A contract algorithm is an algorithm which is given, as part of the input, a specified amount of allowable computation time. The algorithm must then compute a solution within the alloted time. An interruptible algorithm, in contrast, can be interrupted at an arbitrary point in time and must produce a solution. It is known that contract algorithms can simulate interruptible algorithms using iterative deepening techniques. This simulation is done at a penalty in the performance of the solution, as measured by the so-called acceleration ratio. In this paper we give matching (i.e. optimal) upper and lower bounds for the acceleration ratio under this simulation. This resolves an open conjecture of Bernstein et al. [IJCAI 2003] who gave an ingenious optimal schedule under the restricted setting of round robin and length-increasing processor schedules, but whose optimality in the general unrestricted case remained open.


A new approach for synthesizing well-defined hollow nanochanneled-silica nanosphere particles is demonstrated, and the structural details of these particles are described for the first time. Positively charged styrene copolymer nanospheres with a clean, smooth surface and a very narrow size distribution are synthesized by surfactant-free emulsion copolymerization and used as a thermal sacrificial core template for the production of core-shell nanoparticles. A surfactant/silica composite shell with a uniform thickness is successfully produced and deposited onto the polymeric core template by charge density matching between the polymer nanosphere template surface and the negatively charged silica precursors and then followed by selective thermal decomposition of the polymeric core and the surfactant cylinder domains in the shell, producing the hollow nanochanneled-silica nanospheres. Comprehensive, quantitative structural analyses collectively confirm that the obtained nanoparticles are structurally well defined with a hollow core and a shell composed of cylindrical nanochannels that provide facile accessibility to the hollow interior space. Overall, the hollow nanochanneled-silica nanoparticles have great potential for applications in various fields.


Different lag-time of pulse-released nerve growth factor (NGF) from genipin-crosslinked gelatin within polycaprolactone (PCL) conduits was evaluated in large-gap peripheral nerve repair. In this study, 10% (w/v) gelatin was mixed with NGF, crosslinked with 0%, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% (w/v) genipin, and then sucked into the wall of PCL conduits. These controlled-release nerve conduits were named NCL (non-crosslink), LCL (low crosslink), MCL (medium crosslink), and HCL (high crosslink), respectively. The NGF releasing character showed four distinctive curves, including initial burst within 5 days, pulse releasing at 5-20 days, pulse releasing at 10-25 days, and steadily releasing. The bioactivity of the released NGF was shown by neurite outgrowth of PC12 cells after culturing in all groups. Finally, the controlled-release conduits were seeded with 9 x 10(3) Schwann cells. Conduits were used to bridge a 15-mm rat sciatic nerve defect, and the results were compared with the isografts (control group). Eight weeks after implantation, morphological analysis revealed that LCL, MCL, and HCL groups were similar to autograft treatment in the numbers and area of myelinated axons. The LCL group, although insignificant, showed a trend to have the highest myelinated axon counts of the conduit-treated groups. Thus, comparing the different NGF release characteristics among NCL, MCL, and LCL groups, we concluded that a high concentration of NGF at 5-10 days in LCL groups is needed in bridging a 15-mm peripheral nerve injury.


This study examines the impact of two-breed (PXW) and three- breed (PxWxIDF) system of sheep crossing on the results in terms of yield and quality of meat of lambs, weaned at 60 days of age and fattened up to 120 days of age. Study was carried out on the experimental sheep farm of the Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade-Zemun, and the following breeds of sheep were used for crossing: Pirot pramenka (P) Wurttemberg (W) and Ile de France (IDF). As maternal basis the Pirot Pramenka and two breed crosses were used, and as improvement breed - Ile de France rams. Pre-slaughter body mass of two-breed and three-breed crosses was: 32.63 and 34.48 kg. Values of dressing percentage warm carcass with head and offal were: 59.0 and 58.4%. The share of the category I meat on analogue treatments was: 37.07: 37.48%, meat of category II: 33.98: 32.41%, and the meat of category III - 28.69: 26.87%. Meat to bone ratio was: 2.3:1 in two- breed crosses, whereas in the three-breed crosses it was 2.7:1. MLD surface was 11:49 and 11:45 cm 2 . Regarding the chemical and technological characteristics,


The rapid development of the economy and the continuous improvement of the education system made the state begin to pay more attention to the talents in the education sector, especially in the context of the development of economic globalization, the demand for talents in foreign languages is increasing. China and South Korea are closely connected, so the demand for Korean language talents in our country is increasing, and many universities have established Korean language majors, and is constantly exploring teaching models and methods to enhance Korean language teaching, among which, experiential teaching being the university's Korean language teaching is the important ways and means. This paper mainly analyzes the construction of the model of Korean language teaching in universities under experiential learning.


Iron Supplementation is crucial in raising hematocrit as well as dosage saving for recombinant human erythropoietin therapy (rHuEPO) in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Intravenous iron has proved to be both safe and efficacious in this patient's population. However, the exact iron requirement has not been worked our. In this study we found that 1000 mg of element iron (given as iron saccharate) per moth was effective in maintaining hematocrit and hemoglobin at 33% and 110 gm/L respectively, and reducing the erythropoietin (EPO) dosage by about 20% in maintenance hemodialysis patients who were iron-replete. The serum ferritin increased from 219+/-144 to 320+/-234 microg/L (P< 0.05). There were no major side effects and patients tolerated the monthly iron therapy well. Our study suggests that intravenous iron saccharate (100 mg/month) is effective and safe in patients on maintenance hemodialysis receiving RHUEPO.


This short paper describes an experimental prototype of in situ visualization in a task-based parallel programming framework. A set of reusable visualization tasks were composed with an existing simulation. The visualization tasks include a local OpenGL renderer, a parallel image compositor, and a display task. These tasks were added to an existing fluid-particle-radiation simulation and weak scaling tests were run on up to 512 nodes of the Piz Daint supercomputer. Benchmarks showed that the visualization components scaled and did not reduce the simulation throughput. The compositor latency increased logarithmically with increasing node count. Data Reconstruction Using Deep Neural Networks for Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Detectors Date: Oct. 16, 3pm 2017 at Speaker: Kazuhiro Terao Deep neural networks (DNNs) have found a vast number of applications ranging from automated human face recognition, real-time object detection for self-driving cars, teaching a robot Chinese, and even playing Go. In this talk, I present our first steps in exploring the use of DNNs to the task of analyzing neutrino events coming from Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPC), in particular the MicroBooNE detector. LArTPCs consist of a large volume of liquid argon sandwiched between a cathode and anode wire planes. These detectors are capable of recording images of charged particle tracks with breathtaking resolution. Such detailed information will allow LArTPCs to perform accurate particle identification and calorimetry, making it the detector of choice for many current and future neutrino experiments. However, analyzing such images can be challenging, requiring the development of many algorithms to identify and assemble features of the events in order to identify and remove cosmic-ray-induced particles and reconstruct neutrino interactions. This talk shows the current status of DNN applications and our future direction. Towards a cosmology emulator using Generative Adversarial Networks Date: Oct 3, 2pm 2017 at Speaker: Mustafa Mustafa The application of deep learning techniques to generative modeling is renewing interest in using high dimensional density estimators as computationally inexpensive emulators of fully-fledged simulations. These generative models have the potential to make a dramatic shift in the field of scientific simulations, but for that shift to happen we need to study the performance of such generators in the precision regime needed for science applications. To this end, in this talk we apply Generative Adversarial Networks to the problem of generating cosmological weak lensing convergence maps. We show that our generator network produces maps that are described by, with high statistical confidence, the same summary statistics as the fully simulated maps. Optimal Segmentation with Pruned Dynamic Programming Date: Sept. 12, 2pm 2017 at Speaker: Jeffrey Scargle (NASA ) Bayesian Blocks (1207.5578) is an O(N**2) dynamic programming algorithm to compute exact global optimal segmentations of sequential data of arbitrary mode and dimensionality. Multivariate data, generalized block shapes, and higher dimensional data are easily treated. Incorporating a simple pruning method yields a (still exact) O(N) algorithm allowing fast analysis of series of ~100M data points. Sample applications include analysis of Xand gamma-ray time series, identification of GC-islands in the human genome, data-adaptive triggers and histograms, and elucidating the Cosmic Web from 3D galaxy redshift data. Fast automated analysis of strong gravitational lenses with convolutional neural networks Date: Sept. 12, 2pm 2017 at Speaker: Yashar Hezaveh Strong gravitational lensing is a phenomenon in which the image of a distant galaxy appears highly distorted due to the deflection of its light rays by the gravity of a more nearby, intervening galaxy. We often see multiple distinct arc-shaped images of the background galaxy around the intervening (lens) galaxy, just like images in a funhouse mirror. Strong lensing gives astrophysicist a unique opportunity to carry out different investigations, including mapping the detailed distribution of dark matter, or measuring the expansion rate of the universe. All these great sciences, however, require a detailed knowledge of the distribution of matter in the lensing galaxies, measured from the distortions in the images. This has been traditionally performed with maximum-likelihood lens modeling, a procedure in which simulated observations are generated and compared to the data in a statistical way. The parameters controlling the simulations are then explored with samplers like MCMC. This is a time and resource consuming procedure, requiring hundreds of hours of computer and human time for a single system. In this talk, I will discuss our recent work in which we showed that deep convolutional neural networks can solve this problem more than 10 million times faster: about 0.01 seconds per system on a single GPU. I will also review our method for quantifying the uncertainties of the parameters obtained with these networks. With the advent of upcoming sky surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, we are anticipating the discovery of tens of thousands of new gravitational lenses. Neural networks can be an essential tool for the analysis of such high volumes of data. MacroBase: A Search Engine for Fast Data Streams Date: Sept. 5, 2pm 2017 at Speaker: Sahaana Suri (Stanford) While data volumes generated by sensors, automated process, and application telemetry continue to rise, the capacity of human attention remains limited. To harness the potential of these large scale data streams, machines must step in by processing, aggregating, and contextualizing significant behaviors within these data streams. This talk will describe progress towards achieving this goal via MacroBase, a new analytics engine for prioritizing attention in this large-scale "fast data" that has begun to deliver results in several production environments. Key to this progress are new methods for constructing cascades of analytic operators for classification, aggregation, and high-dimensional feature selection; when combined, these cascades yield new opportunities for dramatic scalability improvements via end-to-end optimization for streams spanning time-series, video, and structured data. MacroBase is a core component of the Stanford DAWN project ( ), a http://dawn.cs.stanford.edu/ new research initiative designed to enable more usable and efficient machine learning infrastructure. Object-Centric Machine Learning Date: Aug. 29, 2pm 2017 at Speaker: Leo Guibas (Stanford) Deep knowledge of the world is necessary if we are to have autonomous and intelligent agents and artifacts that can assist us in everyday activities, or even carry out tasks entirely independently. One way to factorize the complexity of the world is to associate information and knowledge with stable entities, animate or inanimate, such as persons or vehicles, etc -what we generally refer to as "objects." In this talk I'll survey a number of recent efforts whose aim is to create and annotate reference representations for (inanimate) objects based on 3D models with the aim of delivering such information to new observations, as needed. In this object-centric view, the goal is to learn about object geometry, appearance, articulation, materials, physical properties, affordances, and functionality. We acquire such information in a multitude of ways, both from crowd-sourcing and from establishing direct links between models and signals, such as images, videos, and 3D scans -and through these to language and text. The purity of the 3D representation allows us to establish robust maps and correspondences for transferring information among the 3D models themselves -making our current 3D repository, ShapeNet, a true network. While neural network architectures have had tremendous impact in image understanding and language processing, their adaptation to 3D data is not entirely straightforward. The talk will also briefly discuss current approaches in designing deep nets appropriate for operating directly on irregular 3D data representations, such as meshes or point clouds, both for analysis and synthesis -as well as ways to learn object function from observing multiple action sequences involving objects -in support of the above program. Reconstruction Algorithms for Next-Generation Imaging: Multi-Tiered Iterative Phasing for Fluctuation X-ray Scattering and Single-Particle Diffraction Date: Aug. 15, 2pm 2017 at Location: Tulare (B53-4006) (NOTE CHANGE IN ROOM!) Speaker: Jeffrey Donatelli (CAMERA, Berkeley) Abstract: The development of X-ray free-electron lasers has enabled new experiments to study uncrystallized biomolecules that were previously infeasible with traditional X-ray sources. One such emerging experimental technique is fluctuation X-ray scattering (FXS), where one collects a series of diffraction patterns, each from multiple particles in solution, using ultrashort X-ray pulses that allow snapshots to be taken below rotational diffusion times of the particles. The resulting images contain angularly varying information from which angular correlations can be computed, yielding several orders of magnitude more information than traditional solution scattering methods. However, determining molecular structure from FXS data introduces several challenges, since, in addition to the classical phase problem, one must also solve a hyper-phase problem to determine the 3D intensity function from the correlation data. In another technique known as single-particle diffraction (SPD), several diffraction patterns are collected, each from an individual particle. However, the samples are delivered to the beam at unknown orientations and may also be present in several different conformational states. In order to reconstruct structural information from SPD, one must determine the orient


In this paper, we study a general practical stochastic energy harvesting (EH) model where in, an EH relay is able to harvest energy from the radio frequency (RF) radiation in a super capacitor. The different aspects of this stochastic energy harvesting model (SEHM) are discussed and the performance of a point-to-point (P2P) wireless link is evaluated in the presence of such an EH model and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying in terms of average error and outage probabilities. The performance limitations and practical applicability of the SEHM compared to the DF scenario in multi-relay case are studied. The simulation results show the performance improvement of this EH cooperative relaying compared to the traditional relay-based cooperative communications.


The Test and Training Enabling Architecture (TENA) Software Development Activity (SDA) is chartered to enable interoperability among ranges, facilities, and simulations in a timely and cost-efficient manner and to foster reuse of range assets and future software systems. To achieve this vision, the TENA SDA has developed and validated a common architecture called TENA, which provides for real-time software system interoperability using the TENA Middleware, as well as interfaces to existing range assets, Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems, and simulations. The TENA Middleware, currently at Release 6.0.1, has been used by the range community for testing, evaluation, and feedback; has been used in many major exercises since 2002 and has been selected for use in the Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) prototyping demonstrations and distributed testing.


A constructivist-based intervention known as sandplay is introduced. Historical, conceptual, and practical features of sandplay are reviewed with particular emphasis on sandplay's significant connections to constructivism. The article concludes with an examination of sandplay's unique benefits and the current status of sandplay research.


This contribution analyses the comprehensive chemicals legislation proposed by the EU Commission, "REACH", from the perspective of WTO law. First, it inquires whether the treatment of foreign substances and foreign articles in REACH can be reconciled with one of WTO's key requirements, i.e., non-discrimination. Second, it tests specific aspects of the registration obligation established by REACH (i.e., the "volumes-driven" approach, the follow-up to the registration process, the underlying foundations of REACH's cost-benefit analysis) against the proportionality rule embodied in the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Third, it asks whether the protection of confidential business information in REACH is compatible with the WTO rules on intellectual property protection (notably, the TRIPS Agreement). It results from the present analysis that REACH poses considerable challenges not only under EU law, but also under WTO law.


Over recent years, the long known class of small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) have gained interest among the scientific community, especially in the clinical context. The main molecular role of this interesting family of non-coding RNAs is to serve as scaffolding RNAs to mediate site-specific RNA modification of ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs) and small nuclear RNAs (snRNAs). With the development of new sequencing techniques and sophisticated analysis pipelines, new members of the snoRNA family were identified and global expression patterns in disease backgrounds could be determined. We will herein shed light on the current research progress in snoRNA biology and their clinical role by influencing disease outcome in hematological diseases. Astonishingly, in recent studies snoRNAs emerged as potent biomarkers in a variety of these clinical setups, which is also highlighted by the frequent deregulation of snoRNA levels in the hema-oncological context. However, research is only starting to reveal how snoRNAs might influence cellular functions and the connected disease hallmarks in hematological malignancies.


The beryllium compounds NbBe/sub 12/, YBe/sub 13/, and ZrBe/sub 12/ were prepared by arc melting. Some beryllium was lost in this operation but sound ingots were obtained. The hardness, density, metallographic structure, x-ray structure, and oxidation resistance in air of each ingot were determined. The zirconium compound apparently had a tetragonal structure corresponding to ZrBe/ sub 12/ and a hardness of 790 Knoop and a density of 2.94 g per cm/sup 3/. The yttrium compound had a cubic structure corresponding to YBe/sub 13/ and a hardness of 570 Knoop and a density of 2.57 g per cm/sup 3/. The niobium compound had a tetragonal structure corresponding to NbBe/sub 12/ and a hardness of 1100 Knoop and a density of 3.14 g pre cm/sup 3/. The zirconium alloy was most difficult to prepare and crumbled at 700 deg C during oxidation testing. The niobium and yttrium alloys were both relatively easy to prepare and both were highly resistant to oxidation at 1300 deg C. The niobium alloy had the most satisfactory behavior in all respects and appears most promising for further development. (auth)


The crystalline phase formed during aluminum titanate at 750-1300 ℃ as well as the relationship between its content change and decomposition dynamics was mainly discussed in this paper.Dynamical equation was established for calculating the reaction activation energy.It aimed at providing dynamics basic data for taking up necessary measures to inhibit the decomposition of aluminum titanate.Experimental results showed that aluminum titanate would decompose into TiO2 and corundum at 750-1300 ℃.Content of aluminum titanate would reduce with the increase of decomposition time,and the order of decomposition rates at different temperature was 1100 1200 1000 900 ℃.The decomposition was a chemical reaction with control steps,and could meet the first order reaction dynamic equation-F(G) = [(1-G)-2/3-1] = Kt.According to the calculation,rate constants of different decomposition reaction dynamic equations were K900 = 2.2×10-3,K1000 = 1.2×10-2,K1100 = 4×10-1 and K1200 = 1.5×10-1,and the reaction activation energy ΔGave = 203.21 KJ/mol.


Dielectric spectroscopy was applied to investigate the dynamic properties of liquid crystal octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) confined in 2000 A cylindrical pores of Anopore membranes with homeotropic and axial (planar) boundary conditions on the pore walls. Homeotropic boundary conditions allow the investigation of the librational mode in 8CB by dielectric spectroscopy. We found that the dynamics of the librational mode is totally different from the behavior observed in investigations of relaxation due to reorientation of molecules around their short axis. The interpretation of the temperature dependence of relaxation times and of the dielectric strength of the librational mode needs the involvement of the temperature dependence of orientational order parameter. For samples with axial boundary conditions, layers of LCs with different thickness were obtained on the pore walls as a result of controlled impregnation of porous matrices with 8CB from solutions of different liquid crystal concentration. The process due to rotation of molecules around their short axis with single relaxation time observed for bulk 8CB is replaced by a process with a distribution of relaxation times in thin layers. This relaxation process broadens with decreasing layer thickness.


In order to improve the efficiency of a transformer cooling system, the maximum efficiency algorithm was developed. The maximum efficiency algorithm is composed of a setpoint algorithm and a control algorithm. The setpoint algorithm was developed by using a 3rd order polynominal, and the control algorithm was developed by a fuzzy logic. These algorithms were used for the control of a blower and an oil pump. In order to analyse performances of these algorithms, the dynamic model of a transformer cooling system was used. Based on various performance tests, control algorithms developed for this study may be effectively used for the control of a transformer cooling system.


Western cultural environments present an increasingly challenging landscape for young people's mental health. To better understand how this cultural environment may be influencing the lives of young people, we conducted 50 semi-structured interviews with young Australians, discussing participants' values, life goals, social attitudes and behaviours, and life stressors. We find that while participants tended to see factors such as maintaining strong relationships and personal growth as important to them, their ambitions, attitudes, and social behaviours were often driven by self-centred and materialistic aims. Participants also perceived outcomes specific to these drivers, including poor social support, feelings of competitiveness, and uncertainties around their future, as significant contributors to the stress they experienced in their lives. These findings help us better understand how prevailing Western cultural norms, including individualistic and materialistic practices, may influence young people's psychological wellbeing.


Abstract Objective We aimed to investigate the association of advanced maternal age with intrapartum cesarean delivery and to assess its risk factors and perinatal outcomes. Study Design A retrospective cohort study of all women with singleton pregnancies who attempted a trial of labor (≥24 + 0 weeks of gestation) in a single center (2011–2017). The study population was stratified by parity (nulliparous or multiparous) and further sub-categorized into three cohorts: (1) women <35 years at birth (reference group), (2) women aged 35–40 years, and (3) women >40 years. Labor and delivery characteristics and neonatal outcomes were compared. Results Overall, 55,089 women were included: 39, 192 (71.1%) were under 35 years old, 15,90712,892 (28.923.4%) were 35-40 y and 3,015 (5.5%) were >40 y. For nulliparas, the rate of intrapartum Cesarean deliveries increased with maternal age and approached 25.3% in those >40 y as compared to 8.9% for those <35 y. The positive association between Cesarean section rates and maternal age extends beyond nulliparas and is also seen in multiparas, although to a smaller degree. After adjusting for confounders, maternal age was significantly and independently associated with intrapartum cesarean delivery in a dose-dependent manner in nulliparous women, [adjusted Odd Ratio (aOR) 1.56 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.39–1.76) and 2.53 (2.07–3.09)] among women aged 35–40 y and >40 y, respectively. Maternal age was not significantly associated with adverse neonatal outcome. Conclusion Advanced maternal age is an independent risk factor for intrapartum Cesarean delivery. Yet, the majority of older gravidae who attempt a trial of labor, even if nulliparous, deliver vaginally without an increase in adverse neonatal outcome.


Unlike many philosophers who write on biomedical ethics, John Hardwig is not primarily concerned to test our intuitions about the limits of normative theories by thought experiments or problematic borderline cases. Rather, he presses us to accept the conclusions to which our most firmly held principles commit us. But these conclusions, if Hardwig is right, turn out to be quite startling claims about moral duty that would undermine much of contemporary bioethical theory regarding end-of-life decisions. On his view, we must face squarely the moral implications of our present arrangement of healthcare funding in the United States, where more and more of the financial responsibility of care is being shifted onto the families of patients, often with disastrous results. Yet, in the context of this increasingly unstable arrangement, our chief principle of medical decisionmaking also holds that their interests are not morally relevant at all in deciding what should be done for the patient, and only the patient's wishes count (insofar as we can determine them). Now Hardwig thinks that this rule is irrational in the present circumstances, and that it would make more sense to admit the moral relevance of the interests of family members, but also that if we do give appropriate weight to their concerns, we shall be led in some cases to the conclusion that the patient has a duty to die.


There are two basic models for estimating population growth: the geometric population growth (GPG) and the exponential population growth (EPG) models. The annual rate of population growth consists of the total number of population at a certain time using exponential and geometric growth assumptions. These 2 functions will present 2 different curves in a 2-dimensional space or coordinate system. Considering the 2 functions as continuous functions of time it is demonstrated that the geometric and exponential population growth curves are in fact identical curves under some restrictions. On the basis of equations the identity or restriction is a sufficient condition for the GPG and EPG curves going through two fixed points. The identity also shows that the GPG and EPG curves are identical curves if they have to go through two fixed points. When considering population data having more than two observations the regression models are fitted using the GPG and EPG models. Model 1 can be presented as a simple linear regression model while model 2 can also be presented as a simple linear regression model. The geometric and exponential population growth rates are calculated for Indonesia using the 1980 and 1990 Population Censuses with total populations of 147490000 and 179322000 respectively. In practice the corresponding two functions will not yield the same results because of rounding errors. The results may lead to wrong conclusions about the geometric and exponential growth curves because the total population in 1990 is not equal to 179322000. On the other hand using the direct/1-step computation with geometric and exponential growth assumptions yields the same population projections except that the growth rates are different. In fact the exponential growth rate is always smaller than the geometric one.


A planar WWAN (wireless wide area network) antenna comprising two monopole slots operated at their quarter‐wavelength modes for GSM850/900/1800/1900/UMTS operation in the laptop computer is presented. With the use of monopole slot elements, the antenna can be easily printed on an inexpensive FR4 substrate and show a planar structure for promising applications in the thin‐profile laptop computer. The antenna can provide two wide operating bands at about 900 and 1900 MHz to cover all the five operating bands for WWAN operation and yet occupies a small area of 10 × 75 mm2 in the narrow spacing between the display and the laptop computer casing. The user's hand effects on the antenna performances when the touch panel or touch screen is used for the laptop computer are also studied. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 51: 1274–1279, 2009; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.24336


Transit should serve all users, regardless of age, race, ability, or any other identity. Policies and planning must be conscious of inequities when defining and measuring equity in public transportation. This study was done to aid the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the state's transit agencies in assessing transit service equity and assisting with evaluating past, existing, and future inequities. This report identifies and evaluates policies and practices associated with equity measurement in public transit from extant academic and professional literature sources. These include the Federal laws and regulations addressing Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the measurement tools (i.e., metrics) that are used to identify and evaluate equity impacts related to transit benefits and costs. The report identifies a list of candidate metrics and applies them to a test case in Santa Cruz County, California, and compares their results to those generated by the metrics required by Title VI (race and income) for transit equity analysis. From this comparison, the study evaluated the need for new metrics in transit equity. Findings suggest that these traditional Title VI measures do not correlate well with other potential measures of inequity. Hence, transit inequity is a multifaceted problem with several potential different measures, each revealing an aspect of inequity. Caltrans and other transit-related agencies need to reach beyond these traditional measures, finding metrics that address the specific, context-appropriate equity conditions of the communities they are measuring to ensure fair and equal public transportation for all.


This paper examines the extent to which engineers can influence the competitive behavior of bidders in best value or multiattribute construction auctions, in which both the (dollar) bid and technical nonprice criteria are scored according to a scoring rule. From a sample of Spanish construction auctions with a variety of bid scoring rules, it is found that bidders are influenced by the auction rules in significant and predictable ways. The bid score weighting, bid scoring formula, and abnormally low bids criterion are variables likely to influence the competitiveness of bidders in terms of both their aggressive/conservative bidding and concentration/dispersion of bids. Revealing the influence of the bid scoring rules and their magnitude on bidders' competitive behavior opens the door for the engineer to condition bidder competitive behavior in such a way as to provide the balance needed to achieve the owner's desired strategic outcomes.


An automated synthesis protocol has been developed for the preparation of oligo(p-benzamide)s on solid support using a commercial peptide synthesizer employing a variation of standard Fmoc chemistry. Bis(trichloromethyl carbonate) in NMP was used to activate the aromatic carboxylic acids for acylation of secondary aromatic amines on solid support. N-Protected hepta(p-benzamide) was automatically prepared on solid support and manually converted to a solid supported block co-oligomer by attaching a poly(ethylene glycol) chain. Cleavage from the support could be achieved with minimal loss of the p-methoxybenzyl N-protective group. While the N-protected block co-oligomer was molecularly dissolved in nonpolar organic solvents, the N-deprotected block co-oligomer adopted a rod-coil conformation and showed strong aggregation as evidenced by gel permeation chromatography and transmission electron microscopy. Rigid rodlike aggregates could be observed in chloroform, toluene, as well as water.


The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries have
 implemented various plans to achieve the integrated economic growth, political and
 cultural development in the region. In order to realize their economic goal, the ASEAN
 Economic Community (AEC) has been implemented by member countries through
 the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement to experience free market situation.
 Due to political and dietary importance of rice, historically, the ASEAN member
 governments have intervened in the rice sector using different policy instruments.
 However, these interventionist policies may not be sustainable in the long-term as they
 incur a high budgetary burden to the government. On the other hand, globalization
 asked for a greater market access with gradual elimination of all different types of
 market distortions and trade barriers.
 In this study, five selected countries which are Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,
 Thailand, and Vietnam have signed several international trade organizations such as
 World Trade Organization (WTO), Asian-Pacific Cooperation (APEC) and ASEAN
 Free Trade Area (AFTA) to boost free trade market structure. Therefore, they are duty
 bound to eliminate governments' interventions gradually. The main focus of this study
 was on quantitative restriction policies which are considered as more effective market
 distortion than other governments' interventions. Therefore, the effect of changes in
 the minimum export price policy for Thailand and Vietnam as well as import quota in
 Malaysia were examined in this study.
 Minimum Export Price (MEP) policy is a method of controlling the volume of export
 when the international rice market introduces more competitive price. Thailand and
 Vietnam implemented MEP policy after the food crisis of 2007-2008 to control their
 rice export price that might change the rice trade flow within ASEAN region. In
 addition, Import quota is a way of protecting domestic rice production by giving
 permission to only a certain quantity of rice to be imported. In Malaysia, the rice
 import quota is constant at 700,000 tons per year which was started in 2010 by the
 Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture. The general objective of this study was to investigate the impact of ASEAN rice policy
 on Intra-ASEAN rice trade in the five selected ASEAN countries with those following
 specific objectives of developing a system dynamics model for ASEAN rice sector,
 simulating the impact of ASEAN rice policy on intra-ASEAN rice sector namely
 changes in Minimum Export Price in Vietnam and Thailand, and the rice import quota
 in Malaysia.
 System Dynamics (SD) methodology was used to understand the complexity of rice
 sector in five selected ASEAN member countries and forecast the future situation of
 rice industry in this region until 2025. First, causal loops diagram were developed
 based on the literature explanation of relationships between the variables in the rice
 industry, then secondly, stock and flow diagrams were built based on the casual loop
 diagrams to run computer simulation and forecast using Vensim software.
 Simulations were run based on five scenarios which were designed based on
 comparison between Thailand and Vietnam rice export price with international price,
 considering the implementation of MEP policy in Thailand and Vietnam along with
 eliminating import quota mainly in Malaysia. Simulation results indicated that
 Vietnam will dominate the rice market in the region up to 85-90% of total Indonesia,
 Malaysia and the Philippines rice import in 2025. However, Thailand might loss up to
 less than 10% of its trade partners in the region at the same period of time. Hence,
 ASEAN rice importer countries need to manage reliable sources of rice supply
 probably from outside the region in case of the shortage in their own local market and
 at the time of food crisis due to food security concern.


In this essay I try to show the source of the knowledge that determines a certain view that the healthcare team, particularly the nursing team, has developed on the body, especially the sick body. I understand that this knowledge determines ways of caring for the hospitalized bodies. Based on texts by Foucault I analyze the subject of Anatomy. I present a brief history of its construction as a field of knowledge since Versalius until today, when we find plastinated and digitized bodies. I highlight the cadaver as the student's first contact with a human body and observe that the illustrations contained in Anatomy books privilege male and white bodies. I characterize the body as a radically historical invention and observe that we are culturally trained to perceive it, in an organized way, from given viewpoints and by using certain lenses.


Probiotics have emerged as a potential treatment modality for numerous gastrointestinal disorders, including IBD. However, few probiotics have undergone appropriate preclinical screening in vivo. Kefir is considered a probiotic, benefiting the host through its effects in the intestinal tract. Despite numerous studies examining the action of probiotics on the host organism, few have analyzed the effects on intestinal environment. We assessed the protective effect of kefir for three weeks before inducing colitis with 2% dextran sodium sulfate for five days. The DSS loads were similar in all DSS treatment group. The results of the experiment are as follows. Food intake and FER of experimental groups were not significantly different each other, but water consumption tended to be higher in all DSS treatment groups as compared with the normal control. And visual inspection of feces revealed mild diarrhea in rat given 2% DSS. The anti-inflammatory activity of kefir was determined by myeloperoxidase activity during the DSS treatment, and there was no significant difference in any group. The levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) as a colonic lipid peroxidation were significantly lower in the kefir intake groups than in rats treated with 2% DSS alone. The DNA % in tail and tail moment values as a DNA damage level of the blood lymphocytes in kefir intake groups tended to be lower than 2% DSS treatment alone, especially tail lengths were significantly diminished. According to the colonic histopathological assay, there were a severe inflammation of lamina propria and submucosa and mild edema in mucosa and sub mucosa in DSS alone treated group. We found a slight regenerative change in kefir treatment groups. In our experiments, this means that ulcerative colitis related to oxidative injury might be prevented by kefir as a probiotic. Further studies of the potential benefits of kefir as a probiotic in inflammatory condition are encouraged.


A series of in vitro and in vivo studies have been performed to establish the endocrine and clinical endpoints of the type I anti-aromatase agent exemestane in neoadjuvant therapy. In vitro studies demonstrated a dose-related inhibition of aromatase activity with exemestane, even when activity was measured in a system in which the aromatase enzyme was induced in fibroblasts preincubated with exemestane but assayed in the absence of the drug. In contrast, type II anti-aromatase agents (eg, aminoglutethimide, anastrozole, and letrozole) often caused a paradoxical increase in aromatase activity when measured under similar conditions. In vivo and in situ studies were performed in 12 postmenopausal women with untreated large or locally advanced estrogen receptor-rich tumors. The effect of exemestane 25 mg daily for 3 months on aromatization peripherally and in breast cancer and surrounding normal tissue was determined. Immediately before starting therapy, patients received an 18-hour infusion of radioactively labeled androgen and estrogen, followed by a wedge biopsy. This procedure was repeated after 3 months of treatment with exemestane, and the data were used to calculate peripheral and local aromatization. Changes in tumor volume were based on clinical examination, ultrasound, and mammography. Exemestane treatment was associated with a marked reduction in aromatization peripherally and in nonmalignant breast tissue in every patient and in breast tumor in all but one patient. Median reduction in tumor volume was 85.5% for clinical examination, 82.5% for ultrasound, and 84% for mammography. Eight of 10 patients who would have required mastectomy before treatment were able to undergo breast-conserving surgery after treatment. Clinical benefits were accompanied by a marked reduction in cellular proliferation and progesterone receptor expression. These data support the use of exemestane in neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.


Remnant-like particles (RLP) are reportedly involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, as are lipid peroxides. To assess the role of the oxidation of RLP in this disease, we compared the oxidation of RLP with that of total very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) obtained from the serum of 10 patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), 10 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and 10 normal subjects by measuring the levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Our results indicated that RLP were oxidized in vivo to a greater extent than total VLDL in all three groups of subjects. The serum levels of RLP were significantly higher in the patients than in the normal subjects. The oxidation of RLP may therefore be involved in the progression of atherosclerosis in patients with IHD or DM.


Fish mortality from algal blooms have been reported from Veracruz since 1792. We investigated the composition and abundance of (HABs) species along a nyctemeral cycle in the mouth of Sontecomapan, a coastal lagoon, during October 27th and 28th, 1999. Water samples were collected every two hours using a Van Dorn bottle at the surface and the middle-water column, to measure temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, distribution and abundance of HAB species, and we reviewed the behavior of flow and ebb of the tide. To understand the relationship between environmental variables and abundance of HAB species, we applied a canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). A total of 27 taxa known to produce bloom were found, three of them toxin-producers; Bacillaria paxillifer, Gyrodinium spirale, Prorocentrum gracile and Scrippsiella trochoidea were the most abundant species in surface and mid-bottom. Salinity was the most influential environmental variable on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton species forming bloom in this area.


Research into innovative behavior is not new, but its importance for organizational effectiveness has become even more evident in recent years. However, the psychological processes and underlying mechanism concerning how and why innovative behavior occurs within an organization still invite more investigation. The present study considers ambidextrous organizational culture as a pro-innovation culture and proposes that it can be perceived by employees, which leads to their innovative behavior. This study adds clarity by exploring the impact of perceived ambidextrous organizational culture on employees' reactions related to innovation via the intermediate mechanism of psychological empowerment and the moderating condition of transformational leadership. Hypotheses are derived from a motivational perspective based on self-determination theory. Results are based on data collected from 647 Chinese employee-supervisor dyads. This study finds that employees' perceptions of ambidextrous organizational culture have an indirect effect on innovative behavior through psychological empowerment. Specifically, the positive indirect relationship is amplified when transformational leadership is at a higher level. Our findings show how the mediating mechanism of psychological empowerment and the moderating condition of transformational leadership work together to improve innovation by individuals. The findings reveal several ways in which organizations can strategically focus on their cultural and supervisory training, such as applying this model to improve employees' outcome related to innovation.


Ninety five men who accompanied their wives to the fertility clinic of a Nigerian teaching hospital (index group) were compared with 95 matched controls using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Their rates of significant anxiety symptoms (24.2%) and depressive symptoms (20.0%) were higher than the corresponding rates of 13.7% and 9.5% for the controls. The higher rate of significant depressive symptoms in the infertility group was significant (p < 0.05). Their mean scores on the two subscales of HADS (anxiety and depressive subscales) were also significantly higher (p < 0.001). Results of multiple regression analysis indicated that lower anxiety symptoms were predicted by age group among subjects in the index group, indicating that belonging to higher age groups was associated with lower anxiety symptoms. In addition, lower anxiety symptoms were predicted by 'being very religious'. However, higher anxiety symptoms were predicted by previous exposure to couple counselling. On the predictors of depressive symptoms, lower symptoms were predicted by age group and religiosity while higher symptoms were predicted by respondents' previous exposure to couple counselling and higher number of wives. Other factors investigated such as level of education, duration of infertility, attitude towards child adoption, pressure from extended family members on account of infertility, expectation of the respondents on the possible outcome of treatment and the result of semen analysis were not observed as predictors of anxiety and/or depressive symptoms. The observations on emotional distress among these men, together with previous observations that counselling/support received from gynecological consultations is usually inadequate indicates that the quality of psychological support that is available to them needs to be improved and modified. Involvement of mental health professionals (psychiatrists and clinical psychologists) in the provision of psychological couple counselling for infertility-related emotional distress could improve the quality of support provided. The establishment of special counselling units in hospitals providing treatment for infertility is advocated.


The impact of initial conditions relative to external forcings in decadal integrations from an ensemble of state-of-the-art prediction models has been assessed using specifically designed sensitivity experiments (SWAP experiments). They consist of two sets of 10-yr-long ensemble hindcasts for two initial dates in 1965 and 1995 using either the external forcings from the "correct" decades or swapping the forcings between the two decades. By comparing the two sets of integrations, the impact of external forcing versus initial conditions on the predictability over multiannual time scales was estimated as the function of lead time of the hindcast. It was found that over time scales longer than about 1 yr, the predictability of sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on a global scale arises mainly from the external forcing. However, the correct initialization has a longer impact on SST predictability over specific regions such as the North Atlantic, the northwestern Pacific, and the Southern Ocean. The impact of initialization is even longer and extends to wider regions when below-surface ocean variables are considered. For the western and eastern tropical Atlantic, the impact of initialization for the 700-m heat content (HTC700) extends to as much as 9 years for some of the models considered. In all models the impact of initial conditions on the predictability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) is dominant for the first 5 years.


I s there a difference between an error and a mistake? In which category do we place performance deficits and equipment failures? The article by Rinke et al. regarding the characteristics of pediatric chemotherapy medication errors contains sobering, but biasladen, conclusions that we believe misrepresent the practice of pediatric oncology. The primary conclusion that ''pediatric chemotherapy errors often reach the patient'' failed to emphasize that only 310 errors were reported in 6 years. Considering the annual number of pediatric cancer patients undergoing treatment, in addition to all nononcologic uses of chemotherapy, 50 chemotherapy errors per year most likely represents a small portion of the intended study population. Therefore, it is not valid, based on this study, to reach any conclusion regarding the overall frequency with which pediatric chemotherapy errors reach the patient. Our pediatric oncology practice monitors chemotherapy errors, ''near-miss'' events (errors in chemotherapy ordering and production that do not reach the patient), and total doses, allowing us to accurately tabulate error frequencies. Our practice incorporates a periodic analysis of ''near-miss'' trends with the subsequent implementation of system remedies designed to prevent future errors. By using this method over the last 5 years, which includes more than 30,000 total doses of chemotherapy, we have achieved an average annual chemotherapy ''near-miss'' dosing error rate of 0.44% and ''near-miss'' production error rate of 0.83%, with only 0.027% of errors reaching the patient. Although the only acceptable error rate is 0, we believe our rates are significantly lower than all those previously reported. We attribute our relative success to incorporating a routine that assumes human error occurs and uses humans, not computers, to prevent them. The process of giving children chemotherapy from the time of protocol verification through ordering, mixing, delivering, and administering is incredibly complex. Each step of this process is susceptible to performance deficits and equipment failures. Are these really the types of mistakes inferred when investigators report chemotherapy errors and how are they preventable? Every institution experiences equipment problems, delays in chemotherapy delivery, and mistakes in administration. Rapid, appropriate responses to these unavoidable variances are critical and most likely made more difficult to implement when selfreported to a national data tracking base available only by subscription. Our experience suggests that careful institutional monitoring, free from reporting and sponsorship bias, is an effective way to minimize chemotherapy medication errors. As Battista stated, an error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it.


Introduces a new concept for alias-free voxelization of geometric objects based on a voxelization model (V-model). The V-model of an object is its representation in 3D continuous space by a trivariate density function. This function is sampled during the voxelization and the resulting values are stored in a volume buffer. This concept enables us to study general issues of sampling and rendering separately from object-specific design issues. It provides us with a possibility to design such V-models, which are correct from the point of view of both the sampling and rendering, thus leading to both alias-free volumetric representation and alias-free rendered images. We performed numerous experiments with different combinations of V-models and reconstruction techniques. We have shown that the V-model with a Gaussian surface density profile combined with tricubic interpolation and Gabor derivative reconstruction outperforms the previously published technique with a linear density profile. This enables higher fidelity of images rendered from volume data due to increased sharpness of edges and thinner surface patches.


This paper proposes a scheme for auto-tuning a lag-lead compensator to satisfy frequency-domain specifications of a feedback control system. Most previous studies proposed algorithms for tuning either lag or lead compensators. A study presented a self-tuning lag-lead compensator whose proportional gain, however, needs to be set manually. In contrast to previous studies, a fully automated tuning process for a lag-lead compensator is devised in this paper. In the proposed scheme, the plant's frequency responses at specific frequencies are first estimated, and an iterative algorithm adapts all controller parameters. To facilitate the estimation of high loop gain at a low frequency, a notch filter is introduced to the control loop while estimating this high low-frequency loop gain. Without this mechanism, a real-time data acquisition system of a wide dynamic range would be required. In addition to fulfilling the requirements for the low-frequency loop gain and phase margin, another feature of the proposed scheme is the satisfaction of the required gain-crossover frequency. However, the proposed method supposes that the frequency-domain specifications can be met for a plant using a lag-lead compensator, which is the plant's requirement for the proposed method. Experimental results for controlling a voice-coil motor are reported in this paper, showing that the proposed auto-tuner can practically provide a lag-lead compensated system satisfying frequency-domain performance requirements.


The purification capacity of systems using floating aquatic plants depend on the climatic conditions under which they are used. This study from Cuban conditions evaluate the effects of the organic loading rate, hydraulic loading rate and water depth on the purification capacity of water hyacinths, as well as the effect of some climatic variables on the kinetics of the treatment processes. The experimental system consisted of two consecutive tanks simulating a system of ponds in series. The water depths used were 0.5 m and 1.12 m. In the shallower system with shorter retention times and greater superficial organic loading higher removal efficiencies are obtained. With the data obtained, empirical relations were sought. From these correlations it is possible to determine the values for some parameters used in the design of aquatic treatment systems with water hyacinths. The results revealed a relationship between the purification capacity of the water hyacinth and its velocity of growth. The specific velocity of growth varied with the months of the year and was associated with the temperature and the solar radiation. A multiple correlation equation describing these relations was obtained.


In this paper we will address the impact of Europeanisation on national curriculum reforms with empirical reference to the Swedish compulsory school, and based on the concept of competence discuss the question of transnational curriculum convergence. The main interest is directed towards how the answers to the question of what counts as knowledge and skills are changing in national curricula. The analysis shows that the recent Swedish compulsory school reform converges to the broader European knowledge discourse on the underlying level of philosophical ideas, but also that several core concepts used in European policy texts are being reconceptualised and given a different meaning when recontextualised in the national arena.


We focused on relationship between phytohormones and AtEXPA3 gene in gravitropic response of A. thaliana. RT-PCR analysis shows that AtEXPA3 was highly expressed in actively developing tissues such as leaf, rosette, root and flower tissues. AtEXPA3 gene expression was enhanced by gravistimulation, BR and IAA. Furthermore, decreased gravitropism was observed when treatment of AVG, an ethylene biosynthetic inhibitor, suggesting that ethylene has a gravistimulating effect itself as well as BRs and IAA. Inhibition of gravitropism in AtEXPA3 RNAi mutant suggests that BR, auxin and ethylene are playing roles as regulators of AtEXPA3. In addition, altered gravitropism in BRs signaling mutant (decreased in bri1-301, bak1, and increased BRI-GFP) indicated that BRs signaling mediated the gravitropism. In conclusion, gravitropic responses of Arabidopsis root resulting from root growth were mediated by increased expression of AtEXPA3 gene, which is stimulated by phytohormones.


Current methods of potential field inversion require measurements to be reduced onto a level plane, resulting in a loss of resolution. This is especially true for draped surveys in areas of extreme topography. We examine a method that bypasses this limiting step by making use of an approximately equivalent geometry from which data are directly inverted. Corrections are applied to an initial solution to account for errors generated by the transformation of geometries. A numerical model and an example data set are used to explore this method's benefits and drawbacks in relation to the conventional approach of data reduction onto a level plane prior to inversion. We show that this direct inversion method is particularly better than the conventional approach at resolving fine-scale features, such as the narrow zone of crustal emplacement at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and adjacent areas of tectonic disruption and magnetic source alteration.


By improving the experimental conditions and extensive data accumulation, we have achieved very high precision in the measurements of the de Haas-van Alphen effect in the underdoped high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.5. We find that the main oscillation, so far believed to be single frequency, is composed of three closely spaced frequencies. We attribute this to bilayer splitting and warping of a single quasi-2D Fermi surface, indicating that c axis coherence is restored at low temperature in underdoped cuprates. Our results do not support the existence of a larger frequency of the order of 1650 T reported recently in the same compound [S. E. Sebastian, Nature (London) 454, 200 (2008)].


Background. Numerous barriers to outpatient colonoscopy completion exist, causing undue procedure cancellations and poor bowel preparation. We piloted a text message navigation program to improve colonoscopy adherence. Method. We conducted a prospective study of patients aged 18 to 75 years scheduled for outpatient colonoscopy at an urban endoscopy center in April 2018. An intervention arm consisting of bidirectional, automated text messages prior to the procedure was compared with a usual care arm. We enrolled 21 intervention patients by phone and randomly selected 50 controls. Outcomes included colonoscopy appointment adherence, bowel preparation quality, and colonoscopy completion. Results. The arms had similar demographics and comorbidities. Intervention patients had higher colonoscopy appointment adherence (90% vs. 62%, p = 0.049). There were no significant differences in preparation quality or procedure completeness. Poststudy surveys indicated high patient satisfaction and perceived usefulness of the program. Conclusion. A bidirectional, automated texting navigation program improved colonoscopy adherence rates as compared with usual care.


Unlike arrays and tables, histograms in Python have usually been denied their own object, and have been represented as a single operation producing several arrays. Boost-histogram is a new Python library that provides histograms that can be filled, manipulated, sliced, and projected as objects. Building on top of the Boost libraries' Histogram in C++14 provided interesting distribution and design challenges with useful solutions. This is meant to be a foundation that others can build on; in the Scikit-HEP project1, a physicist friendly front-end "Hist" and a conversion package "Aghast" are already being designed around boost-histogram.


Development
The epithelial-mesenchymal transition occurs when epithelial cells lose apicobasal polarity and cell-cell contacts and migrate into surrounding tissues as mesenchymal cells. Migration is crucial for gastrulation, neural tube formation, and cancer metastasis. However, the mechanisms underlying loss of polarity and cell movement are poorly understood. Burute et al. show that the centrosome position in epithelial cells changes from the periphery to the center of mesenchymal cells. The change in cell organization results in the transition from apicobasal polarity to front-rear polarity that precedes cell migration. Micropatterned cell culture showed that the mechanism is cell-intrinsic and governed by microtubule reorganization but is not influenced by neighboring cells.

J. Dev. Cell. 10.1016/j.devcel.12.004 (2016).


We have analyzed the role of N-H... interactions in 59 RNA binding protein structures with relation to other factors like amino acid preference, secondary structural elements, solvent accessibility of a particular fold, conservation score, stabilization centers and stabilizing residues. There was an average of 12 N-H... interactions per protein in the 59 proteins investigated and an average of one significant N-H... interaction for every 37 amino acid residues in RNA binding proteins. 63% of the N-H... interactions were computed to be inter-residue interactions, while the remaining 37% of the N-H... interactions were found to be intra-residue interactions. The contribution of the main chain to side chain N-H... mediated interactions was higher irrespective of the amino acids involved. Long-range N-H... interactions appear to be the predominant type of interactions in RNA binding proteins. Arg, Asn, Asp, Gln, Glu, Ile, Leu, Lys and Ser preferred to be in helix. Ala, Cys, Phe, Thr, Trp, Tyr and Val were found to prefer strand conformation. Polar amino acid residues involved in N-H... interactions were solvent exposed and most of the non polar residues involved in N-H... interactions were excluded from the solvent. Most of the amino acid residues involved in N-H... interactions might be conserved in RNA binding residues. The specificity is shown by residues not involved in N-H... interactions as only a very small percentage of interacting residues are involved in RNA Binding. On the whole, the results of the present investigations on N-H... interactions might be useful for intra protein-protein interactions and studies on inter-residue and intra-residue interactions.


Highly photoluminescent acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) and donor-acceptor (D-A) type compounds with a dithienosilole unit as the donor and perfluorotolyl or dimesitylboryl group(s) as the acceptor were prepared by the reaction of lithiated dithienosilole derivatives with perfluorotoluene or fluorodimesitylborane, respectively. The resulting A-D-A and D-A type compounds showed red-shifted UV absorption and PL bands compared to those of simple dithienosiloles having no acceptor units, reported previously, and were highly photoluminescent in the solid state as well as in solution. Solvatochromic behaviour that would arise from the intramolecular donor-acceptor interaction were observed for the D-A type compounds with respect to the UV absorption and PL spectra. In addition, it was found that bis(dimesitylboryl)dithienosilole and (dimesitylboryl)(methylthio)dithienosilole responded to coexisting fluoride anions, leading to clear UV absorption and PL spectral changes in solutions.


This research examines the nonlinear effects of compensation on customer satisfaction in order to determine the optimal compensation after a flawed service. As our core contribution, we argue that the nature of this nonlinear effect depends on the way customers handle a flawed service. Building on the Service-Dominant (S-D) logic, this research introduces two specific failure handling tactics—when customers reject versus accept a flawed value proposition—that affect the shape of the nonlinear function of compensation on satisfaction. Our key hypotheses are tested with two experiments that manipulate 11 compensation levels (0–200%) and the two failure handling tactics (rejection vs. acceptance). Consistent with our logic, both studies reveal an S-shaped curve progression for service rejection and a concave shape for service acceptance. For service rejection, the highest incremental effect of compensation on satisfaction lies in between 60% and 120%. For service acceptance, the highest return in satisfaction is obtained with the first dollars invested in partial compensation. As a major managerial takeaway, firms can use these findings to determine the compensation level that provides the best satisfaction return.


Objective: To find the association of Apolipoprotein B and triglycerides with coronary artery disease.
Study Design: Cross-sectional study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, in collaboration with HITEC Institute of Medical Sciences, Taxila Pakistan, from Mar 2019 to Mar 2020.
Methodology: Four hundred and forty-four individuals of either gender and 18-70 years were included in the study. According to CT angiography, participants were differentiated into those with coronary artery disease and without coronary artery disease. In addition, serum triglycerides were analysed by glycerol phosphate enzymatic endpoint method on ADVIA 1800R Clinical Chemistry Auto analyzer, and apolipoprotein B was analysed on BT1500 Clinical Chemistry turbidimetric analyzer.
Results: The sample population had 144(32.0%) females and 300(68.0%) males. 164(37.0%) patients had coronary artery disease. 120(27.0%) participants were between 35 and 45 years of age, and 96(22.0%) were between 56 and 65 years. 126(30.0%) patients had hypertension, 352(79.3%) had apolipoprotein B levels >130 mg/dl. Positive Pearson's correlation was found between apolipoprotein B and triglycerides with coronary artery disease.
Conclusion: There is a strong association between apolipoprotein B and non-fasting triglyceride levels with coronary artery disease. The apolipoprotein B can be used as a routine biomarker for screening and treatment monitoring coronary artery disease along with other lipid profile parameters.


Query-based Faceted Search (QFS), introduced in a research paper at ISWC'11, reconciles the expressiveness of querying languages (e.g., SPARQL), and the benefits of exploratory search found in faceted search. Because of the interactive nature of QFS, which is difficult to fully render in a research paper, we feel it is important to complement it with a demonstration of our QFS prototype, Sewelis (aka. Camelis 2). An important addition to the research paper is the extension of QFS to the guided edition of RDF bases, where suggestions are based on existing data. This paper motivates our approach, shortly presents Sewelis, and announces the program of the demonstration. Screencasts of the demonstration, as well as material (program and data) to reproduce it, are available at \tt http://www.irisa.fr/LIS/softwares/sewelis.


BACKGROUND
A large percentage of in-vitro generated cleavage stage human embryos are chromosomally mosaic, consisting of both normal (diploid) and abnormal (non-diploid) cells. The present study characterized mosaicism at each stage of cleavage division and examined its effect on preimplantation development in vitro.

METHODS
A total of 216 normally fertilized (two-pronucleate) embryos which were not selected for transfer to the patients were analysed for chromosomal abnormalities using multi-colour fluorescence in-situ hybridization DNA probes specific for three to five of nine different chromosomes (X, Y, 2, 7, 13, 16, 18, 21, 22).

RESULTS
Overall, 48.1% of embryos were mosaic. The frequency of mosaic embryos increased from 15.2 to 49.4 to 58.1%, from the 2-4-cell to 5-8-cell to morula stages respectively, and the types of non-diploid cells detected were mostly aneuploid or chaotic. The incidence of mosaicism at the blastocyst stage was 90.9%; however, most of the mosaicism comprised diploid and polyploid cells. Arrested mosaic embryos had a higher incidence of chaotic abnormalities, and higher proportions of abnormal cells compared with the non-arrested group.

CONCLUSIONS
Post-zygotic errors leading to mosaicism may occur, and persist throughout preimplantation development in vitro. Our results suggest that mosaicism involving multiple chromosomal imbalances and/or imbalances affecting a high proportion of cells in an embryo appear to impair development to the blastocyst stage.


Nursing claims caring as the hallmark of the nursing profession. As such, all issues relating to caring are important to the profession and professionals. The content of this paper reports on factors that erode a caring concern and is a spin-off from an extensive existential phenomenological study into the maintenance of a caring concern, by the student nurse as caregiver. The erosive factors that emerged from the data are: special problems experienced by the student nurse and neophyte; aspects relating to self; emotional involvement; physical exhaustion; theory, practice and teaching; administrative issues; work conditions and patient characteristics.


Abstract : Fabrication technology and device sizes have reached the point where fluctuations on the atomic level may affect device performance. The need for a tool to characterize these structures has been satisfied by cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy (XSTM). This summary and attached thesis detail the development and application of XSTM to III-V heterostructures accomplished during the term of the JSEP Fellowship of Warren Wu. An ultra-high vacuum (UHV) system dedicated to XSTM was specifically designed and constructed as part of this work. Reported for the first time were XSTM cross-sections of self-assembled InAs quantum dots, XSTM cross-sections of quantum wires created by the strain-induced lateral-layer ordering (SILO) process as well as the first XSTM data on working device structures. These working device structures include resonant tunneling diode (RTD) structures, a quantum well infrared photodetector structure and a modulation doped field effect transistor (MODFET) structure. XSTM has proved useful in characterizing interface roughness, alloy fluctuations and individual atomic positions.


When the 'new' world across the Atlantic began to appear and take shape on the (mental) maps of Europeans in the 16th century, illustrations depicting Indians (as imagined by Europeans) had a significant impact on what and how people in the 'old' world thought of the Americas and its inhabitants. Lately, in historical research about the Americas, there has been a strong interest in these illustrations; they are now recognized as a major element in information circulation about the new found lands. Most of these documents have, in the past, already been of interest to historians or ethnologists, but certain aspects, such as the means of the circulation of iconographic material or its importance in certain communicational contexts, have been rather neglected. The following analyses will focus on the Inuit corpus of the 16th century, which is only known to a few specialists of Canadian history but deserves greater attention because of its importance and its singularly wide-spread distribution at the time.


We recover the known and find some nontrivial new "exactly solvable" subspaces in the parameter space of a generalized Ising model in magnetic field formulated on the Kagome lattice.


Lone-term marrow cultures, established according to the technique described by Dexter, contain a colony-forming cell (CFU-T) that produces Thy 1-positive progeny after stimulation with PHA-induced conditioned medium from human leukocytes. When 10(-7) M hydrocortisone is added to the medium for the long-term cultures CFU-T can be maintained in vitro for at least 16 weeks. Cells from individual colonies lack precursors for cytotoxic lymphocytes but can provide nonspecific help required for the generation of cytotoxic lymphocytes.


Background: Using appropriate coping strategies has a positive influence on moderating mental pressures caused by infertility and the stress during treatment. Using these strategies needs personal skills and they could be influenced by individual's inner psychological and environmental factors. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between the attitude toward infertility and coping strategies considering the couple's social and financial situation. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted on 133 volunteered couples undergoing assisted reproductive treatment. Coping strategies and the attitude toward infertility were assessed using a self-report questionnaire. Higher scores of attitude indicated positive attitudes. Data was analyzed using paired-samples t test and multiple regression model. Results: Independent from demographic information and causes of infertility, using self-blame and self-focused rumination coping strategies were negatively related to attitude toward infertility in both men and women (p<0.05). Also, using self-blame coping strategy had a positive correlation with female infertility and negative correlation with male infertility. Conclusion: Regardless of the economic and social conditions, in infertile couples, downward trend in attitude toward infertility is mostly associated with the use of maladaptive coping strategies.


This study validated a Chinese adaptation of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CCA), a self-report instrument that evaluates two emotion regulation (ER) strategies, based on the process model of ER. The ERQ-CCA was evaluated using a sample of 1381 Chinese children aged between 7 and 12 years. The internal consistencies of the two factors indicated adequate reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) revealed good support as the structure proved to be identical with that of the original instrument. Multigroup CFA supported an invariant factor solution of the ERQ-CCA across several demographic variations (gender, age, registered permanent residence and migrant status) in different groups. Test-retest correlations over a 2-month period were calculated using a subsample of children (N = 70). Convergent validity was evaluated in relation to the model dimensions of the ERQ-CCA, Chinese version of the Children's Depression Inventory, and Chinese version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents. Results indicated that the ERQ-CCA has generally satisfactory reliability and validity in investigating the use of two ER strategies during the middle childhood developmental period.


PurposeIn construction management, risks and claims are treated separately, but several studies tacitly acknowledge a strong link between the two. In this context, this research intends to investigate whether risks and claims have a causal relationship? Based on this causal relationship, a claim-based risk assessment model (C-RAM) is developed to quantify occurrences and cost implications of risks using project data.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the causal relationship between risks and claims is established through a conceptual framework for content analysis of the literature on risk management (RM) and claim management (CM). Then, a C-RAM is developed based on the content analysis of 234 claims from 24 settled arbitration awards.FindingsRisks and claims are found to be two stages in the same chain of uncertain events that affect projects, subsequently revealing a causal relationship between risks and claims. Due to this causal relationship, claim documents become a potential source of risk information from past projects. Proposed C-RAM quantifies occurrences of risks with three parameters: number of projects in which a risk occurs, number of ways in which a risk occurs, and number of claims a risk causes if it occurs. Also, cost implications of risks are quantified as percentage of contract sums for interpretation as tangible values.Research limitations/implicationsThough C-RAM is applicable to all types of claims, the results in this paper are based on impacts of risks in past projects that caused claims and reached to arbitration stage.Practical implicationsThe causal relationship between risks and claims will encourage integration of knowledge on RM and CM which is currently treated separately. Practitioners can now visualize claims as cost implications of risks that occurred in projects. Further, C-RAM makes risk assessment (RA) more objective by quantifying the cost implications of risks as percentage of contract sums which can be readily used for contingency estimation.Originality/valueThe relationship between risks and claims, and the potential of claim documents as a source of project risk information, can initiate a new paradigm in RM research based on project data.


This thesis presents a study into the use of microgels to restore degenerated intervertebral discs (IVDs). This was undertaken using a pH-triggered microgel which was able to form self-supporting gels through an increase in pH. The microgels were based on the poly(A/MAA/X) formulation, where MAA is methacrylic acid and A is the structural and X is the crosslinking monomer. The microgel particles were also used to construct composite poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGD) hydrogels. The properties of the microgels and the composite hydrogels were then investigated. Microgel particles were synthesised based on poly(EA/MAA/BDD) (poly(ethyl acrylate/MAA/butanediol diacrylate). These were able to swell on increasing pH. Concentrated dispersions formed a gel with a high elastic modulus. The EA and BDD were replaced with related monomers and gave gels with different properties. Using monomers with high glass transition temperatures reduced the rate of swelling, and using monomers with similar reactivity ratios appeared to produce more uniformly crosslinked particles. It is proposed from the data presented that those with a large difference in reactivity ratio resulted in microgel particles with a change in crosslinking gradient through the radius of the particle. In some cases this produced microgels which appeared to fragment on increasing pH. The microgels investigated were based on poly(EA/MAA/X), (E-X) with BDD, EGD (ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) and PEGD. The EGD and PEGD microgels were shown to fragment with increasing pH. Poly(EA/MAA/PEGD) dispersions were able to form a gel at a pH below the pKa which appeared to be an electrostatically repulsive gel. Following this work, it became apparent that the E-BDD microgel was the most ideal of all the microgels with gels giving low values tan? and frequency dependence of tan? (tan? = G?/G?, where G? is the viscous modulus and G? is the elastic modulus). It also appeared to give physical gels with the highest elastic modulus. This microgel was therefore used for the composite gels. The poly(EA/MAA/BDD) microgel was then used to form covalently-linked composite hydrogels with PEGD of different molecular weights. PEGD with a molecular weight less than 550 formed a hydrogel-linked microgel, with interpenetrating polymer chains. These composites had high G? values and swelling ratios. Using PEGD with molecular weights higher than 550 produced microgel-filled hydrogels which had high values for G? and swelling ratios. Furthermore, due to osmotic deswelling of the microgel particles, the dispersions underwent a gel-to-fluid transition prior to being heated with initiator and crosslinked. This meant that some of the formulations were injectable.The mixture of high molecular weight PEGD and microgel was therefore combined with an accelerator which enabled gel formation and crosslinking at physiological temperature. Composites formed under physiological conditions were then tested for their ability to support biomechanically meaningful loads using degenerated IVDs. The discs were then compressed and the compressive strain to measured. The results showed that the composite was able to restore the mechanical modulus and height of the degenerated disc, showing favourable results for future research.


This chapter introduces this Handbook on Cities and Complexity. It follows the discussion in the Handbook that commences with the general theory of complexity and its application to the domain of cities. It then reviews of the leading CTC (complexity theories of cities), and the links between complexity, languages and cities. Next come discussions of the various modelling approaches and finally the implications of CTC to urban planning and design. The book concludes with an Epilogue on "Cities and Complexity in the Time of COVID-19. © 2011 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.


Excess body weight has been causally linked to an increased risk of different cancer types, including colorectal cancer (CRC) but the mechanisms underlying this association are practically unknown. We investigate redox state-superoxide (SO) generation rate, activity of complex I in electron transport chain (ETC) of mitochondria and of dinitrosyl iron complexes by electron paramagnetic resonance; activity of matrix metalloproteinase (gelatinase) MMP-2 and MMP-9 by gel zymography of adipose tissues (AT) from 46 patients (64.0 ± 1.6 y.o.) with CRC (II-III stages, pT2-3N0-2M0) in the AT adjacent to tumor (ATAT) and at a distance of 3 cm from the tumor (ATD) to follow the connection of the AT redox state with some of the tumor microenvironment indicators. We have incubated the AT species with the tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) to follow its influence on the measured values. As a control, normal AT (NAT) obtained during the liposuction is used. Tumor-induced changes in mitochondrial ETC of ATAT, particularly for Complex I, lead to the enhanced SO generation and consequent oxidative modifications of DNA in ATAT (up to 6.1 times higher than that in NAT and 3.7 times higher than that in ATD, p < 0.05). Gelatinase activity in ATAT is significantly higher than in ATD. A considerable effect of TNF-α on ATAT and ATD (but not on NAT, i.e., only on the tissues where the reprogramming of metabolism has already occurred under the influence of tumor) manifested in increase of cellular hypoxia, gelatinase activity, and SO generation rate is observed. The results can be used for better understanding the mechanism(s) of metabolic symbiosis of tumor and AT as well as serving as a basis for new therapeutic approaches.


This article provides a Muslim perspective on the eighteenth-century Qing conquest of Xinjiang. It explores the career of Emin Khwaja, a leader of the Muslim community of Turfan and the most prominent Muslim ally in the Qing conquest. I investigate how the notion of "protection" (ḥimāyat in Arabic), a key concept in the Central Asian Muslim understanding of religious and political patronage, informed Emin's decision to ally himself with the Qing. I argue that Emin understood his alliance with the "infidel" Manchu not as a collaboration in betrayal of Islam but as a positive policy to achieve security and prosperity of the Muslim community in the changing political and commercial environment of eighteenth-century Eurasia. Emin was able to build a local coalition of Muslim commercial interests for the support of the Qing, while promoting his standing within the regional political hierarchy of Muslim Central Asia.


In this feasibility study discriminating oil slicks and newly formed sea ice using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is investigated, using imagery from the L-band high-resolution uninhabited aerial vehicle synthetic aperture radar (UAVSAR) airborne and the satellite C-band RADARSAT-2 (RS-2) systems. To determine the separability of these two varying but similar appearing low backscatter ocean surfaces, multipolarization features are utilized from both SAR datasets. The discrimination is evaluated using the Kolmogorov–Smirnov separability test. All imagery was obtained during several sea ice campaigns in the Arctic Ocean and separate oil spill campaigns in Norway and the Gulf of Mexico, with each campaign collecting in situ observations. We observe that the polarization difference (VV-HH) reliably separates the mineral oil slicks and newly formed sea ice areas using UAVSAR images, due to the low noise floor and subsequent high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) radiometric performance of the airborne system. The comparably higher noise floor and related lower SNR hampers the separability in the RS-2 images. Simulated noise floors were generated by adding white Gaussian noise to the UAVSAR data, which show that discrimination between the two low backscatter phenomena using multipolarization features is possible, provided that both datasets are still well above the noise floor. The pixel resolution has a limited effect on the separability. The results of this study provide an approach to distinguish oil slicks from newly formed sea ice, which might be of special interest should an oil spill occur within the marginal ice zone.


The term ecosystem is used pervasively in industry, government, and academia to describe the complex, dynamic, hyperconnected nature of many social, economic, and technical systems that exist today. Ecosystems are characterized by a large, dynamic, and heterogeneous set of geospatially distributed entities that are interconnected through various types of relationships. This study describes the design and development of ecoxight, a Web-based visualization platform that provides multiple coordinated views of multipartite, multiattribute, dynamic, and geospatial ecosystem data with novel and rich interaction capabilities to augment decision makers ecosystem intelligence. The design of ecoxight was informed by an extensive multiphase field study of executives. The ecoxight platform not only provides capabilities to interactively explore and make sense of ecosystems but also provides rich visual construction capabilities to help decision makers align their mental model. We demonstrate the usability, utility, and value of our system using multiple evaluation studies with practitioners using socially curated data on the emerging application programming interface ecosystem. We report on our findings and conclude with research implications. Collectively, our study contributes to design science research at the intersection of information systems and strategy and the rapidly emerging field of visual enterprise analytics.


Introduction: Insights into molecular karyotyping using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays enable the identification of copy number variations (CNVs) at a higher resolution and facilitate the detection of copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (CN-LOH) otherwise undetectable by conventional cytogenetics. The applicability of a customised CGH+SNP 180K DNA microarray in the diagnostic evaluation of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in comparison with conventional karyotyping was assessed in this study. Methods: Paired tumour and germline post induction (remission sample obtained from the same patient after induction) DNA were used to delineate germline variants in 41 AML samples and compared with the karyotype findings. Results: After comparing the tumour versus germline DNA, a total of 55 imbalances (n 5-10 MB = 21, n 10-20 MB = 8 and n >20 MB = 26) were identified. Gains were most common in chromosome 4 (26.7%) whereas losses were most frequent in chromosome 7 (28.6%) and X (25.0%). CN-LOH was mostly seen in chromosome 4 (75.0%). Comparison between array CGH+SNP and karyotyping revealed 20 cases were in excellent agreement and 13 cases did not concord whereas in 15 cases finding could not be confirmed as no karyotypes available.
Conclusion: The use of a combined array CGH+SNP in this study enabled the detection of somatic and germline CNVs and CN-LOHs in AML. Array CGH+SNP accurately determined chromosomal breakpoints compared to conventional cytogenetics in relation to presence of CNVs and CN-LOHs.


Extensive efforts on the part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), vaccine manufacturers, and other investigators in the United States and Europe have generated important new information regarding the efficacy of several acellular and whole-cell pertussis vaccines administered to infants. Multiple acellular pertussis vaccines combined with tetanus, and diphtheria toxoids (DTaP) have been tested in European trials and compared with whole-cell diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) preparations. The results of most trials have been released to the press and formal manuscripts will be published in scientific journals within the next few weeks.1-3 The data from these studies indicate variable efficacy of both acellular and whole-cell pertussis vaccines, reflecting differences in manufacturing processes and the number and type of vaccine components in the new acellular vaccines.


The cumulative effect of multiple pharmaceutics with anticholinergic properties (i.e., anticholinergic burden), can serve as an indicator of suboptimal prescribing in the elderly. Yet, no research is available concerning the effect of different compositions of score on adverse outcomes under the same anticholinergic burden. This population‐based cohort study investigated whether different combinations of medications with anticholinergic properties have different impacts on adverse outcomes in the elderly using the Anticholinergic Risk Scale (ARS) and Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale (ACB) scores. We included 116,043 people aged 65 years and older from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database and measured their monthly anticholinergic burden over a 10‐year follow‐up period (from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2011). We analyzed the association between different anticholinergic score compositions and adverse outcomes (emergency department visits, all‐cause hospitalizations, fracture‐specific hospitalizations, and incident dementia) via generalized estimating equations. Cumulative effects of multiple medications with low anticholinergic activity were associated with a greater risk for emergency department visits and all‐cause hospitalizations (emergency department visits for 65–74 year olds (y/o): ACB 1 + 1 + 1, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.05 (1.99–2.12); ACB 1 + 2, aOR 2.04 (1.91–2.17); and ACB 3, aOR 1.62 (1.57–1.66)). In contrast, using medications with greater potency had a greater impact on central adverse outcomes (incident dementia for 65–74 y/o: ACB 1 + 1 + 1, aOR 3.30 (2.84–3.84); ACB 1 + 2, aOR 5.84 (4.59–7.41); and ACB 3, aOR 9.15 (8.38–9.99)). The quantity of anticholinergics (even with low score) an older person used matters in risk of emergency department visit and all‐cause hospitalization but the potency of anticholinergics (i.e., those with high score) matters in risk of fracture‐specific hospitalization and incident dementia.


Abstract We consider the combustion, in a gravitational field, of a heterogeneous powder mixture compressed into a solid sample, in which the high temperature ahead of the reaction zone destroys the solid, due, e.g. to melting of some of components of the mixture. Thus, a suspension is formed, consisting of a liquid bath containing solid or liquid particles. Processes such as heat and mass transfer as well as chemical reactions in the suspension determine the structure of the combustion wave and its propagation velocity. Under the influence of gravitational forces there is the possibility of relative motion of the liquid and solid. Previous theoretical analyses considered the rate of heat transfer between the solid and liquid phases to be sufficiently large that their two distinct temperatures rapidly equilibrated to a single temperature. In addition to this case, we also consider the case when the rate of heat transfer is not so large and the model involves the separate temperatures of the solid and liquid phases. We find that multiplicity of traveling wave structures is possible. In particular, in addition to a low velocity structure, which is essentially the same as that obtained from the one temperature description, we find a high velocity structure, which does not exist in the one temperature description, but rather depends on the fact that the solid and fluid temperatures differ from each other. Both structures can exist for the same parameter values in a given range. We describe the dependence of the combustion characteristics of the two structures on gravitational forces and other factors. In particular, we compare the characteristics in gravity and microgravity environments.


Background: The high rate of default from follow up clinic by children with chronic neurological disorders and shopping around from one place to another in search of a cure by their mothers may be as a result of ignorance concerning the diagnosis, cause and prognosis of these disorders. The ignorance of mothers may be as result of lack of adequate information from medical personnel at time of initial consultation. Objectives: To assess mothers whose children were referred to the paediatric neurology clinic to determine what they know and feel about the cause, management, prognosis and their expectation regarding the disorders. Study design and methods: The study was conducted between January 7th 2004 and December 8th 2004 in the paediatric neurology clinic of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria using a semi-structured questionnaire. Responses were aggregated and expressed as simple percentages and analyzed using SPSS 10.0 for windows. Results: One hundred and ten mothers aged between 21 and 65 years were recruited. 21.8%, 19.1% and 23.6% knew the cause, diagnosis and outcome respectively while 30% had diagnosis explained. Over 70% of the mothers had negative attitude toward their children being seen in public. All the mothers expected cure while 98.2% were willing to share their experience with other mothers. Conclusion: Majority of the mothers lack adequate information about possible cause, diagnosis and outcome of their children's neurological disorder at referral. Willingness of almost all mothers to share experience with others provides opportunity for group therapy and formation of support groups.