The marine environment is highly aggressive towards most materials. However, the service life of aluminium in such aggressive marine environments can be exceptionally long. Aluminium sheets and plates of the Aluminium-Magnesium (5xxx) series are extensively used in naval structures. This is due to its good mechanical strength, formability, seawater corrosion resistance, and weldability. However, susceptibility to intergranular corrosion (IGC) and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of 5xxx alloys with greater than 3wt.% of magnesium alloys can and does occur after prolonged thermal exposure to elevated temperatures, similar to those that occur in service. Various studies have shown that 'sensitisation' causes the formation and coarsening of electrochemically reactive β-phase at the grain boundaries, due to magnesium segregation, and that it does indeed cause the matrix to become susceptible to IGC. However, there has been little to no examination as to the effects of this grain boundary precipitation and the resultant corrosion susceptibility on the fatigue lifetimes of Al-Mg alloys. To establish the effects of sensitisation on the properties of AA5456-H116 standardised testing in the form of nitric acid mass loss testing (NAMLT) and electrochemical evaluation to confirm the increase in IGC and localised corrosion susceptibility as a result of increased precipitation of reactive β-phase at grain boundaries. The microstructure was also characterised metallographically, to observe grain boundary precipitation and the effects of sensitisation time. It was observed that increasing sensitisation time at 150\(^\circ\)C lead to an increase in β-phase precipitation and resultant decrease in IGC and localised corrosion susceptibility. In order to characterise the effects of sensitisation on the fatigue properties of pre-corroded AA5456-H116, S-N curves were generated and a systematic fractrographical analysis or fractured samples was undertaken. A decrease in fatigue lifetime as sensitisation time at 150\(^\circ\)C increased was shown. A complete examination of pit morphology using various microscopic techniques in order to investigate more clearly the morphology of pit that is likely to cause failure before that what is normal fatigue lifetime for as-received AA5456-H116. It was observed that there is an increase in the size, depth and density of pitting with more IGC present on and beneath the surface. Increased sensitisation time at 150\(^\circ\)C effectively renders the microstructure of AA5456-H116 susceptible to IGC and localised corrosion (in the form of pitting), which in turn modifies the local stress and ultimately shortens the fatigue life and lowers the threshold stress for crack initiation and propagation.


In the present study the film cooling performance is analyzed for a flat plate model with different hole area ratios. Here "Area Ratio" is defined as the ratio between the cross sectional area of the hole at inlet to the exit of the hole. The area ratios which are considered for analyzing are 1, 2 and 3. The models are made in a 10 mm thickness flat plate with a row of 7 holes having 5 mm diameter and at an angle of 22° towards the downstream. The first model has an area ratio of 1 with a constant cross sectional area throughout the hole. For the second and third models, the area of hole exit is diverged to the corresponding area ratios of 2 and 3 from the mid of the plate. The divergence of hole is made with the area extended towards the downstream. A stainless steel sheet with a low thermal conductivity substrate is placed at the downstream of test model. To study the film cooling performance, two parameters have been considered namely, convective heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. Both the film effectiveness and convective heat transfer coefficients can be obtained from the same test plate setup. The heat transfer coefficient is obtained by constant heat flux boundary condition over the stainless steel sheet by heating it through current supply. For the film cooling effectiveness measurement, the mainstream is kept at atmospheric temperature and the coolant is maintained at a temperature to attain a constant density ratio equal to 1.3. Experiments are carried out at various blowing ratios in the range of 0.5 to 2. The temperature measurement over the flat plate is measured through an IR camera. Among the considered three models, the model with the higher area ratio had shown higher adiabatic film cooling effectiveness. On analyzing the heat transfer coefficient distribution, no significant changes were found for all the models.Copyright © 2013 by ASME


OBJECTIVE
The purposes of this article are to highlight aspects of tests that increase or decrease their effectiveness and to provide guidelines for constructing high-quality tests in radiology.

CONCLUSION
Many radiologists help construct tests for a variety of purposes. Only well-constructed tests can provide reliable and valuable information about the test taker.


Larval settlement in the polychaete Hydroides elegans is mediated by marine biofilms, which are complex agglomerates of bacteria, diatoms, fungi and protozoa. The induction of H. ele- gans larval settlement by marine biofilms has been mainly attributed to bacteria and diatoms. In con- trast to bacteria-derived settlement cues, the nature and origin of diatom-derived settlement cues is poorly understood. In this study, we present the first investigation on the nature and origin of larval settlement cues produced by marine diatoms. Diatoms with inductive (i.e. Achnanthes sp. and Nitzschia constricta) and non-inductive (i.e. Amphora tenerrima and N. frustulum) effects on larval settlement of H. elegans were selected as model strains in this investigation. Larval settlement bio- assays with a choice between monospecies diatom films and unfilmed substratum revealed that the diatom-derived settlement cue was water-insoluble and associated with the film surface. There was a clear correlation between the surface coverage of diatoms in films and their inductive effect on larval settlement. In the case of Achnanthes sp., even the lowest surface coverage of 1.8% induced larval settlement significantly more than the control of filtered seawater. The interstitial distance between diatom cells at this low film density was within the body size range of H. elegans larvae (100 ± 30 µm). The inductive effect of diatom films on larval settlement prevailed even after heat treatments (121°C for 1 h) that completely killed the diatoms, as verified with the vital stain fluores- cein diacetate. These results suggest that the induction of larval settlement by diatoms is not related to their viability, and that, contrary to marine bacteria, diatom-induced larval settlement cues are composed of heat-stable surface components, such as capsular extracellular polysaccharides. These results not only demonstrate that different components of biofilms play inductive and inhibitive roles on larval settlement, but also that their relative space occupation deserves consideration regarding their roles as mediators of larval settlement.


Drawing from histories of art and architecture, urbanism and planning, landscape, infrastructure, and media, this themed section is premised upon framing architecture beyond the terms of aesthetics or technology toward its agency as a form of knowledge. In this introduction and the articles that follow, architecture acts as an analytic with which to formulate understanding and meaning. Through modern histories and perspectives from the South Asian subcontinent, conceptualizing "South Asia" and "architecture" broadly and inclusively, the articles turn alternately to design and structure, aesthetics and affect, and the human and nonhuman in order to redefine the primary source. From the writings of a Sri Lankan architect, a capitol for a future Bangladesh, the princely state landscapes of a German-Indian planner, films of roads in Bhutan and Kashmir, gardens in Lahore, and towers in Karachi, this collection unsettles borders, writing across South Asian nations and contested territories together to name architectures operating in archival registers. Through habitations and speculations, it reimagines pasts and futures, recasting the architectural beyond instrument, as concept.


In this research, we provide new empirical evidence on the importance of time-varying uncertainty for the exchange rate and the excess return in currency markets. Following an increase in monetary policy uncertainty, the dollar exchange rate appreciates in the medium run, while an increase in the volatility of productivity leads to a dollar depreciation. We propose a general-equilibrium theory of exchange rate determination based on the interaction between monetary policy and time-varying uncertainty aimed at understanding these regularities. In the model, the behaviour of the exchange rate following nominal and real volatility shocks is consistent with the empirical evidence. Furthermore we show that risk factors and interest-rate smoothing are important in accounting for the negative coefficient in the UIP regression.


Much of biogeography, conservation and evolutionary biology, and ecology involves very large spatial and temporal extents. Direct manipulation to test hypotheses is usually almost impossible at appropriate scales so that multivariate modelling and especially regression are used to draw causal inferences about which 'independent' variables influence the distribution and abundances of species. Such inferences clearly are crucial for the successful management of biological resources and for conserving threatened species. A succession of regression approaches has arisen, many of which yield inconsistent implications. The main problem has been the quest for one (the 'best' or the 'optimal') regression model from which the impacts of independent variables are inferred. This note is to draw the attention of ecologists to a relatively recent method, hierarchical partitioning, that does not aim to identify a best regression model as such but rather uses all models in a regression hierarchy to distinguish those variables that have high independent correlations with the dependent variable. Such variables are likely to be most influential in controlling variation in the dependent variable. Hierarchical partitioning is not to be regarded as a substitute for experimental manipulation when that is appropriate, but it is likely to produce better deductions than common regression approaches in the many ecological situations in which manipulation is impossible or of doubtful value.


Heterogeneous communication networks with their variety of application demands, uncertain time-varying traffic load, and mixture of wired and wireless links pose several challenging problem in modeling and control. In this paper we focus on the round-trip time (RTT), which is a particularly important variable for efficient end-to-end congestion control, and on bandwidth estimation. Based on a simple aggregated model of the network, an algorithm combining a Kalman filter and a change detection algorithm is proposed for RTT estimation. It is illustrated on real data that this algorithm provides estimates of significantly better accuracy as compared to the RTT estimator currently used in TCP, especially in scenarios where new cross-trafficflows cause bottle-neck queues to rapidly build up which in turn induces rapid changes of the RTT. Standard techniques for bandwidth estimation is based on measurements of inter-arrival times of packets as the bandwidth is proportional to the inverse of the inter-arrival time. Two main classes of bandwidth estimators are analyzed wrt how variations in the inter-arrival times affect the estimates. It is shown that linear time-invariant filtering of instantaneous bandwidth estimates does not change the bias. In contrast to this, smoothing the inter-arrival-time samples, does give a bias reduction which depends on the smoothing filter. Hence, with such approach, noise attenuation can be traded against tracking ability wrt changes in the actual bandwidth.


: The infectious complications of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) are discussed, and the conventional and nonconventional therapies used for these infections are reviewed. The infections most commonly encountered in patients with AIDS are Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (58%), Candida esophagitis (31%), toxoplasmosis (21%), cytomegalovirus infections (15%), and herpes-simplex virus infections (12%). Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is the most common life-threatening process in these patients. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMZ) is considered the drug of choice for its treatment. Oral candidiasis often indicates the progression to AIDS in the high-risk populations of homosexual or bisexual men, intravenous drug abusers, and individuals with hemophilia. Nystatin suspension is commonly used to treat oral candidiasis, while Candida esophagitis demands systemic therapy with ketoconazole. Toxoplasmosis most commonly manifests itself in patients with AIDS as a cerebral mass lesion. The recommended therapy includes sulfadiazine and pyrimethamine. AIDS patients frequently experience protozoal invasion of the intestinal tract with Giardia lamblia, Isospora belli, and Cryptosporidium muris. Various drugs have been tried for these infections, including quinacrine hydrochloride, metronidazole, TMP-SMZ, and spiramycin. Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections commonly involve the lungs, gastrointestinal tract, eyes, brain, and nervous system. Attempts to treat these disseminated CMV infections with antiviral agents, including acyclovir, have not been successful. However, acyclovir has been found beneficial in the treatment of herpes-simplex virus infections. Multiple infectious complications may occur in patients with AIDS as a result of the cellular-immune deficiency associated with this disease. Until more research is done with AIDS patients, therapy must be based on the data available from the treatment of these infections in immunosuppressed patients without AIDS.


The fading of pigments in items of importance to cultural heritage, such as paintings, works of art on paper, and textiles, is a ubiquitous problem. Tools currently available that can detect and identify organic colorants in severely degraded works of art are rare, given the heavy deterioration and restricted availability of the sample. Recently, however, surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy has shown great promise in detecting and identifying mass-limited samples. The art conservation field has seized upon the opportunity opened up by this powerful analytical technique to enable the identification of microscopic amounts of organic molecules used as artists' colorants in complex matrices, such as biomaterials (i.e. dyed natural textiles, linseed oil biofilms present in oil paintings, etc.), a possibility that was previously precluded due to interfering fluorescence and small sample size. Here, we report SERS spectra recorded directly on single particles of red lake pigments from an important historical watercolor by the American master Winslow Homer (1836–1910) that suffered some degree of fading. The accurate colorant identification provided by SERS, enhanced by comparison with reference samples of historical watercolors, has thus enabled important discoveries regarding the materials and intended meanings behind artworks from one of the most influential American watercolor painters. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


All over the world today, man is becoming increasingly concerned about the quality of the environment. This concern has expressed itself in the organization of International Conferences on the environment, the passage of anti-pollution legislation, demonstrations and placard waving. Although green plants also are affected by the quality of the environment, they express their concern in less dramatic ways. Air pollution injury to plants have only recently been recognised. In 1943, a new plant disorder known as silver leaf was observed on the leaves of many herbaceous plants in Los Angeles, California. In 1950, it was demonstrated that the condition was associated with air pollution. Since then, research results have shown that in highly industrialised areas, air pollution injury to crop plants may severely reduce their growth and subsequent yield.


The jarrah forest of South West Western Australia is degrading due to the presence of a root-rot disease caused by the fungal pathogen Phytophthora cinncanomi Rands.

The dominant species of the forest, Eucalyptus marginata Sm., takes many years to die from this disease, but plant species of the understorey show symptoms and die within a few weeks. Accordingly, Banksia grandis Willd., an understorey species and indicator of the presence of the disease, was chosen to determine if previsual stress detection could be achieved using remote sensing techniques.

In this investigation, spectroradiometry was used in conjunction with selective photography to establish in what regions of the spectrum the greatest changes in reflectance occur. The two approaches, spectroradiometry and photography, are seen as complementary in the interpretation process.

Stress detection relies on a knowledge of the spectral signature of healthy plants of the species being investigated. The spectral signature depends upon the scene being viewed and the configuration of the particular radiometer being used. Hence scene composition analysis is a preliminary step in spectral signature determination.

Various scenes across the canopy of a Banksia grandis tree were analysed and produced a range of signals. Disorders in the chosen species were detected by radiometric techniques as well as by visual and densitometric analysis of the photography. Changes in the visible reflectance of the plant were found to be greater than changes in the near-infrared reflectance. Changes in the near-infrared reflectance did not occur before changes in the visible or were too subtle to be identified due to the "noise" in the signal.

Thermal radiometry was also employed for stress detection but again the changes in canopy temperature compared to changes in visible reflectance were subtle in the early stages of stress and difficult to recognise due to the variation in the temperature across the banksia canopy.

Oblique aerial photography has advantages over vertical aerial photography in ease of interpretation and in terms of cost and availability and shows promise as a remote sensing tool for environmental monitoring.

Colour infrared photography used in other studies has proved advantageous over normal colour photography particularly for stress detection. Its application for this purpose in Australian sclerophyll forest however, appears doubtful from the point of view of spectral sensitivity and visual interpretability.


The objective was to evaluate morphological and physiological differences in anthurium plants in vitro, with the use of silicon added to the culture medium. Nodal segments were inoculated in Pierik with different sodium silicate concentrations (0.0, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 mg L-1). After 100 days in a growth room, phytotechnical characteristics were evaluated, physiological concentrations of silicon, photosynthetic pigments and microanalysis X-ray. A higher yield of chlorophyll a and b, was observed in plants supplemented with 2.0 mg L-1 of sodium silicate. Anthurium plants showed better growth development with an increase in the number of leaves, dry weight and length of the aereal part in plants supplemented with 0.5 and 2.0 mg L-1 sodium silicate. It was also observed an increase in the number of roots of plants supplemented with 1.0 mg L-1 of sodium silicate. The use of sodium silicate in culture medium improves the quality of plantlets with an increased absorption of nutrients in the plant Anthurium.


The evolution in the business environment of the last thirty years has brought with it a transformation in business practice and particularly in the way in which organisations relate with one another. Driven by a revolution in information technology and a shift in emphasis from manufacturing to service activities, the UK business environment is increasingly characterised by collaborative and dynamic interorganisational alliances. These collaborative interorganisational alliances supersede former structural divisions between adversarial hierarchical conglomerates. The greater reliance on collaborative alliances brings with it new problems in the effective governance of these alliances and so an agenda for research. The present study reviews extant empirical work in the field and identifies an anomaly in the underlying assumptions made by many empirical studies. While the context of the organisational alliance has shifted from adversarial to collaborative, empirical studies frequently retain a transaction cost perspective to explain performance in these alliances. While the transaction costs perspective makes a pertinent contribution it only provides a partial explanation and its' over emphasis in empirical work may limit the validity of findings. Building on the New Dominant Logic perspective of Vargo and Lusch (2004) the present research seeks to examine the performance of interorganisational alliances by aligning the context of the relationship more closely with the theoretical lens. Interorganisational alliances between UK architects and building contractors are used as the context providing a non-hierarchical, non-equity setting and a conceptualisation of the coordination mechanisms at work is proposed. This investigation employs a structural equation approach and finds evidence for a novel alliance coordination mechanism, procedural dependence, as a type of formal coordination operating at a different level to the conventional mechanism of contractual coordination. Furthermore contractual coordination is found to be redundant under these non- hierarchical, non-equity conditions in respect of alliance performance. Theoretical and practitioner implications are explored and future research directions described.


Thermal energy storage system (TES) is a promising technology for buildings heating and cooling applications. Energy storage systems have been widely used for reducing energy use from peak-demand to off-peak times. Among the various thermal storage technologies, phase change materials (PCMs) are the most commonly used approaches for storing thermal energy for buildings heating and cooling application. These materials enable buildings to store and retrieve a considerable amount of energy, typically by being integrated into structural components through a wide variety of TES techniques. A centralized energy storage system can provide a part of the heating and cooling requirements of a low-energy building. Relatively little general information pertaining to the thermal characteristics of latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems are available; further investigation is required to analyze the thermal performance of centralized LHTES systems in buildings. In this dissertation, a 3-dimensional mathematical model of a centralized LHTES system is conducted and validated for both a quasi-steady state and a transient conjugate heat transfer problem. The model is then used to carry out a parametric study to investigate the effect of geometrical parameters, charging and discharging times and mass flow rates on the long-term system performance.
Based on the parameters that could affect the long-term system performance, artificial neural networks (ANN) are developed not only to reduce the computational time but also to relate the outlet air-temperature to the inlet air-temperature of LHTES. The database obtained from the numerical solution is first used to train the ANN and then utilized to evaluate the accuracy of the trained ANN. The developed model is then integrated with a building's mechanical ventilation system to investigate the potential improvement in occupants' thermal comfort level and energy efficiency arising from the integration of the LHTES. It was found that the temperature difference between the air as a heat transfer fluid (HTF) and the PCM melting point has a significant effect on the performances of a LHTES system. The thermal energy retrieved from the centralized LHTES system is the highest when the inlet air temperature is about 10K higher than the PCM mean melting temperature.


Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and planar halogenated hydrocarbons (PHHs), including polychlorinated dibenzo‐p‐dioxins (PCDDs), dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in fractionated sediment extracts from the Hudson‐Raritan estuary and Newark Bay, New Jersey, USA, as part of a comprehensive risk assessment. Contributions of PCDDs/PCDFs, PCBs, and PAHs to the total toxic equivalents (TEQs) were measured using an H4IIE bioassay and calculated from instrumentally determined concentrations using international toxic equivalency factors. The H4IIE TEQs of whole and fractionated extracts were compared to calculated TEQs to investigate the applicability of the bioassay approach for evaluating 7‐ethoxyresorufin‐O‐deethylease induction by PHHs and PAHs present together in complex mixtures. Although 2,3,7,8‐tetrachloro‐dibenzo‐p‐dioxin contributed from 41 to 79% of the calculated TEQs from PCDDs/PCDFs and planar PCBs in all sediments sampled, the PAH‐containing fractions accounted for >80% of the total TEQs determined either instrumentally or by bioassay. Calculated TEQs from PAHs, based on reported toxic equivalency factors for only seven PAHs, were severalfold greater than the bioassay‐derived TEQs of PAH‐only fractions of the sediment extracts. Significant correlations were observed between bioassay and instrumentally determined toxic equivalents in the more purified fractions but not in fractions only purified by size‐exclusion or argentate chromatographies alone.


Situated within feminist Christian Realism, this article looks at what political theology is and its relevance to International Relations. Hope is a central theme to political theology, underpinning the necessity to be witness to and to work against oppressive structures. Simply put, hope is the desire to make life better. For Christians, this hope stems from a belief in resurrection of Christ and the faith that such redemption is offered to all of humanity. Hope, however, is not limited to Christianity and, therefore, Christian theology. Thus, taking an intersectional approach, the article looks for similarities in how hope is articulated in three personal narratives: theologian Jürgen Moltmann, UK Muslim advocate Asim Qureshi, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors. Across all three personal narratives, the need for hope begins in a place of despair, signalling a need to recognize that hope and privilege are in tension with one another. Feminist Christian Realism acknowledges and embraces this tension, recognizing that hope cannot function if the pain, oppression and harm caused by privilege are erased or minimized.


Localization, personalization, activity recognition, and cognitive assistance are key issues in research on smart homes for cognitively impaired people. Most of the current solutions rely on the presence of solely one person in the residence. To actively consider the interaction of the smart home inhabitant with their caregivers, nurses, doctors and people sharing their home, this paper proposes a multi-agent approach to transparently locate, identify, and ease the collaboration between distributed personalization and assistance services. Based on Bayesian filtering localization using anonymous sensors, the multiperson localization process provides information on each occupant presence, incoming and outgoing. This information is then used for personalization and assistance.


Abstract: [Context & motivation:] Software traceability links which are created during the development process are subsequently underutilized because project stakeholders lack the skills they need to compose trace queries. TiQi addresses this problem by accepting natural language trace queries and transforming them to executable SQL. [Question/problem:] The TiQi engine depends on the presence of a domain model. This can best be constructed through collecting samples from potential users.We are interested to learn what trace queries would be of interest to potential stakeholders and what terminology they would choose to express those queries. [Principal ideas/results:]In this live study we will demonstrate TiQi in action, and lead the participants through a series of carefully crafted 'what-if' scenarios designed to capture a variety of sample queries. [Contribution:] The study is expected to lead to a more extensive domain model which will improve the accuracy of TiQi's query transformation process.


In our previous notes an account was given of the rocks and fossils which had been collected by Dr. Kœttlitz and sent home in 1896. Another large series was brought back by the same gentleman on the return of the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition in 1897. These specimens have been examined, and it is satisfactory to have to report that they confirm our previous conclusions, necessitating no modification of our previous notes, except as regards some of the altitudes at which the specimens were obtained; these, however, do not alter the relative positions of the beds. At the same time, there are some additional facts which it is desirable to place on record. The corrected measurements of altitudes are given by Dr. Kœttlitz on a preceding page (p.636), and these, it will be seen, alter materially the position of the beds at Cape Gertrude as given in our section. There are two errors on p.503 of our previous paper which we desire to correct. On line 4 the 100 feet of basalt refers only to what is seen in the cliff-section, and on line 9 'highest' should have been printed 'lowest,' which will be found to agree with the section and the measurement that we then had. I. Rocks. A very large number of rock-specimens have been examined, but as these belong, for the most part, to varieties already described in our former paper, it will be unnecessary to refer to them at any length in these general notes. The common type


The goals of the Earth Biogenome Project—to sequence the genomes of all eukaryotic life on earth—are as daunting as they are ambitious. The Darwin Tree of Life Project was founded to demonstrate the credibility of these goals and to deliver at-scale genome sequences of unprecedented quality for a biogeographic region: the archipelago of islands that constitute Britain and Ireland. The Darwin Tree of Life Project is a collaboration between biodiversity organizations (museums, botanical gardens, and biodiversity institutes) and genomics institutes. Together, we have built a workflow that collects specimens from the field, robustly identifies them, performs sequencing, generates high-quality, curated assemblies, and releases these openly for the global community to use to build future science and conservation efforts.


The majority of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are educated in mainstream classrooms where they can have difficulties with the language needed for learning. Although visual support in the classroom can help to scaffold children's learning and socialization, many teachers feel ill equipped to use this. They do not feel confident enough to identify, differentiate and support children with SLCN. This article presents a training and mentoring programme delivered to teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) in seven mainstream primary schools. It involved a group training session outlining the nature and identification of children with SLCN, impact of SLCN on accessing the curriculum, and visual strategies and techniques for supporting learning. This was followed up by six, weekly mentoring sessions in the classroom with a speech and language therapist (SLT) or SLT assistant (SLTA). Pre- and post-training questionnaires and classroom observations were used to examine the impact of this programme. The observations were repeated after one school term to establish if the use of visual support had been maintained. Although there were differences between the teachers and TAs pre-training, they both increased their use of visual support strategies in the classroom post-training and maintained this one term after the training had ceased. The method and practical implications of this study are discussed.


We present a case study of a successful response to outsourcing, and IS job and enrollment declines through an IS curriculum redevelopment in a business school. First, we examine literature on outsourcing/offshoring phenomenon and on IS curricular redesign. A conceptual framework is presented that is useful in understanding the role of global collaborative group projects for learning about outsourcing in the IS graduate curriculum. A case study of one approach to an IS graduate curriculum redesign is then presented. The case examines the results of a survey of IT executives that informed the design of the curriculum. The case study curriculum is compared to the MSIS 2006 national model, and results are interpreted from prior literature and workforce trends.


In this work, we developed a 3-dimensional bone tissue engineering scaffold from type B gelatin and hydroxyapatite. Two types of scaffolds, pure gelatin (pI~5) (Gel) and gelatin/hydroxyapatite (30/70 wt./wt.) (Gel/HA), were prepared from concentrated solutions (5% wt./wt.) using foaming/freeze drying method. The results SEM revealed the interconnected-homogeneous pores of Gel and Gel/HA were 121  119 and 148  83m, respectively. Hydroxyapatite improved mechanical property of the gelatin scaffolds, especially at dry state. Compressive modulus of Gel and Gel/HA scaffolds were at 118±21.68 and 510±109.08 kPa, respectively. The results on in vitro cells culture showed that Gel/HA scaffolds promoted attachment of rat's mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to a 1.23 folds higher than the Gel scaffolds. Population doubling time (PDT) of MSC on Gel and Gel/HA scaffolds were 51.16 and 54.89 hours, respectively. In term of osteogenic differentiation, Gel/HA scaffolds tended to enhance ALP activity and calcium content of MSC better than those of the Gel scaffold. Therefore the Gel/HA scaffolds had a potential to be applied in bone tissue engineering.


The distribution of charophyte vegetation in 57 ponds located in the basin of the River Duero in North-Western Spain was studied in relation to eutrophication. A total of 11 charophyte taxa were recorded in 40 ponds. However, only Chara fragilis Desv., Chara connivens Salzm. ex A. Braun and Nitella translucens (Pers.) C. Agardh were found in more than 17% of the ponds where charophytes occurred. Significant differences between ponds with and without charophytes were found for the following parameters: volatile suspended solids (VSS), total suspended solids (TSS), turbidity, chlorophyll-a, nitrate and total phosphorus (TP). These variables were significantly lower in ponds where charophytes were present. Charophytes were found over a wide range of TP concentrations (20―6884 μg L ―1 ). However, taxa showed differing sensitivities to phosphorus concentrations. Thus, Chara connivens and Chara fragilis showed the highest optimum values for TP concentration (1875 and 551 μg L ―1 TP, respectively) while Nitella translucens registered the lowest optimum value for TP (69 μg L ―1 ). The charophyte cover showed a significant negative correlation with VSS and chlorophyll-a. As for charophyte taxa, Chara connivens cover was positive and significantly correlated with orthophosphate (SRP), while Nitella translucens cover showed a significant negative correlation with TP and TSS. The ordination of charophyte taxa showed a principal gradient of mineralization and ecological condition and a secondary gradient of eutrophication.


Climate change is considered to be a significant influence for infectious disease risk in Western Europe. Climatic and non-climatic developments act together resulting in current and future infectious disease risk. This study uses a survey to explore Dutch expert perspectives on climate change induced infectious disease risk. The results show that the experts consider temperature change, precipitation change, humidity change, and climate change induced habitat change to be relatively important for water-related infectious disease risk, vector-borne disease risk excluding zoonoses, and the risk of zoonoses. The climatic drivers are seen as relatively less important for food-related infectious disease risk. The experts rate many non-climatic drivers to be highly important for infectious disease risk. Comparatively, the majority of the non-climatic drivers assessed are seen as more important than climate change drivers. The degree of uncertainty in the future development of climatic drivers is viewed as moderate to high, and for non-climatic drivers mostly as moderate. An analysis of subsamples based on professional backgrounds reveals differences in experts' opinions for e.g., socio-cultural drivers, and similarities. Diversity and consensus amongst expert perspectives on climate change and infectious diseases can have implications for policy. Further research to uncover and compare prevailing perspectives is necessary.


Public health is an exciting field of work dedicated to protecting and improving the health and well-being of communities, particularly those seen as the most vulnerable. While a doctor treats people who are sick, public health practitioners try to prevent people from getting sick or hurt in the first place and promote wellness by encouraging healthy behaviors. Examples of public health and an effective public health system surround us every day. Public Health graduates will contribute to an increasingly needed skilled public health workforce that will work on protecting our current and future public health. Public Health graduates can work in numerous sub-disciplines such as epidemiology or disease tracking, biostatistics, health education, environmental health, health policy, or disaster preparedness. For example, graduates may develop health education materials or health education curricula for communities, hospitals, or health agencies. In positions at local health departments, graduates may work in teams to track emerging diseases, develop and administer HIV testing programs, or identify and address health disparities. They also may work in industry or academia researching public health problems and solutions. Graduates also may help develop policy briefs for public health agencies, assist in the development and implementation of disaster management policies and plans, or track and address environmental public health concerns. The opportunities for rewarding careers in public health are as diverse as public health itself.


[1] The accuracy of forcing data greatly impacts the ability of land surface models (LSMs) to produce realistic simulations of land surface processes. With this in mind, the multi-institutional North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) project has produced retrospective (1996–2002) and real-time (1999–present) data sets to support its LSM modeling activities. Featuring 0.125° spatial resolution, hourly temporal resolution, nine primary forcing fields, and six secondary validation/model development fields, each data set is based on a backbone of Eta Data Assimilation System/Eta data and is supplemented with observation-based precipitation and radiation data. Hourly observation-based precipitation data are derived from a combination of daily National Center for Environmental Prediction Climate Prediction Center (CPC) gauge-based precipitation analyses and hourly National Weather Service Doppler radar-based (WSR-88D) precipitation analyses, wherein the hourly radar-based analyses are used to temporally disaggregate the daily CPC analyses. NLDAS observation-based shortwave values are derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite radiation data processed at the University of Maryland and at the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service. Extensive quality control and validation efforts have been conducted on the NLDAS forcing data sets, and favorable comparisons have taken place with Oklahoma Mesonet, Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program/cloud and radiation test bed, and Surface Radiation observation data. The real-time forcing data set is constantly evolving to make use of the latest advances in forcing-related data sets, and all of the real-time and retrospective data are available online at http://ldas.gsfc.nasa.gov for visualization and downloading in both full and subset forms.


Braindrop is the first neuromorphic system designed to be programmed at a high level of abstraction. Previous neuromorphic systems were programmed at the neurosynaptic level and required expert knowledge of the hardware to use. In stark contrast, Braindrop's computations are specified as coupled nonlinear dynamical systems and synthesized to the hardware by an automated procedure. This procedure not only leverages Braindrop's fabric of subthreshold analog circuits as dynamic computational primitives but also compensates for their mismatched and temperature-sensitive responses at the network level. Thus, a clean abstraction is presented to the user. Fabricated in a 28-nm FDSOI process, Braindrop integrates 4096 neurons in  $0.65~\text {mm}^{2}$ . Two innovations—sparse encoding through analog spatial convolution and weighted spike-rate summation though digital accumulative thinning—cut digital traffic drastically, reducing the energy Braindrop consumes per equivalent synaptic operation to 381 fJ for typical network configurations.


Entering the global marketplace and increase attention to entrepreneurship have made significant enhancement to global market competition. The needs to introduce their products to public will increase and making an exhibition using interactive and attractive booth at the mall or exhibition area as an element to attract more people became an option that has been chosen. The demands of this attractive booth, however, need to meet some qualification such as the ease, the speed, the timeliness in design process, material processing, installation, to dismantling. Unfortunately, the turnover and the need to fulfill for a high booth demand quickly are end not to be followed by the awareness to choose and use the environmental friendly material (as the use of plywood and duco paint which are not healthy as well for human). Therefore, alternative materials are needed as a solution for this problem. This research aim to introduce used cardboard as alternative material for non-permanent interior, such as booth and other furniture inside, which apply 3R movement (reduce, reuse, recycle), attractive, and inexpensive. This research will be done by experimental method by using furniture and room partition as the experimental object.
Keywords: Alternative Material, Used Cardboard, 3R Movement


Synopsis Whole-rock ɛNd data from early Ordovician, Skiddaw Group (English Lake District) sandstones support correlation of the northern (and oldest) part of the group's outcrop (ɛNd range of −4.1 down to −8.5) with the Manx Group (Isle of Man) (ɛNd range of −4.7 down t o −7.2). Both groups were deposited on the Avalonian margin of the Iapetus Ocean, with constituent sediment derived from an earlier, possibly Precambrian, continental margin and volcanic arc situated further south in the Avalonian–Gondwanan hinterland. The Nd isotope data from the Skiddaw Group sandstones show a trend of increasing provenance maturity with time, possibly the effect of arc unroofing. The trend is diachronous, with relatively mature sediment being deposited in the south of the Lake District during the Arenig (ɛNd range for sandstones is −7 down to −9.3), whilst generally more juvenile sands fed into the north (ɛNd ranges up to −4.1). The mature sands subsequently extended northward and Llanvirn sandstones from the Skiddaw Group show the most consistently mature provenance characteristics (ɛNd range of −7.6 to −8.7). Manx Group data are relatively homogeneous with no clear temporal trends. Mudstone data from the Skiddaw Group divide into two populations separated by the Causey Pike Fault; there is no overlap in mudstone ɛNd across the fault. The more mature mudstones (ɛNd more negative than −8.1) lie to the south of the fault, an unexpected result in that the sequence there contains juvenile volcaniclastic interbeds. The ɛNd data rule out the adjacent parts of Avalonia as a possible sediment provenance. Instead, a more distant, Gondwanan provenance seems likely, with implications for basin geometry and the timing of rifting along the southern margin of the Iapetus Ocean.


: In 135 patients with the depressive syndrome within the framework of manic-depressive psychosis, spontaneous sensory disorders (paresthesia, somatalgias, visceralgias, cenesthopathies) as well as sensory disorders revealed on special objective investigation of the sensitivity (disorders of the protopathic and epicritical types of reception, ++musculo-articular feeling) are described depending on different syndromal coloration of depression. The use of factorial analysis allowed the establishment of a relation of different disorders of general sensitivity to the formation of the psychopathological manifestations of depression: vital character of affect, hypochondriac symptomatology, anesthetic disturbances.


Dynamics of globalization has amplified the importance of collaborative forms of organizations in international business. Strategic alliance is a result of such demanding business regime. Knowledge is increasingly replacing traditional resources like land, labour, and capital to become the basic economic resource in the modern era. Knowledge transfer is one of the most critical parts of knowledge management process enabling exchange of important information which is essential for efficient working of international joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and other types of strategic alliances. Thus the purpose of this study is to provide an integrated framework, after doing a structural and systematic and structural literature review, linking knowledge transfer enablers with innovation performance of international strategic alliances. Organizational knowledge transfer enablers have been identified from literature. Research gap has been identified that there is relatively less studies on the topic of impact of knowledge transfer on innovation performance of international strategic alliances, while incorporating the mediating/moderating role of absorptive capacity, especially in Indian context. Thus this study has tried to provide an integrated framework to fill this research gap. All the variables in the framework are explored in detail to identify their items for developing a questionnaire for future empirical testing. The current paper is conceptual in nature and undertakes qualitative research. It uses secondary sources of data including research studies of national and international repute on the subject of knowledge management in international strategic alliances.

Systematic and structural review of literature has been done. Various knowledge transfer enablers have been identified from literature. Various items for measuring different constructs of knowledge transfer enablers, transferred knowledge, absorptive capacity of the alliance and innovation performance of international strategic alliances will be identified. These items will be used for developing a questionnaire after experts' opinion and proper validation process. The questionnaire will be developed after adapting various standardised scales of different variables according to Indian context for future empirical testing in international joint ventures. Top and middle level corporate managers of currently operating international strategic alliances in India since 1992, having knowledge about the concerned area, will form the population for this pan India study. Factor analysis will be applied to confirm various knowledge transfer enablers identified from literature. Smart-PLS will be used to check the various relationships of the research framework and to check the model fit.

According to literature, organizational factors like strategy, culture, organizational structure and design and technological factors like IT based systems have a significant impact on knowledge transfer. These variables have been made more specific after extensive structural and systematic literature review. Thus learning strategy, trust culture, flexible organizational structure and design, IT based systems in context of international strategic alliances are included in the proposed research framework. Knowledge transfer dimensions are identified as tacit/personalized and explicit/codified. Dimensions of innovation performance have been explored and identified as product & service innovation, process & technical innovation. All these constructs are used to develop an integrated framework and a questionnaire will be developed for future empirical testing.

The paper is conceptual in nature thus lacks empirical evidence. Despite the researchers best attempt some items effecting knowledge transfer might have been left untouched. This study proposes a framework for international strategic alliances like joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions which require rigorous knowledge transfer, future studies may concentrate on other forms of strategic alliances like licensing, franchising, etc. which require different styles of knowledge transfer. It is proposed to be a cross-industry study which may result in general results, thus demanding a need for industry specific knowledge transfer studies. Industry specific studies may yield detailed results as some industries may be more knowledge specific for example software industry in comparison to transport industry. The study has provided a relationship between knowledge transfer and innovation performance but has ignored other important parameters of performance like financial performance, operational performance, etc. which future researchers may take into consideration. Despite these limitations, this study is one of the early attempts in India to study the impact of knowledge transfer on international strategic alliances' innovation performance.

The current paper is an attempt to propose an integrated research framework which can study the impact of knowledge transfer on innovation performance in case of international strategic alliances. Very few researchers have incorporated factors, transferred knowledge, absorptive capacity and innovation performance in a single study. This study emphasizes on the moderating/mediating role played by absorptive capacity in influencing the relationship between knowledge transfer and innovation performance. As per the proposed propositions 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, the first part of the proposed research framework studies the direct relationship between various knowledge transfer enablers and knowledge transfer in terms of codified and personalized knowledge transfer. An important variable: absorptive capacity is added in the framework to study its role in the relationship of knowledge transfer and innovation performance. Literature has supported moderating role of absorptive capacity as proposed by proposition 2. Thus it is incorporated in the framework but the relationship will be confirmed with empirical testing. As per proposition 3, knowledge transfer has also been directly linked to innovation performance of the business firm. The second part of the framework takes into consideration the relationship between knowledge transfer and international strategic alliances' innovation performance. The framework is presented diagrammatically in figure. This study will help future researchers as a comprehensive review on the topic and will be useful for alliance managers as well to improve knowledge transfer for better performance. It can also be helpful in improving the survival rate of alliances as effective knowledge transfer helps employees (or strategic alliance partners) to understand each other in a better manner thus improving the co-operation among them which is essential for survival and growth. Thus this review study has many implications for academicians as well as alliance managers. The study is original in nature. It has proposed an original integrated framework to study the impact of knowledge transfer on innovation performance of international strategic alliances in India.


Determining the particular readability graded reading material from an unclassified text based on its text readability is called Reading Material Classification (RMC). Recently, RMC has used Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods, i.e., machine-learning-based RMC, to overcome disadvantages of using syntactic features, i.e., insufficiency for modelling the levels of text reading difficulty. Concepts can be varied somewhat between different contexts, therefore «contextual concept-variants» wanted in our ontologies which will result in Contextual Ontology (CO) by using basic NLP techniques such as stemming and word sense disambiguation. Rule-Based Systems (RBSs) are Knowledge-Based Systems whose knowledge is structured by rules. Given RMC as the test-bed, we propose to combine CO with RBSs for synergising their advantages, to improve RBS performance by adding contextual ontological processing into RBSs. Based on the evaluation experiments, we do not claim that our proposed method is better than machine-learning-based RMC. Instead, our system performance is just on a par with them. Rather than beating those methods, we aimed to use RMC to show that adding contextual ontological processing into RBSs (RMC-RBS + CO) presents a considerable benefit for RBSs than not adding it (RMC-RBS + O). 31.25% and 25.89% improvements can be obtained for validation and testing data, respectively.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful and progressive condition. It leads to progressive joint damage which may lead to difficulties in the activity of daily living (ADL) and reduced quality of life (QoL). The aim of this case report, of a 50-year-old RA patient, was to see the improvements in ADLs, pain, aerobic capacity, and QoL. Dynamic exercises in form of resisted and aerobic exercises were given to the patient for 9 months and patient was evaluated at the end of 1, 3, 6, and 9 months. QoL was measured using health assessment questionnaire, pain was measured using visual analog scale and 6-min walk test was used to measure peak VO2. Improvement was seen in pain, QoL, and aerobic capacity in all measurements.


We run quantile regressions to verify if the fast-growing municipalities in Minas Gerais state react differently to the slow-growing ones with respect to the initial level of income and to other explanatory variables between 1980 and 2000. Our results show that higher human capital, higher urbanization rates, better social infra-structure and lower infant mortality rates are related to higher economic growth rates. All results show evidence that the quantile coefficients are not significantly different from the OLS results. These results imply that conditional convergence cannot be denied in the case of municipalities of the Minas Gerais state.


This essay is written as a response to the compounded crises of police brutality and the Covid-19 pandemic, in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement reignited by the death of George Floyd in 2020. It aims to show how anti-blackness and capitalism are the common denominators contributing to mass death in both crises. The essay explores the possibilities for poetry as radical practice, particularly the work of Black women poets such as Audre Lorde, Ericka Huggins and Warsan Shire. What becomes evident is the centrality of the Black body in reimagining the future, despite its historical emergence from the slave body. I argue that we must return to and reaffirm the bodies that Judith Butler calls abject within theory and poetics, in order to better protect the lives that inhabit them.


My thesis is that there is a defensible argument for the existence of God from the necessary existence of the Law of Non-Contradiction (LNC). James N. Anderson and Greg A. Welty (A&W) offer such an argument. The purpose of my thesis is to improve and defend some of the key premises of their argument. One of the key premises which takes up the majority of my thesis is that LNC is a necessarily true proposition. With the help from work by Tuomas E. Tahko and Francesco Berto, I explicate interpretations of LNC which are different from A&W's interpretation and then defend them against some of the main objections in the literature. Specifically, I combine Berto's emphasis on the mutual exclusivity of certain properties with Tahko's notion of "genuinely possible configurations of the world." Some of the objections include ones from Graham Priest, according to whom there are true contradictions in the actual world, and objections that there are abstract inconsistent objects in possible worlds. But I counter objections of the former by using Tahko's strategy to show that Priest's examples are issues of semantics, and for the latter I explicate one half of a dilemma by Ben Martin, according to which the actual world would be an impossible world if there were such inconsistent objects. The other key premise of A&W's argument is that all propositions are divine thoughts. Colin P. Ruloff argues that there is a better alternative theory of propositions in which propositions are not thoughts. But I counter this by arguing that his proposed theory is consistent with propositions being divine thoughts.


In this paper, a state space model is developed to describe the dimensional variation propagation of multistage machining processes. A complicated machining system usually contains multiple stages. When the workpiece passes through multiple stages, machining errors at each stage will be accumulated and transformed onto the workpiece. Differential motion vector, a concept from the robotics field, is used in this model as the state vector to represent the geometric deviation of the workpiece. The deviation accumulation and transformation are quantitatively described by the state transition in the state space model. A systematic procedure that builds the model is presented and an experimental validation is also conducted. The validation result is satisfactory. This model has great potential to be applied to fault diagnosis and process design evaluation for complicated machining processes.


The treatment of the strained complex TrpyPdOAcF1 with NaBArF, followed by the addition of trimethylphosphine, yields the stable cationic 16VE- or 18VE-complexes 3 and 4, depending on the amount of phosphane added.


The External Carotid Artery supplies mostly the scalp, neck and face regions of the body. A detailed knowledge of blood vessels and nerves in this head, neck and face regions is very helpful in various therapeutic and diagnostic procedures such as surgical resection of head, neck, face and oral cancers, radical neck dissection, plastic and reconstructive surgeries related to this vital region. Cerebrovascular strokes due to atherosclerosis, haemorrhage or embolism require radiological investigation like carotid angiogram, surgical procedures like carotid endarterectomy also require a thourough knowledge of anatomy of external carotid artery and its branches. Anomalous branching pattern of the carotid arteries and variations in the relative position of internal and external carotid arteries can also damage cranial nerves related to them. Hence, it was decided to undertake a morphometric study of external carotid artery by meticulous dissection of cadavers. The aim was to study variations in the course, relations and branching pattern of External Carotid Artery. In this study, 60 cadavers embalmed with 10% formalin were used, and thus 120 neck-halves were studied. Of these cadavers 52 were male and 8 were female. These cadavers were obtained from the Department of Anatomy, Seth G.S. Medical College, Parel, Mumbai, Maharashtra. The present study was conducted over the period of two years. Linguofacial trunk was observed to be the commonest variation i.e. in 17 cases (28.33%) on the right side and in 18 cases (30%) on the left side. Thyrolinguofacial trunk was encountered in one case (1.67%) on the left side. Also Accessory branches of ECA such as branches to the parotid gland, submandibulargland, infrahyoid region and pharyngeal muscular branches were found in 6 cases (10%) on the right side and in 5 cases (8.33%) on the left side.

Keywords: Thyrolinguofacial trunk, External carotid artery, Endarterectomy, Cerebrovascular strokes, Cadavers


It is shown that freshly stored stabilized blood differs in its effect on a recipient only on account of addition of stabilizors to it. The replacement effect due to transfusion of freshly preserved citrated blood is analogous to that noted in direct blood transfusion, however the response of the cardiovascular system inadequate for the transfused blood volume would restrict the rate and volume of transfusion. Freshly heparinized blood differs from donor blood by impaired coagulation factors, but it is identical in hemodynamic effect. Freshly preserved sorbent blood is mostly close in its efficacy to direct transfusions, since its content differs from native donor blood only in calcium content.


This report deals with a 47-year-old patient showing the beginning of a malignant histiocytosis in both eyelids and the orbit. The histology of the tumor confirmed a malignant histiocytosis, which generalized in a systemic, progressive, invasive proliferation of atypical histiocytes. The patient died 3 years after the beginning of the disease.


The purpose of this study was to examine psychological and perceptual factors that influence walking in individuals with low back pain (LBP). In Study 1 59 subjects with LBP recruited from an orthopedic surgeon participated. Perceived gait ability was measured with the Distorted Ambulation subscale of Pain Behavior Checklist (DAS-PBCL). The psychological factor of functional self-efficacy (FSE) was assessed on the FSE scale. These scales were completed before performing a 50-foot speed walk (50 FT WALK) and a 5-minute distance walk (5 MIN WALK) tests. DAS-PBCL had stronger correlations with walking performance ( r = 0.11 to 0.58) than FSE ( r = 0.03 to 0.49). DAS-PBCL had a stronger relationship with 50 FT WALK ( r = 0.18 to 0.58) than 5 MIN WALK ( r = 0.11 to 0.50). In Study 2 48 healthy pain-free subjects and an independent sample of 40 subjects with LBP referred from an orthopedic surgeon participated. They completed the 5 MIN WALK followed by the modified Borg's rating of perceived exertion scale (CR10). Subjects with LBP walked a significantly shorter distance ( t = 4.69, p<.005) but perceived a similar amount of exertion (Mann-Whitney U = 861.5, p =. 40) compared with those without LBP. Perceived gait ability appears to account for more variability in walking performance than functional self-efficacy of walking in individuals with LBP. Perceived gait ability, in particular, accounted for more variance in walking speed than in walking endurance. Individuals with LBP also experience more exertion during walking than those without LBP. These results suggest that clinicians may need to consider patients' perceptions of gait ability and exertion when assessing walking performance in patients with LBP.


Studying and applying English as a foreign language in Kurdistan Region has been used in academic and non-academic fields. The use of the first language (L1) in Learning English in a nation where it is not the primary language is known as English as a foreign language (EFL). For instance, since English isn't the Nation's official language, students in Iraq studying it are categorized as EFL students. Sessions are a source of ongoing debate among professionals and academics throughout the globe, especially whether it helps or hinders English teaching. The researcher wants to see whether the Kurdish language helps teach English in academic places. Two institute students were selected randomly. This research focused on classroom dynamics regarding the amount of L1 usage in English lecture halls in Kurdistan. This study aimed to show instructors' and students' opinions and attitudes on using first-language and second-language classrooms. The two teachers and two high and two low-achiever students were interviewed, and the lessons were watched and videotaped for six sessions. The results revealed that using Kurdish too often can demotivate learners. Thus, the students who were questioned expressed their displeasure with the inappropriate usage and use of L1 in L2 lessons. This study examines applying the first language in EFL Iraqi Kurdistan institutes. Scholars and EFL instructors throughout the globe have discussed how utilizing L1 in EFL classrooms may be an aid or a burden, depending on how we look at it.


Critical theory, intercultural theory, critical pedagogy, and complexity theory: all of these and others have yet to penetrate the shell of foreign-language pedagogy in a systematic way. The field remains concerned primarily--and understandably--with the instrumental demands of facilitating the skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. It is often argued that practice is theory-light and theory is practice-light. Consequently, it has proven notoriously difficult to bridge the theory-practice gap. AAUSC 2010 Volume provides a frank and provocative treatment of theory in language teaching and learning, arguing for alternative understanding that may overcome the conflicts between theory and practice. Fostering sophisticated translingual and transcultural competences, linking the work of the language classroom with the profound mission and goals of the humanities, and helping university-level language education contribute to the fostering of compassion and even the transformation of global conflict are now part of the language pedagogy pursuit. To move the language profession in this long-overdue direction, the contributions to this volume provide insightful analyses of foreign-language curriculum, teaching, and learning in a postmodern world and the ways that a range of theoretical frameworks can or already do contribute to our thinking about these issues. The volume gives the reader unfamiliar with theory a thumbnail introduction to a range of models and frameworks, offers numerous practical steps for curriculum design and classroom practice derived from theoretical principles, and also provides fuel for crucial transformative discussions and debates in language departments.


The in-cylinder flow of internal combustion (IC) engines, formed during the intake stroke, is one of the most important factors that affect the quality of air-fuel mixture and combustion. The inducted airflow through the inlet valve is primarily influenced by the intake port design, intake valve design, valve lift and valve timing. Such parameters have a significant influence on the generation and development of in-cylinder flow motion. In most combustion systems the swirl and tumble motions are used to aid the air-fuel mixing with the subsequent decay of these bulk flow motions generating increased turbulence levels which then enhance the combustion processes in terms of rate of chemical reactions and combustion stability. Air motion formed inside the engine cylinder is three-dimensional, transient, highly turbulent and includes a wide spectrum of length and time scales. The significance of in-cylinder flow structures is mainly reflected in large eddy formation and its subsequent break down into turbulence kinetic energy. Analysis of the large scale and flow motions within an internal combustion engine are of significance for the improvement of engine performance. A first approximation of these flow structures can be obtained by steady state analysis of the in-cylinder flow with fixed valve lifts and pressure drops.
Substantial advances in both experimental methods and numerical simulations provide useful research tools for better understanding of the effects of rotational air motion on engine performance. This study presents results from experimental and numerical simulations of in-cylinder flow structures under steady state conditions. Although steady state flow problem still includes complex three-dimensional geometries with high turbulence intensities and rotation separation, it is significantly less complex than the transient problem. Therefore, preliminary verifications are usually performed on steady state flow rig. For example, numerical investigation under steady state condition can be considered as a precondition for the feasibility of calculations of real engine cylinder flow.
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique is used in the experimental investigations of the in-cylinder flow structures. The experiments have been conducted on an engine head of a pent-roof type (Lotus) for a number of fixed valve lifts and different inlet valve configurations at two pressure drops, 250mm and 635mm of H2O that correlate with engine speeds of 2500 and 4000 RPM respectively. From the 2-D in-cylinder flow measurements, a tumbling vortex analysis is carried out for six planes parallel to the cylinder axis. In addition, a swirl flow analysis is carried out for one horizontal plane perpendicular to the cylinder axis at half bore downstream from the cylinder head (44mm).
Numerically, modelling of the in-cylinder flow is proving to be a key part of successful combustion simulation. The numerical simulations require an accurate representation of turbulence and initial conditions. This Thesis deals with numerical investigation of the in-cylinder flow structures under steady state conditions utilizing the finite-volume CFD package, STAR CCM+. Two turbulence models were examined to simulate the turbulent flow structure namely, Realizable k-e and Reynolds Stress Turbulence Model, RSM. Three densities of generated mesh, which is polyhedral type, are examined. The three-dimensional numerical investigation has been conducted on the same engine head of a pent-roof type (Lotus) for a number of fixed valve lifts and both valves are opened configuration at two pressure drops 250mm and 635mm of H2O that is equivalent to engine speeds of 2500 and 4000 RPM respectively.
The nature and modelling of the flow structure together with discussions on the influence of the pressure drop and valve lift parameters on the flow structures are presented and discussed. The experimental results show the advantage of using the planar technique (PIV) for investigating the complete flow structures developed inside the cylinder. It also highlighted areas where improvements need to be made to enhance the quality of the collected data in the vertical plane measurements. Based on the comparison between the two turbulence models, the RSM model results show larger velocity values of about 15% to 47% than those of the Realizable k-e model for the whole regions. The computational results were validated through qualitative and quantitative comparisons with the PIV data obtained from the current investigation and published LDA data on both horizontal and vertical cross sections. The calculated correlation coefficient, which is above 0.6, indicated that a reasonable prediction accuracy for the RSM model. This verifies that the numerical simulation with the RSM model is a useful tool to analyse turbulent flows in complex engine geometries where anisotropic turbulence is created.


Abstract Background Most people with a disability want to remain living in their own home as they age. Without additional support, people with a disability may not be able to avoid moving into residential aged care, attending day programs, or becoming isolated from participation in the wider community. This study examined whether participants perceived access to community-based aged care supports assisted with avoiding receiving more institutional models of service as they age. Method Qualitative research processes were used to explore the perceptions of 60 individuals with a disability aged 50 years and over, in relation to ageing and the value of community-based aged care. Results Findings indicated that participants receiving community-based aged care supports reported benefits including opportunities to develop relationships, maintain daily living skills and participate in community activities. Conclusion Due to a lack of confidence in the availability of access to mainstream community-based aged care services, many participants felt vulnerable or unsure about their future and ability to remain living in their own home. Several participants commented that this meant that an undesired early relocation into residential aged care or congregate disability services appeared inevitable.


Renewable biomass sources are organic materials, in which solar energy is stored in bio-chemical bonds, and which commonly contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen constituents, along with traces of sulfur. Renewable biomass is now considered as a crucial energy resource, which is able to meet a range of energy requirements, including generating electricity and fueling vehicles. Among all the renewable energy sources, microalgal biomass is unique, since it profitably stores solar energy. It is one of the renewable sources of carbon that can be effectively converted into expedient solid, liquid, and gaseous biofuels through different conversion techniques. In this review, thermochemical conversion technologies involving microalgal biomass are highlighted, with emphasis on the background chemistry and chemical processes. Thermochemical conversion of microalgal biomass via pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction, gasification, torrefaction, and direct combustion for bioenergy production from microalgal species is discussed, though there are limited literature sources available on these technologies. The unique features of hydrothermal gasification and supercritical gasification technologies are described, with the chemical reactions involved in these processes. The decomposition pathways of the main chemical components present in the microalgal biomass, such as carbohydrates and proteins, are well elucidated with the chemical pathways. The pros and cons of direct combustion are also spotlighted.


The role of an invariant aspartic acid (Asp137) in hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferases (HPRTs) was examined by site-directed and saturation mutagenesis, functional analysis, and X-ray crystallography using the HPRT from Trypanosoma cruzi. Alanine substitution (D137A) resulted in a 30-fold decrease of k(cat), suggesting that Asp137 participates in catalysis. Saturation mutagenesis was used to generate a library of mutant HPRTs with random substitutions at position 137, and active enzymes were identified by complementation of a bacterial purine auxotroph. Functional analyses of the mutants, including determination of steady-state kinetic parameters and pH-rate dependence, indicate that glutamic acid or glutamine can replace the wild-type aspartate. However, the catalytic efficiency and pH-rate profile for the structural isosteric mutant, D137N, were similar to the D137A mutant. Crystal structures of four of the mutant enzymes were determined in ternary complex with substrate ligands. Structures of the D137E and D137Q mutants reveal potential hydrogen bonds, utilizing several bound water molecules in addition to protein atoms, that position these side chains within hydrogen bond distance of the bound purine analogue, similar in position to the aspartate in the wild-type structure. The crystal structure of the D137N mutant demonstrates that the Asn137 side chain does not form interactions with the purine substrate but instead forms novel interactions that cause the side chain to adopt a nonfunctional rotamer. The results from these structural and functional analyses demonstrate that HPRTs do not require a general base at position 137 for catalysis. Instead, hydrogen bonding sufficiently stabilizes the developing partial positive charge at the N7-atom of the purine substrate in the transition-state to promote catalysis.


The bacterial strains with recombinant plasmids constructed on the basis of vector plasmid pSCC31 and containing BglII fragment of bacteriophage T4 DNA with genes 25-29 have been used in this study. Restriction analysis and subcloning demonstrated that in the case of the recombinant plasmid pRL705, the phage DNA fragment had right orientation for phage late genes transcription, while the opposite one in the plasmid pRL707. Heat induction of plasmids transcription under control of pL promoter led to the substantial change in phage burst size and the production of recombinants, as shown in complementation experiments, the changes in the burst size being dependent both on the host strain and the amber mutant used. On the basis of these data, the conclusion has been drawn that the genes 26 and 25, in contrast to genes 51, 27, 28 and 29, are being transcribed in the counter-clockwise direction on the genomic map, i.e. in the direction of transcription of T4 early genes.


Does patient access to time-lapse technology improve their cycle experience or is it simply perceived as another add-on?

 Patients reported increased satisfaction and transparency in IVF treatment after viewing videos of their embryos growing.

 It is widely assumed that In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatments are costly and stressful for intended parents. During an IVF cycle, patients are often provided with minimal information regarding their embryo growth milestones, -and no static images of embryos for their personal retention. Time-lapse technology provides a method to visualize embryos continuously without disruption to the embryo's growth cycle. Many time-lapse studies have focused on the potential benefits associated with non-invasive embryo selection, but very few have entertained the idea about how this technology could be used to improve patient engagement and education pertaining to their cycle.

 An anonymous survey was conducted which included 192 patients over 8 months. This survey study focused on responses of patients after viewing time-lapse videos from all of their embryos in culture. Embryo video updates were provided to the patients on Day 3 and Day 7 of embryo culture. Patients received two surveys: One prior to egg retrieval and a second after receiving all of their embryo culture videos at the completion of their cycle.

 Patients at a private IVF clinic were able to self-elect enrollment in the survey-study at the start of their cycle. Embryos were cultured in CSCM-NX (FujiFilm Irvine Scientific) in the Geri Time-Lapse incubator (Genea BioMedx) for up to 7 days. Development was monitored according to standard lab protocol and embryos were vitrified or biopsied accordingly. Patients were provided access to videos electronically with a brief summary and a follow-up phone call the following day.

 192 patients participated in the initial assessment survey at the start of their IVF cycle. 155 of these patients then partook in the survey at the completion of their cycle. 98% of patients completing the survey prior to their cycle felt that being able to view the videos of their growing embryos on Day 3 and Day 7 would add value to their IVF experience. Nearly all (97%) respondents felt that watching videos of their embryos in culture added transparency regarding embryo development and the laboratory environment. In the survey at the completion of the cycle, 96.8% (150) of participants reported that access to the videos added no additional stress to their IVF process. Very few (3.9%) reported that they were not happy with the quality of their videos. 142 (91.6%) participants reported that the embryo updates they received correlated with what they observed in their videos. Transparency in the laboratory through video viewing was reported by 93.5% of patients. In the feedback/comments portion, many noted that they were grateful for the experience and enjoyed participating in the study. Despite such high reviews of the technology and personal involvement, there was marginal interest in paying a premium for this service.

 Patient responses were limited to a yes or no answers. Patients agreed to complete the two questionnaires, but they were not required to do so. Since there was no enforcement of survey completion, this could account for some of the discrepancy in study start.
 Wider implications of the findings: Patients noted that they enjoyed the experience of watching their embryos develop near-real-time but did not feel it necessary for success. The majority stated that viewing the videos fostered their emotional attachment to their embryos. It is possible that the increased transparency leads to less anxiety and more patient trust.

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: This is a unique case of chondroid chordoma arising in the sacrococcygeal area of an asymptomatic man. S100 protein was detected in both chondroid and chordoid tissues; epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and cytokeratin were present in abundant amounts in the cytoplasm of chordoma cells but not in chondroid cells. The presence of cytokeratin and EMA in chordoma implies the epithelial nature of the tumor and is extremely helpful as a differential marker for chordoma. I suggest that EMA, cytokeratin, and S100 protein should be used conjunctively to provide a resolution for difficult diagnostic problems when dealing with chordomas, especially with their variants, such as chondroid chordomas, which often cause further confusion.


This paper studies a simple multi-period model of limit pricing under one-sided incomplete information. I characterize pooling and separating equilibria, determine conditions under which the latter exist and study under which conditions on the primitives the equilibria involve limit pricing. The results are compared to a static benchmark. I identify two regimes that depend on the primitives of the model, namely a monopoly price regime and a limit price regime. In the former, the unique reasonable equilibrium involves immediate separation on monopoly prices. In the latter, I identify a unique class of reasonable limit price equilibria in which different types may initially pool for an arbitrary amount of time and then (possibly) separate. I argue that in a reasonable equilibrium, all signaling takes place in a single period (if the informed player is able to do so). If separation occurs in finite time, this involves setting prices that are so low that the inefficient incumbent's profits from mimicking are strictly negative. With a sufficiently high discount factor, the losses from mimicking may become arbitrarily large.


This text consists of an interpretive essay about the meaning(s) of the "mirror" as an object in Mainland and Aegean Greece (in contrast to Western/Colonial Greece), based on iconography. I take into consideration two distinct repertoires of images: the paintings of Attic vases (late sixth – early fourth century B.C.) and the figurative decoration on the mirrors themselves, in relief or engraved (late fifth – early third century B.C.). The central focus of the analysis is the iconography registered on mirrors produced in the four main manufacturing centers of Greece (Athens, Corinth, Chalcis, Ionia). Greeks produced three types of mirrors between Late Archaic and Early Hellenistic times: hand-mirrors with handle, table mirrors with stand, and round box mirrors, the latter being the most important to this study. Box mirrors may bear iconography on their folding cover, in relief on the external surface (repousse) or engraved on the interior surface. In contrast to the iconography of the vases of Magna Graecia, in which the mystic component stands out from the other symbolic aspects, in the case of the iconography of Greek mirrors erotic symbolism and the relation with the goddess Aphrodite predominate. This goddess protects all categories of women (hetaerae and "citizen-women", married or brides) and all modalities of eroticism. Under the auspices of love and desire, the symbolic power of the mirror can be related to an inclusive eroticism, which unites, that which society separates.


Disease surveillance programs will provide updated information on the distribution of diseases which allows proper development of mitigation and prevention strategies. WSSV and IMNV viruses are the most threatening diseases in shrimp and have affected the global shrimp farming industries. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of WSSV and IMNV in three different locations of shrimp farms of South Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara and West Jawa. Samples of shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei were randomly collected from 20 active shrimp farms in the locations and five samples of postlarvae (PL) that were stocked in ponds. Tissue samples of the shrimp and whole body of PL were preserved in ethanol 90% for analysis. Determination of WSSV and IMNV were carried out by the mobile IQTM WSSV and IQTM IMNV Kit POCKIT Systems. The results showed that the prevalence of WSSV was 30% (6/20) and IMNV was 20% (4/20), while on PL was 40% (2/5). The result revealed that the South Sulawesi (Takalar) samples were positive only for WSSV while West Java (Panimbang) samples were positive only for IMNV. A follow-up study predicted that both viruses were transmitted from the PLs. The present study clearly confirmed that viruses were transmitted from PLs that were not free from either WSSV or IMNV. Therefore, a biosurveillance program is strongly recommended to be implemented in order to avoid the spread of the viral disease to other locations within Indonesia.


A Reynolds stress model for the numerical simulation of uniform 3D turbulent open‐channel flows is described. The finite volume method is used for the numerical solution of the flow equations and transport equations of the Reynolds stress components. The overall solution strategy is the SIMPLER algorithm, and the power‐law scheme is used to discretize the convection and diffusion terms in the governing equations. The developed model is applied to a flow at a Reynolds number of 77000 in a rectangular channel with a width to depth ratio of 2. The simulated mean flow and turbulence structures are compared with measured and computed data from the literature. The computed flow vectors in the plane normal to the streamwise direction show a small vortex, called inner secondary currents, located at the juncture of the sidewall and the free surface as well as the free surface and bottom vortices. This small vortex causes a significant increase in the wall shear stress in the vicinity of the free surface. A budget analysis of the streamwise vorticity is carried out. It is found that both production terms by anisotropy of Reynolds normal stress and by Reynolds shear stress contribute to the generation of secondary currents. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Using the indirect immunofluorescence method, it has been shown for the first time that concanavalin A receptors can undergo a redistribution over the surface of platelets spread on the substrate. The distribution of receptors in the intact cells is diffuse and random. Con A receptors, cross-linked by their ligand, are removed from the surface of the lamellar cytoplasm of living substrate-spread platelets. These receptors move into the central part of cell surface. This phenomenon is similar to capping or clearing of lamellar cytoplasm of big nucleated cells. Cytochalasin B (10 mcg/ml) does not prevent the formation of patches of receptors but inhibits the clearing of the lamellar cytoplasm of spread platelets. This result suggests that microfilaments may be involved in the redistribution of receptors.


Aim: To investigate the effect of on Diallyl disulphide (DADS) on the lipid profile and antioxidant status in ammonium chloride (AC) induced hyperammonaemic rats. Methods: Male albino Wistar rats weighing 180–200 g were used for the study. The hyperammonemia was induced by interaperitonial injection (i.p) of AC (100 mg/kg body weight). Rats were treated with DADS (60 mg/kg body weight) via oral administration. The levels of lipid profiles; phospholipid, cholesterol and the antioxidants; catalase, glutathione peroxidase (GPX), vitamin-C, vitamin-E were studied, open field behavioral test such as peripheral movement, central movement, rearing and grooming were also carried in control and experimental rats. Results: Administration of DADS in hyperammonaemic rats reduced the levels of lipid profiles and there by reversing the oxidant-antioxidant imbalance during AC-induced hyperammonemia, and offered protection against hyperammonemia. Behavioral activities were significantly decreased in DADS treated hyperammonaemic rats when compared with control rats. Conclusion: The study offers evidence for the antihyperammonaemic, hepatoprotective and antioxidant effects of DADS against oxidative stress induced by AC.


Anxiety disorders in elderly patients have up to now represented a neglected gerontopsychiatric field of medical research, although they represent epidemiologic quite significant disorders also on this age. Diagnosis of an anxiety disorder in the elder age group may be more difficult than in other age groups, as anxiety symptoms may manifest more on the somatic base or they are unclear as in the phobic disorder. An integrative disorder model, in which the etiologic relevant biologic and psychologic causes are united, seems to be more effective under theoretic-heuristic as well as therapeutic aspects than the present monoetiologic anxiety models. The present experiences in the pharmacologic, psychotherapeutic and especially behaviour therapeutic treatment of anxiety disorders can be effective in the older age. A casuistic with a combined treatment of pharmaco- and behaviour therapy is presented and discussed. It is clearly shown that a comprehensive psychiatric-psychological point of view of anxiety disorders may be helpful above all the development of age appropriative therapy concepts.


Actively growing Cabernet Sauvignon plants grown at 25°C were given a four-hour heat shock at 40°C, followed by a four-hour incubation period at 25°C. The heat shocked plants, when compared to non-heat shocked plants, had less leaf damage, tissue water loss, and electrolyte leakage after exposure to 50°C. Dormant Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings were removed from 3°C cold storage and heat shocked for 30 minutes at either 45°C or room temperature (23°C). This was followed by a four-hour incubation period at room temperature. A group of non-heat shocked control cuttings were held continuously at 3°C. Thermotolerance was tested by placing the cuttings in water baths at 54°C, 56°C, 58°C, or 60°C for 30 minutes. Primary, secondary and tertiary bud survival, time required for buds to begin growth, and root vigor were evaluated for each treatment. Bud survival was high in all treatments at 54°C and 56°C, while at 60°C there was 100% bud mortality in all treatments. At 58°C, however, cuttings that were heat shocked at room temperature were significantly ( p p = 0.01) more heat tolerant than those heat shocked at room temperature. These results show that both dormant and actively growing grape tissues respond to heat shock treatment by increasing their thermotolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first time that heat shock responses have been shown to occur in dormant woody plant tissue. Heat shock treatment could lead to more effective pathogen elimination by allowing grape propagation material to be treated at higher temperatures than are currently possible.


Remote sensing technology has many attributes that would be beneficial to monitoring submerged coral reef ecosystems such as the ability to revisit a site repetitively and consistently. One of the limiting factors, however, is the lack of a quantitative means of discriminating optically similar features such as healthy coral and algae-covered surfaces. We have shown previously that common coral reef features are optically similar to the naked eye, but can be discriminated using hyperspectral technology, thus reducing misclassification. The greatest source of classification error is a result of optical confusion between healthy coral and algae-covered surfaces even when high spectral resolution data is considered. This is an important distinction to make since an unhealthy coral is susceptible to rapid colonization by macroalgae and remote monitoring missions must be able to distinguish between these ecosystem phases. A high spectral resolution in situ library is presented and evaluated for potential use as a classification system for hyperspectral remotely sensed images of coral reef environments.


This study is an output of the research project: "The EU harmonization in Key Infrastructure Services (Telecommunications, Energy and Transport) and productivity growth" carried out by EDAM (Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies) in Istanbul and CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies) in Brussels. It was made possible by the financial support of the European Union's Civil Society Dialogue: Europa – Bridges of Knowledge Programme. Given that Turkey has by and large been able to overcome the challenge of macro-economic stability, the focus of policy makers shifted to second generation reforms including the overhaul of structural policies. Yet at the same time, Turkey has initiated full membership negotiations with the EU which involve regulatory harmonisation in several fields. Therefore the relationship between EU harmonisation and the need for second generation reforms in a country like Turkey should be examined in more detail. The objective of this study is essentially twofold. It aims to carry out a gap analysis regarding the level of regulatory harmonisation in three key infrastructure sectors. As a result, the main shortcomings in terms of regulatory harmonisation are highlighted. The focus is however on the part of the acquis that has a bearing on economic productivity since the second aim of the study is to uncover the linkages between EU acquis adoption, regulatory good governance and productivity growth.


(1) Background: Biological treatment of leachate in landfill sites using anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is challenging because of the intrinsic characteristics of this complex wastewater. In this work, the scale-up and subsequent full-scale implementation of the PANAMMOX® technology (LEQUIA Research Group, Girona, Catalonia, Spain) are presented as a case study to achieve long-term nitrogen (N) removal from mature leachate mostly through a completely autotrophic pathway. (2) Methods: The treatment system consists of two sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) running in series to individually operate partial nitritation (PN) and anammox (A). Following biological treatment, physicochemical oxidation (i.e., Fenton-based process) was used to remove the remaining non-biodegradable organic matter. A cost analysis comparative was conducted in relation to the former technology used on-site for treating the leachate. (3) Results: The scale-up of the process from pilot- to full-scale was successfully achieved, finally reaching an average removal of 7.4 kg N/d. The composition of the leachate changed over time, but especially once the landfill site stopped receiving solid waste (this fact involved a marked increase in the strength of the leachate). The adjustment of the alkalinity-to-ammonium ratio before feeding PN-SBR helped to improve the N-removal efficiency. Values of conductivity above 25 mS/cm in A-SBR could negatively affect the performance of the anammox process, making it necessary to consider a dilution strategy according to the on-line monitoring of this parameter. The analysis of the operational costs showed that by implementing the PANAMMOX® technology (LEQUIA Research Group, Girona, Catalonia, Spain) in the landfill site, savings up to 32% were achievable. (4) Conclusions: Treatment of mature landfill leachate in such a two-stage PN-A system was demonstrated as feasible and economically appealing despite the complexity of this industrial wastewater. Accurate expert supervision of the process was a key factor to reaching good performances.


The addition of fiber into concrete can not only suppress the interior shrinkage strain and decrease the thermal dilation coefficient (TDC) of concrete, but also it can lessen the width of shrinkage crack, especially reduce the appearance of interconnected pore, thus the reduction of the water content of capillary pore will make the TDC of paste matrix lessen. In this paper, an experiment was designed to study the TDC from the 5th day to the 29th day after the concrete was poured. The results show that the addition of fiber can effectively reduce the TDC of concrete. When the addition is the same, high-modulus carbon fiber reinforced concrete has a lower TDC than low-modulus polyester fiber concrete.


The properties of first-order optical systems are described paraxially by a ray transfer matrix, also called the ABCD matrix. Here we consider the inverse problem: an ABCD matrix is given, and we look for the minimal optical system that consists of only lenses and pieces of free-space propagation. Similar decompositions have been studied before but without the restriction to these two element types or without an attempt at minimalization. As the main results of this paper, we found that general lossless one-dimensional optical systems can be synthesized with a maximum of four elements and two-dimensional optical systems can be synthesized with six elements at most.


The advanced treatment of the type I diabetes mellitus through closed-loop systems, such as artificial pancreas is one of today's greatest challenges. In this work the authors have tried to develop a predictive method which can be incorporated in an optimal system for blood glucose-insulin regulation. Using the neural network approach it is possible to compose a prediction model, very useful to control an insulin pump. Also, the artificial neural networks can be used to test and validate the medical decisions. The results of this study can be applied also, to other physiological systems, as it offers important data for the medical practice and it contributes to introduce the computer assisted diagnosis like a current medical method.