BACKGROUND RhoA GTPase plays critical roles in actin cytoskeletal remodeling required for controlling a diverse range of cellular functions including cell proliferation, cell adhesions, migration and changes in cell shape. RhoA cycles between an active GTP-bound and an inactive GDP-bound form, a process that is regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs), and GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs). ARHGAP29 is a GAP expressed in keratinocytes of the skin and is decreased in the absence of Interferon Regulator Factor 6, a critical regulator of cell proliferation and migration. However, the role for ARHGAP29 in keratinocyte biology is unknown. RESULTS Novel ARHGAP29 knockdown keratinocyte cell lines were generated using both CRISPR/Cas9 and shRNA technologies. Knockdown cells exhibited significant reduction of ARHGAP29 protein (50-80%) and displayed increased filamentous actin (stress fibers), phospho-myosin light chain (contractility), cell area and population doubling time. Furthermore, we found that ARHGAP29 knockdown keratinocytes displayed significant delays in scratch wound closure in both single cell and collective cell migration conditions. Particularly, our results show a reduction in path lengths, speed, directionality and persistence in keratinocytes with reduced ARHGAP29. The delay in scratch closure was rescued by both adding back ARHGAP29 or adding a ROCK inhibitor to ARHGAP29 knockdown cells. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate that ARHGAP29 is required for keratinocyte morphology, proliferation and migration mediated through the RhoA pathway.


The Lipan Apache mission on the banks of the San Sabá River was located on the northern boundary of Coahuila, New Spain, in the center of today's state of Texas. On March 16, 1758, Norteño tribes, allied with the Comanches, attacked and destroyed the mission, demonstrating their hostility to what they saw as the Spaniards' unjust support of their traditional enemy, the Apaches. The destruction of the mission contributed to the failure of the most far-reaching attempt by the Spanish Crown and the Franciscan Order to settle the Apaches in Texas. The Spanish believed that the mission was the only means to ensure a peaceful settlement of central Texas native tribes and simultaneously to check French illegal arms trade in the northern borderlands. Once the Lipan Apaches were pacified, the reasoning went, definitive settlement of all the Norteño tribes and their allies would follow. These settlements of pacified tribes would also provide the much-desired direct link between Spanish settlements in Texas and those of New Mexico.


The author discusses two useful experiments for the school. The first involves the moons of Jupiter. If they are observed for a month their period of rotation and amplitude can be determined and it will be found that T2 alpha A3 Kepler's law which can be separately derived from Newton's Laws. The second is the plotting of the planetary orbits round the sun. To do this the earth's orbit is first determined and this can be found by measuring the apparent diameter of the sun on various days.


Shape changing interfaces give physical shapes to digital data so that users can feel and manipulate data with their hands and bodies. However, physical objects in our daily life not only have shape but also various material properties. In this paper, we propose an interaction technique to represent material properties using shape changing interfaces. Specifically, by integrating the multi-modal sensation techniques of haptics, our approach builds a perceptive model for the properties of deformable materials in response to direct manipulation. As a proof-of-concept prototype, we developed preliminary physics algorithms running on pin-based shape displays. The system can create computationally variable properties of deformable materials that are visually and physically perceivable. In our experiments, users identify three deformable material properties (flexibility, elasticity and viscosity) through direct touch interaction with the shape display and its dynamic movements. In this paper, we describe interaction techniques, our implementation, future applications and evaluation on how users differentiate between specific properties of our system. Our research shows that shape changing interfaces can go beyond simply displaying shape allowing for rich embodied interaction and perceptions of rendered materials with the hands and body.


Abstract The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences of body measurements and body shape between U.S. and Chinese young females and to examine how well national clothing sizing standards used for the apparel industry in each country meet the sizing demands of current young females. 400 Chinese females and 340 U.S. females, aging from 18 to 35, were chosen for comparison. Twenty-four critical body measurements were involved to define the differences or similarities and compare them with national sizing standards. It was found that compared with Chinese young females, U.S. young females were generally taller, heavier and had a higher percentage of Talls and much lower percentage of Petites. The three most common body types for both U.S. and Chinese young females were: spoon, bottom hourglass and hourglass, though distribution of body shape was different from each other. Body size of Chinese subjects was consistent with Chinese sizing standards, except for Arm Length and Across Shoulder. Nine body dimensions of U.S. subjects had significant differences from American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards. This study could provide valuable information for standardizing organizations in their attempts to improve apparel sizing systems, as well as contributing to development of international sizing standards.


Polyomavirus-associated nephropathy (PVAN) has recently emerged as an important cause of allograft failure following renal transplantation. The BK virus is the most important polyomavirus associated with this condition. The mainstay of therapy for PVAN is a prompt immunosuppressive dose reduction in conjunction with careful monitoring for BK viraemia. A number of antiviral agents have been tried to help to reduce BK viral replication. So far, there has been only a single randomized controlled study on the use of one of these agents. Pooled data from various small case series did not show significant differences in outcome. Prospective randomized studies with a standardized protocol are urgently required.


The objective of the study was to investigate the potential of montmorillonite as a sustained carrier
in the preparation of drug-loaded nanoparticles for prolonged ocular application. Nanoparticles
were prepared by ionic gelation of chitosan with sodium tripolyphosphate (TPP). Betaxolol
hydrochloride (BH) was applied as a model drug. TG, FT-IR, TEM, DLS and XRD have been employed
in the characterization of drug-encapsulated chitosan-montmorillonite/TPP nanoparticles
(CS-MMT/TPP NPs). TEM images showed that the particles were spherical in shape and had a
rough surface. The size range of the nanoparticles was between 338 and 585 nm with positive zeta
potential values from 24 mV to 36 mV and encapsulation efficiency values ranging from 12.27% to
50.92%. In vitro sustained drug release was observed with the BH-loaded nanoparticles in artificial
tears (pH 7.4). The results of FT-IR, TG and XRD showed that the drug was coated with CSMMT/
TPP NPs. In the mucoadhesion studies, an interaction was found between drug-loaded CSMMT/
TPP NPs and mucin, which could enhance precorneal residence time and hence facilitate an
effective sustained release. The optimized formulation was determined to be non-irritant and tolerable
by modified Draize test. Therefore, the BH-loading CS-MMT/TPP NPs developed are a
promising carrier for controlled drug delivery to the eye.


The official definition of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in DSM-III and is subsequent DSM editions is based on a conceptual model that brackets traumatic or catastrophic events from less severe stressors and links them with a specific syndrome. The diagnosis of PTSD requires an identifiable stressor and the content of the defining symptoms refers to the stressor, for example, re-experiencing the stressor and avoidance of stimuli that symbolize the stressor. Temporal ordering is also required: when sleep problems and other symptoms of hyperarousal are part of the clinical picture, they must not have been present before the stressor occurred. The ICD-10 definition of PTSD follows the same model. The defining symptoms alone, without a connection to the stressor, are not regarded as PTSD (Green et al. 1995). Since the introduction of PTSD in DSM-III, the official definition has been adopted in most studies, although discussions about the validity of the definition has continued (Breslau & Davis, 1987; Davidson & Foa, 1993; Green et al. 1995). Although it is widely believed that other disorders (e.g. major depression) can be precipitated by external events, these disorders can occur independent of stressors and do not require a link with a traumatic event in their diagnostic criteria. Previous classifications that separated major depression into stress-related (reactive) or endogenous have been abandoned in newer versions of the DSM, because of lack of evidence of the validity of this distinction.


Abstract Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a rare systemic necrotizing vasculitis affecting small- to medium-sized arteries. The most common gastrointestinal manifestation of PAN is postprandial abdominal pain from mesenteric arteritis causing bowel ischemia. When transmural ischemia develops, there may be ischemic necrosis and perforation of the bowel wall, which are life-threatening. Severe, life-threatening gastrointestinal involvement is relatively rare in pediatric PAN and may require different management in adult patients. We report a pediatric PAN case in a patient who presented with acute abdominal pain and superimposed cytomegalovirus enteritis with jejunoileal perforation. The patient improved with emergency small intestinal resection followed by conventional immunosuppressive drugs of a corticosteroid and cyclophosphamide, and anti-viral drugs. Before increasing the immunosuppressive drug dosage, initial screening of infectious cytomegalovirus and comprehensive evaluation for surgical conditions are essential in pediatric PAN with severe gastrointestinal involvement. Early aggressive treatment for acute abdomen is useful in reducing morbidity and mortality in pediatric PAN.


Recently, Loewner matrix (LM)-based methods were introduced for generating time-domain macromodels based on frequency-domain measured parameters. These methods were shown to be very efficient and accurate for lumped systems with a large number of ports; however, they were not suitable for distributed transmission-line networks. In this paper, an LM-based approach is proposed for modeling distributed networks. The new method was shown to be efficient and accurate for large-scale distributed networks.


This article studies the problem of dissipative control for singular Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems with time delay. In order to reduce the conservatism brought by the time delay, we choose a proper augmented Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and the auxiliary-function-based integral inequality to analyze the admissibility and dissipativity of the system. The singularity of the derivative matrix of the system leads to the matrix coupling terms, which are difficult to handle in the controller design by using the common controller design methods, so we propose an iterative algorithm to solve the controller parameters. The sufficient conditions of ensuring that the closed-loop system is admissible and dissipative are presented. Finally, three persuasive examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.


In a multihop cellular network, energy-efficient routing is an important issue because the network consists of battery powered mobile nodes. Although an energy-efficient routing algorithm (MTPR) was proposed previously to minimize the total transmission power, it does not consider the end-to-end delay between a source node and a destination node. Generally, as the path selected using MTPR in a power-controlled network is more energy efficient, it causes larger end-to-end delay. Thus, it is more realistic to find an energy-efficient path with an explicit delay constraint. We propose an on-demand energy-efficient routing protocol for delay-constrained services in power-controlled multihop cellular networks. Computer simulations show that the proposed scheme outperforms AODV with respect to the total transmission power, while maintaining the same average success rate. Moreover, the proposed scheme can approximate the optimal solution by adjusting its parameters, and is more suitable for delay-constrained service than AODV.


This project was established to provide a means of conducting limited scope evaluations of numerous traffic control device issues. During the first year of the study, researchers completed assessments of six issues: dual logo panels in specific service signing, rear-facing beacons for school speed limit sign assemblies, a red border conspicuity treatment for the Speed Limit sign, crashworthiness of a work zone sign support system, retroreflective border for traffic signal backplates, and methods for locating no-passing zones. Evaluation methods included a computer-based driver survey for the dual logo panels, before and after comparisons of vehicle speeds for the rear-facing school beacon and red border conspicuity treatment of the Speed Limit sign, a crash test for the work zone sign support system, red- and yellow-light running for the retroreflective signal backplate, and a synthesis of practices for locating no-passing zones. Based on the results of the evaluations, the researchers recommend that the dual logo sign panels and the rear-facing school speed limit beacons be considered for implementation. Additional evaluations will be conducted for the red border conspicuity treatment for the Speed Limit signs. The sign support system did not pass the crash test criteria and cannot be implemented without refinements and further crash tests. The retroreflective signal backplate border did not indicate beneficial impacts on reducing red- or yellow-light running at night. The synthesis of methods for locating no-passing zones will be distributed to Texas Department of Transportation personnel for use.


We read with great interest the recent meta-analysis by Taku et al. [1] that assessed the effects of soy isoflavone extract supplements on blood pressure (BP). Combining 14 individual randomized controlled trials that enrolled 789 participants, their study showed that soy isoflavone extracts significantly decreased SBP by 1.92 mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI) 3.45 to 0.39, P1⁄4 0.01] compared with placebo, but did not affect DBP. Given the high prevalence of hypertension worldwide, even a slight SBP reduction in an individual may lead to a substantial public health benefit. However, we have several concerns about the way in which this meta-analysis was conducted.


OBJECTIVES This study focuses on the relevance of size, eloquence, type of venous drainage, the Spetzler-Martin scale as a whole, and other factors, such as rupture of cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) for the prediction of neurological deficits in the context of microsurgical AVM removal. METHODS One hundred and fifty patients with AVMs, whose data were retrieved from a prospectively employed computerised data bank were included. Seventeen patients (11.3%) underwent preoperative embolisation. According to the Spetzler-Martin scale they were graded as follows: 22.0% grade I, 32.0% grade II, 29.3% grade III, 14.0% grade IV, and 2.7% grade V. Intracerebral haemorrhage was present in 39.0%. The AVMs were <3 cm in 52.0%, 3–6 cm in 43.3% and >6 cm in 4.7%; 59.3% of the AVMs were eloquently located and 29.3% had deep venous drainage (DVD). Follow up information was assessed 6 months after surgery in all but one patient, who died. The applied statistical test was χ2. RESULTS Surgical morbidity was 15.3%. Early new deficits were noted in 39.3%, permanent new deficits in 10.6%, being significant (major) in 7.3%. The ocurrence of permanent deficits correlated significantly with size, deep venous drainage, and the Spetzler-Martin scale. There was statistical evidence for a trend in risk of poor surgical outcome across the three categories non-eloquent, "less eloquent" (for example, visual cortex) and "highly eloquent" (brainstem, basal ganglia, or precentral cortex) with the last being associated with the highest risk for permanent neurological compromise. CONCLUSION "Eloquence" of the Spetzler-Martin scale should be divided into "highly eloquent" and "less eloquent", which is important for risk analysis of the treatment of asymptomatic and deep seated AVMs and for future trials comparing various treatment modalities. In addition, resection of eloquent AVMs v non-eloquent ones is significantly associated with higher surgical morbidity.


Background Dental caries is known as a multimicrobial disease. Caries are very prevalent in numerous countries, and the incidence is higher in underdeveloped countries than in developed countries. Dental caries is a major public health problem, and it is the most prevalent health problem across the world, affecting 2.4 billion people. Natural mouthwashes can be beneficial in the prevention of dental caries and oral infections without the side effects of synthetic mouthwashes. Aim The aim of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxicity properties of sea salt from different areas of Iran. Methods and Materials Sea salts from different areas (Urmia, Qom, and Jarquyeh) of Iran were collected. In order to define the elemental and mineralogical features of different salt samples, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was employed. Different concentrations (0.19–50 mg/mL) of sea salt were used in the antimicrobial and antibiofilm tests. The antimicrobial (MIC, MBC, MFC, and DAD tests) and antibiofilm (formation and degradation tests) effects were evaluated against L. acidophilus, S. aureus, E. coli, S. mitis, S. mutans, S. salivarius, and C. albicans. The cytotoxic effect of salts was evaluated on human gingival fibroblasts by the MTT test. Results The range of MIC values in mg ml−1 was as follows: S. salivarius (50), S. mutans (50), S. mitis (50), L. acidophilus (12.5 to >50), C. albicans (50), E. coli (12.5 to 25), and S. aureus (12.5 to 25), while MBC values were, S. mutans (>50), S. salivarius (>50), S. mitis (>50), L. acidophilus (50 to >50), C. albicans (>50), E. coli (50), and S. aureus (50). MTT results showed that more than 50% of cell viability depends on decreasing the salt concentration (<1.56 mg/ml). Conclusion Sea salts had significant antimicrobial effects on cariogenic bacteria and C. albicans. Therefore, sea salts can be a suitable candidate for mouthwash.


Studies show that reaching beyond disciplinary boundaries can be an effective method for understanding complex research problems and enriching student learning. However, despite the increased attention given to interdisciplinary thinking in higher education, there is much that remains to be understood about the growing centrality of interdisciplinary practice and its assessment. This paper argues that a new, more robust conceptualization of nonsingular disciplinary thinking must be formulated around the philosophical foundation of synoptics. A critical point when this type of learning can take place is in reference services. The paper begins by outlining the emergence of interdisciplinary inquiry in higher education. After reviewing the literature on interdisciplinarity and noting the lack of scholarship concerning applied synoptics in current library literature, it discusses the ways is which synoptics establishes the foundation for a broader based understanding of knowledge that cultivates and encourages a polymathic perspective for the patron. The study concludes by describing how the concept of critical and integrative interdisciplinary thinking, rooted in the worldview philosophy of synoptics, can apply to the practice of reference services and inquiry-based transactions between the librarian and the learner.


This study was conducted to examine the superior factors and the perception of Korean traditional foods by college students studying in food related industries. The subject group consisted of 65.0% of the students majoring in food service & culinary arts, 12.9% of the students majoring in food & nutrition, and 7.3% of the students majoring in baking & pastry. The nutritional value was evaluated as the top superior factor of Korean traditional foods by the study subjects. In addition, 92.4% of reported that they had eaten Korean traditional foods in the past, 76.8% of whom responded that the reason for having Korean traditional foods was its time-honored tradition. `Cooking for oneself` was considered to be the most popular way (78.2%) of obtaining Korean traditional foods, while the traditional market (58.6%) was the most popular place to purchase the foods. `Not having enough time` (47.2%) was the primary reason for not having Korean traditional foods, although 72.9% of the subjects reported that they wanted to learn about Korean foods. `Standardization of taste, nutritional value, and recipes` was found to be the most important factor (41.3%) required to increase the consumption of Korean traditional foods. Additionally, 56.1% of the subjects responded that they feel there is a need for modernization of the cuisine to meet the taste of the general public. However, 61.4% of the subjects responded that the succession of traditional dietary culture was the primary reason for developing traditional cuisine, which indicates that there is a bright future for Korean traditional foods.


The Letter to the families of John Paul II presents the family itself as not closed but as open to public life and to the common good. It reveals the essential relatedness of human beings. Being a man does not begin with a decision or with self-reflection, but with a grateful recognition of the original gift, mediated through our parents. With the birth of a child, communion becomes community, and here the foundations are laid for building the civilization of love. This means that the family is more than the sum of its members. The child is the common good of the parents. The common good of the family is above all the relationship of love among its members. Parents are educators precisely inasmuch as they are parents, and thus, family education is education in a love that develops according to the different stages of life. The family serves the common good by helping to build up the truth about man, which overcomes the relativism that leaves human life without any ultimate point of reference. The family moreover, serves as a nexus capable of uniting two aspects, too often separated in modern life, as namely faith and life. It is here that the person is perceived as a gift that the Creator loves for itself, and also, the vocation of the spouses springs from the gift that Christ makes of His own love in the sacrament of marriage, and that they themselves live by conjugal charity. The family is the way of the church; even more, it should be the key to the whole of pastoral ministry, because it contains the genetic code of the vocation to love to which every person is called.


Assam in the north eastern region of India has the endowments to ensure agricultural growth in the sense that the state has huge reserves of ground water in addition to the enormous surface water availability. Returns to both labor and capital in the state are considered high as potentials for exploiting the existing technology are yet largely untapped. As insufficient irrigation infrastructure is identified as a major constraint on exploiting such potentials, investment for expanding irrigation capacity is needed. At the same time, putting necessary institutions in place to ensure that the installed capacity is effectively utilized is also equally important. Compared to relatively larger government irrigation schemes, the privately owned and operated tube well based small scale projects in the state have relatively better utilization efficiency. However, utilisation of irrigation potential of these schemes is also affected by fragmented and small size of holdings in the state. Emergence of the institution of ground water markets, however, is expected to improve utilisation efficiency of irrigation as it can make optimal use of the scarce natural resource of ground water. To investigate into some of the questions related with enhancing utilization efficiency and better management of the common pool resource of ground water, a study of ground water markets in Assam was taken up. Using inputs from field investigations, the study examined the nature of ground water markets in the state, the issue of reliability of water supply and the conditions for viability of this market for ensuring better management of ground water resource in Assam. The study points out that apart from improving utilization efficiency of irrigation, reliability of water use has also increased considerably with emergence of ground water markets in the state.


This paper aims to explain the well-observed constraint that no conjunct may move. It is claimed that, with respect to final conjuncts, this constraint simply manifests a morphological property of coordinators shared with many other types of head elements: they need to be adjacent to their complement, and thus neither deletion nor movement of their complement is possible. Final conjuncts therefore may not move. Based on the assumption that the categorial features of initial conjuncts are transferred to the coordinator and, it is claimed that this transference keeps initial conjuncts in situ, since elements without category-features may not move overtly. This new account for the immobility of initial conjuncts is supported by two generalizations. Firstly, in the Chinese de construction, kernel elements may not move because they provide categorial features for de, which has no intrinsic categorial features and is the head of the whole complex. Secondly, in the comitative coordinate construction in Chinese, initial conjuncts may move because they do not provide categorial features for the coordinators, which have their own intrinsic categorial features. This paper specifies the semantic condition of initial conjunct movement: the coordination must be non-distributive. This new account of the immobility of conjuncts suggests that the constraint is not a construction-specific syntactic constraint. Instead, it is related to the lexical/ morphological makeup of coordinators. Conjuncts as regular Spec and Complement elements may undergo syntactic movement. It has been generally assumed that movement is driven by morphological considerations. This study further shows that the blocking of movement can also be related to morphological properties of specific syntactic elements in addition to the generally recognized locality restrictions.


The results of parallel RBS and photoluminescence studies of erbium implanted GaAs are presented. Low dose implantations do not produce any significant PL signals, and the dose must be in the range le14 to le15 /cm 2 in order that Er related emission dominates in the PL spectrum. A comprehensive analysis of the effects of coimplantation with oxygen on the Er luminescence is reported and the data are compared to those of GaAs:Er and AIGaAs:Er samples grown by MBE. The evidence indicates that, at high doses, ErAs precipitates are formed unless oxygen is co-implanted, and that the Er atoms which produce the luminescence occupy substitutional Ga sites.


Several volatile anesthetics, including sevoflurane, protect against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in vivo by reducing necrosis and inflammation. Furthermore, in cultured renal tubule cells, sevoflurane directly induced the phosphorylation of the cytoprotective kinases (ERK and Akt), upregulated 70-kDa heat shock protein (HSP70), and attenuated nuclear translocation of the proinflammatory transcription factor NF-kappaB. It has been shown that sevoflurane increases the release of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) in human proximal tubule (HK-2) cells via externalization of plasma membrane phosphatidylserine (PS), and this increase in TGF-beta1 protected HK-2 cells against hydrogen peroxide-mediated necrosis. In this study, we aimed to determine whether the sevoflurane-mediated phosphorylation of ERK and Akt, induction of HSP70, and reduction in NF-kappaB activation are due to TGF-beta1 receptor-mediated signaling after PS externalization in HK-2 cells. Exogenous TGF-beta1 and a liposome mixture containing PS mimicked sevoflurane-mediated ERK and Akt phosphorylation and HSP70 induction in HK-2 cells. Sevoflurane and TGF-beta1 caused the nuclear translocation of the SMAD3 transcription factor in HK-2 cells. Furthermore, a neutralizing TGF-beta1 antibody or exogenous annexin V to bind PS prevented sevoflurane-induced ERK and Akt phosphorylation and HSP70 induction in HK-2 cells. Finally, a TGF-beta1 antibody and annexin V attenuated the reduction in nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB by sevoflurane. Therefore, we demonstrate in this study that sevoflurane-mediated cytoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects in HK-2 cells are at least partially due to the externalization of PS and activation of TGF-beta1 signaling pathways.


Increasing numbers of patients are presenting for unscheduled medical admission to hospitals worldwide, prompting clinical redesign of "front‐door" emergency medical services. In the United Kingdom, there has been considerable investment in the establishment of acute medical units (AMUs) and the training of acute medicine physicians. Some centres in Australia have established similar medical assessment units. While these initiatives have undoubtedly met with some success, the evidence base for their overall benefit remains elusive. We describe key aspects of the recent establishment of acute medical services in Britain and discuss the relevance of these experiences to Australia. Successful models of care in acute medicine have often been shared with other centres. The adaptation of existing models of care to meet local demands is superior to simply adopting an existing model. Once the desired clinical functionality of a service is determined, informed decisions can be made on staffing requirements, skill mix, and the structure of any new clinical unit. The functionality of the acute medical service, rather than simply the physicality of an AMU, should drive service design.


The tripodal hexadentate picolinate ligand dpaa3- (H3dpaa=N,N'-bis[(6-carboxypyridin-2-yl)methyl]glycine) has been synthesised. It can form 1:1 and 1:2 lanthanide/ligand complexes. The crystal structure of the bis(aquo) lutetium complex [Lu(dpaa)(H2O)2] has been determined by X-ray diffraction studies. The number of water molecules was determined by luminescence lifetime studies of the terbium and europium complexes. The tris(aquo) terbium complex shows a fairly high luminescence quantum yield (22 %). The [Gd(dpaa)(H2O)3] complex displays a high water solubility and an increased stability (pGd=12.3) with respect to the analogous bis(aquo) complex [Gd(tpaa)(H2O)2] (pGd=11.2). Potentiometric and relaxometric studies show the formation of a soluble GdIII hydroxo complex at high pH values. A unique aquohydroxo gadolinium complex has been isolated and its crystal structure determined. This complex crystallises as a 1D polymeric chain consisting of square-shaped tetrameric units. In heavy water, the [Gd(dpaa)-(D2O)3] complex shows a quite high HOD proton relaxivity at high field (11.93 s(-1) mM(-1) at 200 MHz and 298 K) because of the three inner-sphere water molecules. The formation of ternary complexes with physiological anions has been monitored by relaxometric studies, which indicate that even under conditions favourable to the formation of adducts with oxyanions, the mean relaxivity remains higher than those of most of the currently used commercial contrast agents except for the citrate. However, the measured relaxivity (r1=7.9 s(-1) mM(-1)) in a solution containing equimolar concentrations of [Gd(dpaa)(D2O)3] and citrate is still high. The interaction with albumin has been investigated by relaxometric and luminescence studies. Finally, a new versatile method to unravel the geometric and dynamic molecular factors that explain the high-field relaxivities has been developed. This approach uses a small, uncharged non-coordinating probe solute, the outer-sphere relaxivity of which mimics that of the water proton. Only a routine NMR spectrometer and simple mathematical analysis are required.


Due to the water scarcity in South Africa, new strategies in management planning are needed in order to sustain water resources. The increase of population and economic growth in South Africa has a negative effect on the water resources. Therefore, it should be well managed. The main concerns of the sustainability of water resources are hydropower, irrigation for agriculture, domestic and industries. Hence, the use of integrated water resources management in a single system which is built up by a river basin will help in water resources. This study was focused on water management issues: some of the principal causes of water shortages in UMdloti River are discussed. The current situation of water supply and demand at present is discussed. It also addressed some essential elements of reasonable, cooperative and sustainable water resources management solutions. Many developing countries are characterized as there is limited data availability, water scarcity and decrease of water levels in the dams. The eThekwini municipality is also having similar problems. Water resources have been modelled under this limited data using the hydrological modelling techniques by assessing the streamflow and observed data. The aim of the study was to address the issue of water management how water supply sources can be sustained to be manageable to meet the population growth demand considering the capacity of Hazelmere Dam demand downstream of the dam. Hydrological models, simulation, and decision making support systems were used to achieve all the research objectives. Hazelmere Dam has been modelled so that it can be used efficiently for the benefit of all users downstream of the dam for their economic and ecological benefits. Monthly reservoir inflow data for Hazelmere Dam was obtained from the Department of Water Affairs, South Africa. The nature of data is streamflow volume in mega liter (Ml) recorded for every month of the year. This was converted to mega cubic meter (Mm3) for use in the analysis herein. A period spanning 19 years of data (1994 – 2013) was used for the analysis. Six parametric probability distribution models were developed for estimating the monthly streamflow at Hazelmere Dam. These probability distribution functions include; Normal, Log-Normal (LN), Pearson III, Log-Pearson type III (LP3), Gumbel extreme value type1 (EVI) and Log-Gumbel (LG). It was observed that UMdloti River is smaller when compared with other rivers within the KwaZulu-Natal Province which could make it difficult to implement integrated water resources management. The hydro-meteorological data collected also has some limitations. The meteorological stations are far away to one another and this would make it difficult to attach their readings with the corresponding water basin. The comparison between the observed and simulated streamflow indicated that there was a good agreement between the observed and simulated discharge. Even though, the performance of the model was satisfactory, yet, it should not be generalized equally for all purposes. The erosion on the study area must be addressed by the stakeholders. It must be minimized in order to sustain the water resources of the UMdloti River. Erosion has a bad impact on the environment because it causes environmental degradation as well. Further investigations are recommended that account for the geological characteristics and the source of the base flow to make sure the rate of groundwater is sufficient for any future developments. Harnessing more energy from existing water sources within the frontier of the country is important in capacitating the South African Government's commitment to reduction of the country's greenhouse gas emissions and transition to a low-carbon economy while meeting a national target of 3,725 megawatts by 2030. This study also aimed to determine the amount of energy that can be generated from Hazelmere Dam on the uMdloti River, South Africa. Behavioral analyses of the Hazelmere reservoir were performed using plausible scenarios. Feasible alternative reservoir operation models were formulated and investigated to determine the best operating policy and power system configuration. This study determines the amounts of monthly and total annual energy that can be generated from Hazelmere reservoir based on turbines efficiencies of 75%, 85% and 90%. Optimization models were formulated to maximize hydropower generation within the constraints of existing abstractions, hydrological and system constraints. Differential evolution (DE) optimization method was adopted to resolve the optimization models. The methodology was applied for an operating season. The optimization models were formulated to maximize hydropower generation while keeping within the limits of existing irrigation demands. Differential evolution algorithm was employed to search feasible solution space for the best policy. Reservoir behavioural analysis was conducted to inspect the feasibility of generating hydropower from the Hazelmere reservoir under normal flow conditions. Optimization models were formulated to maximize hydropower generation from the dam. DE was employed to resolve the formulated models within the confines of the system constraints. It was found that 527.51 MWH of annual energy may be generated from the dam without system failure. Storage was maintained above critical levels while the reservoir supplied the full demands on the dam throughout the operating period indicating that the system yield is sufficient and there is no immediate need to augment the system.


Excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) of 5,8-dicyano-2-naphthol (DCN2) in methanol at 30 MPa isobar between 294 and 543 K was studied using time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. From room temperature up to 513 K, a fluorescence band from an anionic form (RO-*, a proton dissociated form of DCN2) was observed, which indicates that the ESPT occurred under these thermal conditions. The time profiles of fluorescence intensity of the normal form of DCN2 (ROH*) (proton-associated form of DCN2) and RO-* were analyzed, considering the diffusion process of the contact ion pair RO-*···H in the Coulomb field based on the Debye-Smoluchowski theory. Proton dissociation rate was slower than the solvent reorganization rate estimated from the dynamic Stokes shift, indicating that the proton transfer (PT) is not influenced by the solvent dynamic factor but by the solvation free energy. The proton dissociation rate constants were discussed from the change of the activation free energy of PT controlled by the solvent characteristics. It was found that the PT dissociation rate constants for various alcohols under different thermal conditions could be explained by the competing effects of hydrogen bonding and dipolarity/polarizability that controlled the energy state of ROH* and RO-*···H, respectively.


Inspired by the Monty Hall Problem and a popular simple solution to it, we present a number of game-show puzzles that are analogous to the notorious Sleeping Beauty Problem (and variations on it), but much easier to solve. We replace the awakenings of Sleeping Beauty by contestants on a game show, like Monty Hall's, and increase the number of awakenings/contestants in the same way that the number of doors in the Monty Hall Problem is increased to make it easier to see what the solution to the problem is. We show that these game-show proxies for the Sleeping Beauty Problem and variations on it can be solved through simple applications of Bayes's theorem. This means that we will phrase our analysis in terms of credences or degrees of belief. We will also rephrase our analysis, however, in terms of relative frequencies. Overall, our paper is intended to showcase, in a simple yet non-trivial example, the efficacy of a tried-and-true strategy for addressing problems in philosophy of science, i.e., develop a simple model for the problem and vary its parameters. Given that the Sleeping Beauty Problem, much more so than the Monty Hall Problem, challenges the intuitions about probabilities of many when they first encounter it, the application of this strategy to this conundrum, we believe, is pedagogically useful.


In this paper the component-mode-based methods formulated in the companion paper (Part I: Theoretical Models) are applied to the dynamic analysis of two example finite element models of bladed disks. Free and forced responses for both tuned and mistuned rotors are considered. Comprehensive comparisons are made among the techniques using full system finite element solutions as a benchmark. The accurate capture of eigenfrequency veering regions is of critical importance for obtaining high-fidelity predictions of the rotor's sensitivity to mistuning. Therefore, particular attention is devoted to this subject. It is shown that the Craig-Bampton component mode synthesis (CMS) technique is robust and yields highly reliable results. However, this is achieved at considerable computational cost due to the retained component interface degrees of freedom. It is demonstrated that this problem is alleviated by a secondary modal analysis reduction technique (SMART). In addition, a non-CMS mistuning projection method is considered. Although this method is elegant and accurate, it is seen that it lacks the versatility and efficiency of the CMS-based SMART. Overall, this work shows that significant improvements on the accuracy and efficiency of current reduced order modeling methods are possible.


A novel, to the best of our knowledge, sensing approach based on scanning white-light interferometry (SWLI) is proposed to detect piston errors of the multi-aperture optical telescope. The scanning white-light interferometer is composed of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and an optical path modulator (OPM). A lenslet array is used to image the interferometric wavefront between the reference and the other individual apertures. The piston errors can be estimated from these SWLI signals focused by the lenslet array. The measurement range of the proposed method depends on the modulation range of the OPM and can reach millimeter order, and its accuracy is better than a 1/20 wavelength. In addition, the proposed method's amplitude-splitting interferometry of the MZI makes it fit for a multi-aperture optical telescope. We demonstrate a proof of concept and validate the feasibility of our proposed phasing method.


This dissertation begins by emphasizing a distinction between demands of justice and requirements of human rights. In order to clarify this distinction, I explain two predominant views on human rights: humanitarianism (minimalist) and cosmopolitan egalitarianism (maximalist) as unsound and unreasonable views. As an alternative and proper view, I examine the moral and political ideas that constitute a conception of human rights that John Rawls presents in The Law of Peoples. I interpret and defend a conception of human rights which is less extensive than the rights that maximalists support and more expansive than minimalists embrace. I show how Rawls conceives the idea of human rights, which rights he counts as human rights and why. The first part of this dissertation followed with three reasons to support Rawls" conception of human rights: the principle of collective self-determination, the normative standards of political obligation, and the value of toleration. The essential idea of Rawls" conception of human rights is as follows: in order to gain support from different ethical and religious traditions, a freestanding conception of human rights should be presented. In the second part, I examine possibilities within Islamic doctrine to include an overlapping consensus on a freestanding conception of human rights. The requirement of an Islamic affirmation of a conception of human rights identified in three ideas: a distinction between the law of God and human interpretation, the compatibility of God"s sovereignty and human responsibility, and diversity of religious communities as a will of God. I explore and justify these ideas by referring to contemporary Muslim intellectuals" works that are associated with the idea of human rights.


Presents first-order large-signal MOSFET models and derives corresponding small-signal models. The parameters of the small-signal models are related to operating-point bias and to the parameters of the IC process used to fabricate the device. The impact upon small-signal performance of many second-order effects present in small-geometry MOSFETs is explored. A representative analog circuit, fabricated with a 1 /spl mu/m feature-size NMOS technology, is analyzed using the small-signal models derived. Results of approximate analysis, without the use of computer aids, are compared with detailed computer simulation results.


The automotive industry has for many years identified weight reduction as a way of improving product competitiveness and thus the ability to make profits. One area that has been examined for weight reduction is vehicle with regenerative braking system (RBS). The greatest advantages of electric vehicles (EVs), and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is their ability to recover significant amounts of braking energy using a RBS. Regenerative braking is an effective method to extend brake disc life, minimise disc rotor weight, minimise brake pad wear and to extend the working range of an EV or HEV. Regenerative braking would extend the working range of an EV or HEV provided that any extra energy consumption e.g. from increased vehicle mass and system losses did not outweigh the saving from energy recuperation, also reduce duty levels on the brakes themselves, giving advantages including extended brake rotor and friction material life, but more importantly reduced brake mass, minimise brake pad wear. The objective of this research is to define thermal performance on lightweight disc brake models. Thermal performance was a key factor which was studied using the 3D model in Finite Element Analysis simulations. Ultimately a design method for lightweight brakes suitable for use on any car-sized hybrid vehicle was used from previous analysis. The design requirement, including reducing the thickness, would affect the temperature distribution and increase stress at the critical area. Based on the relationship obtained between rotor weight, thickness, undercut effect and offset between hat and friction ring, criteria have been established for designing lightweight brake discs in a vehicle with regenerative braking.


The aim of this research was to analyze the post-operative complications of general anesthesia and by utilizing that information, to plan and produce a comprehensive detailed layout of the literature related to the subject investigated. More than 200 studies were surveyed, and the data collected was organized with a systematic layout of the observing and monitoring processes of the post-operative general anesthesia complications. The study concluded that post anaesthetic observations and monitoring are an essential requirement for patient assessment and the recognition of clinical deterioration in post-operative patients. There is disparity in the literature as to what constitutes 'standard' routine post anaesthesia orders, so in line with the observation and continuous monitoring guidelines.


Resource allocation involves deciding how to divide a resource of limited availability across multiple demands in a way that optimizes current objectives (e.g., allocating a processor's computing resources to the demand presented by tasks in order to maximize task completion throughput). In "distributed" resource allocation there are multiple resource types each of which can be subdivided, but then each can only be allocated to a subset of the demands (e.g., in a multiprocessor system where each processor can only process certain task types). In this paper we focus on one type of cooperative resource allocation problem where via an imperfect communication network multiple processors can share the workload presented by multiple task types. We introduce asynchronous "cooperative" resource allocation strategies, and show that they lead to the cumulative demand being bounded by a constant. We demonstrate via simulations when they might be superior to one noncooperative strategy.


In this paper, we generalise the above result to full rewriting. Following our previous work, we exploit graph rewriting. We give a new proof of the adequacy of graph rewriting for full rewriting that allows for a precise control of the resources copied. In sum we completely describe an implementation of rewriting on a Turing machine (TM for short). We show that the runtime complexity of the TRS and the runtime complexity of the TM is polynomially related. Our result strengthens the evidence that the complexity of a rewrite system is truthfully represented through the length of derivations. Moreover our result allows the classification of non-deterministic polytime-computation based on runtime complexity analysis of rewrite systems.


With the rising trend in social networking, more people express their opinions on the web. As a consequence, there has been an increase in the number of blogs where people write reviews about the products they buy or services they experience. These reviews can be very helpful to other potential customers who want to know the pros and cons of a product, and also to manufacturers who want to get feedback from customers about their products. Sentiment analysis of online data (such as review blogs) is a rapidly growing field of research in Machine Learning, which can leverage online reviews and quickly extract the sentiment of a whole blog. The accuracy of a sentiment analyzer relies heavily on correctly identifying associations between a sentiment (opinion) word and the targeted mention (token or object) in blog sentences. In this work, we focus on the task of automatically identifying sentiment-mention associations, in other words, we identify the target mention that is associated with a sentiment word in a sentence. Support Vector Machines (SVM), a supervised machine learning algorithm, was used to learn classifiers for this task. Syntactic and semantic features extracted from sentences were used as input to the SVM algorithm. The dataset used in the work has reviews from car and camera domain. The work is divided into two phases. In the first phase, we learned domain specific classifiers for the car and camera domains, respectively. To further improve the predictions of the domain specific classifiers we investigated the use of transfer learning techniques in the second phase. More precisely, the goal was to use knowledge from a source domain to improve predictions for a target domain. We considered two transfer learning approaches: a feature level fusion approach and a classifier level fusion approach. Experimental results show that transfer learning can help to improve the predictions made using the domain specific classifier approach. While both the feature level and classifier level fusion approaches were shown to improve the prediction accuracy, the classifier level fusion approach gave better results.


This paper presents an analysis of winter climate variability based on daily mean temperature and precipitation data since 1970 in the Chic‐Chocs Mountain range (located in the Gaspé Peninsula, Eastern Quebec, Canada). Mountain environments are particularly sensitive to rapid climate change and are therefore good indicators of recent global warming. The main goal of this study is to demonstrate how joint probability temperature/precipitation distributions can be used to estimate winter condition changes (trends) for six meteorological stations in the study area (the altitudinal range for the stations is from 5 to 574 m). The presence and persistence of snow cover was also estimated. Previous studies have shown a lack of evidence of significant trends in snow‐cover characteristics (density, depth and snow water equivalent (SWE)) from the early 1980s to the present, despite an increase in temperature over the same period. A reanalysis of these data sets in addition to the use of a combination of temperature and precipitation data categorized into four modes (warm/wet, warm/dry, cold/wet and cold/dry) was also performed. Despite this new analysis, no clear evidence of climate change could be found in the study area over the last four decades. The results revealed that patterns and trends are quite different from one station to another, but when the environment is taken into account (valley or plateau, coastal versus inland) some apparent patterns emerge.


The rise and fall of the most ambitious broadband fiber project ever. In April 2009, Australia's then prime minister, Kevin Rudd, dropped a bombshell on the press and the global technology community: His social democrat Labor administration was going to deliver broadband Internet to every single resident of Australia. It was an audacious goal, not least of all because Australia is one of the most sparsely populated countries on Earth.


Amylin infusion reduces food intake and slows body weight gain in rodents. In obese male rats, amylin (but not pair feeding) caused a preferential reduction of fat mass with protein preservation despite equal body weight loss in amylin-treated (fed ad libitum) and pair-fed rats. In the present study, the effect of prior or concurrent food restriction on the ability of amylin to cause weight loss was evaluated. Retired female breeder rats were maintained on a high-fat diet (40% fat) for 9 wk. Prior to drug treatment, rats were either fed ad libitum or food restricted for 10 days to lose 5% of their starting body weight. They were then subdivided into treatment groups that received either vehicle or amylin (100 microgxkg(-1)xday(-1) via subcutaneous minipump) and placed under either a restricted or ad libitum feeding schedule (for a total of 8 treatment arms). Amylin 1) significantly reduced body weight compared with vehicle under all treatment conditions, except in always restricted animals, 2) significantly decreased percent body fat in all groups, and 3) preserved lean mass in all groups. These results indicate that amylin's anorexigenic and fat-specific weight loss properties can be extended to a variety of nutritive states in female rats.


High school seniors who answered that they would choose to borrow, when asked what they would do if college costs were $1,500 more than they, their family, and a scholarship could provide, were significantly more likely to attend college in the next four years than were students who answered that they would choose other options (delaying college entrance, attending a less expensive college, or getting a job). This held true even after controlling for other variables such as educational aspirations, tested achievement, influence from others, and socioeconomic status. This finding supports the contention that students who are reluctant to borrow are less likely to enroll in postsecondary education. Among the students who did enroll in college, willingness to borrow was significantly associated with attendance at a four-year college rather than a two-year college and with full-time rather than part-time attendance. This may mean that recent changes in financial aid packaging, with fewer grants and more loans, have had an effect not only on college enrollments but also on the type of college that students attend and on the proportion of students enrolling in college on a part-time basis. The results also suggest that, all else being equal, students who are knowledgeable about financial aid sources may be more likely to enroll in college than are students with less knowledge of these sources.


The monitoring of energy production and distribution systems with a view to predicting their future performance and service life is a difficult but increasingly important exercise. Specific interest here concerns the behavior of aging offshore oil and gas structures. The maintenance and safety of these systems is a major challenge considering their generally deteriorating nature and harsh operating environment. The dynamic response of a structural component or structure can be used to assess properties such as mass, stiffness and damping. If periodic assessment is conducted then any changes, specifically deterioration, during the lifetime of a structure can be monitored using vibration measurement methods. This information can then be used to predict the useful life of the structure given a constant rate of deterioration or provide the basis for remedial action to be taken to strengthen the structure. The prevention of catastrophic failure is included in this scenario. Suggestions for possible research directions are made with regard to nonlinear behavior. 127 refs., 2 figs.


Harmonizing immune assay use in clinical trials could reduce data variability and support immune biomarker development. Assays that measure a patient's immune response play an increasingly important role in the development of immunotherapies. The inherent complexity of these assays and independent protocol development between laboratories result in high data variability and poor reproducibility. Quality control through harmonization—based on integration of laboratory-specific protocols with standard operating procedures and assay performance benchmarks—is one way to overcome these limitations. Harmonization guidelines can be widely implemented to address assay performance variables. This process enables objective interpretation and comparison of data across clinical trial sites and also facilitates the identification of relevant immune biomarkers, guiding the development of new therapies.


The balance between proliferation and programmed cell death--apoptosis--is essential for multicellular organisms which use apoptosis to regulate and maintain the number and type of their cells during embryogenesis, growth and homeostasis. Increased cell proliferation or enhanced cell loss can be caused by dysregulated apoptosis and are observed in various diseases: in clinical scenarios such as neurodegenerative disorders, myocardial infarction and stroke the rate of apoptosis is upregulated compared to the physiological situation, while in clinical scenarios such as cancer or autoimmune diseases which are connected with pathological proliferation, apoptosis is often downregulated. Therefore, non-invasive imaging of apoptosis is of great clinical interest as patients would clearly benefit from the diagnosis of cell loss post infarction or from monitoring apoptosis triggered by chemotherapy or radiation therapy of tumours. Several biochemical transformations occur in apoptotic cells offering different biological targets for the development of specific molecular biomarkers of apoptosis. Key steps that occur during apoptosis have already been evaluated; among these are the externalisation of phospholipid phosphatidylserine to the outer leaflet of the cell membrane, which can be visualized by labeled annexin A5 and the activation of caspases, especially effector caspase-3, which can be addressed by labeled enzyme substrates or synthetic caspase inhibitors. Here, recent advances in tracer development for the molecular imaging techniques PET, SPECT and optical imaging are presented, the discussion of breakthroughs is involved, drawbacks and methodological issues of apoptosis imaging are highlighted.


Translating the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology into clinics is still hampered by rather unspecific, unsafe and/or inconvenient approaches for the delivery of its main components - the Cas9 endonuclease and a guide RNA - into cells. Here, we describe the development of a novel transient and non-viral Cas9 delivery strategy based on the translocation machinery of the Bacillus anthracis anthrax toxin, PA (protective antigen). We show that Cas9 variants fused to the N-terminus of the lethal factor or to a hexahistidine tag are shuttled through channels formed by PA into the cytosol of human cells. As proof-of-principle, we applied our new approach, denoted as CRISPA, to knock out lipolysis-stimulated lipoprotein receptor (LSR) in the human colon cancer cell line HCT116 and green-fluorescent protein (GFP) in human embryonic kidney 293T cells stably expressing GFP. Notably, we confirmed that the transporter PA can be adapted to recognize specific host cell-surface receptor proteins and may be optimized for cell type-selective delivery of Cas9. Altogether, CRISPA provides a novel, transient and non-viral way to deliver Cas9 into specific cells. Thus, this system is an additional step towards safe translation of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology into clinics.


In this thesis, branching Brownian motion (BBM) is a random particle system where the particles diffuse on the real line according to Brownian motions and branch at constant rate into a random number of particles with expectation greater than 1. We study two models of BBM with selection: BBM with absorption at a space-time line and the N -BBM, where, as soon as the number of particles exceeds a given number N , only the N right-most particles are kept, the others being removed from the system. For the first model, we study the law of the number of absorbed particles in the case where the process gets extinct almost surely, using a relation between the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piskounov (FKPP) and the Briot-Bouquet equations. For the second model, the study of which represents the biggest part of the thesis, we give a precise asymptotic on the position of the cloud of particles when N is large. More precisely, we show that it converges at the timescale log³ N to a Levy process plus a linear drift, both of them explicit, which confirms a prediction by Brunet, Derrida, Mueller and Munier. This study contributes to the understanding of travelling waves of FKPP type under the influence of noise. Finally, in a third part we point at the relation between the BBM and stable point processes.


A growing body of research shows that the brain adapts functionally and structurally to specific bilingual experiences. These brain adaptations seem related to modulations in cognitive processes (specifically the executive functions). However, the trajectory of these adaptations is varied and seems at least partially dependent on different aspects of language exposure and use. Here we provide a review of the existing theoretical models covering bilingualism-induced neuroplasticity. Moreover, we propose a unifying framework (Unifying the Bilingual Experience Trajectories, UBET) to more comprehensively map the relationship between the various neurocognitive adaptations and different aspects of bilingual experience trajectories, focusing on intensity and diversity of language use, language switching, relative proficiency, and duration of bilingual experience. Crucially, we also outline predictions regarding both relationships between different bilingual experience factors and relationships between the measurable neurocognitive adaptations. Our framework offers a theoretical backdrop and clear testable predictions for future large-scale empirical studies on individual differences in bilingual trajectories and their effects on neurocognitive adaptations.


The physical properties of soybean are important in designing and fabricating equipment and structures for handling, transporting, processing and storage, and also for assessing the quality of soybean. The study was conducted to investigate some physical properties of soybean at various moisture levels. The average length, width, thickness and thousand mass were 6.55 mm, 5.56 mm, 4.53 mm and 103.57 g, respectively, at moisture content of 7.37% (dry basis). The geometric mean diameter increased from 5.44 to 5.57 mm and the sphericity varied between 0.83 and 0.84 as moisture content increased from 7.37% to 15.80% (db), respectively. In the same moisture range, the bulk and true densities decreased from 749.1 to 644.4 kg / m 3 and 1250 to 1111.11 kg / m 3 , respectively, whereas the corresponding porosity increased from 40.07% to 41.9%. As the moisture content increased from 7.37% to 15.80% (db) angle of repose as found to increase from 26.35 ° to 30.96 ° . The static coefficient of friction of soybean increased linearly against the surfaces of two structural materials, namely glass and wood as the moisture content increased from 7.37% to 15.80% (db). Keywords: moisture content, physical properties, soybean, India


We report dc and the first-ever measured small signal rf performance of epitaxial graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs), where the epitaxial graphene is grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on a 2-inch c-plane sapphire substrate. Our epitaxial graphene material has a good flatness and uniformity due to the low carbon concentration during the graphene growth. With a gate length Lg = 100 nm, the maximum drain source current Ids and peak transconductance gm reach 0.92 A/mm and 0.143 S/mm, respectively, which are the highest results reported for GFETs directly grown on sapphire. The extrinsic cutoff frequency (fT) and maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of the device are 12 GHz and 9.5 GHz, and up to 32 GHz and 21.5 GHz after de-embedding, respectively. Our work proves that epitaxial graphene on sapphire substrates is a promising candidate for rf electronics.


This research aimed to produce a media in the form of Digital Story Book "Satua Bali" Based Mobile that could be a container to provide a collection of Satua Bali, so it could be utilized to help maintaining the existence of Satua Bali among the community, especially children. Digital Story Book "Satua Bali" Based Mobile has some additional features, such as user can add new satua, share to the social medias, give comment, like, add as favorite, etc. This research was a type of research and development with research model of ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation). The testing process was conducted in six stages, namely test: whitebox and blackbox which obtain good result, content expert which obtains result of 96,2% (very appropriate), media expert that obtains result of 92,5% (very appropriate), users responses with UEQ method obtain good result, and compatibility is successfully implemented to 10 different devices. The final result of this research is the application of Digital Story Book "Satua Bali" which can be run on smartphone with android operating system.


Most designers struggle to fully understand a complex product. Throughout the entire life cycle of a product engineers are frequently required to predict how changes could propagate. Currently, few methods or tools are available to support this process. This paper describes part of an ongoing research project that aims to support designers by (1) giving them a better understanding of the linkages between components within their product and (2) helping them to assess the risk of change propagation. The paper gives an overview of a DSM-based method of modelling products, discusses other potential applications of it within the design process and describes a developmental computer tool for visualising linkages and predicting change propagation.


The paucity of observed supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) may imply that the gravitational wave background (GWB) from this population is anisotropic, rendering existing analyses sub-optimal. We present the first constraints on the angular distribution of a nanohertz stochastic GWB from circular, inspiral-driven SMBHBs using the 2015 European Pulsar Timing Array data [1]. Our analysis of the GWB in the ∼ 2 − 90 nHz band shows consistency with isotropy, with the strain amplitude in l > 0 spherical harmonic multipoles (cid:46) 40% of the monopole value. We expect that these more general techniques will become standard tools to probe the angular distribution of source populations.


Abstract. The article is intended to present the results of the thirty-year activity of the Department of Eco-nomics and Public Administration of Baikal State University of Economics and Law, namely, its mission and objectives, the results achieved and its academic staff description. The scientific school itself is character-ized; foreign partners of the Department are indicated; international grant projects with the Department's participation are analyzed. The contribution of its faculty to research projects of BSUEL is determined. The experience of the Department in organization of international research and practical conferences devoted to the issues of public administration and territorial development is defined. The results of the Department's participation in implementation of training programs intended for state and municipal employees of the Irkutsk region are delineated. Different forms of cooperation of the faculty with state authorities and local govern-ment are specified, including the establishment of a base department in the administration of Irkutsk.


A total of fifty-six wild spotted doves was captured for the isolation and identification of Chlamydophila psittaci
from the Klang Valley in Malaysia. Cloaca swab samples were taken from these doves for Clearview" chlamydia test and found that fourteen (25%) birds tested positive for chlamydiosis. From these fourteen positively infected birds,
five showed clinical signs of poor feathering, chilling and diarrhoea. The less positively infected birds showed no
clinical signs. Several methods were used for the identification of Chlamydia from the positively infected spotted doves, including indirect immunofluorescent and peroxidase techniques, Giemsa and Gimenez staining, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). From all these methods, the chlamydia appeared as intracytoplasmic inclusion in the McCoy cell. In the TEM, two morphologically distinct forms of chlamydia, termed elementary body (EB) and reticulate body (RB) were seen in the infected cell.


The article explores the category of self-organization from the standpoint of a synergistic theoretical paradigm. An explanation of self-organization as a form of the origin, existence and evolution of systems is given. The problems of selforganization of socio-economic systems are specially considered. The features of individual levels of self-organization of the system — macro-, meso-, and microscopic — are revealed. The spatial, temporal and functional structures of self-organization that are characteristic of a synergistic analysis of socio-economic systems are studied, the features of self-organization within these structures are shown. On the basis of the theoretical and methodological foundations of selforganization, some objective requirements are formulated for the general concept of systemic socio-economic reform in Russia.


The administration of misonidazole shortly before irradiation increased the radiation response of the Lewis lung tumour growing either as approximately 500mm3 subcutaneous implants or as 15mm3 lung colonies. In the subcutaneous tumours, the dose enhancement ratio was approximately half the oxygen enhancement ratio. In the lung colonies the sensitization of hypoxic cells appeared to be complete. Similar studies on subcutaneous B16 melanoma showed that the drug increased radiosensitivity to a level comparable with that of cells in small pulmonary nodules, whose hypoxic fraction appears to be below 10(-3). The results indicate complete dose modification of hypoxic cells where their natural proportion is small with incomplete enhancement of radiosensitivity where the natural hypoxic fraction is larger.


In order to give a theoretical determination of the diffusion coefficient of argon in 5A molecular sieves, the authors computed the potential interactions in the structure. The diffusion coefficient depends on the potential type chosen, but the most important parameter is the distribution of the cations in the different sites.


Since the 1960s, the methodology recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) for assessment of individual doses has developed significantly, yet the specific recommendations related to the characteristics of 'critical groups' for the purposes of protection of the public have been interpreted but are relatively unchanged. This paper examines developments relevant to the criteria for appropriate homogeneity of habits within critical groups. It is suggested that, with the need for additivity of effective doses summed over different contributing exposure pathways, an important criterion for selection of the critical group is homogeneity of summed effective doses rather than, necessarily, of the underlying factors such as ages and habits focusing on a particular pathway. This implies that there need be less emphasis than before on the term 'critical pathway'. However, examples of recent retrospective assessments near UK nuclear establishments are given and it is shown that, in practice, critical groups selected on the basis of summed effective doses are still fairly homogeneous in terms of detailed habits.


Hospital‐associated venous thromboembolism remains a major international cause of avoidable mortality and morbidity. Although the publication of national guidelines does increase the use of thromboprophylaxis, we present the results of a recent audit of thrombosis prevention in UK hospitals which, despite published guidelines, shows continuing significant variations in guideline implementation and practice. The results of this audit are paralleled with UK and international data on hospital‐acquired thrombosis prevention and the potential solutions to these problems, particularly the lessons which can be learned from other areas of clinical practice, are discussed.


Loraine Boettner was born in northwest Missouri. He was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1928; Th.M., 1929), where he studied Systematic Theology under the late Dr. C. W. Hodge. Previously he had graduated from Tarkio College, Missouri, and had studied at the University of Missouri. In 1933 he received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1957 the degree of Doctor of Literature. He taught Bible for eight years in Pikeville College, Kentucky. A resident of Washington, D.C., eleven years and of Los Angeles three years. His home was in Rock Port, Missouri. His other books include: Roman Catholicism, Studies in Theology, Immortality, and The Millennium.


This paper is an appendix to our chapter of the same name, published in the Oxford Handbook of Public Heritage Theory and Practice (Neil Silberman and Angela Labrador, editors, Oxford, 2017). Our chapter examines the organizational dynamics that emerged from the 1998 discovery of a group of well-preserved Roman shipwrecks in Pisa, Italy. Known as the Navi di Pisa ('ships of Pisa'), the shipwrecks are globally important finds, but also highly fragile, requiring costly conservation interventions and access to extensive technical expertise. The excavation, conservation, and museification of the finds have now stretched over 20 years and represent an extremely complex example of organizational activity. Due to limitations of space, empirical data had to be kept to a minimum in our chapter. But as qualitative researchers with an interest in heritage organizations, our research has an ethnographic flavor, a sort of organizational ethnography (Brannan et al., 2012), in which interesting research questions tend to emerge during field research, or even after its completion (Zan 2013) – as is often the case with qualitative research. We disagree with frequently-heard critiques that such research constitutes mere "description", as if reconstructing the sequence and contents events and complex processes were not fundamental to both theory and practice. We find that the process of 'reconstructing' the story of a complex project is valuable in itself, since we care about the empirical situation being examined – quite apart from the possibility of wider generalizations and implications.


A single edge cracked panel subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading has been analyzed using two-dimensional elastic-plastic finite element program. The effect of strain hardening exponent on the stress-strain and the deformation behavior at the crack tip w s studied at different maximum applied stress ranges. The analysis was performed for the plane stress state at constant amplitude loading of zero stress ratio. Relevant kinematic parameters corresponding to loading and unloading phases of a cycle were computed and correlated. Parameters controlling the fatigue life of the structural elements, i.e. plastically deformed zone and crack tip opening displacement were estimated and correlated. The results indicated that with increasing the strain hardening exponent, the normal tensile stress decreases within the crack tip plastic zone while the normal tensile strain showed ah opposite trend. Also the normal tensile stress tends to be constant inside the monotonic plastic zone at the higher values of the strain hardening exponent irrespective of the value of the applied stress range. The results also show that the crack tip opening displacement increases with increasing the strain hardening exponent, whilst the plastic zone showed an opposite trend. Those behaviors were analyzed for their correlation. A previously developed crack tip deformation parameter to correlate fatigue crack growth was modified to include the effect of strain hardening capacity of the material,


PURPOSE
Albinism involves the mutation of one or more of the genes associated with melanin synthesis and has many ramifications for vision. This study focuses on the refractive implications of albinism in the context of emmetropization.

METHODS
Refractive, biometric, and visual acuity data were collected for a group of 25 albino individuals that included the following: 18 oculocutaneous (13 tyrosine positive, 5 tyrosine negative); 7 ocular (2 autosomal recessive, 5 sex-linked recessive). Their age range was 3 to 51 years. All exhibited horizontal pendular nystagmus.

RESULTS
There were no statistically significant differences relating to albino subtype for any of the measured parameters. All the subjects had reduced visual acuity (mean: 0.90, logMAR) and overall, there was a bias toward hyperopia in their refractive errors (mean: + 1.07 D). However the refractive errors of the group covered a broad range (SD: 4.67 D) and included both high myopia and high hyperopia. An axial origin to the refractive errors is implied by the high correlation between refractive errors and axial lengths. Refractive astigmatism averaged 2.37 D and was consistently with-the-rule and highly correlated with corneal astigmatism, which was also with-the-rule. Meridional analysis of the refractive data indicated that the vertical meridian for hyperopic subjects was consistently nearer emmetropia compared to their horizontal meridian. Myopic subjects showed the opposite trend.

CONCLUSIONS
The overall refractive profile of the subjects is consistent with emmetropization being impaired in albinism. However, the refractive errors of hyperopic subjects also can be explained in terms of "meridional emmetropization." The contrasting refractive profiles of myopic subjects may reflect operational constraints of the emmetropization process.


Research on the intermediate space or interface where rural and urban boundaries become blurred has been gaining momentum within geography and other intersecting fields. In contrast to the dominant focus on the growth of urbanism at the rural‐urban interface, a growing number of studies have emerged to intervene the debate from the rural side. This paper contributes to this burgeoning scholarship by reviewing recent work on geographical articulations of rurality in the face of urbanizing forces and processes operating in intermediate spaces. I firstly explore how extant representations of rurality at the rural‐urban interface are inherent with an "idyllic" vision, a "modernist" one or a combination of both, and how the interactions among multiple rural visions produce tensions and conflicts at the interface. Then, I outline the recent conceptualizations of rurality under the relational and materialist turns, which move beyond the discursive construction of the countryside and offer new theoretical insights and analytical concepts for appreciating multiple, heterogeneous, open and inclusive articulations of rural voices at the interface. Finally, I map out directions for future research to attend to the insufficiently‐addressed temporal dimensions of the rural‐urban interface, thereby moving current discussions of relational rurality forward.


A status report by the Kenya Human Rights Commission estimates that of the 663,921 displaced in Kenya after the 2007-2008 post-election violence, 350,000 sought refuge in 118 camps whereas about 331,921 were integrated within communities across the country. Although those in camps were finally resettled, the ones integrated within the community were more or less forgotten. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the post election violence on girls' participation in secondary education in Nyandarua South Sub County, Kenya. The study focused on schools outside the IDP camps. Specifically, the study objectives were to determine the extent to which absenteeism, psychosocial support, livelihoods and separation from family members influenced girls' participation in secondary education. The study was grounded on Jerome Bruner's Discovery theory that postulates that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas and concepts based upon their current or past knowledge. The study used decriptive survey design whose target population was 4799 individuals. The study used purposive technique to target 30 girls for the study. Random sampling technique was employed to sample the schools and consequently the principals, teacher counselors, class teachers of all classes and students in the sampled schools. The sample size was 127 individuals. Questionnaires were used to collect data with descriptive data analysis being done. Outcome of data analysis was presented in frequency and percentage tables and interpreted along the objectives of the study. The study revealed that though absenteeism affects majority of girls from displaced families and is mainly contributed by lack of school fees, it does not always translate to dropping out of school. There is poor distribution of personnel with formal training in guidance and counseling skills leading to a disconnect in provision of guidance and counseling services. The emotional state of the girls is the biggest challenge facing counseling in schools, while participation in co-curricular activities by the girls affected by the 2007/2008 Post Election Violence shows that healing is taking place. The study further revealed that financial difficulties and trauma have the highest effect on the girls and that families of affected girls are large with more than four siblings in each thus overburdening the parents. The study has concluded that absenteeism, psychosocial support by the schools, parental livelihoods and separation from family members greatly influenced the participation of girls in secondary education in the study area. It has gathered information that could help education authorities understand what kind of support is needed by girls from PEV affected households. It could also help the schools identify and set up support mechanisms to help these girls so that they proceed with their education normally. Further, the study could assist policy makers in the education sector to put in place policies that ensure the protection of children emerging from electoral violence in future. The study recommends that a similar one be conducted on the boy child, a replica of the study be done in other parts of the country and an examination of learners affected by the violence be done after they complete
school.


throughout the story. and ... the reader encounters a number of serious instances of disobedience to the commandments of Moses. Each of these instances threatens Israel's fulfillment of the promises articulated at the beginning of the book .... The story oscillates between obedience and disobedience, and in the process creates a sense of ambiguity and tension about the fulfillment of the promise" (p. 93). Hawk weaves the motifs of Conquest and Compromise (chap. 3). Obedience and Disobedience (chap. 4), and Integrity and Fragmentation (chap. 5) into his overall pattern of anticipated closure and unanticipated disruption very effectively. He has made a good case for viewing the book of Joshua as a coherent literary work whose stories can. when sensitively read. be seen to coalesce into a viable literary piece. In some cases his interpretation of a particular unit of tradition seems a bit strained. and his zeal to find an encompassing structure for the book may lead him at times to present an interpretation of a particular unit that is not one with which most scholars would concur. Nevertheless. this is a fine. effectively written study. which opens new avenues for understanding the book of Joshua.


Although the core function of general practice is patient care, there are many opportunities for GPs to get involved in other educational and academic activities. Most GPs find academic activities a useful adjunct to their clinical work. As well as being educational and broadening horizons, such activities stimulate GPs to think and reappraise their own clinical work and the work of their practice. This article aims to give an overview of the range of opportunities available within medical publishing and some tips on how to access those opportunities.


The title of this research is Law Enforcement on Business Activities that do not Have Environmental Permits in Sleman District. This research is motivated by the concern for some business activities which are increased in Sleman district however it has no complete permits. The research questions were how do law enforcement make for business activities that not have environmental permits in Sleman district?, and what are the problems and the solutions for the law enforcement of the environmental permits in Sleman distric?. The type of research was empirical law research that focus on the problems in society. The result of this research were (1) law enforcement that are done by related agencies for doing and dealing the orderliness of the business activities in Sleman district was good, and in this case the Municipal Police of Indonesia (Satpol PP) was very needed to enforce and control the business activities which exists in Sleman district. (2) In carrying out enforcement of business activities that do not have permits in Sleman district, Municipal Police of Indonesia has some obstacles, for example, their limited number of personnel owned by municipal police of Indonesia in Sleman district, considering the area in Sleman district is very large and the type of activity which exists in Sleman is a lot therefore it cannot be monitored every day to maximize the law enforcement, but now with the advancement of technology, the Municipal Police of Indonesia opens a complaint service that can be directly submitted by the public. If the public knows something wrong from business activity around their environment, the complaint can be submitted directly through the Sleman district government website .


Background. Herb-derived compound andrographolide sulfonate (called Xiyanping injection) recommended control measure for severe hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) by the Ministry of Health (China) during the 2010 epidemic. However, there is a lack of good quality evidence directly comparing the efficacy of Andrographolide Sulfonate combination therapy with conventional therapy. Methods. 230 patients were randomly assigned to 7–10 days of Andrographolide Sulfonate 5–10 mg/Kg/day and conventional therapy, or conventional therapy alone. Results. The major complications occurred less often after Andrographolide Sulfonate (2.6% versus 12.1%; risk difference [RD], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.28–1.61; P = 0.006). Median fever clearance times were 96 hours (CI, 80 to 126) for conventional therapy recipients and 48 hours (CI, 36 to 54) for Andrographolide Sulfonate combination-treated patients (χ 2 = 16.57, P < 0.001). The two groups did not differ in terms of HFMD-cause mortality (P = 1.00) and duration of hospitalization (P = 0.70). There was one death in conventional therapy group. No important adverse event was found in Andrographolide Sulfonate combination therapy group. Conclusions. The addition of Andrographolide Sulfonate to conventional therapy reduced the occurrence of major complications, fever clearance time, and the healing time of typical skin or oral mucosa lesions in children with severe HFMD.


In the first year of this research project, we have done two empirical studies. In the first paper (Chapter II), we examine the pay-for-performance hypothesis, firms compensate their executives based on performance, by studying Indonesian firms during the global financial crisis. Controlling for some firm fundamental factors and industry factor, we find that there is strong evidence that past performance drives the compensation paid to executives. This paper also reveals that financial firms tend to compensate their executive higher than those of non-financial firms. Pay-for-performance system might reduce the agency problem between managers and shareholders, on the other side; however, this system might also reinforce the incentive for managers to take risk which subsequently increases the degree of riskiness of firms.

In the second year, we investigate the impact of executive compensation on bank performance and risk taking behavior using data for Indonesian commercial banks. Our findings confirm that executive compensation could lead to a higher performance. We also conclude that, at least in context of Indonesian banking, a higher executive compensation does not bring to a higher risk taking behavior. We argue that the banking oligopoly in Indonesia create less incentive for managers to invest in risky projects as they "enjoy" the higher interest rate on loans even in less risky loans.


Abstract Finding out the genetic mechanism of growth and development traits and the development of related molecular markers can help improve the breeding of livestock. The long-chain acyl coenzyme A synthase 1 (ACSL1) gene plays a major role in lipid synthesis and fatty acid catabolism. However, there are few studies on the ACSL1 gene polymorphism of Dezhou donkeys. This study analyzed the expression level of the ACSL1 gene in different tissues of young and adult Dezhou donkeys, as well as association analysis of four gene polymorphic loci in 450 individuals. The results showed that expression levels of the ACSL1 gene are higher in heart, liver, spleen, lung, renal, gastric and muscle tissues of adult donkeys than in those of young donkeys. In the association analysis between genotype and body size traits, the wild genotype DD at the ACSL1-1 locus in female and male donkeys was greater than the mutant genotype II (P<0.05); genotype II of ACSL1-2 was significantly higher than that of DD in withers height, body length, rump width and body weight of male donkeys (P<0.05); and ACSL1-3 showed a tendency for the wild genotype II to be greater than the mutant genotype DD in female and male donkeys (P<0.05). In addition, among the five haplotype combinations constructed, Hap3Hap3 (II-II-DD-DD) and Hap6Hap6 (DD-II-II-II) haplotype combinations were superior to other haplotype combinations in growth traits, which also indicated that the results of haplotype combination association analysis and genotype association analysis tended to be the same. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that the polymorphic loci of the ACSL1 gene can be used as candidate molecular markers for the growth and development of Dezhou donkeys, and provide a theoretical reference for the breeding of Dezhou donkeys.


The study takes the received view among scholars that women in the Middle Ages were faced with sustained misogyny and that their voices were seldom heard in public and subjects it to a critical analysis. The ten chapters deal with various aspects of the question, and the voices of a variety of authors - both female and male - are heard. The study opens with an enquiry into violence against women, including in texts by male writers (Hartmann von Aue, Gottfried von Strassburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach) which indeed describe instances of violence, but adopt an extremely critical stance towards them. It then proceeds to show how women were able to develop an independent identity in various genres and could present themselves as authorities in the public eye. Mystic texts by Hildegard of Bingen, Marie de France and Margery Kempe, the medieval conduct poem known as Die Winsbeckin, the Devout Books of Sisters composed in convents in South-West Germany, but also quasi-historical documents such as the memoirs of Helene Kottaner or Anna Weckerin's cookery book, demonstrate that far more women were in the public gaze than had hitherto been assumed and that they possessed the self-confidence to establish their positions with their intellectual and their literary achievements.


The ventilation and carbon dioxide elimination of each lung, and pulmonary arterial pressure, were studied in 17 patients during the early phases of anaesthesia for pulmonary surgery. The patients were ventilated mechanically to moderate hypocapnia. Expired tidal volume and carbon dioxide elimination rate of the lung to be operated on, and of the other lung, were similar in the supine position. There was a significant (P less than 0.01) increase in ventilation and a decrease in end-tidal PCO2 of the upper lung after turning the patient on to the side. Simultaneously, the physiological deadspace fraction of tidal volume (VD/VT) increased from 42 to 45% (P less than 0.05). Mean pulmonary arterial pressure (MPAP) increased slightly as surgery on the chest wall commenced. A concomitant increase of carbon dioxide elimination from the upper lung occurred also, although the distribution of ventilation, between the lungs, was unchanged in comparison with the conditions during undisturbed anaesthesia. Individual changes in MPAP (delta MPAP) and corresponding changes in VD/VT (delta (VD/VT)) were negatively correlated (r = -0.68, P less than 0.01). The regression equation was delta (VD/VT) (%) = 0.7 - 0.83 X delta MPAP (mmHg). It was concluded that variations in pulmonary arterial pressure during surgical stimulation may significantly affect the pattern of carbon dioxide elimination in the lungs. However, there was no evidence that these effects were important clinically.


ABSTRACT Childhood studies place emphasis on children's agency, their ability to understand their own world and act upon it. Children actively participate in meaningful social interactions in both formal and informal settings. Considering recent large-scale migration in Ireland, it is vital to understand how children interact in an increasingly diverse world where they encounter cultural and religious difference. This article draws on a mixed-methods case study exploring religious education (RE) in community national schools (CNS), a new model of multi-denominational primary schools in Ireland. The results from focus groups with 10- to 12-year-old children show the role of agency in developing religious knowledge and forming inter-ethnic friendships, and the crucial role schools play in empowering pupils to interact with an increasingly diverse society.


By using Learning Management Systems (LMS), educators are able to create numerous resources expressed by various technological tools (HTML pages, quizzes, forums, wikis etc.). In this manner, the student is supported throughout the educational process. The students in their turn interact with these resources, by experiencing an enriched learning process. However, the LMSs do not provide adaptivity or guidance to the students' choices. As a result the students use their own criteria to choose between large collections of resources. This usually leads to frustration, and wrong choices, as the students' abilities are not taken into serious consideration. This paper focuses on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Education. More specifically, it proposes a way to enhance the Moodle LMS's functionality by providing more adaptivity. Our ultimate goal is to improve the situation described above. For this purpose, we have designed a user-friendly interface through which the educator can dynamically develop a knowledge base (in the form of an Ontology) of the learning objectives of the e-course's resources. Although the Moodle LMS already supports a mechanism for tagging its resources, this particular proposal extends this functionality, by adding "hierarchical" information. That means that by using the interface the educator adds to the system the knowledge that the learning objectives of «Resource 1», are prerequisite knowledge for understanding the learning objectives of «Resource 2». By offering that knowledge to the system, an agent observes the student's actions and makes personalized suggestions, concerning navigation, or further actions. Finally, the proposed approach can be extended to different LMSs as Web Services were used for the creation of the above functionalities. By implementing the above features, we achieve the enhancement and extension of Moodle LMS's adaptive functionality.