Many of the most attractive properties of multifunctional materials can be traced to the competition between charge, structure, and magnetism. The discovery that these interactions can be tuned with various physical stimuli has accelerated interest in their behavior under extreme conditions. In this dissertation I present a spectroscopic investigation of several model molecule-based magnets under external stimuli of magnetic field and temperature. The compounds of interest include M[N(CN)2]2 (M=Mn, Co) and [Ru2(O2CMe)4]3[Cr(CN)6]. These materials are attractive for their subtle interplay between electronic, magnetic and structural degrees of freedom offering both physical property tunability and models with which to carry out fundamental studies of coupling phenomena. The vibrational properties of Mn[N(CN)2]2 reveal the magnetoelastic coupling through the quantum critical transition at 30.4 T that drives the system from the canted antiferromagnetic to the fully polarized state. The local lattice distortions, manifested in systematic phonon frequency shifts, suggest a combined MnN6 octahedra distortion + counter-rotation mechanism that reduces antiferromagnetic interactions and accommodates the developing field-induced state. Work on Co[N(CN)2]2 combines high field Raman and infrared spectroscopies to explore the effect of the chemical tuning on lattice dynamics and coupling processes in a ferromagnet. In addition to a large anisotropy, our studies uncover electron-phonon coupling as a field-driven avoided crossings of the low-lying Co electronic excitation with the ligand phonons and a magnetoelastic effect that signals a flexible local CoN6 iv environment under external field. Finally, we employ vibrational spectroscopies to probe spin-lattice interactions in the [Ru2(O2CMe)4]3[Cr(CN)6] metamagnet. In applied field, correlation between the vibrational response, the displacement patterns, and local lattice distortions reveals magnetoelastically-active [Cr(CN)6] 3− octahedral units and rigid [Ru2(O2CMe)4] + paddle wheel dimers as the system is driven away from the antiferromagnetic ground state. At the same time, variable temperature studies show pronounced changes in modes connected with the [Cr(CN)6] 3− octahedra, demonstrating the overall softness of this moiety and its readiness to adapt to a new physical environment. These findings deepen our understanding of coupling in multifunctional materials and demonstrate the tunability of competing interactions under extreme conditions.


The selection of constructive materials and structure inside long highway tunnel was studied aiming at the relatively closed internal structure of long highway tunnel combined with its environmental factors such as noise,illumination,temperature and humidity. This paper put forward the selection principle of materials and structure on pavement and wall inside highway tunnel, and confirmed suitable reflecting materials of pavement and noise-reducing materials of wall. Furthermore, the thesis designed materials and structure of pavement and wall in noise-reduction optimization. The research has an important instructional function on improving driving environment and noise-reduction effect and promoting the construction of resource-conserving and environment-friendly society and realizing sustainable development.


Novel Ag@TiO2 nanostructures with multiple Ag nanoparticles as cores and a crystalline TiO2 as the outer shell have been successfully achieved via a facile and one-step solvothermal route. The synthetic approach is simple, rapid, and environmentally friendly, in which no any sacrificial template, toxic reagent or surfactant is emploited. Moreover, the as-prepared Ag@TiO2 products show an uniform and spherical morphology as well as a large specific surface area (225.9 m2 g−1). The time-dependent experiments reveal that the formation of Ag@TiO2 nanospheres includes a nucleation, aggregation and self-assembly process. Apart form this, the rattle-type Ag@TiO2 nanoparticles can be also obtained by only tuning the amount of tetrabutyl titanate (TBOT) added in the precursor. When employed as catalyst for reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), the Ag@TiO2 nanospheres prepared exhibit a superior catalytic activity and a good cycle stability, benefiting from their unique multiple-cored nanostructure and the effective synergistic effect between Ag nanoparticles and TiO2 shell. The present method also provides a great possibility for preparation of other metal@TiO2 nanocomposites and their promising applications in catalysis, electrochemistry, and purification, and so on.


Recurrent spiking neural networks (SNNs) are inspired by the working principles of biological nervous systems that offer unique temporal dynamics and event-based processing. Recently, the error backpropagation through time (BPTT) algorithm has been successfully employed to train SNNs offline, with comparable performance to artificial neural networks (ANNs) on complex tasks. However, BPTT has severe limitations for online learning scenarios of SNNs where the network is required to simultaneously process and learn from incoming data. Specifically, as BPTT separates the inference and update phases, it would require to store all neuronal states for calculating the weight updates backwards in time. To address these fundamental issues, alternative credit assignment schemes are required. Within this context, neuromorphic hardware (NMHW) implementations of SNNs can greatly benefit from in-memory computing (IMC) concepts that follow the brain-inspired collocation of memory and processing, further enhancing their energy efficiency. In this work, we utilize a biologically-inspired local and online training algorithm compatible with IMC, which approximates BPTT, e-prop, and present an approach to support both inference and training of a recurrent SNN using NMHW. To do so, we embed the SNN weights on an in-memory computing NMHW with phase-change memory (PCM) devices and integrate it into a hardware-in-the-loop training setup. We develop our approach with respect to limited precision and imperfections of the analog devices using a PCM-based simulation framework and a NMHW consisting of in-memory computing cores fabricated in 14nm CMOS technology with 256×256 PCM crossbar arrays. We demonstrate that our approach is robust even to 4-bit precision and achieves competitive performance to a floating-point 32-bit realization, while simultaneously equipping the SNN with online training capabilities and exploiting the acceleration benefits of NMHW.


This study is premised on two sequential objectives: examination of the outreach dimensions of microfinance institutions (MFIs), and an investigation of the poverty-reducing effect of access to MFIs and the amount loaned to MFI clients. Using a nationally representative sample of 2,884 respondents comprising MFI client and non-client households from Ghana, descriptive statistics and two variants of microeconometric estimation technique are employed. Outreach dimensions varied across MFIs, with targeting of MFIs remaining about the same in 2004 and 2015. Microfinance intervention was observed to have had poverty-reducing effects at the household level. The findings establish that clients of MFIs in the rural areas are more sensitive to larger loan amounts compared to their counterparts in the urban areas. These findings seem to uphold the promise of poverty reduction, but with consideration of the differential effects in terms of outreach, location of the MFI, and loan amount.


In this case study we describe a dual approach to the palliation of difficult muscle spasms using intrathecal baclofen via a fully implanted system, together with the homeopathic approach to symptom control. The homeopathy is seen to complement rather than to replace conventional prescribing and using both approaches together appears to have avoided the necessity for increasing drug doses and to have minimized side-effects. As well as encouraging us to take on experience from other disciplines, this case study also suggests that palliative care could be a forum for evaluating the effectiveness of the homeopathic approach in symptom control in carefully designed studies.


Prairie fens are a rare, fire~dependent wetland type found only in the glaciated Midwest in ice~contact topography along streams or lake boundaries that historically occurred adjacent to prairies and savannas. Due to a strong depend, ence on cool, alkaline groundwater seepage, they are extremely sensitive to hydrological alterations that result from urban development. While prairie fens are common in glacial interlobate regions, it was sti ll surprising to discover one while conducting a botanical inventory in 2001 in an urban development in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The 295~acre planned unit development (PUD), known as Parkview Hills, is bordered by medium-density residential neighborhoods, a major federal highway, and open lands. Three state~listed plant species and two state~listed animals occur in the fen and calcareous seepage is active in many areas. However, the effects of fire suppression , urban development, and a millpond two miles upstream are apparent. Woody encroachment from invasive species, such as glossy buck~ thorn (Frangula alnus ), is severe throughout much of the fen .


Background These two trials under Europe-Africa collaborations aim at addressing two factors relevant for Africa i.e helminth infections and HIV-1 diversity. EV06 used a novel combination of DNA expressing clade C Env, Gag and Pol-nef co-administered with AIDSVAX®B/E Env protein to study the effect of S. mansoni on vaccine responses. GREAT is a recently awarded trial using a 2nd generation improved conserved tHIVConsvX T-cell vaccine candidate combined with bivalent mosaic design to increase breadth and protective epitopes. Methods EV06 enrolled 72 males and females aged 18–45, half infected with S. mansoni (SM+). In each arm 30 received vaccine and 6 placebo at week 0, 4 and 24. Responses were evaluated at week 0, 6, 26 and 36. Humoral responses were measured as binding IgG against a panel of HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins and as neutralizing antibodies (Nabs), using TZM/ bl cells and tier 1 pseudoviruses. Cellular responses were measured as HIV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell by IFN-γ ELIS-pot and multi-cytokine intracellular staining flow cytometry. GREAT will be a phase IIa trial and preparation for efficacy trials in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia testing ChAdOx1.tHIVconsv5 and ChAdOx1.tHIVconsv6 followed by MVA.tHIVconsv3 and MVA.tHIVconsv4 on week 2 (Arm 1) or week 8 (Arm 2). Progress Differences in binding IgG response rates were observed in vaccinated participants against the vaccine matched clade C V1V2 (gp70–96ZM651.02 V1V2) at week 6: 56% among SM+ versus 86% among SM – (p=0.039). At week 36, response magnitudes were statistically lower in the SM+ against gp120 and gp140 proteins (p=0.04 for both). SM+ also had lower Nabs and ELISpot responses at various time points. Still blinded data on the first 20 volunteers show 80% responders for CD4 T cell at w26 and 70% CD8 responders at w36. These trials will provide more data on challenges facing HIV vaccine development in Africa.


I. INTRODUCTION"The Establishment Clause was first incorporated and applied to the states as a matter of substantive due process in Everson v. Board of Education in 1947."1 Incorporation of the Establishment Clause gives rise to serious conceptual questions for textualists and originalists. First, the text "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"2 is expressly directed against Congress in a way, and to a degree, unique in the Bill of Rights. This is so because, as a matter of original intent, the Establishment Clause was supposed to protect states against disestablishment, among other things.3 Professor Lash, in our estimation, has responded to those questions by noting that the "[i]ncorporation doctrine assumes that, at some point, the people changed their collective mind about the role of federalism in the protection of individual liberties; what was once leftto state discretion is now restricted by the Fourteenth Amendment."4The time and occasion for this collective change of mind is reasonably well established. As a matter of history, Justice Thomas had the better side of the argument in McDonald v. City of Chicago when he maintained that the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to protect fundamental rights against state infringement and that the rights deemed fundamental included the first eight amendments.5 This would mean that Justice Black was also broadly correct in Adamson v. California,6 and that Frankfurter,7 and his supporter Professor Charles Fairman,8 were wrong.9 However, the Court decided otherwise in the Slaughter-House Cases10 and made it clear in McDonald v. City of Chicago11 that it is not disposed to reconsider that decision. This means that incorporation of the Establishment Clause under Due Process Clause analysis was correct only if nonestablishment was a right fundamental to the nation's sense of ordered liberty12 and was "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition."13No one doubts that free exercise is such a right. Some, however, have asserted that nonestablishment interests cannot be coherently regarded as a personal right.14 This overlooks the crucial historical fact that certain sects, including the Baptists, regarded nonestablishment as an aspect of free exercise.15 William Tennent, a South Carolina Presbyterian and advocate of equal rights on behalf of a coalition of dissenting groups, clearly articulated this thought, saying: "My first, and most capital reason, against all religious establishments is, that they are an infringement of Religious Liberty."16 The principles of nonestablishment for which the evangelical dissenters pressed were freedom from religious coercion, equality of treatment, no public financial support of churches, and no jurisdiction over church governance.17 For the Bill of Rights to exist in its current form, James Madison had to defeat James Monroe and be elected to the First Congress, and to do that he needed Baptist support.18Because nonestablishment was historically regarded as an individual right in sectarian quarters,19 it is perfectly coherent to follow the lead of Calabresi and Agudo and look to the state constitutions as they stood in 1868 to determine whether nonestablishment interests were also deeply rooted in American history and tradition by that time. 20 Because Calabresi and Agudo have already correctly answered that question in the affirmative,21 the focus of this article is on two follow-up questions: (1) what were the nonestablishment principles that were understood as fundamental, and (2) what effect does that understanding have on the governmental endorsement test from an originalist viewpoint?II. THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE GOVERNMENTAL ENDORSEMENT TESTThe governmental endorsement test was first proposed by Justice O'Connor in her concurrence in Lynch v. Donnelly22 as "an analytical device" that supposedly "clarifies" the three-part test found in Lemon v. …


Anna Tuckett's piece on the paper trails left, created and curated by migrant streams crossing Europe raises questions on how social personhood is legally affirmed or undermined by legal paperwork. As is now a well aired fact, those UK citizens affected by the 'hostile environment' instituted by the British Home Office (HO) from 2012 onwards were disproportionately black and descended from former Caribbean colonies (Olusoga 2019). I consider my experience relating to immigration practices and assumptions to indicate aspects of this environment in the making. In 2004, I spent six months working for the civil service in the UK as a blandly labelled 'presenting officer'. A presenting officer presented the Home Secretary's case for refusing immigration and asylum claims that the applicant had appealed. In such cases, it was common strategy to draw attention to the lack of consistency, in terms of both narrative and between a person and their papers. Narrative consistency was required: the same story had to be told to the case officer on presenting a claim and in the courtroom to the adjudicator and in any and every opportunity to retell the tale the applicant had. Any inconsistency was taken as evidence of deceit. A person had to be able to document their birth, entries and exits to the UK, schooling, workplaces, income and family relationships. The requirements of consistency reified relationships that had documentary existence over those that did not. Lack of documents undermined a person's ability to make their case.


The standard capture purification of full-size, classical antibodies is typically performed with Protein A affinity chromatography. Binding of the Protein A affinity ligand to the "Fc" region of antibodies (Abs) (abbreviations are defined at end of paper) takes place at the juncture of the constant domains 2 and 3 of the Ab heavy chains (Lewis et al. 2008). This high affinity binding primarily involves hydrophobic interactions. Antibodies that belong to the same subclass have greater than 95% homologous Fc-regions, allowing Protein A to be a capture platform for a wide range of antibodies (Ghose et al. 2005).


We examined the effects of high-fructose (FR) feeding on the development of diabetic complications in the lens and the kidney of streptozotocin (STZ)-diabetic rats. Male Wistar Furth rats were treated with one of two doses of STZ (HIGH STZ, 55 mg/kg body weight; MOD STZ, 35 mg/kg body weight) or vehicle alone (SHAM) and were then assigned to a control (CNTL) or 400 g FR/kg diet for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, body weight, plasma glucose and insulin concentrations differed among STZ groups (HIGH v. MOD v. SHAM, P<0·001) but did not differ due to diet. Plasma FR concentrations were significantly higher in FR-fed v. CNTL-fed groups (P<0·0001) and in HIGH-STZ groups v. MOD-STZ and SHAM groups (P<0·0004 and P<0·0001 respectively). Focal length variability of the lens, a quantitative measure of cataract formation, was increased in the HIGH STZ, FR group compared with the HIGH STZ, CNTL group (P<0·01). The concentration of H2O2 in kidney microsomes was significantly higher in HIGH STZ, FR rats v. HIGH STZ, CNTL rats (P<0·01). Microalbuminuria was not observed in any of the groups examined, and there was no evidence of extensive histological damage in the kidney from any rats. Under conditions of severe hyperglycaemia, high FR intake promotes the development of cataracts in the lens of the eye, and results in increased concentrations of substances indicative of oxidative stress in the kidney. Although FR has been suggested as a carbohydrate source for diabetics, a high FR diet coupled with hyperglycaemia produces effects that may promote some of the complications associated with diabetes.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the viability of bull spermatozoa diluted with commercial semen extender and two culture media stored at controlled room temperature (24 °C) for 72 hours. Two Nguni bulls were used for semen collection with the aid of an electro-ejaculator. After macroscopic evaluation, semen was pooled and aliquoted randomly into Triladyl, modified Ham's F10, and TCM-199 culture media, and then stored at 24 °C. Sperm motility parameters, morphology, and viability were analysed with computer aided sperm analysis (CASA) after 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours. The study was replicated four times, and data were analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Triladyl had significantly higher sperm viability rate (41.3%) and total motility rate (96.3%) for 72 hours than modified Ham's F10 (86.8%; 26.5%) and TCM-199 (76.7%; 25.0%) culture media. Ham's F10 had higher progressive motility rate (37.8%) than the other extenders TCM-199 (31.7%) and Triladyl (23.4%). There was no significant difference in viability rate between Ham's F10 (26.5%) and TCM-199 (25.0 %) after 72 hours' storage at 24 °C. Furthermore, no significant difference was observed in total sperm abnormalities, except for reacted acrosomes and absent tails, between the two Nguni bulls. Nguni semen can be preserved in Triladyl or modified Ham's F10 and TCM-199 culture media, stored at 24 °C, and stay viable for 72 hours. Keywords : Ham's F10, TCM-199, Triladyl, sperm motility, viability


Tonsils, lympho-epithelial tissues located at the junction of the oropharynx and nasopharynx, play a key role in surveillance, colonization, and persistence of inhaled and ingested pathogens. In pigs, the tonsils are a reservoir for numerous bacteria and viruses, including host-specific pathogens and potential zoonotic pathogens as well as commensal organisms. However, there are no in depth studies of the development of the tonsillar microbiome in pigs, or any mammal, over time. The goal of this study was to follow the development of the tonsil microbiome in healthy pigs from birth to market weight. Samples were collected using tonsil brushes from 16 piglets (4 each from 4 sows) at newborn, 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks of age, and from 8 of those piglets at 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, and 19 weeks of age. Bacterial DNA was isolated from each sample and 16S rDNA genes were amplified and sequenced. Sequence analysis showed that members of the Streptococcaceae, Pasteurellaceae, and Moraxellaceae were present at all time points and represent the three most abundant families identified. Other community members appeared transiently or increased or decreased significantly with disruption events or stress. We observed four significant shifts in the tonsil community that coincided with well-defined disruption events: weaning plus addition of Carbadox plus movement to the nursery at week 3, removal of Carbadox and addition of Tylan at week 5, removal of Tylan and habitat change at week 9, and habitat change at week 16. Weaning triggered a bloom of Streptococcaeae and decrease of Moraxellaceae. The shift from Carbadox to Tylan led to reduction in Proteobacteria and Streptococcaceae but an increase in other Firmicutes, accompanied by a dramatic increase in community richness. Cessation of Tylan coincided with a return to a less rich community, and a bloom in Clostridiales. The final shift in habitat was accompanied by a decrease in Clostridiales and increase in Proteobacteria. The tonsillar microbiome of older pigs resembled the previously described mature core tonsillar microbiome. This study demonstrates a temporal succession in the development of the pig tonsillar microbiome, and significant community shifts that correlate with disruption events.


The broad aim of this research was to understand how prisoners and
prison officers construct the staff-relationship, using positioning theory to
explore these relationships within the prison context. Taking a more
dramaturgical notion of prisons and the prison environment, this study was
one of positioning and discourse, with particular consideration being given
to the relationships that this discourse was either enabling or disenabling.
Engaging with both prisoners and prison officers provided a sound
understanding of the ways in which both parties were constructing the one
relationship. The findings of this research suggest that prisoners and
prison officers seek to find ways of 'crafting' time within prison in order to
enable this time to be 'easy'. As such, this research leads us to a point of
thinking whereby prisoners and prison officers are constructed as
interdependent groups whereby one cannot exist without the other.
Although the staff-prisoner relationship represents an imbalance of power,
this research suggests that it is nonetheless an intimate relationship due to
their collective and collaborative performances. According to this
research, prisoners and prison officers have moved towards a process of
collusion in their performance of 'easy time'. This seemingly undermines
the aims of the Prison Service, with 'formal compliance' being favoured
over 'substantive compliance' and rehabilitation. However, this is
problematic in terms of criminal justice policy and practice. The research
informs us that in order to address the shortcomings of the staff-prisoner
relationship; as outlined through the participants' talk; more needs to be
done to better articulate and understand the remit of the 'modern' Prison
Service and the roles of the prison officer and the prisoner within this
system. This involves challenging the notion of 'easy time', and supporting
prisoners and prison officers to 'craft' prison in a productive way.


The effect of adding polypropylene fibers; with different shapes and volume fractions; on the compressive strength, modulus of rupture, load-deflection curve and flexural toughness (equivalent flexural strength ratio) of concrete was investigated. Crimped and twisted polypropylene fibers were used with 0.0%, 0.2%, 0.4% and 0.6% volume fractions. It was found that the compressive strength, flexural strength and the equivalent flexural strength ratio of concrete increased about 11%, 25% and 40% respectively by adding 0.6% volume fraction of twisted polypropylene fiber. In addition; it was found that the contribution of polypropylene fiber to the flexural strength and flexural toughness was more effective when twisted polypropylene fiber was added comparing to crimped polypropylene fibers. The experimental results were used in numerical example using FAARFIELD program to explore the airfield pavement thickness reduction resulted from polypropylene fiber incorporation.


This thesis covers the topic in atomic physics: Interaction of a strong external field with Rydberg hydrogen atom. In three scientific publications, we have targeted physical processes such as the field ionization in the strong terahertz field, back-scattering in the Coulomb field and spatial transport of electrons. First two of them deal with the study of the ionization of the Rydberg atoms in the terahertz field. Rydberg atoms are highly excited stabilized states with very big dipole moments which makes them very sensitive to the external field. As external field we use THz radiation, submillimeter radiation in the range of 100 μm 1 mm, which generators are in the state-of-the-art development. Specifically, we treat with linearly polarized single-cycle pulses with high intensity and picosecond duration. High intensity and low frequency brings us to the strong field, where the field is so strong, that Coulomb potential may be deformed and field ionization is possible. Driving linearly polarized single-cycle pulse is only bidirectional, indeed the electron is driven mostly to the one direction by the field in the first half of the cycle and to the opposite direction in the second half. Affirmation is given by the observing of the probability density during the field propagation. When some pulse asymmetry is included, then it involves new phenomena, which we have observed at different energy level of initial Rydberg states. While 15-d state may be ionized already in the first half of the pulse, where the sinus pulse has the opposite direction to the second half, lower energy states (6-d and 9-d) are ionized at the second half of the pulse with a higher peak intensity, at the opposite direction. Therefore, 15d electron has lower emission energy compare to lower lying Rydberg states. We have numerically simulated the experiment published in April 2014 by Li and Sha (University of Virginia), where sodium d−Rydberg atoms have been ionized by single-cycle pulse with the duration 10-100 longer than electron Rydberg period and the ionization probability with increasing field strength has been measured. Curves in our simulation grow sigmoidally with the ionization scaling law n−3 for the field strength. This field strength scaling is inversely proportional to the binding energy of electrons in an atom and is valid for all of the probabilities, since all scaled probability curves meet at the same place on a plot. Explanation of this scaling law and mechanism behind is the main target of this thesis. Ionization of bounded electrons by strong laser pulses occurs most frequently as over the barrier ionization, tunneling or multiphoton ionization. By 3D analysis we concluded that the ionization takes the place mostly during the period around the field maxima. We suppose that the ionization is caused partly by the tunneling ionization for the field strength scaled as n−3 and partly as the over the barrier ionization scaled with the field strength as n−4. Angular distribution confirms that the electron density is located mostly in the direction of the field polarization. Backscattering shows that the part of the wavefunction is scattered back to the nucleus. The third paper comes with the spatial transport of an electron, when an electron is driven by the short strong external pulse(s). To observe this phenomena, the laser pulse frequency and the field intensity must be high enough, so that we can neglect the effect of the Coulomb potential. Then wavefunction is translated almost without any distortion to a well defined distance from the origin. This distance depends just on the set up laser intensity and the frequency. In quantum mechanics, wavefunction is propagated on the grid by the split-step operator and two-step Euler method. Classical simulations are calculated by the classical Monte Carlo method (CTMC). In this case, the initial state is modelled as the statistical microcanonical ensemble with set up boundary conditions . The classical differential equations are numerically solved by Euler method and Runge-Kutta method.


Adaptation of sainfoin (Onobrychis viciaefolia Scop.) to dryland may be related to differences in growth habit that permit the most efficient use of available moisture and incident radiation during the active growing season. This study was conducted to quantitatively analyze growth of 'Remont,' a "two-cut" type cultivar, and 'Eski,' a "onecut" type cultivar, in relation to adaptation to dryland or to areas with limited irrigation water. Growth was studied during three periods in the spring of 1971. Yields of Remont were significantly higher than those of Eski when sampled on May 12, but because of a greater relative growth rate (RGR, g/g/wk), Eski surpassed Remont in yield when sampled on June 21. The greater RGR of Eski was associated with a significantly greater leaf area ratio (LAR, dm²/g). The LAR of both species decreased with advancing maturity as a result of increasing stemleaf ratio. Net assimilation rate (g/dm²/wk) of these two cultivars was not significantly different. Crop growth rate (CGR, g/m²/da) increased as the season advanced and appeared to be greatest for Eski. Both species produced the majority of their leaves early with maximum leaf area index occurring on or before June 8. Specific leaf weight (cm³/g) of cultivars was similar at the first three sampling dates, but was significantly greater for Remont at the last sampling date. The data indicate that a late-maturing "one-cut" type sainfoin would most efficiently utilize soil moisture and incident radiation in areas where soil moisture is limiting after July 1.


: New trinuclear metal complexes of Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) with N -(1 H -benzimidazol-2-yl)-2-mercaptoacetamide (BMA) were synthesized from chloride salts of relative metals in butanol medium. Synthesized metal complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, conductance measurements, IR, UV-Vis, ESR, TGA & DTA and magnetic susceptibility measurements. IR spectral data suggest that the ligand behaves as monobasic tridentate (NOS) with donor sites of azomethine nitrogen (ring), oxygen atom of carbonyl group and thio group. Physico-chemical data suggest tetrahedral geometry for Co(II), Ni(II) and Zn(II) complexes. Square planar intended for Cu(II) complex and all these complexes exhibits non-elecrolytic nature. The complexes were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity by in-vitro antimicrobial screening against bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis , Escherichia coli and Klebsiella Pneumonia . The results indicate that antimicrobial activity increased during metallation. A detailed analysis is done theoretically using DFT method with B3LYP/6-311G/LanL2DZ functional for ligand and complexes. Docking studies of ligand and metal complexes carried out using OPLS 2005 force field in Schrodinger suite.


A series of bis-triazinylphenanthroline ligands (BTPhens) was synthesized by modifying the triazine substituents. It was found that varying these substituents altered the solubilities of the ligands in a number of non-polar
solvents. Thus C5-BTPhen showed significantly higher solubility in octanol than C1-BTPhen. The high solubility of C5-BTPhen and its complexes was exploited to facilitate the NMR titration experiments. These experiments shown that the dominant species in solution were the 1:2 complexes [Ln(III)(BTPhen)2], even at high Ln concentrations, and that the relative stability of the 2:1 to 1:1 BTPhen-Ln
complexes varied with different lanthanides. C5-BTPhen therefore shows considerable promise for a once-through selective actinide separation process.


Classroom interaction plays a significant role in facilitating learners' development of communicative competence by making input more comprehensible to learners and maximizing the language input to become learners' intake (Krashen, 1987; Swain, 1995; Long, 1996; Gass, 1997; Lucha & Berhanu, 2015). Results of related studies reveal a low level of communicative competence of many Vietnamese learners of English, which could result from the lack of opportunities for interaction in Vietnamese EFL classes (Hiep, 2007; Ngoc, 2010; Canh, 2011; Ngan, 2013; Tuyen, 2013; Duy, 2014). This study aims to investigate EFL teachers' challenges in maximizing classroom interaction. A questionnaire was administered to 50 lecturers from sixteen colleges and universities in the Mekong Delta of Viet Nam to examine their challenges in maximizing classroom interaction. The results of the study show that Vietnamese EFL lecturers encountered challenges related to physical factors or learning conditions, learners' factors and teachers' factors as well. Learner-related factors showed to be most significant challenge in this study.


Reducing the impact of drought and famine remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa despite ongoing drought relief assistance in recent decades. This is because drought and famine are primarily addressed through a crisis management approach when a disaster occurs, rather than stressing preparedness and risk management. Moreover, drought planning and food security efforts have been hampered by a lack of integrated drought monitoring tools, inadequate early warning systems (EWS), and insufficient information flow within and between levels of government in many sub-Saharan countries. The integration of existing drought monitoring tools for sub-Saharan Africa is essential for improving food security systems to reduce the impacts of drought and famine on society in this region. A proactive approach emphasizing integration requires the collective use of multiple tools, which can be used to detect trends in food availability and provide early indicators at local, national, and regional scales on the likely occurrence of food crises. In addition, improving the ability to monitor and disseminate critical drought-related information using available modern technologies (e.g., satellites, computers, and modern communication techniques) may help trigger timely and appropriate preventive responses and, ultimately, contribute to food security and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa.


Mn-doped Na0.5K0.5NbO3 (NKN) crystals have been grown by self-flux method under several heat-treatment conditions. The cooling rate affected the quality of Mn-doped NKN crystals significantly. When the cooling rate was 0.5 oC/min at temperatures ranging from 1050 to 950 oC, the synthesized Mn-doped NKN crystal exhibited a single nucleation growth, compared with multinucleation growth when the cooling rate was 0.25 oC/min at temperatures ranging from 1050 to 950 oC. The frequency dependence on the ferroelectric P-E hysteresis loop of the Mn-doped NKN crystal was not observed at measurement frequency of 0.1 – 25 Hz. The annealed 0.5 mol% Mn-doped NKN crystal exhibited excellent P-E hysteresis loop with Pr of 45.0 μC/cm2 and Ec of 7.2 kV/cm.


This study examines the hypothesis that audio-visual integration of speech requires both expectation to perceive speech and sufficient attentional resources to allow multimodal integration. Audio-visual integration was measured by recording susceptibility to the McGurk effect whilst participants simultaneously performed a primary visual task under conditions of high or low perceptual load. According to the 'perceptual load hypothesis' (Lavie & Tsal 1994) distracter stimuli (in this case the moving lips) are only processed if the detection of target stimuli in the primary visual task does not exceed attentional capacity limits. If this hypothesis is accurate then, under conditions of high perceptual load, multimodal integration during speech perception will only occur if this integration is a pre-attentive process. In addition, instead of natural syllables, half the participants were played sine wave speech (SWS) tokens, which may be heard as non-speech sounds, such as beeps and whistles, or as speech sounds, depending on the listener's expectations. Tuomainen et al (2005) demonstrated that audio-visual integration using SWS only occurs when participants are expecting auditory speech stimuli. We anticipated that auditory and visual stimuli will be integrated when participants are in speech mode and only under these conditions will perceptual load influence the degree of integration. When these same stimuli are not expected to be speech no integration will occur and perceptual load will not have any influence over the level of integration. The results will be discussed.


This study evaluated the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model sensitivity to different planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes (the YSU and MYJ schemes) and urban schemes including the bulk scheme (BULK), single-layer urban canopy model (UCM), multi-layer building environment parameterization (BEP) model, and multi-layer building energy model (BEM). Daily reinitialization simulations were conducted over Dallas-Fort Worth during a dry summer month (July 2011) and a wet summer month (July 2015) with weaker (stronger) daytime (nocturnal) UHI in 2011 than 2015. All urban schemes overestimated the urban daytime 2m temperature in both summers, but BEP and BEM still reproduced the daytime urban cool island in dry summer. All urban schemes reproduced the nocturnal urban heat island, with BEP producing the weakest one due to its unrealistic urban cooling. BULK and UCM overestimated the urban canopy wind speed, while BEP and BEM underestimated it. The urban schemes showed prominent impact on daytime PBL profiles. UCM+MYJ showed a superior performance than other configurations. The relatively large (small) aspect ratio between building height and road width in UCM (BEM) was responsible for the overprediction (underprediction) of urban canopy temperature. The relatively low (high) building height in UCM (BEM) was responsible for the overprediction (underprediction) of urban canopy wind speed. Improving urban schemes and providing realistic urban parameters were critical for improving urban canopy simulation.


PurposePharmaceutical supply chains (PSCs) need a well-operating and faultless logistics system to successfully store and distribute their medicines. Hospitals, health institutes, and pharmacies must maintain extra stock to respond requirements of the patients. Nevertheless, there is an inverse correlation between the level of medicine stock and logistics service level. The high stock level held by health institutions indicates that we have not sufficiently excellent logistics systems presently. As such, selecting appropriate logistics service providers (drug distributors) is crucial and strategic for PSCs. However, this is difficult for decision-makers, as highly complex situations and conflicting criteria influence such evaluation processes. So, a robust, applicable, and strong methodological frame is required to solve these decision-making problems.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve this challenging issue, the authors develop and apply an integrated entropy-WASPAS methodology with Fermatean fuzzy sets for the first time in the literature. The evaluation process takes place in two stages, as in traditional multi-criteria problems. In the first stage, the importance levels of the criteria are determined by the FF-entropy method. Afterwards, the FF-WASPAS approach ranks the alternatives.FindingsThe feasibility of the proposed model is also supported by a case study where six companies are evaluated comprehensively regarding ten criteria. Herewith, total warehouse capacity, number of refrigerated vehicles, and personnel are the top three criteria that significantly influence the evaluation of pharmaceutical distribution and warehousing companies. Further, a comprehensive sensitivity analysis proves the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed approach.Practical implicationsThe proposed multi-attribute decision model quantitatively aids managers in selecting logistics service providers considering imprecisions in the multi-criteria decision-making process.Originality/valueA new model has been developed to present a sound mathematical model for selecting logistics service providers consisting of Fermatean fuzzy entropy and WASPAS methods. The paper's main contribution is presenting a comprehensive and more robust model for the ex ante evaluation and ranking of providers.


Research Summary
More than 1,500 probationers in four sites were randomly assigned to probation as usual (PAU) or to Honest Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (HOPE), which is modeled on Hawaii's Opportunity Probation with Enforcement (Hawaii HOPE) program that emphasizes close monitoring; frequent drug testing; and swift, certain, and fair (SCF) sanctioning. It also reserves scarce treatment resources for those most in need. The four sites offered heterogeneity in organizational relationships and populations as well as implementation that was rated very good to excellent—thus, providing a robust test of the HOPE supervision model. Recidivism results suggest that HOPE/SCF supervision was not associated with significant reductions in arrests over PAU with the exception of a reduction in drug-related arrests in one site. There were significant—albeit conflicting—differences in time to revocation, with survival models suggesting shorter times to revocation in two sites and longer times to revocation in one site.

Policy Implications
HOPE—or the more general SCF approach to community supervision—has been widely praised as an evidence-based practice that reduces substance use, violations, new arrests, and revocations to prison. Substantial reductions in return to prison have been associated with claims of significant cost savings for HOPE/SCF over PAU despite the need for additional resources for warning and violation hearings, drug testing, and warrant service. Results from this recently completed, four-site randomized control trial (RCT) showed that recidivism arrest outcomes were largely similar between those on HOPE/SCF probation and those on PAU and are consistent with findings from the Delaware Decide Your Time (DYT) RCT reported in this issue. No differences in arrests between HOPE and PAU probationers suggest that HOPE can be implemented to provide greater adherence to an idealized probation in which violations are met with a swift (but non-draconian) response without compromising public safety. Nevertheless, the larger numbers of revocations for HOPE probationers in two sites, coupled with the additional expenses for drug testing, warrant service, and so on associated with HOPE, also suggest that overall cost savings may not be realized. Although additional research is needed to determine whether there are groups for whom HOPE may be more effective than PAU, HOPE/SCF seems unlikely to offer better outcomes and lower costs for broad classes of moderate-to-high–risk probationers.


One of the most pronounced problems in controlling the morbidity and mortality caused by malaria is limited access to effective diagnosis. Microscopy remains the gold standard for malaria diagnosis, but it is labor intensive, requires significant skills and time. Thus, this study was conducted in search of any prompt, reliable, and good alternative of microscopy, when it is not available. A total of 540 patients in the three states of north-western Nigeria were prospectively enrolled to compare the performance of the Pf-HRP2 rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), Pf/PAN-pLDH RDTs, and nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) with gold standard expert microscopy by 2x2 contingency tables, using standard formulae. For P. falciparum diagnosis, the sensitivity (Sn) and specificity (Sp) of Pf-HRP2 RDTs was 82% and 95%, while the Sn and Sp of Pf/PAN-pLDH RDTs (line 1) was 75% and 99%. Both Sn and Sp of nPCR were excellent with 98% and 100% respectively. The sensitivities of RDTs in this study were not optimal for P. falciparum diagnosis. Although, nPCR can be a good alternative of microscopy but the cost, qualitative nature and urgency of obtaining results with suspected malaria limits its use in routine clinical practice. Thus, microscopy should remain the diagnostic test of choice for malaria in this region. Key word: falciparum malaria, microscopy, RDTs, nPCR, Nigeria


Background: Humeral head fractures and their postoperative outcome remain a challenging problem in surgical daily routine. Predictive factors for loss of fixation are rare. Objective: Determination of predictive factors for the failure of osteosynthesis with the loss of fixation or migration of screws in humeral head fractures. Method: From 1995 to 2011, 408 patients with proximal humeral fractures [mean age 66.6 years, 50.9-82.3 years] and osteosynthesis were analyzed. Two hundred and three received open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) with the PHILOS® plate. The non-locking plate was used in 80, the locking plate in 16 and humeral head prosthesis in 26 patients, in addition to 23 patients undergoing other procedures. Intraoperative reduction that achieved an anatomical alignment of the medial aspect of the humerus (humeral calcar) was assessed in 94 patients by postoperative X-ray analysis. The loss of fixation was evaluated by a follow-up of three to five X-rays and measurement of the humeral tip-apex-distance (HTAD). Results: For stable fixed fractures with an intact calcar, percentual HTAD was significantly higher than for unstable fixed fractures (p=0.04). Morbidity, such as hypertension, orthopedic operations or diabetes, strongly influenced the HTAD, while postoperative passive motion treatment modestly affected the HTAD over time. Conclusion: The anatomic reconstruction of the calcar, leading to stable fixation of humeral head fractures, can significantly prevent an overproportioned decrease in the HTAD in postoperative X-rays and seems to be vital in multimorbid patients. Measurement of the HTAD over time delivers a tool for early detection of secondary loss of fixation.


We present a study on the development of a practical and quantitative technique for the assessment of the structural health condition with using piezoceramic (PZT) sensors. The electroimpedance- based technique with the PZT patches is very sensitive for evaluation of the incipient and small damage in a high frequency range, and however the commonly traditional modal analysis method is effective only for considerably larger damages in low frequency range. The paper presents the performance of the performance of the electro-impedance-based technique in detecting and characterizing real-time damage on the specimen that is an aluminum plate fastened with bolts and nuts by different torques. By using the special arrangement of the PZT sensors, the required longitudinal wave is generated through the specimen. A large number of experiments are conducted and the different conditions of the specimen, i.e. the location of loosening bolts and the loosening extent of bolts are simulated, respectively. Since fixing and loosening the loosened bolt is controlled by a torque wrench, we can control exactly the experiment of the different torques. Compared with the simulated healthy condition, we can find whether or not there is a damage in the specimen with using an impedance analyzer with the PZT sensors. Several indices are discussed and used for assessing the different simulated damages. As for the location of bolt loosening, the RMSD is found to be the most appropriate index for numerical assessment and as well the RMSD shows strongly linear relationship for assessing the extent of the bolt loosening. The possibility of repeatability of the pristine condition signatures is also presented and the appropriate frequency range and interval are uniquely selected through large numbers of experiments. The analytical results strongly show the sensibility and reliability of the electro-impedance based technique.


Cobalt‐ and nickel‐free cathode materials are desirable for developing low‐cost sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Compared to the single P‐type and O‐type structures, biphasic P/O structures become a topic of interest thanks to improved performance. However, the added complexity complicates the understanding of the storage mechanism and the phase behavior is still unclear, especially over consecutive cycling. Here, the properties of biphasic P2(34%)/O3(60%) Na0.8Li0.2Fe0.2Mn0.6O2 and its behavior at different states of charge/discharge are reported on. The material is composed of single phase O3 and P2/O3 biphasic particles. Sodium occupies the alkali layers, whereas lithium predominantly (95%) is located in the transition metal layer. An initial reversible capacity of 174 mAh g‐1 is delivered with a retention of 82% dominated by Fe3+/Fe4+ along with contributions from oxygen and partial Mn3+/4+ redox. Cycling leads to complex phase transitions and ion migration. The biphasic nature is nevertheless preserved, with lithium acting as the structure stabilizer.


Ethanol is an alternative fuel derived from renewable biological resources. It's a good substitute for gasoline in spark ignition engines. In this study, the sugar cane bagasse was chemically pretreated with 1% NaOH at room temperature for 2 hours. Dilute acid H2SO4 and Aspergillus niger was used to hydrolyse the biomass to sucrose. Fermentation of the hydrolysed sample was done using Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The fermented product was purified by distillation process at 78C, and the fraction was collected, and the ethanol was determined by measuring the specific gravity. The production of ethanol from sugar cane bagasse with Saccharomyces cerevisiae was determined after the inoculation into sample A1, A2 and B1 and B2 and highest ethanol produced were from B1 with 0.090 followed B2 0.074, A2 with 0.069% and D 0.116. The use of Saccharomyces cerevisiae gives a better yield. The result of this study can be of a better application in the large production of biofuel from sugar cane bagasse which is renewable and highly abundant, it is saving costs by Original Research Article Gani et al.; BJI, 22(1): 1-8, 2018; Article no.BJI.43072 2 recycling of wastes, and it also helps to alleviate environmental problem such as an excessive release of greenhouse gases from combustion of non-renewable fossil fuel. From the chromatograph, when the peaks spectrum wave analysed by mass spectrometer of the three volatile organic compounds, two were common to both samples, A contains the abundance of Acetic acid 22.37%, Ethyl alcohol 13.55% isobutene 64.08%. While that of Sample B contains the abundance Acetic acid 17.43%, Ethyl alcohol 7.12% and Propane 75.4.according to Pasteur this is due to Microbial oxidation of ethanol to acetic acid that decreases metabolic toxicity to the yeast cells. This study has proven the efficiency of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of bioethanol.


Network attack graphs are originally used to evaluate what the worst security state will be if a network is under attack. Along with observed intrusion evidences, we can further use attack graphs to extrapolate the current security state of a concerned network. Methods have been proposed in recent years to use observed intrusion evidences to compute the node belief metric of network attack graphs. However, these methods suffer either from low model generality, high computational complexity or immoderate dependence on empirical formulas. To overcome these obstacles, we improve one of the Bayesian network inference algorithms — the likelihood weighting algorithm into a novel node belief metric computation method. Experiment results show our method can achieve high computational accuracy in linear computational complexity, a feature making it feasible to be used to process large scale network attack graphs in real-time.


This study explores how patients understand their hallucinatory and delusional type
experiences whilst in intensive care and how they feel about these experiences after
they have been discharged from hospital. The aims were to elicit their subjective
accounts in order to gain further insights into the phenomena and to improve clinical
practice.
The study employed a qualitative methodology and eight participants took part in the
research. Participants were interviewed using a semi-structured interview design and the
interviews were tape-recorded. The transcripts were analysed using an interpretative
phenomenological approach. The analysis revealed four super-ordinate categories:
awareness of self and surroundings, dream-like experiences, understanding of dreamlike
experiences and adjustment after hospital discharge. These contained several subordinate
categories.
Participants labelled their hallucinatory and delusional experiences as 'dream-like
experiences'. These consisted of various sequences that evoked torturous, threatening
and persecutory themes or less frightening themes such as escape and adventure. All
participants reported their experiences during intensive care as highly distressing. The
participants thought that their dream-like experiences were related to parts of
themselves that had been incorporated into their dream sequences. They also
acknowledged the role of medication and the intensive care unit context. These
experiences had a profound effect on some participants in that they felt it had altered
their sense of self whereas others felt they were not disturbed by these experiences. The
implications of these findings for future research and clinical practice are discussed.


: Crashes at isolated rural intersections, particularly those involving vehicles traveling perpendicularly to each other, are especially dangerous due to the high speeds involved. Consequently, transportation agencies are interested in reducing the occurrence of this crash type. Many engineering treatments exist to improve safety at isolated, high-speed, signalized intersections. Intuitively, it is critical to know which safety treatments are the most effective for a given set of selection criteria at a particular intersection. Without a well-defined decision making methodology, it is difficult to decide which safety countermeasure, or set of countermeasures, is the best option. Additionally, because of the large number of possible intersection configurations, traffic volumes, and vehicle types, it would be impossible to develop a set of guidelines that could be applied to all signalized intersections. Therefore, a methodology was developed in in this paper whereby common countermeasures could be modeled and analyzed prior to being implemented in the field. Due to the dynamic and stochastic nature of the problem, the choice was made to employ microsimulation tools, such as VISSIM, to analyze the studied countermeasures. A calibrated and validated microsimulation model of a signalized intersection was used to model two common safety countermeasures. The methodology was demonstrated on a test site located just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. The model was calibrated to the distribution of observed speeds collected at the test site. It was concluded that the methodology could be used for the preliminary analysis of safety treatments based on select safety and operational measures of effectiveness.


In recent years, gradient vector flow (GVF) based algorithms have been successfully used to segment a variety of 2-D and 3-D imagery. However, due to the compromise of internal and external energy forces within the resulting partial differential equations, these methods may lead to biased segmentation results. In this paper, we propose MSGVF, a mean shift based GVF segmentation algorithm that can successfully locate the correct borders. MSGVF is developed so that when the contour reaches equilibrium, the various forces resulting from the different energy terms are balanced. In addition, the smoothness constraint of image pixels is kept so that overor under-segmentation can be reduced. Experimental results on publicly accessible datasets of dermoscopic and optic disc images demonstrate that the proposed method effectively detects the borders of the objects of interest.


The ultrasonic shear-wave reflection coefficient at the interface between a hydrating material and a buffer material was monitored immediately after mixing as a function of time to study setting behavior of self-compacting pastes and concretes. High-impact polystyrene was used as the buffer material because it is very sensitive to early changes. Self-compacting pastes were produced using fly ash and superplasticizer. Initial and final set times were measured and compared with those obtained from the standard penetration resistance test. Both methods showed reproducible results with self-compacting pastes and were able to distinguish fairly small changes in composition. A good correlation was found between set times obtained from the two methods. The self-compacting pastes were seen to have a substantially delayed set as compared with plain pastes. In addition, self-compacting concretes were made and their set times were measured using ultrasonic wave reflection. The method was seen to be quite reproducible for concrete, and concrete set times matched those of the corresponding pastes reasonably well.


In advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) networks, smart meters installed at the consumer side should report fine-grained power consumption readings (every few minutes) to the system operator for billing, real-time load monitoring, and energy management. On the other hand, the AMI networks are vulnerable to cyber-attacks where malicious consumers report false (low) electricity consumption to reduce their bills in an illegal way. Therefore, it is imperative to develop schemes to accurately identify the consumers that steal electricity by reporting false electricity usage. Most of the existing schemes rely on machine learning for electricity theft detection using the consumers' fine-grained power consumption meter readings. However, this fine-grained data that is used for electricity theft detection, load monitoring, and billing can also be misused to infer sensitive information regarding the consumers such as whether they are on travel, the appliances they use, and so on. In this paper, we propose an efficient and privacy-preserving electricity theft detection scheme for the AMI network and we refer to it as PPETD. Our scheme allows system operators to identify the electricity thefts, monitor the loads, and compute electricity bills efficiently using masked fine-grained meter readings without violating the consumers' privacy. The PPETD uses secret sharing to allow the consumers to send masked readings to the system operator such that these readings can be aggregated for the purpose of monitoring and billing. In addition, secure two-party protocols using arithmetic and binary circuits are executed by the system operator and each consumer to evaluate a generalized convolutional-neural network model on the reported masked fine-grained power consumption readings for the purpose of electricity theft detection. An extensive analysis of real datasets is performed to evaluate the security and the performance of the PPETD. Our results confirm that our scheme is accurate in detecting fraudulent consumers with privacy preservation and acceptable communication and computation overhead.


The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region is a highly variable gene cassette located on chromosome 6p21 that is involved in diverse functions of the host-immune system. The HLA is the strongest but also the most complex susceptibility locus for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and its subforms Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Tight structures of linkage disequilibrium within this highly complex gene locus complicate the identification of causal variants to an association signal. In previous publications, the DRB1*01:03 allele was identified as a determining factor for IBD in the Caucasian population1. However, for most of the association signal such a delineation was not possible. The aim of this thesis was therefore to further characterise the HLA signal and to analyse whether tightly linked signals between the HLA-DQ and -DR loci could be resolved using a trans-ethnic approach. The focus of this study was UC. To this end, we assembled a unique dataset of individuals from 8 different ethnicities in collaboration with partners of the International IBD Genetics Consortium. The individuals were typed on lllumina's ImmunoChip. With NGS-based typing of HLA alleles being expensive for a larger number of samples, we opted to inferring HLA alleles using an imputation approach. First, we compiled an HLA imputation reference panel specially tailored to our cohorts of interests. Next, we imputed HLA alleles and performed HLA fine mapping across the different populations. For the first time, we identified genetic factors shared across different ethnicities both in effect direction and magnitude. We found whole allele groups that are associated with UC, highlighting alleles of the HLA-DRB1*15 group. Using haplotype phasing of HLA alleles, we were able to explain the tightly linked signals of the HLA-DQ and -DR loci and showed that there are entire HLA-DQ-DR haplotypes shared across different ethnicities. In addition, we identified the previously reported DRB1*01:03 as a population-specific signal that is mostly present in individuals of Western European descent and hardly present in non-Caucasian individuals. Furthermore, by analysis of physico-chemical properties of the respective HLA proteins and analysis of peptides that are preferentially bound by them, we were able to further reduce the complexity of the signal, showing that risk and protective proteins, respectively, share common features both in regard to their chemical properties as well as to the peptides they preferentially bind. Our findings should be of broad interest to the research community, both to genetics and peptidomics experts also in the context of the analysis of other immune-related diseases, for instance multiple sclerosis or leprosy, which are also associated with the HLA-DRB1*15 group.


This book presents a grammar description of Dhao, an endangered Austronesian language spoken by about 3000 people on Ndao Island in Eastern Indonesia. It is a member of the Sumba-Hawu subgroup in the Austronesian family and displays an intensive contact with nearby Kupang Malay and the Rote dialects, which also influences the grammar of the language. This grammar has six chapters which mainly describe the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Dhao. Dhao has an open syllabic system. Word classes are defined only through constructions. The only derivational prefix pa- bears a variety of meanings and interacts with other morphological processes. (C)a- partial reduplication applies to both nominal and verbal categories. Furthermore, verbs and adjectives are only distinguishable through serial verb constructions (SVCs).In order to indicate grammatical relations, only co-indexing system applies. Due to mismatch between verb valencies and constructions, valency is treated as semantic and transitivity is syntactic term. SVCs include at most three verbs whose types are based on the semantics of the verbs. This grammar provides an innovative contribution to the tradition of language research and description in Eastern Indonesia and specifically in the Timor Region.


Abstract Branch diameters within some species of sponges, corals, and bryozoans are known to decrease with depth. This relationship is here tested for inferring relative depth of deposition using three ramose, bushlike cyclostome bryozoans—Cinctipora elegans, Diaperoecia purpurascens, and Erksonea sp.—that are abundant on the continental shelf around New Zealand. Diameters were measured in broken branches of these species dredged from 15 benthic stations ranging in depth from 38–668 m. The expected inverse correlation between diameter and depth was apparent only in C. elegans and even then at a low level of significance and only at relatively shallow depths (<∼115 m). No depth pattern was discernible in either D. purpurascens or Erksonea sp. Further research is needed to ascertain exactly which depth-related environmental factor(s) influences branch diameter in cyclostome bryozoans and whether different species respond differently before bryozoan branch diameter can be used in paleobathymetry.


INTRODUCTION
Owing to the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, diabetic kidney disease (DKD) becomes the major cause of end-stage renal disease. The current markers of diabetic nephropathy are based on albuminuria and clinical signs of retinopathy. Sensitive and specific noninvasive diagnostic tools, unbiased by the presence of comorbidities, are needed, especially to detect the early stages of diabetic complications.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of the study was to analyze changes in urinary protein excretion based on the stage of DKD using quantitative proteomics.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 27 healthy controls were age- and sex-matched to 72 diabetes patients classified into 3 groups: no signs of retinopathy or nephropathy (n = 33), retinopathy but no microalbuminuria (n = 15), and diabetic nephropathy (DN) based on overt albuminuria or microalbuminuria with retinopathy (n = 24). To assess the intergroup differences, samples were partially pooled, tagged using 8-plex iTRAQ reagents, and the resulting peptide mixture was resolved by isoelectrofocusing. The obtained fractions were analyzed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Data were analyzed using the MASCOT software and dedicated in-house proteomic data analysis programs.

RESULTS
The changes in the urine proteome following DKD progression involved some known protein markers of DN and several other proteins. Decreased levels of some proteins are presumably related to impaired secretory function of other organs affected by diabetes. In particular, a diminished excretion of pancreatic amylase and deoxyribonuclease I suggested exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), coexisting with type 2 diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS
A decrease in the urinary excretion of some pancreatic enzymes suggests EPI associated with diabetes. This hypothesis is yet to be verified; nevertheless, renal and extrarenal confounders must be considered when interpreting the results of quantitative urinary proteomics.


Introduction Congenital intracranial tumours constitute 0.5%–1.5% of childhood brain tumours and most of them are immature teratoma. The cystic or calcified structure of tumour can be evaluated with prenatal ultrasonography, the size/location of tumour can be assessed and differentiated from hematoma with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The definite diagnosis can be made with histopathological examination. Even if the tumour is diagnosed prenatally, the prognosis of these tumours is very poor. In this case report, a premature infant, detected a giant intracranial mass prenatally and diagnosed with immature teratoma by histopathological examination postnatally, is presented. Case A 29 week estimated gestational age, twin male fetus were delivered by caesarean section due to congenital brain tumour and hydrocephalus. His Apgar scores were 5/7 and birthweight was 2700 g (his twin weighed 1200 g). On the prenatal ultrasonographic examination at the 23th week, an intracranial mass and ventriculomegaly were observed in one of the twins. At the same week, fetal MRI showed an irregularly contoured mass measuring 27 × 23 mm which caused compression to the third and fourth ventricles on the midline, and dilatation in both lateral ventricles and third ventricle. The mass progressed rapidly (87 × 70 mm) at the 26th week. Macrocephaly (50.5 cm,>95p), prominent cranial vasculature, widening of sutures and appearance of sunset sign in the eyes and low set ears were observed on physical examination. The other system examinations were normal. Haemoglobin was 7.9 g/dL. Cranial tomography showed intracranial calcifications, the mass with hypodense fat densities (9 × 8 cm), hydrocephalus and significant thinning of brain parenchyma. Cranial MRI revealed a large mass measuring 89x95 × 95 mm with haemorrhagic areas and cystic structures, hydrocephalus, an appearance consistent with hydranencephaly. When he was 3 day old, the patient, operated with the preliminary diagnosis of immature teratoma after the consent of the family, died during operation. Histopathology was reported as immature teratoma. Conclusion Even if immature teratoma was diagnosed prenatally, the prognosis of this disease is quite poor, therefore, multidisciplinary team approach including neonatologist, neurosurgeon and also family members should be necessary for the management.


We report the case of a 40-year-old woman with 2 previous myocardial infarctions, revascularization surgery, and an ongoing pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia and fetal hypoxia. Her follow-up performed by a multidisciplinary team made possible the birth through cesarean section of a premature infant of the female sex with a very low birth weight, but without severe respiratory distress of the hyaline membrane disease type. Three months after the delivery, mother and daughter were healthy.


Haemophilus parainfluenzae is a species that is commonly found in the human respiratory tract. It is an uncommon cause of gastrointestinal infection and bacteremia. Here, we present the case of a 17-year-old boy who developed H. parainfluenzae bacteremia and intraabdominal abscess after endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with sphincterotomy followed by elective cholecystectomy within 3 days. The patient was successfully treated with IV ceftriaxone with improvement in symptoms and progressive resolution of his abscess. We report a pediatric case of H. parainfluenzae infection occurring post-ERCP and cholecystectomy, and describe the convergence of two major risk factors for H. parainfluenzae bacteremia in the same pediatric patient.


One of the most significant aspects of the axisymmetric drawing operation is the occurrence of non-homogeneous deformation in the cross section of the metal. This phenomenon is associated with an internal distortion process that takes place in the bar as it flows through the die, leading to the development of higher drawing forces and affecting the subsequent mechanical behavior of the material. An adequate analysis of the process and of the work hardening of the drawn metal, therefore, must involve a detailed study of the deformation features in the forming operation. In the present work, the deformation in the single-pass drawing of AISI 304 stainless steel bars was investigated through the evaluation of the relationship between the redundant deformation factor and the parameter . Two experimetal procedures were employed in the study: the visioplasticity and the stress-strain curves superposition techniques. The first one, previously considered as the method leading to the most realistic solutions to various forming processes, allowed the establishment of an increasing linear relationship between de redundant deformation factor and the parameter . A similar behavior was observed through the stress-strain curves superposition technique. In this case, however, the redundant deformation factor values were lower or higher than those obtained through visioplasticity according to the drawing conditions and more sensitive to variations of the parameter . The results were compared to those exhibited by the AISI 420 stainless steel, revealing the influence of the structural features on the behavior of the metal.


Hydrogen recombination lines are one of the major diagnostics of H II region physical properties and kinematics. In the near future, the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will allow observers to study recombination lines in the radio and submillimetre regimes in unprecedented detail. In this paper, we study the properties of recombination lines, in particular at ALMA wavelengths. We find that such lines will lie in almost every wideband ALMA set-up and that the line emission will be equally detectable in all bands. Furthermore, we present our implementation of hydrogen recombination lines in the adaptive-mesh radiative transfer code RADMC-3D. We particularly emphasize the importance of non-local thermodynamical equilibrium (non-LTE) modelling since non-LTE effects can drastically affect the line shapes and produce asymmetric line profiles from radially symmetric H II regions. We demonstrate how these non-LTE effects can be used as a probe of systematic motions (infall and outflow) in the gas. We use RADMC-3D to produce synthetic observations of model H II regions and study the necessary conditions for observing such asymmetric line profiles with ALMA and EVLA.


In 2010 to celebrate 25 years of hospice care in Blackpool Trinity Hospice commissioned artist Penny Warden to paint a sequence of paintings around the theme of dance to hang in the Hospice Chapel. The commission specified that the paintings must reflect the mission statement of the hospice – 'enabling compassionate care on the journey to the end of life' and represent the essence of hospice care in terms of helping individuals find a new way to be with whatever they were facing. Seven canvases were painted entitled, lost, body, mind, spirit, dance of life, found and hope. These paintings have been used extensively in both formal counselling sessions as well as informally by many visitors to the hospice. The images have been made into postcards that people can take home with them if they have been helped by one or all of the images. From January 2011 to June 2011 all visitors who made use of the chapel were invited through a poster near the paintings to record their response, both positive and negative, to the paintings by making a comment on them in a folder put out for that purpose. No attempt was made to encourage people to write in the folder. Over that 6 month period, 172 patients were admitted into the 28 bedded adult in-patient unit. A total of 59 individuals made an entry. Fifty-seven of the entries made positive comments such as uplifting, and inspirational, made me think, reflected how I was feeling. Two of the entries disliked the paintings one commented that they were inappropriate for a chapel and one the lighting was too bright. Informal feedback suggests that using artwork that has been specifically commissioned to reflect key elements of hospice care are appreciated by a significant minority of visitors to one hospice


Medicinal plants are one of the nature's greatest gifts to the mankind. Each plant will have an exquisite deal of character, which can act as an antidote to various of diseases. Traditional medicine has become a vital alternative source of medicine all over the world today with some approximation of about 80% of the primary health care system in some developing countries. Medicinal plants are known to comprise of hundreds of active constituents that may be potentially useful for the development of therapeutic agents. The development of therapeutic agents involves the isolation and identifica - tion of bioactive compounds from plant materials which is crucial for drug discovery. Researchers from all around the globe have focused on drug discovery from the natures' wonder medicinal plants, forming an important group of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapy. West Godavari is a part of Andhra Pradesh, India, which hosts several plants that have high therapeutic significance. Each of the plants has a unique feature which can be employed for healing of various lethal diseases. The present examination intends to review the therapeutic plant assets of West Godavari area Andhra Pradesh. This evaluation also offers the critical elements which include medicinal properties of various medicinal plants found in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, India.


Crystallization is a purification process during which molecules of a crystal compound bond together arranging themselves in a compound specific orderly lattice structure in which foreign molecules known as impurities do not precisely fit the structural pattern of the growing crystal. Thus their inclusion in the crystal lattice while not impossible is certainly difficult resulting in a largely pure crystal. Crystalization is a key process in the pharmaceutical industry as it is used to produce the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that is absorbed in a patient's body to deliver the desired medical effect, thus high product purity is paramount. During crystallization processes undesirable quantities of nanocrystals are commonly generated causing challenges in downstream processing such as clogging of filters. The lack of complete understanding of the cause of fines prevents the achievement of consistent particle size distributions (PSDs). In pharmaceutical laboratory experiments increased rotational speeds have brought about large increases in particle numbers with much of the product material lost to fines. The increased particles numbers are assumed to be caused by increased shearing of nuclei off the surface of seed particles. This thesis examines the change of phase resolved fluid velocity and shear stress as a result of rotational speed and impeller type and examines the influence of baffles. An experimental set-up was designed to best replicate the mixing vessel of a Labmax where the initial crystallization experiments of Paracetamol in IPA yielding large particle numbers were carried out. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used to measure particle flow velocities from which turbulent shear stresses are calculated. Finally, the direct influence of impeller type on particle size distribution (PSD) was examined in cooling batch crystallization experiments again of Paracetamol in IPA in an Optimax using a mixing vessel of the same size and dimensions of both a Labmax and the mixing vessel used in PIV experiments. Results conclusively show an increase of particle count with increased shear stress as the impeller types that generate the highest shear stresses also produce the highest particle counts. Particle size distributions for all impeller types also show lower mean values for higher shear impellers but also a larger number of fines and a lower number of large particles. Knowledge of the effects of shear stresses in crystallization processes permit better control over final PSDs whether through impeller type selection, rotational speed selected, the use of baffles or a combination of all. Based on extensive experimental data an equation to predict turbulent shear stress in stirred vessels is proposed to prevent the necessity of complex measurement techniques for newly designed crystallization experiments.


In-station Wi-Fi AP deployment provides opportunistic Wi-Fi access in underground Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. But such vehicular network faces the obstacle of limited connection time from the MS on the train to the BS at the station. Therefore, maximizing the throughput during the tens of second intervals becomes crucial to overcome such hindrance. To achieve the goal, we propose Accelerometer-Assisted Rate Adaptation (AARA) to divide the motion of the train into four phases; each adopts a specific rate adaptation mechanism. The experiments show that the average throughput of AARA outperforms that of the conventional scheme.


The education and training systems in many Muslim countries have remained traditional
and resistant to innovation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has attempted to innovate
whilst preserving worthwhile traditions through introducing a system of administration
which combines the modern and the traditional. The attempt has been only partiy
successful. This thesis attempts to throw some light on the main reasons for the
technical/industrial education system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia remaining weak.
Chapter one looks into the historical background of education in the Arabian peninsula
from the period before Islam until the emergence of Saudi Arabia. An attempt has been
made to trace the main historical events which may have some significant effects on the
status of the education and training system. Chapter two presents the contemporary
education and training system in the country and highlights the effects of the weak
relations and coordination between the various training establishments. Chapter three
examines the Government's policies towards technical/industrial education through
studying the five Development Plans (1970 to 1995), which explains the effects of
separate planning for economy and education. Chapter four analyses the general concept
of vocational education in the West as well as the Islamic notions. Some of the most
important reasons for devaluation of the vocational education provision in the West and in
the Islamic world have been discussed. Chapter five presents a historical sketch of the
education and training system in England and extracts some lessons from its experience.
Chapter six presents empirical evidence of weakness of technical/industrial education
through the field work carried out in the industrial institutes in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. The overall summary of the thesis and the conclusions drawn from the present
study are presented in chapter seven.
The traditional view of education was found to be the most important among the
various reasons concluded for the weakness of the education and training system in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It held back the education system in isolation from social and
economic developments and deprived its graduates from effective participation in the
development process of the country. The thesis recommended a comprehensive and
constructive integration of the modern and traditional models in the Kingdom. To
achieve this comprehensive and constructive integration, extensive and broad changes of
attitudes and ways of thinking are required from the policy makers of the educational
system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.


Bedside echocardiography is a cornerstone tool in the management of critically ill patients with hemodynamic compromise. This technique should be considered not only as an imaging technique but as well as a hemodynamical method. Both transthoracic and transesophageal approach are used in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Left ventricular (LV) systolic function can be assessed in daily clinical practice by measuring ejection fraction (EF) and cardiac output. But these indices are dependent on load conditions. Mitral anterior plane systolic excursion and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and speckle tracking by measuring the systolic motion velocity of the mitral annulus and the LV strain may together assess the true contractility of the left ventricle. dP/dt measured on mitral regurgitation flow could help to assess LV contractility. Maximal elastance was described to be the best parameter to evaluate myocardial systolic function but not available in daily practice at the bedside in ICU patients. LV diastolic function and pressure are useful to have a comprehensive evaluation of LV function and could be assessed by recording the mitral flow using pulsed Doppler and the early diastolic velocity of mitral annulus recorded using TDI. Echocardiography should be done in patients with shock to assess the pathophysiology of the shock and in pulmonary oedema to distinguish patients with cardiogenic oedema or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Only echocardiography may assess the hemodynamic of patient with shock and/or respiratory failure and the only tool which permits to diagnose the cause of this hemodynamical failure.


Concept-based explanation aims to provide concise and human-understandable explanations of an image classifier. However, existing concept-based explanation methods typically require a significant amount of manually collected concept-annotated images. This is costly and runs the risk of human biases being involved in the explanation. In this paper, we propose Counterfactual explanation with text-driven concepts (CounTEX), where the concepts are defined only from text by leveraging a pretrained multimodal joint embedding space without additional concept-annotated datasets. A conceptual counterfactual explanation is generated with text-driven concepts. To utilize the text-driven concepts defined in the joint embedding space to interpret target classifier outcome, we present a novel projection scheme for mapping the two spaces with a simple yet effective implementation. We show that CounTEX generates faithful explanations that provide a semantic understanding of model decision rationale robust to human bias.


Objective Suicidal behaviours are poorly understood, making suicides hard to predict and prevent. This study aimed to use the largest twin study outside of the Western world to examine epidemiological correlates and genetic contributions to suicidal ideation, and its relationship with mental health problems. This is particularly pertinent in the context of a high suicide rate in Sri Lanka. Method Active and passive suicidal ideation were assessed in a population-based twin registry (n=3957 twins) and a matched non-twin sample (n=2017). Logistic regression models were used to examine associations with sociodemographic factors, environmental exposures and mental health characteristics. The heritability of suicidal ideation was assessed using genetic model fitting in Mx statistical programme. Results The prevalence of suicidal ideation was not different between twins and non-twins (contrary to previous reports), supporting the generalisability of results from twins to the general population. Factors that predicted suicidal ideation included female gender, termination of marital relationship, low level of education, urban residence, losing a parent while young, low standard of living, and stressful life events in the preceding 12 months. Suicidal ideation was strongly associated with depression, but also with abnormal fatigue, and alcohol and tobacco use. The best fitting genetic model indicated a strong contribution from genetic factors (57%; CI 47–66) and from environmental factors that are not shared across twins (43%; CI 34–53) in both men and women. In women this genetic component appeared to be largely mediated through depression, but in men there was a significant heritable component to suicidal ideation that was independent of depression. Conclusion This study highlights environmental and sociodemographic characteristics that could be used to predict suicidal ideation in a high-prevalence country, although this study did not assess completed suicides. There is sparse prior research on the genetics of suicidal behaviours, and these are the first results to show a genetic contribution that is independent of depression. These results might represent peculiarities in Sri Lanka, but on the contrary our previous research highlights similarities between the aetiology of mental health in Sri Lanka and Western higher-income countries, supporting generalisability across cultural contexts.


Nearly half of all cancer patients unavoidably experience brain metastases (BM) somewhere during their disease course. Current treatment approaches include neurosurgery, whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), chemotherapy, and targeted agents which may be utilized either individually or as any combination, depending on the anticipated patient's prognosis. Radiotherapy, directed to whole-brain contents or exclusively the BMs, is the cornerstone of palliative management of patients with BM. This present review manuscript will particularly focus on the use of two well-established effective palliative radiotherapy modalities and their comparative effectiveness, namely the WBRT and SRS.


Purpose

It is well-known that Beatrice Ensor, who founded the New Education Fellowship (NEF) in 1921, was a Theosophist and that from 1915 the Theosophical Fraternity in Education she established laid the foundations for the NEF. However, little research has been performed on the Fraternity itself. The travels of Theosophists, texts, money and ideas between Auckland, India and London from the late nineteenth century offer insights into "New Education" networking in the British Commonwealth more broadly. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on archival documents from the Adyar Library and Research Centre, International Theosophical Society (TS) headquarters, Chennai, India; the archive at the headquarters of the New Zealand Section of the TS, Epsom, Auckland; the NEF files at the archive of the London Institute of Education; papers past digital newspaper archive.

Findings

New Zealand's first affiliated NEF group was set up by the principal of the Vasanta Gardens Theosophical School, Epsom, in 1933. She was also involved in the New Zealand Section of the Theosophical Fraternity, which held conferences from 1917 to 1927. New Zealand's Fraternity and Theosophical Education Trust had close links with their counterparts in England and India. The setting up of New Zealand's first NEF group was enabled by networks created between Theosophists in New Zealand, India and England from the late nineteenth century.

Originality/value

The contribution of Theosophists to the new education movement has received little attention internationally. Theosophical educational theory and Theosophists' contributions to New Zealand Education have not previously been studied. Combining transnational historiography with critical geography, this case study of networks between New Zealand, Adyar (India) and London lays groundwork for a wider "spatial history" of Theosophy and new education.


Drawing on experimental games and a survey conducted with university students at an elite legal academy in Ukraine, this study compares the behavioral, attitudinal, and demographic traits of students aspiring to public sector legal careers as judges, prosecutors, and investigators with their counterparts aiming to pursue private sector legal careers as defense attorneys and commercial lawyers. I find evidence that students pursuing public sector legal careers display more willingness to cheat or bribe in experimental games as well as lower levels of altruism. These findings indicate that corruption in some societies may persist in part from the self-selection into government institutions of citizens with a higher propensity to seek profit from illicit activities. Moreover, the findings suggest that such corrupt self-selection can infect a country's judicial and law enforcement apparatus, with potentially dire implications for the rule of law.


This paper examines how exposure to both socio-economic and environmental stressors and the interaction between the two affect the population of the Northern coast of the São Paulo State, Brazil. It provides a useful way to examine the multiple and overlapping processes of environmental and social-economic change. Pathways to increased vulnerability are multidimensional, so that socio-economic conditions may mediate the impacts of environmental change, but changing environmental conditions may also alter socio-economic capacities to maintain particular livelihood strategies. By analysing the region, this paper argues that the adaptive capacity is, in general, largely determined by the socio-economic context and the social vulnerability. The finding indicates that socio-economic change brought about in the last four decades due to intense urbanisation, tourism exploitation and increasingly economic activities have deepened social and environmental problems, increasing the vulnerability of particular groups to climate variability and change. The cross-scale nature of the problems and the cross-level interactions of these processes pose significant challenges for governance structures and institutions in place in the region that fail to address the root causes of vulnerability and the consequences of a changing environment and climate.


We report two cases of acquired cystic disease of the kidneys in patients on long-term hemodialysis. The gross appearance of these polycystic kidneys can be distinguished from the congenital adult type by their normal size and weight and by the small range of their cysts. We found some similarity between these numerous cysts and the simple retention cysts. This polycystic disease could concern about 30 % of the whole patients on long-term hemodialysis ; the mechanisms of its development are unknown. Clinically, this lesion is mostly asymptomatic but could sometimes be discovered by intra or perirenal haemorrhage.


This paper discusses the results of a contrastive analysis of subject-verb inversion (SVI) in English and Macedonian, a South Slavic language. We look at sentences, typically encoding thetic statements, in which the subject follows the verb. Both English and Macedonian belong to SVO languages, but unlike English, Macedonian word-order is considerably more flexible due to its rich inflectional morphology. Our main goal is to determine the scope of distribution of SVI in the two languages which will enable to discover the reasons for the distributional differences in the two languages. To achieve this, we compared the semantic, syntactic and discourse-pragmatic properties of the inverted structures in the examples collected from parallel fiction and academic texts. The sharp differences in the use of SVI between the two languages indicate that lexical and grammatical constraints severely restrict SVI in English, in contrast to Macedonian where it is governed by discourse principles.


At extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelengths the refractive power of transmission type optical components is limited, therefore reflective components are used. Reflective optics (multilayer mirrors) usually consist of many bilayers and each bilayer is composed of a high and a low refractive index material to maximize the partial reflection from the interface. For each bilayer composition, the reflectance is dependent on the wavelength and the incidence angle. Here we propose an active multilayer mirror structure which can tune its reflectance with external voltage. The active multilayer mirror is designed to work at EUV lithography wavelengths (around 13.5 nm) in normal incidence configuration by combining Mo/Si multilayer mirrors, a piezoelectric active layer, a buffer layer and electrodes as shown in the figure. Optimization of the structure for maximum reflectance tuning will be explained for different types of light sources by considering the fabrication process.


Abstract. Regional reanalyses provide a dynamically consistent recreation of past weather observations at scales useful for local-scale environmental
applications. The development of convection-permitting models (CPMs) in numerical weather prediction has facilitated the creation of kilometre-scale
(1–4 km) regional reanalysis and climate projections. The Bureau of Meteorology Atmospheric high-resolution Regional Reanalysis for
Australia (BARRA) also aims to realize the benefits of these high-resolution models over Australian sub-regions for applications such as fire danger
research by nesting them in BARRA's 12 km regional reanalysis (BARRA-R). Four midlatitude sub-regions are centred on Perth in Western
Australia, Adelaide in South Australia, Sydney in New South Wales (NSW), and Tasmania. The resulting 29-year 1.5 km downscaled reanalyses
(BARRA-C) are assessed for their added skill over BARRA-R and global reanalyses for near-surface parameters (temperature, wind, and precipitation) at
observation locations and against independent 5 km gridded analyses. BARRA-C demonstrates better agreement with point observations for
temperature and wind, particularly in topographically complex regions and coastal regions. BARRA-C also improves upon BARRA-R in terms of the intensity
and timing of precipitation during the thunderstorm seasons in NSW and spatial patterns of sub-daily rain fields during storm events. BARRA-C
reflects known issues of CPMs: overestimation of heavy rain rates and rain cells, as well as underestimation of light rain occurrence. As a hindcast-only
system, BARRA-C largely inherits the domain-averaged bias pattern from BARRA-R but does produce different climatological extremes for temperature
and precipitation. An added-value analysis of temperature and precipitation extremes shows that BARRA-C provides additional skill over BARRA-R when
compared to gridded observations. The spatial patterns of BARRA-C warm temperature extremes and wet precipitation extremes are more highly
correlated with observations. BARRA-C adds value in the representation of the spatial pattern of cold extremes over coastal regions but remains biased
in terms of magnitude.


Primal neoplasias of the ureter are very rare and account for less than 1% of all genitourinary tumours. Only 20% of them are benign, and the fibroepithelial lineage is the more frequent. We contribute two cases of fibroepithelial polyps of the ureter; a brief comment on the etiology of these lesions, the routine diagnosis procedures and current therapeutical options is presented. Due to breakthroughs in radiologic and endoscopic techniques for the upper urinary tract, a more precise pre-operative diagnosis of these lesions has been achieved as well as a more conservative therapy which avoids incorrect and unnecessary nephroureterectomies, so frequent in past times, considering the benign nature of this unusual pathology.