In 1944, Marschak and Andrews published a seminal paper on how to obtain consistent estimates of a production technology. The original formulation of the econometric model regarded the joint estimation of the production function together with the first-order necessary conditions for profit-maximizing behavior. In the seventies, with the advent of econometric duality, the preference seemed to have shifted to a dual approach. Recently, however, Mundlak resurrected the primal-versus-dual debate with a provocative paper titled Production Function Estimation: Reviving the Primal. In that paper, the author asserts that the dual estimator, unlike the primal approach, is not efficient because it fails to utilize all the available information. In this paper we propose that efficient estimates of the production technology can be obtained only by jointly estimating all the relevant primal and dual relations. Thus, the primal approach of Mundlak and the dual approach of McElroy become special cases of the general specification. In the process of putting to rest the primal-versus-dual debate, we tackle also the nonlinear errors-in-variables problem when all the variables are measured with error. A Monte Carlo analysis of this problem indicates that the proposed estimator is robust to misspecifications of the ratio between error variances.


. Spino cerebellar ataxia (SCA) are a complex group of hereditary neurodegenerative disturbances of autosomal dominant pattern. They are largely characterized by the clinical presence of cerebellar ataxia related to ophtalmoplegia, dysarthria, pyramidal and extra-pyramidal signs and loss of deep sensitivity. SCA 7 belongs to the SCA group in which the disturbance is a result of the expansion of CAG triplet repetition located in the 3p12-p21 chromosome. The characteristic clinical feature of SCA7 is the loss of visual acuity and blindness. We present here three cases of ataxia, from the same family, with loss of visual acuity and other neurological disorders. The diagnosis was confirmed by a genetic analysis of the index case in whom the characteristic genetic abnormality of SCA7 was discovered. To our knowledge, this is the first case of SCA7 confirmed by genetic study in Argentina. Only two other reports on family cases were found in a review of the literature of Latin America up to January 2006. The purpose of our report is to draw attention to the diagnosis of this degenerative disease in patients with progressive cerebellar ataxia associated with loss of visual acuity symptoms, where a positive family history is found.


Conformal windows pose new and unique challenges to manufacturing due to the shape, measurement of, and requested hard polycrystalline materials. Their non-rotationally symmetric shape and high departure surfaces do not lend themselves to traditional optical fabrication processes. The hard crystalline materials are another challenge due to increased processing time and possibility of grain decoration. We have developed and demonstrated a process for manufacturing various conformal windows out of fused silica, glass, zinc-sulfide multispectral, and spinel. The current process involves CNC generation/grinding, VIBE polishing, and sub-aperture figure correction. The CNC generation step incorporates an ultrasonic assisted grinding machine; the machine settings and tool are being continuously optimized for minimal sub-surface damage and surface form error. In VIBE, polishing to less than 5 nm rms surface roughness while maintaining overall form error is accomplished with a full aperture conformal polishing tool and with rapid removal rates. The final sub-aperture polishing step corrects the overall form error. Currently we utilize our CMM for surface form measurement and have shown that we can produce spinel conformal windows with form error within ±10 micrometers of the nominal shape, without grain decoration. This conformal window manufacturing process is continuously optimized for cost reduction and precision of the final optic.


We investigate the dynamic spectrum sharing problem among primary and secondary users in a cognitive radio network. We consider the scenario where primary users exhibit on-off behavior and secondary users are able to dynamically measure/estimate sum interference from primary users at their receiving ends. For such a scenario, we solve the problem of fair spectrum sharing among secondary users subject to their QoS constraints (in terms of minimum SINR and transmission rate) and interference constraints for primary users. Since tracking channel gains instantaneously for dynamic spectrum allocation may be very difficult in practice, we consider the case where only mean channel gains averaged over short-term fading are available. Under such scenarios, we derive outage probabilities for secondary users and interference constraint violation probabilities for primary users. Based on the analysis, we develop a complete framework to perform joint admission control and rate/power allocation for secondary users such that both QoS and interference constraints are only violated within desired limits. Throughput performance of primary and secondary networks is investigated via extensive numerical analysis considering different levels of implementation complexity due to channel estimation.


General information processing speed (IPS) impairment is a feature of many clinical conditions. Biological underpinnings of this impairment are being explored extensively. However, less attention has been paid to the fact that simple and complex IPS impairment might be analysed separately. The overall purpose of this paper was to analyse the role of simple and complex IPS in mental disorders. Three clinical groups were compared to healthy controls (N = 381): persons with self-reported history of mental disorder (N = 33), persons being treated for mild-moderate (F10-F99, except F20-F29) mental disorder (N = 35), and persons who were being treated for severe (F20-F29) mental disorder (N = 33). Neuropsychological battery of eleven computer administered tasks was used in order to measure simple IPS, complex IPS, memory, and set-shifting. Additionally, health-related and demographic information was collected. Participants in clinical groups reported poorer health on all measured variables, especially the group of persons who were being treated for severe mental disorder. ANOVA tests indicated that there were significant differences between compared groups on all cognitive domains. These differences were most pronounced in simple and complex IPS domains. Evidence is also provided that these differences are not due to demographic features of the sample, or even inter-correlations with memory and set-shifting abilities. Furthermore, a pattern of proportions of clinically significant cognitive deficits in mixed clinical sample (N = 101) versus control group of simple IPS and complex IPS suggests that measuring these cognitive domains might be beneficial both in research and in clinical practice.


Social capital theorists claim that belonging to a densely knit social network creates a shared identity, mutually beneficial exchange, trust, and a sense of belonging in that group. Taken together with the empirical research on the importance of social support and social integration for individuals' well-being, there is reason to expect that the density of one's personal social network should be positively related to well-being. However, using a unique data set on extensive personal social networks from a convenience sample of 198 young adults, the author finds that the relationship between network density and well-being is significantly more complex. Specifically, results suggest that the effect of network density on self-evaluations of efficacy and worth depends on whether or not individuals belong to self-affirming social environments. For those who belong to self-affirming social environments, network density increases self-esteem and self-efficacy, which is consistent with social capital theorists' contention that social closure (network density) results in social integration and a sense of belongingness. Importantly, however, density reduces self-efficacy and has no statistically significant effect on self-esteem for those with disaffirming social environments.


An infant with Abt-Letterer-Siwe disease is reported. The diagnosis was established by histopathology and electron microscopy.--2. Complete remission was achieved with vinblastine and prednisone. Treatment, however, in these cases has to be continued for a longer period of time.--3. Early diagnosis and therapy are important because Abt-Letterer-Siwe disease is lethal in most untreated cases. With adequate chemotherapy, long remissions or cures can be expected in about 70% of the cases.--4. In Abt-Letterer-Siwe disease, the racket-like Langerhans cell granules are found by electron microscopy within the specific infiltrating cells. The demonstration of these organells allows the unequivocal diagnosis in cases with uncharacteristic clinical or histopathological appearance. The same structures are characteristic of Hand-Schüller-Christian disease and of eosinophilic granuloma. The electron microscopic findings confirm the grouping of these three diseases together as "histiocytosis X".


The study of the anthropometric characteristics of 600 normal Nigeria School Children of ages between 5-10 years of Gbagyi tribe of Abuja, with no obvious deformities or previous history of trauma to the hand was undertaken. The study of these children, males (n=300) with mean age of 7.10 ± 1.98, and females (n=300) with mean age of 7.68 ± 1.86 was investigated. The anthropometric characteristics of their height, age, weight, hand length, and body mass indices were measured, analysed statistically for any significant difference, and correlation between the parameters studied. The results show some significant differences between the anthropometric parameters and a significant correlation (≤ 0.001) between the height and hand length, and other parameters in both males and females. The study derived a linear regression and a multiple linear regression equations for Gbagyi School children of Nigeria from which height, age, weight, hand length and body mass index could be predicted if one factor is known. The results from the present study show that there was a positive correlation between height and hand length and other parameters indicating that height could be predicted using hand length, age, weight and body mass index among Gbagyi school children of Abuja-Nigeria.


Government initiatives in the United States have been passed in an effort to increase citizen usage of e-government programs. One such service is the availability of online health insurance information. However, not all demographic groups have been equally able to access these services, primarily the poor and rural American. As more legislation is passed, including the advancement of broadband services to remote areas, infrastructure barriers are being removed, opening access to Medicare and Medicaid websites for these vulnerable groups. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze factors predicting the impact of recent government actions on citizen access to health insurance information online. This topic is explored using multivariate regression analysis and individual level data from the Internet and American Life Project. The findings suggest that healthcare needs and quality of Internet access may be playing a more important role in health insurance information services than other factors.


Topological insulators' properties and their potential device applications are reviewed. We also explain why topological insulator (TI) nanostructures are an important avenue for research and discuss some methods by which TI nanostructures are produced and characterized. The rapid development of high-quality TI nanostructures provides an ideal platform to exploit salient physical phenomena that have been theoretically predicted but not yet experimentally realized.


Post-bureaucratic forms of organizing are theorized to rely upon lateral as opposed to vertical authority, but few have studied how lateral authority operates in practice. With a longitudinal, multi-network study of a mature open source project, we predict what leads individuals to gain lateral authority over collective work. While technical contributions are initially important, coordination work become more critical at a subsequent stage. After gaining authority, individuals significantly increase the effort spent coordinating project work. By specifying the antecedents and consequences of lateral authority, our research refines our theoretical conception of how knowledge work in project and communities is coordinated.


Agrobacterium rhizogenes mediated hairy root culture of Plumbago rosea L. is an attractive alternative for the production of plumbagin which is the major bioactive compound in P. rosea tuberous roots. The traditional industries form the major consumer of the tuberous roots as these are used in many ayurvedic preparations. The present work investigates the prospects of utilizing hairy roots in the place of tuberous roots based on bacterial survival test of hairy roots and comparison through phytochemical analyses (TLC, Spectrophotometry, HPLC and LC-MS). Since the traditional system of medicine follows stringent curing procedure before incorporation of the roots in medicinal preparations, cured tuberous and hairy roots were also compared. The phytochemical profile of hairy roots was remarkably similar to that of tuberous roots. Curing caused no change in the phytotchemical composition of the roots but only a reduction in the amount of plumbagin and other molecules. Plumbagin was reduced to 0.372 ± 0.026% dry weight (DW) in cured tuberous roots (1.15 ± 0.08% DW in uncured) and 0.061± 0.0043% DW in cured hairy roots (1.32 ± 0.09% DW in uncured). An 11.3 fold increase in root biomass with 1.56% DW plumbagin obtained in bioreactor as against 5.39 fold in shake-flasks (with 1% w/v inoculum over 3 weeks period), adds to the prospects of its applicability in traditional systems. The results suggest a refurbishment of conventional high quantity cured roots in traditional preparations with low quantity uncured roots, irrespective of root types.


Task scheduling is a critical design issue for the service grid system. Decreasing the makespan of service and balancing the workload of the service resources are very important problems to be solved. Considering of the autonomous, heterogeneous, and distributed feature of the service grid system, we propose a novel task scheduling algorithm, called the adaptive Min-Min and Max-Min based on the non-dedicated constraint grid (NDA-MM) algorithm for the service grid. The proposed algorithm is provided with the dedicated property for the service resources and the paid property for the tasks, which is merged the high efficiency of the traditional Min-Min scheduling algorithm and the load balance of the traditional Max-Min scheduling algorithm. The experiments show that the algorithm overweighs traditional algorithms a lot in the makespan and the scalability of the scheduling algorithm.


Performing event and entity coreference resolution across documents vastly increases the number of candidate mentions, making it intractable to do the full n^2 pairwise comparisons. Existing approaches simplify by considering coreference only within document clusters, but this fails to handle inter-cluster coreference, common in many applications. As a result cross-document coreference algorithms are rarely applied to downstream tasks. We draw on an insight from discourse coherence theory: potential coreferences are constrained by the reader's discourse focus. We model the entities/events in a reader's focus as a neighborhood within a learned latent embedding space which minimizes the distance between mentions and the centroids of their gold coreference clusters. We then use these neighborhoods to sample only hard negatives to train a fine-grained classifier on mention pairs and their local discourse features. Our approach achieves state-of-the-art results for both events and entities on the ECB+, Gun Violence, Football Coreference, and Cross-Domain Cross-Document Coreference corpora. Furthermore, training on multiple corpora improves average performance across all datasets by 17.2 F1 points, leading to a robust coreference resolution model that is now feasible to apply to downstream tasks.


South African researchers have stressed the importance of gender and relationship dynamics underlying sexual risk, particularly among 15- to 19-year-olds. Nevertheless, we know little about these factors among young girls, who are especially at risk of HIV. The main objective in this study was to explore the ways that young girls aged 16 to 17 years give meaning to boys and boyfriends and the processes through which these relationship dynamics are shaped. In-depth interviews were conducted with a group of black girls in a working class context in Durban about their sexual relationships with boys. Dominant gender norms underlined the ways in which girls discussed these sexual relationships in relation to their lack of power and condom use. Factors such as their class, race and gender interacted with girls' vulnerability to risk of HIV. While girls were complicit in their subordination, particularly in relation to cheating boyfriends, many were critical of boys who displayed patterns of sexual domination. Efforts aimed at reducing sexual risk must work toward shifting dominant patterns of masculinity over femininity to broaden pathways of love, trust, loyalty and understanding.


Tests were made to determine the effect of brake forming on the strength of 24S-T aluminum alloy sheet that had been formed to an inside bend radius of three times the sheet thickness. The results for both directions of the grain of the material showed that the compressive yield stresses were appreciably increased, that the tensile yield stresses were moderately increased, that the ultimate tensile stresses were only slightly increased, that the elongations were considerably reduced, and that the shapes of the tensile and compressive stress-strain curves were markedly changed.


Document Type Article Abstract María Rosa Menocal is the R. Selden Rose Professor of Spanish and Portuguese and director of the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale University. This is the text of a lecture given at the closing dinner of the Middle East Legal Studies Seminar (MELSS), Istanbul, Turkey, May 9, 2000. These remarks are all adapted from material in the author's forthcoming book, The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain to be published by Little, Brown and Company in the spring of 2002. Date of Authorship for this Version 5-9-2000 Recommended Citation Menocal, Maria Rosa, "Culture in the Time of Tolerance: Al-Andalus as a Model for Our Time" (2000). Occasional Papers. 1. https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/ylsop_papers/1  Download


OBJECTIVE
To compare the estimated effects of dialysis center profit status on patient survival using alternative estimation strategies with retrospective data.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING
Patient and provider-level retrospective data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), 1996-1999.

STUDY DESIGN
Observational risk adjustment and instrumental variable methods.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS
Study collected measures from various USRDS files describing clinical characteristics, survival, and the profit status of the initial dialysis center for incident end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients aged 67+. USRDS facility files were used to assess dialysis center profit status and measure patient distances to dialysis centers.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
Found survival effect related to profit status in the range of previous research using risk-adjusting covariates similar to those used in previous models. Adding further risk-adjusting covariates halved this effect. The relative proximity of for-profit and nonprofit dialysis centers to the patient residence was the strongest determinant of the profit status of the patient's initial dialysis center. The effect of profit status on survival was eliminated using the two-stage least squares variant of instrumental variable estimation with the relative proximity of for-profit and nonprofit dialysis centers to the patient's residence as the instrument.

CONCLUSIONS
Using only the variation in initial dialysis center profit status that was related to the relative proximity of for-profit and nonprofit dialysis centers to the patient, we found no relationship between dialysis center profit status and patient survival. These results are in contrast to results obtained using risk-adjustment methods with a limited set of risk-adjusting covariates.


Abstract:In this essay, the author examines June Jordan's poetic invocations of violence in order to consider their implications for future abolitionist thought. Jordan uses violence in her poetry to envision ways of feeling and being that make the present impossible and unimaginable and thus make possible new ways of knowing. If antiblack, heteropatriarchial violence makes certain forms of thought impossible, then Jordan smashes "a hammer to his head" to open up other ways of knowing the present, past, and future. As she struggles to name the unspeakable violence of patriarchy, white supremacy, imperialism, war, antiblackness, apartheid, and racial capitalism—to reckon with their crushing and pervasive presence throughout the banality of her life and all life—she also imagines a new, unknowable world made possible by black feminist vengeance. The author argues that this turn to violence in Jordan's thinking indexes a black feminist methodology for breaking open alternative forms of thought that exceed the present in all its repetitious, circuitous, and novel forms of capture.


Balance is a complex ability essential for the performance of any motor task and for preventing injuries and falls. The appearance of holographic wristbands, the supposed benefits of which include improved balance, received the attention of the public and the media alike. However, there is no scientific evidence that holograms improve any physical attribute. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Power Balance® holographic wristbands on balance. Following a triple-blind method, 25 healthy and physically active university students (14 women, 11 men) underwent the sensory organization test (SOT) on two separate days while wearing a wristband with or without holograms (the tests being performed in a random but counterbalanced order). The SOT provides details on total balance and the relative contribution of the three main sensory systems (somatosensory, vestibular and visual) involved in balance. The results for the group as a whole revealed the wearing of a holographic wristband to have no significant effect on any of these variables. However, when the women's results were analyzed separately, the wearing of holographic wristbands was associated with significant differences in the scores of two SOT variables: composite balance (86.5±3.7 with the holographic wristband compared to 85.5±4.5 without it; p≤0.05) and overall mean (93.5±2.0 compared to 92.8±2.4; p≤0.05). Although these statistical differences were discovered, the magnitude of these differences was so small that balance could not have been improved in any practical sense. In conclusion, Power Balance® holographic wristbands exert no meaningful effect on balance in healthy young adults. A b s t r a c t


Something was in the air, and Amos, the bear, was curious. "If it's not spring and not smoke then it's nothing to get excited about", said Esmerelda, and she went back to sleep. But Amos could not sleep. He got up and crept to the door of the cave. The air smelled of pine needles and a muskrat off in the brush. And of something more. Amos set off across the snowy meadow to find out what that something was, and in the village he discovered Christmas. He also discovered near-sighted Old Sadie and her friendly house and hearth. There he became a welcome Christmas guest, and ultimately, he left behind a welcome Christmas gift, and he hurried back to tell Esmerelda what he had found.


Efficacy and safety of two new formulations of artificial tears in subjects with dry eye disease: a 3-month, multicenter, active-controlled, randomized trial Peter a simmons haixia liu Purpose: To evaluate and compare the efficacy and safety of two investigational artificial tear formulations (CHO-1 and CHO-2) containing carmellose sodium, hyaluronic acid at different concentrations, and osmoprotectants, with a standard carmellose sodium-containing formulation (Refresh Tears [RT]) in the treatment of dry eye disease. Subjects and methods: In this 3-month, double-masked, multicenter study, subjects (n=305) were randomized 1:1:1 to receive CHO-1, CHO-2, or RT, used as needed but at least twice daily. The primary endpoint was change in ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score from baseline to day 90. Other key outcomes included symptoms evaluated on a visual analog scale, corneal and conjunctival staining, and adverse events. Results: OSDI scores and dry eye symptoms showed a rapid and sustained reduction from baseline in each group. Both CHO-1 and CHO-2 met the primary efficacy endpoint of nonin-feriority to RT in day 90 OSDI score change from baseline. OSDI ocular symptoms subscale improved more with CHO-1 than CHO-2 (P=0.048). In subjects with clinically relevant base-line ocular surface staining (14 total score of a maximum of 55), day 90 improvements were greater with CHO-1 and CHO-2 than RT (P0.044). Day 90 improvements in OSDI ocular symptoms subscale scores were also greater with CHO-1 than RT (P0.007) in subjects with clinically relevant ocular staining. All treatments were well tolerated. Conclusion: Both combination artificial tear formulations were efficacious and well tolerated in subjects with dry eye. CHO-1 demonstrated the best performance in improving ocular symptoms and reducing ocular staining in this heterogeneous study population.


While the quality of service (QoS) profiles for a number of general packet radio service (GPRS) classes has been specified by ETSI, how QoS management is provided by means of traffic scheduling, traffic shaping, and connection admission control, in a GPRS network is an implementation issue that is attracting significant current research interest. This paper presents an evaluation of several traffic scheduling methods, including of FIFO, static priority scheduling (SPS) and earliest deadline first (EDF) by simulations, with the objective of meeting the delay profiles defined for a number of GPRS classes. Traffic sources representative of GPRS applications, including e-mail, fleet management and World Wide Web applications are employed. We focus on the forward link which represents the bottleneck of a typical GPRS data connection. Results show that EDF is able to meet the delay requirements at a much higher channel utilization compared to the other alternatives.


This paper develops and presents the steady-state, fundamental-frequency model of the single-phase distributed energy resource (DER) unit which utilizes a single-phase voltage-sourced converter (VSC) as the interface medium. The model represents: 1) different operating and control modes and 2) the operational constraints and limits of the VSC and the host grid. The model is included in a sequential power-flow analysis method using: 1) a backward-forward sweep algorithm for single-phase laterals and 2) a sequence-components frame solver for three-phase networks. The interface-VSC operating limits are accommodated in the power-flow algorithm as an interleaved step to increase computational efficiency of the power-flow analysis tool. Case studies are conducted to evaluate and verify 1) the accuracy of the proposed model and 2) the computational efficiency of the power-flow algorithm.


Spotlighting superb examples of classical Greek art together with recent findings in anthropology, social history, psychology, classics, and classical archaeology, Pandora offers a multi-faceted look at women in myth, ritual, and daily life in classical Greece. In this catalogue, which was written to accompany an international traveling exhibition organized by the Walters Art Gallery, Ellen Reeder turns to classical Greek marbles, bronzes, terracottas, and vases to help illustrate the ways in which women were perceived and how they lived. The discussion is enhanced through interpretive essays written for this catalogue by a group of eminent classicists and historians. Reeder finds a particular emphasis on myths dealing with the unmarried maiden and the difficulty of the transition to marriage and motherhood- as exemplified in the stories of Danae, Thetis, Atalanta, and Amymone. She also explores images of containers and untamed animals as metaphors for women; rituals involving women, such as the wedding and the cult of the Little Bears at Brauron; the character and cult of goddesses; and the close association of women with textiles. The catalogue contains interpretive essays by Sally Humphreys, Mary Lefkowitz, Francois Lissarrague, John Oakley, Margot Schmidt, H. A. Shapiro, Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood, Andrew Stewart, and Froma Zeitlin. The examples of art are drawn from more than fifty collections in fourteen countries and feature both familiar masterpieces and previously inaccessible works.


prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases form an important approach to dealing with an epidemic ofAIDS in developing countries.' Prevention strategies for sexually transmitted diseases aimed at changing behaviour will largely overlap with those applicable to controlling AIDS. Sustainable and effective interventions must be formulated and introduced as close to the community as possible. Treating sexually transmitted diseases requires knowledge about cultural interpretations of these diseases and of related patterns of health seeking behaviour. As in the case of AIDS, knowledge of social science is required to develop effective prevention and more appropriate treatment strategies. Culturally appropriate responses should be developed in close collaboration with the community. Unfortunately, in many developing countries the anthropology of health and health care is not strongly developed. An important reason is the dominance of epidemiologists and public health doctors in much applied research related to disease. They tend to use a rather narrow definition of social science, emphasising its methodological side in research.' Moreover, they are often hesitant in admitting that social science may contribute to a better understanding of problems in the health sector. Both factors are not conducive to the emergence of a strong and sizable group of medical anthropologists and sociologists in developing countries. In view of the serious challenges to be met and the need for innovative approaches the lag in involving social scientists can hardly be afforded.


A common means to increase efficiency in stationary spark ignited engines is to operate the engine with a higher air/fuel ratio of the mixture in conjunction with a higher turbulence level; however, this generally leads to severe conditions that significantly impact the inflammability of the gas–air mixture and combustion stability. Because the electric arc that forms at the spark plug is a main influencing factor in combustion, detailed research work in the field of electric arc behavior generated at spark plugs is required. This article thus presents a specially tailored test rig that is designed to facilitate an investigation of electric arc behavior under cross-flows at a spark plug typically used in gas engines. The test rig consists of a closed flow circuit for inert gases; its centerpiece is a test cell that provides optical access for high-speed imaging of the electric arc behavior at the spark plug. The required flow velocity at the spark plug is set with a blower. Flow velocities up to 30 m/s, pressures up to 60 bar and temperatures up to 80 °C can be achieved inside the flow system at the location of the spark plug. Postprocessing algorithms have been developed to automatically extract information from the high-speed images. The results reveal that the arc stretches more at a higher flow velocity as indicated by its greater arc length. In addition, it is evident that the cycle-to-cycle variation in arc length increases at higher flow velocities. The secondary voltage history and its cycle-to-cycle variation are strongly influenced by the arc length. This is reflected in the cycle-to-cycle variation of the spark energy input to the flowing gas. These results support the conclusion that spark behavior itself can be a substantial source of cycle-to-cycle variation in the combustion process observed in spark ignited gas engines.


The offspring of severe juvenile diabetics suffer from a multitude of congenital anomalies, including genito-urinary defects. Whether these defects are related to hyperglycemic states remains to be determined. In this study, the effect of glucose on metanephric development and extracellular matrix proteoglycans (PG), the regulators of morphogenesis, was investigated. Metanephric explants, harvested at Day 13 of gestation, were exposed to 30 mM of D-glucose for 1 to 7 days in an organ culture system. Light microscopy revealed a significant reduction in the size of explants and the nephron population in metanephroi exposed to glucose. A marked dysmorphogenesis of the ureteric bud branches was also observed. They were swollen and had blunted tips. The latter are the site of nascent nephron formation. Electron microscopy revealed malformation of the S-shaped body nephrons, which had poorly formed clefts and lacked cells in their distal convolutions. The precapillary stage glomeruli showed effacement of the foot processes, attenuation of the glomerular basement membrane, decreased surface microvilli, and an increased number of intercellular junctions. Immunofluorescence microscopy indicated a decreased reactivity of antibody directed against basement membrane heparan sulfate-PG. By light microscopy-autoradiography, a generalized decrease in [35S] sulfate incorporation was observed, especially at the tips of the ureteric bud branches. Electron microscopy-autoradiography revealed a significant decrease in the silver grain density (concentration of radiation) in the matrix compartment of the nephrons, i.e., cleft of the S-shaped body and glomerular basement membrane of the precapillary-stage glomeruli. Biochemical studies revealed a decrease in the incorporated radioactivity associated with the fraction of PG. The newly synthesized PG had a reduction in their molecular weight and charge-density characteristics but had an increased proportion of chondroitin sulfate. These data suggest that D-glucose induces marked dysmorphogenesis of the embryonic kidney during in vitro metanephric development and that these alterations may be related to perturbations in the de novo synthesis of PG, one of the essential morphogenetic regulators of the extracellular matrix.


ABSTRACT Recent research shows that Turkish society is very polarized and that different identities and ideological perspectives are in constant struggle with each other. In a multicultural society such as Turkey's, the question of how to think about the relationship between different social groups' histories of victimization becomes crucial. Following Michael Rothberg's conceptualization of multi-directional memory – beyond competitive memory, this article presents an archive for comparative work through a data set of novels on the military coups in Turkey. The major argument here is that while these novels are promoting the idea of competitive memory as a zero-sum game, if it is looked at more closely, there are traces of multi-directionality, of ongoing negotiation, cross-referencing, and borrowing. Doing so, it is argued, would help to reframe justice in the society, where different victimizations are not competing with each other, but start to talk to each other. This article is an attempt to create a literary tool of comparison on different stories of victimization as a first step towards transitional justice in a polarized society.


An Investigative Analysis of Teaching Business Ethics in Tennessee Community Colleges by Carol Cole The purpose of this study was to investigate what Tennessee community colleges were currently doing in preparing students in the area of business ethics. The study explored preparedness of faculty members in teaching business ethics, motivations for teaching business ethics, preferred methods of business ethics instruction, proportion of time devoted to teaching business ethics, and faculty member perceptions of responsibility, importance, and effectiveness of teaching business ethics. Personal and professional demographic factors were collected, such as age, gender, degree earned, teaching experience. These were useful in developing a profile of business faculty members in the 13 Tennessee community colleges. An on line survey was designed to gather information to address the research questions in the study. The survey consisted of 14 questions with areas for comments and remarks from faculty members Based upon the findings, conclusions have been drawn. The typical business faculty member is male, 56 years of age or older, teaching in higher education 16 years or longer, holding a masters degree as his highest academic achievement, and holding the current academic position of associate professor. Over two thirds of the faculty members devoted 10% or less of their class time teaching business ethics. Eighty-five percent of the faculty members have had some business ethics training by taking courses and attending workshops. It appears that the business faculty members in Tennessee community colleges are well prepared to teach business ethics. The most preferred method of teaching business ethics was the use of real-life cases, followed by discussion, and hypothetical cases. Ninety-six percent of the business faculty members perceived some degree of responsibility, 100% business faculty members perceived some degree of importance in teaching business ethics. Over two thirds perceived business ethics instruction not to be effective, somewhat effective, or unsure. Recommendations for faculty include: commit, train, establish goals and objectives, develop effective instructional methods, put program into place, and evaluate its effectiveness. Recommendations for further research include: explore any changes from this study, include other states for comparison, go beyond the specific areas in this study, and conduct a study focused on measuring the effectiveness of business ethics education. 2


Self-tuning control schemes need many control parameters corresponding to the order and the time-delay of the controlled object. Using such many control parameters yields the inferiority in the transient property. Therefore, in order to design practical self-tuning controllers, it is seemed that it is desirable to construct control systems with as few parameters as possible. In this paper, we propose a method how to tune PID parameters adaptively, that is, a selftuning PID control scheme, based on the relationship between a generalized minimum variance control (GMVC) law and a PID control law. Furthermore, we consider a design scheme of userspecified parameters included in the cost function of the GMVC. Finally, we apply the proposed scheme to an air pressure control system in order to investigate the effectiveness.


ecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain. Abstract. A d-polytope P is neighborly if every subset of b d c vertices is a face of P. In 1982, Shemer introduced a sewing construction that allows to add a vertex to a neighborly polytope in such a way as to obtain a new neigh- borly polytope. With this, he constructed superexponentially many different neighborly polytopes. The concept of neighborliness extends naturally to oriented matroids. Duals of neighborly oriented matroids also have a nice characterization: balanced oriented matroids. In this paper, we generalize Shemer's sewing construction to oriented matroids, providing a simpler proof. Moreover we provide a new technique that allows to construct balanced oriented matroids. In the dual setting, it constructs a neighborly oriented matroid whose contraction at a particular vertex is a prescribed neighborly oriented matroid. We compare the families of polytopes that can be constructed with both methods, and show that the new construction allows to construct many new polytopes. R´


Abstract Introduction The World Health Organization's (WHO) Labour Care Guide (LCG) is a "next‐generation" partograph based on WHO's latest intrapartum care recommendations. It aims to optimize clinical care provided to women and their experience of care. We evaluated the LCG's usability, feasibility, and acceptability among maternity care practitioners in clinical settings. Methods Mixed‐methods evaluation with doctors, midwives, and nurses in 12 health facilities across Argentina, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Purposively sampled and trained practitioners applied the LCG in low‐risk women during labor and rated experiences, satisfaction, and usability. Practitioners were invited to focus group discussions (FGDs) to share experiences and perceptions of the LCG, which were subjected to framework analysis. Results One hundred and thirty‐six practitioners applied the LCG in managing labor and birth of 1,226 low‐risk women. The majority of women had a spontaneous vaginal birth (91.6%); two cases of intrapartum stillbirths (1.63 per 1000 births) occurred. Practitioner satisfaction with the LCG was high, and median usability score was 67.5%. Practitioners described the LCG as supporting precise and meticulous monitoring during labor, encouraging critical thinking in labor management, and improving the provision of woman‐centered care. Conclusions The LCG is feasible and acceptable to use across different clinical settings and can promote woman‐centered care, though some design improvements would benefit usability. Implementing the LCG needs to be accompanied by training and supportive supervision, and strategies to promote an enabling environment (including updated policies on supportive care interventions, and ensuring essential equipment is available).


Abstract This article considers the possibilities and limitations of plus-size clothing— a subcategory of ready-to-wear that is deeply embedded in the history of dieting, exercise, standardized sizing, and the industrialization of clothing manufacturing in the United States. In doing so, it draws on fashion theory and disability theory in exposing how plus-size clothing functions as a normalizing mechanism, thereby inhibiting innovation in this sector. The article concludes with a counterexploration of the possibilities of "fat clothes" and the novel w ays of seeing and existing in the world that they might enable.


when I entered the world of medicine, I expected to experience a whole range of emotions, but an emotion I never expected to feel quite so strongly is anger. Anger at the hypocrisy shown by medical establishments.

Why are poor facilities in medical schools forcing young mums to avoid one of the best things they can do to give their infant a healthy start in life—breast feeding? My idealistic outlook tells me that doctors should improve peoples health, the health service should promote healthy lifestyles, and medical schools should train students to make people healthier.

Breast milk is the cheapest and healthiest option. It provides everything that babies need for the first six months of life in just the right quantities. Breast fed babies have a lower incidence of …


In recent years, we can see a lot of influences on natural environments due to climate change. For example, it has been confirmed that water temperature increases in many public waters in Japan. In this study, we focus on an influence of climate change on riverine water temperature. Tadokoro et al. (2018) has already developed an evaluation way using a single correlation between air temperature and riverine water temperature. But, because riverine water temperature can be determined not only air temperature, but also river discharge, precipitation, solar radiation, and so on, we need to take other effects into accounts. Thus, we try to develop a new evaluation way by using the artificial intelligence (AI) technique. We adapt the neural network (NNW) method for this modeling as an AI technique. In the new evaluation, we use four variables as explanatory variables: air temperature, one hour accumulative precipitation, and amount of global solar radiation, which are measured by Japan Weather Agency (JMA) at AMeDAS stations, and riverine discharge, which is measured by MLIT. Also, riverine water temperature in each rivers was measured by the small data-logging type thermometer in our continuous measurement for more than one year. A model for estimating river water temperature from meteorological condition data was developed using an artificial neural network. The reproducibility of daily mean value by the optimized model was high, however the daily variation had a room for improvement.


Purpose: Endometrioid endometrial carcinoma (EEC) is the major histologic type of endometrial cancer, the most prevalent gynecologic malignancy in the United States. EEC recurrence or metastasis is associated with a poor prognosis. Early-stage EEC is generally curable, but a subset has high risk of recurrence or metastasis. Prognosis estimation for early-stage EEC mainly relies on clinicopathologic characteristics, but is unreliable. We aimed to identify patients with high-risk early-stage EEC who are most likely to benefit from more extensive surgery and adjuvant therapy by building a prognostic model that integrates clinical variables and protein markers. Experimental Design: We used two large, independent early-stage EEC datasets as training (n = 183) and validation cohorts (n = 333), and generated the levels of 186 proteins and phosphoproteins using reverse-phase protein arrays. By applying an initial filtering and the elastic net to the training samples, we developed a prognostic model for overall survival containing two clinical variables and 18 protein markers and optimized the risk group classification. Results: The Kaplan–Meier survival analyses in the validation cohort confirmed an improved discriminating power of our prognostic model for patients with early-stage EEC over key clinical variables (log-rank test, P = 0.565 for disease stage, 0.567 for tumor grade, and 1.3 × 10−4 for the integrative model). Compared with clinical variables (stage, grade, and patient age), only the risk groups defined by the integrative model were consistently significant in both univariate and multivariate analyses across both cohorts. Conclusions: Our prognostic model is potentially of high clinical value for stratifying patients with early-stage EEC and improving their treatment strategies. Clin Cancer Res; 22(2); 513–23. ©2015 AACR.


Ground processing of data from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument, part of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS), exploits new and unique science algorithms not previously used operationally. A range of data products from Level 1 through Level 3 is being produced. Because of MISR's unprecedented design, extensive prototyping was required from a relatively early stage. The data throughput is large, necessitating an innovative software design approach that maximizes performance. The systematic science processing software was developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, with data processing occurring at the NASA Langley Research Center using the EOS Core System, a collaborative arrangement that works well. With the availability of actual mission data following launch on the Terra spacecraft in December 1999, MISR's computational needs have become better known, and many improvements have been made to both the science software and the production system to achieve a successful overall data processing capability. This paper provides information about MISR data for the science user, and describes the nature and scope of implementation and operations activities.


Abstract. Research purpose: To master the spatial-temporal evolution of precipitation and temperature in Xinjiang, and to provide reference for industrial, agricultural and transportation industries in the study area. Date and Rrsearch methods: Based on monthly precipitation and temperature data of 64 weather stations in Xinjiang in recent 50 years,the spatial-temporal variation of precipitation and temperature were analyzed by the methods of simple linear regression, 5-year moving average, radial basis function interpolation, sliding -t test, accumulated variance analysis, Mann-Kendall and morlet wavelet transform.Research conclusion:(1) The annual average precipitation (8.65 mm/10 a) in Xinjiang showed a significant increasing trend, and the increasing trend in local areas was:Northern Xinjiang (14.83 mm/10 a) > Southern Xinjiang(7.76 mm/10 a) > Eastern Xinjiang (3.37 mm/10 a).(2) The spatial distribution of tendency rate of annual precipitation is basically the same as the spring, summer and autumn in Xinjiang, the tendency rate decreases from northwest to southeast, but the tendency rate of winter precipitation decreases from north to south.(3) The precipitation of Xinjiang changed abruptly in 1989, Southern Xinjiang was relatively earlier (1986), Northern Xinjiang (1991) and Eastern Xinjiang (1990) were relatively delay.(4) The main cycle of precipitation was 26–30 a in Xinjiang and local areas, which predicts that the next 10 years will be a wet season.(5) The annual average temperature (0.44 °C / 10 a) in Xinjiang is very significant, and the temperature increase trend in local areas is: Eastern Xinjiang (0.58 °C / 10 a) > Northern Xinjiang (0.45 °C / 10 a) > Southern Xinjiang (0.31 °C / 10 a).(6) The spatial distribution of tendency rate of annual average temperature is basically the same as the four seasons in Xinjiang, and the tendency rate showed a decreasing trend from northeast to southwest.(7) The temperature change of Xinjiang occurred in 1988,Northern Xinjiang was 1988 (relatively earlier), Southern Xinjiang and Eastern Xinjiang were 1992 (relatively delay).(8) The main cycle of temperature in Xinjiang and local areas was 25–30 a. It was predicted that the next 10 years would be high temperature period.


Despite the prevalence of temporary financial assistance programs for those facing imminent homelessness, there is little evidence of their impact. Using data from Chicago from 2010 to 2012 (n = 4448), we demonstrate that the volatile nature of funding availability leads to good-as-random variation in the allocation of resources to individuals seeking assistance. To estimate impacts, we compare families that call when funds are available with those who call when they are not. We find that those calling when funding is available are 76% less likely to enter a homeless shelter. The per-person cost of averting homelessness through financial assistance is estimated as $10,300 and would be much less with better targeting of benefits to lower-income callers. The estimated benefits, not including many health benefits, exceed $20,000.


Citrinin is a toxic product usually produced during the Monascus fermentation. The presence of citrinin in xuezhikang capsule has been a concern due to its ingredient which is derived from monascus-fermented rice. A rapid and sensitive RP-HPLC method with fluorescence detection at λex = 331 nm and λem = 500 nm for analysis of citrinin in Monascus-fermented products was developed to analyze citrinin in Monascus-fermented products. The chromatography was performed with mobile phase containing acidified water and acetonitrile. The calibration curve was linear (r = 0.9999) over a range of 0.0107- 0.537 μg/mL. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.187 ng/mL and 0.6 ng/mL respectively. The analysis of xuezhikang capsules using the developed method suggested that the product does not contain detectable citrinin and the result has been further confirmed using independent LC-MS/MS analysis. The proposed method has also been applied to analyze 11 samples of other Monascus-fermented products. The results suggested that there were no detectable citrinin in 4 of the 11 samples, however citrinin with the levels between 0.10-594 ng/kg has been detected in the other 7 samples. It indicates that the proposed method can also be applied to carry out the quantitative detection of citrinin for other Monascus-fermented products.


The endangered population of Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in the Russian Far East (RFE) faces an increasing risk of extinction due to infection with canine distemper virus (CDV). Short-lasting CDV infections are unlikely to be maintained in small populations of species with limited connectivity like tigers, where viruses fade out as susceptible hosts are depleted. Multi-host pathogens can persist in more abundant host species that can act as reservoirs of infection for threatened populations. This study combines assessments of host demography, serology and viral phylogeny to establish the relative contribution of domestic dogs and small bodied wild mesocarnivores to the maintenance of CDV, and as sources of infection for tigers. No antibodies were detected among tigers sampled prior to 2000 (n=19), but were measured in 35.7% of tigers in subsequent years (n=56), with at least five discrete transmission events occurring in one well-monitored population. Viral sequences from three tigers and one Far Eastern leopard (P. pardus orientalis) aligned within the Arctic-like clade of CDV, and shared recent common ancestry with viruses from 22 other wild carnivores from the region. Extensive spatial mixing of wild carnivore lineages suggested long chains of transmission consistent with a maintenance population. The exposure of tigers following 2000 coincides with increases in sable (Martes zibellina) numbers and hunting pressure, which could lead to greater pathogen prevalence and potential for spill over from a wild reservoir. The ratio of humans to dogs in rural areas in the RFE are among the lowest in the world (1.73), but the overall number of dogs has been stable during the period of increased CDV exposure in tigers. The only CDV sequence obtained from dogs shared high identity with Asia-4 clade viruses from dogs in Thailand, and was distantly related to wildlife sequences from the RFE. Serum antibodies were detected in dogs in all 26 communities where households were surveyed, but seroprevalence was higher in remote, less densely populated areas, suggesting possible transmission from wildlife. Although the maintenance of CDV in Russian dogs remains unconfirmed, the strong support for a wildlife reservoir limits options for managing the impact of CDV on tiger populations. The high turnover of large and often inaccessible populations of mesocarnivores combines with limitations in vaccine safety, efficacy and delivery, to render the control of CDV in a wildlife reservoir untenable. Managing the impact of CDV on Amur tigers must therefore focus on restoring the size and integrity of remaining tiger populations to withstand future outbreaks. The safety and efficacy of vaccine products for tigers should also be investigated, for use in low coverage vaccination strategies that could enhance the long-term persistence of tiger populations.


Objective: Although extreme heat can impact the health of anyone, certain groups are disproportionately affected. In urban settings, cooling centers are intended to reduce heat exposure by providing air-conditioned spaces to the public. We examined the characteristics of populations living near cooling centers and how well they serve areas with high social vulnerability. Methods: We identified 1402 cooling centers in 81 US cities from publicly available sources and analyzed markers of urban heat and social vulnerability in relation to their locations. Within each city, we developed cooling center access areas, defined as the geographic area within a 0.5-mile walk from a center, and compared sociodemographic characteristics of populations living within versus outside the access areas. We analyzed results by city and geographic region to evaluate climate-relevant regional differences. Results: Access to cooling centers differed among cities, ranging from 0.01% (Atlanta, Georgia) to 63.2% (Washington, DC) of the population living within an access area. On average, cooling centers were in areas that had higher levels of social vulnerability, as measured by the number of people living in urban heat islands, annual household income below poverty, racial and ethnic minority status, low educational attainment, and high unemployment rate. However, access areas were less inclusive of adult populations aged ≥65 years than among populations aged <65 years. Conclusion: Given the large percentage of individuals without access to cooling centers and the anticipated increase in frequency and severity of extreme heat events, the current distribution of centers in the urban areas that we examined may be insufficient to protect individuals from the adverse health effects of extreme heat, particularly in the absence of additional measures to reduce risk.


Different specialists are involved in software development at once: databases designers, business analysts, user interface designers, programmers, testers, etc. It leads to creation and usage in systems designing of various models fulfilled from the different points of view, with different levels of details, which use different modeling languages for the description. Thus there is a necessity of models transformation as between different levels of hierarchy, and within the same level between different modeling languages for creation of united model of system and exporting of models to external systems. The MetaLanguage system is intended to visual domain-specific languages creation. The approaches to development of a model transformation component of MetaLanguage system are considered. This component allows to fulfill vertical and horizontal model transformations of "model-text" and "model-model" types. These transformations are based on graph grammars described by production rules. Each rule contains the leftand right-hand sides. The algorithm of the left-hand side search in the source model and the algorithms of execution of a right-hand side of a rule are described. Transformations definitions for models in ERD notation are presented as example.


Background: Various serum factors in response to aerobic exercise improve cognitive function in healthy individuals; nonetheless, the effect of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on their levels has not been studied. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the effect of a moderate intensity aerobic exercise on serum levels of Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Doublecortin (DCX), and D-β-hydroxybutyrate (DBHB) in triathlon male adolescents in Tuyserkan.
Materials and Methods: A total of 22 triathlon male adolescents (age: 17.60±0.52 years, weight: 60.74±4.96 kg, height: 175.60±5.52 cm) voluntarily participated in this quasi-experimental study. Subjects in one session performed 60 minutes of running with an intensity of 12-13 on the Borg scale. Blood samples were taken from the subjects 5 min before and after training. Serum levels of BDNF, DCX and DBHB were measured by ELISA. To analyze the data, paired samples t-test was used, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. In addition, the percentage of changes was compared to pre-test.
Results: Based on the results, the serum levels of DCX (P=0.0005), BDNF (P=0.0005), and DBHB (P=0.001) increased significantly, compared to those in the pretest. Furthermore, serum levels of BDNF (21.30%), DBHB (12.95%) and DCX (12.01%) had the highest increase, as compared to the pretest, respectively.
Conclusion: All three serum factors BDNF, DCX, and DBHB have a significant positive response to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise in triathlon male adolescents. Nevertheless, neurotrophin/growth factor BDNF demonstrates more changes and appears to play a greater role in neuroprotection, improving memory, learning, and cognitive function.


This paper presents a new method for integrating terrain maps into a reactive navigation strategy of field mobile robots operating on rough terrain. The method incorporates the Regional Traversability Map, a fuzzy map representation of traversal difficulty of the regional terrain, into the navigation logic. A map-based regional navigation behavior provides speed and direction recommendations based on the current status of the robot. In addition, recommendations from two sensor-based reactive behaviors, local avoid-obstacle and regional traverse-terrain, are fused with the map-based regional behavior to construct a comprehensive navigation system. The algorithms are tested both in graphical simulations and in the field using a commercial Pioneer 2AT robot to demonstrate traversal over rough natural terrain.


Recent psycholinguistic studies provide compelling evidence for the claim that both languages are active when second language (L2) learners and bilinguals process information in one language alone. The parallel activation of the two languages occurs even when individuals are performing highly practiced tasks such as reading, listening, and speaking, and even when they are highly proficient in both languages. The presence of cross-language activity in the absence of random errors, particularly for those who are highly proficient in the L2, suggests that a mechanism of cognitive control is in place to guide the selection of the intended language. The focus of current research is to understand the basis of this cognitive mechanism, how it varies as a function of individual differences in cognitive resources, and what consequences it holds for cognition more generally. In this paper we consider whether L2 learners and bilinguals are able to exploit cues to language status that might allow them to focus their attention on languagerelevant attributes of processing or to effectively inhibit information related to the language not in use as a means to control language selection. The results of the present study suggest that it is possible to create a functional language cue for planning the L2 and bias language selection.


In the UK, over 2 million people suffer a bone fracture every year. 10% of bone fractures will not heal adequately and require surgical intervention and, as yet, there is no approved systemic drug that is effective in promoting and accelerating fracture healing. Wnt signalling activation is a promising therapeutic target to address this paucity of treatments. Wnt is a molecular pathway that controls bone homeostasis and repair. However, its activation can have both positive and negative effects on bone cell function depending on the timing and site of delivery. Polymersomes (PMs) are polymeric nanoparticles that allow for a spatio-temporal controlled delivery of molecules, including Wnt agonists. This study addresses the hypothesis that PMs loaded with a Wnt agonist can be used as a novel systemic treatment to accelerate bone fracture healing fracture. The aims were: to assess cellular uptake of PMs and to quantify the amount of payload released intracellularly from PMs, to determine the ability of Wnt agonist loaded PMs to promote the osteogenic differentiation of human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs), and to assess the distribution of PMs in vivo following systemic injection in a mouse model of bone fracture. Cellular uptake was demonstrated using fluorescein as a model payload. By combining microscopy and flow cytometry, it was demonstrated that PMs are internalised by different cell types, including skeletal stem cells (SSCs), and real-time intracellular release of fluorescein was quantified at a single-cell level. Activation of Wnt signalling was achieved loading PMs with the Wnt agonist 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO), and demonstrated using a luciferase assay and RT-qPCR. In a reporter cell line, BIO-PMs induced a significant activation of the Wnt pathway without cytotoxicity, differently from free BIO. In BMSCs, BIO PMs induced a significant increase in the expression of the Wnt target gene AXIN2 (p<0.05) and in the expression of the early osteogenic marker RUNX2 (p<0.05). Biodistribution in vivo was assessed loading PMs with a fluorescent dye (DiR) and using IVIS and histological analysis. PMs localised in the fractured bone within 24 hours after systemic administration in mice with a femoral drill defect and reached the maximum of accumulation after 48 hours. Histological sectioning confirmed the presence of PMs in the defect area post injection. Preliminary results demonstrated that BIO-PMs injected systemically have the ability to promote bone formation after injury. This project demonstrated that PMs are internalised by SSCs, which are the ideal cellular targets for bone regenerative approaches. When loaded with Wnt agonists, PMs induce a controlled activation of the pathway, promoting osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Upon systemic injection in vivo, PMs accumulate at the fracture site and were able to promote bone formation. Overall, the novel and exciting findings presented in this project showed that PMs loaded with Wnt agonists could represent an effective pharmacological treatment to promote bone regeneration after fracture.


Although there exists a number of studies that have shown the benefits of applying the cognitive linguistics notion of motivation to foster comprehension and retention of conventional English metaphors, relatively little attention has been paid to EFL learners' productive use of metaphor in speech and writing. Using data gathered in a post-intermediate English language classroom, I describe and explore the metaphorical language used by undergraduate students in their writing. The data show that learners use metaphor to express their ideas on complex, abstract topics, but that the resulting metaphorical usage is not always conventional or felicitous. Since metaphor is deployed by EFL learners in response to particular communication demands, teachers need to find ways of providing appropriate feedback on learners' efforts to make use of their limited linguistic resources to express their own meanings. However, how effective feedback is to be given is not always straightforward. I discuss some of the problems involved and suggest areas that are in need of further research.


Crete is especially rich in orchids and their distribution is well known and documented by many floristic accounts. This information, however, is yet to be used to set conservation plans and priorities. We used MaxEnt incorporating both published and unpublished distribution data together with environmental variables to predict the potential distribution of orchids on Crete. The resulting probabilistic maps of species occurrence were used to identify the important areas for orchid conservation on the island. Sites prioritization was performed by applying a species weighting scheme, which was based on species niche breadth. The existence of ecological patterns determining site prioritization was determined using a regression tree analysis based on environmental variables and scores derived from Zonation analysis. The high importance sites were found on Mts Thripti, Ida and Lefka Ori, as well as at low altitude areas east of Heraklion and at the easternmost part of the island. Most of the variation in the site scores was explained by geological substrate, latitude and altitude. Based on the regression tree analysis, sites with the highest scores were at medium and high altitude areas, which are located at the interior of the island. These areas have soils mainly derived from limestones, ophiolites and deposits of calcareous rocks. The lack of a significant effect of vegetation type in explaining the distribution of high importance areas highlights the need for the establishment of micro-reserves for the conservation of orchids in Crete. Finally, endangered orchid species in need of specific conservation actions are indicated.


Abstract. The topic of shrinking cities has been one of the most important urban issues in the past three decades. Couch and Cocks (2013) reviewed studies on the outcomes of recent shrinking cities: (1) rapid out-migration from post-socialist countries such as the movement from East Germany to West Germany in the 1990s; (2) economic -decline as an additional trigger for out-migration such as in old industrial areas in Northern England and the Rust Belt of the United States; and (3) rapid demographic changes such as low fertility and longevity-led ageing of the society leading to shrinking regions in the European countries and Japan. Although many studies have been conducted in East Germany, the old industrial cities, and the aging European countries (Nordvik and Gulbrabdsen 2009, Hoekstra et al. 2018, Hollander 2018), little is known about shrinkage in Japanese cities. Over recent decades, the debates on shrinking cities have been widely studied; these studies can be classified into three categories: (1) studies to understand the background reasons that caused shrinkage, (2) those to analyze the effects or outcomes of shrinkage (e.g., increase in housing vacancies or vacant lots, growth of crime rate or political challenges), and (3) those to propose policy implications or practical solution strategies to overcome shrinkage (Hollander and Nemeth 2011).First, Hollander (2018) and other studies identified the relationship between the neighborhood life cycle (Hoover and Vernon 1959, or studies by the Chicago schools) and urban shrinkage, with regards to old industrial cities such as those in the Rust Belt of the United States and erstwhile mining towns in North England. Hoover and Vernon (1959) proposed that a neighborhood follows a five-stage cycle, comprising the stages of development, transition, downgrading, shrinkage, and renewal; this five-stage model is linked to the discriminative housing policies from the 1930s until the 1970s in the United States (Metzger 2000). In addition to these neighborhood cycles, other factors such as economic decline, outmigration and population loss, demographic changes (Nordvik and Gulbrabdsen 2009, Couch and Cocks 2013), social transition, globalization and neo-liberalization have transformed housing, welfare, and family relations in many countries (Yui et al. 2017, Ronald and Lennarts 2018). In East Germany, housing oversupply during the post-socialist shrinking periods acted as a catalyst to form a new residential segregation pattern in Leipzig (Grobmann et al. 2015). Some neighborhood conditions can lead to an increase in the number of housing abandonments or long-term housing vacancies in specific neighborhoods, as demonstrated by various studies mentioning oversupply of housing during the housing bubble periods and longitude low demand neighborhoods in the United States (Molloy 2016), the high ratio of poverty (Immergluck 2016), and the conditions of the surrounding neighborhoods (Morckel 2014). Second, the population loss caused by massive out-migration and a rise in housing abandonment or housing vacancies were the most common outcomes of urban shrinkage. Out-migration was triggered by the movement to seek better job opportunities or quality of life, urban life cycles with growth and decline (Couch and Cocks 2013), and the longitudinal decline process of population (Alves et al. 2016). Nordvik and Gulbrandsen (2009) analyzed aging-led shrinkage with a case study in Norway and found a spatial characteristic of shrinkage that occurs more often in suburbs than in city-centers, and the positive relation between the rise in the vacant property ratio and an increase in the elderly population in a region. The out-migration of the younger generation, arising from the desire to move away from parental homes in suburbs, and the deaths among the parental generation that have occurred in the last 30 to 50 years have led to a gradual increase in vacant housing in the suburb in Norway (Nordvik and Gulbrabdsen 2009). Apparently, the Japanese suburban neighborhoods have experienced the rise in housing vacancies and ageing population through the similar mechanism with that in Norway, but the reality and spatial patterns of shrinking-related problems vary reflecting the urban and housing policies, housing market characteristics, and embedded relationship between housing and family in society. According to Couch and Cocks (2013), the rise in housing vacancies in a region arises due to several factors, as follows. The first factor is that of short-term vacancies for which there is no demand in the local housing market; this issue can be resolved through public intervention in terms of reinvestment in inner-city social housing, such as in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The second factor is that of oversupply of housing as compared to the housing demand in a region; this is caused by lower satisfaction among residents in their residential environment or inequality in public investment and access to private financial resources by local residents. Moreover, shrinking cities with a high ratio of long-term housing vacancies tend to experience an increase in crime such as burglary. This is because the rise in housing vacancies causes a decline in neighbourhood vitality required to protect social disorder; vacant housing is used to store stolen goods or sell drugs, and there is a "broken window effect" with regard to abandoned housing vacancies (Jones and Pridemore 2016).There have recently been more meaningful discussions on how to handle the problems of shrinking cities. As Hoekstra et al. (2018) mentioned, there have been two main approaches in these discussions: one approach has focused on increasing the population in shrinking cities again, whereas, the other accepts longitudinal shrinkage patterns and aims to increase the quality of life of present and future residents (Hollander and Nemeth 2011). The former approach advocates entrepreneurial policies to attract new residents, resulting in an increase in inequality within a region, unsold housing, and a lack of affordable housing (Hoekstra et al. 2018). The latter approach employs methodologies such as selective demolition of abandoned housing to control the housing stock of a region, promoting down-sizing or right-sizing to meet the changes in the housing demands of residents, or densification of urban buildings to recreate walkable neighborhoods (Hoekstra et al. 2018). Hollander and Nemeth (2011) proposed smart decline strategies based on the concept of social justice, with an emphasis on the following aspects: accepting voices from diverse actors, utilizing different types of technology to share information about citizens to problematize uneven power structure, transparent decision-making processes with clear evaluation, and paying attention to the scale of decision making (e.g., the total planning burden is shared among regional levels, and the required interventions are conducted at local levels). Compared to the rich accumulation of literature on shrinking cities in Western countries, the Japanese situation has not been discussed sufficiently and there is an absence of strategies to resolve the issues in Japan. Research on shrinkage and housing has clarified that factors related to housing, welfare, and family relations are embedded in the social fabric, and the relationships vary by region or by country (Ronald and Lennerts 2018). Therefore, it is necessary to obtain deeper understanding of the housing challenges in shrinking and aging Japanese cities. The present study aims to review the above-mentioned three categories of shrinking city debates in Japan, to propose practical countermeasures for shrinking and aging Japanese cities. First, we review the reasons that caused the shrinkage in Japanese cities. Second, we analyze the increase in housing vacancies as an outcome of this shrinkage. Third, we examine the political countermeasures that have been adopted in Japan and evaluate their efficacy in the Japanese situation. Finally, through these analyses, we propose policy implications to deal with the problems of aging and shrinking cities in Japan. The major findings of the study are as follows: First of all, existing systems that had been established during the economic and urban growth periods of Japan are not suitable to address the new demands of the shrinking and aging era. Therefore, a great divide in terms of residential environments has occurred within a metropolitan area or between cities. Lesser access to financial resources to reinvest in old suburban neighborhoods or local cities accelerates the divide or inequality in terms of residential environments. Second, an increase in housing vacancies can decrease the quality of life of older adults in these shrinking neighborhoods. Third, these problems could be resolved by adopting a strategy of smart decline, with selective investment to control housing stock, and by accepting aging in place in shrinking neighborhoods. We discuss the challenges in implementing these possible solutions in Japanese cities.


This article considers recent media texts from four Western countries that invite audiences to watch someone die. When dying people resist the default of social invisibility by participating in documentary media, they challenge hegemonic attitudes about dying and physical fallibility, even as they introduce this aspect of life into the logics of media visibility and self-disclosure. I focus on their invitation to witness and the faith in the possibilities of media visibility they express by agreeing to die on camera, bearing in mind the power relations among dying people, media professionals, and audiences within which this invitation occurs. The participants in these texts articulate a desire to deprivatize the deathbed in order to help other dying people and their caregivers. Their motivation speaks to the idea that seeing death may puncture the neoliberal fiction of the autonomous, invulnerable self.


Background Asthma and COPD are chronic diseases of the airways characterised by variable and recurring symptoms, airflow obstruction and bronchospasm. The progressive increase in incidence and prevalence has increased significally care related costs, with a specific contribution of R03AK drugs especially for the Local Health Authority (LHA) of Messina, Italy. Purpose This study was carried out to evaluate the incidence and cost of use of drugs with ATC R03AK06-R03AK07 in order to assess prescribing patterns in the LHA between January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2010 comparing them with those recorded in the same LHA in 2009 and in Sicily and Italy in 2010. Materials and methods Data were collected from the database 'Farmanalisi.it' that includes all prescriptions reimbursed by the LHA of Messina and compared to Sicilian and Italian one. All consumption data have been expressed as units/1000 inhabitants and costs as euro/1000 inhabitants. Results Local data are higher than Sicilian and National ones. The annual use of association salmeterol & other drugs (R03AK06) decreased from 91.05 units/1000 inhabitants in 2009 to 88.5/1000 inhabitants in 2010 but still remains the most frequently prescribed association followed by salbutamol & other drugs (R03AK07) with 55.46 units/1000 inhabitants (vs 51.91 units/inhabitants in 2009). In the evaluated period treated patients were mostly males (52,56%) mainly over 75 years. For LHA, in 2010, direct cost for evaluated drugs were 8309€/1000 inhabitants (vs 8351€/1000 inhabitants in 2009) about 20% higher than the value reported in Sicily and Italy. Conclusions Data obtained confirm that pharmacological treatments for asthma and COPD diseases do represent one of the areas where a closer monitoring of direct cost, as well of the appropriateness of prescription is needed because both values are higher than Sicilian and Italian values. Presentation of drugs consumption is one of the activities of Pharmaceutical Department and, also, the basis for communication among healthcare providers, such as General Practitioners, in order to improve appropriate prescribing policies.


ABSTRACT Understanding how carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) can be decoupled from economic growth is an important part of planning for climate change mitigation. A variety of critical environmental theories contend that the oppression of marginalized groups is interconnected with the mistreatment and destruction of nature. As a result, social equity, or the removal of barriers of structural inequality, often coincide with environmental quality and reduced environmental degradation. To date, there is limited research on the dialectical relationship between inequality, economic growth, and the environment. The present study seeks to further understand the relationship between social inequality and the environment by assessing how gender equality decouples economic growth from CO2 emissions. We construct a fixed-effects panel regression model with robust standard errors that accounts for clustering in 140 nations to assess how gender inequality interacts with GDP per capita to influence CO2 emissions per capita. Our findings indicate that in nations with more gender equality, the association between GDP per capita and CO2 emissions is much lower than in nations with higher levels of gender inequality.


OBJECTIVE
To review the effect of raloxifene on bone density and fractures in postmenopausal women.

DATA SOURCE
We searched MEDLINE from 1966 to 2000 and examined citations of relevant articles and the proceedings of international osteoporosis meetings.

STUDY SELECTION
We included seven trials that randomized women to raloxifene or placebo, with both groups receiving similar calcium and vitamin D supplementation, and measured bone density for at least one year.

DATA EXTRACTION
For each trial, three independent reviewers abstracted the data and assessed the methodological quality using a validated tool.

DATA SYNTHESIS
Data from one large dominating trial suggest a reduction in vertebral fractures with a relative risk (RR) of 0.60 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50-0.70, P < 0.01]. The RR of nonvertebral fractures in patients given 60 mg or more of raloxifene in the larger study was 0.92 (95% CI 0.79-1.07, P = 0.27). Raloxifene resulted in positive effects on the percentage change in bone density, which increased over time and was independent of dose. At the final year, point estimates and 95% CIs for the differences in percent change in bone density (95% CI) between raloxifene and placebo groups were 1.33 (95% CI 0.37-2.30) for total body, 2.51 (95% CI 2.21-2.82) for lumbar spine, 2.05 (95% CI 0.71-3.39) for combined forearm, and 2.11 (95% CI 1.68-2.53) for combined hip (P < 0.01 at all four sites). Results were similar across studies, and formal tests of heterogeneity did not approach conventional statistical significance. Raloxifene slightly increased rates of withdrawal from therapy as a result of adverse effects (RR 1.15, 95% CI 1.00-1.33, P = 0.05). The pooled RR was significant for hot flashes 1.46 (95% CI 1.23-1.74, P < 0.01) and nonsignificant for leg cramps 1.64 (95% CI 0.84-3.20, P = 0.15).

CONCLUSION
Raloxifene increases bone density, and the effect increases over 2 yr. The data suggest a positive impact of raloxifene on vertebral fractures. There was little effect of raloxifene on nonvertebral fractures.


The theme of the re-aggregation of public organisations has been embraced in the recent public sector reforms of some developed countries such as the UK. The re-aggregation of public organisations may benefit the government in terms of focusing its interests on policy coordination. This is an alternative way of reforming the public sector in order to increase greater outcomes and the performance of public organisations with regard to the achievement of particular policy goals. The reform inevitably affects the targeted public organisations in both tangible and intangible ways. Since organisational culture is an important issue that can affect organisational outcomes and performance, including the achievement of policy goals, the research aims to analyse how organisational cultures have been changed following the integration of Thai public organisations. In this respect, the researchers used an integrated model of Competing Values Framework and human paradox theory to assess cultural changes of integrated public organisations.The research was based on quantitative and qualitative data gathered in field research conducted in Thailand?s four integrated public organisations. It was found that, overall, organisational cultures were altered following the organisational integration. Public employees perceived that the hierarchy culture hardly changed following a reform. However, the clan value has largely reduced, while market and adhocracy values have increased rather significantly within the new organisations. In terms of clan value, the research found that the reduction was a result of power struggles between groups of people who came from different organisational backgrounds. Power-struggling between clans could lead to lower team cooperation, a lack of trust and diminished loyalty to organisations. Public officials also perceived that a significant development of market and adhocracy cultures in organisations could be a result of external forces, as well as the integration reform. With regard to these changes, the development of market values was inimical to human relations within integrated organisations. Together with the existence of a patronage system in the Thai public organisations, leadership also contributed to a paradox of competition and cooperation where members of a dominant clan could be favoured over the others. People who came from minor cultures might feel a disadvantage from being part of the minority and then give minimal cooperation to the integrated organisation. In this respect, teamwork and organisational cohesion could be difficult to build if the tension is unbalanced. It can be concluded that the cultural model of the organisations studied changed and seemed to be more balanced than was previously found. The integration of organisations also has a great influence on cultures and paradoxes in organisations. The dissertation hopes to contribute to the existing literature, with regard to the application of a Competing Values Framework and human paradox theory to the underexplored context of integration reform in the public sector. Findings from the use of this instrument can offer a fresh point of view towards the reality of organisational integration reforms, especially for academics, Thai reformers and public employees themselves.


In the present work, for the first time, gas flow with considering slip velocity and temperature jump boundary condition is studied in a heat sink consisting of rectangular fins and microchannels with calculating conjugated heat transfer. In this paper, helium gas flow with Knudsen number between 0.048 to 0.06 has been studied. Heat flux applied to the bottom of the aluminum heat sink is 500W/m2. The governing equation for fluid flow has been discretized using second-order upwind method and solved with using the Coupled algorithm in Ansys-Fluent commercial software. Results show that inlet and local Knudsen numbers decrease with increasing pressure ratio and also local Poiseuille number decreases with increasing inlet Knudsen number. Also, with increasing inlet Knudsen number (reduction of pressure ratio), first the average Nusselt number decreases and then increases. In this case, the average Nusselt number decreases about 54.4% with increasing Knudsen number from 0.006 to 0.024 and the average Nusselt number increases with increasing Knudsen number from 0.024 to 0.048. With increasing Knudsen number, thermal resistance increases continuously. The results show that with increasing inlet Knudsen number, slip and temperature jump coefficients increase. Review History: Received: Revised: Accepted: Available Online:


Hierarchical zeolites are promising solid acid catalysts for industrial processes and conversions of bulky molecules because they provide fast mass transfer along with size and shape selectivity; however, their synthesis always involves either complicated post-synthetic modifications or cost-intensive templates. In this work, engineering growth defects has been developed as a new and efficient strategy for preparing hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite with high specific surface area and abundant uniform intracrystalline mesopores. This route only involved certain energy-efficient conditions, e.g., tender crystallization and mesotemplate-free conditions. Combining tender crystallization conditions with an optimal original Si/Al ratio (150–300) in a colloid synthesis system was found to be the key to successfully engineer the growth defects. Importantly, it even exhibited higher catalytic activities for benzaldehyde–alcohol condensation reactions than mesoporous ZSM-5 zeolite prepared using mesoscale templates.


This paper describes the potential impact on the economy of Pakistan of building the Diamer-Basha dam. An integrated system of economic and water simulation models is applied to Pakistan to analyze the economywide impacts of changes in water resources in the Indus river basin, focusing on agricultural and hydropower benefits provided by the Diamer-Basha dam under different climate scenarios. The model framework links separate economic and water models, drawing on the strengths of both approaches without having to compromise by specifying either a simplified treatment of water in an economic model or simplified economics in a water model. The model system is used to simulate the impact of economic growth and changes in water resources over the long run, focusing on agriculture and hydropower. The results of scenario analysis indicate that the Diamer-Basha dam would improve the resilience of Pakistan to adapt to climate shocks, providing increased hydropower capacity and enhanced ability to manage the water system to offset climate-induced variation in river flows.


Resistance to coumarin anticoagulants in two black patients was established. The resistance appears to be of the pharmacodynamic type since high doses of the coumarin drugs (with accompanying high plasma concentrations) were needed to achieve therapeutic prothrombinemia. A pharmacokinetic mechanism for the resistance was ruled out. This phenomenon has no ethnic uniqueness as exemplified by these cases and two earlier reports. A brief review of the problem is presented, with an approach for establishing the type of resistance and a plan for patient management


Objective: To improve soil chemical properties and crops productivity, this study was conducted from 2008 to 2015, on lixisoil in a research station, using reduced soil tillage and leguminous plant cover. Methodology and Results: Three soil tillage practices in main plot (T1 = no tillage with direct sowing, T2 = minimum tillage by soil scarifying with IR12 tool and T3 = conventional tillage with animals drawn plough) were compared and combined to four crops rotation systems, in a split-plot experimental design. Soil chemical characteristics and crops yields were evaluated. The results showed that tillage practices did not influence significantly the soil chemical properties, but soil organic matter contents, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were lower in conventional tillage plots (T3) compared to minimum tillage (T2) and no tillage (direct sowing). Rotations did not significantly influence nitrogen and soil organic matter contents, even the leguminous mucuna insertion in the rotation during three years. After 8 years, crops rotations improved significantly cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) and maize ( Zea mays L.) yields. The yield increases were respectively +7, +23 and +43%, with one, two and three years of mucuna insertion into rotations. No tillage (direct sowing) and minimum tillage (scarifying with IR12) were as efficacy as conventional tillage on Mucuna and maize yields whereas cotton yield, with minimum tillage (T2) was significantly higher than no tillage (T1). Conclusion and application of results: The study showed that conventional tillage with mouldboard plough, appear to be the soil tillage practice, which led to soil properties degradation. Crops rotations with the use of leguminous mucuna allowed reducing soil N contents decreases. No tillage (direct sowing) and minimum tillage (scarifying with IR12) showed same efficacy with conventional tillage on cotton, maize and mucuna yields, which were improved after mucuna insertion into crops rotations. Therefore, tillage suppression or its reduction combined to one year leguminous cover plant insertion in rotation (mucuna-cotton-maize) could be used for crops diversification and sustainable productivity in cotton and cereals based production systems. Keywords: Tillage practices, crops rotations, plant cover, soil fertility, yields, Burkina Faso


Despite its main title, Mungiu-Pippidi's The Quest for Good Governance is primarily about the conceptualization, measurement, and reduction of corruption throughout history. Its wealth of provocative heuristic ideas is invaluable for contemporary social science. For readers of this journal, across several disciplines, the book offers an admirable re-thinking of many received notions that have influenced our understanding of how American, European, Asian, and African governments have coped with the realities of corruption, and how corruption continues to distort their various national and/or developmental trajectories.


Abstract Access to and use of mobile technologies are growing exponentially. The authors of this study identified four schools of education in the United States that self-identified as having a fully implemented curriculum for teachers on mobile technology use in PK–12 classrooms. In-depth interviews were conducted with a representative from each institution in order to determine the factors that influenced their ability to change their educational technology curriculum to include teaching about mobile devices. The interviews revealed that an institutional commitment to innovation, a belief in the importance of being on the cutting edge, and expectations from local school districts were important motivators for change. Leadership and vision, institutional and administrative support, and the expectation that all faculty members participate in the implementation of the curriculum were important internal characteristics for success. Finally, increasing faculty knowledge about mobile technologies, funding, and finding the correct developmental and instructional approaches were identified as challenges by these institutions. The findings herein are shared with the intention of triggering conversations about adopting mobile technologies in teacher education curriculum and stimulating further research in this area.


Since the discovery of the Antarctic ozone 'hole' many studies have been conducted to determine the effect of UV radiation on photosynthetic rate of phytoplankton. It is accepted now that increased levels of UV radiation are stressful for some phytoplankton. In this thesis have developed and implemented an experimental system (a photoinbitron) for measuring photosynthesis of phytoplankton suspensions during controlled, quantified exposures to a broad range of UV radiation and PAR treatments. We have also carried out experiments to evaluate the effects of UVR on phytoplankton photosynthesis. The results from this experiment presented two selected algae species from different classes, Haematococcus pluvialis and Phaeodactylum tricornutum which differ in many ways, especially in regard to their habitats. The impact of UVR was assessed by exposing the samples to a constant irradiance of UVA and PAR but with varying irradiances of UVB exposure which ranged from 20% to 100% of the maximum available intensity. The radiation was divided into five different radiation treatments using cut off filters (280, 295, 305 and 395) so that samples received radiation at five different intervals within the UVR in addition to PAR, and only PAR respectively. For irradiation treatment (PAR) without UVR, photosynthesis in all samples tested was not affected during the course of 20 min of exposure. When the samples were exposed to full irradiance spectra, photosynthesis was inhibited to a variable degree in all samples of the two algae species tested. Strong inhibition was observed in algae samples when the UVB levels were at 100% and least inhibition when levels of UVB exposure were at 20%. Of the two selected species tested, the most sensitive specie was Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Haematococcus pluvialis was the least sensitive to UVB irradiance. This may probably be related to adaptation through the accumulation of UVB screening compounds, to high UVB levels. Most of the observed variability in all the samples tested was due to change in UVB levels. Photosynthetic oxygen evolution performances in response to UVB were measured using oxygen fiber optical micro sensors which are based on oxygen dependent dynamic fluorescence quenching. .


Due to corrosive and hostile environment, in-service nonmagnetic pipes are prone to such anomalies as the external corrosion which poses a severe threat to structural integrity. Gradient-field Pulsed Eddy Current technique (GPEC) has been found superior to other non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques particularly pulsed eddy current testing in evaluation and imaging of subsurface corrosion in planar conductors. In this paper, GPEC for evaluation and imaging of external corrosion in nonmagnetic pipes is investigated. Two orthogonal gradientfield signals are simultaneously acquired and used for visualization of external corrosion. Through experimental investigation, it has been found that: (1) the depth of the external corrosion can be implied by the acquired corrosion images; and (2) the corrosion boundaries can be detected and identified via GPEC.