and the higher conductivity of such conductive system is due to metallic filler content