This Article analyzes whether criminal religious fundamentalists should escape culpability for their wrongdoing under the insanity defense. Made especially salient by Muslim jihadists and Christian abortion clinic bombers, this issue touches on a range of topics, including legal philosophy, free exercise and religious accommodations, mental health and the evidentiary utility of neuroscience, and equality concerns touching on racial and ethnic, gender, and sexual minorities. Above all, this issue touches on an underappreciated tension between two pillars of American law: freedom of religion celebrating the idea that people need never account for their reasons for acceding to faith, and a law of responsibility ubiquitously scrutinizing people's exact reasons for action. It is this tension that most challenges existing doctrinal and scholarly frameworks for the insanity defense, which ultimately fail to justify any distinction between delusion and dogma. Seeking to resolve this tension, this Article argues that reconceptualizing the "cognition of wrongdoing" prong of this defense not only dispatches faith-as-insanity, but also creates a more universally coherent insanity defense framework, resolving the gaps left by existing interpretations in reconciling even less novel phenomena, like psychosis and psychopathy. This prong should place less emphasis on the direct outcomes of a person's thought processes (e.g., the reasons for a person's actions), and instead place greater emphasis on the thought process itself—particularly whether a person has a demonstrated capacity to engage with counterarguments. This capacity should be most determinative of a person's cognition, regardless of whether someone might sincerely believe that his actions are moral—and even, in the many cases where fundamentalists appropriate secular arguments, fully legal. Ultimately, focusing on this capacity for alternative reasoning not only resolves the underappreciated tension between freedom of religious belief and the law of responsibility, but also illuminates the concept of religious accommodations in general.


Author(s): Thompson, Christopher Mark | Advisor(s): Somorjai, Gabor A | Abstract: Sum-frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy has been used to study the interfacial environment in heterogeneously catalyzed alcohol oxidation on platinum catalysts in the liquid phase. In this work, theoretical concepts relevant to studying the metal liquid interface with non-linear spectroscopy are discussed, and the design of a home-built flow reactor cell with in situ SFG capabilities is described. SFG data is correlated with reaction rate measurements in liquid-phase isopropanol and ethanol oxidation in order to deduce the effect of the surface environment on the catalyst activity and to elucidate the evolution of the surface throughout the course of the reaction. In conditions of aqueous oxidation of ethanol and isopropanol to acetaldehyde and acetone, respectively, SFG results show that water and alcohol competitively populate the first molecular layer. The reaction rate of isopropanol shows an enhancement in the concentration regime where both water and isopropanol are present in the interfacial region. Water is thus implicated in the reaction as a stabilizer of an intermediate or serving as a proton acceptor in a deprotonation step. Similar results are seen for ethanol oxidation, but the role of water appears to be different in ethanol oxidation. Non-resonant SFG is used as a probe for oxygen adsorption on the platinum surface, and it is seen that the surface is covered in oxygen during the oxidation reaction. A kinetic model is proposed where the build-up of oxygen on the catalyst surface is prevented by its reaction with surface hydrogen. A key part of the model is its inclusion of a mechanism for positive feedback through a proposed step involving hydrogen abstraction by an adsorbed oxygen species. A synthetic method for synthesizing nanoparticles of diameter less than 2 nm is reported using platinum ion reduction in the poly(amidoamine) dendrimer induced by ultra violet light irradiation. The new method is inspired by the need for a reduction method other than sodium borohydride, which we show is not effective in reducing platinum, because platinum ions are strongly stabilized by multidentate interaction with the dendrimer amide groups. The interfacial orientation of isopropanol on platinum nanoparticles under conditions of gas and liquid phase catalysis is investigated using SFG based orientational analysis. The SFG results show that the isopropanol adopts a much different configuration on platinum in the liquid phase compared to the gas phase. Finally, the adsorption of amino acids at the polystyrene/H2O and SiO2/H2O interfaces is shown to have significant effect on the orientation and/or concentration of water at both interfaces. The effect of these molecules on water spans the range from highly disordering to highly ordering and depends on the amino acid identity.


Many of the recent projects for new transmission line have considered the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system, owing to the many advantages of the direct current (DC) system. The most noteworthy advantage is that a cable can serve as a substitute for the overhead transmission line in residential areas; therefore, the HVDC system application is increasing, and as the number of DC systems in the power system increases, the interaction assessment regarding the HVDC system gains importance. An index named multi-infeed interaction factor (MIIF) is commonly used to estimate the interaction between power converters; however, the HVDC system is composed of two converters and a transmission line. The MIIF represents the interaction between the rectifiers and inverters, but not for the whole system. In this work, a method to assess the interaction of the whole system was therefore studied. To decide on the location of the new HVDC transmission system at the planning stage, in consideration of the interaction of the existing DC system, the line flow change distribution factor, according to the HVDC-transmission capacity change, was examined. Also, a power system transient -stability analysis was performed with different HVDC system locations, depending on the distribution factor. The simulation results indicate that when the factor is higher, two HVDC systems have a stronger interaction and are less stable in the transient state.


Increased global demand for bluefin tuna has triggered unsustainable fishing and many wild stocks have seen dramatic declines. Improved fisheries governance is now slowly stabilizing many stocks and recently bluefin aquaculture has emerged as an economic alternative route for supplying the market. Most of captured bluefin tuna directly enters the global seafood market, but an increasing part of catches are destined to aquaculture (17–37%) as bluefin aquaculture almost exclusively depends on wild specimens for stocking. Farming is mainly being performed in the Mediterranean region, Mexico, Australia, and Japan. Few studies have focused on the global importance and future role of bluefin aquaculture and there are confounding uncertainties related to production volumes and trends. This study provides an overview of global bluefin tuna aquaculture and identifies its direct and indirect interactions with wild fish stocks, outlines some of the challenges for future expansion as well as pointing out significant mismatch of production statistics.


Aims: Low-grade myofibroblastic sarcoma (LGMS) represents a rare soft tissue neoplasm with a predilection for the head and neck. Intra-abdominal LGMS are rare with only four unequivocal examples reported so far. Two further cases in females in their 60s and 70s are analysed here. Methods: Immunohistochemical stains were applied on fresh-cut sections using the avidin–biotin complex method and the following antibodies: vimentin, α-SMA, desmin, h-caldesmon, S-100, CD117, CD34, fibronectin, HMB45, Pan-keratin, Ki-67, β-catenin, MDM2, PDGFRα, PDGFRβ and ALK-1. Genomic DNA was isolated from microdissected formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumour tissue and examined for KIT and PDGFRA mutations by PCR and direct sequencing of KIT and PDGFRA. Ultrastructural studies were also performed. Results: The tumours arose in the mesentery and the pelvic peritoneum. Both revealed features intermediate between conventional fibrosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma with fascicles of spindled, stellated or plump cells possessing fusiform indented vesicular nuclei and pale eosinophilic cytoplasm. Mitotic activity ranged from 1 to 15 per 10 HPFs. The tumour cells strongly expressed vimentin, variably α-smooth muscle actin and fibronectin, but were negative for CD117, S-100, desmin, h-caldesmon, β-catenin, ALK-1, MDM2, PDGFRα and PDGFRβ. One tumour showed a weak expression of CD34. Molecular analysis revealed a wild-type KIT, exons 9, 11 and 13, and PDGFRA, exons 12 and 18. The patients developed multiple peritoneal recurrences at 5, 13 and 25 months, and 10, 19, 25 and 32 months, and were alive at 25 and 32 months, respectively. Distant metastases were not detected. Conclusion: Abdominopelvic LGMS follows a more aggressive clinical course characterised by a higher propensity for local recurrence, contrasting their more superficially located counterparts. LGMS may mimic a variety of benign and low-grade malignant neoplasms and might be under-recognised.


Pressure measurements were performed on various configurations of two high-rise building models in two atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnels in the Netherlands. A comparison was made of the interference factors of the minimum and maximum peak pressures over all pressure taps at 0 degree angle of incidence obtained for measurements on the configurations with an interfering model of similar size and shape as the reference model. Both studies observed increases of 30-40% in the minimum and maximum peak pressure for the tandem arrangement configurations (Y = 0) with the interfering model at (X = 4B – 6B). Both studies furthermore determined that when the interfering model is positioned at a distance Y > 3B, there is no influence on the maximum peak pressures over all pressure taps. For an interfering model in the region (X, Y) = (2.5B – 6B, B – 6B), both studies observed increases in minimum peak pressure ranging between 10-50%.


The Archean North China craton is composed of the Western block, Eastern block, and the intervening Central orogenic belt. A 4–10-km-wide and 85-km-long tectonic melange belt informally called the Zanhuang tectonic melange is documented in the Zanhuang Massif of the Central orogenic belt, separating the Eastern block from an Archean arc terrane in the Central orogenic belt. The melange belt contains a structurally complex tectonic mixture of metapelites, metapsammites, marbles, and quartzites mixed with exotic tectonic blocks of volcanic, mafic, and ultramafic rocks, metabasalts that locally include relict pillow structures, and tonalite-trondhjemite-granodiorite (TTG) gneisses. The Zanhuang tectonic melange marks the suture of an arc-continent collisional zone between the Western Zanhuang Massif in the Central orogenic belt and the Eastern block of the North China craton, and it is one of the best-preserved Archean tectonic melanges in the world. Here, using zircon U-Pb dating of various types of blocks from the Zanhuang melange, we show that the formation and associated deformation of the Zanhuang melange occurred in the Neoarchean (ca. 2.5 Ga). High-precision (1:20–1:200) lithostructural mapping of three key outcrops reveals details of the internal fabrics and kinematics of the melange and regional structural relationships along the arc-continent collisional zone. A synthesis of studies on the tectonic evolution of the North China craton, coupled with our new fabric and kinematic analysis of the Zanhuang melange, further constrains the initial amalgamation timing and geometry of the arc-continent collision between the Fuping arc terrane in the Central orogenic belt and the Eastern block with a northwest-dipping subduction polarity. The asymmetric structures and mixture of different blocks and matrices with folding and thrusting events in the Zanhuang melange record kinematic information that is consistent with the tectonic setting of an accretionary wedge that was thrust over the passive margin of the Eastern block by 2.5 Ga. Lithostructural mapping shows that the classic melange and fold-and-thrust structures along the Neoarchean arc-continent collisional zone are broadly similar to Phanerozoic collisional belts.


BACKGROUND
Guidelines recommend that patients receiving warfarin undergo international normalized ratio (INR) monitoring every 4 weeks.

OBJECTIVE
To investigate whether assessment of warfarin dosing every 12 weeks is as safe as assessment every 4 weeks.

DESIGN
Noninferiority randomized trial. The randomization schedule (in a 1:1 ratio) was computer-generated, and allocation was concealed until the database was locked by using a centralized schedule. Patients, study and clinical personnel, adjudicators of clinical events, and the study statistician were blinded to treatment assignment. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00356759) SETTING: Single center in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

PATIENTS
250 patients receiving long-term warfarin therapy, whose dose was unchanged for at least 6 months; 226 completed the study.

INTERVENTION
Dosing assessment every 12 weeks (n = 124) compared with every 4 weeks (n = 126) for 12 months. Patients in the 12-week group were tested every 4 weeks; sham INRs within the target range were reported for two of the three 4-week periods.

MEASUREMENTS
Percentage of time in the therapeutic range (primary outcome) and number of extreme INRs, changes in maintenance dose, major bleeding events, objectively verified thromboembolism, and death (secondary outcomes).

RESULTS
The percentage of time in the therapeutic range was 74.1% (SD, 18.8%) in the 4-week group compared with 71.6% (SD, 20.0%) in the 12-week group (absolute difference, 2.5 percentage points [1-sided 97.5% upper confidence bound, 7.3 percentage points]; noninferiority P = 0.020 for a 7.5-percentage point margin). Fewer patients in the 12-week group than in the 4-week group had any dose changes (37.1% vs. 55.6%; absolute difference, 18.5 percentage points [95% CI, 6.1 to 30.0 percentage points]; P = 0.004). Secondary outcomes did not differ between groups.

LIMITATIONS
Patients in the 12-week group had testing and contact with clinic staff every 4 weeks. The study was conducted at a single center and used surrogate outcomes.

CONCLUSION
Assessment of warfarin dosing every 12 weeks seems to be safe and noninferior to assessment every 4 weeks. A comparison of INR testing, patient contact, and warfarin dose assessment every 12 weeks versus every 4 weeks is necessary before INR testing every 12 weeks can be routinely recommended for practice.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
Physicians' Services Incorporated Foundation.


Summary form only given. From the earliest beginnings of mobile communications to the present time, there has always been a high demand for realistic mobile radio channel models. This demand is driven by the fact that channel models are indispensable for the performance evaluation, parameter optimisation, and test of mobile communication systems. Channel modelling and simulation techniques are therefore of great importance for electronics and telecommunication engineers who are involved in the development of present and future mobile communication systems. This presentation will start with a review of the basic principles of mobile radio channel modelling and gradually moves to more advanced modelling and simulation techniques. The objective is to provide an overview on commonly used design methodologies enabling the development of channel models for present and future wireless communication systems. All presented channel models have in common that they are derived from a superposition of a finite number of complex sinusoids. However, the design methodologies differ in the way of computing the model parameters determining the statistical behaviour of the channel model. It will be shown that the proposed channel models are widely flexible, which enables an excellent fitting of their principal statistical properties against measurement data of real-world channels or against the statistics of specified reference channel models. Special interest will be paid to the presentation of cutting-edge research on the modelling of mobile-to-mobile MIMO channels, vehicle-to-vehicle MIMO channels, and mobile channels for relay-based cooperative networks. In addition, techniques will be presented for the development of measurement-based mobile radio channel models. The statistical properties of the channel models will be investigated with emphasis on the dis


Synopsis The combination of a quadratic phase sequence with balanced gradients leads to an oscillating steady state (OSS) MRI signal with an average signal amplitude that is 2-3 times the Ernst angle GRE imaging. With signal phase varies with off-resonance making the resultant signal T2*-weighted and thus, suitable for BOLD fMRI. In this work, simulations of changes to the tissue T2*, as seen in fMRI, are carried out for OSS and compared to GRE. The OSS method is compared to GRE for high-resolution fMRI studies, demonstrating substantially higher activation counts as well as temporal SNR (tSNR).


Gender studies on food security have often focused on the differences between male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs). Hence, they have mostly ignored the possibility of food security gaps between the different types of FHHs, treating them as homogeneous. Therefore, using nationally representative data from Nepal and applying exogenous switching treatment effect regression models, this study investigated whether food security differences exist between de facto FHHs (i.e., households managed by a woman whose husband is physically not present at home owing to work outside) and de jure FHHs (i.e., households managed by a single, widowed, or divorced woman). Contrary to the general hypothesis, this study did not find any significant difference in the food security status between MHHs and FHHs. Nevertheless, it found that food security is significantly lower among de jure FHHs than among MHHs. More surprising, considering the common belief, is that the food security difference between de facto FHHs and de jure FHHs is larger than the difference between de jure FHHs and MHHs. It is possible to explain these gaps between MHHs and de jure FHHs by unobserved heterogeneity effects but not by treatment effects, while both treatment effects (i.e., differences in returns to their assets, such as participation in off-farm income) and unobserved heterogeneity effects explain the differences between de facto and de jure FHHs. The results have important policy implications, primarily because they reject the general notion that FHHs are less food secure, and strongly recommend a deeper investigation into the heterogeneity among FHHs. This has a crucial implication for designing government policy related to two important Sustainable Development Goals—gender equality and food security.


The preparation of microporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) at industrial scales requires careful selection of the metal precursor to ensure the sustainability of the synthetic process, in terms of both the environmental impact and cost. The use of earth abundant minerals is attractive for this purpose, provided that they are sufficiently reactive under the conditions of MOF formation. In this work, we investigate the use of copper carbonate and its naturally-occurring counterparts, malachite and azurite, as precursors for the synthesis of Cu3(btc)2 (HKUST-1; btc3-=1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate). Using a water/ethanol solution of copper carbonate and H3btc, HKUST-1 was obtained at room temperature within 3 hrs, as confirmed by a suite of characterization techniques. The identity of the products was determined by the reaction conditions, highlighting the importance of optimizing the synthetic parameters. When prepared under optimized conditions, HKUST-1 synthesized here showed analogous performance characteristics to materials obtained by traditional solvothermal methods, thus our results confirm that high-quality samples of MOFs can be easily derived from mineral precursors.


The interfaces formed by water and aqueous solutions with organic soft matter play an important part in nature and technological applications. Good examples are provided by water in contact with surfactants, self-assembled monolayers, polymers, biomembranes, and other biological matter. A characteristic feature of most soft organic-aqueous interfaces is a deep interpenetration of the aqueous and organic phases, resulting in a wide interfacial region that can formally be regarded as an interphase. The anisotropy, inhomogeneity, thermal disorder, and large extension of the interfacial region in width make the structure and properties of such interfaces difficult to study with the available experimental techniques. The situation is particularly complicated in sandwich-like systems, where water or an aqueous solution is nanoconfined between organic phases. This occurs, for instance, when two biomembranes come close together, so that their interfacial regions interact and intersect.


The decrease layur fish export in Pelabuhanratu. The roof of the problems are human resources or human capital, performance and supply chain problems. The purpose of this study is formulating the strategy of increasing fisherman performance strategy in ribbon fish supply chain through develop human capital. The increase of fisherman performance is got from the observe activity depth interview with the people who are related to and fishbone chart analized to identify problems which happened in fisherman that cause decreasing fish export and analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used for the strategy to get a strategy which is suitanable with the fisherman. From the analyze result that we have done with strategy wisdom we are got is increasing training strategy which is adapted with the requirements we hope that it can increase fisherman performance, we hope that the welfare of fisherman will increase.


It has long been taught and believed that patients with depression and suicidal tendencies are at heightened risk of suicide as they begin to recover and their energy and motivation return. What are the data behind this enduring belief? More than a century ago, eminent clinicians noted that some patients with depression committed suicide just as their depression seemed to be improving. The clinicians went on to warn that early recovery carries a high risk of suicide. Although no studies have tracked suicide along with symptomatic change in depression, recent large-scale studies of suicide and phase of treatment do not indicate that suicide is more likely to occur early in recovery than at other times. Our forebears helpfully pointed out that patients with depression may commit suicide as they are beginning to recover. But the idea that these patients are at particular risk of suicide at this time, intuitively plausible as it is, remains to be substantiated.


A multiple-choice feeding experiment was conducted on the two sea urchins, viz ., Salmacis virgulata and Temnopleurus toreumaticus, in four feeding assays with 12 varieties of seagrass and seaweed. The results of the study have revealed that the species Caulerpa peltata , C. racemosa , Kappaphycus alvarezii and Padina tetrastromatica occupied the top feeding positions in the descending order for S. virgulata . But for T. toreumaticus , the order of preference was observed to decrease sequentially for C. peltata , Cymodocea serrulata , C. racemosa and Syringodium isoetifolium . This study further revealed that there was a leaning preference towards seagrass species in T. toreumaticus which was conspicuously absent in S. virgulata . This kind of studies would pave way to better understand sea urchin ecology and its urchin barren phenomenon.


Vacuum bag only (VBO) cure is one of out-of-autoclave (OOA) methods that are attractive alternatives to the conventional autoclave-based cure method. Though prepreg sheets are used for the VBO method, only vacuum pressure is applied. Thus, products can be fabricated without any size constraints, and the manufacturing cost is significantly reduced. However, low applied pressure leads to higher void content in VBO products than that in autoclave cured ones, degrading their quality. Several researchers investigated void emergence and fiber impregnation. Although important insights have been obtained in these works, no researches addressed the residual strain which also affects part quality. This study measured strain development during the VBO cure using fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors which is one of the optical fiber sensors. Specimens were fabricated with two cure processes: one was the manufacturer's recommended cure cycle (MRCC) and the other was a modified cure cycle that was proposed in this study to reduce the residual strain. Cross sectional observation was also conducted to evaluate the void content. The results revealed that the residual strain is 1300 μe smaller in the modified cure than the MRCC even though the void contents are the same. It implies that the internal strain state should be considered in addition to the void content to achieve high quality parts. Then, a tensile test was performed to evaluate the effect of the residual strain on the strength. Cross ply specimens fabricated with the two cure cycles were tested. The modified cured specimen showed 450 μe higher strength than the MRCC cured specimen, showing the effectiveness of the modified cure cycle.


ABSTRACT The Sterkfontein Caves UNESCO World Heritage site represents one of South Africa's most valuable cultural heritage resources and is one of the world's most prolific palaeoanthropological sites with its fossiliferous deposits spanning the last 3.5 million years. One of the most famous fossil-bearing deposits at Sterkfontein is the 2.5 million-year-old Member 4. This is the world's richest Australopithecus-bearing deposit and has yielded iconic fossils like StS 5 – Mrs Ples, StW 53, two partial skeletons, and two species of Australopithecus. After 80 years of research, Member 4 continues to provide crucial evidence for human origins research. Over the last 35 years, since excavation of the Member 4 started exposing the walls of the deposit, their deterioration has been accelerating. The implications of this deterioration and impending collapse are severe, not only from a palaeoanthropological perspective but also a heritage management point of view. This article focuses on our efforts to conserve the deteriorating areas of the Member 4 excavation site. The project required the development of a comprehensive set of strategies that had to be adapted to the specific requirements of the national and local heritage management agencies and remain sensitive to ongoing research programmes. The strategy developed included: multiscale integrative documentation of the exposed deposits; comprehensive, independent but cohesive stabilization of the different components of the deposit while maintaining visibility for ongoing and future research; and installation of stabilization infrastructure that could be adapted to the long-term conservation excavation plan while maintaining deposit integrity and site safety.


Hardware and software of the universally applicable instrument referred to as a 2D/3D total station are described here, as well as its practical use. At its core it consists of a 3D camera often also called a ToF camera, a pmd camera or a RIM-camera – combined with a common industrial 2D camera. The cameras are rigidly coupled with their optical axes in parallel. A new type of instrument was created mounting this 2D/3D system on a tripod in a specific way. Because of it sharing certain characteristics with a total station and a tacheometer, respectively, the new device was called a 2D/3D total station. It may effectively replace a common total station or a laser scanner in some respects. After a brief overview of the prototype's features this paper then focuses on the methodological characteristics for practical application. Its usability as a universally applicable stand-alone instrument is demonstrated for surveying, recording RGB-coloured point clouds as well as delivering images for documentation and visualisation. Because of its limited range (10m without reflector and 150 m to reflector prisms) and low range accuracy (ca. 2 cm to 3 cm) compared to present-day total stations and laser scanners, the practical usage of the 2D/3D total station is currently limited to acquisition of accidents, forensic purpuses, speleology or facility management, as well as architectural recordings with low requirements regarding accuracy. However, the author is convinced that in the near future advancements in 3D camera technology will allow this type of comparatively low cost instrument to replace the total station as well as the laser scanner in an increasing number of areas.


Laser shock peening (LSP) is a surface treatment process to improve the surface integrity of metallic components. The nearly pure mechanical process of LSP results in favorable surface integrity such as compressive residual stress and improved surface material properties. Since LSP is a transient process with laser pulse duration time on the order of 40 ns, real time in-situ measurement of laser/material interaction is very challenging, if not impossible. A fundamental understanding of laser/material interactions is essential for LSP planning. Previous finite element simulations of LSP have been limited to a single laser shock location for both two and three dimensional modeling. However, actual LSP are performed in a massively parallel mode which involves almost simultaneous multi-laser/material interactions in order to induce uniform compressive residual stress across the entire surface of the workpiece. The massively parallel laser/material interactions have a significant compound/interfering effect on the resulting surface integrity of the workpiece. The numerical simulation of shock pressure as a function of time and space during LSP is another critical problem. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of parallel multiple laser/material interactions on the stress/strain distributions in the workpiece during LSP of AISI 52100 steel. FEA simulations of LSP in single and multiple passes were performed with the developed spatial and temporal shock pressure model via a subroutine. The simulated residual stresses agree with the measured data in nature and trend, while magnitude can be influenced by the interactions between neighboring peening zones and the locations of residual stress measurement. Design-of-experiment (DOE) based simulations of massive parallel LSP were also performed to determine the effects of laser intensity, laser spot size, and peening spacing on stresses and strains. Increasing the laser intensity increases both the stress magnitude and affected depth. The use of smaller laser spot sizes decreases the largest magnitude of residual stress and also decreases the depth affected by LSP. Larger spot sizes have less energy attenuation and cause more plastic deformation. Spacing between peening zones is critical for the uniformity of mechanical properties across the surface. The greatest uniformity and largest stress magnitudes are achieved by overlapping of the laser spots.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


Computer power that formerly only was available in offices and homes have now moved out on the roads, seas and beyond. Everything that can be mobile will be, and today only our fantasies are the limit as to what mobile devices can and will do. Mobile devices can be used for anything from taking notes in a business meeting to track down giraffes in a field study in Africa. When we do traditional usability tests on applications using stationary computers the context is controlled and not especially relevant. The computers in the labs are more or less in the same context as when they are used in offices and homes. But for mobile devices, testing might make the result irrelevant since it fails to take the context of its use into consideration. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate the usability testing methods and theories from a mobile perspective. This is to find out if and where the conventional usability methods fail and what they fail to detect when applied to mobile devices. How can the usability methods of today be extended to facilitate the testing of mobile devices in its right context? We have done empirical tests of usability methods in usability laboratories and conducted expert interviews with researchers from the mobile as well as the usability field. Together with literature studies and informal interviews we analyze and discuss around rigour vs. relevance in laboratory and mobile settings. We used triangulation on the usability methods we tested and combined these results with the results from the expert interviews. First of all we found that there is indeed a need for a way to conduct mobile usability testing. The conventional usability tests take little or no consideration to the context of its use. All it measures is how good the gadget is in an officelike environment like in for example a usability lab. We propose a new tactic for usability test mobile gadgets. The tactic consists of conventional usability methods combined with an ethnographical study of the use of the gadget in the real world and a role-playing part where made up tasks are conducted in real life. This is to combine both rigour and relevance in the testing and introduce contextual aspects. Tomas Lindroth, Stefan Nilsson and Per-Ola Rasmussen ExarbII – HT2000


Point-to-point or point-to-multipoint optical access systems are now considered as a viable alternative to xDSL technologies for broadband services. Point-to-multipoint WDM-PONs are the most advanced solution in this matter. Multiple architectures have been proposed since a few years for Next Generation WDM PON (NG-WDM-PON) operating on an hybrid TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) and WDMA (Wavelength Division Multiple Access) mode. For that purpose, three key optoelectronic devices are considered: reflective modulators, AWG (Arrayed Waveguide Gratings) routers and tunable transceivers. The major investigations in this domain are mainly focused on physical layer aspects and on MAC protocols. In this paper, we propose an original control plane for NG-WDM-PON operating at two timescales: microscopic and macroscopic. The former deals with traditional packet access whereas the latter aims at two objectives. The first objective is to assign connections to upstream optical channels in order to optimize network utilization. The latter enables to reallocate dynamically the number of optical channels to the various PONs of the system. Numerous numerical results are presented in order to outline the benefit of this control plane. It becomes then possible to shift optical resources among the various geographical areas of the system according to their medium term activity.


There is growing international interest in a Canadian-style points system for selecting economic immigrants. Although existing points systems have been influenced by the human capital literature, the findings have traditionally been incorporated in an ad hoc way. This paper explores a formal method for designing a points system based on a human capital earnings regression for predicting immigrant economic success. The method is implemented for Canada using the IMDB, a remarkable longitudinal database that combines information on immigrants' characteristics at landing with their subsequent income performance as reported on tax returns. We demonstrate the feasibility of the method by developing an illustrative points system. We also explore how the selection system can be improved by incorporating additional information such as country-of origin characteristics and intended occupations. We discuss what our findings imply for the debate about the relative merits of points- and employment-based systems for selecting economic immigrants.


Side-chain carboxyl and carbonyl groups play a major role in protein interactions and enzyme catalysis. A series of (13)C relaxation experiments is introduced to study the dynamics of carboxyl and carbonyl groups in protein side chains on both fast (sub-ns) and slower (micros-ms) time scales. This approach is illustrated on the protein calbindin D(9k). Fast dynamics features correlate with hydrogen- and ion-binding patterns. We also identify chemical dynamics on micros time scales in solvent-exposed carboxyl groups, most probably due to exchange between the carboxylate and carboxylic acid forms.


Donor agencies have heavily funded livelihood programs in Kilifi County but these projects struggle with sustainability with some dying immediately the funding is withdrawn. The objective of the study was to establish how to support service linkage strategy influence sustainability of donor-funded livelihood projects in Kilifi County. The study was guided by Discovery Learning theory; Diffusion of Innovation theory; Lippitt's theory of planned change; and Theory of Stakeholder Management. A descriptive correlational research design was used. A sample size of 170 was selected from a population of 295 from three livelihood projects using Slovin's formula. 7 interviews and 3 focus group discussions were carried out. Prior to data analysis, statistical assumptions were tested. Standard deviations, standard error of means and arithmetic means were used for descriptive analysis while Pearson's Product moment correlation and linear regression, F-tests, and t-tests were used for inferential analysis using statistical package for social sciences. The mean perception of sustainability did not differ significantly with projects (p=0.192), gender (p=0.669), age (p=0.724), and marital status (p=0.284). However, there was a significant difference in mean perception of the sustainability of donor-funded livelihood projects among the different groups based on the highest level of education attained (p=0.011) and duration of stay in the project (p=000162). H0, r=0.383, p=0.000027<0.05 was rejected and concluded that support service linkages significantly influenced the sustainability of donor-funded livelihood projects. Therefore, policies should be reviewed to provide an enabling environment and culture that will support access to support services such as affordable extension services, affordable and readily available credit, markets. Future studies should use simple and direct Likert items with diverse projects...


There are many orally ingested nutrients which cannot be fully absorbed by the human body. For this reason scientists have been experimenting with different techniques to improve nutrient bioavailability. Among these techniques microencapsulation has been extensively used in industry in recent years, especially liposomal technology. Briefly, polar lipids are used to create spherical capsules, called liposomes, where solids, liquids or gaseous materials compounds can be entrapped. This technique is used to stabilize certain compounds in nutritional supplements and fortified foods, which would otherwise slowly degrade and lose their nutritional value, as well as improve their bioavailability. Although there has been limited research investigating nutrients that potentially might impact exercise performance (e.g. liposomal vitamin C and liposomal iron), there is currently no published evidence for the use of liposomal supplementation in this context. With the potential to augment nutrient bioavailability, further research should consider the application of liposomal formulations as a strategy to improve exercise performance.


The work described in this thesis is directed towards study of the magnetostriction in the Gd-Tb alloy system using resistive strain gauge technique. The experiments were carried out at various ranges of temperatures between 4.5 K and 250 K, and magnetic fields up to 13 Tesla were available. High quality single crystals of Gd(_0.95)Tb(_0.05') Gd(_0.80)Tb(_0.20')Gd(_0.50)Tb(_0.50), and Gd(_0.25)Tb(_0.75) were used to measure the four magnetostriction coefficients λ(^y,2), λ(^a,2)(_2), λ(^a,2)(_1) and λ(^E,2) temperature dependences of the magnetostriction coefficients were fitted with both single-ion mechanism and a theory containing a term representing a two-ion interaction. Only the values of the magnetostric tion coefficients for the samples containing high concentration of Terbium obey the single-ion I5/2 [ £(^-1)(m(_n))]. However, the experimental results were better fitted using the other theory, but in most cases the fit was less close than could have been desired. An anomalous behaviour was observed for the samples containing 5% and 20% of Terbium in the magnetostriction curves along the c-axis, 45 to c-axis, and b-axes in the b-c plane. These anomalies disappeared by raising the field and temperature above 70-K. Another anomaly was observed in the temperature dependence of λ(^a,2)(_2) for the sample containing 20% of Terbium where a very sharp peak was obtained for this coefficient at 60 K. The variation of the coefficients λ(^y),2, λ(^a,2)(_2) with alloy composition were able to be represented using an exponential relation, while a linear relation was found for the coefficient λ(^a,2)(_I). The values of the coefficients extrapolated well to the values of the pure metalsgiven by previous workers. The ratio λ(^e,2)(o) / λ(^y,2)(_o) was found to have anomalously large values compared with that expected for the heavy rare earth metals and increase with increasing Terbium concentration in the alloy.


5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT; serotonin) has been implicated in the perception of exercise-induced fatigue. Sumatriptan is a selective 5-HT(1B/D) receptor agonist which does not cross the blood-brain barrier. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of sumatriptan on exercise capacity. Ten healthy male subjects (mean age 28.4+/-10.8 years) performed a maximal treadmill exercise test according to the Bruce protocol with expired gas analysis on two occasions. Either 6 mg of sumatriptan or placebo was administered subcutaneously in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Exercise time was greater after placebo compared with sumatriptan [914 and 879 s respectively; 95% confidence interval (CI) of difference 12.1 s, 59.1 s; P = 0.008]. There was no significant effect on peak oxygen consumption (placebo, 50.6+/-6.3 ml.min(-1).kg(-1); sumatriptan, 51.7+/-7.6 ml.min(-1).kg(-1)). Sumatriptan administration resulted in decreases in both heart rate (sumatriptan, 188+/-14 beats/min, placebo, 196+/-12 beats/min; 95% CI of difference 12.6, 2.6; P = 0.008) and respiratory exchange ratio (sumatriptan, 1.23+/-0.06; placebo, 1.26+/-0.07; 95% CI of difference 0.05, 0.01; P = 0.01) at peak exercise. There were no significant differences in blood pressure, heart rate or submaximal oxygen consumption between sumatriptan and placebo treatments at any stage of exercise. Thus sumatriptan reduces maximal exercise capacity in normal males. The failure to demonstrate any haemodynamic or cardiorespiratory effect suggests that sumatriptan enhances perception of fatigue by a peripheral mechanism affecting 5-HT modulation.


With each CMOS technology generation, leakage energy has been increasing at an exponential rate. Since modern processors employ large last level caches (LLCs), their leakage energy consumption has become an important concern in modern chip design. To address this issue, several techniques have been proposed. However, most of these techniques require offline profiling and hence, cannot be used in real-life systems which run trillions of instructions of arbitrary applications. In this paper, we propose Palette, a technique for saving cache leakage energy using cache coloring. Palette uses a small hardware component called reconfigurable cache emulator, to estimate performance and energy consumption of multiple cache configurations and then selects the configuration with least energy consumption. Simulations performed with SPEC2006 benchmarks show the superiority of Palette over existing cache energy saving technique. With a 2MB baseline cache, the average saving in memory sub-system energy and EDP (energy delay product) are 31.7% and 29.5%, respectively.


The treatment of glenoid bone loss in the setting of recurrent anterior shoulder instability has been a point of debate in orthopaedic surgery. The decision of when to treat with soft tissue stabilization only versus augmenting the glenoid with a bone graft, and which bone graft to use, has provoked varying opinions. In this review, we explore the different treatment options for these patients, when bony augmentation should be implemented, and the benefits and drawbacks of several different graft options.


Even under normoxic conditions, vaccinia virus uses the protein C16 to activate the hypoxic response in infected cells. Several viruses stabilize hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) to induce the hypoxic response in infected cells even under normoxic conditions. Vaccinia virus is used in the live vaccine against smallpox and is a useful delivery system for research purposes. Mazzon et al. performed a TAP (tandem affinity purification) screen with the vaccinia virus protein C16 and found that it bound to prolyl hydroxylase 2 (PHD2), the enzyme responsible for the initial modification that ultimately targets HIF-1α for degradation under normoxic conditions. In vitro binding assays with purified recombinant C16 and the C-terminal residues of PHD2 (containing the catalytic domain) showed that the interaction was direct. Molecular modeling analysis indicated that the N-terminal portion of C16 adopted a secondary structure similar to that of the catalytic domain of PHD2, and C16 lacking this region did not bind to PHD2. C16 inhibited the in vitro hydroxylation of a domain of HIF-1α that is a substrate for PHD2 by the catalytic portion of PHD2. The abundances of HIF-1α and the mRNAs for two HIF-1α target genes were increased in cells transfected with C16 but not another viral protein. Nuclear translocation of HIF-1α and induction of HIF-1α target gene expression occurred in cells infected with wild-type virus but not virus lacking C16. Viruses may activate this hypoxic response to reprogram the infected cells into a state more conducive to viral replication, and vaccinia virus now joins the ranks of several other viruses, including oncogenic viruses, that trigger this response. M. Mazzon, N. E. Peters, C. Loenarz, E. M. Krysztofinska, S. W. J. Ember, B. J. Ferguson, G. L. Smith, A mechanism for induction of a hypoxic response by vaccinia virus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 110, 12444–12449 (2013). [Abstract] [Full Text]


BACKGROUND:
 Intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) therapy has been established by randomized clinical trials for administration within 4.5 hours. Both the MERCI Retrieval Device and the Penumbra Aspiration System are options for endovascular mechanical embolectomy based on single-arm studies of treatment initiated within 8 hours. Both devices receive Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reimbursement at a higher rate than IV rtPA. In this context, we sought to determine if embolectomy use is increasing over time, and further characterize this group.

 METHODS:
 We reviewed the Premier Perspective Database for ischemic stroke-related hospitalizations (ICD-9 codes 433.x1, 434.x1 and 436) of patients of 18+ years during 2008, 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. This database includes all payor sources, and additional demographic and drug utilization data, from a sampling of 15% of US hospitals. We identified 187,764 (92%) from such hospitalizations representing first admissions. Use of reperfusion therapies was determined through the thrombolysis procedure code (99.10), pharmacy records (use of 50 or 100 mg Alteplase vials), hospital billing information (notation of the Penumbra or MERCI device), and/or the mechanical thrombectomy procedure code (39.74). We also compared characteristics of those treated with mechanical embolectomy versus thrombolysis alone.

 RESULTS:
 An increasing proportion of ischemic strokes were treated with reperfusion therapies each year: 4.1%( 2482/61096) in 2008, 4.7% (2983/63093) in 2009, and 5.4% (3451/63575) in 2010 (p<0.001). Embolectomy use almost doubled (191%), and also increased as a proportion of reperfusion treatments by 37%, over the last three years: 11.1% (275/2482) in 2008, 11.9% (354/2983) in 2009, and 15.2% (524/3451) in 2010 (p<0.001). Overall, those who received embolectomy, as compared to rtPA alone, were younger (66.7 vs 69.5 mean years; p<0.001), with higher mortality rates (28% vs 11%; p<0.001), at larger hospitals (43% vs 37% >500 beds; p<0.001), at teaching hospitals (68% vs 49%; p<0.001), at urban hospitals, (95.5% vs 93.2%;p=0.003), on Medicare (63% vs 57%; p<0.001), and of Caucasian race (72.45 vs 67.4%;p<0.001). Multimodal imaging use, based on CT-perfusion on patient bills, was more common among those treated with embolectomy than rtPA alone (4.0 vs 1.8% in 2008, p=0.021; 17.8 vs 5.6% in 2009, p<0.001; 24.2 vs 6.7% in 2010, p<0.001).

 CONCLUSIONS:
 Mechanical embolectomy use has almost doubled in the US over the last three years, and is associated with a substantially higher rate of CT-based multimodal imaging use. As healthcare resources are increasingly being used to treat patients with mechanical embolectomy, it becomes imperative that the effectiveness of mechanical embolectomy and associated CT-based multimodal imaging selection be determined in definitive clinical trials.


Standardization in the management system becomes a key task of the managers and a priority issue for survival of every organization of this century. Besides the company's owner which is mostly concerned with the profit and fast multiplication of its invested capital, many other parties such as consumers, community, employees, deliverers and the society make a pressure in demanding. As of those demands the organization is to adapt its management system according the standards in order to be safe that the expectations will be fulfilled. However, to fulfill the standards in Europe and worldwide it is necessary to approach towards huge - radical changes in problem solving i.e. reengineering, new manner of consideration of causes and not as the so far known way- thinking over the consequences. Implementing this new TQM strategy means designing solidly documented quality system that covers every working process in a company and appears as a necessary base for successful usage of statistical process control (SPC) and efficient teamwork which otherwise in case of bad quality system will not be able to be set. In this manner it is guaranteed that the attitude of the top management is conducted; this attitude is consisted within the quality policy that creates a climate and information base where team work can be developed. This paper offers a proposal methodology for designing and implementation of internal standardization of TQM system in companies. This methodology is applicable in factory for reconstruction of wagons and in a factory for confectionary production and has shown its efficiency and usage. In order to design the processes in line with the consumers/ clients content and at the same time to achieve profitability, it is necessary to reengineer the working processes.
Keywords: TQM system, reengineering, methodology, internal standardization.


ABSTRACT Arabinoxylan is a heteropolymeric chain of a β-1,4-linked xylose backbone substituted with arabinose residues, representing a principal component of plant cell walls. Here we developed recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains as whole-cell biocatalysts capable of combining hemicellulase production, xylan hydrolysis, and hydrolysate fermentation into a single step. These strains displayed a series of uni-, bi-, and trifunctional minihemicellulosomes that consisted of a miniscaffoldin (CipA3/CipA1) and up to three chimeric enzymes. The miniscaffoldin derived from Clostridium thermocellum contained one or three cohesin modules and was tethered to the cell surface through the S. cerevisiae a-agglutinin adhesion receptor. Up to three types of hemicellulases, an endoxylanase (XynII), an arabinofuranosidase (AbfB), and a β-xylosidase (XlnD), each bearing a C-terminal dockerin, were assembled onto the miniscaffoldin by high-affinity cohesin-dockerin interactions. Compared to uni- and bifunctional minihemicellulosomes, the resulting quaternary trifunctional complexes exhibited an enhanced rate of hydrolysis of arabinoxylan. Furthermore, with an integrated d-xylose-utilizing pathway, the recombinant yeast displaying the bifunctional minihemicellulosome CipA3-XynII-XlnD could simultaneously hydrolyze and ferment birchwood xylan to ethanol with a yield of 0.31 g per g of sugar consumed.


Apart for a few episodes such as the battle of Cravant (1423), the defence of Paris (1429) and especially the capture of Joan of Arc at the siege of Compiegne (1430), the military aspect of Anglo-Burgundian alliance in 1420-1435 war is little known to general audience. This stage of the Hundred Years War is presented largely as a series of English successes in the 1420s followed by the defeats and setbacks after 1429. The present study aims to uncover this largely ignored aspect of one of the most dramatic stages of the Hundred Years War, which at a certain point brought the English to the walls of Orleans – an undoubted peak of their centuries-long efforts to subdue the French kingdom. For the aims of research, the course of the Hundred Years War in the 1420s-early 1430s has to be considered not in the terms of the English fighting against the French but as a struggle of two alternative claims to the French throne, both of them relying on certain support among the French population. One of these suggested that the French crown remained with the Valois dynasty represented by Charles VII, the other tried to introduce the Dual Monarchy of England and France under the governance of the House of Lancaster, as formalised by the Treaty of Troyes (21 May 1420). The role of Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, the most high-ranking French partisan of the Dual monarchy, as the pillar of the Lancastrian power in France becomes the subject of study. This raises the question of the system of obligations between the duke and the Lancastrian government, the modes of its practical exploitation and the significance of the duke's contribution to the Lancastrian war efforts. With this in mind, this study provides a chronological reconstruction of Anglo-Burgundian military cooperation in its development by placing it in a wider military and diplomatic context. Having assembled the evidence on the practice of military assistance it proceeds to discussing the most widely employed models of cooperation and interaction between the allies eventually leading to a certain reconsideration of the whole nature of the Anglo-Burgundian alliance. What the research reveals is the scale and continuity of the alliance which retained its importance from December 1419 to September 1435, the significance of the allies' efforts in supporting each other and variety of its models and, finally, the crucial influence of the military power or weakness factor on the diplomacy and politics in France.


ABSTRACT T-cell death-associated gene 8 (TDAG8) is a G-protein-coupled receptor transcriptionally upregulated by glucocorticoids (GCs) and implicated by overexpression studies in psychosine-mediated inhibition of cytokinesis and in GC-induced apoptosis. To examine the physiological function of TDAG8, we generated knockout (KO) mice by homologous recombination. An enhanced green fluorescent protein reporter was knocked into the disrupted tdag8 locus to allow the analysis of TDAG8 expression in living cells. Interestingly, we found that during thymocyte development, TDAG8 expression resembled the dynamic regulation described for known modulators of GC-induced apoptosis, including Bcl-2, Notch1, and GC receptor. TDAG8 was expressed in double-negative cells, was downregulated at the double-positive transition, and was upregulated in single-positive thymocytes. However, despite this striking expression pattern, maturation and selection of thymocytes, as well as major immune functions, were not affected in TDAG8 KO mice. In contrast to previous overexpression results, TDAG8 was dispensable for psychosine-induced formation of multinucleated cells. Furthermore, TDAG8 KO thymocytes showed normal apoptosis following in vivo and in vitro GC treatment. These results, while establishing a useful reporter strain to study T-lymphocyte maturation, argue against a critical role for TDAG8 in immune development, psychosine-mediated inhibition of cytokinesis, and GC-induced cell death.


Patients with epidermoid cyst of the fourth ventricle usually present with headaches and/or disequilibrium. These cysts are characterized by a focal lesion that is nearly isodense to CSF at CT and nearly isointense to CSF on T1W and T2W MR images. MRI using FLAIR and diffusion weighted images as well as 3D CISS acquisitions is useful to better characterize the lesions and their relation with the vermis, foramen magnum and CP angle cisterns. DWI images are useful for postsurgical evaluation of residual tumor. Extension of the cyst into the CP angle cisterns usually precludes complete surgical resection.


It seems almost disloyal, traitorous even, to voice
critique of the National Theatre of Scotland's
flagship production, Black Watch. Based partly
on interviews with former members of the
eponymous Highland regiment who recently
served in Iraq, it was the undisputed hit of the
2006 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe
picking up a rake of five-star reviews and theatre
awards on both sides of the border. The Scottish
press reported its successful 2007 US tour in
terms usually reserved for national sporting
champions: Black Watch appears to be firm
favourite in the 'most successful Scottish play
of all time' competition. Praised highly by Alex
Salmond, the new SNP Government mounted
two Gala productions to mark the opening of
the new Scottish
parliamentary
session.
Consequently, Black
Watch now bears
its own burden
of representation:
it is not simply
a Scottish play
about Iraq; it is the
Scottish play about
Iraq. But despite
the seemingly
universal praise
that Black Watch has
received, its politics
are deeply problematic.


Global demand for cocoa beans is projected to keep rising while future production is likely to be limited by climate variability and change. Over 70% of the global cocoa supply comes from West Africa, a region expected to be greatly affected by climate change and extreme droughts. Cocoa production in West Africa needs to be adapted to more marginal and extreme climatic conditions, mainly drought, to sustain production and avoid further deforestation of the remaining rainforest for its cultivation. In addition to the climate change effect, current yields are low due to management inefficiencies and soil limitations. Empirical data from cocoa agroforestry system studies are limited compared to those of other perennial crops such as coffee. In addition, the promotion of cocoa agroforestry as a sustainable production system is often based on anecdotes and should therefore be investigated further. There is still a huge knowledge gap on which shade tree species improve and sustain productivity, ecosystem functions (such as increase in flora and fauna diversity), and which are suitable for marginal climates with limited water supply. Studies on the effects of climatic variations on cocoa plant productivity across different regions are lacking although there is a general consensus on the requirement of developing climate change adaption options based on a sound scientific basis for the various regions.
As a contribution towards bridging this research gap and help address current and future cocoa production challenges, for this thesis several studies were performed in Ghana, the second largest and best quality cocoa producing nation: Productivity of different cocoa cultivation systems was studied at three regions along a climatic gradient (from 2014 to 2016). Climate resilience of different cocoa cultivation systems was further investigated in the marginal regions through water use experiments over periods of wet, dry and extremely dry.
Overall hypotheses of the thesis were that (i) climatic region does influence cocoa productivity, and (ii) agroforestry increases resilience of cocoa plants to marginal and extreme climatic conditions.
In chapters 2 and 3 of the thesis, characterizations of yield gaps, soil fertility status and cocoa cultivation systems were conducted through interviews and on-farm inventories of 150 cocoa farmers and their farms along a climate gradient within the cocoa belt of Ghana. The regions which are between 100 to 150km apart were denoted as dry, mid and wet, based on estimated average annual rainfall of 1200, 1400 and 1800mm from north to south of the cocoa belt respectively. These regions are representative of current and future cocoa climatic regions of West Africa. Based on yield gap and soil fertility evaluations, it was found that the study regions were significantly different. Yield levels in the wet region were significantly higher than in the dry region, mainly due to suitable climate and management intensification. Lower yield in the dry region was due to climatic limitation and farmer's adaptation strategies in terms of income diversification and using less external inputs. Cocoa only contributed 50% to farmer's income in the dry region while non-cocoa crops and off-farm income activities contributed 30 and 20%, respectively. For farmers in the mid and wet regions, cocoa income contributed more than 80% to their annual income, indicating higher intensification and specialization. Soil fertility also varied significantly between the regions but overall the fertility status was low. From these findings it was established that different climatic zones will require different cocoa farm management and soil fertility improvement strategies. Closing yield gaps in the dry region requires improvement in pesticide and fungicide use in addition to fertilizer application. In the mid and wet regions, the control of parasitic mistletoe, improved fertilizer use and the use of quality planting materials are recommended for yield gap closure. Shade tree use and management in cocoa agroforestry systems practiced by farmers were further characterized across all climatic regions. This was to evaluate the existing and potential use of shade trees as a measure to adapt cocoa production systems to climate change. The current cocoa agroforestry systems were characterized for the two main systems of "medium" and "low shade". Medium and low shade systems dominated the dry and wet regions, respectively. Cocoa yield under medium shade system was significantly lower in the wet region but there was no difference in the dry and mid regions. It is therefore recommended that, shade tree selection for cocoa agroforestry should be climatic region-specific to minimize trade-offs between the productivity of cocoa farms and other ecosystem services.
In chapter 4, a detailed water use experiment was conducted in the dry region to help understand the effect of different cultivation systems on water use and drought resilience. Cocoa and shade tree water uptake (sap flow) was studied with a thermal dissipation method using Granier sensors. Soil water and microclimatic conditions were also monitored from November 2014 – March 2016. This experiment tested cocoa agroforestry as a potential adaptation strategy in sub-optimal and extreme drought conditions. Cocoa in full sun was compared with agroforestry systems: shaded by (i) a leguminous tree species, Albizia ferruginea and (ii) Antiaris toxicaria, the most common shade tree species in the dry region. The climate and drought events during the study period served us as a proxy for projected future climatic conditions in marginal cocoa cultivation areas of West Africa. The 2015/16 El Nino event resulted in the strongest drought in the region since 1982/83 when a similarly strong event occurred. Soil water was reduced under the shaded systems during drought events. Cocoa plants under Albiza and Antiaris recorded 100 and 77% mortality, respectively, during the extreme drought period. Cocoa plants under full sun survived and recovered after the drought while those under shade did not. It was then established that during extreme drought, the role of shade trees on cocoa plants became critical as competition for soil water intensified. Water limitation was found to override microclimatic benefits by the studied shade tree species. Cocoa plants under full sun showed a higher level of resilience and acclimatisation capacity to drought than shaded cocoa. These results call for further detail studies, looking above- and below-ground, to critically evaluate the promotion of shade tree use as a climate change adaptation strategy for cocoa cultivation planning especially in West Africa.
Differences in cocoa plant productivity between shaded and full sun systems across the climatic regions were studied in Chapter 5. Three treatments of high shade, medium shade and open sun plots were assessed across the three climatic regions. Three cocoa plots of each system with 20 uniformly distributed cocoa plants were monitored monthly for a whole year. The results showed higher cocoa plant yield (harvested pods) under full sun conditions than in the shaded systems in the low rainfall dry region. In the mid and wet regions, no significant differences were observed between the systems. Both cocoa plant productivity and drought resilience are therefore negatively affected by shade trees under a marginal cocoa climate. The use of shade trees as climate change adaptation strategy especially in the mid region where by 2050 marginal climatic conditions are projected, need to be carefully reconsidered. For the dry region, a potential climate change adaptation strategy would be changing from cocoa to crops that are more productive and are faced with lower climatic risk. One example of such a crop may be cashew, which is more resilient to drought than cocoa and also has a high economic value. The development of more drought tolerant cocoa planting materials could also be an option to sustain cocoa production under the projected climate change. In the mid region, where the projected climatic conditions will be similar to those of the current dry region, shade trees with proven complementary soil water use under natural conditions could be integrated with cocoa. Alternatively, a full sun system is recommended through land sparing approach to ensure biodiversity conservation in the cocoa landscape. For the wet region, where water limitations are not expected, well managed cocoa agroforestry systems could be practiced to ensure sustainable yield and biodiversity conservation. Overall, this study provided detailed results on climatic zone-specific cocoa management as well as options to help adapt plant production systems to climate change and extreme drought within the "cocoa landscape".


A fleet of reactor coolant pump thrust bearings were experiencing loss of oil inventory through a face rubbing mechanical oil seal. In a span of six months, Westinghouse developed a replacement seal which retrofit into the existing bearing, erected a full scale bearing test system, operated the prototype seal through various operating conditions utilizing Six Sigma Design of Experiments methodology, qualified the seal for sustained use in an operating reactor plant and supported the installation of the retrofit seals. The retrofit seal replaced a problematic face rubbing seal with a controlled leakage design utilizing a floating ring — a pressure reducing bushing free to translate in the X-Y plane. The prototype seal system was optimized through use of the Design of Experiments. Design optimization was aimed at reducing oil aeration to levels lower than those present with the original equipment, which when achieved, provided improved heat transfer from the bearing. The test system was constructed around a production thrust bearing, identical to those installed in the plant, which was modified to facilitate collection of a variety of process variables. In all, the system was capable of simultaneously sampling and storing data from 56 separate channels; while recording digital video from eight sources, from cameras both inside and outside of the bearing. All in-service operating parameters were duplicated by the test system, including: computer controlled variable vertical thrust load from zero to 90 tons, computer controlled variable radial thrust load and acceleration from standstill to operating speed in 16 seconds. Safe shutdown operating variables were monitored automatically by the system, in the event of a faulted condition the system automatically detected the fault and initiated a safe shutdown automatically. To date, all installed seal systems have performed as designed; allowing essentially no leakage at this location from the bearing reservoir. The test system continues to be used on development projects focused on improving other aspects of the bearing's performance.Copyright © 2008 by ASME


Oxidative damage in the brain may lead to cognitive impairments. There was considerable debate regarding the beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive functions because exercise protocols have varied widely across studies. We investigated whether different exercise intensities alter performance on cognitive tasks. The experiment was performed on spontaneously hypertensive rats (6 months at the established phase of hypertension) distributed into 3 groups: sedentary, low‐intensity exercise, and high‐intensity exercise. Systolic blood pressure measurements confirmed hypertension in spontaneously hypertensive rats. In comparison to normotensive Wistar‐Kyoto rats, sedentary spontaneously hypertensive rats had similar escape latencies and a similar preference for the correct quadrant in the probe trial. Compared to the sedentary group, the low‐intensity exercise group had significantly better improvements in spatial memory assessed by Morris water maze. Low‐intensity exercise was associated with attenuated reactive oxygen species, as measured by dihydroethidine fluorescence and nitrotyrosine staining in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. This was coupled with increased numbers of neurons and dendritic spines as well as a significant upregulation of synaptic density. In contrast, the beneficial effects of low‐intensity exercise are abolished in high‐intensity exercise as shown by increased free radical levels and an impairment in spatial memory. We concluded that exercise is an effective strategy to improve spatial memory in spontaneously hypertensive rats even at an established phase of hypertension. Low‐intensity exercise exhibited better improvement on cognitive deficits than high‐intensity exercise by attenuating free radical levels and improving downstream synaptic plasticity.


IntroductionMortality rates are higher in disadvantaged communities. However, accurate quantification of inequalities in Australia has been limited by data availability. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has recently created a resource linking Death Registrations to Australian Census data, enabling quantification of mortality by whole-of-population individual-level measures.
Objectives and ApproachWe present the first analysis of linked Deaths Registrations to Census data, which quantifies mortality inequality in Australia in relation to individual-level socioeconomic position (SEP), and compares these estimates to those based on area-level-SEP measures. The Deaths Registrations-Census file contains deaths within 13 months of the 2011 Census date, linked probabilistically to 2011 Census data. We used Poisson regression to quantify inequalities according to education, weighted to adjust for relative under- and over-representation of selected subpopulations. We compared these inequality estimates with those based on area-SEP measures. We also examined the effect of missing Census data.
ResultsMortality rates decreased with education in all age groups (25-44, 45-64, 65-84, 85+ years), for both males and females. Estimates of relative inequality decreased with age, while estimates of absolute inequalities increased. Total excess deaths associated with lower education were highest in those aged 64-84 years. Inequality estimates for education were higher than those for area-SEP in the youngest age groups (25-45 years), but were lower in the 45-64 age group. Socioeconomic gradients in education remained apparent among individuals within each area-SEP quintile, highlighting the socioeconomic variation among individuals within these area-based socioeconomic groups. The proportion of deaths with missing education data increased with age and area-level SEP; however there was little difference in the area-based inequality estimates across subgroups with and without education missing.
Conclusion/ImplicationsThe newly-created linked Deaths Registrations-Census file, accessible through the virtual ABS Datalab, is a rich resource for generating evidence on mortality. The data show mortality inequalities in education across all age groups and within quintiles of area-level SEP and indicate area-based measures are inadequate for fully capturing inequality.


Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease that clinically demonstrates tense blisters with widespread erythema, histologically demonstrates subepidermal blistering and immunologically demonstrates the presence of circulating autoantibodies against hemidesmosomal molecules. Complement activation has long been regarded as necessary for the generation of the BP. However, certain evidence has recently come to support non‐complemental blistering mechanisms. The story of BP blistering mechanisms is a complicated one. This review mainly focuses on a specific blistering mechanism that highlights the role of complements in BP blistering.


This paper examines the relative performance of the higher-moment CAPM market models and the CAPM in explaining realised returns and predicting one-period-ahead returns on individual stocks and (both equally- and value-weighted) portfolios of momentum, size and country sorts. The three-moment CAPM, the quadratic-marke model, provides the best ex post estimates in respect of the time-variation in returns on both the return winner and the smallest size portfolios. Further analysis using an orthogonal factor model for tackling multicollinearity confirms the findings. Parameter uncertainty, however, impinges on forecast accuracy and hence hampers the predictive ability of the higher-moment models.


Molecular biology techniques are becoming increasingly widely used in the field of transfusion science. The investigation of the Kell blood group system, using a selection of these techniques, is described in this thesis. The first part of the investigation involved the synthesis of KEL cDNA from total RNA by reverse transcription and its subsequent amplification using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The resulting material was cloned into a plasmid and the cloned PCR products were then used for in situ hybridization studies to refine the location of the KEL gene on human chromosome 7 to 7q33- q35. This was a more precise location than had been previously published. Kell null is a rare phenotype within the Kell blood group system, where none of the Kell system antigens can be detected on the red cell surface. Southern blot investigation of total genomic DNA from one such individual revealed the presence of a KEL gene in a similar form to that present in normal Kell phenotype donors. These results indicate that this example of the null phenotype did not arise as a result of a major gene deletion. This suggests that the development of Kell system antigens, in this particular case, is blocked during transcription or translation of the protein. Direct sequence analysis of PCR products derived from individuals of predetermined Kell phenotype allowed the identification of a single C->T nucleotide substitution at position 701. This is responsible for the difference in expression of k (Cellano) and K (Kell) antigens on the red cell surface. This provided independent confirmation of the results published by another group of workers while this section of the work was in progress. The C->T nucleotide substitution creates a Bsm I restriction enzyme site when the sequence encoding the K antigen (the T nucleotide) is present. This enabled the development of a PCR-based genotyping assay for Kell (K1 or K) and Cellano (K2 or k). The assay involves the co-amplification from a total genomic DNA target of two PCR products, one which spans the K/k polymorphic site and a second which spans a conserved Bsm 1 site and which acts as an internal control for the assay. Several samples of KK, Kk and kk genomic DNA were analysed by this assay and definitive genotyping results were obtained for all samples. This should prove to be a useful tool for antenatal genotype determination in cases where haemolytic disease of the newborn is implicated, and could be incorporated into a battery of PCR tests to establish a panel of typed donors. The use of molecular biology techniques in the investigation of the Kell blood group system has allowed new information to be obtained regarding the molecular basis for the expression of antigens on the red cell surface. This should be a suitable foundation for the continuation of the work, allowing a more detailed investigation of the system as a whole, defining the basis for the other polymorphisms and enabling the development of diagnostic tests for the other allellic antigen sets.


Background and Aims: One by one, minimally invasive alternatives to established gastrointestinal procedures have become clinical routine. We have studied the use of laparoscopy in four common procedures—cholecystectomy, appendectomy, reflux surgery, and bariatric surgery—as well as in major resectional gastrointestinal surgery in Sweden. Materials and Methods: The National Patient Registry was used to identify all in-hospital procedures performed in patients above the age of 15 during 1998–2014, meeting our inclusion criteria. For each group, the annual number of procedures and proportion of laparoscopic surgery were studied, as well as applicable subgroups. Differences in age, gender, as well as geographical differences were evaluated in the most recent 3-year period (2012–2014). Results: In total, 537,817 procedures were studied, 43% by laparoscopic approach. In 2012–2014, the proportion of laparoscopic surgery ranged from high rates in the four common procedures (cholecystectomy 81%, appendectomy 47%, reflux surgery 72%, and bariatric surgery 97%) to rather low numbers in resectional surgery (4%–10%), however, increasing in the last years. In appendectomy and cholecystectomy, men were less likely to have laparoscopic surgery (42% versus 51% and 74% versus 85%, respectively, p < 0.001). Substantial geographical differences in the use of laparoscopy were also noted, for example, the proportion of laparoscopic appendectomy varied from 11% to 76% among the 21 different Swedish counties. Conclusion: The proportion of laparoscopy was high in the four common procedures and low, but rising, in major resectional surgery. A large variation in the proportion of laparoscopic surgery by age, gender, and place of residence was noted.


In recent years, the field of ICP-MS has seen an increasing trend towards sampling systems and methods that produce short transient signals, rather than a continuous signal response. Fast data acquisition, readout and storage are crucial to take advantage of the wealth of information available from these approaches. However, many of the current generation mass spectrometers, in particular sector-field instruments, were not designed to cope with such short duration signals. This article reports the use of a commercially available multi-channel scaler board, which facilitates capture of TTL pulses from an ICP-MS detector at a user defined time resolution down to 100 ns. The board was used to profile 400–600 μs wide signals with 10 μs resolution, derived from the nebulisation of a 50 nm gold nanoparticle suspension. Furthermore, the benefit of a 100% duty cycle was demonstrated for ∼10 ms wide signals, following ablation of individual macrophage cells with a fast response LA-ICP-MS interface.


MicroJam is a mobile app for sharing tiny touch-screen performances. Mobile applications that streamline creativity and social interaction have enabled a very broad audience to develop their own creative practices. While these apps have been very successful in visual arts (particularly photography), the idea of social music-making has not had such a broad impact. MicroJam includes several novel performance concepts intended to engage the casual music maker and inspired by current trends in social creativity support tools. Touch-screen performances are limited to five seconds, instrument settings are posed as sonic "filters", and past performances are arranged as a timeline with replies and layers. These features of MicroJam encourage users not only to perform music more frequently, but to engage with others in impromptu ensemble music making.


For the motor current noise signal, vibration signal, the phase current signal, a motor dynamic system model is established. A motor energy detection equation is introduced and constituted by an innovation series of these signal tested in the dynamic system, then the main factor analysis of the motor abnormal elements is presented by orthogonal decomposition, and the main factor distribution chart is described by decomposing the main failure elements to tow-dimensional observation vector. The motor fault can be detected on-line by using the main factor analysis, and then the failure factors can be identified with fault Mode.


Development of the majority of the leading web services and software products today is generally guided by data-driven decisions based on evaluation that ensures a steady stream of updates, both in terms of quality and quantity. Large internet companies use online evaluation on a day-to-day basis and at a large scale. The number of smaller companies using A/B testing in their development cycle is also growing. Web development across the board strongly depends on quality of experimentation platforms. In this tutorial, we overview state-of-the-art methods underlying everyday evaluation pipelines at some of the leading Internet companies. Software engineers, designers, analysts, service or product managers --- beginners, advanced specialists, and researchers --- can learn how to make web service development data-driven and do it effectively.


Angiogenesis is associated with improved neurologic recovery after cerebral ischemia. Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have been successfully used to treat ischemic stroke and were shown to induce the expression of a number of neurotrophic factors including VEGF, epidermal growth factor (EGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in a rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) ischemia model. In this study, we aimed to understand the mechanism underlying the improvement of neurological function following hMSCs transplantation into MCAO rats. We established a rat MCAO model and used immunofluorescence to evaluate α-tubulin expression in the hippocampus. We used RT-PCR to determine the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 mRNAs after transplantation of hMSCs into MCAO rats. We showed a significant decrease in α-tubulin expression in rats with cerebral ischemia, suggesting that α-tubulin is a protective protein in cerebral ischemia Transplantation of hMSCs significantly upregulated α-tubulin levels in the hippocampus. Transplantation of hMSCs also resulted in a significant upregulation of Ang-1 and Ang-2 mRNAs in MCAO rats. Ang-2 expression was upregulated earlier than Ang-1, suggesting that (1) transplantation of hMSCs promotes angiogenesis and that (2) Ang-2 may be an initiator of angiogenesis. Our results provide a theoretical basis for the therapeutic use of hMSCs in cerebral ischemia.


Derivatives of C2-symmetrical bivalent phenylboronic acid exhibit several remarkable biological activities such as anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV)-1 and cytotoxic activities against Vero cells and they can reverse the effect of anticancer drugs. Novel symmetrical bivalent molecules were synthesized and their biological activities were evaluated in vitro using a human brain glioma cell line (U251) and a human carcinoma cell line (KB3-1). Among the tested compounds (1a-i), bivalent C2-symmetrical phenylboronic acid derivative 1g showed the highest anti-proliferative activity towards both U251 and KB3-1 cells. The values of 50% anti-proliferative activity (IC50) of this compound against the two cell lines (U251 and KB3-1) were 19.0 and 3.78 µM, respectively. The anti-proliferative activity of compound 1g towards KB3-1 cells was higher than that of cisplatin. The bivalent C2-symmetrical compound 1g had a linear methylene linker in the molecule.


The diversification strategy is one of the most preferred by companies that search for the sustainable growth of their sales and profits in markets where products appear, grow in demand and become mature in a progressively faster way. This process is strongly perceived in the packaging product market, as packaging are means of product promotion, brand image building and product quality protection, currently more and more important for consumer products. This research aims to verify if the diversifying strategy is a suitable option for companies of such segment. The verification is performed through a case study covering the diversification solution of Impacta S/A, traditional supplier of aluminum collapsible tubes in Brazil and Latin America that added to its portfolio plastic tubes and aluminum monoblock aerosol cans. The conclusion of this study is that such diversification reached its goals of generating sustainable growth, reduce business risk, obtain solid "Market Share" in Brazil for all its products, adequately re-position the company in the market and surpass the results achieved by its competitors in the country. It was also possible to assess the perspective of continuity of the current strategy as a way to increase sales by 85% in US dollars in the next five years, confirming the good quality of the company managers' strategic choice. As this conclusion is in part limited by the fact that the study focused on a single case, a suggestion should be left recommending the analysis of other diversification cases of companies in the packaging segments.


Improving global yields of important agricultural crops is a complex challenge. Enhancing yield and resource use by engineering improvements to photosynthetic carbon assimilation is one potential solution. During the last 40 million years C4 photosynthesis has evolved multiple times, enabling plants to evade the catalytic inadequacies of the CO2-fixing enzyme, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rubisco). Compared with their C3 ancestors, C4 plants combine a faster rubisco with a biochemical CO2-concentrating mechanism, enabling more efficient use of water and nitrogen and enhanced yield. Here we show the versatility of plastome manipulation in tobacco for identifying sequences in C4-rubisco that can be transplanted into C3-rubisco to improve carboxylation rate (VC). Using transplastomic tobacco lines expressing native and mutated rubisco large subunits (L-subunits) from Flaveria pringlei (C3), Flaveria floridana (C3-C4), and Flaveria bidentis (C4), we reveal that Met-309-Ile substitutions in the L-subunit act as a catalytic switch between C4 (309Ile; faster VC, lower CO2 affinity) and C3 (309Met; slower VC, higher CO2 affinity) catalysis. Application of this transplastomic system permits further identification of other structural solutions selected by nature that can increase rubisco VC in C3 crops. Coengineering a catalytically faster C3 rubisco and a CO2-concentrating mechanism within C3 crop species could enhance their efficiency in resource use and yield.


Objectives: A chronic complication of type-2 diabetes mellitus (DMT-2) is Diabetic Foot Ulcer (DFU). The main treatment used in DFU is wound cleansing, followed by dressing the wound as a local control to increase tissue granulation and epithelialization. This study aims to compare the efficacy of the combination of Hyaluronic Acid with Platelet Rich Fibrin (HAPRF) and Platelet Rich Fibrin alone in DFU. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial from July 2019 to April 2020. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Indonesia ID 0855 / UN2.F1 / ETIK / 2018. Informed consent was obtained from the patients. This was a randomized clinical study to compare the efficacy of HAPRF and PRF in DFU one week post debridement. Twenty DFU samples were collected divided into 2 treatment groups: topical treatment using HAPRF compare with PRF alone. Assessment for wounds improvement was recorded using a digital camera 48 mega pixel with an accuracy of 0.1% on day-0, 3, 7, and 14. The results of the wound photographs were processed using ImageJ software. The granulation area (GA) and wound area (WA) were evaluated by IBM SPSS software v.20. The general data description was presented in median (range) value and parameter's differences were conducted using Mann–Whitney test Results: The two treatment groups showed insignificant difference in characteristics between both group before intervention. The mean granulation width after two weeks of use HAPRF was 97.4% and PRF was 81.9%. Statistical analysis using Mann Whitney test showed granulation area of HAPRF group was significantly different compared with PRF group on day3(p=0.047) , day-7 ( p = 0.004) and day-14 ( p < 0.001). At the end of the wound healing process, the HAPRF group was significantly different compared with PRF group on ∆ day 0−3 ( p=0.048), ∆ day 0−7 ( p = 0.039), and ∆ day 0−14 ( p = 0.023). Conclusions: HAPRF improves wound healing rate through increasing granulation tissue and epithelialization compared with PRF only in diabetic foot ulcer after 2 weeks post debridement compared to PRF.


The electronics is protected using plastic or metallic enclosures. Although, the electronics is protected by the enclosures from the surrounding environment, the moisture can still enter the enclosure via gasket, plastic enclosure walls, cable feedthroughs. The moisture existing inside enclosure may condense on PCBA or components due to a temperature changes or different temperature levels and can lead to a moisture-related failures. The temperature in the enclosure is also very dependent on the location and the heating of electronic components. Furthermore, the electronics can be mounted nearby to other heating or cooling components in the complex mechanical systems, such as water pump or water meter. The paper concerns the complex transient heat and mass transfer processes between two connected enclosures with one being warm and another cold. The objective of the paper is to develop an in-house code based on the RC approach for predicting and studying the temperature and moisture behaviour inside two connected enclosures. The developed RC model combines one-dimensional description and lumped analysis for heat and mass transport. The modelling of temperature and moisture response is carried out under non-isothermal B3 STANAG ambient conditions. Moreover, the effect of different material of warm enclosure and the heating are considered.


This study centers on the use of inelastic neutron scattering as an alternative tool for physical characterization of solid pharmaceutical drugs. On the basis of such approach, relaxation processes in the pharmaceutical compound phenacetin (p-ethoxyacetanilide, C(10)H(13)NO(2)) were evidenced on heating between 2 and 300 K. By evaluating the mean-square displacement obtained from the elastic fixed window approach, using the neutron backscattering technique, a crossover of the molecular fluctuations between harmonic and nonharmonic dynamical regimes around 75 K was observed. From the temperature dependence of the quasi-elastic line-width, summed over the total Q range explored by the time-of-flight technique, it was possible to attribute the onset of this anharmonicity to methyl group rotations. Finally, using density functional theory-based methods, we were able to calculate the lattice vibrations in the harmonic approximation. The overall spectral profile of the calculated partial contributions to the generalized density of states compares satisfactorily to the experimental spectra in the region of the lattice modes where the intermolecular interactions are expected to play an important role. This study contributes to understanding the relationships between intermolecular hydrogen bonds, intramolecular dynamics, and conformational flexibility in pharmaceuticals on a molecular level, which can help in evaluating phase stability with respect to temperature variations on processing or on storage, and is related to control of polymorphism and pseudopolymorphism.


The reader of almost any American magazine cannot help but be struck by the number of advertisements for branded pharmaceutical drugs that feature within its pages. Although direct to consumer advertising has only been permitted in the US since the 1990s, this was a development, rather than a revolution, in the way in which pharmaceutical drugs were marketed. As David Herzberg reveals in his excellent book, promotional campaigns for "blockbuster" drugs like Miltown, Valium, and later Prozac, were always designed to leak out of the doctors' surgery and into the waiting room. By promising to cure a vast range of conditions including fatigue, social unease, pre-exam nerves and sexual frigidity, psychotropic drugs were marketed as the solution to many of the problems confronting the anxious post-war consumer. Little wonder then, that by the 1970s, Valium was the most prescribed brand of medicine in the US, with 15 per cent of Americans using it within the previous year.

Yet the reason that Valium and other "happy pills" took such a hold of doctors and their patients was not just because these seemed to offer a panacea, but also because the promotion of these drugs tapped into a whole host of other concerns. Herzberg shows how anti-anxiety drugs were marketed as miracle products that could return men, and particularly women, to the good life. Advertisements which focused on tranquilisers' supposed ability to make men more effective at work, and help women be more efficient in the home, simultaneously drew on and reinforced ideas about "traditional" gender roles. However, challenges to such assumptions in the late 1960s and early 1970s led to a backlash against Valium. Feminist groups argued that the drug operated as an agent of social control, medicating women into the acceptance of a subordinate position within society. At the same time, scientists began to assert that Valium could be addictive, an idea that called into question easy distinctions between the drugs found in the medicine cabinet and those found on the street. The potential harm that "happy pills" could cause eventually resulted in a reformulation of the Schedule of Controlled Substances, and though pharmaceutical companies managed to ensure that their drugs were subjected to the lowest levels of control, or excluded from the schedule entirely, the boundary between licit and illicit drugs was exposed as being culturally, rather than scientifically, defined.

Indeed, it is one of the great strengths of Herzberg's book that pharmaceutical psychoactive drugs are considered in relation to their contraband cousins. The histories of legal and illegal drugs have often been analysed separately, when in reality these are frequently inter-related stories. Neatly sidestepping debates about whether or not "happy pills" actually work, Herzberg concludes that what matters is not the chemicals that make up these drugs, but the people that develop, sell, prescribe and use these. As a result, Happy pills offers much more than a study of the rise and fall of anti-anxiety and anti-depressant drugs: Herzberg shows how these substances provide a lens through which much wider changes in post-war America can be examined. The rise of commercial medicine and the consumer society, the remaking of the modern self, changing gender, race and class relations all form part of this complex picture. This extremely well-written and well-researched book thus demands, and deserves, a wide audience.


AIM
This paper is a report of a study conducted to determine the combined effect of acute and chronic job demands on acute job strains experienced during medical emergencies, and its consequences for individual teamwork behaviour.

BACKGROUND
Medical emergency personnel have to cope with high job demands, which may cause considerable work stress (i.e. job strains), particularly when both acute and chronic job demands are experienced to be high. This may interfere with effective individual teamwork behaviour.

METHODS
A cross-sectional survey study was conducted in 2008, involving 48 members (doctors and nurses) of medical emergency teams working in the emergency department of a Dutch general hospital. Data were analyzed by means of hierarchical regression analyses.

RESULTS
High acute job demands impeded effective teamwork behaviour, but only when they resulted in acute job strain. Acute emotional demands were more likely to result in acute job strain when chronic emotional job demands were also experienced as high. Although acute cognitive and physical strains were also detrimental, effective teamwork behaviour was particularly impeded by acute emotional strain.

CONCLUSION
Acute job strains impair effective individual teamwork behaviour during medical emergencies, and there is urgent need to prevent or reduce a build-up of job strain from high acute and chronic demands, particularly of the emotional kind.