This paper - the title of which borrows from Isabelle Stengers' 'Wondering about materialism' (2011) - considers the ceramic and textile material craft practices of the artist Francis Upritchard. It reflects on the artist's crafting of imaginary bodies as a means to poetically speculate on the crafting of the posthuman body and will consider how hybrid bodies provoke a shift in thinking about the body per se. From Donna Haraway's cyborg bodies to Rosi Bradotti's post-anthropocentric bodies feminist theory has located itself at the shifting boundaries of the human, arguing that the crafted body is an imaginative resource for re-thinking politics and the social contract. In this paper I focus on craft as a form of discovery and curiosity, of performative and haptic sensitivity, and as a relational nexus between body, material and environment that produces wonder in the twofold sense of both surprise and speculation in the face of the unknown.

Feminist materialist discourse has identified the significance of the speculative as a material process. This move to resituate the speculative in relation to the material world reintroduces the body back into the politics of knowledge production. It calls for a critical and creative re-worlding to take place that foregrounds knowledge as both embodied and embedded. This re-worlding is both a necessary response to and a product of the entanglements of the natural and the technological that now define our species present. As humans 'we' are now in the process of becoming (or have already become) more-than human. This shift calls for new forms of creativity and new (or reconfigured) bodies of knowledge that might help us to navigate our way in an uncertain and rapidly changing techno-ecological present. I argue that craft practices and craft thinking have a significant role to play in this process.


Methods of kernel estimates represent one of the most effective nonparametric smoothing techniques. These methods are simple to understand and they possess very good statistical properties. The book provides a brief comprehensive overview of statistical theory and moreover, the emphasis is given to implementation of presented methods in Matlab. All created programs are included into a special toolbox which is an integral part of the book. This toolbox contains many Matlab scripts useful for kernel smoothing of density, cumulative distribution function, regression function, hazard function, indices of quality and bivariate density. Especially, methods for a choice of the optimal bandwidth and a special procedure for simultaneous choice of the bandwidth, the kernel and its order are implemented. The toolbox is divided into six parts according to chapters of the book. All scripts are included in a user interface and it is easy to manipulate with this interface. Each chapter of the book contains a detailed help for the related part of the toolbox, too. The book is intended for newcomers to the field of smoothing techniques and would be also appropriate for a wide audience: students and researches from both the statistical science and interface disciplines.


As the scientific interest in the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to grow, emulating IoT infrastructure involving a large number of heterogeneous sensors plays a crucial role. Existing research on emulating sensors is often tailored to specific hardware and/or software, which makes it difficult to reproduce and extend. In this paper we show how to emulate different kinds of sensors in a unified way that makes the downstream application agnostic as to whether the sensor data is acquired from real sensors or is read from memory using emulated sensors. We propose the Resense framework that allows for replaying sensor data using emulated sensors and provides an easy-to-use software for setting up and executing IoT experiments involving a large number of heterogeneous sensors. We demonstrate various aspects of Resense in the context of a sports analytics application using real-world sensor data and a set of Raspberry Pis.


The Museum profession is a small one, in which everybody seems to know everyone else. Owing to the relatively small number of staff at most museums, and the fact that many senior staff stay put for a good number of years, Museums do absorb some of the personality of their curators. Almost inevitably some of this is transmitted to the visitors : in most cases this is not at all a bad thing. Museums education is a much smaller , though growing, profession. Education Services, having even fewer staff than their parent museums, reflect the personalities of the people involved even more. Again, diversity of approach to a subject is no bad thing. Thus I feel no compunction in putting forward my own views on museum education, although my colleagues may well dissociate themselves wholly from those views!


A 69-year-old man presented with bulging of the right oropharyngeal wall, which revealed cytopathologically malignant cells. The man underwent MRI and F-FDG PET/CT, which demonstrated a cystic parapharyngeal lesion with an F-FDG-avid soft tissue component and right cervical lymph node. The patient was operated on and showed thyroid cancer in normal thyroid tissue, compatible with a papillary thyroid carcinoma in a lateral thyroglossal duct cyst and 2 ipsilateral lymph node metastases. Despite its rarity, papillary thyroid carcinoma in a thyroglossal duct cyst should be kept as one of the differential diagnoses in patients presenting with parapharyngeal cystic lesion.


The malaria-control campaign in the Jordan Valley-undertaken by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in 1949-has been based solely on DDT residual spraying in the northeastern areas, but in certain southern districts some larvicidal and drainage work has been done.Observations made in the north-east showed that active malaria transmission had occurred in 4 of the 12 villages surveyed in 1951, and in 8 of the 9 villages surveyed in 1952. That the insecticide was effective was demonstrated by the fact that sprayed structures were almost entirely free from anophelines four months after the last spraying, but entomological surveys showed that Anopheles sergenti and A. superpictus (the main malaria vectors) were successfully evading contact with sprayed surfaces by using caves and fissures in hills as daytime resting-places.The author discusses the bearing that the topography of the area and the habits of the population have on the transmission of the disease, and stresses the importance of surveys. He recommends the resumption of antilarval measures in the Jordan Valley.


This paper presents the simulation study on the effects of mechanical turbo-compounding on a turbocharged diesel engine. A downstream power-turbine has been coupled to the exhaust manifold after the main turbocharger, in the aim to recover waste heat energy. The engine in the current study is Scania DC13-06, which 6 cylinders and 13 litre in capacity. The possibilities, effectiveness and working range of the turbo compounded system were analyzed in this study. The system was modeled in AVL BOOST, which is a one dimensional (1D) engine code. The current study found that turbo compounding could possibly recover on average 11.4% more exhaust energy or extra 3.7kW of power. If the system is mechanically coupled to the engine, it could increase the average engine power by up to 1.2% and improve average BSFC by 1.9%.


Capital allocation is used widely within the financial industry for purposes of pricing and performance measurement. In this paper, we consider the theoretical impact of extending the canonical model of a profit maximizing insurer beyond a single period and, in particular, consider the effect of having opportunities to raise external financing in future periods. We show that in this setting, outside of special cases, capital allocation as currently conceived cannot be done in a way to produce prices consistent with marginal cost. We go on to evaluate economically correct capital allocations based on the model in the context of an international catastrophe reinsurer with four lines of business. We find that traditional techniques can be resurrected with 1) an appropriate definition of capital, 2) a broader conception of the cost of underwriting, and 3) an appropriate risk measure connected to the fundamentals of the underlying business.


Abstract Since the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, rights advocacy has been gaining traction in Japanese politics. This paper argues for the rationale that led to the current legal development in post-Fukushima Japan—the Nuclear Disaster Victims' Support Act, which emphasizes the right to evacuation—and presents the grassroots struggle against public authorities. The right to evacuation is the right of citizens to avoid exposure to radioactivity by allowing victims—in this case, the victims of Fukushima—to choose their living location, whether that means permanently evacuating to a new area, returning to their original homes after evacuation, or remaining where they are (i.e., not evacuating). In any of these situations, necessary support from the government is guaranteed. I claim that while the right to evacuation represents a vision about how people in Fukushima can choose to survive and develop their own self-determined future, it requires a set of tools to achieve it. As such, this paper also argues the ways in which Japanese civil society groups play a significant role in helping bring the grassroots voices of people in Fukushima to the law-making process, as well as actual implementation. Advocacy to achieve such a fundamental human right is gradually progressing and moving away from the perception of being merely a criticism of government; rather, advocates are presenting alternatives and giving government a chance to change itself.


Synopsis : In hot rolling processes, an accurate prediction of thermal expansion of work rolls is necessary because it affects profile of strips. A precise calculation of thermal expansion requires an accurate heat transfer coefficient between the roll and the strip, and the oxide scale on the surface of the work roll (mill scale) is one of the important factor that affects the heat transfer coefficient. Although clear relation between the mill scale and the heat transfer coefficient is required, it has not clarified because forming mill scale in a laboratory is difficult. In this study, first, we developed a generating method of the mill scale of hot rolling mill in a laboratory. Uniaxial compression contact experiments are used to simulate the contact between the work roll and the strip during the hot rolling. An oxide scale layer that simulates the mill scale was obtained on the surface of punch. The thickness of mill scale which was generated from the different kinds of strips material was measured. Second, the interface heat transfer coefficient for various thickness of mill scale are measured. Heat transfer coefficient is obtained from comparing the measured temperature of punch and the results of computer simulation by FEM. From these results, the relation between the thickness of mill scale and the heat resistance is clarified.


Introduction: Tuberculosis (TB) transmission is a well-recognized risk in healthcare facilities. This risk is variable considering to the nature of such facilities (primary, secondary, or tertiary care), the prevalence of TB in the community, occupational groups of healthcare workers (HCW), the particular area in which they work, and the effectiveness of control programs. Objectives: To describe the features of TB and results of therapy for this disease in HCW seen in the TB Control Program in Cayetano Heredia National Hospital in Lima, Peru. Material and methods: A descriptive observational study was performed, including cases (HCWs) and controls (patients) admitted in the TB Control Program in Cayetano Heredia National Hospital in Lima, Peru, between 1994 and 2007. Results: 957 TB cases were seen in the TB Control Program in Cayetano Heredia Hospital from January 1994 to December 2007. One hundred and fifty nine (16,6%) were HCW, their average age was 31,05 ± 8,79 years, 84 (52,8%) were female, and 122 (76,7%) developed pulmonary disease. Of these latter cases, 36,5% were healthcare professionals and 34,6% were medicine, nursing, or health technology students. Amongst healthcare professionals that developed TB, 41 (71%) were physicians, and most of them (63%) were residents in-training. Amongst students, medicine students accounted for most TB cases (87%), and 75% of them were senior medical students (interns and 6th year). Twenty isolated of M. tuberculosis had susceptibility tests performed, 11 (55%) were resistant to at least one antituberculous drug, 5 (25%) were multidrug resistant M. tuberculosis isolates, 8 (40%) were isoniazid-resistant, 6 (30%), were rifampin-resistant, 6 (30%) were streptomycin-resistant, and 4 (20%) were ethambutol-resistant. Seventy four (60,7%) of 122 HCWs with pulmonary TB entered the Program with sputum smears negative for acid-fast bacilli (AFB), and only 41 (33%) controls had negative sputum smears (p<0.001). HCWs received the same antituberculous therapy and for the same time compared to controls (7,2 ± 3,1 months and 6,8 ± 3,6 months, p= 0,3), but they received a higher number of doses during the first phase of antituberculous therapy (73,2 ± 65,6 vs. 59,01 ± 44,5 doses, p= 0.001). Five per cent of HCWs and 13,21% controls had a contact diagnosed with TB during the control period (p<0.001). Conclusions:Most healthcare workers with TB were professionals or students, with a high frequency of MDR strains, there were no deaths in the population studied, and smear-negative forms were most frequent amongst pulmonary TB cases. Compared with controls, TB cases in HCWs had better curation rates with the same time of therapy, but using more daily doses.


This descriptive study of cross sectional has focused on analyzing the school material weight transported by students associated with children and adolescents overweight in primary and secondary schools. Participants 339 students of both genders, aged 10-19 years. 243 students carrying and average load of 12.65% of his body weight. 53 students were overweight with a BMI of 20,00 to 35,6. 20 overweight students carrying backpacks more than 10% of his body weight. 21% of the students rated complained of back and shoulder pain. This data is very important in the preventive aspects for the individuals studied, as well as others with the same anthropometric characteristics and the same demand.


Tropical Cyclone 'Rona' crossed the coast of the Daintree lowlands of northeastern Australia in 1999. This study reports on its impact on forest canopy openness at six lowland rain forest sites with contrasting management histories (old-growth, selectively logged and regrowth). Percentage canopy openness was calculated from individual hemispherical photographs taken from marked points below the forest canopy at nine plots per site 3–4 mo before the cyclone, and at the same points a month afterwards. Before the cyclone, when nine sites were visited, canopy openness in old-growth and logged sites was similar, but significantly higher in regrowth forest. After the cyclone, all six revisited sites showed an increase in canopy openness, but the increase was very patchy amongst plots and sites and varied from insignificant to severe. The most severely impacted site was an old-growth one, the least impacted a logged one. Although proneness to impact was apparently related to forest management history (old-growth being the most impacted), underlying local topography may have had an equally strong influence in this case. It was concluded that the likelihood of severe impact may be determined at the landscape-scale by the interaction of anthropogenic with meteorological, physiographic and biotic factors. In the long term, such interactions may caution against pursuing forest management in cyclone-prone areas.


Tensor decomposition approach to feature extraction from one-dimensional data samples is presented. Onedimensional data samples are transformed into matrices of appropriate dimensions that are further concatenated into a third order tensor. This tensor is factorized according to the Tucker-2 model by means of the higher-orderorthogonal iteration (HOOI) algorithm. Derived method is validated on publicly available and well known datasets comprised of low-resolution mass spectra of cancerous and non-cancerous samples related to ovarian and prostate cancers. The method respectively achieved, in 200 independent two-fold cross-validations, average sensitivity of 96.8% (sd 2.9%) and 99.6% (sd 1.2%) and average specificity of 95.4% (sd 3.5%) and 98.7% (sd 2.9%). Due to the widespread significance of mass spectrometry for monitoring protein expression levels and cancer prediction it is conjectured that presented feature extraction scheme can be of practical importance.


Based on the author's extensive clinical, forensic and research experience, this article addresses the scientific and moral question of whether it is ever in the best interests of a child to be given a psychiat ric drug. The focus is on the diagnosis Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and stimulant drugs, and on the diagnosis Bipolar Disorder and antipsychotic (neuroleptic) drugs. The conclusion is that we should work towards a prohibition against giving psychiatric drugs to children, and instead focus on safe and effective alternative ways of meeting the needs of children within their families, schools and society. © 2014 John Wiley ft Sons Ltd and National Children's Bureau.


Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is an acutely pathogenic lentivirus affecting Bali cattle in Indonesia. The inability to propagate the virus in vitro has made it difficult to quantitate JDV and determine the kinetics of virus replication during the acute disease process. Reported for the first time are 2 techniques that enable quantification of the virus, and the use of these techniques to quantify the virus load in plasma of cattle during the acute disease process. The 2 techniques were a qualitative one-step JDV real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay for the detection and quantification of JDV RNA, and a JDV p26 capture ELISA for the detection and quantification of JDV capsid protein. The limit of detection of the qRT-PCR was 9.8 x 102 JDV viral RNA copies over 35 cycles, equivalent to 4.2 x 104 JDV genome copies/ml, and a peak virus load of 1.6 x 1012 JDV genome copies /ml during the acute febrile period. Viral RNA and JDV p26 levels were correlated in 48 plasma samples obtained from experimentally infected cattle. A significant positive correlation (R = 0.835 and r2 = 0.697) was observed between the 2 techniques within the range of their detection limits, providing a solid basis for the use of the economical capture ELISA to quantify JDV load when real-time PCR capability is not available. The detection of JDV p26 by capture ELISA was, however, much less sensitive than the real-time RTPCR with a detection limit equating to approximately 1 x 108 JDV genome copies/ml. The transcriptional pattern of JDV during the acute phase of infection was studied by RT-PCR, sequencing and northern blot analysis. Analysis revealed a complex pattern of transcription with the identification of 14 transcripts, which confirmed 6 predicted splice sites and the identified 7 splice sites not reported previously. A small 78 bp putative non-coding exon was identified that shared the same splice acceptor as vif and was associated with the alternative transcripts of tat, rev and env. Four tat, 3 rev and 2 env transcripts were identified. The rev and env transcripts were demonstrated to use the same splice site. The study confirmed that the production of a tmx transcript, a unique gene identified in the two bovine lentiviruses JDV and Bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). Northern blot analysis identified 11 of the 14 transcripts identified by RT-PCR, including a 7.8 kb gag/pol primary transcript and singly spliced transcripts. The complexity of the transcript map produced suggested that JDV replication is a highly regulated process.

One of the aims of this thesis was to determine the functional role of the Tmx and Vif accessory proteins of the bovine lentiviruses. Although this aim was not achieved, molecular reagents were produced that will allow these investigations to proceed. The Vif and Tmx proteins of both JDV and BIV were successfully expressed as C-terminal fusions with glutathione S-transferase (GST) using the pGEX-6P-1 bacterial expression system. The recombinant proteins were purified and were recognised by both BIV and JDV antisera from Bos taurus and Bos javanicus respectively, and by antibody in sera from cattle that had been vaccinated with a tissue-derived JDV vaccine and also those that had been naturally infected with JDV. The Vif, Tmx and Rev proteins of JDV and vif BIV were successfully expressed in a Rev-independent manner in COS7 and bovine macrophage cells using a pcDNA3.1 mammalian expression system. Cellular localisation of the recombinant viral proteins varied in the 2 cell types: in COS7 cells, both JDV and BIV Vif were detected predominantly in the nucleus, whereas in bovine macrophage cells BIV Vif localised in the cytoplasm and JDV Vif localised in the cytoplasm and nuclear membrane. JDV Tmx localised in the cytoplasm of COS7 cells but the nuclear membrane of bovine macrophage cells, and BIV Tmx localised in the nucleus and nuclear membrane in both cell types and appeared to affect the morphology of the nucleus. Mutations of vif and tmx were also successfully engineered into an infectious clone of BIV and these mutated clones will provide a valuable resource for further investigation of the role of Vif and Tmx in replication of the bovine lentiviruses.


A real time military impulse classifier has been developed to distinguish between impulsive events, such as artillery fire, and non-impulsive events, such as wind or aircraft noise. The classifier operates using an artificial neural network (ANN) with four scalar metrics as inputs. This classifier has been installed into two prototype noise monitoring systems, which are capable of establishing an accurate record of impulse events. This record can be used to assist in processing noise complaints and damage claims. The system continually monitors sound levels with a microphone array and activates when the sound level exceeds a given threshold. Once activated, the system processes the data to determine the classification, as well as the approximate bearing of the event.


Abstract This article will argue that five different ways of doing phenomenography can be found amongst the works of Gothenburg phenomenographers: Discursive, Experimental, Naturalistic, Hermeneutic and Phenomenological. Commenting on an earlier version of phenomenography, Jacob Needleman stated that it was "a 'good‐for‐nothing' brother of phenomenology". We will argue that it is not. It is productive research, even if at times the degree of methodological reflection applied by phenomenographers to their work is found wanting. Two of five forms of Gothenburg phenomenography can be developed by recourse to phenomenology.


In the paper, a static milling force model for variable pitch mills was built, and the milling forces were simulated. The resultant force and its frequency spectra of variable pitch mills were analyzed compared with that of uniform pitch mills. It is shown that the standard deviation (SD) of frequency spectra amplitudes for variable pitch mills is extremely lower than that of uniform pitch mills. Through simulation for SD of frequency spectra amplitudes affected by the different cutting parameters, a pitch angles distribution of variable pitch helix end mills with lower SD of frequency spectra amplitudes was selected.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to offer a new theory of human nature to explain the happiness paradox of capitalism. Design/methodology/approach - It is argued that happiness crisis in capitalism stems from the lack of full understanding of human nature which is like a black box from which key assumptions in capitalist market system are derived. The author attempts to unlock this black box in order to understand the failure of capitalism in bringing happiness. Findings - As the success of capitalism comes from its partial understanding of human nature, its failure comes from its partial misunderstanding or exploitation of human nature. This leads to ignoring the needs and desires of certain elements of human nature for the sake of serving only the animal spirit and self-centric ego. The proposed new theory offers a new understanding of happiness and its determinants. Comparing the human body to a luxury recreational vehicle (RV) and the elements of human nature to the companions on this vehicle, the theory suggests that an individual cannot be truly happy if he or she listens only to one of his/her residents while disregarding the others. The new theory offers better explanation for the 2008 financial crisis and the happiness paradox in wealthy nations. It also provides an underlining framework for the existing happiness theories. Research limitations/implications - The new theory needs to be tested through empirical studies. Social implications - The paper theoretically argues that that authentic happiness is possible if individuals listen to the voices of all elements of human nature and try to fulfil their needs and desires in a balanced manner. Originality/value - The paper offers a new comprehensive theory on human nature.


Leptokurtic or platykurtic distributions can, for example, be generated by applying certain non-linear transformations to a Gaussian random variable. Within this work we focus on the class of so-called power transformations which are determined by their generator function. Examples are the H-transformation of Tukey (1960), the J-transformation of Fischer and Klein (2004) and the L-transformation which is derived from Johnson's inverse hyperbolic sine transformation. It is shown that generator functions themselves which meet certain requirements can be used to construct both probability densities and cumulative distribution functions. For the J-transformation, we recover the logistic distribution. Using the L-transformation, a new class of densities is derived, discussed and generalized.


Recent research has highlighted the persistence of multi‐decadal epochs of enhanced/reduced flood risk across New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Recent climatological studies have also revealed multi‐decadal variability in the modulation of the magnitude of El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) impacts. In this paper, the variability of flood risk across NSW is analysed with respect to the observed modulation of ENSO event magnitude. This is achieved through the use of a simple index of regional flood risk. The results indicate that cold ENSO events (La Niña) are the dominant drivers of elevated flood risk. An analysis of multi‐decadal modulation of flood risk is achieved using the inter‐decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) index. The analysis reveals that IPO modulation of ENSO events leads to multi‐decadal epochs of elevated flood risk, however this modulation appears to affect not only the magnitude of individual ENSO events, but also the frequency of their occurrence. This dual modulation of ENSO processes has the effect of reducing and elevating flood risk on multi‐decadal timescales. These results have marked implications for achieving robust flood frequency analysis as well as providing a strong example of the role of natural climate variability.


Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) secondary to traumatic brain injury (TBI) contributes to long-term functional morbidity. The corpus callosum (CC) is particularly vulnerable to this type of injury. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) was used to characterize the metabolic status of two CC regions of interest (ROIs) (anterior and posterior), and their structural (diffusion tensor imaging; DTI) and neurobehavioral (neurocognitive functioning, bimanual coordination, and interhemispheric transfer time [IHTT]) correlates. Two groups of moderate/severe TBI patients (ages 12-18 years) were studied: post-acute (5 months post-injury; n = 10), and chronic (14.7 months post-injury; n = 8), in addition to 10 age-matched healthy controls. Creatine (energy metabolism) did not differ between groups across both ROIs and time points. In the TBI group, choline (membrane degeneration/inflammation) was elevated for both ROIs at the post-acute but not chronic period. N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) (neuronal/axonal integrity) was reduced initially for both ROIs, with partial normalization at the chronic time point. Posterior, not anterior, NAA was positively correlated with DTI fractional anisotropy (FA) (r = 0.88), and most domains of neurocognition (r range 0.22-0.65), and negatively correlated with IHTT (r = -0.89). Inverse corerlations were noted between creatine and posterior FA (r = -0.76), neurocognition (r range -0.22 to -0.71), and IHTT (r = 0.76). Multimodal studies at distinct time points in specific brain structures are necessary to delineate the course of the degenerative and reparative processes following TBI, which allows for preliminary hypotheses about the nature and course of the neural mechanisms of subsequent functional morbidity. This will help guide the future development of targeted therapeutic agents.


Beef rectus abdominis muscles (n = 100; 20/treatment) were assigned randomly to 1 of 5 treatments: untreated control (Control, No Treatment; CNT), vacuum tumbled control without marinade (Tumbled Control, No Treatment; TCNT), vacuum tumbled with marinade (TUMB), injected with marinade (INJ), and injected with marinade plus vacuum tumbled (IPT) to determine how enhancement techniques influence consumer palatability. After processing, flank samples were cooked (72°C), cut into 1.3-cm strips, and served as fajita strips for consumer evaluation (n = 200). Treatment influenced (P < 0.01) the rating and acceptability of all palatability traits, overall liking, and willingness to pay (WTP). Consumers scored IPT and INJ more tender compared to all other treatments (P < 0.05). Samples processed using IPT and INJ were juicier (P < 0.05) than all other treatments, except INJ and TUMB were similar (P > 0.05). Samples processed using TUMB and INJ were similar (P > 0.05) for flavor and WTP, and INJ, IPT, and TUMB samples were similar (P > 0.05) for overall liking. Thus, consumers were willing to pay more for IPT than TUMB (P < 0.05). Consumers scored CNT and TCNT lower for all palatability traits which resulted in lower WTP (P < 0.05). Inclusion of a marinade improved the eating quality of samples compared to CNT and TCNT. The delivery method of the brine solution was less important to palatability as the presence of a marinade, as IPT, INJ, and TUMB were all similar (P > 0.05) for overall liking. Injection plus tumbling improved tenderness, juiciness, and flavor liking scores over tumbling alone, but not over injection alone. Injection influenced consumer tenderness more than tumbling, but tumbling had greater effects on cooked moisture than injection. While IPT did not surpass either TUMB or INJ in all sensory categories, IPT does excel when considering moisture retention along with palatability.


A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped bacterial strain, 22-7T, was isolated from ocean sediment of Laizhou Bay, China, and was characterized by using a polyphasic approach. Optimal growth was observed at 33 °C on a 2216E agar plate of pH 7.5 and with 2 % (w/v) NaCl. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences identified it as a member of the genus Jeotgalibacillus, most similar to Jeotgalibacillus campisalis SF-57T (98.7 % similarity), Jeotgalibacillus marinus DSM 1297T (98.2 %) and Jeotgalibacillus soli P9T (97.1 %). Average nucleotide identity values and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values were less than 74.2 and 18.1 %, respectively, between strain 22-7T and the type strains of closely related species. The major polar lipids were aminophospholipid, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and diphosphatidylglycerol; the major fatty acids (>10 %) were anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0; and the major menaquinone was MK-7. The peptidoglycan type of the cell wall was A1α linked through l-lysine as the diamino acid. Combined data from phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic characterizations demonstrated that strain 22-7T represents a novel Jeotgalibacillus species, for which the name Jeotgalibacillus proteolyticus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 22-7T(=MCCC 1H00228T=KCTC 33930T).


The constant changes that follow sympathetic ganglionectomy and ramisectomy have been attributed clinically to the increased flow of blood to the extremities, as shown by studies with the calorimeter and the thermocouple, but these conclusions have been based only on physiologic observations. In order to investigate the possibility of establishing an anatomic basis for the explanation of clinical results in such conditions as Raynaud's disease, thrombo-angiitis obliterans and polyarthritis, lumbar sympathetic ganglionectomy and ramisectomy was performed on animals. Following operation, an opaque medium was injected into the arterial tree, and the arterial tree was then studied by means of the roentgen ray. In view of the fact that the animal on which the experiment could be conducted successfully must necessarily be one that could withstand an anesthetic and be of sufficient size to demonstrate any gross changes in the caliber of the vessels, dogs were chosen. In order that the


What do you do if a computational object fails a specification? An obvious approach is to repair it, namely, to modify the object minimally to get something that satisfies the constraints. In this thesis we study foundational problems of repairing regular specifications over strings and trees. Given two regular specifications R and T we aim to understand how difficult it is to transform an object satisfying R into an object satisfying T . The setting is motivated by considering R to be a restriction – a constraint that the input object is guaranteed to satisfy – while T is a target – a constraint that we want to enforce. We first study which pairs of restriction and target specifications can be repaired with a "small" numbers of changes. We formalize this as the bounded repair problem – to determine whether one can repair each object satisfying R into T with a uniform number of edits. We provide effective characterizations of the bounded repair problem for regular specifications over strings and trees. These characterizations are based on a good understanding of the cyclic behaviour of finite automata. By exploiting these characterizations, we give optimal algorithms to decide whether two specifications are bounded repairable or not. We also consider the impact of limitations on the editing process – what happens when we require the repair to be done sequentially over serialized objects. We study the bounded repair problem over strings and trees restricted to this streaming setting and show that this variant can be characterized in terms of finite games. Furthermore, we use this characterization to decide whether one can repair a pair of specifications in a streaming fashion with bounded cost and how to obtain a streaming repair strategy in this case. The previous notion asks for a uniform bound on the number of edits, but having this property is a strong requirement. To overcome this limitation, we study how to calculate the maximum number of edits per character needed to repair any object in R into T . We formalize this as the asymptotic cost – the limit of the number of edits divided by the length of the input in the worst case. Our contribution is an algorithm to compute the asymptotic cost for any pair of regular specifications over strings. We also consider the streaming variant of this cost and we show how to compute it by reducing this problem to mean-payoff games.


: Metabolism of methanol was studied in Microcyclus aquaticus Z-238 in enzymological experiments. This facultative methylotroph was found to assimilate the carbon of methanol after oxidation to CO2 via the reductive pentose phosphate cycle. Dehydrogenases of methanol, formaldehyde and formate as well as ribulose-1,5-diphosphate carboxylase were induced during the methylotrophic growth of the bacterium. The serine pathway and the hexulose phosphate cycle were not involved in methanol metabolism owing to the absence of serine-glyoxylate aminotransferase and hexulose phosphate synthase, respectively.


The author studies the macroeconomic consequences of discretionary changes in the fiscal policy instruments for Canada. He adopts a semi-structural vector autoregression framework. Restrictions are based on institutional interactions between some policy and non-policy instruments that mimic a government's decision process. The author characterizes the actual economy's response to fiscal shocks, and proposes a theoretical model for a small open economy with nominal and real rigidities to test for the endogenous transmission mechanisms following shocks to government spending. He pursues a limited-information econometric strategy by comparing the theoretical impluse-response functions with the empirical ones, capturing the effects of a disturbance in government spending. Generally, the results of the model are very close to the observed reactions, especially for consumption, investment, exports, imports, and inflation; however, the model fails to predict the real exchange rate reaction.


We present two dynamically reconfigurable filter components, an adaptive gain flattening filter and a variable channel equalizer. The channel equalizer is able to set the optical power of up to eight WDM channels individually over a dynamic range of at least 10 dB, the gain equalizer flattens the response of optical amplifiers across a spectral range of more than 40 nm in the 1550 nm window. Reconfigurability is obtained via thermo-optic tuning of the cascaded resonant coupler (RC) segments. The devices are realized in high-index contrast SiON technology. The experimental accuracy of the attenuation across the full band is around 1 dB, which can be further improved by using more delay line stages.


The paper is devoted to optical remote-sensing techniques successfully applied to investigations of the mesospheric aerosol layer, starting with a short history of the development of optical sounding experiments. In the following part, a theoretical basis of scattering measurements is discussed. A brief description of the theoretical principles of optical analysis of aerosol properties, ending with a survey of current activity and, as yet, unresolved problems is presented. It can be concluded that there is a consensus regarding the size range of mesospheric aerosol particles. The contribution of the smallest particles cannot be assessed by current optical methods. The combination of the scattering measurement with an electromechanical impact detector is a promising technique. The true size distribution, more correctly a statistical average of many possible distributions, must rely on numerical modelling. Regarding the shape of the particles, the noctilucent-cloud particles are not perfect spheres. New insight into this problem can be expected from the ongoing observational program of the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) and Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM).


We construct a data base of 125 post-AGB objects (including R CrB and extreme helium stars) with published photospheric parameters (effective temperature and gravity) and chemical composition. We estimate the masses of the post-AGB stars by comparing their position in the (log , log g ) plane with theoretical evolutionary tracks of different masses. We construct various diagrams, with the aim of finding clues to AGB nucleosynthesis. This is the first time that a large sample of post-AGB stars has been used in a systematic way for such a purpose and we argue that, in several respects, post-AGB stars should be more powerful than planetary nebulae to test AGB nucleosynthesis. Our main findings are that: the vast majority of objects which do not show evidence of N production from primary C have a low stellar mass (); there is no evidence that objects which did not experience 3rd dredge-up have a different stellar mass distribution than objects that did; there is clear evidence that 3rd dredge-up is more efficient at low metallicity. The sample of known post-AGB stars is likely to increase significantly in the near future thanks to the ASTRO-F and follow-up observations, making these objects even more promising as testbeds for AGB nucleosynthesis.


Human oxytocin receptor structure reveals the basis for ligand recognition and allosteric modulation by lipids and ions. The peptide hormone oxytocin modulates socioemotional behavior and sexual reproduction via the centrally expressed oxytocin receptor (OTR) across several species. Here, we report the crystal structure of human OTR in complex with retosiban, a nonpeptidic antagonist developed as an oral drug for the prevention of preterm labor. Our structure reveals insights into the detailed interactions between the G protein–coupled receptor (GPCR) and an OTR-selective antagonist. The observation of an extrahelical cholesterol molecule, binding in an unexpected location between helices IV and V, provides a structural rationale for its allosteric effect and critical influence on OTR function. Furthermore, our structure in combination with experimental data allows the identification of a conserved neurohypophyseal receptor-specific coordination site for Mg2+ that acts as potent, positive allosteric modulator for agonist binding. Together, these results further our molecular understanding of the oxytocin/vasopressin receptor family and will facilitate structure-guided development of new therapeutics.


Aim: Ayurvedic formulation consists of natural substance. Many of Ayurvedic formulation consist of heavy metals and some species are poisonous in nature. So it is necessary to determine the toxicity of Ayurvedic formulation. Background: Toxicology is a science that involves the study of the adverse effect of the substance on living organism. The toxicity of the substance can be observed by: a) in vivo (using the whole animal), b) in vitro (Testing on isolated cell or tissue). In vivo toxicity study involves acute toxicity, sub-acute toxicity, sub-chronic toxicity and chronic toxicity studies. In vitro toxicity testing of substance involves model such as model for cytotoxicity, specific toxicity, genotoxicity and toxicokinetic. The challenges regarding in vivo and in vitro toxicity study and recent development in the toxicity studies are discussed briefly. Conclusion: This review mainly focus on the various methods and model used for in vivo and in vitro toxicity testing of substance and provides information about the toxicity study which will be useful for the researchers who are working in the field of toxicology as well encourage researchers to work on various areas of research for the development and enhancement in acceptance of Ayurveda.


Introduction: Bad-mKhris-mGo-Nad is a type of headache caused by imbalance of bile and phlegm humor. In gSo-ba-Rig-pa, headache is categorized in two categories such as primary headaches and secondary headaches. In total there are 14 types of headaches and Bad-mKhris-mGoNad is one among the principal headaches. The gSo-ba-Rig-pa based bloodletting therapy for Bad-mKhris-mGo-Nad has been practiced by the traditional medicine practitioners since the inception of gSo-ba-Rig-pa more than 2500 years ago. Bloodletting is also believed to be one of the most important and effective therapy in the treatment regime of gSo-ba-Rig-pa. The Subsequent Tantra (last tantra) states that the bloodletting is the best remedy for all types of bile and blood-related disorders. This study was conducted to observe the effectiveness of bloodletting procedure among diagnosed cases of Bad-mKhris-mGo-Nad. Methods: It was an observational prospective study conducted at the National Traditional Medicine Hospital, Kawangjansa, Thimphu. The three main parameters measured were frequency, duration, and severity of the headaches. The samples consisted of 31 patients with 23 females and 8 males. Data collection was carried out over the span of seven months (June December, 2018) Results: The association test between before and after 10 days, before and after 30 days of bloodletting was conducted on 30 patients by using Mid-Point test in Open Epi and the result was observed to be statistically significant at p< 0.05. Conclusions: This study shows that the bloodletting therapy on Tshoksang reduces the pain duration and frequencies of headaches. Moreover, it was also established to be effective in reducing the severity of the headache caused by Bad-mKhrismGo-Nad.


In 1997, the Assembly of the Poor (AOP) successfully organised a 99-day protest, which was widely hailed as 'a historical moment' for people's politics in Thailand. However, following the creation of the first Thai Rak Thai government in 2001, the AOP's political role has gradually declined. This thesis aims to investigate the factors behind the AOP's decline between 2001 and 2010. It argues that, because of inherent internal weaknesses and the recent political changes, the development of AOP in the 2000s has increasingly been influenced, if not determined, by external factors. First, the thesis re-examines the movement's internal elements in a more critical view, which evidently contrasts with early writings on the AOP. It argues that some of the AOP's key features, such as its loose structure, are partially to blame for the movement's decline. NGO activists' roles in the movement are also critically reassessed. More importantly, the thesis also systematically explores the external elements, known as the political opportunity structure (POS), which have increasingly influenced the AOP's development and mobilisation. This approach has been overlooked by most literature written on the movement. The study emphasises two sets of elements of the POS: stable and volatile components. As for stable elements, which are structurally embedded, the list includes the cultural structure, institutional structure, and prevailing strategies. These elements have impeded, not only the AOP, but also other people's movements for decades. On the other hand, the two influential volatile elements for the AOP during this period are the elite divisions and media access. During the Thaksin government, his control over the elites significantly restricted the AOP's campaigns, while the lack of media access had adverse impacts on the movement during this highly polarised period.


Since Sugden and John's (1973) research on the glacier fluctuations in the South Shetland Islands, it is generally accepted that the first Holocene marine transgression that reached the inner fiords of this archipelago occurred at least by 9540 +/- 235 cal yrs BP. This age is very important, since it provides the minimum on land obtained age of the end of the last glacial period and start of the Holocene in this Antarctic sector. Watcham et al. (2011) reconstructed a relative sea level curve for the South Shetland Islands with a sea level rise of 15 m above mean sea level (amsl) for Fildes Peninsula by 9000 cal yrs BP and a drop after 7000 cal yrs BP because the rate of glacial unloading and isostatic rebound exceeded the rate of eustatic sea level rise. According to our new ages obtained from Potter Peninsula, the Holocene postglacial marine transgression of the southern Potter Cove section initiated before 7650 cal yrs BP, reaching about 12 m amsl, and was locally interrupted by a glacier advance after about 7285 yrs BP.
Sugden, D. and John, B., 1973. The age of glacier fluctuations in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. In: van Zinderen Bakker, E.M. (Ed.), Palaeoecology of Africa, the Surrounding Islands, and Antarctica. A.A. Balkema, 139-159 p., Cape Town.
Watcham, E. P., Bentley, M. J., Hodgson, D. A., Roberts, S. J., Fretwell, P. T., Lloyd, J. M., Larter, R. D., Whitehouse, P. L., Leng, M. J., Monien, P. and Moreton, S. G., 2011. A new Holocene relative sea level curve for the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Quaternary Science Reviews 30, 3152–3170.


In this paper we argue that emotional response to information encountered in campaigns has implications for the likelihood of remembering that information at the time of the vote. Most voting models are built on what voters remember-whether it is the placement of candidates on issues, or opened ended responses to prompts. That recall of memory is biased is well-known, but the extent to which those biases are driven by affective response to candidate information has not been studied. Using dynamic process tracing, we examine voters' emotional responses, information search, and candidate evaluations during a simu lated presidential primary campaign. By manipulating anxiety and the amount of incon gruent information that voters encounter, we can detect the direct influence of affect in information processing. We find evidence that voters are more likely to remember informa tion that generates any affective reaction as opposed to information for which the subjects report no emotional response. However, we find little evidence that anxiety has a special role, compared to enthusiasm or anger, in increasing the likelihood that an individual item is remembered. This challenges a primary contention of the theory of Affective Intelligence that anxiety leads to more memories for campaign information.


We have recently shown that there is a previously unsuspected link between the intracellular inclusions seen in several major chronic human degenerative diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases: the inclusions showing ubiquitin immunoreactivity. The conditions include Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease, Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, and alcoholic liver disease as well as cerebellar astrocytomas and a myopathy. The inclusions found in these diseases are reported to contain intermediate filaments: neurofilaments are associated with Lewy bodies in Parkinson's disease, Pick's bodies in Pick's disease and neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease, cytokeratins are found in Mallory bodies in alcoholic liver disease, glial fibrillary acidic proteins and vimentin are found in Rosenthal fibres in astrocytomas, and desmin is found in cytoplasmic bodies in cytoplasmic body myopathy. Therefore five classes of intermediate filaments are found in inclusions which also contain ubiquitin immunoreactivity; we have also shown that ubiquitin immunoreactivity is present in vesicles in some areas of granulovacuolar degeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Protein ubiquitination is considered a signal for extralysosomal protein degradation, (although ubiquitination may have several other important functions). We have recently shown that intermediate filaments are involved in protein sequestration before degradation by lysosomally mediated autophagy: therefore intermediate filament-containing ubiquitinated inclusions may be the hallmarks of cellular attempts to eliminate pathogenic insults by the activation of both extralysosomal and lysosomal mechanisms of intracellular protein degradation. We have recently been able to reproduce, at least in part, some of the clinical observations in tissue culture cells. Ubiquitinated protein conjugates accumulate in lysosomes in fibroblasts treated with the lysosomal cysteine protease inhibitor E-64, which may mimic aspects of granulovacuolar degeneration.


This paper discusses the effectiveness of infrastructure development for wastewater service in decentralized Indonesia, particularly in Bandung municipality as one of the biggest cities in the country where sanitation problems persist.  Although wastewater service coverage in Bandung municipality shows a gradual improvement from 2010 to 2016, the research identifies the ineffectiveness of wastewater infrastructure development. Qualitative analyses revealed that the wastewater infrastructure development in Bandung municipality funds came from two different sources (local budget and internal donor support). We would argue that in the case of wastewater infrastructure development, the same amount of money shares different processes and results. Compared to AusAID water and sanitation program, in term of value of money, the one designed and managed by the Municipality Water Supply Agency (PDAMs) is less effective. It is concluded the newly developed decentralization laws in Indonesia could not ensure the effectiveness of public service delivery due to the absence of sound governance at local level.


Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a multifactorial origin that appears in patients with genetic predisposition and is induced by environmental factors, and characterized by alterations in the innate and adaptive immunity. IL-17A is one of the specific cytokines involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and its inhibition is highly effective in the treatment of patients with moderate and severe psoriasis. Secukinumab is a monoclonal antibody that specifically binds to IL-17A and inhibits the interaction to its receptor, and it has demonstrated its efficacy and safety in the treatment of psoriasis. Phase II and III clinical trials indicate that > 80% of the patients receiving secukinumab achieve Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI) 75 at week 12. In the Phase III efficacy of response and safety of two fixed secukinumab regimens in psoriasis trial, PASI 75 rates were 81.6% with 300 mg secukinumab, 71.6% with 150 mg secukinumab and 4.5% with placebo, and responses were maintained up to 52 weeks in the majority of patients. In the Phase III Full Year Investigative Examination Of Secukinumab versus Etanercept Using Two Dosing Regimens To Determine Efficacy in Psoriasis study, the efficacy of secukinumab was compared to etanercept. The results indicate that both doses of secukinumab (150 and 300 mg) showed superior efficacy compared with etanercept throughout the study; PASI 75 rates at week 12 were 77.1% with 300 mg secukinumab, 67% with 150 mg of secukinumab, 44% with etanercept and 4.9% with placebo. PASI 90 and PASI 100 were 54 and 24% with secukinumab 300 mg and 21 and 4% with etanercept at week 12. At week 52, PASI 90 continued to be higher in the secukinumab group (65%) compared with the etanercept group (33%). Regarding safety, the most common side effects were nasopharyngitis and headache. The rate of infections was higher with secukinumab than placebo. This was especially the case for Candida infections, which were more common in the secukinumab group (4.7% with secukinumab 300 mg and 2.3% with secukinumab 150 mg), but all cases were resolved with conventional treatment. Secukinumab is a well-tolerated treatment that has demonstrated efficacy in treating moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Nevertheless, long-term studies are necessary to confirm Phase II and Phase III data.


ABSTRACT The present work addresses the evaluation by numerical simulation of the extreme loads acting on a flap-type wave energy converter. To this aim, a realistic situation is considered: an extreme wave impacting a bottom-mounted pitching device, consisting of a partly submerged flap, placed in front of a dike on the coast of Bayonne, south-west Atlantic coast, France. The SPH model can be an optimal candidate for this kind of study: its Lagrangian character allows for an accurate description of the extreme breaking wave acting on the structure, while its meshless feature permits an easy interaction of the fluid with moving rigid bodies such as the rotating flap converter. An analysis of the influence of different environmental conditions (tide level, wave breaking occurrence) on the load intensity is performed. Several impact dynamics are studied and it is found that, in some specific conditions, the process develops in a sort of "flip through" impact, similarly to what observed for wave impact on rigid walls. The most critical cases have been also reproduced with a fully 3D SPH model, highlighting the greater complexity of the flow and the limits of the 2D modeling.


Bay of Cádiz, a natural harbor of highly unique geographic profiles as is the rest of a wide estuary where the ancient Phoenician city settled, has been the scene of some of the most important episodes in the modern history of Spain. Its water level, an inner sea of changing profiles with marshes and salt lakes, has always been a strategic location relative to historical sea routes between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, between Europe and America.
Following his studies in Civil Engineering, in 1923 Eduardo Torroja began working at the Hydraulic and Civil Construction Company Hidrocivil of his teacher Eugenio Ribera. In 1927 he decided to start his own company, having started his relationship with Cádiz in 1926 calculating the foundation piles of Sancti Petri Bridge.
Between 1927 and 1929, responding to two separate commissions from the mayor Ramón de Carranza, Torroja presented to the City of Cádiz the projects of a bridge that would link Puerto Real and Cádiz, thus avoiding having to go around the whole bay to access the city, and a large port that would sprawl over that bay, transforming it into a large area of port activities. None of them ended up being built, but they were the direct antecedents of the existing bridge and the current free zone that complements the current port.


Harberger triangles are used to calculate the efficiency costs of taxes, government regulations, monopolistic practices, and various other market distortions. This paper considers the historical development of Harberger triangles, the associated theoretical controversies, and the contribution of Harberger triangles to subsequent empirical work and theories of market imperfections. Prior to the publication of Arnold Harberger's papers, economists very rarely estimated deadweight losses. The empirical deadweight loss literature expanded greatly since the 1960s now quite common. Meanwhile, critical evaluation of deadweight loss estimates led to new theories of rent-seeking and other inefficiencies of economies with multiple distortions.


To understand the role of phytoplankton resting cells in the outbreak of algal blooms, particularly harmful algal blooms, surface sediments were collected monthly from April 2007 to March 2008 from two bays near the international ports in the Southern Chinese coastal waters. Sieved sediments were incubated for 20 and 40 days, and germinated vegetative cells were observed. Altogether, 97 taxa were recorded, of which 50 were diatoms and 35 dinoflagellates. Vegetative cells of cyanobacteria, chlorophytes, dictyophytes, euglenophytes, haptophytes, and raphidophytes were also observed. Centric diatoms such as Chaetoceros, Melosira, Skeletonema, and Thalassiosira dominated. Scrippsiella, Gymnodinium, and Alexandrium were common dinoflagellate taxa. Diatom spores germinated in samples from all seasons but were abundant in the autumn and winter samples. Low numbers of dinoflagellate cells germinated in the winter samples. The nanophytoplankton taxa, Gymnodinium corii and Chrysochromulina sp., which have not been recorded in the previous phytoplankton surveys, were abundant, suggesting either their new appearance in the water column or perhaps that they were overlooked in routine phytoplankton monitoring due to their small sizes. Vegetative cells of harmful or potentially harmful taxa were germinated, and some of them such as Amphidinium, Gambierdiscus, Ostreopsis, and Coolia have not previously been reported in the study area. Based on the results of the incubation of sediments from the two bays near the international ports, it is suggested that international shipping increases the risk of the introduction of new phytoplankton species and thus promotes the incidence of harmful algal blooms.


We estimate the effectiveness of the Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program, a grant program authorized under the 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act to combat illicit drug abuse and to improve the criminal justice system, on racial bias in policing. Funds for the Byrne Grant program could be used for a variety of purposes to combat drug crimes, as well as violent and other drug related crimes. The event-study analysis suggests that implementation of this grant resulted in an increase in police hiring and an increase in arrests for drug trafficking. Post-treatment effect implies a 107 percent increase in white arrests for drug sales compared to a 44 percent increase for blacks 6 years after the first grant is received. However, due to historical racial differences in drug arrests, the substantial increase in white drug arrest still results in large racial disparities in drug arrests. This is supported by weighted least squares regression estimates that show, for every $100 increase in Byrne Grant funding, arrests for drug trafficking increased by roughly 22 per 100,000 white residents and by 101 arrests per 100,000 black residents. The results provide strong evidence that federal involvement in narcotic control and trafficking lead to an increase in drug arrests; disproportionally affecting blacks.


Ultrasonic C-Scan is used very often to detect flaws and defects in the composite components resulted during fabrication and damages resulting from service conditions. Evaluation and characterization of defects and damages of composites require experience and good understanding of the material as they are distinctly different in composition and behavior as compared to conventional metallic materials. The failure mechanisms in composite materials are quite complex. They involve the interaction of matrix cracking, fiber matrix interface debonding, fiber pullout, fiber fracture and delamination. Generally all of them occur making the stress and failure analysis very complex. Under low-velocity impact loading delamination is observed to be a major failure mode. In composite materials the ultrasonic waves suffer high acoustic attenuation and scattering effect, thus making data interpretation difficult. However these difficulties can be overcome to a greater extent by proper selection of probe, probe parameter settings like pulse width, pulse amplitude, pulse repetition rate, delay, blanking, gain etc., and data processing which includes image processing done on the image obtained by the C-Scan.


Increased QT dispersion (QTd), predicting patients with risk of malignant arrhythmia, have recently been reported in hemodialysis patients (HDp). In this prospective study, we aimed to investigate changes in QTd and signal averaged-ECG (SAECG) in HDp after transplantation. Twenty-seven HDp (M/F:18/9, mean age 30±8 years) and 24 controls (M/F:14/10, mean age 33±6 years) were included. All QT parameters (QTmax, Qtmin, and QTd) were increased in HDp. QTmax and QTd started to decrease at the first month after transplantation. Percentage change in QTd at the third month was significantly correlated with percentage change in LV mass index (r=0.45, P =0.04), serum calcium (r=−0.47, P =0.02) and intact parathyroid hormone (r=0.68, P =0.01). In multivariate regression analysis, only percent chance in LV mass index was retained as significant. As for analysis of SAECG, 4 of the 23 (17%) HDp has abnormal late potentials which disappeared after transplantation. HDp with LV hypertrophy had higher filtered-QRS duration compared to patients without hypertrophy (110±12 vs. 97±11 msec, P =0.01). It was concluded that increased QTd and presence of late potentials improved early after renal transplantation. These changes were mainly associated with the regression of the LV mass.


Since the 1990s, welfare state reform has been at the core of much of the welfare state research. From an analysis of reform pressures, to an understanding of welfare state resilience, to a focus on reform trajectories, the literature has highlighted the role of politics, of institutions and of ideas in understanding processes and trajectories of reform. This paper aims to contribute to the literature on welfare state reform through a different angle, by analysing reform processes through the development of specific policy instruments, namely tax expenditures for social purposes (hereafter called social tax expenditures, or STEs), which has remained a blind spot in much of the welfare state literature.


Abstract Entrepreneurs innovate their individual business organizations not only to deal with production and price risks, but also to cope with the risk of sanctions or penalties imposed by society's laws and regulations. More specifically, labor-intensive agricultural firms, faced with potentially large fines for violation of immigration and labor laws, increasingly modify the organization of their firms by shifting the management of routine seasonal labor jobs to independent farm labor contractors. The use of labor contracting is further intensified because of the effectiveness of labor contractors in the recruitment of illegal aliens.


In August 2018, a 21-year-old patient, with a previously accorded diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder, was admitted to the emergency department of Beijing Anding Hospital with acutely elevated mood and behavioral disturbances. On assessment, the patient was diagnosed with a manic relapse in the context of his previously accorded Bipolar diagnosis. The patient was confused and not oriented to time, place and person. She presented with disordered and bradyphrenic thinking. Her mood was unstable, and she displayed chaotic behavior. There was no family history of psychiatric disorders.


East of the Rocky Mountain front, recurrence intervals of most large earthquakes are long compared to the historical earthquake record. Information about longer-term, prehistoric earthquake histories can reduce the resulting uncertainty in hazard assessments. Accordingly, paleoseismological results and selected aspects of bedrock geology, such as the boundary between the craton and adjacent Phanerozoic terranes, were incorporated into the 1996 USGS national seismic-hazard maps to extend the total record of seismicity back into prehistory. We identify post-1996 findings that should be incorporated during updating of the central U.S. part of the 1996 maps for publication in 2002. A companion paper (Cramer et al. , 2002) determines the impact of each new finding on the calculated hazard. We propose three adjustments to the largest moment magnitude, M (max), that is assumed to occur within a specified area. (1) Throughout the slightly active central craton of the central and eastern United States, paleoseismological evidence from the Illinois basin and global seismological evidence require that M (max) be increased above the value of M 6.5 assumed for the 1996 maps, to M 7.0. (2) We recommend increasing M (max) from M 6.5 to M 7.5 within the Rough Creek graben of western Kentucky and southeastern Illinois, the Rome trough in eastern Kentucky, and the Grayville graben of Illinois and Indiana. The increases would achieve geological and logical consistency with M (max) values in other parts of the central and eastern U.S. (3) Two prehistoric earthquakes of estimated M 7.1 and M 7.5 near the Illinois-Indiana border occurred within the craton. Absent evidence to justify raising the cratonic M (max) to 7.5, we specify a zone surrounding the two prehistoric earthquakes where M (max) could be locally raised to M 7.5.


As to the bad real-time problem of traditional communication scheme that is one master station and more slave stations' MODBUS communication in fire water system of hydropower station, in this paper, a connection scheme of a cascade PLC communication was proposed to solve the defects of decreasing transmission speed because of long distance in communication. The communication software of PLC was also optimized to reduce the cycle treatment time of PLC CPU, and greatly improve the communication efficiency and response speed. Practice shows that this scheme has high reference value and be worth to extend in the field of industrial control which use PLC MODBUS to communicate between one master station and more slave stations.


Effective fire suppression and land use practices over the last century have altered forest structure and increased fuel loads in many forests in the United States, increasing the occurrence of catastrophic wildland fires. The most effective methods to change potential fire behavior are to reduce surface fuels, increase the canopy base height and reduce canopy bulk density. This multi-tiered approach breaks up the continuity of surface, ladder and crown fuels. Effectiveness of fuel treatments is often shown indirectly through fire behavior modeling or directly through monitoring wildland fire effects such as tree mortality. The present study investigates how prescribed fire affected fuel loads, forest structure, potential fire behavior, and modeled tree mortality at 90th and 97.5th percentile fire weather conditions on eight National Forests in California. Prescription burning did not significantly change forest structure at most sites. Total fuel loads (litter, duff, 1, 10, 100, and 1000-h) were reduced by 23 to 78% across the sites. The reduction in fuel loads altered potential fire behavior by reducing fireline intensity and increasing torching index and crowning index at most sites. Predicted tree mortality decreased after treatment as an effect of reduced potential fire behavior and fuel loads. To use limited fuel hazard reduction resources efficiently, more effort could be placed on the evaluation of existing fire hazards because several stands in the present study had little potential for adverse fire effects before prescribed fire was applied.


At the request of Sir William E. Logan, I have submitted to microscopic examination slices of certain peculiar laminated forms, consisting of alternate layers of carbonate of lime and serpentine, or of carbonate of lime and white pyroxene, found in the Laurentian Limestones of Canada, and regarded by Sir William as possibly fossils*. I have also examined slices of a number of limestones and serpentines from the Laurentian Series, not showing the external forms of these supposed fossils. The slices were prepared by the lapidary of the Survey, and were carefully examined under ordinary and polarized light, with objectives made by Ross and Smith & Beck, and also with good French objectives. The specimens first mentioned are masses, often several inches in diameter, presenting to the naked eye alternate laminæ of serpentine, or of pyroxene, and carbonate of lime. Their general aspect, as remarked by Sir W. E. Logan (Geology of Canada, 1863, p. 49), reminds the observer of that of the Silurian Corals of the genus Stromatopora, except that the laminæ diverge from and approach each other, and frequently anastomose or are connected by transverse septa. Under the microscope the resemblance to Stromatopora is seen to be in general form merely, and no trace appears of the radiating cells characteristic of that genus. The laminæ of serpentine and pyroxene present no organic structure, and the latter mineral is highly crystalline. The laminæ of carbonate of lime, on the contrary, retain distinct traces of structures which cannot be of a


Data on discontinuous ventilation phenomena in Camponotus detritus (Emery), an ant from the hyper-arid Namib Desert, are described and compared to equivalent data from two mesic insects, including Camponotus vicinus (Mayr). Although rate of CO 2 production (V co2 and body size were equivalent in C. detritus and C. vicinus, the ventilation rate of C. detritus was fourfold lower, significantly reducing predicted respiratory water loss rates. Ventilation rate was presumably modulated by V co2 , and low ventilation frequency was maintained in part by significant gas exchange during the fluttering-spiracle phase of the ventilation cycle, which is generally characterized by low rates of respiratory water loss.


Surface-relief resonance-domain diffraction gratings with deep and dense grooves provide considerable changes in light propagation direction, wavefront curvature, and nearly 100% Bragg diffraction efficiency usually attributed only to volume optical holograms. In this paper, we present design, computer simulation, fabrication, and experimental results of binary resonance-domain diffraction gratings in the visible spectral region. Performance of imperfectly fabricated diffraction groove profiles was optimized by controlling the DC and the depth of the grooves. Indeed, more than 97% absolute Bragg diffraction efficiency was measured at the 635 nm wavelength with binary gratings having periods of 520 nm and groove depths of about 1000 nm, fabricated by direct electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching.


Abstract Exotic annual grasses such as medusahead [Taeniatherum caput-medusae (L.) Nevski] and downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) dominate millions of hectares of grasslands in the western United States. Applying picloram, aminopyralid, and other growth regulator herbicides at late growth stages reduces seed production of most exotic annual grasses. In this study, we applied aminopyralid to T. caput-medusae to determine how reducing seed production in the current growing season influenced cover in the subsequent growing season. At eight annual grassland sites, we applied aminopyralid at 55, 123, and 245 g ae ha-1 in spring just before T. caput-medusae heading. The two higher rates were also applied pre-emergence (PRE) in fall to allow comparisons with this previously tested timing. When applied in spring during the roughly 10-d period between the flag leaf and inflorescence first becoming visible, just 55 g ae ha-1 of aminopyralid greatly limited seed production and subsequently reduced T. caput-medusae cover to nearly zero. Fall aminopyralid applications were less effective against T. caput-medusae, even at a rate of 245 g ae ha-1. The growing season of application, fall treatments, but not spring treatments, sometimes reduced cover of desirable winter annual forage grasses. The growing season after application, both spring and fall treatments tended to increase forage grasses, though spring treatments generally caused larger increases. Compared with other herbicide treatment options, preheading aminopyralid treatments are a relatively inexpensive, effective approach for controlling T. caput-medusae and increasing forage production.


Agriculture is the main occupation of the Indian peoples. Performance of Indian economy is dependent upon the growth of Agriculture sector. It contributes nearly 16% of India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) & 13% of total exports. It provides employment to 52% of the country's work force and livelihood security to more than 620 million people. Agriculture plays an important role in economic development, such as provision of food to the nation, enlarging exports, transfer of manpower to non-agricultural sectors, contribution to capital formation, and securing markets for industrialization. Agriculture forms the backbone of Indian economy and even though large industrialization in last 60 years, agriculture still occupies a place of pleasure.


The study aimed to identify the effectiveness of differentiated education strategy in the development of literacy skills of seventh grade students in English at public schools in Jordan. The problem of the study was identified in the following main question: What is the effectiveness of the differentiated education strategy in developing the reading and writing skills of seventh grade students in English Language? In this study, the researchers used the experimental method; the study population consisted of seventh grade students in the public schools at Wadi AlSeer directorate of education during the academic year 2016/2017. The study sample consisted of (140) male and female seventh grade students at Marj Al-Hamam Basic School for Girls and Al Baraa Secondary School for boys , distributed to two groups: one experimental (70) students and control (70) students. The study tools were a test to measure literacy skills and the researchers adjusted the independent variables, then the reading and writing test was applied to a pilot sample from outside the study sample. After the experiment was carried out for (5) weeks, with (10) periods weekly, the two groups were subjected to reading and written tests. The researchers used the Ttest for two independent samples to determine the effect of the differences between the two groups. The results were as follows: There were statistically significant differences at (α=0.05) between the average of the students of the experimental group (who are studying through the differentiated education) and the average score of the students in the control group (who study through regular education), in favor of the experimental group. The study came out with some recommendations.


It is very hard for the traveling wave ultrasonic motor to start directly with high speed, because of their special running mechanism and the unique features. To solve this problem and realize the uitrasonic motor's high-speed start control, speed controller with on-line self-tuning parameters is designed. Neural network is used to realize the online adjustment of controller's parameters, to agree with the different starting request of different speed references, and make best use of motor's ability. The experiments indicated that the motor start fast and accurately, the control algorithm is effective and reliable.


Background: Human breast milk is used sparingly in infants with intestinal failure due to observations from studies using syringe pumps that show loss of macronutrients with continuous feeding. Because of the potential benefits of using human milk, we sought to assess macronutrient losses using human milk as continuous tube feeds as done in the inpatient and home setting using a feeding bag and pump. Methods: Using in vitro simulations of human milk to assess macronutrient losses with continuous tube feeds, hourly samples were analyzed using the SpectraStar Near-Infrared Analyzer (Unity Scientific, Columbia, MD). Effects of agitation and positional changes of the feeding bag on macronutrient delivery were investigated in 249 total samples. Pairwise comparisons were performed using repeated-measures analysis of variance. Results: Significant fat losses were observed at all rates at hours 1–4, averaging to 73% at 5 mL/h. Caloric losses correlated strongly with fat losses. Significant gains in the fat content (+116% at hour 4 at 5 mL/h) were seen in the preinfusion aliquots (feeding bags). Horizontal positioning and continuous agitation of the feeding bag only partially limited fat losses. Fat delivery at 5 mL/h was significantly enhanced to 87% when the feeding bag was placed in an inverted position and improved further up to 98% with higher infusion rates. No carbohydrates and proteins losses were seen. Conclusions: Enabling the delivery of the human milk from the top of the feeding bag optimizes fat delivery and limits losses. Such top infusing feeding bags should be developed and could decrease healthcare costs for intestinal rehabilitation programs.


Applications of silver nano-sized metal particles were investigated for a new, ecologically friendly and economical liquid-solid (silver oxide-alcohol) system. Silver metal oxides as starting materials have merits in metal particles fabrication because these materials are decomposed only by heating in air. That is, noble metal oxide does not use thestrong reduction atmosphere. This reduction is ecologically clean because many noble metal oxides are not toxic, and because O2 is evolved during decomposition. We reduced silver metal oxides by ultrasound and fabricated silver nano metal nanoparticles at room temperature, and various applications were investigated. By choosing a suitable process and conditions, it is reasonable to expect that ultrasonic eco-fabrications can be extended to obtain various silver nano-particles containing materials.


Current geothermal power generation from engineered geothermal system (EGS) technologies has two bottle-necks in practical use: one is that the recoverability of injected water is about 50% or less than that in fracture-dominant regions such as Japan, which inevitably requires replenishing large volumes of injected water throughout the power generation operation, and the other is that the injected water raises pore fluid pressures in crustal rocks, causing inducedearthquakes. This paper proposes a new power generation method, which has the potential to resolve these two bottle-necks using EGS technologies in ductile zones. With this method, an artificial brittle fracture reservoir system is completely surrounded by ductile zones at a temperature exceeding 500°C, the presence of which has already been confirmed at the Kakkonda geothermal field, northeastern Japan. The profitability of this method is highly dependent on the depth of drilling, but this concept could dramatically expand exploitable thermal conduction geothermal resources beyond the brittle zones.


Small matched samples of beech, Scots pine and Norway spruce woods were heattreated
to twenty schedules, at temperatures of 190, 210, 230 and 245????C for heating
periods of 0.3, 1, 4, 8 and 16 h. Following thermal modification, physical changes and
chemical composition in thermally modified wood (TMW) were analysed and compared
to the characteristics of untreated materials. Most of the analysis were carried out using
the heat-induced weight loss values (WL, %) as the independ~nt variable to make the
comparisons. Average treatment WL values ranged from 0.3 to 27.0, from 0.6 to 21.5,
and from 1.0 to 26.7 for beech, pine, and spruce samples respectively. A major finding
of this research was that each characteristic changed following the same profile in the
three wood species for all properties studied. Save for hardness in beech, the magnitude
and rate of change of each property was often found not to be significantly different
between species when relative-to-control values in function ofthe WL were compared.
The results show that the gravimetric and dimensional changes in the transverse plane
are mainly due to chemical breakdown of wood hemicelluloses. On the other hand, the
readiness ofTMW to dimensional changes and moisture uptake below the FSP was of a
much lower concern than in raw wood. Similarly, several mechanical properties were
found to be little affected by heat exposure at treatment levels likely to be achieved
industrially. Among these were compression strengths parallel and perpendicular to the
axis in the tangential direction, and the axial modulus of elasticity in bending (MOE).
Other mechanical strength parameters (e.g. shear strength, hardness and the modulus of
rupture in bending) were reduced at almost any given treatment schedule, but the rate of
reduction was mild. It is contended that design practices could make up for the strength
loss incurred by the treatment for these properties. On the other hand, parameters related
to the energy required to produce failure and also impact strength were greatly
diminished at low levels of modification. This may restrict the use of TMW where
unpredictable sudden loads may occur. Properties at the limit of proportionality were
found to be less reduced than the same property at maximum load. Mechanical
properties more affected by heat were found to be those more intimately related to the
chemical integrity of the wood material and/or the structural configuration of wood
polymers in the cell wall substance, whilst compression strength and hardness were more
related to wood density. MOE was proposed to be more dependent of cellulose,
microfibril angle and wood density, all of these little altered by wood heating.
Lastly, a description of the colour changes in the test samples was undertaken using
image analysis and qualitatively by infrared spectroscopy. It was determined that colour
changes in wood were caused mainly by changes in the lignin.
The major input of this work to the state of the art is given by modelling the properties
studied using various linear, non-linear and multivariate methods. Properties in TMW
were estimated from gravimetric, colour and moisture-related parameters. Solid-state
mid-infrared spectra data, treatment parameters and interrelationship between variables
were also explored. It is concluded that all changes in small heated samples of wood are
amenable to be estimated efficiently in multiple ways, using cost-effective indicators.
Remarkably encouraging results for the prediction of physical properties were found for
models using colour parameters or by the analysis of the infrared spectra data. Whilst
descriptions of the heat-induced changes in wood exist, prediction studies are fairly
scarce and not comprehensive. This part of the study is thus very timely, giving the
current requirements of quality control and assurance of TMW at the industrial stage.
The relevance of these fmdings to property prediction in larger wood members would
depend on the property considered; safety factors will probably be needed for some
forms ofwood strength in larger heated materials.


This paper analyzed the current China market of numerical control machine, discovering that there was seldom consideration about Ergonomic, and also lacked the necessary experiment with study. This paper mainly analyzed Ergonomic about numerical control machine, and for project design example of numerical control machine to analyze its importance of Ergonomic in numerical control machine design. This project is going to considering more about the coordination between human and machine, joining the humanized design into the numerical control machine, letting the person also feel the concern of the design in work.


With the recent detection of gravitational waves from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, a new realm of gravitational astrophysics has been opened. As the process of observing gravitational wave signals is still in its infancy, there is a need to provide gravitational astronomers with observable signatures in the electromagnetic spectrum. Hence, we explore the impact of solar mass black holes on the morphology of globular clusters. It has long been thought that due to high kick velocities from compact object gravitational interaction, Galactic age Globular Clusters are unable to retain black holes. Recent simulations, however, suggest that a significant population of black holes can be retained (Sippel & Hurley 2012, Rodriguez et al. 2016). We present the results from Fokker-Planck simulations of a time evolving Globular Cluster with an initial mass of 2.5x106 M . By exploring two different methods of IMF construction evolved mass function and pure power-law we are able to consistently determine their radial, density profiles with the introduction of 12 M black holes. Because of the efficiency of the Fokker-Planck code, we are able to explore parameter space as we observe how the globular cluster changes over initial mass functions with 0.1%, 1%, and 10% black holes retention rates from initial black hole formation and discover a significant impact on the cluster morphology between once the black hole population is on the order of 100. Moreover, we observe the segregation of black holes from the rest of the stellar members of the cluster and the influence of 3 body binary heating on the core of the segregated black hole sub-cluster. As we only address the initial ejection of black holes, and not their escape from the cluster over time, our future work will account for 3 body binary kicks that cause them to escape.


A test series usually consists of various versions of a test. Test-takers and consumers of tests expect all these versions to be at the same level of difficulty, but this is very difficult to achieve at the test design stage. In this article we suggest that the establishment of a norm for test results may be a practical solution to this problem. We  illustrate how a norm can be established by investigating historical data from an Afrikaans test of Academic Literacy (TAG) and then proposing a formula to standardise results whenever a new version is written. This can easily be done by using a program such as Excel. This will enable test administrators to treat test-takers equally and fairly whenever decisions about them have to be taken. Keywords : academic literacy test; test level; norm; standardisation


Abstract The intention of this paper is to explore the internationalization efforts of German pork producers towards Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with a special focus on recent dynamics, market development strategies and policy conditions. The added-value potentials offered by CEE countries have become increasingly lucrative for the German pork industry, particularly as the domestic market currently shows a certain degree of saturation in terms of consumption. The results of this study which is mainly based on qualitative interviews with selected pork producers from North-West Germany reveal that transnational pork production networks between Germany and CEE are shaped by a high degree of fragility and discontinuity. This is reflected not only by the fluctuating development of foreign trade in piglets, live hogs and pork products, but also by the uncertainty and hesitancy of the interviewed pork producers with regard to business operations in CEE markets. It will be shown that the policy conditions on the national level still have a clear impact on internationalization processes in the pork industry. The paper further illustrates that the configuration of transnational pork production networks can be explained, in part, by insights from the global production networks (GPN) and the agri-food geographies literature.


The price of photovoltaic (PV) materials and wind generating system (WGS) materials is costly, and the stand-alone PV or WGS can not steadily supplied electric power for end user, fortunately, solar power and wind power can compensate well for one another under various locations and climatic conditions, an efficient maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for hybrid solar-wind electricity materials is important to extract maximum power from wind and solar energy because of the costly price of PV and WGS. The fuzzy MPPT method is used to track the maximum power point (MPP) of distributed small WGS and PV and hybrid solar-wind system. In order to decrease the output oscillation, the immune response feedback principle (IRFP) is used to improve the track speed and response speed and robust of output characteristic of electricity materials, the results displayed that the immune theory can effectively improve the performance and the stability of electric power of stand-alone or hybrid generating materials.


Structured diagnosis of echocardiography is useful both for report generation and for indexing and retrieval of echocardiographic images, for the purpose of database generation. This paper presents a proposal for structured diagnosis reporting in echocardiography, dealing with both numerical and nonnumerical findings. For each cardiac disease, an exhaustive description of the morphological, functional and homodynamic changes related to the various cardiac structures was attempted. A database of concepts, contexts and templates for echocardiographic diagnosis reporting was implemented. This database will be used for DICOM structured reporting generation and the implementation of structured reports databases.


This paper reports on the suitability of IEEE 802.11b networks for
carrying real-time voice traffic, considering particularly the end
terminals. More specifically we looked at such networks in different
operating circumstances: an outdoor environment, an office
environment, and the influence of competing traffic. Additionally we
have investigated the link protocol in combination with the
application layer. Based on over 2500 recorded sessions, it can be
generally concluded that the 802.11b protocol can support real-time
voice; particularly if the link transmission rate is immediately
lowered after an unsuccessful initial transmission. However, we did
find situations where the voice quality deteriorated below commonly
accepted values, such as when competing with high-rate TCP traffic,
when intervening obstacles blocked the transmission path, and with
certain uses of the RTS/CTS mechanism.


Polar codes were recently chosen to protect the control channel information in the next-generation mobile communication standard (5G) defined by the 3GPP. As a result, receivers will have to implement blind detection of polar coded frames in order to keep complexity, latency, and power consumption tractable. As a newly proposed class of block codes, the problem of polar-code blind detection has received very little attention. In this work, we propose a low-complexity blind-detection algorithm for polar-encoded frames. We base this algorithm on a novel detection metric with update rules that leverage the a priori knowledge of the frozen-bit locations, exploiting the inherent structures that these locations impose on a polar-encoded block of data. We show that the proposed detection metric allows to clearly distinguish polar-encoded frames from other types of data by considering the cumulative distribution functions of the detection metric, and the receiver operating characteristic. The presented results are tailored to the 5G standardization effort discussions, i.e., we consider a short low-rate polar code concatenated with a CRC.


To combine the bioinert titanium with the biological active coating of hydroxyapatite [HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] a new pulsed laser deposition(PLD) method was applied. The initial osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cell response to this thin HA coated(<1μm) surface was compared with non-coated surfaces. Cell responses on four different pure titanium surfaces, such as smooth titanium, HA coated smooth titanium, rough titanium and HA coated rough titanium, were compared. Cell morphology and attachment were examined by scanning electron microscopy after 6, 24 and 72 hrs of culture, cell proliferation by MTS assay after 3, 7 and 14 days. The differentiation of the cells was analyzed by real time PCR up to 21 days. The cells were well spread and attached on all surfaces and showed more irregular shapes on the HA coated specimens. They proliferated continuously on all specimens up to 14 days. Smooth surface specimens showed better cell proliferation than rough ones after 7 days, and the HA coated specimens demonstrated slightly greater MTS activity than the non-coated groups after 14 days. The surface topography affected cell proliferation initially however; there was no significant difference afterwards. Thin HA coating influenced the expression of some genes related with cell differentiation.


Acupuncture has been introduced as one of the available therapies widely used in alternative medicine, but it has not achieved widespread acceptance with scientific evidence. Furthermore there are still many unanswered questions about the basic mechanisms of acupuncture. To investigate the neuropharmacological mechanisms of oriental acupuncture, we studied the acupuncture-induced changes of in vivo monoamine release in the rat brain. A microdialysis guide cannula was implanted into the nucleus accumbens (ACC), which plays an important role in the brain reward system. Acupuncture treatment at the unilateral or bilateral Shenshu (bladder urinary channel 23) acupoints, located on the both sides of the spinous processes on the lower back, was carried out for 60 min in freely moving rats, and the dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) contents of the microdialysates in the ACC were measured simultaneously. In rats subjected to acupuncture at bilateral Shenshu acupoints, increases of 5-HT release in the ACC were observed at 20 min of acupuncture treatment and continued until 40 min after acupuncture was ended. Acupuncture at a unilateral Shenshu acupoint increased the release of 5-HT at 20 min compared with that in the sham-control group. Five-HT release returned to the baseline level at 120 min. The effects of acupuncture at bilateral Shenshu acupoints on the release of 5-HT in the ACC were greater than that of unilateral acupuncture treatment. In contrast, DA release in the ACC was not changed following acupuncture treatment. Effective acupuncture increased and prolonged the activity of serotonergic neurons in the reward system pathway of the brain. This suggests that oriental acupuncture therapy may be effective for the treatment of emotional disorders, drug abuse and alcoholism.


Written by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) consultant designated engineering representative (DER) and an electronics hardware design engineer who together taught the DO-254 class at the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, Inc. (RTCA) in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, Airborne Electronic Hardware Design Assurance: A Practitioner's Guide to RTCA/DO-254 is a testimony to the lessons learned and wisdom gained from many years of first-hand experience in the design, verification, and approval of airborne electronic hardware. This practical guide to the use of RTCA/DO-254 in the development of airborne electronic hardware for safety critical airborne applications: Describes how to optimize engineering processes and practices to harmonize with DO-254 Addresses the single most problematic aspect of engineering and compliance to DO-254poorly written requirements Includes a tutorial on how to write requirements that will minimize the cost and effort of electronic design and verification Discusses the common pitfalls encountered by practitioners of DO-254, along with how those pitfalls occur and what can be done about them Settles the ongoing debate and misconceptions about the true definition of a derived requirement Promotes embracing DO-254 as the best means to achieve compliance to it, as well as the best path to high-quality electronic hardware Airborne Electronic Hardware Design Assurance: A Practitioner's Guide to RTCA/DO-254 offers real-world insight into RTCA/DO-254 and how its objectives can be satisfied. It provides engineers with valuable information that can be applied to any project to make compliance to DO-254 as easy and problem-free as possible.