Muscle atrophy commonly occurs as a consequence of prolonged muscle inactivity, as observed after cast immobilization, bed rest or space flights. The molecular mechanisms responsible for muscle atrophy are still unknown, but a role has been proposed for altered permeability of the sarcolemma and of the surrounding connective tissue. Matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs) are a family of enzymes with proteolytic activity toward a number of extracellular matrix (ECM) components; they are inhibited by tissue inhibitors of MMPs (TIMPs). In a rat tail-suspension experimental model, we show that after fourteen days of non-weight bearing there is increased expression of MMP-2 in the atrophic soleus and gastrocnemius and decreased expression of TIMP-2. In the same experimental model the expression of Collagen I and Collagen IV, two main ECM components present in the muscles, was reduced and unevenly distributed in unloaded animals. The difference was more evident in the soleus than in the gastrocnemius muscle. This suggests that muscle disuse induces a proteolytic imbalance, which could be responsible for the breakdown of basal lamina structures such as Collagen I and Collagen IV, and that this leads to an altered permeability with consequent atrophy. In conclusion, an MMP-2/TIMP-2 imbalance could have a role in the mechanism underlying muscle disuse atrophy; more studies are needed to expand our molecular knowledge on this issue and to explore the possibility of targeting the proteolytic imbalance with MMP inhibitors.


The development of high-efficiency catalysts is the key to the low-temperature NH3-SCR technology. The introduction of SO2 and H2O will lead to poisoning and deactivation of the catalysts, which severely limits the development and application of NH3-SCR technology. This review introduces the necessity of NOx removal, explains the mechanisms of H2O and SO2 poisoning on NH3-SCR catalysts, highlights the Mn-based catalysts of different active metals and supports and their resistance to H2O and SO2, and analyses the relationship between metal modification, selection of support and preparation method, morphology and structure design and SO2/H2O resistance. Given the current problems, this review points out the future research focus of Mn-based catalysts and also puts forward corresponding countermeasures to solve the existing problems.


High-dimensional computational challenges are frequently explained via the curse of dimensionality, i.e., increasing the number of dimensions leads to exponentially growing computational complexity. In this commentary, we argue that thinking on a different level helps to understand, why we face the curse of dimensionality. We introduce as a guiding principle the curse of instability, which triggers the classical curse of dimensionality. Furthermore, we claim that the curse of instability is a strong indicator for analytical difficulties and multiscale complexity. Finally, we suggest some practical conclusions for the analysis of mathematical models and formulate several conjectures.


The case of a 3-month-old boy with a hepatic infantile hemangioendothelioma is reported. There was no previous history of disease and no symptoms, only an incidentally found abdominal mass. The case is presented as an example of establishing the diagnosis, deciding upon the treatment, and performing the follow-up using only non-invasive imaging techniques.


Employing methane as a C1 feedstock for commodity chemicals represents a sustainable and empowering opportunity for chemical catalysis. However, practical demands of industrial development have imposed serve challenges to utilize coeffective catalysts and reagents as well as ecologically benign conditions for highly efficient and selective C(sp)–H bond functionalizations, constantly driving the development of catalytic strategies. The aerobic oxidative carbonylation of methane represents an ideal approach for sustainable acetic acid synthesis, yet poses a longstanding challenge in selectivity for C2:C1 products. In recent years, metallaphotocatalysis in which photoredox catalysts operate in synergy with transition metal catalysts to facilitate both 1and 2-electron reaction steps, has provided intriguing opportunities to achieve selective cross-couplings otherwise unattainable. Here, we demonstrate the utilization of an iron terpyridine catalyst to facilitate multiple 1and 2-electron processes, including photoexcitation, radical generation, oxidative radical capture and carbonylation, in the form of methane aerobic carbonylation to acetic acid. High levels of catalytic efficiency (turnover numbers up to 31480) and selectivity (C2/C1 ratio up to 142:1) have been achieved with a robust iron terpyridine photocatalyst at ambient temperature under LED irradiation. Importantly, this practical catalytic manifold has been adapted to the selective oxidative carbonylation of various feedstock alkanes.


ABSTRACT The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires the US government to inform the public about the quantities of toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke. A website can accomplish this task efficiently, but the site's user interface must be usable to benefit the general public. We conducted online experiments with national convenience samples of 1,451 US adult smokers and nonsmokers to examine the impact of four interface display elements: the chemicals, their associated health effects, quantity information, and a visual risk indicator. Outcomes were perceptions of user experience (perceived clarity and usability), motivation (willingness to use), and potential impact (elaboration about the harms of smoking). We found displaying health effects as text with icons, providing quantity information for chemicals (e.g., ranges), and showing a visual risk indicator all improved the user experience of a webpage about chemicals in cigarette smoke (all p < .05). Displaying a combination of familiar and unfamiliar chemicals, providing quantity information for chemicals, and showing a visual risk indicator all improved motivation to use the webpage (all p < .05). Displaying health effects or quantity information increased the potential impact of the webpage (all p < .05). Overall, interface designs displaying health effects of chemicals in cigarette smoke as text with icons and with a visual risk indicator had the greatest impact on the user experience, motivation, and potential impact of the website. Our findings provide guidance for accessible website designs that can inform consumers about the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke.


A method is presented for speeding up the performance of the HMM based speech recognition system where the states are modeled by a large number of Gaussian kernels. The emission probabilities of the states are usually dominated by the nearest Gaussians to the input vector. The speedup is gained without deteriorating the recognition accuracy by concentrating on these kernels in the reduced K-best-kernel search. In this work, the time information of the input is encoded to the connections of the kernels. The search for the dominating kernels is then performed along the kernel connections which model the trajectories of the speech in the feature space. In the experiments, speaker-dependent speech recognizers were trained for ten speakers. The number of distance computations between feature vectors and kernel mean vectors was reduced 75% without increasing the average phoneme recognition error, which was 5.7% for the baseline system.


We have developed a similarity-based image retrieval system that represents retrieved images as a scatter diagram in a semantic space. An axis of the space shows the suitabilities of a keyword assigned to the images. The suitabilities are estimated by a linear transformation of the image features of retrieved data, and the coefficients of the transformation are learned by a multiple regression analysis. The system can store multiple key-images and can retrieve images by using the center of gravity of the key-image feature vectors. The system can effectively assist a user in retrieving images through the use of semantic visualization and this center of gravity retrieval based on similarity. The system performs as follows. First, a user retrieves images. Then, the system presents the user with some keywords that provide large variances of the estimated suitabilities from among the retrieved results. Next, the user can choose two axes from the given keywords. Finally, the system displays the retrieved images in the semantic space that is spanned by the axes. We examined our method quantitatively by using a large number of samples, each of which was a pair made up of an image and its assigned keywords.


This paper assesses the relevance and outcome of involving a transdisciplinary group of stakeholders in a scenario-building research project. The scenarios describe plausible external, long-term conditions with the aim to improve the knowledge basis of a national (Norwegian) government pursuing climate policy targets for 2030 and 2050 under uncertainty. The scenario process has two phases with quite different roles for the participants. In the first, the aim is to create broad engagement and participation in exploring narratives for how key external conditions might develop and form premises for the national climate strategies for Norway. The ambition in this phase is to deduce a handful of wide-ranging and distinctly different, qualitative scenarios. The second phase is devoted to translating the narratives into quantitative projections for the Norwegian economy and greenhouse gas emissions by means of linking global and national largescale models. We claim that research projects building and using scenarios have significant potential to benefit from involving a broad stakeholder group in developing qualitative narratives. The second phase involves complex quantitative simulations. In order to provide scientific rigor and credibility to the scenarios, this phase primarily calls for scholars with technical skills, knowledge on the research frontier and modelling experience. Nevertheless, later use of these scenarios in numerical policy studies can gain from resumed researcher-stakeholder interaction.


Measurements of discharge coefficients for five configurations of cylindrical film cooling hole geometries are presented. These comprise holes of varying angles of inclination (α= 30, 45, and 90deg) and orientation (γ= 0, 45, and 90deg) which are tested over a wide range of engine like conditions in terms of internal and external crossflow Mach numbers (Mam=0…1.2, Mac=0…0.6) as well as pressure ratios (ptc/pm=1…2.25).Results show that discharge coefficients do not solely depend on hole geometry but are also profoundly affected by the internal and external crossflow conditions. The effect of increasing the orientation angle on the discharge behavior is very similar to the effect of increasing the inclination angle. Both result in higher losses particularly at the cooling hole inlet while the losses at the hole exit are only slightly affected.Copyright © 2001 by ASME


Abstract
Mangroves constitute an important ecosystem because of their global extent and high productivity. These plants thrive in the intertidal zones of the tropics and subtropics that are characterized by regular tidal inundation and fluctuating salinity. Mangrove species are well adapted, both morphologically and physiologically, to survive under saline conditions, but in hypersaline environment their growth is reduced. The present chapter is a critical analysis on the impact of salinity on the growth of a common mangrove species (Hertiera fomes). The analysis has been carried out in the framework of Indian Sundarbans, which has contrasting salinity profiles in different segments owing to barrage discharge and siltation phenomena. Analysis of the decadal profile of salinity indicates a gradual lowering in the western Indian Sundarbans due to Farrakka barrage discharge and run-off from catchments. The central sector, however, exhibits a contrasting picture of increment of aquatic salinity through time, mainly due to disconnection of the Bidyadhari River with the Ganga–Bhagrirathi–Hooghly River system (in the western part). This has made the Matla River in the central Indian Sundarbans hypersaline in nature (that used to get water from the Bidyadhari River) finally leading to an insecure ecological condition for the growth and survival of mangroves. The possible remedial measures to combat the situation have also been listed considering the ecological framework of the study zone.


Current slide drilling practices rely heavily on the intuition of the directional drillers to identify and correct drilling dysfunctions. Monitoring numerous dysfunctions simultaneously requires more complex analysis than can be done manually in real-time. There is also currently a big shift towards remote directional drilling. And as such, there is the need for a tool that can, in real-time, diagnose slide drilling dysfunctions accurately and provide advisory to both the remote directional drillers and rig crew.
 This paper proposes a method for a real-time slide drilling advisory system consisting of a probabilistic model which computes the likelihood that various slide drilling dysfunctions are occurring and an algorithm that determines what corrective action, if any, should be taken as a result. The dysfunction types monitored include buckling, high friction, poor toolface control, stick slip, and bit bounce. The model employs a Bayesian network which uses evidence derived from transient drilling data trends to infer the probability that any of the five considered dysfunctions are taking place. Data trends known to correlate with each dysfunction type are considered simultaneously to ensure that all dysfunction types are monitored continuously. As dysfunction probabilities are calculated, the algorithm cross references them with current drilling parameters and contextual data to determine necessary corrective actions. Corrective actions are output in the form of simple drilling parameter changes shown on a customizable graphical display.
 The dysfunction beliefs calculated were validated using historical data gathered from North America land drilling operations. For high friction and poor toolface control, known instances of dysfunction were identified using information in drilling logs and expert opinion and used for validation. The validation process resulted in a further refinement of the model. The proposed model along with graphical advisory displays were deployed on rigs in several North American land well drilling operations, as well as in the remote directional drilling center.
 While there is a lot of prior work that enables identification of rotary drilling dysfunctions in real-time, this is the first method that diagnoses slide drilling dysfunctions in real-time. The approach combines physics based models with a Bayesian network to improve accuracy and robustness in dysfunction detection. Additionally, it considers both real-time drilling data as well as drilling data from the past when diagnosing dysfunctions and facilitates remote directional drilling.


Geometrical dimensions could play a potential role in the function of laser cladding of nickel-base powder on the cold-rolled carbon steel substrate. The geometrical dimensions and their impact on the efficiency of the process of laser cladding of nickel-base powder (Ni -10wt% Al) on cold rolled 0.2% carbon steel substrate was investigated. This work focused on the effect of laser-specific energy input of CO2laser. The geometrical dimensions of cladding regions are including cladding width, cladding height, depth of dilution, contact angle, dilution area, cladding area, and heat-affected zone dimensions determinations. The laser power (1.8 kW) was used at different traverse speeds (1.5, 3.6, 5, 7.1, 8.6, 12.5 mm/s) with (3mm) laser beam diameter. The feed rate was kept constant after many preliminary claddings at approximately 11 g/min. Fluence values ranged from (48-400J/mm2), and the power density value was (255W/mm2). A minimum dilution percentage (25%) was obtained at the highest fluence value (400 J/mm2). Observations were measured using an optical microscope, scanning electron microscopy, and Image software. Obtained results indicated that the increase in the fluence leads to an increase in height of cladding, HAZ region but lower depth of dilution


The presence of healthcare industry representatives poses a challenge for operating department managers. The healthcare industry is taken largely on trust, but in an era of clinical governance this is no longer acceptable. Managers need to establish criteria against which competencies can be measured to risk manage the presence of company personnel in theatre and maintain a safe environment for the patient.


BACKGROUND
Numerous studies have documented short- and long-term differences in growth and body composition based on whether an infant is breastfed or formula-fed. However, little is known about whether these differences result from the substance consumed (breastmilk vs. formula) or from the delivery method (breast vs. bottle). This prospective pilot study compared the growth and body composition patterns of 19 predominantly breastfed/nursing infants (NG) and 18 infants fed significant quantities of breastmilk by bottle (BG) during the first 6 months of life.

METHODS
Infants were measured in a laboratory setting each month by trained staff. Growth measures (length, weight, and head circumference) were compared to World Health Organization growth standards. Body composition, including relative fat mass (%FM), was measured using an air-displacement plethysmography system (Pea Pod(®), Life Measurement, Inc., Concord, CA).

RESULTS
With the exception of small differences in length and weight scaled for length (body mass index and weight-for-length z-score) present at birth and continuing for the first 1-2 months of life, NG and BG infants were similar in weight, weight-for-age z-scores, head circumference, fat mass, and %FM. However, BG infants were three times more likely to exceed the 85(th) percentile for weight velocity during the 4-6-month age interval than NG infants (33% vs. 10%, respectively), but this did not reach statistical significance in this sample size (p = 0.12).

CONCLUSIONS
This pilot study suggests the delivery method (breast vs. bottle) for breastmilk may not dramatically affect growth for the first 4 months of life; however, future research with larger samples will be needed to carefully evaluate longer-term growth patterns in infants fed breastmilk by bottle.


We characterize the representations of the fundamental group of a closed surface to PSL2(C)$\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathbb {C})$ that arise as the holonomy of a branched complex projective structure with fixed branch divisor. In particular, we compute the holonomies of the spherical metrics with prescribed integral conical angles and the holonomies of affine structures with fixed conical angles on closed surfaces.


Points of the underlying dose-response curve of a lethal response or group of lethal responses induced by varying doses of a toxicant in a homogeneous population can be estimated from knowledge of the time of occurrence for all responses if the response(s) of interest is (are) statistically independent from the other competing responses (risks). In the case of statistical dependence, only tight upper and lower bounds can be established within which the points of the dose-response curve have to lie. These bounds for the response(s) of interest are far apart if the frequency of occurrence of the competing response(s) is large. In such situations, the shape of the underlying dose-response curve is only suggested by the imaginary band connecting the estimated bounds. The estimation procedures for both cases are illustrated with data from an experiment in which beagles received injections of 239Pu.


Authors have presented methods of hyperbaric treatment used in the clinical settings. They have commented on the problem of oxygen toxicity, oxygen poisoning and indications and contraindications to hyperbaric oxygenation. In spite of side effects and possible complications, HBO can be a valuable method of treatment of many diseases. This method should be initiated in due time, after proper qualification of patients and by using the treatment protocol appropriate for every patient.


[Objective] The study aimed to provide supports for developing chilling and freezing injury monitoring and disaster damage assessment of longan(Dimocarpus longan Lour.).[Method] Based on field observation data,the relationships between longan canopy temperature and air temperature under different weather types(sunny,cloudy to sunny,cloudy,rainy,radiation chilling injury and advection chilling injury) in 2007–2008 winter were analyzed.[Result] Diurnal variations of longan canopy temperature under sunny and radiation chilling injury weather conditions were most dramatic,followed with those under cloudy to sunny condition,while variations under cloudy,rainy and advection chilling injury conditions were mild.Diurnal variations of orchard air temperature were also closely related to weather types.By using linear and curvilinear regression methods,the relationship models between longan canopy temperature and observation station air temperature were established.The models for cloudy,rainy and advection chilling injury had better effects than those for sunny,cloudy to sunny and radiation chilling injury;the models for night were better than those for daytime and the whole day.[Conclusion] To some extent,applying the relationship models between longan canopy temperature and observation station air temperature could make up the shortcoming of meteorological data which were higher than the real values.


Prior R&D efforts point to substantial performance enhancements and energy savings from adopting the Smart Manufacturing (SM) paradigm for process optimization and real-time quality assurance. Significant barriers and risks disincentivize the industry from investing in the adoption and training of SM component suites for discrete manufacturing applications. A diverse discrete part manufacturing enterprises, SM tools and platform vendors are yearning for a testbed reconfigurable to achieve three objectives of performance benchmarking, demonstration, and workforce training for a spectrum of their industrial scenarios and workflows. This paper presents the key ingredients towards the successful transformation of present machine tool and manufacturing environments into SM platform-integrated environments. The present implementation focuses on demonstration of the use of the Smart Manufacturing (SM) platform towards qualification of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies to meet an industry-specified functionality. This initial implementation uses Kepler workflow system residing as part of an Amazon Web Services environment to allow flexible workflows on multiple machines, each of which is integrated with an innovative sensor wrapper that integrates Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components from National Instruments (NI) to connect a legacy equipment to the SM platform. Here, an advanced analytics engine with modules customizable for both high-performance computing and shop floor environments was integrated into the commercial web service (from Amazon) to provide real-time monitoring and anomaly detection capability. This implementation indicates the potential of SM platform to achieve drastic reductions in the time and effort taken towards qualification of advanced materials and manufacturing technologies.


The increasing popularity of alcohol-free beers (AFBs) fosters the industry interest in deliver-ing the best possible product. Yet, a remaining sensory defect of AFBs is the over-perception of wort flavour, caused by elevated concentrations of small volatile flavour compounds (i.e. aldehydes). Previously, molecular sieves (hydrophobic ZSM-5 type zeolites) were found most suitable to remove these flavours by adsorption with high selectivity from the AFBs. In this work, a flavour-improved beer is produced at pilot-scale using this novel technology, and its chemical composition, sensory profile and stability are evaluated against a reference. Aldehyde concentrations in the flavour-improved product were found 79–93% lower than in the reference. The distinct difference was confirmed with a trained sensory panel and could be conserved even after three months ageing at 30 ◦ C. Future work will focus on the process design to scale up this technology.


Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) is a perennial-herbaceous plant with increasing global demand based on its powerful sweetening capacity free of calories. This Colombian crop achieves important commercial interest because of its large yield and sweet-tasting compounds (steviol glycosides) (Angelini et al. 2016; Pereira et al. 2016). In September 2017, diseased stevia plants were observed in a commercial plantation for leaf production located in Olaya, Antioquia, Colombia (6°35′18″ N, 75°46′55″ W). Symptoms including chlorosis and necrosis in leaves, stem rot, and global wilting occurred in plants after 6 weeks of vegetative growth stage. Fungal isolation was performed from both plants and soil. Four stems from decayed plants with vascular necrosis were surface sterilized and placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates with oxytetracycline (0.9 ml/liter). Rhizosphere soil from four symptomatic plants was sampled, sieved, and then homogenized with sterile peptone/water 0.1% at 1:10 (w/v). Serial dilutions were plated on PDA/oxytetracycline plates. Both sets of plates (diseased plants and rhizosphere soil) were incubated for 3 to 5 days at 24 ± 2°C and 12-h light/12-h dark and were subjected to morphological analyses. For conidia formation, plates were incubated for 8 days at 28 ± 2°C in the dark, and recovered conidia were observed under optical microscope. Seven colonies of white aerial mycelia, slightly pinkish, were isolated into pure culture and were identified as Fusarium spp. Mycelium from pure cultures of isolates UDEAGIEM-H11 (rhizosphere soil) and CBS 145586 (diseased plant) were scraped with a sterile scalpel, and DNA was extracted. Polymerase chain reaction amplifications of ITS, EF, and β-tubulin regions were sequenced and exhibited 100% coverage and identity with that of Fusarium oxysporum after BLAST analysis. BLAST search of the ITS sequence (GenBank accession no. MK432913) showed 100% identity with F. oxysporum strain MF22472 (accession no. MH911412). EF and β-tubulin sequences (accession nos. MK432915 and MK432917, respectively) showed 100% identity with F. oxysporum isolate FPOST-36 (accession no. KX215033) and F. oxysporum f. sp. momordicae isolate GuangX33 (accession no. MF445645), respectively. Pathogenicity of isolate UDEAGIEM-H11 was tested on 2-month-old stevia seedlings. A conidial suspension (1 × 10⁶ conidia/ml) was prepared for root-dipping inoculation of stevia plants for 1 min. Plants inoculated with sterile distilled water served as controls. Ten plants were used per treatment (inoculated and control), which were placed in a greenhouse at 28 ± 2°C under moist conditions. Disease symptoms similar to those observed in the field appeared on 100% of the inoculated plants. Four to 6 days after inoculation, inoculated plants presented leaf chlorosis and necrosis and stem necrosis from roots to shoots that ended with the sudden death of seedlings 7 days postinoculation. Noninoculated plants remained symptomless under identical conditions. F. oxysporum was successfully reisolated from stems of symptomatic plants and identified by morphological characteristics and microscopic examination, fulfilling Koch's postulates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of F. oxysporum causing Fusarium wilt of stevia in Colombia. The disease has previously been reported in Egypt, Venezuela, and Mexico (Hilal and Baiuomy 2000; Leyva-Mir et al. 2018; Salazar et al. 2015). The information that this disease has been detected in stevia cultures in Colombia is important owing to the risk of spreading symptoms of F. oxysporum in this important commercial crop. Management strategies should be implemented to reduce the potential economic losses in stevia producing areas of Colombia.


Two common types of tasks on Knowledge Bases have been studied -- single link prediction (Knowledge Base Completion) and path query answering. However, our analysis of user queries on a real-world knowledge base reveals that a significant fraction of queries specify paths using regular expressions(regex). Such regex queries cannot be handled by any of the existing link prediction or path query answering models. In response, we present Regex Query Answering, the novel task of answering regex queries on incomplete KBs. We contribute two datasets for the task, including one where test queries are harvested from actual user querylogs. We train baseline neural models for our new task and propose novel ways to handle disjunction and Kleene plus regex operators.


This study was designed to involve a variety of research methods, resulting in a mixed methods, case study approach to investigate best teaching practices in an elementary blended learning environment. The research-based evaluation work of Charlotte Danielson was incorporated as the theoretical framework for this research. Differing methods of tablet use were observed in 10 classrooms while data was collected on student engagement. Blended learning is among best teaching practices, though surprisingly, educators in this study were not familiar with blended learning models and techniques. The term "blended learning" in the context of this K-5 study meant utilizing different technology devices as a means to enhance teaching. Many educators are utilizing tablets in their classrooms on a daily basis without adequate professional development. The influx of tablets in America's schools has not been well planned nor have professional development opportunities provided teachers with the necessary training to fully implement and integrate best practice in their classrooms. Findings from this study help fill the gap in elementary level and rural area schools. Results from this research indicate that blended learning tools enrich the elementary school classroom. Tablet usage in this study demonstrated seamless bridging all levels of academic achievement. Students were observed utilizing metacognitive skills when collaborating with their peers and demonstrating their learning through projects on their tablets. Three themes emerged from the interview data. First, blended learning and the integration of technology as a best practice supports current literature. The second theme was, professional development, including teachers' desire for both buildingand district-level support as well as the frequency of professional development, and teacher technology support. And third, the school as the vehicle for teacher collaboration, differentiation for students, and engagement of


We report a case of massive small intestinal bleeding in a non-HIV positive patient treated with cyclophosphamide and steroids for polyarteritis nodosa. Tagged red blood cell studies, endoscopy, and angiograms were performed prior to exploratory laparotomy. Jejunal ulceration and bleeding were evident by serosal staining. Resected segments revealed intracytoplasmic inclusions positive for cytomegalovirus by immunoperoxidase staining. A second bleed after the resection was controlled with oral norepinephrine, prior to effective therapy with ganciclovir.


Temporary works were required to support a near ver tical excavation of approximately 50 m by 20 m in p lan and up to 22 m depth, to allow the construction of a rail inl oading pit. Significant constraints were placed on the construction by existing industrial infrastructure and site operati ons. The temporary works construction comprised an upper anchored contiguous bored pile wall supporting fil l, surficial soils and weathered rock and a lower passive rockbo lt support system in the rock beneath the base of t he piles. The design of the anchored pile wall and preliminary de sign of the passive rockbolt system were undertaken on the basis of information gathered during site investigations. T he passive rockbolt system was amended and optimise d as in situ rock data was obtained and further laboratory testing un dertaken. In response to the high risk to the exis ting infrastructure of collapse the performance of the excavation was moni tored by an array of survey monuments, inclinometer s and extensometers and compared with modelled behaviour. Data obtained from monitoring and site readings are presented. Constructional constraints and the methods used to deal with them are discussed. Logic processes in th e probabilistic design of rockbolt support in deep excavations and the interpretation of data obtained are also discus sed.


An explicit Total Lagrangian mixed momentum/strains formulation [1-5], in the form of a system of first order conservation laws, has been recently proposed to overcome the shortcomings posed by the traditional second order displacement-based formulation, namely: (1) bending and volumetric locking difficulties; (2) hydrostatic pressure fluctuations; and (3) reduced order of convergence for derived variables. Following the work of Bonet and Kulasegaram [6, 7], the main objective of this paper is the adaptation of Corrected Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (CSPH) in the context of Total Lagrangian mixed formulation. Appropriate nodally conservative Jameson-Schmidt-Turkel (JST) stabilisation is introduced by taking advantage of the conservation laws. This mixed linear momentum-deformation gradient technique performs extremely well in nearly incompressible bending dominated scenarios [1, 2] without the appearance of spurious pressure oscillations. Additionally, as both linear momentum and deformation gradient are used as primary variables of the system, equal order of approximation should be achieved in both fields. A series of numerical examples are carried out to assess the applicability and robustness of the proposed algorithm.


The agr quorum-sensing system of Staphylococcus aureus modulates the expression of virulence factors in response to autoinducing peptides (AIPs). Recent studies have suggested a role for the agr system in S. aureus biofilm development, as agr mutants exhibit a high propensity to form biofilms, and cells dispersing from a biofilm have been observed displaying an active agr system. Here, we report that repression of agr is necessary to form a biofilm and that reactivation of agr in established biofilms through AIP addition or glucose depletion triggers detachment. Inhibitory AIP molecules did not induce detachment and an agr mutant was non-responsive, indicating a dependence on a functional, active agr system for dispersal. Biofilm detachment occurred in multiple S. aureus strains possessing divergent agr systems, suggesting it is a general S. aureus phenomenon. Importantly, detachment also restored sensitivity of the dispersed cells to the antibiotic rifampicin. Proteinase K inhibited biofilm formation and dispersed established biofilms, suggesting agr-mediated detachment occurred in an ica-independent manner. Consistent with a protease-mediated mechanism, increased levels of serine proteases were detected in detaching biofilm effluents, and the serine protease inhibitor PMSF reduced the degree of agr-mediated detachment. Through genetic analysis, a double mutant in the agr-regulated Aur metalloprotease and the SplABCDEF serine proteases displayed minimal extracellular protease activity, improved biofilm formation, and a strongly attenuated detachment phenotype. These findings indicate that induction of the agr system in established S. aureus biofilms detaches cells and demonstrate that the dispersal mechanism requires extracellular protease activity.


Reynoutria species are medicinal plants that belong to the family Polygonaceae and are widely distributed in eastern Asia, North America and Europe. Although the phylogeny and morphological and anatomical studies of some species in Korea have been previously reported, there are no discriminative anatomical and chemical data available. Therefore, anatomical characterization of the leaf, stem and root, and high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector (HPLC–DAD) analyses were carried out to assess the differences in anatomical and chemical profiles among the Reynoutria plants in Korea, i.e., R. japonica, R. sachalinensis, R. forbesii and R. japonica for. elata. The anatomical evaluation showed discriminative characteristics, such as the shape of the stomata and the stomatal index of the lower leaf surface; the ratio of the adaxial/abaxial height, the size of the vascular bundles and the frequency of druse in the midrib, petiole, and stem; and the pericycle number in the root. For the HPLC analysis, ten compounds corresponding to each major peak were isolated from R. japonica roots and their structures were identified by comprehensive spectroscopic studies. Samples collected before the flowering season showed higher contents of these ten major compounds than those collected after the flowering season. The orthogonal projections to latent structures-discrimination analysis (OPLS-DA) with the inner morphological and HPLC quantification results, clearly discriminated these plants. These results provide anatomical parameters and HPLC profiling that can be used to distinguish the four Reynoutria plants, which supports quality control for their precise identification.


In the chemical system Na2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O, the stability field of Na-beidellite is presented as a function of pressure, temperature, and Na- and Si-activity. Na0.7-beidellite was hydrothermally synthesized using a stoichiometric gel composition in the temperature range from 275° to 475°C and at pressures from 0.2 to 5 kbar. Below 275°C kaolinite was the only crystalline phase, and above about 500°C paragonite and quartz developed instead of beidellite. An optimum yield of 95% of the Na0.7- beidellite was obtained at 400°C and 1 kbar after 20 days. Gels with a Na-content equivalent to a layer charge lower than 0.3 per O20(OH)4 did not produce beidellite. They yielded kaolinite below 325°C and pyrophyllite above 325°C. With gels of a Na-content equivalent to a layer charge of 1.5, the Na-beidellite field shifted to a minimum between temperatures of 275° and 200°C. This procedure offers the potential to synthesize beidellite at low temperatures. Beidellite synthesized from Na1.0-gel approach a Na1.35 composition and those from Na1.5- and Na2.0-gels a Na1.8 composition.


The Garnet research project, which is creating a set of tools to aid the design and implementation of highly interactive, graphical, direct-manipulation user interfaces, is discussed. Garnet also helps designers rapidly develop prototypes for different interfaces and explore various user-interface metaphors during early product design. It emphasizes easy specification of object behavior, often by demonstration and without programming. Garnet contains a number of different components grouped into two layers. The Garnet Toolkit (the lower layer) supplies the object-oriented graphics system and constraints, a set of techniques for specifying the objects' interactive behavior in response to the input devices, and a collection of interaction techniques. On top of the Garnet Toolkit layer are a number of tools to make creating user interfaces easier. The components of both layers are described.<<ETX>>


The African species currently residing in Peucedanum L. and associated platyspermous genera are not related to the Eurasian Peucedanum species. As the type of the genus is P. officinale L., which is part of the Eurasian group, a new generic classification is proposed for the African group. The affinities and circumscriptions of two previously enigmatic monotypic genera, Afroligusticum C. Norman and Erythroselinum Chiov., are clarified. The former is expanded, while the latter is subsumed into Lefebvrea A. Rich. along with six Peucedanum species. New combinations are formalized for 49 of the 58 species recognised, which are accommodated in six genera, as follows: Afroligusticum (13 spp.), Afrosciadium P.J.D. Winter gen. nov. (18 spp.), Cynorhiza Eckl. & Zeyh. (3 spp.), Lefebvrea (10 spp.), Nanobubon A.R. Magee gen. nov. (2 spp.), and Notobubon B.-E. van Wyk gen. nov. (12 spp.). Ten new synonyms are presented, in Cynorhiza (2), Lefebvrea (6) and Notobubon (2). Diagnostic characters include habit (woody shrubs, perennial herbs or monocarpic herbs), seasonality (evergreen or deciduous), leaf texture and arrangement, inflorescence structure, fruit morphology (size, shape and wing configuration) and fruit anatomy. The results of maximum parsimony analysis of 125 nuclear rDNA ITS sequences representing all tribes and major clades of the apioid superclade and closely related outgroups support the separation of the African group of genera from that of Eurasian Peucedanum.


Division of Forest Biotechnology, Korea Forest Research Institute, Suwon 441-847, Korea.ABSTRACTS : Gastrodia elata Blume is a achlorophyllous orchid plant that has been used in traditional medicine to treatmany human illnesses, such as vertigo, hemiplegia, and epilepsy. It contains three major pharmacological substances; gas-trodin, ergothioneine, and vanillyl alcohol. Here we investigated the quantitative changes in those functional components bycultivation conditions and harvest times. The content of ergothioneine was different with cultivation areas, while gastrodinaccumulated the higher levels than vanillyl alcohol regardless of cultivation areas. The smaller tubers contained the higherconcentrations of gastrodin and the lower concentrations of ergothioneine than did the larger tubers. The cultivation undersun shade screen increased the concentrations of both gastrodin and vanillyl alcohol but decreased the levels of ergothion-eine. We also determined the contents of functional substances depending on the harvest times. The concentration of gastro-din was higher in October than in April, while the level of ergothioneine was higher in April than in October. Interestingly,the use of sexually propagated seed tubers produced 1.9 times higher levels of gastrodin compared to vegetatively propa-gated seed tubers. In this study, we found that three major functional substances in G. elata tubers altered depending on var-ious cultivation practices, which might be important to increase the economic values of G. elata tubers.Key Words : Gastrodia elata Blume, Gastrodin, Vanillyl Alcohol, Ergothioneine, Seed Tuber


This report presents a multiobjective decision framework to support the decision making process in transportation investment analysis. One important capability of the multiobjective decision framework is that it allows many intangible objectives that are difficult to express on an absolute numerical scale to be considered without the need to convert the units into a monetary scale. The proposed multiobjective decision framework allows a decision maker to select a reduced number of alternatives from a larger number of all available alternatives while ensuring that the selected alternatives are the best possible options. This framework could also be used to generate decision options for optimal allocation of resources between competing projects. The proposed decision framework is based on three multiobjective analysis concepts: the Surrogate Worth Tradeoff method for continuous decision problems and the Multiattribute Utility and Minimum Tolerance methods for discrete decision problems. These concepts help decision makers choose among, prioritize, and generate the most feasible optimal alternatives. The four case studies presented as appendices demonstrate the application of the proposed decision framework to real-world projects.


Ferrite transformation of CGHAZ in HSLA steels during continuous cooling and microstructures at different cooling temperature for Ti-treated steel and C-Mn steel were studied.The results showed that the microstructures in CGHAZ of Ti-treated steel consisted chiefly of grain boundary ferrite,ferrite side plate and intragranular ferrite,but there were only grain boundary ferrite and ferrite side plate in CGHAZ of C-Mn steel.Grain boundary ferrite,ferrite side plate and intragranular ferrite have the same phase transformation starting temperature in Ti-treated steel but have different phase transformation kinetics.The growth of ferrite side plate was evidently suppressed by the heterogeneous nucleation of intragranular ferrite from oxide inclusions dispersed in the steel during phase transformation competition between ferrite side plate and intragranular ferrite.


Sensors allow an electronic device to become a gateway between the digital and physical worlds, and sensor materials with unprecedented performance can create new applications and new avenues for user interaction. Graphene oxide can be exploited in humidity and temperature sensors with a number of convenient features such as flexibility, transparency and suitability for large-scale manufacturing. Here we show that the two-dimensional nature of graphene oxide and its superpermeability to water combine to enable humidity sensors with unprecedented response speed (∼30 ms response and recovery times). This opens the door to various applications, such as touchless user interfaces, which we demonstrate with a 'whistling' recognition analysis.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate autologous fibrin in rabbit oviduct anastomosis versus 7-0 vikryl, a conventional suture material used in tubal anastomosis.

METHODS
Thrombin was added to the autologous fibrinogen at the site of anastomosis to obtain a tissue adhesive. The anastomotic time, pregnancy rate, and litter size were evaluated. Three months later, a relaparotomy was done to evaluate patency and degree of adhesions, and a tubal biopsy was taken from the site of anastomosis.

RESULTS
Analysis of results showed a statistically significant (P < .001) shortened anastomotic time and superior histopathological union in the tissue adhesive group. Patency rate, pregnancy rate, and degree of adhesions were comparable in both groups.


The aim of the current study is to unearth a diagnostic model to improve the ruling-in of heart failure, rather than ruling out. The process of heart failure diagnosis is imperative to prevent recurring hospitalization. Through observation of previous approaches, it was determined that an improved clinical procedure to distinguishing heart failure could be achieved by including a multiple circulating biomarker proposal for the different pathophysiological pathways associated with heart failure. This advancement was done through proteomics and blood work assays, which would potentially achieve a multi-marker model to be carried out rapidly in the ED to rule-in heart failure with an increased accuracy. In a study sponsored by Vanderbilt University, the clinical research continues to be carried out in 4 EDs between Nashville, Tennessee and Detroit, Michigan. The title of the study is "Improving Diagnostic Accuracy for Acute Heart Failure" (INDICATE-HF), and is currently conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Detroit Medical Center (DMC) Sinai-Grace Hospital, DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital, and DMC Harper University Hospital. After approaching patients that fit the inclusion/exclusion criteria, mainly dyspnea (shortness of breath), they were asked for voluntary admission into the study for further proteomic testing. Blood and urine samples were taken, and lab work was carried out for further testing of trends in various biomarkers associated with the pathology of the disease. Prior studies, although few, have been conducted to deduce a multi-biomarker approach to identify heart failure in patients presenting to the ED with dyspnea. These studies have possessed limitations that include highly correlated markers from known biological pathways, which create discrepancies in determination of elevated proteins correlated with heart failure or some other pathology. The current mode of diagnosis revolves around a pair of biomarkers, B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), which has a detailed physiology within the body, but is limited in capacity for elucidation of heart failure because of the diversity of the syndrome and presentation in the ED. The current hypothesis of the study is a hope of elucidating a multi-marker panel incorporating novel proteins discovered with plasma proteomics, which has the potential to improve diagnostic accuracy for acute heart failure. There have been many studies carried out, including those on myocardial injury and ischemic stroke, that transitioned from a single biomarker to a multi-marker panel, which allowed for a more accurate diagnosis of these various pathologies. The current review will provide an understanding of the pathology of heart failure, the current mode of diagnosis, and the potential of incorporating a panel of biomarkers for improved accuracy of ruling-in heart failure. These supporting studies argue for a promise of better outcomes in the diagnosis and could potentially reduce adverse outcomes as they pertain to heart failure.


This paper addresses challenges, questions and problems of effective and efficient strategies of innovators, entrepreneurs and innovation policy makers in an environment with dynamic change, complexity, risk, and uncertainty. In this research, we use game theory principles, methodological approaches, and methods for theoretical analysis, and innovation games (living labs) as a tool for empirical analysis. Based on our research and our experience applying these approaches, we summarized and stated some policy recommendations that a game-theoretic approach turns up.JEL Codes: C70, O31, O32, O38, M10


A process using multilayered mask, consisting of either novolak based resist or special type of light insensitive polymer and thin metal, is developed for improving the side wall smoothness of silicon oxide etching. Different techniques are used to reduce the side wall roughness of the mask prior to the underlying silicon oxide etching. The mask smoothness is reduced down to 25 nm using underlying thin metal layer which not only increases the adhesion of the upper resist/polymer with the silicon oxide, but also acts as the etch stopper during patterning of the upper resist/polymer. The side wall smoothness of underlying silicon oxide etching using the smooth polymer mask, is improved down to 60 nm which is better than conventional process where metal mask is used.


In total, 61 Chilean isolates of Trypanosoma cruzi, were analysed using schizodeme and Southern analysis, using as probes the highly variable regions of minicircles from cloned parasites. Isolates were collected and amplified from domestic and wild triatomines, and from infected subjects in all the endemic areas of Chile. Three major parasite genotypes could be detected in the domestic transmission cycle, whilst 1 major T. cruzi genotype is circulating in the wild transmission cycle. Schizodeme analysis suggested that T. cruzi isolates are mixed populations, whereas the Southern analyses detected only 3 mixed isolates using 4 selected minicircle segments as probes.


An observational study was directed on healthy youth in the age group of 18-22yrs to assess the influences of various
 physiological and pathophysiological components on individual element of blood pressure. Cardiovascular reflexes
 were re-gauged to explain probable mechanism for observations made. The results from 120 normotensive subjects
 helped us revalidate following hypothesis on blood pressure regulatory mechanisms; gender difference showed lower
 BP elements in females probably due to estrogens protective role on both cardia and vasculature through nitric oxide
 induction and more. Significant negative correlation of age was seen with RPP hypothesising early and reduced
 cardiac oxygen extraction. BMI correlated positively with BP proposing changes within circulating blood volume,
 cardiac output and large vessels. No correlation was seen between handedness and BP element. The extended
 biopsychosocial model and active baroreceptor reflex have been used to explain influences of acute perceived stress
 on BP unlike baroreceptor resetting seen during acute physical stress. Rumination, cardiovascular refashioning, reflex
 adaptation and resetting may be probable explanations for the BP changes seen with chronic perceived stress.


IN THE organism receiving hypnotics the resulting depression of the central nervous system has commonly been divided into three stages, namely, sedation, hypnosis, and general anesthesia. The different stages are customarily ascertained by the signs and symptoms of a subject receiving the depressant. Sedation is recognized primarily as a prehypnotic stage of depression. It is evident that the effective doses, the dose range, and the degree of depression as estimated by such criteria are only approximate values. Therefore, an accurate method is desirable whereby the end-points for the three stages of depression may be easily detected and the depth of depression may be expressed in quantitative terms. The procedure to be described in this paper was designed to meet these requirements. The method is based on the antagonism between a central-nervous-system depressant and a stimulant. The increase in quantity of the stimulant required to produce convulsions in animals is used


Titanium oxynitrides combine the properties of metallic oxides and nitrides. In this presentation, titanium was oxynitrided using inductively coupled RF plasma in a gas mixture containing 80% N2 and 20% O2. The effect of plasma-processing power from 350 up to 550 W on microstructure, mechanical, tribological, wettability and electrochemical properties of the oxynitrided titanium was examined using different characterizations and testing techniques. The results demonstrated the formation of TiO, TiO2 rutile phase, TiNxOy and Ti2N as a result of plasma oxynitriding. The micro-hardness of the oxynitrided layers increases up to 766 HV0.1 as the plasma-processing power increases up to 550 W. The wear and corrosion resistance are improved for oxynitrided titanium in comparison with untreated samples. Moreover, the friction coefficient decreases from nearly 0.75 for the pure titanium to nearly 0.3 for oxynitrided titanium. The obtained data show an increase of surface energy and wettability of titanium oxynitride as the plasma power increases. The formation of hard oxide and oxynitride phases and the transformation of TiO2 from anatase to rutile structure at relatively high temperature are the main reasons for the good physical and electrochemical properties of titanium oxynitride.


The cost of wind energy can be reduced by using SCADA data to detect faults in wind turbine components. Normal behavior models are one of the main fault detection approaches, but there is a lack of consensus in how different input features affect the results. In this work, a new taxonomy based on the causal relations between the input features and the target is presented. Based on this taxonomy, the impact of different input feature configurations on the modelling and fault detection performance is evaluated. To this end, a framework that formulates the detection of faults as a classification problem is also presented.


Andreev bound states are fermionic states localized in weak links between superconductors which can be occupied with spinful quasiparticles. Microwave experiments using superconducting circuits with InAs/Al nanowire Josephson junctions have recently enabled probing and coherent manipulation of Andreev states but have remained limited to zero or small fields. Here we use a flux-tunable superconducting circuit in external magnetic fields up to 1T to perform spectroscopy of spin-polarized Andreev states up to ~250 mT, beyond which the spectrum becomes gapless. We identify singlet and triplet states of two quasiparticles occupying different Andreev states through their dispersion in magnetic field. These states are split by exchange interaction and couple via spin-orbit coupling, analogously to two-electron states in quantum dots. We also show that the magnetic field allows to drive a direct spin-flip transition of a single quasiparticle trapped in the junction. Finally, we measure a gate- and field-dependent anomalous phase shift of the Andreev spectrum, of magnitude up to approximately $0.7\pi$. Our observations demonstrate new ways to manipulate Andreev states in a magnetic field and reveal spin-polarized triplet states that carry supercurrent.


Cutaneous metastasis of lung cancer is a rare event and usually portends a grim prognosis. Several cases of lung cancer with cutaneous metastasis have been reported, but these have been largely limited to the dermis. Here we describe a unique case of cutaneous metastatic lung adenocarcinoma largely limited to the epidermis, mimicking Paget's disease or a cutaneous adnexal tumor.


Primary bovine embryonic kidney cell was successfully replaced by the green monkey cell line (Vero) for the isolation and seroneutralization of rinderpest virus.


The aim of this paper was to find some connections between elemental composition of human hair and such ill- nesses as kidney stone, cholelithiasis, hypertension and diabetes to assess whether hair could be a reliable marker of the above mentioned health problems. The elements were identified by Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectrometry SEM/EDS. Elemental profiles were determined in hair from 43 patients and 32 controls. The hair samples were at the anagen phase. Results indicated the content variation along the entire length of the hair in the bulb through the root to the hair follicle and the shaft. Measurements were made at these anatomical regions. Special attention was devoted to the bulb part for which characteristic EDS spectra were illustrated for the examined illnesses.


We investigate the consequences of a nonzero bulk viscosity coefficient on the transverse momentum spectra, azimuthal momentum anisotropy, and multiplicity of charged hadrons produced in heavy ion collisions at LHC energies. The agreement between a realistic 3D hybrid simulation and the experimentally measured data considerably improves with the addition of a bulk viscosity coefficient for strongly interacting matter. This paves the way for an eventual quantitative determination of several QCD transport coefficients from the experimental heavy ion and hadron-nucleus collision programs.


Russian workers who manufactured phenoxy herbicides and related compounds in the 1960s in the city of Ufa, Bashkortostan, a republic of the former Soviet Union, were studied for exposure to polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans. Sixty whole blood samples were drawn in September 1992 and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Thirty-four workers who manufactured the herbicide 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) had median blood lipid 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-diozin (TCDD) concentrations of 166 ng per kg (parts per trillion) and 1,2,3,7,8-pentachloro-p-dioxin (PnCDD) levels of 52 parts per trillion with several TCDD values greater than 500 ng/kg. These 1992 values are 10 to 30 times greater than contemporary normal or background blood levels from the Baskortostan region of Russia and were at least 10-fold higher 25 years earlier in the late 1960s. Six workers who produced the herbicide 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid also had elevated levels in 1992, with 1,2,3,7,8-PnCDD blood lipid levels higher than 2,3,7,8-TCDD. Even children of some of the workers and factory administrative personnel had blood levels of TCDD higher than most general population groups from other parts of Russia or from other countries. The patterns of the PCDDs and dibenzofurans (as defined by the specific congeners and their relative amounts) were distinctive for the type of chemical produced, with notable contributions to the TCDD toxic equivalents from the 2,3,7,8-TCDD and 1,2,3,7,8-PnCDD congeners. No correlation was found between chloracne status in 1965 to 1967 and TCDD or toxic equivalent blood lipid concentrations in 1992. These Russian phenoxy herbicide and related chemical producers have some of the highest occupational exposure to dioxins of any cohort studied to date and seem to be unique with respect to the presence of appreciable amounts of 1,2,3,7,8-PnCDD.


This paper presents the results of a qualitative research project aimed to better understand the key elements of promising bicultural practice in the Northern Territory children and families sector. Findings were used to inform the development of a two-way practice framework that can be used by a range of government and non-government organisations. Parental substance misuse, mental health problems and domestic violence are described as "key risk factors" for child abuse and neglect that often occur together as part of a complex set of social and family issues. In the Northern Territory (NT) Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal practitioners are working together to support families experiencing these multi-faceted issues. Developing effective working partnerships involves understanding the process of developing cultural competence as a 'two-way street'. This collaborative project was conducted as a partnership between the Centre for Child Development and Education (CCDE) at Menzies School of Health Research and SAF,T (meaning Strong Aboriginal Families, Together), the NT peak body for children, youth and families. Organisations (six Aboriginal and three mainstream organisations) delivering services in remote, regional and urban settings across both the Top End and Central Australia were profiled. In total, 74 participants, including chief executive officers, human resource managers, operational managers and frontline practitioners were interviewed. Approximately half (48%) of these participants were Aboriginal.


Firewalls are essential components in network security solutions. In order to implement correct security policy, the anomalies in firewall rules should be analyzed carefully, especially in enterprise network. In this paper, we present a new formal framework for analysis and resolution of anomalies in firewall rules. First of all, a formal model based on propositional logic is presented to specify rules. Then we specify all anomalies that identified in the latest researches based on our model. Current studies for analysis of anomalies are based on one to one rule anomalies, but we identify total version of anomalies based on one to many relationship of rules. Furthermore we have designed and implemented a tool based on theorem proving for verification of the specified anomalies. In addition, we present two algorithms for resolving anomalies in a rule database based on our formal model. These algorithms minimize the number of rules without changing the policy. Experimental results indicate that our algorithms for discovery single and total anomalies run in 2–3 seconds for a very large firewall with thousands of rules.


Measuring Change. Rate of Change: The Derivative. Accumulated Change: The Definite Integral. A Library of Functions. Short-Cuts to Differentiation. Applications. Functions of Many Variables. Appendices.


Abstract Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a common musculoskeletal disorder for which an effective treatment strategy remains unknown. The goal of this study is to examine whether acupuncture is more effective than injection of glucocorticoid in adults with LE. Adults with LE received either acupuncture or injection of glucocorticoid were followed-up for 6 months. All patients assessed before treatment, 0, 3 months, and 6 months after the therapy. Outcome measures consisted of visual analog scores (VAS) and the Mayo elbow performance score (MEPS). The acupuncture group and the corticosteroid group did not differ on demographic or clinical characteristics (P < .05). VAS and MEPS score was not significantly different between 2 groups at 0 and 3 months. MEPS scores were significantly lower in the corticosteroid group at 6 months, compared with those in the acupuncture group (P < .05). However, the VAS score was not significantly different (P > .05). There were no complications related to the use of acupuncture or corticosteroid injection. We found that both methods were effective for external humeral epicondylitis. However, after 6 months of treatment, patients with chronic LE with acupuncture achieved pain relief and function improve significantly, exceeding the effect of corticosteroid injection.


Meet their needs, consumers are faced with various types of products offered by businesses. With the various types of products and freedom for consumers to choose a variety of products offered lead to competition among businesses. Competition among businesses to market products that offer the consumer interest can be done in various ways, one of them promoting products through print media advertisements. Advertising is a tool for businesses to introduce their products to the public in order to influence the tendency for people to use or consume. The problem is, the ad does not always give a true or deceptive information about an advertised product, so that consumers can be harmed by the behavior. If perpetrators of this background can be formulated several problems, namely how the forms of advertising fraud that harm consumers, whether fraud ad meets the elements of a crime, how to determine the criminal liability for those who make advertising the sale of goods that harm consumers in Indonesia based on the Code of Criminal Law and Law 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection.


Background: Fumaria officinalis is largely used in traditional medicine due to its efficiency in the treatment and prevention of numerous diseases and its large spectrum of therapeutic effects. Its multiple beneficial properties are due to its richness in bioactive substances, particularly isoquinoline alkaloids. However, few studies have addressed the toxicity of this plant. Objectives: The present work aimed to study acute and subacute toxicity of alkaloids extracted from F. officinalis using Swiss albino mice as the in vivo model. Methods: Alkaloids from the aerial parts of F. officinalis were extracted and administered to male and female Swiss albino mice. The acute and subacute toxicities were studied by monitoring the weight and histopathological study of animal bodies and organs (e.g., liver, heart, spleen, and kidneys). Results: The results revealed that mice treated with increasing doses developed serious symptoms of toxicity (i.e., respiratory problems, tremors, coma, and paralysis leading the death) and lost weight. The LD50 was estimated at 1341.11 mg/kg permitting its classification as a low-toxic plant. The microscopic observations demonstrated disturbances in the kidney and liver, but not the heart and spleen. Conclusion: The alkaloids of the aerial parts of F. officinalis expressed severe toxicity in mice, particularly at high doses. Nevertheless, the neutral fraction of alkaloids is more indicated.


Under the powerful influence of economical and social transformation, namely Post-Industrialization since the 1980`s, old industrial cities in western europe faced a severe urban crisis such as high unemployment rates, demographic decline, urban slums, lack of infrastructures and economic shocks. In order to overcome their urban decline, They had to attempt to find a creative re-modelled and re-imaged Urban Development Strategy for the future. Thus Urban Regeneration has been a serious issue of debate in europe. First of all, Urban Regeneration based on cultural strategy have played an increasingly important role in the Post-Industrial cities and regions since 1980`s. The purpose of this study is to find out the organized characteristics of Urban Regeneration based on Cultural Strategy by analyzing successful overseas case "Landesgartenschau in Ruhrgebiet, Germany, where has been changed from an old industrial city to a Culture-Service- based City significantly over last several years. It`s inner-city old industrial areas with amount of derelict under-used industrial Heritages have been remodelled and reimaged to a creative and attractive public spaces involving Arts and cultural activity by Urban Regeneration based on Cultural Strategy, namely, "Landesgartenschau".


Pelvic organ prolapse suspension (POPS) is a recent surgical procedure for one-stage treatment of multiorgan female pelvic prolapse. This study evaluates the preliminary results of laparoscopic POPS in 54 women with a mean age of 55.2 and a BMI of 28.3. Patients underwent at the same time stapled transanal rectal resection (STARR) to correct the residual rectal prolapse. We had no relapses and the preliminary results were excellent. We evaluated the patients after 1 year follow-up and we confirmed the validity of our treatment. The technique is simpler than traditional treatments with an important reduction or completely disappearance of the pre-operative symptomatology.


. The convective lifecycle, from initiation to maturity and dissipation, is driven by a combination of kinematic, thermodynamic, microphysical, and radiative processes that are strongly coupled and variable in time and space. Radars have been traditionally used to provide the convective clouds characteristics. Here, we analyzed 10 climatological convective cell radar characteristics to obtain and assess the diurnal cycle of shallow, modest deep, and vigorous deep convective cells that formed in the Greater Houston area, using the National Weather Service radar from Houston, Texas and a multi-cell identification and tracking algorithm. The examined dataset spans over four years (2018–2021) and for the warm season months (June to September). The analysis showed the clear diurnal cycles in cell initiation (CI), cell evolution parameters (e.g., maximum reflectivity, cloud top height, and the height of 15 maximum reflectivity), consistent with the sea breeze circulation. The cell evolution is well represented by relationships between 1) the maximum radar reflectivity and its height, 2) the cloud top and the maximum vertically-integrated liquid, 3) the maximum reflectivity and columnar average reflectivity, and 4) cloud top ascent rate and cell lifetime. The relationships presented herein help to identify the cell lifecycle stages such as early shallow convection, vigorous vertical development, anvil development, and convective core dissipation. We also analyzed the near-storm 20 environment to address any differences in the environmental conditions present at the time of CI and how they may differ between convective type (shallow, modest deep, and vigorous deep cells).


The electrocaloric (EC) effect of BaTiO3 multilayer thick film structure was investigated by direct measurement and theoretical calculation. The samples were prepared by the tape-casting method, which had 180 dielectric layers with an average thickness of 1.4 μm. The thermodynamic calculation based on the polarization-temperature curves predicted a peak heat adsorption of 0.32 J/g at 80 °C under 176 kV/cm electric field. The direct measurement via differential scanning calorimeter showed a much higher EC effect of 0.91 J/g at 80 °C under same electric field. The difference could result from the different trends of changes of electric polarization and lattice elastic energy under ultrahigh electric field.


Voting is a fundamental part of any democratic society. But survey-based measures of voting are problematic because a substantial proportion of nonvoters report that they voted. This over-reporting has consequences for our understanding of voting as well as the behaviors and attitudes associated with voting. Relying on the "bogus pipeline" approach, we investigate whether altering the wording of the turnout question can cause respondents to provide more accurate responses. We attempt to reduce over-reporting simply by changing the wording of the vote question by highlighting to the respondent that: (1) we can in fact find out, via public records, whether or not they voted; and (2) we (survey administrators) know some people who say they voted did not. We examine these questions through a survey on US voting-age citizens after the 2010 midterm elections, in which we ask them about voting in those elections. Our evidence shows that the question noting we would check the records improved the accuracy of the reports by reducing the over-reporting of turnout.


The science of opinion analysis based on data from social networks and other forms of mass media has garnered the interest of the scientific community and the business world. Dealing with the increasing amount of information present on the Web is a critical task and requires efficient models developed by the emerging field of sentiment analysis. To this end, current research proposes an efficient approach to support emotion recognition and polarity detection in natural language text. In this paper, we show how to exploit the most recent technological tools and advances in Statistical Learning Theory (SLT) in order to efficiently build an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) and assess the resultant model's performance when applied to big social data analysis. ELM represents a powerful learning tool, developed to overcome some issues in back-propagation networks. The main problem with ELM is in training them to work in the event of a large number of available samples, where the generalization performance has to be carefully assessed. For this reason, we propose an ELM implementation that exploits the Spark distributed in memory technology and show how to take advantage of the most recent advances in SLT in order to address the issue of selecting ELM hyperparameters that give the best generalization performance.


In the 24 months to December 2005 recorded incidents of malicious damage to property increased by eight per cent in NSW. This bulletin provides information about the nature of malicious damage to property incidents through a detailed analysis of police database records and narratives of incidents occurring in 2005. These data reveal that the most frequent targets of malicious damage are private dwellings, private vehicles and commercial buildings, and the most common features damaged at these locations are windows. One in ten malicious damage incidents involve graffiti, and in these cases schools and commercial buildings were often the target. Incidents of malicious damage where police were able to identify an offender typically involve young male offenders and often take place in the evening and on weekends. The median cost of police recorded malicious damage incidents as estimated by the victim is $300.


Passive radiative cooling, radiating energy from objects to the outer space through the Earth's atmospheric window, offers promising solutions for passive building cooling and renewable energy harvesting. However, static passive radiative cooling systems with a fixed thermal emissivity cannot automatically regulate emission in response to varying ambient temperature. Here, we propose an intelligent cooling system composed of nanoporous polyethylene, which acts as a solar reflector and a nanograting radiative cooler using the phase-transition material vanadium dioxide (VO2) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The top reflector enables the cooling system to reflect solar irradiation during the daytime, and the bottom cooler plays the role of switching radiative cooling in the spectrum band (8  μm < λ < 13  μm) due to the phase transition characteristic of VO2, contributing to the temperature of radiative cooler near a critical temperature. Meanwhile, continuous stretching of the material can achieve dynamic radiative cooling via deformation of the elastic PDMS substrate to realize different desired cooling temperatures. The proposed VO2-PDMS-driven radiative cooling system can not only intelligently switch between "on" and "off" radiative cooling modes but also adjust thermal comfort in its on mode in response to changes in the ambient temperature. This work has a great potential to be applied in the intelligent temperature regulation of buildings, vehicles, and utilities.


(100) oriented PLZT(28/0/100) thin solid films on the amorphous substrates have been deposited by R.F. planar magnetron sputtering with the powder targets. Only (100), (200) peaks were found in the XRD spectrUm. The oriented degree F(100) is about one. Transmission of the thin films is more than 80% in visible spectrum. As-sputtered PLT thin fillms are amorphous. After annealing at 600°C/4hr. in air, the thin films were crystallized and oriented grow along (100) direction on the amorphous substrates. The composition of the target and thin filMs may be different which is depended on the deposition conditions such as substrate temperature, sputtering voltage and so on. The ratio of Pb/La becomes smaller as the substrate temperature goes higher and the ratio of Ti/La becomes larger as substrate temperature goes higher. Stoichiometric PLT thin films were obtained by varying the composition of the target at same deposition conditions.


We analyze a cryptographic protocol for generating a distributed secret key from correlations that violate a Bell inequality by a sufficient amount, and prove its security against eavesdroppers, constrained only by the assumption that any information accessible to them must be compatible with the non-signaling principle. The claim holds with respect to the state-of-the-art security definition used in cryptography, known as universally-composable security. The non-signaling assumption only refers to the statistics of measurement outcomes depending on the choices of measurements; hence security is independent of the internal workings of the devices - they do not even need to follow the laws of quantum theory. This is relevant for practice as a correct and complete modeling of realistic devices is generally impossible. The techniques developed are general and can be applied to other Bell inequality-based protocols. In particular, we provide a scheme for estimating Bell-inequality violations when the samples are not independent and identically distributed.


This study conceptualized family launching processes and investigated the reactions of Israeli parents to the conscription of their eldest son into the army, an event normatively initiating launching in the Israeli family. On the basis of family life cycle and adult developmental theory, parents' reactions were conceptualized in terms of two major launching-related tendencies: Holding, and Releasing. A specially constructed Holding/Releasing Questionnaire (HRQ), was administered to 160 couples whose eldest son had been serving in the army for 20 months or less. Results showed no correlation between Holding and Releasing, suggesting two independent and complementary forces in the launching process. Releasing was generally adopted more strongly than Holding, mothers being higher on Holding than fathers. Both Holding and Releasing correlated negatively with education, and holding also correlated negatively with personal well-being. The relationships between the HRQ and country of origin, attitudes and relevant past experience, revealed certain gender differences. Findings are discussed in light of launching processes, family theory and developmental interpretations of this major transition in the adult and family life cycle, with reference to the specific cultural context as well as to more general implications.


At the moment, modernization of acupuncture has a high priority. On the traditional side, acupuncture has only recently been awarded the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage by the UNESCO. On the innovative side, high-tech acupuncture is a registered trademark in Austria. Acupuncture has been used for medical treatment for thousands of years. A large number of empirical data are available but the technical quantification of effects was not possible up to now. Using electroacupuncture, needle, or laser stimulation and modern biomedical techniques, it was possible for the first time to quantify changes in biological activities caused by acupuncture. This paper which serves as introduction for the special issue "High-Tech Acupuncture and Integrative Laser Medicine" of the present journal, focuses on the latest innovative aspects that underline the further enhancement and development of acupuncture. Special emphasis is given to new methodological and technical investigations, for example, results obtained from all kinds of acupuncture innovations (e.g., teleacupuncture) and integrative laser medicine.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between polymorphisms of methylenetetra-hydrofolate reductase gene 1298A-->C (MTHFR 1298A-->C) and its susceptibility of esophageal cancer (EC).

METHODS
We conducted a case-control study with 141 cases of EC and 228 population-based controls in Huaian city of Jiangsu province, China. Epidemiological data were collected, and DNA of peripheral blood leukocytes was obtained from all of the subjects. MTHFR genotypes were identified by polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
(1) The frequency of MTHFR 1298AA, AC and CC genotype were 63.8%, 34.0% and 2.1% in EC and 71.9%, 28.1% and 0.0% in controls, respectively (chi(2)(MH) = 6.69, P = 0.035). The frequency of the MTHFR 1298C allele was 0.19 for EC and 0.14 for controls. (2) Individuals having MTHFR 1298C allele and smoking habit were at a significantly higher risk of developing EC (adjusted OR = 3.48, 95% CI: 1.57 - 7.71) compared with those who having AA genotype but no smoking habit. Individuals having MTHFR 1298C allele and habit of frequent alcohol drinking were at an increased risk of developing EC (adjusted OR = 2.91, 95% CI: 1.20 - 7.08) compared with those with AA genotype and low consumption of alcohol. Individuals having MTHFR 1298C allele but no habit of tea drinking had a 3.52-fold (95% CI: 1.64 - 7.54) increased risk of developing EC compared with tea drinkers with AA genotype. As compared with subjects having AA genotype, low consumption of alcohol, no smoking habit but having habit of drinking tea, the individuals having 1298C allele, habits of frequent alcohol drinking, smoking but no habit of tea drinking had a 12.64-folds (95% CI: 1.39 - 114.65) increased risk of developing EC.

CONCLUSION
Results in the present study suggested that there was a coordinated effect between MTHFR 1298 genotypes and habits of smoking, alcohol drinking and tea consumption in the development of EC.


This chapter provides a highlight on some of the recent advances and structural features of neutral borane and anionic borohydride units which contain a single tethered supporting unit. The supporting units covered include one-, two- and three-atom bridges. It focuses on the synthesis and characterisation of complexes formed, looking in detail into the spectroscopic features of the interactions between the boron-based species and the metal centre. It will also look at the structural features of the bonding by referring to X-ray crystallography data available. The review explores the range of possible interactions and potential reactivity at the boron centres. It also explores some early examples with a greater focus on three-atom supporting units and analyses the potential for delivery of hydrogen from boron to the metal centre to generate metal boron bonds.


The critical characteristics of corrosion product film (CPF) were investigated, and the mechanism of flow‐accelerated corrosion (FAC) was discussed by improving the multiple reference frame method (MRF) using the space temporary coordinate system. The improved MRF was used to accomplish fluid structure interaction (FSI) numerical simulation for FAC testing machine with a pre‐filming specimen. The new numerical method for the simulation of the critical characteristics of the CPF was proposed by coupling FSI and contact analysis in COMSOL Multiphysics software based on Hertz theory, which was used to calculate the critical characteristics of the specimen. The results reveal that the deformation and stress of the CPF increased with increasing temperature and flow velocity. The critical flow velocity was higher than the pre‐filming flow velocity and increased with increasing temperature. The calculation results are consistent with those of the linear polarization experiment.


Abstract Damage to ripening sunflowers by blackbirds is an important agricultural problem in the northern Great Plains. In an effort to reduce crop loss by non‐lethal means, several insecticidal formulations were evaluated for potential bird repellency. One formulation, Lorsban®‐4E, was highly effective in feeding studies with caged blackbirds. Chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate pesticide) is a registered insecticide and acaricide commonly used to control insects on sunflower, and is the active ingredient in Lorsban®‐4E. To support further evaluation of chlorpyrifos repellency in field trials, a rapid, simple, high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) analytical method was developed to assess residues in sunflower seeds, which had been aerially sprayed. Control black oil sunflower seeds were cryopulverized, fortified with chlorpyrifos at 0.50 µg · g−1, 5.0 µg · g−1, 50 µg · g−1, and 500 µg · g−1, and extracted in 90% acetonitrile/10% 1 mM phosphate buffer (pH 4.5). Extracts were filtered and analyzed by reverse phase HPLC with UV detection at 230 nm, with one elution method for samples ranging from 5.00 µg · g−1 chlorpyrifos to 500 µg · g−1 chlorpyrifos, and a second elution method for samples ranging from 0.500 µg · g−1 chlorpyrifos to <5.00 µg · g−1 chlorpyrifos. The methods were rugged and reliable, with chlorpyrifos recovery >95% for all fortified concentrations. The method limit of detection was 0.328 µg · g−1 and 0.221 µg · g−1 chlorpyrifos for Methods 1 and 2, respectively, and no chromatographic interferences were observed with either method.


A 42-year-old man with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and a history of complex partial seizures developed severe anemia after the addition of valproic acid to his stable antiretroviral regimen of zidovudine, lamivudine, and abacavir. The inhibition of zidovudine glucuronidation by valproic acid and the resultant zidovudine hematologic toxicity is the proposed mechanism of the interaction.


Information network embedding is an important way to enable efficient graph analytics. However, it still faces with computational challenges in problems such as link prediction and node recommendation, particularly with the increasing scale of networks. Both hashing and quantization are promising approaches for accelerating these problems by orders of magnitude. In the preliminary work, we have proposed to learn binary codes for information networks, but graph analytics may suffer from large accuracy degradation. To reduce information loss while achieving memory and search efficiency, we further propose to learn quantized codes for information networks. In particular, each node is represented by compositing multiple latent vectors, each of which is optimally selected from a distinct set. Since (generalized) matrix factorization unifies several well-known embedding methods with high-order proximity preserved, we propose a Network Representation Lightening framework based on Matrix Factorization (NRL-MF) to learn binary and quantized codes. We also propose an alternating optimization algorithm for efficient parameter learning, even for the generalized matrix factorization case. We finally evaluate NRL-MF on four real-world information network datasets with respect to the tasks of node classification and node recommendation. The results show that NRL-MF significantly outperforms competing baselines in both tasks, and that quantized representations indeed incur much smaller information loss than binarized codes.


Endocrine tumours - F. Askin Neuroblastoma, PNET and associated tumours - F. Askin Gastrointestinal tract tumours - R. Jaffe and B. Newman Pancreatic tumours (endocrine and exocrine) - R. Jaffe and B. Newman Tumours of the skin and soft tissues (excluding muscle) - P. Dehner Germ cell tumours and tumours of the ovaries and testes - P. Dehner Renal tumours - P. Beckwith Tumours of the lymphoid system - G. Frizzera Retinoblastoma - J. Campbell CNS tumours - S. O'Laughlin and B. Scheithauer Bone tumours - G. Siegal Muscle tumours - G. Siegal Liver tumours - J.T. Stocker Lung tumours - J T Stocker.


All papers, including brief communications, should be preceded by a concise (of no more than 250 words) but informative abstract, in which the plant material (binomial, including authority) is given. The 129


Background: We evaluated the usefulness of neuroretinal rim (NRR) thicknesses, measured in clock-hour sectors with Cirrus HD optical coherence tomography, for diagnosing preperimetric glaucoma (PPG). Methods: This prospective study included 39 eyes of 39 patients with PPG and 39 eyes of 39 controls that were matched to patients for age and refractive error. We measured the circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness, macular ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness, and optic nerve head (ONH) parameters with optical coherence tomography. The clock-hour NRR thicknesses were derived from a 360° circumferential rim thickness curve. We analyzed the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC), cutoff values, and sensitivities at specificities of 90% and 95%. Results: The largest area under the receiver operating characteristics curves were observed for the NRR thickness at 6 o'clock (0.823), the inferior RNFL thickness (0.821), the average RNFL thickness (0.819), and the NRR thickness at 7 o'clock (0.818). The performance of the NRR thickness at 6 o'clock was comparable to the best performances of the cpRNFL, GCIPL, and ONH parameters (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: The ability of the clock-hour NRR thickness assessment to diagnose PPG was comparable to the diagnostic abilities of cpRNFL, GCIPL, and ONH parameters. The best indicator of PPG was the NRR thickness parameter that was at 6 o'clock. This finding could play a role in detecting early structural changes in PPG.


Random subspace methods are a new approach to obtain accurate forecasts in high-dimensional regression settings. Forecasts are constructed by averaging over forecasts from many submodels generated by random selection or random Gaussian weighting of predictors. This paper derives upper bounds on the asymptotic mean squared forecast error of these strategies, which show that the methods are particularly suitable for macroeconomic forecasting. An empirical application to the FRED-MD data confirms the theoretical findings, and shows random subspace methods to outperform competing methods on key macroeconomic indicators.


Complex partial seizures arise from a single focus in the brain and cause an impaired level of consciousness. Although these seizures can occur at any age, they are more common in adults. The true incidence of complex partial seizures is difficult to determine. In this article, a case of complex partial seizure disorder is reported in an airline transport pilot, along with a discussion of the seizure disorder and its aeromedical implications.


The purpose of the present investigation was to determine whether the beneficial effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) may influence ischemia-reperfusion-induced alterations of myocardial alpha- and beta-adrenoceptor (alpha-AR, beta-AR) responsiveness. This study was carried out using monolayer cultures of neonatal rat ventricular myocytes in a substrate-free, hypoxia-reoxygenation model of ischemia. The cardiomyocytes (CM) were incubated during 4 days in media enriched either with n-6 PUFA (arachidonic acid, AA) or with n-3 PUFA (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, DHA). The n-6/n-3 ratio in n-3 CM was close to 1.2, compared to 20.1 in n-6 CM. The contractile parameters of n-6 CM and n-3 CM were similar in basal conditions as well as during hypoxia and reoxygenation. In basal conditions, the phospholipid (PL) enrichment with long chain n-3 PUFA resulted in an increased chronotropic response to isoproterenol (ISO) and to phenylephrine (PHE). After posthypoxic reoxygenation, the chronotropic response to beta-AR activation in n-6 CM was significantly enhanced as compared with the control response in normoxia. In opposition, the ISO-induced rise in frequency in n-3 CM in control normoxia and after reoxygenation was similar. In these n-3 CM, the changes in contractile parameters, which accompanied the chronotropic response, were also similar in reoxygenation and in normoxic periods, although the rise in shortening velocity was slightly increased after reoxygenation. In response to PHE addition, only the chronotropic effect of n-6 CM appeared significantly enhanced after hypoxic treatment. These results suggested that increasing n-3 PUFA in PL reduced the increase in alpha- and beta-AR functional responses observed after hypoxia-reoxygenation. This effect may partly account for the assumed cardiac protective effect of n-3 PUFA, through the attenuation of the functional response to catecholamines in the ischemic myocardium.


Author(s): Linden, P F; Yu, J. K. | Abstract: The object of this research is to examine the flow in a plenum of an underfloor air distribution system (UFAD). UFAD installations have often performed poorly because the air entering the space through different vents attached to the plenum has different temperatures. The temperature differences vary in time and can be as much as 5 °C from diffuser to diffuser. It is believed that these temperature inhomogeneities are a result of circulating patterns established in the air flow in the plenum, and that these circulations, in turn, are a result of specific supply and plenum geometries. We have carried out laboratory simulations and numerical modeling of the plenum flow in an attempt to establish the dependence of the flow patterns on the supply configurations. We have conducted a systematic study of the flow patterns for different forcing arrangements and discuss the implications for plenum design. In each case the plenum is square in plan form and the configurations studied are:One source jet in the middle of a side wall Two source jets in the same side wall with the same direction Two source jets in opposite side walls with opposite directions Four source jets in four side walls to generate an initial torque For the first configuration, we investigate laminar and turbulent jet behavior for two the aspect ratios of the horizontal and vertical length scales in order to assess the two-dimensionality of the flow. For the two co-flowing and counterflowing arrangements we investigate the effects of coalescence of the jets. In the multiple jet cases the interactions of the jets established strong and, in many cases, persistent circulations. These flows were studied in the laboratory using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). A RNG K-e turbulent closure was used for numerical calculations. The numerical calculations also allowed the thermal performance to be evaluated by the addition of heat transfer into the plenum from the top and bottom boundaries


"Male mortality is known to be lower than female mortality in South Asia in...normal times. But it has also been observed that during the crisis periods, this ordering is reversed. The experience of the 1974 famine of Bangladesh, as analysed in this study, confirms this reversal of relative mortality rates. But the usual explanations offered for this reversal are not borne out by the data pertaining to Bangladesh. Several other alternative explanations are explored, but cannot be confirmed due to the lack of appropriate data."


In this first volume Professor Hilary Beckles examines the short-lived first rising of West Indian cricket supremacy, arguing that it sent a clear message to the world that the newly independent nations of the West Indies were able to lead world cricket with certainty, purpose and poise.


OBJECTIVE Even in the absence of a clinically diagnosed concussion, research suggests that neurocognitive changes may develop in football players as a result of frequent head impacts that occur during football games and practices. The objectives of this study were to determine the specific situations in which high-magnitude impacts (accelerations exceeding 40 g) occur in youth football games and practices and to assess how representative practice activities are of games with regard to high-magnitude head impact exposure. METHODS A total of 45 players (mean age 10.7 ± 1.1 years) on 2 youth teams (Juniors [mean age 9.9 ± 0.6 years; mean body mass 38.9 ± 9.9 kg] and Seniors [mean age 11.9 ± 0.6 years; mean body mass 51.4 ± 11.8 kg]) wore helmets instrumented with accelerometer arrays to record head impact accelerations for all practices and games. Video recordings from practices and games were used to verify all high-magnitude head impacts, identify specific impact characteristics, and determine the amount of time spent in each activity. RESULTS A total of 7590 impacts were recorded, of which 571 resulted in high-magnitude head impact accelerations exceeding 40 g (8%). Impacts were characterized based on the position played by the team member who received the impact, the part of the field where the impact occurred, whether the impact occurred during a game or practice play, and the cause of the impact. High-magnitude impacts occurred most frequently in the open field in both games (59.4%) and practices (67.5%). "Back" position players experienced a greater proportion of high-magnitude head impacts than players at other positions. The 2 teams in this study structured their practice sessions similarly with respect to time spent in each drill, but impact rates differed for each drill between the teams. CONCLUSIONS High-magnitude head impact exposure in games and practice drills was quantified and used as the basis for comparison of exposure in the 2 settings. In this cohort, game impact rates exceeded those for practice. Back players, who were often positioned in the open field, were shown to experience elevated levels of head impact exposure relative to players at other positions. The analysis also suggests that practice intensity, which may be influenced by coaching style, may also affect high-magnitude head impact exposure. Future studies should investigate this aspect as a factor affecting head impact exposure.