Explore the latest concepts and applications in mathematical methods and modeling

 The Third Edition of this critically acclaimed text is thoroughly updated and revised with new concepts and applications to assist readers in modeling and analyzing natural, social, and technological processes. Readers are introduced to key ideas in math-ematical methods and modeling, with an emphasis on the connections between mathematics and the applied and natural sciences. The book covers the gamut of both standard and modern topics, including scaling and dimensional analysis; regular and singular perturbation; calculus of variations; Green's functions and integral equations; nonlinear wave propagation; and stability and bifurcation.

 Readers will discover many special features in this new and revised edition, such as:

 A new chapter on discrete-time models, including a section devoted to stochastic models

 A thorough revision of the text's 300 exercises, incorporating contemporary problems and methods

 Additional material and applications of linear transformations in Rn (matrices, eigenvalues, etc.) to compare to the integral equation results

 New material on mathematical biology, including age-structured models, diffusion and advection, and biological modeling, including MATLAB programs

 Moreover, the text has been restructured to facilitate its use as a textbook. The first section covers models leading to ordinary differential equations and integral equations, and the second section focuses on partial differential equations and their applications. Exercises vary from routine calculations that reinforce basic techniques to challenging problems that stimulate advanced problem solving.

 With its new exercises and structure, this book is highly recommended for upper-undergraduateand beginning graduate students in mathematics, engineering, and natural sciences. Scientists and engineers will find the book to be an excellent choice for reference and self-study.


ABSTRACT Partly as reaction to correctly interpreted stair-steps of shore-parallel barrier-lagoonal complexes on our mid- and south Atlantic coastal plain that reflect various Late Cenozoic high sea level stands, repeated attempts had been made in the past half century on the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida Panhandle coasts to find correlatable shoreline indicators on the northern Gulf Coast. Cooke (1939, 1945), Brown et al. (1944), Doering (1956) and about a dozen authors in recent years employed overly generalized interpretations of the topography, explaining it in terms of coastal marine landforms, without the study of underlying sediments. On the basis of detailed core drilling and field surveys, only a single, Late Pleistocene coastal marine sequence can positively be identified on the Mississippi-Alabama coast (Otvos, 1972, 1975). Found in the north-central coast, but also correlatable with Louisiana, Texas and Florida Panhandle coastal areas, this complex includes the Sangamon Interglacial, Biloxi, Gulfport and Prairie Formations. The sandy-muddy, transgressive Biloxi Formation (Otvos, 1972, 1975), commonly rich both in microfossils and molluscans, includes various depositional facies, ranging from open-nearshore to brackish-estuarine deposits. Under the west Mississippi coast, it intercalates with the alluvial Prairie sediments and contains mostly Ammotium salsum, also few additional agglutinated foram species and Ammonia beccarii. Campylodiscus echeneis, Eupodiscus radiatus and Cosmiodiscus beaufortianus and other diatoms occur frequently. Seaward, thickening to 15.4 m and overlain by an unusually thick (13.8 to 20.1 m) Prairie sequence, the Biloxi sediment include varied, open-marine foram faunas, dominated usually by Nonion depressulum matagordanum, Buliminella elegantissima, Nonionella atlantica, N. opima, Ammonia beccarii and Hanzawaia strattoni, each with maximum values of 53 to 82 percent; commonly 5 to 30 percent of the total. Elphidium incertum mexicanum and Brizalina lowmani were also abundant. Spatial configuration of the facies indicated absence of barrier islands and lagoons offshore at this time. The presence of heavy mineral spectra and four Upper Cretaceous planktonic foram species of Texas-Oklahoma derivation in several drillholes proved the contribution of the Mississippi River to the formation of southwestern Mississippi. A post- and/or syndepositionally leached Biloxi facies, without calcareous shells of fossils is known from the Santa Rosa Island area, Florida Panhandle. On the seaward side of the present mainland shore, the Biloxi is often overlain by the usually 3 to 8 m thick, regressive barrier sand sequence of the Gulfport Formation. It is correlative with the Texas Live Oak-Ingleside barrier trend. Callianassa burrow tubes in the dark, humate-impregnated lower section represent the only fossils known from the formation on at least the northeast Gulf. In most areas the Gulfport has the morphology of a prograded strandplain, but in the western Florida Panhandle it forms a featureless sand sheet, without the characteristic ridge-and-swale topography. Attempts at identifying high Pleistocene shorelines on the Mississippi coast centered in Big Ridge Scarp, a c. 20 km-long, 4.5 to 6.0 m high escarpment in Harrison and Jackson Counties. Brown et al. (1944) were the first to call it "an old beach promontory." Theories of beach, barrier, spit, or wave-cut scarp origins have since been periodically revived. This scarp is cut in silty-sandy, sandy, occasionally gravelly, clayey and lignite-bearing alluvial beds, deposited after the Late Pliocene (?) Citronelle Formation and before the Sangamon transgressive-regressive sequence. The level surface at about 13.5 m elevation and the silty sands that immediately underlie it, bear no resemblance to beach and dune ridge morphology and associated sediment textures. A large borrow pit 4 km north of the Scarp (NW 1/4 of sec. 34, R. 9 W., T. 6 S.) provides the best illustration for the variable lithofacies relationships. Alluvial, cross-laminated silty sands predominate in this 6 m thick sequence. In the western part of the pit, a large body of maximum 2 to 3 m thick, finely laminated and bedded gray sandy muds with considerable clay content interfinger with the silty sands. Finely comminuted, dark organic material occurs in parts of the sandy muds, along with roots in growth position and lenses of carbonized woody detritus. In the southwestern pit wall the maximum 75 cm-thick lenses of concentrated, carbonized pine wood fragments include slash and loblolli pine (Pinus elliottii and P. taeda) cones. These still are the dominant species of the surrounding forests. These units represent floodplain lake deposits. While conclusive subsurface evidence is not yet available, the probability that the escarpment is a fault scarp is strongly suggested by numerous, parallel drainage lineaments north of and parallel with the scarp, and by elongated, sag pond-like features along its toe. The rectangular pattern of lineaments continues from the earlier Pleistocene land surface, north of the Scarp, in an easterly and southerly direction over the adjacent younger Prairie land surface (T. 7 S., R. 7 and 8 W.). Similar shore-parallel escarpments, cut in alluvial Citronelle and Prairie deposits have also been mistaken for beach ridges, bars and spits in coastal Alabama and the Pensacola area of the western Florida Panhandle (Carlston, 1950; Marsh, 1966). In the Coden Quadrangle, Alabama such a scarp, in Prairie alluvial deposits, is in lateral continuity with a Citronelle scarp segment to the west and suggest renewed structural movements. Sag pond-like features along Citronelle scarp toes occur in south Hancock County, Mississippi and may indicate tectonic origins. A wide belt of parallel, arcuate interfluve ridges, cut in Citronelle (?) and underlying deposits in the central Florida Panhandle was named part of an early "Gadsden" shoreline sequence by Winker and Howard (1977). In the absence of sediment, fossil and geomorphic evidence, instead of shoreline features, the interfluves also appear to result from tectonic causes that influenced the regional drainage pattern. Clear-cut examples of pre-Sangamon marine littoral and associated brackish inshore deposits and landforms are yet to be demonstrated on the northeast Gulf. End_Page 438------------------------ Coastal plain lineaments with suspected tectonic origin and expressed in scarps, rectangular drainage patterns, including abrupt river course changes apparently also influenced the outline of certain Late Pleistocene and recent shoreline segments. The contrast between numerous pre-Sangamon Atlantic coastal plain barrier-lagoon complexes and their absence on the Gulf Coast may have regional tectonic explanation. No pre-Sangamon Pleistocene marine and brackish inshore units were found in drillholes in the Mississippi-Alabama and Apalachicola Bay areas. The Biloxi Formation often rests on late Miocene deposits. Coastal progradation apparently was minimal between Citronelle and Sangamon times. Repeated vertical movements in the narrow (0 to 17 km) Pleistocene coastal plain on the NE Gulf may have been instrumental in the wholesale erosion of the earlier littoral units. The relatively high (20 to 40 m) summit elevations of the Citronelle Formation along the present shore imply significant Pleistocene uplift. During glacial stages, the surface relief and erosion intensity increased further. End_of_Record - Last_Page 439-------


55 patients with cervical lymph node enlargement were studied prospectively by colour coded duplex sonography. The aim was to demonstrate the perfusion of individual lymph nodes and to determine whether the resistance and pulsatile index are able to show the cause of the enlargement. The lymph nodes were subsequently examined histologically. Useful perfusion measurements were obtained in 177 lymph nodes out of 216. Perfusion index < 1.6 and resistance index < 0.8 distinguishes between reactive lymph node enlargement and lymph node metastases with an accuracy of 91%. Reliable differentiation between lymphoma and metastases was not possible. Tuberculous lymph nodes and cysts showed significantly reduced resistance and pulsatile index when compared with metastases. Further information on the type of disease was obtained from the perfusion patterns. Reactive lymph nodes showed increased central perfusion of the hilum, whereas metastases tended to show increased peripheral perfusion.


Electronic parts may be subjected to continuous activity at high temperatures as well as high strain-rate loads in the oil exploration industry, military, automotive, avionics, and space applications, and parts may be stored in non-climate-controlled enclosures prior to deployment. Material properties evolve at even moderate temperatures after a long period of storage, according to previous studies on undoped SAC alloys. To reduce the aging effects, a number of alloy formulations have been proposed. Data on the mechanical properties of lead-free solder alloys used for interconnection in electronic packaging at high strain rates and high storage temperatures is very important for design optimization of electronic package sustainability at extreme temperatures, since SAC soldiers have shown degradation of mechanical properties after prolonged exposure to storage temperature. The use of dopants in SAC solder has been proposed as a solution to minimize degradation. In this study, After keeping the samples in storage at 50°C for 1–8 months, a doped SAC solder called SAC-R (Ecolloy) was subjected to high strain rate testing. Uniaxial impact hammer tensile tests were conducted on samples with no aging and samples that had been aged for up to 8 months to assess the mechanical properties of SAC-R at high and low operating temperatures ranging from −65°C to 200°C and the Mechanical properties has been compared with an undoped solder SAC 105. The constants for the Anand Visco-Plasticity model were calculated using the material data for SAC-R. By comparing model predictions of the uniaxial tensile test with experimental results, the model's ability to reflect material constitutive behavior has been quantified.


Abstract Quantitative phase diagrams, and in particular phase diagram movies, offer a powerful and versatile forward approach to modelling the P-T-x-t relationships of natural mineral assemblages. Phase diagram movies are ideal for illustrating the continuous way in which mineral compositions and assemblages evolve with changing P-T-x conditions. A feature of the animation process, is that it also enables an extra variable to be represented by the running time of the movie. A methodology for producing quantitative phase diagram movies is illustrated using the example of the AFM compatibility diagram. This approach involves the calculation of phase equilibria at critical values of the animating variable (in this case temperature), with interpolation of the data between these values. Phase equilibria calculations were performed using Thermocalc v2.5, and data interpolation and construction of the individual phase diagrams (or movie frames) was achieved in Mathematica® v2.2.2 using purpose-written code. Although the details of the technique, and the code, have been designed for use with this particular application, the approach is quite general.


The success of hydrodynamics in high energy heavy-ion collisions leads to a flow paradigm, to understand the observed features of harmonic flow in terms of the medium collective expansion with respect to initial state geometrical properties. In this review, we present some essential ingredients in the flow paradigm, including the hydrodynamic modeling, the characterization of initial state geometry and the medium response relations. The extension of the flow paradigm to small colliding systems is also discussed.


Author(s): Volker, Jamey; Lee, Amy; Fitch, Dillon | Abstract: Local governments have long relied on Level of Service (LOS), a measure of automobile congestion, as the basis for assessing transportation impacts of land use development projects. However, use of the LOS metric creates an incentive for projects that contribute to urban sprawl while penalizing denser development projects that could allow people better accessibility to jobs and services through alternate modes like walking, bicycling, or transit. Starting July 1, 2020, local governments in California are required to use vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rather than LOS to measure land use projects' transportation impacts. Researchers at UC Davis studied how this change affects the approval process for urban development. Because most agencies have not yet switched to using VMT in their analyses, the researchers looked back at environmental documents for development projects in the City of Los Angeles between 2001 and 2016 and determined whether these projects could have benefited from using a VMT metric instead of LOS for measuring their transportation impacts. Findings are summarized in this policy brief.View the NCST Project Webpage


This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a novel 2D spectrum ultrasonic tissue characterization (UTC) technique for prostate-cancer diagnosis. Normalized 2D spectra are computed by performing Fourier transforms along the range (beam) and the cross-range directions of the digital radio-frequency echo data, then dividing by a reference spectrum. This 2D spectrum method provides axial and lateral information of tissue microstructures, an improvement over the current 1D spectrum analysis which only provides axial information. A pilot study was conducted on four prostate-cancer patients who underwent radical prostatectomies. Cancerous and noncancerous regions of interest, identified through histology, were compared using four 2D spectral parameters: peak value and 3 dB width of the radially integrated spectral power (RISP), slope and intercept of the angularly integrated spectral power (AISP). For noncancerous and cancerous prostatic tissues, respectively, our investigation yielded 23 +/- 1 and 26 +/- 1 dB for peak value of RISP, 7.8 +/- 0.5 degrees and 7.6 +/- 0.6 degrees for 3 dB of RISP, -2.1 +/- 0.2 and -2.7 +/- 0.4 dB/MHz for slope of AISP, and 92 +/- 5 and 112 +/- 6 dB for intercept of AISP. Preliminary results indicated that 2D spectral UTC has the potential for identifying tumor-bearing regions within the prostate gland.


Key Points Question What is the association between the bitter taste receptor phenotype and outcomes after infection with SARS-CoV-2? Findings In this cohort study of 1935 adults, 266 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and those who experienced low intensity of bitter tastes or no bitter tastes (nontasters) were significantly more likely to test positive for SARS-CoV-2, to be hospitalized, and to be symptomatic for a longer duration. Conversely, those who experienced greater intensity of bitter tastes (supertasters) represented 5.6% of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting enhanced innate immune protection. Meaning This study suggests that bitter taste receptor allelic variants are associated with innate immune fitness toward SARS-CoV-2 and can be used to correlate with clinical course and prognosis of COVID-19.


Achill Island is underlain by a mixed suite of low-grade metamorphic rocks. The lithological units of the northern part, the subject of this paper, are systematically described. The deformation history can be divided into five separate phases. The first phase, D1, produced isoclinal F1 folds and S1 flattening schistosity in mica schists; and an L-tectonite fabric associated with some tight F1 folds in psammitic rocks. The second phase, D2, produced tight to isoclinal reclined F2 folds and S2 strain-slip schistosity in mica schists; and S2 flattening schistosity or an L–S fabric in psammitic rocks. This was followed by the third phase, D3, which produced tight to close upright folds and S3 strain-slip schistosity. The folds formed during these phases plunge gently between north-east and south-east. This variation in the trend of the plunge is the result of open F4 refolding. Finally, the latest deformation, D5, resulted in the development of kink bands. Three tectonic slides, of D1 age, are recognized in the area, one of which separates rocks of two separate stratigraphical successions. This slide can be mapped around the major southward-facing F2, folds of the area. One large dextral strike-slip fault is present. The two stratigraphical successions are compared with the Scottish Dalradian; one with the Islay Succession, and the other with the Moine Series. In North Achill large-scale F2 folding places the equivalents of the Moine Series structurally above the Islay succession in the core of an F2. anticline.


We have developed a novel method for arranging living cells on a glass chip with micrometer-scale cell-adhering areas by applying femtosecod laser. To form the cell-adhesion area, the chip surface was first covalently modified with perfluoroalkyl self-assembled-monolayer (Rf-SAM) and then etched by oxygen-plasma. The Rf-surface and the etched surface were characterized using solvent contact-angle analysis. It was confirmed that the Rf-surface has low surface-free-energy as contact angle was 118.2deg and 69.0deg with water and hexadecane, respectively. Thus the Rf-surface has repellent characteristics for polar and nonpolar materials. Protein adsorption on the fabricated Rf-micropattern chip was evaluated using R-phycoerythrin. There was little signal derived from R-phycoerythrin on the Rf-surface indicating that Rf-SAM inhibits the protein adsorption onto the surface. When mammalian PC12 cells were cultured on the Rf-micropattern chip, the cells adhered and grew up only on the etched glass surface but not on Rf-surface. Cultured cells were detached one by one from a culture substrate and transported onto a specific cell-adhering area on the Rf-micropattern chip by using femtosecond-laser-induced mechanical force that we named "micro tsunami".


Aim: Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) therapies are emerging as a promising approach to therapeutic angiogenesis. Therapeutic persistence and reduced primitive stem cell function following cell delivery remains a critical hurdle for the clinical translation of stem cells in current approaches. Methods: Cultured ADSCs were derived from subcutaneous white adipose tissue isolated from mice fed a normal diet (ND). Photoactivated and non-light-treated ADSCs were injected into the tail vein of mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD), following which unilateral hindlimb ischemia was induced. Laser Doppler imaging was conducted to measure the blood flow reperfusion. Capillary density was measured in the ischemic gastrocnemius muscle. mRNA levels of angiogenic factors were determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction, Flow cytometry was used to determine the characterization of ADSCs and endothelial progenitor cell (EPC). Human ADSCs secretomes were analyzed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Results: Our study demonstrated that photoactivated ND-ADSCs prolonged functional blood flow perfusion and increased ADSCs-derived EPC and neovascularization thirty-eight days after ligation, when compared with saline-treated controls. Profiling analysis in ischemic muscles showed upregulation of genes associated with pro-angiogenic factors after injection of photoactivated ND-ADSCs when compared with the non-light-treated ADSCs or saline treated HFD mice. Mass spectrometry revealed that light-treated ADSCs conditioned medium retained a more complete pro-angiogenic activity with significant upregulation of angiogenesis related proteins. Conclusion: Our data demonstrates that photoactivated ND-ADSCs improve blood flow recovery and their injection may prove to be a useful strategy for the prevention and treatment of diabetic peripheral arterial disease. Disclosure X. Fan: None. J. Wu: Research Support; Self; HarmonyRegena Inc.


Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual relations in exchange for payment or some other benefit. Though very common in society, this is one segment of population which is not studied psychologically in depth. Very few researches are reported in literature which studies them from the perspective of positive psychology. The present study is one such attempt. The objective of the present study is to measure Self-Efficacy and Positive Life Orientation in prostitutes and general population female. The sample of the present study comprised of 50 general population female and 50 prostitutes. Before formulating the assumption, a pilot study was done which led to the understanding that prostitutes do feel a sense of accomplishment. The result of the study, however, do not support the assumption formed that prostitutes will be higher on self-efficacy and positive life orientation. . The present study result shows that Self-Efficacy is higher in general population female than prostitutes and no such difference in Positive Life Orientation in both the population.


Background The use of diagnostic ultrasound by physiotherapists is not a new concept; it is frequently performed in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. Physiotherapists currently lack accurate, reliable, sensitive and valid measurements for the assessment of the indications and effectiveness of chest physiotherapy. Thoracic ultrasound may be a promising tool for the physiotherapist and could be routinely performed at patients' bedsides to provide real-time and accurate information on the status of pleura, lungs and diaphragm. Methods This is a narrative review. This review refers to lung and diaphragm ultrasound semiology, and how thoracic ultrasound should be used in the physiotherapist's clinical decision-making process. Results Lung ultrasound enables diagnosis of pleural effusion, pneumonia, atelectasis, pulmonary contusion, pulmonary oedema and pneumothorax with high sensitivity and specificity. Sonographic evaluation of the diaphragm enables to quantify its motion, thickness and contractility. Understanding the lung ultrasound fundamentals and basic signs allows an accurate assessment of pleura, lung parenchymal and diaphragm. Lung ultrasound provides information on the lung aeration disorders and can guide the physiotherapist's choice of techniques and parameters in chest physiotherapy. Indeed, thoracic ultrasound may be helpful to answer clinical questions such as 'Is only the major airway retaining secretions or is lung consolidation also present?' and can provide significantly higher accuracies than conventional examinations performed by the physiotherapist. It is also an excellent tool for pleural assessment and may be a way to clarify indication of chest physiotherapy in pleural effusion. Diaphragm sonography enables to highlight in real-time diaphragm response to all chest physiotherapy techniques that are intended for this purpose. Thoracic ultrasound should be used in addition to the clinical examination. Conclusions Diagnostic ultrasound performs significantly better than chest X-rays or auscultation at diagnosing lung deficiencies that are relevant for the physiotherapist. Physiotherapists should use lung ultrasound semiology to guide, monitor and evaluate their chest physiotherapy treatments. This potential new tool for physiotherapists still requires significant development before being used commonly.


In this paper, we investigate the performance of a full-duplex (FD) Internet-of-Things (IoT) network with hardware impairments (HIs) over generalized α − μ fading channels, where IoT devices transfer their information to the access point via a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) enabled relay node. The α − μ fading channel explores the non-linearity of the propagation medium and includes Nakagami-m, Rayleigh, exponential, one-sided Gaussian, and Weibull fading channels as special cases. For SWIPT enabling, we consider a power splitting (PS) receiver at the relay node. Further, we consider a practical scenario where the system suffers from residual self-interference (RSI) due to imperfect self-interference cancellation. We derive the closed-form expressions of outage probability (OP), asymptotic OP, system throughput, and energy efficiency over α − μ fading channels. The diversity order of the considered network at high SNR is obtained. An optimal value of the PS factor is obtained which depicts optimum outage performance. We highlight the impact of HIs, RSI, PS factor, and other system parameters on the performance of the considered network. Finally, Monte-Carlo simulations validate the derived closed-form expressions.


Conjugate vaccines are among the most effective methods for preventing bacterial infections, representing a promising strategy to combat drug-resistant pathogens. However, existing manufacturing approaches limit access to conjugate vaccines due to centralized production and cold chain distribution requirements. To address these limitations, we developed a modular technology for in vitro bioconjugate vaccine expression (iVAX) in portable, freeze-dried lysates from detoxified, nonpathogenic Escherichia coli. Upon rehydration, iVAX reactions synthesize clinically relevant doses of bioconjugate vaccines against diverse bacterial pathogens in one hour. We show that iVAX synthesized vaccines against the highly virulent pathogen Franciscella tularensis subsp. tularensis (type A) strain Schu S4 elicited pathogen-specific antibodies in mice at significantly higher levels compared to vaccines produced using engineered bacteria. The iVAX platform promises to accelerate development of new bioconjugate vaccines with increased access through refrigeration-independent distribution and point-of-care production.


Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most often reported attribute and is chosen as the most important indicator of soil quality and agricultural sustainability. In this review, we summarized how cultivation, crop rotation, residue and tillage management, fertilization and monoculture affect soil quality, soil organic matter (SOM) and carbon transformation. The results confirm that SOM is not only a source of carbon but also a sink for carbon sequestrati on. Cultivation and tillage can reduce soil SOC content and lead to soil deterioration. Tillage practices have a major effect on distribution of C and N, and the rates of organic matter decomposition and N mineralization. Proper adoption of crop rotation can increase or maintain the quantity and quality of soil organic matter, and improve soil chemical and physical properties. Adequate application of fertilizers combined with farmyard manure could increase soil nutrients, and SOC content. Manure or crop residue alone may not be adequate to maintain SOC levels. Crop types influence SOC and soil function in continuous monoculture systems. SOC can be best preserved by rotation with reduced tillage frequency and with additions of chemical fertilizers and manure. Knowledge and assessment of changes (positive or negative) in SOC status with time is still needed to evaluate the impact of different management practices.


Nonseismic methods—such as electromagnetic, induced-polarization, and potential-field surveying techniques—have been the geophysical backbone of mineral exploration for decades. These methods exploit anomalous physical properties of ore deposits (e.g., enhanced conductivity, chargeability, or magnetization) to locate potential targets for drilling. Although well suited to many shallow (< 500 m) exploration problems, the underlying physical principles of these methods impose inescapable limitations on their sensitivity and resolving power at depth. Recent declines in base metal reserves caused by the depletion of known shallow deposits and declining rates of discovery for new deposits underscore the need for geophysical exploration methods that can locate economically viable deposits at depths of up to several km. Seismic methods offer one possible solution.

The need to develop efficient and robust seismic imaging techniques for mineral exploration has long been recognized. In the 1980s two key case histories established the potential of seismics as a mapping tool in the hardrock environment. Green and Mair (1983) presented seismic images of complex fracture systems at a radioactive waste disposal site in the Canadian Shield. Subsequently, Pretorius et al. (1989) demonstrated the usefulness of an integrated seismic and petrophysical approach to image key geologic structures for mineral exploration in Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa. These initial studies served as catalysts for a number of largely independent research efforts over the following decade—in North America, southern Africa, Scandinavia, and Australia—aimed at developing useful and cost-effective seismic technology for deep mineral exploration and mine planning.

A number of fundamental aspects of seismic exploration for minerals, including the acoustic properties of ores and the scattering characteristics of orebodies, were poorly known until recently. Moreover, significant advances have been made in seismic imaging technology for mineral exploration, from downhole seismic techniques to large-scale 3D surveys over known deposits. This article reviews some advances in applying seismic …


We consider the Dirac equation in the magnetic-solenoid field (the field of a solenoid and a collinear uniform magnetic field). For the case of Aharonov-Bohm solenoid, we construct self-adjoint extensions of the Dirac Hamiltonian using von Neumann's theory of deficiency indices. We find self-adjoint extensions of the Dirac Hamiltonian and boundary conditions at the AB solenoid. Besides, for the first time, solutions of the Dirac equation in the magnetic-solenoid field with a finite radius solenoid were found. We study the structure of these solutions and their dependence on the behavior of the magnetic field inside the solenoid. Then we exploit the latter solutions to specify boundary conditions for the magnetic-solenoid field with Aharonov-Bohm solenoid.


Previous work 1-3 has indicated that the drug amphotericin B (an antifungal antibiotic isolated from an unidentified species of Streptomyces) has antifungal activity against Histoplasma capsulatum. This has been shown both in vitro and in experimental infection. Our own previous results as well as the results of other groups have indicated that in spite of the relative insolubility of the drug definite activity against experimental histoplasmosis has been demonstrated. 1-3 The hamster has been the experimental animal of choice in histoplasmosis in our experience, and for this reason it has been used in the present work to further evaluate the effect of amphotericin B in experimental disease. Previously the combination of amphotericin B with sulfadiazine had given better results than amphotericin alone. The sulfadiazine alone had little effect in our hands. 1,2 The relatively insoluble nature of the drug, amphotericin B, was the most serious drawback to its use in


Covert channels allow one to transmit information using mechanisms that were not originally intended for transmission. An example is a process in which a transmitter encodes information in moves of a character of a multiplayer game, and a receiver observes the moves and decodes the original message. This channel may be noisy, since the character may fall out of the receiver's sight, a number of network packets may be lost, etc. Thus there emerges a natural problem of ogranizing a reliable channel. We propose a formal model called a partial erasure channel that describes the interaction of a transmitter and a receiver, introduce the notion of a consistent transmission protocol, formulate and prove the consistency criterion on the transmitting side and construct the optimal receiver for the given consistent transmitter.


Tree-ring analysis can be a reliable method of determining past snow avalanche events when good historical records are lacking. Characteristic features in the tree-ring record indicative of disturbance include: (1) the occurrence of reaction wood, (2) abrupt changes in growth rate, (3) age of scars caused by avalanche impact, (4) age of trees in reforested tracks, and (5) examination of a "new leader." This study was conducted at the town of Ophir, a small community in southwestern Colorado with a severe snow avalanche hazard. Historical records indicate that snow avalanches reached the town, or its vicinity, four times during this century (1918, 1951, 1958, and 1959). Tree-ring analysis substantiated this record in part and produced evidence of at least one additional event (middle to late 1880s). From this combined information, the recurrence interval for major snow avalanches capable of endangering the town is thought to be at least as frequent as once in 20 yr. The limitations of tree-ring analysis encountered in this study are also discussed.


The article deals with the global problems of mankind, which are causing environmental, social and economic crises. Another possible cause of crises is the failure of the government and management of companies (corporate governance). Based on a literature review, this article aims to define and categorize global problems and to discuss selected approaches to crisis solutions. While activities to solve crises on a macro level appear to be inefficient, the initiatives of companies will play a key role in the resolution of instability in a global system. The incorporation of sustainability into corporate governance through responsible investment, transparent reporting, corporate social responsibility, etc. should bring stability and sustainability to a global system.


It is now established that T helper (Th) cell subsets, particularly Th17 cells, are more dynamic than originally anticipated and can acquire the expression of other lineage effector cytokines. However, the molecular cues that dictate their plasticity are unknown. We show that IL-23 plays a central role in the plasticity of Th17 cells and is essential for the generation and propagation of IFN-γ-producing Th17 (IL-17+ IFN-γ+) cells. During the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) IL-17+ IFN-γ+ T cells are preferentially expanded in the central nervous system (CNS). Using an IL-17A-IFN-γ double reporter mouse and I-Ab/MOG38-49 tetramer, we determined that they displayed characteristics of pathogenic T cells, such as GM-CSF expression, and contained the highest number of MOG-specific T cells. Interestingly, the Th1-associated transcription factors T-bet, STAT1 and STAT4 were not involved in the induction of IFN-γ by Th17 cells in vitro. Moreover, in contrast to previous studies showing a role for T-bet in Th1 and Th17-mediated EAE, we demonstrate that T-bet expression in T cells is not required for the emergence of CNS-infiltrating IL-17+ IFN-γ+ T cells and the development of Th17-driven EAE. Our results suggest the existence of different epigenetic programs that regulate IFN-γ expression in Th1 and Th17 cells.


Biodiesel from freshwater green microalgae, and cyanobacteria holds promise as an alternative to replace petroleum diesel to meet the energy demands for transportation, industry and domestic use. In this study, three green freshwater microalgae ( Closterium acerosum Ehrenberg ex Ralfs, Oedogonium ciliatum Pringsheim ex Hirn, and Spirogyra africana (F.E.Fritsch) Czurda), and a freshwater cyanobacterium ( Chroococcus turgidus (Kutzing) Nageli) occurring in Ghana, were assessed to verify their suitability for biodiesel production. Samples of the species were collected from the Weija Lake; and the green freshwater microalgae were cultured in Bold's Basal Medium while the cyanobacterium was cultured in BG-11 (Blue-Green Medium) medium, in photo-bioreactors for 14 days. Algal lipids were extracted from dry biomass of the species with hexane and diethyl ether, and biodiesel produced from the lipids by base-catalysed transesterification. The amount of lipid extracted from the species varied from 20.3 in Spirogyra to 38.2% dry wt. in Oedogonium . Biodiesel produced also varied from 6.7 in Spirogyra to 22.3% dry wt. in Closterium , and the values fell well within the range reported for such organisms around the world. We suggest that many more microalgae occurring in Ghana should be sampled for their lipid content in future work on biodiesel production and development in the country.


In three experiments, we used eyetracking to investigate the time course of biases in looking behaviour during visual decision making. Our study replicated and extended prior research by Shimojo, Simion, Shimojo, and Scheier (2003), and Simion and Shimojo (2006). Three groups of participants performed forced-choice decisions in a two-alternative free-viewing condition (Experiment 1a), a two-alternative gaze-contingent window condition (Experiment 1b), and an eight-alternative free-viewing condition (Experiment 1c). Participants viewed photographic art images and were instructed to select the one that they preferred (preference task), or the one that they judged to be photographed most recently (recency task). Across experiments and tasks, we demonstrated robust bias towards the chosen item in either gaze duration, gaze frequency or both. The present gaze bias effect was less task specific than those reported previously. Importantly, in the eight-alternative condition we demonstrated a very early gaze bias effect, which rules out a postdecision response-related explanation.


In its efforts to integrate newly entering migrants into their societies, Europe has established integration policies that negatively impact these migrants, especially those from racialized backgrounds. The policies mask an agenda of securitization against outsiders who are falsely considered to be a danger to national security and national identity. Since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States, many Western countries, including European countries, began to build a culture of fear against Muslims. Europe began to increasingly associate migrants with problems such as trafficking, radicalization, and terrorism. As a result, Europe began to treat migration as a security issue and migrants as the targets of the security policies. Governments established integration policies and citizenship laws so difficult that migrants began to find it harder to integrate, contributing to a genuine feeling of exclusion from society. Additionally, security forces were given the responsibility of vetting migrants and determining who could enter European states and who could not. Slowly, Muslim migrants came to be associated with criminality and danger. European governments allowed security forces to monitor Muslim migrants, fearing their radicalization, and allowed raids to take place against Muslims' homes and cultural spaces. Furthermore, European countries established legislations banning religious symbols, a move done to hide the true intention of banning the Muslim veil, making it difficult for Muslim women from practicing a normal life while wearing the veil. While theoretically they seem to be advocating for migrants and their inclusion, in practice, through their security-infused integration policies, Europe has targeted Muslim migrants in a new security regime, specifically tailored for migration.


Richard Snoddy's book specifically explores "one facet of [James Ussher's] thought . . . the contours of his soteriology," with particular focus on "atonement," "justification," "sanctification," and "assurance" (10). Because this is a work of historical theology focusing on one aspect of a broader religious debate the reader can, on occasion, be left wondering at what appear to be dramatic shifts in Ussher's circumstances, despite regular reference to Alan Ford's seminal critical and biographical works on Ussher. Nonetheless, this is a very strong work that draws well on the contemporary documents and sermons to which Ussher was responding, whether with outright opposition or nuanced consideration. The Soteriology of James Ussher is particularly fine at considering the specific components of the ways in which Ussher teased out how salvation could be both predestined and require individual commitment. For Ussher, whose "view on the extent of . . . atonement . . . places him among the experimental predestinarians . . . it is only when the sinner has received Christ that 'he hath a warrant to interest himself in all the promises'" (215–216). Snoddy makes a strong case that as his thought developed Ussher ultimately explicated faith and assurance in such a way that "the reflective act of faith and the inward search for the evidence of grace became more important" (243). The notes and bibliography are distinctly helpful.


This article begins with Pollock's comment that Judith Butler 'finds hope in failure' and its aim is to explore what 'hope in failure' means in relation to A Level students' engagements with post-feminism and feminism. The article grounds its argument in an exploration of how post-feminism and feminism intersect with sixth form students' subjectivities through the educational practices of their second-year A Level subject-based research. The article analyses empirical instances of students' discursive agency through Butler's notions of performativity, citationality, excessive signification and resignification to consider the complex, multiple and creative ways in which sixth form students produce themselves as viable gendered subjects in relation to post-feminist and feminist discourses. The analysis considers both how discourse regulates and conditions students' relations with post-feminism and feminism and how discourse contains the possibilities for the subject to refuse the refusal of feminism in popular culture. Through its analysis of how students use their discursive agency to claim a feminist identity, and how these uses constitute transgressive practices, the article explores the political significance of identifications with feminism in doing gender differently. It ends with an argument for the re-consideration of the apparently assured popular cultural 'failure' of feminism in post-feminist neoliberal times.


Abstract The Eastern Segment forms a complex crustal terrane that occupies the southeastern part of the Southwest Scandinavian Domain adjacent to the less deformed 1.65–1.85 Ga Transscandinavian Igneous Belt (TIB). New U-Pb data from the Eastern Segment indicate that orthogneisses and granitoid rocks have protolith ages equivalent to the later magmatic phases of the TIB and that the earliest thermotectonic episodes in the Eastern Segment occurred between 1.70 and 1.61 Ga during the Gothian Orogeny. The comparable ages for Eastern Segment gneisses and TIB rocks represent permissive evidence for the hypothesis that the orthogneiss protoliths intruded into the western margin of Fennoscandia and are not exotic with respect to the pre-Gothian craton. The eastern limit of Gothian deformation is thus interpreted to be an intracratonic deformation front that coincides with the later Sveconorwegian deformation front along the Protogine Zone south of Lake Vänern. The post-Gothian anorogenic period was interrupted, in at least the eastern part of the Eastern Segment, by a thermal and magmatic event at 1.47 Ga that generated granitic dykes and (re)crystallized titanite. Sveconorwegian U-Pb ages and field observations are compatible with a thrusting and exhumation of western supracrustal terranes over the Eastern Segment during the Sveconorwegian Orogeny, followed by isostatic unroofing and cooling of the lower deck at 950–930 Ma. Available, albeit limited, Sveconorwegian titanite ages in the Eastern Segment young from east to west, ranging from 950 to 930 Ma, and are substantially younger than those dated in the western terranes of SSD.


I. The plan is described of a prospective study of the outcome of 5,964 pregnancies, with special emphasis on the relationship of factors in fetal environment to the incidence of abortions, stillbirths, neonatal mortality and congenital malformations.
 II. Data are presented on the overall incidence of congenital malformations according to sex, race, weight at delivery, maternal age and order of birth.
 A. The incidence of congenital malformations among 5,739 products of conception weighing over 500 grams was 7.5%. The rate was 7.0% among infants born alive and surviving the neonatal period, 13.6% among antepartum deaths, 23.3% among intrapartum deaths, 29.6% among neonatal deaths and 70.6% among deaths occurring between the ages of one and 12 months.
 B. The following relationships in incidence rates among live-born infants surviving the neonatal period were found.
 1. The rate among males (8.4%) was half again as high as among females (5.5%).
 2. Non-white infants had a higher rate (7.8%) than white infants (6.3%).
 3. Infants weighing 2,500 grams or less had a higher proportion with defects (9.7%) than did those weighing over 2,500 grams (6.7%), although this difference occurred entirely among females.
 4. Maternal age had no effect on the incidence of congenital malformations.
 5. White infants of lower birth order had a lower rate (5.3%) than did those of higher birth orders (8.2%). No difference according to birth order was observed among non-white infants.
 III. A system of classification of malformations is described and discussed. Incidence rates by organ system groups are presented.
 A. Less than one-half of the malformations found among live-born infants were suspected or noted at birth.
 B. Malformations of musculo-skeletal system and skin were more frequent than malformations of other systems. Incidence rates by organ system groups are directly related to problems of diagnosis.
 C. Of the malformed live-born infants, 14.8% had more than one malformation and in 9.1% more than one system was involved. Of the malformed stillbirths and neonatal deaths, 66.0% had more than one malformation and in 51.1% more than one system was involved.


We have designed a stackable file system called Redundant Array of Independent Filesystems (RAIF). It combines the data survivability properties and performance benefits of traditional RAIDs with the unprece-dentedflexibility of composition, improved security, and ease ofdevelopment of stackable file systems. RAIF can be mounted on top of any combination of other file systems including network, distributed, disk-based, and memory-based file systems. Existing encryption, compression , antivirus, and consistency checking stackable file systems can be mounted above and below RAIF, to efficiently cope up with slow or unsecure branches. Individual files can be distributed across branches, replicated, stored with parity, or stored with erasure correction coding to recover from failures on multiple branches. Per-file incremental recovery, storage type migration, and load-balancing are especially well suited for grid storages. In this paper we describe the current RAIF design, provide preliminary performance results and discuss current status and future directions.


The goal of this "proyecto fin de carrera" was to produce a review of the face detection and face recognition literature as comprehensive as possible. Face detection was included as a unavoidable preprocessing step for face recogntion, and as an issue by itself, because it presents its own difficulties and challenges, sometimes quite different from face recognition. We have soon recognized that the amount of published information is unmanageable for a short term effort, such as required of a PFC, so in agreement with the supervisor we have stopped at a reasonable time, having reviewed most conventional face detection and face recognition approaches, leaving advanced issues, such as video face recognition or expression invariances, for the future work in the framework of a doctoral research. I have tried to gather much of the mathematical foundations of the approaches reviewed aiming for a self contained work, which is, of course, rather difficult to produce. My supervisor encouraged me to follow formalism as close as possible, preparing this PFC report more like an academic report than an engineering project report.


We analyze the recoil-to-binary peak ratio in an energetic (e,2e) reaction on the valence ns sub-shell of noble gas atoms. Dramatic qualitative change in this ratio dependence on the ejected electron energy can be explained by variation of reflectivity of the short-range Hartree-Fock potential. The reflectivity increases profoundly from lighter (He) to heavier (Ne and Ar) noble gas atoms because of modification of the scattering phases due to occupation of the target p orbitals (Levinson theorem). This effect is further modified due to strong inter-shell correlations in Ar. These theoretical predictions are confirmed experimentally.


In this study, five cultivars of Punica granatum identified (two of which are endemic, while the other three are new) were grown in certain farms at Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia. Enumeration to the insects attack its' fruits illustrated that, there are three insects, namely, Virchola livia, Ectomyelois ceratonia and Pseudococcus maitimus (or/and Pseudococcus citri) infested both cracked and healthy pomegranate fruits. The population density of immature stage of V. livia was noticed in healthy fruit more than cracked fruit, while E. ceratonia was shown the converse. Besides, there is high infection by the three insects at 2008 more than 2009. Measurement susceptibility of the five cultivars showed that, Al- Taif cultivar was the most resistant one to V. livia infestation, being 3.5 and 1.8% of immature stage/20 healthy or cracked fruits. While the most resistance one to immature stages of E. ceratonia was Wonderful-mangulatory cultivar recording infestation of 0.0 and 2.4% of immature stage/20 healthy or cracked fruits during 2008 and 2009. Key word: Pomegranate cultivars, Virchola livia, Ectomyelois ceratonia, mealy bugs, susceptibility.


Unusual three-dimensional mesoporous carbon/reduced graphene oxide (MP-C/rGO) matrix possessing graphene nanolayer pore walls built up by three to five graphene monosheets and some carbon particles with the sizes of about 5 nm located between the graphene nanolayers was prepared by facile freeze-drying and then carbonization of the poly(vinyl alcohol) and graphene oxide mixture. The mesoporous carbonaceous MP-C/rGO sample has a high specific surface area of 661.6 m2 g-1, large specific pore volume of 1.54 m3 g-1, and focused pore size distribution of 2-10 nm. About 64 wt % sulfur could be held in the pores of the MP-C/rGO matrix. As the cathode of a Li-S battery, the MP-C/rGO/S composite showed excellent electrochemical property including a high initial specific capacity of 919 mA h g-1 at 1 C with the capacity retention ratio of 63.3% and the Coulombic efficiency above 90% after 500 cycles. Meanwhile, the initial specific capacity of 602 mA h g-1 at 5 C and remaining capacity of 391 mA h g-1 after 500 cycles with an outstanding Coulombic efficiency of 97% indicate its exceptionally stable rate performance.


The hyperacute rejection of a xenotransplant is a potent mechanism of tissue destruction mediated by complement-fixing natural Ab that recognize alphaGal (aGal) epitopes. These epitopes are not present on human cells. Humans develop high titers of naturally acquired Ab against these epitopes. We hypothesized that this mechanism could be used to generate a potent anti-cancer vaccine. In this study we tested this hypothesis by using an allogeneic whole cell cancer vaccine to treat murine melanoma. We used the aGal KO mice (aGT H-2bb) and the aGal negative melanoma cell lines B16 and S91M3. We genetically engineered S91M3 (H-2dd) cells to produce the aGal(+)S91M3 cells. Mice with pre-existing subcutaneous and pulmonary B16 (H-2bb) tumors were efficiently treated with aGal(+)S91M3 melanoma vaccines. Control S91M3 vaccines had no impact on tumor growth. Vaccination with aGal(+)S91M3 induced cytotoxic CD8+ T cells recognizing the "autologous" aGal(-)B16 tumors measured by IFN-gamma release and by adoptive transfer experiments. The presence of allo-antigens did not dominate the induction of immunity to "cryptic" tumor antigens tested in the pre-existing melanoma metastasis model. The effective anti-tumor immunity was not associated with autoimmunity or other signs of toxicity in long-term toxicology studies for breast, lung and melanoma allogeneic vaccines. This study establishes for the first time the safety and efficacy data of allogeneic aGal(+) whole cell vaccines and constituted the basis for the initiation of human clinical trials to treat human cancers currently underway.


Heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Hg, Mo, Zn, Co, Cu) content was determined in soil and plant samples collected in the different areas of the railway junction Tarnowskie Góry, as well as, near two main railway routes, i.e. Warsaw-Gdańsk and Katowice-Gdynia. In Tarnowskie Góry soil and plant samples were collected in four functional parts of the junction, i.e. the rolling stock cleaning bay, platform area, railway siding and loading ramp. It was found that the contamination of soil and plants by heavy metal was the highest in loading ramp. A particularly high pollution level of copper was observed. The contamination level near the railway routes decreased accordingly to the distance from routes which suggests pollutant role of railway transport.


Background: Several chronic inflammatory lung diseases are associated with airway remodeling involving pulmonary lung fibroblasts. Although the both platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-beta receptor and the muscarinic receptor signaling system has been implicated in the remodeling process, their interaction is not well defined in lung fibroblasts. Objective: Here we investigated the role of PDGF-BB and of muscarinic receptors with respect to proliferation of human primary airway fibroblasts. Methods: Fibroblasts were isolated from asthmatic (n=8) and non-asthmatic subjects (n=8). Cells were stimulated with PDGF-BB (5, 10ng/ml), carbachol (10-6M, 10-5M), or the combination of PDGF-BB (5ng/ml) and carbachol (10-6M) for 3 and 5 days. Results: PDGF-BB alone significantly increased the proliferation of fibroblasts from both asthma and non-asthma patients in a dose-dependent manner, while carbachol alone had no effect. In combination, carbachol significantly increased PDGF-BB induced proliferation of fibroblasts. Importantly, the enhancing effect of carbachol on PDGF-BB-induced fibroblast proliferation was significantly stronger in cells obtained from asthma patient compared to cells of non-asthma subjects. Conclusion: Muscarinic receptor activation alone is insufficient to induce fibroblast proliferation, while it potentiates the mitogenic effect of PDGF-BB especially in asthmatic lung fibroblasts. This observation may in part explain the pathologic increase of the sub-epithelial mesenchymal cell layer in asthma patients.


Thiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been widely used as a modification method to immobilize biomolecules to gold surfaces. However, the additional layers of SAM and biomolecules make electron transfer difficult, leading to a large overpotential in electrical signal. Electron transfer mediation is the most popular solution to overcome the problem of the overpotential for an electrochemical biosensor. We introduced mixed SAMs of mercapto-dodecanoic acid (MDA) and ferrocene-undecanthiol. Ferrocene-undecanthiol acts as an electron transfer mediator and MDA is used for immobilization of biomolecule. The electron transferability of mixed SAMs is affected by pH, kinds of electrolytes, and the composition of the thiol molecule. We optimized the carboxyl acid and ferrocene molecule ratio which is a crucial factor in the performance of mixed SAMs and electrochemically detected the avidin. The detection limit was 2.0 microg/mL of avidin concentration.


Recent isolation of HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) has led to vaccine strategies focusing on inducing bNAb responses. Interestingly, not all infected individuals develop bNAbs. Current vaccine candidates regrettable, only induce antibodies that are protective against narrow subsets of strains. This could be because vaccine design is based largely on assumptions that the desired B cells are present in the host, will respond, and are protective. However, recent results suggest that a limited number of B cells respond to vaccination and may require multiple rounds of somatic hypermutation to gain neutralizing breadth. We aim to study pre-vaccination B cell repertoires in hopes of illuminating HIV-1 specific B cell responses to vaccination. Using an HIV envelope (Env)-tetramer enrichment method, we have begun to assess human Env-specific B cells in the blood of HIV-unexposed individuals. This approach allows for careful analysis of the population of naive B cells able to bind to various Env variants, allowing us to compare the germ-line antibody sequences utilized by these cells to the predicted germline sequences of bNAbs. In the course of this work, we have found naive B cells able to cross-react with structurally distinct Envs derived from different clades. Ongoing work is focused on gauging whether naive Env-cross-reactive B cells express antibodies able to broadly neutralize HIV, or can gain this ability after somatic hypermutation.


How effectively do we adhere to nudges and interventions that help us control our online browsing habits? If we have a temporary lapse and disable the behavior change system, do we later resume our adherence, or has the dam broken? In this paper, we investigate these questions through log analyses of 8,000+ users on HabitLab, a behavior change platform that helps users reduce their time online. We find that, while users typically begin with high-challenge interventions, over time they allow themselves to slip into easier and easier interventions. Despite this, many still expect to return to the harder interventions imminently: they repeatedly choose to be asked to change difficulty again on the next visit, declining to have the system save their preference for easy interventions.


The crustacean shells-derived polysaccharide chitosan has received much attention for its anti-obesity potential. Dietary supplementation of chitosan has been linked with reductions in feed intake, suggesting a potential link between chitosan and appetite control. Hence the objective of this experiment was to investigate the appetite suppressing potential of prawn shell derived chitosan in a pig model. Pigs (70 ± 0.90 kg, 125 days of age, SD 2.0) were fed either T1) basal diet or T2) basal diet plus 1000 ppm chitosan (n = 20 gilts per group) for 63 days. The parameter categories which were assessed included performance, feeding behaviour, serum leptin concentrations and expression of genes influencing feeding behaviour in the small intestine, hypothalamus and adipose tissue. Pigs offered chitosan visited the feeder less times per day (P<0.001), had lower intake per visit (P<0.001), spent less time eating per day (P<0.001), had a lower eating rate (P<0.01) and had reduced feed intake and final body weight (P< 0.001) compared to animals offered the basal diet. There was a treatment (P<0.05) and time effect (P<0.05) on serum leptin concentrations in animals offered the chitosan diet compared to animals offered the basal diet. Pigs receiving dietary chitosan had an up-regulation in gene expression of growth hormone receptor (P<0.05), Peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (P<0.01), neuromedin B (P<0.05), neuropeptide Y receptor 5 (P<0.05) in hypothalamic nuclei and neuropeptide Y (P<0.05) in the jejunum. Animals consuming chitosan had increased leptin expression in adipose tissue compared to pigs offered the basal diet (P<0.05). In conclusion, these data support the hypothesis that dietary prawn shell chitosan exhibits anti-obesogenic potential through alterations to appetite, and feeding behaviour affecting satiety signals in vivo.


Computerized molecular modeling methods supplemented with chemometric methods may be used to provide information regarding sensitivity, selectivity, and other properties of sohd/vapor sorption interactions for chemically coated Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs). When exposed to tlie individual vapors of a homologous series of carboxylic acid vapors, a QCM coated with varying thicknesses of poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) coating, produces a linear response that is sensitive and selective. The selectivity of the PEI coating toward analytes increases with ahphatic chain length probably due to dispersive interactions. A linear relationship between calculated van der Waals force values and experimental dispersion force values may exist. BET isotherm plots indicate that heats of adsorption values for the interactions fall within the range of physical adsorption. At high analyte concentrations, PEI coated sensors may behave differently because multilayering interactions increase. At low concentrations, monolayer adsorption appears to predominate and the values of the coating coefficients become constant.


X-ray CT imaging is proving to be a viable modality for the extraction of quantitative dose information from irradiated polymer gels and research in this area is increasing. The objective of the current study is to establish the magnitude of changes in gel CT numbers that could result from reading out active polymer gels with x-ray CT.


On the occasion of his 100th birthday this letter is to pay tribute to Swiss psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist Roland Kuhn (1912-2005), who established the antidepressant effects of imipramine starting in 1956. Since until now only monoaminergic-based antidepressants such as this substance found their way into psychopharmacological therapy, one can say that Kuhn established the lead antidepressant substance and has hence fundamentally changed clinical psychiatry and care for the mentally ill.


BackgroundGiven that few studies regarding the effect of Aloe vera (A. vera) on prevention of fever and neutropenia on acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) disease, the aim was to evaluate the effect of A.vera on prevention of fever and neutropenia in children with ALL.Materials and MethodsThis randomized clinical trial study was conducted on 60 children with mean age 5.6± 2.9 years in Oncology department of Shahid Sadoughi hospital during 2018-2019. All these children were underwent chemotherapy. Then, the patients were randomly classified into two groups. The first group received 10 ml A. vera syrup (0.5 mg/ml) for 30 days (case group) and the second group did not receive A. vera syrup (control group). Complete blood count (CBC) tests and frequency of fever, infection, neutropenia, and hospitalization were evaluated in case and control groups before and after intervention. Wilcoxon, T test, and Chi Square test were used for data analysis.ResultsSignificant reduction was observed in case group in comparison with control group regarding the frequency of fever (0.19 ±0.107 vs 1.07±0.206), infection (0.81 ±0.2 vs 1.87± 0.236), hospitalization (0.37±0.178 vs 1.33 ±0.187), and neutropenia (0.11± 0.062 vs 0.80 ± 0.2) (p<0.01). Moreover, significant increase was observed in case group in comparison with control group considering neutrophil count (2597.5±243.1 vs 1106.53±161.6) and white blood cell (WBC) (4062.96 ± 276.6 vs 2566.67 ±175.5) (p<0.01). In addition, recovery of appetite was significantly greater in case group than control group (p=0.023). Furthermore, significant difference was observed in case group before and after intervention regarding these parameters (p<0.05).ConclusionAccording to findings, A. vera consumption decreased frequency of infection, neutropenia, fever, and hospitalization and increased WBC and neutrophil count.  Moreover, appetite was improved in these patients. Therefore, it seems that A.vera can be used for improving quality of life in children with ALL


2 Abstract: Algae are a renewable resource of many products. This review examines the role of algae as a source of bio-diesel and proteins. The extraction of lipids is proposed to be coupled with biological synthesis of metallic nanoparticles and subsequent extraction of proteins from the remaining bio-mass. The low cost engineering aspects are discussed and dealt with in brief.


PURPOSE
To report the effect of antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy for choroidal neovascularisation associated with deferoxamine toxicity.

METHOD
In an interventional case report, intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor therapy was used for the treatment of a choroidal neovascularization in a patient with deferoxamine retinopathy.

RESULTS
A 54-year-old woman with beta-thalassemia intermedia and known deferoxamine toxicity presented with recent vision loss to the left eye secondary to a choroidal neovascular membrane. Visual acuity had decreased from 20/30 to 20/80 in the left eye. Funduscopic examination and fluorescein angiography revealed diffuse retinal pigment epithelial mottling and a choroidal neovascular membrane. Treatment with three doses of intravitreal bevacizumab led to a good structural outcome and improvement of the visual acuity. The patient later developed a choroidal neovascular membrane in the right eye. Similar treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab also led to a rapid structural resolution of the lesion, albeit with a more modest improvement in the visual acuity.

CONCLUSION
Therapy with intravitreal bevacizumab might be an option for the treatment of choroidal neovascularization in the context of deferoxamine toxicity.


We developed an advanced fingerprint sensor LSI that features a novel sensor structure, sensing circuit, and calibration circuit, using the 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS process/sensor process. The LSI is reliable, sensitive, and tolerant to changes in the sensor surface conditions for capturing clear fingerprint image over long-term use. We also introduce a fingerprint-image adjustment scheme with an adjustable A/D converter to obtain image quality suitable for identification. The fingerprint sensor LSI was applied to a fingerprint identification system with the fingerprint-image adjustment scheme and achieved sufficient performance for a practical fingerprint identification system.


Public Space is a photographic and video project examining the relationship
between the public sphere and private corporations. The project explores
various sites throughout Toronto and New York that are on private property but
have been built with the intention of allowing the general public to have
unrestricted access to these areas. These spaces are referred to as Privately
Owned Public Space or "POPS".

The goal of the project is to question and document, through photographic and
video practice, these spaces within the urban environment and to challenge
others to consider whether these spaces are effective in achieving their intended
use and if they are truly accessible to the general public. Loss of the public
space is an ongoing issue that faces cities and developers often receive
concessions to bylaw zoning requirements in exchange for incorporating POPS.
This thesis project is a personal exploration of how these spaces are changing
the urban environments of North American cities in the twenty first century.


Haplohyphes yanahuicsasp. nov. from Bolivia, is described and illustrated from adult and nymphal stages, this constitutes the first report of the genus for that country. Imagos of both sexes of Haplohyphes aquilonius Lugo-Ortiz & McCafferty are described for the first time, and this species together with H. mithras (Traver) are recorded for the first time from Colombia. Haplohyphes furtiva Dominguez is proposed as a junior synonym of H. baritu Dominguez, and is also recorded for the first time from Bolivia. SEM photographs for the egg of H. baritu are presented, and compared with the eggs of other genera of the family. A key and illustrations to separate the six known species of the genus are given.


Bacterial lysates (BL) are used to improve immune response in patients with respiratory infections. BL are constituted by a mixture of bacterial antigens derived from different bacterial species; species included in these lysates are 14 different bacteria: S. pneumoniae, K. pneumoniae, B. catarrahalis, S. aureus, H. influenza, S. alpha, and beta, S. faecalis, S. epidermidis, B. pertussis, Proteus sp., Pseudomonas sp., E. coli, and C. pseudodiphteriae (BL-14) It has been suggested that BL activate innate response through TLR, however if BL-14 are able to induce B cell activation is not known and this was the aim of our study. Peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMC) were obtained from healthy donors and cultured with/without BL-14 (IPI ASAC Pharma) at different concentrations, after stimulation with BL-14, supernatant were collected and IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, TNF, IFN-γ, and IL-17A (BD Biosciences), were measured with cytometric bead arrays. PBMC were harvested at 24, 48 and 72 h, labelled against anti- CD19, CD38, CD69 or TLR2 (BD Biosciences), and analysed by flow cytometry. We observed dose-dependent increased activation of CD19+. After 72 h we observed a diminished frequency of B cells precursors and expansion of transitional B cells, these cells were TLR2+ cells. A significant increased concentration of IL-10 and IL-6 was observed at 24h, and 48 h after BL-14 stimulation. BL induces expansion of transitional B cells and IL-10 production through TLR2 recognition


In this gently lit, pastoral landscape, cows graze near a party of berry-pickers who have climbed a cluster of boulders. The panoramic view reveals distant fields, cultivated and bounded by rows of trees and forested areas. The standing figure, surveying the calm and peaceful vista, represents the optimistic future for the citizenry at mid-century.


The roles of women in India have been changing and they are now emerging from the past traditions into a new era of freedom and rights. The basic objective of this paper is to examine the changing role of women due to globalization in Indian society. This concern is not merely academic but is central to the process of emerging development in India. There is a need to critically evaluate the impact of globalization on women in India and also to know the positive & negative impacts of it on the position of women in India present. At the same time this paper also through light on the contribution of women in the economic development in India and share of women workforce in the economy.
Key words: Women empowerment, Globalization, Effect of Globalization, Factors of Effective Globalization, Economic Development etc.


The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is a square-preserving and symplectic (SPS) transformation. The canonical equations of quantum systems are deduced by using eigenfunction expansion. The normal-square of wavefunction of the quantum systems is an invariant integral of the canonical equations and then the symplectic schemes that based on both Cayley transformation and diagonal Padé approximation to exp(x) are also square-preserving. The evaluated example show that the SPS approach is reasonable and effective for solving time-evolution of quantum system.


A fossil water strider, Halovelia electrodominica sp. n., is described from the Oligo-Miocene Dominican amber based upon a couple seemingly trapped while they were mating. This is the first fossil record of the genus Halovelia (Haloveliinae, Veliidae) and, since most living haloveliine water striders are marine, probably also the first record of a marine insect from amber. Extant haloveliines are confined to the Indo-West Pacific region and the Dominican amber species therefore represent another example of remarkable geographical extinction in the Caribbean during the late Tertiary.


Nowadays the H-bridge is one of the preferred solutions to connect DC loads or distributed sources to the single-phase grid. The control aims are: sinusoidal grid current with unity power factor and optimal DC voltage regulation capability. These objectives should be satisfied, regardless the conditions of the grid, the DC load/source and the converter nonlinearities. In this paper a passivity-based approach is thoroughly investigated proposing a damping-based solution for the error dynamics. Practical experiments with a real converter validate the analysis.


With the introduction of solid free form fabrication techniques there has been significant interest in producing prototypes from design representations. Although free form fabrication processes require solid modeling information, the representations available in the design stage might often be of lower order dimensions. In certain cases, the design information is presented as a set of sampled points scanned from 3D objects. In this paper, we describe an implementation where scanned data is automatically converted to surface -and solid representations successively using a non-manifold geometric modeling system, NOODLES. After defining valid solid models, prototypes are fabricated with streolithography. The stereolithography process is planned within NOODLES by transforming solid representations into planar slice descriptions using the non-regular set operations provided by NOODLES. This research was supported in part by the Engineering Design Research Center, an NSF Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIVERSITY PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA 15213


Recently, a so-called 'crown-jewel' concept of preparation of Au/Pd-based colloidal nanoclusters has been reported [Zhang, Watanabe, Okumura, Haruta & Toshima (2011). Nat. Mater. 11, 49-52]. Here, a different way of preparing highly active Au/Pd-based nanoclusters is presented. The origin of the increased activity of Au/Pd-based colloidal bimetallic nanoclusters was unclear up to now. However, it is, in general, accepted that in the nanometre range (1-100 nm) the cluster size, shape and composition affect the structural characteristics (e. g. lattice symmetry, unit cell), electronic properties (e. g. band gap) and chemical properties (e. g. catalytic activity) of a material. Hence, a detailed study of the relationship between the nanostructure of nanoclusters and their catalytic activity is presented here. The results indicate that a high surface-to-volume ratio of the nanoclusters combined with the presence of 'both' Au and Pd isolated regions at the surface are crucial to achieve a high catalytic activity. A detailed structure elucidation directly leads to a mechanistic proposal, which indeed explains the higher catalytic activity of Au/Pd-based catalysts compared with pure metallic Au or Pd. The mechanism is based on cascade catalysis induced by a single type of nanoparticle with an intermixed surface of Au and Pd. (Less)


Despite the central role that ordinary citizens play as 'trustors' (i.e. the actor that places trust) in the literature on news media trust, prior quantitative studies have paid little attention to how ordinary citizens understand and define news media trust. Here, trust tends to be studied from a researcher-defined – rather than an audience-defined – perspective. To address this gap, we investigate how the public describes news media trust in their own words by asking them directly. We analyse 1500 written responses collected through a Norwegian online probability-based survey, here using a semisupervised quantitative text analysis technique called structural topic modelling (STM). We find that citizens' own understanding of news media trust can be categorised into four distinct topics that, in some instances, are comparable to academic and professional discourse. We show that citizens' written descriptions of news media trust vary by many of the same variables that prior research has found to be important predictors of levels of trust. Respondents' written descriptions of news media trust vary by education and satisfaction with democracy but not other known predictors of trust, such as ideological self-placement and political preferences.


A sensing mechanism includes a magnetic source, a magnetic flux sensor, a sensor backing on which the magnetic source and flux sensor are mounted, and a ferromagnetic target, where the magnetic source, magnetic flux sensor, and ferromagnetic target are positioned to form a magnetic circuit from the magnetic source to the target, from the target to the sensor, and returning to the magnetic source through the sensor backing.


The common object request broker architecture (CORBA) is intended to simplify the task of developing distributed applications. Although it is well-suited for conventional remote procedure call style applications, several limitations become evident when CORBA is used for a broader range of performance-sensitive applications running in heterogeneous environments over high-speed networks. This paper illustrates the performance limitations of existing CORBA implementations in terms of their support for the dynamic invocation interface (DII) and the dynamic skeleton interface (DSI). The results indicate that object request broker implementers must optimize both the DII and DSI significantly before CORBA will be suitable for performance-sensitive applications on high-speed networks. In addition, the CORBA 2.0 DII specification must be clarified in order to ensure application portability and optimal performance.


ata recorders make it possible for the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft to delay and slow the transmission of information to Earth, thereby accommodating the temporal and bandwidth limitations of the communications link. NEAR is the first spacecraft developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory to employ solid-state recorders, supplanting magnetic tape recorders used previously. Also, the 132 dynamic random-access memory devices, which are at the heart of the NEAR recorders, constitute the first large-scale use of plastic encapsulated microcircuits on a Laboratory spacecraft. Earlier spacecraft relied almost exclusively on hermetically packaged microcircuits. Several measures, including two layers of error detection and correction, were taken to mitigate the effects of single-event upsets that may be induced by charged particles in space. (


Inorganic perovskite based solar cells (PSCs) have been receiving unprecedented attention worldwide in the past several years due to their higher intrinsic stability towards high temperatures and high theoretical power conversion efficiencies. Since a photovoltaic performance of 20.37% has been achieved for inorganic PSCs recently, the operational stability of these devices has become the major bottleneck which impedes their commercialization. The high thermal stability associated with inorganic perovskites comes along with poorer phase stability compared to their hybrid counterparts and therefore needs thorough understanding. Lattice strain and vacancies within the perovskite crystals are found to be the origin of these phase instability issues. This review summarizes the progress in stability research on inorganic perovskites. Specifically, the degradation mechanisms of inorganic perovskites towards temperature, moisture and oxygen are summarized and discussed. Solutions for tackling these stability issues are reviewed and an outlook on further strategies is provided.


Introduction. The paper researches the sphere of paving with a roller. The authors describe the current situation in the asphalt concrete's application as a road surface. Moreover, the authors conduct the excursion into the history of material. The paper presents the preconditions that justify the need for creating recommendations, schemes and methods for experimental study of the working body and material under laboratory conditions of various kinds. The aim of the study is to create the stand concept and methods for experimental research of the roller's working body in the laboratory.Materials and methods. The paper described a laboratory stand for experiments in the sphere of roller's working equipment. The authors demonstrated the construction made of a base, a stiffener box, guides and a movable part with a frame and equipment, suspended above the compacted material's container.Results. As a result, the authors presented the detailed methodology for conducting experiments and recommendations for its transformation in the considered sphere. The paper showed all the necessary data for the design, construction of the test bench and experiments with the roller's working equipment. Discussion and conclusions. Researchers, especially beginners, receive an additional tool for study of dependencies and phenomena that occur during compaction of material by the roller. Therefore, the authors develops the scheme for the research of the roller's working body in small area conditions and in extensive laboratories.


This article focuses on the ever-present pressures, tensions and opportunities for women leaders in education, and the link between identity, pursuit of excellence and the pursuit of a complete, worthwhile life. It highlights the experience of three women in educational leadership who are undertaking Doctoral studies while balancing the needs of family, work and study. It aims to explore how the multiple facets of a woman's identity come together to enable each to lead in an educational setting. We consider 'the third space in an identity', a place in which 'everything comes together' and we call into question whether a woman's identity as a leader is ever truly fixed. The implications of this narrative are that it may serve to inform and challenge those responsible running a Doctorate in Education (EdD) programme. We highlight the implications of leadership, including capabilities from a gendered perspective and the impact and challenges on us in navigating the twilight zone. We conclude that lifelong learning needs to meet the need of learners.


AATEX (Alternatives ISSN 1344-0411) is a specialized journal of the Japanese Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (JSAAE) first published by Professor Tsutomu Sugahara in 1990. It is also the only journal in Asia that has been proposing alternatives to animal experiments. A total of 18 volumes have been published so far, and a number of researchers were involved in its editing. Although it is a low profile journal, its assertions are very clear. We have a responsibility to treasure this journal, which has been continuing since its first publication owing to the efforts of many researchers, and develop it into a more significant journal. We discussed the problems faced by the AATEX not only the journal history.


Series Editor's Foreword. Acknowledgements. Foreword. Chapter 1 Introduction. 1.1 An absence of automated surface inspection. 1.2 The nature of surface defects. 1.3 Laser beam properties. 1.4 The need for flexibility. 1.5 An overview of the book. Chapter 2 Automated Surface Inspection. 2.1 Application of machine vision to surface flaw detection. 2.2 Surface defects in the presence of a complex background. 2.3 Other related work. Chapter 3 An Alternative Surface Description. 3.1 A new surface model. 3.2 The Gaussian image and the extended Gaussian image. 3.3 Structural defects as a shape aberration. 3.4 The bump map as a topographical description. 3.5 The albedo map. Chapter 4 Photoclinometry. 4.1 Reflection models. 4.2 Surface albedo and surface normal recovery. 4.3 Three--light coordinate frame photometric stereo. 4.4 Consideration of color photometric stereo. 4.5 Consideration of specular reflection. 4.6 Adaption of conventional methods of image analysis to the acquired bump map. 4.7 Discussion. Chapter 5 Reconstruction of Acquired Surface Detail. 5.1 Generation of synthetic images. 5.2 Reconstruction of the surface depth map. Chapter 6 Experimental Work. 6.1 Aims of the experimental work. 6.2 Construction of the experimental apparatus. 6.3 Experimental procedure. 6.4 Presentation and discussion of results. 6.5 Conclusions. Chapter 7 Analysis of Surface Defects. 7.1 Existing standards. 7.2 Classification of defects. 7.3 Distribution of surface shape as a new alternative. 7.4 Shape as a hierarchical structure. 7.5 The gradient space domain. 7.6 Independence of object pose. 7.7 A generic surface inspection strategy. 7.8 Classifying defects from spatial and gradient plot signatures. 7.9 A measure of distribution. Chapter 8 Experimental Work. 8.1 Pose--independent determination. 8.2 Analysis of surface structural texture. 8.3 Defect upon a cosmetically sensitive polyhedral component. 8.4 Isolation of bump map from surface geometry. 8.5 The classification and quantification of surface defect features using the ellipsoidal model, in the case of an unconstrained specimen. 8.6 Summary of the experimental work. Chapter 9 Example Case Study Applications in Industrial Machine Vision Surface Inspection. 9.1 Decorative ceramic tiles. 9.2 Alphanumeric character recognition on gas turbine blades. 9.3 Wood product inspection. Chapter 10 Overview of a Generic Inspection System. Chapter 11 Conclusions and Future Work. 11.1 Conclusions. 11.2 Future work. References. Appendices. Appendix 1 Technical Papers Arising from this Work. Appendix 2 The Four Stages of Machine Vision. Appendix 3 Perspective and Orthographic Projection. Appendix 4 A List of Programs. Appendix 5 Validation of Blob analysis software using Synthetic Scratches and Method of Moment Analysis. Appendix 6 An Approximation of Feature Depth from Spatial and Gradient Distributions. Appendix 7 Ellipsoidal Feature Width Using Method of Moment Analysis. Appendix 8 Calculation of Principal Dimensions of a 2D Feature Given Only Area and Perimeter. Appendix 9 Selected Experimental Results. Appendix 10 Altering the Light Source Position. Glossary. Bibliography. Index.


ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND:
Students face health related issues and stress due to burden of their studies. Emotions can affect one's reactions, therefore Emotional Intelligence may help overcome the negative effects of stressful situations faced by the students.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between emotional intelligence (EI) and academic stress in undergraduate students.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional Correlational study.
SETTING: The study was conducted among the undergraduate student of M Islam Medical College Gujranwala. Two hundred and ten students participated in the study.
METHODS: Schutte Emotional Intelligence and perceived stress scale proformas were given to participants and their EI and stress level was measured.
RESULTS: Totally, 116 (55.2%) of participants were females and 94 (44.8%) were males. Perceived stress score was associated with gender and study of year. Perceived stress score was higher in female and second year undergraduate students. No significant difference was observed in emotional intelligence score between both genders and study of year. There was significant correlation between EI scores and educational stress in undergraduate students (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: It is obvious from our study that the emotional intelligence scores and educational stress are negatively correlated. Educating students to improve EI may help prevent stress and optimize their overall wellness. Hence it is suggested that emotional intelligence awareness workshops and training be included in the educational programs of the undergraduate students.


Thermoplastic polymers such as polyamide 12 (PA12) are of great interest for functional coatings in industry due to their good material properties (e.g., chemical and wear resistance and biocompatibility). In order to provide a high local selectivity of polymer deposition and to shorten the process chain, a laser-based coating process represents a promising approach for generating functional coatings. In this work, a laser-based coating process for PA12 powder on stainless steel substrates is investigated experimentally by using a thulium-doped fiber laser with a wavelength of 1.94 μm. Due to the higher inherent absorption of the laser radiation in the powder material, a thulium-doped fiber laser is more appropriate for processing PA12 powder in comparison to more common near-infrared laser beam sources with wavelengths around 1 μm. The influence of the main process parameters (laser power, scanning speed, hatch distance, and substrate temperature) on the resulting coatings was evaluated. For this purpose, optical microscopic analyses were performed to characterize the coating surfaces and cross sections in terms of possible defects. In order to assess the adhesion between the coating and the substrate, cross-cutting values were determined. On the basis of the quality characteristics regarding the coating surface, a process window was determined to produce a closed melting film, which fully covers the metallic substrate. By an adjustment of the scanning speed (5 mm/s) and line overlap (50%/62.5%), a broadening of the process window could be achieved. An additional substrate heating (T ≥ 90°C) is an appropriate strategy, which enlarges the size of the process window significantly. Optical microscopy analyses and cross-cutting tests verified the suitability of a thulium-doped fiber laser for processing dense PA12 coatings with an adequate adhesion to the stainless steel substrate. The substrate temperature is a decisive process parameter to obtain a homogeneous morphology and to further improve the adhesion between the metallic substrate and PA12 layer.


This paper mainly rereads Limb, Ung Sik's view of photography and practice through cultural discourses in and out his lifetime, so that the paper can enlighten his SangHwal-ism as the flow of his ideology for individual and social subjectivity. To achieve this purpose, the paper firstly rereads his idea about SangHwal-ism during 1950s through analyzing his newspaper articles and autobiography, in order to enlighten the background of his view of photography and photographic practice. Then, this paper will discuss about the practice of his work after 1950s and relate his work with his idea by analyzing his works and related material. Through analyzing, this paper attempts to uncover Limb, Ung Sik's real meaning of SaengHwal-ism as a practical ideology for changing social gaze toward photography as well.


The litterfall is an important link of the chain to transport organic materials and mineral substances from the vegetation into the soil in ecosystems. There are many factors controlling the litterfall production: site conditions, fertility of the soil, growth season, composition and age of the plant.… The study of the litterfall production takes part to clear the matter cycle and the nutritive cycle in ecosystems. It also defines the ability to return nutritive elements of the vegetation to the soil. Five permanent plots (with signs ML1, ML2, ML3, ML4 and ML5) were choosed to collect litterfall samples in the secondary forest from age of 10 years to age of 25 years at the Melinh station for Biodiversity, Vinhphuc province. The dominant species in these plots were mainly defoliated species such as: Toxicodendron succedanea (L.) Mold., Canarium parvum Leenh., Cratoxylum polyanthum (in ML1); Liquidambar formosana Hance, Toxicodendron succedanea (L.) Mold., Canarium parvum Leenh. (in ML2); Styrax tonkinensis (Pierre) Craib. ex Hartwiss, Toxicodendron succedanea (L.) Mold. (in ML3); Bischofia javanica Blume (in ML5) . The litterfall samples were collected monthly in 3 random distributed traps with dimension of 1 m 2 (1 m ´ 1 m) in two years, from 2004 to 2005. The data showed that the litterfall production of the secondary forests was 8.24 T/ha-15.69 T/ha per year; the average was 68.68-130.75 g/m 2 per month. The rate of leaves was from 71.04% to 85.89% and the rate of branchs from 1.41% to 4.03% in total of the litterfall production in year. There were differences in total and branch litterfall production between the plots. They were in order ML1 < ML2 < ML3 < ML4 < ML5. The distribution of the litterfall production in months in 5 plots was also presented in this report. The data showed that the plot ML5 had one peak of litterfall in August and the other plots had two peaks: the first peak was from July to September and the second one was from November to February. The litterfall production depended on the composition and the defoliated particularity of species in the communities.


Every generation is unjust to the preceding generation," wrote Bagehot. It respects its distant ancestors, but it thinks its fathers were qquite wrong.' . . . Just so with London University. We, who were educated at it, grumble at much of it. I at least have often done so, and have often heard others. But yet I know well how much the founders of the University have done how difficult in their case was every sort of success; how easy every sort of failure.... Thirty years ago it was a great step to establish an independent and examining UJniversity. That improvement was a purely English idea, but, like so many English ideas, it existed only in solution; it was there but it was hidden."


This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study investigating the effects of mentoring in a sales setting. Salespeople who had manager mentors inside the organization where they work had high performance and a low intention to leave. Those with peer mentors inside the organization also had a low intention to leave but lower performance. Salespeople with mentors outside the organization where they work had high performance but also a high intention to leave. Finally, salespeople with no mentor had relatively low performance and a high intention to leave. These results suggest that manager mentors inside the organization produce the best combination of results. Study results also raise serious questions about the effects of peer mentoring and mentors outside the organization. The findings suggest two important hypotheses for testing: (1) that peer mentors produce low turnover intentions and high commitment in poor performers, and (2) that mentors outside the organization produce high turnover intentions and low commitment in high performers.


This paper presents a novel approach towards cooperation between conglomeratesof sensors for compiling an enhanced operational picture. It uses the benefits ofdistributed processing via multi-agent systems for intelligent schedulingofmulti-functional radars and their flexible interconnection via mobile ad-hoc networking technology. These dynamically reconfigurable networksfacilitate the cooperationof roaming sensors that move into communications reach. Overall, a multi-facetted architecture is presented to optimize the usage of scarce time and energy from sensors for target searching and tracking and to bring contributions of coalition partners together with the goal to improve the operationalpicture.


The aim of the study was to analyze the effects produced by the use of experimental program (Nordic polewalking) on functional abilities in elderly women. Three-month polewalking led to reduction in the pulse rate at rest, diastolic and systolic blood pressure at the level of significance of 0.01 (p = 0.000). Polewalking improved the values of fitness index (FITIND) and maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) at the level of significance of 0.01 (p = 0.000). On final measurement, three variables, i.e. pulse rate at rest - HRR (E = 73.42 vs. C = 79.68), systolic blood pressure - BPS (E = 118.42 vs. C = 123.65) and diastolic blood pressure - BPD (E = 79.04 vs. C = 83.54), showed lower results in experimental group compared with control group. On final measurement, experimental group showed higher values of the FITIND (E = 81.79 vs. C = 62.66) and VO2max (E = 21.83 vs. C = 16.81) variables as compared to control group. Accordingly, such a moderate physical activity, which is not too vigorous yet intensive enough to induce favorable changes, appears to be recommendable for elderly women. The present study included 60 women from the Novi Sad community, mean age 58.5 +/- 6.90 years, mean body mass 70.9 +/- 15.32 kg and mean body height 164.8 +/- 7.24 cm. Study population was divided into two groups of 30 subjects: experimental (E) group and control (C) group. The experimental program was performed three times a week for three months. The Nordic walking program was so designed for the performers to be in the aerobic work zone throughout the exercise. Nordic walking with poles was performed over three months. Study results revealed functional abilities of the study women to have modified during the longitudinal process.


The use of more sophisticated research techniques, particularly multivariate statistical procedures, has increased dramatically over the past decade. Graduate education appears to be a significant change agent in this diffusion process. Marketing educators must prepare future managers to effectively use information developed with increasingly complex procedures.