Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr, and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff, eds. The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2003. 723 pp.Aviva Chomsky and her colleagues have done cubanologos a great service in assembling this impressive volume. It contains about one hundred selections divided into eight separate sections, ranging from Indigenous Society and Conquest to the Special Period and the Future of the Revolution. The book was largely complete when Cuba entered the Special Period in the early 1990s, forcing a delay in publication to encompass this important change. In terms of its historical and interdisciplinary scope, this reader follows the format of other Latin America readers put out by Duke University Press, most of which have also been edited by historians. Both Aviva Chomsky and Barry Carr are Latin American historians, while Pamela Smorkaloff is a Cuban American specializing in Cuban literature.Some might disagree with the selection of readings, daunting in their number. Most of the contributors will be familiar to those who have worked on Cuba, including Jose Marti, Nicolas Guillen, Fernando Ortiz, Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Miguel Barnet, Nancy Morejon, Manuel Moreno Fraginals, Alejo Carpentier and Oscar Zanetti, all internationally recognized Cuban scholars. Others might have been included, especially in the contemporary social sciences. Their absence is perhaps due to the editors' conscious effort to not focus on the Cuban Revolution, but on five hundred years of Cuban history and society. Half of the book is devoted to the prerevolutionary period. But one wonders if it may also be due to budget constraints on translation and other costs, which would be a shame, since one purpose of such readers is to make foreign language materials accessible to a wider audience. Many of the translations were done by Aviva Chomsky herself, for which she is to be congratulated.The readings are not limited to scholarly and literary articles, but include poems, songs (by Silvio Rodriguez and others), primary-source documents, and first-hand journalistic accounts published in the New Yorker, the New York Times, Bohemia, etc. Some of the more interesting selections are political documents by U.S. officials responding to the 1933 and the 1959 revolutions, the missile crisis, and a CIA report on assassination plots against Fidel Castro, which vividly reflect the arrogance of U.S. policy makers toward poorer, Third World countries. I am pleased that the editors chose to include material on the Cuban exile community, such as the hilarious piece by Achy Obejas exploring the Cuban-American generational differences, which will be familiar to many immigrants.The editors raise the issue of "balance" in their introduction, since so much analysis of Cuba is biased in favor of or against the revolution. The editors joint commitment to social justice makes them partial to the struggles of the Cuban people for a more egalitarian society, free of poverty and neocolonialism, while reserving criticism for some of the Castro government's top-down and sometimes repressive measures. This is not a book that will please older, more conservative Cuban exiles in Miami and elsewhere. …


Preface. PART I: Sustainability and Regeneration. Chapter 1. Introduction to Sustainability. Chapter 2. Blending the Human Landscape with the Natural Ecological System. Chapter 3. Estimating Costs in the Sustainable Landscape. PART II: Water in the Sustainable Landscape. Chapter 4. Water Quality. Chapter 5. Rainwater Harvesting. Chapter 6. Using Domestic Gray Water. PART III: Shelters and the Sustainable Landscape. Chapter 7. Shelter Design. Chapter 8. Earth Sheltering. Chapter 9. Computing Overhangs for Solar Energy Control. Chapter 10. Heating Shelters with the Sun. Chapter 11. Surface Reflectivity. Chapter 12. Indoor Air Quality. PART IV: Energy in the Sustainable Landscape. Chapter 13. Energy Conservation as a Sustainable Practice. Chapter 14. Heat Value of the Sun. Chapter 15. Controlling Heat Transfer In and Out of Buildings. Chapter 16. Determining Sun Path. Chapter 17. Solar-Powered Hot Water and Space Heating. Chapter 18. Using the Earth as a Cooling and Heating Source. Chapter 19. Photovoltaic Energy Production. Chapter 20. Using Biomass to Heat Your Home. Chapter 21. Use of Trees for Sun and Wind Control. PART V: Waste Processing in the Sustainable Landscape. Chapter 22. Treating Sewage Using Constructed Wetland Ecosystems. Chapter 23. Recycling. Part VI: Landscape Management in the Sustainable Landscape. Chapter 24. Managing Human Landscapes. Chapter 25. Composting Kitchen and Yard Wastes. Chapter 26. Managing Runoff Water. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. Appendix B. Index.


SUMMARY This article reviews historical contributions to the conceptualisation of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), including its evolution as a clinical diagnosis within the DSM classification of mental disorders. It discusses the epidemiology and aetiology of NPD, noting that empirical studies of both are limited. The challenges of managing patients with prominent narcissistic traits are presented, and the psychological therapies specifically designed for the treatment of patients with NPD are summarised. LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Understand different models of narcissism• Understand the epidemiology, comorbidity and theories of aetiology of NPD• Know how to manage and treat patients with pathological narcissism and NPD DECLARATION OF INTEREST None.


Mortgage protection is one of the most straightforward and affordable types of life insurance cover. It's designed to pay off your mortgage if you the - and so protect the roof over your family's head.


HIV-1 infection induces a progressive disruption of the B cell compartment impairing long-term immune responses to routine immunizations. Depletion of specific memory B cell pools occurs during the 1st stages of the infection and cannot be reestablished by antiretroviral treatment. We reasoned that an early control of viral replication through treatment could preserve the normal development of the memory B cell compartment and responses to routine childhood vaccines. Accordingly, we evaluated the effects of different highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) schedules in 70 HIV-1 vertically-infected pediatric subjects by B cell phenotypic analyses, antigen-specific B cell enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) and ELISA for common vaccination and HIV-1 antigens. Initiation of HAART within the 1st year of life permits the normal development and maintenance of the memory B cell compartment. On the contrary, memory B cells from patients treated later in time are remarkably reduced and their function is compromised regardless of viral control. A cause for concern is that both late-treated HIV-1 controllers and noncontrollers loose protective antibody titers against common vaccination antigens. Timing of HAART initiation is the major factor predicting the longevity of B cell responses in vaccinated HIV-1-infected children.


The human population has reached 7 billion by 2015 and is estimated to exceed 10 billion by the end of 2050. As such, crops which are the main food source must be produced at a higher pace in order to cater in tandem with the food demand. In the past, traditional plant breeders practice classical breeding techniques to propagate plants with desirable traits. However, traditional breeding technique lies in that only individuals of the same or closely related species can be crossbred. Moreover, traditional breeders will not be able to obtain traits which are not inherent within the gene pool of their target plants through classical breeding. With recent advancements in the field of genetic engineering, it is now possible to insert beneficial genes from a completely different species or even kingdom into a target plant, yielding transgenic plants with multiple ideal traits. To develop a transgenic plant, parameters such as vec- tor constructions, transformation methods, transgene integration, and inheritance of transgene need to be carefully considered to ensure the success of the transformation event. Hence, this chapter aimed to provide an overview of transgenic plants' development, its advantages and disadvantages, as well as its application for the betterment of mankind .


This research integrates the spectres of the Green Silk Road policy with strategic plans, technological achievements, smart engineering decisions, international development prospects. It is conducting the development of the "One Belt One Road" which associated with technological and economic changes in the regions of interaction. Since the announcement of this initiative on September 7, 2013 as an international integration strategy of cooperation, almost 6 years have passed. One of the most important direction including all industrial cooperation aspects is a green policy – the set of rules and principles of manufacturing connected to the environment protection. Currently, the influence of interstate integration on the economic condition of countries and regions is increasing, but in combination with this there is a negative impact on the natural environment of the planet. It is time to put the protection of the planet on the first place in the world, and within the framework of integration projects like the New Silk Road many countries are ready to participate in the joint protection of the environment and many of them have already achieved certain results.


Summary. This paper is concerned with an examination of the possibility that there might exist a small scale of convective circulation beneath the oceanic lithosphere. Recent suggestions that this might be the case have been made in an effort to understand why the bathymetry of the sea-floor deviates from the prediction of boundary layer theory for ages in excess of about 100 Ma. The energy source which sustains the secondary motion is supposed to be found in the steep temperature gradient near the planetary surface which is itself presumably maintained by the large-scale convective circulation associated with plate creation and destruction. Here we investigate the extent to which the temperature dependence of viscosity may act so as to stabilize the upper boundary layer against disruption by such secondary instability. If the viscosity profile is monotonie and the asymptotic upper mantle viscosity is about 1022poise, as suggested by post-glacial rebound data, then the existence of the second scale is extremely unlikely. On the other hand, if a sufficiently pronounced low viscosity zone does exist under old sea-floor then the development of such a second scale cannot be ruled out completely. Some recently obtained geophysical evidence is reviewed which suggests that this is unlikely to be the case.


Royal Victoria Infirmary. Newcastle upon Tyne Radio-fibrinogen catabolism study is a sensitive way of assessing active participation of fibrin in the pathogenesis of renal disease. In general in oliguric patients accelerated fibrinogen catabolic rates are reflected by an increase of serum fibrin products. To evaluate further the role of intravascular coagulation and to assess the potential of heparinization in management, patients with oliguric glomerulonephritis, accelerated hypertension and transplant rejection underwent short-term administration of heparin during the course of a radio-fibrinogen study. Heparin produced an increase of glomerular filtration rate measured by Cr-EDTA clearances. Beneficial effects on fibrinogen catabolism were also found in some cases of accelerated hypertension and transplant rejection, but heparin alone did not influence rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. 1. EFFECT O F HEPARIN ON RADIO FIBRINO-


Visual recognition and localization of underwater optical beacons is an important step in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) docking. The main issues that restrict the use of underwater monocular vision range are the attenuation of light in water, the mirror image between the water surface and the light source, and the small size of the optical beacon. In this study, a fast monocular camera localization method for small 4-light beacons is proposed. A YOLO V5 (You Only Look Once) model with coordinated attention (CA) mechanisms is constructed. Compared with the original model and the model with convolutional block attention mechanisms (CBAM), and our model improves the prediction accuracy to 96.1% and the recall to 95.1%. A sub-pixel light source centroid localization method combining super-resolution generative adversarial networks (SRGAN) image enhancement and Zernike moments is proposed. The detection range of small optical beacons is increased from 7 m to 10 m. In the laboratory self-made pool and anechoic pool experiments, the average relative distance error of our method is 1.04 percent, and the average detection speed is 0.088 s (11.36 FPS). This study offers a solution for the long-distance fast and accurate positioning of underwater small optical beacons due to their fast recognition, accurate ranging, and wide detection range characteristics.


This paper evaluates and compares five wear-resistant coatings produced by HVOF spraying for high-temperature use. CrC-NiCr, CrC-CoNiCrAlY, Stellite 6, NiCrBSi, and TiMoCN-Ni coatings were sprayed on grit-blasted carbon steel substrates. Abrasive, sliding, and fretting wear resistance were measured and changes in microstructure and hardness due to high-temperature exposure were recorded. CrC-NiCr coatings exhibited the best wear properties, but the oxidation of carbides at high temperatures proved to be a problem. Based on test results, alternative coatings would include CrC-CoNiCrAlY for abrasive wear, Stellite 6 for erosive wear, and NiCrBSi for sliding wear.


Summary: We set out to quantify the changes in HIV-related morbidity and mortality associated with the clinical use of antiretroviral therapy via prospectively collected patient-related events (admissions, bed days, deaths, WHO stage 3 and 4 events and drug costs) on all HIV patients known to the Regional Infectious Disease Unit (RIDU) from 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1996. The introduction of zidovudine monotherapy in 1987 for those with AIDS was associated with a subsequent decline of inpatient activity for 2 years: in 1989 there was a 23% reduction in bed days but only a 6% reduction in admissions. A further dramatic decline of patient-related events in those with AIDS was noted during 1996 following the introduction of combination therapy, a 39% reduction in admissions, 44% reduction in bed days, 54% reduction in stage 4 events, 33% reduction in WHO stage 3 events and 40% reduction in the death rate. Reductions were also observed for patients without AIDS including a 42% reduction in the rate of patients developing AIDS. Similar reductions were noted when the patients were classified by immunological instead of clinical status although data for 1997 suggest an increase in patient-related activity for those with CD4 counts 200 cells/ul possibly as a result of low levels of anti-HIV therapy. The introduction of combination therapy for HIV has to date led to a minimum saving of one inpatient bed per 100 patient years which helped defray the cost of combination therapy. Although we cannot imply causality from an observational study, dramatic reductions in patientrelated activity were associated with the introduction of combination therapy into clinical practice. The ultimate extent and duration of this effect cannot as yet be predicted and caution is required since similar reductions were noted with zidovudine therapy which were unfortunately time limited.


The design of scalable and reliable interconnection networks for multicore chips (NoCs) introduces new design constraints like power consumption, area, and ultra low latencies. Although 2D meshes are usually proposed for NoCs, heterogeneous cores, manufacturing defects, hard failures, and chip virtualization may lead to irregular topologies. In this context, efficient routing becomes a challenge. Although switches can be easily configured to support most routing algorithms and topologies by using routing tables, this solution does not scale in terms of latency and area. We propose a new circuit that removes the need for using routing tables. The new mechanism, referred to as logic-based distributed routing (LBDR), enables the implementation in NoCs of many routing algorithms for most of the practical topologies we might find in the near future in a multicore chip. From an initial topology and routing algorithm, a set of three bits per switch output port is computed. By using a small logic block, LHDR mimics (demonstrated by evaluation) the behavior of routing algorithms implemented with routing tables. This result is achieved both in regular and irregular topologies. Therefore, LBDR removes the need for using routing tables for distributed routing, thus enabling flexible, fast and power-efficient routing in NoCs.


The purpose of this study is to analyze the solution of divorce cases among the people of Aceh and to study the best practices that can be learned from Malaysia in order to create a model of a divorce case that can be practised in Aceh. This qualitative study used the interview method which was conducted in Aceh and Malaysia to learn how similar cases were resolved in Malaysia, while the secondary data was obtained through a library study. The study concludes that the Customary Court has jurisdiction to resolve divorce cases, involving either registered or unregistered marriage. However, the Customary Court failed to distinguish between criminal and civil trial cases, which led to all cases of divorce claims being processed and subsequently allowed, but the decision was only a fine. However, the Syariah court resolved divorce cases involving only registered marriages as well as cases which impose imprisonment. This study proposes the need to create a Comprehensive Divorce Case Settlement (PKPK) model which shows that divorce cases in the Customary Court can be brought before the Syariah Court by the leader of the village who is entrusted to resolve the matter.

Received: 6 October 2020 / Accepted: 10 December 2020 / Published: 17 January 2021


We report a case of adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) accompanied by polycythemia vera (PV) in which rapid development of myelofibrosis and clinical features of hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS) were observed at the terminal stage. The patient, a 53-year-old man who was born in Oita Prefecture, Japan, was diagnosed as having PV in 1996. He had undergone venesection but had not received any chemotherapy. In June 1997, he showed systemic lymphadenopathy with positivity for serum HTLV-1 antibody (x 10,240). Pathological findings and Southern blotting analysis for detection of monoclonal integration of HTLV-1 provirus DNA in a lymph node biopsy sample revealed that he also had acute-type ATL. Although several courses of chemotherapy were transiently effective, high fever, pancytopenia, increased serum LDH, hypoproteinemia and hyperferritinemia appeared, all of which were compatible with the clinical features of HPS. In addition, cytomegalovirus infection became evident. He died of multiple organ failure with rapid progression of myelofibrosis in May 1998. Detection of both increased CD68-positive histiocytes by immunohistochemistry and iron-stained phagocytic cells in marrow biopsy specimens appeared to be helpful for diagnosis of HPS in this patient, whose marrow showed myelofibrosis with hypocellularity.


Background: Post-exercise (i.e., cool-down) stretching is commonly prescribed for improving recovery of strength and range of motion (ROM) and diminishing delayed onset muscular soreness (DOMS) after physical exertion. However, the question remains if post-exercise stretching is better for recovery than other post-exercise modalities. Objective: To provide a systematic review and meta-analysis of supervised randomized-controlled trials (RCTs) on the effects of post-exercise stretching on short-term (≤1 h after exercise) and delayed (e.g., ≥24 h) recovery makers (i.e., DOMS, strength, ROM) in comparison with passive recovery or alternative recovery methods (e.g., low-intensity cycling). Methods: This systematic review followed PRISMA guidelines (PROSPERO CRD42020222091). RCTs published in any language or date were eligible, according to P.I.C.O.S. criteria. Searches were performed in eight databases. Risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane RoB 2. Meta-analyses used the inverse variance random-effects model. GRADE was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies. Results: From 17,050 records retrieved, 11 RCTs were included for qualitative analyses and 10 for meta-analysis (n = 229 participants; 17–38 years, mostly males). The exercise protocols varied between studies (e.g., cycling, strength training). Post-exercise stretching included static stretching, passive stretching, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. Passive recovery (i.e., rest) was used as comparator in eight studies, with additional recovery protocols including low intensity cycling or running, massage, and cold-water immersion. Risk of bias was high in ~70% of the studies. Between-group comparisons showed no effect of post-exercise stretching on strength recovery (ES = −0.08; 95% CI = −0.54–0.39; p = 0.750; I2 = 0.0%; Egger's test p = 0.531) when compared to passive recovery. In addition, no effect of post-exercise stretching on 24, 48, or 72-h post-exercise DOMS was noted when compared to passive recovery (ES = −0.09 to −0.24; 95% CI = −0.70–0.28; p = 0.187–629; I2 = 0.0%; Egger's test p = 0.165–0.880). Conclusion: There wasn't sufficient statistical evidence to reject the null hypothesis that stretching and passive recovery have equivalent influence on recovery. Data is scarce, heterogeneous, and confidence in cumulative evidence is very low. Future research should address the limitations highlighted in our review, to allow for more informed recommendations. For now, evidence-based recommendations on whether post-exercise stretching should be applied for the purposes of recovery should be avoided, as the (insufficient) data that is available does not support related claims. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO, identifier: CRD42020222091.


BACKGROUND
Determination of secular trends in cognitive aging is important for prioritization of resources, services, and research in aging populations. Prior studies have identified declining dementia incidence associated with changes in cardiovascular risk factors and increased educational attainment. However, few studies have examined these factors in multi-ethnic cohorts.

OBJECTIVE
To identify secular trends in the incidence rate of dementia in an elderly population.

METHODS
Participants in this study were drawn from the Washington Heights-Inwood Columbia Aging Project, a multi-ethnic cohort study of northern Manhattan residents aged 65 years and older. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine differences in the incidence of dementia in cohorts recruited in 1992 and 1999, with age at dementia or age at last follow-up visit as the "time-to-event" variable.

RESULTS
Overall, there was a 41% reduction in the hazard ratio for dementia among participants in the 1999 cohort compared with those in the 1992 cohort, adjusting for age, sex, race, and baseline memory complaints (HR = 0.59). The reduction in incidence was greatest among non-Hispanic Whites and African-Americans and lowest among Hispanic participants (HRs = 0.60, 0.52 and 0.64, respectively), and was associated with increases in level of educational attainment, especially among African-Americans. Reduction in incidence of dementia was also greater among persons 75 years or older than among younger participants (HR = 0.52 versus HR = 0.69).

CONCLUSIONS
Our results support previous findings that secular trends in dementia incidence are changing, including in aging minority populations.


The aim of this research was to establish a relationship between motor skills and performance of gymnastic elements on the floor routine and vault. A battery of 22 motor skills tests was assessed on the sample of 36 male subjects, students of Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, all of whom took the course "Sport Gymnastics 1". The subjects were evaluated by an expert commission in the performance of the selected elements on the floor routine (side-to-side and front-to-back cartwheel, roundoff, front and back handspring, forward and backward flip) and the vault (squat through on the vault and straddle vault with pre-flight, front handspring on vault, roundoff vault). The overall results of the canonical correlation analysis indicated to the evaluation of the applied canonical model on motor tests in relation to the performance of gymnastic elements, to the canonical correlation value of 0.998 with the Chi-Square test value of 320.11, and to statistically significant correlation of used variables on level p .00280. Through further analysis, 10 canonical roots were extracted, out of which only the first one was statistically significant (p .002). Through observation of data on the correlation between motor variables and canonical roots, it can be concluded that the standing triple jump variable and the lying medicine ball throw variable have the highest projection on the canonical factor, and thus are also most significant in conditioning the results achieved. Variables of coordination, figure eight running drill with bending under rope, lateral shuffle, agility on the floor, and agility in the air, all indicate to negative projection on the first isolated canonical factor, as do the two flexibility tests, shoulder and chest opener with rod and standing shoulder extension, pointing to the fact that the subjects with lower degree of those motor skills have also had lower performance of specific gymnastic elements. Regarding the criterion variables, the results show that the front-to-back cartwheel variable had the biggest projection, while the variables side-to-side cartwheel, back handspring, backward flip, squat through on the vault with pre-flight, and roundoff vault had almost the same projection on the first canonical root, indicating the need for greater engagement of motor skills in performing the aforementioned elements.


BACKGROUND
Formative evaluation is a range of formal assessment employed by professors during the teaching process in order to modify curriculum activities, to improve student attainment. For students, it is helpful to evaluate their learning process. Although recommended, it is seldom used.

AIM
To evaluate the perception and performance of medical students subjected to formative assessments during an integrative clinical course.

MATERIAL AND METHODS
Fourth year medical students that participated in a multiple choice formative assessment, similar to the final exam during 2007 and 2008, responded a survey about the usefulness and quality of such assessment. Student achievement was expressed as the percentage of correct answers of the tests.

RESULTS
The formative assessment was answered by 99% of students. In 2007 97% of students considered the experience as excellent or very good and 92% evaluated it as useful or very useful. During 2008 the figures were 89% and 79%. The students outlined that this assessment oriented their study, allowed them to discover their weaknesses and have a perception of the degree of difficulty of the final exam. Over 90% of students that took the formative evaluation, improved their academic achievement.

CONCLUSIONS
Formative assessments are well evaluated by medical students and improve their academic achievement.


"Hypermobiity of the first metatarsal bone" is due to unusually free motion in the joint between the inner cuneiform and scaphoid bones, and between the inner and middle cuneiforms.

The resulting instability of the inner anterior pillar affects the metatarsal portion, and also the longitudinal arch of the foot.

Physiological hypertrophy of the second metatarsal bone is the most notable structural feature. It is similar to the enlargement of this bone observed in feet with a short first metatarsal.

Metatarsalgic symptoms are more frequent than the symptoms of arch strain, although pain may coexist both in the forepart of the foot and in the arch.

Subjective symptoms rarely appear before adult life, although the laxity of the first metatarsal bone seems to be a condition acquired congenitally or during early childhood.

Analysis of a large group of metatarsalgic cases in which hypermobility or brevity of the first metatarsal was present (singly or in combination), indicates that the disorder is essentially a physiological one, comprising an improper distribution of stresses borne by the different metatarsal bones; it is not attended with any measurable change in the relative position of the metatarsal heads as inferred by the term "depressed anterior arches". This term is therefore regarded as inapt, and as conducive to misapprehension of the real nature of static disorders in this part of the foot.


A family of novel milbemycins possessing C-13 beta-acyloxy substitution was produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus ATCC 53718. These compounds were detected by HPLC diode array analysis and possess anthelmintic and ectoparasiticidal activity. The origin of the oxygen atom at C-13 is discussed.


In this work, an electromagnetic (EM) model and a small-signal (lumped-element) model of a wafer-level encapsulated (WLE) radio frequency microelectromechanical systems (RF-MEMS) switch is presented. The EM model of the WLE RF-MEMS switch is developed to estimate its RF performance. After the fabrication of the switch, the EM model is used to get accurate S-parameter simulation results. Alternative to the EM model, a small-signal model of the fabricated WLE RF-MEMS switch is developed. The developed model is integrated into a 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS process technology design kit for fast simulations and to predict the RF performance of the switch from a pure electrical point of view. The 0.13 µm SiGe BiCMOS embedded WLE RF-MEMS shows beyond state-of-the-art measured RF performances in D-band (110–170 GHz) and provides a high capacitance Con/Coff ratio of 11.1. The results of the both EM model and small-signal model of the switch are in very good agreement with the S-parameter measurements in D-band. The measured maximum isolation of the WLE RF-MEMS switch is 51.6 dB at 142.8 GHz with an insertion loss of 0.65 dB.


OBJECTIVE
The control of biofilm and effluent contamination of dental unit water lines (DUWL) includes additions of antimicrobial solutions, as well as automatic dosing units. There are, however, varying reports on the effects of such agents on the bond strength of restorative dental materials and, particularly, between these agents and dental hard tissues.

METHODOLOGY
The possible effects of an antimicrobial DUWL treatment solution on the adhesion of composite resin to dentin was evaluated by shear bond strength (SBS) testing. A total of 20 caries-free human molar and premolar teeth were used as the test substrates. The teeth were divided into two sets of 10 teeth which, after appropriate cleaning with water and pumice, were embedded horizontally in dental die stone. The buccal surface of each tooth was ground flat to a 17 microns finish using water-lubricated SiC paper. The teeth were then etched for 15 seconds with 37% H3PO4 and rinsed with either water (control) or a proprietary DUWL treatment (ICX) solution. Thereafter, the teeth were lightly blown dry with clean dry air, and the dentin conditioned with Prime & Bond NT for 20 seconds. The excess solvent was then removed by gentle air drying for 5 seconds, and the conditioner cured with visible light for 10 seconds. A cylinder of composite was placed on the conditioned surface and cured. A second group of 20 caries-free human molar and premolar teeth were used as test substrates to evaluate the effect of the ICX DUWL treatment solution on a different dentin priming system (OptiBond Solo Plus). The teeth in the second group were divided into two sets and after a 15 second etch with 37% H3PO4, were rinsed with water (control) or the proprietary ICX DUWL treatment solution. Thereafter, the teeth were lightly blown dry with clean, dry air and the dentin conditioned with OptiBond Solo for 20 seconds. The excess solvent was then removed by gentle air drying for 5 seconds, and the conditioner cured with visible light for 10 seconds. A cylinder of composite was placed on the conditioned surface and cured. Shear bond strength testing was performed with a universal test machine at the default cross-head speed of 0.1 mm/min. A set of teeth, sectioned, mounted and etched as above but rinsed with a 0.01% mineral oil/water mix prior to conditioning and bonding, was used as the negative control. A separate corrosion testing was performed by immersing brass coupons in water and ICX for 31 days and measuring the weight loss. The brass coupons were bright-dipped, electroless nickel-plated and bright nickel electroplated.

RESULTS
The bonding studies indicated that the DUWL treatment solution applied to a cut and etched dentin surface prior to conditioning and bonding with an adhesive system has no effect (p > 0.05) on bond strength for either group of specimens, compared to water. Negative control specimens were found to have minimal bond strengths. The corrosion study indicated no difference in the behavior of the test specimens in ICX compared to those in water, although differences were noted between the different surface finishes applied to the brass substrate.

CONCLUSION
The findings of this study demonstrate that exposure of an etched dentin surface to a water-based DUWL treatment mixture has no adverse effects on subsequent adhesion strength. Minimal corrosive attack was noted in the ICX solution and water for brass coupons provided with three different surface finishes.


In this paper, the wireless uplink is considered for status update with a large number of terminals. Thy key problem we address is that whether spatial multiplexing of multiple terminals, enabled by the massive multiple-input multiple-output technology, can help to improve the scaling law of age-of-information versus the number of terminals, on account of the mandatory pilot overhead. Based on a queuing theory analysis, we show that the proposed elastic spatial multiplexing scheme, which assigns an optimized pilot length that is smaller than the number of transmitting terminals on account of random packet arrivals, can indeed improve the scaling law compared with the optimal scaling law without spatial multiplexing, by a factor that is related to the packet lengths and arrival rates. Simulation results are provided to validate our findings.


The larva of Lepicerus inaequalis Motschulsky was described by Lawrence et al. (2013) based on several early instars and one late instar collected among wet leaves and debris near Gamboa, Panama. The identification was based on collection of an adult Lepicerus in a similar habitat nearby and a combination of characters found in other myxophagan immatures but not known in other beetle larvae. We accepted this identification with some reservations, but a misinterpretation of one feature in the original description plus an unexpected new source of evidence makes it likely that our identification was incorrect. The one misinterpreted feature in this larva was the retraction of the ventral mouthparts. Reexamining the larvae, it was found that a pair of tendons extending mesally from the hypostomal rods were misinterpreted as maxillary bases. The mouthparts are definitely protracted, which is expected with long hypostomal rods. The new source of evidence is somewhat complicated, as explained below.


Results of a numerical modeling study of quartz dissolution and precipitation in a sub-seafloor hydrothermal system have been used to predict where in the system quartz could be deposited and potentially trap fluid inclusions. The spatial distribution of zones of quartz dissolution and precipitation is complex, owing to the fact that quartz solubility depends on many inter-related factors, including temperature, fluid salinity and fluid immiscibility, and is further complicated by the fact that quartz exhibits both prograde and retrograde solubility behavior, depending on the fluid temperature and salinity. Using the PVTX properties of H2O-NaCl, the petrographic and microthermometric properties of fluid inclusions trapped at various locations within the hydrothermal system have been predicted. Vapor-rich inclusions are trapped as a result of the retrograde temperature-dependence of quartz solubility as the convecting fluid is heated in the vicinity of the magmatic heat source. Coexisting liquid-rich and vapor-rich inclusions are also trapped in this region when quartz precipitates as a result of fluid immiscibility that lowers the overall bulk quartz solubility in the system. Fluid inclusions trapped in the shallow subsurface near the seafloor vents and in the underlying stockwork are liquid-rich with homogenization temperatures of 200–400°C and salinities close to that of seawater. Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits represent the uplifted and partially eroded remnants of fossil submarine hydrothermal systems, and the relationship between fluid-inclusion properties and location within the hydrothermal system described here can be used in exploration for VMS deposits to infer the direction towards potential massive sulfide ore.


This paper contributes to a growing body of philosophical and psychological work that draws parallels between the writings of William James and Alfred North Whitehead1. In Part One I introduce Whitehead's distinction between assemblage and systematization (section 1) and suggest that Whitehead's philosophy was in part a systematization of James' psychological and philosophical assemblage (section 2). The systematization is based on a rethinking of the entity/function contrast (section 3) by way of Whitehead's concept of the actual entity/occasion (section 4). This permits a process- oriented ontological extension and James' notion of pure experience (sections 5 & 6), which yields a deepened version of radical empiricism (section 7). The four sections of Part Two build a more specific argument that James' often implicit distinctions between energetic, perceptual, conceptual and discursive modes of experience can be systematized by way of Whitehead's concepts of causal efficacy, presentational immediacy and symbolic reference. Following the suggestion of Magritte's famous Ceci n'est pas une Pipe artwork, this yields an analysis of the sum of human experience into four progressively integrated factors: power, image, proposition and enunciation.


Rubia cordifolia L. (Family Rubiaceae),
is a common medicinal plant used in
the preparation of different formulations in Ayurveda. The root of the plant is commonly
known as Manjistha and its dried samples are sold in the market under the name Manjith.
The present study was carried out to compare the authentic sample from its commercial
samples keeping in mind the pharmacopoeial standards of Ayurveda. The quantitative
phytochemical studies of the drug samples were carried out by studying the percentage of
ash, extractive values and qualitative screening was carried out by Thin Layer
Chromatography and different biochemical tests. Thus, the present work aims in forming
certain parameters for identification of drug with the help of various phytochemical
observations.


There has always been an avid debate on the merits of owning versus renting a residence. There is a commonly accepted sentiment that owning a home is a wise investment. However, this sentiment is often unproven or supported with non-substantial evidence. The scholarly literature on the buy versus rent decision has conflicting results. Further, recent events in the US residential real estate market suggest increased asset riskiness which may have a dramatic effect on home ownership. Our research uses a capital budgeting model, similar to the lease versus buy analysis, with the output being the present value of buying instead of renting. The present value model includes the difference in cash flows between buying and renting for two standardized holding periods. A key contribution of the paper is a more accurate estimate of required return on equity, the discount rate in our present value model. As real estate values have recently demonstrated greater risk and the capital structure of homeowners may be highly leveraged, the cost of equity is higher than often suggested. The benchmark model uses point estimates for each variable with subsequent models including scenario analysis for key variables. The results suggest buying is better, in the benchmark model as well as scenarios allowing rents, home appreciation, mortgage rates and required return to vary. However, most scenarios show negative present values are possible, which contrasts the historic view that home ownership always has a positive return.


Two distinct binding sites for serotonin have been identified in brain tissue and labeled 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 binding sites. The receptor mediating contractions of several types of vascular smooth muscle (including the canine basilar artery), aggregation of blood platelets, and contractions of tracheal muscle can be defined as a 5-HT2 serotonergic receptor. The prejunctional inhibitory effect of serotonin on adrenergic neurotransmission is mediated by receptors which have the same affinity for agonists as the 5-HT1 binding sites. The other peripheral actions of serotonin, in particular its vasodilator effects and its excitatory effects on gastrointestinal smooth muscle, do not involve 5-HT2 serotonergic receptors.


Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder in the female ovary caused because of reproductive age group hormonal changes. PCOS is a different follicle that is formed in the ovary and is termed an endocrine disorder. This disorder's effects are often linked with clinical symptoms such as arteries, acne, hirsutism, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and chronic infertility. It is mainly associated with type 2 diabetes, obesity with high cholesterol. This must be diagnosed at an earlier stage for avoiding other related diseases. To ensure infertility, various kinds of ovulatory failures must be significantly diagnosed and recognized. The physicians manually determine the PCOS using ultrasound images, but it is inefficient to declare whether it is a simple cyst, PCOS, or cancer cyst. This manual detection is prone to trying errors. In this paper, PCOS detection is performed through a series of processes such as preprocessing, segmentation, feature selection, and classification. The speckle noise is removed in preprocessing, and the images are enhanced for further processing. The proposed improved adaptive K-means with reptile search algorithm (IAKmeans-RSA) has been utilized for cyst segmentation and follicles recognition. The relevant features from the segmented images are extracted using a convolutional neural network (CNN). Finally, the classification is performed using the Deep Neural Network (DNN) approach. The proposed system efficiently diagnosed PCOS through cyst detection from the input images. The algorithm's efficiency compared with existing methods shows that the proposed model is superior in segmenting and diagnosing PCOS.


The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Indigenous People, adopted on 13 September 2007, provides a clear support for the recognition of indigenous people's right over their cultural heritage, traditional cultural expression and traditional knowledge (Article 31). The Declaration which was supported by both Malaysia and Indonesia provides the framework for the evolution of laws, regulations and rules for to maintain, develop the past and future manifestation of their cultural practices (Article 11). States are also expected to provide effective redress for the misappropriation of their cultural practices including restitution and repatriation of their ceremonial objects and human remains (Article 12).
Indigenous culture is fast growing to be a major drawing appeal to global tourists. This paper commences with a brief expose on how the cultural practices of the indigenous people became a key attractions for tourist in Malaysia. The paper seeks to ask how cultural tourisms can pose harm to the cultural integrity of the indigenous people. The widespread sale of their arts and crafts and the lack of control over reproduction of cheap copies for tourists question the measures taken by the state to control the misappropriation of their cultural practices. TCE has also been the subject of coverage in many other international treaties and domestic legislation. This paper examines the gaps between the various legal treatises on TCE and national legislation with the aim of fortifying the relevant rules for countries like Malaysia and Indonesia to emulate. The paper concludes with some suggestions for legislative reform for the effective control of trade in indigenous people's art and crafts.


An intimate knowledge of aerosol transport is essential in reducing the uncertainty of the impacts of aerosols on cloud development. Data sets from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement platform in the Southern Great Plains region (ARM‐SGP) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Modern‐Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications, version 2 (MERRA‐2), showed seasonal increases in aerosol loading and total carbon concentration during the spring and summer months (2008–2016) which was attributed to fire activity and smoke transport within North America. The monthly mean MERRA‐2 surface carbonaceous aerosol mass concentration and ARM‐SGP total carbon products were strongly correlated (R = 0.82, p < 0.01) along with a moderate correlation with the ARM‐SGP cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) product (0.5, p ~ 0.1). The monthly mean ARM‐SGP total carbon and NCCN products were strongly correlated (0.7, p ~ 0.01). An additional product denoting fire number and coverage taken from the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) showed a moderate correlation with the MERRA‐2 carbonaceous product (0.45, p < 0.01) during the 1981–2016 warm season months (March–September). With respect to meteorological conditions, the correlation between the NIFC fire product and MERRA‐2 850‐hPa isobaric height anomalies was lower (0.26, p ~ 0.13) due to the variability in the frequency, intensity, and number of fires in North America. An observed increase in the isobaric height anomaly during the past decade may lead to frequent synoptic ridging and drier conditions with more fires, thereby potentially impacting cloud/precipitation processes and decreasing air quality.


Crutzen and Stoermer's (2000) naming of the 'Anthropocene' has provoked lively debate across the physical and social sciences, but, while the term is gradually gaining acceptance as the signifier of the current geological epoch, it remains little more than a roughly defined place-holder for an era characterized by environmental and social uncertainty. The term invites deeper considerations of its meaning, significance, and consequences for thought and politics. For this Forum, we invited five scholars to reflect on how the Anthropocene poses challenges to the structures and habits of geography, politics, and their guiding concepts. The resulting essays piece together an agenda for geographic thought – and political engagement – in this emerging epoch. Collectively, they suggest that geography, as a discipline, is particularly well suited to address the conceptual challenges presented by the Anthropocene.


We assessed mothers' self-reported gains from a postpartum home-visiting (HV) project in which home visitors are volunteer mothers from the community. Hypotheses were that gains are positively related to (a) mothers' felt-closeness with their home visitor, (b) mothers' level of sociodemographic risk, and (c) the home visitors' preproject training in support services for families or children (Professionalism). One hundred sixty-four clients returned written evaluations of the HV project. Items assessing gains were reduced to two factors: Improved Well-Being ("Self") and Improved Infant Care ("Infant"). Repeated measures general linear models, with Gains (Self, Infant) as the repeated measure, and multiple regression analyses evaluated the hypotheses. Across the sample, gains on both factors were moderate, although gain scores were higher regarding Self than for Infant. Results show that (a) Mothers' felt-closeness with their volunteer was strongly related to mothers' gains; (b) high-risk mothers gained more from the project than did mothers of lower risk, particularly regarding Infant Care; and (c) mothers visited by volunteers who were professionals reported more substantial gains than did mothers visited by volunteers who were not professionals. Findings can help explain variance in mothers' gains from such projects and could be useful in improving their efficacy.


In this study, the failure and deformation characteristics of steel fiber reinforced shotcrete (SFRS) which is a primary tunnel support was investigated to find out ground-support mutual behavior. To this end, a mock-up of a tunnel was made and experimented with the conditions of lateral earth pressure coefficient 0.5 and 1.0. During the tests, 11 hydraulic cylinders were used for loading. For better simulation of the lateral earth pressure effect, these cylinders were controlled separately by two groups; crown and side wall. Meanwhile, the deformation of shotcrete was measured by 11 LVDTs. Backfill material was also used for better load transfer from hydraulic cylinders to shotcrete. For the validation of the mock-up test results, 3D numerical analysis is carried out. To do numerical analysis under the same condition as a mock-up test, the load history curve which was obtained during the test was tried to be simulated using an individual FISH routine in the numerical analysis.


A fuzzy logic based mobile robot navigation system was developed to improve the driving ability without trapping inside obstacles in complex terrains, which is one of the most concerns in robot navigation in unknown terrains. The navigation system utilizes the data from ultrasonic sensors to recognize the distances from obstacles and the position information from a GPS sensor. The fuzzy navigation system has two groups of behavior rules, and the robot chooses one of them based on the information from sensors while navigating for the targets. In plain terrains the robot with the proposed algorithm uses one rule group consisting of behavior rules for avoiding obstacle, target steering, and following edge of obstacle. Once trap is detected the robot uses the other rule group consisting of behavior rules strengthened for following edge of obstacle. The output signals from navigation system control the speed of two wheels of the robot through the fuzzy logic data process. The test was conducted in the Matlab based mobile robot simulator developed in this study, and the results show that escaping ability from obstacle is improved.


Intrinsic population growth rate and density dependence are fundamental components of population dynamics. Theory suggests that variation in and correlations between these parameters among patches within a population can influence overall population size, but data on the degree of variation and correlation are rare. Replicate populations of a specialist aphid (Chaetosiphon fragaefolii) were followed on 11 genotypes of host plant (Fragaria chiloensis) in the greenhouse. Population models fit to these census data provide estimates of intrinsic growth rate and carrying capacity for aphid populations on each plant genotype. Growth rate and carrying capacity varied substantially among plant genotypes, and these two parameters were not significantly correlated. These results support the existence of spatial variation in population dynamic parameters; data on frequency distributions and correlations of these parameters in natural populations are needed for evaluation of the importance of variation in growth rate and density dependence for population dynamics in the field.


Formulas for calculating Legendre functions and associated Legendre functions of the first kind of complex degree using an Ermakov–Lewis invariant are presented. These formulas are straight-forward to implement numerically and are motivated by the lack of computational routines in standard university tools like those of MatLab and Maple. Angular waves propagating in opposite directions are also obtained. The results are particularly useful in complex angular momentum theories and nearside/farside analysis of spin-dependent angular scattering from central potentials.


The paper is devoted to study of mechanisms responsible on vacuum breakdown as a whole and the total voltage effect in particular. Experiments at dc and pulsed voltages were carried out. It has been shown that there is no manifestation of the total voltage effect at dc voltages up to 20 kV. The strong dependence of hold-off on anode temperature was recognized at dc voltages while pulsed hold-off turned out to be almost the same with heating electrodes. This gives a basis to consider gas desorption as an insufficient factor in initiation of pulsed breakdown. An attempt to enhance hold-off with electrostatic removing of loosely bound particles with assistance of electron flow from a thermionic cathode was undertaken in the work. The approach tuned out to be ineffective


The eukaryotic chaperonin family is vital for cell survival. The dysregulation of chaperonin-containing TCP-1 subunit 3 (CCT3) is implicated in several types of malignant tumors' development. However, its functional role in melanoma remains unknown. Here we elucidate the functional contribution to CCT3 to melanoma progression. The results indicated that CCT3 highly expressed in melanoma tissues, and CCT3 overexpression is correlated with clinical stage in melanoma patients. Knockdown of CCT3 by shRNA in melanoma cells inhibited cell proliferation and cell cycle progression and induced cell apoptosis in vitro. In vivo, tumor growth in the nude mice was significantly inhibited after CCT3 silencing. Importantly, the gene array analysis showed that CCT3 depletions inhibited cyclins and cell cycle regulation signaling and further evaluation demonstrated that CDK1 expression was significantly decreased after CCT3 knockdown. Additionally, Functional rescues experiments also indicated that decreased cell proliferation due to CCT3 silencing was rescued by CDK1 overexpression. Overall, our findings suggest that CCT3 depletions prohibited melanoma progression by downregulating CDK1 expression and is a potential therapeutic target for melanoma.


ABSTRACT Background: There is underutilization of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics for first-episode schizophrenia (FES) despite having convenient dosing and treatment retention. LAIs are predominantly used for patients with poor compliance, chronic course, and multiple relapses. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two treatment naïve patients with the first episode of Schizophrenia (DSM-5) were assessed for baseline severity of psychopathology using the positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) and quality of life (QOL) using the WHOQOL-BREF scale. Patients were randomized to receive either oral haloperidol or LAI haloperidol for a period of 12 weeks. Results: Both the groups had a significant reduction in PANSS scores and improvement in QoL over 12 weeks period (P = 0.0001). The LAI group showed greater adherence and significantly better quality of life than the oral group (P = 0.023). The mean numbers of side effects were less in the LAI group at week 2 as compared to the oral group. Conclusion: LAI haloperidol is similar to oral haloperidol in patients with FES with respect to treatment response and offers benefits in form of a lesser number of side effects during early treatment, overall better adherence rates, and better QOL.


The following facts are considered in connection with the problem of population polymorphism at heterochromatic regions of maize chromosomes: (a) variation (1-3 microm) of the heterochromatic region of nucleolus organizer (NO knob) in pollen mother cell at the pachytene stage; (b) presumably function-dependent variation of the degree of its compaction (from a compact state in the majority of plants to a puff-like state); (c) the presence of rearrangements in the NO knob region (duplications and deletion); and (d) homozygous (in all cases) state of the NO knob. Deletion is combined with alterations in the structure of chromosomal NO and the overall karyotype. It is assumed that inbreeding and MGEs influence the mutability of the NO locus and activation of the gene set controlling cytokinesis, chemical reduplication, and, possibly, rDNA amplification. The mutation was classified as a systemic mutation. The mechanisms of NO knob homozygotization in meiosis (mitosis) and the mechanisms of maintenance of the polymorphism at functionally inactive chromosome knob regions in maize populations are compared.


Cilia and flagella are dynamic organelles that are assembled and disassembled during cell differentiation, during stress, and during the cell cycle. Although intraflagellar transport (IFT) is well documented to be responsible for transport of ciliary/flagellar precursors from the cell body to the flagella, little is known about the molecular mechanisms for mobilizing the cell body-localized precursors to make them available for transport during organelle assembly or for disassembling the microtubule-based axoneme during shortening. Here, we show that Chlamydomonas kinesin-13 (CrKinesin-13), a member of the kinesin-13 family of microtubule depolymerizing kinesins best known for their roles in the cell cycle, functions in flagellar disassembly and flagellar assembly. Activation of a cell to generate new flagella induces rapid phosphorylation of CrKinesin-13, and activation of flagellar shortening induces the immediate transport of CrKinesin-13 via intraflagellar transport from the cell body into the flagella. Cells depleted of CrKinesin-13 by RNAi assemble flagella after cell division but are incapable of the rapid assembly of flagella that normally occurs after flagellar detachment. Furthermore, they are inhibited in flagellar shortening. Thus, CrKinesin-13 is dynamically regulated during flagellar assembly and disassembly in Chlamydomonas and functions in each.


The research is to investigate the influence of intellectual capital and Islamic social reporting toward financial performance (Return On Asset) of public Islamic Bank. The population of this research is Islamic banking statistics data published in annual report. The sampling techniques were using a purposive sampling method and the research samples obtained of forty Islamic banking company data. This research used two variables, they were the dependent variable and independent variable.
For the dependent variable (Y) from the research is the financial performance by using ratios (Return On Asset). For the independent variables (X) include: Intellectual Capital (X 1) and Islamic Social Reporting (X 2). The method that used in this research was quantitative research. The analysis tools which used in this research were a classic assumption test, multiple regression analysis, test provision models and test hypotheses.
Based on the results of the regression analysis note that Y = 2.601 – 0.014 0.498 + e. + test result F, F(count) > F(table) 6.951 3.25, while the value of the Adjusted R2 of 0.234 or 23.4%. In other words, the variable Intellectual Capital (X 1) and Islamic Social Reporting (X 2), they influence each other around 23.4% against financial performance (ROA) publicSyariah Bank. Hypothesis test results (test t) intellectual capital has no effect significantly to financial performance (ROA), while the influential Islamic social reporting variables significantly to financial performance (ROA) public Bank Syariah.
Key words: Intellectual Capital, Islamic Social Reporting,Return On Asset


This paper analyzes functional performance, effectiveness and usability of St. Petersburg government sites. Investigation of the level of web penetration, functional advancement and user-friendliness of selected sites under external approach reveals visible variation in accessibility and usability, implying the need for development of interactive elements. Internal evaluation is suggested for a strategic approach to web sites improvement aimed at the integration of agency network presence.


In this paper, we address two aspects, which influence the performance of multilayer perceptrons (MLP). 1) dimensionality reduction with PCA: the number of principal components are optimized; 2) complexity control: we investigate three different methods: model order selection, early stopping and regularization. We considered two electronic nose datasets of different size and learning difficulty. Measurements have been performed with the pico electronic nose based on thin film gas sensors. It turns out that: 1) (test set) performance depends strongly on the number of principal components and that even components with less than 1% of the global variance enhance classification; 2) if complexity control is performed with early stopping or regularization, then overfitting is avoided whatever the number of hidden units (and hence of network weights) is.


The transfer characteristics of a nominal 70 GHz sampling oscilloscope are measured using time-domain optoelectronic techniques. It is shown that the optoelectronic measurement set-up provides the bandwidth required to determine the full complex transfer function of the oscilloscope, which is completely characterized in the frequency and time domain. The investigated oscilloscope has a 3 dB bandwidth of 84 GHz and its step response shows a 10%–90% rise time of 4.8 ps. The uncertainty of the rise-time measurement is 1.2 ps.


The paper presents a pretreatment of the substrate material prior to the thermal spraying process. The ultrasonic finishing method allowed creation of a rolling topography comprising alternating projections and cavities, compressive stress, and increase of the number of defects on the surface. Optical profilometry and metallographic analysis allowed detecting of adhesion zones which form a strong physicochemical bond at the interface between the coating and the substrate material. This interfacial adhesion should provide a firm adhesion strength in end products.


We extend the results of Luo et al. (2015, Biometrics 71, 139–145) regarding the alternative hypotheses for the win ratio from hazard orders to the upper quadrant stochastic order on the plane. This extension substantially widens the range of alternatives against which the win ratio is known to be consistent. It incorporates alternatives induced by simple and popular copula models that are left out by the characterization of Luo et al. (2015). We also discuss how our results may be generalized to win ratios in multivariate and stratified settings.


Cybercrime presents a significant threat to global society. With the number of cybercrimes increasing year after year and the financial losses escalating, law enforcement must advance its capacity to identify cybercriminals, collect probative evidence, and bring cybercriminals before the courts. Arguably to date, the approach to combatting cybercrime has been technologically centric (e.g., anti-virus, anti-spyware). Cybercrimes, however, are the result of human activities based on human motives. It is, therefore, important that any comprehensive law enforcement strategy for combatting cybercrime includes a deeper understanding of the hackers that sit behind the keyboards. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the state of the literature relating to the application of a human-centric investigative tool (i.e., profiling) to cybercrime by conducting a qualitative meta-synthesis. Adhering to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this systematic review focuses specifically on cybercrime where a computer is the target (e.g., hacking, DDoS, distribution of malware). Using a comprehensive search strategy, this review used the following search terms: "cybercrime", "computer crime", "internet crime", "cybercriminal", "hacker", "black hat", "profiling", "criminal profiling", "psychological profiling", "offender profiling", "criminal investigative analysis", "behavioral profiling", "behavioral analysis", "personality profiling", "investigative psychology", and "behavioral evidence analysis" in all combinations to identify the relevant literature in the ACM Digital Library, EBSCOhost databases, IEEE Xplore, ProQuest, Scopus, PsychInfo, and Google Scholar. After applying the inclusion/exclusion criteria, a total of 72 articles were included in the review. This article utilizes a systematic review of the current literature on cyber profiling as a foundation for the development of a comprehensive framework for applying profiling techniques to cybercrime—described as cyber behavioral analysis (CBA). Despite decades of research, our understanding of cybercriminals remains limited. A lack of dedicated researchers, the paucity of research regarding human behavior mediated by technology, and limited access to datasets have hindered progress. The aim of this article was to advance the knowledge base in cyber behavioral sciences, and in doing so, inform future empirical research relating to the traits and characteristics of cybercriminals along with the application of profiling techniques and methodologies to cybercrime.


REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY
The high, repetitive demands imposed on polo horses in training and competition may predispose them to musculoskeletal injuries and lameness.

OBJECTIVES
To quantify movement symmetry and lameness in a population of polo horses, and to investigate the existence of a relationship with age.

STUDY DESIGN
Convenience sampled cross-sectional study.

METHODS
Sixty polo horses were equipped with inertial measurement units (IMUs) attached to the poll, and between the tubera sacrale. Six movement symmetry measures were calculated for vertical head and pelvic displacement during in-hand trot and compared with values for perfect symmetry, compared between left and right limb lame horses, and compared with published thresholds for lameness. Regression lines were calculated as a function of age of horse.

RESULTS
Based on 2 different sets of published asymmetry thresholds 52-53% of the horses were quantified with head movement asymmetry and 27-50% with pelvic movement asymmetry resulting in 60-67% of horses being classified with movement asymmetry outside published guideline values for either the forelimbs, hindlimbs or both. Neither forelimb nor hindlimb asymmetries were preferentially left or right sided, with directional asymmetry values across all horses not different from perfect symmetry and absolute values not different between left and right lame horses (P values >0.6 for all forelimb symmetry measures and >0.2 for all hindlimb symmetry measures). None of the symmetry parameters increased or decreased significantly with age.

CONCLUSIONS
A large proportion of polo horses show gait asymmetries consistent with previously defined thresholds for lameness. These do not appear to be lateralised or associated with age.


In wireless sensor networks (WSNs) with multiple sink nodes, energy is wasted on idle listening, redundant transmissions, and unnecessary power consumption. The total energy consumption may be minimized by properly scheduling communications in conjunction with aggregating data and dynamically adjusting radii. We propose near-optimal data aggregation routing and duty cycle scheduling heuristics, denoted by MDAR and O-MAC, which achieve energy efficiency and bound latency within a reasonable range. These heuristics outperform other general data aggregation routing heuristics (e.g., CNS, GIT, and SPT) and scheduling protocols (e.g., S-MAC and T-MAC) by 7%-45%, according to our experimental results.


The development of Design Education Courses in our schools has been part of a very necessary and valuable evolvement in Craft teaching . It has gone some way towards opening up and enlivening an area of education previously encumbered by limited objectives and over-preoccupied with out - moded and time-consuming processes . It has helped to eradicate the manual and menial tag so unfairly attached to Craft teachi ng in the past. It has given Craft teachers more sense of belonging in the main stream of education by requ iring them to relate their work to that of teachers in other disciplines. These developments can only be applauded - and yet for all that is good in Design Education, there has been during the past two years, a growing sense of unease amongst Art educators and amongst teachers of Home Economics that some aspects of this movement are having unfortunate effects upon those subjects normally associated with Design Education .


Abstract:This article argues for epistemic decolonization by developing a relational model of knowledge, which we locate within indigenous knowledges. We live in a time of ongoing global, epistemic coloniality, embedded in and shaped by colonial ideas and practices. Epistemological decolonization requires taking nondominant knowledges and their epistemes seriously to open up the possibility of interrogating and dismantling the hegemony of the Western knowledge tradition. We here ask two related questions: What are the decolonial affordances of indigenous knowledges? And how do these compare to other contemporary critiques of epistemic coloniality, specifically those mounted by posthumanism? In answer, we develop three definitional senses of relational with reference to indigenous knowledges. First, we define indigenous knowledges in relation to Western knowledge, with which they share a dialectical origin at the moment of colonial contact. Second, indigenous knowledges are relational in their ontological and axiological orientations. Third, relationality in indigenous knowledge suggests a trialectic space, rather than a dialectic space. We argue for the necessity of an anticolonial framework, which assigns priority to indigenous people's perceptions and ways of knowing for theorizing recurring colonial relations and their (imperialistic) manifestations in producing and reproducing knowledge.


A Computer-Based Testing Facility (CBTF) can provide students flexibility regarding when they take exams. By analyzing the data from the service that students used to schedule their exams, we can learn about student preferences and behaviors regarding their exam times. This paper explores the exam times that students choose, when students make and change their reservations, and the correlation between when students choose to take exams and their exam performance. Among our results, we find that students prefer to take exams in late afternoon/early evening towards the end of the exam period. In addition, we find that students frequently re-schedule when they take exams; 42% of reservations are later canceled/rescheduled. Finally, we find that there is a correlation between how early in the exam period a student takes an exam and their score on the exam.


: Corn yield estimation constitutes a critical issue in agricultural management and food supply, especially in demographic pressure and climate change contexts. In light of precision and smart agriculture, this study aims to develop a diagnostic approach to temporally monitor and estimate corn yields using GRAMI (a model for simulating the growth and yield of grain crops), satellite images, and climate data at regional scale. The GRAMI-corn model is controlled by vegetation indices (VIs) derived from Landsat 8 satellite images and calibrated by climate data. The model was performed and validated using information collected from twenty five cornfields in a semiarid region in Ravansar, Iran. The average of under- or over-estimate yields was 919 k g h a − 1 . In addition, the absolute error between the average observed and estimated yield values for the region was 19.21% for the 2016 corn season. The results using the GRAMI-corn model showed an acceptable agreement with field measurements.


Since its conception, proof-carrying code (PCC) woke up the interest of the research community and several methods based on this technique were developed. This technique guarantees that untrusted programs run safely in a host machine. In a PCC framework, the code producer equips the produced code with a formal proof establishing that the code satisfies the consumer's security policies. So, the code consumer only needs to verify such proof before the execution of the mobile code. On the other hand, static analysis is a technique useful for the production of the information required to construct the mentioned proof. Based on these two techniques, PCC and static analysis, we developed a framework that guarantees the safe execution of mobile code. This framework uses a high-level intermediate language to verify the security of the code. A control flow graph or an abstract syntax tree with type annotations could be used. Such intermediate representations of the code enable us to use static analysis techniques to generate and verify the type information needed. Moreover, we implemented a prototype as a proof of concept for our framework.


Global/national policy planning is guided by economic methods and predictions of growth, where indicators of success are measured according to a dominant view of progress and sustainable development. Yet, despite widespread ratification of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Peoples remain unrepresented in this dominant view. The structural and historical forces informing global policy thus inadvertently produce a pathway of development that is characterized by political, economic, and social exclusion where Indigenous Peoples' agency, heritage, and culture remain marginalized. I argue that socio-cultural nuance ("the complete story") is critical to policy planning if we are to honor the principal aim of the Sustainable Development Goals – "leave no-one behind". This and other policy frameworks need an approach that is neither framed by Eurocentric objectives nor bound by measurable indicators. This requires consideration of Indigenous Worldviews in a way that mediates diverse social, economic, and political factors. In this chapter, I examine the limitations in current policy consultation practice, with a specific focus on the extractive industries sector, and examine the ways in which engagement with Indigenous Peoples' "complete story" might inform policy in the pursuit of a sustainable development that leaves no-one behind and creates a bridge between dominant and marginalized forms of knowledge.


[1] Light-toned soils were exposed, through serendipitous excavations by Spirit Rover wheels, at eight locations in the Columbia Hills. Their occurrences were grouped into four types on the basis of geomorphic settings. At three major exposures, the light-toned soils are hydrous and sulfate-rich. The spatial distributions of distinct types of salty soils vary substantially: with centimeter-scaled heterogeneities at Paso Robles, Dead Sea, Shredded, and Champagne-Penny, a well-mixed nature for light-toned soils occurring near and at the summit of Husband Hill, and relatively homogeneous distributions in the two layers at the Tyrone site. Aeolian, fumarolic, and hydrothermal fluid processes are suggested to be responsible for the deposition, transportation, and accumulation of these light-toned soils. In addition, a change in Pancam spectra of Tyrone yellowish soils was observed after being exposed to current Martian surface conditions for 175 sols. This change is interpreted to be caused by the dehydration of ferric sulfates on the basis of laboratory simulations and suggests a relative humidity gradient beneath the surface. Si-rich nodules and soils were observed near the major exposures of S-rich soils. They possess a characteristic feature in Pancam visible near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectra that may be diagnostic of hydrated species, and this spectral feature can be used to search for additional Si-rich species. The exposures of hydrated salty soils within various geomorphic settings imply the potential existence of hydrous minerals in similar settings over a much wider area. Hydrous sulfates represent one of the candidates that may contribute the high level of water equivalent hydrogen in equatorial regions detected by the Neutron Spectrometer on Mars Odyssey.


Aims: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death after trauma, and alcohol is a major risk factor for TBI. In Finland, alcohol taxes were cut by one third in 2004. This resulted in a marked increase of alcohol consumption. We investigated whether increased alcohol consumption influenced the number of fatal TBIs. Methods: All (n = 318) fatal TBIs were identified from medico-legal reports during the years 1999, 2006 and 2007 among the residents of Oulu Province, Finland. Mortality rates were compared before and after alcohol price reduction. Alcohol involvement based on the presence of alcohol in body fluids and/or alcohol-related diseases recorded in death certificates. Results: The proportion of alcohol-related TBI deaths of all TBI deaths increased (from 1999 to 2007) among middle-aged people from 48% to 91% (p = 0.001) but decreased among young adults from 74% to 41% (p = 0.015). The overall TBI mortality rate did not increase. Fatal TBIs due to falls were significantly more commonly alcohol-related in 2006–2007 than in 1999 (p = 0.003) and accumulated among middle-aged people. Conclusions: After the price reduction, alcohol-related fatal TBIs increased most among middle-aged people, and they were frequently caused by fall accidents. The reduction of alcohol prices did not increase the total number of fatal TBIs. Middle-aged and elderly subjects with TBI should be routinely asked for alcohol drinking and those with hazardous drinking habits should be guided for alcohol intervention.


BACKGROUND
This study characterized Oregon households according to type and degree of restrictions on smoking and explored whether smoking restrictions are associated with decreased environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure.

METHODS
A population-based, random-digit-dialed cross-sectional telephone survey of 6,199 adult Oregonians was performed in 1997 to provide baseline data on tobacco use in Oregon.

RESULTS
Seventy percent of Oregon households were composed of nonsmokers only, and 85% of those had a full ban on smoking inside the home. Of the households containing one or more smokers, 38% had a full household ban on smoking. Among respondents with a full ban in place, 99% of nonsmoker-only households reported that no one smoked in the home in the previous month, compared with 91% of households with at least one smoker. In both nonsmoker-only households and those with at least one smoker, full bans were strongly associated with awareness of the harm of ETS (OR = 12.8, 95% CI 7.3-22.3, and OR = 6.6, 95% CI 3.6-12.3, respectively). The presence of children in the household was also closely associated with full bans in the two types of households (OR = 4.6, 95% CI 2.8-7.6, and OR = 3.0, 95% CI 2.1-4.4, respectively). Nevertheless, 50% of households with children and a smoker present did not have a full ban in place.

CONCLUSIONS
While the prevalence of household smoking restrictions is high in Oregon, there remains room for improvement, since 50% of households with a smoker and a child present do not have a full ban on indoor smoking. Public health messages that focus on household smoking restrictions may help protect nonsmokers from exposure to ETS.


We propose a novel hybrid aligned liquid crystal (LC) cell with negative dielectric anisotropy of the nematic LC driven by fringe field, which is normally black mode. In the on-state, the dielectric torque between the LC director and horizontal component of the fringe field causes the LC director to rotate in the entire area, so that the cell appears to be white. The device, with a wedge-shaped pixel electrode and optical compensation film, also shows a wide viewing angle, high light efficiency and low driving voltage.


This thesis discusses a novel timber-steel core wall system for use in multi-storey buildings in high seismic regions. This hybrid system combines Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) panels with steel plates and connections to provide the required strength and ductility to core walled buildings. The system is first derived from first principles and validated in SAP2000. In order to assess the feasibility of the system it is implemented in the design of a 7-storey building based off an already built concrete benchmark building. The design is carried out following the equivalent static force procedure (ESFP) outlined by the National Building Code of Canada for Vancouver, BC. To evaluate the design bi-directional nonlinear time history analysis (NLTHA) is carried out on the building using a set of 10 ground motions based on a conditional mean spectrum. To improve the applicability of the hybrid system an energy based design (EBD) methodology is proposed to design the timber-core walled building. The methodology is proposed as it does not rely on empirical formulas and force modification factors to determine the final design of the structure. NLTHA is carried out on the proposed methodology using 10 ground motions to evaluate the suitability of the method and the results are discussed and compared to the ESFP results.


Background: Baseball pitching is a dynamic movement where the lower extremities generate and sequentially transfer energy to the upper extremities to maximize ball velocity. The need for lower body muscular strength to produce adequate push-off and landing forces has been documented; however, the influence footwear and surface inclination has on muscle activation remains unknown. Objectives: Determine how pitching in molded cleats and turf shoes from a pitching mound and flat ground affects stride-leg muscle activation in youth baseball pitchers while determining percent activation during each pitching phase. Methods: Cross – sectional study analyzing mean muscle activity and percent activation of the vastus medialis, semitendinosus, tibialis anterior, and medial gastrocnemius on the stride-leg of 11 youth baseball pitchers when pitching fastballs. Results: Footwear did not significantly alter vastus medialis or semitendinosus muscle activation (P 0.05). The turf shoe x pitching mound interaction elicited significantly (P 0.05) greater mean muscle activity in the medial gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior from stride foot contact to maximum glenohumeral internal rotation. Molded cleats produced greater activation levels in the tibialis anterior on flat ground from stride foot contact (0.374 ± 0.176 mV) to ball release (0.469 ± 0.150 mV). Conclusion: Findings suggest footwear significantly alters the activity level of the ankle stabilizing musculature. Youth baseball pitchers and coaches should be cognizant of what footwear is worn on a pitching surface. Maximal activation of the tibialis anterior and medial gastrocnemius can ensure the stride leg is adequately stabilized to absorb the momentum generated by trail leg.


BACKGROUND
Loss of sensitivity to betalactamic, quinolones and aminoglucoside antibiotics has been described during treatment of infections produced by strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Sixteen nosocomial strains isolated over a year during which sensitivity to one or several antibiotics of the above mentioned groups had been lost during the course of treatment were studied.

METHODS
The strains were identified by conventional techniques. Sensitivity to antibiotics was studied by determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration in solid medium, according to the guidelines of the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. Plasmidic beta-lactamases were identified by analytic isoelectric focusing. Hyperproduction of chromosomic lactamase was studied by a qualitative technique. The 0 antigens were studied against rabbit antisera. The pyocinetype was determined according to the Fyfe method. Plasmids were detected by alkaline lysis extraction and electrophoresis in agarose gel.

RESULTS
The 16 strains in which changes in sensitivity were observed during the course of treatment represent 4.47% of all P. aeruginosa isolates during one year. Loss of sensitivity to betalactamic antibiotics was observed in 10 strains, in one to aminoglucosides, in two to ciprofloxacin, simultaneously to aminoglucosides and ciprofloxacin in one and to betalactamic and ciprofloxacin in another two. Six of the 13 patients (46%) required a change in antibiotic treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
The convenience of following the sensitivity of the strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated in a patients is suggested to thereby avoid therapeutic failure and the potential danger of clonal dissemination of the strains which have lost sensitivity.


When we are confronted with suffering, both locally and globally, we often experience a desire to do something. This article considers how we can channel that desire into a habit of responding to suffering in ways that alleviate the immediate need as well as work to end the root causes of suffering. "Our human compassion binds us the one to the other—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future." Nelson Mandela


Twenty-two patients with rupture of the Achilles tendon were successfully treated by simple end-to-end suture under local anaesthesia. The results are discussed in the light of previous literature on surgical versus conservative treatment and the advantages of surgery under local anaesthesia are pointed out.


Searching is an important factor in p2p network for content retrieval. Most of the searches in p2p system are title-based with their limited functionality. Without knowing the unique filename we canpsilat retrieve the content of the file in title based search. Here super peer p2p network is designed that supports content-based search for relevant documents. At the beginning, a general and extensible framework is proposed which is based on hierarchical summary structure for searching similar documents in p2p network. The summary structure is formed by Vector Space Model (VSM), Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) techniques. Than an effective document searching is developed by summarizing and maintaining all documents within the network with different factors. Finally at the end, the experimental result is verified on a real p2p prototype and large scale network. The results show the effectiveness, efficiency and scalability of the proposed system.


Organic amendments improve the soil quality and plant productivity as well as help in the establishment of introduced bacteria. The present study was conducted to evaluate the interactive impact of organic amendments and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria strain Alcaligenes sp. AZ9 to improve maize productivity and soil quality. organic amendments including rock phosphate enriched compost (RPEC), biochar, and humic acid were applied in soil along with and without Alcaligenes sp. AZ9. The results revealed that the sole application of organic amendments along with Alcaligenes sp. AZ9 showed increase in growth and grain yield of maize. However, a combined application of organic amendments (RPEC, biochar, and humic acid) along with Alcaligenes sp. AZ9 showed maximum increase in plant height up to 14%, shoot dry biomass up to 30%, 1000-grains weight up to 10%, grain yield up to 31%, stover yield up to 34%, and potassium (K) concentration in grains up to 12% as compared to absolute control. The increase in nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentration in grains was non-significant over control. This treatment also improved soil biological attributes in terms of the bacterial population up to 60%, microbial biomass carbon up to 22%, soil organic carbon up to 29%, and saturation percentage of soil up to 14% as compared to control. It can be concluded that the application of organic amendments improved establishment of introduced bacteria, which could be effective in improving maize growth and yield as well as soil health.


Rationale: Laparoscopic adrenalectomy is currently the standard of care for adrenal lesion. Minimal invasive laparoscopic surgery such as laparoendoscopic single site surgery (LESS) and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) have been developed to improve cosmetic outcomes and reduce postoperative pain. However, there are still some problems related to instruments and port limitation during LESS surgery. Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery may help to overcome these problems, and port platforms selection is an important issue. Patient concerns: Three cases received robot-assisted LESS adrenalectomy due to adrenal tumor were enrolled. Blood loss, hospital stay, and analgesia injection were compared. Diagnoses: Preoperative evaluations were done in a usual manner. Benign tumors were suspect for two patients, while metastatic tumor could not be excluded for the other patient with prior malignancy history. The pathology reports were all benign adrenal cortical adenoma after operation. Interventions: Three different port platforms, Da Vinci Single-Site Surgical Platform, GelPOINT, and homemade glove port were used. Trans-peritoneal approach was used for two patients, while the other one received trans-retroperitoneal approach. The advantage and disadvantage of different port platforms were discussed. Outcomes: All patients underwent the operation smoothly without major complications or conversion to open surgery. Blood loss amount was small, hospital stay was short, and only one patient received one single dose of opioid analgesia injection after the surgery. Lessons: The main problems of LESS are the loss of a working triangle and the limitations of the instruments. Robot-assisted LESS may help surgeons overcome part of these problems. Many different port platforms are available, and based on our initial experience, we believe that the GelPoint may be a more suitable platform, for it maintains the endo-wrist function of the Da Vinci instruments, and allows the surgeon to design the position of ports freely to minimize external and internal collision.


In a very short period, the COVID-19 pandemic moved the process of education at all levels to the online environment. Although e-learning in university education in Croatia is not new, students and teachers of the University of Zagreb are facing new challenges that often call into question the quality of teaching. In order for online teaching to be successful, it is necessary to take into account the criteria related to the successful teaching and learning process and apply them in the online environment. Starting from the assumption that online teaching should meet most of the criteria of face-to-face teaching, we tested the satisfaction of students at the University of Zagreb with online teaching and the extent to which online teaching meets the criteria related to quality face-to-face teaching. Based on the obtained results, we discuss the shortcomings face-to-face of online teaching in relation to face-to-face teaching at the University of Zagreb.


The magnetic structure of thin films may be imaged in a transmission electron microscope by the techniques of Lorentz microscopy. In this paper, we re-interpret the underlying principles behind this imaging mode to show that it may be considered, in appropriate circumstances, as Amperian current microscopy. One of the benefits of this interpretation is that results from micromagnetic simulations may now be more easily formulated into the corresponding images expected from Lorentz microscopy. Examples are given in this paper which demonstrate the utility of this approach and also provide excellent agreement by direct comparison between experimental and simulated images of magnetic thin film structures.


1. Naughton BN, Mylotte JM. Treatment guideline for nursing home-acquired pneumonia based on community practice. J Am Geriatr SOC 2000;48:82-88. 2. Mylotte JM, Naughton B, Saludades C, Maszarovics Z. Validation and application of the pneumonia prognosis index to nursing home residents with pneumonia. J Am Geriatr SOC 1998;46:1538-1544, 3. Gleason PP, Meehan TP, Fine JM et al. Associations between initial antimicrobial therapy and medical outcomes for hospitalized elderly patients with pneumonia. Arch Intern Med 1999;159:2562-2572.


A new fast nearest neighbor codeword search algorithm for image vector quantization (VQ) is introduced. This algorithm uses two significant features of a hadamard transformed vector, that is, the average, the variance, to eliminate more unmatched code words. It saves a great deal of computational time and distortion calculations. Experimental results demonstrate the performance of the proposed algorithm is good.


We report a direct means of distinguishing between the two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional nature of luminescence bands in multilayered structures. Fixed energy interband excitation of a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well structure reveals oscillations of the luminescence intensity in a varying magnetic field resulting from resonant excitations between the electron and hole Landau levels. An angular dependence of the position of these Shubnikov–de Haas type oscillations shows directly the two‐dimensional nature of the origin of a luminescence band.


Glacimarine sediment deposited in the fjord adjacent to Muir Glacier in south‐eastern Alaska consists of rhythmically laminated muds, stratified sandy mud, sand and gravelly mud facies. Cyclicity is recorded by gravelly mud facies deposited during winter by ice‐rafting, black mud laminae formed by spring plankton blooms and variations in tidal rhythmite thickness and texture produced by the interaction of meltwater discharges and tidal currents in the macrotidal fjord. Regular cyclicity in laminae thickness is tested statistically by Fourier transform and can be attributed to a lunar tidal cycle control in the five cores collected up to 6 km from the sediment source. Cores close to the source can have additional laminae as a result of discharge fluctuations, and distal cores may lack full cycles because of variability in the plume path and attenuation with distance. Cyclic variations in sediment texture are recorded in magnetic susceptibility (MS) profiles of the cores. High MS values are produced by turbidite sand beds or by stratified sandy mud deposited by overflow plumes during peak summer meltwater discharge. Low values reflect muddy intervals deposited during periods of low meltwater discharge, such as during autumn and winter. Sediment accumulation rates measured by 210Pb dating range from 82 cm year–1, 2 km from the sediment source at the head of the fjord, to 16 cm year–1, 6 km away. These rates are within the same range as average sediment accumulation rates determined from cyclic seasonal markers within the cores. These data show that, with careful documentation, annual cycles of glacimarine sediment accumulation can be detected within marine cores. Cores collected from the distal portion of the basin were deposited during the transition of Muir Glacier from a tidewater terminus ending in deep water to a terrestrial glacier with an ice‐contact delta deposited in front of the terminus. This transition is recorded by a coarsening‐upward sedimentary sequence formed by turbidite sands originating from the prograding delta above fine‐grained, laminated basin fill deposited by turbid overflow plumes.


Over the past few decades the country of Qatar has been one of the fastest growing economies in the Middle East; it has witnessed a rapid increase in its population, growth of its urban centers, and development of its natural resources. These anthropogenic activities compounded with natural forcings (e.g., climate change) will most likely introduce environmental effects that should be assessed. In this manuscript, we identify and assess one of these effects, namely, ground deformation over the entire country of Qatar. We use the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS) InSAR time series approach in conjunction with ALOS Palsar-1 (January 2007 to March 2011) and Sentinel-1 (March 2017 to December 2019) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) datasets to assess ground deformation and conduct spatial and temporal correlations between the observed deformation with relevant datasets to identify the controlling factors. The findings indicate: (1) the deformation products revealed areas of subsidence and uplift with high vertical velocities of up to 35 mm/yr; (2) the deformation rates were consistent with those extracted from the continuously operating reference GPS stations of Qatar; (3) many inland and coastal sabkhas (salt flats) showed evidence for uplift (up to 35 mm/yr) due to the continuous evaporation of the saline waters within the sabkhas and the deposition of the evaporites in the surficial and near-surficial sabkha sediments; (4) the increased precipitation during Sentinel-1 period compared to the ALOS Palsar-1 period led to a rise in groundwater levels and an increase in the areas occupied by surface water within the sabkhas, which in turn increased the rate of deposition of the evaporitic sediments; (5) high subsidence rates (up to 14 mm/yr) were detected over landfills and dumpsites, caused by mechanical compaction and biochemical processes; and (6) the deformation rates over areas surrounding known sinkhole locations were low (+/−2 mm/yr). We suggest that this study can pave the way to similar countrywide studies over the remaining Arabian Peninsula countries and to the development of a ground motion monitoring system for the entire Arabian Peninsula.