This book was produced as part of the celebration of the centenary of the United States national laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST was set up by the US Congress on 3 March 1901. It was charged with custody of the standards of physical measurement in the United States, and to solve problems that arise in connection with standards. Throughout the period from its inception until 1988, when the US Congress gave it new responsibilities, it was known as the National Bureau of Standards (NBS). Both aspects of the history of the laboratory (collectively described as NBS/NIST) are therefore included in the timeframe covered by the book. The editor, David Lide, coaxed many of his NIST colleagues to combine to produce some 102 multi-authored, varied and very readable examples of outstanding NBS/NIST work during the period of its existence, usually containing something about the staff concerned with it. Many of the articles contain two or three figures or photographs. Collectively the articles cite about a thousand references for further reading. With some tens of thousands of publications to choose from, the topics were selected by a committee from a shortlist of 400 submitted by present-day and retired NIST staff. Of these, the list of contents suggests that some 31 topics were chosen for the period 1901 to 1960, 65 for the period 1961 to 1990, and six for the work since 1990. However, the dates are only a rough guide, and some of the more recent NIST work is included in articles featuring earlier work. Thus, although it refers to earlier NBS work, the new generation of recent NIST work, by Ed Williams and others on the absolute realization of the watt by Kibble's static/moving coil method, is located in the 1931-1950 part of the book. Their work also illustrates the complicated, convoluted and international nature of modern metrology where one key absolute measurement presently limits our knowledge of the ampere, the volt, the watt, the Planck constant and many other fundamental quantities. It celebrates too the change from artifact prototype standards towards using quantum and atomic property based standards for our measurement system. NIST/NBS has always produced helpful technical publications suitable for many different levels of society. This process continues today and the much-consulted NIST website has extended these. In 1921, when commercial radio sets cost the equivalent of $2000 in today's prices, the much copied NBS 5-cent article on `how to build a crystal set for less than $10', along with many other publications, played an important part in bringing the benefits of modern electronic communication methods to the general public. There are certainly a rich variety of highly successful topics discussed in the book, and each reader will make his or her own particular choice for closer reading. The highly diverse topics include: safety, acoustics, cement, certification, computing, energy conservation, cryogenic engineering, crystallography, data, fibre optics, metrication, photochemistry of small molecules, properties of materials, spectroscopy, thermodynamic properties, several Nobel prizes and near misses. Important NBS/NIST work on computing is also featured, such as the development of digital computers, including SEAC, the first digital computer with a memory, statistical methods for the analysis of results, the very useful published tables of mathematical functions, and the development of the ASCII code. Like many physicists, NBS/NIST staff very often maintain a lifetime of very close, hands-on, interest in their work. Consequently, having benefited from encounters with NBS/NIST old-timers over the years, I enjoyed reading about Simon Ingberg, their fire safety expert, who, on being told just before his seventieth birthday that he really must retire, promptly went home, set up a fire research facility in his garage, and was still acting as a fire safety consultant some 22 years later! Other books provide the skeleton and detailed statistics of periods of the NBS/NIST history, but this one adds the flesh to convey a living laboratory. One can use the book to illustrate different aspects of successful research and development, including dedication, engineering skills and unexpected sources for materials. The latter once included finding a legitimate source of free confiscated diamonds to serve as the anvils of a very successful NBS high-pressure cell. The book also features the possibility of Nobel Prize-winning work and very some near misses at NBS/NIST. It illustrates too the importance of collaboration with universities and the desirability of having the very best apparatus and detection sensitivity. Thus, to illustrate the latter, the article on the collaboration between Urey and Brickwedde in the 1920s on the discovery of deuterium mentions that Aston correctly discounted the presence of the heavier isotope in the ratio 1H/2H < 5000. The modern best estimate in naturally occurring hydrogen is 5433.78 - if only Aston's apparatus had possessed a little more detection sensitivity the credit for the discovery of deuterium with it might have been his! The list of important NBS/NIST scientific contributions to twentieth century science and technology is certainly impressive. One can see how wrong one would be to assume that the universities have the sole monopoly for Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. The description by Ralph Hudson, who participated in the 1956 NBS/NIST collaboration with Wu on parity non-conservation in β-decay, is of particular interest. As in many of the articles elsewhere in the book, he includes a summary of the highly successful careers of the NBS staff who worked on the topic. Nobel prize-winning work on sub-Doppler laser atom cooling, and the post-publication one for Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute atomic vapour, is also discussed. The book includes seminal work on the development of a 1 volt Josephson effect voltage standard, the measurement of the speed of light, the gas constant, the Avogadro constant, scanning probe microscopy, protein crystallography, on ion cooling and trapping, the war-time radio proximity fuse, and more robust maps and dollar bills. Measurement is very much part of the driving force of modern science and technology. The joy of discovery comes from looking carefully where no-one has looked before, and the book also provides a vision of the satisfaction to be derived from a career spent in making measurements to the last decimal place. As the above examples illustrate, this is a non-specialist celebratory book that covers measurement science and technology in the round. I hope that students will be encouraged to consult it, for it may well provide them with a better vision of the rich variety of research topics and opportunities for successful careers that exist in the pure and applied science and technology that is pursued outside the universities. Brian Petley


Field investigations allow us to constrain the coseismic surface rupture zone of ∼400 km with a strike slip up to 16.3 m associated with the 2001 M w 7.8 Central Kunlun earthquake that occurred along one of the western segments of the Kunlun fault, northern Tibet. The rupture zone may be divided into four segments based on the geological structures, tectonic landform features, spatial displacement distributions obtained from field observations, and analysis of teleseismic waveforms. The deformational characteristics of the surface ruptures and focal mechanism solutions reveal that the earthquake had a nearly pure strike-slip mechanism. The inversion results from seismic data show that the rupture started from the west near the epicentral area bilaterally and rapidly extended to the east in an unilateral manner for 380 km and that the largest slip region was limited in the subsegment 150-280 km east of the epicenter, consistent with field observations. The average stress drop is estimated to be 7 MPa in the area where the largest displacements occurred, a value typical of intraplate earthquakes. The geologic evidence and the inversion results from seismic data clearly show that temporal and spatial displacement distributions and the rupture process are restricted by the pre-existing geological structures of the Kunlun fault.


In this work, laser-induced  uorescence (LIF) is used to develop a noncontact temperature sensor. The noninvasive sensor is sensible, reversible, and reproducible to temperature changes, and can be used as a temperature indicator for in- ight droplets. A calibration curve relating  uorescence emission intensity to temperature of a solution was developed for a mixture of ethanol–pyrene at 5 mM concentration. The percentage by mass of the mixture is 99.9% ethanol and 0.1% pyrene. The calibration curve was used as a noninvasive sensor to measure temperature of in- ight droplets. The mixture of ethanol– pyrene concentration at 5 mM was used as the base  uid to generate droplets of 215 l m. These droplets were atomized at a velocity of 10 m/s. Droplet temperature measurements were achieved at 1.9, 2.9, and 3.9 cm downward from the tip of the atomizer with the aid of the noncontact thermometer. The initial temperatures of the droplets were changed to 50, 40, and 33 C, and the resulting decrease in temperatures was attributed to heat and mass transfer between the droplets and the surrounding environment.


We report the first observations of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices evolving from well-characterized, dual-mode initial conditions in a steady, supersonic flow. The results provide the first measurements of the instability's vortex merger rate and supplement data on the inhibition of the instability's growth rate in a compressible flow. These experimental data were obtained by sustaining a shockwave over a foam-plastic interface with a precision-machined seed perturbation. This technique produced a strong shear layer between two plasmas at high-energy-density conditions. The system was diagnosed using x-ray radiography and was well-reproduced using hydrodynamic simulations. Experimental measurements imply that we observed the anticipated vortex merger rate and growth inhibition for supersonic shear flow.


This publication aims to raise awareness of the role of Health Education England (HEE) and Local Education and Training Boards. It provides a basis for implementing the policy set out in 'Liberating the NHS: Developing the healthcare workforce – from delivery to design' and sets out the role of the new organisation for NHS chief executives, directors of HR, all staff in HEE sender organisations and trade unions. It outlines the vision and purpose, values and culture and the proposed advisory structure.


Cultured skin fibroblasts from two patients with Sanfilippo syndrome, Type B were strikingly deficient in alpha-acetylglucosaminidase activity (alpha-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucoside acetamidodeoxyglucohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.X). A similar deficiency was found in frozen organs from two other patients. A partial deficiency of alpha-acetylglucosaminidase was found in cultured skin fibroblasts from both parents of one patient. Soluble endogenous inhibitors did not account for the enzyme deficiency. Other lysosomal hydrolases were normal or increased in cultured fibroblasts from patients with this disease. No deficiency of alpha-acetylglucosaminidase is present in other genetic mucopolysaccharidoses, including Sanfilippo Type A.


Some years ago, Hidding et al. suggest that the emergence of intricate and pervasive weblike structure of the Universe on Megaparsec scales can be approximated by a wellknown equation from fluid mechanics, the Burgers' equation. The solution to this equation can be obtained from a geometrical formalism. The resulting Adhesion formalism provides deep insight into the dynamics and topology of the Cosmic Web. It uncovers a direct connection between the conditions in the very early Universe and the complex spatial patterns that emerged out of these under the influence of gravity. In the present paper, we describe a cellular automaton model of the Burgers' equation, which can be investigated via a fast computer simulation. In the end, this suggests a Cellular Automata Adhesion Model of the Universe.


This paper constructed a whole frame of parallel computing and simulation system in complex electromagnetic environment based on file division idea to improve the compute speed of electromagnetic simulation in complex electromagnetic environment. The system was divided into four modules, client, sever, compute node and database. Compared with other simulation software, this system not only provided flexible interfaces to construct simulation platform for users, but also improved the compute speed. This paper presented the design of file division algorithm and database in detail.


The Cuddapah sedimentary basin extends over a significant part of the southern part of Andhra Pradesh State, Southern India. Proterozoic carbonate rocks in the basin are constituted by as three main units- the Vempalle dolomite, the Narji and Koilkuntla limestones. These carbonate rocks are of strategic importance for local communities as they provide the main water source for irrigation and domestic use and they are also intensively quarried for cement production and building stones. It is therefore, of primary importance to assess to which extent these carbonate units are karstified so as to provide recommendations for appropriate land and water resource management. The field investigations carried out indicate that these carbonate units are significantly karstified and karstification has been an ongoing process with several phases under variable climatic conditions. As a result, a significant part of aquifer recharge occurs as point-recharge through swallow-holes and groundwater flow is channelized by conduit networks which emerge at karst springs. Karst development was possibly more active during past humid conditions; however karstification is still an ongoing process under the present semi-arid climate especially in the favorable case where karst drains the runoff issued from upstream quartzitic hills. The karstic nature of these carbonate units need to be integrated in future research and development programmes to avoid practices that may lead to unexpected collapses, reservoir leaks, inaccurate groundwater budgeting, etc.


Packet classification (PC) has become the main method to support the quality of service and security of network application. And two-dimensional prefix packet classification (PPC) is the popular one. This paper analyzes the problem of ruler conflict, and then presents a TCAMbased two-dimensional PPC algorithm. This algorithm makes use of the parallelism of TCAM to lookup the longest prefix in one instruction cycle. Then it uses a memory image and associated data structures to eliminate the conflicts between rulers, and performs a fast two-dimensional PPC.Compared with other algorithms, this algorithm has the least time complexity and less space complexity.


The effect of left-wing party strength and corporatism on air pollution levels in up to 21 OECD countries over the period 1980 or 1990-1999 is tested with both fixed-effects and random-effects estimators. Controlling for scale, composition, technique as well as aggregate time effects, robust evidence is found that parliamentary green/left-libertarian party strength is associated with lower pollution levels. The rise of ecologically oriented parties has thus had a real impact on air pollution levels. Traditional left-wing party strength is possibly also associated with lower pollution levels, but the evidence is less consistent and robust. Combined left-wing party strength in government is possibly associated with higher pollution levels, but this result is also far from robust and is practically small. No evidence is found for a consistent systematic impact of corporatism on pollution levels.


Bacterial L-asparaginase has been widely used as therapeutic agent in treatment of various lymphoblastic leukemia and food processing aid to reduce the formation of cancer causing acrylamide. The present work deals with production and purification of extracellular L-asparaginase from soil isolates using solid state fermentation. The isolate was characterized by big chemical test and identified as Bacillus subtilis. The enzyme production was carried out by solid state fermentation comparing the results with submerged fermentation. The enzyme was purified to near homogeneity by ammonium sulphate precipitation, dialysis, followed by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 column, CM Sephadex C-50 and SDS-PAGE. The enzyme was purified at 110.2 folds and showed a final specific activity of 1785.7 IU/mg with 26.5% yield. SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme revealed an apparent molecular weight of 109 kDa. The purified enzyme showed maximum activity at pH 9 when it was incubated at 50 ̊C for 35 min. The enzyme was activated by Mg and strongly inhibited by EDTA.


An optimal signal design for band-limited, asynchronous, direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) communications with aperiodic random spreading sequences and a conventional matched filter receiver is considered in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. With bandwidth defined in the strict sense, two optimization problems are solved under finite bandwidth and zero interchip interference constraints. First, a chip waveform optimization is performed given the system bandwidth, the data symbol transmission rate, and the processing gain. A technique to characterize a band-limited chip waveform with a finite number of parameters is developed, and it is used to derive optimum chip waveforms which minimize the effect of multiple-access interference (MAI) for any energy and delay profile of users. Next, a joint optimization of the processing gain and the chip waveform is performed, given the system bandwidth and the data symbol transmission rate. A sufficient condition for a system to have lower average probability of bit error for any energy profile is found, and it is used to derive some design strategies. It is shown that the flat spectrum pulse with the processing gain leading to zero excess bandwidth results in the minimum average probability of bit error. Design examples and numerical results are also provided.


A power splitter with one input and two outputs is designed in a two dimensional photonic crystal with triangular lattice and simulated using air holes in a dielectric substrate. Power of each output branch is more than 43% and the bandwidth incident light is 50 nm, between from 1500 nm to 1550 nm. Simulation results calculated using two dimensional finite difference time domain (2D FDTD) method exhibits an average output power more than 45% of incident light power in the bandwidth range for each output branch. Two 60° waveguide bends is used in this power splitter with Y-configuration.


The article presents the results of the research carried out by the authors in the influence of digital technologies on the transformation of personnel management in modern conditions. The analysis of the practical experience of domestic companies on the use of digital tools in the process of staff selection and screening was carried out. As a result of the analysis of statistical data, opinions of experts and the results of surveys of consulting companies on the topic of the research, the current trends in the use of digital tools in the processes of digitization of staff selection and screening were shown up, the main advantages of improving recruiting on the basis of digital technologies were identified, and the issues of their introduction into the practice of domestic organizations were described. The main criteria for deciding on the use of digital tools in the staff selection and screening in the company are proposed.


A randomly time-varying sampling period or control delay affects the performance, robustness and stability of a control loop. The variation in sensing and actuation instants is caused by e.g. multitasking, interactions in distributed systems and varying processing time. The discretization of a continuous-time quadratic loss function and the process is here extended to the case of aperiodic systems, when the control signal exhibits multiple changes during a non-uniform sampling period.


The present study illustrated diversified designs under the current wayfinding system design. The advancement of science and technology, urban construction, close communication and cross-boundary trends, etc. made the wayfinding design no longer an isolated design, but integrate with the environment, architecture, space, information, emotion, technology, culture and life. The features for the ways of designing wayfinding were analyzed from three perspectives: the signage system, cross two-dimension and cross-boundaries. The diversified wayfinding design not only provided the sense of order in a particular environment or space, but also beautified the environment and set the mood. Moreover, it could offer people pleasure and delight so as to bring a healthier and more reasonable lifestyle and make the design to integrate with the life in a harmonious way.


The bioinformatics software domain contains thousands of applications for automating tasks such as the pairwise alignment of DNA sequences, building and reasoning about metabolic models or simulating growth of an organism. Its end users range from sophisticated developers to those with little computational experience. In response to their needs, developers provide many options to customize the way their algorithms are tuned. Yet there is little or no automated help for the user in determining the consequences or impact of the options they choose. In this paper we describe our experience working with configurable bioinformatics tools. We find limited documentation and help for combining and selecting options along with variation in both functionality and performance. We also find previously undetected faults. We summarize our findings with a set of lessons learned, and present a roadmap for creating automated techniques to interact with bioinformatics software. We believe these will generalize to other types of scientific software.


Kinetic turbine is a type of power plant that utilizes the energy stored in the water flow ie potential energy and kinetic energy that will be converted into mechanical energy. One of the factors that affect turbine performance is angle angle. The research methodology in this kinetic turbine utilizes the fluid velocity (water) that moves with. The variation of the flow steering angle with the angle to be studied uses an angle of 5 ° 10 °, 15 ° and flow rate variation 50, 70 and 90 m³ / hr. In addition, this kinetic turbine uses vertical and horizontal axis variations. Based on the result of the research, it can be concluded that the maximum output power produced by turbine at 1.53 Watt occurred at 90 m3 / hr discharge with flowing direction angle of 15⁰. The highest efficiency of 18% occurs at a flow rate of 50 m3 / h with a flow direction angle of 15⁰. Horizontal axle turbines have slightly higher power and efficiency values when compared to a vertical axle turbine.


A broad-host-range plasmid containing a fusion of the alkA and lacZ genes of Escherichia coli was introduced into various aerobic and facultative gram-negative bacteria--33 species belonging to 19 genera--to study the induction of expression of the alkA gene by alkylating agents. The bacteria included species of the families Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Rhizobiaceae, Vibrionaceae, Neisseriaceae, Rhodospirillaceae, and Azotobacteraceae. Results obtained show that all bacteria tested, except Aeromonas hydrophila, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Hafnia alvei, Rhizobium meliloti, Salmonella enteritidis, Xanthomonas campestris, and those of the genus Rhodobacter, are able to induce the alkA gene of E. coli in the presence of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. All these data indicate that the adaptive response to alkylating agents is present in bacterial species of several families and that the Ada box sequence must be widely conserved.


This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Workshop on E-Business (WEB 2011), held in Shanghai, China, on December 4, 2011. The 40 papers, which were selected from 88 submissions to the workshop, touch on topics that are diverse yet highly relevant to the challenges faced by today's e-business researchers and practitioners. They are organized in topical sections on social networks, business intelligence, and social computing; economics and organizational implications of electronic markets; and e-business systems and applications.


Brunei Darussalam celebrated its fifth independence day on 23 February 1988. The Sultanate, however, has a polidcal history which can be traced over a thousand years into the past. At the height of its glory, Brunei was a large Malayo-Islamic empire, controlling much of Borneo and parts of the Philippines. In the Philippines, besides extending its control over the coastal belt from Palawan to the Manila Bay area in central Luzon, the Sultanate also made its influence felt in the Visayas and northern Mindanao, so much so that Professor Tarling was moved to observe that Brunei rather than Sulu was "the great 'Philippine' power of the pre-Philippine period".1 Unlike the preceding Malay empires of Sri Vijaya, Majapahit and Malacca, and the numerous sultanates of the Malay world, and notwithstanding its experience of various internal challenges and external pressures at one time or another, the Brunei Sultanate has been able to maintain the continuity of its polity up to the present. However, a consequence of its encounters with Western imperialism has been the fact that its territory had dwindled into two tiny enclaves on the northwestern coast of Borneo, sandwiched between the two Malaysian Bornean states of Sarawak and Sabah. The survival of the Sultanate in its present form is very much a tribute to the skilful diplomacy of its sultans. Brunei owes its existence, in the view of one observer, "to the ingenuity of its rulers, who for centuries have had to contend with numerous invaders and adventurers and have had to withstand the external pressures" from surrounding powers.2 Indeed, had it not been for Sultan Hashim who turned his kingdom into a British protectorate as a last resort to ensure Brunei's survival, the Sultanate would have become a mere part of either Sarawak or Sabah today. Similarly, through consecutive refusals to join the Northern Borneo Federation and Malaysia, Hashim's grandson, the late Sultan Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali Saifuddien III, saved the ancient Sultanate from losing its distinctive Bruneian character.


This work attempts an estimation of partial discharge inception and extinction voltages (PDIV and PDEV) of sheet samples of solid dielectrics due to void inclusions of different sizes using an ANN. The effect of void dimensions and also the dielectric thickness of three common insulating materials, namely, Leatherite paper, polyethylene film and Perspex sheets on PDIVs and PDEVs are examined. Further, the effect of the permittivity of the insulating materials is also examined.


The purpose of this research is to analyze and determine the issues of the audience perception towards the Hombill Skyways. The researcher also wants to find out the effective ways in rebranding the company's corporate identity and provides the development of corporate identity for the Hornbill Skyways. Statement of the problem. The problem of this research is to know the audience's perception towards the company. The audience has lost their trust to use the company services due to the crashes incidents that involved the company's aircrafts. This study is also to find out what kind of approach that will suits to shift the audience's perceptions towards the company and the outcomes from the study would give the best solution to overcome the negatives perception and to gain back the audience's trust. On this chapter also researcher will conduct literature review for the past study.Over here researcher will give full review of previous discussions, explanations regarding this issue. Research Methodology. The research objectives will be stated by the researcher. Research approach in finding the solution of this issue also will be included. Data for this research was collected through self-administered method. The research location will be conducted at KLIA and KLIA 2. The questionnaires will be distributed to 40 respondents, and will be distributed among the arrival passengers from East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) at the domestic flight arrival and departing gates.


This chapter investigates some of the processes involved in the practice of on-line collaborative learning. Collaborative practice, in this environment, is defined as the ways in which learners interact with one another through a wiki in order to complete a group writing task. The processes involved in this practice are amenable to investigation through a qualitative analysis of the learners' wiki postings.

The learners in this study comprise two groups of student teachers from Malaysia studying on a B.Ed. TESL programme in a university in the UK. The investigation seeks to shed light on the collaborative processes involved in completing the task, with particular reference to how they make use of the wiki technology to support each other in the writing process, and how the ensuing collaboration contributed to task achievement.

Features of collaborative practice revealed through the analysis included: (a) a strong 'social presence' in each group, which is seen as a contributory factor to successful task completion and student participation; (b) high levels of equality and 'mutuality' of student participation; and (c) the use of scaffolding and peer feedback, in the interests of both formal accuracy as well as style of writing, with students adopting the roles of critical friends and 'teachers-in-waiting'. The collaboration appeared to be enhanced by the medium of the wiki, which both groups used as a discussion board, rather than an editing suite, and which allowed students' time to give reflective, considered feedback to one another.

The study suggests that giving students autonomy to develop their own method of working on collaborative writing tasks on a wiki helps provide beneficial conditions for collaboration. However, effective collaborative practice also needs training directed at helping students develop their proof-reading skills, as well as their confidence, ability and willingness to comment on their own and each other's work in the wiki environment.


Photovoltaic (PV) panels are devices that convert sun light into electrical energy and are considered to be one of the major ways of producing clean and inexhaustible renewable energy. However, these devices do not always naturally operate at maximum efficiency due to the nonlinearity of their output current-voltage characteristic which is affected by the panel temperature and irradiance. Hence, the addition of a high performance maximum-power-point tracking, MPPT, power converter interface is the key to keeping the PV system operating at the optimum power point which then gives maximum efficiency. Many MPPT power-converters and different types of control techniques have been considered in the past. This paper primarily considers the MPPT power-converter control method or algorithm. A so called perturb and observe (P&O) technique is considered in this work. This technique is widely used due to its low cost and ease of implementation. With conventional P&O algorithms using fixed iteration step-size, it is impossible to satisfy both performance requirements of fast dynamic response and good accuracy during the steady state at the same time. This is because, if the step-size is set to be big enough for a fast dynamic response, the oscillation around the maximum-power operating point will increase during the steady state leading to lost power generation, and if the step size is too small optimum generation is not quickly restored during changing operating conditions. To overcome these limitations a new adaptive P&O method with variable step size has been investigated which has been implemented using fuzzy logic control. The proposed method has been evaluated by simulation using MATLAB and compared with the conventional P&O under different insolation, or sun-light intensity, levels. The obtained results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique and its ability for practical and efficient tracking of maximum power.


In this paper we evaluate the dynamics of non-thermal plasmas developing in extremely non-homogeneous environments. We present the gas-confined barrier discharge (GBD) concept and justify its importance as a first step to understanding the dynamics of non-thermal plasmas in flame environments. In this concept, cold (in a generalized sense) barriers of gas play the role of the dielectrics, with some major differences in behaviour with respect to solid barriers. We present an analytical evaluation of the discharge appearance modes, new experimental results using helium-nitrogen layers that confirm the possibility of avoiding breakdown in the cold layers and a numerical evaluation that helps interpret the development of streamers once they reach a non-ionizing region.


The Agricultural Systems Application Platform (ASAP) provides bottom-up modelling and simulation environment for agricultural engineer. The purpose of this study is to expand usability of the ASAP to the second order partial differential equations: elliptic equations, parabolic equations, and hyperbolic equations. The ASAP is a general-purpose simulation tool which express natural phenomenon with capsulized independent components to simplify implementation and maintenance. To use the ASAP in continuous problems, it is necessary to solve partial differential equations. This study shows usage of the ASAP in elliptic problem, parabolic problem, and hyperbolic problem, and solves of static heat problem, heat transfer problem, and wave problem as examples. The example problems are solved with the ASAP and Finite Difference method (FDM) for verification. The ASAP shows identical results to FDM. These applications are useful to simulate the engineering problem including equilibrium, diffusion and wave problem.


Abstract During the last decade, intellectual humility has gone from a topic of philosophical inquiry to one of serious scientific investigation. It has been variously described as a remedy for political polarization, a tool for advancing scientific credibility, and a disposition that promotes learning. However, less attention has been paid to how intellectual humility has been defined and measured or how well psychologists' definitions and measures align with one another or with philosophers' accounts. Through a systematic review of empirical intellectual humility research, we identified 18 separate definitions and 20 measures including16 unique questionnaires. We then synthesized this research to advance a new framework of intellectual humility. Implications of this framework for measurement and future research on intellectual humility are discussed.


Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is the latest terminology for a disorder of reticulo-endothelial system, previously known as histiocytosis X, and marked by aberrant proliferation of bone marrow derived Langerhans cells with variable inflammatory infiltrate including neutrophils, lymphocytes, plasma cells, eosinophils, and multinucleated giant cells. Although rare, the disorder frequently inflicts children with peak incidence recorded in 2-4 years age group. LCH is rare in adults. A22-year adult male presented with the complaint of teeth mobility. Orthopantomogram (OPG) revealed multiple extensive osteolytic lesions destroying both jaws. Giant cell granuloma, Paget's disease and LCH, along with other vanishing bone disorders (Gorham Stout disease and Winchester syndrome) were suspected differentials. Multiple incisional biopsies were performed and a diagnosis of LCH was confirmed by routine histopathological analysis followed by immunohistochemical staining for S-100 and CD1a.


Three new ursane triterpenes, 3α,19α-dihydroxy-2-nor-urs-12-en-23,28-dioic acid-23-methyl ester (1), 19α,23-dihydroxy-3-oxo-2-nor-urs-12-en-28-oic acid (2), and 2,3-seco-3-methoxy-3,19α,23-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-2-al-28-oic acid (3), were isolated from the MeOH extract of the branch barks of Davidia involucrata, together with six known compounds. Their structures were elucidated by means of various spectroscopic analyses. The isolated triterpenes provide important evolutionary and chemotaxonomic knowledge about the monotypic genus Davidia. Five of the identified compounds showed moderate cytotoxicities against the cell proliferation of SGC-7901, MCF-7, and BEL-7404 with IC50 range from 7.26 to 47.41 μM.


High-throughput biological data acquisition and processing technologies have shifted the focus of biological research from the realm of traditional experimental science (wet biology) to that of information science (in silico biology). Powerful computation and communication means can be applied to the very large amount of apparently incoherent data coming from biomedical research. Part of the experiments and tests that we used to do in vitro and/or in vivo can now be done in silico. The concept of Laboratory (Lab) on Chip (LoC) is the natural evolution of System on Chip (SoC) by using an array of heterogeneous technologies. This paper reviews first hardware supports and technologies that allow the studies of whole bodies of molecules through the different steps of the biological information flow, and then some of the algorithms and softwares for data processing and integration


Normal human tracheobronchial epithelial cells (NHTBECs) from nine donors were used to repopulate de‐epithelialized rat tracheas. After transplantation into nude mice and treatment with 7,12‐dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), the transplants were removed at 3, 4, 5 and 6 months. Epithelial cells from DMBA‐treated tracheas were subculturable. Epithelial cells from most untreated tracheas were not subculturable. After treatment with 0.5,1, 2, 4, 6 and 8% serum, cells exhibited increased subculturability after in vivo treatment with DMBA, did not terminally differentiate and were still proliferating even in medium containing 8% serum. Karyotypes from these cells showed considerable aneuploidy. Although these cells did not survive for more than 10 subcultures (42 weeks), this was considerably longer than the survival of control cells. Because of their longer survival, resistance to serum‐induced terminal differentiation and chromosome alterations, they were considered to be phenotypically altered or partially transformed cells produced by in vivo treatment of human cells with a chemical carcinogen.


In semiconductor devices the gold wire bonding to aluminium pads is a widely used bonding practice. The reliability of bond strength exerts a strong influence on that of IC or LSI.Voids formed in gold-aluminium intermetallic compounds are known to degrade the long-term reliability of gold wire bonds to aluminium pads. In this reliability, the annealing envirenment has great influence on the behavior of this voiding as well as the intermetallic formation.The influence of annealing condition for gold-aluminium bonds was investigated comparing with the encapsulated condition and decapped condition.Great differences were found between two conditions. In the case that initial shear strength is high, shear strength was high even after annealling in 200C-1000hr for decapped devices. However, in the case of encapsulated condition shear strength was degraded after annealling in 200C-100hr.In the case of encapsulated condition, intermetallic compounds was corroded by bromine included in resin. And this corroded compound degraded gold-aluminium bonding. On the other hand, in the case that initial shear strength is low, shear strength became low after annealling in 200C-100hr for both conditions.In conclusion, shear strength was degraded after annealling in 200C-100hr for encapsulated condition, irrelevant to bonding conditions.


Abstract There is a paucity of biometric information on late onset myopia (onset after 15‐years‐old). The present investigation compared the ocular component dimensions of 30 late onset myopes and 30 emmetropes, who were both age and sex matched. Measurement techniques included A‐scan ultrasonography and keratometry. The findings revealed that the ultimate cause of late onset myopia is vitreous chamber elongation. Late onset myopes were also found to have significantly deeper anterior chambers and thinner crystalline lenses, no differences being found in corneal curvature measures. Possible mechanisms leading to these observed biometric differences are discussed in the light of recent findings.


SOLAR, PLANETARY STUDIESResearchers who study the sun and its interactions with Earth's atmosphere will begin an intense effort next week to set long-term scientific and mission goals. The idea behind this study, and a similar exercise being considered by planetary researchers, is to present a unified front before federal agencies and Congress. But the diverse interests of the solar community don't fit easily under one umbrella, and some planetary scientists say the technique is not well suited to a small field with only a handful of missions.


Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC

Dietary compounds with anticancer properties such as polyphenols are intensively studied for their chemopreventive or therapeutic potentials. Quercetin is a polyphenolic flavonoid with anticancer properties and is abundantly available in fruits and green vegetables. In this study, we examined the effects of quercetin on the cell cycle, viability and proliferation of colorectal and prostate cancer cells, either singly or in combination with the microtubule targeting drugs taxol or nocodazole. Quercetin inhibited cell proliferation in a dose dependent manner in both HCT116 colorectal and PPC1 prostate cancer cells. However, unexpectedly, combination treatment of the cells with 50µM or lower quercetin and taxol or nocodazole neutralized the ability of both drugs to induce G2/M arrest and to decrease cell viability. BrdU incorporation was inhibited by quercetin or quercetin-drug combination treatment of cells, but the microtubule targeting of taxol or nocodazole was not inhibited. Moreover, colony formation by both wild type and p53-null HCT116 colorectal cancer cells was inhibited by the same dose of quercetin that neutralized G2/M arrest by Taxol and nocodazole, suggesting a p53-independent effect. We conclude that while quercetin by itself may reduce cell proliferation and survival, in the short-term, the interference of quercetin with cell cycle progression diminishes the ability of taxol and nocodazole to arrest cells at G2/M. Our study adds microtubule targeting drugs to the list of anticancer drugs the activity of which might be antagonized by flavonoids such as quercetin. Further studies are needed to examine the mechanisms of interactions between anticancer drugs and polyphenolic dietary components or supplements, and how these interactions may influence outcomes of cancer therapy, survivorship or recurrence.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2490.


Developing, sustaining, and improving student engagement is of vital importance to higher education instructors. Educational technology has been linked to student engagement, and preservice and in-service teachers need to develop information communication and technology (ICT) skills and knowledge to apply them in the classroom as well as to develop ICT skills in students. Thus, further investigation of this link in the field of education is needed. This narrative systematic review is a synthesis of 42 peer-reviewed articles from across four international databases, published between 2007-2016 and is a subset of a larger systematic review. The results indicate that the majority of research has been undertaken within undergraduate preservice teacher education, predominantly in the US, Hong Kong, and the UK, with limited attention given to grounding research in theory. This review found educational technology supports student engagement, with behavioral and affective being the most prevalent dimensions. Social networking tools (SNT), knowledge organization and sharing tools, text-based tools, and website creation tools were the most effective at promoting engagement. However, caution is needed when employing SNT and assessment tools, as they were also more likely to lead to disengagement. Further research is needed on how educational technology affects disengagement, how tools are used in online teacher education programs, and how to effectively integrate SNT in education programs.


As an emerging technology for implementing Web services over the Internet, mobile agent model has several advantages over the traditional RFC model. However, with the popularity of distributed networks (e.g. Internet), Web service providers tend to rely on external resources to complete certain tasks. This definitely increases the difficulty in locating appropriate service providers according to clients' requirements in the new scenario. To address this issue, we propose a reinforcement learning process based on the mobile agent model, which makes agents more efficient and intelligent in selecting Web service providers. Finally, an implementation of our prototype is presented


This is the first publication to explore the extensive activities of Joseph Beuys in Britain and Ireland. Beuys visited and exhibited in Britain and Ireland more than in any other countries with the exception of Germany and Italy. The period of his visits coincided with the time of his greatest international fame - and notoriety - following his removal from the Dusseldorf Academy, and with his growing advocacy of human activity as an agent of social and political change. Sean Rainbird returns to primary sources and retraces Beuys's footsteps, examining the rich body of exhibitions, lectures and actions which grew out of the strong friendships and creative relationships that encouraged Beuys to return so often to the British Isles. Beuys's interest in Celtic myths and artefacts is fully explored as well as his creative engagement with the literary and political history of Ireland. This book is stunningly illustrated with photographs by the critic and filmmaker Caroline Tisdall and Richard Demarco, Director of the Demarco European Art Foundation in Edinburgh. An interview with Sean Rainbird and Caroline Tisdall discusses Beuys's work Bits and Pieces 1957-85, a collection of objects, drawings and multiples compiled for her by Beuys.


Abstract Background People living with HIV (PLWH) who experience homelessness and unstable housing (HUH) often have fragmented health care. Research that incorporates granular assessments of housing status and primary care visit adherence to understand patterns of acute care utilization can help pinpoint areas for intervention. Methods We collected self-reported living situation, categorized as stable (rent/own, hotel/single room occupancy), unstable (treatment/transitional program, staying with friends), or homeless (homeless shelter, outdoors/in vehicle) at an urban safety-net HIV clinic between February and August 2017 and abstracted demographic and clinical information from the medical record. Regression models evaluated the association of housing status on the frequency of acute care visits—urgent care (UC) visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations—and whether suboptimal primary care visit adherence (<75%) interacted with housing status on acute care visits. Results Among 1198 patients, 25% experienced HUH. In adjusted models, unstable housing resulted in a statistically significant increase in the incidence rate ratio for UC visits (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10 to 1.66; P < .001), ED visits (IRR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.44 to 3.13; P < .001), and hospitalizations (IRR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.10 to 2.77; P = 0.018). Homelessness led to even greater increases in UC visits (IRR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.29 to 2.39; P < .001), ED visits (IRR, 4.18; 95% CI, 2.77 to 6.30; P < .001), and hospitalizations (IRR, 3.18; 95% CI, 2.03 to 4.97; P < .001). Suboptimal visit adherence differentially impacted UC and ED visits by housing status, suggesting interaction. Conclusions Increased acute care visit frequency among HUH-PLWH suggests that interventions at these visits may create opportunities to improve care.


Immune function in the vagina of hen oviduct is essential to prevent infection by microorganisms colonizing in the cloaca. The aim of this study was to determine whether CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG-ODN) stimulate the expression of avian β-defensins (AvBDs) in hen vaginal cells. Specific questions were whether CpG-ODN affects the expression of AvBDs and proinflammatory cytokines and whether the cytokines affect AvBDs expression in vaginal cells. The dispersed vaginal cells of White Leghorn laying hens were cultured and stimulated by different doses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), CpG-ODN, interleukin 1β (IL1B), or IL6. The cultured cell population contained epithelial cells, fibroblast-like cells, and CD45-positive leukocytes. The immunoreactive AvBD3, -10, and -12 were localized in the mucosal epithelium in the section of the vagina. The expression of AvBDs, IL1B, and IL6 was analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. RT-PCR analysis showed the expression of AvBD1, -3, -4, -5, -10, and -12 in the cultured vaginal cells without stimulation. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) 4 and 21, which recognize LPS and CpG-ODN respectively and IL1 and IL6 receptors (IL1R1 and IL6R) were also expressed in them. The expression of IL1B, IL6, and AvBD10 and -12 was upregulated by LPS, whereas only IL1B and IL6 were upregulated by CpG-ODN. IL1B stimulation upregulated AvBD1 and -3 expression, whereas IL6 stimulation did not cause changes in AvBDs expression. These results suggest that CpG-ODN derived from microbes upregulates the expression of IL1B and IL6 by interaction with TLR21 and then IL1B induces AvBD1 and -3 to prevent infection in the vagina.


This paper presents an approach to detect multiple lane and vehicles. Instead of assuming that the processes of lane and vehicle detection are independently, we integrate these two processes in a mutually supporting way to achieve more accurate results. In lane boundary detection, the features of lane boundary often affect by the edge and color of the vehicle. Furthermore, the results of vehicle detection could be non-robust if there are some non-vehicle objects that have similar features to vehicle. Here, we use the distance of the position between central position of lane boundary and vehicle position from hypotheses to filter out the non-vehicle object. And we use the similarity of the lane boundaries direction and the moving direction from hypotheses to get the optimal lane solution. By applying iterative optimization algorithm, we can achieve sub-optimal solution of lane and vehicle detection and the experimental results shows that the error rate is successfully reduced from 32.6% to 2.7%.


Industrial waste is usually sorted in order to valorise most of minerals, polymers and metals. This sorting does generate a sorting residue with a rather high calorific value. The present study shows the opportunities of producing gaseous or liquid substitution fuels by pyrolysis or gasification of industrial sorting residues. By the use of the predictive model, it is possible to evaluate, for various inputs (tyres, fluffs, mixed plastics and biomass residues), the mass en energy balance for each of these thermal treatments. Opportunities to produce substitution fuels issued from these waste streams are evaluated.


ABSTRACT An enlarged purview for amplification of religious doctrine can become necessary for a spacefaring species. Settlement of distant planetary bodies involves both technological and theological issues. The authors apply this notion to environmental preservation of the Earth, Earth's Moon, and cislunar space between Earth and Moon, as a unit. In expanding environmental protection beyond Earth to the new cislunar unit, humans take an important step in settling the Moon responsibly. The relationships of immanence and transcendence to the new environmental unit provide examples of the conceptual tasks ahead. Profiles in Ecotheology round out the analysis and point toward future roles.


The increase of the expected lifetime, that is the longevity phenomenon, is accompanied by an increase of the number of seniors with a severe loss of autonomy. Because of the significant costs of long-term care (LTC) facilities, it is important to analyze the time spent in LTC state, as well as the probability of entering into this state during its lifetime, and how they evolve jointly with longevity across the different cohorts. Our paper considers such questions, when lifetime data are available, but LTC data are either unavailable, or available on too short periods, or too aggregated, or unreliable, as it is frequently the case. We specify joint structural models of LTC, mortality, and longevity, and explain why parameters of these models are identifiable from only the lifetime data under reasonable assumptions. More precisely, we model the potential entry into LTC as a latent state, which creates a dynamic unobserved heterogeneity in the population when only the lifetime is observed. The methodology is applied to the cohort mortality data of French males, first with a deterministic trend and then with a dynamic and stochastic common latent factor. Prediction formulas for the hypothetical date of entry into LTC or the time spent in this state are then provided and illustrated using the same dataset.


This paper describes our hunt for the solver of Problem 157 in the Scottish Book, a problem originally posed by A.~J. (Gus) Ward in 1937. We first make the observation that a theorem of Richard O'Malley from 1975 yields an immediate positive solution. A further look at O'Malley's references revealed a 1970 paper by Donald Ornstein that we now believe contains the first solution of {\em SB 157}. We isolate the common elements in the machinery used by both Ornstein and O'Malley and discuss several consequences. We also examine an example function given by Ornstein. There are some difficulties with this function but we provide a fix, and show moreover that functions of that kind are typical in the sense of the Baire category theorem.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Analgesic planning to manage acute postoperative pain is critical for its effective control, because if untreated it brings noxious changes to the body. This study aimed at analyzing the change in analgesics prescription in the postoperative period of general surgeries before and after the presentation of a symposium and the distribution of a pain management manual. METHOD: This was a prospective study with 45 patients aged between 18 and 70 years, submitted to general surgeries, to evaluate the effectiveness of postoperative analgesia via the pain numerical scale, and to analyze analgesics prescription before and after a presentation and the distribution of a postoperative pain management manual for assistant, resident and internship physicians of the Surgical Clinic of a medium-sized teaching hospital. RESULTS: Pain intensity in the control group was 3.64 ± 3.2 in the 1st hour, 4.24 ± 2.9 within 12 hours, 4.84 ± 2.2 within 24 hours and 4.08 ± 2.3 within 48 hours. Pain intensity in the post-study group was 2.85 ± 2.8 in 1 hour, 2.90 ± 2.7 within 12 hours, 2.25 ± 2.6 within 24 hours and 1.95 ± 2.4 within 48 hours. There has been no statistically significant difference among different hours for the same group, however there has been a difference between the 24th hour of the control group as compared to the study group (p < 0.001) and between the 48th hour of the control group as compared to the study group (p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The proposed intervention has generated mild changes in postoperative analgesics prescription, however enough to provide pain intensity decrease in some studied moments.


Introduction The Solitaire (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN) is a stentriever device for endovascular treatment of acute ischemic stroke (AIS). The Solitaire is well described for use in temporary endovascular bypass, and mechanical thrombectomy. Permanent placement of the Solitaire is an option, but there are limited reports to date. The authors of this study review six cases of Solitaire stent implantation in the setting of large vessel occlusion and acute ischemic stroke, where temporary endovascular bypass and mechanical thrombectomy failed. Materials and methods Six cases of failed mechanical thrombectomy are reviewed, including procedural review, timing of anti-platelet agents, and radiographic and clinical outcomes. Results Six patients with severe, acute ischemic stroke (AIS) and large vessel occlusion (LVO) were triaged to mechanical thrombectomy. Despite multiple attempts at mechanical thrombus retrieval with a combination of devices including stentrievers and direct thrombus aspiration, flow could not be restored. As a bailout maneuver, the Solitaire stent was deployed and detached across the thrombus with TICI grade 3 flow restoration. All patients were loaded with full dose intra-arterial abciximab immediately after stent deployment and transitioned to dual antiplatelet therapy within 24 hours. There were no post-procedure hemorrhagic complications. All patients had significant neurological improvement post-procedurally, with favorable modified Rankin scores at follow-up. Conclusion With the recent over-whelming evidence demonstrating the effectiveness endovascular therapy in acute ischemic stroke, the expansion of stroke therapy requires that a variety of techniques be available to the operators. Permanent implantation of the Solitaire stent achieves adequate distal flow and good clinical outcomes in the setting of AIS. This case series suggests this technique provides a safe alternative for difficult cases refractory to other revascularization techniques. Key Words stroke, revascularization, stent Disclosures J. Houde: None. E. Barber: None. M. Kelly: 2; C; Medtronic. 4; C; Blockade. 6; C; Penumbra. L. Peeling: None.


The lack of interoperable (and thus standardized) solutions is stalling the deployment of advanced multimedia packaging and distribution applications although most of the individual technologies are indeed already present. This motivated MPEG (ISO/IEC JTCl SC29 WGI I) in June 2000 to start working on the definition of enabling normative technology for the multimedia applications of the 21st century: MPEG-21 "Multimedia Framework." MPEG-21's approach is to define a framework to support transactions that are interoperable and highly automated, specifically taking into account digital rights management (DRM) requirements and targeting multimedia access and delivery using heterogeneous networks and terminals. This article first outlines the context and background of the MPEG-21 initiative. Then, an overview of MPEG-21 technology is given. Subsequently, it is discussed how MPEG-21 can provide solutions for universal multimedia access (UMA). UMA is also one of the use cases that has led to the creation of a new part in MPEG-21 dealing with digital item adaptation. Finally, this article concludes with an overview of MPEG-21 related activities and an outlook on future developments.


The reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are widely used to serve as the primary lateral load-resisting member in the high-rise buildings. An experimental investigation and analysis of the mechanical behaviour of hybrid fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete (HFRSCC) shear walls under pure torsion moment is presented in this paper. The nine HFSCC shear walls with the same height and longitudinal reinforcement ratio analytically were tested under pure torsion moment and no axial load. The effect of hybrid fiber ratio and horizontal reinforcement amount and aspect ratio on the failure characteristics, torsional behaviour, energy dissipation capacity of squat shear walls was studied. Result indicate that both hybrid and horizontal reinforcement ratio are increased the maximum torsional moment capacity and twist angle and that the hybrid fiber ratio is the key parameter that determines the failure mode of the HFSCC shear walls.


Objective To evaluate medication adherence among patients with hepatitis B-related cirrhosis who developed decompensation and mortality, and to examine the association between medication adherence and patients' disease outcomes. Design In this retrospective case–control study, patients aged over 20 years old and diagnosed with both chronic hepatitis B and cirrhosis from 2007 to 2016 are identified using a population-based medical claims database. Two prognosis endpoints (decompensation and mortality) are used, respectively, to classify subjects into two different case–control sets. Study groups are propensity-score matched. Medication possession ratio (MPR) is used as a measure of treatment adherence for oral antiviral drugs, and conditional logistic regression models are used to estimate the odds of decompensation and mortality after accounting for MPR and other covariates. Results Between decompensated and compensated patients, longer term treatment adherence is seen higher in the compensated group versus the decompensated group: 1-year MPR (0.65±0.43 vs 0.57±0.53) and 6-month MPR (0.79±0.52 vs 0.76±0.79). On the contrary, 3-month adherence is higher in the decompensated group (1.00±1.15 vs 0.96±0.79). For patients with and without mortality, drug adherence is ubiquitously higher in the alive group regardless of follow-up length: 1-year MPR (0.62±0.44 vs 0.50±0.51), 6-month MPR (0.78±0.62 vs 0.69±0.72) and 3-month MPR (0.97±0.91 vs 0.96±1.12). After accounting for confounding variables, we find that the likelihood of complicated cirrhosis is significantly lower in more adherent patients and the benefit increases with more persistent adherence (log 1-year MPR OR: 0.75, 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.77). Similar results are observed for the adjusted likelihood of mortality (log 1-year MPR OR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.68 to 0.72). Conclusions Long-term patient adherence to oral antiviral therapy remains inadequate in patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis. Their adherence to oral antiviral therapy appears to be inversely associated with decompensation and mortality.


In 1996 the SAPS established its first internal anti-corruption unit to tackle what was identified as a growing problem of police corruption. Seven years down the line, combating corruption is still a national priority of the SAPS. But recently the SAPS announced that it is closing the anti-corruption unit and integrating some of its members into the organised crime unit. International experience suggests, however, that a specialised unit dedicated to investigating police crime and corruption is crucial if these problems are to be tackled effectively.


This specification defines the new UPDATE method for the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). UPDATE allows a client to update parameters of a session (such as the set of media streams and their codecs) but has no impact on the state of a dialog. In that sense, it is like a re-INVITE, but unlike re-INVITE, it can be sent before the initial INVITE has been completed. This makes it very useful for updating session parameters within early dialogs.


PURPOSE
The aims of this study were to develop a French version of the Orofacial Esthetic Scale (OES) and to investigate its psychometric properties among French-speaking dental patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The OES is an eight-item instrument initially developed to assess self-reported orofacial esthetics in patients with prosthodontic concerns. The first seven items refer to direct esthetic impact and give a summary score, and the remaining item is a global assessment item. The original English version of the OES questionnaire was translated and cross-culturally adapted to develop a French version (OES-F). The reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) and validity (convergent and discriminative) of the OES-F were then tested in a sample of 140 patients awaiting dental treatment.

RESULTS
Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the OES-F ranged from 0.885 to 0.913. The corrected item-total correlation coefficients ranged from 0.523 to 0.872. Intraclass correlation coefficient values were 0.94 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89 to 0.97) for the summary score and ranged between 0.85 (95% CI 0.73 to 0.92) and 0.90 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.94) for the items. OES-F summary scores assessed by patients were significantly correlated with experts' ratings (r = 0.51; P < .05). OES-F summary scores discriminated patients with esthetic concerns from those without esthetic concerns (P < .05).

CONCLUSION
The OES-F questionnaire showed excellent psychometric properties and may be a suitable scale for assessing orofacial esthetics among French patients awaiting dental treatment.


We describe a simple method for the direct inline separation of two immiscible liquids based on the selective wetting and permeation of a porous polytetrafluoroethylene capillary by one of the liquids. Using water dispersed in fluorous carrier fluid as a test system, quantitative recovery of the water from the carrier fluid is achieved over a wide range of flow conditions, with no contamination by the fluorous component even when present in large (ten-fold) excess. The exiting water stream may be readily redispersed by injecting additional carrier fluid downstream, allowing for repeated switching between the segmented and continuous flow regimes – a critical requirement for multistep chemical processing. The separator is shown to simplify in-line sample analysis by allowing measurements to be carried out quasi-statically without the need for fast instrumentation synchronised to the segmented water flow.


ALTHOUGH it is a commonplace that males of many species of birds feed females engaged in incubation, there are also occasional references (Hann, 1937; Sargent, 1940; Nice, 1943) to males whose behavior has suggested that they were carrying food not to their mates but to their anticipated nestlings, in eggs as yet unhatched. It remained for Skutch (1953) to provide an explanation which removes such premature solicitude from the category of the aberrational, and to suggest that impatience to feed young leads males of some species to make anticipatory visits to the nest with food; when only the female incubates, this behavior is useful in bringing about the male's prompt awareness of hatching and his early attention to the needs of nestlings. It is the purpose of this paper to describe and discuss 34 acts of anticipatory food-bringing by male Prairie Warblers (Dendroica discolor discolor), to review that and similar behavior attributed to other wood warblers, and to comment on the psychological basis of this food-bringing and its place in the evolution of what is believed to be related behavior.


Human intelligence is being increasingly redefined to include the all-encompassing effect of emotions upon what used to be considered 'pure reason'. With the recent progress of research in computer vision, speech/prosody recognition, and bio-feedback, real-time recognition of affect could very well prove to enhance humancomputer interaction considerably, as well as to assist further progress in the development of new emotion theories. We propose an adaptive system architecture designed to integrate the output of various multimodal subsystems. Based upon the perceived user's state, the agent can adapt its interface by responding most appropriately to the current needs of its user, and provide intelligent multi-modal feedback to the user. We concentrate on one aspect of the implementation of such an environment: facial expression recognition. We give preliminary results about our approach which uses a neural network.


Article history: Received: January 29, 2018 Accepted: May 12, 2018 To elevate dietary fibre content in wheat bread, additions of barley flour were tested (30%) alone, and in combination with 5% or 10% of chestnut and acorn flour. Acorn flour elevated dietary fibre content more effectively than the chestnut flour did (TDF up to 7.8%). Non-gluten nature of proteins in non-traditional raw materials also affected farinograph, extensograph and amylograph features, used for predicting bakery procedure. Technological parameters (Falling Number, Zeleny sedimentation value) decreased to nearly 30% compared to the wheat flour. Water absorption increased about 2% in total, especially owing to the chestnut presence in the composite flour. All three alternative crops slowed dough development, but the dough softening degree depended on their combination. Viscoelastic behaviour has worsened (mainly parameter extensograph energy), depending on the type and the addition of the nontraditional products in the tested mixtures. Changes of suspension structure were reflected in maximum viscosity, which became lower during the amylograph test. A significant worsening of the buns specific volume and vaulting reflected a partial dilution of the gluten network of the dough. The highest addition of the chestnut flour in the recipe caused a decrease to less than one half compared to the wheat product. By the principal component analysis, some rheological parameters, together with specific bread volume, were identified as principal for sample distinguishing. In terms of wheat flour and bread quality, barley flour addition in the mixtures had a prevailing effect on the tested tri-composites.


Detailed knowledge of the variability of classical Cepheids, in particular their modulations and mode composition, provides crucial insight into stellar structure and pulsation. However, tiny modulations of the dominant radial-mode pulsation were recently found to be very frequent, possibly ubiquitous in Cepheids, which makes secondary modes difficult to detect and analyse, since these modulations can easily mask the potentially weak secondary modes. The aim of this study is to re-investigate the secondary mode content in the sample of OGLE-III and -IV single-mode classical Cepheids using kernel regression with adaptive kernel width for pre-whitening, instead of using a constant-parameter model. This leads to a more precise removal of the modulated dominant pulsation, and enables a more complete survey of secondary modes with frequencies outside a narrow range around the primary. Our analysis reveals that significant secondary modes occur more frequently among first overtone Cepheids than previously thought. The mode composition appears significantly different in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, suggesting a possible dependence on chemical composition. In addition to the formerly identified non-radial mode at $P_2 \approx 0.6\ldots 0.65 P_1$ (0.62-mode), and a cluster of modes with near-primary frequency, we find two more candidate non-radial modes. One is a numerous group of secondary modes with $P_2 \approx 1.25 P_1$, which may represent the fundamental of the 0.62-mode, supposed to be the first harmonic of an $l \in \{7,8, 9\}$ non-radial mode. The other new mode is at $P_2 \approx 1.46 P_1$, possibly analogous to a similar, rare mode recently discovered among first overtone RR Lyrae stars.


Mixed-integer programming (MIP) is often a practitioner's primary approach when tackling hard discrete optimization problems. This important role was enabled by decades of theory and practical experience poured into modern MIP solvers. However, many problems are still challenging for MIP solvers, which motivates the need for novel perspectives to enhance MIP technology. In this dissertation, we explore the use of relaxed decision diagrams to improve MIP solvers. Relaxed decision diagrams are graph structures that encode relaxations of discrete optimization problems. One of their many uses in optimization is to generate bounds on the optimal value, which are strong in practice in the presence of certain types of structure. However, exporting decision diagram techniques to integer programming can be challenging due to the lack of clear structure to exploit. A first step is to develop methods to construct good relaxed decision diagrams from integer programming models. We propose a framework that focuses on a substructure of the problem and incorporates remaining constraints via Lagrangian relaxation and constraint propagation. In particular, we explore the use of a prevalent substructure in MIP solvers known as the conflict graph. Computational experiments indicate that they yield strong bounds under this framework. Once we understand how to build good relaxed decision diagrams, the next question is how to apply them in the context of a MIP solver. A MIP solver has several components, which include presolve, cutting planes, primal heuristics, and branch-and-bound. We show how relaxed decision diagrams can aid each of these components throughout the subsequent chapters. In particular, we view decision diagrams from a polyhedral perspective in order to generate cutting planes. Through a connection between decision diagrams and polarity, we develop an algorithm that generates cuts that are facet-defining for the convex hull of a decision diagram relaxation. We provide computational evidence that this algorithm generates strong cuts for structured problems. Finally, we investigate a broader integration of decision diagrams into MIP solvers. First, we show how relaxed decision diagrams can be used for bound and coefficient strengthening in the presolve step of a MIP solver. Second, we investigate the effect of applying cuts from decision diagrams throughout a branch-and-bound tree. Third, we generate both primal and dual bounds from decision diagrams to improve pruning within a branch-and-bound tree, which can result in significant improvements in solving time.


This dataset contains eight transcripts from interviews conducted with educators as part of a PhD study exploring open educational practices. The research focuses on how educators are using openly accessible sources of knowledge and open-source tools in ways that impact their pedagogical designs. Using a phenomenological approach with self-identifying open education practitioners, I explore how open educational practices are being actualized in formal higher education and impacting learning design. Specifically, I examine how educators are bringing elements of openness into their everyday teaching and learning practice using educational technologies. I draw upon Giddens (1986) structuration theory, further developed for use in technology adoption research most notably by DeSanctis and Poole (1994) and Orlikowski (2000). This approach positions technologies as being continually socially constructed, interpreted, and put into practice. In an organizational context, the use of technology is intrinsically linked with institutional properties, rules and norms, as well as individual perceptions and knowledge. The findings suggest that open educational practices represents an emerging form of learning design, which draws from existing models of constructivist and networked pedagogy. Open technologies are being used to support and enable active learning experiences, presenting and sharing learners work in real-time, allowing for formative feedback, peer review, and ultimately, promoting community-engaged coursework. By designing learning in this way, faculty offer learners an opportunity to consider and practice developing themselves as public citizens and develop the knowledge and literacies for working with copyright and controlling access to their online contributions, while presenting options for extending some of those rights to others. Inviting learners to share their work widely, demonstrates to them that their work has inherent value beyond the course and can be an opportunity to engage with their community.


Anti-cardiolipin antibodies (ACA) are associated with recurrent fetal loss, but their role in this pathological condition is unknown. We recently developed an experimental mouse model of the anti-phospholipid syndrome, in which immunization of female mice with a monoclonal anti-cardiolipin antibody resulted in substantial failure of pregnancy. We observed that pre-implantation embryos derived from ACA-injected mothers exhibited morphological abnormalities and failed to implant in vitro. In the present study, we designed embryo transfer experiments to determine whether defective embryonic development originated as a maternal defect, an embryonic defect or both. Embryos (3.5 day old), taken from ACA- and control-immunized mothers were transferred into either an ACA- or a control-treated uterine environment (day 2.5 pseudopregnant females). On day 14 of gestation the incidence of pregnancy, the average number of fetuses per female and fetal resorptions were assessed. The ACA-treated uterine environment was found to be non-supportive for the development and implantation of normal embryos. Moreover, embryos derived from ACA-immunized mothers, even after their removal from the ACA-environment and transfer to a normal uterus, remained deficient. These results demonstrate that both the maternal and the embryonic compartments were defective, as a result of previous exposure to the ACA.


High quality ceramic materials used in rolling element bearing applications show some practical advantages over traditional bearing steels. Silicon nitride has been found to have the optimum combination of properties suitable for certain high speed, low mass and high stiffness applications. Hybrid silicon nitride rolling element bearings are now supplied as standard components by manufacturers. Coatings may also be considered to enhance the capability of hybrid bearings for applications such as high speed and high temperature. A modified four-ball machine was employed to produce accelerated rolling contact fatigue failures of these materials. Silicon nitride verses steel, silicon nitride verses silicon nitride and tungsten carbide coating verses steel configurations were considered. The lubricated tests were performed at relatively high loads and speeds ie. maximum compressive stress from 4.5 to 8.1 GPa at 4000 to 10,000 r/min. Measurement of residual stresses is an important aspect of surface engineering. An X-ray method was employed since it is the only practical non-destructible means of measuring residual stress of these materials at the pre-test and post-test stages. Experimental testing, surface examinations and residual stress measurements are described for case study failures. Results are presented for a selection of surface failures of hot isostatically pressed silicon nitride and thermally sprayed tungsten carbide rolling elements. The role of the residual stress within these materials before and after rolling contact fatigue testing is discussed.


Health technology assessment in Australia has been undertaken for a number of years. While there have been many useful achievements, problems remain with the coverage and timeliness of assessments and with access to information on healthcare technologies. Further desirable developments might include greater involvement of State agencies, professional bodies and industry, and the identification of a single focus for provision of information.


BACKGROUND
In this study, the possible effects of zinc on physicochemical properties of ice cream and the survival of Lactobacillus casei during a 90 days storage at -18°C was investigated.

METHODS
Samples were divided into four experimental groups as follows: control, zinc fortified ice cream, probiotic ice cream, zinc fortified and probiotic ice cream. The physicochemical, texture, organoleptic properties and the survival of probiotics, were investigated.

RESULTS
Results showed that the addition of zinc did not affect the textural properties of ice creams. Viscosity and pH were independently decreased in all groups in the presence of zinc. A significant increase in the lipid oxidation rate especially in the zinc fortified group was also observed. The probiotic counts were maintained above the least advised quantities (106 cfu/g) which were subsequently reduced following the three months of storage. In the zinc fortified samples, the counts were higher compared to the other groups with no zinc addition. The addition of probiotics and zinc had no significant effect on the sensory properties of ice cream.

CONCLUSIONS
As a final conclusion, the commercial production of zinc fortified ice cream is recommended.


The structure of the title methanol complex (P1;, Z = 2) has been determined and compared with that of the title ethanol complex (C2/c, Z = 8) using published data. Both complexes have layer structures, the (essentially planar) layers being constructed from rings of six TMA molecules, hydrogen bonded through four 'carboxyl dimers' and two 'interrupted dimers', where methanol (ethanol) is included in the R4(4)(12) (graph set) ring. The packing of the layers differs in the two complexes, leading to different three-dimensional structures. In the methanol complex, one pyrene molecule is located within the layer and the other, at a centre of symmetry, between the layers in one type of interlayer space, while the methyls of methanol protrude into the other type of interlayer space. In the ethanol complex, the superpositioning of the layers is such that two types of stack are formed; one of these is mixed, containing pyrene and one of the independent TMA molecules in alternating sequence, while the other stack contains only the second type of TMA. Spectroscopic study is needed to establish whether the partial mixed stack arrangement in the crystalline ethanol complex implies donor-acceptor interaction.


This paper investigates the possibility of using artificial neural network to detect the faults occur in HVDC converter. Neural networks are inherently not fault tolerant and hence they can be used to differentiate the faults that may occur in converter. Also they are capable of handling huge amount of data fast and efficiently. Therefore, taking into account all the advantageous features of neural network an attempt has been made to detect the fault in HVDC converter using artificial neural network.


Restoration ecology plays an important role in nature conservation policy in Europe today. It establishes the scientific basis for restoring ecosystems altered or destroyed by man to a more "natural" state. The goals of restoration ecology can generally be described in terms of increased biodiversity, enhanced water retention capacity, avoidance of soil erosion, etc. In practice, however, a discrepancy exists between the high ideals of restoration goals and reality, where one often encounters limiting factors. These limiting factors can include the conflict between different restoration goals, the unpredictability of restoration goals owing to long‐term effects and stochastic events, the insufficient social acceptance of landscape changes during restoration processes, and the use of restoration processes themselves (e.g., undisturbed succession, certain management measures like impoverishment of fertilized areas) as restoration goals in place of a certain resource quality (such as species composition, population sizes, water quality). Two examples from southern Germany show that restoration goals in European cultural landscapes can only be implemented successfully when they are integrated into the respective land use systems.


Interval sampling of expired breath samples from the anterior nares is a feasible and noninvasive method for detecting elevated breath H2 and thus colonic carbohydrate fermentation, especially in nontherapeutic research studies of healthy premature infants. However, there may be a risk of falsely low breath H2 concentration and an unacceptable experimental error due to contamination with room air as well as with dead space air. We studied ten premature infants (28–32 week gestational age and 2–4 weeks postnatal age) who were receiving either a proprietary formula containing equal proportions of lactose and glucose polymer, or a similar formula in which lactose was the sole carbohydrate. In 70 breath samples (obtained 30–180 min after feeding) we assessed the coefficient of variation in breath hydrogen concentration among three aliquots obtained over a 3–5 min interval. Breath was collected from the anterior nares. The interaliquot coefficient of variation averaged 11% when expressed as parts per million per 5% CO2, compared to 19% when expressed as parts per million (Wilcoxon, p < 0.001). Mean breath hydrogen concentration at each time period using the former method (parts per million per 5% CO2) was about 100% higher than when using the latter method. Although ventilation rate can alter alveolar CO2, normalizing for CO2 concentration reduces a major source of experimental error.


Despite mounting evidence that human learners are sensitive to community structure underpinning temporal sequences, this phenomenon has been studied using an extremely narrow set of network ensembles. The extent to which behavioral signatures of learning are robust to changes in community size and number is the focus of the present work. Here we present adult participants with a continuous stream of novel objects generated by a random walk along graphs of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 communities comprised of N = 24, 12, 8, 6, and 4 nodes, respectively. Nodes of the graph correspond to a unique object and edges correspond to their immediate succession in the stream. In short, we find that previously observed processing costs associated with community boundaries persist across an array of graph architectures. These results indicate that statistical learning mechanisms can flexibly accommodate variation in community structure during visual event segmentation.


Electro-osmotic flows in the vicinity of surface charge density transitions are studied using a two-dimensional model problem. The analysed configuration consists of an electrolyte solution in contact with a dielectric planar wall, on which the density transition is approximated by a finite jump. The flow field in the semi-infinite fluid domain is driven by an external electric field which is applied parallel to the charged wall, in the direction of the jump. The problem is analysed using both the thin-Debye-layer (TDL) formulation, which does not resolve the fine details of the Debye-layer structure, and an approximate electrokinetic model.


The design of a periodic leaky-wave antenna for angle-of-arrival (AoA) estimation is presented. Thanks to multiple radiating space harmonics, a multibeam operation is achieved in order to scan a large angular range with a limited fractional frequency bandwidth. The matching and radiation efficiency issues raised by the large spatial period involved with multibeam operation is addressed by using a dedicated unit-cell to control both the leakage constant and the Bloch impedance. Simulations confirm that a MUSIC processing enables the system to perform AoA estimation without ambiguity among the multiple beams. This allows for AoA estimation over the 180°-angular range with a bandwidth of only 3.7% at 27 GHz.


ABSTRACT The benefits of meaningful activity in later life are well documented. Studies show that being occupied contributes to both physical and mental health as well as quality of life. Research also suggests that activity may be beneficial to people residing in care homes, including people living with dementia. This paper presents findings from a study which used the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) to measure quality of life in six care homes located in the south-east of England. The study found, like previous ones, that care home residents' days were characterised by a lack of activity. Drawing on observations, interviews and focus groups with residents and staff from these homes, this paper attempts to understand why care home residents do not engage in meaningful activities. We reject the idea that these low levels of activity are a natural part of the ageing process or that they can be explained by notions of resident choice. Instead, the findings point to both insufficient funding and working practices within care homes as more substantive explanations. These explanations inform a discussion of how the low levels of engagement in meaningful activity could be addressed and residents' quality of life improved.


The goal of this research was to determine the changes in streamflow, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) leaching and export to the Gulf of Mexico associated with a range of large‐scale dedicated perennial cellulosic bioenergy production scenarios within in the Mississippi–Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB). To achieve this goal, we used Agro‐IBIS, a vegetation model capable of simulating the biogeochemistry of row crops, miscanthus and switchgrass, coupled with THMB, a hydrology model capable of simulating streamflow and DIN export. Simulations were conducted at varying fertilizer application rates (0–200 kg N ha−1) and fractional replacement (5–25%) of current row crops with miscanthus or switchgrass across the MARB. The analysis also includes two scenarios where miscanthus and switchgrass (MRX and MRS, respectively) each replace the ca. 40% of maize production currently devoted to ethanol. Across the scenarios, there were minor reductions in runoff and streamflow throughout the MARB, with the largest differences (ca. 6%) occurring for miscanthus at the highest fractional replacement scenarios in drier portions of the region. However, differences in total MARB discharge at the basin outlet were less than 1.5% even in the MRX scenario. Reductions in DIN export were much larger on a percentage basis than reductions in runoff, with the highest replacement scenarios decreasing long‐term mean DIN export by ca. 15% and 20% for switchgrass and miscanthus, respectively. Fertilization scenarios show that significant reductions in DIN leaching are possible even with application rates of 100 and 150 kg N ha−1 for switchgrass and miscanthus, respectively. These results indicate that, given targeted management strategies, there is potential for miscanthus and switchgrass to provide key ecosystem services by reducing the export of DIN, while avoiding hydrologic impacts of reduced streamflow.


Aim To describe changes in rate of CPR, Compression Only CPR (CO-CPR), and 30–day survival over 3 different time-periods of CPR guidelines in Sweden. We hypothesised that increased use of CO-CPR would be associated with increased CPR-rates and similar survival compared to standard CPR. Methods Registry based cohort study including all bystander witnessed cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests reported to the Swedish register for cardio-pulmonary resuscitation in 2000–2014. Exposure was categorised as bystander CPR or No-CPR. Bystander CPR was further categorised into Standard CPR with rescue breathing and ventilation (S-CPR) or CO-CPR. Primary outcome was 30 day survival. Results 23620 patients were included. Total rates of bystander CPR increased from 36% in 2000 to 68% in 2014. S-CPR increased from 31% in 2000 to 38% in 2014. CO-CPR increased from 5% in 2000 to 30% 2014. Overall, there was no significant difference in survival among patients receiving CO-CPR or S-CPR (13.6% vs. 12.9% p=0.3). Conclusion Increase in bystander CPR during the last 15 years in Sweden was associated with an increase in CO-CPR. Overall 30 day survival was not different when comparing CO-CPR to S-CPR. Conflict of interest None declared. Funding None declared.


Because of physical constraints, the optimum control of industrial robots is a difficult problem. An alternative approach is to divide the problem into two parts: optimum path planning for off-line processing followed by on-line path tracking. The path tracking can be achieved by adopting the existing approach. The path planning is done at the joint level. Cubic spline functions are used for constructing joint trajectories for industrial robots. The motion of the robot is specified by a sequence of Cartesian knots, i.e., positions and orientations of the hand. For an N -joint robot, these Cartesian knots are transformed into N sets of joint displacements, with one set for each joint. Piecewise cubic polynomials are used to fit the sequence of joint displacements for each of the N joints. Because of the use of the cubic spline function idea, there are only n - 2 equations to be solved for each joint, where n is the number of selected knots. The problem is proved to be uniquely solvable. An algorithm is developed to schedule the time intervals between each pair of adjacent knots such that the total traveling time is minimized subject to the physical constraints on joint velocities, accelerations, and jerks. Fortran programs have been written to implement: 1) the procedure for constructing the cubic polynomial joint trajectories; and 2) the algorithm for minimizing the traveling time. Results are illustrated by means of a numerical example.


The X-ray binary Cygnus X-3 (Cyg X-3) is a highly variable X-ray source that displays a wide range of observed spectral states. One of the main states is significantly harder than the others, peaking at ∼20 keV, with only a weak low-energy component. Due to the enigmatic nature of this object, hidden inside the strong stellar wind of its Wolf‐Rayet companion, it has remained unclear whether this state represents an intrinsic hard state, with truncation of the inner disc, or whether it is just a result of increased local absorption. We study the X-ray light curves from RXTE/ASM and CGRO/BATSE in terms of distributions and correlations of flux and hardness and find several signs of a bimodal behaviour of the accretion flow that are not likely to be the result of increased absorption in a surrounding medium. Using INTEGRAL observations, we model the broad-band spectrum of Cyg X-3 in its apparent hard state. We find that it can be well described by a model of a hard state with a truncated disc, despite the low cut-off energy, provided the accreted power is supplied to the electrons in the inner flow in the form of acceleration rather than thermal heating, resulting in a hybrid electron distribution and a spectrum with a significant contribution from non-thermal Comptonization, usually observed only in soft states. The high luminosity of this non-thermal hard state implies that either the transition takes place at significantly higher L/LE than in the usual advection models, or the mass of the compact object is � 20 M� , possibly making it the most-massive black hole observed in an X-ray binary in our Galaxy so far. We find that an absorption model as well as a model of almost pure Compton reflection also fit the data well, but both have difficulties explaining other results, in particular the radio/X-ray correlation.


This paper describes theoretical as well as practical aspects in designing low phase noise LC CMOS oscillators. It starts with an overview of the different oscillator performance parameters found in a typical oscillator specification sheet. It also describes the LC-tank oscillation phenomena by analyzing a simplified LC oscillator circuit. Oscillator phase noise analysis is then introduced as a logical extension to the simplified LC oscillator model with noise perturbations included. The three most-common LC oscillator topologies, namely the Colpitts, cross-coupled NMOS, and NMOS-PMOS topologies are outlined and their trade-offs are explored. Passive device selection and modeling are another essential component in oscillator design. An overview of their different design and modeling techniques is introduced. Further, process characteristics have a big impact on device performance and hence on the overall oscillator performance which simulations can not accurately predict. The paper concludes by describing how on-wafer device characterization schemes through test chips can help improve device modeling and potentially identify any oscillator design weaknesses.


DNA-damaging agents are adept at killing tumor cells by inducing them to undergo programmed cell death even though they are normally resistant to apoptosis. In their Perspective,
 Li and Thompson
 discuss new work published elsewhere that provides an explanation for this paradox. DNA damage induces deamidation of a crucial antiapoptotic protein, which overcomes the apoptotic block and allows the tumor cells to die.


Small-molecule regulation is a powerful switching tool to manipulate cell signal transduction for a desired function; however, most available methods usually require genetic engineering to endow cells with responsiveness to user-defined small molecules. Herein, we demonstrate a nongenetic approach for small-molecule-controlled receptor activation and consequent cell behavior manipulation that is based on DNA-mediated chemically induced dimerization (D-CID). D-CID uses a programmable chemical-responsive DNA nanodevice to trigger DNA strand displacement and induce the activation of c-Met, a tyrosine kinase receptor cognate for hepatocyte growth factor, through dimerization. Through the use of various functional nucleic acids, including aptamers and DNAzymes, as recognition modules, the versatility of D-CID in inducing c-Met signaling upon addition of various small-molecular or ionic cues, including ATP, histidine, and Zn2+ , is demonstrated. Moreover, owing its multi-input properties, D-CID can be used to manipulate the behaviors of multiple cell populations simultaneously in a selective and programmable fashion.