Background: Heart failure affects more than 6 million Americans and an estimated 23 million people worldwide. Inadequate self-care is associated with readmissions and are identified as a marker for poor health outcomes. Nurse-led heart failure inpatient hospital education has been demonstrated to improve knowledge, self-care behaviors and in some studies to reduce 30-day readmissions. Aims/Objectives: To evaluate the impact of nurse-led heart failure patient education on knowledge, self-care behaviors, and all cause 30-day hospital readmission. Design: Quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test on a convenient sample on two cardiac units at a large urban facility in the North East region of the United States. Methods: An evidence-based standardized heart failure patient education program based on the American Colleges of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines was implemented with a telephone follow-up at 7, 30, and 90 days post-discharge. The duration of the study was from September 2015 to February 2016. A convenience sample of (N = 29) individuals diagnosed with heart failure was asked to complete Dutch Heart Failure Knowledge Scale and Self-care Heart Failure Index. Results: A significant difference was found in knowledge at 7 day (P ≤ .001) and 90 day (P ≤ .032), self-care maintenance at 7 day (P ≤ .000) and 30 day (P ≤ .000), self-care management at 7 day (P ≤ .001) and 30-day (P≤.013). A statistically significant difference was found in self-care confidence at 30-day (P ≤ .017) but not at 7 day follow-up call. A statistically significant improvement in 30-day readmission was not found (P ≥ .05). Conclusion: Findings suggest the importance of developing patient education programs that are focused on improving knowledge and self-care behaviors for heart failure patients. Nurses are uniquely qualified to implement such programs that can improve health outcomes and need to accommodate evidence-based recommendations to global practice settings.


It is not widely appreciated that a considerable proportion of sex offending is perpetrated by other children or adolescents, including members of the victim's family. This is largely obscured by court data and victim surveys. There is accordingly a danger that the issue of responding appropriately to the sexual offending of juveniles could be lost in general discussions of both youth crime and child sexual abuse. Whilst there is some literature on juvenile sex offending, its focus is generally on offender profiles, explanations for offending and predictors of reoffending. There is a void in the literature when it comes to how juvenile sex offending is dealt with in the criminal justice system. General discussions of both sentencing for sex offences and the criminal justice response to young offenders tend to pay scant attention to the issue. Accordingly, this article aims to fill a gap in the literature by focusing on the prevalence of sexual offending by juveniles and the criminal justice response to it in the wider context of juvenile offending and sex offending in general. The article's broader aim is to ensure that the issue of juvenile sex offending is not ignored and opportunities for intervention and prevention are not lost.


The winds of change are constant in medical care delivery, and one of the strongest currents in the last ten years has been the shift from inpatient to ambulatory medical delivery. This paper discusses the search for an ambulatory care paradigm which would differentiate medical necessity on site at a medical group practice.


On account of the "rehabilitation sciences" research funding programme of the German federal research ministry and the statutory German Pension Insurance scheme, as well as an extensive Pension Insurance quality assurance programme, major scientific progress has been achieved in rehabilitation in terms of structures, processes and outcomes. Continuing the systematic assessment and evaluation of the increasing knowledge available, the German Pension Insurance scheme has introduced a comprehensive practice guidelines programme for the development of process guidelines in rehabilitation. In the framework of this sponsored programme and exemplary for the field of cancer rehabilitation, practice guidelines are also being developed for the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients. This article summarises the results of the first phase of this project, which had included a systematic literature analysis of the interventions in the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients, an analysis aimed at verifying whether these interventions had been evidence-based as well as at deriving specific recommendations for treatment in the framework of in-patient rehabilitation. The existing national and international guidelines for the treatment of breast cancer were analysed for this purpose, and a systematic search of the established literature databases (Medline, Psyndex, PsycINFO, CINAHL, DIMDI and EBMR) was carried out. Both ambulatory and in-patient interventions were included, whereas diagnostic, medical and nursing procedures as well as drug trials were excluded from the analysis. In all, some 200 articles have eventually been extracted for systematic analysis from a total of 480,317 articles. The articles were analysed and evaluated according to the Oxford Level of Evidence. Various interventions for breast cancer patients could be validated as treatment modules by this literature analysis, such as: relaxation techniques, physiotherapy, sport therapy, massage, lymph drainage, psycho-social counselling and therapies as well as artistic therapies. There are considerable differences among the modules with respect to their various levels of evidence. Whereas good levels of evidence could be found for relaxation techniques, sport therapy and psycho-social counselling and therapy, only a low level of evidence was found for lymph drainage and artistic therapies. In summary, it can be stated that different levels of evidence are applicable concerning the various interventions available in the rehabilitation of breast cancer patients. The next step ahead toward development of treatment guidelines will involve systematic consultations with experts in this field.


The dynamics of spherical dust crystals created in a gaseous plasma (so-called "Yukawa Balls") is investigated by means of first-principle simulations and an analytic "cold-fluid" theory. The analysis focuses on the dynamic formation of the characteristic shell structure and the collective excitations in the strongly coupled liquid state. It is based on a model of charged particles with screened Coulomb (Yukawa) interaction confined in an isotropic harmonic trap. The emergence of the shell structure in spherically confined plasmas is analyzed by time-resolved Langevin dynamics and thermodynamic Monte Carlo simulations. The former are used to cool a Yukawa Ball from a weakly coupled initial state to a strongly coupled final state. In this scenario, shell formation generally begins at the outer plasma edge, but the screening parameter strongly determines the time for the formation of the shells inside the cluster. Monte Carlo simulations are then used to study other trapping potentials. It is found that the process can be initiated inside the plasma if the confinement is modified such that the particles cannot enter the inner region of the trap. The second main topic concerns the collective modes of Yukawa Balls in the strongly coupled liquid phase. They are studied analytically by solving the linearized fluid equations for a cold plasma. In this "cold-fluid" theory, the mode spectrum of Yukawa Balls is fully characterized by three mode numbers and a single parameter describing the effective range of the interaction potential. Since the cold-fluid theory is based on the mean-field approximation and does not account for thermal effects, its results are compared with mode spectra from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The comparison shows that the cold-fluid theory accurately describes the low-order modes in systems with weak to moderate screening. Larger deviations, however, are observed for the high-order modes and in the strong screening regime. The MD simulations of strongly coupled Yukawa Balls further contain additional low-frequency excitations that are not predicted by the cold-fluid theory. Both the cold-fluid theory and the MD simulations yield additional insights into the properties of the "breathing mode" in a confined Yukawa plasma and thereby complement existing results in the literature.


The goal of image restoration is to remove degradations that are introduced during image acquisition and display. Although image restoration is a difficult task that requires considerable computation, in many applications the processing must be performed significantly faster than is possible with traditional algorithms implemented on conventional serial architectures. As demonstrated in this dissertation, digital image restoration can be efficiently implemented by convolving an image with a small kernel. Small-kernel convolution is a local operation that requires relatively little processing and can be easily implemented in parallel. A small-kernel technique must compromise effectiveness for efficiency, but if the kernel values are well-chosen, small-kernel restoration can be very effective.
This dissertation develops a small-kernel image restoration algorithm that minimizes expected mean-square restoration error. The derivation of the mean-square-optimal small kernel parallels that of the Wiener filter, but accounts for explicit spatial constraints on the kernel. This development is thorough and rigorous, but conceptually straightforward: the mean-square-optimal kernel is conditioned only on a comprehensive end-to-end model of the imaging process and spatial constraints on the kernel. The end-to-end digital imaging system model accounts for the scene, acquisition blur, sampling, noise, and display reconstruction. The determination of kernel values is directly conditioned on the specific size and shape of the kernel. Experiments presented in this dissertation demonstrate that small-kernel image restoration requires significantly less computation than a state-of-the-art implementation of the Wiener filter yet the optimal small-kernel yields comparable restored images.
The mean-square-optimal small-kernel algorithm and most other image restoration algorithms require a characterization of the image acquisition device (i.e., an estimate of the device's point spread function or optical transfer function). This dissertation describes an original method for accurately determining this characterization. The method extends the traditional knife-edge technique to explicitly deal with fundamental sampled system considerations of aliasing and sample/scene phase. Results for both simulated and real imaging systems demonstrate the accuracy of the method.


In this paper,a method of signal acquisition and time-synchronization for TH-PPM-UWB communication system is given.The receiver utilizes the correlator which matches the pilot-pulsed sequence.The existence of the pilot-pulsed can be displayed by the output of the correlator.Synchronization of receiver and transmitter can be attained by the peak value of the correlator.For AWGN and multipath channels,theoretical analysis is consistent with simulation results.Simulation results indicate that the pilot-pulsed synchronization scheme can achieve satisfactory performance.


: Daily urine samples obtained at random from 3 mature Indian rhinoceroses (Rhinoceros unicornis) were evaluated for immunologic estrogen concentration and were indexed by creatinine (Cr) concentration. Chromatographic separation and enzyme hydrolysis of the estrogenic components indicated that the major urinary estrogen in this species is immunoreactive estrone (greater than 95%). Cyclic variations of immunoreactive estrogens (basal values of 0.1 to 0.3 microgram/mg of Cr. peak values of 5.8 to 12.5 microgram/mg of Cr) were observed at an interval of 43 +/- 2 days (4 cycles) which appear to reflect the apparent ovarian cycles. The method presented offers a practical approach for the monitoring of ovarian events in large, nontractable species.


This work investigates the impact of increased penetration of doubly fed induction generators (DFIGs) on electromechanical modes of oscillations of a large interconnected power system. The work proposes a control mechanism aimed at designing the power system stabilizer (PSS) for a DFIG similar to the PSS of synchronous machines. The wind generator power output is taken as input to the PSS. The active power command is modulated in phase opposition to the power system oscillation and is fed to the active power control loop of the DFIG. An additional control block with the DFIG terminal voltage as the PSS input signal is fed to the reactive power control loop. The mechanism serves the purpose of improving the damping of critical mode which is validated by eigenvalue analysis. The work also compares two different control mechanisms that can be employed for damping low frequency inter area modes of oscillations. With the latter based on the idea of modifying the torque set point of the DFIG for changes in grid frequency. The proposed technique is tested on a large test system representing the Midwestern portion of the U.S. interconnection.


We propose a framework which makes a model predict fine-grained dimensional emotions (valence-arousal-dominance, VAD) trained on corpus annotated with coarse-grained categorical emotions. We train a model by minimizing EMD distances between predicted VAD score distribution and \textit{sorted} categorical emotion distributions in terms of VAD, as a proxy of target VAD score distributions. With our model, we can simultaneously classify a given sentence to categorical emotions as well as predict VAD scores. We use pre-trained BERT-Large and fine-tune on SemEval dataset (11 categorical emotions) and evaluate on EmoBank (VAD dimensional emotions), in order to show our approach reaches comparable performance to that of the state-of-the-art classifiers in categorical emotion classification task and significant positive correlations with ground truth VAD scores. Also, if one continues training our model with supervision of VAD labels, it outperforms state-of-the-art VAD regression models. We further present examples showing our model can annotate emotional words suitable for a given text even those words are not seen as categorical labels during training.


While phenological shifts and migration of isolated species under climate change have already been observed on alpine summits, very few studies have focused on community composition changes in subalpine grasslands. Here we use permanent plots monitored since 1954 and precisely located phytosociological censuses from 1970 to study compositional changes of subalpine grasslands in two distinct regions of the Swiss Northern Alps. In both areas, warming trends during the monitoring period were associated with changes in land management (abandonment of goat and sheep pasturing or grazing replaced by mowing). Old and recent inventories were compared with correspondence analyses (CA). Ecological indicator values, community‐affinities and biological traits of the species were used to infer the factors responsible for triggering the observed changes. In both regions, subalpine grasslands were stable with smaller changes than have previously been observed in alpine environments. Only a few species appeared or disappeared and changes were generally limited to increasing or decreasing frequency and cover of certain taxa. At one site, grazing abandonment favored fallow species. Some of these species were located at their upper altitudinal distribution limits and may have spread because of rising temperatures. In both areas, declining species were predominantly alpine and low‐growing species; their decline was probably due to increased competition (e.g., shadow) with more vigorous subalpine taxa no longer limited by grazing. We conclude that vegetation communities can respond rapidly to warming as long as colonization is facilitated by available space or structural change. In the subalpine grasslands studies, changes were mainly driven by land management. These communities have a dense vegetation cover and newly arriving herbaceous species preferring warmer conditions may take some time to establish themselves. However, climate disturbances, such as exceptional drought, may accelerate community changes by opening gaps for new species.


Historians and economists will find here what their fields have in common - the movement since the 1950s known variously as 'cliometrics', 'economic history', or 'historical economics'. A leading figure in the movement, Donald McCloskey, has compiled, with the help of George Hersh and a panel of distinguished advisors, a highly comprehensive bibliography of historical economics covering the period up until 1980. The book will be useful to all economic historians, as well as quantitative historians, applied economists, historical demographers, business historians, national income accountants, and social historians.


A large number of criminological theories predict a link between crime and the labour market. This thesis takes predictions from those theories and tests them empirically. Using a large range of data and quantitative techniques, this work considers which factors are most associated with crime, while at the same time addressing issues of methodology and interpretation. The thesis consists of seven Chapters. The first introduces the issues surrounding crime and the labour market, describes the theories which inform the research and discuss the existing empirical work in the area. Sections also describe the data and methodological debates of concern in this field. The empirical analysis, which forms the body of the thesis, follows from this introduction in five inter-related Chapters. The first two deal with establishing which variables are most associated with crime, which data are most useful and which methodological techniques are most appropriate. They cover cross-sectional analysis, as well as area level longitudinal data at police force area level and Local Authority level over time. The results point to clear methodological advantages of using area level data and find the most robust correlate of crime to be low wages. The following Chapter uses these findings to frame an analysis of police force area level data in England and Wales. It examines the effect on crime of a substantial pay increase awarded to low wage workers with the introduction of the National Minimum Wage into the UK labour market in April 1999. By comparing crime rates in areas before and after the introduction of the Minimum Wage, it finds that crime fell (in relative terms) in areas where the introduction of the Minimum Wage had the greatest impact. Having consistently found the labour market, and in particular low wages, to be linked to crime, the final two empirical Chapters address issues of gender and age, two of the most important demographic determinants of crime. The first examines the effect of increasing female labour force participation on crime, and finds that rising female employment is positively associated with crimes done by males. Results indicate that this is because increasing female labour supply forces male wages down. Particularly affected are the wages of the low skilled males who are already low paid and are more likely to be on the margins of crime. The second of these Chapters focuses on youth crime and finds that, although labour market variables matter, other variables such as education, truancy and parental involvement with the police matter more. The final Chapter draws the material together, offers concluding comments, places the findings within a policy context and offers suggestions for future research.


In recent years, the life cycle of industrial products becomes shorter and shorter; the diversity and complexity of functionality are continuously increasing. Thus, conventional methods and techniques of industrial controller design can no longer satisfy the actual demands like smartness, miniaturization, short time-to-market, etc. This paper is devoted to elaborate a methodology for hybrid controller design and high-level synthesis, combining discrete event system (DES) and continuous time system (CTS). This methodology includes successive system analysis, DES specification, GRAFCET modeling, DES/CTS interfacing, VHDL-based synthesis and FPGA hardware realization. We took a drilling machine as an example to apply this structural and automatic design procedure and achieved high-level hardware synthesis. This example demonstrates integrated design and rapid prototyping of our methodology which are valuable for industries.


Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is one of radiation therapies for cancers, and it is considered to be effective for complicated shapes of tumors, since dose distributions from each irradiation can be modulated arbitrary. Fluence map optimization (FMO), which optimizes beam intensities with given beam angles, is often formulated as an optimization problem with dose volume constraints (DVCs). Romeijn et al. (2003) developed a linear programming (LP) method that approximated DVCs, and Kishimoto and Yamashita (2018) modified it to a successive LP method (SLPM) to find a feasible treatment plan in a wider region than the method of Romeijn et al. However, these two methods did not consider uncertainty, like observational errors or beam inaccuracy, in a series of treatment planning. In this paper, we propose a numerical method that enhances SLPM utilizing a robust optimization approach. We mathematically prove that the proposed method with extended LP problems holds favorable properties of SLPM, even taking uncertainty in influence matrix into consideration. In particular, when the optimal value of the LP problem is non-positive, the proposed method guarantees that the output solution can satisfy all DVCs. Through numerical experiments, we observed that the proposed method found a feasible plan that SLPM could not find. Even when the proposed method could not output a feasible solution, it was still effective to reduce the largest deviations from DVCs.


This thesis deals with image segmentation problems that arise in various computer vision related fields such as medical imaging, satellite imaging, video surveillance, recognition and robotic vision. More specifically, this thesis deals with a special class of image segmentation technique called Snakes or Active Contour Models. In active contour models, image segmentation is posed as an energy minimization problem, where an objective energy function (based on certain image related features) is defined on the segmenting curve (contour). Typically, a gradient descent energy minimization approach is used to drive the initial contour towards a minimum for the defined energy. The drawback associated with this approach is that the contour has a tendency to get stuck at undesired local minima caused by subtle and undesired image features/edges. Thus, active contour based curve evolution approaches are very sensitive to initialization and noise.

The central theme of this thesis is to develop techniques that can make active contour models robust against certain classes of local minima by incorporating global information in energy minimization. These techniques lead to energy minimization with global considerations; we call these models  – 'Non-local active contours'. In this thesis, we consider three widely used active contour models: 1) Edge- and region-based segmentation model, 2) Prior shape knowledge based segmentation model, and 3) Motion segmentation model. We analyze the traditional techniques used for these models and establish the need for robust models that avoid local minima. We address the local minima problem for each model by adding global image considerations.


The JPEG compression method is one of the most popular compression schemes. There are many hardware and software systems based on the JPEG compression standard.This is an indication that the format is still very important before these systems become outdate. This paper presents an adaptive regression method applied to the standard JPEG compression for archiving higher compression ratios. Besides,an interesting coding scheme, Golomb-Rice coding, is introduced also for improve the JPEG standard. Since the coding scheme is not based on frequency analysis from certain of images to gain a codebook, the decoded images that are encoded with this scheme are assured in average quality. The standard JPEG compression scheme can import these two for higher compression rates or wider application fields.


In the global financial crisis, Russia faces the most severe challenge to its politicoeconomic system. Oil prices plummeted, and Russia9s exports and state revenues dropped with them. The economy was severely shaken, and cracks appeared in its semi-democratic system headed by the Putin-Medvedev diarchy. However, relations with Washington showed signs of improvement as President Obama reset the overall tone of U.S. foreign policy. Russia pursued cordial ties with Asia, in part to compensate for volatile relations with the West.


Formation of a hierarchically organized blood vessel network by sprouting angiogenesis is critical for tissue growth, homeostasis and regeneration. How in this process endothelial cells arise in adequate numbers and arrange suitably to shape a functional vascular network is poorly understood. Here we show that YAP and TAZ promote stretch-induced proliferation and rearrangements of endothelial cells whilst preventing bleeding in developing vessels. Mechanistically, YAP and TAZ increase VE-cadherin turnover at junctions and suppress endothelial Notch and BMP signaling, two key pathways that limit sprouting and endothelial dynamics. Consequently, the loss of YAP and TAZ leads to stunted sprouting with local aggregation as well as scarcity of endothelial cells, branching irregularities and junction defects. Forced nuclear activity of TAZ instead drives hypersprouting and vascular hyperplasia. We propose a new model in which YAP and TAZ integrate mechanical signals with Notch and BMP signaling to balance endothelial cell distribution in angiogenic vessels.


A new drill pipe steel microalloyed with 0.04 w.t.% Nb was designed to meet the needs of drilling operation in super-deep wells, and the precipitation behavior of Nb during temper was studied in detail. The results show the austenitic grain can be refined by the addition of 0.04 w.t.% Nb, and the steel has a high yield strength of 1192MPa, high tensile strength of 1226MPa and high impact absorbing energy of 137J when the steel is quenched at 900°C and tempered at 550°C, moreover, the volume fraction and dimension of precipitates increases with increasing temper temperature. When the new steel is tempered at 550°C, the new steel has the best comprehensive performance due to the fine dispersed precipitates. The mechanical properties of the new steel are much better than that of the common drill pipe steel.


Abstract Introduction: We have previously shown that DNA can be successfully isolated from 20-year-old toenail clippings, and that this DNA can be used for analyses of genetic polymorphisms. In this study we investigated whether DNA isolated from toenails can be successfully genotyped using different commercially available platforms. Background cohort: The Netherlands Cohort Study (NLCS) is a prospective cohort study, which started in 1986 and includes 120,852 subjects aged 55-69 years at baseline. The cohort members completed a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire on dietary habits and other risk factors for cancer and approximately 90,000 participants provided toenail clippings. Follow-up is accomplished by record linkage to the Netherlands Cancer Registry, the nationwide Pathology Registry (PALGA) and the national causes of death registry (Statistics Netherlands). Genotyping methods: We optimized a protocol for DNA isolation from toenails, and could, on average, extract 3.3 μg DNA per 15 mg toenail clippings. Although amplification of CYP1A2 (596 bp) was successful in 82% of the samples (n=550), the isolated DNA is fragmented (mostly <200 bp). We first investigated whether genotyping using the Sequenomâ Massarray platform is feasible. Sequenomâ Massarray has been especially designed for genotyping of a limited number (up to 40 in one multiplex array) of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a large number of samples. In a pilot, 30 SNPs in insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway genes, hypothesized to modify the association between body size, physical activity, and energy restriction during youth and colorectal cancer risk, were selected. This set of SNPs was designed to be genotyped in one multiplex. 90 DNA samples from toenails of prostate cancer cases from the NLCS were used. Samples were analyzed in quadruplicate. Next, we investigated whether genotyping is also successful in arrays containing >100,000 markers at once. For DNA isolated from Fixed Formaline Paraffin Emdedded (FFPE) tissues Illumina® has developed the Infinium® HD FFPE Quality Control Kit, to test whether the quality of the DNA is good enough, and the Infinium® HD FFPE Restore Kit to repair the fragmented DNA. The DNA that has been restored can be genotyped using selected Illumina® Infinium chips. We investigated in a pilot, whether this method developed for DNA from FFPE tissues, is also usable for DNA isolated from toenail clippings. We tested the quality of 39 DNA samples, isolated from prostate cancer cases. The samples that passed the quality control, were restored and tested on the Illumina® HumanCytoSNP_FFPE-12 chip (containing almost 300,000 SNPs). Results: In the pilot genotyping 30 SNPs of 90 prostate cancer cases in quadruplicate using Sequenom® Massarray, the average sample call rate was 99.0%. After excluding one sample that had been contaminated during pipetting, the reproducibility (across four replications) was 99% for four SNPs and 100% for the remaining analyzed SNPs. 27 out of 30 successfully genotyped SNPs adhered to Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium (χ2-test, p>0.05). In the pilot using the Infinium® HD FFPE Quality Control Kit, 32 out of 37 samples (86%) passed the test twice. After restoration, using the Infinium® HD FFPE DNA restore kit, we genotyped these samples using the Infinium® chip. Of the first batch of twelve toenail DNAsamples, two samples had call rates <90% (83 and 87% respectively). The remaining samples had an average call rate of 96.4%. Conclusion: DNA isolated from toenails can be used for genotyping in commercially available platforms like Sequenom® Massarray and Illumina® Infinium. Citation Format: Leo J. Schouten, Janneke GF Hogervorst, Colinda C. Simons, Leonie Jonkers, Joy Goessens, Roger Godschalk, Sigrun Jackmaert, Bas Verhage, Joris Vermeesch, Frederik-Jan Van Schooten, Matty P. Weijenberg, Piet A. Van den Brandt. DNA isolated from toenails: A new and valid source for high-throughput genotyping in large-scale epidemiological studies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Post-GWAS Horizons in Molecular Epidemiology: Digging Deeper into the Environment; 2012 Nov 11-14; Hollywood, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2012;21(11 Suppl):Abstract nr 72.


The SPS-II is a 3 GeV ultralow emittance light source which is now under studied and designed by Thailand Synchrotron Light Research Institute (SLRI). The SPS-II storage ring is based on Double-Triple Bend Achromat (DTBA) cell with a circumference of 321.3 m aiming for horizontal emittance of less than 1 nm-rad. The compact lattice leaves narrow space for vacuum components. The small gap between poles of the magnets requires narrow vacuum chambers and limits the conductance of the chambers. The chambers will be made by stainless steel with a thickness of 1.5 mm. the cross section of beam duct is 40 mm × 16 mm elliptical shape. The bending chamber is designed as a long triangular chamber such that photon absorber can be installed as far from the light source as possible to lower the power density of the heat load. The overview of designed vacuum system for the SPS-II is presented.


High-pressure molybdenum dioxide (HP-MoO2) was synthesized using a multianvil press at 18 GPa and 1073 K, as motivated by previous first-principles calculations. The crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The new polymorph crystallizes isotypically to HP-WO2 in the orthorhombic crystal system in space group Pnma and was found to be diamagnetic. Theoretical investigations using structure optimization at density-functional theory (DFT) level indicate a transition pressure of 5 GPa at 0 K and identify the new compound as slightly metastable at ambient pressure with respect to the thermodynamically stable monoclinic MoO2 (α-MoO2; ΔEm = 2.2 kJ·mol-1).


Structural and electronic properties of co-sputtered Ni-Mg thin films with varying Ni to Mg ratio were studied by in situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy in the Ni L-edge and Mg K-edge regions. Codeposition of the metals led to increased disorder and decreased coordination around Ni and Mg compared to pure metal films. Exposure of the metallic films to hydrogen resulted in formation of hydrides and increased disorder. The presence of hydrogen as a near neighbor around Mg caused a drastic reduction in the intensities of multiple scattering resonances at higher energies. The optical switching behavior and changes in the x-ray spectra varied with Ni to Mg atomic ratio. Pure Mg films with Pd overlayers were converted to MgH 2 : The H atoms occupy regular sites as in bulk MgH 2 . Although optical switching was slow in the absence of Ni, the amount of H 2 absorption was large. Incorporation of Ni in Mg films led to an increase in the speed of optical switching but decreased maximum transparency. Significant shifts in the Ni L, and L 2 peaks are consistent with strong interaction with hydrogen in the mixed films.


Sell-side analysts are professional experts while crowds are usually unsophisticated individual investors in the stock market. Understanding the different roles of experts and crowds in the stock market is a fundamental issue for both academia and industry. This empirical study tries to investigate their influences on the stock market by figuring out the following two questions: (1) Will experts and crowds have different impacts on stock prices? (2) Will experts and crowds discriminatively affect stock trading volumes? Adopting the fixed-effect model with panel data from Sogou and CSMAR, we find that experts and crowds have different impacts on the stock market. The wisdom of experts (i.e., analyst recommendation) has a more durable effect on stock prices but a smaller impact on stock turnover compared to the wisdom of crowds (i.e., abnormal search volume index).


Despite laws, policies, and political visions to create cities and societies for all, barriers still exclude people from using buildings and public places. The commitments made in global agreements such as the Convention on Rights for Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development require significant changes in urban planning to meet the variety of needs and conditions in the population. Implementing Universal Design (UD) in urban planning processes is one important step towards a society for all. Three recent studies in Sweden focused on UD in the urban development - how, where and what factors that supported or impeded UD along the planning and construction processes. The whole process, from signs in visionary programmes and development plans to process-related factors and visible results in the completed buildings and places, were analyzed from a UD perspective. The findings highlight three critical areas to pay particular attention to, when implementing UD in the built environment: Competing and contradictory interests, Critical choices and aspects and Images of the user. These challenges need to be addressed by all actors involved, together in a in a goal-oriented work, to reach common understanding on how an inclusive built environment can be designed and realized.


MINI: In this multicenter, prospective cohort study we conducted a longitudinal assessment of a bariatric-specific, patient-reported outcome instrument. We assessed psychological well-being and satisfaction with body image before and after bariatric surgery, and its association with clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE
We sought to use a bariatric-tailored patient-reported outcome (PRO) instrument to assess psychological well-being and satisfaction with body image before and after bariatric surgery, and its association with clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND
Weight loss after bariatric surgery has the potential to improve body image and psychological well-being. Traditional instruments used to measure these PROs have, however, not been tailored to patients who have undergone bariatric surgery.

METHODS
In this multicenter, prospective, longitudinal cohort study we administered the Body-Q survey (a validated, customized PRO instrument) to patients in the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative just before bariatric surgery and at 1-year postoperatively. We linked the survey data to prospectively collected clinical outcome data to assess associations between body image or psychological well-being and patient characteristics and clinical outcomes (ie, percent excess body weight loss and complications).

RESULTS
The preoperative and postoperative surveys were completed by 4068 patients for body image and 4062 patients for psychological well-being. Overall mean scores for body image and psychological well-being improved significantly from 26.2 ± 21.4 and 70.8 ± 20.1, respectively, before surgery to 57.7 ± 21.1 and 78.1 ± 22.1 after surgery. For both body image and psychological well-being, we found several patient-level factors such as sex, race, income level, and baseline body mass index that were statistically significant predictors of increases in scores. All P values less than 0.05.

CONCLUSIONS
Psychological well-being and body image vary widely across patients before bariatric surgery with significant increases in both measures 1 year postoperatively. Some patient populations do not experience the same increases at 1 year. Recognition of these differences and factors contributing to lower reported levels of psychological well-being and body image may help providers provide appropriate counseling in the postoperative period.


Theoretical analysis of performance of a ducted-fan power plant designed both for high-output, high-altitude operation at low supersonic Mach numbers and for good fuel economy at lower fight speeds is presented. Performance of ducted fan is compared with performance (with and without tail-pipe burner) of two hypothetical turbojet engines. At maximum power, the ducted fan has propulsive thrust per unit of frontal area between thrusts obtained by turbojet engines with and without tail-pipe burners. At cruise, the ducted fan obtains lowest thrust specific fuel consumption. For equal maximum thrusts, the ducted fan obtains cruising flight duration and range appreciably greater than turbojet engines.


Background: The authors compared the endothelial differentiation capacities of human and rat adipose-derived stem cells to determine whether human adipose-derived stem cells can be a source of endothelial cells clinically. Methods: Human and rat adipose-derived stem cells were harvested and characterized with flow cytometry and trilineage differentiation. Cells from passages III through V were fed with endothelial cell differentiation medium for up to 3 weeks. Cells were harvested after 1, 2, and 3 weeks, and endothelial differentiation was evaluated with quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometry, and angiogenic sprouting assays. Results: Both human and rat adipose-derived stem cells were CD90+, CD44+, and CD31− before differentiation. The cells were successfully differentiated into adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic lineages. Expression of endothelial cell–specific genes peaked at the second week of differentiation in both human and rat cells. The fold changes in expression of CD31, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1, nitric oxide synthase, and von Willebrand factor genes at week 2 were 0.4 ± 0.1, 34.7 ± 0.3, 2.03 ± 0.25, and 12.5 ± 0.3 respectively, in human adipose-derived stem cells; and 1.5 ± 1.01, 21.6 ± 1.7, 17.9 ± 0.6, and 11.2 ± 1.3, respectively, in rat cells. The percentages of CD31+ cells were 0.2, 0.64, and 1.6 in human cell populations and 0.5, 5.91, and 11.5 in rat cell populations at weeks 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Rat adipose-derived stem cell–derived endothelial cells displayed enhanced sprouting capability compared with the human cells. Conclusions: Human adipose-derived stem cells responded less strongly to EGM-2MV endothelial differentiation medium than did the rat cells. Still, the human cells have the potential to become a clinical source of endothelial cells with modifications in the differentiation conditions.


Abstract: Witnessing in word and deed in the context of religious persecution is a challenge. The issue of "word and deed gospel" concerns not only the living of blameless lives; it also involves extending active love towards unbelievers. To show charity towards a harmless unbeliever is easier than to do the same towards a harmful one. In other words, we are asking, can we truly love a harmful unbeliever to the extent of demonstrating good deeds to him or her, or are we permitted simply to maintain a disposition of non-hatred towards that person? This question can be restated as the questions answered by this research: Is it possible to witness in love by word and deed under religious persecution? What are the theological foundations for "word and deed" evangelism in the context of persecution? What are the preconditions for effective witness under persecution? The argument for the necessity of both word and deed in evangelism is built on the Christological structures of the person and work of Christ and the specific teachings of Christ that our deeds are as critical as our words in the proclamation of the gospel, even in the current context of global religious terrorism. The purpose of this research is to deepen our understanding of the truth that witnessing in word and deed is the most comprehensive evangelistic approach, even in hostile environments. The goal of this perspective is to inspire zeal and courage for a deliberate pursuit of the mission of God until his kingdom is fully realized.


Germplasm is one of man's most valuable natural resources. It has been and will continue to be the source of genes to modify and protect his crops. It must be collected and preserved. It must also be used now and in the future. Supplying specific genes (many of them recessives) to protect or modify man's crops has been the principle use made of germplasm collections in the past. Today they are improving populations as well as supplying useful specific genes. Germplasm samples reaching plant breeders must be increased before they can be evaluated, used, and preserved. Vegetative increase and maintenance may be the most efficient method of handling germplasm of some perennials such as bermudagrass (Cynodon spp.). Producing both selfed and intercrossed seed in the increase will insure seed production should an introduction prove to be partially self-incompitable and will facilitate its evaluation. Selfed seed is the most efficient source of specific genes and appears to be the most efficient storage form for future use. Drying selfed seeds to 5 to 7% moisture content, sealing them in glass containers with labels on the inside, and storing them at −20 C appears to be the most efficient method of preserving germplasm in a readily usable form. Mixing S₁ seed from a number of introductions into logical groups may facilitate the distribution and use of cross-pollinated germplasm.


We read with great interest, 'A national registry for sudden unexpected deaths of infants and children in England: why do we need one and do families want one?'1 In the USA's experience, getting feedback from parents and other stakeholders was an important first step to implementing sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and sudden death in the young (SDY) registries.2 3 Starting a registry in England is key to better understanding the causes of these tragic deaths so they can be prevented.

Although mortality data derived from death certificates are often used to monitor and track trends in sudden deaths among infants and children, death certificate surveillance has limited ability to capture details of the events and circumstances surrounding these deaths.2 In addition, for infants, US death certificate surveillance is affected by variations in cause-of-death reporting, making it necessary to combine underlying cause-of-death codes for SIDS, other ill-defined and unspecified causes of mortality, and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed into a combined category, SUID.4 Although the SUID category facilitates more consistent tracking of mortality trends, the combined category does not enable researchers to distinguish between explained (eg, accidental suffocation) and unexplained causes (eg, unexplained sudden deaths).4 To address these shortcomings in surveillance, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) established SUID (infants<365 days)2 and SDY (children≤20 years) registries.3 The SUID and SDY case registries supplement death certificate surveillance in multiple sites across the USA, by providing detailed information about death circumstances and autopsy findings, as well as biospecimens for SDY research only.

In 2009, the CDC launched the SUID case registry as part …


Our paper begins with the relatively simple problem of optimal taxation as viewed by the capital-exporting ("home") country when it can assume that its actions do not alter the tax rate in the host country. Section I also shows that when foreign investment accounts for a significant fraction of production in the host country, the capital-exporting country should tax foreign source investment income more heavily than is implied by the "full taxation after deduction" rule. The important question of tax rate interdependence is developed in Section II. In the third section we replace the assumption that all foreign investment is financed by a transfer of equity capital from the home country with the more realistic description that subsidiary firms borrow in the host country. Although this raises the profitability to the home country of investment by its foreign subsidiaries, we show that this need not alter the conclusions of the previous sections. We regard the present paper as only a first step in a proper analysis of the complex issue of optimal taxation of foreign source investment income. . The static analysis of the present paper should be extended to consider investment paths in growing economics. Finally, the purely nationalistic optimality criterion could be generalized to give some weight to the real income of the rest of the world.


An atypical case of inherited Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) is described in a 35-year-old Dutch woman, homozygous for methionine at codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP). The clinical phenotype was characterised by slowly progressive cognitive decline and parkinsonism. Neuropathological findings consisted of scanty spongiosis and only faint to absent immunohistochemical staining for the abnormal prion protein, PrPSc, with patchy deposits in the cerebellar cortex. Purkinje cells were abnormally located in the molecular layer of the cerebellum. Western blot analysis showed the co-occurrence of PrPSc types 1 and 2 with an unusual distribution. Sequence analysis disclosed a novel 120 bp insertion in the octapeptide repeat region of the PRNP, encoding five additional R2 octapeptide repeats. These features define an unusual neuropathological phenotype and novel genotype, further expanding the spectrum of genotype–phenotype correlations in inherited prion diseases and emphasising the need to carry out pre-mortem PRNP sequencing in all young patients with atypical dementias.


During a project to analyze the internal structure of landslides and identify and isolate their trig-gering factors, repeated geoelectric measurements in intervals of 1–2 years showed significant resistivity changes inside landslide-prone areas (Niesner and Weidinger, 2008). Changing water saturation was recognized as the most influential factor on these time-lapse resistivity profiles. Therefore repeated resistivity measurements should be able to observe the internal regime and dynamics of subsurface water. And, in turn, as changing water saturation is in most cases directly correlated with slope stability, a major factor influencing slope stability could be deduced from repeated resistivity measurements.


Lean manufacturing is a known principle used in today's industries to eliminate various hidden wastes that do not add value to the finish product. Lean concept has many advantages which have helped many companies over the years to stay more competitive in global and national business.With the help of value stream mapping as a main tool, the current state of the company can be analyze so to detect any non-value adding processes termed as waste. Future state of the company is then planned to make sure all non-value processes are eliminated from the entire production line.Many companies are currently choosing lean production with the ultimate aim of bringing overall operating cost to barely minimum. Choosing lean production means continues improvement within the company to be able to achieve the benefits of lean production.This thesis aim at studying the production lines, how information are distributed across the entire company from suppliers to the customers. Interviews will be conducted with various distribution centre managers, suppliers, and also technicians to familiarize with how things are done currently and the way forward to achieve the aim of operating on lean. Operators and other staffs will be trained to understand how lean works and also the need for continuous improvement and not just a one-time improvement.Recommendations will be made to enable the company to reach the ultimate aim of operating on lean principle which has been known to be helpful.Key words: lean manufacturing, value stream mapping, continues improvement, hidden waste


Abstract Invasive species pose a major, yet poorly addressed, threat to sustainable forestry. Here we set forth an interdisciplinary science strategy of research, development, and applications to reduce this threat. To spur action by public and private entities that too often are slow, reluctant, or unable to act, we recommend (a) better integrating invasive species into sustainable forestry frameworks such as the Montréal Process and forest certification programs; (b) developing improved cost estimates to inform choices about international trade and pest suppression efforts; and (c) building distributed information systems that deliver information on risks, identification, and response strategies. To enhance the success of prevention and management actions, we recommend (a) advancing technologies for molecular identification, expert systems, and remote sensing; (b) evolving approaches for ecosystem and landscape management; and (c) better anticipating interactions between species invasions and other global change processes.


Abalone aquaculture attracts wide attention nowadays because of its high market value and depleted of wild stocks. China and Japan are the main producer of abalone from aquaculture followed by other countries such as New Zealand, Australia and US. Most of cultured abalone are temperate species but considerable research efforts have been made to culture tropical abalone in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. Most of abalone culture still depends on natural food but recent studies have been conducted to develop artificial diet for abalone. This will not only reduce wild harvest of macrolagae but also develop high nutrition diet at low cost. Successful abalone aquaculture is determined by correct nutrition supplement in the diet. As other cultured animal, abalone requires balanced nutrition of carbohydrate, protein, lipid, vitamins, and minerals. As herbivores, abalone can utilize carbohydrate efficiently as energy source and thus only requires low level of protein (range from 27%—40%). Lipid requirements range from 3%—5% while some minerals such as calcium and phosphorus in artificial feed are only needed in small amount, 0.5% of calcium in diets and 0.7% of phosphorus in the diet can improve the growth rate of abalone. There is not available information of vitamin supplementation in the diet but it is suggested that natural food meets the requirement.


The appearance of 'resilience' as a core concept within the EU Global Strategy (EUGS) is a significant focus of scholarly interest while for their part, EU institutions are anxious to put flesh on the bones of that strategy. The aim of this paper is to suggest that far from representing a collapse of European ambition or indeed a 'middle ground' position between liberal ambition and realist pragmatism, resilience potentially entails a profound re-engineering of EU foreign policy, serving the cause of an overarching concept of global justice. Such an approach is grounded in reciprocal and accountable relationships in search of 'fair terms of social cooperation'. It also implies the creation of institutional decision-making and adjudicating fora which are profoundly deliberative in their orientation. This paper will argue that 'resilience' has therefore the potential to be a transformative concept in the design and pursuit of EU foreign policy. It also faces significant challenges, not least where there is profound disagreement or stark choices to be made over foundational principles. Resilience nonetheless opens pathways to perhaps a different kind of EU foreign policy, offering significant added-value to EU member states' diplomacy.


We studied the TCR beta-chain repertoire in thymocytes along embryonic development. At day 14 of gestation, complete V-D-J rearrangements of the TCR-beta locus were detected at the messenger RNA level, and a total of 56 different rearrangements were observed in one thymus. At this stage, thymocytes showed preferential usage of TCR-betaV1, TCR-betaV2, and TCR-betaV8 together with TCR-betaJ1S1, -J1S2, and -J2S7 segments. This frequent usage of V and J segments was similar to the usage seen in the adult thymus. Assuming that day 14 thymocytes were not subjected to specificity selection, we conclude that the expression of TCR-betaV and J segments is biased from the beginning of T cell repertoire creation. The first detectable transcripts of rearranged TCR-betas were different among individual fetuses and constituted a random representation of the ones seen at later stages of thymic ontogeny. The diversity of TCR-beta rearrangements increased with time and became indistinguishable from that of the adult by day 16. The first rearranged TCR-alphas were expressed at day 17 and their diversity increased thereafter. We conclude that the diversification of the beta-chain repertoire takes place in 3 days, before the alpha-chain rearrangement begins in transition from CD4/CD8 double negative to double positive cells.


Cysteine (Cys) is a semi-essential amino acid that is synthesized from methionine in mammals and affects their physiological state. This study aimed at investigating the effects of different Cys levels on the birth weight and survival rate of piglets as well as the plasma biochemical parameters, intestinal microbial diversity, and plasma metabolome of sows during late pregnancy. The results showed that 0.4% Cys supplementation increased the birth weight of piglets and decreased the calcium, triglyceride, and bilirubin levels in sows, whereas 0.5% Cys supplementation reduced the gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase levels and increased the serum glucose levels in sows at farrowing. Intestinal microbial analysis demonstrated that 0.4% Cys supplementation increased the diversity of fecal and intestinal microbiota compared with 0.5% Cys supplementation. In addition, plasma metabolomics identified 11 differential metabolites among the 0.4% Cys, 0.5% Cys, and control (basal diet) groups. The serum hypotaurine levels in sows increased by 0.4% and 0.5% Cys supplementation, and the serum acetylcysteine levels increased by 0.5% Cys supplementation; however, the differences in hypotaurine and acetylcysteine levels between the 0.4% and 0.5% Cys groups were not significant. Furthermore, Pearson analysis revealed a positive correlation between the hypotaurine levels and the abundance of Lactobacillus or Pseudobutyrivibrio and a negative correlation between the acetylcysteine levels and the abundance of Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014. Overall, the results indicated that 0.4% Cys supplementation increased the birth weight of piglets, increased the differential metabolites beneficial for combating antioxidative stress in embryos enhancing the intestinal microbial abundance in sows, and increased the diversity of fecal microbiota in sows. Thus, these findings suggest that 0.4% Cys supplementation is highly beneficial for maintaining the health of sows during late pregnancy.


Epoxy-ZnO composites are prepared via UV-induced cationic polymerization. Complete unsoluble materials are achieved after 10min of irradiation. Thermal analyses shows an increase of T-g in the presence of the ZnO attributable to a strong hindrance effect of the polymer chain mobility. Electrical characterization of the cured materials shows the decrease of the real part of permittivity with frequency. Both permittivity and AC conductivity values increase with nanofiller content, especially for the highest contents. This is described as typical behavior of nanocomposites made from polymers and fillers with higher permittivity and conductivity values, in accordance with previous data reported in literature for similar composites.


Background Several clinical and laboratory observations are consistent with the hypothesis that hypokalemia might be a risk factor for the development of ischemic stroke in humans. Objectives To evaluate the level of serum potassium in ischemic stroke patients and its relation to non-stroke patients and those with hypertension. Methods Serum potassium was estimated from one hundred newly discovered first-life ischemic event of acute ischemic stroke patients and one hundred control patients with an attempt to evaluate the its level in ischemic stroke and the relation to hypertension. Normal value of serum potassium in both sexes was considered as 3.5-.5.5 mmol/L. Results Mean serum potassium level of stroke patients was significantly lower than that of control group (3.89±0.67 versus 4.19±0.56, p=0.0001). Hypokalemia was found in 23 (23%) patients with stroke compared to 7 (7%) of the control group. The Mean serum potassium in hypertensive patients was significantly lower than those without hypertension (3.91 ±0.65 versus 4.2 ±0.54). The mean serum potassium for hypertensive stroke patients was significantly lower than non-hypertensive stroke patients (3.79±0.78 versus 4.26±0.72), while there was no significant difference among the control hypertensive and non-hypertensive subjects (4.05±0.57 versus 4.43±.40). Conclusions Serum potassium should be taken in consideration as low levels are significantly associated with ischemic stroke with hypertension.


Pressure transients in drinking water pipelines (i.e., surges) may cause hydraulic pressure gradients, resulting in the potential for intrusion of pathogens present in the external environment into the distribution system. The objectives of this study were to determine the occurrence of indicator microorganisms and pathogens in the vicinity of potable water pipelines and assess the potential for intrusion attributable to transient distribution system pressure changes. As part of an earlier study ( Kirmeyer et al, 2001 ), soil and water samples were collected at sites immediately exterior to drinking water pipelines at eight locations in six states. Samples were then tested for occurrence of total and fecal coliforms, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus subtilis, coliphage, and enteric viruses. Indicator microorganisms and enteric viruses were detected in more than 50% of the samples examined. Monitoring of pressure transients at a large distribution system indicated that pressure transients occurred frequently, although negative pressures were detected on only one occasion. The results of this study suggest that during negative‐ or low‐pressure events, microorganisms may enter the treated drinking water through pipeline leaks.


A huge repository of terabytes of data is generated each day from modern information systems and digital technolo-gies such as Internet of Things and cloud computing. Analysis of these massive data requires a lot of efforts at multiple levels to extract knowledge for decision making. Therefore, big data analysis is a current area of research and development. The basic objective of this paper is to explore the potential impact of big data challenges, open research issues, and various tools associated with it. As a result, this article provides a platform to explore big data at numerous stages. Additionally, it opens a new horizon for researchers to develop the solution, based on the challenges and open research issues.


Demand for diverse telecoms services is growing while currently the process of infrastructure innovation involves the lengthy task of standardisation, and large-scale deployment inevitably leads to a backlog of services. However, the time to introduce a particular service must be low, in order to meet the demand. An approach to accelerate the pace of innovation is by decoupling network services from the underlying infrastructure and allowing new services to be demand loaded into the network. One such architecture is the application level active network (ALAN), providing an environment in which developers can engineer applications through the network by utilising platforms on which 3/sup rd/ party software (proxylets) can be dynamically loaded and run. The ALAN system consists of regular client and server applications that are located in the existing Internet. The communication is enhanced through customised services provided by user-deployed proxylets which run on the Execution Environment for Proxylets - EEP, which is essentially a Java Virtual Machine (JVM) running on an active server (the host platform). The IST project Active Network DistRibuted Open Infrastructure Development (ANDROID) is focusing on management of ALAN-enabled networks. The objective is to provide a flexible, policy-based management system that enables monitoring and control of active nodes and services. The key tasks in this context are to define a combined resource model for both processing and network resources, and to reduce management traffic and human intervention in running the network and managing the application services provided.


Over the last 20 years the length of tenure of those who serve as presidents of universities has diminished. Most higher education administrators serve in their positions less than 6 years and this frequent turnover rate affects those in secondary leadership roles significantly.  With each new president and provost, trust must be established. This study is important because it seeks to understand the elements that ensure a healthy faculty relationship with administrators. A qualitative case study method will be utilized to interview 5 faculty members within one college within a university in the Northwest region of the United States. The question that will shape this study is: What are the things that build trust between faculty and administrators that create a healthy mutually respective academic environment? It is the goal of this project to identify the elements of a positive faculty climate. The study results will be helpful to administrators and faculty who have an interest in faculty-administrator relations.


Background During recent years, an increase in the incidence of Invasive Fungal Infections (IFI) has been observed, in parallel to a progressive shift of invasive species from Candida albicans to fungi resistant to previously-effective treatments. The use of echinocandins in this context is spreading as an alternative to azoles. Purpose To determine the distribution of invasive fungal species in the population of patients treated with echinocandins in our hospital and the outcomes in this context over a year. Materials and methods All patients treated with echinocandins during 2010 were evaluated. Data such as sex, age and length of hospital stay were taken from the electronic chart. Information regarding treatment with caspofungin and anidulafungin was taken from electronic prescription programs. Results The authors identified 136 patients: 97 were men, the median of age was 65 years (17 months to 84 years) and median duration of hospital stay 37 days (2-137 days). There were 160 prescriptions: 127 for caspofungin, 33 for anidulafungin. The median duration of treatment was 7 days (1-37 days). In 52 prescriptions a positive isolate for fungi was detected. Of them, 26.9% (14) cultures were positive for C. albicans, 14 positive for species less susceptible to echinocandins (C. parapsilosis and A. fumigatus) and 29 positive for non-albicans susceptible species. In 5 cultures, two different species were found. 28.6% of patients exposed to species less susceptible to echinocandins died during the treatment (4 patients). Among the population whose positive cultures were sensitive to echinocandins, there were 6 deaths (15.8%). Conclusions The population studied confirms the tendency pointed out on the literature, a shift towards species different from C. albicans in IFI. Though the use of echinocandins seems to be effective and safe, attention should be paid to local sensitivities since less susceptible species such as C. parapsilosis and A. fumigatus are spreading


Hydrocarbon (HC) spills are a global issue, which can seriously impact human life and the environment, therefore early identification and remedial measures taken at an early stage are important. Thus, current research efforts aim at remotely quantifying incipient quantities of HC mixed with soils. The increased spectral and spatial resolution of hyperspectral sensors has opened ground-breaking perspectives in many industries including remote inspection of large areas and the environment. The use of subpixel detection algorithms, and in particular the use of the mixture models, has been identified as a future advance that needs to be incorporated in remote sensing. However, there are some challenging tasks since the spectral signatures of the targets of interest may not be immediately available. Moreover, real time processing and analysis is required to support fast decision-making. Progressing in this direction, this thesis pioneers and researches novel methodologies for HC quantification capable of exceeding the limitations of existing systems in terms of reduced cost and processing time with improved accuracy. Therefore the goal of this research is to develop, implement and test different methods for improving HC detection and quantification using spectral unmixing and machine learning. An efficient hybrid switch method employing neural networks and hyperspectral is proposed and investigated. This robust method switches between state of the art hyperspectral unmixing linear and nonlinear models, respectively. This procedure is well suited for the quantification of small quantities of substances within a pixel with high accuracy as the most appropriate model is employed. Central to the proposed approach is a novel method for extracting parameters to characterise the non-linearity of the data. These parameters are fed into a feedforward neural network which decides in a pixel by pixel fashion which model is more suitable. The quantification process is fully automated by applying further classification techniques to the acquired hyperspectral images. A deep learning neural network model is designed for the quantification of HC quantities mixed with soils. A three-term backpropagation algorithm with dropout is proposed to avoid overfitting and reduce the computational complexity of the model.

The above methods have been evaluated using classical repository datasets from the literature and a laboratory controlled dataset. For that, an experimental procedure has been designed to produce a labelled dataset. The data was obtained by mixing and homogenizing different soil types with HC substances, respectively and measuring the reflectance with a hyperspectral sensor.

Findings from the research study reveal that the two proposed models have high performance, they are suitable for the detection and quantification of HC mixed with soils, and surpass existing methods. Improvements in sensitivity, accuracy, computational time are achieved. Thus, the proposed approaches can be used to detect HC spills at an early stage in order to mitigate significant pollution from the spill areas.


The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) embraces a mission to understand how the environment influences a wide range of health outcomes, but cancer has been a major focus of the Institute's work since its early days. Last year, NIEHS published a new iteration of its strategic plan, streamlining its work into three interrelated themes: advancing environmental health sciences; translating those advances from data to knowledge to action; and supporting the training, processes, partnerships, and infrastructure to make the mission possible. "Advancing environmental health sciences" includes studying not just effects of acute exposures, but also of chronic low level exposures to environmental agents that happen over time; discovering the mechanisms that govern susceptibility during different time periods over the lifespan; understanding the effects of exposure to complex real-world mixtures or even of the full exposome; and most recently, learning about how environmental exposures can impact health and cancer outcomes by changing the microbiome in the gut. All these research areas are key components to understanding how factors in the environment can impact carcinogenesis. Additionally, the institute has embraced new advances to study how genetic and epigenetic variability in the host impacts carcinogenesis. For example, use of the Diversity Outcross resource of outbred mice provides an opportunity to overcome the difficulties inherent in using genetically uniform inbred strains of mice to understand genetic susceptibility to environmental carcinogens. Another exciting direction for the Institute is the use of archived tumor tissues from the National Toxicology Program to determine whether there are specific mutagenic signatures associated with different environmental agents. Along these lines, the Institute collaborated with Agilent to develop the first rat exome probe set that is being used to sequence the exons from material derived from FFPE samples. This research was supported by the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Citation Format: Richard Woychik. Challenges and opportunities in environmental carcinogenesis: The NIEHS perspective [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Environmental Carcinogenesis: Potential Pathway to Cancer Prevention; 2019 Jun 22-24; Charlotte, NC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2020;13(7 Suppl): Abstract nr IA17.


ObjectivMore than 2700 lung transplants have been performed since the initial clinical success in 1983. The evolution in the techniques of lung transplantation and patient management and the effects on results are reviewed. Summary Background DataImprovements in donor management, lung preservation, operative techniques, immunosuppression management, infection prophylaxis and treatment, rejection surveillance, and long-term follow-up have occurred in the decade following the first clinically successful lung transplant. A wider spectrum of diseases and patients treated with lung transplant have accentuated the shortage of suitable lung donors. The organ shortage has led to the use of marginal donors and a limited experience using living, related donors. MethodsChanges in techniques and patient selection and management are reviewed and controversial issues and problems are highlighted. ResultsOne-year survival of greater than 90% for single-lung transplant recipients and greater than 85% for bilateral lung transplant recipients have been achieved. Complications caused by airway complications has been reduced greatly. Obliterative bronchiolitis develops in 20% to 50% of long-term survivors and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality after the first year after transplant. ConclusionLung transplantation has evolved into an effective therapy for a wide variety of causes of end stage lung disease. Wider applicability requires solutions to the problems of donor shortage and development of obliterative bronchiolitis.


Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) offer a promising new solution for wastewater treatment due to their advantageous characteristics: lower energy demand and less excess sludge compared to the conventional activated sludge wastewater treatment technology. In this study, two systems of single chamber air cathode MFCs with a working volume of 14 L were investigated for the energy efficient treatment of dairy wastewater. Biomass-originated carbon cathode and noble-metal free cathode catalyst were applied to meet the demand for a lower investment cost. Influent chemical oxygen demand (COD) was in the range of 900 to 3830 mg L–1, while hydraulic retention time was ~ 2.4 days. Systems provided 156 mW m–3 and 170 mW m–3 maximum power densities and coulombic efficiencies of 11.5 % and 12.8 % in average. Organic removal efficiency of 71.1 ± 8.0 % was observed when influent COD was between 900 and 1500 mg L–1, however effluent quality and removal efficiency (67.9 ± 12.6 %) deteriorated as influent COD was increased (1500 – 3830 mg L–1). At  high influent CODs (over 3000  mg  L–1), an organic elimination rate of 0.82  ±  0.11  kg COD  m–3  d–1 was calculated, that can be considered as the upper limit of organic removal in the systems. Based on the results, MFCs may offer a potential solution for smallscale dairy factories for the pretreatment of their effluent to meet the criteria for wastewater discharge to sewer systems. The modular MFC design also facilitates to tailor the system to actual capacity requirements.


The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the association between bisphenol-A diglycidyl dimethacrylate (BisGMA) or its ethoxylated version (BisEMA) with diluents derived from the ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA), with increasing number of ethylene glycol units (1: EGDMA, 2: DEGDMA, 3: TEGDMA, or 4: TETGDMA), or trimethylol propane trimethacrylate (TMPTMA) or 1,10-decanediol dimethacrylate (D3MA) on polymerization stress, volumetric shrinkage, degree of conversion, maximum rate of polymerization (Rpmax), and elastic modulus of experimental composites. BisGMA containing formulations presented lower shrinkage and stress but higher modulus and Rpmax than those containing BisEMA. TMPTMA presented the lowest stress among all diluents, as a result of lower conversion. EGDMA, DEGDMA, TEGDMA, and TETGDMA presented similar polymerization stress which was higher than the stress presented by D3MA and TMPTMA. D3MA presented similar conversion when copolymerized with both base monomers. The other diluents presented higher conversion when associated with BisEMA. EGDMA showed similar shrinkage compared with DEGDMA and higher than the other diluents. The lower conversion achieved by TMPTMA did not jeopardize its elastic modulus, similar to the other diluents. Despite the similar conversion presented by D3MA in comparison with EGDMA and DEGDMA, its lower elastic modulus may limit its use. Rather than proposing new materials, this study provides a systematic evaluation of off the shelf monomers and their effects on stress development, as highlighted by the analysis of conversion, shrinkage and modulus, to aid the optimization of commercially available materials. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012


Variations in the seroprevalence of antibody to Babesia bigemina infection by farm and animal level risk factors were investigated for 2 contrasting regions of Tanga and Iringa in Tanzania. Tanga is situated in the eastern part of the country and has typical tropical coast climate while Iringa is situated in the Southern Highlands and has a tropical highland climate. Two hundred farms from each region were selected using simple random sampling procedure and visited once between January 1999 and April 1999. Blood samples were collected from 1329 smallholder dairy animals on selected farms for harvesting serum which was subsequently used for serodiagnosis of B. bigemina using an indirect enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA). Of the 1329 sera samples screened, 34.9 % were positive for B. bigemina. The prevalence was higher in Iringa Region [43%, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 39.5-47.3] than in Tanga Region (27%, CI = 23.6-30.5). Using a logistic binomial regression model as an analytical method for predicting the likelihood of animal seropositivity, we found (in both regions) that the risk of positive reaction varied with the animal's age, history of grazing and geographical location. Seroprevalence increased with age (beta = 0.01 and 0.01 per year of age, P < 0.005 in Tanga and Iringa, respectively). Animals located in Lushoto and Iringa urban district were associated with increased risk of seropositivity [Odds ratio (OR) = 4.24, P = 0.001, for Lushoto, and OR = 1.81, P = 0.040, for Iringa Urban, respectively). Animals grazed 3 months prior to sampling had higher odds for seropositivity than zero/semi-grazed, despite farmer-reported high frequency of tick control (OR = 2.71, P = 0.0087, for Tanga, and OR = 4.53, P = 0.001, for Iringa). Our study suggests that even though herd sizes are small, B. bigemina infection is widespread in many smallholder dairy farms and endemic stability with respect to this disease has not yet been attained, but the observed levels are sufficiently high to ensure that clinical disease would be a risk.


Active tuberculosis is diagnosed in more than 1100 children annually in the United States. The therapy for patients with tuberculosis has undergone major changes during the past decade, including demonstration of the efficacy of multidrug, short-course chemotherapy for pulmonary tuberculosis in adults.1 At least nine studies of 6-month antituberculosis chemotherapy have demonstrated comparable results in children.2-10 The purpose of this statement is to give revised recommendations for treatment of tuberculosis in infants and children. These recommendations have been formulated in collaboration with the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination of the Centers for Disease Control and the American Thoracic Society.
 MICROBIOLOGIC RATIONALE FOR TREATMENT
 Laboratory observations of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and clinical therapy trials have led to a hypothesis concerning the populations of tubercle bacilli and the actions of various antimycobacterial drugs and drug combinations.11,12 Mycobacteria replicate slowly, can remain dormant for prolonged periods, and can be killed by drugs only during replication. In the host, bacilli live in several sites: open cavities, closed caseous lesions, and within macrophages. Each site contains bacilli with a different population size, metabolic activity, and rate of replication. Open cavities, which are rare in infants and children, have the largest number of mycobacteria. Naturally occurring drug-resistant mutants of M tuberculosis occur within large bacterial populations even before chemotherapy is started. The number of drug-resistant mutants is proportional to the size of the mycobacterial population; thus, they are common in open cavities, but less common in caseous lesions and within macrophages. Mutants naturally resistant to two drugs are virtually nonexistent.


Between April 2018 and November 2020, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) experienced its 11th Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak. Tanzania's cross-border interactions with DRC through regular visitors, traders, and refugees are of concern, given the potential for further spread to neighboring countries. This study aimed to estimate the risk of introducing EVD to Tanzania from DRC. National data for flights, boats, and car transport schedules from DRC to Tanzania covering the period of May 2018 to June 2019 were analyzed to describe population movement via land, port, and air travel and coupled with available surveillance data to model the risk of EVD entry. The land border crossing was considered the most frequently used means of travel and the most likely pathway of introducing EVD from DRC to Tanzania. High probabilities of introducing EVD from DRC to Tanzania through the assessed pathways were associated with the viability of the pathogen and low detection capacity at the ports of entry. This study provides important information regarding the elements contributing to the risk associated with the introduction of EBV in Tanzania. It also indicates that infected humans arriving via land are the most likely pathway of EBV entry, and therefore, mitigation strategies including land border surveillance should be strengthened.


The historic pandemic faced by the international community today boldly demonstrates the complexity and interconnectedness of the resource challenges we must better understand and address in the future. Further complexity is observed when accounting for the impact of compounded shocks related to natural disasters and forced migration around the world. Effectively addressing these challenges requires the development of research that cuts across disciplines and innovates at their interfaces, in order to develop multifaceted solutions that respond to the social, economic, technological, and policy dimensions of these challenges. Water, energy, and food systems are tightly interconnected. They are faced with pressures of varying natures and levels of urgency which need to be better understood, especially as nations work toward achieving the UN 2030 Agenda's Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. This paper will review existing models and knowledge gaps related to water-energy-food (WEF) nexus models, as well as models for quantifying the impact of migration, pandemics, and natural disasters on this resource nexus. Specifically, this paper will: (1) explore the WEF nexus literature and identify gaps in current assessment tools and models; (2) explore the literature on tools and models for predicting the shocks of migration, natural disasters, and pandemics; (3) identify interconnections between water, energy, and food systems and the identified shocks; (4) develop a common framework that provides a road map for integrating those shocks in WEF nexus analysis; (5) provide recommendations for future research and policies moving forward.


The main objective of this paper is to prove the monodromy conjecture for the local Igusa zeta function of a quasi-ordinary polynomial of arbitrary dimension defined over a number field. In order to do it, we compute the local Denef-Loeser motivic zeta function Z(DL)(h,T) of a quasi-ordinary power series h of arbitrary dimension over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero from its characteristic exponents without using embedded resolution of singularities. This allows us to effectively represent Z(DL)(h, T) = P(T)/Q(T) such that almost all the candidate poles given by Q(T) are poles. Anyway, these candidate poles give eigenvalues of the monodromy action on the complex R psi(h) of nearby cycles on h(-1)(0). In particular we prove in this case the monodromy conjecture made by Denef-Loeser for the local motivic zeta function and the local topological zeta function. As a consequence, if h is a quasi-ordinary polynomial defined over a number field we prove the Igusa monodromy conjecture for its local Igusa zeta function.


Machine Learning and Computational Intelligence are rapidly growing fields of research in both academia and industry. Artificial neural networks are at the heart of much of this research. Efficiently constructing and training artificial neural networks is of utmost importance to advancing the field. It has been shown that compact architectures show better generalization performance to networks containing many computational nodes. Furthermore, special neurons consisting of a Radial Basis Function can be used to improve local performance of ANNs. Many algorithms such as Support Vector Regression, Error Backpropagation, and Extreme Learning Machines can be used to train networks once an architecture is chosen. Other algorithms such as RAN, MRAN, and GGAP can train networks as they are constructed. However, many of these algorithms have limitations that lead to an excessive network size. Two new RBF network construction algorithms are introduced with the aim of increasing error convergence rates with fewer computational nodes. The first method is introduced in Chapter 3 and expands on the popular Incremental Extreme Learning Machine algorithms by adding a Nelder-Mead simplex optimization to the process. The second algorithm, described in Chapter 4, uses a LevenbergMarquardt algorithm to optimize the positions and heights of RBF units as they are added to a network. These algorithms are compared to many state of the art algorithms on difficult benchmarks and real-world problems. The results demonstrate that more compact networks with superior error performance are created.


Presented here is a system to standardize clinical studies of nutrient effects, using nutrient-specific physiological criteria. These guidelines are based mainly on analysis of the typical sigmoid curve of biological response to nutrients and are intended for design, interpretation, and pooling of studies of nutrient effects. Five rules have been articulated for individual studies of nutrients, and six for systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses.


PHYSIOLOGY
Although some blame high-fat foods for the global spread of obesity, the mechanistic connection is not solid. The hormone leptin regulates body weight by binding to receptors in the hypothalamus and initiating signaling via JAK2, STAT3, and PI3K transducer molecules. JAK2 is a cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase and is the target of several regulators, including the SH2-B family. Mice whose SH2B1 is systemically knocked out become leptin-resistant and obese and develop type 2 diabetes. Ren et al. have found that if SH2B1 is restored specifically to neural tissues, the obese mice stop overeating, the hyperlipidemia is corrected, the leptin sensitivity is restored, and the obesity reverses. Nevertheless, therapeutic targeting of this signal may not be a simple matter if, as suggested by Ley et al. and Turnbaugh et al. , obesity can be mediated by members of the gut flora. It appears that obese mice and humans have a greater proportion of Firmicutes in their gut flora and that they extract energy from food more efficiently (because of the bacterial capacity for breaking down indigestible polysaccharides) than the Bacteroidetes group that dominates the flora of lean mice and people. Moreover, obesity in mice can be induced by infection. — CA

J. Clin Invest. 10.1172/JCI29417 (2007); Nature 444 , 1022; 1027 (2007).


Introduction: In England, the use of electronic cigarettes as a smoking cessation aid has become more popular than any other aid. Previous research suggests that ex-smokers from lower social groups are more likely to use e-cigarettes compared to ex-smokers from more socially advantaged groups. The present study aimed to assess the association between baseline education, income and employment status and (1) baseline motivation to stop using e-cigarettes (2) attempts to stop using e-cigarettes during follow-up among current smokers, recent ex- smokers and long-term ex-smokers who use e-cigarettes. Methods: UK online longitudinal survey of smokers, ex-smokers and e-cigarette users, May/June 2016 (baseline) and September 2017 (follow-up). In logistic regression models, motivation to stop using e-cigarettes at baseline (n = 994) and attempts to stop using e-cigarettes at follow-up (n = 416) among current smokers and ex-smokers were regressed onto baseline educational attainment, income, employment status while adjusting for baseline demographics, vaping status, smoking and e-cigarette dependence. Results: (1) Respondents with higher education (OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.06 – 1.74) or higher income (OR = 1.52; 95% CI: 1.17 – 1.98) were more likely to be motivated to stop using e-cigarettes, but only in unadjusted analysis. (2) Again, in unadjusted analysis only, employment was associated with reduced odds of attempting to stop using e-cigarette (OR = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.32 – 0.79). Conclusion: Higher socio-economic status may be associated with higher motivation to stop vaping but with lower likelihood of trying to do so.


Regulations have not kept pace with scientific understanding of coastal hypoxia and acidification Changes in human population centers and agricultural fertilizer use have accelerated delivery rates of nitrogen and phosphorus to coastal waters, often stimulating rapid accumulations of primary production (1). Whereas resulting eutrophication processes are of less environmental relevance in well-mixed, ocean ecosystems, when they occur in warm, stratified, and/or poorly mixed waters, they can result in hypoxia [depletion of dissolved oxygen (DO)] and acidification (decrease in pH), both of which individually can have adverse effects on aquatic life, affecting a suite of physiological processes and increasing mortality rates (2, 3). Only recently, however, have studies of aquatic hypoxia begun to consider coeffects of low pH (4). Many ecologically and/or economically important shellfish and finfish that experience decreased survival and/or growth when exposed to hypoxia are further impaired by concurrent acidification (4). Yet although scientific understanding of DO and pH variability and documentation of coastal hypoxic and acidification events have improved, regulatory reform has not kept pace. We suggest that more stringent DO and pH numeric criteria be considered to account for the negative effects of low pH on marine life and the combined impairment from low DO and low pH.


Objective—Data on the effect of lipid-lowering drugs (LLD) on carotid atherosclerosis outside clinical trials are limited. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of LLD on change in carotid intima media thickness and total plaque area in a general population. Approach and Results—Subjects were 1532 women and 1442 men who participated in a longitudinal population-based study with ultrasound examination of intima media thickness and total plaque area in the right carotid artery at baseline and after 13 years follow-up. Long-term use of LLD was defined as use for >5 years, any-time use of LLD was defined as use at baseline or at 6 years or at 13 years of follow-up. In multivariable models adjusted for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, prevalent cardiovascular disease, and daily smoking, long-term use of LLD had a protective effect on progression of both intima media thickness (&bgr;=–0.0387 mm; P=0.002) and total plaque area (&bgr;=–0.400 mm2; P=0.006). There was a weaker protective effect of any-time use of LLD on progression of intima media thickness (&bgr;=–0.024 mm; P=0.046) and total plaque area (&bgr;=–0.318 mm2; P=0.06). Conclusions—LLD protected against progression of carotid atherosclerosis. The protective effect was strongest in long-term users.


Mathematical optimization or mathematical programming is the selection of the best element from some set of available alternatives. Optimization problems of sorts arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer science and engineering to operations research and economics, and the development of solution methods has been of interest in mathematics for centuries. In the simplest case, an optimization problem consists of maximizing or minimizing a real function by systematically choosing input values from within an allowed set and computing the value of the function. The generalization of optimization theory and techniques to other formulations constitutes a large area of applied mathematics. More generally, optimization includes finding "best available" values of some objective function given a defined domain (or input), including a variety of different types of objective functions and different types of domains.


Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) is an intelligent machine that works at hazardous underwater environment. It can only operate for hours or days at a time by battery charging system. This paper presents a new gyroscopic charging system to reform the traditional way. The new system utilizes the gyroscopic effects of a large rotating flywheel in combination with a controlled power take-off device to extract power from wave motion. In this paper, a gyroscopic energy converter model is given, which contains a description of dynamic equation and controlling design. Consequently, a detailed process of applying the gyroscopic system to a typical AUV is shown. The gyroscopic charging system promises to reduce AUV battery requirements negating the necessity to carry sufficient energy reserves (size and weight) for entire missions, reduce costs by freeing support vessel time (a major cost component in AUV deployment) and enable AUVs to be remotely and renewably recharged at sea, indefinitely extending missions. Software simulation is the main method to prove the validation of the results. The results show that the generated power is sufficient to provide power for AUV which is better than the battery charging system.


The analysis of complex networks is devoted to the statistical characterization of the topology of graphs at different scales of organization in order to understand their functionality. While the modular structure of networks has become an essential element to better apprehend their complexity, the efforts to characterize the mesoscale of networks have focused on the identification of the modules rather than describing the mesoscale in an informative manner. Here we propose a framework to characterize the position every node takes within the modular configuration of complex networks and to evaluate their function accordingly. For illustration, we apply this framework to a set of synthetic networks, empirical neural networks, and to the transcriptional regulatory network of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We find that the architecture of both neuronal and transcriptional networks are optimized for the processing of multisensory information with the coexistence of well-defined modules of specialized components and the presence of hubs conveying information from and to the distinct functional domains.


Effective capture of CO2 from different industrial processes is considered as an important strategy with the growing concern over the greenhouse gas emission issue all around the world. The aluminium industry accounts for a large amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere during its operations annually, generally at low CO2 concentrations below 1 vol% which eventually makes the CO2 capture process more difficult and costly. Therefore, the CO2 capture process at different alternative flue gas streams having CO2 concentrations of 3, 4, 7 and 10 vol% were simulated to analyze the effect of CO2 concentration and other process parameters on re-boiler energy demand and the capture efficiency of the plant. Post combustion capture together with chemical absorption has been selected for this study and monoethanolamine (MEA) has been selected as the CO2 capture solvent. An open loop CO2 capture process was modeled and simulated using rate based electrolyte NRTL property method in Aspen Plus in order to observe the variation of specific re-boiler heat duty and the capture efficiency with the different process parameters. The capture efficiency of the process was kept at 85% and 90% to observe the effect of main process parameters including absorber height, absorber diameter and stripper height on the specific re-boiler heat duty at the stripper. The results from the simulations indicated that the optimum specific re-boiler heat duty for the flue gas CO2 concentrations from 3 to 10 vol% lies within the range of 3.56 to 3.60 MJ/kg of CO2 captured for 85% efficiency and 3.59 to 3.61 MJ/kg of CO2 captured for 90% efficiency respectively. Optimum specific re-boiler heat duty shows a small difference, between 3 and 10 vol% CO2 concentrations for a given capture efficiency and between 85% and 90% capture


Deborah was fourteen years old when she entered a residential treatment facility for bulimia with anorexic symptoms, along with drug dependency. During her initial phase of treatment, she remembered a traumatic memory that had been repressed for years. When Deborah was on a family vacation with her family at age 11 years, she was sexually assaulted by a group of unknown predators. As she had repressed this memory, she had told no one about the event, and had received no social support or an outlet to express and heal her pain resulting from the trauma.


ABSTRACT This analysis re-examines Russo–Cuban relations in the period in which Boris Yeltsin was Russian President using previously unseen documents housed in the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba [MINREX] archive in Havana. A number of conclusions offer themselves including that the relationship remained key for Havana throughout the 1990s, despite a Cuban ideological aversion to the Russian reforms of the early to mid-decade and the subsequent "new realities" of Russo–Cuban relations. Cuba desired a relationship that preserved a number of features of Soviet–Cuban relations, which MINREX officials strove to achieve by purposefully creating a political legacy from the Soviet era, whilst also specifically lobbying members of the Russian political elite who had sympathies with the Soviet period. This development has resonance for contemporary Russo–Cuban relations that are at their most robust politically since 1991. Consequently, the Soviet legacy remains both much greater than previously thought and deliberately created by Cuba.