The spectrograph ESPRESSO recently obtained a limit on the variation of the fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, through measurements along the line of sight of a bright quasar with a precision of $1.36$ ppm at $1\sigma$ level. This imposes new constraints on cosmological models with a varying $\alpha$. We assume such a model where the electromagnetic sector is coupled to a scalar field dark energy responsible for the current acceleration of the Universe. We parametrise the variation of $\alpha$ with two extra parameters, one defining the cosmological evolution of the quintessence component and the other fixing the coupling with the electromagnetic field. The objective of this work is to constrain these parameters with both astrophysical and local probes. We also carried out a comparative analysis of how each data probe may constrain our parametrisation. We performed a Bayesian analysis by comparing the predictions of the model with observations. The astrophysical datasets are composed of quasar spectra measurements, including the latest ESPRESSO data point, as well as Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background. We combined these with local results from atomic clocks and the MICROSCOPE experiment. The constraints placed on the quintessence parameter are consistent with a null variation of the field, and are therefore compatible with a $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. The constraints on the coupling to the electromagnetic sector are dominated by the E\"otv\"os parameter local bound. More precise measurements with ESPRESSO will be extremely important to study the cosmological evolution of $\alpha$ as it probes an interval of redshift not accessible to other types of observations. However, for this particular model, current available data favour a null variation of $\alpha$ resulting mostly from the strong MICROSCOPE limits.


In the communication system to achieve better quality data transmission required a method that can detect errors and correct errors. Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is one of the methods used to perform data transmission on data link layer that can detect errors. CRC-32 is used to error-checking on Ethernet or implemented to IEEE 802.3. CRC generator in this research use CRC-32 IEEE 802.3 with 8 bit data width. This research can be implemented in the field of Electrical Engineering, especially in the telecommunications section, namely Ethernet which functions for transfer files and data via a computer network. CRC here has a role to prevent data changes caused by noise during the transmission process. The methods used in this design is modulo-2 division parallel circuit. This design is expected to use a simple schematic circuit, less noise and less resources. Testing is done by matching result of simulation using Xilinx ISE Simulator with implementation on Spartan 3E XC3S500E device with result of count . This research requires a resource of 223 4-input LUTs, 114 Occupied slice, 72 IOB flip flops, 114 bonded IOBs and 1 BUFGMUXs, where this research obtained resources is fewer than with previous research


The devastating end-Permian mass extinction is widely considered to have been caused by large-scale and rapid greenhouse gas release by Siberian magmatism. Although the proximate extinction mechanisms are disputed, there is widespread agreement that a major extinction pulse occurred immediately below the biostratigraphically defined Permian-Triassic boundary. Our statistical analyses of stratigraphic confidence intervals do not comply with a single end-Permian extinction pulse of ammonoids in Iran. High turnover rates and extinction pulses are observed over the last 700 k.y. of the Permian period in two widely separated sections representative of a larger area. Analyses of body sizes and morphological complexity support a gradual decline over the same interval. Similar pre-mass extinction declines and disturbances of the carbon cycle have sometimes been reported from other regions, suggesting a widespread, but often overlooked, environmental deterioration at a global scale, well before the traditional main extinction pulse.


Objective: Hypertension is one of the most important factors for cardiovascular disease. It has been repeatedly proposed as a prognostic factor of severe COVID-19 and has been included in clinical risk scores to predict the occurrence of critical illness in ospitalised with COVID-19. Also, it has been postulated the relation between antihypertensive drugs and the severity of COVID-19. The aims of our study were to analyze whether hypertension and antihypertensive treatment represent an independent risk factor for death or intensive care unit admission in patients with SARS-COV2. Design and method: Observational, retrospective, single-center cohort study of all patients admitted to Hospital Virgen Macarena diagnosed with COVID-19 between the months of March and December 2020. A bivariate analysis was performed using Pearson's chi-square Results: 608 patients required admission for COVID-19. A total of 83.7% were hypertensive, specifically 75.9% were under antihypertensive treatment (35.7% with only 1 drug, 29.9% were taking two drugs, 9% with three drugs, and 1.3% with 4 drugs). 26.2% were treated with an ACEI, 24.8% with ARA-II, 16.8% with calcium-antagonists, 30.9% with diuretics, 21.2% with beta-blockers, 0, 5% with alpha-blockers). Hypertension did not show a statistically significant relationship with mortality (p = 0.34), increase in mortality and ICU admissions. Neither treatment with ACEI (p = 0.4), ARB-II (p = 0.45), calcium antagonists (p = 0.53), diuretics (p = 0.68), alpha blockers (p = 0.07) demonstrated relation with those items. Surprisingly, beta-blockers increased the mortality in patients with SARS-COV2 (p = 0.048). Probably this results can be explained as these drugs were indicated for rate control in patients with atrial fibrillation (p = 0.006). The number of antihypertensive drugs used also did not show a statistically significant relationship with an increase in mortality (p = 0.978). Conclusions: Hypertension is a highly prevalent pathology in patients ospitalised with COVID-19 infection. However, high blood pressure was not associated with a higher risk for mortality in patients with SARS-COV-2, neither the type or the number of antihypertensive drug used. Only beta-blockers alter outcomes in hypertensive patients with COVID-19, as they were associated with more deaths.


Increased on-farm cow mortality (ie unassisted death and euthanasia) has been demonstrated in Swedish dairy herds during the last decade. Identifying risk factors associated with type of death is needed for future work in reducing cow mortality rates. The objectives of this case-control study were to quantify the relative proportion of unassisted dead cows among cows that die on-farm, and to identify risk factors associated with unassisted death (as opposed to euthanasia). In Sweden, cadavers and animal waste products are being processed into biofuel at destruction plants. Two destruction plants were visited three times in 2011–2012. All dairy cows (n = 556) entering the plants were examined. Farmers that had sent the cows were contacted by telephone to verify type of death. Of the 433 dairy cows included in the analysis, 30% had died unassisted. A stillbirth rate above or equal to the median in the study material (7%) increased the risk for unassisted death. The proportion of unassisted dead cows was lower than that found in other countries. The results indicate that it might be possible to study euthanasia and unassisted death as one group in Swedish dairy cows, because only one factor differentiating between the two types of death was identified. However, unidentified risk factors may still differ and, possibly more importantly, welfare implications may also differ between the two types of death which implies the need to separate them in future studies.


We propose a model for early universe cosmology without the need for fundamental scalar fields. Cosmic acceleration and phenomenologically viable reheating of the universe results from a series of energy transitions, where during each transition vacuum energy is converted to thermal radiation. We show that this 'cascading universe' can lead to successful generation of adiabatic density fluctuations and an observable gravity wave spectrum in some cases, where in the simplest case it reproduces a spectrum similar to slow-roll models of inflation. We also find the model provides a reasonable reheating temperature after inflation ends. This type of model can also be used to explain the smallness of the vacuum energy today.


Several systemic hormones and localized growth factors coordinate events of bone formation and resorption to support bone growth in the young and maintain bone mineral content in the adult. Some of the more important factors produced in the bone microenvironment that impact skeletal biology include prostaglandins, cytokines, and insulin-like growth factors. Dietary fat sources that exert potent biological effects on the skeletal tissues belong to the omega-6 and omega-3 families of essential fatty acids. Specific long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) belonging to these families are substrates for prostanoids that influence the differentiation and activity of cells in bone and cartilage tissues. These PUFA appear to alter prostanoid formation, cell-to-cell signaling processes, and impact transcription factors in vivo. Hence, these biologically active PUFA can be called nutraceutical fatty acids. This review highlights the role of nutraceutical fatty acids on bone metabolism and joint disease. The recent discovery of transcription factors controlling osteoblast function, and soluble proteins directing osteoclastogenesis and osteoblastogenesis offer new research opportunities for studying nutraceutical fatty acids in skeletal biology.


Acetabular bone loss presents a challenge to the revision total hip arthroplasty surgeon. It is described a technique of stressing the acetabular bone intra-operatively to access for pelvic discontinuity and the use of allograft to fill the bone gap. Three radiographic criteria are assessed on the AP radiograph for pre-operative classification according to the Paprosky system. This paper describes the pre-operative assessment, the acetabular defect classification and the surgery to achieve a successful outcome.


Stress intensity factors (SIFs) are important parameters in brittle fracture assessment of marine notched components; in respecting of previous researches, it has found that there are several ways for SIF solutions. Following outline of LEFM based fatigue analysis; the paper has proposed a closed-form SIF solution as an alternative way for ship structural details prediction. It has shown that the stress intensity factors (SIFs) can be solved revealing the effect of the geometric parameters. Numerical tool has offered an evaluation as convergence behavior of relative SIF results between CCT (central crack) and DENT (double edge notch). Then the proposed methodology is applied onto the construction similar to HHI #1 and #2 specimens. It has be concluded in results that the SIFs and fatigue lives by the proposed method have good agreement with those by FEA calculations, furthermore, these key parameters can be expressed in formula format. For real engineering application, the main advantage of the proposed method will be useful for fatigue prediction rapidly and conveniently.


As the network becoming more dense due to the increase of accessors has resulted the average speed of the internet in Indonesia slowing down. This problem can of course be solved by technical solutions through a government policy to provide additional pathways. On the other hands, the commitments of private parties are also required, particularly the telemmunication providers in order to make technical and commercial adjustments which involve huge investments. The purpose of this research is to figure out the conflict conditions, to know dilemmas that appeared and disappeared in the stage of Indosat's frequency misapplication or abuse conducted by IM2, and to be accomplished using drama theory approach. This research utilizes secondary data that had been collected from online news on October 2011 – July 2013 period. The conflict is separated into 3 (three) frames, first frame is when LSM Konsumen Telekomunikasi Indonesia (LKTI) undertook an extortion to Indosat and IM2. Beforehand, LKTI had denounced the contract agreement involving Indosat and IM2 to the Indonesian Attorney due to an indication of corruption matter. Second frame is when IM2 as a corporation was punished as the suspect by the Indonesian general attorney. And the last frame, in the stage is when the Supreme Court involved as a new player and reduced the conflict. All the related data to this conflict mapped into common reference frame and analysed using confrontation manager software. As the results, this conflict indicates that from the first frame until the last, there were 7 (seven) dilemmas faced by all related parties beyond the conflict. In the first and second frames consist of rejection, threat and persuasion dilemmas whereas third frame contains rejection dilemma faced by the Indonesian Attorney and the Supreme Court. The implication of this research indicates that the contract agreement between these two parties (Indosat & IM2) was considered as violation against rules and figures out the missing dilemmas that examined in this paper.


Ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) can be used for the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules into complex arrangements for sensitive electrical and structural characterization. However, the systematic UHV STM manipulation of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), high-aspect-ratio molecular wires derived from graphene that exist in both semiconducting and metallic forms, has yet to be reported. In this work, we demonstrate the room-temperature lateral manipulation of approximately 1-nm-diameter SWNTs on UHV-prepared, hydrogen-passivated Si(100) surfaces. We show the reproducible actuation of SWNTs having lengths as small as 13 nm, along with the partial division of a two-tube bundle. Moreover, UHV STM desorption of H at the SWNT/Si interface is introduced as a means of locally strengthening the interaction between the tube and the surface. The UHV STM manipulation scheme described here is potentially extensible to the orientational control of SWNTs interfaced with atomically clean semiconducting surfaces, such as InAs(110), GaAs(110), and unpassivated Si(100), for which first-principles calculations based on density functional theory have been reported recently in the literature.


Discussions between policymakers about renewable energy have gained momentum in recent years, amid growing recognition of the need for more investment in green energy sources. The question is whether households in developing countries like South Africa will support green energy actions if it comes at an additional cost or whether they are simply arm-chair environmentalist. To assess this, we use the contingency valuation method (CVM) to identify the determinants of support for renewable energy. It is vital that households' determinants of the additional cost burden associated with renewable energy are assessed, in an effort to win public acceptance of the introduction of renewable energy. The US$966 willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy represents a significant premium over generation costs, and signals social acceptance of renewable energy. Most importantly, given the wide degree of heterogeneity in WTP models, a clear message to policymakers and stakeholders is that they need to do more to communicate the economic and environmental benefits associated with renewable energy.


ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Neurogenic orthostatic hypotension (nOH) is a common source of disability but is an often untreated nonmotor symptom of Parkinson disease. The key manifestations of nOH include lightheadedness, dizziness, weakness, and fatigue when standing and engaging in activities in the upright position and result in falls, impaired activities of living, decreased quality of life, and short-term cognitive impairment. Early diagnosis and treatment of nOH are necessary to mitigate its adverse effects and reduce nOH-related symptom burden. CASE STUDY: The management of nOH is illustrated through a case study. MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS: Alerting providers about the impact and treatment of nOH, accurate measurement of orthostatic blood pressure, and educating patients and caregivers about nonpharmacological treatment options are important strategies to manage nOH. The goal of nOH treatment is to mitigate symptoms and improve the patient's quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses can play a crucial role in the recognition and management of nOH. Nurses who are educated about nOH are well suited to partner with care providers to treat disabling motor and nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson disease.


This thesis examines the extent to which the New Zealand Assemblies of God, one of the largest and oldest Pentecostal denominations in the country, has fostered participation by Maori, and its success in doing so between 1970 and 2008. From the advent of the Mana Maori renaissance in the 1970s the idea of biculturalism became an important vehicle for Maori aspirations. As part of its broader agenda, the thesis also considers the church's response to this bicultural emphasis. The Assemblies' particular response is analysed in the light of experiences in the mainline denominations and the Apostolic and Destiny churches which either experienced considerable success in attracting Maori participation, or explicitly accommodated the call for a bicultural response using recognised bicultural models. The research is based on the published literature of the Assemblies of God and an extensive range of interviews. These provided detail on the motivations and underlying beliefs that have generated particular responses. The published literature of the other denominations has also been addressed for comparative purposes, along with a range of relevant secondary literature. The Assemblies of God's flexible structure, clarity of teaching, fostering of indigenous leadership and emphasis on local church autonomy, has enabled it to grow rapidly throughout the world. Despite this, and despite the church's emphasis on crosscultural mission, this thesis demonstrates that Maori have not joined the Assemblies of God to the same extent that they have other Pentecostal denominations in New Zealand. It argues that the church has done little to foster Maori participation in the movement, and identifies eight key historical, ideological, and organisational factors that have hindered its ability to do so. In particular, it highlights the significance of the denomination's emphasis on local church autonomy, the absence of any deliberate "mission" to Maori, and the church's multicultural emphasis and historical suspicion of "social justice".


ABSTRACT In an increasingly industrialized and globalized world, it is believed that future architects will be in a better position to solve architectural and urban problems if they have been exposed to education about vernacular and region-specific architecture. Research that explicitly examines how to utilize vernacular knowledge and skills in contemporary architectural education and practice is rare. Lack of research that addresses and investigates vernacular traditions as a renewable resource with potential for continuity and viability is one of the main deficiencies in teaching vernacular architecture and the current vernacular discourse in general. Enhancing students' ability to produce and develop region-sensitive architecture is one of the main goals of the architecture program at the King Fahd University for Petroleum Minerals (KFUPM). Issues such as the detailed analysis and investigation of vernacular traditions and values, and their use and integration in contemporary architectural practice, among others, are emphasized in the program. The paper reports on the author's experience in teaching three courses, at KFUPM, in which students are introduced to various analytical concepts and approaches that enable them to better understand vernacular traditions and integrate vernacular knowledge in the design process. A compressive pedagogical approach that combines theoretical teaching with practical exercises was developed and used in teaching the three courses. The aim of pedagogical approach is to enhance students' capacity to develop their individualized methods and decision-making abilities relevant to utilizing vernacular knowledge in practicing and creating contemporary region-specific architecture. Results show that the implemented pedagogical approach is successful in enhancing students' understanding of vernacular traditions and values, their ability to integrate vernacular knowledge in their practice of design, their ability to argue and create region-specific architecture, and in general promoting a culture of region-sensitive architecture among students.


Cash flow is a major and critical input in the capital budgeting decision of
private firms. Cash flow has been analyzed under taxes and inflation. However, zakat has
never been analyzed. Zakat has different base and rates compared to other systems,
therefore, it requires an intensive analysis. This study analyses and compares the impact
of zakat with that of Saudi and American tax systems. Two models were developed, and
an empirical analysis was performed. The results support the hypothesis of a lesser
impact for zakat. Under equal discount rates and initial investments, zakat tends to
accept more projects than the other two tax systems.


The aim of the study was evaluation of spironolactone effect on concentration of endothelin-1 (ET-1 - vasoconstrictive substance produced by endothelial cells) and aldosterone (Ald) and plasma renin activity (PRA) in patients with primary arterial hypertension (AH): group A--smoking patients (11 individuals) in comparison with group B--non-smoking ones (12 individuals). ET-1, Ald and PRA were assessed before treatment (examination 1) and after 20 days of spironolactone therapy in dose 25 mg/day (examination 2). We observed: In group A significant elevation of: ET-1 ((Me +/- S exam.1 - 45.55 +/- 12.95 vs. exam.2 - 63.41 +/- 12.71 pg/ml, p = 0,009) PRA (Me +/- S exam.1 - 1.8 +/- 0.78 vs. exam.2 - 3.0 +/- 1.41 ng/ml/h, p = 0,012). In group B: significant decrease of ET-1 (Me +/- S exam.1- 61.58 +/- 12.15 vs. exam.2 - 43.48 +/- 14.37 pg/ml, p = 0.0028) significant elevation of PRA (Me +/- S exam1 - 1.20 +/- 1,91 vs. exam2 - 2.51 +/- 1.78 ng/ ml/h, p = 0.028).In our investigation different action of spironolactone on ET-1 in the two groups was observed. In group B spironolactone decreased ET-1 but in group A we noticed elevated ET-1 concentration. These results indicate advantageous endothelial effect of spironolactone only in non-smoking patients with AH.


The objective of this study was to evaluate phenolic compounds produced from the catalytic pyrolysis of pine sawdust by commercial catalysts. Eight types of commercial catalysts consisting of SiO2, montmorillonite, α-Fe2O3, HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 25:1), ZnO, γ-Fe2O3, HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 50:1), and nano-HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 50:1) were screened in a fixed bed reactor at a reaction temperature of 500 °C and a vapor residence time of 3 s. All the tested commercial catalysts exhibited different catalytic performances for the adjustment of the composition of the bio-oil. HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 25:1) significantly increased hydrocarbon production in the bio-oil, which is helpful for improving its heating value. The different types of phenols were reduced significantly from 17 to 7 with nano-HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 50:1); however, the phenols content also decreased from 32.6% to 23.28% compared with non-catalytic pyrolysis. Meanwhile, the addition of nano-HZSM-5 (Si:Al = 50:1) to the raw material provided the highest amount of furans (up to 38.8%) among the tested commercial catalysts. The inexpensive ZnO and γ-Fe2O3 also were surprisingly effective for the reduction of the variety of phenolic compounds detected by GC/MS, reducing that number from 17 to 10.


The manufacturing processes of commercial probiotic strains may be affected in different ways in the attempt to optimize yield, costs, functionality, or stability, influencing gene expression, protein patterns, or metabolic output. Aim of this work is to compare different samples of a high concentration (450 billion bacteria) multispecies (8 strains) formulation produced at two different manufacturing sites, United States of America (US) and Italy (IT), by applying a combination of functional proteomics, metabolomics, and in vivo analyses. Several protein-profile differences were detected between IT- and US-made products, with Lactobacillus paracasei, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Bifidobacteria being the main affected probiotics/microorganisms. Performing proton nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (1H-NMR), some discrepancies in amino acid, lactate, betaine and sucrose concentrations were also reported between the two products. Finally, we investigated the health-promoting and antiaging effects of both products in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. The integration of omics platforms with in vivo analysis has emerged as a powerful tool to assess manufacturing procedures.


The UV protection by textiles highly depends on large number of factors such are type of fiber, fabric surface, construction, porosity, density, moisture content, type and concentration of dyestuff, fluorescent whitening agents (FWA), UV-B protective agents (UV absorbers), as well as nanoparticles, if applied. The dyes are selective absorbers. They all absorb visible light, but some absorb light in the near ultraviolet region, as well. Even though synthetic dyes are cheaper, their usage led to such consequences as carcinogenicity and some of them are toxic to the environment. Due to increased awareness of the environmental and health hazards associated with the synthesis, processing and use of synthetic dyes, most of the commercial dyers have started to re-looking to the maximum possibilities of using natural dyes for dyeing and printing of different textiles for targeting niche market. Natural dyes are usually derived from the plants, animal and mineral sources. The shades produced by natural dyes are usually soft, lustrous and soothing to the human eye, can be produced a wide range of colors by mix and match system and are usually renewable and biodegradable. However, it needs longer dyeing time and excess cost for mordants and mordanting. Applied on textiles, provide some UV blocking which depends on the structure of dye molecules, type of dye or pigment, present absorptive groups, depth of dyeing and the uniformity. According to colour physic principles, darker colors (e.g. black, navy blue and dark red) absorb UV-R much more strongly than light pastel colors. For that reason, in this chapter the UV protection by woolen fabric dyed with natural dyestuff extracted from European Ash bark (Fraxinus excelsior) and European black elderberry berries (Sambucus nigra) was researched. Since these natural dyes, as most of the natural dyes, are non-substantive and must be applied on textiles in the combination with mordants i.e. metallic salts, 4 different mordants were applied. The color parameters were measured on remission spectrophotometer. The fabric UV protection was determined according to AS/NZS 4399:1996 Sun Protective Clothing: evaluation and classification, by UV-A and UV-B transmission measurement on transmission spectrophotometer and calculation of Ultraviolet protection factor (UPF).


Depending on various assumptions on the energy scale of inflation and assuming a primordial power spectrum of a step‐like structure, we explore new possibilities for Primordial Black Holes (PBH) and Planck relics to contribute substantially to Cold Dark Matter in the Universe. A recently proposed possibility to produce Planck relics in four‐dimensional string gravity is considered in this framework. Possible experimental detection of PBHs through gravitational waves is also explored. We stress that inflation with a low energy scale, and also possibly when Planck relics are produced, leads unavoidably to relics originating from PBHs that are not effectively classical during their formation, rendering the usual formalism inadequate for them.


Abstract Aspirin is a cornerstone of therapy in the treatment of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). However, dual antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of stent thrombosis and cardiovascular events compared with aspirin alone in the treatment of patients with ACS. Recently, there has been debate as to which antiplatelet agent should be added to aspirin in the ACS treatment regimen. This review summarizes the pharmacologic and clinical data comparing Clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor, and provides a practical guide to clinicians for determining which antiplatelet to use for patients with ACS.


Homophobic experiences with traumatic characteristics related to shame are more frequent among sexual minority (SM) than heterosexual individuals. Concurrently, SM individuals present higher levels of psychopathology and transdiagnostic processes (e.g., shame) than heterosexual individuals. Self-compassion has been identified as a protective mechanism that counteracts the effects of shame. The current study aimed to analyse which components of self-compassion affect mental health and test the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between feelings of shame in traumatic homophobic bullying experiences (THBEs) and psychopathology indicators (depression, anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms). In this study, 190 Portuguese SM individuals (Mage = 28.3, SD = 7.5) completed self-report measures assessing traumatic experiences, self-compassion, and psychopathology. Data were explored with SPSS and AMOS. Regression analyses showed that internal shame felt during THBE and compassionate actions predicted psychopathology outcomes. Mediation analyses revealed that internal shame during a THBE had a significant indirect effect on all psychopathology outcomes through compassionate actions. In other words, internal shame during a THBE was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and social anxiety, and these relationships were partially mediated by compassionate actions. Our results reinforce the importance of developing compassionate actions towards the self as a possible protective factor for psychopathology among SM individuals.


ABSTRACT Interstrand cross-links (ICLs) are extremely toxic DNA lesions that create an impassable roadblock to DNA replication. When a replication fork collides with an ICL, it triggers a damage response that promotes multiple DNA processing events required to excise the cross-link from chromatin and resolve the stalled replication fork. One of the first steps in this process involves displacement of the CMG replicative helicase (comprised of Cdc45, MCM2-7, and GINS), which obstructs the underlying cross-link. Here we report that the p97/Cdc48/VCP segregase plays a critical role in ICL repair by unloading the CMG complex from chromatin. Eviction of the stalled helicase involves K48-linked polyubiquitylation of MCM7, p97-mediated extraction of CMG, and a largely degradation-independent mechanism of MCM7 deubiquitylation. Our results show that ICL repair and replication termination both utilize a similar mechanism to displace the CMG complex from chromatin. However, unlike termination, repair-mediated helicase unloading involves the tumor suppressor protein BRCA1, which acts upstream of MCM7 ubiquitylation and p97 recruitment. Together, these findings indicate that p97 plays a conserved role in dismantling the CMG helicase complex during different cellular events, but that distinct regulatory signals ultimately control when and where unloading takes place.


DETERMINATION OF THE RANGE OF SAFE-COMFORTABLE LIFTING POSTURES USING THE AESTHETIC ERGONOMICS THEORY Nicolas F. Salazar Past research indicates that, in general, individuals performing material handling tasks tend to underestimate lower back stress, i.e. L5/S1 disk compression, adopting free style lifting postures that often results a greater biomechanical stress in the lower back, increasing their potential risk of developing low back injuries in the short, mid and long terms. The main objective of this research was to identify within theoretically safe workstation layouts, the subgroup of layouts that would lead workers to adopt cognitively comfortable and at the same time physically safe lifting postures. This research objective was achieved through the use of the Aesthetic Ergonomics Dual process discipline deployed in 2 interlinked stages: 1) the development, implementation and analysis of a survey where 121 experienced workers identified important cognitive factors and attributes which lead them to adopt perceived comfortable starting lifting postures in the sagittal plane, and 2) the design, implementation and analysis of a laboratory experiment where 20 workers experienced in material handling performed 12 different lifting, using a magnitude estimation scale to rate their perceived comfort at each lifting task. All lifting tasks were designed based on a lifting index, LI, which was set equal to one (1) according to the 1981 NIOSH Lifting guide. Results of this study indicated that independent of horizontal reaches and container weights, workstations should be designed with a vertical height of approximately 30 inches. When compression and shear forces on the L5/S1 disc and subjects' average heart rate were considered in the analysis, the results support the recommendation that 30 inches should be the preferred vertical height in the design of workstations where lifting is frequently performed. The highest vertical height evaluated, 45", was associated with lifting tasks that posed a significantly higher physical demand on subjects' shoulders, depicted as an inconsistency between subjects' perceived comfort for 45" and this height's corresponding average shear and compressive forces estimates for subjects' L5/S1 disc. It was also found that average subject's perceived comfort decreased as the weight of the object lifted increased, is independent of the horizontal distance of the lift. However, the weight of the object lifted resulted in a significant increase in the subjects' estimated L5/S1 compression force with an increase in the height, which indicates that the counterpart nested factor in Zn, the horizontal distance, had a decreasing contribution as the vertical distance increased. In that matter, the vertical height found to have a greater potential impact on reducing the estimated L5/S1 was 30 inches. .


We consider the problem of learning a low-dimensional signal model from a collection of training samples. The mainstream approach would be to learn an overcomplete dictionary to provide good approximations of the training samples using sparse synthesis coefficients. This famous sparse model has a less well known counterpart, in analysis form, called the cosparse analysis model. In this new model, signals are characterized by their parsimony in a transformed domain using an overcomplete analysis operator. We propose to learn an analysis operator from a training corpus using a constrained optimization program based on L1 optimization. We derive a practical learning algorithm, based on projected subgradients, and demonstrate its ability to robustly recover a ground truth analysis operator, provided the training set is of sufficient size. A local optimality condition is derived, providing preliminary theoretical support for the well-posedness of the learning problem under appropriate conditions.


The hemipenial morphology of five Asian pitvipers, Protobothrops mucrosquamatus, Protobothrops jerdonii, Ovophis zayuensis, Ovophis monticola and Viriclovipera yunnanensis, are described and illustrated. Of them, the hemipenes of the first three species have been briefly reported in Chinese Journal of Zoology in Chinese. The results reveal that five species are different in hemipenial structures. The differences between Ovophis zayuensis and Ovophis monticola, and between Viridovipera yunnanensis and Viridovipera stejnegeri, further confirm the validation of Ovophis zayuensis and Viridovipera yunnanensis respectively.


Interactions between antibodies to poly(inosinic acid).poly(cytidylic acid) [poly(I).poly(C)] (or Fab fragments) and double-stranded polynucleotides have been studied by several techniques. In quantitative precipitation tests, the amounts of precipitated antibodies depend upon salt concentration. This effect of salt is reversible. From the comparison of the association constants (deduced from fluorescence measurements) for the binding of Fab fragments to several polynucleotides, a direct interaction between atoms or groups of the bases, which can be involved in hydrogen bonds, can be excluded. The complexes between poly(I).poly(C) and Fab fragments interact with ethidium bromide. The association constants for the binding of ethidium bromide to poly(I).poly(C) and to poly(I).poly(C)-Fab fragments complexes are about the same, but Fab fragments reduce the number of base pairs available to ethidium bromide binding. At saturation of poly(I).poly(C) by Fab fragments, the number of binding sites of ethidium bromide is only reduced by a factor of two. It is concluded that all the nucleotide residues covered by the Fab fragment binding site do not interact with the amino acid residues. Circular dichroism studies of the complexes between Fab fragments and polynucleotides are in favor of some conformational change of the polynucleotides.


Background: Little research is done in the field of help seeking during tutorials by means of a Technology Enhanced Learning tool. There are a lot of studies that study help seeking in general. Likewise there are studies that researched the effect of online help seeking. However, the combination of face to face tutorials combined with a tool to improve help seeking is not yet explored.
The level of the question is a factor that influences the quality of help seeking [1]–[5]. Moreover, when the perceived threat to self-worth that is associated with asking questions in public is reduced it increases help seeking behavior [6]–[10]. Further, several studies found that sharing questions and strategies improve future help seeking of students [1], [11], [12].
Studies that researched the effect of online help seeking on discussion forms concluded that moderating a discussion form takes a lot of time from the teaching staff. Furthermore, providing a discussion board on it self does not improve the learning of students [13], [14]. For online help giving to be successful the teaching staff needs to play a big role moderating the discussions [14], [15].
Most educations use the technique of letting students raise their hand when they have a question. This technique is vastly out dated and even worse inefficient. While students wait for help, they stagnate their work and focus on getting the attention of the help provider. Especially during programming tutorials this is a problem. Typing with one hand is extremely inefficient and most students do not even try to proceed while they wait for help. Because the students are already programming on their own laptop this brings the opportunity to design a solution for the hand raising problem that involves high technology. When education is supported by technological tools, it is called technology enhanced learning (TEL).
Objective: This research's objective is to find how technology enhanced learning can improve the quality and efficiency of help seeking and help giving for program- ming tutorials.
Design: At the University of Twente several programming courses already used a web-application called TA-HelpMe to solve the hand raising problem. During this research that tool was expanded to become a TEL tool.
Firstly, the tool was expanded with categories. When students wanted to request help they had to specify the category of that help. Hypotheses: By selecting the category of their help request, students will take more time to think about what kind of help they need, resulting in an improvement in the quality of help seeking. Further, by reading the category before going to the help request the teaching staff can prepare for the help request, this leads to a higher level of help. Also, by distributing the experience over the categories, the teaching staff can increase the self reported efficiency of help.
Secondly, the students had to enter their question, by writing their own or picking a previously asked question. By letting students type out their question an attempt was made to improve the quality of help seeking. Moreover, letting students read the questions other students asked at the same category was expected to help students formulate better questions themselves.
Lastly, a group-help feature was designed. With the feature the supporting staff could ask students who had the same question to come to the front to be helped simultaneously. This was expected to improve the efficiency of the help giving.
Methods: The tool was then evaluated using quantitative data to measure the quality of the help seeking and the acceptance of the tool. Qualitative interviews were used to evaluate if the tool improved the efficiency and quality of the help seeking and giving according to the Teaching Assistants (TAs) of programming tuto- rials.
Findings: By adding steps to the help seeking, the amount of improvident help seeking was reduced. The categories were perceived as useful. Adding categories to the questions and sign off entries, offered the TAs the opportunity to select what topics they would help. The TAs stated that the categories helped them to spread the attention of the TAs more effectively. When TAs lacked knowledge on a specific topic they could ask another TA to take on questions with that category. However, the typing out of the question did not increase the amount of specific questions that were asked. During the tutorials the TAs did not guide the students to ask better questions, the guidance of the question entry was not intuitively adapted by the TAs.
Interpretation: Adding categories does increase the efficiency of help seeking, especially of the help giving. Moreover, the categories helped improve the quality of the help giving. Typing out the question on itself does not improve the quality of the help seeking. The TA-HelpMe tool was seen as an improvement of the tutorials by the majority of the students and TAs. Using technology enhanced learning tools can improve the efficiency of help seeking and giving for programming tutorials.


A new diamond anvil cell experimental approach has been implemented at the European x-ray Free Electron Laser, combining pulsed laser heating with MHz x-ray diffraction. Here, we use this setup to determine liquidus temperatures under extreme conditions, based on the determination of time-resolved crystallization. The focus is on a Fe-Si-O ternary system, relevant for planetary cores. This time-resolved diagnostic is complemented by a finite-element model, reproducing temporal temperature profiles measured experimentally using streaked optical pyrometry. This model calculates the temperature and strain fields by including (i) pressure and temperature dependencies of material properties, and (ii) the heat-induced thermal stress, including feedback effect on material parameter variations. Making our model more realistic, these improvements are critical as they give 7000 K temperature differences compared to previous models. Laser intensities are determined by seeking minimal deviation between measured and modeled temperatures. Combining models and streak optical pyrometry data extends temperature determination below detection limit. The presented approach can be used to infer the liquidus temperature by the appearance of SiO2 diffraction spots. In addition, temperatures obtained by the model agree with crystallization temperatures reported for Fe–Si alloys. Our model reproduces the planetary relevant experimental conditions, providing temperature, pressure, and volume conditions. Those predictions are then used to determine liquidus temperatures at experimental timescales where chemical migration is limited. This synergy of novel time-resolved experiments and finite-element modeling pushes further the interpretation capabilities in diamond anvil cell experiments.


As the demand for bandwidth increases, the communications industry is faced with a paradigm shift. Photonic integration is a key technology that will facilitate this shift. Monolithic integration allows for the realization of highly functional optical components, called photonic integrated circuits. Herein, we discuss the advantages and potential applications of photonic integration, and after a brief overview of various integration techniques, provide a detailed look at our work using a novel quantum well intermixing processing platform.


Over the duration of the last year research regarding the en route delay absorption capabilities of the MUAC airspace for Schiphol inbound flights has been performed. Delay absorption currently takes place in the lower airspace, where as a result air traffic controllers and pilots experience increased workloads during one of the most critical periods of a flight. This in combination with the expected fuel inefficiency of delay absorption in the lower airspace resulted in this research to investigate the options of moving delay absorption away from the lower airspace, into the en route airspace. The MUAC airspace is all airspace above FL245 over The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and West-Germany, encompassing Schiphol inbound flights entering the LVNL airspace (all airspace over The Netherlands up to FL245) from the South, East and North. Traffic data from two sample days was selected (one in high season and one in low season) to reflect the different traffic patterns occuring throughout the year, based on which the planning conflicts were determined. From these planning conflicts the amount of required delay absorption has been obtained, and used as an input to determine which way of en route delay absorption should be used. A range of delay absorption measures has been defined and evaluated: linear holding and dropping for all routes, and detouring and turtling for selected Northern routes. Linear holding means only slowing an aircraft down to the Maximum Range Cruise speed at most, and dropping represents both slowing an aircraft down while lowering its altitude by 2000 ft across its trajectory within the MUAC airspace. Detouring and turtling are the equivalent of linear holding and dropping, respectively, however executed on an extended trajectory. Changing the trajectory of an aircraft may result in conflicts with other traffic, hence it was decided only to use these measures for the Northern routes. This part of the MUAC airspace has a lower traffic density in general, and was the only airspace that could reasonably be provided with detours. The changes were implemented in the scenarios, which were run in the BlueSky Open Source ATM Simulator to gather data on fuel consumption (using Eurocontrol's Base of Aircraft Data), air traffic controller communications workload, and the number of conflicts with other traffic. The data obtained from the delayed scenarios has been compared to the original scenario to see how the variables were affected by the delay absorption. The delay absorption within the MUAC airspace was found to be 0.4 s/NM for linear holding and 0.7 s/NM for dropping. For the three routes through the Jever sector that were found eligible for detouring and turtling, an additional 8 seconds should be counted for each additionally flown nautical mile. Fuel consumption has been compared to the fuel consumption in the original scenario, from which a slightly reduced fuel consumption was found for linear holding (-0.1%), but a significantly lower fuel consumption for dropping and turtling (-45% and -50%, respectively). This strong reduction in fuel consumption is caused by the earlier initiated descent, during which the aircraft can throttle back to idle thrust. Detouring was found unfavourable in terms of fuel (due to the additional path length), but is nevertheless an effective means of delay absorption. The communication workload was generally found to strongly increase during MUAC peak loadings. Adding more work when a controller is already at his/her busiest is not very desirable, which is why it is unlikely that delay absorption during peak loading can be implemented in the way it was simulated. However, off-peak workloads were sometimes found to be even lower than in the original scenario. This can be explained by the reduction of the number of conflicts, due to which some of the workload assigned for resolving conflicts could be eliminated. During these times of day en route delay absorption would be more than just feasible; it would be very desirable. The ability to predict the change in communication workload has been assessed by computing the correlation between expected and actual change in communication workload, as well as between traffic density and actual change in communication workload, but no relation was found to be strong enough to give a representative indication of the actual change in workload. Overall, the total number of conflicts during linear holding and dropping runs for the low season day were found to lower by 1.1% and 0.4% respectively. The high season saw an overall increase of 0.7% of the total number of conflicts. It is thus expected to be favourable for other traffic if en route delay absorption is performed during low season days, but mostly unfavourable during high season. The Jever sector was the only sector to be equipped with detouring and turtling options, and during all scenarios except for the August linear holding and dropping scenarios a reduction of the total number of conflicts was observed. It can be concluded that when care is taken in when and how en route delay absorption is implemented, it most definitely shows potential to (partially) replace delay methods in the lower airspace.


Speaking Truth to Power IN JANUARY 2010 leading European intellectuals commemorated the deaths of two great men of letters of the twentieth century: the Englishman George Orwell and the pied noir French Algerian Albert Camus. That month marked the sixtieth anniversary of the death of George Orwell in 1950 and the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Albert Camus, precisely a decade later in January 1960. British and French writers in particular celebrated the heritage that Orwell and Camus represent, a legacy of intellectual integrity, moral courage, and literary excellence. Both of these men exemplified a rare honesty to speak truth to power, to voice a cry against oppression and injustice. They did so not only against the malfeasance of government officials and the cowardice of the so-called Establishment, but even against their own immediate reference group, their fellow intellectuals on the Left, what the New York intellectual and social critic Harold Rosenberg called "the herd of independent minds" stampeding together in the same direction (242-45). Rosenberg was referring to his own group of New York intellectuals, but he was in fact merely echoing what Orwell had repeatedly said three decades earlier in London and Camus shortly thereafter in Paris. Yet in order to appreciate fully the heritage that Orwell and Camus represent, a short history lesson is in order. L'Intellectuel Is Born The very word "intellectual" was not even part of the Western lexicon until the late nineteenth century. Yes, there were men of letters, essayists, journalists, and gentleman scholars. But not an identifiable class--"the intellectuals," or the "intelligentsia"--as we have come to understand them as a formal social category. Both these terms arose after the conviction in 1894 of Alfred Dreyfus, a captain in the French Army who had been convicted unjustly on trumped-up charges. The truth was suppressed by both the French military and the French government. Dreyfus, a Jew who was the victim of vicious anti-Semitic prejudices during his military trial, was packed off to prison. However, some writers, especially Emile Zola in J'Accuse! [I Accuse!], could not and would not remain silent once they had discovered the truth. In his explosive manifesto, Zola wrote, "I accuse the government, I accuse the military, I accuse the powers that be of lying and corruption and deception of those whom they would proclaim to serve, the public" (Zola). Published in 1898, J'Accuse! caused a firestorm of controversy in Paris. Plenty of Parisian writers and men of letters wanted to suppress the truth. "Let this French Jew take the blame," they believed. There were others, however, who agreed with Zola. And thus "the intellectual" was born, that is, the thinker who insists that the truth must be proclaimed in language clear and direct and simple and concrete--and, wherever possible, fluid and euphonious. And so, the role of the intellectual began, first in France and then throughout the continent and elsewhere, that is, the intellectual as a critic of power. But what happens when, soon thereafter in the twentieth century, the intellectuals themselves begin to demonstrate that they are corrupt and deceptive, when they begin fully collaborating with power, such as during the French Occupation? Or for a much longer period shortly thereafter with Soviet Russia? The Western intellectuals' betrayal of their calling continued even after Joseph Stalin occupied all of Eastern Europe--partly because "Uncle Joe Stalin" was our ally against the Nazis, even if only beginning in June 1941, not before that and not after World War II. It is much more difficult, and it requires much greater intellectual integrity and moral courage, to be a critic of your own side, of your fellow intellectuals. Yes, it's easier to speak truth to power if the powerful are in faraway places like the White House or Number 10 Downing Street or the Palais Elysee, where they ignore you like an elephant does a fly, as you declaim and breast-beat in your academic publications and ephemeral newspaper columns. …


The variability and drivers of the cross-shelf exchanges between the Southwestern Atlantic shelf and the open ocean from 30 to 40°S are analyzed using a high-resolution ocean model reanalysis at daily resolution. The model's performance was first evaluated using altimetry data, and independent mooring and hydrographic data collected in the study area. Model transports are in overall good agreement with all other estimates. The record-mean (1993–2018) cross-shore transport is offshore, 2.09 ± 1.60 Sv. 73% of the shelf-open ocean exchange occurs in the vicinity of Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (~38°S) and 20% near 32°S. This outflow is mostly contributed by northward alongshore transport through 40°S (63%) and the remaining by southward transport through 30°S (37%). The cross-shore flow presents weak seasonal variations, with a maximum in austral summer, and high variability at subannual and weekly time scales. The latter is mainly associated with abrupt wind changes generated by synoptic atmospheric systems. Alongshore wind variations set up sea-level changes in the inner shelf which in turn drive large anomalies in the associated geostrophic alongshore flow. The difference in inner shelf sea-level anomalies at 30 and 40°S is a good indicator of cross-shelf exchange at seasonal and shorter time scales. Episodes of extreme offshore transport that reach up to 9.45 Sv and last about 2 days are driven by convergence of these alongshore flows over the shelf. Large exports of shelf waters lead to freshening of the upper open ocean as revealed by in-situ and satellite observations. In contrast, onshore extreme events drive open ocean water intrusions of up to 6.53 Sv and last <4 days. These inflows, particularly the subtropical waters from the Brazil Current, induce a substantial salinification of the outer shelf.


A piezoelectrically driven metallic nanoprobe is installed inside a scanning electron microscope to perform local characterization of the field emission properties of InSb nanopillars. The tip-shaped anode can be precisely positioned at sub-micron distances from the emitters to collect electrons from areas as small as 1μm2 under the application of an external bias up to 100 V. Current-voltage characteristics are measured for cathode-anode separation down to 500 nm and are analyzed in the framework of the Fowler-Nordheim theory. We give estimation of performance parameters such as the field enhancement factor and the turn-on field and their dependence on the cathode-anode separation distance. We demonstrate the time stability of the emitted current for several minutes. Finally, we perform a finite element electrostatic simulation to calculate the electric field in proximity of the nanopillars and we evaluate the effective emitting area as well as the screening effect due to presence of other pillars in close vicinity. We show that InSb nanopillars are very stable emitters that allow current density as high as 104 A/cm2 and excellent time stability, crucial characteristics to envisage device exploitation.


Multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates, quantum Hall systems, and chiral magnetic materials display twists and knots in the continuous symmetries of their order parameter, known as Skyrmions. Originally discovered as solutions to the nonlinear sigma model in quantum field theory, these vectorial excitations are quantified by a topological winding number dictating their interactions and global properties of the host system. Here, we report the first experimental observation of a stable individual second order meron, and antimeron, appearing in an electromagnetic field. These complex textures are realised by confining light into a liquid-crystal filled cavity which, through its anisotropic refractive index, provides an adjustable artificial photonic gauge field which couples the cavity photons motion to its polarisation resulting in formation of these fundamental vectorial vortex states of light. Our observations take a step towards bringing topologically robust room-temperature optical vector textures into the field of photonic information processing and storage.


There is a growing number and variety of educational video lectures online, but there is limited understanding of their effectiveness in terms of learning and usability. Although there is significant research literature within the individual domains of usability and of video learning, there is limited understanding of their integrated design. In particular, there is limited research on guidelines for usable video lecture design, such as the presence of humans in the video and navigation support through the video. For example, it is established that learners benefit from highly structured learning material, but the manual editing of video is not feasible for most learning organizations and instructors. In order to accommodate this emerging instruction medium we are drawing design principles and models from the research literature on educational technology and video interaction. Moreover, we provide a comprehensive approach to the design of usable video lecture systems and content. Finally, we suggest that learning organizations and instructors should invest additional effort in video systems that support an integrated approach to editing, sharing, and controlling of video lectures.

http://www.ionio.gr/~choko/publications/pdf/Usability design for video lectures.pdf


Suspension noise from under a passenger car is one of the important factors that impact the perceptual quality for drivers. However, it is difficult to validate this by component level testing in the early stage of development, because suspension noise caused by interaction of the related parts has been found at saleable vehicles late during development or at the manufacturing stage, when many customers have already filed for claims. This study proposed a validation testing under research by the DFSS process that enables reproduction of vehicle level noise by component level testing using a shock absorber with the related parts, such as urethane bumper and top mount. This study also developed a compromised test matrix while analyzing the noise factors through experimental design and analysis of variance to determine what factors can affect noise. Based on this study, we expect that the vehicle level and customer claim can be validated during initial development timing by a more reliable component noise validation test.


Abstract: Herbicide efficacy, coverage, and retention were evaluated for spray applied through Drift Guard, Turbo TeeJet, AI TeeJet, and TurboDrop drift-reducing nozzles compared to a conventional flat-fan nozzle. Percentage spray coverage detected on water-sensitive cards was greater for conventional and Drift Guard nozzles than for Turbo TeeJet, AI TeeJet, and TurboDrop nozzles. Spray without adjuvants was retained better by redroot pigweed for treatments applied with conventional and Drift Guard nozzles than Turbo TeeJet, AI TeeJet, and TurboDrop nozzles. However, spray with adjuvants was retained similarly for all nozzle types when averaged over spray adjuvant and two weed species. The efficiency of spray retention was greater for spray applied in 47 than in 190 L/ha spray volume for all nozzles. Paraquat and glyphosate, representing contact and translocated herbicides, respectively, provided similar grass species control for all nozzle types, regardless of spray volume. Paraquat and glyphosate were also equally or more effective in 47 compared to 190 L/ha spray volume. Nomenclature: Glyphosate; paraquat; common lambsquarters, Chenopodium album L. #3 CHEAL; foxtail millet, Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.; oat, Avena sativa L.; proso millet, Panicum miliaceum L.; redroot pigweed, Amaranthus retroflexus L. # AMARE. Additional index words: Application methods, droplet size, spray coverage, spray drift, spray retention, spray volume. Abbreviations: ATV, all-terrain vehicle; MVO, methylated vegetable oil; NIS, nonionic surfactant; VMD, volume median diameter.


This chapter explores social media's potential to enhance public involvement to pursue sustainable practices on an international scale across planning and development projects. Using a case-study approach, the international institutions of the World Bank, UN-Habitat, Unilever, and World Business Council for Sustainable Development are investigated. The relationship between public versus the institutions' intake on sustainability is examined. Findings identify strong public push for increased sustainability in international development and show evidence of the ways in which international institutions respond to the public. Contributing to the social media research field, it offers an alternative application to the planning profession via e-planning. This could contribute to an extended form of public engagement through social media that goes beyond the limiting geographical borders of each local community, and assesses planning and development projects for their broader sustainability implications on an international platform.


This paper presents a survey of methods of regulations with focus on pollution abatement and of various approaches to the issue of measuring quantities such as the marginal benefit of improved health that are crucial in view of implementing the regulation. Since pollution is a public bad, in general the efficient level of pollution can only be reached by way of some sort of public intervention. The paper's focus is on so-called marketbased mechanisms, which in turn are classified into price-based mechanisms (pollution taxes) and quantity-based mechanisms (tradeable permits). The basic framework for addressing the comparison between the two types of mechanisms is Weitzman (1974). In order to actually choose between regulation methods and to eventually implement chosen methods, estimates are needed of some crucial quantities, in particular of marginal costs and benefits of pollution abatement. The most problematic one is of course marginal benefit. Therefore the paper considers various approaches to the measurement of marginal benefits. JEL classification: Q51, I18.


Background Neuropathic pain is a significant complication of nerve injury. This study aimed to conduct bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in microarrays of dorsal root ganglia (DRG) from rat models of neuropathic pain, based on 4 GEO datasets: GSE15041, GSE38038, GSE2884, and GSE24982. Material/Methods We retrieved the 4 microarray datasets, which were generated using DRG samples collected in the early and late stages after spinal nerve ligation in rats. The common DEGs (co-DEGs) were identified and then subjected to Gene Ontology, pathway enrichment, and Protein–protein interaction network analyses. Drugs targeting the identified hub genes were analyzed using the Drug Gene Interaction Database. Results We identified 75 early-stage co-DEGs, which were enriched in chromosome segregation and protein catabolic processes, cytosol and extracellular exosome components, and ATP binding function and metabolic pathways. We identified 29 late-stage co-DEGs, which were enriched in protein tetramerization and drug responses, extracellular and membrane raft components, and protein homodimerization and binding functions and calcium signaling pathways. We also identified several hub genes, including Snap25 (synaptosome-associated protein of 25 kDa), Vamp2 (vesicle associated membrane protein 2), and Sf3b1 (splicing factor 3b subunit 1), the first 2 of which can be targeted by botulinum toxin derivatives. SNAP25 plays a role in synaptogenesis and the exocytotic release of neurotransmitters, and VAMP2 participates in neurotransmitter release at a step between docking and fusion. Conclusions The present study reveals new mechanisms of neuropathic pain and provides key genes, including SNAP25 and VAMP2, for future studies.


In this country and around the world, the development of the events sector has resulted in a multitude of different types, which are distinguished by factors such as scale, audience and occurrence. The hosting of one such type, mega events, has become a major honour for host cities and countries. The added benefits of hosting events of this scale include the promotion of investment, infrastructure development and a host of other positive economic, social and environmental impacts. This study determined whether there were any significant differences between the pre- and post-perceptions of local residents of the impacts of such a mega event. The 2010 FIFA World Cup and the capital city of South Africa, the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, served as a case study. Research was conducted in 2010 and 2011 in nine areas around the city involving a total of 2095 respondents. Descriptive statistics and factor analyses were applied. In general, the respondents perceived the impacts of the event positively; however, this perception dwindled in the period after the event. This study presents future mega event planners and managers with insight into hosting mega events in order to take full advantage of the positive legacy of these events.


Multiplex immunophenotyping of cell surface proteomes is useful for cell characterization as well as providing valuable information on a patient's physiological or pathological state. Current methods for multiplex immunophenotyping of cell surface proteomes still have associated technical pitfalls in terms of limited multiplexing capability, challenging result interpretation, and large equipment footprint limited to use in a laboratory setting. Herein, we presented a portable surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) assay for multiplex cell surface immunophenotyping. We synthesized and functionalized customizable SERS nanotags for cell labeling and subsequent signal measurement using a portable Raman spectrometer. We extensively evaluated and validated the analytical assay performance of the portable SERS immunophenotyping assay in two different cellular models (red blood cells and breast cancer cells). In terms of analytical specificity, the cell surface immunophenotyping of both red blood cells and breast cancer cells correlated well with flow cytometry. The portable SERS immunophenotyping assay also has comparable analytical repeatability to flow cytometry, with coefficient of variation values of 21.89-23.33% and 6.88-17.32% for detecting red blood cells and breast cancer cells, respectively. The analytical detection limits were 77 cells/mL for red blood cells and 1-17 cells/mL for breast cancer cells. As an alternative to flow cytometry, the portable SERS immunophenotyping assay demonstrated excellent analytical assay performance and possessed advantages such as quick sample-to-result turnaround time, multiplexing capability, and small equipment footprint.


Abstract Pieters, D, Wezenbeek, E, De Ridder, R, Witvrouw, E, and Willems, T. Acute effects of warming up on Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res 36(10): 2717–2724, 2022—The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effect of frequently used warm-up exercises on the Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness. In doing so, we want to explore which exercises are suitable to properly prepare the athlete's Achilles tendon in withstanding high amounts of loading during sport activities. This knowledge could help sport physicians and physiotherapists when recommending warm-up exercises that are able to improve sport performance while reducing the injury susceptibility. Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness measurements of 40 healthy subjects (20 men and 20 women) aged between 18 and 25 years were obtained before and immediately after 4 different warm-up exercises: running, plyometrics, eccentric heel drops, and static stretching. The effect of these warm-up exercises and possible covariates (sex, age, body mass index, rate of perceived exertion, and sports participation) on the Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness was investigated with linear mixed models. The level of significance was set at α = 0.05. The results of this study showed a significant increase in Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness after 10 minutes of running (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001) and plyometrics (p < 0.001 and p = 0.039). Static stretching and eccentric exercises elicited no significant changes. From these results, it could be suggested that warm-up exercises should be intensive enough to properly prepare the Achilles tendon for subsequent sport activities. When looking at Achilles tendon blood flow and stiffness, we advise the incorporation of highly intensive exercises such as running and plyometrics within warm-up programs.


Appointment scheduling for outpatient services is a challenge in the healthcare sector. For addressing this challenge, most studies assumed that patients' unpunctuality and the duration of service have constant values or a specific probability distribution function. Consequently, there is a research gap to consider the uncertainty of both patients' unpunctuality and the duration of service in terms of fuzzy sets. Therefore, this research aims to consider fuzzy values for both unpunctuality and duration of service have to improve an outpatient appointment scheduling (the time interval between two patients) in a referral clinic with the objective of reducing the total weight of waiting time, idle time, and overtime. Four different fuzzy linear programming models and 36 scenarios have been developed based on the show, no-show of patients, single-book, and double-book by using GAMS software. These four models are as follows: (1) probability of no-show equal to zero, (2) probability of no-show equal to 20%, (3) probability of no-show equal to zero and with double-book factor, and (4) probability of no-show equal to 20% and with double-book factor. The results of the first, second, third, and fourth models, respectively, present the scenarios considering 10, 5, 15, and 15 minutes for the time interval between two patients that have the minimum total weight of patient waiting times, physician idle times, and physician overtime. By considering these findings, the investigated referral clinic can improve its appointment system's performance. Moreover, other similar clinics can apply the proposed model for improving their appointment systems' performance.


This study explores the ways in which public debates about the sexual, drinking and risk taking behaviour of young British travellers, who participate in trips organized to Greek summer resorts exclusively by Club 18-30, have been interpreted, and framed, within print media (British newspapers). Using a template analysis approach four themes emerged, namely binge drinking, sexual behaviour, risk taking and host reactions. These themes are discussed in relation to the methodology adopted, and the findings of previous research, and policies for risk-taking decrease, and solutions to reduce the problems posed by young tourists' antisocial behaviour in summer Greek resorts, are provided.


The poor prothrombin consumption test supported by thrombocytopenic serum has been shown in a previous publication to be due to some activity other than prothrombin—a thrombocytopenic activity. This thrombocytopenic factor or activity can be readily adsorbed on inorganic agents and eluted. The autoprothrombin I values were found to be lower in thrombocytopenic serum than in normal serum. When the patient with thrombocytopenia was treated with aminopterin, the prothrombin consumption test remained short while the autoprothrombin I values increased to that of normal serum and then fell again as the treatment was withdrawn. The prothrombin in the serum remained uniformly low throughout the treatment. The relationship of the thrombocytopenic activity and autoprothrombin I as possible derivatives of prothrombin is considered. Submitted on June 12, 1957


In this paper, we discuss methods to suppress the radiation loss of ultrasmall cavities, of the size of the optical wavelength, in two-dimensional photonic crystal slabs. An important design concept to suppress radiation loss is introduced: The envelope of the cavity mode field should have no abrupt changes and should ideally follow a Gaussian function. Cubic wavelength order cavities, with experimental Q factors of 100 000 and nearly 1 000 000 are obtained by tailoring the envelope functions using air-hole shifts and multistep heterostructures, respectively. In addition, the experimental Q factors of the latest cavities are shown to be determined by the imperfections in the fabricated structures and not by the cavity design. The differences between the experimental and the theoretical Q factors are investigated in order to demonstrate how higher Q factors could be realized in the future


The aim of this study is to determine whether, in situations of marked immunological deficit, principally among patients with AIDS, there is a greater frequency of protozoal forms. Comparative study was of 2 groups of patients, 1 an immunocompromized group, mainly HIV+, and the other a non-immunocompromized group with different respiratory disorders (control group). A cytological study was carried out using 295 sputum smears, obtained between 1994 and 2003, from patients at the Central University Hospital of Asturias, Spain. Smears were valid for 106 patients, 83 of whom presented HIV infection. Protozoa were detected in 72 of this group. Our findings indicate a greater number of protozoal forms in the sputa of patients with AIDS than among the other 2 groups analysed (patients without AIDS and control group).


Two thiol proteases, TP-1 and TP-2, were purified 500- and 400-fold, respectively, from hog thyroid lysosomal extracts and examined for their activities as releasers of T4 1) from hog thyroglobulin, 2) a fragment (mol wt, approximately 15,000) prepared therefrom, and 3) a T4-containing peptide (19 amino acid residues) derived from the fragment, by measuring the liberation of free T4 with reversed phase HPLC. TP-1 released 8%, 55%, and 95% of the bound T4 present in thyroglobulin, the fragment, and the peptide, respectively, after incubation for 8 h. TP-2, on the other hand, released only 2% of the bound T4 in thyroglobulin and liberated no T4 from the fragment and the peptide. The release of T4 from thyroglobulin by the action of TP-1 was increased approximately 2-fold by the addition of TP-2. This synergistic effect suggested that TP-1 can release T4 from thyroglobulin much more efficiently after the protein has been partially degraded by the action of TP-2, which has only a poor T4-releasing activity. It also suggested that the T4-releasing activity of TP-1 markedly increases as the size of protein substrate is decreased. The amino acid composition of the T4-containing peptide was identical with that previously isolated from bovine thyroglobulin, and this peptide sequence has been shown to be derived from the NH2-terminal portion of the thyroglobulin. This suggests that TP-1 can release T4 at least from the NH2-terminal region of thyroglobulin.


The quality of fully automated text simplification systems is not good enough for use in real-world settings; instead, human simplifications are used. In this paper, we examine how to improve the cost and quality of human simplifications by leveraging crowdsourcing. We introduce a graph-based sentence fusion approach to augment human simplifications and a reranking approach to both select high quality simplifications and to allow for targeting simplifications with varying levels of simplicity. Using the Newsela dataset (Xu et al., 2015) we show consistent improvements over experts at varying simplification levels and find that the additional sentence fusion simplifications allow for simpler output than the human simplifications alone.


This is the introduction to this special issue of World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development (WREMSD) dedicated to workplace innovation and social innovation related to work and organisation. As technological and business model innovations alone are not sufficient to enhance opportunities for businesses and employment, awareness is rising that better use should be made of human talents and new ways of organising and managing. In order to make working environments more receptive for innovation, and to enable people in organisations to take up an entrepreneurial role as intrapreneurs, a shift towards workplace innovation can be observed. Workplace innovation is complementary to technological and business model innovation, and a necessary ingredient for successful renewal, in that it addresses a type of management that seeks collaboration with employees through dialogue and employee engagement. Consequently, not only improvements of the quality of work for employees become beckoning perspectives, improving the business is at hand as well through successful innovations in the organisation's functioning, its culture of cooperation and leadership and the implementation of changes in the domain of HR-practices.


The interaction between visual perception and proprioception is essential during locomotion. Manipulating visual flow and surface inclination facilitates the investigation of the mechanisms underlying this sensorimotor integration. Some studies suggest that visual flow leads to adjustment of postural control and modulates walking speed on inclined surfaces. However, this interaction must be better elucidated before it can be applied to improve gait in a clinical rehabilitation context. The aim of this study is to evaluate gait adaptation in healthy adults exposed to conflictive visual flow depicting inclined surfaces during level walking. Eighteen healthy participants (nine male; age: 29±4 years; BMI: 23.2±3.2 kg/m2) walked on a level treadmill (in self-paced mode) synchronized to a motion capture system. Simultaneously, a fully immersive virtual reality system projected a virtual environment depicting a one-lane road on a full-room dome-shaped screen. This paper reports on three walking conditions (out of nine randomly presented): [1]: level visual flow, [2]: visual flow switches to uphill (+10°), and [3]: visual flow switches to downhill (−10°). In conditions 2 & 3, visual flow changed when the participant reached steady-state velocity, and the new visual flow lasted for 70 seconds. We compared walking during non-conflicting level visual flow with the other conditions and characterized the temporal pattern of the visual conflict effect. In addition, we evaluated changes in spatiotemporal parameters (step and stride length) as well as joint angles (knee, elbow and pelvis) during the course of the effect. Conflictive visual flow significantly influenced gait. Walking speed increased in uphill (p=0.038) and decreased in downhill (p=0.002) visual conflictive conditions, as compared to the level condition. Further, walking speed differed between the uphill and downhill visual conflict conditions (p=0.001). An early-stage effect peaked at 10.7 and 9.9 seconds, and returned to baseline at 23.8 and 20.7 seconds, respectively, after onset of visual conflict. Range of motion in the assessed joint angles increased during the effect (p<0.05) for both conflicting conditions. Spatiotemporal gait parameters showed that conflictive uphill scenery led to an increase in step and stride length, as well as decreased stance time. Furthermore, these parameters were significantly different during the course of the effect for uphill versus downhill visual conflict (p<0.05). Our results suggest that young adults show gait adaptations under conflictive sensory conditions. A key finding is that these adaptations appear to differ depending upon the type of incongruence in visual flow. A transition in the virtual environment presenting conflictive visual scenes with uphill and downhill surfaces differentially affected walking speed, range of joint motion, and walking pattern. These adaptations seem to be consistent with the anticipated behavior of transitioning to walking uphill or downhill. Our results further support that the manipulation of visual-proprioceptive integration is able to modulate gait. The paradigm utilized in this study may be incorporated in the development of clinical-oriented virtual environments aiming to enhance gait rehabilitation programs.


The structure adopted by the flux line lattice (FLL) in YBa2Cu3O7- (YBCO) depends strongly on the angle () between the applied field and the superconducting cuprate planes. If this angle is held constant and the field rotated about an axis normal to the cuprate planes, the structure of the FLL remains constant, while the direction of the Lorentz force on the vortex lines changes. Measurements of the critical current density (jc) with respect to this rotation angle () thus probe pinning behaviour while excluding effects due to changes in the structure of the FLL. If the value of is small, such that the FLL adopts the kinked (string- pancake) state, the variation in jc seen with must be due to the behaviour of the string vortex segments. High-resolution measurements of the variation of jc with this second angle have been made on thin (120 nm) YBCO films. A simple model is proposed to explain this variation in terms of dragging of vortex strings by the vortex pancake elements. From this model and experimental data an estimate has been made for the value of the pinning force density on vortex strings for motion in the a-b planes. This estimate is in agreement with values found for the string pinning force density found in earlier measurements on YBCO films grown on vicinal-cut substrates.


To date, most textbooks in nuclear medicine have attempted to be complete texts and were written mainly for practitioners in the field. Other books have been published which consider limited aspects of radioactive isotopic technique and application. Maynard's book stands between these poles. It is the first practical introductory text and daily guide for understanding and performing commonly used radionuclide studies. It is also inexpensive. For easy reference, the author follows a standard format including in order, a short introduction, basic principles, applicable radioactive pharmaceuticals, patient preparation, the procedure itself, clinical indications and results, and a conclusion, in which the salient points for each procedure are reviewed. Each topic is presented briskly. Physically, the book is a technical delight. Paper and the printing are excellent; illustrations are plentiful and reproduced flawlessly. The binding is sturdy and well finished. I recommend this book to all students of nuclear medicine, physicians and


Experts use their domain expertise and knowledge of examinees' ability levels as they write test items. The expert test writer can then estimate the difficulty of the test items subjectively. However, an objective method for assigning difficulty to a test item would capture the cognitive demands imposed on the examinee as well as be assignable by any domain expert familiar with the examinee group. One such instrument for assigning objective complexity of general chemistry exam items has already been reported. A revised instrument for assigning objective complexity of organic chemistry exam items is presented including the reliability and validity studies of the rubric.


Distances driven by road freight vehicles are an essential parameter for the calculation of transport volume. In the Austrian road freight survey, places of loading and unloading are recorded on a postal code basis. To derive the actual distances driven from this data, Statistics Austria uses a distance matrix that was first created in the 1980s. While the first version of this matrix was based on manual measurements, it has recently been recreated and updated using modern routing software.  This article describes the methodology on which the current Austrian distance matrix is based. The main points discussed are: how to determine representative centroids for postal code areas; how to deal with journeys within one postal code area; and how to calculate the actual distances using routing software.  The last part of the article compares the distance matrix to odometer readings from the Austrian road freight survey of the reference year 2015. This comparison showed a high positive correlation which indicates the good quality of the developed distance matrix and emphasises its usefulness in road freight transport statistics.


The workability in the cold pilgering of a zirconium alloy tube was investigated. In this study, a compression test was proposed as a method of evaluating cold workability. Compression test results showed the effects of heat treatment in the fabrication process and the texture of the tube on the cold workability of a Zircaloy-4 tube shell. Cold pilgering test results ascertained that the reduction in the height of the circumferential-direction specimen of the tube shell at the crack initiation in the compression test was a good measure of cold workability. The numerical analysis results of cold pilgering proved the validity of the compression test as a method of evaluating cold workability.


Two field experiments were carried out on rosemary plants (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) at the experimental Baramoon Research Farm, Dakahlya Governorate, Egypt, during  two successive seasons, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, , to study the effect of different sources of organic manure (FYM) mixed of poultry and cattle manures, humic acid, biofertilization nitrogen fixing bacteria (microbein) and phosphate dissolving bacteria (phosphorein), as well as active dry yeast on vegetative growth, herb yield, essential oil production and chemical composition of plants.
                The results clear that in both seasons, all fertilizer treatments achieved significantly better growth and yield than the untreated plants (control) which received recommend dose of NPK.. Treatments included that plant biomass responded linearly to (FYM) application and most values of all measurements were realized at the rate of 30 m3/fed. than obtained at both 20, 10 m3/fed. in comparison with those of control plants in both seasons, respectively. Also, it is evident that the application of (FYM) at rates of 10, 20 and 30 m3/fed., interacted with combinations of both (phosphorein + microbein), (phosphorein + yeast) and (phosphorein + humic acid) improved significant increments in the all growth characters compared with control plants, and the highest one was realized with combination of (FYM) at rate of 30 m3/fed. + phosphorein + humic acid.
                These findings clearly indicate that phosphorein, humic acid and 30 m3/fed. of (FYM) could be used as traditional fertilizers instead of chemical ones and may consequently minimized pollution of agricultural environments.


Hospital-based specialist registrars in Nottingham are offered six month secondments in public health medicine. These attachments give clinicians valuable skills in public health and an opportunity to influence the development of local health service provision. Other skills gained are an understanding of the balance between health promotion and disease treatment; the management of limited resources; an appreciation of the effects of social deprivation; the chairing and preparing of committee meetings; and contact tracing of communicable diseases. We strongly recommend the experience gained from working in a lively public health department.


Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the toxicity and teratogenic effects of MSG in chick embryo development. Methods: Various concentrations of MSG solution, 1 mg, 1.5 mg, 2.5 mg and 3 mg of MSG/gm egg weight were injected into the fertilized hen's egg at 21 hrs of incubation and further incubated until day 3, 6 and 10. The day 3 and day 6 were processed for serial section, while the day 3 was processed for total mount and day 10 were observed totally. Results: The effects of MSG were growth retardation, embryonic death and congenital malformations of several organs such as brain (rachischisis and anencephaly), eye (microphthalmia and anophthalmia), ectopiacordis, ectopia viscera, opening of posterior neuropore (spinal bifida) and under development of heart and viscerae. Conclusion: MSG produced congenital deformities and growth retardation in chick embryos which may predict to cause the same results to human embryos. Pregnant women should be advised not to consume MSG to avoid potential harmful effects to the unborn child.


Modern dense Flash memory devices operate at very low error rates, which require powerful error correcting coding (ECC) techniques. An emerging class of graph-based ECC techniques that has broad applications is the class of spatially-coupled (SC) codes, where a block code is partitioned into components that are then rewired multiple times to construct an SC code. Here, our focus is on SC codes with the underlying circulant-based structure. In this paper, we present a three-stage approach for the design of high performance non-binary SC (NB-SC) codes optimized for practical Flash channels; we aim at minimizing the number of detrimental general absorbing sets of type two (GASTs) in the graph of the designed NB-SC code. In the first stage, we deploy a novel partitioning mechanism, called the optimal overlap partitioning, which acts on the protograph of the SC code to produce optimal partitioning corresponding to the smallest number of detrimental objects. In the second stage, we apply a new circulant power optimizer to further reduce the number of detrimental GASTs. In the third stage, we use the weight consistency matrix framework to manipulate edge weights to eliminate as many as possible of the GASTs that remain in the NB-SC code after the first two stages (that operate on the unlabeled graph of the code). Simulation results reveal that NB-SC codes designed using our approach outperform state-of-the-art NB-SC codes when used over Flash channels.


Objective: We describe three cases of patients from National Referral Center for leprosy treatment in Brazil, that were newly diagnosed with leprosy and were neurologically with a paucity of symptoms but with extent neurophysiologic nerve damage. Background: Neural damage in leprosy can occur in any period on the course of the disease. It can be unrecognized until extensive nerve damage is already installed. Design/Methods: Case report Results: The three patients had sensory impairment at neurological examination but had no motor function impairment. All patients had positive skin smears and were diagnosed with lepromatous leprosy (LL). They began the multidrug therapy (MDT) for multibacillary leprosy and all presented higher seric concentrations of the cytokines interleukin (IL)-15, Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF) and IL-10 when compared to normal volunteers. The three patients were submitted to Nerve Conduction Study (NCS) in their first months of MDT. They did'nt present any leprosy reaction until that time. All patients showed impairment of sensory nerve study (sNCS) with an asymmetrical pattern. Most of nerve studied has no response and few had axonal and demyelinating lesion. In the motor NCS there was a predominance of demyelinating lesion patterns associated with secondary axonal degeneration. Conclusions: Silent neuritis should be recognized early to prevent leprosy disability, and it is based on clinical parameters. NCS is a sensitive tool to study leprous nerve damage. It can provide information concerning clinically undetected alterations. Most recent studies have conveyed the idea that early electrophysiological changes of leprosy patients are discordant from the initiation and type of the predominant injury, which is considered by most authors as demyelination. If treatment with corticosteroids is indicated to prevent further disability in these cases is a question that remains to be answered. A better comprehension about the physiopathology of leprosy neuropathy and its follow up is necessary to better clarify this question. Disclosure: Dr. Pitta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Silveira has nothing to disclose. Dr. Andrade has nothing to disclose. Dr. Giesel has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jardim has nothing to disclose. Dr. Vital has nothing to disclose. Dr. Antunes has nothing to disclose. Dr. Sarno has nothing to disclose. Dr. Jardim has nothing to disclose.


PbS quantum dot (QD) solar cells demonstrate great potential in solar energy conversion with a broad and flexible spectral response. Even though long-term storage stabilities of QD solar cells were reported in literature, the operation stability from a more practical aspect, to date, has been not yet investigated. Herein, we observe the structure degradation process of a PbS QD-ink based solar cell during the device operation. Simultaneously to probing the solar cell parameters, the overall structure evolutions of the QDs in both, active layer and hole transport layer of the solar cell are studied with grazing-incidence small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (GISAXS/GIWAXS). We find a spontaneous decrease of the QD inter-dot distance with an increase in the spatial disorder in the active layer (PbX2-PbS QDs, X = I, and Br) during the operation induced degradation. Consequently, the structure disorder-induced broadening of the energy state distribution is responsible for the decrease in open circuit voltage Voc leading the device degradation. These findings elucidate the origin of light-soaking as well as the structure degradation of QD ink-based solar cells and indicate that the stability of the device can be realized by the positional stabilization of the QDs in the QD solid.


Due to name abbreviations, identical names, name misspellings, and pseudonyms in publications or bibliographies (citations), an author may have multiple names and multiple authors may share the same name. Such name ambiguity affects the performance of document retrieval, Web search, database integration, and may cause improper attribution to authors. We investigate two supervised learning approaches to disambiguate authors in the citations. One approach uses the naive Bayes probability model, a generative model; the other uses support vector machines (SVMs) [V. Vapnik (1995)] and the vector space representation of citations, a discriminative model. Both approaches utilize three types of citation attributes: coauthor names, the title of the paper, and the title of the journal or proceeding. We illustrate these two approaches on two types of data, one collected from the Web, mainly publication lists from homepages, the other collected from the DBLP citation databases.


To evaluate the feasibility of the Sunset semicontinuous organic and elemental carbon (OC/EC) monitor, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sponsored the deployment of this monitor at Chemical Speciation Network (CSN) sites with OC and EC measurements via quartz fiber filter collection in Chicago, Illinois; Houston, Texas; Las Vegas, Nevada; St. Louis, Missouri; Rubidoux, California; and Washington, D.C. Houston, St. Louis, and Washington also had collocated Aethalometer black carbon (BC) measurements. Sunset OC generally compared well with the CSN OC (r2 = 0.73 across five sites); the Sunset/CSN OC ratio was, on average, 1.06, with a range among sites of 0.96 to 1.12. Sunset thermal EC and CSN EC did not compare as well, with an overall r2 of 0.22, in part because 26% of the hourly Sunset EC measurements were below the detection limit. Sunset optical EC had a much better correlation to CSN EC (r2 = 0.67 across all sites), with an average Sunset/CSN ratio of 0.90 (range of 0.7 to 1.08). There was also a high correlation of Sunset optical EC with Aethalometer BC (r2 = 0.77 across all sites), though with a larger bias (average Sunset/Aethalometer ratio of 0.56). When the Sunset instrument was working well, OC and OptEC data were comparable to CSN OC and EC.