The research described in this thesis was focused on the design, fabrication, and characterization of InP-based photonic integrated true-time-delay beamformers. A photonic beamformer is an optical circuit that controls the direction of the signal transmitted by a phased-array antenna (PAA). Unlike regular antennas, a PAA can transmit a signal only in the direction of the intended receiver without wasting any energy towards undesired directions. Furthermore, with a PAA, the direction of the transmission can be switched electronically without having to physically rotate the PAA itself. PAAs have been intensively studied in RADAR applications, where they are used to enable tracking of potential targets and to reduce the interference from different obstacles. Recently, PAAs are becoming increasingly popular in other applications, such as wireless communication networks where they can be used to increase the system capacity. A PAA consists of several closely-spaced regular antennas called the PAA elements. The direction of the transmitted signal is set by applying different phase delays to the signals of each PAA element. The circuit that controls the phase of each PAA-element signal is called a beamformer. Traditionally, the phase delays in an electronic beamformer have been realized by using a phase modulator on each PAA-element signal, or via digital signal processors (DSP). However, as the operating frequencies increase to enable higher transmission bandwidths, it becomes more and more difficult to realize high-frequency electronic phase modulators and DSPs. Photonic beamformers, that can introduce the required phase delays in the optical domain, offer many advantages over electronic beamformers, such as immunity to electromagnetic interference, lower propagation loss, and remoting of the beamformer with respect to the PAA. For the research reported in this thesis, we have designed a total of three photonic integrated beamformers. These beamformers have been fabricated in InP technology and characterized. The InP technology offers several advantages over other technologies such as compactness due to a high refractive index, fast electro-optic switching capabilities, and the possibility for amplification of the optical signals by integrating semiconductor optical amplifiers. The firstly fabricated beamformer contained an arrayed-waveguide-grating (AWG) (de)- multiplexer integrated with three switched-delay-line (SDL) section. Each SDL section consists of four fast electro-optic Mach-Zehnder-interferometer (MZI) switches cascaded by a bypass line and a delay line on each output. The MZI switches are used to direct the optical signal either through the delay line or the bypass line. This way, we can introduce a so-called true-time phase delay between the different optical wavelengths of the SDL sections. True-time phase-delay beamforming offers higher bandwidth than phase delay introduced by an optical phase modulator, because it does not suffer from beam squint. The size of the firstly fabricated beamformer was 8×11mm2, and this device had the capability to switch between eight different transmission directions of a four-element PAA operating at 40GHz. The on-chip optical losses of this beamformer were around 20dB. Although, we have shown the beamforming functionality of this chip, the performance was limited in terms of the polarization dispersion, i.e. the wavelength shift of the AWG (de)-multiplexer channels for different polarizations (1.1nm difference between TE- and TM polarized output), and the switching voltages of the MZI switches (> 20V). Therefore, we subsequently realized a re-design of this beamformer with optimized components. The size of this second beamformer was similar to that of the first beamformer. In this re-design, the length of the phase shifters in the MZI switches was increased from 0.8mm to 3mm, which resulted in a decrease in switching voltage down to around -5V. Also, the waveguide width of the AWG arms was changed from 1.7µm to 1.6µm, and this resulted in a decrease in the polarization dispersion of the AWG down to 0.4nm. The switching speed of the MZI switches was measured to be lower than 5ns. The on-chip losses were increased to 27dB. The third beamformer consisted of a single SDL section with InP-based electro-optic switches and off-chip dispersive-fiber delay elements. As this device requires a total of 14 fiber-chip connections, we have developed spot-size converters (SSCs) to lower the losses associated with the large mode-mismatch between the InP waveguides and the fibers. The SSC developed here consist of a vertical taper where the optical signal is coupled from the regular shallow waveguide (mode size = 2.7µm × 0.9µm) to a much larger fiber-matched waveguide (6.5-9µm × 5.5µm) underneath. We have developed a fabrication process to realize vertical tapers using standard lithography and dry-etching steps. Measurements on a test chip containing SSCs showed fiber-chip losses as low as 0.8dB/SSC. These SSCs were integrated with the MZI switches to realize the third beamformer. The size of the InP switch array containing the four MZI switches was 5.8mm × 6.5mm and the total fiber-to-fiber losses of the complete beamformer, including the spot-size converters, is 38.6dB, which was close to specs. A future outlook to this work will be to integrate semiconductor optical amplifiers in the beamformers to compensate for the optical losses.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and location of acetabular labral tears and sublabral sulci in cadaveric hips.

MATERIAL AND METHOD
Fifty hips of 25 embalmed cadavers with the mean age of 55 years (range, 18-85 years) were studied. All labral lesions were documented in their morphologic features, size and anatomic locations.

RESULTS
Thirty-eight labral tears were found in 33 (66%) of 50 hips with the mean length of 17 mm (range, 8-36 mm). Twenty-two (58%) tears were located in the anterosuperior quadrant and 13 (34%) tears were identified in the posterosuperior quadrant. Thirty-one (82%) tears were detachments of the labrum form the bony acetabulum. Eight sublabral sulci were seen bilaterally in 8 hips of 4 cadavers (16%). Of these, 4 (50%) were located anterosuperiorly, 2 (25%) anteroinferiorly and 2 (25%) posteroinferiorly.

CONCLUSION
The acetabular labral tears were common findings with a high prevalence. They were most commonly located in the anterosuperior quadrant of the acetabulum. Sublabral sulci are anatomic variants that can be found bilaterally in different quadrants of the hips.


Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women in Canada and the United States. Metastatic disease is the primary cause of death, despite recent advances in breast cancer treatment strategies and personalized medicine. Novel anti-cancer therapeutics are therefore urgently needed to increase the lifespan of breast cancer patients and prevent metastasis. Piperine (PIP) and piperlongumine (PL), two of the major alkaloids in pepper spices, show inhibitory effects on breast cancer cell growth in vivo and in vitro; however, their lipophilicity has restricted possible clinical application. The encapsulation of these phytochemicals in biodegradable nanoparticles is predicted to increase their water solubility and bioavailability. The goal of this study was first, to optimize a method for the preparation of PIP- and PL-containing polymeric nanoparticles, and second, to explore the inhibitory effects of nanoparticle-encapsulated PIP and PL on breast cancer cell growth and metastatic activity. In contrast to the single oil-in-water emulsion method, PIP- and PL-nanoparticles prepared by the thin-film hydration method were more spherical and showed a uniform size distribution. PIP- and PL- containing nanoparticles decreased the viability of MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 triple-negative breast cancer cells to the same extend as free PIP and PL. In addition, a noncytotoxic concentration of PIP- and PL-containing nanoparticles inhibited the in vitro migration and invasion of triple-negative breast cancer cells. These findings demonstrate that the encapsulation of PIP and PL within polymeric nanoparticles is possible without compromising the bioactivity of these phytochemicals. PIP- and PL-nanoparticles therefore warrant further investigation in mouse models of breast cancer to establish their utility in the treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: Javad Ghassemi-Rad, David W. Hoskin. Nanoparticle-encapsulated piperine and piperlongumine inhibit breast cancer cell growth and metastatic activity. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 3684. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-3684


Abstract Halauxifen plus florasulam, thifensulfuron plus fluroxypyr, and bromoxynil plus bicyclopyrone are three, relatively new POST premix herbicides developed for control of broadleaf weeds in winter wheat. These herbicides, along with older products, were evaluated for their control of horseweed in Altus, Perkins, and Ponca City, Oklahoma, during the spring of 2017 and 2018. Horseweed has become a critical weed in Oklahoma because of its extensive germination window, changes in tillage practices, and increase in herbicide-resistant horseweed biotypes. Visual weed control was estimated every 2 wk throughout the growing season and wheat yield was collected from three of the six site-years. Horseweed size ranged from 5 to 20 cm at time of application. The halauxifen plus florasulam, and thifensulfuron plus fluroxypyr combinations were effective at controlling a wide range of horseweed rosette sizes across all locations, whereas control with other treatments varied depending on presence of herbicide resistance, weed size at time of application, and mix partner. Nomenclature: bicyclopyrone; bromoxynil; florasulam; fluroxypyr; halauxifen; thifensulfuron; horseweed, Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronq.; wheat, Triticum aestivum L.


Majalaya carp is a freshwater fish that has important economic value and is widespread in Indonesia. Goldfish is the most cultivated fish because it has many advantages both physiologically and genetically. Several factors of assessment in the selection of superior brood stock that can be considered in the cultivation of goldfish cultivators are; ideal body weight, fish movement, physical deformities, scales, and the base of the tail. All of these factors can help in the decision-making process for superior goldfish. This study uses two methods, namely the simple additive weighting (SAW) method and the weighted product (WP) method. Based on the results of research that has been carried out on 20 superior broodfish of Majalaya goldfish, the level of accuracy is obtained by comparing with existing data. The WP method gets an accuracy value of 90% while the SAW method gets an accuracy value of 80%.


The development of constructivist learning theory has greatly influenced the design and delivery of the Information Literacy instructional programmes. Student-centred teaching methodology has been widely adopted in the IL instruction, however, the challenges library presenters face while practicing interactive teaching methods in their classes still require further investigation. This study aims to respond to the need for a deeper understanding of IL instruction from a teachers' perspective and provide an insight into currently applied interactive practices in IL classroom teaching, as well as associated challenges and effective solutions. An explanatory, sequential mixed methods research design has been applied to further investigate the quantitative information collected in the first phase of the project (an online survey emailed to 55 Subject Librarians at the University of Auckland (UoA)) followed by the second phase of qualitative, in-depth data gathering conducted in the form of nine individual 45 minutes long semi-structured interviews with Subject Librarians at the University of Auckland. The findings confirm the themes already discussed in the library literature, but also reveal new and unexpected elements of IL classroom instruction offered at the tertiary level in New Zealand region. Eleven original interactive classroom activities successfully employed in IL classroom teaching by Subject Librarians at the UoA are also identified during this research project and presented in the report. Suggestions are made for further research.


A numerical simulation method taking into account both aerodynamics and flight dynamics has been developed to simulate the flight of a low speed flying object, where it undergoes unsteady deformation. This method can also be applied to simulate the unsteady motion of small vehicles such as micro air vehicles (MAV). In the present study, we take up a bird and demonstrate its flight in the air. In particular the effect of fluid forces on the bird's flying motion is examined in detail, based on CFD×CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Flight Dynamics. It is found from simulated results that this bird can generate lift and thrust enough to fly by flapping its wing. In addition, it can make a level flight by adjusting its oscillation frequency. Thus, the present method is promising to study the aerodynamics and flight dynamics of a moving object with its shape morphing.


Abstract : Foreign fighters fuel the world's conflicts. They make conflicts more costly for host nations and peacekeepers. These extremists come from all over the world and believe they need to fight for their ideological survival. The best way to combat the use of foreign fighters is to stop them as close to the source as possible. This can be difficult, especially if the U.S. is lacking diplomatic, informational, military, and economic relations with the source country. The U.S. government, especially military and political agencies, needs to be aware of the foreign fighter phenomenon and plan for it when developing new contingency and campaign plans as well as further developing bilateral and regional relationships in foreign fighter source and transit countries. This paper will discuss and highlight, from the national security perspective, the potential military actions for interdicting foreign fighters. The foreign fighter problem set, terminology, and life cycle are defined and discussed. Foreign fighters in current conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan/Pakistan, and Somalia are discussed as well. Finally, potential solutions are introduced as well as actions the U.S. military can take to stem the flow of foreign fighters within stability operations framework.


alternatives to meat are a growing market segment. The European LikeMeat project investigated consumers' motivation for shifting their diets towards meat alternatives and developed a meat alternative product that resembles the fibrous structure, bite and juicy mouth-feel of meat. In a high moisture cooking extrusion process, plant proteins are converted to a base product that has a meat-like structure. Various protein sources and their combinations with further food ingredients were tested to develop this base product, including the creation of flavour components and the addition of aroma ingredients and spices. Furthermore, focus was put on the microbiota. Microbiota were analysed in raw materials as were their inactivation rates during the cooking extrusion process and their potential growth in the refined and packed food product. The LikeMeat base product serves as the base for a wide range of food preparations. The evolution of a plant-based alternative to meat From niche markets to widely accepted meat alternatives


Theories of International Relations are neither free from bias nor impartial. They are linked to specific interests, values, and patterns of conduct in certain societies which constitute their field of observation. They discard these factors of other societies. So, the theories which serve the First World are not convenient, necessarily, to emerging countries. This text proposes to substitute theories by concepts applied to the field of the study of international relations. Concepts expose the national or regional roots on which they stand. The Brazilian experience furnishes the observation base for the study's data gathering. This collection of concepts has two functions historically attributed to theory courses: providing explanations and values.


According to the music, the skills on or under the step of the top six teams in the Step Aerobics' finals of the 26th FISU and the related match rules, this thesis will make a statistics analysis which tends to summarize the music, the situation and the regular patterns of the techniques used in the Step Aerobics. Therefore, it will be helpful to find the features and the development direction of the arrangement in the Step Aerobics. What's more, to provide valuable reference for the grass-roots coaches, this in turn can largely promote the popularity and development of the Step Aerobics.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the outcome of horses with "complex" digital tenosynovitis treated by tenoscopic proximal annular ligament desmotomy and resection of synovial masses or adhesions, or both, within the digital sheath.

STUDY DESIGN
Retrospective evaluation.

ANIMALS OR SAMPLE POPULATION
Twenty-five horses with a clinical and ultrasonographic diagnosis of palmar or plantar proximal annular ligament constriction and ultrasonographic evidence of synovial masses or adhesions within the digital tendon sheath.

METHODS
Each horse had tenoscopic surgery for annular ligament desmotomy combined with adhesiolysis and/or synovial mass resection. Mean follow-up time was 3.4 years. Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess the relationship between functional outcome or cosmetic results and preoperative variables including duration of clinical signs, digital sheath synovial fluid total protein concentration and nucleated cell count, thickness of the palmar or plantar proximal annular ligament (PAL), severity of adhesions, severity of synovial masses, degree of synovial distention, or limb affected.

RESULTS
A total of 18 (72%) horses returned to athletic soundness, 4 were improved but not sound, and 3 were not improved. Cosmetic outcome was normal in 10 horses, improved but not normal in 12, and not improved in 3 horses. Cosmetic and functional outcome were significantly adversely affected by the duration of clinical signs and the severity of synovial masses.

CONCLUSIONS
With appropriate tenoscopic surgical attention, horses with complex tenosynovitis syndrome characterized by synovial masses, adhesions, or both adhesions and masses, and PAL constriction, have a good prognosis for return to athletic soundness.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Horses with PAL constriction and additional digital tendon sheath pathology such as adhesions and synovial masses have a 72% chance of returning to sound athletic performance, however 60% of horses retain some degree of cosmetic blemish in the affected limb. There is an inverse relationship between the duration of clinical signs and outcome, and therefore, prompt surgical attention is advised.


Ovarian neoplasm is the commonest condition observed in gynecology practice. Both non-neoplastic as well neoplastic ovarian tumors are common. In the present study neoplastic ovarian tumors were analyzed for their age of occurrence, site of ovary involved and histological typing. Oophrectomy/Hysterectomy and Oophrectomy was performed on patient suffering from ovarian tumors and the specimens were sent to Pathology department LMC & Teaching Hospital for their histological study. The present study of 40 cases of ovarian neoplasm is from 2068/05/05 B.S. to 2070/05/30 B.S. The mean age of patient was 39 years with S.D of 1.25 years. The size of the tumor varies from 5 cm to 32.9 cm and weight varies from 41 gms to 350 gms. Commonest tumor was mature cystic teratoma (52.5 %) followed by serous cyst adenoma (30%). Not much difference was found for ovarian tumor regarding its site right and left ovary. Only two cases of malignant ovarian neoplasm were found in this study, one case (2.5 %) was of immature cystic teratoma and another (2.5 %) was of serous cyst adenocarcinoma.


Magliulo et al recently reported an interesting case of "pneumolabyrinth following Eustachian tube insufflation" in Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. Pneumolabyrinth, as it has been described in the article, is a condition of vestibule and/or cochlea dysfunction due to the presence of air within the labyrinth. It is caused by a perilymphatic fistula that can be the result of temporal bone trauma, barometric pressure changes, or otologic surgery. The authors' recommended treatment is "subtotal petrosectomy with blind sac closure of the external auditory canal and obliteration of the Eustachian tube." This treatment strategy is an invasive approach, and it is not the most cost-effective treatment for solving the vestibular symptoms. Although Eustachian tube insufflation is a described method to treat otitis media, the history of stapes surgery is a contraindication. Large pressure changes during this procedure almost always induce inner ear damage, and it should have been emphasized in the article as an important point to notice. The vestibular symptoms in the patient seem to be related to massive inner ear damage, and it is not clear why petrosectomy and canal wall down procedure should be done in the patient who is deaf. The vestibular symptoms would be diminished with central compensation, and we believe that the petrosectomy does not have a dramatic effect, as pneumolabyrinth is a self-limiting symptom in such cases. There are mixed reports of the advantages to surgical exploration versus conservative management of pneumolabyrinth, and there is not any standard practice in this case, although reported outcomes of conservative management with bed rest, antibiotics, nasal decongestant, and corticosteroids in several studies are encouraging for its use as initial treatment. Follow-up of these reports shows a complete closure of the air-bone gap with no residual dizziness and vertigo, while the air disappeared after 1 year. Thus, surgical exploration should be limited, especially in progressive sensorineural hearing loss and persistent vertigo without any improvement after supportive management. Fat and perichondrium, temporalis fascia, muscle, and tragal perichondrium bolstered with Gelfoam have been described for fistula repair, but the selected procedure in the presented case after one try for fistula repair without any supportive treatments is not the best approach. If hearing preservation is not a goal in this case, central compensation would have decreased vestibular symptoms anyway.


In 2016 the International Conference "Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art VII" withthe discussion focusing on "Artifact, Art-object, Argument. An object in Visual Arts: Tasks, Methods, Results" chose as its emblem the painting "Aegina" by the St. Petersburg artist Gleb Bogomolov. This large-scale paintingbecomes the starting point for analyzing the final period of the master's work in the context of the classical tradition in contemporary art interpretation. Bogomolov's multi-channeled creativity allowed choosing his work as an emblem, in which, as in cultural code, one can read many meanings, associated with the problems of contemporary art history and museology discussed at the conference.


In the present study, we conducted a retrospective analysis of 343 in vitro experiments to ascertain whether observed (experimentally determined) values of Ki for reversible cytochrome P450 (P450) inhibition could be reliably predicted by dividing the corresponding IC50 values by two, based on the relationship (for competitive inhibition) in which Ki = IC50/2 when [S] (substrate concentration) = Km (Michaelis-Menten constant). Values of Ki and IC50 were determined under the following conditions: 1) the concentration of P450 marker substrate, [S], was equal to Km (for IC50 determinations) and spanned Km (for Ki determinations); 2) the substrate incubation time was short (5minutes) tominimizemetabolism-dependent inhibition and inhibitor depletion; and 3) the concentration of human liver microsomes was low (0.1 mg/ml or less) to maximize the unbound fraction of inhibitor. Under these conditions, predicted Ki values, based on IC50/2, correlated strongly with experimentally observed Ki determinations [r = 0.940; average fold error (AFE) = 1.10]. Of the 343 predicted Ki values, 316 (92%)werewithin a factor of 2 of the experimentally determinedKi values, and only one value fell outside a 3-fold range. In the case of noncompetitive inhibitors,Ki values predicted from IC50/2 values were overestimated by a factor of nearly 2 (AFE = 1.85;n = 13), which is to be expected because, for noncompetitive inhibition,Ki = IC50 (not IC50/2). The results suggest that, under appropriate experimental conditions with the substrate concentration equal to Km, values of Ki for direct, reversible inhibition can be reliably estimated from values of IC50/2.


An intercept method to determine critical hyper-planes of practical dynamic security region (PDSR) of power system is developed by use of knowledge of geometry. According to the intercepts where the critical line intersects the decisive variables' maximum and minimum values in the two-dimension space of PDSR, the proportional relationships among all of critical hyper-planes' coefficients are derived. The critical hyper-planes can be determined based on these proportional relationships and a critical operating point obtained by numerical simulation. Studies on New England system indicate that the proposed method is effective and fast. Moreover, the association function of the method is analyzed, by which the critical hyper-planes of PDSR corresponding to one fault can be calculated according to those of PDSR corresponding to another known fault.


In this paper, a novel feature line embedding (FLE) algorithm based on support vector machine (SVM), referred to as SVMFLE, is proposed for dimension reduction (DR) and for improving the performance of the generative adversarial network (GAN) in hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. The GAN has successfully shown high discriminative capability in many applications. However, owing to the traditional linear-based principal component analysis (PCA) the pre-processing step in the GAN cannot effectively obtain nonlinear information; to overcome this problem, feature line embedding based on support vector machine (SVMFLE) was proposed. The proposed SVMFLE DR scheme is implemented through two stages. In the first scatter matrix calculation stage, FLE within-class scatter matrix, FLE between-scatter matrix, and support vector-based FLE between-class scatter matrix are obtained. Then in the second weight determination stage, the training sample dispersion indices versus the weight of SVM-based FLE between-class matrix are calculated to determine the best weight between-scatter matrices and obtain the final transformation matrix. Since the reduced feature space obtained by the SVMFLE scheme is much more representative and discriminative than that obtained using conventional schemes, the performance of the GAN in HSI classification is higher. The effectiveness of the proposed SVMFLE scheme with GAN or nearest neighbor (NN) classifiers was evaluated by comparing them with state-of-the-art methods and using three benchmark datasets. According to the experimental results, the performance of the proposed SVMFLE scheme with GAN or NN classifiers was higher than that of the state-of-the-art schemes in three performance indices. Accuracies of 96.3%, 89.2%, and 87.0% were obtained for the Salinas, Pavia University, and Indian Pines Site datasets, respectively. Similarly, this scheme with the NN classifier also achieves 89.8%, 86.0%, and 76.2% accuracy rates for these three datasets.


Background: Neonatal period is the most the vulnerable time for survival of newborns. In Ethiopia, neonatal death remains increasing and requires extraordinary efforts and a novel intervention to reduced neonatal death as those deaths continue to occur in even hospital settings where there are the best neonatal care services. Despite many efforts done to improve the outcome of neonates admitted to hospitals; neonates continue dying in those settings. The causes of neonatal death in Ethiopia varies from place to place. So, identifying the causes of death in the study area is very important for prevention and treatment. The study aimed to assess the causes and factors associated with treatment outcomes. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 707 randomly selected neonates from March 1 to 31, 2020. Data were extracted from medical records using a checklist adapted from WHO and neonatal registration book. The data were inserted into Epi-data version 3.1 and then exported into SPSS window version 22 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were done to identify the association between independent variables and the outcome variable. Results: From 698 admitted neonates during 2 years period, 594 of them were improved and 104 of them were died. The proportion of neonatal death was 14.9% (95% CI:12.3,17.9). Neonatal sepsis, low birth weight and prematurity were the leading cause of neonatal death. Residency [ AOR=2.30, 95%CI: (1.3, 4.12)], low birth weight [AOR=2.52, 95%CI: (1.24,5.13))], respiratory distress syndrome [AOR =2.86, 95%CI:(220.127.116.11)], neonatal sepsis [AOR= 2.48, 95%CI: (1.40, 4.38)], and Neonates treated with phototherapy and oxygen [ AOR=0.22, 95%CI:(0.088,0.54)], [AOR= 0.47,95%CI:(0.22,0.99)] were factors associated with poor treatment outcome.Conclusion: The causes of neonatal death were mainly from preventable and treatable causes like neonatal sepsis, low birth weight, and prematurity in the study setting. Residency, low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome, having neonatal sepsis, treatment with phototherapy, and treatment with oxygen were independent factors. The concerned bodies should give attention to neonates admitted to intensive care units by strengthening the quality of care given at the unit and strengthening early detection and prevention of neonatal problems during post-partum periods.


ABSTRACT The Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) is usually associated with mass production. Iterative prototype construction and assembly have not been taken into account commonly in the planning of assembly ergonomics. This article presents DFMA queries considering factors in geometry and construction that affect the adjustability and adaptability during prototype construction. The example case concerns a paperboard tray press-forming prototype line. The main observation is that a DFMA approach with a systematic ergonomics analysis supports the efforts to avoid unnecessary reassembly cycles of the design. It was found in the study that although the total number of parts was increased, the reassembly times and the number of injuries were reduced significantly. The DFMA rules generated in this article can be applied in any non-linear prototype construction to enable a more clarified and safer operating environment.


Abbsbact. A simple semiclassical model is proposed for the calculation of the polarization potential at short range whae the impacting electron penetrates the electron cloud of the target atom. The new method is applied to the scattering of electrons and positrons from He atoms at energies between 0.1 and 50 eV. The model is described in detail and is shown to produce a local effective potential which is computationally wry easy to devise. Calculations for electron scattering are carried out for the elastic integral cross sections and for angular distributions of electrons at several collision energies and compared both with experiments and with more sophisticated calculations. The agreement of the presmt results with experiments is invariably very good. Further test calculations for the positron scattering processes also agree very well with the available experiments and with other theoretid predictions.


In the current paper a frequency analysis is performed for functionally graded material (FGM) circular cylindrical shells. A comparative study of shell frequencies is given for algebraic polynomial, exponential, and trigonometric volume fraction laws. An FGM shell considered here is structured from two materials. Love's thin shell theory is utilized for strain-displacement and curvature-displacement relations. The Rayleigh–Ritz method is employed to derive the frequency equation in the form of eigenvalue problem. Natural frequencies are evaluated for a shell with simply supported edge conditions. The axial modal dependence is approximated by circular trigonometric functions. Theoretical results are compared with those available in the literature for the validity of the present methodology.


Purpose: We propose an experimentally and clinically testable hypothesis, concerning the origin of very fast (>∼70 Hz) EEG oscillations that sometimes precede the onset of focal seizures. These oscillations are important, as they may play a causal role in the initiation of seizures.


The anaerobic digestion of sugarcane filter mud and the option of co-digestion with bagasse, wheat straw and chicken manure in two mixing ratios were investigated. Experiments were carried out in mesophilic continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) at hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 15, 10 and 7 days. While the main anaerobic digestion process parameters monitored. The HRT of 15 days was proved as the optimum with maximum biogas production capability of 700±44 ml Ld-1 for digestion of filter mud, and slightly reduce in biogas production when the HRT was reduced to 10 and 7 days. The VS removal efficiency at all HRTs was about 3.80%, and the highest average of COD removal efficiencies was 25.23% in HRT of 15 days. Regardless the co-digestion of filter mud with wheat straw in 1:1 ratio presented higher biogas yield (811.11±30 ml Ld-1) than co-digestion with other waste in all proportions during steady state condition of 15 days HRT.


Prosopis juliflora is an invasive woody plant that was introduced to Marigat Sub County of Baringo County in 1970s and over the years its spread has altered the livelihoods of the pastoral communities who are the majority in most of the affected areas. This is because  Prosopis juliflora invasion has reduced available dry season grazing fields, chocked river banks and interfered with access roads.  To control its spread several management and control technologies were promoted in Marigat Sub-County in early 2004 that included clearing and planting pasture, charcoal production and killing of cut stumps with chemicals among others. However, the interventions have not yielded the desired results for the species has continued to spread into newer areas and intensifying their presence in already invaded areas. A study was initiated in 2017 to determine the factors influenced the local households to adopt the promoted management and control technologies in Marigat Sub-county one of the areas of original introduction and most affected by the infestations. The study was done through socio-ecological survey using questionnaires and checklist administered to 337 households. The factors considered were Socio-economic (education, land size income) and demographic (gender, age, household size). Data collected was then processed and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics of SPSS. The inferential tools used were chi-square analysis, regression and correlation analysis and Pearson Moment Correlation analysis. The results showed land size, incomes from Prosopis products, age and household size significantly influenced adoption of management and control technologies for Prosopis in the study area. The adoption rates association direction depended mostly on labour availability and incomes to hire extra labour for undertake the arduous job of Prosopis clearing and control of reinvasions. Level of education of the respondents had no significant effect on the adoption rates of the various control measures. Keywords: Adoption, Prosopis juliflora , Management, Invasion and Household


This paper presents a circularly polarized isoflux antenna architecture. New design of compact antenna with parasitic elements was done. This antenna is composed of a circularly polarized patch associated with printed parasitic dipoles. The antenna dimension is about 83mm × 83mm × 15mm and only exceeds the upper face of the platform by 7.5mm. A new compact feeding circuit made of two (3dB, 90°) hybrid couplers and one 180° hybrid ring coupler is presented.


Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), despite our increasing understanding of its causes and its effective treatment, remains a chronic and underdiagnosed disorder. Both treatment with SSRIs and the behavioral treatment strategy of exposure with response prevention have been proved by clinical trials to be effective and safe in treating OCD; however, even these treatments sometimes elicit only moderate patient response, and some OCD patients do not respond to them at all. Preliminary data suggest that OCD has lifelong persistence and that discontinuation of pharmacotherapy often leads to relapse. Nonetheless, further prospective, controlled, maintenance studies of OCD are needed to determine factors in and predictors of recovery, remission, and relapse. Finally, new procedures for treatment-refractory patients are needed; neurosurgical and new pharmacologic approaches have shown promise in treating these patients and should be studied in controlled trials.


A simulation model of hybrid solar drying as alternative sustainable drying system for herbal and medicinal plants was developed. Heat absorbed from the solar radiation. Heat gained by the collector and supplemented by the burner. Heat gained or lost by the product, heat gained or lost through the drying bin wall, and the latent heat of the moisture evaporation from the product were the main components of the equations describing the drying system. The model was able to predict the moisture loss from the product at wide ranges of temperatures (55, 60, 65 and 70 C and air circulation percentages (10, 20 and 30%). The model showed a dramatic effect of the drying air temperature on the moisture loss at the beginning of the drying process and became constant. Energy consumption at different drying temperatures was studied. Air recirculation has a profound effect on energy saving while drying herbs. In the next stages, high temperature without forcing air should be used. The model was validated by using experimental data of the drying temperatures and moisture loss under both direct sun and solar drying systems for herbal plants. The predicted values were in a reasonable agreement with the experimental data.


Abstract. The spatial arrangement of the river network is a fundamental characteristic of the catchment, acting as a conduit between catchment-level effects and in-channel morphology and ecology. Yet river network structure is often simplified to reflect an up-to-downstream gradient of in-channel features, commonly represented by stream order. The aim of this study is to quantify network topological structure using new metrics – distance network density and elevation network density – that better account for the multi-dimensional nature of the catchment and which are functionally applicable across geomorphological, hydrological and ecological attributes of the catchment. The functional utility of the metrics in explaining patterns of physical habitat diversity is assessed in comparison to stream order. The metrics are calculated for four low-energy, anthropogenically modified catchments in the UK and compared to a physical habitat diversity score derived from England's River Habitat Survey. The results indicate that the new metrics offer a richer, and functionally more-relevant description of network topology than stream order, highlighting differences in the density and spatial arrangement of each catchment's internal network structure. Correlations between the new metrics and physical habitat diversity score show that distance network density is positively related to maximum habitat diversity in three of the four catchments. There is also evidence that increased distance network density may reduce minimum habitat diversity in catchments with greater anthropogenic modification. When all catchments are combined, distance network density is positively correlated with maximum, mean and minimum habitat diversity. There are no significant correlations between elevation network density and habitat diversity. In all but the largest streams, there is no significant relation between habitat diversity and stream order highlighting the limitations of stream order in accounting for network topology. Overall, the results suggest that distance network density is a more powerful metric which conceptually provides an improved method of accounting for the impacts of network topology on the fluvial system exhibiting strong relationships with habitat diversity, particularly maximum habitat diversity.


Turbidity current over a Gaussian-bump is investigated numerically using the upwinding combined compact difference (UCCD) scheme and the immersed boundary (IB) method in Cartesian grids. In the prediction of lock-exchange gravity-driven flow motion, the initial discontinuous concentration field is smoothed to avoid numerical oscillation by solving the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. The UCCD spatial scheme with sixth-order accuracy which introduces less dispersion errors is then used to discretize advection and diffusion terms in the calculation of concentration transport equation. Direct forcing IB method is employed to treat solid object bumps in the fluid flow. The incompressible Navier-Stokes solutions are obtained through the projection method. Analysis of the smoothing procedure, grid sensitivity and the effect of the Schmidt numbers is performed for the turbidity current problem to validate the proposed numerical algorithm, which is shown to be capable of accurately demonstrating their results. Finally, several problems of turbidity current over a three-dimensional seafloor are investigated. The front locations of the currents interacting with the bump are predicted under different Reynolds numbers. Also, the current properties, namely the suspended particle mass, sedimentation rate and energy budget, are compared with the available numerical results. AMS subject classifications: 35Q30, 76D05, 76D27, 76M20


Although American philosophers and physicians are generally familiar with the writings of Claude Bernard (1813-1878), especially his Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine (1865), the medical epistemology of Georges Canguilhem, born in 1904, is virtually unknown in English speaking nations. Although indebted to Bernard for his conception of the methods to be employed in the acquisition of medical knowledge, Canguilhem radically reformulates Bernard's concepts of 'disease', 'health', 'illness', and 'pathology'. Contemporary exhortations to medical professionals and medical students that they "pay more attention to the whole patient" take on significance in working through the writings of Canguilhem; of crucial importance is the relation that obtains between a patient's unique symptomatology and the proper drug regiment that is required.


The distribution of triaxial stresses within single damascene Cu/organosilicate interconnect structures as a function of linewidth, ranging from 45 to 250 nm, was measured using x-ray diffraction. Least-squares minimization techniques were employed to determine the volume-averaged stress tensors of the Cu features. Longitudinal Cu stress values increased for linewidths below 100 nm, while transverse stresses decreased with decreasing linewidth below 100 nm due to the interplay between the Cu microstructure and the feature geometry. Large tensile out-of-plane stresses were observed in all of the lines demonstrating the constraint imposed by the barrier layers that encapsulate the Cu.


General Systems Theory (GST) has been an attempt to put precision into the term system thereby making intelligent communication between its users more attractive, something that provides for migration of ideas and the possible resolution of issues by borrowing solutions from unfamiliar domains. We propose to build on GST and in particular, as von Bertalanffy once did, draw on the biological sciences, now hugely advanced beyond that ever imagined by von Bertalanffy and his peers, and use its findings, architectures and emergent behaviors, to argue for a biology of technology and enterprise systems. We do so by expanding on a system of "togetherness characteristics" and in particular explain how these can be applied to better understand familiar systems, e.g. the automobile, and how such systems form part of diverse wider communities (or containing systems). We seek a science and approach that we believe will provide richer insight into system failure, 'health' maintenance, repair, replication, growth, and mutation, all those features of the evolution of systems which constantly challenge us and which thus far we have only been able to explain via macro-level models and tools. We propose to go deeper into the structure of these systems and to discover the "DNA" (building blocks) of these systems. Thus establishing a foundation to understand their behavior using biological analogies which we believe will turn out to be more than metaphors. We assert that these systems have micro-structures which will explain their individual life cycle and their communal ecology.


As three particles are advected by a turbulent flow, they separate from each other and develop non trivial geometries, which effectively reflect the structure of the turbulence. We investigate here the geometry, in a statistical sense, of three Lagrangian particles advected, in 2-dimensions, by Kinematic Simulation (KS). KS is a Lagrangian model of turbulent diffusion that makes no use of any delta correlation in time at any level. With this approach, situations with a very large range of inertial scales and varying persistence of spatial flow structure can be studied. We first show numerically that the model flow reproduces recent experimental results at low Reynolds numbers. The statistical properties of the shape distribution at much higher Reynolds number is then considered. Even at the highest available inertial range, of scale, corresponding to a ratio between large and small scales of L/η ≈ 17, 000, we find that the radius of gyration of the three points does not precisely follow Richardson's prediction. The shapes of the triangles have a high probability to be elongated. The corresponding shape distribution is not found to be perfectly self similar, even for our highest ratio of inertial scales. We also discuss how the parameters of the synthetic flow, such as the exponent of the spectrum and the effect of the sweeping affect our results. Our results suggest that a non trivial distribution of shapes will be observed at high Reynolds numbers, although it may not be exactly self similar. Special attention is given to the effects of persistence of spatial flow structure.


The contamination of Surabaya's water river, one of the reasons, is caused by the lack functioning of Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). If the WWTP can be designed properly and in accordance with wastewater flow and characteristics, then the operation of WWTP is expectedly able to overcome or to reduce the water river contamination. Effects of wastewater quality and quantity fluctuations are considered as highly influential in the selection ofthe WWTP. The fluctuations are measured by wastewater sampling on H&Mall, with the flow measurement and laboratory analysis of COD, BOD, TSS, NH3, PO4, and O&G parameters. Wastewater quality and quantity in H&Mall of Surabaya are fluctuating hourly in a day, daily in a week, and the control chart analysis found that the parameters of TSS, NH3 and PO4 exceeds the 3 standard deviation. The design of the equalization basin for WWTP is considerably needed, not only due to the existence of quality and quantity fluctuations, but also due to the Malls in Surabaya city are commonly have only 12 hours operation a day. The calculation of anaerobic filter WWTP, with the 90% removal efficiency, produces the effluent WWTP that meets the current quality standards. With the size of 295 m 2 , it is possible to be built in the parking area of H&Mall.


Easing the pain of reporting finances is one blessing non-profits would jump at. Now, a specially designed form has been developed by the National Information Bureau which abolishes scores of governmental report forms and makes the task of reporting much easier.


ABSTRACT The aims explored associations between stress ratings and influences on coping and personality on student course satisfaction and anxiety. Most research construes stress as distress, with little attempt to consider positive 'eustress' experiences. Undergraduate students (N = 162) were surveyed on student and pandemic-related stressors, personality, support, control and on course satisfaction and anxiety. For course satisfaction, conscientiousness was the strongest predictor, followed by uplifting ratings of learning resources adapted during the pandemic. These uplifting ratings also support the efficacy of optimism. Support ratings were significant, but only as a hassle. This suggests work still needs to be done to maximise support opportunities on virtual learning platforms. Lack of motivation was strongly associated with anxiety. Context control and optimism had a buffering and mediating effect on levels of anxiety. Optimistic thinking strategies were effective in managing pandemic circumstances outside student control. Conscientiousness, control, support and optimism are integral in building student coping.


The goal of this work is to detect flaw formation in wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). This process uses an electric arc as the energy source in order to melt metallic wire and deposit the new material, similar to metal inert gas (MIG) welding. Industry has been slow to adopt WAAM due to the lack of process consistency and reliability. The WAAM process is susceptible to a multitude of stochastic disturbances that cause instability in the electric arc. These arc instabilities eventually lead to flaw formation such as porosity, spatter, and excessive deviations in the desired geometry. Therefore, the objective of this work is to detect flaw formation using in-situ acoustic (sound) data from a microphone installed near the electric arc. This data was processed using a novel wavelet integrated graph theory approach. This approach detected the onset of multiple types of flaw formations with a false alarm rate of less than 2%. Using this method, this work demonstrates the potential for in-situ monitoring and flaw detection of the WAAM process in a computationally tractable manner.


Installation of reactive-power sources in the form of static capacitor banks is usually resorted to in distribution systems to reduce the energy loss and to achieve any required voltage correction. In this paper, the minimisation of the annual cost of energy loss and the annual cost of capacitor installation is first formulated as a time-dependent optimisation problem. The specific characteristics of distribution systems and the cyclic nature of the load variations permit the reformulation of the problem as a static quadratic programming problem.


One persistent finding in experimental economics is that people react very differently to outcomewise identical situations depending on the procedures which have led to them. In accordance with this, there exists a broad consensus among psychologists that not only expected outcomes shape human behavior, but also the way in which decisions are taken. Economists, on the other hand, have remained remarkably silent about procedural aspects of strategic interactions. This paper provides a game theoretic framework that integrates procedural concerns into economic analysis. Building on Battigalli and Dufwenberg (2005)'s framework of dynamic psychological games, we show how procedural concerns can be conceptualized assuming that agents are (also) motivated by belief-dependent psychological payoffs. Procedural choices influence the causal attribution of responsibilities, the evaluation of intentions and the arousal of emotions. Two applications highlight the impact and importance of procedural concerns in strategic interactions.


In this article Stephe Harrop combines theatre history and performance analysis with contemporary agonistic theory to re-conceptualize Greek tragedy's contested spaces as key to the political potentials of the form. She focuses on Athenian tragedy's competitive and conflictual negotiation of performance space, understood in relation to the cultural trope of the agon. Drawing on David Wiles's structuralist analysis of Greek drama, which envisages tragedy's spatial confrontations as a theatrical correlative of democratic politics, performed tragedy is here re-framed as a site of embodied contest and struggle – as agonistic spatial practice. This historical model is then applied to a recent case study, Aeschylus' The Suppliant Women as co-produced by Actors Touring Company and the Lyceum, Edinburgh, in 2016–17, proposing that the frictious effects, encounters, and confrontations generated by this production (re-staged and re-articulated across multiple venues and contexts) exemplify some of the potentials of agonistic spatial practice in contemporary re-performance of Greek tragedy. It is contended that re-imagining tragic theatre, both ancient and modern, as (in Chantal Mouffe's terms) 'agonistic public space' represents an important new approach to interpreting and creatively re-imagining, interactions between Athenian tragedy and democratic politics. Stephe Harrop is a Lecturer in Drama at Liverpool Hope University, where her research focuses primarily on performances and texts adapted from, or responding to, ancient tragedy and epic. She is co-author of Greek Tragedy and the Contemporary Actor (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming).


The transformation of [1-14C]arachidonic acid into [14C]prostaglandin E2(PGE2) by rabbit aorta and skin was demonstrated by cell-free preparations, and the PGE2 synthetase activity was located mainly in the microsomal fraction (105,000 g pellet) of both tissues. Rabbits fed an atherogenic diet (Purina rabbit chow plus 1% cholesterol and 2% cottonseed oil) developed atheroma in the aortas and skin lesions resembling xanthoma in 6 to 7 months. At the end of this period, increases in the conversion of [1-14C]-arachidonic acid into [14C]PGE2 were observed in microsomal preparations of the intima-media of the aortas (2.5-fold of control) and normal-appearing skin (3.0-fold of control) of the experimental animal. Microsomal preparations of skin lesions particularly had greater ability to form PGE2 (7-fold of control).


PURPOSE: The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the effects of Branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) administration on the exercise time to exhaustion in sedentary individuals. The central fatigue hypothesis proposes that, by maintaining a favourable plasma free Tryptophan (TRP) to BCAA ratio, BCAA supplementation may have the ability to reduce the rate of entry of TRP into certain areas of the brain. TRP is the metabolic pre-cursor of serotonin. Serotonin is a chemical neurotransmitter, which appears to have a role to play in the control of lethargy, tiredness and sleep. It has been suggested that reductions in TRP concentrations in the brain will decrease brain serotonin synthesis which may help to delay the onset of this form of fatigue, known as central fatigue. METHODS: Ten, healthy, non-obese and non-active males aged between 18 and 25 participated in the study. Each participant performed two submaximal exercise bouts until volitional fatigue, while receiving either a BCAA supplement (50% leucine, 30% valine, 20% isoleucine) or a placebo (PLAC). Cardiorespiratory measures of VO2 (ml.kg.min, VCO2 (l/min), Ve (l/min), RER and heart rate (bpm) were recorded throughout. RPE values were taken during each trial. Post-exercise cognitive assessments of reaction time, memory recall and attention capacity were performed following each treatment. RESULTS: Exercise time to exhaustion was significantly longer during the BCAA (96.02 + 15 mins) trial when compared to the PLAC (86 + 14 mins) trial (P<0.05). No significant differences in any of the cardiorespiratory measures were observed between trials or at exhaustion. No significant differences in RPE were found between treatments. Post-exercise memory recall demonstrated no observable differences between trials. Following the BCAA trial simple reaction time scores were significantly faster than the PLAC trial (210 + 40msec v's 226 + 37msecs) (P<0.05). Participants concentration levels were improved following the BCAA trial as evidenced by a significantly lower recorded error score in a paper and pencil cancellation test (1.3 + 1.3 v's 4.7 + 3.1) (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The present investigation demonstrated that supplementation of BCAA during prolonged submaximal exhaustive exercise resulted in a significantly longer exercise duration in a sedentary population. Although it cannot be firmly concluded that the BCAA administered were not utilised for metabolic purposes by skeletal muscle, improvements in post-exercise cognitive performance tend to suggest that the BCAA administered had a role to play in offsetting feelings of fatigue and tiredness experienced by a sedentary population and that this fatigue may be of central origin.


Learning discriminative, view-invariant and multi-scale representations of person appearance with different semantic levels is of paramount importance for person Re-Identification (Re-ID). A surge of effort has been spent by the community to learn deep Re-ID models capturing a holistic single semantic level feature representation. To improve the achieved results, additional visual attributes and body part-driven models have been considered. However, these require extensive human annotation labor or demand additional computational efforts. We argue that a pyramid-inspired method capturing multi-scale information may overcome such requirements. Precisely, multi-scale stripes that represent visual information of a person can be used by a novel architecture factorizing them into latent discriminative factors at multiple semantic levels. A multi-task loss is combined with a curriculum learning strategy to learn a discriminative and invariant person representation which is exploited for triplet-similarity learning. Results on three benchmark Re-ID datasets demonstrate that better performance than existing methods are achieved (e.g., more than 90% accuracy on the Duke-MTMC dataset).


It is a paradox that medical experimentation on individuals, whether patients or healthy volunteers, is now controlled by strict ethical guidelines, while no such protection exists for whole populations which are subjected to medical interventions in the name of preventive medicine or health promotion. As many such interventions are either of dubious benefit or of uncertain harm-benefit balance, such as mass screening for cancers or for risk factors associated with coronary heart disease, there is no justification for maintaining the ethical vacuum in which preventive medicine finds itself at present.


BACKGROUND
The contribution and role of emphysema and small airways disease in causing expiratory airflow limitation in COPD is controversial.

METHODS
We obtained high-resolution thin-section 2-mm CT scans of the lung for emphysema grading and lung function in 116 consecutively seen COPD outpatients with fixed expiratory airflow limitation. In this group, inflated whole lung(s) were subsequently obtained in 24 patients (23 autopsy, 1 surgery) for morphologic studies and results compared with lung CT. Airway histologic condition was studied in 17 of the 24 patients.

RESULTS
There was fair to weak negative correlation between CT emphysema score and either FEV1/FVC percent (r = -0.51, p = 0.001) or FEV1 percent predicted (r = -0.31, p = 0.001). In only 24 of the 81 patients (30%) with FEV1 less than 50% predicted, the CT emphysema score was 60 or more, indicating severe emphysema. In the 24 patients studied, there was a good correlation (r = 0.86, p = 0.001) between CT and pathologic grade of emphysema. While respiratory bronchioles (RBs) and membranous bronchioles (MBs) demonstrated marked morphologic abnormalities, there was a weak correlation with emphysema grade (for RB, r = 0.36, p = 0.16; for MB, r = 0.41, p = 0.10) or with FEV1 percent predicted (for RB, r = -0.21, p = 0.42; for MB, r = -0.28, p = 0.28). There was no correlation between emphysema and FEV1 percent predicted (r = -0.13, p = 0.54).

CONCLUSIONS
High-resolution CT lung scans are an in vivo surrogate to quantitate moderate to severe morphologic emphysema. Emphysema does not appear to be primarily responsible for severe expiratory airflow limitation in most patients with severe COPD. There was no correlation between severity of small airway histologic condition and emphysema or FEV1 percent predicted. The causes of the lesions responsible for small airways obstruction need to be identified.


In the framework of deterministic Finslerian models, a mechanism producing dissipative dynamics at the Planck scale is introduced. It is based on a geometric evolution from Finsler to Riemann structures defined in TM. Quantum states are generated and interpreted as equivalence classes composed by the configurations that evolve, through an internal dynamics, to the same final state. The existence of an her-mitian scalar product in an associated linear space is discussed and related with the quantum pre-Hilbert space. We argue that this hermi-tian product can emerge from geometric and statistical considerations. We show how our scheme recovers the main ingredients of the usual Quantum Mechanics. Nevertheless, several testable consequences of our scheme are discussed and compared with Quantum Mechanics. A solution of the cosmological constant problem is proposed, as well as a mechanism for the absence of quantum interferences at classical scales.


The red-rumped agouti is a small-sized wild rodent, belonging to the Dasyproctidae family, with great zootechnical potential, and it adapts well to captivity. In order to contribute to the species biology, this study describes the origin of the nerves forming the lumbosacral plexus. Twelve animals (six males and six females) were used, from previous experiments. The animals were fixed in a 10% formaldehyde aqueous solution and eviscerated after 72 hours. Then, the major and minor psoas muscles were retracted, exposing the nerves forming the plexus. Cotton soaked with 20-volume hydrogen peroxide was placed on these nerves, remaining for 12 hours straight for bleaching and subsequent dissection. The topographical relations of the lumbosacral plexus were grouped into tables and arranged in terms of simple percentage. In 7 cases (58.34%), the lumbosacral plexus in the red-rumped agouti stemmed from the ventral roots of the last 4 lumbar nerves and the first 3 sacral nerves (Type I – L 4 -S 3 ), in 4 animals (33.33%) it stemmed from L 5 -S 3 (Type II), and in 1 case (8.33%) it stemmed from L 5 -S 4 (Type III). The nerves participating of the lumbosacral plexus in the red-rumped agouti were: lateral femoral cutaneous, genitofemoral, femoral, obturator, sciatic, cranial gluteal, caudal gluteal, and pudendal nerve. The origin of the lumbosacral plexus and the spinal nerves making up this plexus in red-rumped agoutis were similar to that described in other rodents, such as rock cavy, lowland paca and spix's yellow-toothed cavy.


Predicting the 6DoF pose of vehicles from a single view image without additional constraints remains an ill-posed problem. Current monocular approaches require expensive and time-consuming annotations of vehicle-specific feature points and/or the 2D-3D feature correspondences. In this paper, we propose a novel monocular approach for vehicle pose estimation in SE(3), dubbed Mono6D, that uses vehicle 3D priors provided by vehicle make-and-model recognition methods to estimate the 6D pose. The proposed method mainly consists of: 1) a two-separate-branch module to learn multi-modal representations; 2) a fusion schema to learn pose-specific representative embeddings. The experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to the state-of-the-art approaches in both objective and subjective terms.


This paper presents an approach for designing fault-tolerant routers for signal distribution by redundant path routing in wafer scale integration (WSI) architectures. The conditions by which a router can be designed using spare lines (tracks) such that the probability of successfully routing all input lines in the prescribed order and in the presence of faults in switches can be optimized (optimality), are proved using a probabilistic analysis. An algorithm which determines the placement of the switches in the router to satisfy the optimality conditions is presented.


Randomly selected dental surgeries were visited with the aim of measuring the level of irradiation used in each. Both in the city of Bilbao, and in the province of Vizcaya, doses were found to be lower than those advised. Even so, the importance for these professionals to adopt preventive, protective measures needs to be emphasized.


This poster paper compares Higher Order Neural Networks (HONN) with Neural Networks, and linear regression for short term forecasting of stock market index daily returns. Two new HONNs, the Correlation HONN (CHONN) and the Horizontal HONN (HorizHONN) outperform all other models tested in terms of the Akaike Information Criterion, out-of-sample root mean square error, of FTSE100 and NASDAQ giving out-of-sample Hit Rates of up to 60% with AIC improvement up to 6.2%. New hybrid models for volatility estimation are formed by combining CHONN with E/GARCH are compared with conventional EGARCH, providing up to 2.1% and 2.7% AIC improvement for FTSE100 and NASDAQ.


Using a sample of Hong Kong listed firms that announced related party transactions, this paper examines the informativeness of financial reports prior to the announcements of related party transactions. We find that the value relevance of financial reports is higher for firms undertaking asset or equity tunneling transactions than for firms undertaking other types of related party transactions in the period prior to the announcement of transactions. Given firms with forthcoming tunneling transactions, financial reports are more value relevant for firms with more conservative accounting than for firms with less conservative accounting. Further, the association between conservatism and entrenchment effect is stronger for firms with forthcoming tunneling transactions. Collectively, the evidence suggests that firms adopt conservative accounting to increase the informativeness of financial reports prior to the tunneling transactions, which assists controlling shareholders in expropriating wealth from the minority shareholders from the tunneling transactions.


Soil quality concerns are not new, but each time we come to them we use a slightly different approach because our understanding of soils has increased and the questions that scientists and society ask have changed. Productivity and suitability for different beneficial uses of soil have been major themes in soil quality, but there are other approaches. It is useful to consider the changing concept of soil quality so we can put our present concerns in the context of the other ideas as we seek to reverse soil degradation and improve soil quality

Suitability for various beneficial uses is probably the oldest and one of the most frequently used concepts of soil quality. Often this concept is related to the quantity of crops produced, but it can also be related to quality. Soil health, as it determines human health, is expressed through crop quality. Because soil is a unique habitat for a wide diversity of biota, various biological parameters have been used in defining soil quality. A further refinement is to define soil quality in terms of the various functions that soils perform in ecosystems, such as recycling of nutrients, partitioning …


With the recent trend of increasing display sizes of mobile devices, one-handed interaction has become increasingly difficult when a user wants to maintain a safe grip around the device at the same time. In this paper we evaluate how a combination of hybrid front- and back-of-device touch input can be used to overcome the difficulties when using a mobile device with one hand. Our evaluation shows that, even though such a technique is slower than conventional front-of-device input, it allows for accurate and safe input.


Abstract North-east China occupies an important geographic position for understanding the process of Neolithisation in East Asia. Although archaeologists have long debated the trajectory of change in this region, a lack of intensive survey and excavation has precluded convincing interpretations. This article presents research on the newly excavated sites of Huayang and Taoshan in the southern Lesser Khingan Mountains, with a particular focus on the lithic assemblages. Comparative and environmental analyses demonstrate the largely uniform trajectory of lithic technologies across north-east China and close correspondence with Late Glacial palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental changes.


"Snatching the eternal out of the desperately fleeting is the great magic trick of human existence", Tennessee Williams wrote in 1951 in an essay devoted to The Rose Tattoo, entitled "The Timeless World of a Play" (61). What the statement reveals is the American playwright's conception of art as a means of fighting against the passing of time, against the "awful sense of impermanence" (61) that never stopped haunting him. But the stage is not the only place where, as Williams wrote in the same essay, "time is arrested in the sense of being confined" (61). The sketches and paintings he made throughout his life reveal the same obsession with time, the same desire to freeze the intensity of the moment into the work of art. Two paintings, made in 1975 and 1977, shed new light on two of his late plays, Vieux Carre and Something Cloudy, Something Clear. Written at the end of his life, both plays are attempts at capturing the totality of experience. In them, Williams intertwines past and present, life and art, combining movement and stasis to achieve a synthesis his paintings echo, or mirror, though in a very different way. The examination of these unknown paintings in relation to the plays is meant to engage us in a dialogue between texts and images. What the dialogical perspective reveals is a temporality that is circular rather than linear, anachronistic rather than chronological. Williams the painter and Williams the playwright blur the limits of space and time to reach that region where the distinctions between text and image collapse as one becomes the mirror of the other, its "horizon," as Jean-Luc Nancy writes in Au Fond des images. There, words fail and figures dissolve; there, silence and haziness confront the reader/spectator with the timelessness of art, not as something eternal or transcendent, but rather as a magic interval where the intensity of the vanishing moment can be captured. In the scripts of his plays as well as in his paintings, Williams faces us with the mystery of time, with an elusiveness that he considers as the only true essence of his art. Through a comparative analysis of two of his paintings with two of his late plays, I intend to show how the verbal and the visual interconnect in Williams's art, how his texts as well as his paintings convey a sense of "intense immobility" that is the artist's way of beating "the game of being against non-being" (Williams 2009, 61).


Parallel conduct by competing firms can be the result of completely independent and uncontroversial behaviour, such as when all suppliers are affected by and respond unilaterally to the same increase in costs. At the other extreme, parallel conduct can be the result of interdependent and deliberately coordinated behaviour, such as when all suppliers meet in the proverbial smoke-filled room and agree to fix prices. But as economists have been telling us for decades, there is a vast middle ground, where the parallel conduct stems from some degree of interdependence and some behaviour short of the hard-core cartel described above. Understanding the reasons for the parallel behaviour and deciding what to do about it is a central element of modern antitrust law and policy. Our goal in this paper is to make some incremental progress by exploring, in the Australian context, how a firm can escape the allegation that it has been a party to a contract, arrangement or understanding even when its conduct in the marketplace appears to be roughly parallel to that of its competitors. Our vehicle for this approach is the decision of the trial judge in the laundry detergent case (ACCC v Colgate-Palmolive), upheld by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia, to dismiss the case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against Cussons, the one producer of detergent that actually went to trial, determining that the ACCC had not succeeded in proving that Cussons was a party to any collusive arrangement or understanding with its competitors (Colgate and Unilever) or with one of its major customers (Woolworths). It is our hope that an analysis of the evidence in the case and the claims that were made (and either accepted or rejected) based on that evidence will assist in framing the ongoing debate about where the boundary between lawful and unlawful conduct lies (or should lie) and will highlight the kinds of economic evidence that advance the debate.


X-ray diffraction measurements were made on argon at six
states in the general liquid region below the critical pressure at
densities between 0.910 to 1.261 gm/cc and at temperatures between
108 to 143 °K. The intensity patterns exhibited three distinct
maxima at s values of 1.91 ± .02, 3.68 ± .06 and 5.43 ± .16 A -1 .
The intensity patterns were Fourier transformed to the net radial
distribution function and the direct correlation function. The
functions, 4πr 2 ρh(r), showed 3 maxima at low densities and 4 at the
high densities at values of r of 3.85 ± 0.05, 7.29 ± .10, 10.75 ± .45
and 14.1 ± .5 A. A subsidiary maximum between the first and second
main peaks was observed to increase in prominence and disappear
systematically as the density increased. It was not noticeably
evident at either the lowest or highest density. The first zero of
the direct correlation function was at an r value of 3.34 ± .03 A,
whereas the first maximum was at 3.78 ± .06 A. Unlike previous
determinations of C(r) in this laboratory, the direct correlation
function exhibited secondary features on the shoulder of the main peak.
At the highest density the direct correlation function goes negative
near 6 A. The intermolecular potential function was calculated from
the data using the Percus-Yevick equation. At the lowest density the
potential predicted in this way closely resembled the Lennard-Jones
12-6 potential for argon. However, the well-depths of these predicted
potentials diminished rapidly with increasing density and decreasing
temperature from 118.0 °K at ρ = .910 to 68.6 °K at ρ = 1.261 gm/cc.
Comparisons of the direct correlation function and the radial
distribution function with analytic predictions based on the Lennard-Jones
potential and the P-Y equation indicated internal consistency
at the lower densities. A comparison of the experimental radial
distribution function at the highest density, with one calculated
by molecular dynamics, indicated substantial agreement.


The effects of the R- and Z-substituents on radical stability in the reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization process have been studied via high level ab initio molecular orbital calculations. Radical stabilization energies (RSEs) of the RAFT-adduct radicals CH3SC•ZSR and corresponding leaving group radicals R• have been calculated for various combinations of Z = H, Cl, CCH, CHCH2, CN, CF3, NH2, CH3, Ph, Bz, naphthyl, OCH3, OCH2CH3, OCH(CH3)2, and OC(CH3)3 and R = CH2CN, C(CH3)2CN, Bz, CH(Ph)CH3, C(Ph)(CH3)2, CH2COOCH3, CH(COOCH3)CH3, CH2OCOCH3, and CH2CH3. The results were used in combination with the corresponding values of the enthalpies of the fragmentation reactions, CH3SC•(Z)SR → CH3SC(Z)S + •R and CH3SC•(Z)SR → •CH3 + SC(Z)SR, to examine the effects of the substituents on the stability of both the RAFT-adduct radicals and the corresponding thiocarbonyl compounds. The RAFT-adduct radicals are stabilized by electron donation from the two sulfur substituents, and this stability can be further enhanced by unsaturated π-accepting substituents (such as CN, phenyl, and naphthyl). In contrast, lone pair donor Z-substituents (such as Cl, NH2, and OCH3) have a much smaller effect on radical stability. The R-group, which can modify the donation ability of the SR-group, has a minimal effect on the stability of the RAFT-adduct as it is buffered by the second sulfur substituent. However, these orbital interactions do affect the strength of the breaking S−R bond, and this provides an important contribution to the trends in the fragmentation enthalpies. Steric effects on radical stability are also important, with bulky R- and Z-groups inducing conformational changes that interfere with these orbital interactions, sometimes with unexpected consequences. The substituent effects on the RAFT agents are qualitatively different; the agents are strongly stabilized by the lone pair donor Z-substituents and strongly destabilized by electron withdrawing groups (such as CN and CF3) in the R- and Z-positions. Moreover, steric effects are generally more significant, with bulky R- and Z-groups destabilizing the RAFT agent more than the corresponding RAFT-adduct radicals. As part of this work, the accuracy of the low-cost RMP2/6-311+G(3df,2p) method for studying addition−fragmentation processes in RAFT polymerization was evaluated.


Nepal-China relations have been cordial for centuries. The relationship is based on the principles of panchasheel, mutual trust and respect. China's overall policy and interests in Nepal revolve around stability, security, economic development and geopolitics. The changes in regime, either the Shah Monarchy or the Federal Democratic Republic Government, have never been the issue in the unremitting mutual relations between the two countries. However, in the republic era, the security landscape of the Nepal-China relationship has been evolved due to Nepal's geostrategic location and its vulnerability, China's growing military and economic power, the US's China containment strategy and use of soft power; and India's concerns about Chinese growing engagement in Nepal have raise various questions and security implications for Nepal- China relations. The researcher has used the qualitative approach to analyze the Nepal-China relation and security dynamics after 2007. It mainly used diplomatic, military and economic aspects of DIME instruments of national power as a framework of analysis. Nepal must comprehend the sensitivity of China and India, along with other regional and international powers, regarding their security concerns and implement prudent policies prioritizing national interests. Given the evolving dynamics of global power relations and advancements in regional and international arenas, Nepal's nonalignment policy must become more productive, ensuring constructive engagement with China, India and extra-regional powers.


A set of resistance ratios (W) for platinum resistance thermometers was obtained at the triple point of Hg and the melting point of Ga in order to study their relationship. It was found that using measured values for one of the fixed points, a linear equation will predict the value of the other. These measurements also indicate that the fixed points of Hg and of Ga are inconsistent by about 1,5 mK in the sense that either the melting point of Ga or the triple point of Hg was assigned too high a value on the ITS-90.


Vibrations in Subsea Production Systems are well recognized as a concern in the subsea industry. To identify the severity of the vibrations and potential accumulated fatigue damage, subsea vibrations need to be measured with great accuracy. Currently, accurate detection and subsea measurements are often performed by utilizing accelerometers, which have to be connected to the structure by ROV or a diver.
 ROV video analysis provides an alternative solution. Video analyses are widely utilized across different applications. With the increased quality of a HD camera on ROV, the accessibility of such measurements is an attractive substitute to other techniques.
 As a part of on-shore mechanical testing on a full assembled XT in St John's Canada, a flowloop on a water injection XT was subjected to free vibrations. The vibrations were filmed using a commercial HD camera placed on a tripod.
 This test was done to validate data generated using video processing in which pipe vibration of an operating subsea XT was filmed using an ROV camera.
 A study that aimed to quantify the video processing accuracy, limitations and provide general guidance was conducted. For the onshore test filmed with a tripod the results of video analyses were compared with the measurements obtained by means of accelerometers. For the video of an operating subsea XT filmed by an ROV, the obtained vibration frequency and direction was compared with the free mechanical vibration obtained by a FEM model.
 The results obtained by means of the video analysis matched well with the accelerometer data. A high accuracy was reached, as vibration displacements as low as 20% of the pixel were accurately determined in the video analysis. With respect to detection frequencies, the upper cut-off frequency was around 15 Hz determined by the video framerate. The video analysis utilizing ROV videos was found to be applicable for low frequency vibration measurements, opening the opportunity for easier and more cost effective vibration detection and monitoring. The method is also reliable for subsea application in which the camera is placed on an ROV and is thus not affected by ROV movements, subsea lighting condition and moving ocean debris.


Summary Warfarin is employed more frequently than acenocoumarol because of its longer half-life (36 h), theoretically providing more stable anticoagulation, and avoiding factor VII fluctuations that potentially occur during acenocoumarol treatment (half-life 10 h). The aim of our study was to compare acenocoumarol with warfarin in the same group of 103 patients who started oral anticoagulation with acenocoumarol and then changed to warfarin. In these patients we compared the previous period of six months on acenocoumarol treatment (July-December 1996) with a new six-month period on warfarin (July-December 1997). We wished to know whether warfarin could improve the quality and the stability of oral anticoagulation of our patients and whether there was a difference between the two drugs in the weekly mean dose per patient. Moreover in order to detect the possible daily fluctuation of factor VII, we evaluated a further group of 54 patients. A subgroup of these patients was treated with warfarin while another received acenocoumarol. In the first group of patients, 1,158 and 1,064 PTs were carried out with acenocoumarol and warfarin, respectively. The percentage of PTs in the therapeutic range was 59% with acenocoumarol and 62% with warfarin (p = 0.4). The mean number of visits per patient was 12 and 11, and the mean number of visits in the therapeutic range was 7 and 7, respectively. The last check in file method did not show any difference between the two drugs. Overdose states were 51 (4.4%) with acenocoumarol and 30 (2.8%) with warfarin (p = 0.4). A good correlation (r = 0.92) was found between the acenocoumarol and the warfarin weekly mean dose. The mean warfarin/acenocoumarol weekly dose ratio was 2.08 (range: 1.25-3.30; CI 95%: 1.99-2.16). In the second group of patients, factor VII levels with both drugs were higher 24 h after administration than 16 h after, showing that their daily fluctuation was independent of the drug's half-life, since factor VII levels in patients with a low vitamin K intake were not increased. Our results showed that warfarin did not appear to be better than acenocoumarol in the performance of an Anticoagulation Clinic in terms of PTs within the therapeutic range per patient. It seems that the behaviour of factor VII was affected by the intake of vitamin K rather than by the short half-life of acenocoumarol.


Knowledge management has become increasingly popular in the software industry. Knowledge is one of the software companies main asset, and large amounts of resources are being used to manage and re-use this knowledge. Management of architectural knowledge is also important, especially when dealing with software development. This is because a team with good architectural understanding will have a good chance at efficiently creating re-usable assets. In this thesis I will describe how a Scandinavian software company deals with knowledge management. I have also analyzed the management of architectural knowledge. These subjects have been viewed from both the managers and employees point of view, and I have compared the intentions of the managers, with how the employees actually perform. The research question: "How is domain- and architecture-knowledge managed in a Scandinavian software company?" is answered by describing and analyzing the data gathered by interviews in such a company. The thesis is concluded by summaries of the discussion and the analysis that has been done. My findings in the researched areas suggest that knowledge management practices are important but that they often are underestimated. The company wherein I have conducted my research does have a QA team and a re-use culture, this culture is described, however this thesis also points out areas in which the company can improve. The case-study is based upon qualitative analysis of the results from eight interviews conducted among managers and developers in the company. In the thesis I discuss the findings and report upon issues such as company culture, routines and goals in the areas of knowledge management. My findings have been generalized, and hopefully other companies can make use of them to improve their own knowledge management processes and goals.


Jo -A nn e M cA rt hu r / W eA ni m al s.o rg It's this third category, the ghosts, that I show to the world. So few photojournalists are looking at this issue of hidden mass abuse. Billions of animals suffer at our hands each year. The problem is worldwide, and access to these industries ranges from difficult to impossible. My hope is that if we can see and understand how these animals are used and abused, if we can see how they live and how they die, then we can make more informed, kinder decisions about how we consume them. There's a beautiful quote from Edgar's Mission Farm Sanctuary in Australia, and I share it often. It reads, simply: "If we could live happy and healthy lives without harming others, why wouldn't we?" There are many ways to live happily and healthily while reducing harm to animals and to the environment — if we don't choose to hide and ignore them. Thank you for looking at the animals we rarely actually see. My hope is that you won't turn away. ■ I place animals into three categories. The first category could be called "pets," or "companion animals." We know them well: dogs, cats, small domestic animals with whom we share our lives, even our food and our beds. The second category we know as "wildlife": the charismatic megafauna we see on the covers of National Geographic, whose beauty and strength we revere from a distance but whose lives have little to no bearing on our own. We donate money to organizations that save them; we put photos of them up on our walls. My work doesn't focus very much on these animals. I am interested in the third category: the rest of the world's animals. The invisibles. The ghosts. They are the animals with whom we have the most intimate relationship, and yet we don't really see them. We barely give them a thought. When we do see them, it's in parts. We call them spare ribs instead of pigs. We call them leather instead of cows. Honey garlic wings instead of chickens. Filets instead of fish. We wear these animals; we ingest them many times a day; we use products and medicines that are tested on them; and yet they remain, as individuals, absent from our line of sight.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical effect of titanium cable assisted fixation combined with lengthened Gamma nail in the treatment of subtrochanteric fracture of femur.

METHODS
From January 2010 to January 2018, 45 patients with long subtrochanteric fractures were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into two groups according to the operation plan. There were 24 cases of titanium cable assisted fixation combined with lengthened Gamma nail (observation group), including 14 males and 10 females, with an age of (54.2±12.8) years; 21 patients (control group) were treated with simple lengthened Gamma nail (control group), including 12 males and 9 females, with an age of (51.4±15.9) years. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay, hemoglobin decrease and fracture healing time were observed and recorded in the two groups. Harris hip function score was used to evaluate the postoperative curative effect, and the occurrence of complications was observed.

RESULTS
All patients were followed up for 14 to 36 months. There was significant difference in operation time, intraoperative blood loss, hospital stay between two groups(P<0.05). Three months after operation, the fracture healing rate of the observation group was 79.1%(19 / 24), which was higher than that of the control group 52.4%(11 / 21)(P<0.05). There was no significant difference in Harris hip function score 1 year after operation and fracture healing rate at 6 and 12 months after operation between the two groups (P>0.05). There were no complications such as deep infection, fracture of internal fixation and deep vein thrombosis of lower limbs in the two groups, and delayed healing occurred in 1 case in the control group.

CONCLUSION
Lengthened Gamma nail fixation is reliable in the treatment of subtrochanteric fracture. Limited incision titanium cable assisted fixation can improve the reduction rate and fixation strength of long segment fracture, which is conducive to early functional exercise.


Straightlining, an indicator of satisficing, refers to giving the same answer in a series of questions arranged on a grid. We investigated whether straightlining changes with respondents' panel experience in two open-access Internet panels in the Netherlands: the LISS and Dutch Immigrant panels. Specifically, we considered straightlining on 10 grid questions in LISS core modules (7 waves) and on a grid of evaluation questions in both the LISS panel (150+ waves) and the Dutch immigrant panel (50+ waves). For both core modules and evaluation questions we found that straightlining increases with respondents' panel experience for at least three years. Straightlining is also associated with younger age and non-western 1st generation immigrants. Where straightlining was a plausible set of answers, prevalence of straightlining was much larger (15-40%) than where straightlining was implausible (


Introduction In a previous qualitative study in Afar, it was reported that most mothers deliver at home, assisted by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs). However, determinant factors of delivery practices in this region remain scarcely explored. The objective of this study was to elucidate these factors among the Afar community. Methods This cross sectional study was conducted in April 2011 in zone 3 of Afar regional state, Ethiopia. Quantitative data were collected from 478 women who had given birth during the preceding one year. Results Out of 478 interviewed mothers in urban/rural areas, 398 (83.3%) gave birth to the youngest child while at home; 370 (92.5%) were assisted by TBAs. Only 3.2% of them were assisted by Health Extension Workers/nurses in health posts or at home during delivery. We found an association between health facility delivery and ante-natal care (ANC) attendance (p<0.001), educational status (p<0.001) and occupation of the husband/wife (mother) and gravidity (p=0.003); but there was no association with the number of wives the husband had (p=0.566). In the adjusted model, ANC attendance and education status of mother were significantly associated with health facility delivery (p=0.036; p<0.001). Conclusion Most deliveries in the study community took place at home. Educated mothers and ANC attending mothers have high tendency for health facility delivery. Programmes need to strengthen the capacities of mothers to attend ANC services, as well as build the capacity of Health Extension Workers (HEWs) and nurses working in health posts, in order to win the confidence of the community.


*Here, we used barley (Hordeum vulgare) grown in normal and compartmented pots to investigate sensitivity to arsenic (As) in the absence of a positive growth response to arbuscular mycorrhizas (AM). *We tested the hypothesis that upon inoculation with AM fungi downregulation of HvPht1;1 and HvPht1;2 genes (encoding high-affinity inorganic orthophosphate (P(i))-uptake systems in a direct pathway via root epidermis and root hairs) and upregulation of the AM-induced HvPht1;8 (encoding the P(i)-uptake system responsible for transfer of P(i) from the symbiotic interface to cortical cells) play a role in decreased As uptake and hence reduced As sensitivity in AM plants. *Barley did not respond, or responded negatively to colonization by Glomus intraradices in terms of growth. In terms of specific phosphorus (P) uptake (P uptake per g of root) barley was nonresponsive. There was a significant interaction between As treatment and colonization, resulting in a lower As concentration and uptake in AM compared with nonmycorrhizal (NM) plants. *The decreased uptake of As and higher P : As molar ratios in the AM barley can be explained by the operation of the AM pathway as indicated by induction of HvPht1;8 and by down-regulation of HvPht1;1 and HvPht1;2.


The importance of autopsy data in cancer epidemiological investigation is well appreciated by researchers at the Mayo Clinic. The Rochester Epidemiology Program Project is a complete population-based collection of morbidity and mortality data in Olmsted County, Minnesota (population, 100,000), funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1964. Comprehensive ascertainment of cancer in this community cohort has been augmented by initial diagnosis at autopsy for 12% of colorectal cancers, 35% of intracranial neoplasms, 45% of phaeochromocytomas and 37% of renal-cell carcinomas. These rates are in stark contrast to autopsy diagnoses in our cancer registry--usually less than 1%. The difference is attributable to the denominator in these comparisons, a concept of vital importance to the epidemiological interpretation of autopsy findings. Despite the enormous value of the autopsy in our research, social and economic factors diminished autoptic rates in Olmsted County from 63% in 1970 to 39% in 1984. These rates are well above that for the USA as a whole but parallel our national decline in frequency of autopsy. The major factors responsible for this reduction appear to be the increasing proportion of deaths in nursing homes and the advent of declining reimbursement in US health care.